Louisa is 2!

Louisa loves Kitty!  "Where's Kitty?" is the first thing she asks when I go get her out of her crib in the morning.  He's so patient with her and will even follow her around.  She likes to give him pretend tea.  I don't know what he thinks!

So we had a black cat themed birthday party for Louisa.  Which is also perfect since her birthday is so close to Halloween.  We just used pink and teal as the accent colors instead of orange.

Here's a look at the buffet top.  

Strawberry cake and black cat sugar cookies!  Yummy.  We ate cake at the party and sent cookies home with everyone in the little cat bags.  I found the cute black cat bags at Target. The cat face made an easy decoration for the top of the cake.

Here's Louisa enjoying her cake at her little table (which used to be her mommy's).

I added bows and party hats to black cats and made a tiny card with cat buttons.

I wanted to use the cat buttons, because Louisa loves playing with all my buttons.  She sorts them, carries them around and calls out the colors.  I think her favorite activity is deliberately dropping them on the floor, saying "Oh, no!" and wanting us to help pick them up!

We had so much fun at Louisa's birthday party!  
She was adorable when my mom and dad left: they said "Bye!" and she said, "Happy Birthday to you!"

Black Cats for Halloween

Louisa loves Kitty.  Who just happens to be a black cat, of course.  While she was here this weekend,  Louisa carried around my black cat cards and she kept picking them up  and saying "Black Kitty."

You can download this cute Little Fortune Teller with her black kitty below.

This adorable black cat is a svg file.  Fun for a last minute Halloween card or making multiples.  It doesn't take too long to put together and if you like cats, it's purr-fect!  Couldn't resist!

I love this cool cat.  He's a little scraggly, which I think is really cute.  This is also a svg file.  I think it's really pretty.  I covered the cat in black glitter and gave him green eyes. I ended up making this card 6 1/2 x 6 1/2 - it's really large.  One reason is because of the intricacy of the cuts.  

Louisa has been so cute identifying all the pumpkins (on the porch, in her Halloween books, at restaurants, etc...)  Her first ever gluing project was to glue a jack o' lantern face to a colored pumpkin.  She caught on to squeezing the glue pretty quickly and we had to wipe up just a little bit extra.  She must have put on and took off the eyes and mouth about 6 times!  Doesn't she look serious?

Download Little Fortune Teller HERE.

I just have to tell you about my daughter's Autumn Festival Cookbook on Kindle:

Lauren just published a wonderful history-filled cookbook called Revel.  

Okay, yes, I'm the mom.  But still...this is a wonderful read.  If you love to learn things, if you love history or if you love holidays:  this book is for you!  Even if you have no interest in the actual recipes, you will enjoy the fun information!

Lauren has done a LOT of research on traditional British food and late autumn holidays.  She tells you all about the history of the holiday (great conversational tone) and each recipe features a picture and the recipes are tried and true.

You can download Lauren's book, Revel, HERE on Amazon.  (It's only $4.99.)


Thank yo for stopping by and for letting me tell you about Lauren's cookbook.  Have a wonderful day!

Let the Inside Out!

Hi, there!  Hope you had a lovely Easter.  Did you have a lovely start to spring?  Ours has been a little gloomy and cold, but I can tell the flowers and trees are starting to bud - showing off their pretty colors.

Kind of like the inside of these cards - the insides wanted to show off!  Letting a little bit of the inside of your card peek out is fun way to change things up a bit.

The inside of this one is peeking out at the bottom - easily accomplished by cutting the top a little short.  I added that tiny border die to decorate the shortened top and added another pretty border and flower to peek out the bottom.

Seriously.  Look at that sweet image.  Did your insides melt just a little?

If you would like to create a little sweet something with the girl, her burro and black cats, it's ready to download below.

On this card, the insides are peeking out not only at the bottom, but the side too.  That was also easily accomplished by cutting the card base larger than the scallop die cut that's forming the top.  

The top of the scallop die cut is scored about 1/2 an inch from the top and folded to create the fold for the card.    I turned this one into a Mother's Day card simply by adding the sentiment.  For a note to a friend, it could be left blank for room to write a note.

Download Girl, Burro and Cats HERE.

Download Girl Mailing Note HERE.

Dropbox seems to work differently for different people.  Either right click and save when image appears or click the download button in the top right corner.  If neither method works, email me and I'll send the files to you. 

So...be a little bit daring...let the inside out!  
Have a lovely day!

Distress Ink Halloween Background + Dress Up an Image with Stamps

Love the Halloween sky in these cards.  So fun and easy.  Apply yellow distress ink in a circle and then surround with blues and purples.  Sprinkle a little bit of water and you're done.

Fe-Line.  Hah - love the word play!  Such a cute name for this line of felines die.   Also love the black glitter paper.  It's corrugated like cardboard.   I picked it up at a cool little shop in Wichita.  Guess I won't be going there again any time soon, considering my bunch have moved on to Savannah.  I'll have to find all the cool little shops in Savannah.  Something fun to look forward to...

Dennis says this sweet little girl looks like Louisa.  I think she does, too!  She's not a Halloween image, but the black cat lends itself to dressing her up for Halloween.  I just added a cute witch's hat and voila!  she's dressed up for Halloween.  Just to take it even further I added a couple of pumpkins in front of the fence and some bats to the Halloween sky.   Think about adding stamps to printed images - fun!

You can download Girl with Black Cat HERE.

Dropbox seems to work differently for different people.  Either right click and save when image appears or click the download button in the top right corner.  If neither method works, email me and I'll send the files to you.

Happy Halloween!

Cat Eyes Made Easy - Another Black Cat and A Scotty

I'm sticking with my tradition here.  Black cats continued...  They really are my favorite part of Halloween.  

This black cat starts out as just a chipboard face.  I added a party hat and I like that.  But I kept thinking about the eyes.  There were no eyes.  I just kept thinking he needs eyes!  I tried a few different things and didn't like how any of them looked.   I really wanted him to have green eyes, probably because my black kitty has green eyes.

Then AHA! I figured out the perfect solution.  And so easy too.  Start with a circle and cut part of it away.  I then added a thin piece of black cardstock.  And Yes!  These eyes look just the way I want them to!

I thought I could punch a hole in the top and add some twine and he would look really cute hanging out.  He also works perfectly to gift a little treat.  I just clipped a small treat bag to his ear.

A scotty for Halloween?  Sure, why not?  He's a cutie and I love the background.  I've got him all ready for you to download, if you would like to make a little Halloween something with him, too.

The sentiment comes with the download, too.

Download Halloween Scotty HERE.
Dropbox seems to work differently for different people.  Either right click and save when image appears or click the download button in the top right corner.  If neither method works, email me and I'll send the files to you.

Oh, my gosh!  I've been so busy.  Making things and off to Savannah three times already!
I made Louisa's costume and, of course, she's going to be a black cat.  Her mommy, Lauren, was a black cat for her third Halloween.  So it's sort of a tradition.  I got the costume all ready to go and shipped it to Savannah.  When I got there, we tried everything on and made adjustments.  Isn't she adorable in cat ears?
So glad you stopped by!  

Halloween Black Cats and Kittens

Too bad I couldn't get my real Halloween Kitty to pose for this picture.  He's had some issues, but seems to be feeling great right now, thank goodness!  I love black cats!

This postcard has plenty of black kitties to love!  It really isn't for Halloween, but with the addition of a bat and a pumpkin, it looks Halloween enough for me.  I love that the mama cat, pumpkin and ghost all look like they're howling.  There's a lot of old stuff on this card:  paper that I've hoarded, ribbon that I've had forever, and my favorite pumpkin stamps that aren't available any more.

If you'd like to create a little black cat love for yourself, you can download the black cat and kittens postcard below.

I love this black cat svg cute file - isn't it adorable?  I couldn't get the svg file to link in the supplies list below, so you can click HERE for the link. 

The treat box is made with a siimple black box topped with fence posts.  I know it sounds kind of strange, but I think the fence posts are kind of pretty!  After stenciling stone cardstock, I cut strips and then hand cut a point on the top.  I didn't worry about perfection, I figure this is an old fence and besides it's for Halloween!

Here you can see the side, just a couple of rails and fence posts. The sentiment is from my one of my favorite Halloween sets from Waltzingmouse.  I think they are no longer in business.

I forgot to show you the inside of the card.  The sentiment comes with the download.

Download Halloween Black Cat and Kittens HERE.
Dropbox seems to work differently for different people.  Either right click and save when image appears or click the download button in the top right corner.  If neither method works, email me and I'll send the files to you.

I'll be sending out information on Halloween Choux Box Kits in the next few days.  If you would like to see them and you're not a member of the Choux Box Kits Club, go to the link at the top of my blog.  No cost to join, no obligations...just fun things to create!
We're trying to get Louisa and her mommy and daddy to Savannah.  Been holding off due to Hurricane Irma.  Our hearts go out to those affected and to those affected by Harvey, as well.  
Hope you're safe, wherever you are.  
Wishing you a lovely week!