Evolution of a Box

Yep, I have been away for a while.  When school is in full swing, it is hard to etch out crafty time.

Halloween can sometimes require some craftiness, as it did this year.  Max wanted to be a car wash.  Not just a car.  A car wash.  His recent perseveration.  So here are photos of its evolution.

We started with a plain box and made a few alterations.

We then spraypainted with primer and metallic gray, as Max wanted it to look like my beloved Swagger Wagon (Toyota Sienna).

The next parts were fairly tricky.  I'm not sure I am 100% in love with the results, but I tried.  I printed off headlights and taillights for a Sienna onto cardstock.  I used Tacky glue to affix them.  I used page protectors for scrapbooks and leftover laminating film from school for the windows.  Scott used black electrical tape to give the "windows" definition.  I used Liquid Applique to give the appearance of "suds."  I used small white balloons to give the suds a bit more size and depth.

And here is "Car Wash Boy" himself.

We'll see if he keeps it on at all during tomorrow's festivities at school.

Transforming the Mantle

I mentioned a few posts back that I might try to "seasonalize" my living room mantle with cards and or framed art. Well, I finally started tonight in bits and pieces. We first took our boys to the nearby pumpkin patch and purchased pumpkins of various sizes. Two small pumpkins are on the mantle. Then, I bought some black plate holders at Michaels, as the black coordinated with the frames on the mantle. I displayed my October mini-scrapbook, which looks very nice there. I just finished this card, which came completely from my mind. I like how it turned out, despite the fact that Max was crawling all over me as I attempted to finish.

I kept thinking of Cathy Zielske's Design Your Life class. Our design focus for the next two weeks is repetition. As I was creating tonight, I tried to be conscious of my use (or lack) of repetition. So, here's my thinking: 1. I repeated the use of the Gelly Roll silver pen. I used it on the Jack-o-Lantern's face and as an outline on the cat on the tag. 2. I repeated the use of orange Rain Dots from Cloud 9 Design on the black scallop. 3. The lines in the patterned paper are repeated. 4. I inked the main card, the patterned paper, and the tag with Basic Black ink.

Not bad. I guess there's more of a design thought in here than I thought.

I never considered myself "whimsical" as far as design went. In fact, before seeing a mass of Cathy's work, I thought I was pretty conservative. However, lately, I seem to be loving the hand-drawn frame. I love the absence of perfection in it. You can notice its use on some of my scrapbooking and cards. I used a thicker line than I anticipated for this card, but I had to battle the stripes in the patterned paper. I needed a bolder line than I usually use.

So there you have it... a Halloween card! Who would have thought?


Size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches
Stamps: SU! Party Punch, Hero Arts Jolly Jack o' Lantern
Ribbon: Offray black grosgrain
Paper: My Mind's Eye Spooked Stripes, PTI White
Ink: SU! Basic Black, silver Gelly Roll, Copics (G24, E31, YR65)