Halloween Altered Album

I've decided to step away from my Halloween album.  I don't think I can ever really call it finished, but at least until I have some photos to put in it, we're taking a break.  Because the album barely closes as it is, and there are no photos yet.  I can't resist posting a few photos now, there will be more later as this was an intense from scratch album build.  The album itself is built on the brown paper bag technique, which is offered as a Paper-ED class at Michaels.  This album is my person take on the paper bag album, complete with hand-stitched leather cover.  And let me tell you, folks, this is were being an omnicrafter is super useful.  I already had ALL these tools.

Paper-ED Tim Holtz Halloween

There is still time for Tim!  Don't delay, sign up now for a Tim Holtz Halloween Banner class at Michaels on West Broad.  We'll spend a few hours distressing, inking, stickling, and embellishing a truly unique Halloween banner perfect for your celebration this year and for years to come.  See the October Paper-ED schedule for dates and times. 

New Demos Scheduled October 2011

If you're interested in paper crafting or scrapbooking and want to do some window shopping, ask some questions, or do some "touch and feel" before you sign up for a class, I've got two great demos coming up.  Both demos are atMichaels West Broad Street location. 

Tim Holtz Halloween Banner
October 13th, 2011 4:00-5:00 (Thursday)
I'll be demonstrating distressing techniques used to make the Tim Holtz "Scary"
Halloween banner.  If you've always browsed the Tim Holtz/Ranger ink section thinking "that stuff is really neat, but what do I do with it?" then this is the demo for you.  I'll show you many different ways to use your Distress inks, we'll use some Stickles, the Mini Mister, and maybe some Crackle Paint too. 

Scrapbooking Demo
October 21st, 2011 10:00-11:00 (Friday)
If you're new to scrapbooking or and old pro looking for new tips or shopping for new products, this is for everyone.  I'll be available to answer any questions you may have about scrapbooking from papers to adhesives.  I'll showcase some new products we're carrying and of course help you sign up for our new late fall and winter classes.  There's lots on the menu, hope too see you there. 

Paper-ED Halloween Party

There's still time to make amazing paper Halloween decorations!  Sign up for Paper-ED Halloween Party October 6th for 6-8pm and create these stunning pieces for your Halloween celebrations.  Make a banner with paper rosettes, a two page 12x12 layout, an invitation, greeting card, decorated envelope, and table top decoration. 





Altered Shadow Boxes

This set of three boxes represents a rescue attempt on my part and I must say I think I can out better than I'd planned. What I had was a very generic set of three black shadow boxes and I liked them fine until one fell off the wall and the corner broke off.  I repaired the corner with wood glue and clamped it back on but it was a very noticeable repair, so they sat in the garage for months while I decided what to do.  Finally I got around to pulling out some patterned card stock and framing out the front of the boxes.  I layered some dye-cuts in a few places then sealed the whole shebang with a walnut stain to give it an aged appearance.  After the stain dried I loaded up a few more coats of medium, building thicker in some places and thinner in others, for a more dynamic appearance, but I don't think that comes through in the photos at all.  I hung them just in time to load them up with some Halloween tchotkes, but these will be a year round display. 

Halloween is my Christmas

True Confessions from the All Hallows Eve Obsessed...

• I'm that girl who hits the post Halloween sales and stocks my attic with Styrofoam tombstones and skulls LED lights starting November 1st.
• I purchase skull decor items at Halloween and use them year round.  Skull salt and pepper shakers, skeleton salad tongs, skull and cross bone dish towels, the list goes on.
• When the Spirit Halloween store opened in the previous Border's location my children and I were literally waiting outside the door when they opened on August 31st at 11:00.  We were the first sale, I had to wait for them to finish installing the POS machine. 
• I finished my son's medieval knight costume in May.  
• And I'm just a few yards of black tulle away from the final stitches on my daughter's costume.
• In fact, my only problem with Halloween is that it only happens once a year. But if we start crafting now, we'll have at least two solid months of creepy, crawly, crafty goodness!

So, without further ado, please allow me to introduce to you the newest addition to my Halloween display, the Tabletop Halloween Curio.

I used A Tim Holtz Configurations Box*.  I think it's the Medium sized box.  This was my first time using this product, overall it was great.  Very easy to use and the options are pretty much endless.  I'm sure there are more of these boxes in my future because I've got lots of little collections. Here's some in progress photos of how it all came together.

Collection of possibilities.

The empty box. Each interior box is
separate and there are myriad of
configurations.

A dry fit of little pieces in the box. 
I removed a few of the individual boxes to make
room for the lion. 

Papering the back of the box.  The paper is from a 12x12 stack called
"Street Lace"

Dry fitting paper for the back of the trio of bottom boxes.

The bottom boxes are wrapped in black on the inside and bottom.

And this is the look once all the compartments have been papered.
I used ModPodge throughout and glued each object in place and well.  Originally
I used a silver Sharpie paint marker to color the front lip of each compartment, but then I decided to cover
them in ribbon for a more finished look as seen below.

Compartments lips are covered in purple ribbon.  Some objects on display include a
glow-in-the-dark LEGO ghost and Tim Holtz skeleton keys and escutcheons. 

This lion says Bordeaux, he came from the jewelry section, also a clip on glittered spider.

Here you can see one of the last additions, plastic skeleton hands, from my Halloween stash. 
I had a hard time figuring out how to adhere these guys because
they are not flat backed.  Finally, with assistance from my daughter, I used
Bendaroos.  If you have kids, you're probably familiar with
Bendaroos, if not, it's a bendable sticky stick thing.  Worked great.

That's it for now. I'm pretty new to this who Blogatorium thing, so my format will be changing.  But please to keep checking in, gentle reader, you never know what you will find.  However, I'll give you a sneak preview and say if you live in the Richmond, VA area and you are interested in paper crafting and/or scrap booking I will be starting to offer classes very soon at a very convenient West End location.  So, stay tuned for updates. 

*For more info about the Tim Holtz Configuration Box, visit his blog.