BFF Open House

 

Happy Friday Eve, Creative Peeps! Just when I thought we were winding down monsoon season, the skies opened up, and we had both quite the light show and thunderstorm last night. Whew! I'm so thankful this big dog of ours is unfazed. 

I know a lot of kids are already back in school. It seems around here, like they just got out! If you're sending kids back, good luck, and I hope all goes smoothly. I remember those days when it seemed like every day, more paperwork came in with lists of supplies needed!

I started on some Halloween projects this week and shared this one:

Dollar Tree Vintage Ghost Makeover 

Looks like the trend this year is BIG on vintage so these were fun! 

As we wind down Summer and start up Fall, here are some ideas from last week's party! 

Steph Creates used supplies from Dollar Tree to create this lovely Autumn Leaf Wood Riser. 

Petticoat Junktion shared how to use repurposed items and paint to make pretty Painted Succulents, unifying them with one color. 

Got ribbon scraps or just ribbon? Check out this idea from Artsy Karma on How to Make a Ribbon Bowl! 

I can't think of a better way to mark a transition from Summer to Fall than these S'Mores Cookie Bars from Cindy's Online Recipe Box! No campfire needed. 

Thanks to everyone who linked up and let's see what you've been up to this week! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Summerween: Dollar Tree Vintage Ghost Makeover

 

Starting my Halloween crafting during "Augtober/Summerween", whatever! Vintage is having a moment this season. Popped into a Dollar Tree last week and found these adorable little vintage-inspired Ghost Pumpkins. Being contrary like I am, I didn't love the colors as-is, so I did what we makers do and made it my own style! 

Supplies: 

• Vintage Ceramic Ghost Pumpkins (Dollar Tree)
• Acrylic Multi-Surface Paints 
• Fine Line Paint Pen (Apple Barrel)
• Rhinestones
• Baker's Twine

I grabbed black, white, and metallic paints from my stash. Ultimately, went with black, white, and gold as my color palette. 

I painted the pumpkin base with Craft Smart multi-surface paint in black. Two coats. 

I used a sponge paint spouncer (Dollar Tree) to coat the white ghost head with multi-surface white paint. 

To finish painting, I did the ruffled collar in gold (two coats), and outlined the ghost eyes with an acrylic paint pen. 

I grabbed some clear rhinestones and used different sizes for the eyes and collar. It didn't matter of some of the original paint peeked through because the next steps will take care of that! 

I went around the collar and glued rhinestones in the ruffles using a dimensional adhesive. 

Once that was done, I used coordinating baker's twine to wrap around the top of the collar (this took care of any more paint bleed-through). 

And done! 

And now they fit in with my more goth/glam style! Easy Peasy, and you could do these to match any color combination you prefer. 

Sharing At:

BFF Open House

 

Happy Friday Eve, all! I hope you're all "weathering" Summer well. It's crazy everywhere. Chicago Son got caught stuck on a train that had to be stopped because of a tornado and said they've set a record for tornadoes this Summer. EEK! We continue with monsoon unpredictability and people not heeding heat warnings about hikes here in the desert. 

And, as I found out last week, COVID is having a Summer moment. Stay safe, peeps! 

This week I shared a birthday card for a creative friend and more doodle fun. 

Cricut Birthday Card:

Pen and Ink Meet Procreate:

Lots of fun ideas and yummy recipes shared at last week's party, so here are a few ideas! 

Selep Imaging shared this gorgeous Mosaic Flowering Tree Stepping Stone. 

The Apple Street Cottage shared a wonderful way to prep for the holidays now: three different ways! Left to right: Emery Board Sleeves, Tea Holder, Repurposed Paper Gift Tags. 

Steph Creates shared how to transform a plain ceramic tray into a beautiful Trinket Tray. 

Finally, The Kitchen Is My Playground shared this delicious-looking Pear and Walnut Crisp. 

Thanks to everyone who linked up and let's see what you've been up to this week! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Artsy: When Pen and Ink Doodles Meet Procreate

 

I'm still learning my way through Procreate and one struggle I have is actually drawing in the same way I do on paper. So I combined them! 

Above is my little Zombie Doll I drew last week when I was laid out with COVID. I haven't named her. With as perfect as we can make everything with digital tools and AI (a thing I have lots of conflicting feelings about) I am silencing my inner Virgo perfectionism and accepting that art, like life, can be imperfect. I think that's why I like doodling. Perfect in its imperfections. 

I uploaded a picture of my doodle, removed the background to make it transparent, and imported it into Procreate, where I colored it, created a background, and added the sentiment from a bundle I downloaded from Creative Fabrica!

The result: 

The sentiment is perfect for me and my fellow introverts, as well as sums up my feelings after a week down with COVID! 😂

I played around with another doodle, this time a cauldron.

You can click on each to bring to full resolution, then save. These are free to use (but not to sell things...honor system) 

Happy to say I'm feeling MUCH better. My doodling medicine definitely helped! 

Sharing At:

Vintage Charm Party #552!

Papercrafting: Cricut Birthday Card

 

Before COVID got me, I made a birthday card for one of my crafty friends, inspired by a paper pack I picked up at Michaels: Splatter and Swirls

Supplies:

• Patterned Scrapbooking Paper (Craft Smith, Splatter and Swirls, Michaels)
• Coordinating Glitter Paper (Stash)
• Base Cardstock (Recollections, 110lb Cardstock, Michaels)
• Focal Images (Cricut Design Space)
• Creatology Gems (Kids Crafting Aisle, Michaels)
• Digital Cutting Machine (Cricut Maker)
• Tape Runner
• Glue Stuck

I started by choosing what I wanted to feature as my focal images in Cricut Design Space,  sized to fit my card, and cut. Card is 5x7. 

I picked a glitter paper that coordinated with this piece from the Splatter and Swirls stack mentioned above. 

I cut the patterned paper to fit my card, then applied the cut images using a glue stick. These "industrial strength" ones by Aleene's (Dollar Tree) are a go-to! They really hold things down. 

Once my images were glued down I grabbed these fun gems by Creatology from Michaels. I love peeping the kids crafts aisles for supplies and these are one of my favorites. 

I glued them to my card as shown using a dimensional glue, and added a few gold rhinestones to pick up the foiling on the paper. Et voila! 

The card's been received and my crafty friend loved it. My work here is done!

BFF Open House

Happy AUGTOBER, peeps. The new month fairy played me false, and brought me COVID. I know...

As far as I knew, no local surges were going on, and homebody that I am, not even sure where I was exposed. Just glad I didn't manage to pass it on to my mom, and Mr. Chocolate has remained symptom free. UGH!

No features because I'm beyond wiped out. That's actually been worse than anything. Even typing is exhausting. This too shall pass, right? 

So we'll jump right into party mode, and can't wait to see what you've been up to this week!! Stay healthy, wash those hands, etc. etc.!

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

BFF Open House

 

Happy Friday Eve, all, or, as I said to my son this morning, Happy Spidey-Friday Eve, since he's a huge Marvel fan and the latest Spider-Man movie comes out tomorrow. We'll probably wait until it streams, but he'll for sure see it this weekend. 

I hope you've all had a great week and are holding up whatever your weather may be doing. It's wild everywhere, it seems. 

It's also "Augtober" starting tomorrow, as I saw referenced on Insta. Lots more Halloween goodies are hitting the stores, and I'm guessing that with August, we'll even start to see a bit of Christmas coming in. 

But before we get into those seasons, let's take a look at some of the great ideas from last week's party! 

Sonata Home Design shared how to add a great addition to your garden by turning a Repurposed Picture Frame Into Garden Art. 

handmade by amalia shared a creative and whimsical idea with her Art Exhibition Diorama. Art for art's sake is always a good idea. 

Scratch Made Food for Hungry People shared a different kind of recipe; DIY Woolen Dryer Balls. I use dryer balls when washing our comforter and pillows and need to make some of these because mine are way too noisy!

Finally, Summer is peak strawberry season, and this Homemade Strawberry Cake Recipe from Ann's Entitled Life is a perfect way to use them. 

Thanks to everyone who linked up, and Happy Creative August! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter