Where the Crafty come to meet

Where the Crafty come to meet! Come on in & take a look around. I think you will like what you see & I know you will be inspired by something in here. So take a look see & don't forget to hit the follow button! Blessed Be.

October 31, 2010

Shout out to Sunny from Life in Rehab!

Sunny mentioned me on her blog the other day! I was so happy. I love her site & her talent to create such cool stuff from ho hum stuff. Her outdoor room has me drooling. I was so thrilled to get a mention I was yelling to my husband to get his butt in my office & check it out. He was like "What"? And I was like "Look there on the computer screen"! And he was like "What am I supposed to look at"? And I was like "Look my blog is mentioned on here...SEE"?!?!?! (wow.....felt a bit of a flash back from childhood what with the: & I was like & he was like) Sorry bout that but, I was like excited! Gonna be popping in on Sunny tomorrow cause there is something special she is posting. Heck I pop in her site everyday and look around.  She is awesome & has such great ideas! Can't wait to hit the Thrift Store to find some matching plates & bowls for cake dishes. Thank You Sunny!

Gots Me a Camera!

My husband Michael & I went out to grab a pumpkin, breakfast & some groceries. After the pumpkin was found the breakfast eaten he informed me that we were heading to Target to get a digital camera for me. I was getting out of the car to go look at a camera & almost tripped over my chin cause it & my mouth were still in my lap. I am so happy with my new camera! Here are some quick shots I took while still tweeking my knowledge of the camera's abilities.
Here is the front of our house. Went for the whimsical look this year. Our Cemetery is in the side yard.
The pumpkin we got & some gourds for company. The cinder blocks in the background & the empty cat litter bag are part of our rabbit's play area & he did not put his toys away when he was done like he is supposed to. The rabbit loves to get in the empty litter bag & hide from us. See he figures if he can't see you then you can't see him.
Here is our rabbit. Bandit D. Bunny.  The door to his cage stays open at all times but he was mad because my husband cleaned the cage & ruined the funk theme Bandit is trying for lately.
This is our cat D'Artagnon. He is happiest when he is pouting over something. He still believes he should be an only child & everything belongs to him.

This tough looking guy is Ramses. He is my body guard & follows me everywhere in the house. He loves to help Bandit make sure his parsley is fresh when he gets it for dinner. Ramses always has to do a taste test.
Here is my Husbands pumpkin after he carved it out.
Here is a sign that hangs in my office. Yes my office is painted that color. I truly love it. My office has been neglected a bit since I had surgery but now that I can once again walk upright I have to give it some TLC & then I will post pictures of it. It is pretty cool! 
Have a safe & Happy Halloween & don't forget to keep an extra sharp eye out for Trick or Treaters if you are out driving today.
I gots me a camera! tee hee!
(poof)




Blessed Samhain/Happy Halloween

Wishing everyone a Blessed Samhain & a Happy Halloween. Be sure to have your Jack O Lanterns lit to keep the "unwanted" spirits away from you & yours. Every year on Halloween we place an extra setting at the dinner table to welcome the spirits of loved ones who have passed on. We even place an extra pet food dish on the floor near our cat's bowls for our much loved furries who are no longer with us in this realm. The veil between the worlds is thinnest at this time & those who have died can return to see family & friends left behind. Samhain is the end of the harvest time & the beginning of a new year.


October 30, 2010

Frankenstein Cookie

Get on over to Bake Greek & check out the Frankenstein Cookie. He looks almost too cute to eat. Note...I said "almost".  Hop on over there & check out the tutorials the Bake Greek team have put on the site. They have one tutorial on "how to sink the icing". I just like the way that sounds. You can actually learn something while being surrounded by cuteness!
In their own words:  BαkεGrεεk specializes in Greek alphabet letter-shaped cookie cutters to give you the ability to bake beautiful and delicious creations for Rush or any other Sorority/Fraternity occasion – with more baking products catered to the Greek community to come. 
Get on over there & visit with this little Frankenstein & scope it out for yourself.

Today's Creative Blog

Pop on over to Kim's site, Today's Creative Blog & check out all the nifty stuff people have submitted to her site. Like this awesome altered T-shirt by Meg from mbellished! What a great idea to help build your wardrobe for a fraction of the cost. Plus....nobody else will have one like it. That idea I like a lot!
Now if my husband could figure out where he stashed the power cord for my sewing machine I could be creating my own T-shirts in no time! Love this idea!

October 29, 2010

Creepy Books

These babies are my favorite project to date. Not a quick process but well worth the time involved.This idea came from a post from Dave Lowe Designs.  For these books I used standard Composition notebooks. I got mine at the local dollar store for a buck each. The first one is a book I have made for my oldest grandson Ryan. I cut out corrugated cardboard in my shape & glued it onto the front of the book. I used some extra for added dimension. Once I was happy with my design I added the raised area for the book label. My printer is down so the lettering was done by hand. The paper is regular printer paper that I soaked for ten minutes or so in a hot tea bath to give it the antique look.   

After the shapes were in place I used a left over party napkin and fit it to the book cover with a wash made of water, my chosen paint color & white craft glue. You do not want this smooth as that would be impossible with the cardboard shapes underneath. Plus when it is dried you end up with an old weathered leather look. Now my grandson has a journal he can write in. You can also do this technique on old books to use for fill in decor for Halloween.

These last two books are done without using a focal raised cardboard design on a smaller type journal style book. The compass came from the dollar store & was in a bag of Pirate themed party favors. Six in a bag for $1.00. I used paper mache clay to hold it to the front of the book. It also gives it a cool look. The back of the compass was not even & glue was just not an option. This one will be labeled as a Guide to Pirate Treasure Hunting for my grandson Bradley. The glittery skull  cross bones came from a key chain. This book is for my granddaughter Jessica & is titled Pirate Princess Etiquette.
I plan on making quite a few or these "journals" for my booth at the Farmer's Market. Of course the titles will be more generic unless a special order comes in! Okay...gotta go. The crafts, they are calling me. Can you hear them too or should  I worry about hearing voices now?








By Stephanie Lynn




Magick Wands

Next up are some shots of my Magick Wands. Thanks again to my son Shannon for bringing his camera over & taking these pictures. The Wands are one of the easiest projects I have made so far. The designs on them are made with a hot glue gun. I used the smallest glue gun around for the fine details. The wands are not that big around & a too large glue gun will leave you with a big old blobby mess.
Some are wrapped with twine, some have dangling charms & others are accented with only the hot glue designs.For some I mixed different colors of acrylic paints with gold or silver paints for an extra added "magickal" effect.
Here is a shot of a few more of my already finished wands. I sprayed them Krylon's Triple-Thick Crystal Clear Glaze. I love the look the spray gives them. So shiny & ready to cast magickal spells! I am working on boxes for these guys but am having a problem coming up with the right technique to use in "finishing" the boxes. When I find the perfect solution I will surely post it so as to keep you in the loop. I sell the wands sans the boxes as of right now. Guess you could say that is thinking outside the box! (groan.....I know but I am still waking up & have my I.V. drip hooked up to the coffee pot as I am posting this)


My Witch's Boots

Well my son finally made it over with his camera last night. Thank you again Son! Mother loves you. Anyway, here are some shots of the Witch's Boot's I have been making. These are made with paper mache over a cardboard frame. I used different types of cardboard in making these. One type was cereal boxes. But soda or beer boxes with the lite wax covering make for a much sturdier boot. Sorry I do not have step by step pictures of these yet. I will be getting those shots as soon as I can. The silhouettes were  hand drawn by me then painted over with acrylic paint. The boots themselves are also  done with acrylic.
I went through quite a few more designs for the silhouettes until I  found some that were not too hard to draw freehand but still had some detail.
The local dollar store had some really cute Halloween ribbon that I bought for these. The ribbon was labeled as having wire but alas the ribbon had no wire in it. I wanted the wire to help shape the bows when the "laces" were tied.
This photo shows how the cardboard form is put together before applying the paper mache. I used crumbled newspaper to help shape the toe of the boot. I learned the hard way that you should punch the holes for the laces out before applying the paper mache. I used a paint brush end to poke through the paper mache after each application.
Here is a shot of some of the other boots that are still in the works.
This cute little ghost has a lite gray shading in some places around his edging but the camera did not pick that up too well. I like the ghost but my husband & son say the silhouettes are the best design for the boots. What do you think? I was hoping to get these all done & ready to sell  before the local Farmer's Market reopened cause I was sure that while I was recovering from surgery that I could finish them all up. But my doctor was not kidding when she said I would need all of the six week recovery time. I tried to get these done but alas......guess I have until next year to get these & my other projects done!
Let me know if you like this project.  Each boot takes a bit of time what with drying & all but I think they are worth it. Later! 
"(poof)"




100 Days of Holidays- Parents /Family Circle

One hundred holiday ideas can be found on Parents.com. Here is a cute little project you can make to hold goodies at your Halloween party. With shoes like this that has to be one flat footed witch! Get your wicked butt over there & see the how to for this & other neat stuff.

October 28, 2010

Gothic Wedding Cakes

Go check out the awesomeness of the Gothic Wedding Planner's site. Love these designs. Maybe the Hubby & I should renew our vows & serve up this for the after noms! 

I cannot stop looking at this cake. It just has me written all over it! Take a few minutes and check out the site. You will remember this for sure.

October 27, 2010

Life in Rehab

Got a sweet response to a comment I made on Sunny Pritchard's blog Life in Rehab. Love her crafty creative talents. She believes in the Dollar Store & "shopping" your own house". Just like yours truly. We must be twins separated at birth! Pop on over to her place & discover the inner crafty you that Sunny can help bring out. I so adore this pic from her Halloween decor. 
So get on over & visit with Sunny in Rehab! 

Today's Creative Blog

Linking party going on! Today's Creative Blog is a cool site I was lucky enough to stumble across. Love the site & the give a ways! Supposed to link up with a pic of something I have made. Since a new camera is not an option right now (& my son still has not made it over with his) I have added a photo of the cake I made for my son's wedding. Daughter-in-law is a sunflower lover. Okay....here goes!

Looked all over for a blond bride & groom topper. Ended up having to give a brunette couple a dye job! 

Better Spider Webs & Gardens?

The folks over at Better Homes & Gardens have this recipe for Spider Cookies & Webs!  They look so much fun to make & what a great way to dress up your Halloween party table. Seeing these goodies transports me back to the seance I attended at a neighbor's house when I was 9 yrs old & her cousin's pet tarantula escaped from it's cage. He was so cute & furry.
I'd much rather eat spiders in this form rather than the real thing deep fried (full of grease they are)

October 26, 2010

Candy Corn Jell-O

This looks totally awesome, yummy & like I'd have to eat them all myself.Jelly Shot Test Kitchen came up with these.  The directions are so easy for this cute as can be Candy Corn Jell-O. Another reason to make these are the fact that they have a orange creamsicle like flavor. Now I know I totally have to have them all to myself! Next to chocolate, orange creamsicle is my fave.
Go make Jell-O Candy Corn!

Halloween Treats

These creations are awesome! They may have been posted last year at The Party Dress but they are totally this year!

Mini Ghost cupcakes, Witch Hats with  a hidden surprise. Look at the awesome Witch cookies...all green faced & so cute. The Chocolate Pumpkin Cake is so chic. Not to forget the mini Grave Plots... with the Tombstone cookies sticking in the yummy dirt! I am on sugar overload looking at these.  Plus I want a taste of all of them. So shroud up & head on over to The Party Dress for the recipes. Just a quick registration for Parent's Magazine (no purchase required unless you wanna)



October 25, 2010

Shards of Glass Cupcakes

Confessions of a Cookbook Queen has the recipe for these cupcakes that will just blow your mind. Shards of Glass Cupcakes. These are so totally cool looking. I love this  idea. My family will freak out when they see these sitting on the counter. They will be like,"Mom has really lost it this time. Broken glass in a cupcake?" My grandkids will think I am awesome.  Thanks so much Kristan! 
So if you will excuse me I gotta go make some glass! Ha ha... how cool is saying that?!?!? Follow the link below & check out Kristan's site for yourself.

Vote for Lohr Manor!

David Lohr is a crime writer for AOL News & he is also one great big Halloween fan. Yeah! Below the pic of his front yard display is a link where you can go on over & vote for his house as your favorite. He even has a real 1940's crashed plane in his yard that he traveled over a thousand miles to get. Now that my friends is dedication to the holiday! Plus his actual crib could be haunted! The doctor who used to own the house kept dead bodies there, all decked out in their finest to be"viewed".  David is also a humanitarian & has raised money for the Spirit of Children program. So David is a great guy with a cool Halloween hobby. Go vote for his house!
The site will only let you vote once a day so bookmark that sucker! Now go vote.

Bleeding Tombstone

Haunt Project has a link with instructions for a bleeding tombstone! So sweet. I mean this baby is totally clever. Imagine the looks on your neighbor's faces when they realize your prop is oozing. Priceless.
So shoot on over to Haunt Project & learn how to make this & be the envy of your block. What are you waiting for? Go!

Jell-O Jigglin’ Jack O’laterns & Ghost Pears

No Fuss Fabulous has the neatest ideas for some healthy Halloween treats. Jell-O Jigglin' Jack O'laterns & Ghost Pears! How cute is that? Way cute. I love pears & I love chocolate. Gotta go make some of these up right away. Hit the link below for the so easy how to.

I'm headed to the kitchen to whip some of these up. Hit the link. Gotta run...chocolate calls! "Poof"

October 24, 2010

Chocolate Soup for Two

Heather over at Sprinkle Bakes put this up for Valentine's Day, but hey, it's chocolate & there for is in season all year round. Can I get an "oh yeah!"?  She says it is for two but I ain't sharing. What?!?!?!  It's chocolate. Think of a big ol' mug of hot chocolate or something such as that & someone wants to share. I'm sorry but NO!. Ok go  on over & visit with Heather & get the recipe. We shall see how you feel about sharing then!
Aren't the spoons just too cute? Like you were getting ready to share. I still don't think so. Nope, not me.

October 23, 2010

Martha's gone Batty!

Poof on over to Martha Stewart & her Halloween Central for these sweet bat & cat cookies. They will be a delightful add on to you Halloween snack table. Or put them in sacks for a delicious take home treats for your guests!
Yummy looking and the minimal detail is simple yet...I feel like they are staring through to my very soul! In other words...I absolutely adore them. (So, I am strange at times. But hey, people love that about me)
Go see Martha!

October 22, 2010

Glow in the Dark Halloween Drinks

Gourmet Mom on the GO has the instructions for these awesome glow in the dark cocktails for your upcoming party with the secret ingredient being Tonic Water! Turn on the black light & let these babies help create the mood for your get together.
 I have to admit I am so excited over these. Imagine opening the door to the Trick or Treaters & they see you drink is glowing! Ha ha...I can hardly wait now.

Homemade Halloween Garland

Not 2 Crafty has a cool how to on making your own Halloween Garland. It features witch boots, glitter and black feather boas. How cool is that???? Pretty cool in my book. What I want is a how to on the sweet looking fireplace (want one,want one, want one) Sorry.... checkout the picture & hoof it on over to the site for the how to. Plus hear what is planned for the party guests!

October 21, 2010

Pumpkin Spice Cake

Here is a  Pumpkin Spice Cake from The Blissful Table. You gotta love this and so easy with two bundt cakes kinda smooshed together. I made a cake like this a few years back but used buttercream icing, it didn't turn out as snazy as this creation though. Hop on the trusty broom and head on over for the recipe. Also check out the how to for these wickedly cool cake pops. Thanks Lisa!

I gotta get to work and craft up some yummy mummies & stuff!

October 20, 2010

Sugar Cut Outs- How to from CakeSpy

Shhhhh...CakeSpy is in the house. I had to show all of you these sugar cut out decorations you can make on your own. Tons of possibilities here. All holidays, special occasions. Whatever it is, you can make this idea work for you.
Look it...its an adorable flower. This makes that cupcake look so much yummier. Get on over & get the how to. Not to worry CakeSpy won't mind you learning her secrets!

October 19, 2010

Ritchie's Dad is gone.

That great Dad from television's Happy Days, Tom Bosley has passed on at the age of 83. Reports say he died of heart failure. Any way you put it,we have lost Mr. Cunningham.
We wish you all the best with your new gig. Miss ya Mr. C.

Author Kathleen Welborn

I have the privilege of knowing Kathleen Welborn. Her books come straight from the heart. She is a lovely person & and a talented author. She has even done a Children's book. You should check out her site & her books!


“Come with me on a journey…………let me take you away. Close your mind to all of the things around you… …….escape with me, as you read my words that are written in tune with the universe and that will allow you to dream. You don’t have to leave your chair to experience the feelings that come with the written words. Experience the rhythm and rhyme of the journey that takes you away from everyday life. You will feel it, you will believe it and you will relax and find yourself in a peaceful state of mind.”  Kathleen Welborn





Besides being the author, Kathleen does her own art for her books. The lady wears many hats. She is a wonderful Grandmother & Great Grandmother too. So go on over & check out her site......don't worry I'll wait.

Cat Apparel at its Finest!

Okay. This is kinda funny and terrific all at the same time. Meow Wear....clothing for your cats! This is great if kitty will let you dress him or her. I used to have a cat named Grease Spot that loved to play dress-up. He had a baseball cap that said "Party Animal", a top hat, granny glasses and shades too. At a Luau I had he was dressed as a tourist with straw hat, sunglasses and a lei. Of course he hung around waiting for the smoked pork to get done. My cats now, Ramses and D'Artagnon would take off the offensive gear and probably yak on it. But if your kitty lets you spoil him or her....Meow Wear has just the thing or they will make a custom order for you.
If you want to get your Familiar dressed up.......poof on over to Meow Wear. 

October 18, 2010

Happy Birthday to my Big Brother!

Gotta give a shout out to my big brother Don. Today is his birthday. I know its a Monday & you are probably working but I hope you one heck of an awesome day. Love ya Big Brother!
There is always a rockin good time when Don is around. I am very proud of Don & I was a lucky sister cause my big brother wasn't one of those who thought his kid sister should be avoided at all costs. He took me places & taught me all sorts of things. I had an amazing childhood thanks to him. Miss you & will call you later. The Kid (thats what he calls me...I have 4 grandchildren & I am still The Kid!)