The Control Freaks Welcome the Holidays!

Welcome... It's time to hop along with the over-the-top fabulous Control Freaks!  This month we will be sharing fall and holiday projects, some of which with swapped with each other.  You've probably arrived here from Mindy Backes's blog.  I just love her clean style!

Around here, Halloween is a holiday!  At your house too?  I need to get on the ball and play with the Halloween goodies before time ticks on by...  I decided to focus on the Sweet Hauntings set.

I love this card layout, which allows a clean & simple design while also giving a nice peek of the really fun Happy Haunting patterned paper.  This is also a great opportunity to have some fun coloring.  Doesn't the new Basic Black archival ink stamp such a crisp image?

The Sweet Hauntings set also includes three fun images, which coordinate with the Note Tag punch, and can be used on a variety of tags, 3-D candy holders, or cards.  I created a fun and easy matchbook candy holder, holding a snack-sized Almond Joy.  To recreate, score a 2 x 7-5/8" piece of patterned paper at 3-1/4, 3-3/4, and 7".  What a fun way to give a little treat to co-workers or kiddos!

Stamps: Sweet Hauntings; Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, Happy Haunting DSP; Ink: Old Olive, Cucumber Crush, Tangelo Twist, Rich Razzleberry, Smoky Slate, Basic Black archival; Accessories: Aquapainter.

Stamps: Sweet Hauntings; Paper: Tangelo Twist, Very Vanilla, Happy Haunting DSP, Black Glimmer; Ink: Tangelo Twist, Basic Black markers; Accessories: Spider Web Doilies, Vanilla thick baker's twine, Mini Stapler, Note Tag punch.

Labor Day may have been the last foray for summer, but I was working diligently on Christmas swap cards while on vacation.

This set took more than a week to get done, mostly because of the watercoloring.  There's about four layers of Marina Mist and Night of Navy color there.  Here's a work-in-progress shot - tough view to work by, huh?

Stamps: Jingle All the Way; Paper: Night of Navy, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer, Watercolor paper; Ink: Marina Mist, Night of Navy; Accessories: Confetti Stars border punch, White embossing powder, Watercolor brush, Softly Falling EF, Sleigh Ride edgelits, Big Shot, Dimensionals.

Jump over to Mary Brown's blog to check out what fabulous ideas she has; they are always so creative!