Vintage Halloween Noise Maker

I finished my cat shaker that I started at the Wicked Tea. Here he is, in all his scrumptious ruffledness.

I painted the cat and stick black, then added white polka dots to the stick. His head is made from paper clay. This was the first time I had even heard of paper clay. It was so soft and easy to maniplate. We put the paper clay onto a ping pong ball filled with dried beans, so he makes noise when you shake him.

After painting in all the details of his face, I sprayed the entire shaker with pearl Glimmer Mist and then a clear spray sealer.

Once dry, I dressed him in ruffled crepe paper and shiny tinsel trim. I added black wire whiskers and a bright bow tie.



He's ready for some Halloween fun!

Sparkling Witch Potion

The other swap I did for the Wicked Tea was a potion bottle. Of course, I have a stash of old bottles. I chose two (one for me and one for thee) to make my potion bottles.

I wanted to age the bottles even more. I poured dark alcohol ink inside and out.

I purchased images from Lisa's Altered Art and printed the text on my computer. Then I started blinging up the ladies. I added Stickles, German glass glitter, and used my sparkle pen for details. 

Once the ladies were ready, I adhered them using matte medium and started decorating the bottle. I added some rhinestones and drizzled melted wax here and there.

On the bottle top, I attached an owl button and dangled some charms on the side - an old vial of watch parts and a cool charm with a Witch Hazel label.

The back of the bottle has the "instructions" label. I didn't want to put any liquid in my bottle, so I filled it with mica flakes, silver sequins, glitter, and shiny silver bag filler.

The Voodoo Queen

I participated in two swaps for the Wicked Tea event. One was to make a voodoo book inspired by Marie Laveau. I made two books, one to keep and one for my swap partner Jan. I made them as old voodoo books that have been lovingly used for many, many years. Getting a little worn and distressed, but still magical. Here are some pics of the books.

Every voodoo queen needs a bit of widow's veil and purity candles.

I found some inspiring images and then made up spells, instructions, and ancient myths to go with them. I typed everything on my old typewriter to give it more of a worn feel.

For the pages, I used tracing paper, watercolor paper, and drawing paper. I liked the different textures of each. I sprayed, inked, distressed, even burned the pages to give them a well-used feel.

Here is the GORGEOUS book that Jan made for me. Her theme is of Marie Lavaeu writing a book to her daughter, passing along the recipes and needs of her customers. She wrote a beautiful story and included images of the "customers." It is so creative and beautiful. The book itself looks professionally made.

Each page is more beautiful than the next. Every time I go through the book, I see something new. What a talented woman! Thanks, Jan. I will treasure it forever.

13 Days of Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I think I like it because it's so different than all the others and it ushers in the festive season to follow. I'm hoping to share projects on each of these 13 days of Halloween. I'll start with pics from my Saturday at A Wicked Tea, hosted by Cindy Mayfield. We had four classes, a delicious lunch, and lots of fun. Let's start with the decor.

 And the food...

Of course, we had more to eat than just candy and sweets. But, who wants to look at photos of soup and sandwiches? 

Here is the one class that I did manage to finish. This class was taught by the uber talented Lisa McIlvain. Here are pics of her project.

Here I am with Lisa and my finished project.

The last class of the day was taught by the fabulous Ann-Denise Anderson, who also made all the food and did most of the decorating. This woman is so talented. She must live on 2 hours of sleep a night because I don't know how she pulled it all off.

Here is Ann-Denise's project. We made a smaller version of the cat. Mine is no where near finished. Hopefully this week...

And here I am having a blast with the three ladies I shared a table with: Phyllis, Linda, and Susan.

We had a wonderful day and I can't wait for the next Paper Cowgirl to see some new and familiar faces.

One last pic. Here is the name badge I made for the event. I wish I had gotten a picture of the winning badge - it was over the top sparkly and spooky, just perfect!