Wishing you a Halloween full of treats and screams! 

I wanted to share a couple of Halloween treats (actually the packaging) I put together, last minute.  Very last minute!  The request came from my youngest daughter.  Last night she asked if I would make "something" Halloween for a few of her friends.  Our dialogue went something like this: "Honey, Halloween is tomorrow"!  "Ya mom, I know".   At that point, I knew anything else I might have said was pointless!  My daughter is 16...!

So, feeling really good about her request, I went to work.  All stamps and die cuts are Reverse Confetti.  They quickly became my inspiration, as most of the items were still on my work table from previous projects!      

Clear pillow boxes are something I keep on hand.  I find them useful for package anything from gift cards, to jewelry, to candy. Really anything small.  I purchased these from Etsy.

I hope this post will be helpful the next time you have to put together some pretty packaging, even if you have little to no notice. 

I hope you'll stop by next week for a Thanksgiving project I've been working on.

More Halloween Cards and a Question

Do you ever feel like you are cheating when you've made a card with no stamping?  I actually thought that as I was finishing up these cards.  When I came to my senses, I realized these cards came together quickly, and I was pleased with the results. So, what more could I possibly want?  In the end, I just needed a few more cards to hand deliver to a few neighbors (along with some goodies, of course).  I achieved that. 

My thoughts: not every card has to be labor intensive, loaded with layers and bling, or hand stamped. There is a place for cards that can be assembled easily.  For example, if you are making more than three or four cards, that’s mass production (in my opinion).  You need a design that comes together quickly.  No frills!

So what are your thoughts on "non-stamped" cards?  How often do you create them?

The trick or treat dies are from a 2013 Papertrey Ink release.  They're not retired, thank goodness! Last Halloween I used these dies to create some cute packaging. 

With the second card, I did some spatter on the inside.  I wish I would have taken a picture to show you.  It was just around the edges to decorate the inside.  I hope the spatter trend sticks around for awhile.  I'm having fun with it.

A New Look ... And Some Cards

Welcome to "A Paperie Journey's" new look!  For those of us old gals, a facelift.  I was looking for something clean and simple but stylish.  I feel I've achieved that look.  What do you think?

Okay, on with the show...  I have a few Halloween cards to share with you. 

First, let me tell you I've fallen in love with Cast A Spell stamp set by Reverse Confetti .  All three cards are from that set.

 

 

I've been wanting to experiment with spatter and I finally did with the card above   So much fun!  Since I was working with regular cardstock and not watercolor paper, I decided to use acrylic paint (watered down a bit) and a narrow paintbrush.   

 



For this card, my inspiration came from HERE, the Reverse Confetti blog.  I'm not even sure I can say "inspiration".  I CASE'D it (copy and steal everything)!   I loved the card.  It was clean and simple and ... just adorable! 

I'm planning a regular post each month (the last week of the month), One Set-Three Ways.  I hope this monthly segment will help you optimize your stamp sets.

Thanks for stopping by.
 

More One-Layer Christmas/Holiday Tags (OLW166)

I wasn't thrilled with the one-layer tags I posted for the OLW challenge on Wednesday.  Since that post, I've been playing with mists, distress inks, and sprays in an effort to make a more interesting one layer tag.  I have two to show you. 

For the tag above, I misted the background with Silver Sugar Glimmer Mist.  To me, the color looks like a shimmery medium gray.  Very pretty!  The poinsettias are stamped with Papertrey Ink's Raspberry Fizz and the center of each flower has three little dots of Cotton Candy Stickles.  The "to and from" are stamped on the back of the tag.

 
The second tag was stamped with Barn Red Distress Ink on glossy card stock.  It has a nice marble effect to it, although you can't tell it by my photography skills.

The week's OLW post can be found here.  You still have time to play and just think,  you'll have a jump start on you Christmas tags.

One-Layer Wednesday ~ Christmas/Holiday Tags (OLW166)

Welcome to this week's One-Layer Wednesday challenge.  With the holidays right around the corner, let's make one-layer Christmas/Holiday Tags.

I have a few to share with you.

Santa's hat was colored with Prisma pencils and topped with a pom pom. 

For the tag above, I used a PSX stamp from 1999.  Believe it or not, I found this beauty at a garage sale last year.  I colored the image with Prisma pencils and added some bling.

If you look closely, you can see glitter on this tag.

I can't wait to see what your tags!


OLW166 Rulesl.  Create a one layer tag.  This is defined as a single layer of cardstock.  No other    
     layers allowed.

2.  Create a Christmas/Holiday tag.  Remember to keep  embellishments to a minimum and NO      ADDITIONAL layers of cardstock.
     
3.  Post your card online and link it to the InLinkz button at the bottom of this post.  If you link to 
     your blog, please link to the specific post and not your blogs main page.

4.  HAVE FUN!

OLW 164 - Play the Game

A quick post before the One-Layer Wednesday (OLW164) deadline!

This week's host is Ardyth.  Her challenge, Play the Game.  Create a one layer card inspired by a game or some form of play. 

Here's my take on Ardyth's challenge.  Playing music!

The treble clef stamp is a textured or distressed image, just in case you thought it was poor stamping.

The Details:

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous - Frame/Background Stamp, Stampabilities - Image & Sentiment -  A Muse (Retired) 

Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black & Palette Vintage Cream

Paper: Kraft

Accessories: Stamp-A-Ma-Jig & Twine



Packaging...

I can't believe it's already the first week of November!  Where did October go? 

Okay!  Moving on.  Let me ask you, how many of you give gift cards during the holidays, or throughout the year for that matter?  With my family scattered across the country, and teen/tween  nieces and nephews, I find gift cards are always well received, and much less expensive to send. Even my teenage daughters request gift cards. 

Please, don't think that I just send gift cards for the ease of gift giving! When my nephews were younger, I took great pains in finding the most awesome gifts.  Of course, I wanted to be the "coolest " Auntie ever"!  About six years ,when Lightsabers (a fictional weapon or laser sword, made famous by Star Wars) were so popular, I sent my nephews two for Christmas. Later, I found out my sister wouldn't let my nephews have them as she felt they were violent.  Really?  Needless to say, I never sent another gift again.  Gift cards only! 

With that said, I don't like to give a gift card without dressing it up in some way.  It's all about the packaging.  Gift card packaging!

This month, every Monday, I will feature gift card packaging ideas for you.  This week, I'm starting off with a simple gift card die from Papertrey Ink. 

I thought long and hard before purchasing this die.  It's an investment.  I actually calculated the cost of the die verses other packaging option and how often I thought I would use it.  End result, I love it.  I'm so glad I purchased it.  It's already paid for itself!  You can't ask for anything more, right?

Let me show you some examples.  After die cutting, this is what the Gift Card Greetings die looks like.

Here's an inside view.  As you can see, I did some stamping on the inside ("to and from" on the bottom flap and "sending holiday cheer" on the top flap).   Very simple.

Here's a view of the top flap.

Here, I've added some embellishments to the basic die.

And here, a fun interpretation of the Gift Card Greetings die.

Pin It

With this one Gift Card Greetings die there are so many possibilities.  Just let your creativity take over.

I hope you'll stop by next Monday for more Gift Card Packaging ideas.

Supplies:  Stamps: Papertrey Ink  Paper: Stampin' Up-Whisper White, Bazzil Black and Red, Unknow Silver, Memory Box-Red Dot  Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Papertrey New Leaf and Pure Poppy  Accessories: Bow Maker, Papertrey Ink Gift Card Greetings die, Unlimited Ovals 1 3/4, Tiny Tags, Twine, Fiskers Square Punch 1 Inch and 1 1/4 Inch Punch, 1/4 Circle Punch.