Happy Halloween!

Yes! It's finally here! I thought I would round things up with some photos of Halloween things I have been playing with over the last few weeks. First off is the Halloween banner I made using Tim Holtz die cuts and some messy paint techniques. I am quite pleased with the way it turned out but trying to store it will be fun. Hopefully there won't be too many tangles by next year.


Then we have some paper envelopes inspired by some Sue Roddis made.

Some very basic zombies that didn't quite trun out the way I imagined. I was lucky to get away with all my fingers intact though. You can see from the photo that they have already been feeding.


A pumpkin tag with some pretty foiling. I bought the foiling kit at the beginning of the month and just about everything has had a coat of foil - including myself at one point. I looked in the mirror to find silver foil stuck to my skin. Pretty!


And finally there are some matchbook notepads. I came across this idea while surfing Etsy and wanted to give them a go. Very simple and very practical.


And while I am too old to go trick or treating, I do have a pumpkin carved and ready to be lit later along with some peanut butter fudge, chocolate fridge cake, various spooky jelly sweet mixes and some 'witches fingers' and cheese and chive pretzels to nibble on while reading The Golem and watching horror movies tonight. First stop is The new version of The Wolf Man with Benicio Del Toro with lots of screams and scares - hopefully. Whatever you are all up to this evening, I hope you all have a fun and safe Halloween. Mwahahaha!

Notepads

Here are the results of this week's productivity. A handful of notebooks, two of which were inspired by the Commonwealth Games in India. I just love those colours, so warm and yummy. They are all laminated too so they will last and can be refilled using a Bind-It-All. They are now available in my Etsy store and make ideal gifts.

An Octopode Factory

I'm just popping by quickly to let you know about a great source of digital stamps and collage sheets. The Octopode Factory is full of quirky and whimsical images from spooky Halloween treats to Christmas infused ones, Alice in Wonderland to Peter Pan. They are the brain children of Lily Chilvers, a young lady with a huge amount of talent (I believe she is only 17), and are just ideal for some last minute Halloween crafting - or even crafting at any other time of year. I have just received her Raven digistamp and can't wait to play with him. You can find her blog here and her Etsy store here. Now, who's for a shopping spree?

Challenge Gillian - September

Yes, once again, I failed to get four pieces painted in one month. If one thing has become clear it's that it isn't that easy to stick to a challenge like this. For along time I have had difficulty sitting down, getting on and drawing or painting. I really have to be bashed round the head with inspiration before I sit down. Or, alternatively, I'm get paid for what I am producing. That's always a good motivator ;o) However, I did manage to get this guy finished in September and several other pieces started. The other pieces will be finished up this month (hopefully), one is actually listed in my Etsy store (Hide and Seek), but considering I have signed up for another ancient history course with the Open University I feel that my time is going to be spent studying more that drawing. Still, it's nearly the end of the year. Can you believe it? Just three more months of Challenge Gillian left.

Mini gift cards for Halloween

I am in love with Stampotique Originals' stamps. In particular the ones by Daniel Torrente with their scruffy, detailed, gothic style images. Last week I treated myself to some of the new release Halloween stamps including Halloween Cube 2 and Puss, Puss to go with Mr Stripes, whom I bought last year. They are just so cute and have a slightly forlorn look that is hard to resist. But then I'm a sucker for a sad pumpkin. However, I also came across Sue Roddis' fabulous bookmarks using the same stamps and had to try them myself. These are the results but instead of making them into bookmarks (I couldn't find mini magnets to use as closures) I have kept them as little gift cards. The two little squares at the bottom are made with offcuts of decorated paper, using shiny foils and texture plates. They are yet to find their destiny but would fit on little cards as toppers. They actually came about as I had a couple of stamped images left over and they just demanded to be used - and who am I to refuse a pumpkin!