TE Blast from the Past Blog Hop!

I'm excited to be part of Taylored Expressions' Blast from the Past Blog Hop.  This month's theme is Trick or Sweet.  I've had my projects finished for a couple weeks now and am excited to finally be able to share them!  Enjoy!

The sketch design is by Sankari Wegman, one of the members of TE's Baker's Dozen Design Team.  I had a great halloween paper pad with very unusual choices in it as well as some Scrabble tiles from a themed game one of my kids never played with.  So ... together they created a very halloween-y card!

During one of my frequent trips to Michael's, I found this set of little jars - perfect for "thinking of you" type gifts.  So ... here is what I came up with ...

... Eat at Your Own Risk ... yes, a little creepy!  I couldn't resist using the "drippy" punch to go along with the gorey eyes.  Finding small "eyeballs" was the biggest challenge as not too many would fit in the jar otherwise!  (These are actually bubblegum rather than the chocolate ones.)

... Witch's Pot ... aren't these candy corns unusual?!  Since they seemed "girly" to me, I had to create a witch-themed jar.  The bubbles are glazed although they don't show up too well and the hat ... well ... it just had to have feathers on it!

... and lastly ... some Spooky Treats ...

Enjoy the hop! 

Up, Up and Away!

< This project earned me "Spotlight Artist" recognition on the City Crafter Challenge Blog - thank you! >

While chatting with a friend yesterday, she mentioned that for her mom's birthday they were giving her a hot air balloon ride.  Somehow we got onto the subject of presentation and I said I'd make her a balloon to go with the gift certificate. 

After some trial and error, here is how it turned out.  My crafty friend had a paper lantern which I painted then hot glued narrow ribbon onto, cut a circle to cover the largest end of the lantern and punched small holes where I wanted my skewers to go.  (There were other ideas tried but this turned out to be the most stable and successful method!)  I trimmed the skewers to the length I needed and hot glued them into the basket (which I'd already decorated).  Then, pointy end up, put them through the circle to the height I wanted and they stay!  I think she'll be pleased.

I entered this into a 3D challenge at City Crafter (http://www.citycrafter.blogspot.com/) ...

The card I made to match ...

Birthday purse

Some weeks the mojo is just off and this is definitely one of them!  Despite the enormous mess I make for every project I embark on lately, the end results don't thrill me.  Fortunately the recipients love them nonetheless!  The stamp set and clear "purse" are from Taylored Expressions (the tag is attached to the handle).  There is a gift card and small bottle of lotion from Bath & Body Works inside.  Hope she likes it!

Fall is here!

I decided it was time to change the school-themed window display to Fall - one of my most favorite times of the year and one I miss from living on the East Coast. The leaves changing were one of my favorite times and something you don't see much in California although we do have two trees in our yard that change with the seasons...and get leaves in the pool...!

This time rather than a banner I went with some Mason jars filled with mini pods, wrapped in plaid ribbon and floral embellishments, and letters/leaves on skewers! I like the results!  (Click on the pictures for a better view as the details don't show up so great.)

I saw this basket and thought it would work well with some ribbon and leaves too! Not sure what I'll put in it yet - maybe some scented pinecones.

 I love having my little acorns and pinecones out ...