HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Here's Wishing You All a Happy, Healthy, and Safe Halloween!





May your day be sprinkled with just the right amount of Magic . . . .



And (borrowing the words of Flavia Weedn)
May you keep in mind that . . . .




Today you can be anything you imagine.

A Touch of Halloween Whimsy......

I'm winding up my week of "Halloween" themed items, with one of my own creations, a hand drawn, hand cut, and paper pieced whimsical witch card.

This card is one of my personal favs from my own repertoire of Halloween card designs. I don't have one made up right now, but time-permitting, I hope to do a similar card design with this little witch sometime before Halloween this year.

I LOVE the quote by Flavia, "Today you can be anything you can imagine"......On that note, let me bid you all a Happy Monday, September 8th! (Only 53 days until Halloween!)

I'm still pondering the theme for my upcoming Blog posts this week and next, but I hope you'll check back and be pleasantly surprised.......

HAUNTINGLY BEAUTIFUL!

Today's quest for distinctive Halloween items led me to the discovery of another cardmaker whose Etsy shop I hadn't seen before.

Elizabeth started making cards for friends and family several years ago, as an alternative for store purchased cards, and like so many of us, discovered a new passion for cardmaking.

She opened her Etsy store, Lazy Bone Creations, in July 2008, and offers a variety of distinctive and unusual handmade cards, all of which are limited editions or one of a kind designs. Elizabeth uses multiple layers of quality papers and embellishments to give depth, texture, and richness to her cards, and enjoys creating handmade cards with rubber stamped images.

Today, I've chosen to feature a card from Lazy Bone Creations that struck my eye for its haunting beauty, and for its Halloween "look." Done in shades of orange and black, the card features an embossed whimsical tree image across a hand colored background, and multiple layered pieces of handmade paper. The inside is lined with recycled writing paper for composing a personal message.

Please visit Elizabeth's shop on Etsy (http://www.lazybonecreations.etsy.com) to see more of her wonderful and unique card creations!

The COLORS of HALLOWEEN

Ahh......the COLORS of HALLOWEEN: Orange and Black! And that is the theme of today's featured item.

Since woman does not live by cardmaking alone (teehee......some of my cardmaking friends just MIGHT disagree with that!), I've decided to feature the work of a wonderful lampwork bead and jewelry artist, Eliza. I only recently discovered Eliza's work, but am SO impressed by the beauty of her lampwork beads and pendants.

The pendant that I've chosen to feature today is a striking creation made with Eliza's own striped lampwork bead, czech glass, swarovski crystal, and sterling silver. Done in orange and black (with just a touch of red), this lovely pendant is "just right" for my Halloween theme!

Eliza has been working with beads in some form or another since the 1980's. She now specializes in making her own lampwork beads and creating jewelry from them. Please take a minute to check out Eliza's Etsy Shop ("Bead A Little Dream") and see more of her lovely lampwork beads and unique jewelry @ http://www.lizajayne.etsy.com/.

She's currently having a SALE from now until September 14th!

Halloween Tag(s): You're It!

It's another beautiful day here in Salt Lake City, with just a hint of Fall in the air.......ah, Halloween will be here before we know it!

Today, I'm featuring the work of another of my favorite fellow paper crafters, Lisa, of Scrapbook Heaven. I know for a fact that Lisa enjoys Halloween as much as I do, and she LOVES to make Halloween themed cards, tags, and other paper creations.

Featured here is a fun and colorful set of Halloween hang tags created by Lisa. Use these wonderful handmade tags for gift tags, scrapbook embellishments, notes, or any other use you can imagine! The tags, currently being offered by Lisa in her Etsy shop, are made from heavy cardstock and tastefully embellished with touches of glitter and festive fun yarn.

Check out Lisa's Etsy shop, ScrapbookHeaven (http://www.scrapbookheaven.etsy.com/) for more handmade Halloween tags and handmade cards by this talented craftsperson and card artist.

Trick or Treat, Anyone?

Well, today it's time for me to feature another artist's Halloween creation.....And I'm pleased to present a wonderful handmade card by Heidi of MangiaDesigns......one of my personal favorite card designers.

In my world of cardmaking, this artist is indeed a Queen of Inside/Outside Card design.....I've purchased a number of her card creations myself, and never fail to be inspired by her work.

Not only are Heidi's cards designed with wonderful artistic flair and originality, but they are always created with the finest of materials, impeccable craftsmanship, and attention to detail.

Please visit Heidi's Etsy store at http://www.mangiadesigns.etsy.com/ and her blog at http://www.mangiadesigns.blogspot.com/

Fall is in the Air (and so is Halloween)!

Well, here we are, on September 3rd, and Fall is in the Air here in Utah! I woke up to brisk morning air coming in our bedroom window (mid 60s outside)....brrr! Was it only last week that we were enjoying 94 degree weather??

This time of year, when the weather starts turning, I begin to think of Halloween. Ever since I was a child, Halloween has been one of my favorite "holidays". I used to love dressing up and going out trick or treating. And even in my adult years, I still enjoy seeing all the neighborhood children dressed up as princesses, witches, ghosts, and whatever else their imaginations can dream up, as they come to our door on October 31 for a Halloween treat.

Now, being a cardmaker, thoughts of Halloween also conjure up thoughts of Halloween card designs! Although I don't dress up anymore on Halloween, I love to channel my imagination into creating special cards for this time of year.

I guess you could say that one of my "signature" handmade cards is what I call my Witch's Boots card. Once a year, I try to make one or two of these cards, just because I love the design.

The card features a whimsical pair of witch's boots and a witch's broom. The boots are hand drawn and hand cut, then outlined in metallic goldtone ink. Each boot has a small bow hand-tied with fine gauge iridescent metallic cord.

The witch's legs are clad in purple and black striped tights (patterned paper).The broom handle is ribbed brown cardstock and the broom itself is made from lavender paper raffia and tied with a length of narrow satin ribbon in fushia.

The background of the card design is made from textured Bazzill in purple, black and white. The card is 5'' X 7'' in size, fully lined with an additional layer of plain white lightweight acid free cardstock, and blank inside.

Over the next few days, I'm going to be doing a little Halloween "haunting" (hunting, really!) for more special Halloween items made by other craftspersons and artisans, to feature on my Blog. So I hope you'll check back to see what I find!