Lollipop masks/Halloween rings

We all enjoy masks on Halloween, so why not let our lollipops enjoy them too?  As an added bonus, these lollipop masks double (when the lollipop is gone of course) as a cute ring! 

You will need:

Round felt stickers (I used eyeballs)

¼” wide black elastic

Ex-acto or craft knife

Small paintbrush

Lollipops (I used blow pops)

Pen or pencil

Ruler

Tacky glue

1.     You will need two round felt stickers for each mask/ring.  If the motif has any dimensional felt applied peel it off of the one you delegate as the bottom.  Only one side faces up.  Make two marks across from each other with a pen or pencil on the back of the bottom felt motif.  (See photo)

2.     Cut a piece of ¼” elastic 3 inches long.

3.     Cut through the slit marks you made on the back of one motif with an exacto or craft knife.  Remove the backing from the motif you cut the slits in and using the end of a small, thin paintbrush push the elastic through the slits entering through the non-sticky side, fold and adhere each elastic end to the sticky surface.  This is when you should measure to make sure the mask fits on your particular lollipop and pull through tighter or looser as needed. 

Measure your lolly

4.     Remove the backing from the other motif and attach to cover where you attached the elastic.  Slide onto your lollipop.  You may want to add a bit of tacky glue to further reinforce the bond.

5.     When you have eaten the lollipop use the mask as a cute ring.

If you can't find the eyeball felt stickers in your area, don't fret.  Simply cut two circles out of white felt and glue some wiggle eyes in the center.  Draw red lines with a fine line sharpie and make the rings as instructed using the tacky glue to adhere the two pieces together.

OWH Sketch #140

Hi everyone,

It's always great fun when one of the OWH blog team members contacts you about helping out with a challenge. So, I really enjoyed making a couple of sample cards for this week's sketch.

Sample Cards

Because of the month-long Birthday Bash, it's taken awhile for this sketch to post. So, the cards below were actually made during a summer trip to the beach and mailed awhile ago. 

We R Memory Keepers Down the Boardwalk collection; pop up dots for "Notes" rectangle

Bo Bunny Liberty; jute; punched-out stars, heat embossed with clear powder; pop up dots for middle star

I have to admit that I initially struggled with how to use the two vertical strips. When making sample cards for Julie, I stick exactly to the sketch -- which, as many of you know, can be a challenge for me. :)  But, I think these turned out okay.

In addition, I used a few of my favorite techniques on the patriotic card:

• heat embossing with clear powder to give the stars a little shine, and
• pairing jute with navy for an unexpected texture.  
  
  
   Inside Surprises
  
  

  Finally, there were a few cards in one of the OWH blog hops that had "surprises" on the inside. This seemed like a nice touch. So, I added simple surprises to the inside of each of these cards.
  
  
  
  
  Parting Thoughts

Can't wait to see what you do with these three rectangles!

On another note, kudos to Jeri and her amazing Scrapbook Art OWH team for a wonderful card-making birthday bash! A grand total of 1424 cards were assembled today! The ATG guns were ablazing! I think I went through 5 or 6 rolls of ATG tape myself. :)  More details to follow.

As always, hanks for stopping by and for supporting OWH. Happy scrappin'!

The Silhouette of Silence

It was in one such night that I saw her, her real self her heart and her being. We knew each other much before and may be we were even what could be called as acquaintances but never friends. But that night changed it all, that one night. The night when I sat across from her, the night when our yes met not for the first time but for still the first time. I had known her before but that night when our eyes net under slow burning street lambs we came to know each other. That night under the simmering glow of the electric street lamb, in the bitter coldness of the European winter we met for the first time.

I must have known that the silence we shared was but only the beginning of a life long journey. A journey that would transform our selves and transcend our being. In that silence when our eyes met I saw something in her eyes that was burning, it was not revenge, it was not anger, it was not love and it certainly was not the glow of the hope but it was the reminiscent glow of the despair coming from the ashes of burned up dreams.

It took me aback to a darker time when the whole world was but the four walls of a prison cell for me, the days when my innocent dreams where held captive in the heavy chains, when the wings of my colorful dreams were clipped and all around was just darkness, blood and despair. 

That night under the simmering glow of the electric street lamb, in the bitter coldness of the European winter in her eyes I saw my eyes, I saw the same feelings, the same heart break. I was reminded of my death and my consecutive birth. I was reminded of the struggle and the daunting face of death and its giant red eyes staring down through you. Even when I write this my hand tremble with unimaginable fear and my heart beats  as if time is scanty and life is terribly short. 

That was the night I met myself, my silhouette in that silence I was acquainted with. Hers where the eyes of my past, her gently bosom bore the scars of the same torture that I endured. Her emancipated skin wore like a cheap gown the texture of undignified death. She reminded me of the times I had almost died and the times I almost gave up. The taste of her coarse lips reminded me of the stale and the dirt, the miserable life that I had escaped. And all around me was darkness I could see it crawling under my skin. Like a vicious creature it was coming towards me to consume what was left of me. There I lay in her hands, pressed against her cold body, with my lips just dangling above her sinister lips. In that truth of moment I realized that this is what I am and what have been and she is silhouette. The darkness of the past was but my past and I was as inseparable from it as darkness was from light itself.

That night under the simmering glow of the electric street lamb, in the bitter coldness of the European winter I met me for the first time and there we embarked on a lifelong journey of redemption.

BlogFest 2012 Finalized Participants

The finalized list of BlogFest 2012 participants.

Wendi Zwaduk - Romance to Make Your Heart Race
Colloquium
Megan Slayer - Too Hot To Handle
Supernatural Snark
Confessions of a Bookaholic
Still Blonde after all these YEARS! 
Delaney Diamond (sweet & sensual romance)
Good Choice Reading

Roof Beam Reader
Believing is Seeing
Desperado Penguin
A Dragon's Love
Patricia Leever
Tanya & Diana
Author Killian McRae
Ruby @ Ruby's Reads :)
Lee's Musings
Love is a Many Flavored Thing
Elisa Dane
Kacey's Kreations
V.S. Morgan - All Shades of Love
Hannah Downing Author
CMash Reads
Therese Gilardi: Beneath The Sunglasses
Seductive Musings
Snarkymamma
Kiru Taye Writes
From the TBR Pile
Hesperia Loves Books
Feather Stone, Author
Nicki Elson's Not-So-Deep Thoughts
Malevolent Musings
Kelly's Lucky You
Felicia Rogers Authors
Obsession with Books
Rebel Writer: Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
Jessica E. Subject
Dianne Hartsock
Diva's Bookcase
Hope. Dreams. Life... Love
Jennifer Lane Books
Fierce Dolan's Writing Utopia, One Word at a Time
Oh! For the Love of Books
Coffee, books and me
Kay Dee Royal Paranormal & Erotica Romance Musings
Wicked Readings By Tawania
For Those About To Read
Booksnob
Amaterasu Reads
Keenly Kristin
Ashlynn Monroe's Blog
Bewitched Bookworms 
Another Author
Michelle Santiago
Sharon Hamilton Author
Jennifer DeLucy's Blog
Can We Talk About...
J.C. Martin, Fighter Writer
Leontine's Book Realm
The Enigmatic
The Solitary Bookworm
EGC
Hott Books
I Just Wanna Sit Here and Read!
Starla Kaye
Stacie Vaughan
Book Obsessed
Margay Leah Justice
Two Little Cavaliers
Cherie Colyer
Curling Up By The Fire
Jill of The O.W.L.
Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book
Lucidity
Letters Inside Out
noodleBubble nice Blog
Carol Oates
AsianCocoa's Secret Garden
Christmas TV History
D.J. Kirkby
Fangs, Wands & Fairy Dust
The Book Pushers
Into the Mystic
Ravishing Romances
Alexia Banks
I'd So Rather Be Reading
Havan's Heavenly Haven
MamaNYC
The Cozy Reader
Reviews By Molly
Nuts and Crisps
The Wormhole
The Enchanted Book
NOVELS ON THE RUN
Socrates Book Review Blog
Si, se puede
Cuzinlogic
Love To Read For Fun
Simply Ali
Crimson Romance
Alaiel Kreuz
Ex Libris
Joyousreads
Tiffany's Bookshelf
The Tales of Dexter, Nora, and Chloe
Tall Tales from a Small Town
Midnight Thrillers
Notorious Spinks Talks Books
Mochas, Mysteries and More
My Little Pocketbooks
Mocha Girls Read 
The Smiling Pains of Novelist Destiny Booze
KMN Books
Knitting and Sundries
Think Sincere
The Maiden's Court
Vanessa Morgan
With Our Best
Reading Romances
Wordshaping
Ashley's Christian Book Reviews
Ashley's Bookshelf
JennReneeRead
Jaclyn's Musings
Parent Palace
Double Crossing
Jamie Haden
Writing Is A Blessing
The Relentless Reader
Bookvisions
Jennifer Wells, Paranormal Romance Author
Hlidie McQueen - Writing by Moonlight
A Passion for Romance
Leeswammes' Blog
At Home With Books
Becky WIcks
Susan Frances
Gemma Parkes Living and Loving
Jade Kerrion: Where Science Transforms Art
Mom vs. the Boys
Tami Brothers ~ Live, Love, Write!
Randomness from Mommyville
Feather's World
Reading Angel
JennRenee
Girls Just Reading
Blessed In Homemaking
Doing Dewey
Pages Off Life
Full Moon Bites
Lena Sledge's Blog
Lille Punkin
1099 Mom
Lyn Styles
star shadow blog
Life on the edge...of Appalachia
Chopski's blog
Cherie Reads


Content and Image courtesy : A Journey of Books

Quick one-hour Indian corn wreath

You can create this colorful wreath in less than an hour.  It is unique and one of a kind, depending upon the color Indian corn you use.  Indian corn is readily available at your local supermarket.  I’ve made the large wreath with a 12-inch wreath form but you can easily use smaller Indian corn on an 8-inch wreath.

You will need:

8 ears of Indian corn with the husks attached

8 silk fall leaves

12-inch wreath form (I found one made of Masonite at Michaels craft store)

Hot glue gun and glue sticks

24 gauge gold wire

Wire cutters

1.     Bend the husk back and lay the corn cob on top.  If it doesn’t bend easily dampen a bit and bend carefully. Add some hot glue on the wreath form and place the folded corn in the glue to attach.  Add some more hot glue on the corn itself, securing it to the form.  Be generous with the glue but make sure it is in inconspicuous areas.  When the glue had dried a bit, cut a length of wire and wrap the wire around the top of the corn where the husk attaches, twisting together securely in the back.

2.     Repeat step one directly across from the first ear of corn.  Try and fluff out the husks as wide as you can to fill in the areas between the ears.  Continue adding ears of corn spacing evenly until you have glued and wired all 8 ears.

3.     Squirt some hot glue between each ear of corn and attach a silk fall leaf on top of the husks.  (See photo)

4.     Cut a length of wire and fold in half.  Make a loop for hanging, thread the ends through the wreath and secure together.

If you would like to make a smaller wreath use small Indian corn cobs on an 8-inch form. You can eliminate the leaves if you so desire.  Simply fluff out and glue the husks in the areas between the cobs.  

Small wreath

Season's Greetings

Hi everyone,

Hope everyone's had a good weekend.

I met a friend for a day of talking, eating, and shopping -- probably in that order -- yesterday and picked up a couple of yummy 6 by 6 pads of Christmas paper. Put one of those pads to use on the card below.

Authentique Festive; Hero Arts stamp, heat embossed in Distress Ink Vintage Photo; corner rounder, hole and ek border punches

Why is it that my cuts and paper placements always look so much straighter in my craft (aka menopause) room than on this computer monitor screen? Hmmm...

Anyway, love that the paper is two-sided. Love the designs in the collection. Thought the font of this sentiment felt right with the old-fashioned feel of the paper. And, I was pleased with the look achieved by applying  just a touch of Distress Ink to the top edge of the plaid paper.

I used OWH Sketch 139 for the design. (Since I don't have any brace/bracket dies, I went with a corner rounder for the top paper.) Also, I went with the red and green palette for this week's Midweek Throwdown Challenge.

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to make an Any Hero card using Sketch #139 this week. [In January, I resolved to make an Any Hero card for any OWH sketch I used during the year. Not quite as ambitious as Kathryn's resolution. But, a resolution I still want to keep. :) ]

And, I'm really looking forward to the card-making party at Scrapbook Art this coming Saturday. If you're interested in joining us and need some info, please click here.

Little Ghost Halloween treat bags

These little treat bags are quick and easy to create with just a few supplies.  Fill them with candy or small treats and you will be the most popular host.

You will need:

3” x 4” gift bag with handle in black or orange

White paper towel

Small amount of fiberfill

White thread

Tacky craft glue or Glue gun and glue sticks

Black dimensional fabric paint

1.     Cut a piece of white paper towel 4” x 4” square.  Put a tiny bit of fiberfill in the center and fold down.  Gather the top to form a head and tie into a knot with a small piece of white thread.  Snip off any excess thread

2.      Check the placement of the ghost so that he is centered on the bag. Add a dab of glue on the bag and adhere the ghost head.  Fluff out the ghost body. Let dry.

3.     Add two dots on the ghost head to represent eyes.  Fill  the bag with candy or small treats.

The Bird with the Broken Wing

This happened some time back almost during the time of the last angst autumn. In my evening fiestas I used to gaze at the horizon, I used to strain my eyes as it trailed the changing shades of the sky and merged into the darkness of the night. A particular sight awaited me every day without fail and if it didn’t I seemed deem myself a failure for the afternoon. This mellifluous sight was that of a bird, petite and cute beyond compare. With much energy it filled my evening sky with its wondrous twitter. I am from now on going to refer her as a she for I know not how to find the gender of a bird and it is always much cuter when it is a she.

She was so dainty and yet so active, flying around the sky as if in some desperate pursuit, soothing was her voice, her chatter, her far away tweets. Yet unknown to me she had a heart of lead that weighed on her. I never knew then that all her energy was just a pretend, an act of the eloped. It would be some time since then when the bird would eventually come to rest in my palms and we would share much love and many emotions. But going back to the story, by then she had made herself a humble abode upon my little cherry tree, Indeed the cherry tree was not that little but she was a bit little when viewed in the context of the behemoths that surrounded her in the nearby woods.

As days flew by like the leaves in the autumn, she and I had made an invisible connection. I would often feel like she was talking to me when I heard her distant cooing and I would feel that the eternal dance of hers was but for me to watch. True or not we had got connected in a level of existence in a realm much above the one of common understanding. She had become my pet, neither the one that was bound by the materialistic confines of a cage nor the one whose heart and thought was confined by an authoritarian lease, but my pet nevertheless.

But then it had occurred on that day when the fate stood still, as it watched an eternal criss-crossing of destinies when my little bird had got hurt by some despicable evil. Her wings had been clipped, her freedoms curtained, she fell from the sky like a stone on to the heaps of scarlet leafs. She laid there in waiting for my warm hands to cup her and carry her to the warm coziness of my home and to the warmer corners of my heart. There I did dress her would with much love and compassion as if she was my little daughter, that too quiet literally with bandages and ointments that I had. I cared for her, I looked after her and from that day forth till today we spend innumerable evenings discussing and rambling about many a wonderful things during our customary evening siesta.

But then again as she gained my heart bit by bit, I started to dread the reality that was today, an inevitable day that was not in my power to prevent, I would have been cruel and selfish in the past few days praying that she never would get better but then again this was the day for which I had cared for her, the day she could be free once again and adorn my evening sky with her tweeting and ramblings. I know she would never fly far away and I know the cherry tree will forever remain her abode but then you could never tell and this very thought had been haunting me for some time now.

But nevertheless today is here and the day must happen for our destinies were written not now but ages ago. It stood there cupping her in my arms as it ruffled around her petite silhouette. I slowly undid her band aids and held my hands up in the air and with tears rolling down my cheek and sinister thoughts haunting my mind I let her go. I watched her fly away from by hand just like she always did I could feel the instantaneous loss of weight upon my hand. My heart skipped a beat when she skipped a flap of her wings and for that one moment when she appeared to fall my heart leap. But she is the child of freedom, it is in her nature to fly and it was inevitable that she would do that. I always knew that she was destined for freedom, though it is true that I wish she would not but hers is the sky to fly and ones again as I sit back in my chair looking up at the evening sky I knew what we were and how we were to be. 

OWH Sketch #138

Hi everyone,

Hope everyone's had a nice weekend. The weather here has been amazing -- two Chamber of Commerce days as hubby likes to say. :)

I have two cards to share, both of which were inspired by this week's sketch.

Card 1: A Christmas Card

Cardstock Warehouse Paper Co. cardstock; stamps: Hero Arts snowflake and $ sentiment; sentiment in Stampin' Up! Night of Navy; clear embossing powder

The card is far more striking than what you see here. Clear snowflakes have also been heat-embossed on the white cardstock. I wish they would have shown up better.

Actually, I was so pleased by the elegant look of the blue-on-blue and white-on-white embossing, I decided against adding a snowman to the design as originally planned and went with just the sentiment.

And, this pack of cardstock is so pretty. The papers have really nice textures. It's not mu usual Bazzill. Instead, it's a pack I picked up at a great price at Tuesday Morning. I wasn't sure how nice it would be, but I wouldn't think twice about buying it again. If you see it, consider giving it a try. :)

Card 2: An Any Hero Card

We R Memory Keepers Red, White and Blue, black cardstock; Paper Inspirations sentiment in Distress Ink Black Soot; gems

In addition to being inspired by this week's OWH  sketch, this card drew inspiration from this week's Midweek Throwdown to make an Any Hero card and from this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge to make a card using black, white, and one other color.

Parting Thought: A Card-Making Party for OWH  :)

If you live within traveling distance to central Ohio -- and  you're free on September 29th -- there's a birthday bash card-making party going on at Scrapbook Art in Lewis Center. Click here for details.

If you can make it, I know they'd love to have you. The more the merrier! I definitely have it circled on my calendar.

Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

Just Married, Please Excuse

Yashodhara Lal has did a stunning job when it came to writing her debut novel, Its simple, its sensitive and its sensible. The plot of the story can not be disclosed as I will be called a 'spoiler' but the essence of the story is this, the life of an average couple in the midst of the modern Indian urban cacophony.

The novel brings out the the collisions between tradition and modernism, the urge to be secure and independent and above all a desire to fit in. The story duly highlights the various emotional upheavals and the various tantrums of a modern marriage and the conscious effort that was needed to make it work every time it threatened to fall apart. As with most couples 'falling apart' seems to be central theme that the story revolves around. Incipiently the protagonist gives away the impression that the marriage in question is destined for the abyss and  chapter after chapter seems to be strengthening this conception. 

The story can never be called a classic or even for that matter an exceptional piece of literature, but I doubt that was ever the authors intention was either. The truthfulness and the simplicity of the story as it moves from city to city and from people to more people remains largely the same. The story though some what predictive is nevertheless very engaging and is a looking glass into the life and times of the modern Indian household. The story is engaging, indulgent and stunningly simple, there are now wild goose chases, no extravagant stunts and certainly not flamboyant turning of odds. Everything is laid down neatly by Mrs Lal in a simple and straight forward narrative. 

Just Married, Please Excuse is no Shakespeare or Dickens but that being said it is not a Mills and boons either. It is a sensitive and simple story that has been narrated with utmost honesty and love. The areas where it will score in a readers heart can be easily enumerated as its simplicity and its innate ability to be related to the lives of people that you and I know in abundance. In short it is a story about any metro-sexual modern couple out there in India's several metropolises. 

Seasonal magnetic chip clip

If you are like me, whenever you have an open snack food bag you are always looking for a clip to keep it fresh.  You know you have them but you just can’t seem to find one.  I think they grow legs and walk away. These magnetic chip clips will stay put right on the fridge until you are ready to use them. The extra benefit to these easy to create chip clips is that they make a great seasonal decoration on your fridge as well. 

You will need:

Spring type clothespins

Adhesive backed seasonal felt motifs (available in craft stores and online)

Acrylic paint in a color to match your motif

Masking tape or double-faced tape

Small paintbrush

Roll of magnetic tape with adhesive backing (or be green and use a recycled advertising magnet cut to size!)

Glue gun and glue sticks

Cardboard from a cereal box or similar product

Scissors

1.     Protect your work surface with a cardboard scrap.  Tape a clothespin down with masking or double-faced tape and paint it with a corresponding color acrylic paint.  When one side is dry, paint the other side as well.  Let dry. 

2.     While you are waiting for your paint to dry, turn your motif over and trace it onto a piece of cardboard.  (Make sure that when you attach the motif the back is the unprinted side of the cardboard.)  Cut out the cardboard piece.

3.     Line up the cardboard piece with your felt motif, peel off the backing paper and attach to the painted clothespin. Trim off any excess felt or cardboard as needed.

4.     Cut a 2 ½” strip of magnetic tape and remove the backing paper.  Run a bead of hot glue down the back of the clothespin and attach the magnetic strip. 

5.     Turn the clothespin over, add a bit of hot glue on the front of the clothespin and attach your prepared motif.

Note: Don’t stop here though!  There are all sorts of seasonal felt stickers that you can use to make clips for any season of the year.

I'm going on vacation for a week starting tomorrow and although I will take my computer with me and will post  a new project on Wednesday, I may not be able to comment on your awesome blogs till I get back.  Have a great week everyone!!

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