WOYWW 177

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

There isn't anything going on on my desk today as we are having a party tonight so it is full steam ahead with the spooky bakes - vampire cakes and severed finger cookies!  So I left out my final two halloween makes this year to 'vamp' up my desk a bit!!

You see before you the two photo shoots I laid out for my latest 12 tags of 2012 and Tag Tuesday and of course as you can see they both had a Halloween theme.

Now don't be afraid as you take a peek as it is all an illusion of scary and underneath the macabre facade are all are the yummy things we love to play with, chipboard, glue, ink, paint, tissue and glitter!  I have had such fun with these miniature ghoulish tags.  This one used Tim's tissue covering technique to good effect to make the texture of weathered stone.

Although this project is second in this post I made it first and it was a bit of a labour of love!  Took me back to playing with dolls houses and dressing up Cindy dolls - as you can see this gentleman is definitely a size zero!  Ken would kill for a pad like this one day!!  I can almost hear you saying - 'that's not a tag'..... but if you don't believe it then you will have to scroll down my blog a bit to see for yourself!  It was one of those ideas that just grew!

I am looking forward to showing these to my two nephews who are visiting tonight along with lots of other little terrors I hope!!  I will be busy today so I hope you don't mind that I will be doing my desk hopping tomorrow but I just had to join in on one of my favourite holidays.

Wishing you all a spooktacular day ....... and night and for those of you who don't celebrate halloween I wish you a quiet night!

Fangs for visiting me!

To find out more about WOYWW follow this link!  You know you want to ;-)

Tag Tuesday - Halloween Tag

Happy Halloween!

I promise this started out life tag shaped!  As usual it measures 3" x 6".

But I think you know me by now - it kind of took on a life of its own - or should I say death of its own!!!!

I made this 'Tag' the night the clocks went back and you can be sure I needed the extra hour in bed by the time I got there!  I just could not stop with the details - It took me back to playing with my dolls house only this one is definitely haunted!

I started by making my coffin out of card.

Testing for fit!  Have to make sure it is comfortable for my prospective tenant.  As you can see this is a bachelor pad.

The top proved to be a little tricky and is not as neat as I would like but as I intend to paint it.  I think I can live with the imperfections.

As I was going out to wash my paint brushes to get ready to paint the outside of my coffin I espied this - My eldest tried his hand as a spot of marquetry and this roll of veneer was waiting to find a storage spot.  Could I cover my coffin in real wood I wonder?????

Some bits were easy.  The veneer has a tendency to split so you have to be careful.  But so far so good.

Still fits and is looking much more upmarket!!

Now for the impossible!  As you can see I used my hot glue gun to stick each piece in place and I trimmed to fit with my scissors as I worked.  You have to remember on the arched sections to make sure the grain allows you to carefully glue the curve shape in place.

Once again not quite as neat as I would like but I have a plan!  All crafters develop the skill of developing a Plan B and passing it off as Plan A!!!  So keep watching!

Coffin covered and looking rather splendid I decided that my skeleton really would need to look dapper too.....so I added diamond jewels for eyes, a ribbon cravat and cuffs and more gems for that opulent look I am going with.

It was at this point in the wee small hours that I forgot to take photos but I can talk you through what I did.  The bottle of strong spirits is courtesy of a Tim Holtz bottle and some water tinted with distress stain.  I sealed the cork in place with hot glue to prevent any escaping spirits as we wouldn't want that!  Tiny label finished it off.  I made books from scraps of grunge paper coloured to look like old leather this time with distress inks and a Pilot gold leaf pen for the gilding.  As you can see from this photo I have added hinges to the top of the coffin and the lid has become a bedside table!  I varnished my coffin by rubbing in Glossy Accents which bought out the woodgrain a treat!  I felt quite the carpenter at this point.

I made the candlestick by gluing together various sizes of buttons and a couple of rolls of grunge paper.  The base of the candlestick was gilded with the Pilot pen again and a little gold Stickles  and the candle was covered and dripped in PVA that dries white!  It was my little brainwave.  Initially I was going to paint it and as I reached for the white paint I spotted the white glue I had bought in error actually - well now I am glad I did as it looks fab and I recommend it.  It dries with a waxy sheen and was perfect to bring my candle to life.  I made a flame from a drip of hardened hot glue and some orange Stickles.  You can see in this photo that I upholstered this swanky pad with black satin ribbon and even made a cushion for comfort!  I really got carried away by all the details and had such fun.  I made a vase from a pen lid and button which I coloured with black permanent marker and added Stickles to glam it up a bit.  The paper roses were coloured with Black Soot distress stains.  This works well but just be careful not to saturate the flowers too much or they will loose their shape.

I was thinking of adding a flat screen TV but it was an after thought and I didn't leave myself enough room so my Skeleton Gent will have to make do with a good book by candle light!

Zooming in for the details!  You can see I had a whole heap of fun with this.  I love halloween and am looking forward to decorating my house - adding the cobwebs rather than hoovering them up and some spooky baking on the cards too.  Cookie severed fingers, cheese string witches brooms, and mummy wrapped hotdogs!

Oh.... I almost forgot - the Plan B I mentioned earlier.

A couple of gorgeous metal corners from Creative Expressions and a cross charm and some red bling later and all hints of bad finishing banished by the fabulous filigree details!  Success!

Have a Spooktacular time tomorrow!  If you are not a Halloween fan then I wish you a quiet night!!

If you want to see more Halloween inspired tags then follow the link to Tag Tuesday.

BOO!

12 Tags of 2012 - October

It is still October (just) and I have 2 days to spare before Tim posts his November tag!  That is not like me at all so I really must have been busy.  I am normally champing at the bit to get playing with the featured techniques each month but I have had to prioritise - what is that all about?

So with Halloween just around the corner here is my suitably macabre tag inspired by Mr Holtz's October Tag.

This tag was designed when I saw the tissue technique as I knew as soon as I saw it it would make fab texture for old stone and with Halloween just around the corner it just had to be a tombstone of course.    

First I layered up 4 chipboard tags with recesses cut into each to get the depth I needed and then I covered my tag with sewing pattern tissue using PVA that gave me a great textured base to begin painting my tag to look like old weathered stone.

I love stippling on the different shades of acrylic paint to get this effect.  It is so easy but so effective.  Now for the embellishing!

The candle stick was made by layering chipboard half circles in different sizes and a couple of grunge paper rolls.  I painted the candle stick to look a bit like marble (I hope!) and then the waxy candle was created by painting and dripping on PVA that dries white.  I discovered this when I made another candlestick for my Tag Tuesday project earlier this week.  It even has that waxy sheen which I was really pleased with so I am doing it again here!

Next I used glitter - I had no suitable glitter to try Tim's colouring technique but I will definitely give that a go one day soon.  It saves buying a whole range of glitters - just colour them to match your project.  I wanted my glitter to to look a little like blood dripping out of the recess (never seen glittery blood before?  No one would faint at the sight of it if it looked all twinkly like this!)

Next up I used Black Soot Distress Stains to colour pretty paper roses.  This works really well but be careful not to soak the roses too much or you they will collapse and loose their shape.  I dried mine with a heat gun.

I have had some great use from a few ASDA halloween decoration purchases this year and I added one of the skulls from a chain decoration I bought to sit spookily in the tombstone recess and I gave him two black jewel eyes.

I made a vase from another roll of grunge paper and a couple of semi circles of chipboard - I coloured it with Distress Stains and sparkled with more glitter.  I hot glued the black rose flower arrangement in place and it was then that I got pesky glue strands and instead of stressing about picking them off I decided to add more and got this fab cobweb result.

Final touches were the plastic chain from the decoration added to the top of the tag, an over sized spider (no need for proportion - It's Halloween!), I lit the candle with a dried blob of hot glue that I covered with orange Stickles........and then all there was left to do was add more hot glue cobwebs!

Don't they look cool?  I am not sure how long they will last but if they collapse in a heap I will just pick them off like I normally do when using hot glue on a project!!

 Happy Halloween everyone!  So how long have I got until the next Tim tag's due?????

Thank you for popping by X.

Spooky Iphone Cover

This is just a quick idea I thought you might like to see.  This would work with any kind of see through gel phone cover, I happen to have an iPhone.  It may work with a hard cover but I couldn't promise.  You are adding a layer of paper to a product designed to fit and I am not sure how much tolerance a hard cover would have - it is worth a try though as the effect is spookylicious!

I had my favourite Graphic 45 paper already in my phone cover so I thought I would like to go spooky this week.  Trace around your phone cover to get the original shape including the hole for the camera.  You need to make sure that you do not obscure the camera in anyway.  Other makes of phone may have other issues like this to look out for.  After you cut out the basic shape you will needed to trim to fit because you have used the outside of your phone cover as a template and you want it to fit snugly on the inside.  Take a bit of time and slowly take a thin strip from around the shape until you get it right.  Once you have got it right then this will act as a template for any other covers you want to make in the future.  Seasonal ideas, wardrobe matching or just a paper you love......so many possibilities!

My papers and bits and pieces are all from My Minds Eye - Lost and Found Halloween collection with the addition of two tiny strips of haunted house ribbon.  Remember keep your layering to a minimum as you don't want to add too much bulk.  Hold everything in place with a touch of glue (allow to dry) or double sided tape.

Have fun with your stash - it takes so very little!

Pop it inside the phone cover and put the unique designer cover on your phone for an instant make over - this took me about 10 minutes so spookily fast, spookily easy and spookylicious!  If you make one send me a link so I can take a peek!

Took me a while to work out how to get a photo of the phone I take all my photos with!

Happy Halloween!

WOYWW 177

Hi everyone thank you so much for your good luck messages last week.  I way laid myself a bit again but I have an Etsy shop - a fully edited video tutorial and pattern with photo instructions all ready to upload so I am hoping today is the day!  I had an idea for a Halloween project so I got a bit distracted but still it resulted in more video making practice - click here if you want a peek!  I had fun with a few spooky sound effects which was cool - don't be scared now:-)

My desk is looking quite neat and is festooned with my lovely prize from Jan (aka Lunch Lady Jan).  Isn't it fab!  I know it is a bit early to be hanging Christmas bunting but I just had to share.  Thank you so much Jan and isn't it the perfect length for my desk!  I will treasure it.

On my desk is a metal hear thingamy that I may get around to clipping family photos to and two small projects I though I might make video tutorials for - but not until I have at least one item up on the shop site - I must keep reminding myself!!!

Then my kind husband bought me a cauldron as you can see - I am not sure what I should read into that but I filled it with more Asda Halloween trimmings! Oh and some flowers my lovely MIL sent me.  I think that is all from me I am just popping over to Julia's to see if she has posted yet and then I am off to bed.  Follow this link to see more wonders on creative desks around the world.

Happy WOYWW one and all x

Halloween Mummy Wreath - Video Tutorial

I have been having a spooktacular time this weekend!!!!  I have long wanted to make some Halloween Door Decor and this year I may actually get around to it.  It was the perfect excuse to share what I did with you on a You Tube video too.  I recently learned how to do voiceovers which helps edit out all the ummmmms and pauses for thinking that seem to happen when I try to talk as I make on video!!!

So first up - my inspiration - I love looking at all those pictures of homes with owners that seem to be able to get their act together, whatever the season, and dress up their doorways to welcome visitors.  I just about manage it a Christmas and in past years I have been adding to my collection of Halloween decor.  I was flicking through a scrap book of mine and came across this layout and I knew what I wanted to make.

I created the Mummy flap on my layout to bring a fun element to my layout.  My little spook is not so little anymore!  He is thirteen now and taller than me.  I wanted to make a Mummy wreath and here she is in all her ghoulish loveliness!  I had a great time coming up with this as you can imagine.  I can't wait for the Trick or Treat visitors to start arriving!

If you fancy having a go at this I have put together an edited highlights video of its construction.  Please please let me see if you decide make her (or it could be a him if you take off the bow, spider lashes and glitter lippy!)

I will be slowly adding to my newly created You Tube Channel so if you want to be sure not to miss anything then please follow the link and subscribe.

I have decided to enter this glamorous lady into a beauty contest (challenge) over at the Inspiration Emporium.  Spider lashes, Stickles lippy and faint odour of eau d'crypt and all!

Happy Halloween x

Tag Tuesday - Rust

I really wanted to try out making a tag look rusty and I hope you think I managed it!!  I started out by creating the layout of my tag with raised elements ready to get painty.  I glued everything in place with a hot glue gun.

Next step was to give everything a good coating of black acrylic paint.  I had trouble with the roses so I ended up giving them a spray with some black delusions ink. I think I almost got everywhere - I can see three tiny specks of red remaining in this photo!

Next I stippled on brown and black paint with some sand added to give the piece some texture.  I quite like this wet look picture here!

 Stippling on brown and orange paint next and suddenly the rust appears.  I like that my roses have lost a bit of shape because of all the wet paint as they now look like they really are rusting away.

The final step was to add what I hope looks like the remains of a layer of turquoise paint.  I added a few metallic highlights and some orange embroidery thread to tie the two tags together.

I really enjoyed trying to make this tag look rusty and it came together quite quickly as I used my heat gun to dry the paint layers as I worked.

The sand really help make it look like bits of metal are falling away and my roses look like petals are disintegrating.

I am in the middle of uploading a Halloween video tutorial for the second time as it turned out to be 20 seconds too long for You Tube - I won't make that mistake again!!!!  See you tomorrow and thank you for popping by. x  If you want to see more rusty tags then follow this link to Tag Tuesday.

WOYWW 176

Good Morning my fellow desk hoppers!

Well initially on my desk this morning I had this little lot up for your viewing pleasure!  Just look at that bin!

But as it is not halloween just yet......... a little while and a huge bag of rubbish later it was like this!

I feel so virtuous now!  The halloween stuff is starting to gather but If I don't pull my finger out I will be putting it away again for next year!  Not unlike the next thing on my desk.  I do not care to admit how long I have been sitting on it (not literally!).  I have a strange habit of getting to the 'almost done' part of really important projects and then I procrastinate.  I have worked out it is the final part when I really see if I have what it takes - and I guess I don't want to see if I do because I don't take that step.  So this week is going to see me break that habit.

My goals are to get my first video and template on line and up for sale and my second is to do something with this children's book I wrote and illustrated .......years ago!

So today I am going to spend the day talking to myself .....I have discovered how to do voice overs on iMovie.  Unfortunately I am still perfecting the art of doing it in one take.  Who knew it would be so difficult to finish a sentence without an 'ummmm' or a 'So' or a ................(complete silence!)  

But by the end of today I hope to have my video tutorial complete and have at least half of the photo downloadable instructions finished - then there is one more decision and learning curve to make and that is how to sell it!!  I feel another procrastination coming on!  Snap out of it girly!!!

So here is my little character who has been hovering on my shelf getting dusty and he is goal number 2.  I have decided to do a video with 'voice over' of my book and I am going to send him off to a publishing house and I will grit my teeth........for what is the worst that can happen - I will put him back on my shelf and wait for Grandchildren!!!!

Ooops better go and make my son's sandwiches or the poor lad will starve today.  Back in a bit to post this and to have a wander around your desks for a good old nosey - funny I never, ever seem to put that off ;-)  Glad to see that a fab time was had by all at Julia's and I was surprised to see that work actually went on!!!  Well done WOYWWers.  Follow this link to find out why I have been cleansing both my desk and my ethos today!!

Big Hugs to anyone that pops by.

Tag Tuesday - Rainy Day

 21 minutes to go and this week will be next in the Tag Tuesday Challenge!  So by the skin of my teeth here are my tags.

I wrote a poem about the rain.  We seem to get a lot of it where I live so I try to look on the bright side and that is what my poem and tags are all about this week - hope you like them.

 Tag two opens up to reveal the poem and the silver lining!

Mmmm - the poem might not win any prizes but it was fun illustrating it in tags.  Looking forward to trying the rust technique for tomorrows theme.  What to rust though - that is the question!  She writes one poem and then starts talking like Shakespeare!! ;-)

Night Night x