31 Wishes, Canvas Corp and Giveaways!

Last week I headed down to Texas for a Spook-tac-ular Halloween Event called; "31 Wishes" hosted by AnnDenise Anderson.  For several years now AnnDenise has been hosting this festive event every October with new themes every year.  This time she opted for a favorite theme of mine, vintage circus. Now if you all know me, you know I love creating vintage styles, circus themed projects and Halloween magic.  When AnnDenise asked me to teach, I accepted within seconds and knew 31 Wishes was going to be over the top.

The new challenge, creating a fast and simple project that the attendees could make within 1-2 hours. A project they could mix in with their Halloween decor throughout the house, something with a vintage feel and worked into the events theme.  The supplies I used needed to have all these elements and had to excite the attendees. So without hesitation I knew the Canvas Corp Brand of companies would be the perfect choice. With 7 Gypsies and Tattered Angels, Canvas Corp helped me customize the perfect supplies for my project.

The result a Vintage Style Halloween Paper Cone filled with sparkling tinsel shards, layered with vintage images, labels and Halloween tags. Finished with tiny potion bottles, crepe paper fringe and ink. I used the orange and black striped paper as the cone base, then layered all my pieces inside. A very simple project to create with such a great impact. All the attendees each made paper cones that screamed vintage, screamed circus and screamed spook-tac-ular.

 

After my project, AnnDenise taught her gorgeous circus-y dolls. Everyone made a doll which fit their personality. Some were tattooed, some were glamorous and some theatrical, all with a touch of vintage flare. The whole process for each doll was amazing. So what kind of doll did I sit down and create? Any guesses? Give up? A tight rope circus performer who I named; "Tippy Cornwall, The Greatest Tightrope Ballerina of the Century".

There was way too much excitement at 31 Wishes from the food, to the supplies, the projects, the decorations, the ladies who attended and AnnDenise.  Everything was absolutely magical, that's why I had to bring back some magic for all of you and one lucky reader to win one of my 31 Wishes Kits and a surprise treat bag from the Canvas Corp Brands; 7 Gypsies and Tattered Angels.  There's just too much goodness I had to share.

So here's the scoop on how to enter:
Enter on the Rafflecopter Link below w/this info
1. Share your favorite Halloween movie with me.
2. Like the Canvas Corp Instagram and Facebook Page
a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Giveaway starts 10/17/15 and ends 10/21/15 at Midnight.  The winner will be announced on the blog and contacted for their mailing information.  The package will be shipped as soon as the winner sends me their information.

Good Luck Everyone, stay tuned for more of the 31 Wishes Event recap w/project highlights, set up and Texas snapshots.
xo
Lisa

Midsummer Fun, Exploration and Fairy Specimens!

Its late August and that can only mean one thing, Midsummer Season. You probably thought I was going to say Back to School, didn't have the heart to blurt it out. In NJ students go back to school after Labor Day which is September 7th this year.

Midsummer is such a magical time of year, sunflowers glowing in the warm light, fireflies flickering in the night, last minute vacations and explorations. There is just so much to do this time of year.

After a month's break from heavy creating, I found my creative muse and started making a ton of projects from jewelry to paper craft and everything in between. I have a huge parcel from the Canvas Corp Brand of families that I just couldn't wait to dig into. Everything in their brand speaks to me.

I have started a series of exploration projects reflecting on the 1920's Egyptology era, African adventures, specimens and wizard-ology.  Some seaside whimsy and storybook tales mixed in there some where. 

The first series of projects are the fairy specimens, The first one is labeled "FAE" no.1, she is a Fairy Queen discovered off the coast of South Africa by a Museum Archaeologist named Brady Winthrop who discovered an old map and legend in the museum's private library chamber. Professor Winthrop along with Blake Davis, Cooper Vanderhoff and Casey Mellon sailed off on an exploration to prove fairies do exist.  What they found was more then just fairies.......

The first in the series of 12 specimens is "FAE" no.1, who has been named Ciara and  carefully placed in a specimen box with branch samples from the site. Legend has it that these specimens are actually mummy casings which cannot be opened until the Fairy Life Rites Spell is said. This secret spell can be found in the Ancient Book of Fairy Rites and must be read on a blue moon....

For now I'd like to share the first series of specimens, "FAE" no.1-Ciara.

Materials:

• Clear 3 by 5 inch Plastic Hinged Box (craft and dollar stores have these)
• Serengetti 6 by 6 inch Paper Pack-7 Gypsies
• Maritime Mini Ephemera Pack-7 Gypsies
• Printer Tray Label Holders-7 Gypsies
• Pearl Glimmer Mist Spray-Tattered Angels
• Tattered Leather Glimmer Mist-Tattered Angels
• Flat Back Frozen Charlotte-Lisa Kettell Designs
• Rhinestone Strand-Simplicity 
• Glues/Tools: Hot Glue, Hot Glue Gun, Glue Stick, Scissors
• Other: Copper Tape, Thin Branches, Beige Lacy Floral Leaves, Glitter, Stamped Lettering

Directions:

1. Line the bottom of the plastic box with two types of paper from the Serengetti paper pack using a glue stick.
2. Hot glue thin branches to the right side of the base and side of the plastic box.
3. Age the frozen charlotte with walnut inks, rubbing off excess with a soft cloth or napkin until desired amount of aging is achieved.
4. Cut the leaves to form whispy wings, age with more walnut ink and hot glue to back of the frozen charlotte. 
5. Next hot glue the winged frozen charlotte to the box center. Spray the whole box contents with mist spray a  few times. Embellish the frozen charlotte with copper tape and rhinestones.
6. Attach the plate to outside of the front rim of the box and add lettering.
7. Finally add any extra pieces to the box.

Tips/Tricks:

• The frozen charlottes I use are from my line of products and are perfect for painting, aging w/inks and gluing in paper projects and assemblages.
• For a realistic porcelain frozen charlotte coat these frozen charlottes from my line with resin glaze or spray glaze.
• I used the wrappings from ground cherries as my wings. But you could cut open floral chinese lantern flower pods or use bark shards or shells.
• Try vintage images in place of the frozen charlotte.
• Make a faux map and add a metal tag for more fun. 

Stay tuned for the rest of the exploration projects including more specimens, the book of Fairy Rites, Professor Winthrop's Journals, Casey's Treasures and more.

Crafting With Lisa Kettell Designs

Valentine's Day is almost here, just a few weeks away. Inspiration is popping up all over the place and my creative mind is whirling with ideas to create some sweet romantic fun.


Over at ILoveToCreate, Jennifer Perkins created the most fabulous Chenille Valentine People using chenille stems and Carnival Cupie Doll Head embellishments from Lisa Kettell Designs.  These Chenille dolls are beyond fabulous, I just heart them. Jennifer Perkins rocks.

Julie Cottrell made the cutest set of Valentine Banners that I have ever seen. Julie used a variety of fun supplies including the Cherry Soda Pop Charlotte Doll head embellishments from Lisa Kettell Designs. These embellishments are some of my fave in the line.  I just love what Julie did with them in her banners.  Visit her instagram feed for more inspiration.
Over at Craftside, Stefanie Girard shares an Almost No-Sew Quilted Heart Decoration for Valentine's Day, I just love it. Even her display vignette filled with pink and red spine books from the Rockport/Quarry/Craftside family of books, the finished quilt and decor is fabulous.  I spy a Lisa Kettell Designs original doll: The Two Headed Charlotte, straight from the circus.

Over at Sparkling Scrapbooks, Deb Famularo is just bursting with inspiration. Everywhere I look is something fabulous, I just love visiting her blog. Her recent post is a project called Love 2 Party which she created a sparkling frame vignette for Valentines Day using Party Girl Heads from Lisa Kettell Designs. The project is on her blog.

Deb is a LK Designs team member and has contributed to many LK Designs projects and articles.  Her artwork is so inspiring and we just love what she does with the products.

Scroll through her blog and check out all the inspiration. Here is a peek at the Love 2 Party project. So sweet, so romantic, so elegant.                              

Stay tuned for more inspiring projects for Valentine's day and everyday.  Special thanks to all who have created with LK Designs products and their wonderful projects, inspiration and posts.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Lisa :-)

Recycled Halloween

Recycling items we already have or saving items from the trash can open up a whole new world of possibilities when it comes to creating.

For years I have always loved old frames. They are just so timeless. Whenever I head to a thrift store or rummage sale I go right for the frames. There are always so many of them left over, I usually take the whole lot of them and get a great price as well.

Last Spring I received a lot of 12 big wood frames w/o the glass for $2.00. Then 2 days after the sale there was Spring clean up week in my town. As I was walking I found a bunch of discarded frames waiting to head to the dumpster, so I rescued them. Now I had a bunch of open frames waiting to turn into some kind of art and this Fall they did.

A few weeks ago I mounted the open frames onto the wall and decided to create a Halloween scene in each of them using black paper owl cutouts from the dollar store. There are about 18 in a pack, just attach some scotch tape to the back of each owl cutout and attach inside the frames to create a scene.

This whole project cost about a $1.00 for the cutouts and the free frames from cleanup week. You could do this for any theme, holiday or family silhouettes. Fast and easy project with an artsy, vintage feel. Recycling is a great way to preserve our past and to bring discarded items back to life again.

Happy Recycled Halloween!
xoxo
Lisa