I can’t believe it’s already Thursday. It feels like time is rushing by with so much to do. We finally had rain after a few weeks of dreadfully hot weather. I was really looking forward to it until the humidity took hold. At 10pm last night we had a heat index of 91. Argh is an understatement. I tend to garden and do yard work early in the morning now. That used to be my creative time. Needless to say, my schedule has been disrupted.

We finally made it to the beach on Friday. Wouldn’t you know that I had my lens in manual mode and couldn’t tell that they were all desperately out of focus. Here’s the best shot. Not exactly the relaxing tone I was hoping for, but it does have a certain honesty to it.

This poor little guy has been through a lot in the last 24 hours. He prompted “the conversation” about Santa yesterday out of the blue. He now wants to turn back time. I’m afraid that’s just not possible for a 9 year old, soon-to-be 4th grader. Whether he realizes it or not, he was ready or he wouldn’t have asked “for the truth, Mom.” And while it created a downpour of tears from both of us, he’s now moved on to the subject of hamsters. I believe he’s off making a lego boat for said mythical hamster right now.

I finished the firemen photo shoot, too. Not everything I’d hoped for but I learned a lot about myself in the process. Here’s my favorite shot from the last day. Shooting firemen is hard. As a rule, you want the eyes in the top 1/3 of the frame. But the helmets are so big that it forces the eyes down in the frame. Cut off the helmet and you take away some of their identity. Makes it tough going and not a lot of room for creativity. #37 here was quite accommodating to my attempts at different settings and poses. I should point out that we had a heat index over 120 degree and about 85% humidity while he was suited up for this photo. Talk about dedication.

On to crafty things…You may have noticed a little bit of a hiatus on the crafty front. I usually pull back a bit during the summer but this one has brought a lot of changes. We’ve moved my husband out of his old office and in to my now shared craft space. I did a deep clean on the supplies and re-focused my attention on sewing, paper (not so much scrap) and other mixed media delights. But I’ve also lost my rhythm in the process and I’m trying to figure out a good arrangement for creating. On a similar subject, the editors of FaveCrafts asked for my take on saving money with crafting supplies. Here’s my answer if you are interested.

Once the monkeys are back in school I’ll resume posting a lot more projects. I’ve had Halloween on the brain and I’m thinking about doing an eBook of projects this year. I’ve got all sorts of fun stuff in the works, I promise!

I believe I’ve mentioned before that I started working at a grain elevator for harvest. This has a huge impact on the types of crafting I’m doing now since I can’t play in my craft room for hours on end. It forces me to have a different perspective, as evidence in these projects. I’ve been a crocheter off and on for the better part of my life. My skills grow rusty through the warm summer months only to get use again when it’s cold out. Yes, I am a seasonal crocheter.

The first project here is a crochet sampler spider web. Here’s what I did:

-The corner web was formed by joining three different strips of crochet lace together with a couple of single crochet strips.

-I joined them at the corner with a simple slip stitch.

-Then I crocheted lengths using  single crochet stitch and draping it between each long length creating a web. They are joined at the back and pass through each lace strip.

-I used Stiffy to made the web firm for easier hanging.

The next crochet project is a simple spider web doily. Here’s how:

-I started by crocheting five sigle crochet stitches and joined the ends together with slip stitch to make a loop.

- I made two slip stitches around the loop (so it floats and can be moved) then crocheted a two rows of single crochet for one line of the web. Do this five times until you have the entire loop covered.

-Starting a few stitches from the loop on one of the lines, single crochet a length that reaches the next line. Join in back using a single crochet and continue around the lines until the entire web is formed.

-Finish with a slip stitch.

-Enjoy.

So I lied. I do have more Halloween projects. And even more are coming.

This project was actually inspired by some stickers I found. They wouldn’t work on the mini pumpkins so I improvised with adhesive backed felt and bling. I picked up a couple of very large pumpkins for the boys yesterday but I’ll just stick with these cute little reusable pumpkins for now.

It’s as much an Autumn project as Halloween. I could see them decorating a Thanksgiving table, too. And you could decorate based on your colors and table setting.

Enjoy.

(This will probably be my last official Halloween project for the season. I’ll start working in the office of our little local grain elevator for harvest very soon. I won’t be anywhere near my craft room but I will be making lots of digital files and other fun crafty things, so don’t go far.)

Today’s project is a thaumatrope. Don’t ask me how to say it, I just know that it’s cool. I saw it the other night on the Mentalist and thought it would be a fun project for Halloween and the kiddies. Here’s the Wiki on them. I followed this sweet tutorial with a few changes noted below:

For the grown up version, I finished the inside edge of one side with a crepe paper medal. If you don’t know how to make these, here is my tutorial video.(I used a larger circle as a template, as shown.)

Then add your paper circle. This one is using some patterned paper, but I also used plain cardstock and book pages.

If you use thin paper you are going to want to make a cardboard circle to go in the center. This one is from a cereal box.

Just remember to flip the images so that one is upside down. I used all matter of scrapbooking and crafting supplies to make mine. Remember that skullman file I posted other other day? I used it here and mounted glitter paper behind the eyes. It looks so cool with it spins!

I used a thick string and just adhered it to the inside center before adding the other side. I found it easier for the kiddies to do this rather than making a hole and tying the string. And this way you can make a thousand of them in no time.

I made them using all sorts of scrap supplies, stamps, printed images, stickles, stickers, and book pages. I found making them became quite addicting.

Enjoy!

I wanted to make a special box for holding all of my spells. I found an old cigar box that was the perfect size for the most important ones. Here’s a quick look at what I’ve come to call my box of mischief.

I wanted something elegant, something sparkly but not too sweet. It goes perfectly with the plush velvet “beware” banner and the miniature graveyard. Now if I could just find that tree…..

Check back for the details on making it.

Enjoy.

I was working on a completely different project and then this thing took me over. I was thinking of costumes, and then my mind wandered to Tatiana’s crown in the 1935 version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. (If you’ve never seen this version, I highly recommend it not only for the story and acting, but the costumes are phenomenal.) This little crown was the result of my efforts. It could be decorated for any prince or princess, or queen, too.

The template comes in two pieces: the band and the crown. I cut mine out of patterned paper and then decorated. I used a couple of pieces of ribbon to tie in back and shape the crown. Now, who wouldn’t love one of these? I think I might just wear mine to the grocery store.

Here’s the print and cut:

Here’s the digital files in .eps, .png, .svg, and .dxf.

Crown.zip

Enjoy.