Monday, September 30, 2013

Halloween Popcorn Box Hop

 Flight of the Giraffe
What does Halloween Time mean for you? To many, Halloween symbolizes so many things Magic, Witches, Wizards, Ghosts, Goblins, Jack'O'Lanterns, Pumpkin Pie, Costumes and Treats. Its that time of year where kids are adjusting to a new year at school, temperatures start to drop, sunlight is shortened, scenery is basked in the rich hues of amber, reds, yellows and hybrid violets, eggplants and black. Fall festivals, candy apples and themed carnivals get in their last hurrah for the year. We begin to make way to cozy nights indoors w/hot chocolate, cider, soups, buckets of movie popcorn, and holiday cheer. Every farm is celebrating with grandeur pumping out pumpkins, mums and stalks in a frenzy, corn mazes are waiting for you to explore and new adventures waiting to be started.
Flight of the GiraffeFlight of the GiraffeFlight of the Giraffe
For me its all of the obvious, but it also allows me to celebrate my Grandmother's Birthday which is on Halloween, it's this time of year that my creativity begins to soar and allows the creations inside my secret world to come to life, this carnival inside my head begins to beam out all forms of creative magic for everyone to enjoy. When I was asked to join this blog hop, all my creative juices began to whirl, I saw the seer sucker red and white popcorn box and knew instantly what I was going to do.
Flight of the GiraffeFlight of the GiraffeFlight of the GiraffeFlight of the GiraffeFlight of the GiraffeFlight of the Giraffe
Instead of pulling put the typical creatures and colors related w/Halloween to decorate my box, I decided on playing with its other themes; Carnival/Circus which I relate to the popcorn box, magic, adventure, back to school, ABC's, Storybook, the unusual, lanterns and lights. I pulled inspiration from my book, Altered Art Circus, Quarry Books and the essence of magic, the result is; "The Flight of the Giraffe", revolving around Lucy the Giraffe and her magical adventure.
Flight of the Giraffe
Halloween time is the time of year where everything goes, magic comes to life and new adventures are being made. Now come set sail with Lucy and her friends for the adventure of a lifetime....
Flight of the Giraffe
"Lucy Wistlebee is a ballerina giraffe from Maplewood, she is the niece of circus sensation Jeannie "the Giraffe" Bellows who toured the lands with the Carlisle Circus and other troupes, her fame enabled her to open the Bellows School of Dance where Lucy was also a student, where she learned tap, dance and ballet twice a week. During regular hours, Lucy was enrolled at the Lavendoor School of Magic, where she excelled in potion-ology, astronomy and carnival spells, quite often Lucy would get into some mischief with some of her classmates who formed the Willawig Club, designed to uncover secrets and hidden locations all around the school grounds and neighboring towns, Two years ago Lucy and her friends uncovered the forgotten Lionel Tunnels which connected the Savory Lighthouse to the edge of the school gate, once thought to just be school folklore.
Flight of the Giraffe
This year Lucy was ready to compete in the Constance Bellamy Mid Summer Fair Competition, which she prepared for months. On Full Moon Eve, in the countryside of Peapack, the competition was held and Lucy won first place, what Lucy didn't know was she would embark on the adventure of her life when she meets Lionel Cromwell at the awards ceremy. Lionel Cromwell is a Professor of Carnival Magic Studies and the leading Wizard of Marble Magic which is a series of spells using the energy of marbles and orb wands, he is the leader of a secret underground society aimed at stopping bad magic and the descendent of Lionel Woodbridge who built the Lionel Tunnels.
Flight of the Giraffe
Little does Lucy know that she possess a rare power and a marble which is the key to other portals which Becker Horricle wants to get his hands on, so that he can rule these portals and the world we live in. Lionel must stop Becker and protect Lucy, securing the rare Olibuate Marble and the 3 others which are found in the other portals. 
Flight of the Giraffe
"You look stunning Lucy" boasted Abigail Dickles, who is Lucy's best friend and co-founder of the Willawig club. "Thanks so much Abigail, I feel like a super star after winning the competition" replied a happy Lucy, " You should" replied Abigail, the two began to walk to towards the big tent to find their friend Oliver. "Hey you guys, I'm over here", waved Oliver, soon the three where united, laughing and dancing with joy as Oliver won third place in the skelliwag competition, both were sharing a look at their awards, until the majestic sound of calliope music began piping loudly outside of the big tent.
Flight of the Giraffe
The three walked outside the big tent to see where the music was coming from, as soon as they opened the curtain, they saw a glowing calliope flying machine with lights, rides and fun docked. "Wow that is amazing", "Oooh let's see if we can get closer" "Yes, let's" boasted the three, they started walking closer to the calliope flying machine and were soon greeted by Lionel Cromwell. "Aren't you Lionel Cromwell?" asked Lucy, "why yes I am", replied a cheerful Lionel, he then asked the kids if they wanted a tour of the flying vessel, they all agreed and hopped on board. Little did they know that one step onto the flying vessel, would begin the adventure of their lifetime.

Within minutes, Lionel lured the kids to a secret tent on the flying vessel and proceeded to tell them of Lucy's danger, the marble, Becker Horricle and what they must do to save her and the world, just then an explosion occurred lightening and thunder, lights out, weird mists, full moon hidden, he was here, Becker Horricle was here and on a mission to kidnap Lucy and take the marble.

"We must go now!" yelled Lionel, within seconds the flying vessel was under attack, Lionel and his crew hurried to get out of there to safety, soon they had escaped to another portal filled with sunshine, rainbows, golden landscapes and cherry cap trees, it was here that the lost world of Gnomes lived and Henrik Widdlebatt lived, the gnome wizard of Graspby, now they would be able to secure the second marble and gain help from Henrik...."
Flight of the Giraffe I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into Lucy's world of adventure and a preview of her story, now I'd like to introduce you to the Enormous Calliope Flying Vessel that they flew in. You can now make a replica of her vessel like I did right now with these simple directions and easy to find materials.

Materials:
  • Popcorn box
  • Paper cupcake cups
  • Paper straws
  • Paper lantern
  • Sturdy gauge floral wire
  • Small rubber or plastic animals
  • Scrapbook paper
  • Embellishments, Lisa Kettell Designs
  • Buttons, Laura Kelly Designs
  • Rit Dye, various colors
  • Glues: hot glue, mod podge, plaid
  • Tools; hot glue gun, scissors, hole puncher, XL zip lock bags,
  • Other: scrapbook embellishments, white crepe paper, glitter, paint, bakery twine, Chipboard, wood block scrap
Company products I used: Laura Kelly Designs, Lisa Kettell Designs, Rit Dye, Plaid, Graphic 45, Crate Paper, Clearsnap, K & Co, Michael's.
Directions:
  1. Open the popcorn box, insert a wood block to the inside bottom of the box, hot glue in place. Flip popcorn box over and hot glue a piece of chipboard to the outside bottom of the box. This will secure the box and give it some weight.
  2. Punch a hole on 2 sides of the popcorn box, 1/2 inch from the top edge. Make sure each hole is punched across from each other. 
  3. Thread a piece of floral wire through each punched popcorn box whole, thread a paper straw through each piece of wire, set aside. Now wrap a piece of floral wire around the lantern base. 
  4. Now attach the lantern to the wired popcorn box by threading the ends of the popcorn box wire through a section of the wired lantern base, secure each side w/hot glue and a button, let hot glue cure.
  5. Attach a paper cup cake liner to each side of the popcorn box.
  6. Insert scrapbook paper to the inside of the main popcorn box.
  7. Cut 3 yards of lightweight white paper floral wire, attach triangle shapes cut from scrapbook paper to the paper floral wire, leaving a small space in between, attach with hot glue. Set aside.
  8. Pour about 1 Tablespoon of Rit dye in color of choice into an XLzip lock bag, followed by a 1/4 teaspoon water, insert white crepe paper, shake around until covered, pull out crepe paper w/plastic tongs, let dry on a disposable tin pan.
  9. Decorate the rubber/plastic small animals using crepe paper, scrapbook paper, trims and embellishments. 
  10. Begin to assemble your flying vessel with the wire banner, decorated animals, scrapbook embellishments, lettering, trims, buttons and carnival pieces.
  11. Insert triple A or required battery to the lantern, hang or place in your favorite part of the house or studio. 
 Flight of the GiraffeFlight of the GiraffeFlight of the Giraffe
Tips/Tricks 
  • Refer to my book Altered Art Circus for more fun ideas on decorating rubber/plastic toy animals
  • Use collage images in place of the decorated animals such as Dresden scrap images and storybook images lined onto chipboard and cut out. Use my doll head embellishments from Lisa Kettell Designs to enhance them, I recommend the Bailey embellishment.
  • Coat areas of your piece w/mod podge and sprinkle with glitter, shake off access.
  • Make a triple sized lantern w/more popcorn boxes, or one XL popcorn bucket tub and attach three various sized lanterns. 
  • Add Rit dye to mod podge for glaze coloring and coat your embellishments with it for a fun effect.
  • Use colored streamer crepe paper if you don't have any Rit dye on hand. 
  • Cut a plastic animal in 1/2 with metal cutting shears, small hand saw or hot knife, use caution when using these tools.
This is a great project to create with your children, or for a fun party, using any theme you like. Its a perfect re-invention project, recycled project and great for using project scraps over again. I re-use everything and recycle as much as I can. I hope that this project has inspired the creative magic inside of you.

I want to thank Laura Kelly for asking me to be apart of this fabulous blog hop and give a shout out to the Sponsors and Cre8Time for all they do to spark the creativity in all of us. Be sure to enter the raffle to win $100 from Disney!



Links:
www.laurakellydesigns.com
www.laurakellydesigns.com/laurakellydesignsblog
www.cre8time.org

And check out the rest of the wonderful blogs that are apart of this hop:


xoxo
Lisa  
 

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Pippa's Magic Party

Pippa's Magic Party
Pippa's Magic Party was created using the Pippa Bella embellishment from the Cupie-ology Line, Lisa Kettell Designs, in addition to scrapbook paper, chipboard frame and butterfly wings from K & Co. Pippa's Magic Party
Pippa's Magic Party
This is the perfect embellishment to enhance any scrapbook or craft project. Each embellishment is flat backed making it ideal for gluing to project bases. Pippa Bella is sold in a pack of 2 and pack of 5. She is available in a few colors and with the paper cone hat (hat patterns vary).
 Pippa's Magic Party
Pippa's Magic Party is a simple scrapbook project, you can further enhance into a variety of styles and themes such has tags, party banners, assemblages, cake toppers and page layouts, so many possibilities with my product line.
Pippa Bella Embellishments
Stay tuned for additional projects created using the Pippa Bella embellishment and other embellishments in the Cupie-ology Line from Lisa Kettell Designs.

xo
Lisa

Saturday, September 28, 2013

The Magic Pumpkins of Oz


"Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high
There's a land that I've heard of once in a lullaby.
Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue
And the dreams that you dare to dream,
Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops,
High above the chimney tops,
That's where you'll find me."- Wizard of Oz


"A shooting star, Toto. A shooting star!-Return to Oz
 Pumpkins of Oz Pumpkins of OzPumpkins of OzPumpkins of Oz
Magic Pumpkins of Oz are pumpkin wand sticks I created as a tribute to the 75th Anniversary of the Wizard of Oz, the book; Return to Oz, Halloween, Wizards and Pumpkin Picking.

Starting today through October 31, I will periodically be posting fun and whimsical Wizard of Oz type projects to celebrate 75 years of the classic movie, in addition to other themes such as Halloween, Wonderland, Cupie and Lisa Kettell Designs projects.

As for this project its extremely easy to create and a perfect recycled project using leftover paper straws and crepe paper streamers from a party, last years harvest floral picks or fruit picks of choice, scrapbook paper, floral wire and glue, that's it.




Materials
  • Paper straws, navy blue, Aardvark Straws
  • Pumpkin floral pick, Nicole Crafts
  • Crepe paper streamers, blue green color, lime green color
  • Oz scrapbook paper, Graphic 45
  • Scrapbook paper, Crate Paper
  • Glitter scrapbook paper, AcMoore
  • Floral wire, white
  • Star punch
  • Glue/Tools; hot glue gun, hot glue sticks, scissors 
 Directions For Wand Base
  1. Insert stem of pumpkin floral pick into the opening of paper straw, hot glue in place.
  2. Punch stars from glitter paper using a star punch of choice.
 
 Directions For Wizard Hat
  1. Cut a 5 inch by 5 inch square from scrapbook paper of choice.
  2. Now cut square in 1/2 for a triangle shape.
  3. Roll the ends of the triangle in to form a cone, secure with hot glue.
 Directions For Finishing the Wand
  1. Attach the wizard hat to the top center of the pumpkin wand.
  2. Cut a 12 inch piece of crepe paper from streamer, fold in 1/2, attach to hat base, repeat until desired amount of crepe paper fullness is reached.
  3. Cut a piece from the Oz scrapbook paper, attach to hat base, tilting slightly for a whimsical effect.
  4. Insert floral wire to the hat point, secure with hot glue, wrap around hat, secure with hot glue at base, twist ends for more whimsy.
  5. Randomly attach the punched stars around the floral wire with hot glue.
 Pumpkins of OzPumpkins of OzPumpkins of OzPumpkins of OzPumpkins of Oz
Now your wands are ready to spread some magic and if you are lucky they might just transport you to wonderland.

Tips/Tricks
  • Visit my You Tube channel to learn how to pleat, fold and crimp crepe paper for embellishing.
  • You can use all types of fruit picks for this project to works for any season, like apples, pears, strawberries, large cherries, plums, lemons, limes, or gourds, all will work for this kind of project.
  • Use discarded toys, vintage cake toppers, plastic novelties to make fun wands for kids or parties.
  • Insert floral flowers, mistletoe and more in red or green paper straws for holiday decorating or table toppers.
  • If you aren't a hot glue lover, try using a thick glue of your choice.


Hope you enjoyed the magic,
Have a wonderful Saturday!
xoxo
Lisa

Friday, September 27, 2013

Piddlestoxs Magazine Vol.6

Piddlestixs Vol.6 is finally here after a year long hiatus, you can finally order the latest edition on/or before Monday September 30, 2013 at Lulu.com, where you can also purchase past editions in print or ebook downloads, including past editions of the Faerie Zine , Flapperology and Workshop Manuals.

All my magazines unless stated are available in children's book quality soft cover saddle stitched 42-44 page books and as ebook downloads. The newest release of ArtStixs Magazine is December 31, 2013 and will be filled with highlights from past editions of Piddlestixs and new releases, 155 pages of creative magic.

Please send ongoing submissions to: lisakettell@yahoo.com

To be considered for the latest ArtStixs release all submissions must be sent in by November 20, 2013, all submissions for either publication must have: "Mag Submission" in the subject line.

In this latest edition of Piddlestixs you will find a plethora of magical creations and projects revolving around Halloween, Wonderland, Carnival and Steampunk, all created by an incredible group of artisans!

xoxo
Lisa


Thursday, September 26, 2013

Percy's Magic House

Percy's Magic House
Here is another altered art house assemblage I created using products in my line: Cupie-ology by Lisa Kettell Designs, I made this using a small wood doll house shaped closet found in the wood section of the craft store, layered w/scrapbook paper, trim, glitter and embellishments from Lisa Kettell Designs line of products. The main piece was the painted Bailey embellishment sold in a painted pack of three.

This is an updated project from my book, Altered Art Circus, Quarry Books, where I have some projects in there using doll house wooden closets and houses that are turned into circus carts like the cover of the book and assemblages.Percy's Magic House
 Percy's Magic HousePercy's Magic House

The Story: "Percy Grimwald lives at the edge of Stony Brook Forest by Bluebelle Fields and Hickory Stone which sits beside the Twin Star River. Percy can be seen overseeing his garden filled with wiggly wots, piddlebat, tweenseed and licorice root. Every Tuesday he heads to the Twinkle Spat Farms for the weekly farmers market where you can find his latest crops, in addition to Tye Wiggs' Candy Stalks, Caramel Blue Raspberry Apple Sticks, and Peppermint Elixirs. Here you can by Cherry Doc Bulbs, Bat Dust and a variety of magical delights.

After the market Percy invites friends over for afternoon tea elixirs and treats made from delights in his garden, you never know what sparks are going to fly out his windows if the Twinie Pixies show up for tea and begin playing twizzle stixs, which light up and spread moon dust everywhere.....
Percy's Magic House
 Percy's Magic House
Percy's Magic House
Stay tuned for new carnival/circus carts using my latest products.


xoxo
Lisa