Happy Halloween!

Aren't these the coolest carved pumpkins! They are done by a master pumpkin carver,  Ray Villafane , who even has a tutorial on his blog.  Check out his other pumpkins, they are amazing!
Well, Pat and I made it to Spooktacular on Friday night, but we were so tired from moving the store all day, that we just couldn't stand in line to go in the haunted houses.  After standing for more than an hour to get into the first house, and still not even close to getting in, we gave up.  We sat and had hot chocolate while Pat's daughter and friends went in.  It wasn't as good as last year, so we were a little disappointed.  The gypsy fire dancers weren't  there and the line-ups were so long for the haunted houses.  I guess Saturday wasn't as bad but hopefully they fix it next year.

Here's a spooky photo of Pat as we were leaving, it got really foggy out when we were leaving!  I added a few actions by JoesSisah to make it spookier.


















Here's a photo of the zombies dancing to "Thriller" in the graveyard.

Urban Scrapbook is all moved and ready for business Monday morning.  I am still amazed how fast we got everything done.  All the staff showed up with their husbands on Saturday and we got everything put back.  Come and check out the new store this week!  Pat and Lori are also having a big grand opening, check out the store's blog and website for details.
Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

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Trick or Treat?

Roxy has been practicing her tricks so she'll get lots of treats!

Are you ready for Halloween?
We've a bad week of weather (snow!) so hopefully it warms up a bit for Sunday.  I don't get a lot of children, last year was probably the most I've had, around 50.  I waited until yesterday to buy my treats, they seem to disappear before the 31st!
Here's a photo of a witch's boot that I made last year.  I had quite a few people ask how I made it (it was on display at Urban Scrapbook) and I kept the template somewhere, but I can't remember where I put it.
I basically made template of a boot sole, complete with pointy toe, and one of a boot side(cut 2 of these).  I didn't worry about them being perfect, as long as the length of the sole and the bottom of the side was about the same.
I made little cuts about 1/4 inch deep all around the sole and the bottom of the sides and turned them in.  glue the backs of the two sides together and then the tip of the boot.  Next glue the sole to the sides.  I then sprayed the whole boot with glimmer mist, until the boot was saturated.  I next molded the boot into the shape I wanted, let dry.  For the heel, I sprayed leftover paper and twisted and played around with it until it resembled a heel.  Spray the tongue and let these dry. Attach the tongue at the front of the boot, under the sides.  I used some 7Gypsies paper fasteners with string slipped through them before pressing the fasteners closed to bring the two sides together.  Attach the heel to the bottom.  This boot isn't meant to be perfect looking!  It was fun to experiment as I went along, I don't think you could ever get two exactly the same!

I love vintage looking Halloween decorations, and I seem to  have more witch themed things than anything!  Looks like I have accumulated a few witches!  Here are some of my favorites!

Pat and I are going with her daughter and friend to Fort Edmonton's Spooktacular Friday night.  We went last year and had a great time!
Our favorite part was the gypsy fire dancers who performed in the street and the zombies dancing in the graveyard to "Thriller".  Maybe we will see some of our Urban customers there!
Have a safe and Happy Halloween!

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The rest of...

my Little Black Dress Kit Club projects.  I still had a couple of cards to finish and since I had some product left still, I decided to do another layout.  It's amazing how much is in those kits, and there are lots of cool vintage things that I really want to use, so I just don't stop!
Here's my two cards:

I really try and make at least two cards with these kits, so I actually have some on hand.  I usually am making a card the last minute and I hate that!  Now if I would just make some extra envelopes too that would even be better!
This layout is of my sister Pat (sorry, sis) a couple of Halloweens ago.  We dressed up as witches at the store and had a lot of fun!  Pat looked great in her costume, but drinking her coffee was a little difficult!
I wanted to use these number and time cards, so I came up with this title.  I don't know about you, but I need my morning coffee!  That's one of the things I missed the most when I was going through my chemo, it just didn't sit right in my stomach, and it tasted terrible! (everything had a metal taste, especially coffee)

The cauldron and star were cut from my Slice machine and the witch is one of Tim Holtz's new diecuts.
That's it for today, have a great week!

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Little Black Dress ...

Kit Club projects finally!  I still have a couple of cards to finish, but I thought I'd better post these because before I know it, the next kit will be arriving.

Loved the colors in October's "Romance at Dusk" kit and lots of fun vintage embellishments!

First up, is a Halloween Cone, which I am giving directions.

I used a paper mache cone purchased from Michael's and covered it with patterned paper from Glitz (Hallowed Damask).  I place the paper on the diagonal  and use a glue stick to adhere it to the cone.  You will have to piece a small part at the back of the cone, at the top; but you won't notice once the ribbon is in place.  Instead of using different ribbons at the top, I used paper.

The top paper is black shiny cardstock punched with a Martha Stewart border bunch.  Next one, I pleated paper, about 4 strips and sewed them together.  The polka dot paper was sewn with a large running stitch down the center (3pieces).  I then wet the paper, dab to remove the excess water, and carefully gather.  Let the gathered strips dry and attach together. The yellow paper was just pleated and glued to the middle of the polka dot paper.  Before I glued down the polka dot strip, I glued down the satin ruffled ribbon.  The trick or treat medallion  was made using tissue paper and music note paper gathered and tied in a circle.  I then dipped the edges in white glue and dipped into glitter.  Set aside to dry.  The center was a journalling sticker, which I cut out the lined middle and stuck a book page behind.  Attach your letters (these are Thickers) and glue to the gathered papers.  Glue to the front of the cone.  I cut a strip of paper, fringed it, rolled it and glued it to the bottom of the cone.  Cover the end of the cone with ribbon.  I punched holes on either side of the top of the cone and strung ribbon through, tying a knot on the end inside the cone.  And that's your Halloween cone!
Here's some layouts, using the October Kit.

My son, Devin, loved to imitate Jim Carrey all the time.  So when "The Mask" came out, that's all he wanted to be for Halloween.

Loved all the pumpkins at Prairie Gardens, especially the grey ones!

Can't have Halloween layouts without one of Roxy!  This was from last year and I haven't had a chance to scrapbook it.  The yellow, red and black colors were perfect for this photo!
I am always amazed how well she sits for these dress-up photos, she doesn't seem to mind wearing these outfits at all!  Of course she knows there are always treats for her after!
Check out what the rest of the design team did with this kit and also their special guest, Elizabeth Kartchner (Dear Lizzy) here.
Have a great Friday!

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Vintage Halloween Garland

I had intended to post this last night but it was getting late, so I decided to wait until today.  I had bought some vintage looking garland last year made out of tissue paper and thought it would be easy to make my own.  When I started to make it, I realized that my Martha Stewart Fringe scissors would make this project even easier!
Here goes:

These are the scissors and garland!

I bought two packages of tissue paper, one black and one orange.  I was looking for cream, but couldn't find any, so I went with two colors. Open up the sheets and layer, alternating the colors, making sure the edges line up.

Next, cut through all the layers (with regular scissors) a strip of about 2 - 2 1/2 inches in width, the entire length of the paper. Continue doing this until all the paper is cut into strips or how many you want to make.

Next, you are going to take the strips and sew down the middle of each one.  I left some thread hanging on the ends so I could tie the garlands together.

Take your scissors (fringe scissors if you have them - makes it so easy and fast) and cut narrow strips toward the centre, taking care not to cut through the stitching.

Continue cutting all the way across and repeat on the other side.

This is what your fringed strip should look like.

Take the tissue strip in your hand and squish it until all the tissue is rumpled. 

This is how your finished garland should look.  Just tie as many together as you want, to get the length you would like.  I usually tie three or four together.  And there you have your vintage looking Halloween garland!

I have to show off my new purchase from the weekend!  Pat, Kayla and I went to the Antique Mall on Saturday (our favorite place) and found a few treasures.  This came home with me:

No, the spiders were not included!

I put spiders everywhere for Halloween; that's about as scary as I get!  Loved this old typewriter and I also found an old Kodak camera with it's original leather case.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have my "Little Black Dress Kit Club" projects done so I can share!

Have a great Thursday!

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Countdown to Halloween continues...

or until I run out of ideas or projects to post!  I'm on a roll right now, posting three days in a row!  I started this "wastepaper basket lamp" awhile ago, it took a lot longer than I thought, only because I had no idea what I was doing or wanted to do!  My sister Pat had seen this idea somewhere and I had seen a decorated chandelier  class that sounded similar so we set off to Wellington Gardens to search for wire baskets.  We don't really need an excuse to visit our favorite store, but I like to pretend I have a reason to go there, at least once a week!  Anyways, we both found our baskets and after my husband turned mine into a lamp with a light socket and  cord kit from Home Depot, I was all set to decorate.  For the past month I have had every halloween embellishment, metal embellishment, letters, etc. all over my room trying to decide what to put on it. I decided I had better hurry up and finish this project before it was impossible to find my desk and even the floor!  So here goes....

These photos aren't the greatest, it was kind of dark in the house, and I didn't want to use a flash.  I have used an orange light bulb too.

I used Graphic45 Halloween paper and The Girl's Paperie.  The small cards are made from the Graphic45 paper.  After cutting out the cards from the paper, I matted each one on chipboard, distressed the edges, matted it again on doubled cardstock (two pieces glued back to back) that I pinked the edges.  After that I glittered all around the edge of the card.  The button garland is strung with very thin wire.
I cut strips of paper and randomly wove them through the wire basket. (they are stuck on the wire with glue dots)  The string of words are made from The Girl's Paperie sticker book.  There are two pages of all these halloween words in the book, and I just stuck my chosen ones back to back on a length of string  ending it with a metal charm at the bottom.  I also stuck two diecut witches (cut  from my Tim Holtz witch diecut with corrugated cardboard) back to back on the string too.  It's also a great way to use all the bits and pieces of halloween embellishments, metal embellishments (clocks, gears, hooks, metal letters, numbers) that you have left over. I also took a piece of Tim Holtz film strip, cover it with his halloween tissue tape, and then glued another film strip over top(2nd photo).
If you want a closer look, it's hanging up right now at Urban Scrapbook!  Pat is still working on hers, but it's going to be an everyday lamp, can't wait to see it!
That's all for today!  I think the next item I'll be showing, maybe tomorrow, is my halloween garland!
Have a great Tuesday!

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Spooky!

That's the name of this vintage looking Halloween box I made.  I always wanted to try and make one like the ones I've seen on the Jack and Cat Curio blog.

I bought an inexpensive wood box with a wood insert on the lid from Michael's and painted it black first.  Then I used Ranger's Spice Marmalade, Broken China, Shabby Shutters crackle paint and lightly painted areas, letting some of the black show through.  I didn't have any white crackle paint, so I painted with a cream paint, and then a crackle medium. I then repeated the different colors and black lightly, then the cream again. After I was  happy with the finished look, I used photo distress ink with a foam applicator and lightly inked.
I alcohol inked a metal muffin tin and then painted using the same paints.  After that was dry, I screwed it to the bottom of the box. The inside was covered with Graphic45 Halloween paper and the door and edges were covered with Tim Holtz Halloween tissue tape.
For the outside of the box I used Pink Paislee Artisan Elements - Ornaments and alcohol inked them with a few different colors. I used a Pink Paislee rub-on (spooky) and glitter sticker (skeleton).  I made an accordion flower (opened it halfway) and glued it behind the sticker.
Now, for the inside!  I embossed some grunge paper, and cut out a tag shape, painting and inking it.
I glued some grunge board wings, painted and inked behind the tag.  I used various, gears, a typewriter key in between the wings. In the middle of the tag, I used another Pink Paislee artisan element and a coffin charm (it opens up) in the middle.  Behind the tag, on the back of the box, I used Tim Holtz metal numbers (alcohol inked)gears, and chain.  I used a black foam  piece at the back of the tag to make it stand out from the back of the box.
 So that's my halloween box, next up will be a lamp that I made out of a wastepaper basket!
Have a great evening!

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Are you ready.....

for Halloween?  It's hard to believe that October is half over already.  I finally pulled all my Halloween stuff out, and it is all over my living room, waiting for me to get my act together and finish decorating. I have some wonderful vintage looking pieces that I have collected over the years, and it's always fun to see them again every Halloween.  Maybe I'll share a few of my favorites after I clean up my mess!

 I have been busy working on some Halloween projects for Urban Scrapbook, so I will be posting photos over the next two weeks.  I will share these Halloween sticks with you today though!

I saw these stars on someone's blog (Sorry, I can't remember whose, but whoever you are, thanks for the inspiration!)and they were really easy to make.  I made them with paper mache stars, dowels, ribbon and paper.  I just covered the stars with patterned paper (Pink Paislee, and Girl's Paperie)distressed, inked the edges, and the centers were Pink Paislee embellishments over accordion flowers.  I made a small hole in the bottom and stuffed the center of the strip of ribbons in before I stuck the dowel in.  I then wrapped Tim Holtz Halloween tissue tape around the dowels and they were done!

Well, that's all for today, stay tuned for my next project - A spooky vintage looking box.

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Monthly Challenge

Here's my layout for Urban Scrapbook's monthly page kit challenge.  We got to work with My Mind's Eye halloween paper this month and the word for October was "Beware".

My dog was quite fascinated with this crow that I had perched on a pumpkin.  I thought for sure I would find it one day with the beak chewed off but I was really surprised when I caught her licking the beak like crazy.  I love the guilty look on her face when she saw me snapping these photos.  I haven't taken a pic of her dressed in her annual halloween costume yet, that's another layout!  I know, pretty sad isn't it, when your kids are all grown up and there's no more costume photos.  Lucky for me, mine doesn't mind being dressed up and photographed, she knows it always ends with treats!

We had these chandelier drops in our kits, so I turned mine into a "spider flower".  I cut out two spider webs with my slice (last year's halloween card), then strung the drops (four large, four small) together with very thin wire.  The small spider is from the diecut sheet.  The crow was cut out from the same card, (it didn't cut all the way through the corrugated cardboard, which I cut on the backside and finished cutting with scissors) sanded and some glitter added to the wing section.  It's hard to tell by the photo, but  that dark part by the crow is black rose ribbon.  I thought I would be the only one doing a layout of my dog, but seems some of the other girls had the same idea!   The layouts are in the store, I'm not sure if Pat has had time to put them up on the website yet, they should up by Sunday or Monday.  Pat and Lori have been busy with the store's booth at Scrapfest which ends tomorrow.  

Have a great weekend!

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