Halloween is for the birds ... errrr ...

okay well in my view at least it is for birdhouses!!!  I've been altering little birdhouses for Hallween decor and it has been fun!

 First up ... this tiny little slant roofed birdhouse ... full of bones and bits and a creepy little rat nibbling on a hand ... this one was sent to my matchbox swap partner.  I love the glittered roof on this one!

                                                      

A little glittered bad added nicely to the spooky feel

The little hat was totally easy to make, as was the ruffled collar ... this is what happens when clowns go bad!

 Remember this shadow?  I left it as a teaser on my blog in a previous post.  Here is the finished product ...

This bird house had a kind of industrial theme with gears and sprockets attached and some stenciled onto the roof of the house as well ... The birds are all stamped and then coated with glossy accents ... the little stand used to be a black and white shot glass ... now its all shiny and black.  This one went to my dear blog buddy Lynn for her birthday!

 Gears and bones ... and flowers ... i do love my flowers ...

 The stencil was done with a sliver/pewter coloured cream paint ... i loved the effect!

This one is my daughters fave ... a kinda cute county look to the haunted house, set up high on a crystal glass from the thrift store.

I filled the glass with little pumpkins, some bones and a bit of green satin ribbon to resemble leaves.

 I used some stickpins that I received last halloween in a swap ... and i grunged up the the flower a bit ... then added glitter ... because i do love my shiny glittery stuff ...

 What a happy looking skelly!  Gotta love E6000 glue ... it holds anything in place!  Even creepy skelly arms ...

And finally, my fave ... this little birdhouse is mounted on an old white and black candleholder, that is now a matte black ... The creepy little doll was my daughter's necklace ... 

I distressed and attached a little picket fence to both sides ...

 

I love the bottle of red ooze ... it's just a dylusions red ink spray mixed with some glossy accents ...

and the flowers were coloured with the same red ink ...

 little skelly hands are all over this house ... no bodies though ...

 Here they all are ... I kept the two on the right ... they look perfect on my desk for Halloween!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!!

K493 and the Halloween Matchbox swap

So what is K493?  other than a boarding school in Brooklyn? (googled it) ... It is a new apple ... one that has yet to be named ... hence the K493 ... and one that I was lucky enough to receive from my parents.

This beauty is naturally sweet, yet it has a tartness to it as well ... it's flesh is crisp and firm, just biting into a fresh one is pure joy!

It is supposed to last long in storage ... don't know if that is true or not because they are so good you cant help but eat them up!!!

I turned most of mine into delicious apple sauce ... just cooked apples and cinnamon, no sweetner required when using this apple ... I cant wait to see it next year when it should have it's real name!

And remember that Halloween Matchbox swap I participated in ...  I received an absolutely fabulous box of goodies from my swap partner Cindy! (no blog) ...here's what she sent me ...

 When my parcel arrived it was totally decorated on all sides ... even the bottom!  It was a shame to rip into it ... but I did!

This piece was fabulous, (but hard to photograph) A hand made cat with costume & pumpkin in a shadow box with a huge gothic looking frame on the top!  

 A collaged block and box and lots of little goodies to play with!

 This cute little ornament with fibres attached to it

 This is the top of the little box, and inside was this hand painted bag!

 Fab Halloween socks!

 Wonderful pendants ... gorgeously made!!!

 and the matchbox ... so much detail ... a stick broom ... pumpkin paper ... and hand made witches boots!

 from this view you can see the inside of the box and the hand made witch's had at the end of the box ... everything that the fashionable witch needs!

Thank you so so much for stopping by ... Peace and Love to you!  

and remember ... an apple a day ....

Halloween matchbox swap

time for my favourite swap of the year ... the Halloween Matchbox Swap over at Vintage Dragonfly.

So we make a large sized matchbox, fill it with goodies and throw in some other "handmade" goodies.  My swap partner has received this package and by all accounts she was thrilled with it.

I had so much fun making all of these goodies for her ...

First up, the matchbox ... I did a whole skeleton theme this year so you will see skelly's in just about everything i made.  This little skelly, reaching from beyond for her broomstick was fun to do.  I imagined her a witch ... painted her plastic skull and arm with a white dabble and put some diamond stickles in her eye sockets.

This is a shot of the top, or end of the matchbox, with a little fly button to open it up.

I put little things inside the matchbox, including some of the things below.

 Some items were too big for the matchbox so i made this cute little burlap bag and stuff it full!  I tossed in lots of candy and stuff for fun ... and hey, crafters ... we like to munch!

Pictures of the bag empty and the bag full!

Next up is a creepy little birdhouse ... well i guess it's more of a spider house ... the rat is nibbling on a hand ... and skelly's arm is reaching for her head ....

and of course every skelly needs a party hat and festive collar for halloween ... and see how sparkly the roof is!!!  I had some gunmetal glitter in my stash and thought that it went perfectly!

Every body needs some light reading .... right?

So I made this cute little 3 x 3 mini book, full of little tales ...

It stays closed with a nice big black bow

And every wall needs a bunting ...  this one is kinda creepy with a bat screwed into the middle O

 and a mean looking owl in the last O...

And finally ... a gothic arch ... only not to gothic ... i loved this little project ... i stamped the images a couple of times and cut out elements from paper that i had covered with spray ink ... it was fun to do!

I can't wait to see what I get from my swap partner ... her package was mailed before mine was, but it must be stuck in the dreaded Canada Customs snarl ... crossing my fingers it will arrive soon!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  have a beautiful autumn week!

In the spirit of fall ...

... I have been busy creating ... and taking lovely sunny walks with my dog .... leaves crunching beneath our feet and sun warming our faces ...

 but back to the creating ... I am having a blast ... making this ...

 and this ...

I know, it kind of looks like a pumpkin bone smoothie ... without the smoothie bit ...

and this ....

and this ... kind of looks clownish ... or birdish ... or ???

Can you guess what i am making???

Some of these are gifts ... so once I have done they are in the mail i will do a full reveal!

Thanks so much for stopping by, you always make my day when you do!!!

peace, love & paper

I'm back!

Summer is suddenly over ... although the weather is sunny and bright, it no longer contains the heat that is summer.  Leaves are falling ... quietly drifting to the ground ... only making a noise when they crunch underfoot ...

So I am back to blogging, and hopefully on a much more regular basis!

This last summer is going down as one of the best in a decade ... my DD and I were constantly busy, constantly exploring and constantly having fun.

I have a new passion ... and that is being in the mountains around cattle country ... exploring on an atv ... oh the things you can see ... amazing ... and driving up high in the fresh air, you can smell everything ... each flower, the grass, the trees ... even the not so pleasant things like ... well ... droppings ....

Here's a few shots of the last trip we took to my Brother's cabin ... hopefully we will be back again next summer ...

 My Dear daughter and my niece ... wish flowers!

 a new horse ...

Artists live down the old highway ... their house is amazing ... such fab art can be found everywhere, like this shed adorned with skulls and birdhouses made from reclaimed wood and findings

 I made it up this scary huge hill .... i was totally excited!

 a lady bug visits my daughter ... she had many stories ....

 hide and seek in a fabulous aspen grove ...

riding on a ranch road ...

the girls tubing ... it was actually a game of battle tubes ... yeah it was a hard fought game but they had a blast!

And now, back to the routine that is the school.  So far DD is happy with her classes ... they actually had a farmers market up at the university today so DD came home with books and lots of lucious local fruit and veggies!

Thanks so much for the visit ... peace, love and paper y'all!!!