Bullet Journal Pages 222-223

Two more weeks of delicious Fall colors! I may use colors other than brown, red, orange, and yellow in November...but I may not.

Bullet Journal Pages 220-221

For most of the year I'm pretty meh about this color scheme. But come October and November I want EVERYTHING to be red, yellow, orange, and brown! Can you see the word in my color doodle? I pictured it being a lot more prominent because the letters are colored in with Papermate Flair felt tips and the rest is colored with Prismacolor Colored Pencils. But it still sort of fades into the rest.

Bullet Journal Pages 218-219

I am so happy it's Fall! It's my favorite time of year! Now if the weather would just cooperate and cool down, that'd be great.

Thanksgiving Owls

I made these for my cute nieces and for myself and a friend. Just wood pieces, paper, bottle caps and google eyes. 

Happy Halloween!!

Art Journal Page 10/22/14 - Trick or Treat Girl

When I painted this face a few weeks ago, I knew she was headed for a Halloween page. Her orange hair and purple eyes are perfectly suited for Halloween, don't you think?

Because I used faces I'd painted before, I was able to complete two pages today. Stay tuned for her neighbor.

Little Knitted Owls

These are a little surprise for my daughter and a few of her friends. They make me laugh every time I look at them.

Birthday Owls

Pattern: Little Tufty Owl Amigurumi from SweetBauerKnits on ETSY
Needles: US Size 5
Yarn: Cascade 220 (tiny amounts--this is a great stash buster!!)

Modifications: I added the feet--they just seemed to need them. And I whip stitched the eyes to the body rather than just tacking them in place in the middle.

Cute Little Paper Owl Cards - A Brief Tutorial

You will notice a trend this week. I will be doing several posts with owl crafts and owl art. My daughter loves owls and her birthday is coming up so we have a theme going on around here.

These little cards are very simple and oh so cute. These were inspired by THESE LITTLE OWL BAGS. We put information and greetings on the back and sent them out to family and friends. Keep in mind that if you do mail them, you'll need a rather wide envelope to account for the eyes.

They're very simple to make and would be a fun project to do with kids.

SUPPLIES:
Cardstock in bown, dark brown, white, black, and orange or yellow (or whatever other colors you choose to make your owls)
Scrapbook paper
Glue stick or school type glue
Scissors
Paper cutter (optional)
Circle drawing template (optional, but helpful)

INSTRUCTIONS: (none of these measurements are set in stone--change it up however you'd like!)

1. Begin with a long strip of cardstock for the owl's body. For these owls I began with a piece that was 7-3/4" x 3-1/2" for the longer ones and 6" x 3-1/2" for the shorter owl. (I thought my daughter would prefer the longer owls, but we both agreed afterwards that the short owl is just too cute!)

2. Fold the top down about 1-1/2" and cut from the center of the edge of the paper back to the fold (this forms the triangle head part).

3. Cut 2 eye pieces in dark brown (2-1/4" diameter), 2 in white (1-3/4" diameter), and 2 in black (1-1/8" in diameter).

4. Cut a bib piece from scrapbook paper that is around 2-1/2" wide and long enough to fit from about the tip of the triangle head part to about 1/2" above the bottom of your owl. Round the bottom edges.

5. Cut a beak piece from orange or bright yellow. You can do either a triangle or diamond shape. Whatever you prefer.

6. Time to assemble. Glue in this order - 1. Bib piece to body piece, 2. Eyes (I fully assembled the eyes and then glued them onto the body), 3. Beak, 4. Head fold piece (for this I put a dab of glue right at the point and then held it with a clothespin for a few minutes as my cardstock was quite stiff and it kept wanting to unfold).

That's it!

Whoooooooo's gonna make some?? :)

EL Fudge Ghost Cookies - It's That Time of Year Again

We have several Halloween treats we like to make around here, but we always go back to this one at least once every October. We love these EL Fudge Ghosts and they are fun and easy to make. (Here's my tutorial).

This year my daughter decided we needed a Charlie Brown ghost and she and I have been giggling about this little fella ever since. :)

New Tags in my ETSY Shop

Just added these little cuties to my ETSY shop today. They are great for party favors, gift tags, tied to treat bags, or used as ornaments on a Halloween tree. Each tag is 3"x3" and is made on 1/8" masonite so they last from year to year.

New in My ETSY Shop - Halloween Tags

These fun tags are available now in my ETSY shop. They are so perfect for tying onto treat bags or neighbor gifts at Halloween and since they are made on 1/8" masonite (pressed wood), they last from year to year as a fun ornament for the recipient.

IF - Haunt and Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

A Re-Make without a Before Picture :(

These used to be a garish orange with green polka dots or stripes--I can't remember. (I didn't take a before picture, but trust me, they were ugly.) I got them from Hobby Lobby years ago. 

Last year I primed them and never got around to finishing them. The other day I pulled them back out and got to work. I am so happy with the result! 

Basically, I painted them black to paint down their original color and to create a good base coat. I then painted them with an uneven coat of white, then distressed them by scraping some of the white paint down to the black and also by hammering some nail holes into the surface of the wood. I also did some image transfer onto them. Then I painted them a soft fall orange and added stamps, stripes, circles and pencil marks. I then added some brown paint to distress the ridges and edges. I also painted the stems brown and twisted some thin wire around them. 

I think I'll keep them out through Thanksgiving.

Batty

Batty, 4.25" x 5.75", Acrylic on wood and MDF (AVAILABLE)

He's available now in my tmatthews ETSY shop!

(It's never too early for Halloween right?)  :)

*SOLD

Brand New in my ETSY Shop!

Oh have I been busy with these! And loving it. I started out wanting to make a wreath with black roses (mission accomplished--see below), but then as I was grouping some of the leftover roses, I realized they have a great shabby cottage chic feel to them!

The roses are made from recycled magazine pages. I think you could definitely call this upcycling!

Both the Shabby Cottage Wall Hanging and the wreath and the Black Rose Halloween Wreath are in my Bumblebina ETSY shop now.

* (Update: All have SOLD).

Inspire Me Thursday - In Good Company

This is Batty and who wouldn't want him in their belfry?

Batty, 3.5" x 4.75", Acrylics on 1/4" wood is currently available HERE.


UPDATE: *SOLD

It's Still Looking Spooky!

I have lots of Halloween Text Blocks in my bumblebina ETSY shop.

(UPDATE: The Spooky block and the Trick or Treat block have SOLD)

It's Starting To Look a Bit Spooky...

These two little sweeties are currently available in my tmatthews ETSY shop. It's never too early for Halloween!! (Update: Batty has SOLD).

This is "Hilde" and she is a good witch.

And this is "Batty". He's looking for love.

E.L. Fugde Ghosts - a Small Tutorial

As far as I know, my sister invented these. And now we all make them every year. I've seen them done before with Nutter Butters, but it really only makes sense to do them with E.L. Fudge Cookies.

Here's what you'll need: E.L. Fudge Cookies (I could only find Double Stuffed), white chocolate, a small amount of mini chocolate chips, a glass bowl or double boiler to melt the white chocolate and trays with parchment paper on them.

I like to lay everything out before I get started because you sort of have to work fast before the white chocolate sets up too much. So here's my work space all ready. I melt the white chocolate in the microwave and then place the whole bowl over a pan with hot water in the very bottom.


I've found that if you just sort of spread the white chocolate on the front and sides using a plastic or wooden spoon (leaving the feet showing of course!!) it's easier to make and eat them. If you dip the cookie, you use a lot more white chocolate and they are SOOOO rich when you eat them. I couldn't get a picture of this since I needed both hands. So really what kind of tutorial is this that I don't show you the most important step? Oh well, you're smart. You'll figure it out!

While the white chocolate is still melty, add the mini chips for the eyes.


I found that one bag of white chocolate chips can cover (front and sides) of about 40 E.L. Fudge cookies.

The benefit of using Double Stuffed (besides the extra frosting)? They can even stand on their own!

IF - Strings

This is Batty (3.5" x 4.75" acrylics on 1/4" wood - available). All he wants to do is suck your blood--no strings attached. He's not looking for any sort of commitment or relationship.
This is my entry for Illustration Friday this week. The theme is STRINGS.


*SOLD