Halloween Countdown Project



Goodness, it has been a while since I have updated my blog.  I wish I could say I was busy doing all sorts of crafty projects, but in all honesty that hasn't been the case.   So, I wanted to make sure to get at least one Halloween project completed and posted.  I made this Halloween Countdown for my favorite little person.  He's turning eight this Halloween and I am lucky to be the auntie who gets to spoil him with fun activities and crafts.  I would like to note that I cleared this project with his mom ahead of time. I didn't want her to be stuck with having to do a bunch of activities and projects that she didn't sign up for.  Luckily she was game and this project was born.

One of the first projects I ever posted on this blog was an advent calendar I made for the same little dude. I feel like my crafting ability has improved a bit since that project. Below is my finished Halloween Countdown.  It consists of 31 envelopes and tags made with October Afternoon's Witch Hazel paper and embellishments, along with some American Crafts number stickers, some painted clothespins I found at Michaels and one embroidery hoop. 



 

 

I glued the clothespins to the embroidery hoop with hot glue, but in retrospect I would use 3D zots.  The hot glue did not adhere to the painted surface of the clothespins as well as I would have hoped. 
Each day has an envelope with a tag inside.  Each tag has an activity, project or treat associated with it.  I made the envelopes using my We R Memory Keepers envelope board.  I used 4'x4" squares of paper and used the guide at 2 1/4" to make the envelopes adhering the side flap to the back of the envelope so the tag could easily slide in.
The tags were made with corresponding paper and buttons were adhered to the top of the tags for easy access. I embellished each envelope with various stickers and numbers, and using a circle punch, punched 31 orange circles to tie all the envelopes together.
The countdown calendar is something that could be used year after year.  I also made a corresponding treat box to hold some of the treats that were listed on the tags.  I covered a box with October Afternoon Witch Hazel paper and added some glittery American Crafts alphabet stickers as well.  If you are interested in what activities were included, please leave a comment and I will be happy to provide a list. Thanks!

Taking a leap

The banner I made for my table at Urban Shopping and Cocktails.

Sometimes you have to take a leap.  I have often said that what I do for a living isn't what defines me.  It is what I choose to do with my spare time from which I get the most fulfillment. I love to make paper crafts and now I am taking a chance to sell some of my crafts at a local shopping event.  It is kind of a big deal for me to put myself and my creations out there. 

A lovely friend of mine runs a monthly shopping event called Urban Shopping and Cocktails.  It was the perfect place to sell some paper crafts and get a little experience.  The other vendors who see there were friendly and kind and the environment is really encouraging and supportive.

I made small 3x5 notebooks, 4x6 notebooks, Post-it note holders and cards to sell.  In retrospect, I should have worked on my display a little more, but it was still such a lot of fun and I made over $100!

I hope to be able to participate in more events like this one in the future.  It is nice to be able to do something that I love and share it with others while also making a little money to continue to fund my love of paper crafts.

Here is some photos from the event:

Disney Magic Scrapbook

So, the holidays are over and I was able to accomplish a lot of the things I set out to do.  Much like any ambitious to-do list, some ideas will just have to wait until next Christmas.  Sometimes it is hard to fit in time for crafting when you work full time.  In 2014 I hope to make crafting an even bigger priority. 
One huge thing I did accomplish however is making an entire scrapbook.  I will be the first to admit that if you ask me if I am a scrapbooker, the answer is no.  I will always answer that I like to make cards and paper crafts, but scrapbooking is too daunting of a task.  A little while ago, a co-worker and friend of mine asked if she could hire me to make a scrapbook of her recent trip to Disneyland with her granddaughter.  At first I was a little wary of agreeing to it.  I was really worried about being in charge of capturing all the memories and I had never even made a scrapbook before.  But she was still willing to let me do it, even after I admitted to my novice scrapbooking ability.  I purchased a scrapbook kit from the CKC Convention in November from Embellish It!  You can find the kit here.  It contained a Basic Grey plain chipboard album and Simple Stories Say Cheese papers and embellishments.  There were instructions on how to make the book, but really I just used the instructions as inspiration.  Once I started, I got really into creating my own pages, in fact none of my pages look like the ones included with the kit.  Only the cover is similar. 
Here are pictures of the scrapbook.  I am really proud of my accomplishment (and not in a humblebrag kind of way).  Once I got over the initial feeling of how overwhelming it would be, it actually came together pretty quickly.  Here it is from cover to cover.