Happy Halloween! This is always one of those last minute holidays for me. I’m not sure if I will do anything to celebrate tonight, but I am dressing up as Shoshanna from Girls for the day. I’ve been planning this costume for a year. Basically, I’m just wearing a crazy bun on the side of my head and talking real fast as usual. Whew! So labor intensive. I have so much appreciation for people who put time and effort into their costumes though. My little sister dressed up as a vending machine this year and made the costume with my dad which I think is so sweet. I’m also loving costumes around the interwebs such as this Pinocchio family costume. So good!

I’m not a fan of scary Halloween decor, but I do love cute autumn swag more than anything. So I thought I would share some of the best pumpkin DIY projects I’ve found over the past few weeks! I love that pumpkins are relevant for the entire season. Pumpkin crafts forever.

(top left, clockwise)

1. DIY Macrame Hanging Pumpkin | Fall for DIY
2. Decoupage Pumpkins | Brit + Co
3. DIY Pumpkin Scented Candles | Momtastic
4. Felt Costumes for Your Halloween Pumpkins | Lia Griffith

Are you dressing up this year? Doing anything crafty? Have a fun and safe night!

Good morning! Today I’m back to talk about another product from the beautifully curated online shop Uncommon Goods. Before learning about custom stamps and heat embossing, I never really gave stamping a second thought. I associated stamps with crafty handmade stationery and that was the end of it. But I’ve since realized that stamps have so many different purposes and are 100% customizable. This past weekend, I finally tried making my own stamps using this Carve-a-Stamp kit by Yellow Owl from Uncommon Goods. Like the Calligraphy Starter Kit I shared last week, this was a trial-and-error experience and I have a few tips for those of you who are considering trying it out too.

This kit contained everything I needed to get started, including templates for tons of cute designs. I decided to make one stamp from a template and another stamp of my teacup logo.

I traced the cute envelope illustration, transferred it to the rubber stamp block, and then things began to go wrong. This kit includes five different carving tool sizes. It’s important to start with the smallest one and trace lightly. I didn’t do that. I took the small carving tool and started carving out the lines like a beast! Whoops! Tracing lightly is the key to getting those smooth lines.

As you can see, my heart envelope stamp didn’t exactly turn out as planned. Lesson learned! I used this failed stamp carving experience to create a more clean stamp on the back of the rubber block.

Creating a stamp of my teacup logo has been on my to-do list for a long time! I’m happy that I was able to make it happen with this stamp kit. To add a little shine, I decided to heat emboss using this teacup stamp. I love how the gold turned out!

Regardless of the ups and downs of my first attempt at carving stamps, I am so excited to make many more! I have one or two extra carving blocks on hand, so I’ll continue using the tools provided in this helpful kit. And I’m definitely going to retrace the heart envelope. :)

As I said last week, I have nothing but nice things to say about Uncommon Goods. This company is so ethically sound and dedicated to supporting designers, artists, and their own community. When it comes to finding special gifts for friends and family, Uncommon Goods has something for everyone. You can find gifts for women here, gifts for men here, and gifts for kids here. The options are never ending!

Thanks for letting me share! Have you made your own stamps before? Or have you tried heat embossing?