A Ghost from the Past....

As I am planning a little Halloween party at the weekend, I decided it was time to clear up - looks bad when guests have to put the stash piles on the floor so that they can sit down. The trouble is, that all my drawers and cupboards are full, a problem which is probably known to other addictive scrappers. And the ladies who are coming at the weekend are very tidy and house-proud people - heeeeeeeeeeeelp!
So, I have been clearing and tidying since yesterday afternoon. I have a lot of drawers which haven't been opened or sorted for more than 20 years. When I moved three years ago I just moved the drawers with their contents and planned to clear them up when I had time....Well, the witching hour is here, and I had to start. I have done half of the drawers in my 2 desks, and removed 3 (yes THREE) plastic sacks of rubbish. Old biros, pencils, dried out paints, half used notebooks, bills from the 70s (paid!!), bits and pieces of this and that - the normal detritus that collects in the homes of chaotic crafters. Found some interesting things, too. Photos, old coins from different foreign countries, dried up free samples of cream and make-up, paper, old envelopes, newspaper cuttings, 3 dead & dessicated spiders, enough dust to bathe an elephant, my missing camera, keys and many other objects which I would rather not describe here. But for me the best thing was this photo, taken in Scunthorpe in 1968, where I had my first job as a teacher. I was a member of a local amateur drama group, and we represented our town at the drama festival at the town theatre, playing a piece called *Down the Hatch*, a rather corny murder story. I was a naive & nosey young journalist. Can you find me among the *stars*??
OK, back to tidying, the *bottomless pit* - the hall closet - is waiting for me to find what is lurking in its deep, dark depths.

The Witching hour - Gingersnap Gothic elements challenge

Made this card for the Gingersnap *Gothic Elements* challenge. The Ghostly face and the gold background elements have been stamped with Opalite *crystal blush* onto black card, and then brushed with perfect pearls in electric blue and gold respectively. The gothic arch has been cut free-handed from some gold card from a choccie package, embossed with a TH folder and then swiped with black archival ink. The card and arch have been mounted onto a scrap of *Graphics 45* paper with 3D pads. The bat is a sizzix die cut, edged with gold, and is carrying an hour-glass to herald the witching hour. The large bird is from TH, has been stamped with archival ink, black embossed and cut out by hand.... That was where the story got messy - I tipped the pot of black embossing powder over the working surface in the kitchen. Managed to scratch and brush it back into the pot with the addition of some coffee granules & some UCBs - unidentified crumbs and bits, so I am wondering what special effects my next embossing will have....Was great fun to make in spite of it all. Thanks for looking!

Woohoo, I won a challenge!

Today when I got home from a nice day at my friend's I saw that I had won the *Let's Ink it Up* colours of halloween challenge with my *Halloween Tryptik*. I am really thrilled and this has made my day. This is my badge:

Thanks a lot, I'm off now to do a happy dance....

Family Gruft - for Simon says Challenge

I liked the sound of this challenge because it gave me the opportunity to play. As base of the *gruft* I used 4 matchboxes as *graves*, sandwiched betwen two beer-mats. The top mat has been covered with a scrap of *Graphics 45* paper. The sides of the matchboxes have been painted with black acrylic paint pimped up with some black soot stickles. The *drawer-ends* of the matchboxes have been covered with more paper scraps and have an added brad as knob. The *grave* at the back is a trimmed IKEA tag, which has been distressed with black soot ink and stickles. I added chipboard wings, distressed again with soot black and black embossed. The witch, hat, broom, cat, ghosts, shoes and bats have been die cut from black or white shrink plastic. Finished it off with a few skeleton parts trying to get into ( or out of?) the drawers. Was great fun to make, playing is not only for kids. There's a nice saying which says *You don't stop playing because you're old, you get old when you stop playing!* So, let's stay young!

Stamped and distressed postcards.

I am always trying to get away from distressing, to try something new, and occasionaly it does work. But I always get pulled back to distressing and stamping in one form or another. This time I made 4 postcards, all featuring THs bird & bird-cage stamps, a *family* stamp from paper artsy and the fob-watch and frame from LaBlanche, a German stamp designer who makes a lot of beautiful things. The card with the 2 large birds and with the bird-cage have been treated with gold leafing before distressing. I stamped some handwriting on one and the bird-cage on the other with a Tsukineko glue pad and stuck the gold leaf on. After it was dry, I brushed some off, just leaving enough to give a bit of gold glimmer in the background. The bird-cage has then been stamped over with archival ink and clear embossed. The bird and foliage have been stamped and embossed with a mixture of clear embossing powder and perfect pearls. It has been finished off with a motto and some hand doodling. On the card with the 2 large TH birds, one bird has been stamped and embossed directly onto the card, the other has been cut out by hand and decoupaged. The bird on the card has been embossed with clear embossing powder and gold perfetc pearls, the decoupaged one has been embossed with Ranger's *Hologram* powder, as has the grunge heart. It has been finished off with some stamped and doodled foliage, a black and red flower and a red *gem* as decoration for the bird. The other 2 cards are showing the lovely Victorian family group, stamped with archival black- once framed and decorated with a crowned & bejewelled TH bird; the other one with with a pocket watch, a TH bird on a hand doodled branch, and 2 stamped sayings. They were all great fun to make. Thanks for stopping by!

Gothic Arches Challenge *Jester*

Decided to enter this for the gothic arches challenge. I used *Taj Mahal* cardstock for the background arch. The figures have been stamped with Paper Artsy stamps using black archival ink, clear embossed, on gold cardstock. The figures have been cut out by hand, and *crowned* with party hats and a crown (Sizzix diecuts, as are the ballons). Added an embossed and distressed flower to finish it off. Was fun to make, although I'm not really sure if I got the subject right?

Fun altered lamp for halloween

While I was clearing up last week, I discovered this *wellness* lamp which I got as a present some time in the past. I don't like coloured lamps - except for the one in my bath tub with turns the foam all sorts of colours - as the changing colours make me nervous. And then I realised that I had a fun moon for halloween - wow! Made some spooky die-cuts, stuck them round the lamp, and then went into the hall - the only dark part of the house just now - and let the colour change run and I think it looks really good. Now I have a fun item for my halloween party - and perhaps I will leave it in my dark hallway till then - just for fun!
Apart from that, it's a cold, damp and windy Monday, I'm freezing, and my nose is running a lot faster than I can these days - it can only get better! Have a nice week you all!



I am entering this for the *alter it monthly* challenge