October! You know what that means,,,,,

Halloween will soon be here! I love this time of year when the leaves are changing, and you may require a sweater with the weather. But I LOVE Halloween. Guess it's just the kid in me still. I love to decorate the house, wear a costume, and just have fun! I also love to create things for Halloween. This is one of the cards I made for a Halloween swap with other demonstrators. The card is embossed with our new Spider Web Embossing Folder on Basic Black cardstock. And the scalloped silver square was made with Scallop Square Duo Bigz Die and our new Waffle paper! The stamp set is Dark & Dreary which you can get wood or clear mount. Happy Stamping & Knitting!

http://www.joanhajek.stampinup.net

Cute Creatures & NOT SO CUTE Creatures!

Went up to Berryville, VA yesterday to the Shenandoah Fiber Festival and had a wonderful time with some friends. While it doesn't compare to our Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, it was nice not to have those crowded booths and just feel the yummy fibers! I love seeing the animals that provide us with the means to feed our fiber addiction. (Not referring to Bran here either!) Here are the cute creatures that I visited with at the festival! Then we all went to a retreat house to knit and spend the night. Well.............I thought it was bad there last year............uh uh! This isn't the best pic with my cell phone, but the little black specs you see are the BMSB (or the Brown Marmorated Stink Bug) . But I would like to change to BMSB to mean..... Bugs Make Skanky Buddies. Happy Stamping & Knitting!

http://www.joanhajek.stampinup.net

DSP Pendant Swap for Baltimore Regional

I have made a few of these so far to swap at the Stampin' Up! Baltimore Regional seminar. Want to learn how to make them too? Host a workshop with me and I will show you how, and you get it as a hostess gift from me! Happy Stamping & Knitting!

http://www.joanhajek.stampinup.net

Little Boo Box

I love the little box that you can make with the Petal Card Double Punch! You cut out two of them and glue two sides and the bottom, and "voila" you have a little box perfect for a little treat. The Hershey Nuggets fit perfectly in here. The owl image is from the set that was a hostess set and is now retired. The "BOO" is from a set called Tiny Tags and it coordinates with the Jewelry Tag punch. I tied some Linen Thread around the box before adhering the image. The tag is attached with a mini silver brad.

Happy Stamping & Knitting!

http://www.joanhajek.stampinup.net/

Dark & Dreary

I love the Dark & Dreary set from the Holiday Mini Catalog. Especially being a Raven's football fan and having a raven in the set. I used Versamark and stamped the raven as the background on the Tangerine Tango cardstock. Then I added a strip of DSP from the Night Owl Designer Series paper. This is then layered with Basic Black cardstock and Very Vanilla Carstock. I stamped the VV with the Woodgrain background stamp with Crumb Cake Classic ink. It is all put together with the candelabra stamped in Basic Black in and I hung it upside down to be a chandelier! The owl was stamped with Basic Black ink on VV and mounted with dimensionals. The bat is made with the Bitty Bat Punch and Basic Black cs. The eyes are two of the smallest Basic Pearls Jewels accents. The Happy Halloween is a stamp from the All Holidays set. What do you think? Happy Stamping & Knitting!

http://www.joanhajek.stampinup.net

My new ride!

Mike has been after me to get a new car for the past few years. I love my Focus wagon and didn't feel the need for a new car when this one was paid for, and had nothing wrong with it. I told him if I was ever to get a new car, and have payments, I would want a convertible. I test drove and brought home one last year. A Pontiac. He said it was too much and since Pontiac was going out of business it wouldn't be a smart move. End of that! He had been talking lately about a Hyundai Sonata (sp). I wanted to wait a while, at least til the end of the year and get a better deal. So the other day, he comes home and said he found a convertible at a local dealership that we could afford. And it was a Mercedes! Yeah Yeah...........sure honey. I didn't think we could afford nor did I think he would go for it. Mind you, as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I can lug around some serious stuff! But this one has a small trunk and would be do-able! Well he snuck off after dinner, when it was dark in hopes of going to the lot and seeing it without being seen by a sales person. WRONG! He was spotted, got shown the car, they talked, blah, blah, blah......He came home and told me that if I went and test drove the car he would have to pry my fingers off the steering wheel! So the next night, we went as a family to see it. I had called them earlier in the day to try to negotiate a better price over the phone. We ended up getting a great deal.....too good to pass up. And with Connor turning 16 next year and adding another driver to the household we can hang onto the Focus for him and for me to drive when the weather is bad. So I am now the driver of "Heidi"! Since she's a German girl, I named her after Heidi Klum who is one of my favorite celebs! Happy Stamping & Knitting!

http://www.joanhajek.stampinup.net

Felting with Stampin' Up! embellishments!!!!

The sweater I had been knitting has been in "time out" for a few weeks. Messed up somewhere and it was making me nuts trying to figure out what was wrong. Sooooo....I chose to work on some simple projects that would not give me a fit, and give me almost instant gratification! This is a small little clutch that is embellished with retired Kiwi Kiss corduroy buttons! Then I made a few felted bangle bracelets and added some Designer Brads on one and Rhinestone Brads on the other! And the best thing about these bangles is that they are quiet!!! Happy Stamping & Knitting!

http://www.joanhajek.stampinup.net

Roses are...............

In this case....NOT red! I love the flowers at Costco. They always have such a pretty selection and they last a long long time. I usually pick up a mixed bouquet when I go there. But yesterday, these gorgeous roses called my name! You get two dozen roses for $15.99! LOVE IT! I mistakenly got rid of a large vase I had a while ago, and have yet get another one. So I had to split them up into different vases. This vase is my favorite. My Mom gave this to me when Connor was born 15 years ago. It was given to her from my grandmother who received it with flowers from my grandfather when my mother was born! So this vase is 75 years old! It has a patina look to it. I need to come up with a way to make sure Connor keeps this in the family when I am gone! Happy Stamping & Knitting!

http://www.joanhajek.stampinup.net

Fairy Huts or Toad Stools?

Mike came home from work today and said did you see the toadstools on the side of the yard? Grab your camera! So I did. In between our house and the neighbors were these! So are they fairies homes, toadstools, or edible mushrooms? I put my shoe in the pic for a reference! Happy Stamping & Knitting!

http://www.joanhajek.stampinup.net

Addie's card

This has been a very sad week. My best friend Phyllis called me the morning of the 29th to tell me that her granddaughter Addie passed away. Addie was born on 2/20/10, just weighing 1lb. 7 oz. Such a tiny tiny baby. She fought hard for 5 long months. Her Mom, Nikki told me that on the day she died, Jacques (Daddy) laptop was on and out of nowhere, "Somewhere over the Rainbow" started playing. She even heard a little girl laugh. So when it came time to make her a card, I knew I didn't want to use a flower stamp or anything like that for a sympathy card. So I commissioned Tammy Thompson to make me a custom digital image. I love what she came up with based on this story. The supplies on this card are all Stampin' Up! with the exception of the image and the pink flower. But I did use my Big Shot to cut the fabric, which is from a felted sweater! Happy Stamping & Knitting!

http://www.joanhajek.stampinup.net