Happy Halloween

It's a Floral Pumpkin Mandala Monday, suitable for the World Wide Web; wishing you a Happy Halloween that's full of treats, and free of tricks!

Wendy Vecchi Designer Series Archival Inks from Ranger, in Orange Blossom, Peachy Keen, Leaf Green and very very diluted Acorn for the stem. Painted on with a waterbrush full of isopropyl alcohol; then doodled upon with Letter It Black Fineliners.

Birthday Monster!

This is Stephanie's photo of the Little Monster I made for her birthday (and an awesome collage she made while we were creating together, as well!) I chose this fine gauge yarn because it's Stephanie's favorite colors and I had never made a variegated amigurumi before; though it was a "leftover" of which I had only one tennis-ball-sized amount so I was slightly nervous that I'd run out, but thankfully all was well.

This pattern, which was free from the Lovely Craft website had an especially clever way to make the Monster stand up: you crochet a turning round at the bottom edge (by working only through the back loops) and then... you add a little round of cardboard after stuffing, but before decreasing to close the circle. I found that my smallest circle Nestie die worked perfectly on scrap chipboard and was pleasantly shocked at how sturdily this Monster stands!

I don't know why I started thinking of this Monster in a Frida Kahlo type of vein, but after I did, I couldn't resist adding a chunky beaded necklace and an orange flower... I found the tiny monkey eraser while looking for something else and decided she needed a friend!

Jingle Belles "Creature Feature" (Week 2)

Nothing says, "Happy Holidays" quite as well as a reindeer road trip, am I right? And since this is Week Two of our "Not a Creature Was Stirring" prompt at Jingle Belles, this seemed like the perfect time to pull out my Lawn Fawn Car Critters stamp set and Christmas add-on to do some paper-piecing.

I come from a long line of quilters, so perhaps that's why I find that stamping the car, accessories and deer on subtle patterns is very appealing; certainly I always have LOTS of little scraps that are perfect for this sort of card. Additionally, all of the background pieces on this card came from the scraps box as well, including that perfect A2-sized panel of ancient MME Cozy Christmas with the cars on it! Eyelet Outlet Snowflake Brads and various sizes and colors of Enamel Dots round off the design.

Be sure to visit Jingle Belles to see what Stephanie has made this week to inspire you, then start planning your own Creature or Critter card!

WITCH Way to the Candy?

Eyelet Outlet seasonal Brads added to pre-printed journal cards make for Halloween cards so quick and easy, you won't even need a magic wand! Especially if you make coordinating tags and backgrounds using a few of the hundreds of gorgeous styles of EO Washi.

By neatly applying strips of tape to plain white cardstock, you are, in effect, designing your own patterned paper! For this trio of Halloween cards, I started with just three sweet witch tags out of Prima Marketing's Luna collection from Paper Anthology, plus a few small scraps of ribbon. I traced the tag shape onto cardstock covered with bright Orange Halloween Tape, charcoal grey texty Halloween Tape and Halloween Dot Washi, to make companion tags for each witch. I made some slightly larger background panels using the orange and grey tapes again as well as Coloring Book Washi; with mats of Glitter Black Tape beneath each. Then it was time to add brads to all the tags: pink Heart Brads, Pumpkins, Bats, Witch Hats (which fit the sweet witches perfectly!) as well as Mini Spiders and Mini Candy Corn... both of which are on sale! Et Voila: Three flat, mailable Halloween cards in less time than it took my favorite British TV Detective to solve this week's crime. 

Adorable cards for any occasion are no mystery... the perfect Brads and Washi for your next project are waiting for you in the Eyelet Outlet Store!

SOS482: I Only Have EYES for You!

If you've read the title of this post, you may well have guessed that the assignment this fortnight at Shopping Our Stash is to emphasize the EYES, using googly eyes, or anything that focuses on EYES. You can make one last Halloween card, or branch out into any occasion or idea that catches your fancy. I went with one last Halloween card:

This is quite a triumph of Stash Shopping, in that I don't think there's a single thing less than five or six years old; and the background pumpkin paper (to which I've glued the teeeeeeeeniest variety of googly eyes I've ever encountered; many thanks to my friend Michelle for those!) is probably from about 2010. The journal card is American Crafts, I've added a ghost and speech bubble from a half-sheet of journal cards that no longer had a tear-strip, but it might've been Echo Park? The green plaid mat is Doodlebug, the spider paper is Photoplay. There are a few Eyelet Outlet Mini Spider Brads and some tiny silver Star Sequins.

By the way, if you're looking for a really fun way to stage a Halloween card or anything extra-silly, I highly recommend dumping your entire collection of googly eyes out onto some dark paper and then spending half an hour finding an angle at which you don't have horrible glare off the plastic eyes!!! :)

In the meantime, do be sure to visit SOS and see the EYE-catching projects the team have made to inspire you!

Tiny Sticker Mandala Monday

This Mandala Monday is brought to you by Kinokuniya, one of my favorite stores in NYC, where I shopped for the first time in nearly two and a half years, while Stephanie was here for our New York adventure. It's a three-level store on Sixth Avenue, directly behind Bryant Park. They have books on the main floor, with gaming, manga and dvds upstairs; but whenever I arrive, I immediately head for the lower level, which is a treasure trove of pens, stickers, washi paper and tape, magazines, stationery and other kawaii goodness.

Of course I had to buy a few sheets of tiny Japanese stickers, which I made into a simple mandala design in my 7 x 10" Hello Kitty school planner...also from Kino. I was excited to find this, because when I enquired, the clerk said they no longer carried them. Luckily, Stephanie found them before I committed to a less adorable option!

Not a CREATURE Was Stirring!

This fortnight at Jingle Belles, we're asking you to Feature a Creature! That includes every imaginable animal... like a sweet sheep, a plucky little duck, or perhaps a rowdy reindeer; or YES, even a monster or a Yeti if you're in a Halloween mood and want to stretch the theme! And for a bit more fun, we're throwing in a prize for one lucky participant, so you should hop over to Jingle Belles and read about that, but first, how about a look at my card:

Stephanie got me hooked on Yeti Cards, and this one features Lawn Fawn's supercute version! I've stamped on some tiny text paper and fussycut the happy little dude so he could be part of my snowy scene, made from scraps of patterned paper. I added a diecut sun and clouds as well as couple of Eyelet Outlet Snowflake Brads, because super-furry Yeti like their weather on the chilly side!

Head over to Jingle Belles to see Stephanie's card* and start planning what Creature you're going to Feature when you link up with us.

*Stephanie's card might also feature a Yeti; I cannot confirm or deny that hypothesis.