Show n Tell Friday

Hello & welcome to another Show n Tell Friday...hosted by the ever talented Cindy @ My Romantic Home. Remember the little cardboard house, you saw in the swap package I sent my Joli Paquet partner? (you can see it in this post) I found them @ Goodwill for 3 for $3 so I bought several packages. It's amazing what you can find @ GW, huh?

Anyway, for today's show n tell, I wanted to share what I transformed one into.... a haunted house diorama on a glittered cake pedestal! First I started w/ a melanine plate, glued it to a glass candlestick, sprayed it w/ spray adhesive & glittered it generously w/ MS's glitter (I used white gold), then sprayed it w/ polyurethane to keep it from shedding glitter. LOVE this pedestal! I'll use it for all seasons but never for food, of course. I also bleached, then dyed black, some bottle brush trees using Rit fabric dye.

Then on to the house make-over..... I gave it a shot of black paint & papered it's roof w/ toile paper scraps...adding a sparkly "wreath" over the front door (it's actually a vintage rhinestone button) & some black pompom trim.

Then I made a ghost out of playdoh & tissue paper...glittering it up just a bit w/ opalescent glitter.


Hung a rising moon.

And made tissue paper pumpkins. I just balled up tissue paper, wrapped it w/ orange tissue, twisting & glueing the top to form a "stem", trimmed for neatness. I daubed on distressing ink to add some dimension (using a Qtip for control), & painted the stems brown.

I LOVE it! It may be my favorite Halloween creation yet! It falls right in w/ the spooky-chic theme I've got going this year. And I bought several packages of the houses, so I'll be doing them up for Christmas & Easter too...maybe I'll even make a little "love nest" for Valentine's. ;o)


I also completed a project I've been planning on for 2 years (I told y'all I've completed all the projects on my "wish to do" list & then some, I've been on a roll!) ...... a tassel made out of a tiny, glass jack 'o lantern ornament. Sorry for the bad lighting...it's been raining here again. :o( I'm so glad I had the foresight to snap shots of my diorama when the light was good.

I'm really happy w/ my choice of ribbons but I wish that I had looped the ones underneath. I didn't even think of it until after I was finished (it's my first tassel). Guess I'll have to make another one. ;o) But it'll have to wait til next year cause STICK A FORK IN ME, I'M DONE w/ this year's projects.

Oh yeah, I glued a wine cork, on to the bottom of the ornament, to provide a base to glue the ribbons on to.

Stop by Cindy's to see the beautiful teacup she is sharing today & to get all the links for the other participants. Have a frightfully good weekend everybody!

Where the witch hangs her hat....

Hi y'all...Halloween is just 2 days away. Are you ready? We are! The witch has even flown in (no, my mother in law is not here for a visit LOL) & I wanted to show you where she hangs her hat @ my house. On the front porch! *grins* I saw this idea in one of my Halloween magazines & copied it...isn't it cute?

The "peg rack" was once a "curtain rod"...it's made out of vintage doorknobs.

Key to the dungeon.

This little terrarium was a recent thrift store find but I moved it out, on to the drop-leaf table on my porch, as soon as I brought it home so it didn't make it into pictures. Now that I see it in pics, I realize that I need to tie a bow on top.

And I just made this wreath the other night (wish it were a better picture, it's really pretty in person) & I want everybody to know that I have successfully completed all of the Halloween projects I had planned & then some. Whew! That was a first! My house is a wreck, my dog needs to be groomed & we've been eating take-out for weeks but..... Hey! I got all my Halloween crafts finished. ;o)

I spray painted a black wreath w/ hints of white paint to add depth, then glued on black roses (from the dollar store), glittered black birds , a sparkly skull & tulle bow. And because I like my Halloween a little glam'ed up, I draped it w/ pearls. Spooky chic....I love it!

My swap package to my Joli Paquet partner

I had such fun w/ this, my first swap! I enjoyed creating & sharing & of course I loved opening my own goodies. My swap partner for the Joli Paquet swap was Michelle @ Gingham World. The premise of the swap was to make an adult "treat" bag & fill it full of treats.

I'm really embarassed that I had to flake out a bit on the tote. I had issues w/ the tote I was making her, ruined it & had to go buy this vinyl, store-bought tote in order to meet the mailing deadline. I tried to make up for it w/ the treats & I hope that I was successful!

I sent her one of my Boo'tiful girls, (dressed in gingham, of course!), one of my altered spoons, the shadow box I made, Halloween candles & the tote full of treats.



I filled the tote w/ lots of crafting supplies....vintage flashcards, glittered skulls, spooky images, bingo cards.....



Family stamp, glittered black birds, orange gingham napkins, a pearl letter M, black bottle brush trees, chocolates, ME cocoa mix....

a cardboard house (wait until you see what I did w/ mine!) & containers full of candies & bouncy eyeballs & spiders. I wanted to share some of my crafting supplies as I always buy in abundance.

I shouldn't even show y'all this but this is the tote I was making for her. It would have been darling if everything had gone according to plan. I would have attached a big black & white gingham bow w/ vintage rhinestone button & it would have been so chic. (Not as nice as the beautiful, pieced tote that Michelle made by hand for me but still chic).

I know what you're thinking..."well that doesn't look too bad!"

Yes it does! Just look how messy the iron-on letters were. Why didn't I stencil instead? As embarassed as I am about the vinyl store-bought tote I sent out, I would have been mortified if I had sent this one. Especially once I received the beautiful one she sent me. ;o) I'll just have to chalk this one up to experience!

You can see my goodies I received from Michelle, here in this post. I really enjoyed this swap & hope my partner had as much fun as I did!

Halloween Bingo Card Images

I've been wanting to scan & share these cool bingo cards I bought, w/ y'all but thought I'd wait until I used them in a project. Still haven't done so (maybe this week!) but I wanted to go ahead & share them w/ you, so that you still had time to make something w/ them.

They'd be great as background of a shadowbox, as altered tags or string them together as a garland.

I found thsi Haunted ticket online but can't remember where...sorry! They're nice all piled up in a crystal bowl & of course would be great for a project too. I cut them all out & then stacked them & used a paper punch for the corners.

Enjoy! And if you make something out of them, please let me know so that I can copy admire your creations!

Boo!

Hello & welcome to another Show n Tell Friday, hosted by Cindy @ My Romantic Home. Cindy needs no introduction, her beautiful blog is very well known...don't you just love visiting it? Talk about some eye candy!

For today's show n tell, I want to share the Boo! girl I made this week. I bought her as a kit from Cindy @ Junque Art, through the Joli Paquet blog. The kits sold out quick though so don't get your hopes up.... but there are lots of free tutorials available on Joli Paquet. There's some great ones from last year too so plan on spending a bit of time there. And they'll be back for Christmas w/ more kits & more tuts!

I have to brag on Cindy @ Junque Art for a minute. Her kits are WONDERFUL! Beautifully packaged w/ thorough instructions & she did all the work for us. Everything was pre-cut & ready to glue together! I had this darling little "doll" assembled in less than 30 minutes & much of that was drying time. I just love her...ain't she cute? Cindy has an etsy shop too...check it out here.


Stop by Cindy's to see the other participants in today's show n tell...have a great weekend everybody!

It's All About Me!

Hi y'all! Natasha @ Artistic Creations challenged us to create something special for ourselves...an It's All About Me! swap. I'm stepping outside the box a bit & sharing not just creations but an event. An event that I did just for me!!! I've been doing a lot for me lately...not for "Honey" (my grandparent name) not for "Chris' wife" not for "Shilah, Clifton & Dustin's mother" but for me, "Cami".

I LOVE my role as a grandmother, wife & mother but I recently discovered that I've lost my identity outside of that. That my daughter's boyfriend, (who she has dated for almost a year & who is only 10 years younger than me & whom I have been around on many, many, many occasions) didn't even know my first name...to him, I'm just "Honey". Now being "Honey" is a fantastic thing, don't get me wrong, but I like being "Cami" too. ;o) So I've been on a journey to being her again & I'd like to share a part of that w/ you.

Like I said, the past couple of months, I've really been working hard @ creating Cami & I have indulged my whimsies & desires to create. So much so, that we couldn't eat at our dining room table for 2 weeks! LOL I had a really hard time, deciding what to share for this party...I created many things in teh past few weeks. I signed up for Heather's It's a Beautiful Life journal workshop & thought I'd share the journal but no (it's not finsihed yet anyway!), I've joined an art group, taken a couple of classes, signed up for a couple more & made lots of really neat stuff (you can see some in previous posts) but the best thing I did for myself was to attend Paper Cowgirls, an art retreat held here in Texas.

I created some beautiful things & I'll share them later but that's not what it was about. It was about this...the smiles, the comraderie, the inspiration, the newly found friendships!

And this! The creating...look how intense I am about it.

I love everything I made & learned some wonderful new techniques. This is the fabric cuff I made....(it's still in it's unfinished stage here)

And my crown...oh, how I LOVE my crown! It's outrageously over the top fou-fou & it is divine!

I also "painted" this cute cupcake painting. It's actually mostly paper scraps, layered w/ paint & beeswax...fun technique!

I treasure my art that I created that day but I'll treasure the memories that I carry & the friendships that were formed, even more.

You can read more about my day @ Camp Whimsy, here in this post. I highly encourage y'all to sign up for an art retreat (they're springing up all over the country....it's not just Silver Bella anymore ;o) ) & hang out w/ people who get you....do that for yourselves!

Halloween Altered Spoons

Hi!!! Several of the participants in Friday's Show n Tell party, asked me for instructions on how to make the altered spoons I shared that day & I'm happy & flattered to oblige. They're really simple to make but my teaching skills are very limited so bear w/ me. ;o)

I used card stock to print the images onto. First I cropped & resized the images to fit the scale of the spoon (the hardest part of the project, cause it's trial & error)...I used Irfanview (you can find the free download in my sidebar under "blogging helpers") to crop & resize. The great thing about the Irfanview program is that you can adjust the print size to whatever you want it to be. I found that the pumpkins need to be about 1 & 1/2" but that will depend upon the spoon that you are using. I used vintage, tarnished spoons but you can also use plastic....black handles would be cute. The scale isn't as important when using the image I used in the spoon below but if you do the one w/ the pumpkin; the pumpkin needs to fit perfectly into the bowl of the spoon.

I used good ole Elmer's glue (brushed it on w/ a paintbrush) to glue the images to the spoon, let dry, then I painted on more Elmer's in teh bowl of the spoon (just the front of the spoon & right up to the edges of the image) & sprinkled w/ glitter. You want to use a glue that doesn't dry right away (hot glue is out!) so you have some play time to slide the image into the bowl, until it fits just right. For the spoon below, I added a Boo banner...only gluing it to the edges of the spoon, so that it has a 3D effect.

I don't remember what font I used for the Boo! but I know it was a specialty one. If you want a different font, than is available on your puter, then visit http://www.1001freefonts.com/ or http://www.dafont.com/ or http://www.urbanfonts.com/ ... all are free to use & free of spyware. You'll need to save them in a file on your puter & open them, before they'll appear as choices in wordpad.

I glued a loop of ribbon on the back of the spoon handle, for hanging & a small bow on the front for decoration. Thse look really cute as tassels but Cindy @ Yapping Cat Studio said they'd be great strung on a ribbon & used as a garland...I think she's right!


I've included several images that will work for this project...the key is to size them right. I'd give credit as to where I got the images from but frankly, I just file them into their appropriate folders & don't keep track of where they came from. If one of them is your's, let me know & I'll give credit.

Be sure & click on the images to enlarge them before you save them to your puter.

It's that simple! I literally spent more time, messing around w/ Irfanview & getting the right sizes than I did in putting together the project.

Hope this "tut" was helpful! I'd love to see your creations if you make one!

Update: I mentioned in my Show n Tell post that I copied thse from a woman in my art group, who copied them out of Somerset, but I should have clarified that in this post as well. Don't want y'all to give me credit for this clever idea....I'm not clever, just a copycat w/ a wealth of images! ;o)

Junkin' Monday

Hello & welcome to another Junkin' Monday, hosted by the very talented & very friendly sisters, Clara & Marcela, @ Cottage Charm & Family Inspiration . I know, I know...my pictures suck today. But it rained & was dreary all last week & I had wayyy too many finds to try & wait for better lighting...I needed to get all this crap put up! ;o)

Believe it or not...this table full of goods was all from one day's hunt. And only at 2 different thrift stores. It was a really good day!

Included in this pile are 2 vintage dresses, 2 oil paintings, a couple of vintage hats, a Jessica McClintock wedding veil, paper mache houses, old dress patterns (I use them as tissue paper for gifts), beautiful cake stand, old doll, gingerbread corbels, old books, magazine rack, crystal shaker & lots more!

Check out that neat old wood magazine rack! I'll paint it white & use it to store my pretty papers in my studio. LOVE the cutwork design in front & it has 3 sections!

See the doll head? Jana @ Collected Treasures has a big glass case full of doll heads & parts...I'm so enamored w/ it that when I saw this old doll, I snatched her right up, brought her home & promptly decapitated her. LOL

And the vintage blue hat will meet an even quicker demise. I have resisted Karla @ Karla's Cottage evil influence for as long as I could but she's finally gotten to me. I'm gonna deflower that poor old hat. ;o)

Also pictured are capodimonte candle holders, a porcelain angel & teh wedding veil.



The colors in this cake stand are stunning! But the poor light of the day, didn't capture them very well.

Lovely embroidered pillow....$1.99

The test tubes are meant for spices but I'll use them for glitters. It was marked $5.99 but it was half-off blue tag week so I only paid $3. It amazes me that they mark this ordinary, cheap spice thingie @ $6 & yet, mark the beautiful, original oil painting below at $4...I don't get it. ????

The oil painting of the roses is just so-so but the one of the victorian lady & cottage is beautiful...and it was only $3.99!!!!

I bought several packages of the paper mache houses...I'll glitter them up & use them as Halloween cottage & Christmas cottages.

Couple of red & white transferware dishes, a lone glass lid (I'll find a jar somewhere that it fits, I always do), old book, etc...

Love this little dish but hubby didn't even crack a smile...me thinks it hit too close to home! LOL The switch plate cover, it is sitting on, will get decoupaged w/ sheet music ...it'll be the chicest switchplate in town.

Candlewick sugar & creamer for $2!!!

Couple of little cherub tiles...they were only 50 cents & I think they may be a nice addition to a mosaic project.

The clock will get dolled up (I still need to share the one I have already redone...it's beautiful! so many posts & projects...too little time!)

This artist has some talent! And it's an original oil. Who would get rid of something like this? Surely there is someone in their family who would have wanted to keep it...if only for sentimental reasons! And again...only $3.99!!!

Couple of shabby chic baskets that will be good for storage in the studio. $2.99 a basket

Another cutter dress. I think the silk crepe skirt of this dress will be perfect for making the ruched roses, I learned in Jana's class Thursday night. And of course the lace, beaded bodice will be put to use in a project too.

Another cutter dress...I LOVE the Halloween section for vintage clothes. Sometimes the old designer labels alone are worth the $3 they ask for the garment.

And a couple of tacky sconces that will be great looking once they are painted white.

Whew...I just keep bringing more & more in, huh? I'll be opening up a booth soon though...I gotta do something w/ all these finds cause I sure can't pass them up. LOL Be sure & visit Clara & Marcela for more junkin' finds!

Also, I had several people ask me how to make the glittered, altered spoons I shared in a previous post. I'll give a little mini-tut tomorrow & include the images that I used. I'm so flatttered that y'all asked...thank you!