Christmas in September

I've been in heavy duty Halloween mode for a while now, but I took a break from witches and pumpkins and focused on Christmas ornaments.
My sister Susan over at Killam Creative and I are in a swap together on Craftster called Invite Your Partner. She mentioned she loved my Christmas ornaments made from 2x2 blocks of wood and wondered if I could make them smaller for a little tree.
Well, yes, indeedy!

I made her twelve 1x1 inch blocks, plus two 1/2 inch blocks, (because why not?) a cute Merry Christmas banner,

added in some tiny red seed pearl and gold ball garland and put it all in a salvaged old cigar box that I tarted up with Santas, sparkles and red and green paper.

I loved making this for my sister!

It's time for Edgar Allen Poe

It's all about Edgar Allen Poe at Alpha Stamps this September!
Here is a shrine dedicated to the dark writer, complete with a tiny little glittering
'Tell Tale Heart' and some bones that may have tumbled out from....somewhere.

The ravens stare with their single eyes. The black fringey bits are supposed to represent funereal plumes, but I realized after I took the pictures that they look like eyelashes I put in the wrong place. Oops.
Perhaps that last glass of wine was not a good idea.
The birds are new (Black Chipboard Raven) that I covered with BoBunny Double Dot Vintage Burnt Orange Scrapbook Paper, inked the edges and then used a black marker to create the chiaroscuro/dots to add some depth.

Hard to see, but there are little plumey things on the sides and top of the frame as well. I made these by clipping just a tiny bit off of some Black Sweeper Fringe.
The tombstone is a new shape that is part of the new More Gothic Tombstones ATC Bases*.
The awesome pumpkins are actually real seed pods called (very cleverly) Pumpkin Pods. I love these things!

I used the Edgar Allen Poe Collage Sheet for the image in the frame and Poe's Words Collage Sheet for the signature. I made the base by cutting three rounds from a 12 x 12 Chipboard sheet, glued them together, covered it with paper and trimmed it out with Black Zig Zag Dresden Border.
I used a Copic marker to stain the Wooden Candlestick Holder and then painted dot detail with a paint pen.
Those paint pens are so convenient!
I cut up a Plastic Skeleton, dabbed some white paint on him and nestled the parts (erk) in the pumpkin pods.
A filigree flower and a watch part are the base for the coldly glittering heart at the top of the tombstone.


For a complete list of supplies, go HERE!

WE HAVE A WINNER!! Southernbubbles, drop me an e-mail and I'll send you Little Red!

I made this fun, over sized ATB (artist trading block) with some great supplies from Alpha Stamps.

 
The block itself is a scrap piece of maple McGyver had kicking around his workshop. Overall, the piece is about 9" x 5.5" counting all the branchy bits sticking out. Most of the rest of the supplies used are from Alpha Stamps including the very cool Creepy Chipboard Tree Cut-Outs.

To achieve the texture on the tree, I first sealed it with some matte medium. After it dried, I inked the tree up using Vintage Photo Distress Ink and a 'leather' Copic marker from the Madonna of the Birds Set.
After those dried, I laid on a really thick coat of matte medium and then dabbed at it with a sponge brush to get the rough, bumpy texture. I worked both sides of the tree, but allowed lots of drying time before I flipped the tree over to work on the opposite side.
Pretty easy and straight forward, but the effect is neat.
I also used the same Copic marker to color/stain the Candlestick Holder (the base) and the 1 Inch Wide Wooden Finial (on the top).

The collage images I used were the Red Riding Hood #1 Collage Sheet and Red Riding Hood #3 Collage Sheet.
I also used the Copic Sketch Marker Lipstick Red to punch up the reds in both images. I love this red...it's so lush.

The rest of the supplies I used are listed below:
1/2" Red Paper Roses
Double Dot Vinatge Turquoise Scrapbook Paper (similar to Double Dot Vintage Ocean Scrapbook Paper)
Double Dot Vintage Chocolate Scrapbook Paper (similar to Double Dot Vintage Gingerbread Scrapbook Paper)
Black Zig Zag Dresden Border
Thin Fleur Dresden Borders Black
Brass flower (similar to 7mm Flower Washers)

Additional Supplies:
Golden Matte Medium
Brass filigree flowers
Block of wood approx. 4" x 5.5"

I'm giving this piece away!

 





























All you have to do is join this site or leave a comment. I'll be picking a winner out of the (metaphoric) hat on Saturday, August 9th.
 Note: I'll ship this for free, but only within the USA. International shipping costs will apply.

Thanks for stopping by!

It's the Circus!

It looks like the clowns are on strike.....

Except for this silly guy, who can't help himself.
And by the way, I'm not so sure I'd stand where that cat is standing......

This guy seems to think a nap on the back of an elephant is the height of comfort.

And we've got a clown that is into self-improvement, or maybe he's just reading the funnies....

SUPPLIES LIST HERE

A little silver spool

 



I made this little silver spool ornament for a Craftster buddy of mine (Knickertwist!)  I'm in a swap with.
For some reason, I lost a whole paragraph here...I said lots of nice things about Knickers...all true (funny lady, wicked good imagination, generous spirit and more) but I'll sum up and say I really wanted to do something special for her, mainly because she's an awesome human, but also because she participates in Art Abandonment, which is very special to me. If I'd been able to sneak up to her doorstep and leave the spool there, that would have been very apropos.
You can learn about Art Abandonment HERE

Knickertwist's website is called Pixie Hill and you can see her magical work there and on her blog Here.

Just FYI, this piece is made from PMC3 (precious metal clay) which is fine pure silver particles, binders and water. You can treat it like clay, roll it flat, stamp on it, make tiny things and attach them to other things... in a trazillion combinations.
It dries to leather hard and is then fired in a kiln at about 1200 degrees. The binders and water burn away and what you have left is the pure silver.
It's magic every time I open the kiln.
This was my first attempt at a hollow form bead. It was a lovely, enjoyable experiment and I want to make a lot more!

The Great Escape

Here's a little magic show I conjured up (look what I just did) for the Alpha Stamps awesome June Paper Theatres Kit.
I love the big fancy magic shows that used to be put on in those beautiful, opulent old theatres and used that for my inspiration. This very grand looking wizard has managed to make a few balloons appear out of thin air and  they've begun to escape the confines of the magic circle he has them trapped in and are now floating off into the theatre and the crowd.

This guy is either a genius or a really bad wizard......

 There's a link to supplies Here.

Thanks for stopping by!