Augustus and Edgar Prepare for Halloween, now with better photos

Halloween is the one time of the year that Augustus feels he can spread his glorious bat wings and be himself. Here he poses with his pet raven, Edgar, in eager anticipation of the big day.

This is made from another style of atc hutch from Alpha Stamps. It's similar to the one I used in Melancholy Circus, but this Halloween hutch has a spooky spiderweb header, and comes with three decorative skulls (I used the two smaller skulls) and a masonite bat (not used).

To get the glittery effect on the web, I painted the header black and then gave it a good spray of copper colored Glimmer Mist. I used tracing paper to determine how to cut the black and white paper around the web.

The sides are covered with orange cardstock with a lovely black web-like ribbon layered on top to give it texture and added spookiness.

Augustus and the raven stand out from the background with the help of adhesive foam. Happy Halloween!

Melancholy Circus

Alpha Stamps has started carrying great little masonite ATC sized hutches. With one of those and lots of other Alpha Stamps supplies and collage sheets, I created a Melancholy Circus. I was inspired by the thought of kids running away to join the circus, and then discovering that circus life is really not all it's cracked up to be. Turns out it's a Melancholy Circus: even the trick dogs are sad. Sorry, kids!

The clown on the top was formerly a brightly colored cupcake pick. I painted it with gesso and then aged it with acrylic paints and ink. Here's a list of what I used, with the supplies from Alpha Stamps linked.

SUPPLIES USED

Clown Cupcake Pick

ATC Hutch Shrine Kit
Valance Curtain Die-Cut Chipboard

Patterned Paper from Graphic 45
Circus Arabian Collage Sheet
Little Imps Collage Sheet
Little Darlings Collage Sheet
Circus Horse Stickers

Red Rhinestones
3D Metal Stars

Star Ribbon

1/8" Red Ribbon
Thin Border Stickers (Black)

All the kids have been given a red clown nose and a circus hat, plus a stripey pennant and a clown horn. Even one of the dogs has been decked out in a party hat. They're still not happy.

 

Is it wrong that I love how morose all those kids look, now that they've been properly dressed and forced to perform? Even the depressed looking dogs delight me, poor things.

If you're following along at home, you may have noticed that lately I've done several circus pieces with not-so-enthusiastic kids attending. I'm working on a series. I have more sad circuses in the mix.

Happy Birthday, Craftster.org!

This month, Craftster.org is turning 10! To celebrate this momentous occasion, they're holding a "Tin for Ten" craft contest. Of course my tin had to be an altered Altoids tin.

I wanted it to be festive and fun and full of Craftster-y goodness. Here's what I came up with: a sweet little girl who's not afraid to be a little silly every now and then, along with her little dog, who never dreamed that anyone who is a fan of Craftster may just be inspired to dress up a pup in some crazy costume, just for the fun of it.

Stars for all the wonderful, inspirational people I've met through the site, and a balloon celebrating the 10 years of fun Craftster has provided. It was not easy tying that tiny bow around the neck of the balloon!

And last but not least, some bright bulbs to represent all the wonderful and creative ideas that Craftster members have shared.

If you're crafty, or want to be, go check check out Craftster. You'll be amazed at all the wonderful projects you'll find, many with tutorials.

Happy birthday, Craftster, and many more!

Formal Birds

Here's another 4" by 4" block with birds on it; this one went to a swap partner on Craftster. Basically, I grabbed a bunch of stuff from my stash and this is what happened.  I kind of like how seriously they are taking themselves.

4" by 4" Art

My mom needed a little pick-me-up, so I made her a little piece of art. It's a 4" by 4" block of wood, containing a fairy godmother, a bluebird of happiness, a word of wisdom, and all my love.

I love you, Mom!

Fairy Lantern

I got a little black lantern from Alpha Stamps, and decided to alter it using a fun collage sheet designed by my very talented friend, Nichola Battilana.
Here's the lantern, before. Isn't it cute?

And after:

I painted white stripes with gesso, and filled the lantern with moss and faux flowers. The tiny fairies fit right in! (It was easiest to make this by removing the back panel of glass in the lantern.) I then took tiny triangles of paper and glued them onto thread to make colorful banners to string all around the top of the lantern and along the back.

Copic markers gave the white daisy ribbon coordinating centers. I sure love those markers!

I've known Nichola, creater of the fairy collage sheet, through Craftster for years. She does the most amazing magical work. If you get a chance, check out her blog, Pixie Hill. She made some fairy lanterns, too. I think it's funny that she also put a pennant banner on one of hers. Great minds, and all that.  

Big Top Tunnel Book

In my last post I featured a couple of peekaboo cards made with the chipboard frame set from Alpha Stamps. Here's what else I made with one of those sets: a fun little tunnel book using one of my favorite themes: the circus!

Here's a photo of the book when it's flat, just so you can get a good idea of its size. The frame set itself is 4" x 4". I added a little cardboard for the peak of the tent. 

The Tiny Circus and Circus Parade collage sheets are probably my favorites from Alpha Stamps. I used images from both of them, plus some striped Graphic 45 paper, for this project. 

Sadly, it's really difficult to photograph the depth of the book. I would guess it's about 2" wide when opened. You can just barely see the string of stars on a wire which hangs across the middle of the opening in the tent.

 

Here's the side view, where you can see the accordion folds and see the depth a bit better. There are about five layers of images, causing, as the sign proclaims, "controlled mayhem". I drew those juggling pins that are scattered along the bottom, using some Google images for reference. Now I want some old juggling pins. I found some real beauties on eBay!

Figuring out the logistics on how to make this tunnel book was a bit of a challenge, but lots of fun. I have one more set of those cards. I may have to do another.