Here’s a fun project that you really need to do (and can easily do) in advanced. You will specifically need the Haunted™ Line because the reason it is so simple is because the journaling page in this line has this Halloween Countdown already to go! (simply cut it out!)

Once this fun little calendar is finished, all you’ll need to do is let your kids stamp a fun shape (The Haunted™ Acylic Stamps will be what we are using. I’m thinking we will be using white ink and that creepy, crawly spider.) or just draw a mark on each day as you countdown to a very spooky Halloween! It will be a fun way to start October 1st!

I have the tutorial for you to download below (seriously, this is a 20 minute project at best and the hardest part is making sure you have a photo of your family to add!) and you can certainly expect some more haunted crafting happening ’round here this week. Those cute, um, I mean spooky crows just love getting photographed!

This photo was taken by Meg at Spraguefest by the Bean. Why I was wearing a sweater (even a short sleeved one) in that heat is a mystery to us all. Thankfully, I had a chance to jump around at Millennium Park.

1-Deena Rutter and I promoting our Halloween lines at CHA.

2-Haunted™ comes with acrylic stamps, epoxy brads, and flocked vinyl. Yum!

3. The fab My Mind’s Eye Booth. Seriously, it is so cute!

4-Crystal, Deena, and I headed to the city for a little Bandera, shopping, and sightseeing.

5-A sightseeing tour with the Spraguefest group had me happily sliding down the Picasso and racing Kelly and Crystal.

6-It looks like ice cream doesn’t it? It’s actually a caprese salad. Everyone thought I had ordered dessert first. I didn’t want to let them down, so for the next dinner I did (ummm, cannoli!).

7-Just to prove I was, in fact, in Chicago.

8-I’m caught doing a little sewing at the CHA Supershow. I tried out my flocked Haunted line on this sewing machine.

9-Crystal and I made matching bubble skirts! And this was Crystal’s very first time sewing. I make a motion for her to buy a sewing machine. Second?

10-Transformers 3 was being filmed. Unfortunately, you will have to ask Meg and Gary for their photos of Patrick Dempsey. I managed to miss that one.

11-My favorite night out!!!!! A few of us hopped over to Navy Pier for a little throw-up-inducing rides and ice cream (which was closed so I had to beg the manager to let all 8 of us in. Please, please, please?). BTW, don’t sit with Crystal on the swings. While you are clutching to the chain links for dear life, Crystal will be pretending to fly and wobble you all over the place. You will never get on the swings again.

12-The new Sprague booth at the CHA Supershow. It was PACKED the entire time. There’s lovely Jessica herself.

13-Kari from iKari. Also known to lose her voice from talking ALOT and clapping at everyone to show her support. This picture is proof.

14-A wonderful night of laughs with Crystal, Joan, Meg, and Gary. The waiter made it all the more fun. You can’t tell by this picture but the dessert was the size of my head. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration. But not by much.

And that is my very-short review (aren’t you glad I didn’t give you the long version?).

I happily discovered that Amber Packer on the MME blog had gotten her hands on some and made this darling layout. Yummy vinyl flocking…how I long to see you in person!

See it bigger by clicking on the image below:).

I can’t wait to show it off in Chicago in a couple of weeks!

OKay, enough Favorite Friday! I’m sure you are itching to know who the winner of MeadowLark™ is! First, thank you to everyone who made comments about MeadowLark! It was fun to read what you might use the collection for! I get a kick out of reading your comments and the more comments this blog gets, the more fun it is to post giveaways and freebies! Let people know so I can continue to do so! And the winner for this giveaway by random.org was:

Patti Hutchinson says: I just love the idea of a neutral black and white line for all of my spring and summer flower pictures. I also think it would make a great mini album for just about anything!

I’ve been working on this new hybrid ABC Book for a couple of days now. It’s a little present for my mother-in-law for Mother’s Day…shhhhh! Don’t tell! She even gave me a little time to work on it while she hauled my kids to the aquarium for a little “grammy” time yesterday. I had to share because I made this little book from MeadowLark™ and my new ABC Templates that will be out tomorrow at DHD. The mini illustrations are so sweet! Think Mother’s Day (or in my case, Grandma’s Day). The bonus? It’s pretty easy to make.

The templates all fit on a 4 in x 4 in photo (I get 4″x6″ photos printed at Costco and leave the extra space blank). All I did was take my “ABC photos” and dropped the templates on top (the digital kit comes with both white and black versions-52 files in all).

Once they are printed, you only have the fun part left! This little book is 5 in. x 5 in. You could make your book any size though. When I make my photos 4″ x 6″, I tend to make a 5 in” x 7 in” book. I was loving the black and white papers because it made the photos really pop. I added red ink to all the paper edges as an accent and some fun MME rub on letters to the cover (the other elements on the cover come from the MeadowLark™ die cut accessory sheets).  Oh ya, and my favorite way to get things bound? A quick trip to OfficeMax to let them spiral bind it for me. I’m okay with the hand off on this part of it!

Ahhhhh! I love a good project day! I’m off the computer designing for a day (after finishing up my new collection Daisy Jane™ for DHD last night) and getting paint on my face! I found a steal of a deal at Tai Pan the other day, and it’s been waiting for me to give it a fresh coat of paint. Of course, Felicity helped as only a toddler can (that’s her little hand painting in the photo!). I’m also hoping to get out those new MeadowLark™ papers to work on a little project. That’s this afternoon (with the girls…they love a good art project as much as I do).

Speaking of projects, I have to show off these amazing projects by one of DHD‘s new Hybrid Decorators: Jane Beljo (click on her name to see more). These cards use the Baby Mine kit (proceeds go to a good cause—see the post below!). You can see her helpful hints for making her cards at Design House Digital (her first post is here).

Oh ya, and I’ve been meaning to give a little shout out to Hi Mountain Drug Store in Kamas, Utah. Our little family stopped by to see DHD’s Digi guru Gennifer Bursett on our way back from a spring break vacation last week. It’s no wonder that the burger joint there has won so many awards! I inhaled that delectable philly burger with the refreshing limeade in a ridiculous amount of time. Yes, my mouth is salivating just thinking of it. Gen, watch out…I may be back sooner than you’d like!

Okay, backing away from the computer now .