Though a wide array of books on various different crafts continue to be published each year, exceptionally few pertaining to scrapbooking, card making, and stamping have been released in the past decade.

Granted paper crafting has declined a wee bit in popularity during the 2010s on into the 2020s, but is still a profoundly beloved activity with new paper crafters joining our ranks around the clock.

This makes the absolute dearth of newer cardmaking and scrapbooking related books all the more perplexing. Not to mention frustrating for those of us who would leap at the chance to add some fresh papercrafting titles to our bookshelves.

It is anyone’s guess as to it we will ever see a resurgence in paper crafting books being published again or not.

Naturally, I hope that we will, but as there’s only so long one can hold their breath, I figured it was high time I looked beyond the scope of paper crafting and to the wider world of crafting for a book to review.

Though not the newest title itself, the book at the heart of this review post is ideally suited to October and as such felt like a great choice to start reviewing craft books – be they new, old, or anywhere in between – with here on Witchcrafted Life.

Felt-o-ween: 40 Scary-Cute Projects to Celebrate Halloween by Kathy Sheldon and Amanda Carestio was published in 2014, making this book eight years old at the time this post is being written.

It is a thoroughly charming book that packs a wallop in terms of awesome Halloween themed projects (many of which work awesomely for Samhain, with a selection also being a great fit for Día de los Muertos as well) that are approachable, doable, and enjoyable to boot!

Book specs

Name: Felt-o-ween: 40 Scary-Cute Projects to Celebrate Halloween

Authors: Kathy Sheldon and Amanda Carestio

Page count: 132

Publisher: Lark Crafts

Binding: Softcover

Festive Halloween felting fun for fans of felting, sewing, and crafting in general

From the creativity fuelled minds of two long-time crafters (that would be Kathy Sheldon and Amanda Carestio, respectively), both of whom had previously published crafting books prior to the release of Felt-o-ween: 40 Scary-Cute Projects to Celebrate Halloween, comes this super fun collection of felt projects to make for the spooky season (or all year round, if you’re on team #MakeHalloween365)

Jam-packed with beautiful, detail-rich colour photos (each project includes at least one accompanying image), this book houses 40 awesome Halloween felt projects that were designed in part by the authors themselves, along with quite a few entries from skilled crafters who contributed their own designs to this book.

As such, the projects in this book are connected by the common threads of both felt crafting and Halloween, while experiencing a lovely degree of diversity care of having multiple design contributors.

If you are not much of a sewer and/or haven’t worked a lot with felt, but this title appeals to you all the same, fear not, you’re in luck!

Though hand and/or machine stitching is involved with a fair number of the projects in Felt-o-ween, most of the projects are not overly complex and, in my opinion, should be within the skillset means of many novice sewers.

The book begins with an introduction to what felt crafting is, the primary types of felt that are available on the market, and covers what other types of materials you will need to complete these projects.

An item that appears often throughout the book is freezer paper, as it is one method of transferring patterns onto felt.

While readily available both in physical stores and online in the States, outside of the USA, crafters may have trouble tracking down this product locally.

It has only been, for example, in very recent years that I have seen Amazon.ca start to list a small selection of freezer paper (such as Cut Rite Heavy Duty Freezer Paper and Reynolds Freezer Paper) – and I have still yet to spot it at any brick and mortar shops in this country.

If you are unable to easily obtain freezer paper either online or off where you live, there is another virtually identical product that often goes by names such as Quilter’s Freezer Paper and Craft Freezer Paper that you may be able to track down instead.

Examples of this product include:

–C. Jenkins Freezer Paper Sheets

–Quilter’s Freezer Paper Sheets

–Sew Easy Freezer Paper

–Taunton Press Best Applique Freezer Paper

The book does not mention this fact, perhaps because Freezer Paper itself is so readily available in the States where, if I’m not mistaken, both of the authors reside.

If none of these products are available in your area, happily, there is still no need to despair. As detailed in Felt-o-ween, many of the pattern templates lend themselves well to being scanned and/or photocopied, enlarged, printed and then used as tracing and/or cutting guides when pined to your felt.

This point hopefully sorted, you can now get on with exploring the forty different delightful Halloween craft projects housed in Felt-o-ween.

Are you on the hunt for festive fall home décor such as wreaths and candle mats? What about darling felt jewelry, accessories, or socks? Care for a felt cupcake topper in the shape of a tombstone, a plush vampire, tiny pumpkin shaped treat holders, or some eye-catching All Hallows’ Eve bunting, look no further!

Felt-o-ween has you covered on each of these fronts and plenty more.

Most of the projects in this book can be made with the felt of your choice/availability, though in some instances, a particular type of felt (such as wool felt, for example) may work better.

Good quality wool felt is a superb crafting material, no two ways about it, but if like me you’re allergic to wool (felt-on-skin contact swiftly gives me a very bad case of hives) or it isn’t in the budget, that is totally okay!

Most of the projects in Felt-o-ween can be whipped up using other types of felt, such as bamboo, eco felt, or acrylic just as easily.

As well, each time I’ve read this book cover-to-cover (three times and counting), I have been struck by how well I suspect many of these projects would turn out when rendered in paper crafting form.

Not all of them per se (especially when it comes to the wearable felt craft projects), but a decent number of them for sure.

And, naturally, many other types of fabric beyond felt could be used here as well. In some cases, they may need to be backed or otherwise stabilized so that they hold their shape similar to that of felt.

Throughout Felt-o-ween: 40 Scary-Cute Projects to Celebrate Halloween one encounters a good assortment of projects, many of which are not overly complex, time-consuming, or difficult for those who are not yet seasoned stitchers.

I know my way around the basics of sewing but I am by no means an advanced or even intermediate sewer.

I’d place my sewing practical abilities somewhere between beginner and intermediate and my theoretical knowledge on the subject a grade or two higher.

To date, I have not felt compelled to make sewing a primary crafting focus, but I still greatly enjoy finding ways to engage with this timeless art as I go about my crafty year.

Working with felt is a stellar way to do just that, whether one has been sewing for decades or has yet to learn how to turn a hem or what a presser foot is used for.

Want to jazz up your Halloween home décor, make fa-boo-lous party decorations, whip up a wonderful Halloween costume or accessory, or create a festive piece for your crafty space? If so, this is the book for you.

Naturally, it would also make for a top-notch gift to give to fans of sewing and/or Halloween.

Felt-o-ween: 40 Scary-Cute Projects to Celebrate Halloween is an appealing book both on its own merits and in terms of the additional chain of creative inspiration it may set off as you lap up its photo-filled pages.

How Felt-o-ween: 40 Scary-Cute Projects to Celebrate Halloween Kathy Sheldon and Amanda Carestio rates with me

As you flip through Felt-o-ween, it is hard to restrain yourself from dropping everything and rushing off to craft up a litany of delightful fall time felt projects.

The crafts in this book are inviting and adorable. They come housed with easy-to-follow instructions, patterns are included, and they would make for equally terrific crafts to make for yourself or give to any Halloween fan.

Speaking of which, if you have any little ones in your life who go wild for October 31^st, chances are they would be delighted to either help you make – or try their hand at creating (if they’re old enough to safely to do so) – many of these festively fun Halloween felt crafts.

A breezy read that is chocked-full of fantastic project ideas starring the wonderfully versatile material that is felt, this book is apt to be one that many crafters return to time and time again.

It is worth noting that while photos of each completed project are included in Felt-o-ween there are not images of the steps involved with actually making the crafts in this book.

I have not yet tried my hand at making any of the Halloween crafts that reside in Felt-o-ween – but definitely hope to do so once I can pick up some more felt and a roll/package of freezer paper.

In particular, the Creepy Crawly Wreath (seen on the cover), Candy Corn Bunting, “The Birds” (Hitchcock-worthy felt crows/ravens), Spooky Friends Wall Hanging, Bat Mobile, Darkling Roses, and Skull Hairbows really jumped out at me.

Some of those projects (plus various others in this book), my fellow goth and alternative aesthetic inclined readers will be happy to know, could easily work for year-round home décor and fashion purposes.

Got(h) to love that!

(Just as you do the fact that felt, as a general rule, does not fray – meaning all the more ease of completion and longevity of your finished projects.)

The Halloween projects in Felt-o-ween are cute, sweet, relatively easy, and kid-friendly in terms of the end results they create.

Plus, every one of them is a perfect fit for a #MakeHalloween365 project share.

Those who who are aiming for a much more elegant, darkly macabre, or vintage inspired Halloween look might find a few of these project ideas tick those kinds of boxes, but may otherwise be better served by different craft project sources.

Brought to you by the same authors of Fa la la la Felt: 45 Handmade Holiday Decorations, ‘Tis the Season to Be Felty: Over 40 Handmade Holiday Decorations, and Heart-Felt Holidays: 40 Festive Felt Projects to Celebrate the Seasons, this book is teeming with fresh, joyful Halloween craft projects that are sure to have you beelining for your felt stash – or the nearest fabric store – faster than a bat whizzing across the crisp, cool October sky.

Working on a scale of 1 – 5, with five being the highest possible rating, I would give Felt-o-ween: 40 Scary-Cute Projects to Celebrate Halloween by Kathy Sheldon and Amanda Carestio 4.5 stars out of 5.

Have you read Felt-o-ween: 40 Scary-Cute Projects to Celebrate Halloween by Kathy Sheldon and Amanda Carestio?Do you enjoy crafting with felt? 

The post Book Review: Felt-o-ween: 40 Scary-Cute Projects to Celebrate Halloween by Kathy Sheldon and Amanda Carestio appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

Of all the colours, purple – despite the fact that I find many shades of it to be arrestingly gorgeous – and I have never completely clicked.

Growing up in the 1980s and 90s, a time when the toy market was thriving like there was no tomorrow, (provided more than one colour option was made available) a great deal of the products released for young girls were either purple or pink.

Sure, plenty of them – from Keypers to Popples – included versions in both of those colours, and others could be found in hues such as sky blue, butter yellow, vivid fuchsia, and tropical vacation-worthy coral. Yet, to my mind – and certainly here in North America – it was pink and purple that garnered the lion’s share of the toy market for girls.  

Be it then, prior to that point, or in the decades since, these colours have remained popular with youngsters and chances are, they won’t be fading away from toy store shelves anytime soon.

Reflecting on my childhood, for as far back as I can recall, I was gaga for the colour pink.

One of my first bedrooms had pink walls (topped with a cute pink and green wallpaper border that depicted teddy bears doing ballet – ahhh, the 80s ), a lot of the clothing I wore in my youth was pink, and I found that I gravitated to pink considerably more than purple.

There is nothing wrong with that, of course, but I believe the first strains in the relationship between myself and purple likely took hold when I became a card-carrying member of team pink.

Interestingly, purple is my mom’s absolute favourite colour (though she has never been the type to make their fave colour a centrepiece of their wardrobe or home décor).

I have always been a very independent soul and even in the days of pre-school, I can remember wanting to have different preferences in many instances to those of my parents.

Thus, it is entirely possible that I gravitated towards pink (whether consciously or subconsciously) so as to differentiate my favourite colour at the time from that of my mother.

Purple is a rare, regal colour that for much of human history was one of the most difficult to come by and therefore often amongst the most expensive as well.

Before artificial purple dyes were created scores of centuries later, the primary source of purple dye throughout much of the ancient world came from the mucus produced by a type of sea snail called murex snails which reside in the Mediterranean Sea.

Sources, including Pliny the Elder, tell us that thousands of these snails (which underwent a rather pungent-smelling ten-day brining process in a lead pot over low heat) were required just to make a single ounce of purple dye. Thus, the cost of obtaining items that were dyed purple was something only the wealthiest members of society could even begin to contemplate doing.

As a result, purple has long been associated with the elite, people of power, and, perhaps above all others, royalty.

Shifting from the days of My Little Ponies and Cabbage Patch Dolls to my tween and teen years, societally, purple continued to be a popular colour in many spheres as we inched ever closer to Y2K.

I can well recall several friends – and plenty more of my peers in general – being obsessed with the colour purple during that time.

It came into play with our Kabbodles, Lisa Frank school supplies and stickers, chunky glittery makeup (ahhh, the 90s – surely you saw that coming ), hair accessories (scrunchies, mini butterfly clips, and alligator clips, oh my!), clothing, Trapper Keepers, platform sandals, and so much more.

And throughout all that time, while I certainly never shunned purple, I remained loyal to pink.

As years of middle school morphed into those of high school, I didn’t feel the need to have/wear/decorate my room with “all the pink” anymore – but it still remained my favourite colour.

In some respects, it still is – particularly dusty rose, which is the shade of pink I most adore.

However, over the years, other colours such as black (which, I know, is technically not a colour but the absence of such), grey, red, burgundy, and aged metallics have long given pink a run for its money.

At no point, did any purple hue make my top five – despite the fact the fact that it is a decently common/popular colour in both the vintage and goth fashion worlds (these being the two subcultures that I have been most immersed in from my teens onward).

I tend to strongly favour having a cohesive colour scheme in my home (and wardrobe, too, for that matter). To date, neither of them has yet to feature purple in any major way.

And yet, all that said, I do not dislike purple in the slightest.

In fact, I would go so far as to say I love many shades of it. And purple will forever hold a special place in my heart given that it has been mama’s favourite colour throughout her whole life.

Much as with my clothing and home décor, my craft supply stash tends to lean towards certain colour palettes as well. There, too, purple does not tend to take top billing very often.

I can go multiple months running without a single spec of purple entering any of my craft projects.

This makes it seem like I am at odds with purple. Rest assured that I most definitely am not. Purple just tends to wait patiently on the sidelines until an outfit or craft project calls it up to bat, if you will.

Be it the palest shade of lilac or the richest eggplant (which, along with plum, shares the title as my favourite purple hue), purple is a versatile, dynamic colour that can convey so much.

It can be peaceful and evocative of youth, dark and vampy, upbeat and summery – and much more!

I was reflecting recently on how, for all my undying love of Halloween, I rarely weave purple into my All Hallows’ Eve or Samhain-related craft projects.

Lately, we have been bopping along through Springoween. Now that June has officially begun again, we are teetering on the cusp of Summerween. This point on the calendar seemed like a terrific time to reach for one of both of these season’s most iconic and adored colours.

Instead of pairing it with orange or green, as this colour often is in a Halloween context, I opted instead to lean heavily into the dark, bewitchingly elegant side of purple by teeming it with black, white, and gold.

The end result is a delightfully spooky Halloween card that I can now give to my mom or to one of the numerous other purple adoring souls in my life.

And, as you have likely suspected already, this purple Halloween card also happens to be my June 2022 #MakeHalloween365 project share.

As always, sweet friends, please do not hesitate to use this fun and festive community-focused hashtag anytime you share a creative Halloween project anywhere online.

Gold ghost shabby chic purple Halloween card

In for a penny, in for a pound as they say, so having decided on making a purple Halloween card, I began with a purple cardstock card base and wove this colour into various other components of my design as well.

Much as I had a hankering to work with purple again, so too was I really in the mood for some classic shabby chic paper tearing/distressing that day and therefore it also appears throughout this festive handmade Halloween card.

I am wild about the vintage-style illustration of a ghost rendered in gold metallic ink on the Prima Thirty One Collection paper that provides the star image for my latest handmade October 31^st greeting card.

It is gothy, (quite literally) spirited, and ever-so-pretty, to boot!

To carry the gold theme further, I included both metallic gold cardstock, glittery gold adhesive gems, and some fabulous gold coloured Webster’s Pages (oh, I miss that company!) tulle here as well.

I adore how the tulle resembles a gold-hued take both on spiderwebs and tattered fabric – say that of the disintegrating curtains in a long-abandoned haunted house.

However, as I was aiming to ensure purple remained in the lime (or, should I say, lavender) light, I made sure to pepper this Halloween card with purple.

It appears as the card base, one of the matting layers beneath the ghost images, in a fabulous piece of light purple and black Echo Park bat print paper, in the fun little Prima ephemera pieces, as the only ink colour used in this card, and even shows up in the “Happy Halloween” sticker that I used for my sentiment.

If purple is your jam (err, grape jelly ), that of someone dear to your, or you are looking for a wonderfully gender-neutral colour palette when making your own Halloween cards, read on for a detailed list of the products used in this project plus step-by-step instructions on how to make one of your very own.

Products used to make this hauntingly charming vintage ghost Halloween card

-Black cardstock

-Purple cardstock

-Metallic gold cardstock

-Vintage ghost illustration paper – Thirty-One Collection All the Treats Paper from Prima (I used another portion of this same sheet of paper as part of my recent Happy Springoween Pocket Letter.)

-Black and purple bat print paper – Bewitched Witch Hat Paper from Echo Park

-Wavy stitched edge rectangle nesting dies (Plain, straight stitched, cross stitched, or just about any other type of rectangle nesting die set could be used here as well.)

-One or two different flourish dies (I used two different dies on this project.)

-Light opaque/chalky purple ink – Distress Oxide Milled Lavender Ink from Tim Holtz

-“Happy Halloween” sentiment sticker (This one is from a package of Crafter’s Square [Dollar Tree brand] of Halloween stickers that did not have a specific product name. I bought these stickers within the past couple of years, so they may be available again at Dollar Tree come the Halloween 2022 season.)

-All ephemera pieces used on this project – Rose Quartz Ephemera from Prima

-Black seam binding

-Metallic gold netting/tulle – Vintage Inspired Netting Collection 2 from Webster’s Pages

-Glittery gold gems – Say it Crystals Midnight Garden Self-Adhesive Embellishments from Prima

-Black gems – Balloon Blast Off Self-Adhesive Classic Gems from Forever in Time

-Dimensional foam, pop dots, or similar to elevate some of your layers

-Adhesive, such as a tape runner, of your choice (I often use my Scotch Tape Glider)

How to make a gold ghost shabby chic purple Halloween card

Begin by making a card base from purple cardstock.

Cut a piece of black cardstock a little smaller than your card base. Tear the right-hand edge in a random, intentionally imperfect manner. Cut a slender piece of Webster’s Page gold tulle/netting the length of the torn black cardstock. Position it so that this layer is flush with the left side border (aka, the fold of your card). Adhere to the underside of the black cardstock.

NOTE: All paper, cardstock, and netting/tool layers that follow are also to be arranged so that they favour the left side of this card’s design.

Then, cut a slender piece of the Echo Park bat print paper a bit smaller than the black cardstock and likewise tear its right-hand side.

Cut a piece of black seam binding several inches longer than the width of the two pieces you just adhered together. Run it across the upper third of that area and adhere in place. Tie the two ends together into a bow on the left-hand side of the card.

Attach the bat print paper to the underside right-hand edge of the black beneath the bat print paper, then adhere this group of components to the card base.

Cut a piece of the Echo Park bat print paper a bit smaller than the previous layer. Tear its right-hand edge as well. Adhere.

Next, cut a piece of black cardstock a little smaller than the previous layer and, here too, tear the right-hand edge. Adhere to the previous layer using a dimensional adhesive such as Pop Dots or another type of foam squares/tape.

On the right-hand side of that (black cardstock layer) position and adhere a small piece of gold netting/tulle as well as the Prima light purple ruler and ticket stub pieces, as shown.

(Fun side note: While it is in reference to a US location, that lovely little ticket stub has the placename “Vernon” on it, which just happens to be the name of a neighbouring town located less than twenty minutes south of us.)

Using black cardstock and metallic gold cardstock die cut two pairs of matching flourish shapes. Arrange and adhere each matching-shaped flourish together with the black ones as the top layer. Off-center them a little so that a glimmer of the gold layer is still visible.

Tuck these flourish stacks under the lower left-hand side and upper right-hand side of the latest (torn edge) black cardstock layer that you created.

Using a larger-sized wavy stitched edge rectangle nested die, cut a rectangle from the same purple cardstock that you used for your card base. Adhere using dimensional adhesive.

Cut the central ghost panel image from the Prima Thirty One Collection All the Treats paper and ink all of its edges with Milled Lavender ink.

Then cut a gold metal cardstock matting layer a smidge bigger than the dimensions of that piece. Adhere the two together.

Die cut a smaller wavy stitched edge rectangle piece (that is large enough to work as a matting layer for the gold cardstock layer you just made) from black cardstock. Adhere previous gold cardstock + ghost image layers to this piece of cardstock and then adhere it to your previous layers.

Next, cut nested layers (by hand, with dies, etc) of gold and black cardstock, respectively, to mat beneath the sentiment sticker. Adhere those layers together then top with the sentiment sticker (optionally inking the edges of the sentiment sticker with Milled Lavender Ink, as I have done here). Adhere these elements on the lower righthand side of the card.

From the Prima ephemera, arrange and adhere a small alphabet piece so that it is sandwiched between the bottom of the central ghost image panel layers and the sentiment sticker layers, as shown.

Then, tuck a light purple domino and a light purple raffle style ticket under the left-hand side of the sentiment, angling them to the left a bit.

Place one of the largest sized gold glittery Prima gems on the middle of the black seam binding bow (you may wish to add some extra holding power to the adhesive that is there already by reinforcing it with hot glue, strong glue dots, or a heavy-duty crafting glue such as E6000 to ensure this gold gem stays put) and then position one somewhat smaller sized gold sparkly gem on the lower left and upper right-hand sides of the wavy stitched edge purple cardstock layer.

Surround each of these gold gems with two small black gems on either side, as shown.

And there you have it, one eye-catching purple, black, white, and gold Halloween card that can be made in scarcely more time than it takes a ghost to say “boo”.

Compared to many of my projects there are not, relatively speaking, all that many steps nor a huge volume of different materials required to make this eerily fun Halloween card.

If one used a template, paper trimmer, or scissors to cut out the rectangles and, optionally, nixed the flourishes, this delightful ghost-themed Halloween greeting could be made without the need for a die cutting machine.

This design is one that marries sweetness with spookiness (a perpetual fave combo of mine) and which is both timeless and ideal for October 31^st fans of all ages and genders.

From spirituality to coal tar, a (super) brief look at the meanings and history of purple

As much as we tend to associate purple with spring and summer in the Northern Hemisphere, it can certainly work well as a year-round colour.

Purple is a colour with strong ties to many things, including both spirituality/mysticism and creativity/artistry – not to mention a long-standing history of use within the LGBTQ+ community.

Given that it is the lovechild of red and blue, purple embodies elements of both fiery warmth and serene coolness.

For all the pale, pastel shades of purple out there, one finds even more that are bolder and more commanding.

Perhaps that is why – especially when combined with its relative rarity in the natural world – purple leaps out at us in many settings.

It might not be as glaring as bright yellow or orange or as tranquil as a soft blue, but it is apt to grab our eye all the same.

Both in terms of colour psychology and the meanings often linked to purple in the witchy/Pagan realm, this purple can represent such areas as intuition, peace, independence, beauty, sensitivity, understanding, empathy (and empaths), the unknown, power/status, pride, dignity, protection, wisdom, creativity, devotion, enlightenment, health and healing, openness, psychic abilities, the crown chakra, magic(k), and death – amongst numerous other things.

In fact, so closely tied to death and mourning was the colour purple to the Victorians, that it was one of just a few colours that were permitted back into a person’s wardrobe when they were in a period of half-mourning (following various lengths – often depending on the mourner’s relationship to the deceased – of full morning, which was also known as deepest mourning, during which only black was supposed to be worn).

Doing so was made all the more possible by the fact that in the very same era (in 1856, to be exact), one of the first synthetic purple dyes was invented.

Originally dubbed “aniline purple” by its then eighteen-year-old inventor, William Henry Perkin, this dye – which would later be known by the name mauveine – was created out of coal tar.

In the years and decades to follow, many other synthetic purple dyes – some certainly safer than others – came onto the market as well.

As a result, purple began to be a colour that was within the reach of more people and, accordingly, was frequently seen not only in times of half-mourning but in the day-to-day wardrobes of many Victorian individuals (it was wildly enjoyed by both women and men).

Purple also made a splash in terms of home décor, the art world (purple pigments and paints had been available prior to that point, but were often very costly and did not always promise long-term colourfastness), and as a result, was a much-favoured choice in terms of flowers + floral arranging, too.

As time went on, more and more forms of artificial purple dye were invented and used to colour a huge range of goods (including certain food, too, such as candy and grape soda).

And while, these days, purple has still managed to retain ties to the rich and famous, royalty, and religion, it is very much a colour that the majority of people around the world can access, if so desired.

In addition to the purple correspondences touched on above, spiritually speaking, purple is also associated with such things as the element Air, the number seven, the planet Jupiter, the cardinal direction of east, the fae, wands, cauldrons, spiritually significant jewelry and clothing (very much including robes/cloaks), the spirit world, and Pagan pride.

To circle back to where this post began, it is true that purple and I have not always been the closest of friends, but we share a bond that spans my entire lifetime and I have never viewed purple in a negative light or disliked it for a moment.

This is not the first paper crafting project I have made over the years that starred purple (in terms of those since the creation of my current blog, this Shabby Chic Springtime Bloom Card really stands out for me) and it is a safe bet to say that it won’t be the last either.

Especially since, again, this royal shade is my mom’s favourite colour.

Not wearing, decorating, or crafting with purple all that often as makes the times when I do opt to do just that all the more special and standout-ish to me.

Two adjectives that apply abundantly as well to my – and countless other peoples’ – cherished Halloween.

And therefore, that is all the more reason for me to reach for shades of purple spanning lilac to mulberry, orchid to mauve – and, of course, that most witchy approved of purples, amethyst – when creating some of my numerous annual Halloween papercrafting projects.

Are you a big fan of purple? Do you enjoy including this versatile and very pretty colour in some of your creative projects as well?

PS: I am well aware that if you try to say the name of this blog post five times fast, it instantly becomes a tongue twister.

The post Gold Ghost Shabby Chic Purple Halloween Card appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

We are even closer to All Hallows’ Eve now and as a result, I have been massively in the mood for classic Halloween colours and imagery.

Whereas plenty of folks make winter holiday season cards all throughout the span of the calendar, as many of you know, I create Halloween cards and other spooky season themed crafting projects all year long.

They bring me bliss and further strengthen the bond I have with my favourite (and most sacred) day of the year: Halloween + Samhain.

Plus, come those knee-weakingly gorgeous days of early to mid-autumn, doing so means that I usually have numerous festive Halloween cards (et al) ready to give to friends and family.

And, they are also the ideal way for me to utilize the #MakeHalloween365 hashtag that I launched last year so that Halloween adoring creatives of all types could share their work and be inspired by that of other people.

As you might guess, this fun vintage themed Halloween card is my #MakeHalloween365 project for the month of May.

Creating it in the heart of Beltane season – which is the corresponding sabbat to Samhain on the opposite side of The Wheel of The Year – felt especially meaningful to me.

The Witching Hour adorable vintage image and classic fall colour Halloween card

Knowing that I wanted to go with a timeless fall + Halloween colour scheme for this delightful project, I selected a palette of pumpkin-y orange, aged cream, deep gold, and midnight black.

And how fitting the latter is when you consider the sentiment that appears on this card.  

It reads the “The Witching Hour”, which while some people place later in the night/early morning (in the range of 3 – 4 am, when the dark heart of the night is still beating strong and dawn has yet to crack the sky’s surface once again), many others view this time as occurring from midnight to 1 am.

The concept of the witching hour, while certainly intertwined with Halloween + Samhain, applies to every night of the year and is an extraordinarily powerful and poignant point in the day to carry out activities pertaining to one’s witchery, Paganism, or spirituality in general.

And if you can do so bathed in the moon’s silvery light, all the better (though that is by no means essential, of course).

When I was but a wee lass, my (very talented!) mom made me an adorable witch’s costume from Halloween print fabric. A sturdy orange trash bag was utilized as an attached cape – which is all kinds of clever in my books (especially given the very real possibility of rain or snow that we faced on October 31st).

I wore that handmade witch costume on at least two, possibly three, different Halloweens throughout my youth. A few years later, my little sister would go on to sport it as well.

While to the best of my knowledge, this costume was likely either given away to other youngsters or lost to the hands of time at some point, I still have a scanned photo (care of my sweet mama) from the 1980s of me wearing it.

It was this very costume that I was thinking about as I set out to make my latest handmade Halloween card.

And in a flash, I remembered a sheet of Authentique Twilight paper I had picked up a while back that stars some fantastic vintage Halloween images. One of which was a sweet little girl dressed as a witch herself.

The fact that this image tied in excellently with the colour palette I had already determined was the icing on the cake – or should I say, the caramel on the apple.

As, this far out still from October 31^st, I am not sure yet if this card will be mailed or delivered in person, I opted to keep its depth below the minute two centimetres that Canada Post permits letter mail to be before it crosses into parcel territory (regardless of the other dimensions and weigh involved).

Naturally though, true to form, I wasn’t about to sacrifice too many layers or embellishments.

Doing so came together by building up a base of numerous layers of cardstock and paper to which I added a piece of cream-hued crocheted trim, two felt bats (I gave them cute little gold rhinestones as eyes), a button + rhinestone topped selection of trims, and quartet of gold rhinestones around the outer corners of the central image.

And just about as fast a real pair of bats – or a darling little Halloween witch on her broom – could zip across the enchanting Halloween night sky, my card was complete.

This design is quite easy and all things considered, not too brutal on the ol’ pocketbook – especially if you already have most or all of the types of supplies used on this Halloween card project to hand.

Should you be keen to whip up one yourself or use it as an inspirational jumping-off point for your own festive Halloween cards, read on for a complete list of the materials used plus detailed step-by-step directions on how to make this super cute vintage-inspired All Hallows’ Eve greeting.

Products used to make this charming “Witching Hour” Halloween card

-Black cardstock

-Pumpkin/dark orange cardstock

-Dark cream or taupe cardstock

-Metallic gold cardstock

-Stitched edge (or any other type you wish) rectangular die

-Ornate edge rectangular (or square) die

-Pinking sheer decorative edge scissors – Mini Pinking Paper Edgers Scissors from Fiskars

-Flax/muted gold-hued plaid paper – Fall Breezy Stripes Paper from Photo Play

-Pumpkin print border strip paper – Spook Hill 8”x8” Paper Pad from Recollections

-Witch’s broom print paper – Haunted House Witching Hour Paper from Carta Bella

-Vintage witch girl image paper – Twilight Eight Paper from Authentique

-Golden brown ink – Peanut Brittle Memento Dew Drop Ink Pad from Tsukineko

-Black ink – Wicked Black Archival Die Ink Pad from Color Box

-“The Witching Hour” sentiment sticker – Halloween Town Element Stickers from Echo Park

-Flax/gold seam binding – Trophy Gold Seam Binding from Hug Snug

-Orange seam binding

-Black seam binding

-Cream or ivory crochet trim

-Black felt bats (I bought these on AliExpress a few years back; similar can often be found at craft and dollar stores come the fall or cut from a bat die and thin black felt with many modern die cutting machines.)

-Orange button

-Black button (That is large enough to be topped by the orange button and still have its sides remain visible.)

-Two sizes of coloured rhinestones/gems (ideally one should be quite small as it will be used as eyes on the felt bats)

-Dimensional foam, pop dots, or similar to elevate some of your layers

-Adhesive, such as a tape runner, of your choice (I often use my Scotch Tape Glider)

How to make a witch themed vintage-inspired Halloween card

Begin by making a card base from cream/taupe colour cardstock. Ink all four edges of the front (and for that matter, the back, too, if you would like ) with golden brown ink.

From the Spook Hill 8”x8” Paper Pad cut out a slender pumpkin print border strip and adhere it vertically to the left-hand side of the card base.

Using pinking sheer decorative edge scissors (or actual pinking sheers) cut a piece of black cardstock a little smaller than your card base. Adhere to card base.

Cut a piece of orange cardstock a wee bit smaller than the previous layer. Adhere to previous layer.

Using the same decorative edge pinking sheer scissors, cut a piece of gold metallic cardstock just a whisper tinier than the previous layer. Adhere to previous layer.

Cut a piece of Haunted House Witching Hour paper from Carta Bella the same width as the previous layer, but just under half of its. Adhere to previous layer.

Then, using the Fall Breezy Stripes flax coloured plaid paper from Photo Play, repeat the same process as above only this time the plaid paper will go on the bottom half of the card, as shown. Before adhering it down, ink the visible edges with golden brown ink.

Die cut an ornate rectangle piece from metallic gold cardstock. Run a piece of cream/ivory crochet trim across the middle of this piece, wrapping its ends underneath. Adhere to the back of the die cut gold cardstock rectangle and then adhere that to the centre of the existing card layers.

Use the pinking sheer decorative edge scissors to cut another piece of metallic gold cardstock, making it a bit smaller on all sides than the Carta Bella broom print paper.

Before adhering that layer down, tuck and adhere one of the black felt bats partially underneath of it on the upper left-hand side, as shown. Then adhere the orange cardstock rectangle to the previous layers.

With the stitched edge rectangle die, cut a rectangle from orange cardstock. Adhere to previous layer.

Next, cut the adorable vintage witch girl image from the Authentique Twilight Eight Paper.

Using the same cream/taupe cardstock as the card base, create a very slender mat for the vintage witch girl image. Ink the edges of this piece of cardstock with black ink (brown or dark orange ink would work nicely here as well).

Adhere vintage witch girl piece to the cream/taupe cardstock.

Cut a piece of black cardstock a tiny bit bigger than the cream/taupe cardstock. Adhere cream/taupe cardstock to the black layer and then adhere the black layer to the previous card layers.

Fussy cut two brooms from the Carta Bella Haunted House Witching Hour paper. Adhere one each to the left and right-hand sides of the central image panel, positioning them so that each one is at an angle, as shown.

Take the sentiment (“The Witching Hour”) sticker and lightly rub the lettering, which is white in its natural state, with golden brown ink to tint the letters so that they better match the colour palette of this card. (Alternatively, you could use a suitable marker or even a coloured pencil to do the same thing as well.)

Adhere sentiment to the bottom center of the vintage witch girl panel.

Take one relatively small piece each of flax/muted gold, orange, and black seam binding, layer them together, fold them in half, and adhere them on the left-hand side of the lower half of the card.

Take your black button, top it with an orange button, and then with a gold rhinestone. Adhere these elements together and then to the “fold” area of the seam binding.

Place one of the larger of the two sizes of gold rhinestone embellishments around each corner of the black cardstock central panel so that it sits partially on that layer and partially on the orange cardstock layer below it.

Adhere the second black felt back to the upper right-hand side of the card, as shown.

Lastly, adhere two teensy tiny gold rhinestone embellishments to each of the bats so as to give them eyes.

And just like that, you have one sweet, classic, and very versatile handmade Halloween card to give away or keep and use as wonderfully festive home décor.

The comfort and inspiration of nostalgia

Though not everyone – myself included – had a Cleaver family style childhood, I am tremendously grateful for the positives that my youth did house at times.

Few come close on that front than the Halloweens that I experienced while growing up.

They were earnest, cheerful events filled with handmade costumes and decorations, Unicef boxes, bracingly cold Canadian night air, and a sense of exhilaration that no special event – my birthday included – could top for me back then.

Nor to this very day. I continue to get no less giddy now at the prospect of another brand new All Hallows’ Eve than I did all those decades ago.

I think about Halloween, be it past, present (year), or future, just about every day of my life – often many times a day for that matter.

It is vital that we each have things in our lives that speak to our hearts, souls, and creativity alike.

Halloween is one of the biggest and most important of those for me.

The roots of this passion took hold back before that photo of me as a wee youngster with her classic plastic pumpkin pail of sweet treats was even snapped. And it is safe to say that they have only continued to grow further every day of my life since.

I adore using Halloween memories to inspire current craft projects (not to mention other things as well, such as October 31^st menus, costumes, and decorations) and when you swirl vintage – another lifelong passion of mine – into the mix as well, I am on cloud nine.

In the coming countdown to Halloween months, you can look forward to plenty of festive content including – all things willing – no shortage of additional brand new spooky season 2022 papercrafting projects from me.

Right here and now though, it is still Springoween and as eager as I am for Halloween’s return, I am grateful for the sunny side of the year and the time it grants me – and crafters everywhere – to make a slew of festive fall projects in the lead up to that bewitchingly awesome holiday.

When do you tend to start your October 31^st related crafting? Be it pertaining to Halloween or otherwise, do you like to use treasured memories as inspiration for some of your creative projects?

PS: Did you know that there is a paper crafting challenge group dedicated solely to making Halloween projects the whole year through? I caught wind of it a little while ago and have been meaning to take part, but so often seem to forget in the midst of creating, photographing, and blogging my projects.

I am head-over-heels with Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge Blog and am entering this project into it as my inaugural foray into that challenge site.

If you have not yet discovered them yourself and also adore making Halloween paper crafts, be sure to zip on over and give them a peek!

The post The Witching Hour Adorable Vintage Image and Classic Fall Colour Halloween Card appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

Whether we are fortunate to ever have the opportunity to live in one of our dream homes or not, the interest and passion we have in the styles that appeal most to us often influence our worlds in myriad ways.

There are a number of different architectural styles of homes that resonate deeply with me. Chief amongst of which are most dwellings from the 18^th, 19^th, and early to mid-twentieth centuries.

I am also especially keen on rustic log cabins, elegant modern apartments + condos, just about anything with goth notes to it, and cottages of many types from around the world.

Long before terms such as #cottagecore, #darkcottagecore, #witchcore, and #fairycore had been invented (let alone turned into the social media darlings that they have become in recent years), I went weak in the knees for cottages – be they sweet and chipper or dark and broodingly mysterious.

To date, I have not had the pleasure of living in a cottage of any type myself. However, dear friends of mine – Lindsay and Jonas from the wonderful blog + YouTube channel + Instagram account, It’s a Charming Life – are blessed to reside in a cottage that sits alongside a yesteryear cemetery.

For a history-loving, cottage adoring, hardcore taphophile like myself, their abode is a dream home for me. And, I have no doubt, scores of others around the globe as well.

I have been greatly inspired by the cozy, whimsical, beautiful, and – as their online presence’s name implies – thoroughly charming world that these two sweet souls have lovingly created for several years now.

Also spanning multiple years is the wonderful snail mail correspondence that Lindsay and I have had the pleasure of sharing.

As 2021 started to wind down, but before we had become fully enmeshed into winter again, a mighty spark of creative inspiration struck me.

I knew instantly that I wanted to make a paper crafting project for Lindsay and her husband, Jonas, that celebrated not only the fact that they live in one of the most adorable cottages around but also their equally fantastic personal style which taps into many of my own favourite aesthetics.

Setting to work immediately, I went to my wee stash of chipboard and cardboard that I save from various types of packaging to use on craft projects.

A piece measuring roughly 9 7/8^th inches wide x 7 3/4^th inches tall felt like a terrific size for the hanging wall sign that I was envisioning in my mind.

Thinking not only about Linday and Jonas’s own passion for Halloween, but also the colour palette and vintage-meets-whimsical-meets-cottagecore style of their home décor, I set off on a creative flurry and scarcely moved from my office chair until this delightful All Hallows’ themed hanging wall sign was complete.

I then photographed it, securely wrapped it up for posting, and mailed it out to Lindsay and Jonas as a Yule / Christmas gift once December returned (along with the Gothic Haunted Christmas Tree Card that I shared here last month).

Cottage Spooky Cottage detailed Halloween Scene Hanging Wall Sign

Making cards and various other types of paper crafting gifts for friends, family members, neighbours, and others is one of my favourite elements of this awesome art form.

Naturally, I am far from alone on this front and creative folks of countless kinds likewise adore giving their finished projects away.

In fact, often the greater I love a completed project, the more eager and joyful I am to present it to someone else.

That was the case with this festive Halloween themed wall hanging (which is my latest contribution to the #MakeHalloween hashtag that I created and launched last year – and which I enthusiastically welcome you to use for any and all of your own Halloween / Samhain related creative projects, too.)

I began with a piece of plain (kraft coloured) cardboard for the base of this hanging sign. If you did not have any suitable cardboard to hand, very study chipboard, a lightweight canvas, or even a suitable piece of wood could be used instead.

If opting for wood (or any other material that is apt to be acidic), I would coat it with an archivally safe preservative spray, lacquer or similar product to help prevent the natural acids in the material of the project base from potentially damaging, over time, the materials you put on top of it.

Speaking of guarding things, I wanted to protect the side edges of this sign. As it was, after all, made with a cardboard base, not a canvas or wooden one.

To do so, I ran strips of orange sparkly adhesive craft tape (aka, adhesive ribbon) around all four sides.

I then set about creating layer after layer of Halloweeny goodness atop this versatile flat surface.

A surface which I looked at less like I would handmade card and more like a slightly scaled-down version of a scrapbook page (of the standard and widely used 12” x 12” or 8.5” x 11” sizes, that is).

As touched on above, Lindsay and Jonas are fellow Halloweenoholics and – much as at my and Tony’s home – they incorporate some elements of fall and October 31^st into their year-round décor.

I do not know whether they will opt to display this hanging wall sign all year or bring it out annually as summer starts to fade. Either way, I went with colours and themes that I felt would suit their fabulous cemetery adjacent cottage the whole year through.

A fair bit of die cutting went into this project, but there was nothing difficult about that aspect – nor any other – of this sign’s design.

The hours spent bringing it to life were amongst the most enjoyable of 2021 for me and when all was said and done, I was thrilled with the end result of this spookytastically charming hanging wall sign.

Since the start of 2021, I have been using a small (very basic/entry-level) lightbox to take photos of most of my paper crafting projects in.

The dimensions of this wall sign coupled with the size of both my lightbox and the lens on my camera, made photographing this project a bit tricky. This is why the background is white in some and woodgrain in others (I kept trying to find backgrounds to use in the lightbox that worked without showing their edges in these shots).

To showcase this handmade Halloween sign on the wall, I took down some of the art from a wall in my crafty space, placed the sign up, and nabbed a couple of (very low light) pics of it hanging there.

If you would like to create a similar project – or simply take some general notes of inspiration from this one – please read on for a complete list of materials used and detailed step-by-step project instructions.

Products used to make this wonderful festive Halloween hanging wall sign

-Sturdy piece of cardboard (Measuring approx. 9 7/8^th inches wide x 7 3/4^th inches tall)

-Black cardstock

-A slightly lighter shade of black cardstock (or use very dark grey charcoal cardstock instead)

-Medium brown cardstock

-Light to light-medium brown cardstock

-Dark orange (or terracotta coloured) cardstock

-Gold glitter cardstock – Glittersilk Cardstock from Darice

-Copper glitter cardstock – Glittersilk Cardstock from Darice

-White vellum

-Black and white spiderweb print paper – Haunted House Ghastly Words paper from Carta Bella

-Orange and black pat print paper – Halloweeny 12” x 12” paper pad from Recollections

-Good sized scalloped edge square or rectangle die

-Elegant decorative border die (or punch)

-Three small, slightly different sized flying bat dies

-Full and crescent moon dies (a basic circle die or punch can easily be used for the full moon shape)

-Haunted house die

-Spooky (haunted) tree die

-Rickety fence die

-Three small, slightly different sized jack-o-lantern dies

-Small witch’s hat die (you could also use a witch’s hat sticker or premade die cut shape here instead)

-Decorative edge scissors – Heartbeat Paper Edgers Scissors from Fiskars

-Good sized white or cream paper doily

-Dark orange ink – Memento Morocco Ink from Tsukineko

-Deep golden yellow/honey coloured ink – Distress Oxide Ink in Wild Honey from Tim Holtz (Note that anywhere Distress Oxide In is used on this project, you can sub in regular Distress Ink instead.)

-Aged golden-brown ink – Distress Oxide Ink in Antique Linen from Tim Holtz

-Golden-y brown ink – Memento Toffee Crunch Ink from Tsukineko

-Dark brown ink – Memento Rich Cocoa Ink from Tsukineko

-Medium brown ink – Distress Oxide Ink in Brushed Corduroy from Tim Holtz

-White gel pen – Uniball White Ink Gel Pen from Signo

-Black alpha stickers – Weekend Black Letter Stickers from American Crafts

-“Spooky” word sticker – Trick or Treat by Steven Duncan Element Stickers from Carta Bella

-Adhesive orange glitter ribbon/trim (Crafter’s Square brand from Dollar Tree)

-3/8^th inch wide black grosgrain ribbon (or another type of black ribbon or seam binding of your choice)

-Off-white or cream ribbon or seam binding

-Orange ribbon or seam binding

-(Optional) stapler and staples to adhere the ribbon “hanger” layers together

-Dimensional foam, pop dots, or similar to elevate some of your layers

-Adhesive, such as a tape runner, of your choice (I often use my Scotch Tape Glider)

How to make a Cottage Spooky Cottage hanging wall sign for fall / Halloween

Begin by sourcing or cutting down a piece of sturdy, but not too heavy, cardboard to use for the base of this project.

Next, cover the front of the sign with a piece of medium brown cardstock the same size as the cardboard piece itself and ink all four sides (edges) with dark brown ink. Adhere in place.

Cut (one at a time) pieces of sparkly orange adhesive trim and stick them down on all four sides of the cardboard base.

If you do not have a similar product to hand (I picked this up at Dollar Tree two or three autumns ago), you could use things such as very sturdy washi tape, orange duct tape, glittery ribbon, or even pieces of glitter cardstock.

Using a ruler and white gel pen, draw a border of stitches around the outermost edges of the brown piece of cardstock on the front of the sign.

Next, cut a piece of dark black cardstock a little bit smaller than the brown cardstock layer and adhere it to the brown cardstock.

Take a piece of spiderweb print paper and cut it a touch smaller than the previous layer using decorative edge scissors (or a suitable border punch, if you prefer).

Ink the edges of this piece of paper with Wild Honey Distress Oxide Ink (or a similar colour of ink or felt pen/marker). Then, using a ruler and white gel pen again, draw a line of stitches around the perimeter of this piece of cobweb print paper. Adhere to the previous layer.

Select a suitable premade doily or die cut one from white or cream coloured cardstock. Lightly ink the edges with the same Distress Oxide ink used in the previous step.

If it is not long enough to span the length of the center portion of the sign, cut it in half and adhere one half near the top and the other half of the doily near the bottom of the sign, as shown.

Die cut either a scalloped edge rectangle or square from light black (or charcoal grey) cardstock. Likewise, if it is not long enough to span the length of the center portion of the sign, cut it in half and adhere one half atop each half of the doily.

Using dark orange cardstock, die cut two decorative edge pieces or use a border punch to create something similar looking.

Position each orange decorative edge piece atop the black scalloped pieces that you created in the step above. Adhere in place.

Next, die cut a piece of vellum using the scape scalloped edge rectangle or square-shaped die. Adhere so that it overlaps part of the orange decorative edges (again, if needed, cut in half and adhere on half to the top and the other to the bottom central area of the sign).

Take a piece of dark black cardstock and using the same decorative edge scissors that you used on the spiderweb print paper, cut this piece a little bit smaller than the central layers that you’ve created so far. Adhere.

Cut and then rip, or simply rip to begin with, a piece of orange and black print paper. Back the top and bottom of this piece with a piece of vellum so that the edges of both pieces align at the top and bottom of the paper/vellum. Adhere together and then to the base layers.

Using the same medium brown coloured cardstock as the very beginning base layers (front and back), die cut a scalloped edge square or rectangle. Using a ruler and white gel pen, draw a line of stitches around the edge of this cardstock panel.

Back the panel with dimensional adhesive (foam square, pop dots, etc) and position it at an angle ever-so-slightly higher than the center of the sign, as shown.

Use the alphabet stickers and “Spooky” sticker to spell out the words “Cottage Spooky Cottage” (or the phrasing of your choice that is able to fit in the space of the brown cardstock panel).

Next, it is time to roll up our sleeves and get to work with (more) die cutting.

Using both light black (or charcoal grey) cardstock and copper glitter cardstock, die cut one layer apiece for three different-sized bats. Adhere together and position on the upper lefthand side of the sign.

Die cut a full moon (circle-shaped piece) from dark black cardstock and a slender crescent moon piece from gold glitter cardstock. Adhere together and position towards the upper right-hand corner of the sign.

Take light to medium brown hued cardstock (ideally a lighter shade than the medium brown cardstock used elsewhere on this project) and copper (or gold, as you wish) glitter cardstock and die cut a rickety fence shaped piece from both cardstocks.

Use Brushed Corduroy Distress Oxide Ink on the edges and grooves of the brown fence layer, then adhere both layers together and adhere this pair to the lower righthand side of the central portion of the sign, as shown.

Die cut two haunted houses and two spooky trees, one each from black and glittery copper cardstock, respectively.

Position the layers slightly off-centre so that both are visible. Adhere together and then to the lower portion of the sign (haunted house on the left side, spooky Halloween tree on the right).

Die cut three cute jack-o-lanterns from orange cardstock and three of the same sized pumpkins from black cardstock.

Use the dark orange coloured ink to highlight the edges and ridges of the orange pumpkin pieces. Position the two layers of pumpkins slightly off-center and adhere together.

Position and adhere small scrap pieces of gold glitter cardstock behind the faces of the jack-o-lanterns to give them the appearance of being lit from within.

Die cut a witch’s hat from black cardstock and likewise back it with a wee piece of gold glitter cardstock. Adhere together and then adhere the completed hat onto the head of the middle jack-o-lantern.

The front of this delightful Halloween hanging wall sign is now complete.

For the backside, cut three (or more, as you wish) pieces of ribbon, seam binding, lace or trim in similar colours as those used throughout this project.

Adhere these pieces together near their ends (a stapler actually works great for this, but a strong adhesive can just as easily be used) and position those ends at least 2 – 3 inches down the center of the sign on the backside.

Once you are happy with the length of the ribbon/trim layers and where they’re positioned on the back, adhere them in place to the cardboard base layer.

Lastly, cut and adhere a piece of brown or black cardstock to the entire back (minus the orange glitter tape edges) so that the ends of the ribbon/trim are concealed beneath the cardstock piece.

Alternatively, place the brown or black cardstock down first, then adhere the ribbon/trim as described above and either leave the ends visible on the back or die cut a suitably shaped piece (oval, rectangle, etc) from cardstock to place over the ends.

And there you have it, my dears, sweetly spooky, fabulously festive Halloween hanging wall sign to keep and use as part of your own fall (or year-round) décor or to give to someone special in your life so that they can do the same.

If you do not wish to make this project into a hanging wall sign, you could use a small painter’s canvas instead and hang the completed project from a nail or suitable hook on the wall instead.

And another idea would be to create this same sort of design so that it fits within the dimensions of a shadow box frame (which, assuming the frame had glass in it, would keep this project extra safe and protected from whatever life may through at it).

Sweet, spooky, and endlessly inspiring

As Lindsay and Jonas themselves discussed in their recent YouTube video, Ups and Downs of Cottage Life, residing in a modest-sized cottage – much like just about any type of home – is not always an endless parade of sunshine and roses.

However, it can be a wonderful, rewarding, creativity sparking and very meaningful experience that if one is blessed to have the opportunity to experience, may well be worth embarking on.

I have no idea if I will ever get to live in one of my dream homes (to date, the closest I have come is when, for a few years during my childhood, my family lived in a sweet little two-story Edwardian house that was built in 1909).

Whether that comes to fruition or not, I will continue to be inspired on countless fronts by the homes whose architectural and/or interior design styles speak most powerfully to my heart.

Unquestionably, that of Lindsay and Jonas’s house will continue to inspire and resonate with me for the rest of my days – no matter if they move on from it at some point or not, as everything they have shared online about their enchanting cemetery cottage will continue to resonate with me for ages.

These two lovely people embrace and embody not just things such as cottagecore, but also slow living, a deep love of and respect for the past, and the ability to decorate a home of any just about size in the ways that presently bring your soul abundant happiness.

Both they and their house epitomize the “Cottage Spooky Cottage” aesthetic and mindset, and it was my honour to be able to contribute a handmade piece of paper crafting home décor art to their super charming home.

Do you – or have you ever – lived(d) in one of your own dream homes? What kinds of wall hanging sign would most capture the spirit of your current abode?

The post Cottage Spooky Cottage Detailed Halloween Scene Hanging Wall Sign appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

Our respective nations share much in common, though also differ in a number of ways as well (from our political systems to the size of our populations, for example).

A point that falls in between, with certain similarities and notable differences alike is the observation of a day of Thanksgiving.

In this post, I will be sharing with you a vibrantly hued Thanksgiving card that I recently made for someone dear to me whose presence in my life is something I feel immensely thankful for all year round.

First, however, let’s take a quick look at the complex histories of American and Canadian Thanksgiving Days, respectively.

Note: I would like to preface the following discussion by saying that this is a brief and incomplete picture of the history of Thanksgiving in both countries.

There is much more pertaining to both days that is not covered here. I am simply touching on this subject in the context of sharing a handmade fall harvest season card, not to produce a highly detailed overview of a nuanced, multifaceted subject.

Nor am I delving deep into my personal views on Thanksgiving, how I observe it presently, or what this day means to me when viewed through the context of being a Pagan witch.

American Thanksgiving Day gets its start

In the US, this classic holiday traces its roots back to the pilgrims that landed at Plymouth Rock. This journey was a perilous one and not everybody who had boarded the Mayflower in Europe reached the Eastern shores of America alive.

Not long after the surviving passengers and crew of the Mayflower reached what would one day become a nation called America, (possibly) in October 1621, these voyagers shared a meal of Thanksgiving with some of the Wampanoag Natives in the area.

This event is widely considered to be amongst the first days of thanksgiving enacted by European settlers on American soil and from it grew the now centuries-old tradition of setting aside one day a year to feast on fall’s seasonal bounty and give thanks for the blessings in one’s life.

In 1789, Thanksgiving was officially recognized across the newly forged United States of America as an annual day of giving thanks and saying prayers of gratitude.

Thanksgiving floated around across various fall time dates, until, in 1863, President Lincoln declared that the last Thursday in November would be the official annual date for this fall time holiday.

That date stuck, and Thanksgiving has remained a cultural cornerstone of the American experience and calendar alike ever since.

Not everyone embraces Thanksgiving (and that is 100% okay!)

It is important in discussing the subject of Thanksgiving Day to acknowledge and respect the choices of those who opt not to observe this holiday.

The account of the pilgrim’s first Thanksgiving, when it transpired (1621, 1623, or 1637, or example), what was actually being celebrated, and various other factors are called into question by some people. And rightfully so.

The notion of a huge, picturesque feast shared between Native Americans and the pilgrims as it has been envisioned by many in the ensuing centuries is likely a long way off from the reality of what really went down at the meal that would contribute greatly to the day we have long called Thanksgiving.

Tragically, some of the early (and no shortage of subsequent) Europeans who came to what is now the US quickly began invading, bringing disease, stealing land, mistreating, enslaving, and killing local indigenous peoples.

As such, many who eschew or boycott Thanksgiving do so because of the wrongdoings that the pilgrims and other later (primarily) European settlers and their descendants inflicted on North American First Nations peoples for centuries.

This is a wholly valid and very important perspective. I can sincerely understand why Thanksgiving (especially the embellished “sunshine and roses” communal feast origin story of this holiday) does not sit right with everyone.

I believe, however, that it is possible to reclaim this day (or to set aside your own personal day of harvest season celebration) and create a vastly more inclusive holiday that focuses on the positive aspects of gathering and celebrating with loved ones, community members, etc in our lives today. As well as the universal gifts of the harvest season and the role that it plays in helping to support life on this planet.

This is not to gloss over the profoundly important history regarding the despicable treatment of Native American and First Nations people at the hands of Europeans and others over the course of history.

Instead, it opens up the question of if it is possible to evolve Thanksgiving, so to speak, into a day of unity, remembrance, harvest season celebration, and fairness for all.

Some might see that statement as woefully pollyannaish, but I do not feel it necessarily has to be.

The concept of universal peace, tolerance, and respect is one that we as a collective culture still have a long ways to go before we reach.

To my mind, there is little reason why Thanksgiving (or a newly created take on Thanksgiving with fresh origins and motivations) can’t be transformed into a day that focuses all the more on ways that we can each try to make global harmony a possibility.

While, in the process, never forgetting (or, goodness forbid, repeating) the appalling mistreatment of North America’s first peoples.

To this end, since 1970, some people have chosen to observe Thanksgiving as a day of National Mourning.

If you are not familiar with this important occasion, I highly encourage you to learn more about it – including, if possible, by holding space for Native Americans to share their stories, thoughts and feelings pertaining to both Thanksgiving and the broader picture of their history.

A great article to further your understanding of this topic is What Does Thanksgiving Mean to Native Americans on the Native Hope blog.

The origins and history of Canadian Thanksgiving

Up here, north of the 49^th parallel, while the types of foods enjoyed and the themes of fall time, the harvest season, and counting one’s blessings are common to Canadian Thanksgiving as well, our celebration does not share the same pilgrim roots as that our American neighbours.

Nor, interestingly, does it take place on the same day of the year.

In the US, Thanksgiving falls on the last Thursday in November.

Canadian Thanksgiving, however, transpires annually on the second Monday in October (this year it happened on October 11^th).

This date is a holiday in America as well, with Columbus Day also taking place on the 2^nd Monday of October. This turns that date on the calendar into a fall time holiday for both nations.

(Related side note: The latest date that the second Monday in October can fall is the fourteenth and as October 14^th just happens to be my and Tony’s wedding anniversary, every few years our anniversary takes place on Thanksgiving Day.)

Spurred on by the Protestant clergy at the time (who were inspired by America’s tradition of holding a fall time day of thanks), Canada’s first officially recognized Thanksgiving Day took place in 1859.

However, some believe that the origins of a meal and/or day of Thanksgiving stretch back considerably further in Canadian history. Possibly to Martin Frobisher’s arrival in 1578 or to a feast hosted by none other than Samuel de Champlain on November 14, 1606 (at which some male members of the Mi’kmaq People were in attendance).

Initially, during the 19^th century, Canadian Thanksgiving was intended by the church leaders who advocated for it as a day to collectively recognize and give thanks for the mercies and blessings of God.

Even at the time though, not everyone was wild about this merging of church and state (in the sense of the soon-to-be nation of Canada declaring a holiday, outside of Christmas and Easter that is, with such strong religious undertones).

Nevertheless, Canadian Thanksgiving caught on quite quickly, with observers simply including (or not) the degree of religion into the equation that aligned with their personal beliefs.

Following Confederation, the first Thanksgiving to be observed in the fledgling nation of Canada took place not in the summer or fall months that correspond with the harvest season, but rather on April 5, 1872.

In that same year, Thanksgiving was declared a national civic holiday, rather than a religious one.

A few days later, in 1879, Thanksgiving was moved to the first week of November to correspond with the harvest season as well as various anniversaries pertaining to the British monarchy.

For quite some time afterward, Canadian Thanksgiving would bounce around in terms of when it fell. Occurring, at one point, as late in the year as December 6^th.

As the 19^th century progressed and melded into the early 20^th century, the newly formed (in 1867) nation of Canada quickly began to expand ever westward. This included settling and establishing a thriving agricultural trade in the prairie provinces.

In doing so, Canada soon began growing a great deal of wheat, oats and various other grains, with large crops of additional classic fall foods such as apples, pears, grapes, carrots, potatoes, and corn being successfully raised in various parts of the country.

It is safe to say that the identity Canada took on as being one of the world’s biggest grain suppliers helped to further cement Thanksgiving as a harvest season event in this country.

In the wake of WWI, it was decided that Thanksgiving and Armistice Day (which was introduced in 1919) would be celebrated together on the first Monday in the week that houses November 11^th.

However, in order to accord the recognition deserving of those Canadians who had participated in the Great War, by the early 1930s, November 11^th had been designated solely as Remembrance Day.

Thanksgiving did not vanish when that happened. Instead, it held on and was bumped back a month to October.

It was not, however, until as recently as 1957, that Parliament officially proclaimed the second Monday in October as being “a day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed.”

Despite the religious wording used, once again, Canadian Thanksgiving remained open to celebration by those of all faiths/beliefs and has long been viewed primarily as a civic holiday that honours the bountiful crops and wonderful harvest season that occurs across Canada each autumn.

As well as serving – just as with Thanksgiving in America – as a time when many people gather together with friends, relatives, neighbours, coworkers, members of clubs and groups they belong to, or anyone else they desire to share a delicious fall time meal on this holiday.

In the primarily French-speaking province of Quebec, Thanksgiving is called Action de grâce. And while observed by some, interestingly, this holiday has not been embraced by many Quebecois to the same degree that it has been across much of the rest of Canada.

As with the festive feast that often accompanies Thanksgiving, another element of this annual event that I eagerly look forward to is the making of harvest season and Thanksgiving Day cards for some of the special people in my life that I am grateful for.

Naturally, I’m not alone on this front and many a paper crafter enjoys creating Thanksgiving cards to exchange in person or zip through the post to loved ones near and far.

Humbly, the card shared in today’s post is amongst my very favourite Thanksgiving Day greetings that I have created over the years and I have been champing at the bit to share it here with you since the moment it was completed.

Warm colours of fall flower and leaf adorned “feeling thankful” Thanksgiving card

Being that we are a northerly nation with a real proclivity for winter weather, I have long felt that it makes a great deal of sense that Canadian Thanksgiving falls in the first half of October.

Nevertheless, plenty of us have experienced snowy Thanksgiving Days here in Canada. As a whole though, in most parts of the country, the relentless grip of wintertime proper has not taken complete hold yet at that point in time.

It was to the jaw-droppingly gorgeous days of September and October, when the leaves were at their most spectacular in our area and the local crops were being harvested, that I turned to for both the colour palette and overall inspiration of this card.

A card that, while not as in-your-face Halloweeny as say, this one, is fully autumnal and has enough fall time charm for it to easily classify as a #MakeHalloween365 project.

As such, it is my #MakeHalloween365 share for this month.

We live in a rural farming community and while not farmers ourselves, we love to experience and give thanks for the local bounty that springs forth annually from this region of British Columbia – and elsewhere in the country, too.

Tapping into the theme of harvest season on the farm, I included a piece of Carta Bella paper with a charming vintage pickup truck print on it.

The other side of that very same piece of paper offered up a beautiful orange and white plaid print that worked terrifically for the card design I had in mind. These two patterns serve as the only prints on this card.

This was done intentionally to let the rich, autumnal-hued cardstocks and bevy of fall leaves and blooms take center stage.

Quite a lot of people grow mums and sunflowers around these parts and late-season roses are by no means unheard of either.

These enchanting flowers, coupled with the breathtaking fall leaves with which Mother Nature paints our landscape each fall inspired the blooms and foliage here.

It is safe to say that in some parts of the world, including both Canada and America, no other vegetable is quite as closely linked to fall time as pumpkins.

Thus, I decided to sprinkle a few adorable 3D Mini Pumpkins from Tim Holtz amidst the fall leaves and flowers on my card.

These darling little pumpkins not only serve to further represent the fall harvest, they also echo the illustrated pumpkins nestled into the beds of the pickup trucks on the Carta Bella paper.

The two-word sentiment of “Feeling Thankful” might not be the longest greeting ever, but it accurately conveys how I feel about the person this card is destined for.

If you would like to create a similar-looking harvest season (to say nothing of autumn birthdays, anniversaries, thinking of you, missing you, just because, etc) card, you can find a list of supplies and detailed step-by-step instructions to do just that below.

Products used to make this charming, multi-layered fall harvest season card

-Dark brown cardstock, terracotta cardstock,

-Matte gold cardstock

-(Fairly pale hued) kraft cardstock – Kraft Cardstock from Carta Bella

-Orange plaid + fall pickup truck print paper (both sides of the same sheet of printed paper) – Hello Fall Great Harvest paper from Carta Bella

-Oval nested dies

-Small leaf dies (or a background style die that cuts out multiple leaves)

-Flower border rectangular die (any suitable rectangle die can be used here)

-Decorative edge scissors – Victorian decorative edge scissors from Fiskars

-“Feeling Thankful” sentiment sticker – Autumn by Steven Duncan Elements Stickers from Carta Bella

-Diamond print stamp – Diamon Pattern Play Clear Photopolymer Stamp from Altenew

-Dark brown ink – Acorn Archival Ink from Ranger

-(Second type of) Dark brown ink – Memento Dew Drop Rick Cocoa Ink from Tsukineko

-Mini plastic embellishments – Mini Pumpkins from Tim Holtz Idea-ology

-Orange mini paper roses (from Dollarama)

-Sunflower/Black-eyed Susan style fabric flowers (from Dollarama)

-Dusty orange coloured fabric flower – Fall Floral Accent 635169 from Michael’s (fall seasonal décor)

-Red and yellow felt leaves (fall seasonal décor item from Dollarama)

-Metallic gold stiff cardstock leaves – Christmas Belle Fleur Leaves from Prima Marketing

-Two sizes of orangey-peach coloured adhesive pearls (or similar flatback pearls that you adhere yourself)

-Glue gun and glue sticks

-Dimensional foam, pop dots, or similar to elevate some of your layers

-Adhesive, such as a tape runner, of your choice (I often use my Scotch Tape Glider)

How to make a beautiful country farm-inspired fall time card

Begin by making a card base from kraft cardstock (cream, ivory, and pale brown cardstock would all work nicely here as well).

Cut, by hand, four small, equal-sized triangles of matte gold cardstock. Position and adhere them slightly inward from all four corners of the card base.

Cut a piece of terracotta (dark reddish-orange) cardstock slightly smaller than the dimensions created by the matte gold cardstock. Adhere to your card base.

Using the decorative “Victorian” edge scissors, cut a piece of dark brown cardstock slightly smaller than the terracotta cardstock (if you wish, you can distress this piece of cardstock a bit before adhering it). Adhere to the terracotta cardstock base.

Cut a piece of the same kraft cardstock that you use for the card base. Using Acorn Archival Ink from Ranger, stamp the Diamon Pattern Play Clear Photopolymer Stamp from Altenew. Adhere this piece of cardstock to the dark brown cardstock layer.

Die cut an oval-shaped piece of matte gold cardstock, adhering it in the middle of the previous layer (as you can see in the photos, only a small portion of this matte gold cardstock layer is visible in the completed card design, so you could just cut a portion of an oval, if you wished to conserve cardstock).

Using the decorative “Victorian” edge scissors, cut a rectangle of terracotta cardstock. Adhere horizontally across the middle of the card base layers.

Die cut a flower design rectangle piece from the white and orange side of the Hello Fall Great Harvest paper from Carta Bella. Ink edges of this piece with Memento Dew Drop Rick Cocoa Ink from Tsukineko (or the Ranger Acorn Ink used earlier; objectively, there’s no need for two different dark brown inks here, so long as one of them works well for stamping) and adhere to the white and orange plaid layer.

Cut a somewhat smaller (than the previous layer) piece from the fall farm truck print side of the Hello Fall Great Harvest paper from Carta Bella. Ink edges of this piece with dark brown ink. Adhere to the white and orange plaid layer.

Cut (by hand) two small triangles of matte gold cardstock to use as photo corners on the top and bottom right-hand sides of the fall farm truck print paper. Adhere to that layer (the other two corners will be hidden by the flower and leaf cluster you’ll soon be making, so do not require photo corners of their own).

Die cut a small oval from terracotta cardstock. Freehand cut a curve-top-shaped sign/rectangle-shaped piece from dark brown cardstock (or use a similar shaped die, if you happen to have one) and die cut small fall leaves from it.

Top that dark brown cardstock piece with the “Feeling Thankful” sentiment sticker from Carta Bella.

Adhere the dark brown cardstock piece to the terracotta cardstock oval, attaching the latter to the fall farm truck print paper.

Next, attach three smaller (of the two sizes) orangey-peach coloured pearls to the top left and bottom righthand sides of the dark brown layer of cardstock that sits atop the orange plaid base layer.

Adhere a few of the slightly large size of peachy-orange pearls on the points of the diamonds on the stamped kraft cardstock layer.

Next, using the photos throughout this post as a guide, assemble a selection of vibrantly coloured felt fall leaves, fabric and paper flowers, and gold Prima Marketing leaves. Attach all of these components on the lower left-hand side of the card using hot glue or a strong liquid adhesive (such as E6000).

There you have it, one cheerful fall time greeting that suits Thanksgiving Day to a tee. And which could easily be used for a wide range of other harvest season occasions and events (including the Pagan sabbats of Lammas and Mabon) as well.

The world needs a universal day of Thanksgiving

Days of giving thanks – whether they pertain to the fall (or spring, south of the equator) harvest season or not – far predate the origins of both Canadian and American Thanksgiving.

People across the globe have often celebrated successful harvests with merriment, coming together as a community, and feasting for, if not since time immemorial, then at least since many early peoples adopted a more agrarian way of living.

It is likely that harvest season celebrations date further back still, reflecting successful harvests, so to speak, of forged and/or hunted foodstuffs.

Far fewer of us are solely dependant on collecting and storing all of our own food in the 21st century and, as a result, days of harvest season thanksgiving are not quite as widespread as they likely were for many of our ancestors.

Personally, I have long felt that we need a global day or two of Thanksgiving (i.e., one for the Northern Hemisphere, another for the Southern Hemisphere) that embraces the shifting seasons and acts as a time to reflect on what we are currently grateful for in our lives.

In saying that, I readily acknowledge that food availability/abundance is, heartbreakingly, far from a universal given. As such, that particular element of a universal Thanksgiving Day would need to be addressed.

Ideally, those nations with an abundance would share with others who needed a food supply boost.

Looking beyond the large meal so often connected to times of Thanksgiving, this day could have universal elements of gratitude and celebrating the shifting seasons.

Be it fall or spring, these chapters of the year are incredibly beautiful. Certain elements of nature are retiring, dying, or going into hibernation for a few months, but there is still so much vitality, beauty, and wonder to be had in these seasons.

Whether a universal Thanksgiving Day ever comes to be, I hope that the fall time stirs happiness in your heart, helps to remind you of the many blessings in your life, and brings a deep sense of inner contentment your way.

At Lammas and Mabon, as well as both Canadian and American Thanksgiving, I make a point of counting my blessings.

Big or small, short-term, long-term or perpetual, I know that even on the very roughest days of my life, I have an infinite number of things to be grateful for and strive to acknowledge them to the best of my abilities.

Coming together with loved ones for Thanksgiving and other autumn gatherings is one of my favourite ways to do just that. Creating and giving lovely Thanksgiving/fall harvest cards is another.

The true history of Thanksgiving Day may not always be clear and what this date means to those in the 21^st century will, understandably, differ a good deal from person to person.

Beyond the actual holiday of Thanksgiving itself, fall is one of the most incredible seasons.

As the year winds down, we can reflect on how far we have come in 2021 – as well as over the course of our lives. In addition to centring our thoughts on the history (good, bad, and truly horrific) of our ancestors and others who populated the lands many of us now call home.

Let us give thanks for the blessings in our lives, for the progress we have made beyond some of the darker chapters of world history, and for the leaps and bounds forward that will hopefully continue to occur as new pages are written in the history book of humanity.

To Canada’s American neighbours who observe Thanksgiving this month, may you have a safe, beautiful, happy celebration.

And to those who observe a day of mourning or otherwise consciously opt-out of Thanksgiving Day (be it Canadian or American), please know that you and the stances you take are seen, acknowledged, and wholly valid as well.

The post Warm Colours of Fall Thanksgiving Card & a Brief Look at the History of both Canadian and American Thanksgiving appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

For example, birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Christmas – to name but a few.

However, for all the candy, cakes, pies, cookies and so forth both created at home and sold commercially for those events, perhaps no other day of the year is more connected to sugary eats than Halloween.

(In those countries and amongst those individuals who observe All Hallows’ Eve, that is.)

When you think of sweet foods and Halloween, what springs to mind first for you?

Miniature candy bars? Toffee apples? Lollipops? Marshmallows? Candy Corn? Festively shaped sugar cookies? Gummy sweets? Caramel Corn? Pumpkin spice cupcakes?

There are no right or wrong answers here. The foods – be they sweet or savoury – that you associate with October 31^st are apt to include certain widely popular choices as well as those that are more unique and personal to each of us, our families, and the culinary traditions that we hold dear.

While ice cream may not be the first sugary delight that leaps out at you when you think of Halloween (or perhaps it is – in which case, chances are we’ll be fast friends! ), there’s no saying this beloved dessert can’t be a part of your October 31^st feast.

Assuming, of course, that one enjoys and can safely eat ice cream (be it dairy, nut milk, coconut milk, soy milk, oat milk, rice milk, frozen banana, etc based).

Living in an area where snow on, or prior to, Halloween is by no means unheard of, ice-cold treats aren’t always my family’s first pick.

However, we have reached for this delicious dessert some years – especially those Halloweens that were a touch warmer.

The flavour commonly known as “Tiger Tail” – a mix of orange and black licorice flavoured ice creams swirled together in the same container – being one of our faves due to its festive colour palette.

The web abounds with tons of fun, creative, and lip-lickingly scrumptious fall and Halloween ice cream recipes.

If you are a fellow ice creamoholic (or are simply in the mood for some ice cream this month), I highly recommend seeking some of them out.

I enjoy a great dessert as much as the next person, but have never had the biggest sweet tooth. Instead, generally opting for the savour/salty option if presented with a food from each camp.

That said, I have a perpetual passion for ice cream that nothing – not even two decades and counting of extensive medically necessitated dietary restrictions – can diminish.   

As the long-standing fondness for ice cream across the globe clearly proves, I am by no means alone on this front.

A lovely online friend of mine has mentioned a time or two about how much she madly adores ice cream as well and that got me thinking…

Or, I should say, that got the hand crank on the old-fashion style ice cream maker that is my imagination churning.

Why not make and send her an ice cream themed Halloween card?

I have to say, I fell in love with this idea the moment it struck me and am delighted with how my vision for a Halloween ice cream card came to fruition.

Adorably Spooky “You’re Sweet” Halloween Ice Cream Cone Card

Presently, I can’t claim to have a lot of ice cream related products in my paper crafting stash.

However, I knew that I had a cute little ice cream cone die that would be the perfect fit for the card design that was brewing in my head.

I began by die cutting several scoops of ice cream from various papers in a 6”x6” paper pad from Pebbles called Thirty One, and went with some gorgeous coppery-brown coloured glitter paper for the cone itself.

Aside from how nicely it colour coordinates with the festive Halloween print papers, I specifically selected this colour of cardstock so that the die cut ice cream cone would better resemble a waffle cone.

At first, I thought I would top the cone with a traditional cherry. I quickly realized though, that I don’t appear to have a cherry die or punch in my stash. (Strange, really, as I adore cherries and items depicting them.)

No sooner had I discovered that point than the idea of placing a wee little jack-o-lantern pumpkin “cherry” atop the scoops hit me.

I used my tiniest jack-o-lantern die, cutting the shape from black cardstock and backing its facial features with the same copper coloured glitter cardstock (from which I also freehand cut the shape of a cherry stem).

The friend that I posted this card off to is a really kind, terrific person for whom the description “sweet” applies in spades.

As such, I dug around through my Halloween papers to find a sentiment that would convey both that message and tie into the inherent sweetness of ice cream itself.

Various layers of cardstock and paper, two different trims, and a quartet of pretty little pearlized white heart embellishments joined my All Hallows’ Eve themed ice cream cone to create the card featured in this post.

It was a ton – and I mean an absolute ton – of fun to create this delightfully spooky season greeting for my very sweet friend.

I hope that receiving it will be the cherry on her October – and likewise hope that you will give making your own Halloween ice cream card a go as well.

Products used to make this super cute Halloween ice cream card

-Black cardstock

-Grey kraft cardstock – Grey Kraft Cardstock from Recollections

-Dark orange/terracotta cardstock

-Cream/ivory coloured vellum – Ivory Vellum from Paper Reflections

-Copper coloured glitter cardstock – Heavyweight Glitter Cardstock from Darice

-Dangling spider print paper – Spook Hill 8”x8” paper pad from Recollections

-All other patterned papers used throughout this project – Thirty One 6”x6” paper pad from Pebbles

-“You’re Sweet” cut apart sentiment – Midnight Hauntings Midnight Sentiments paper from Pebbles

-Ice cream cone die

-Dotted edge oval die

-Elegant border edge die

-Flat (non-3D) bow die

-Tiny jack-o-lantern die (alternatively, you can die cut, punch out, or hand-cut a small circle shaped piece instead and draw or carefully cut out a jack-o-lantern face on it)

-Decorative edge scissors – Sunflower decorative edge scissors from Fiskars

-Black ink pad – Wicked Black Archival Dye Ink Pad from Color Box

-Orange and pale grey trim (from Michael’s unbranded line of budget-friendly products)

-Cream/ivory crochet trim – Cotton Lace Trim Ivory 2 from MultiCraft

-Small white pearlized plastic flatback embellishments

-Dimensional foam, pop dots, or similar to elevate some of your layers

-Adhesive, such as a tape runner, of your choice (I often use my Scotch Tape Glider)

How to make this darling Halloween ice cream cone card

Begin by making a card base from black cardstock (charcoal grey would work really nicely here, too).

Top your card base with a slightly small sized piece of grey kraft (or any medium grey) cardstock, destressing the edges on all sides. Adhere to card base.

Using decorative edge scissors (in this case “Sunflower” from Fiskars), cut out a piece of copper coloured glitter cardstock slightly smaller than the grey cardstock layer. Attach to grey cardstock.

Die cut two elegant border/edge pieces from dark orange or terracotta cardstock. Adhere one die cut border near the top of the card and another near the bottom, as shown.

Slightly layer pieces of both cream and orange + grey trim on both the top and bottom die cut border pieces. Adhere in place with sturdy adhesive.

From the Pebbles Thirty One 6”x6” paper pad, cut a piece of swirling grey and black patterned paper and adhere it in the center of the card design so that the orange + grey trim just ever-so-slightly overlaps on this layer. Adhere to previous layers.

Cut a piece of black cardstock the length of your card base. Distress the edges and adhere over all previous layers.

Top this with a piece of dangling spider print paper from the Spook Hill 8”x8” paper pad.

Die cut an oval from cream/ivory vellum and adhere it slightly off-centre on the righthand side of the dangling spider print paper.

Next, die cut your ice cream cone from glittery copper cardstock and your scoops of ice cream from various Halloween print papers. Ink the edges of the scoop with black ink.

Assemble your ice cream cone so that the scoops are slightly, playfully crocked. Adhere layers together and then adhere your ice cream cone to the dangling spider print paper layer.

Create a tiny jack-o-lantern “cherry” from black cardstock, backing it with copper glitter cardstock. Use the same copper glitter cardstock to die cut or hand cut a stem for the cherry.

Cut out the “You’re Sweet” sentiment. Mat it with a layer of copper glitter cardstock and a layer of grey kraft cardstock. Distress the edges of the grey cardstock layer.  

Adhere layers together and attach your sentiment at an angle over top of the vellum oval piece.

Die cut a flat (aka, not 3D) bow out twice. Once from black cardstock and once from dark orange or terracotta cardstock.

Stack and slightly offset the die cut bows so that the black creates the sense of a shadow behind the orange bow.

Adhere both bows together and then to your card. Top the bow with a small white pearlized heart embellishment.

Place four more of the same tiny heart embellishments around the corners of the swirling black and grey patterned paper piece that you have previously attached.

And just like that, you’re wonderfully sweet Halloween ice cream cone card is complete.

Be forewarned, much as with the real dessert that inspired this festive greeting, you may be tempted to go back for (aka, make) seconds, thirds, and so forth of this darling spooky season greeting.

Don’t be afraid to outside of the box when making Halloween cards

No one loves the classic images, themes, and colours of Halloween more than this ghoul. Sometimes though, it can also be highly enjoyable to think beyond the usual ideas and come up with something really unique and cool (ice cream pun intended).

Have a look at your paper crafting stash. What products could you use for Halloween that are not typically (or overtly) associated with October 31^st?

Let your imagination run wild, try something new out, and embrace the fun of All Hallows’ Eve via your cards, tags, scrapbook pages, and more this autumn.

Just about any theme or idea is fair game when paper crafting and that certainly applies to your Halloween project as well.

There is a palpable excitement and heady, incredible energy to the final days of October.

I cherish this point in the year and feel more fortunate than ever (especially as the pandemic rages on) to experience another Halloween season.

A single week now stands between us and the 31^st.

You can bet your favourite Halloween decoration that I will be focusing as much of my time and energy as possible on all things sweetly spooky, spine-chillingly macabre, and nostalgically festive during these seven magnificent days.

Just as I know many of you will be as well.

Go, team #MakeHalloween365!!!

This Halloween, why not start a new tradition by including ice cream – be it the real deal or a cone whipped up in papercraft form – in your October 31^st happenings?

May your Halloween countdown week be sweeter than all the ice cream and festive candy in the world, dear friends – here’s to celebrating and delighting in the magic and marvellousness of this incredible point in the year!

PS: If you want to go all-in on celebrating with ice cream this October, you could always whip up a thoroughly delightful DIY Ice Cream Sunday Halloween costume.

The post Adorably Spooky “You’re Sweet” Halloween Ice Cream Cone Card appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

Though young at the time (to paraphrase what Mary Sanderson says to her sister Winifred in the movie Hocus Pocus, I was a mere sping of a girl, clocking in at just 19 years old), I had already been involved in a couple of serious relationships and done some general dating by that point in my life.

One of those relationships was a horrific, abuse-filled multi-year nightmare from which I was genuinely lucky to escape with my life (and after which that ex stalked me for years).

I vowed that I would never allow anyone to treat me like that again – especially as I knew all along that what he was doing was stupendously wrong and that I did not deserve to be treated in such a deplorable manner.

No one, regardless of gender or any other factor, should ever be treated in any of the ways this person inflicted abuse and literal torture on me.

Thankfully, the ensuing relationships I would have were infinitely healthier, happier, and filled with respect. They did not pan out in the long run for various reasons, but even when I cared deeply for the other person, that didn’t phase me too much.

I saw so much of my life before me still, I was very focused on coping with the fact that in my late teens my health took a massive nosedive as I rapidly developed one severe chronic illness after another (I fully believe the abusive relationship I was in coupled with a severely traumatic, stressful, and also abusive childhood played a notable role in the swift decline of my health at such a young age), and honestly revelled in being single.

As a shy, extremely introverted person who had so much to heal to and move forward from before I’d even hit my 20^th birthday, finding Mr. Right – or even Mr. Right Now was lightyears away from the top of my priority list.

And yet…

Sometimes, no matter what we may think we do or do not need, the universe in its infinite wisdom has other plans.

In March 2004, as I was recovering at home mere days after a pretty substantial surgery for one of my medical conditions, my husband and I met online.

A lifelong fascination with and pull towards the Emerland Isle coupled with the fact I’m a passionate snail mail writer, led me to search for online pen pal websites in Ireland.

One such site was a combination pen pal and dating site (with members free to focus on one or both of those areas, as they desired).

Though a native son of Italy, the man who I would go on to marry (aka, Tony), had come to Ireland a few months prior to that point in time for a job in Dublin.

A naturally outgoing (he’s a total ambivert), friendly type and a huge romantic, Tony had joined the very same website as well and it wasn’t long before our paths crossed there.

As I like to say, it was pretty much love at first email.

We corresponded through online messages, which quickly progressed to phone calls and Skyping (this being long before services like Zoom entered the picture), and then to me boarding a plane to visit Tony in Ireland for nearly two months during the summer of 2004.

We hit it off all the more in person; our love deepening, our awareness and appreciation for one another expanding by the day, and our connection fusing with each beat of our young hearts. (Tony, I should note, was 23 at the time.)

Tony proposed to me during our visit and even though we knew that from an immigration standpoint things would be tricky for us once we wed, that did not deter us from setting our big date.

We were both broke as all get out, neither of us came from families with financial means, and we didn’t feel like we needed a big wedding at all. The latter point helped with the first two a good deal, let me tell you!

Given that we were living on opposite sides of the Atlantic, we planned to wed within a matter of months and to do so here on Canadian soil.

Come October 2004, we did just that when we tied the knot in a very small civil ceremony wedding that was held in the living room of the house my mom and (now) ex-step-dad were living at the time.

Blissfully in love and excited to start our lives together, and having determined that it would be vastly easier for us initially if I moved to Ireland (instead of Tony moving to Canada at the time) that is exactly what I did.

I sold or gave away nearly all of my worldly goods, taking just what could fit in two average-sized suitcases, my purse, and a camera bag.

We remained in Ireland for a couple of years before a true stroke-of-luck job offer led Tony to a position with one of the Canadian branches of an international IT company. The good fortune involved there is something that I still frequently think about and give immense thanks for to this day.

In the years that would follow, we went through the lengthy and, at times, very stressful immigration process that would eventually lead to Tony becoming a Canadian citizen in June 2012.

Now, you may be wondering why I’m telling you all of them at the start of a project share post.

The reason, dear friends, is that tomorrow is my and Tony’s 17^th wedding anniversary and the card featured herein is the one that I made for him to celebrate this joyful event.

Enchanting Blackbird, Full Moon, and Flower Wreath “I Thank My Lucky Stars For You” Anniversary Card

Tony, a fellow lover of autumn, and I both big fans of nighttime, just as we are birds (and animals) in general.

Partner that with the colour palette of dark blues and blacks that I’m vibing on big time this fall (as mentioned in my recent Chicly Spooky Multi-Window Halloween Ghost Shaker Card post), plus the fact that I had been champing at the bit to use this cute-than-cute bird die that came as a free gift with an issue of Cardmaking & Paper Craft magazine, and it wasn’t long before the design for this card materialized.

While we didn’t exchange wedding vows on the 31^st of this month, the fact that we were married little more than a couple of weeks before Halloween has always linked the two events closely in our minds.

I wanted to channel this point as well and opted for a card design that while not as overtly All Hallows’ Eve-ish as, say, a gaggle of ghosts or field of grinning jack-o-lanterns, could easily have been a Halloween card if the sentiment was changed to one that suited October 31^st.

Objectively, even as it stands now, this could be a Halloween card. There are numerous people that I would happily express this same sentiment to during the spookiest chapter of the year.

To highlight the card’s heart-touching sentiment, I used two different night sky print papers (one from Echo Park, the other from Ella & Viv), as well as a charming star flourish die that I madly adore.

A number of gorgeous, whip-smart ravens call the evergreen trees in our backyard home and we both delight in seeing these corvid friends all year round.

Thus, I went with a black-coloured bird for the sweet avian that I included on this greeting. It might look more like a blackbird, but I’m calling it a raven.

I used a pair of my beloved decorative edge scissors here to give some layers here the look of a postage stamp. This was a nod to the humble email and snail mail beginnings of my and Tony’s relationship.

(Even with all the awesome advancements over the years with paper punches and die cutting machines, I still adore and frequently used decorative edge scissors. Are you a fan as well?)

A wreath of pleated ribbon, tiny velvet flowers, and more star flourishes encircles the precious birdie as it branches on a slender grey branch.

This wreath symbolizes both the unity of our love and commitment to one another, as well as our wedding rings themselves.

I am elated with how this anniversary card for my darling husband turned out and hope that Tony will love it as well.

If you’d like to make a similar greeting for someone in your life that you are especially grateful for or if you wish to adapt the design for another reason/occasion, read on for the materials and how-to steps involved with this charming evening sky filled card.

Products used to make an enchantingly elegant blackbird, starry sky, and full moon card

-White and yellow cardstock

-Medium and medium-dark grey cardstock

-Pale greyish-aqua and dark grey cardstock – Cool Neutrals 12”x12” cardstock pack from Craft Smith (Michael’s brand)

-Matte black mirror cardstock – Black Velvet Mirror Cardstock from Tonic Studio

-Multi-colour star print paper – Summer Adventure Count The Stars paper from Echo Park

-Full moon print paper – Full Moon Night Sky paper from Ella & Viv

-Circle die

-Star flourish/shooting star die

-Small-sized bow die

-Bird die and branch die (both from) – Little Birdies stamp and die set (gift) from Issue 216 of Simply Cards & Papercraft magazine

-Decorative edge scissor – Mini Pinking Paper Edgers Scissors from Fiskars

-“I Thank My Lucky Stars For You” sentiment stamp – Stargazing Stamp Set from Stampin’ Up!

-Black ink pad – Jet Black Archival Ink from Ranger

-White gel pen – Uniball White Gel Pen from Signo

-Black pen – Pigma Micron 0.35mm Black Pen from Sakura

-Mini black and grey velvet ribbon flowers with white pearl centers (I got these quite a while ago; possibly on Etsy)

-Mini red ribbon flowers with clear rhinestone centers (from Ali Express)

-Ruffled black ribbon trim

-Glue gun and glue sticks

-Dimensional foam, pop dots, or similar to elevate some of your layers

-Adhesive, such as a tape runner, of your choice (I often use my Scotch Tape Glider)

How to make a cute blackbird and night sky themed card

Begin by making a white card base. Cut a piece of medium-dark grey cardstock slightly smaller than the card base. Trim all edges of this piece with the Mini Pinking decorative edge scissors (or any pinking scissors/shears of your choice) and adhere to the card base.

Cut a piece of pale greyish-aqua coloured cardstock slightly smaller than the previous layer and adhere to the medium-dark grey layer.

Next, cut a piece of Summer Adventure Count The Stars paper from Echo Park slightly smaller than the previous layer and adhere it to the greyish-aqua cardstock.

Using a basic circle die (or a circle stencil; you could also trace a circle around the bottom of an object, such as a small plate or a vase) cut out the portion of the Full Moon Night Sky paper from Ella & Viv that includes the glowing full moon.

Using black ink, stamp the -“I Thank My Lucky Stars For You” sentiment stamp from Stampin’ Up!’s Stargazing stamp set on top of the full moon portion of the Ella and Viv paper.

Die cut a circle of greyish-aqua paper and a slightly larger circle of dark grey cardstock. Adhere these two layers together, then top with (adhere) the full moon print circle of paper on top of these layers.

Adhere a border of black ruffled trim on the back of the dark grey cardstock base layer.

Next, adhere this sentiment layer stack to your card base using foam/dimensional adhesive (or hot glue).

Die cut four yellow star flourishes, two black mirror cardstock star flourishes, and two dark grey star flourishes.

Layer and adhere two yellow and two black star flourishes together in pairs, as shown. Adhere diagonally in the upper left and lower righthand sides of the card.

Layer and adhere two yellow and dark grey star flourishes together. Arrange and adhere on the “wreath” of black ruffled ribbon surrounding the sentiment piece.

Adhere (using hot glue or another suitable strong adhesive) two grey, two black, and one red mini ribbon flower to the same wreath area of the design.

Die cut two bows from black mirror card, using grey-ish aqua cardstock for the knot-shaped portion of the bows.

Assemble the bows and adhere them on the top and bottom of the wreath, as shown in the photos.

Die cut a branch-shaped piece from light grey cardstock. Adhere on the righthand side of the wreath, as shown.

Die cut a bird from black mirror cardstock, using yellow cardstock for its beak and light or medium grey cardstock for its legs. Assemble and adhere the bird together. Back the bird’s eye area with white or light grey cardstock

Use a white gel pen to add highlights here and there on the blackbird, if desired. Use a tiny tipped black pen or marker to make a tiny pupil on the bird’s eye.

Adhere the bird atop the die cut branch using foam/dimensional adhesive.

And there you have it, one seriously cute blackbird and night sky-themed card is now ready to give to anyone in your life that you thank your own lucky stars for.

Two radically different anniversaries

Twelve years into our life together, on the literal eve of our 12^th wedding anniversary (October 13, 2016), Tony and I experienced the biggest challenge we have ever come up against as a couple: The loss of our home, belongings, and beloved cat (Stella) in an arson house fire.

(If you would like to read more about that profoundly challenging event, you can do so in this Get to Know Me post and in a recent entry here about some of My Favourite Pre-fire Halloween Scrapbook Pages and Cards.)

I did not know back in early 2004 that before the year was over, I would not only met the man I was destined to spend my life with, but marry him a few short months later.

Who could have imagined that a combination of the universe and the internet would bring us together? (Especially since online dating was still something of a new and even eyebrow-raising topic at the time.)

This point and the gratitude that I hold in my heart for the elements that led our paths to cross is what inspired me to use the sentiment that I did on this year’s wedding anniversary card for Tony.  

Likewise, not a single day has passed since the fire when I (we) have not been immeasurably grateful to, and for, everyone who has supported, helped, encouraged, loved, cared about, grieved with, and otherwise been there for us since that fateful night exactly five years ago.

Words could never fully do justice to the gratitude that we have for each person who expressed kindness to us in any form.

It was, really and truly, the bedrock upon which we were able to begin piecing our world together again.

Tony and I grew even closer, our relationship strengthened all the more, and we became each other’s rocks in greater ways than ever in the face of this life-changing tragedy.

When we had virtually nothing material left in the world, when we were homeless, when we went through a series of stressful short-term housing arrangements, when we cried and mourned, and when we began to heal, we were there for each other.

Something like this could have easily torn some couples asunder. Mercifully, that was not the case for us.

There were brutally tough times, of course, and very little in our world was sunshine and roses in the first couple of years post-fire. We were committed though both to one another and to rebuilding our lives again from the ground up.

It wasn’t easy, but the job was made lighter by sharing the work and emotions involved between two people.

These days, while we continue to feel the ramifications of the fire in various ways and are still recovering + rebuilding on certain fronts, we have come an incredibly long way from where we were half a decade ago.

No one has the ability to know what tomorrow holds in store. I never imagined I would find true love at 19 or that, at age 32, I would stand there and watch as the home we had worked so hard to achieve and thrive in burnt to the ground.

I cannot predict tomorrow or what other challenges we may face, but I know – I absolutely know in the furthest reaches of my soul – that so long as Tony and I are each drawing breath, we will tackle them together.

Hand in hand, heart in heart.

And for that, and so much more, I thank my lucky stars every day.

The post Enchanting Blackbird, Full Moon, and Flower Wreath “I Thank My Lucky Stars For You” Anniversary Card appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

To say that I’m doing backflips of joy would be the understatement of the century.

No other month fills my heart, spirit, mind, and days alike with as much happiness, meaning, and witchy goodness as October.

I have several exciting seasonally-themed posts coming down the pipeline this month to help us all celebrate October together.

We are going to have a festive blast here, so please be sure to follow Witchcrafted Life using your favourite feed reader or signup on the righthand sidebar here to receive new posts delivered right to your email inbox.

To kick off the most hair-raisingly spooky of months, I’ve got a super fun triple window ghost-themed shaker card to share with you that I recently made.

Why a ghost card you may ask? Aside from the longstanding connection between ghosts and Halloween, I went with some cuter-than-cute ghosties because it’s downright scary how much I adore October!

Chicly Spooky Multi-Window Halloween Ghost Shaker Card

Oodles of you feel the same way and (whether you’ve used this hashtag yet or not – and you totally should use it! ) are proud members of team #MakeHalloween365.

It is wonderful that we are able to connect and share in our passion for All Hallows’ Eve, including by posting seasonal craft projects that are not only hair-raisingly fantastic, but which provide a wealth of inspiration to fellow creatives around the globe.

Ghosts are a popular and beloved symbol of both Halloween and Samhain, as well as October in general.

As someone who believes in ghosts, has had multiple spectral sightings/encounters throughout my life, and who works with those on the other side of the veil as an important year-round element of my spiritual practice, I feel a very close connection to the spirit world.

On the paper crafting front, I find that on top of my perpetual favourites, I am drawn to certain colour combinations as each season returns.

This autumn, I am totally feeling a colour scheme comprised of dark, inky blues, jet black, grey, and gold.

Silver and copper, too, are also setting my fall colour adoring heart aflutter.

That isn’t to say that every Halloween project I make this month will star these colours and these colours alone, simply that I can already tell this selection will be in heavy rotation on my craft desk for the next few weeks.

Sooo looking forward to that!

I leaned into this autumnal colour palette big time for my elegant meets adorable “Boo” shaker window card project highlighted here.

I used a basic triple window die for the central panel, turning each of the three windows into its own shaker box (all three windows house the same shaker mix, which I created myself).

This sheet of charming ghost print paper from Carta Bella’s Haunted House line has been beckoning me to use it since the moment it landed in my stash, so with fall finally here, I knew the time had come to cut into it.

The colours of this Halloween patterned paper were my guide for the rest of the card, which includes a mix of cream, grey, dark blue, and metallic gold cardstock.

No other patterned papers were used on this project, so as to let the adorable ghosties take centerstage.

To up the visual interest of this design, I die cut a fun border strip featuring a Halloween hill scene (complete with tombstones, bare-branched trees, and a haunted house) and stamped my sentiment onto a narrow banner strip, which I paired and layered with two additional banner die cuts.

Then, I added a lovely double-layered dark blue seam binding bow, placed gold letter stickers atop each of the three shaker windows to spell out the word “boo”, and a fussy cut a trio of precious little ghosties from the same patterned paper used behind the shaker panel.

I adore how this card came out and am all the more smitten with it because its relative flatness means that it should come in under 2 centimetres when placed in an envelope.

This in turn means that I will be able to pop it in the post and mail it off as letter (not $$$ parcel) mail to a Halloween adoring friend or relative.

If you are keen to try your hand at making a similar looking multi-window Halloween shaker card (or adapting this general design to another holiday, event, etc), read on for a list of supplies and step-by-step instructions on how to do just that.

Products used to make this fun ghost themed Halloween shaker card

-Cream (or ivory), dark or navy blue, and medium grey cardstock

-Gold metallic cardstock

-Ghost print paper – Haunted House Multi-Journaling Cards from Carta Bella (here we are using the backside, not the journaling card side, of this paper)

-Clear acetate sheet

-Rectangular shaped triple window/opening die

-Spooky Halloween hill scene die

-Skinny stitched edge banner die

-Decorative edge scissors – Heartbeat Paper Edgers Scissors from Fiskars

-Golden brown coloured ink pad – Toffee Crunch Dew Drop Ink from Memento

-Dark blue ink pad – Cobalt Letter It Stamping Ink from Ranger

-“Have a Haunted Halloween” sentiment stamp – Graveyard Gate stamp set from Stampin’ Up!

-Metallic gold chipboard (or other type of) letter stickers

-Large-sized gold and orange glitter – Halloween Jumbo Glitter from Creatology (sold at Michael’s)

-Assorted shades of medium and dark blue sequins – Rhythms n’ Blues Cup Sequins from Craft Medley (sold at various dollar stores, including Dollarama here in Canada)

-Medium, dark, or navy blue coloured seam binding or ribbon (I used “Texas Teal” coloured seam binding from Hug Snug on this Halloween card)

-(Optional) Glue gun and glue sticks (used to adhere the seam binding bow)

-Dimensional foam, pop dots, or similar to elevate some of your layers

-Adhesive, such as a tape runner, of your choice (I often use my Scotch Tape Glider)

How to Make a “Boo” triple window Halloween shaker card

Begin by making a card base from cream cardstock. If you do not have cream cardstock, white, ivory, or pale grey would each work really nicely here as well.

Next, cut a piece of medium grey cardstock that’s a little bit smaller than your card base. Adhere that piece to the card base.

Cut a piece of dark blue cardstock slightly smaller than the grey piece and use decorative edge scissors (or a suitable border punch) on all four sides.

Ink all sides of the blue cardstock with Ranger Cobalt ink, then adhere that piece of cardstock to your first two layers.

Cut a piece of gold metallic cardstock (you could swap in grey, silver, or mustard yellow cardstock, if you didn’t have – or don’t want to use – gold cardstock) and adhere it to the other layers.

Cut a piece of Carta Bella ghost print paper, ink all of the edges with Memento Toffee Crunch ink, and adhere it to the gold metallic cardstock.

Next, create your shaker panel by die cutting a triple window panel from dark blue cardstock (if you don’t have a triple window die, you could use one or more small square-shaped dies on a panel of cardstock to create the same sort of multi-window look). Ink the edges of this cardstock panel with Ranger Cobalt ink.

Adhere a piece of clear acetate to the back of the blue cardstock panel to create the transparent “glass” for your shaker windows.

Place the blue cardstock on an open frame-shaped piece of the same cream cardstock that you used for your card base. Ink the edges of this cream piece with Toffee Crunch Ink.

(This layer is simply to add a border to the blue cardstock, it does not come into play in terms of the shaker windows themselves.)

For the shaker windows, line the perimeter of each of the three windows with suitable dimensional foam tape, squares, etc, as this is what stops the shaker mix from going anywhere when the card is complete.

Create a shaker mix in shades of blue, orange, and gold and place a roughly equal amount of it into each of the three windows.

Carefully bring the card base layers up to the shaker window panel, ensuring the backing has been removed from all of your foam adhesive first. Sandwich the two card parts together and make sure that no shaker mix is able to escape.

Top each of the three shaker windows with a gold chipboard letter sticker (or make die cut letters from gold metallic cardstock instead and adhere them in the same manner as you would the letter stickers) to spell out the word “boo”.

Die cut a Halloween hill panel from medium grey cardstock, backing the window portions of the haunted house with gold or dark yellow cardstock so that the house looks like it is lit from within.

Adhere this hill piece immediately below the shaker windows on that panel of the card.

Die cut three ghost figures from the Carta Bella paper and adhere one ghost just off to the side of each of the shaker windows.

Next, die cut three matching sized banner strips. One from medium grey cardstock, the other two from gold metallic cardstock.

Using dark blue or navy blue ink (or black, if you don’t have a suitable blue ink to hand), stamp “Have a Haunted Halloween” on the medium grey coloured cardstock banner (I used the same Cobalt ink from Ranger that appears elsewhere in this project).

Layer and adhere the three banners towards the upper right side of the card, as shown.

Create a double layer bow from blue seam binding or another trim/ribbon of your choosing and adhere it to the upper left-hand corner of the card.

And just like that, faster than you can say “boo”, your elegant meets adorable multi-window Halloween shaker card is complete.

Trust me when I say that this card is scarily fun to create and that it is bound to bring a welcome hit of spooky season cheer to anyone you bestow it upon.

31 days of unbridled Halloween awesomeness

That’s what October is to me and many others across the globe, too – and for good measure.

The enchantment, thrills, mystery, happiness, fun, and creativity inherent to the year’s 10^th month are unlike any other.

Halloween and Samhain are integral parts of not only October, but the whole year for me (a point which, again, I am far from alone in).

However, I am the first to acknowledge that not everyone observes or is OTT obsessed with these spookily wonderful events.

October is greatly influenced by Halloween in many parts of the world. Yet there is more to this month as well and each element – be they autumnal north of the equator or filled with springtime goodness for those in the Southern Hemisphere – deserves to be celebrated as well.

Crunchy leaves, vast fields and produce stands full of beautiful pumpkins, cozy attire, pumpkin spice everything, various holidays (including Canadian Thanksgiving), walks taken on crisp autumn days and nights, a stunning colour palette that is in a league all its own, and so much more combine to make October an unforgettable, easy to love month.

As touched on above, I will be bringing you a slew of seasonal content this month.

This selection will house additional fall/Halloween craft project shares and various other posts as well – including one pertaining to taphophilia that I am especially excited about.

Whether October is a 744-hour long, non-stop celebration of Halloween (that being the number of hours in this month), you prefer to keep Halloween contained to the 31^st, or you do not personally engage with either All Hallows’ Eve or the Pagan sabbat of Samhain, I hope that you will be able to enjoy and find inspiration in the posts that I share here this month.

Personally, my inspiration cup runneth over right now care of the creative, festive, sweet, spooky, beautiful, and spiritually focused content that many of you are posting this season as well.

I extend the most spirited (pun intended, sentiment fully meant) of thanks out to everyone whose October content informs, entertains, inspires, or influences me in any way.

You are awesomely creative individuals and it is an honour to learn from and be inspired by each of you.

In whatever ways you embrace and live your best October, sweet souls, may it be a fa-boo-lously safe, happy, and memorably enjoyable month for all of us!

The post Chicly Spooky Multi-Window Halloween Ghost Shaker Card appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

I knew at once that this was what I wanted to share here for the second week of September.

As you may be aware, in the fall of 2016, my husband and I lost our home, very nearly everything we owned, and infinitely most devastating, our beloved cat (Stella) in an arson fire.

This is a subject I discussed in greater depth here and which, while it does surface from time to time on this site, I generally do not wish to put at the forefront of most of my Witchcrafted Life posts.

However, the fifth anniversary of the life-changing date is fast approaching.

It will arrive on October 13^th, bringing with it half a decade of existence since our world was turned on its head faster than you can dial 9-1-1.

If I lived until the last flicker of light in the universe burned out, I will never forget that fateful day, nor the extraordinary challenges, changes, redirections, and outpouring of kindness that followed in the aftermath.

In the house that we lived in at the time of the fire, my crafting space was in the basement in a room that served both as a craft corner, photo studio, packaging centre for the items I was selling via my (then) Etsy vintage shop, and sundry other uses.

On top of the flames that tore through the entire structure, our home was further damaged by the substantial volume of water that pumped onto/into it to keep the fire from quickly spreading to other closely situated homes.

Of course, that was a smart move and did a lot to help prevent the fire from leaping to additional houses.

However, multiple feet of water sat in the basement of our burned-out house for weeks on end (as the fire department, police, and insurance companies each did their own thorough investigations of the structure), quickly causing mould to grow and rodents to set up camp.

Even if that hadn’t been the case though, the flames alone would have caused nearly as much damage and virtually everything in my craft room – as with the rest of the house – would have been obliterated.

When people find out that we experienced an arson house fire and that I’m a paper crafter, they often ask me how I decided if I wanted to keep crafting or not.

There was never a shadow of doubt in my mind that as soon as I possibly could, I would begin paper crafting again.

Far from deterring me from picking up this beloved part of my life, the fire drove home all the more how phenomenally important it is (for me) to document and celebrate our life together, my childhood and family, trips we take, holidays we celebrate and so much more.

Just as the staggering outpouring of compassion, support, and generosity we received from friends, relatives, and complete strangers alike served as a reminder of how vital it is for me to create and give handmade cards (and other projects) to a wide range of people in my life.

As a naturally tenacious and highly driven person, even when the chips were down and I had quite literally nothing but the clothes on my back, I knew I would paper craft again.

And so, awesomely, joyfully, and blessedly, I have. My current craft space is a lot smaller – as is the stash of products it houses.

It wasn’t economically possible for us to replace most of what was lost and, by and large, I have not tried to do so. The goal is not to replicate what was, but rather to create a safe, happy here and now that is conducive to who we are and what we love doing in the present.

With the fifth anniversary of the fire just over a month away, I wanted to take a little while to stop and reconnect with some of the pre-fire Halloween projects I made that I most adored.

The blaze destroyed not only all of my completed projects (save, of course, for those that had been given to others as gifts over the years), but all of my craft supplies, as well as our computers and external hard drives.

This means that, in terms of my pre-fire craft projects, I only have photos of those makes that had been shared online pre-fire (and which were still online at the time of the fire).

As a result, without photos of some of my creations, numerous projects will forever exist simply in memory form for me.

Thankfully, however, care of various internet sources, I’ve been able to gather up images of some of the paper crafting projects that I made between 2010 (when I began scrapbooking and card making) and 2016, the year of the fire.

Join me then, won’t you, as we revisit some of the pre-fire Halloween projects that I adored the most and which continue to inspire my current makes to this day.

A handful of my very favourite pre-fire Halloween scrapbook page and cards

Note: As the lists of supplies used to make these projects were kept in notebooks and lost in the fire, I cannot detail all of the items used to create them. Many of which are, objectively, long out of stock/production at this point anyhow.

That said, if you have any questions about the materials or techniques used on this Halloween makes, please don’t hesitate to ask and I will gladly do my very best to deliver a helpful reply your way.

As well, please bear in mind that these photos, while digital, are several years old and that they are downloaded copies of the originals (thus the image quality may have been compressed or otherwise altered by whatever site/platform they were/are hosted on).

Also, both cell phone and DSLR image quality have improved considerably since then – as have my skills behind the lens . Plus, at the time these pics were taken, I was really into somewhat overexposing my project share photos – something that is generally not my approach at present.

Halloween (1985) scrapbook page: In this distressed, shabby chic orange and black page we hop back to the mid-1980s with a glimpse of me and my mama enjoying All Hallows’ Eve together (check out this recent project share post for a layout featuring the two of us on my very first October 31st).

My talented mom made the adorable ghost costume that I’m sporting here. Aww!

To date, this layout stands as one of my favourites that I have ever created.

Double, Double, Cuteness & Trouble scrapbook page: I wish the image quality was better for this page, as it was such a cute, fun one. Hopefully, you can still get a sense of it here all the same.

In this layout, we progress ahead another year or two as this was me on either my 3rd or 4th Halloween – naturally, I went as a witch.

Again, my sweet mom made my festive outfit. A few years on (as we will see in a later scrapbook layout detailed below), my little sister would sport the same darling witch costume.

When Witches Go Riding Halloween card: An eye-catching and somewhat unexpected colour palette of classic orange, black and white partner with shades such as pale lavender, teal, and turquoise in this chic bow bedecked Halloween greeting.

Halloween Princesses scrapbook page: This sweetly spooky page celebrated the fact that, a few years apart, my sister and I wore the same pretty pink (store-bought) princess costume.

I adore the pre-made die cut jack-o-lantern paper that played a starring role on this layout and would love to see a company release something similar again today.

Pumpkins (Bear’s Fruit Stand) scrapbook page: Growing up, my family had a wonderful tradition of vising some of the local produce stands and farmer’s markets in our area each autumn.

In this circa 1993 photo, my siblings and I are sitting on a mountain of beautiful pumpkins at our family’s very favourite fruit stand, called Bear’s, located in the tiny South Okanagan community of Keremeos.

Hope Your Halloween is Crawling with Fun Halloween card: A classic colour palette and Halloween critter – the spooky spider – take the lead on this rhinestone and glittery black arachnid-filled card.

Halloween Helper Kitty scrapbook page: Two photos – one in black and white, the other in colour – accompany journaling about the fact that our beloved late cat, Stella, who usually left our spooky season decor in peace, had a real penchant for playing with this particular pumpkin decoration.

All Hallows’ Eve Costumed Kids scrapbook page: Another layout that I really wish I had a better quality image of. Still, anything is certainly better than nothing when it comes to documenting lost paper crafting projects.

This fun Halloween layout shines the spotlight on what my brother, sister, and I wore for a fun-filled night of trick-or-treating in the mid-1990s (note, as mentioned above, my sister is rocking the same adorable witch costume that I had worn around the same age).

I madly adore the 3D beaded bats peppered around this layout. If memory serves me right they *may* have been from either Prima or the Michael’s house brand, Recollections.

If anyone ever sees similar bat embellishments for sale online at a site that ships to Canada or in person here on Canadian soil, please do not hesitate to let me know (TY!).

Wishing You a Very Happy Halloween card: Border punched layers, pretty flourishes, and glitter-adorned pumpkins galore call this teal and earth-toned card home.

Swap out the sentiment and this lovely greeting could easily work for other fall time happenings as well, such as Mabon and Thanksgiving.

She’s Got Halloween Spirit scrapbook page: While my sister’s favourite holiday is Christmas, much as with my mom and me, she adores October 31st as well.

This sweet photo of my sis as a toddler shows her helping to scoop the guts out of a pumpkin that would soon be carved in our family’s grinning jack-o-lantern that year.

Trick or Treat scrapbook page: A bevy of embellishments, cheesecloth (that I hand-dyed), and spiders collide on this shabby chic Halloween layout that shows what my siblings and I wore for Halloween 1991.

The inspiration for this layout’s colour palette stems directly from the costumes that the three of us sported that night (note the Unicef box – who else remembers collecting for this important charity on Halloween night as a youngster?).

This scrapbook page is another that rests firmly amongst the ranks of my all-time favourite that I have ever made.

Have a Bewitching Halloween card: Distressed and border punched edges, elegant rhinestone trim, harlequin print paper, and an eye-catching black coloured witch silhouette sticker add up to a fun meets classic Halloween card that I’d happily replicate again today, if I still had the same supplies.

I might give it a go with similar, but different items, for a 2020s take on this greeting that was made close to a decade ago now.

Which of these festively fun, spookily sweet, and marvellously macabre paper crafting projects is your favourite?

Looking back, looking ahead

Far from causing me pain or tearing open wounds that have, mercifully, done a pretty good job of healing, looking back at these projects brings me a lot of joy.

I love being reminded of my past creative makes, what elements of my paper crafting style have stayed the same and which have changed/evolved/improved since then, the stories these projects tell, and the happiness – both in myself and, when applicable, in others – that the end results delivered.

As we head towards the official start of fall and all throughout my favourite chapter of the year, I will be sharing numerous freshly made autumn, Thanksgiving, and Halloween/Samhain related paper crafting projects here with you.

This point also delivers a bevy of joy my way and I can hardly wait to unveil my fall 2021 crop of crafty makes.

Each project that a creative soul brings into being is shaped in some way – be it tiny or large – by what they’ve previously created.

As crafters and artists, we don’t need to stand on the shoulders of giants, we are our own giants and muses.

The projects highlighted in this post each helped to hone and further develop my skills and style, the very things that I love to share here with you via my project posts all year round.

For September 2021, the pre-fire projects shared here are my latest entry for #MakeHalloween365.

Save for some of the cards and other items that were given as gifts, all of these projects are long gone in corporal form, living on instead in spirit and digital photos.

They did not get a chance to appear in the moment as part of #MakeHalloween365, as I just created this fun Halloween project share hashtag earlier this year.

They get the opportunity to do so now, however, and I hope that while they are not the newest of makes, they are able to inspire you and embody the heart of this hashtag all the same.

I may not make the fire the centre of many of my blog posts, but when I do, I generally want there to be a positive element to the end message of such entries.

In this instance, for me, that is one of hope and perseverance, of not letting the unthinkable rob you of your passions, and of finding a way back to the light of positivity even on the darkest of nights.

Thank you, cherished friends, for being here with me on this site and on social media, and for experiencing the poignant journey that is my post-fire paper crafting and life in general.

There will never, not in all the languages of the universe, be enough words for me to convey just how much that means to – and motivates – me.

If I could, I would make fall and Halloween themed cards for each of you, but as that isn’t possible, I hope that you will look upon the projects I post online as a way of conveying my heartfelt gratitude to each of you.

Here’s to the magnificence, inspiration, nostalgia, and, in turn, present-day happiness of pumpkin spice, crunchy leaf, and grinning ghost season – may it be as kind to you as you, sweet souls, are to me.

The post A Handful of My Very Favourite Pre-fire Halloween Scrapbook Pages and Cards appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

In turn, give or take a few days, there is about a month before the next edition of my quarterly blog post series, Magick, Crafty Makes, and Me.

I tend to save the majority of my life updates and accounts of recent happening for those posts. Sometimes, however, I want or need to speak about topical happenings in the moment.

Before we launch into the #MakeHalloween365 project share that is at the heart of today’s post (sneak peek above), I am going to do just that for a little while.

The local BC wildfire situation here in the North Okanagan

There are certain things in life, including some that are far from ideal, which become part and parcel to our years.

For those in various corners of the world, one of those is an annual forest fire season.

Typically beginning in earnest come May or June and running until September or even October here in our area, this season isn’t exactly one to get excited about.

We live in Canada’s most westerly province of British Columbia, a portion of the country that is often amongst (if not “the”) hardest hit each year by wildfires in this nation.

The wildfire season of 2021 has been especially brutal. Record smashing temperatures, exceedingly little rainfall in many parts of the province, and other climate change-related impacts have brought about one of the worst summers BC has ever experienced from a forest fire perspective.

As I shared in my Instagram Stories a few days ago, Tony and I have, at times as of late, been put on wildfire evacuation alert.

Mercifully, however, we have not actually had to evacuate our home yet, nor has our property/neighbourhood come under immediate threat of likely destruction.

That isn’t to say things haven’t been tense or stressful at points. They certainly have been.

The first evacuation alert we received came on Tony’s birthday (August 6^th) – what are the odds! – and lasted for about three days. During which time a hailstorm of falling ash pummelled our area and the skies took on a deep brownish-orange hue, as seen in the photo above.

The second evacuation alert arrived the following Saturday and lasted well into the week that is currently wrapping up.

At its beginning, we saw skies so red and chocked with smoke and ash it would not be unreasonable to describe the sight as apocalyptic. Or, as my mom astutely observed, perhaps what the skies of Mars might look like if you were standing on that planet and gazing skyward.

In both cases, the alerts were largely the result of the substantially sized nearby White Rock Lake Wildfire. Though this blaze was not the sole reason for the smoke, ash, and eerie colours in the sky, as scores of other forest fires are burning both near and further afield to our area of British Columbia.

Presently, the White Rock Lake Wildfire (also known as both the White Lake Fire and Monte Lake Fire) is sitting at a touch over 80,000 hectares in size, and continues to remain as being classified as out of control.

In recent years, Tony and I have been keeping well-stocked go/bugout bags at the ready for all manner of potential disasters that could arise at any time.

The moment the first alert came in on the evening of his birthday, we packed up our most important essential items (vital documents, computers, cameras, health necessities, etc) and created a “go pile” near our door, to be loaded – along with our bugout bags – into the trunk of our car immediately if word came that we needed to evacuate.

Of course, our own lives and that our cherished dog, Annie, always come first, but if there is time to save some important items during an emergency, it behooves us to be ready to do just that.

Having lost our home and virtually everything we owned at the time to an arson fire almost five years ago now, we know firsthand the damage and devastation that a serious blaze can cause, and want to be as prepared as we realistically can be should a forest fire ever get close enough to envelop our home.

On the worst days thus far, we’ve heavily drenched our property and house with the hose and used sprinklers to help keep the ground and structure wet (these measures can sometimes help to lessen risks such as live falling embers).

Currently, we have four different plans in place regarding where we would most likely stay should we get evacuated. We are keeping our gas tank full around the clock so that we can not only flee town if need be, but be able to get by for several hours if traffic slowed to a crawl on the highway or we had to enact one of our plans that involves staying at a location outside of our region of the province.

As I type these words, we are not currently on evacuation order. Save for our laptops (which can be grabbed in mere seconds), we have not unpacked, however, and will not be doing so until the local wildfire situation is much less of an imminent threat.

Evacuation orders, dangerously bad air quality, and the risk of having to get out of Dodge, if you will, aren’t fun. They are small potatoes though, of course, compared to what those who have been/currently are evacuated and/or who have suffered property damage from any of this year’s wildfires have been dealing with.

We count our blessings, but do so with a heavy and immensely understanding heart for everyone – both in BC and elsewhere in the world (including Greece) – who has been experiencing the wrath of forest fires throughout 2021.

Zero pun intended, but we are far from out of the woods at this stage on the wildfire front. It will likely take a few more weeks and hopefully quite a bit of desperately needed rain before that state returns.

Having been born, raised, and later returning in my late 20s to BC, I am intimately acquainted with wildfires and the risks they pose.

Yet, for all the fires that have torn through British Columbia over the years – including the Garnet Fire of 1994 that ravaged parts of Penticton, where my family was living at the time – this summer is the first time that we have personally been put on evacuation alert.

While stressful at times, no two ways about it, we are holding up well, and are immensely grateful that thus far neither ourselves nor any of our loved ones in this province have lost their home to the unforgiving siege that is wildfire season.  

This is certainly not the August we had envision or planned for, but it is not altogether surprising either given BC’s annual battle against forest fires of all sizes.

As you might imagine, our usual routine has been disrupted somewhat by everything this month, and I wasn’t sure that I would be able to get another project share posted before August drew to a close.

Happily, however, a little earlier in the year (before the recent short-term e-commerce website building job – mentioned here – for a local business that consumed the bulk of my and Tony’s available time between May and the start of August) I had a chance to make a heartwarming Halloween themed scrapbook page.

As I have not been crafting much in recent weeks and needed a spooky season-themed project for August’s #MakeHalloween365 entry, now is the ideal time to share it.

Born Halloween lover scrapbook layout

If there is a Halloween loving gene, I am certain that I was born with it. For as far back as I have memories – and as photos like this one of me as a costume-clad babe in my mother’s arms attest – prior still to that point, I have adored Halloween.

Much like the season of autumn itself, no other day of the year fills my heart with as much glee, excitement, contentment, spiritual connection, creativity, or inspiration as October 31^st.

This off-the-charts passion was a big driving force in the launch, earlier this year, of my #MakeHalloween365 hashtag for fellow Halloween adoring souls around the world.

Just as Halloween has been the inspiration springboard for countless other things throughout my life.

As a Pagan witch, I choose to celebrate this date as both Halloween and Samhain. To my mind and own spiritual path, the two are inseparably interwoven and I can scarcely fathom observing the end of October any other way.

While I have felt I was a witch since childhood, I was not raised in a house with Paganism, witchery, or Wicca, so in those early days, October 31^st was Halloween pure and simple for me and my siblings.

Like genes in general, I am convinced that I got my gene for loving Halloween from my sweet mama.

She adores Halloween herself and has always done everything she could to not only help make All Hallows’ Eve a fun-filled event for her kids, but she has also helped to support my passion for October 31^st in countless ways throughout my entire life.

I am grateful beyond measure for this point and wanted to create a scrapbook page that not only celebrated my adoration of Halloween itself, but also the love and appreciation I have for my fellow spooky season-loving mom.

Enter this layout, which stars a mid-1980s photo of me dressed in a cute white cat costume and my mom, who, while not in costume, did rock a great witch themed button on her pretty yellow top.

And speaking of yellow things, this photo (a scan taken from a photograph that had been stored for decades in various non-archivally safe albums) shows its age and storage methods a bit. Instead of seeing that as any type of determent, I leaned into this image’s colour palette for the rest of my scrapbook page itself.

The end result is a classic colour palette of cream, yellow, orange, brown, and gold that is as much at home for fall and Halloween as it was for plenty of interiors during the 1970s and 80s.

The metallic cardstock on this page – and indeed, this layout as a whole – was a bit tricky to capture on camera in our relatively low (interior) light setting, I hope that this gist of this page comes across in the project share photos throughout this post all the same though.

I added several of my favourite scrapbooking techniques and elements to this Halloween layout. There’s plenty of paper tearing, inking, punched edges, handwritten journaling, layers, (faux) stitching, and embellishments – not to mention a cozy fall colour palette.

Plus, the charming Pebbles brads that I included here are just so sweet and festively fun!

I led off on the lefthand side of the page with a classic Halloween witch themed brad in a nod to the fact that the little girl shown in this photo would one day grow up to a passionate October 31^st adoring real life witch. (As well as that the witch on that brad very much resembles the one in the button my mom was wearing in the photo. )

I’m wild about how this Halloween scrapbook page came together and look forward to sharing it in person with my mom herself come the return of All Hallows’ Eve season.

Now, let’s take a gander at the supplies and steps involved if you would like to whip up a similar October 31^st scrapbook page of your own.

Products used to make this shabby chic Halloween scrapbook page

-Cream, sandy brown, warm medium brown, dark brown, and black cardstock

-Gold metallic cardstock – from Recollections (Michael’s brand)

-Orange metallic cardstock – from Recollections (Michael’s brand)

-Elegantly shaped tag die (or tag die/punch or premade tags of your choosing)

-Fall leaf and orange striped patterned papers (both from) – Pumpkin Spice 12 x 12-inch paper pad from Craft Smart (Michael’s brand)

-Vintage handwriting print paper

-Halloween words cut-apart paper – After Dark Spellbound paper from Crate Paper

-Doily edge border punch – Lace Doily Border Punch from Martha Stewart

-Dark orangey-red ink – Dew Drop Ink in Morocco from Memento

-Golden yellow-orange ink – Dew Drop Ink in Cantaloupe from Memento

-Brown ink pen – EnerGel Liquid Gel Ink 07 Pen from Pentel

-White gel ink pen – Uni-Ball White Gel Pen from Signo

-Orange and white polka dot letter stickers – Julie Nuting Bootiful Alpha Stickers from Photo Play

-Black glitter letter stickers (I received these as a gift without their original packaging; I suspect they are from Martha Stewart’s product range)

-Thin cream and black yarn, twine, or embroidery floss/thread (the thin yard used here is from the dollar store “Craft” brand)

-Fall coloured and patterned chipboard flourishes – Autumn Song Chipboard Pieces from Bo Bunny

-Set of Halloween brads – from the brand Pebbles (no product name was specified on the packaging)

-Dimensional foam, pop dots, or similar to elevate some of your layers

-Adhesive, such as a tape runner, of your choice (I often use my Scotch Tape Glider)

How to make a fun tag filled Halloween memories scrapbook page

This festive Halloween scrapbook page begins with a sheet of 12×12-inch cardstock. As this cardstock is completely covered by the next layer of paper, it can be any colour you wish.

Take a piece of fall leaf print paper from the Craft Smart Pumpkin Spice pad and ink it on all four sides with Memento Dew Drop Morocco Ink. Adhere to your base layer of cardstock.

Next, rip all four edges of a piece of sandy brown coloured cardstock so that the final size of this piece is a little smaller than the leaf print layer. If your cardstock has a white core, embrace that and let it shine on the ripped areas. Adhere this piece of cardstock to your previous layers.

Repeat the same process with a cream (or light yellow) coloured piece of cardstock, inking, in this instance, all four edges with Memento Dew Drop Cantaloup Ink. Adhere to your previous layers.

Cut a piece of dark brown cardstock and top this piece of cardstock with a slightly smaller sized piece of orange striped paper (from the Craft Smart Pumpkin Spice paper pad).

Hand draw faux stitching with a brown ink pen or fine tipped marker around the sides of the orange striped paper, then ink the edges of that piece with Morocco Ink. Adhere those two layers to your previous layers.

Using brown cardstock and orange leaf print paper (from the Pumpkin Spice paper pad), create various layers with border punched edges (using the Martha Stewart Doily Lace border punch). Ink the edges of the orange leaf print layers.

Rip the edges of some pieces of sandy brown cardstock and vintage handwriting print paper, and arrange both these layers and the ones you just made above in the center of your layout, as shown.

Mat your photo with a layer of cream cardstock, a layer of dark brown cardstock, and a layer of orange leaf print paper. Adhere layers together, but do not adhere the matted photo to the layout itself just yet.

Next, create two blocks of cardstock, one in warm medium brown. Write your journaling, in white gel ink pen, on these blocks and adhere them to your layout.

Once your journaling is complete (and dry – especially important when using white gel ink), attach these blocks to your layout, then adhere your photo to the left of your journaling.

Next, using orange and gold metallic cardstock, die cut five tags (I opted for three gold and two orange metallic cardstock tags here, alternating the colour order that I adhered them down).

Cut out the Halloween words, mat each one on a piece of dark brown cardstock, and draw faux stitching with brown ink on each of the word pieces. Adhere one matted word per metallic cardstock tag.

Loop black (or brown, if desired) and cream (or white) yard/twine/floss to the top of each metallic cardstock tag, alternating colours as you go.

Adhere your completed tags along the left-hand side of the layout using foam dots or other dimensional adhesives.

Intersperse four of the Halloween design Pebbles brand brads amongst the tags.

Note that you may find it easier to do so if you use wire cutters or small tin snips to remove the prongs on the back of the brads first, though this step isn’t strictly required.

Adhere brads using hot glue or another very sturdy adhesive of your choice.

Use letter stickers to create the title of your layout.

Arrange Bo Bunny chipboard flourishes so that one pokes out from behind the photo and the other from the righthand side of the layout.

Place two additional Pebbles Halloween brads around the larger of the two chipboard flourishes.

And there you have it, your “Born Halloween Lover” scrapbook page is now complete.

As a fun alternative to a Halloween layout, this same colour palette and design (perhaps with different brads or other embellishments in place of them) would be great for a Thanksgiving or other fall related page as well.

And the general design of this scrapbook layout could be utilized for countless other types of pages, too – including those for winter holiday season projects.

(The journaling on this layout says: From my earliest of days, I have loved Halloween beyond measure. I am immensely grateful to my mom (pictured here with baby me in the mid-1980s) for always supporting and sharing in this adoration of October 31^st. )

The very real risk of losing everything again

As a paper crafter who has already lost all of their supplies, scrapbook albums and other completed projects once, I am keenly aware that living in a part of the world that deals with serious wildfires annually means that I could easily lose everything in a blaze for a second time.

This might, understandably, cause one to wonder why I would risk putting myself through that heartache again by continuing to papercraft. (Or to live here – though moving away is neither presently desired nor very feasible for us.)

Valid though this question is, to me the positives and joys, the blessings, creativity, and fun of papercrafting far outweigh the pain and challenges that losing my work and supplies for a second time would cause.

Experiencing that (be it due to fire or any other reason) would be horrible, of course, and I hope with all my might it never happens. However, having lived through it once, I know that rebuilding and connecting again with your greatest passions in life is possible.

Not necessarily easy, straightforward, or inexpensive, but certainly doable in many instances.

And in my heart of hearts I know that, much like my undying love for Halloween, darn near nothing could shake my adoration for paper crafting to the point where I would willingly drop it from my life for good.

Naturally, I hope and pray we that never find ourselves standing amongst the ashes of our home again. If we do though, I will take strength and solace in the fact that we pieced our world back together again once and could surely do so – with time, strength, and perseverance in spades – again, if need be.

For just as I’m a born Halloween lover, I am also a very tenacious born fighter and be it fire, my health, or any other challenge life throws my/our way, I will go on fighting tooth and nail until the very end.

Hopefully, within a few weeks, this year’s wildfire season will have finally calmed down and we can embrace autumn’s return (the second now since the Covid-19 pandemic began) in high spirits and with no shortage of jubilation for what is both mine and Tony’s very favourite chapter of the year.

From fires to floods, Covid to earthquakes and much more, 2021 has been another year of immense challenges for the inhabitants of this world.

Know that whatever you and/or your loved ones may be going through this year, my thoughts, support, and uplifting energy are with you – and that I’m always just an email away if you never want or need to chat with someone about anything that you’re going through.

As I began this entry by saying, there is just one brief month left to go until fall comes calling again. Whatever life may throw our way between then and now, that fact alone will help to bolster my spirits and keep a smile on this perpetual Halloween lover’s face.

Has your area been impacted by wildfires, flooding, or any other natural disasters this summer? Do you consider yourself a die-hard born Halloween (and/or Samhain) fan as well?

The post Local BC Wildfire Situation Update + Born Halloween Lover Tag Filled Scrapbook Layout appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.