Art Journal Spooks

So I'm a few weeks late getting this Halloween book posted, but better late than never, eh? ;)

Here is a Halloween-Gothic-Spooky art journal I made from a paper sample book.

I love working in these books because of the different textures, sizes, and weights of the papers inside.

Unfortunately, these little sample books are hard to come by if you don't know someone in the printing business. I'm working on making some myself and will put them in my shop as soon as I get around to it (and you know how THAT goes!!).

I burned the edges of the "bewitching picture" with a lighter to get a ragged, darkened look. Take care when doing this technique that you don't burn the house down! I keep a fire extinguisher in my studio just in case.

I used a lot of hand carved stamps to decorate this book. The flies, bats, and thorny briers in the photos above are all stamps I carved myself.

I'm not sure what happened to the black cat paper...it bunched up there. It looked fine when I glued it down but it must have shifted when I closed the book. The glue must have still been slightly damp.

Another reason I like these little books is that they're great for themed journals because they're just the right size. If they had too many pages I'd run out of ideas for the theme before I got to the end of the book!

I hope you enjoyed viewing my Spooky Art Journal! It was a lot of fun to make and I can hardly wait to get started on another themed book! I'll let you know when I get some blank paper sample books of my own design listed in my shop.

Monthly Stamp Club Cards

This month's cards are Halloween themed. Trick or treat!

This was just a stamped image of the hat and boots with a couple of ovals punched out and stamped.

The raised background of this card was made by running the paper through the "Big Shot" die cutting machine, using an embossing plate instead of a cutting plate.

Then we lightly sponged green ink over the spider web pattern to make it stand out more.

We then adhered a piece of this crinkly black tissue paper over the card and tied it with a lace ribbon.

The ghost was made from an owl punch turned upside down with the feet cut off. (See owl image below)

Hoot Hoot! This was made entirely from punches by Stampin Up. The card had room for a greeting on the bottom right corner.

All stamps copyright Stampin Up.

Blog Carnival: Halloween

This month's blog carnival theme for the Etsy Bloggers theme is to share your favorite Halloween memory from your childhood.

I loved going trick or treating with my neighborhood friends. We'd all go together in a group, with the moms in tow chatting and having as good a time as we were having.


Here I am at 5 years old with my little sister, ready for the big night! My costume was handmade by mom and she had me wear it every year for Halloween until I was 12. By then it was almost a mini skirt it came so far up my legs! I suppose she figured she spent all that time making the costume that I may as well get as much use out of it as I could. Besides, she didn't want to make another the next year!

To be honest, I was so sick of that costume after a couple of years and it took all the fun out of choosing what I wanted to be for Halloween.

My friends: "What are you going to be for Halloween this year?"
Me: "A princess." **big sigh**
My friends: "Again?! Haven't you been a princess for the last 10 years in a row?"