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!  

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.   

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!

Peace in the Evergreens Etched Glass Votive Holder

When you light a candle in this etched glass votive holder embellished with real evergreens you’ll bring a warm holiday glow to your mantle. I found the original idea of adding evergreens to a candle holder in a Facebook post and decided to give it a try. My version features an etched glass votive with PEACE stenciled in metallic paint to soften the glow of the candle. The original post was just photos – I’ve included stepped-out instructions and some tips on what worked, and what didn’t, to make the process a bit easier for you to recreate.  

 

Materials: 

• Glass votive holder 
• etchall® Etching Cream 
• DecoArt® Dazzling Metallics® paint – Shimmering Silver 
• DecoArt® Americana® Gloss Enamels® Reusable Stick-On Stencils™ – Inspiration 
• Design Master® Tack 2000 Spray Adhesive 
• Westcott® Titanium Bonded Scissors 
• Tea light candle, or battery operated tea light candle 
• Fresh evergreens
• Foam brush, fine paint brush
• Silver ribbon 

 

Instructions: 

1. Coat outside of votive holder with etchall® etching cream. Let set 15 minutes.  
2. Use brush to return most of etching cream to the bottle. Rinse to remove remaining cream. Dry votive holder. 
3. Use stencil to paint “PEACE” with silver paint onto etched votive. Let dry. 
4. Break evergreens into small pieces.  In a well ventilated area, spray with Tack 2000 spray.   
5. Place evergreens around votive surrounding PEACE.  TIP – To help evergreens stick to the votive, I found it helpful to place a piece of parchment paper or a transparency over the evergreens and press with my hand until they stuck. Another word of advice – I thought I’d try using quick grab tacky glue to mount the evergreens – this did not work – the spray adhesive made it much easier. 
6. Trim bottoms of evergreens at base of votive.  Insert candle and watch the peaceful glow among the evergreens. TIP – the fire danger is minimal since the evergreens are on the outside of the glass votive holder, however, if you want to be even safer, use a battery operated tea light candle instead of a real candle.  
7. BUT WAIT…. THERE’S MORE….. SO NOW FOR THE CRAFT FAIL PART…… I lit my candle
   
   and set this pretty votive holder on the mantle.    When I came back half an hour later, the heat from the candle had caused the evergreens to pull away from the glass. Drat!  On to plan B – a pretty piece of silver ribbon wrapped and tied around the evergreens to hold  them in place.  You still get the effect of the evergreens, but no worries about them falling off lol! The moral of the story….. the spray adhesive still makes it easier to hold the evergreens in place while you tie the ribbon – so step 4 is still worthwhile – just add some ribbon as a back-up.
   
   

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! 

Bluebird of Happiness Baby Shower - Part 2

In this final episode of the WCK All-Star Designers' Spring Series, Ana Araujo and Jonathan Fong share great projects for our Bluebird of Happiness Baby Shower!   One of the best things about being on the WCK team is getting to work with amazing designers like we did this time on the Spring Series - Jonathan Fong, Mark Montano, Judi Watanabe, Laura Bray and more.   The summer series is fast approaching and Ana and I will be joined by Judi Watanabe, Marisa Pawelko and Elena Lai Etcheverry!

http://whencreativityknocks.com/mycraftspace/m/videos/view/All-Star-Bluebird-of-Happiness-Part-2

Faux Succulents & Tiered Plate Centerpiece with Jonathan Fong!

In this week's WCK All-Star Designers Spring Series amazing designer Jonathan Fong shows us how to create a great tiered plate centerpiece painted with DecoArt's Americana Decor Chalky Paint (LOVE it!) and clever faux succulent party favors with Makin's Clay® - you can view it here:

http://whencreativityknocks.com/mycraftspace/m/videos/view/All-Star-Designers-Spring-Series-Tiered-Plate-Centerpiece

Dessert Pinwheels with Rowlux Illusion Film

The latest episode of Behind These Eyes with Cindi Bisson is now live - you can find it here on the When Creativity Knocks site.

From "Home Decor" to 'Haute Couture" - New Episode of Behind These Eyes

In this latest episode of Behind These Eyes on When Creativity Knocks, I am sharing a simple idea for transforming pre-beaded decorative trims made for home-decor into unique jewelry. 

Captured Ocean Pendant

The latest episode of my series "Behind These Eyes" is now live on the When Creativity Knocks website - learn how I made this "Captured Ocean" pendant with ICE Resin®, Rit Liquid Dye and more - http://whencreativityknocks.com/mycraftspace/m/videos/view/Behind-These-Eyes-Ocean-Pendant

Die Cut Mugs, Valentine Treasure Box & A Book Review

What do Die Cut Mugs, Valentine Treasure Box & a Book Review have in common?  They are all my current projects on the When Creativity Knocks site!  You can find them each by following these links -

Die cut embellished mugs featuring Earth Safe Finishes & Spellbinders dies





Cindi's Simple Solutions - Valentine "Treasure" Box

New Book Review:  Modern Mod Podge® by Kimberly Mueller

And, check out Ana Araujo's adorable embroidered felt pins too in Ana's Creative Chaos!  

What will you Cre8time to make for Valentine's Day this year? - Cindi

Quick & Easy Eyeglasses Case with Phoomph!

Find out how easy it is to create a quick and chic eyeglasses case using Coats & Clark Phoomph!   The full instructions are in this post for Cindi's Simple Solutions at When Creativity Knocks!  - Cindi

http://whencreativityknocks.com/mycraftspace/m/articles/view/Simple-Solution-Quick-Easy-Eyeglasses-Case

Gargoyle Puzzle Box

The latest episode of Behind These Eyes on When Creativity Knocks is one of my favorite recent projects!  I couldn't wait to design something unique and fun with JudiKin's Gargoyle Cube stamp - and this puzzle and storage box was the result.  

Why not use your stamps to create something beyond a card or scrapbook page today? - Cindi

Ombre Onesies with Rit Liquid Dye & Spellbinders!

In this episode of When Creativity Knocks - we transform Rit Liquid Dye, Spellbinders and JudiKins products into adorable ombre onesies!  (And we say "Ombre" a lot - hey, we like that word.)  Enjoy! - Cindi

Snowflake Lights with JudiKins & Spellbinders

In the latest episode of WCK, we share how to use Spellbinders & JudiKins products to create sparkling snowflake lights for your holiday decorating - you can watch it here.

My newest product review is also live - JudiKins Diamond Glaze.

And finally, for today at least, here's my latest Cindi's Simple Solutions project for WCK - Countdown to Christmas night shirts or t-shirts featuring the KellyCraft Get-it-Straight Laser Square and Tulip Fabric Markers from I Love to Create! 

I hope you are inspired to Cre8time for a little holiday crafting soon! - Cindi

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

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