Autumn and Halloween

Well here's a rare photo of my desk - I'm in the middle of making some autumn gift tags and as I'm making 3 there seems to be loads more mess on the table than usual.  I have been using foil and die-cut leaves - I feel they look promising but to be honest anything can happen!  They will either be finished by next week or the whole lot will be dumped in a box and never seen again!!

I've also just finished a birthday card...

...and a couple of Halloween cards.  They are all using the same three colours and the same Physalis/Chinese Lanterns die, but hopefully the birthday one (above) doesn't look too Halloweeny!

I'm finding this little church die very versatile and have used it in previous posts here and here for Christmas cards.

...and finally a Trick or Treat bag for my sister - I always try and have some more grown-up sweets for her when she brings my nephews round Trick or Treating !

I'm linking up with Julia over at What's On Your Work Desk Wednesday, why not pop over and see what other people have on their desks today.

Halloween Tag

I know I'm late with this but thought I'd share it anyway.  

I made a Halloween Tag to go on some fancy chocolate to give my sister when she brought her boys round Trick or Treating.

I rather like the way the flowers and die cut twigs have a spidery feel - or perhaps that's just a vivid imagination!

I wanted to say thank you to everyone who offered good wishes for the speedy recovery of my Guinea Pig Archie last week - he is still doing well and hopefully will be back to his old self very soon!

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week

Halloween Tags

This week I was delighted to do a demonstration for Paper Artsy - I made a Halloween necklace and bracelets using the Tim Holtz Poinsettia die - you can see it here!  I do love this die and since then I've been playing around with it and making Halloween tags for gift bags for the adults - it doesn't seem fair that the children get all the treats!

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week.

Halloween Jewellry and Paper Artsy

I was delighted to be asked back to do another demo for Paper Artsy -

the theme being wearable art.

  I just love the Tim Holtz Poinsettia die and I've been thinking for a while that it's much too nice to keep just for Christmas, so I decided to give it a Halloween twist and make a necklace and cuff.   

I stamped the petals in gold using some Paper Artsy stamps, edged them with Glossy Accents and black glitter, and then assembled the flowers.  I then used a hot glue gun and added leafy ribbon or beaded wires between the petal layers.  Before fully cool, the hot glue allowed the petals and wires to be arranged at the right angle to give a good 3D effect.

If you would like to see more details about how they were made please pop over to the Paper Artsy blog here.

Halloween Gift Tag and WOYWW #283

We are currently living in utter chaos, with the living room being gutted and totally re-done, but this week I managed to do a tiny bit of crafting so I'm joining in with WOYWW.  
My nephews just love Halloween - perhaps it's in the genes as they are half American!   They love anything scary and ghostly, and they always call on us for trick or treat.  I decided to make up a bag of 'grown-up' chocolate for my sister (rather than the eyeballs and gooey brains the boys usually have) - I made a gift tag for it, and also crocheted a little pumpkin brooch for her, so when they all came trick or treating she had a little something for herself!  

I need to get more of the black leaf ribbon - I just love it, but I didn't have enough and it looks a bit sparse on the tag - I would love to have draped it around extravagantly!

WOYWW - 241

   It has been quite a long time since I participated in WOYWW and to be honest I have an ulterior motive for joining in today.  For the last few months my desk has been pretty much the same each week - nothing but unfinished and ready to be started projects. 

 New Year - new resolutions - new me!  I have decided to shame myself into getting off my backside and completing some of these things!

The clock case was a bargain I couldn't resist - it's going to be sanded, painted, distressed, shelves added, spires replaced, plain glass in top and bottom of door (I don't think the hubs has realised the extent of his role in this project yet), and then it will become a delightful little cabinet for curios.  Well, that's the plan!

The pumpkins have been waiting since last October to be primed and painted in shades of  olive, grey and black.  The idea is to sit them on some lovely little candlestick holders in time for next Halloween, or the one after that!

  I actually completed the smaller Halloween banner (the larger one is only half done) and threaded it with a bright orange ribbon - all I have to do is re-thread it with a much nicer black ribbon - so far I've spent 10 weeks thinking about doing it!  

Why not take a wander over to WOYWW and see What's on other people's Work desks this Wednesday!

HALLOWEEN AND AUTUMN CUPCAKES

I'm afraid I haven't taken part in Tag Tuesday for two or three weeks, as I have just been too busy with other things.  However, I needed some tags for Halloween night and this weeks theme for Tag Tuesday is Halloween so ..... here they are!

I used a selection of rubber stamps for the backgrounds and then added some wire, beads, feathers and bits and pieces from Michaels that I picked up when I was over in the US in August - I just LOVE their stuff!

I am busy preparing for Halloween night and have started decorating my dining room.  I probably wouldn't be so bothered about it if my two young half-American nephews weren't so into it big time!

The spiders web table cloth, feathered birds, black blossom branches and black leaf garlands are all from Michaels, once again!

I am linking this mosaic to Mosaic Monday.

October is a busy month for birthdays in our family and I made these Autumn cupcakes for my sister's birthday at the weekend (I just had to include something Autumny - I couldn't help myself!).

I made the decorations out of sugar paste and painted them with food colouring - I was quite pleased with the overall effect of them (from a distance!), but I think the painting could have been a lot better.  I was quite nervous of painting on sugar paste, but I should have been bolder and braver and put more paint on them!  I'll know better next time!