Spooktacular Signs - The Trick-or-Treat Blog Hop

Welcome to the Trick-Or-Treat Blog Hop! 

October 8-10, 2011

 

Crafter's Workshop and Clearsnap have teamed up for the next three days to create hauntingly inspiring projects for this Halloween season. It's all tricks, treats, and techniques so join us on a fright night jaunt to remember, hopping from blog to blog. Leave your "Trick-or-treat" comment on each blog in the hop in hopes of winning candy, blog candy that is! For every 50 comments posted on this blog we're giving away a set of inks and accessories to spook up any crafter's projects!!! We'll choose the winners from the blog comments posted on all the blogs in the Hop. 

The Clearsnap prize includes Smooch Spritz in Frosted Grape, Green Olive, and Carrot Cake, ColorBox Pigment InkPad in Spooktacular, Glitter in  Grape Fizz, Design Adhesives in "Trick or Treat" and "Eeeeks!?", plus our new Design Foils in Lime Burst. That's alot of spook to go around!

Plus Crafter's Workshop is giving away this fabulous assortment of templates worth over $35!! This is some serious blog candy!!

Receive extra entries in the Hop for following Clearsnap and Crafter's Workshop on Twitter and Facebook and for tweeting or posting on Facebook about the Hop - just post here afterwards that you have followed us or posted about the Hop to increase your chances to win. 


Here are the artsy spooksters to visit:

Clearsnap - http://clearsnap.blogspot.com

Crafter's Workshop  http://www.thecraftersworkshop.com/The_Crafters_Workshop/Blog/Blog.html

Jaime Echt - www.thecraftersworkshop.com

Sabrina Alery http://sabrinaalery.blogspot.com/

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer - http://www.balzerdesigns.typepad.com/

Charlotte Jenkins http://suepup.blogspot.com

Mary Dawn Quirindongo -http://mypinkmexico.blogspot.com/ Karen Grunberg- http://www.karenika.com/

Jennifer Priest http://hydrangeahippo.blogspot.com

Jen Clark - http://mycraftyfriendjen.blogspot.com/  YOU ARE HERE

Daniela Dobson http://danieladobson.blogspot.com/

Happy Hopping!!

We recently visited our local pumpkin patch as a family, and while there, I saw a large family or possibly a group on tour - at any rate, they had some signs on wood sticks to identify their group.  I thought they were really cute, and that some similar Halloween-y signs would make super cute decorations...and that my kids would probably enjoy carrying them while out trick-or--treating (OR just around the house for the next several weeks, as is proving the case...).  So before we left the pumpkin patch, I made sure to gather several twigs - we live in the desert and certainly don't have any twigs in OUR yard!  My kids couldn't wait to see what I was going to do with them!

I started out by cutting cardstock to 5.25" wide by 6.5" long.  I ran each one through my Zutter Distrezz-it-All to distress the edges.  I used the 6x6 Crafter's Workshop trees template and the Clearsnap MetalXtra Platinum ink pad with a blending tool to apply ink to the cardstock to create just a shadow on the background.

After drying the ink, I applied some Glue Gloss to a tree stamp and stamped it over the background trees.  I rubbed some Lucky Penny and Plum Crazy Designer Foils over the Tree (you have to let it get tacky a bit, then rub a bit and apply several times since it's not really meant to be used with the Glue Gloss).  Then I re-stamped the tree using Clearsnap Pigment ink to give it more definition.

I used the Crafter's Workshop numbers template to highlight the number "31," using Clearsnap Espresso pigment ink.  I just love how easy the Queue's are to use - both the chalk ink and the pigment ink.  (Just a note - the chalk ink dries very quickly, the pigment ink a bit more slowly, but both are easy to use.)

I added a word sticker, going around the edges with Dark Brown chalk ink, and went around the edges of the entire sign with the same ink pad.  I added some accents with a Viva Pearl Pen, and my sign was complete.(I punched holes in the top and bottom to put it on a twig.)

On this one, I used the triangle plaid template to create a background, added the clocks over it using that template, and I used Glue Gloss to cover the witch in black glitter.  I *LOVE* using Glue Gloss for glitter - it ROCKS.  If you've never tried it for glitter, flocking, etc. - you are really missing out!!  I again used the MetalXtra Platinum ink pad - to ink the skull and to add highlights to the houses - I just love that ink pad!!  A little goes a long way.

On this third one, I started by using black ink with the tree template, and then used Design Adhesive flourishes in the corners with Plum Crazy foils.  You can see the shimmer somewhat - but it's really hard to see in photographs JUST how shimmery the foils really are!!  I added the skeleton and the Halloween card - inked with Lavender chalk ink - and the "spooky" word sticker.  I went around the edges of the sticker and sign with Espresso pigment ink.

Finally, the last sign.  I started by using the damask template, and sprayed using Wine Berry and Silver Foil Smooch Spritz.  Then I applied some Glue Gloss on the house, and again applied the Designer Foils, a little at a time.  While it didn't work perfectly - it sort of has a spooky, haunted look to it, which is fitting with the theme!  I finished it with a greeting.

For now, the signs are gracing our entry-way table, along with a few other Halloween decorations...though I had to fight my children off to get them to leave them be long enough for me to snap photos!  I have no doubt they will be missing soon, and there will be 3 little monsters running through the house sporting spooky signs!

Now on with the blog hop!!

Out of the Box Art Journal Page

Over on Craft Test Dummies on Monday, I am posting a review of this adhesive tape runner, Glue Tape by Plus.  It was new to me - I had never heard of it - and Jenny had sent it to me after Summer CHA to give it a try.  Make sure you go check out my review - I was pleasantly surprised by how it performed, especially since it is lower priced than many of the tape runners on the market.

Anyway, while doing my review, one of the "happy accidents" I discovered (I almost ALWAYS have accidents while arting - some are happy, some not so much...) was that this stuff makes craft foam stick really well to itself!  Why, you might ask, would I care about this?  Well, I had just seen, a couple days prior to playing with the Glue Tape, THIS tutorial, and had picked up a pack of thin, cheap (as in Dollar Tree) craft foam in the hopes of doing the same thing. The foam was super thin, and one layer wasn't going to work for the stamps - so I needed to double it up - so I was happy to find that the Glue Tape would make it easy for me to do this.

So, anyway...on my shopping trip...which was a LOOONG one...picture this: me, all four kids (my 6-year old, my twin 3-year olds, and my 10-month old).  We've already been to the bank and the post office (where I had to drag all of them inside, to stand in line, to mail 2 packages - all because I only had cash to pay for the postage...normally I print Priority Mail labels online and do Carrier Pick-up).  I was in search of miniature rolling pins, or else cheap regular-sized ones.  I called Jo-Ann's - they said they had none.  I called Michaels', and they said yes, they had them in the dollar aisle AND that they were on sale 40% off!  Score!  So off we went to Michaels.  We searched the store up and down and found ONE miniature rolling pin.  One.  And it wasn't on sale.  So we got it and headed for the Dollar Tree, in hopes of finding some regular-sized ones for a buck each.  Do you know that they carry every kitchen utensil you could possibly need at that store EXCEPT  rolling pins?!  Sigh.  

At that point, the kids were tired and hungry and getting cranky.  Or maybe it was me who was getting cranky.  It takes a lot of work to get 4 kids in and out of car seats at every single stop.  Anyway, I stopped to think for a minute.  Or five.  I wondered if perhaps I should think outside the box.  Why did it have to be rolling pins?  Wouldn't pretty much ANY long, slender cylindrical hard object work?  

So off to Home Depot we went.  I grabbed a 1" diameter, 10-foot long piece of PVC pipe off the rack, and asked a worker if he could cut it down.  He said sure, and asked how many pieces and how long.  I hadn't really thought about it, so I quickly said, "Uh, how about ten 1-foot pieces?"  He agreed, and I asked how much it would cost for the cutting.  "Nothing, just whatever the pipe itself cost."  The pipe?  Cost me a whopping $1.49 plus tax.  Now THAT'S what I'm talking about!  I was so excited about my score that I completely forgot I'd been wanting to pick up some washers and a few other trinkets to use for stamping as well...ah, well...I guess we'll need to get out of the house some other day.

For this one, I went ahead and used the ONE miniature rolling pin we did pick up.  (However, I have already made a stamp from one of the PVC pipes, and it works great!  And I'm SO glad I have 10 of them - because this is totally addicting!)  After I cut a bunch of squares and rectangles, I used my hot glue gun to glue them to the rolling pin.  I used a brayer to lay down some paint on my journal page, and then used a paint brush to put paint on the rolling pin before rolling it across my journal page.  This is how it started out:

And after many, many layers (don't you just LOVE layers?!  I can't get enough layering!) - this is what I ended up with.  I had no idea where I was going with the page until almost all of the layers were on the page and I had worked on it over the course of almost a week.  

And then suddenly, I was inspired by the squares and rectangles to journal about how much art has changed the way I look at life and approach life.  I used to be such a "color inside the lines" kind of person, such a rule-follower.  I lived such a constrained life.  But I feel like art has freed me in so many ways - is freeing me in so many ways.  So that's what the page is about.  And I love the way the circular journaling looks in comparison to the boxed-in title.  I wasn't sure I was really loving the page until I finished the journaling, and then I loved it!

What have you been up to lately?  Leave me a link - I'd love to see.  And don't forget to come visit at Craft Test Dummies on Monday for the Glue Tape review...I'd love to have you visit over there!

Keeping it real

I've been thinking about writing this post for quite some time now...but life just keeps getting in the way.  But that's sort of the thing.  I used to write about my life on this blog.  I mean, I've always posted about my art too, but I used to include more...me, I guess, too.  But then I got this thing in my head that I just *had* to be on a design team, and in my quest to do so, I read a blog post somewhere about "how to get accepted on a design team."  And in that post, I read that basically, your blog should only contain posts about your art.  Not family, not kids...basically, not real life - just your art projects.  So I quit blogging about those things.  I started a separate blog, with the idea that I could blog about family and life there...except I didn't.  

A year has gone by now.  I was accepted to a design team.  I did my time.  I quit the design team.  I no longer have the "design team bug."  I really just want to do my own art, to learn as much as I possibly can as an artist, to grow, to take classes, to develop my own style.  I do still write product reviews on a GREAT blog - Craft Test Dummies - and love what I do there.  But here?  I miss being real.  I miss being authentic.  Because while I *am* an artist, I am also a mom, and a wife, and a friend, and a child of God.  And I don't care what anyone else says...this is MY blog, and I'm done editing myself for the sake of being accepted by some "unknown" out in the blogosphere!  

I've started art journaling.  It's helping me a lot, because reality is that I'm going through some tough stuff right now.  Some of that "makes your stomach hurt just thinking about it" stuff.  The kind of stuff that demands a LOT of praying, a LOT of reflection, a LOT of trust in God's almighty plan.  

And I'm dealing with a LOT of physical pain.  Everyday, severe, debilitating pain.  The kind that sometimes makes me want to just crawl into a hole and hide.  Rheumatoid arthritis is no joke, and I've spent the last several months working my way through a lot of anger and grief and frustration in trying to accept this new life.

Art has been my outlet, my source of expression for the angst inside.  Besides my bible, it's the one place I feel at home, the place I am soothed and comforted.  Art stretches me in new ways all the time, and I see God's beauty all the time.  I find myself thanking God daily for this gift of art, and I worry sometimes when my pain is too great to allow me to do any art.  I wonder when the day will come that I won't be able to make art anymore, and what I will do then.

And through everything, I am constantly striving to find the blessings.  Because I know, without a doubt, that I am SO blessed.  I want to live a life filled with gratitude, no matter what.  I want to drown out the "noise" and just be quiet when things become overwhelming...so that I can hear the Truth.  

So I'm still here.  I'm still making art.  And I'll try to post a little more often.  But I'll most definitely be more authentic from here on out.  

Reaching My Goal: Spark the Event

For the past two years, I have watched with a longing heart as the incredibly creative and talented and beautiful women who organize Spark the Event prepare for it.  They plan, they decorate, they get every detail just right.  The concept behind it, I love...one woman has an idea, which sparks the creative spirit in another, which sparks the creative spirit in another...and so on.  It's two days filled with creativity and sharing and making and laughing and being refueled and being rejuvenated.

Well, this year?  I decided, "Why watch?  Why not GO?!"  Do I have the money?  Nope.  Not a cent.  So I'm doing something about that.  I signed up to be an Independent Tupperware Consultant...this, after being a bit reticent to even attend my sister-in-law's Tupperware party, I might add.  But one party, and then holding my own party, was all it took to convince me...Tupperware is SO AWESOME...both the product and the company!



I had so many preconceived ideas...and they were all wrong.  Tupperware has so many products to help me, me who can't cook meals anymore for my family because of my chronic pain; products to help my family, who throws out way too much produce because it goes bad before we are able to eat it; products to help us prepare fresh, healthy food fast.

Here are a few of my favorites:

*the TupperWave Stack Cooker Complete System - lets you cook a full meal in minutes!  Cook a whole chicken in under 30 minutes; bake a cake in 7-9 minutes; or brown ground beef/turkey in 4-6 minutes per pound...while the grease drains through a colander to the casserole dish below!  Talk about meals in minutes! SO much better than processed food for my kids!

*the FridgeSmart Containers - did you know that the average family throws out 24 pounds of fresh produce every MONTH?!  These containers have adjustable vents, ridges on the bottom to collect moisture, and a guide on the side of each container to let you know how to adjust the vents for each type of produce!  Imagine keeping strawberries fresh for 2 full weeks, or celery crisp for a full month!!

*the Quick Chef Pro System - it's like a food processor, but better.  It won't turn your chicken into something that looks like dog food!  How about fresh salsa or guacamole in less than 5 minutes?  Or even homemade ice cream in 2 minutes?  (And trust me - it's SOOO yummy!!)  It even comes with a basket for spinning salad or herbs, and a whisk for whipping eggs.

Those are just a few of the MANY wonderful products...click on the banner above to go to my website to check out ALL the wonderful products Tupperware has to offer.  Remember that most Tupperware products are backed by a lifetime guarantee.  Tupperware is an investment - one you won't regret!

And every purchase you make, you will be helping ME to reach my goal of attending Spark the Event this October!!  Thank you!!

Vision Board - Soul Restoration 2

You may recall that a while ago, I mentioned that I was participating in an online class taught by Melody Ross through Brave Girls Club, called Soul Restoration 1.  Well, I enjoyed it SO much that now I am taking the sequel, Soul Restoration 2!!  And I just cannot tell you how VERY much I am loving it and how VERY much I am getting out of it!!!  

Have you ever felt like you were sort of stuck in your life?  Like when you go to bed at night, you don't really feel like you've moved forward toward any of your long-term goals (or maybe even your short-term ones)?  Or maybe some days you go to bed feeling really great about how you spent your time, but other days you just feel like you don't know where the time went?  Well that's how I've been feeling, and I don't like it.  

I want to know, first of all, what my goals ARE; and secondly, I want to be very intentional about living my life. I want to spend my time in meaningful ways, being more conscious of my choices and making them wisely.  I don't want another week, a month, a year, or 5 years to go by and nothing has changed, all while I'm saying, "Someday I'm going to...."  And that's exactly what Soul Restoration 2 is all about.  It's about living the life you want to live (after figuring out what kind of life that is!)...instead of just letting life happen to you.  

Anyway, one of this week's projects was to make a vision board, and I thought I'd share mine with you.  It took a LONG time to make...a LOT of cutting obviously...but I'm SO glad I did it.  What a wonderful project it was, one that I wish I would have done years ago!  Alas, I love that I have it now!

Canvas Art

I think I mentioned a couple posts ago that one of the online workshops I'm taking is called the She Art Workshop, by Christy Tomlinson.  I just have to tell you - I cannot, cannot, cannot speak highly enough of Christy or of this workshop!!!!  Seriously.

When my friend signed the two of us up for the workshop, I was more than a little intimidated.  I thought it was a bit above my skill level.  I thought 3 weeks was not nearly long enough (even though we have access to the material for 3 months, it's still only 3 weeks of new lessons.)  I saw her art before taking this workshop, thinking to myself, "There is just NO WAY that in 3 short weeks, she is going to be able to teach ME how to do THAT."

I was wrong.

I am amazed at what an awesome teacher Christy is - the workshop is WELL worth the money.  It is very well put together, I have learned SO much, and did I mention that I'm having a total blast?

So I never showed you my first canvas.  That's because it's a birthday gift for my sister.  Whose birthday was in April.  And I still haven't mailed it.  Yeah.  I'm kind of bad about that.  Mailing stuff.  (Hides head under a bag.)  Sigh.

But.  I get to show you my SECOND canvas!!  I am SO happy with how this sweet girl turned out, and with my first attempt at a "scene."  I used a lot of products from Fancy Pants (more on this in my review of Fancy Pants on Craft Test Dummies on June 17).

This is an 8" x 10" flat canvas.

Don't you love the glittered words from Fancy Pants?

I die cut the flowers from corrugated cardboard using a Sizzix flowers die and doodled the stems/leaves.

The grass is a combination of layers of paper and paint, along with stamping and rub-ons.  Isn't it fun?!

These two little birds are rub-ons and they just crack me up...they are SO stinkin' cute!!

Can you get a load of the texture in her skirt?!  Is that awesome, or what?!  And check out those shiny red boots she's sportin'!!  Seriously cute!  (And don't get me started on the polka dots!!)

Her hair is the one thing I really need to work on.  My first canvas, the hair was better...this one, I feel like the braid needs some work.  But still, I think, not bad for my first go.  I also want to try some different styles of clothes, and try making a girl with arms showing (instead of behind her back, like this one - you thought she had no arms, didn't you!).

So...what do you think?  Worth the $45 for the workshop, yes?  I promise you, there is NO WAY I could ever have created anything like this before I took this workshop!  And so much of what makes these canvases adorable is in the details...details I never would have realized were there (or been able to figure out how to create) had I not taken this workshop.  The best part is that once you learn how to create them, they really are not that difficult, and truly are LOTS of fun to create!!  I can't wait to make more!!

Reversible Decoupaged and Embossed Metal Monogrammed Necklace

Whew...that's quite a title, eh?  Maybe it should say...one ONE side, the pendant is decoupaged, and on the OTHER side, it's an embossed metal monogram!  At any rate, you should definitely run over to Crafts Unleashed today to check out my tutorial for how to create this super easy necklace!!

And what I did NOT show on Crafts Unleashed is that on the reverse side, you can add a piece of cardstock, cardboard, or grungeboard (which is what I happened to use here), and then dress it up to your heart's desire.  I used E-6000 to adhere a rectangle piece of grungeboard, then used a paint dabber to paint it white.  I went over it with a chalk queue to add just a bit of ink to it, and then added my girl-image with Mod Podge (the girl and the words are from Cosmo Cricket's Odds & Ends line - SOOOO cute!).  Then I cut out all the words and added them with Mod Podge as well, and added a couple top coats of Mod Podge over the entire piece.  Final result - LOVE!  And what makes this piece SO easy is that the actual necklace part comes prepared (ribbon, beads, clasp and all)...all you have to do is make the pendant, add a couple jump rings to attach it to the necklace, and you're done!

Enjoy!  This entire month is jewelry month over at Crafts Unleashed...so if jewelry is your thing, you might want to keep checking in over there for lots of inspiration and giveaways!!

Vintage-inspired ATC Tutorial on Crafts Unleashed today

Hey peeps - make sure you head over to Crafts Unleashed later today to check out my tutorial on how to make this super cute, vintage-inspired ATC!!  (And if you head over this morning, you can read all about what ATC's actually ARE and the "rules" for ATC's!  Kind of interesting!)

New posts...and why I haven't been blogging...

I seriously cannot believe it's been a month since I've posted here!!  Ack!  So...I have been VERY busy creating for the Crafts Unleashed design team, and doing product reviews for Craft Test Dummies (would you believe I *still* have products from Winter CHA to review, and it's almost June?!).

Check out my scrapbook layout up at Crafts Unleashed today -

And here's a review I recently did of the Pitt Artist Pens by Faber-Castell...one of my new favorites!!

And yes, I'm still working on my online classes - Soul Restoration with Brave Girls Club and Melody Ross, and The She Art Workshop with Christy Tomlinson.  Loving them...but having a really hard time fitting them into my schedule at the moment!!  I'd show you a pic of my first She-Art canvas, but it's a birthday gift for my sister (a very belated one...because I STILL haven't put it in the mail!!).  *sigh*  I'm terrible about that!

Not sure if I shared this in my last post or not...but the other reason I haven't been blogging is that I was recently (well, a couple months ago) diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis.  I've been in a lot of pain for the last several months, and it has taken the doctors a while to figure out the best medications to treat it.  It's sort of a trial-and-error method, I guess.  I just started a new medication last week - and while the jury is still sort of out on whether I'll be able to take it on a long-term basis, I *am* able to curl and uncurl my fingers when I wake up in the mornings for the first time in months, and it's not excruciatingly painful on my feet the minute I step out of bed!  I consider that a huge improvement over the way things have been.  So I'm at least hopeful that this one will work!

Obviously, all of the pain and joint stiffness has impacted my ability to create art and blog about it - so I've sort of just been doing the bare minimum...meeting my obligations and other than that, just taking time off to take care of myself, because I haven't really been able to do much more than that.  I won't sugar-coat it...it's been very disheartening and downright depressing at times, not being able to do the things I want to be able to do or feel I should be able to do.

But when it comes down to it, I have been forced to ask myself if I really believe the things I confess to believe.  Is the God I say I believe in really big enough to handle my questions, and my anger, and my hurt?  Yes.  Can I trust Him enough to believe that this path He's chosen for me is the best path FOR ME?  Yes.  Even if it includes illness and pain?  Yes.  Does that take away the pain?  No.  Does it help to know that I'm not alone in my pain?  Yes.  Does it help to know that there is some purpose to my pain?  Yes.  Does it help to remember that in life, our biggest lessons are always learned through times of pain and hurt?  Yes!  Has this brought me back to my knees, where I belong?  Yes!

And the best thing I think I've learned through all of this...repeatedly over the past couple months, in many different ways...is that rather than focusing on everything that's WRONG with ME, I need to be focusing on what's RIGHT about HIM.

So anyway, I felt like I kind of owed you all an explanation for why I've disappeared...hopefully this new med will do the trick, and I'll be back in business soon!  Right now I'm off to give my fingers a rest!! ;)

We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming...

I'm so sorry I've been absent lately.  I just wanted to pop in and let you all know that I'm still alive!  I am in the midst of taking not one, but TWO online classes right now - both of which are COMPLETELY AWESOME - but which are consuming ALL of my time...leaving me little time for blogging!!

However, you can catch me on Fridays (sometimes it's Thursday) over at Craft Test Dummies, and every so often over at Crafts Unleashed, in the meantime.  Here's a preview of what I'll be posting this Friday on Craft Test Dummies...

And I *highly* encourage you to check out both of the classes I am taking right now!!  The first is one by Melody Ross and Brave Girls Club, called Soul Restoration I.  It is already in Week 4, of the 8 week class, but they are keeping registration open through May 1, and are keeping the classroom open for an extra 4 weeks after the 8 weeks are over to give late starters a chance to finish the class material.  It is truly a wonderful class and I cannot say enough positive things about it!  Watch Melody's video intro HERE.

The second class is the She Art Workshop by Christy Tomlinson, and I just started it a couple days ago...but I am already LOVING it!!  I was only introduced to Christy's work in the last couple months, but have admired her from the beginning and had hoped to one day be able to take her workshops.  When the opportunity presented itself, I couldn't pass it up!!  I am learning so much!

I am definitely being bombarded with art, art, art right now...but it's been so good for me.  It's been refreshing and rejuvenating...challenging and stretching...faith-building and growing.  I've been reminded of things that I'd forgotten, urged to let go of things I'd been holding on to that I needed to let go of, and have had my eyes opened to new things altogether.  (And I'm talking both literally and spiritually.)  I needed this break right now, just me and God and some art.  (If only I didn't have all these other responsibilities...right?)

So...I'll be back soon, I promise!  With all kinds of new and fun ideas to share!  In the meantime...maybe I'll see you over at Brave Girls Club or in the She Art workshop!!