Today I'm excited to share the artwork of a sweet stampin' friend, Jane Downs. She showed up to card class last week with a basket of The. Most. Adorable little Halloween treats…. same size as this one, but each a different color and character…. totally appropriate for the trick or treating occasion!  She offered each of us the opportunity to pick one, and although the choice was really hard (they were ALL just so stinkin' cute!), I finally selected Garfield. Jane's little boxes were filled with candy (of course), and although not made with Stampin' Up!'s retired "Curvy Box" die, they were the same shape and style of the die, just a little bit larger. (Apparently she's got some fancy crafting gadget that makes that kind of thing easy.) At any rate, we were all charmed – both by the delightful designs, as well as her thoughtfulness! Thanks for such a sweet surprise, Jane!

Next, I just had to stick this in here before the holiday got away and it would be too late to show it off. This was my very first attempt at using our brand-new, "available TOMORROW" Stampin' Blends alcohol markers earlier this month, and this happy pumpkin just makes me grin every time I look at him! He's part of the "Seasonal Chums" bundle, which includes the Jack-o-lantern, a snowman and an adorable little reindeer. These charming little characters have both their front and back images on each stamp, and then the corresponding dies cut the entire piece out at once, so all you have to do then is fold it in the middle for a clever little tag. (Hey, the die even punches the hole thru which you can string your twine!) So for this one, I stamped the image in Tuxedo Black Memento ink, and then used Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive Stampin' Blends to color it in. Each color comes in both light and dark markers so they'll blend beautifully.  

Now, one of the features of alcohol markers is that they bleed through your paper, so I did have to cut a 2nd piece of white cardstock with the same die and use it as a liner so the inside of the tag is clean and white…… but that was no big deal. 

Can't wait to share some of the other fun I've been having with my new markers, and I'm sure you're gonna want your own set soon, too!