Recycled Cardboard Halloween Bat Wreath with Mark Montano - DIY WCK Video

In this episode of the When Creativity Knocks All-Star Designers Holiday Series, Mark Montano shares his fun way of creating a faux distressed metal wreath for Halloween - out of cardboard and DecoArt® Americana Decor™ Chalky Finish paints!  

Trick or Treat Goody Card - DIY Video featuring Judi Watanabe

This week's WCK All-Star Designers Holiday Series episode features Judi Watanabe from Judikins!  Judi shares this adorable trick or treat Halloween card with a pocket for a treat!  

etchall® Day of the Dead Decorative Mirror

Day of the Dead crafts are growing in popularity - this mirror combines a variety of mixed media for a finished piece which will make a colorful accent to you home.

Materials:

9" Darice Mirror 

etchall® - Etching Cream, Squeegee 

              - etchnet® stencil - Sugar Skull 

Painters tape 

Makin’s Clay® - Red, Yellow, Green 

                        - Leaves Push mold 

Smoothfoam™ Disc 

DecoArt® Americana® Multi-Surface Satin™ - Deep Turqouise 

Beacon® Adhesives Tacky Glue 

Toner Plastics™/The Beadery® Skull Beads  Paintbrush 

Instructions:

This was my first time working with the new etchnet® stencils with etchall® cream - and I’m happy to say that the results were absolutely fantastic - one of the cleanest, crispest etches I’ve ever achieved!

Apply etchnet® sugar skull stencil to left side of mirror.  Use painters tape to securely tape in place, ensuring there are no ripples in the stencil. 

Pour etchall® cream on the side of the stencil - NOT ON THE OPEN AREA - Use squeeegee to pull etching cream over onto open areas of stencil, pressing slightly to ensure the cream is evenly applied though the net of the stencil.  Once you are sure you have a good even application over the open areas of the stencil, apply an additional coat of etchall® over the stencil.  Let set 15 minutes.  Return etching cream to bottle, rinse to remove remaining cream and remove stencil.  Clean any remaining cream from stencil and set aside for later use (etchnet® stencils are re-usable). 

Create multiple roses approximately 1” in size from red and yellow Makin’s Clay®.  There are multiple tutorials online for making roses with polymer clay and/or fondant - it really is quite simple!   

Use leaves push mold and green Makin’s Clay® to create multiple leaves for the roses. 

Use Beacon® Tacky Glue to mount roses and leaves as desired on left edge of mirror, extending above and below the etched skull.   Leaves and flowers can be mounted when the clay is still fresh, or after dry (normally the clay will be dry in 24 hours). 

Use Tacky Glue to mount blue skull beads randomly amongst the flowers.  Let dry.

Paint sides of Smoothfoam™ disc with Turquoise Multi-Surface Satin™ paint.  Let dry. 

Apply liberal amount of Tacky Glue to top of Smoothfoam™ disc and mount mirror.  The disc will give added depth when the mirror is mounted to a wall. 

One Skull - Two Ways - Gothic/Day of the Dead Keychain

Today on the Makin's Clay® blog I'm sharing instructions on how to create this Gothic Skull/Day of the Dead Keychain with Makin's Clay® and DecoArt® products - whether you like it plain and creepy, or colorful and ready to celebrate - it's a super easy project that would make a fun pendant too.  Just in time for Halloween!

Faux Ceramic Halloween Skull Planter - DIY Video Featuring Mark Montano

In this Halloween episode the WCK All-Star Designers Holiday Series Mark Montano shares his technique for turning a plastic Dollar Store skull into a faux-ceramic skull planter using DecoArt products.   

Haunted Mausoleum Birdhouse

This week for my Cindi's Simple Solutions project on When Creativity Knocks - I'm sharing this creepy fun project.....

Just in time for Halloween, add a little spooky glow to your mantle this season with this Haunted Mausoleum Birdhouse!  

Materials:

Plaid® - Wooden birdhouse 

            - FolkArt® Home Decor Chalk Paint - Maui Sand, Rich Black

            - FolkArt® Home Decor Antique Wax

Makin’s Clay® - Black

                - Cutting Mat 

                - Ultimate Clay Machine™

                - Professional® Clay tools 

                - Texture Sheet Set D - Woodgrain Sheet 

                        - Easter Clay Cutter - Cross Cutter

Beacon Adhesives® Tacky Glue 

Spellbinders® Grand Calibur™ Machine - Graveyard Scene & Shapes Die 

X-Acto craft knife 

Skull mold (special thanks to my Fairy Craftmother for mine!) 

Skull bead 

Paintbrush 

Paper towels 

Spanish Moss

Charcoal grey paper/card stock 

Battery operated votive 

Spiderwebbing 

Plastic wrap 

Instructions: 

1. Paint entire birdhouse with Plaid® FolkArt® Home Decor Maui Sand Chalk Paint.  Let dry. 

2. Roll black Makin’s Clay® with Ultimate Clay Machine™ to setting #7 (or hand roll very thin - about 1/16”).   Use Woodgrain texture sheet to gently impress texture onto rolled clay.  Using cutting mat as a guide, use cutter to cut 2 x 2cm squares.  Apply Beacon® Tacky Glue to surface of roof, then begin applying squares, overlapping some, to create look of shingles.  Let dry. 

3. Dry brush shingles with Maui Sand chalk paint.  

4. Use black clay in skull push mold to create skull. 

5. Flatten piece of black clay (I used my fingers, as I wanted an uneven appearance) to about 1/4”.  Place plastic wrap over clay, and cut cross using clay cutter. (Tip - Plastic wrap makes it easy to remove the clay from the clay cutter!) 

6.  Dry brush skull and cross with Maui Sand chalk paint.

7.  Use Tacky Glue to mount skull to front top of birdhouse, over opening, and cross to roof peak.

8. Flatten piece of black clay (I used my fingers, as I wanted an uneven appearance) to about 1/4”.  Use clay tool to write/etch desired word into clay.  Trim around word.  Dry brush with Maui Sand chalk paint.  Use Tacky Glue to mount to birdhouse beneath skull. 

9. Mix small amount of Rich Black and small amount of Maui Sand chalk paint to create darker grey.  Paint door onto front of birdhouse over hole on bottom.  Outline door in black, and paint center line to divide door.    

10. Use paper towel to apply small amount of Antique Wax to all surfaces except roof.  Wipe to remove excess.   

11.  Use Spellbinders® Grand Calibur™ and Graveyard Scene & Shapes die to cut 4 graveyards from charcoal paper.

12.  Apply Tacky Glue to top of bottom piece of birdhouse, mount Spanish moss.  

13.  Apply Tacky Glue to outside edge of bottom piece of birdhouse, mount graveyard scenes over edge around base, leaving a space for the “front step” of the mausoleum. 

14.  Add skull bead accent to front step. 

15.  Add spiderwebs as desired. 

16.  Optional:  To make your Haunted Mausoleum glow - use a sturdy craft knife to cut an opening in the bottom of the birdhouse.  The birdhouses are made from lightweight wood so this is possible if do with caution. (or else your mausoleum will come complete with blood stains!) 

Spoooooky Pumpkin Full of Fun and More! DCC Blog Hop time!

I LOVE Halloween!  I love Halloween decorations, costumes, the creepy and silly fun of it all.  No gifts required, no stress, no big meals to prepare and clean up.  Just family fun, not taking life too seriously.    I have created a lot of Halloween projects over the years, most of which you can find here on my blog.  My last 3 blog posts highlight some of them including fabric pumpkins, a witch's apothecary, and a bottle of "boo-s".   This month the Designer Craft Connection Blog Hop theme is Halloween Decorations. I've been out of town taping the latest series of When Creativity Knocks and didn't get my newest project finished in time but I knew exactly what I wanted to share with you all today!  This AMAZING pumpkin panorama is full of fun pieces created with Makin's Clay®!  It was designed by artist Patricia Krauchune.  Patricia is a fabulous polymer clay artist who specializes in Steampunk designs, at least I used to think so, but now that I've seen this, I think she specializes in SPOOKY FUN projects!  :0)     You can find a link to Patricia's original post with this project here on her blog. I encourage you to follow her blog as she is always sharing new projects to inspire you!

Be sure to follow the Designer Craft Connection link in the column to the right to see what other spooky fun decorations our participating designers are sharing with you today!  For an even quicker way to access our participating designers - check out the Designer Craft Connection blog here! 

 Happy Halloween!!!!!

The awesome coffin full of bones below is actually 3-D and has depth - which you can see better in this "in progress" photo - Pat hand made the pieces using a number of techniques including liquifying the clay! 

Vampire Blood/Faux Blood Necklace

My favorite season is here and I can't help myself - I just have to re-share some of my favorite spooky fun projects!  In this episode of my series Behind These Eyes™ on When Creativity Knocks, I share my recipe for creating faux blood using ICE Resin & Rit Dye! 

And to further add to the creep factor - here's my recipe for the GHOULISH version of faux blood!  

The Truly GHOULISH Option of Faux Blood

In the Vampire Blood Necklace episode of Behind These Eyes with Cindi Bisson, I share my recipe for faux blood that will last for years. As part of the instructions, I suggest you use a tiny bit of Rit Liquid Dye at a time to color the resin - because if too much dye is used, you get a different result. We didn’t share that result in the episode - but I wanted to show our viewers just what kind of ghoulish results you get with extra dye! It’s a creepy effect too which would work great for some applications - just not for the pendant I was sharing with you. So without further ado…add a teaspoon or more of Rit Liquid Dye (the amount depends on just how crusty you want the finished result to be) to your small amount of mixed ICE Resin and you get what I think looks like clotty, crusty, totally disgusting blood puddles! Which my two boys think are totally cool…Happy Halloween!  

Follow the original instructions and you get smooth, dense puddles of faux blood.

Alter the recipe as above and you get GHOULISH blood!

Graveyard Cupcake Stand

Create a ghoulish display for your Halloween cupcakes with this Graveyard Cupcake Stand!   Rowlux Illusion Film is the perfect "pool of blood" to highlight your baked goodies.  This faux stone stand can also be customized easily for any occasion by changing the ribbon around the top.  

Materials: 

Smoothfoam™ - 10” Disc, 6” disc, 3” cube 

AdTech™ hot glue gun & glue sticks for foam 

Spellbinders® Artisan X-plorer™ Machine & Graveyard Scenes and Shapes www.spellbinderspaperarts.com 

Rowlux® Illusion Film - Red Serpentine
PlastiKote Fleckstone Spray Paint - Manhatten Mist  

1” black ribbon 

Dark grey card stock

Clearsnap® Colorbox Crafter’s® Ink - Night 

Westcott® TrimAir Premium Titanium Paper Trimmer,  Titanium Non-Stick Scissors 

2 straight pins, pencil 

Instructions: 

Step 1:  Paint Smoothfoam™ discs and cube with texture spray paint.  Let dry. 

Step 2:  Follow manufacturer instructions to use Spellbinders® Artisan Explorer and Graveyard die set to cut 6 of the graveyard strips and desired number of headstones and skull and crossbones from dark grey card stock. 

Step 3:  Lightly ink die cut pieces with black ink to shade embossed areas. 

Step 4:  Use hot glue to mount cube to 6” disc base and 10” disc top.  Add ribbon around outer edge using straight pins at each end  so ribbon is removable.  This allows for versatility with your faux stone cake stand - change the ribbon and change the theme easily. 

Step 5:  Hot glue graveyard strips onto ribbon around rim of top of stand. 

Step 6:  Trace 8” circle onto red Rowlux® Illusion Film and cut out. 

Step 7:  Hot glue toothpicks to back of each gravestone and skull and crossbones.   Insert into the tops of frosted cupcakes. 

Step 8:  Place Rowlux® circle onto top of stand - do not glue in place - this way it can be removed for washing or changing for other occasions.   Add your cupcakes to your stand.  

Sullivans USA Gothic Goes Girly Macrame Bracelet

What does a Halloween obsessed designer think of first when she receives with a package of two lovely shades of pink Hebe Cord from Sullivans USA?  Why, SKULLS of course!  The result is this Gothic Goes Girly Skull bracelet.   Thinking back over my crafty past, I don't ever remember attempting to macrame - but after searching the web for easy to follow instructions I found great site that was able to walk me through creating this piece.  I went back to school at www.MacrameSchool.com!    Here's the link to the video tutorial that will walk you through the easy to follow instructions for what they call a "cool wave" or "snake" style bracelet. This project is part of a special Designer Craft Connection blog hop - Be sure to click the Designer Craft Connection button in the right column to see what the other participating Designer Craft Connection designers have done with their Sullivans USA Hebe Cord!

http://www.macrameschool.com/resources/bracelets/222-easy-wave-snake

Materials: 

Sullivans USA Hebe Cord - Two shades of pink
The Beadery pink skull beads - 10
Westcott Craft Titanium Bonded Non-Stick Scissors & Ruler
Needle
Duck Brand Tape (optional - but sure made it easier!)

I'm including a few photos to give you a close up of the steps in the video.  It took me a couple of tries, but once I got rolling, it was quite simple to do!

Smoothfoam™ Burlap Pumpkin Door Banner

Find the full instructions on how I combined Smoothfoam™, Rit Dye, BurlapFabric.com and Ad-Tech to create this dimensional pumpkin door banner here on the Smoothfoam blog! 

Beaded Spider - DCC October Blog Hop

It's time for the Halloween edition of the Designer Craft Connection blog hop!  Be sure to follow the link to the right to see what the other participating designers are sharing to add some BOO to your world! 

This beaded spider was a snap to create - I followed the directions in the most recent episode of When Creativity Knocks - We visited Crafted at the Port of LA and Mary Austin from Twisted Sisters showed us how easy it was to create these little bejeweled crawlers.  I couldn't resist whipping one up for myself!    Add a pin back, or make  a necklace for him to hang from as a pendant - or perch him on a pumpkin like I did for a little creepy fun.   

Materials: 

22/24 Gauge wire

Jewelry pliers

Black seed beads, black bugle beads, round glass bead for head

Connie Crystal blue bicone beads, large blue glass bead for body

Bead caps 

Follow the instructions in the episode below to create your own spider you don't want to squish! 

Gobble, Gobble with Smoothfoam, Rit & Blumenthal Lansing

The second episode in the WCK All-Star Designers' Holiday Season is now live on the WCK site - Ana Araujo shares her cute idea for a Turkey treat holder  made with Smoothfoam™,  Rit Dye® and Blumenthal Lansing buttons!

http://whencreativityknocks.com/mycraftspace/m/videos/view/Mason-Jar-Turkey-Centerpiece

WCK's All-Star Designers' Holiday Series has Begun!

http://whencreativityknocks.com/mycraftspace/m/videos/view/Glow-In-The-Dark-Ghost-Card

When Creativity Knocks is excited to share the first episode in the All-Star Designers' Holiday Series - This week Judi Watanabe of JudiKins shares here adorable Halloween card featuring a glow-in-the-dark Makin's Clay® accent.   In the coming weeks Judi, Jonathan Fong, Mark Montano, Ana Araujo and I will be sharing many more creative holiday projects.

Special thanks to the great sponsors of this event Rit®, Blumenthal Lansing®, Smoothfoam™, Beacon Adhesives®, Makin's Clay®, Spellbinders®, Etchall®, Clearsnap® and JudiKins®.  If you sign up to receive the Creative Journal Newsletter on the WCK site you are entered to win one of 8 prize packages full of products from our sponsors!

Spooky Treats for the Season

This week on WCK we've got a fun purple people eater sleep mask we taped on site at Crafted at the Port of LA recently.  This was a fun project to design and Ana came up with a clever twist using a wash cloth - and thanks to Rit for sponsoring!

My latest book review is Bead Soup by Lori Anderson - tasty creative goodness! 

And thanks to my mom - who says she's not creative at all - but secretly has a creative side hiding somewhere in there - for this cute idea for a candy corn frame!   Find how how I used Makin's Clay, Plaid paints, and Judikin's Diamond Glaze to create this Cindi's Simple Solution project here! 

*Yes, that's my son in costume as Hannibal Lecter - and yes, I meant for the yellow wordsin the stamped title and text to say OR ME EAT! - I'm twisted that way hahaha ;-) - Hope everyone had a happy Halloween! - Cindi

Graveyard Luminaria with Spellbinders & Rit Liquid Dye

The latest episode of Behind These Eyes on When Creativity Knocks is live and it's a spooky graveyard themed luminaria!   Find out how I used Rit Liquid Dye an Spellbinders to create this fun project! 

http://whencreativityknocks.com/mycraftspace/m/videos/view/Behind-These-Eyes-Halloween-Luminarias
- Get your spook on! - Cindi

Monster Mash with Rit Liquid Dye

You can find the instructions for the Halloween party favors I designed last year on the Rit Dye website.  This year I made something similar, but with a few twists.  Frankenstein's mouth is embroidered, and his neck bolts are made from straws painted silver.  I also used the same Sizzix Eileen Hull Scoreboards XL Die, and twine from The Twinery.  Thought I'd share those with you too!

Rit Liquid Dye is used to create custom-colored, textured cardstock for this Monster Mash invitation and treat cup.  A Sizzix Scoreboards vase die  is used to make a whimsical Frankenstein treat cup and for the face focal image on the invitation.  Ransom note style lettering cut from magazine spells out the key text.   A hand stitched mouth, silver drinking straw bolts, and fringed hair add to his monsterly appeal. 

MATERIALS  LIST: 

Rit Liquid Dye – Purple, Apple Green (www.ritdye.com) 

White and black cardstock

Google eyes 

Plastic drinking straw 

Black embroidery floss, needle 

Eileen Hull Scoreboards  Eileen Hull’s Sizzix ScoreBoards XL Die - Vase, 3-D (www.sizzix.com) 

Sizzix Big Shot dye cutting machine (www.sizzix.com) 

Green buttons (www.blumenthallansing.com) 

Mandarin Twine (www.thetwinery.com) 

Plaid FolkArt Outdoor Metallics Silver Sterling paint, paintbrush (www.plaidonline.com) 

Magazine 

Elmer’s Craft Bond Adhesive (www.elmers.com)  

X-Actor paper trimmer and scissors  (www.xacto.com) 

Happy Halloween! - Cindi

The Original Projects

DCC Blog Hop - Tombstone Mini Album

It's time for the October Designer Craft Blog Connection hop!  This month we are focusing on Halloween.  Halloween is one of my most favorite times of the year - I love the silly fun, the creepy decorations, the plethora of sci-fi and horror movies on television, and the challenge of creating a unique costume.   This Tombstone Mini Album was actually designed in 2010 and featured in the Halloween Spooktacular episode of When Creativity Knocks.   Click the link for a tutorial of how to create this unique mini-album, and how to create two other whimsical Halloween crafts too!

Follow the DCC link in the column on the right to see what other spooky seasonal craftiness the designers have in store for you!  - Bwaahahahahahahaahha cue the evil laughter... - Cindi
p.s.--- don't forget to stop by on October 13th to see what our participating designers have created for the Makin's Clay sponsored blog hop!  You will also be able to register to win a great prize package of Makin's products!

Bloody Fingerprints, Maker Faire and Forensics!

Things are getting creepy around here - I LOVE Halloween!  Here's a link to my current Cindi's Simple Solution project on WCK.  It's simple to create your own "bloody fingerprint glassware" with Jacquard Pinata Inks and Earth Safe Finishes Eco Epoxy!  

The latest episode of When Creativity Knocks is a review of Maker Faire Bay Area 2012 - take a peak at some of the fun at this amazing event!   My book review for this week is The Illustrated Guide to Home Forensic Experiments by Robert Bruce Thompson and Barbara Fritchman Thompson