The end of October means Halloween

Even though we are very haphazard about celebrating Halloween here in Australia, I always enjoy the spooky papers, stamps and embellishments Halloween brings and love scrapping with them all too.

We didn't really ''do'' Halloween in a serious way when my kids were little, but one year the local Macca's had a competition going for the spookiest costumes, so my neighbour and I got together to dress up our children. This photo is probably my all time favourite, and I admit that I have scrapped it before, first in black & white, then in colour (my son's face is green and my daughter's is white) but this is the first time I've done it in sepia, so forgive the duplication if you've seen it somewhere before :)

The papers I used for this layout are Carta Bella's All Hallows Eve collection. I used both sides of Midnight Black/Bone Brown for the background, distressing all the edges. Tucked between them are some torn strips of Trendy Tapes - Script and Music (which are both out of stock right now so you all have them! Right?) and some pieces of muslin, which I dyed black using Black Soot Distress Stain.

Before putting the black and brown together though, I did a few things to the brown layer. First I stamped with a spider web pattern around the edges - with Embossing Ink and Zing Clear embossing powder and also with white ink. I figured out where I would be putting my photo and then I stuck a few pieces of torn dictionary paper and some more Trendy Tape where I knew they would poke out from the edge.

I smooched on a bit of white gesso to damp down the blackness of the type and then sprayed, quite heavily in places, with an orange spray I made in a Mini Mister with a mix of  Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade Distress Reinker and water. This one has no shimmer, but if you wanted to add it you could use a little bit of Perfect Pearls into the mix.

On top of all that - Ferro Metal Effect Texture Paint through a new stencil from Tim Holtz (Eye Chart).

The photo is matted on three different papers - all distressed, and tucked in underneath and between the layers are a tiny rectangle I cut from Curiosity Cards and a skeleton tag. The hole in the tag is embellished with Black Velvet Ric Rac and some fuzzy fibre left over from a scarf my mum knitted. This very cool fibre is also wound into and around my flower clusters. A strip of black cats from Borders and some die cut gravestones from Kraft cardstock, then a random stamping with Black Soot and a script stamp finished it off.

If you bought the my2angels Halloween Embellishment kit you have these awesome gravestones in your kit, along with the cute Silver Owl I used in my flower cluster. His red eyes are just a small squeeze of Ruby Red Liquid Pearls. 

My clusters are made up of Tangerine and White Cherry Blossoms, small Tangerine, White and Black roses and Black rose buds. I have tucked in a few die cut flowers and leaves as well, and three larger flowers which I made by wetting and scrunching up various coloured mulberry flowers. When they dried I unravelled them - but not too carefully, stacked them up and threaded them onto a Black Brad. There are around 6 or 7 single flowers in each stack.

For the drops of blood I have scattered around I used some of my Glass Cabochons in various sizes (shhh...I have more than Tracy does..lol!).

I haven't seen anything in the my2angels gallery lately - except my own stuff!  

So I'm throwing out a challenge here.....scrap your spooky Halloween kids (or pets....or husbands...or even your decorated house or your favourite scary book) and put your layout into the gallery by midnight on Sunday 17th November. That gives you two weeks and a weekend after Halloween to make something awesome.

The DT Angels will choose the spookiest layout and the winner will receive a $30 Gift Certificate to spend at my2angels.

I hope I see you in the Gallery! 

Michele xxx

Hot Glue Gun Kits back in stock

Our very popular Hot Glue Gun Kits are back and this time in Fushia Pink and Purple .... they are available in the kit section and new arrivals section. 

 

 

Comes complete with everything you need, except glue, to assembly it. 

Click on the kit photo on the website to see more details. 

Here are two examples of them being made up 

All orders taken will be posted on Monday, due to not being able to get to the PO tomorrow, sorry for the inconvenience.

 

Happy Birthday Dad

Crafty Gift for Dad

Forget about socks and jocks! Throw out that cologne you got him for his birthday and put back that stubby holder - what you need is a personalised gift for the man in your life.

Better yet - spend a little time crafting with the kids and come up with something that every Dad will treasure.

Most men have their special place - it might be the shed down the back, a room all their own or just a corner in the back patio. This 'Man Cave' is somewhere they can retreat to and sulk, sorry, enjoy being manly. Now you can make this a special place for them, by creating their own personalised light 'switch plate'.

The best part about this little project is that your kids will want to be involved - big or small, they just love to create things for Dad. This project is easy enough for kids of all ages to help out with - just make sure you supervise them. :)

So let's get started ...

Cut a piece of Inkssentials Metal Foil Tape into a 10cm x 14cm section

 

and place inside a Spellbinders Industrial Die, just below the "frame".

 

Pop it through your Cuttlebug with just the base plate and c plate.

Starting from the top of your foil, line it up and then peel off a small piece, so it will cover the top of your switch plate.  (Most of them simply clip off and on and are really easy to remove.) Once you are happy with the placement, peel off the rest of the foil and cover the plate.

The foil is nice and soft, so just fold the corners over the edge of the plate, like you do when wrapping presents.

Cut 4 little slits with your craft knife to "open up" a hole for the switch. Fold back the foil as shown below.

Now that your light switch plate is covered, it is time to decorate. Even like this it looks way cool - just the pattern alone. 

Since it is for Dad, use variously styled letters (leftovers from several font sets work best) small enough to create the title "Man Cave" or whatever you choose to title your switch project.

NOTE:  Just be careful with what elements you embellish it with, we don't want any sharp edges that may cause Dad an injury!

Let's start embellishing by creating some Gadget Gears.

Cut 3 pieces of scrap card and 3 pieces of foil tape the size of the smallest gadget gear .
Peel off foil and attach to the card, before cutting with gadget gears big shot die.

Next, emboss your Gadget Gears.

Now I want to point out the Spellbinders folder I am using is REVERSIBLE, so you can flip the folder over to create a "different" style of industrial texture. You get so much bang for your buck with these sets - it's two folders for the price of one.

Using the other texture pattern will make the cogs stand out against the textured switch plate.

Now put the 3 gadget gears aside for second ...

Cut a piece of card and foil the size of the middle gadget gear.  Using your fingers, rub over it with Hematite Inka Gold ... when dry, (takes about 30 secs) rub over it again with Cobalt Blue Inka Gold.

Cut the gadget gear out and remove the middle.

While your fingers are looking a lovely blue and grey, rub the 3 smaller gears with both Inka Golds. You don't want a smooth coverage - wipe it here and there and create some funky patterns. You're after a distressed industrial look - not something neat and tidy.

Using a good adhesive, glue your large gear as shown below ...

adding one of your smaller gears on top (or next to) of the first one.

Add your "Cave" words.

I replaced the "A" in "cave" with one of our new light bulb charms - first giving it  a good rub with Hematite Inka Gold.  As the charm doesn't have much width in area, I filled in the gaps with glossy accents.

Next, cut the left-over small cog in half
and apply foil tape as shown - with just a little overlap

so you can adhere it to the sides of the light switch cover.

Now you are finished.

You can't give a cool gift like this without an appropriate card - so now for the matching card.

Grab yourself a Twiddleybitz Black 13x13 card. 

Cut a piece of white cardstock into a slightly smaller square, adhere to the card and give it a few "splats" of Faded Jeans Distress Stains.

Next, place a blue piece of cardstock inside your Spellbinders Industrial Die - just below the "frame".

 Trim and adhere to the top of the white cardstock.

Cut a rosette out of some Inkssentials Metal Foil Tape, peel off one little end bit of foil from the rosette and join the two ends together.

Turn on your hot glue gun.   

While the glue gun is heating up, run a few scrap bits of blue and white cardstock through the  Spellbinders Industrial Die to create your rosette "ribbons".

When the heat gun is hot, attach the 'base' to the BACK of your rosette and drop some glue into the middle to secure the two pieces together.

Apply hot glue to the back of a #1 Dad Bottle Cap and add to centre of the rosette.

 A hot glue gun in my opinion, is better, as it dries just about instantly and you aren't having to hold it while waiting for other glues to dry.

 

Arrange your "ribbons" to your card, glue, then add your rosette over the ribbons.

And ta da ...

Red and White Swirl Buttons

Have you seen our new Red and White Swirl Buttons? 

 

They are a generous size of 3cm and you will get 5 for $2.00

 I love the "lollipop"design, which of course, got me thinking!

So let's first start by making our lollipops

 

Now to make a couple in random heights for a Birthday Invite

I used a 13x13 Black Twiddlebitz Card

I popped a piece of white card into my cuttlebug and embossed with an invite folder.  (If you would like some invites embossed just purchase your choice of cardstock and I will emboss some for you)

Add a red cardstock mount behind your invite details

and add a couple of button lollipops ... too easy!

Imagine these cuties on your Christmas Cards and Layouts?

 You will find our new buttons in the New Arrivals Section or our Button Section

 

What is new? Beachy Brilliance! and more ...

With the weather warming up there's no better time to get into the Summer Spirit!  This beautiful Limited Edition Beach Kit will be the perfect accompaniment to those fun-loving photos in the sun, the sand, the surf, the pool....

In your kit you will received:

2 cute little bucket and spade charms

Handmade Fishing rod

A Bucket of Sand

5 Frangipanis (Yellow and Blue)

1 Seashell Charm

2 Starfish Charms

Surfs Up Embellishment

Summer Fun Button

1 Seashell

and 1 message in a bottle

all for $7.99

Who doesn't love hearts and roses!  These two things combined on one of our famous pins are a very classy embellishment for almost any themed project!

 Pretty Heart Rose Pins

made from glass lamp works beads adorned with our popular small roses

4 colours per packet for $4.99

 AVOID THE CHRISTMAS PANIC!

These great stocking stuffers are not done justice in the photos!
For only $4.99 each they are the perfect 'little' gift to accompany a book, a voucher, or a stocking full of small gifts!

12.3cm Zinc Alloy Metal Bookmarks with Crystal Glass Quartzs and a Believe Charm

available in 3 colours

and speaking of stocking stuffer, 

A set of 6 wine glass charms that comes in it's own decorative box.  

All you need to do it wrap it and add a gift tag!  

 

Available for preorder now, delivery early-mid November

All available in the new arrivals section