Something Witchy This Way Comes...

Now that school is in full swing, time to focus on that most glorious and ghoulish time of year - Halloween! I am so excited! Costumes to choose, candy to eat, decorations to hang, candy to eat, pumpkins to carve, candy to eat, apples to bob, candy to.... you get the idea.

I love to make Halloween projects. Scrapbook pages, altered books, picture frames... There is something about pumpkin orange and raven black, the jarring but lovely juxtaposition of purple and green...


I love the vintage and shabby look. A little ink here, some sanding there, and a piece of new paper looks like it has been in a witch's broom closet for years and years...



I have been making scrapbook pages almost exlusively the last seven months or so, but while perusing my gallery, I feel the need to do some altered books. I love working with paper bag albums. So many nooks and crannies to tuck in unexpected trinkets! Working with vintage photographs and postcards is always a treat - I haunt local antique stores searching for some "new" old photographs to work with.



The lovely thing about altered books is that the can be displayed as decorative pieces themselves, and to me, the chunkier the book, the better! One of my favorite embellishments to put in these little pretties is a homemade witch broom. Made with stems and twigs from my gardent, along with some tightly tied raffia, these little brooms are a nice primitive touch to Halloween projects. A vintage inspired tag that reads "broom parking: 5 cents" adds a whimsical touch.


One of my first projects was an ABC board book devoted to Halloween. I hadn't discovered rub ons yet (they may not even have been available then) so I used large letter stamps. The paint seemed to take forever to dry, but the effect was worth it. The letters worked well with the transparencies and scrapbook paper. Using transparencies has been such an exciting technique - much better than vellum. From printing on the transparency to painting on it, I love the flawless effect.


I also created a Witch Book, altered from yet another board book. I included some "spells" written on handmade mulberry. Vintage photogrpaphs and carefully selected bits of ephemera created a hauntingly pretty effect... one of my absolute favorite projects.