Grateful to Be a Freak ...

Welcome to the Control Freaks Blog Tour!! I always love it when the Freaks get together (hopping, swapping, or just visiting and hugging at Stampin' Up events!). This is a VERY talented, warm, kind, and amazing group of peeps ... and I am FOREVER grateful to be a part of this group!! Did you see the FANTASTIC creations by my good friend, Connie Tumm? I LOVE her style!!

This month we are all about gratitude ... and as I got thinking about it, I realized that a theme like "Gratitude" did NOT mean that all things created had to do with Thanksgiving or "thank you" cards. Life has been SO crazy for me for the past little while that I have NOT had much time to create any Halloween-y types of things. Which has been VERY hard for me since Halloween is my mostest-favoritist holiday of the year. I love to decorate (which I do, inside and outside of my home!), make costumes (which I do ... cannot WAIT to share with you what I made for my daughter this year ... that's coming in another post soon!), wear costumes (I have SEVERAL I have made throughout the years that I enjoy wearing whenEVER I won't be deemed as too WEIRD to do so!), eat candy ('nuf said!), and MAKE CRAFTY THINGS!! So that's what I'm doing for y'all this go-round ... letting loose with some of my Halloween happiness!!

THANKYOUTHANKYOU to Cindee Wilkinson and Patty Bennett (who ALSO just happy to be part of my Freaky Circle of Friends!) for creating and sharing this FUN-FUN-FUN idea ... making a little "file folder" card using Stampin' Up's NEW and WONDERFUL Envelope Punch Board. I have been DYING to try one of these little gems!! Sooo happy ... and grateful ... to have had the opportunity to get to it!! (and I made me another spider using MDS and my Cricut ... SUPER CREEPY FUN!)

Stamps:  Toil & Trouble
Paper: Very Vanilla, Basic Black, Witches' Brew DSP
Ink:  Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black
Accessories:  Apothecary Accents Framelits Dies, Brights Candy Dots, Rhinestone Basics, Large Rhinestone Basics. Basic Black Chevron Ribbon, Witches' Brew Washi Tape, Whisper White Baker's Twine, Envelope Punch Board, Cricut
MDS:  Spooky Things

And this little Halloween Treat Bag was a bit of a "CASE" for me ... I saw this image (from Halloween Bash) worked over and done up MDS-style on Stampin' Up's blog by Chrissy Nielson (a Concept Artist and GENIUS who works at SU's home office). I added my own tags and embellishments ... but I LOVE making iron-on goodness using MDS. So this made me grateful for those who share their talents with us ... and grateful that I had to go to the store and get some CHOCOLATE goodies to put inside!!

Stamps:  NONE
Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black, Black Sharpie (to color large rhinestone for spider body)
Ink:  NONE
Accessories:  Ticket Duo Building Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Linen Thread, Pumpkin Pie Taffeta Ribbon, Muslin Bag, Raffia
MDS:  Halloween Bash (image on bag) AND images for tags!

This month I am a "Connie Sandwich" ... put smack-dab in the middle of TWO super-talented "Connies" ... so next up is the ultra-amazing Connie Babbert!! Check it out!