Dynamic Duos Halloween Black Tie Event

I grew up in the 60s and Halloween was fun, exciting and mostly safe!  We made our own costumes:  an old sheet became a ghost; cardboard boxes became robots; we used burnt cork to make beards, mustaches and scars; scarves, big earrings and boots and we were pirates!  Very few kids had store-bought costumes and for the most part, the costumes were not gory or bloodthirsty!  We cruised the neighbourhood on our own with no parental supervision and no one worried about razor blades in the candy.  We knew all our neighbours so it was unthinkable.  That was the era of Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin!

I wanted to play along with Dynamic Duos Challenge #75 this week and it is a Black Tie Challenge this week:

The team chose Basic Black and Tangerine Tango with an optional Halloween Theme.  I promised you a treat bag or something similar for another Halloween post, so I came up with a Halloween Treat Box:

• I  got ideas from several sources yesterday.  I found a tutorial by Dawn Olchefski for the treat box you see made in Basic Black cardstock.  I made mine a little bigger than Dawn's by using 6" x 11" paper and adjusting my scoring.
• The pumpkin is made from three Tangerine Tango ovals cut with the Ovals Collection framelits and sponged around the edges with Tangerine Tango ink.  You'll recognize the branch from the Bird Builder Punch.  I decided to use black.

• The cute little bat uses the body of the from the Owl Punch, with the Large Oval punch plus the 1/2" Circle punch to make the bat wing effect.  The eyes are made with a neat trick I learned from a punch art tutorial (which I can no longer find!).  You first use the Owl Punch to punch out the small circles that become the pupils only you use the negative space on the black as the pupils.  Then you punch around them with the sprinkles from the Cupcake Builder punch to form the eyes - kind of like a doughnut!

Here's a side view of the box:

There is less than 24 hours left to join my team for only $25!  There will never be another 25th Anniversary, so I don't think it's likely you'll ever get this chance again.  I would take advantage of it.  No one will force you to sell product!  You can just benefit from the discounts for 5 1/2 months.  If you've got a long wish list, why would you NOT want to save 20% on all products?  Think about it and call me quickly or click on Join My Team in the top menu bar and follow the prompts!  It's easy!

Stamps:

Paper: Basic Black (121045), Tangerine Tango (111349) and Whisper White (100730) cardstock

Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pad in Tangerine Tango (126946)

Accessories:  Calypso Coral Chevron Ribbon (130018); 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon in Basic Black (119261)

Tools:  Simply Scored Scoring Tool (122334); Ovals Collection Framelits (129381); Large Oval Punch (119855); Bird Builder Punch (117191); Owl Builder Punch (118074), 1/2" Circle Punch (119868); Cupcake Builder Punch (121807)

What Can You Do with a Pumpkin?

We've had the most beautiful spring weather lately!  Our forsythia is in bloom, and a few daffodils, though we don't plant many spring bulbs.  So it seems kind of strange to be talking about pumpkins!

No, not this kind of pumpkin!  But this kind:  My Paper Pumpkin!  I wanted to show you all the fun you can have with the monthly packages.

This is what it looks like when it arrives at your own front door!

This is what you see when you first open it.

Here are all the amazing goodies inside!!

And here is what you are supposed to make with it!

This is all great if you are new to stamping and if you don't have a lot of room for supplies and equipment!  It comes with everything you need and lots of instructions as well.  

But what if you are not new to stamping, and have some supplies already and would like a little more challenge?   Well, each month, I will come up with some alternative projects, and everyone who subscribes to Paper Pumpkin through me, will get a free email with the tutorials on how to complete them.

 I came up with four different cards for the first Welcome Kit, and I will show you two of them today and the other two tomorrow.

This first sample only requires an extra circle punch to complete!  I really had a lot of fun playing around with the materials.  Of course, I had to plan a bit to make sure I had enough of the materials for all 4 cards.  That's where my tutorials will come in handy.  Did you notice that the stamped sentiment is exclusive to My Paper Pumpkin?  You will get stamps with this program that are not available through the Stampin' Up catalogues!

And here's the second one:

For this one, you need a Paper Doily, Window Frames Framelits, the Honeycomb embossing folder and Big Shot, and some Baker's Twine extra, but you could leave off the embossing if you don't have a Big Shot.

I hope you like these alternative projects and you are thinking of subscribing.  I have to say I really enjoyed the whole process.  If you would like to subscribe, send me an email with your email address and phone number and I will get you signed up.  To get the a box this month, you need to sign up before April 10th.  As long as you live in Canada, you can sign up with me.  You don't need to live near me as the boxes will be delivered directly to you!


For other ideas for this kit, check out this Pinterest board.

Accessories and Tools  needed beyond what is provided:  Paper Doilies (129399); Honeycomb Embossing Folder (129378); Big Shot (113439); 1 3/4" Circle Punch (119850); Baker's Twine in Pool Party (125574); Window Frames Collection Framelits (129021)