Fall Retreat projects

Saturday I went to a Fall Retreat that my upline and her upline sponsored.  It was wonderful!  It was in Huntsville Alabama, about a 2 1/2 hour drive from my house.  In the morning we did a 20-page 6X6 mini album using the Christmas Lane Simply Scrapping Kit.  After a nice catered lunch we did 6 more projects, 2 each for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I loved every one of the projects!  It was so much fun to craft and visit with other Stampin' Up demonstrators all day.

These are all of the projects we did in the afternoon.  First though, I'll just show the Halloween projects so you can see the close-up photos of the individual projects.  This card uses a fold called the Center Step Card.  If you can't figure it out, head over to Split Coast Stampers for their tutorial.  It is a great fold and actually pretty easy to do.  What a way to send a card with impact! 

This card uses the Jack of All Trades stamp set and the Frightful Sight DSP.  I really like the pumpkin's hair although I got it kind of crooked on my card.  The ribbons used on the side are the Pear Pizzaz Stitched Poly Ribbon and the Basic Black 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon.  Just a few inches of each ribbon makes a big difference in this card, doesn't it?

The side view shows how it can stand on the receiver's desk or table for display.  I've only made a couple of cards with this fold but I reckon I'll be making more very soon!

Another fun Halloween project we made was this owl treat box.  You can't tell from the picture but it is made on a matchbox cut with the Matchbox die and the Big Shot.  You can put a fun Halloween treat in the drawer before giving this to a lucky recipient.  Can you recognize all the "parts" of our hooty friend?  We used the Top Note die as the base, the Bird Builder Punch for the "ears", the Scalloped Circle Punch for the belly and wings and one of the hearts from the Heart to Heart Punch for the beak and feet.  3 sizes of circle punches make the eyes, the Chocolate Chip one cut in half for the eyelids.  I inked the eyelids, beak, feet, belly and wings with Chocolate Chip ink before assembling.  I used snail for most of the project but used Sticky Strip to attach the Top Note die to the matchbox and also to attach the feet.  I didn't want the little feet to fall off!  Oh, and don't forget to use the Signo White Gel pen to add a twinkle to his eyes.