Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #19

The lovely Linda at Studio L3 is hosting a challenge series based on the techniques in

Tim Holtz's book "Compendium of Curiosities".

I finally ordered a book. I ordered from the man himself, and he signed it to ME. Yup. He wrote to ME. Just a little star struck. SIGH!!!

Well, I got the book a little over a week ago, but really didn't have time to create anything. I was out of town for a week, and then DH was out of town for a week. And then there's that whole mom thing I have going on. AND this Halloween thing with trick-or-treating AND the annual Halloween Sleepover. So, back to the challenge. This week we are to use the Extreme Masking technique on page 61.

Here's my attempt. I was kind of rushed. I had to hurry because of Trick or Treating tonight.

I used some Grunge board that I received in the mail as a prize for becoming the 1,500 member of the YAHOO group "ALL THINGS TIM". Cool name, isn't it?!?!?! Thank you Gloria for being such a wonderful inspiration to me. Anyway onto the tag I made, I used some of Tim's things, but not all. I hope that's okay.

I still want to add some charms to the chain,

but had to post it as is because the linky closes in a little over an hour. Yikes. 

I'll just make it.

Thanks for looking.

Friday Fillins # 197

And here we go...

1. While the cat's away us rats will play.

2. I'm fabuloso!

3. Children are heaven sent little bundles of a good challenge.

4. I want to run to my Studio and play when I get home from work or shopping or what have you.

5. This may seem odd, but I have bats, spiders and crows hanging on my walls.

6. Melissa wants purple hair and that seems like a fine idea to me!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Danny coming home, tomorrow my plans include a bit of cleaning and prepping for the Annual Halloween Sleepover Party and Sunday, I want to send the little ghouls home before lunch and relax for the remainder of the day.

Bookmark SWAP - Digi Style

Remember this bookmark?

I am hosting a SWAP-BOT digital design Bookmark swap.

SWAP-BOT is fun and easy.

ou sign up for what interests you.

Some of the swaps are email and some are snail mail.

Make a digital designed Bookmark to email to however many people sign up for the swap.

They'll send you their design in return.

How cool will it be to get so many different Bookmarks.

Just go to SWAP-BOT and search on Bookmarks.

(That's me being optimistic that many will join in on the fun!) 

Blast from the past... sorta, kinda, but not really.

I know that some of you have been around long enough to remember these little Halloween albums from last year. For those that are new here, WELCOME and you are invited to peruse my older posts any time you like.

Well, I just found a couple of them and

decided that I need to find them good homes.

What do you say? Anyone want one?

They're ready for your 2 inch pictures.

All you have to do is leave me a comment and

I'll put your name into the cauldron for a chance to win one.

I'll choose the 2 lucky winners on Halloween.

And announce them on November 1st.

Easy enough???

Wall Art Re-Do - SPIDER ALERT - And it's a big hairy one too!

You remember this wall arrangement?

And how I really didn't like the skeleton? It just didn't "work".

Well a couple of people suggested a big spider.

I took your advice/recommendations,

and

played with the placement of the pieces,

and.....

If you click on the picture you can get a gander at the

big juicy fly the spider is about to eat. Mwahahahaha.

MUCH BETTER. Don't you agree?!?!?!?!

I've been busy this past week....

Morgan and I were out of town the last couple of days.
Posting will resume once we get a little rest and unpack.

In the meantime, have fun doing whatever it is you are doing.

The shadow knows........ (Electra be warned, there are spiders!)

Yet another Halloween project. I love the way this turned out. I don't have any in process pictures because I just don't think to take any. Most of the time I really just "DO" the project without thinking about anything else. Something that my girls REALLY love. Later bedtimes, they get to play on their computers or watch whatever they want on TV for however long I am engrossed in the project. Even meals get neglected. There. I have said it out loud to blogland. Oddly enough, there are no feelings of guilt. Hmmm... Anyway, here is yesterday's project:

I found this little shadow box at the dollar store a couple months back. I knew I wanted it for Halloween, so I painted it black and then it just sat in my Studio until this morning. I cut some scraps of paper to fit in the squares and then went through my Halloween embellishment box to decorate each box. I am just loving the little skeletons from the dollar tree. I am so glad I picked them up. I only used one in the shadow box. I just cut it into pieces. BWAHAHAHAHA.

(Supplies used: Acrylic paint and foam brush, dimensional glaze, my ATG gun and foam mounting tape: Martha Stewart Halloween papers, Target Halloween Papers: Left to right, top to bottom: lizard was in my stash from prior Halloweens - I think I got it as part of a package at the dollar store : skull and crossbones are from a skeleton from a garland from the dollar store : bats are from a ribbon I got at one of the big chain craft stores : pumpkins and leaves are from a pic from a big chain store : numbers used are Thickers, Tim Holtz 2 inch square Fragment : skeleton arms/hands are from the garland, rose is one from my stash that I Copic'ed dark grey, leaves are from stash but I can't remember where I got them : skeleton parts are from the garland : flower is one from a dollar package from JoAnn's : and finally fly and spider are from dollar store, as are the mouse on top and the little spiders on the box. Ribbon hanger is from my stash.)

Now off to finish some other projects...........

Got your walls covered?

These are on the wall in the kitchen. I am still trying to decide on the best arrangement with the holes that are already there for the permanent decorations. I don't want to put any more holes in the wall. But I wanted to show these to you.

.

I like them all, but I LOVE the bat. The crow was the starting point. I got the idea from Rachel at "the Made with Love & Glue blog". Once I got the crow, I thought that a bat would look great too. And then, well, the skeleton was just laying there. I think I want something other than the skeleton. The scale is off, but for now it will stay as is.

.

You know how it goes.

Sorry about the crappy pic. It was taken with my cell phone because I am too lazy to find the camera.

The frames, skeleton, bat and crow are all from the dollar store. The paper is Martha. I took the glass out of the frames and painted them with a $3.40 can of black spray paint. Then cut the paper to size, used my ATG gun to adhere it to the cardboard, and used E6000 to glue the skeleton, bat and crow to the paper.

.

.

These were so easy, it almost seems like I am cheating. My 15 year old thinks that I am a bit obsessed with Halloween. I think she's wrong.

Now where did I leave my wand???

Thinkin' 'bout it Thursday

Lately I have been thinking about the San Francisco Bay Area. I used to live there and sometimes, like now, I miss it. I miss the fog in the mornings and the fog horns that sound in the bay. I miss the hills. I used to ride my bike almost everyday on those wonderful hills.

One of the things I really miss is the close proximity to Monterey. And because SF is so close to Monterey getting fresh Artichokes is another one of the things I miss. SO when I saw them at SAM's Club the other day, I HAD to get some. And bring them home and steam them up so I could eat them.

They were YUMMY. Okay, I only had 2, but those two were YUMMY. The other two will probably get eaten by me later in the week. My girls have turned up their noses. Okay by me. (insert big grin here) MORE FOR ME!

What have you been THINKIN' 'BOUT this THURSDAY???

WOYWW

This week my workdesk has been my garage floor.

It's taking me forever to get these pieces painted. I have a full-time job outside the home, 3 active girls, 1 precious doggie and a hubby, so my time isn't necessarily "MY TIME". But I wouldn't change a thing. I love my family. I really like my job. All in all, my life is wonderful.

Anyway, you can see some tablescape components, parts to a candlestick, and some serving containers.

What's that? This can't be the right picture you say?

Oh, they're there alright. I'll show you better later this week or weekend.

You can find more What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday here.

Tuesday, already!!

I know that I didn't post anything over the weekend. I HAVE been working on a few things. Nothing mind boggling, but several smaller projects. It's just that I have been working on them ALL at the same time. You know, a little on this one, then a little on that one.....

I'll post pictures soon. I promise. Pinky swear!

Anyhow, it's already Tuesday!!! I love having Monday holidays. Don't you???

AND so that you aren't completely disappointed, here are a couple of pictures from the lovely Trisha. She used inchies received in a few swaps (including ones that she got in the swap that I hosted a few months back) and made this incredible canvas art...

...and this fantastic box art.

She has a couple more pics on her blog.

I really want to make one of these boxes now. Don't you?!?!?!

~~~~~~~~

Oh, yeah. I finally ordered a copy of Compendium Of Curiosities. I ordered from Tim Himself so it's going to be personalized. Cuz, I'm dorky like that. And I got an email from Him out of the deal. Cuz, I'm ditzy and forgot to put a message in PayPal that the shipping addressee is my hubby and not me. I want Tim's love to come my way, not to DH, who wouldn't appreciate it at all. Maybe I can play along with the Lovely Miss Linda's challenges. I'll certainly try...

Friday Fillins

I know I haven't done one of these Friday Fillins in a while, but with this pic, how could I not???

So...here we go!

1. My favorite month is NOVEMBER because it's my B-day month, it's fall AND it's Thanksgiving.

2. Nothing better up your skirt than a fresh breeze.

3. I love to sniff glue. Just kidding, I love to sniff Plumerias.

4. Breakfast burritos are what I like to have as a treat for breakfast.

5. The hobby I enjoy most is CREATING. Doesn't matter what. Just CREATING.

6. Glue guns and pop dots and gel medium, oh my!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to getting off work early, tomorrow my plans include taking Zeke to his doggie obedience graduation, shopping for "girlie" clothes with Melissa and crafting something up in my Studio, and Sunday, I want to sleep in and see what else comes my way!

Striking up a little ART...

It's really amazing what you can stuff into a small, 32 count matchbox. It's also amazing how tickled I get with these little treasure boxes. It's fun to make them AND it's fun to trade them. Okay, now pair that with my love of HALLOWEEN, and how could I resist!

I made this one to send off to my swap partner. I say that I made it, but really I took the matches out of the box, and decorated it. Then stuffed it with all sorts of teeny, tiny goodies.

I bought a package of 8 matchboxes (or was it 10?) at the Dollar Tree. I could have made the box from cardstock, but really, at 10 cents I think I got a sturdier box. Take that back, I KNOW I got a sturdier box.

See that spider in the box? It's attached. I glue dotted it down. Kinda creepy? Yup!
I hope my partner likes it. I do.

Thinkin' 'bout it Thursday...

So, what do you think?

Is this a catchy little title for a Thursday Post Series?

Corny maybe?

***

I'm Thinkin' 'bout starting to let you "IN" on my crafty thoughts every week.

(with a little show, and even less tell)

I made this little guy.

It's a small start.

I have been thinkin' MORE and MORE about HALLOWEEN these days.

I want to keep making HALLOWEEN-ish things.

What are you Thinkin' 'bout lately?

JUGS

Fooled you didn't I? You thought I was going to be showing you ceramic ware or girlie things. HA!

Just Us Girls (JUGS for short) is one of the most fun challenge spot out there. This week is their anniversary. Congrats! Their challenge is a sketch. A simple, but fun one, with LOTS of potential.

I wanted to make an Autumn card. Because, well, I don't know why. I just did.

So, I did.

Now, to whom should this be sent?????

Let them eat CUPCAKES...

Let them eat cupcakes with these adorable toppers on them. Don't let them eat the toppers though. I made them for a swap I joined. The swap is for a dozen, but really, for HALLOWEEN? Can you only send 12?

I. DON'T. THINK. SO.

These are the EASIEST thing to make. I punched out 13 2 inch scallop circles of black shimmer paper and the same number of 1.75 inch circles of halloween print paper. I sandwiched these around a "food pic" and used Zip Dry to glue the sandwich together. I let them dry for about 20 minutes and then decorated with these adorable little cut-outs.

See? E-A-S-Y!!!

Inch by inch, slowly she turned...

Crazy for inchies. I don't know what happened. I have seen these little beauties for years now and just blew them off. Not worth my time and effort. WHAT WAS I THINKING????? (or better yet, WHAT AM I THINKING NOW???)

I made three sets of these for a SWAP-BOT swap. Two sets are going to two partners, and one set is staying with me.

The Spells book is an actual book. I used an old belt for the cover, greek or arabic print for the tiny little pages and electrical tape for the spine. The book corners are gold leafing pen. You can't tell from the picture but some of them are dimensional glazed. It really makes the colors POP.

There is a 13th inchie, and I decorated a little gift card tin to send them in. You can check that out at OPUS GLUEI.

HALLOWEEN is just around the corner...Do you have your candy yet???

This week on OPUS GLUEI the theme/challenge is HALLOWEEN. I admit it, it's a cheater challenge for me, because I LOVE HALLOWEEN. See the top picture below? That layout of my youngest daughter is hanging up in our house all year. The picture wasn't taken on HALLOWEEN. BUT, I love those colors and I love them together.

Okay, so I am not cheating with this challenge with this picture. I just posted it to show Rosemary that these colors are not only for HALLOWEEN. (Silly rabbit!) It's the frame on the bottom that was made for this challenge.

It's a specimin display. Like the butterfly ones made popular, almost single handedly by Ali E. Only this one is spiders. Bwahahahaha. I used the Martha Stewart spider punch and some HALLOWEEN paper scraps. The frame is a T-Shirt frame. (Got it on sale. SCORE!!!) I just punched out the spiders, put mounting foam tape on the backs, arranged them a hundred times and finally stuck them down. The black border/frame is a leftover from another project done a few years back. I save almost everything.

I couldn't get a good picture of this to save my butt. I tried about 6 different walls in the house AND the couch. It just wasn't gonna happen for me. So, you have to use your wonderful imagination to picture how fantastically creepy this really is. I have a few of the spiders going down instead of up. It's a little unsettling. And the black gal in the corner has a little red bling marking her true nature.

Hope you like it. AND hope you decide to play along this week at OPUS GLUEI.