Halloween Fun with Spellbinders

When Spellbinders recently sent me some stickpins with corresponding dies and some new embossing plates, I immediately chose to do a Halloween themed craft. After all, ’tis the season!

I made a little witchy collage for the stickpin, and then a Halloween tag to display the pin on. To get the creepy background look on the tag, I embossed a plain manilla tag using the Artisan X-Plorer embosser along with the “Poetry” embossing plate, and then lightly inked the tag to highlight the embossed areas. I then layered the tag with some Halloween papers and a couple of bats. What a great setting for my stickpin!

To make the stickpin, I cut out a piece of orange cardstock using the correct die. I found an image of a little girl, gave her a witch’s hat cut from some scrapbook paper, and then embellished it all with glitter and a couple of rhinestones. I outlined it all with thin black edge stickers to make the image pop.  The stickpin is attached to the card with a removable glue dot, so you can easily remove it for wear. It’s the perfect little Halloween gift for your favorite witch or goblin!

Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of playing with my Artisan X-Plorer, and it’s not been all about Halloween. I’ve made stationery, bookmarks, and different stickpins for every day wear, and they’re all posted on Craftster! Check them out and find out how handy the Artisan X-Plorer is for all your embossing and die-cutting needs.

Batty Boo Blocks

More little trick or treaters! I had my sweet hubby cut some 2" by 4" pieces of wood for me, and I painted and collaged these "Batty Boo Blocks". This is my favorite Halloween craft I've done this year, but I'm certain there will be more to come.

I used some gorgeous orange paper by BoBunny, plus some chipboard bat wings and some images of kids from Alpha Stamps collage sheets. Because the bat wings are thick, the kids are raised up a bit from the background block. Here they are as individuals. 

Marta, the little witch:

Franklin, the wizard:

 Reagan, the poisoner (she scares me a little):

And Michael, the masked:

Trick or treat!

Four Happy Jacks

This weekend, I'm heading out of town with my mom, mother in law, and sister, for our annual girls' weekend. I can't wait! We usually try to get each other little gifties, just for fun. In the past, I've done little goodie bags for everyone, but this year, I did something different. Michaels has their plastic pumpkins on sale, so I bought four of the little ones and painted them up for Halloween. Happy Jacks! I love them all together, so once I give three away, I may go purchase a couple more so I can line my mantle.

I gave my MIL first choice, and she chose Jack #2, the craziest one. That was my fave, too!

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.