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.

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.

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire. It is time for home. – Edith Sitwell

November was but a handful of days old when the season’s first snowflakes fluttered like icy-winged butterflies to the ground.

A brief flurry, another a few days later, and then proper volumes of snow by the month’s third week.

Fall did not go gently into that good night entirely though. At least not at first.

For a brief, enchanting time there were leaves the colour of ancient clay vessels and faded Tudor tapestries alongside slender plumes of smoke rising ghost-like from neighbourhood chimneys against the unmistakable chorus of shovels being pushed with no small amount of force across snow-laden driveways.

It is said that all good things must come to an end and autumn is no exception.

Tomorrow brings with it the Winter Solstice. The shortest day, in terms of the percentage of daylight, that the entire year houses.

For myself and others – particularly witches, Wiccans, and Pagans – it is also at the heart of the Yule season.

This long night ushers in the light-filled half of the year. Though, as I am quick to note, we rarely start to see and experience a tangible sense of that for several more weeks from now.

Nevertheless, the Winter Solstice and Yule remind us of the sunlight, warmth, and seasonal joys that await us come spring and summer.

Winter, however, is not without its own bevy of charms and blessings.

While a harsh chapter in many parts of the world, the coming season of icicles and parkas is anything but dull, uninspiring, or lacking in things to do and enjoy from the very first to the absolute last moment.

Before, with sweater-clad arms, we welcome winter back into our lives again (here in the Western Hemisphere; summer is out in full force for those south of the equator), let’s take a lovely moment to reflect back on the season that is, rather aptly, presently giving up the ghost.

The Fall 2021 Edition of Magick, Crafty Makes, and Me is a link love post featuring online content that caught my eye during the past three months, coupled with a peek into what has been transpiring in my own life lately.

I hope that you will enjoy reading it every bit as much as I took pleasure putting it together for you, sweet friends.

Magick, Witchcraft, Paganism, and Spirituality

–Create an Easy DIY Advent Calendar with Crystals Inside: While it is rather late in December to start an advent this year, this creative take on a treasured holiday season favourite was too cool looking not to share.

Whether you work with crystals in a spiritual/metaphysical context or enjoy them for other reasons, chances are you are bound to delight in this awesome advent calendar that sees each date house a tiny crystal.

This advent would make for such a fantastic and meaningful Yule gift.

And there’s nothing stopping you from using advents to count down to other special events (such as Halloween or a person’s birthday) as well, if you wanted to give making this crystal-filled calendar a go before next December arrives.

–How to Make Heat Activated Spell Sachets: Creating spell sachets is something that is familiar to many witches and Wiccans. However, generally speaking, we work with them at either room temperature or whatever the mercury is up to outdoors.

Leave it to none other than beloved Pagan blogger, Moody Moons, to take this classic spellworking technique and give it a fresh new spin via the introduction of heat.

I am smitten with this concept and plan to weave it into some of my witchy workings this winter and likely for many a chilly season to come.

–Sacred Sprays for Magickal Self-Care: As someone who adores making many of my own magickal tools and ingredients, and who is a keen proponent of self-care, I knew the moment I saw this terrific how-to post from Katrina Rasbold on Llewellyn’s blog that I would be sharing it here.

One need not be a witch/Pagan to make and use their own beneficial sprays – nor, of course, to practice self-care. That is something, ideally, we should all strive to make a perpetual priority in our lives.

–25 Forms of Banishing: No matter the season, I am a big proponent of doing banishing work. In fact, I would say it is one of the most common forms of witchery that I undertake.

Few points in the year lend themselves quite as naturally, however, to banishing work and getting rid of elements in our lives that are no longer serving us well than that liminal period between late December and early January.

This fantastic list from Sidney Eileen rounds up an impressive 25 different ways to engage in banishing work, including banishing via manifesting, involving banishing in your shadow work, and conducting energetic self-maintenance.

–Witches Bells: Their History, Lore and How to Use Them: From Otherworldly Oracle, comes this great look at the past and present of a magickal tool and/or piece home décor that is familiar and adored by plenty of folks around the world: Witches Bells.

During the December holiday season, when bells are easily had at many craft, hobby, dollar, housewares, gift, and big box stores, now can be an excellent time to make your own set of witches bells or to create some for the fellow witchy souls in your life.

(From the same website and very much in keeping with the current festive season, this delightful look at Yule Recipes: 13 Traditional & Modern Winter Solstice Meals & Beverages is also well worth checking out.)

–Work With the Plant Allies in Your Neighborhood: Discovering, learning about, and forming a meaningful, ongoing relationship with all manner of plants, flowers, and trees in your immediate environment can be an immensely beneficial activity.

If you are looking for more information on how to connect with your local plant allies, then this lovely post from Astrea at the Pathos blog Starlight Witch is a good place to start (or way to further your existing knowledge on the subject).

–Your Magickal Name:  It does not surprise me one iota that a great overview look at the subject of magickal names comes from none other than esteemed Pagan author and blogger, Rachel Patterson (whose stellar book, Witchcraft Into the Wilds, I reviewed here last year).

As someone who uses their magickal name (or as I tend to refer to it, my Pagan name) not only virtually exclusively online at this point in my life, but in as many offline capacities as I possibly can too, it is safe to say that I’m big on magickal names and really appreciate that Rachel penned this handy guide on the subject.

Cardmaking, Scrapbooking, Paper Crafting, and Other Crafts

–DIY Fridge Magnets: 50 Projects for Home or Gifts: For a good stretch of my childhood, my mom collected fridge magnets. When the volume she had amassed exceeded the space available on our refrigerator, she started displaying them on metal baking trays.

Many years have now passed since then. Yet, as my mom’s own passion back in those days for magnets rubbed off on me when I was growing up, I couldn’t help but lap up each inspiring idea in this awesome selection of DIY fridge magnets.

If you are also stuck on magnets (pun intended ) or know someone who is, you will definitely want to give this inspiration-filled post a thorough readthrough.  

–DIY Lava Lamp Party Favours: There are no molten hot liquids involved with this super cute mid-century inspired craft project.

Instead, two sizes of barware glasses and a few basic craft supplies – plus the “lava” filing of your choice are all you need to whip up some highly memorable yesteryear inspired party favours that your guests are bound to adore.

Plus, how great would these homemade lava lamps be for an upcoming New Year’s Eve bash?

–Homemade Ramekin Dish Soy Candles For The Holidays: As you may have gathered by now, I really, really, reeeeeaaaaaly love candles.

Plain or elaborate, scented or unscented, store-bought or handmade, I’m totally there for candles.  

In the case of the latter type of candle, I fell hard for Marie’s fantastic DIY candle-making project which guides you through the steps involved with creating candles in ramekin dishes.

This easy candle-making project delivers a beautiful end result that you can keep for yourself or give as a lovely gift.

I feel that these beautiful homemade soy candles would suit special occasions including birthdays, anniversaries, Hanukkah, Yule, Christmas, Imbolc, Valentine’s Day, and Samhain especially well.

(Also on Marie’s delightful – and very inspiring – blog, this adorable Upcycled Indoor Snowball Fight Wood Crate caught my eye. I really like festive décor that can be left out all season long, not merely for a given holiday or two, and this super fun project hits that nail squarely on the wintertime head.)

–How to Make a Flower Press: People have been intentionally drying and pressing flowers for many centuries and while this charming art ebbs and flows in terms of its popularity, it remains a beloved classic that is not likely to vanish entirely anytime soon.

If you are up for a spot of DIY and in the mood to make your own flower press at home, this handy step-by-step guide from Jessica at Cutesy Crafts will have you pressing a whole garden’s worth of blooms in no time.

(As well, on the same blog, I melted faster than a marshmallow in a mug of hot chocolate for this enchantingly pretty Christmas Deer Embroidery Pattern.)

–How to Store Stickers (in Binders): Unless you’ve got a lot of space and, potentially, quite a generous budget to spend on organizational supplies, chances are you are continually looking for ways to streamline your craft supply storage needs.

Goodness knows I am – especially since my crafting space (which I am exceedingly grateful for) is definitely on the petite side of things.

As such, I instantly fell in love with this handy and, in many cases, wonderfully space-saving approach for storing your sticker collection in binders. It’s a brilliant and very implimentable idea for a lot of folks.

(You could also do the same thing with other lightweight, relatively flat crafting supplies such as rub-ons or smaller sized sheets of specialty papers.)

–Super Tiny Mini Album with Lots of Photos: I have seen some pretty small mini scrapbooking albums in my day, but this itty-bitty creation – from none other than the endlessly talented Bea Valint – must surely take top prize on that front.

Perfect for your own memory keeping or to make and give as gifts (including pint-sized stocking stuffers), these mini albums are cute, fun, and more than likely, quite addictive to make!

–Vacation Memory Sand Jars: Now, I fully realize that at present, a lot of us are not exactly jet-setting off to tropical destinations or hopping in the car for a road trip to the beach.

However, if you are able to do so, have collected and saved sand from past trips, or have access to some lovely sand closer to home, this project might just be for you.

It is such a charming, low-cost way to bring a slice of your travel adventures home with you and is one that can be repeated with different locations time and time again.

(Note: When taking sand home, always ensure that you are legally allowed to do so based on local laws and that removal of said sand does not negatively impact the ecosystem that the sand hails from.)

What’s Shaking in My Life and On My Radar

Much like the summer that proceeded it, this autumn was one that, for a multitude of reasons, I will not soon forget.

In the early days of September, the very real risk of the massive local wildfires still loomed near.

Thankfully, by the time autumn had officially begun this risk had all but vanished and we felt safe unpacking our most important documents and belongings, which we had been keeping at the ready in case the official order to evacuate did arrive.

The start of this fall was gloriously gorgeous. Picturesque weather and temperatures, leaves so incredibly vivid and breathtaking that they nearly brought us to tears.

As it tends to do around these parts, October cooled down by mid-month. Happily though, (unlike last year) nary a snowflake fell in our neighbourhood throughout the year’s 10th month.

Come the evening of my favourite day of the year, Halloween + Samhain, the temps hovered around a nippy -2C/28F. The night itself was crisp and dry with relatively little wind, to boot.

This no doubt helped to contribute to why we received the highest number of trick-or-treaters (about 118 – up from our previous, pre-pandemic record of around 113) that we’ve had since we moved into this house nearly four years ago now.

Between that point, celebrating the day with Tony and my mom, and ample time dedicated to meaningful witchy Samhain activities, I’m delighted to say that we had one of the best October 31^sts in recent memory.

November wasted no time in tilting the scales in favour of winter weather, as touched on at the start of this post.

Yet the return of snow all but took a distant backseat to some rare and, in certain cases, incredibly devastating weather conditions and natural phenomena that rocked our province of British Columbia throughout the month.

Tornados are exceedingly uncommon in BC and even less likely, if I’m not mistaken, to occur during the second half of autumn.

This made the tornado that tore a path through parts of Vancouver early on in the month a serious surprise!

Luckily, this event was not, insofar as tornados go, too severe.

In fact, this powerful storm was given an Enhanced Fujita scale rating of EF0, with EF5 being reserved for the most brutal storms/tornados and the destruction they cause.

For many BC residents, the tornado – while a fascinating event for sure – soon took a backseat to substantially bigger weather problems.

Specifically, horribly heavy rains in the province’s Lower Mainland region (a broad swath that encompasses Vancouver and most of the towns + cities that call the lowest portion of BC home) and some other parts of BC, including the Merritt area.

BC is no stranger to flooding, but it had been a fair while since anything like the scale of rainfall, ensuing flooding, and widespread damage it caused had been seen around these parts.

Atmospheric rivers – a technical term that relatively few in BC had heard before this November, but which many of us are now well acquainted with – caused widespread flooding that destroyed homes, businesses, and other structures.

It also brought about landslides and these quite literally washed away segments of some of the main highways through the region.

Highways that connect the Lower Mainland (which is also known as The Coast) to much of the rest of the province.

This meant that in November highway travel was frequently impossible to or from The Coast.

In time, some routes would open again, though ongoing closures – much like flood evacuations in various parts of the province – continued on into December.

It also meant that supply lines were temporarily disrupted, as a fair amount of the goods that are distributed to retailers around the province come from the ports of Vancouver, as well as from farms and other supply sources in the Lower Mainland.

This sudden lack of incoming goods caused some people to adopt a behaviour that is still fresh in most of our minds from the early days of the pandemic: resource hoarding.

From the smallest mom-and-pop shop to the largest grocery store outlets, it all but looked like a plague of locusts had descended on the fresh food (produce, meat and seafood, dairy, baked goods, etc) section of many stores north of The Coast.

Tony and I didn’t participate in this at all. A, because we were not worried and had enough (fresh/frozen/non-perishable) food at home already to see us through several weeks, if needed, and B, we strongly sensed that at least some fresh goods would soon find a way up to this area.

That proved to be the case exactly. And while grocery stores continue to feel the impact of receiving less perishable goods and other products, since “the big clear out” most have been able to get in a solid chunk of the merchandise that they usually sell.

While we did experience heavy rains at times throughout November and on into early December, our area – which is a few hours north of Vancouver – did not suffer the impacts of flooding this fall.

Many people on The Coast did, however, and a lot of them have had their lives absolutely turned upside by the devastating impacts of these mighty atmospheric rivers.

Rebuilding homes, lives, and sections of highway will take time and cost the province billions of dollars.

My heart aches intensely for all those whose words have been rocked by the flooding.

Having lost a home once myself (to fire, not flooding, however), I can relate at least in part to the living nightmare that is having your house (or business, etc) and belongings taken from you in the blink of an eye and the often lengthy journey to piece your world together again that ensues.

The severity of this flooding really is profound. It brought Prime Minister Justin Trudeau all the way from Ottawa to BC in November, has had the armed forces helping with the situation, and will take a long time for the province to even remotely begin to recover from.

Whereas once, decades ago, my family and many of our relatives lived on The Coast, these days far fewer do. And, thus far, thankfully, those that remain in the area have not lost their homes or had to evacuate due to rising floodwaters.

At the time that the flooding struck though, both my mom and aunt (her only sister) were actually down in the Lower Mainland, helping to nurse my 91-year-old maternal grandma who very recently underwent major surgery.

My aunt, an elementary school teacher, had to return home sooner than my mom due to her job. However, she was met, while trying to do so, with the first day of highway closures and ended up staying in the town of Hope for a few days until a route briefly opened up that she could return home via.

My mom was closer to Vancouver itself, at my grandma’s house, and ended up staying there longer than she had planned due to the road closures. Eventually, she too was able to avail of a brief road closure on one highway north.

Had the closures stretched on much longer, she was planning to drive down through the northernmost parts of Washington state and come back into BC at one of the border crossings located in the Southern Okanagan Valley.

Thankfully, things did not come to that for either my mom or my aunt.

Some folks who were stranded and needed to get home to other parts of BC (or elsewhere in the country) did so though, with others still flying, when possible, out of the impacted areas of the province.

I am both happy and very grateful to say that not only is my grandma recovering well, but also that my mom and aunt both made it home safely in the end.

This year took a massive toll on a lot of people around the world.

BC’s floods and the destruction they caused (much like that of the summer’s brutal wildfires) are incredibly tragic, but far from the only major disasters to rock the planet in 2021.

Already weary from the heartbreak and life-altering changes that filled 2020, we were a battle-hardened lot as everything from the lava spuing Cumbre Vieja volcano in Spain to poor Haiti once again being hit hard by earthquakes came at the planet throughout the past twelve months.

These hard, uncertain times – complete with a pandemic that, due in no small part to fresh new variants, shows no sign of abating in the near future – are shaping and impacting a lot of us in ways both big and small.

We are eager to put 2021 to bed, yet also, rightfully, harbour trepidations about what the coming year may hold in store.

This is true for me/us at both a global level and in terms of our day-to-day life.

The very serious, life-altering and still undiagnosed health problems that I have been battling for over a year now can scarcely be called “new” anymore. Though in relation to my other chronic medical conditions, many of which have been present for two decades now, they could still be viewed as such.

The fight for answers and treatments regarding these “new” issues continues unrelentingly around the clock on my end.

My health greatly impacted and altered this year for me.

It caused certain important plans and goals to (hopefully just temporarily) be put on hold, including my long-standing dream of launching an ASMR YouTube channel, which I am more committed than ever to making happen ASAP (as soon as doing so is physically possible for me).

These issues also saw me all but ghost my own Instagram account at times (which I am anything but happy about), took – and is still taking – a serious toll on my mental health, and continues to be a major battle around the clock.

Yet, I know that things could be worse. So much worse. Both personally and, rough as 2021 was, globally as well.

In a lot of ways, we have been profoundly fortunate this year.

Even with medical challenges (mine, Tony’s, those of some relatives), a touch-and-go wildfire season, the ongoing pandemic, and many other not-insignificant struggles that impacted mine and Tony’s life, we made it this far into 2021.

And if you are reading this, so did you.

That is no small feat. Nor is it something that any of us can take for granted.

I have my concerns about 2022. I know there will be challenges both new and ongoing, and that it will likely be another year that unfolds quite differently from how I would ideally want it to play out.

I’m not knocking it yet though, of course. I will let 2022 blossom in its own time, seeking and giving thanks in the process for the positives that come our way next year.

As have come to do each season since launching this quarterly post series, throughout the fall I tucked away an array of online posts and articles that resonated with me in one way or another.

So without further ado – but with unceasing hope that 2022 will be a kinder year to our planet and all who call it home – let’s dive into that selection of links.

–A Haunting Photo Collection of Famous People’s Death Masks, 1300-1950: Once, particularly in the era before photography came into being, a somewhat common practice in certain parts of the world (especially amongst those of the upper classes), death masks are no created with the same frequency they were in centuries past.

Though this tradition has not completed vanished, it has waned in popularity a great deal. Yet there is something absolutely incredible about death masks that, I think, makes it hard for us as a collective whole to abandon the art entirely.

These castings of a deceased person’s face often captures a greater sense in 3D form of how an individual looks/looked than most 2D art forms ever could.

If, like me, you find these types of masks fascinating, then you will likely enjoy this image filled roundup of famous people’s death masks from across the centuries.

–Beverly Cleary Wrote the Stories Kids Wanted To Read About: Relatively rare is the North American youngster who grew up at any point over the past few decades without reading – or being read – at least one of beloved children’s author Beverly Cleary’s books.

Her popularity far exceeded this continent, however, spreading globally and impacting, influencing, and entertaining countless youngsters throughout the years.

To date, more than 91 million copies of her books have been sold globally. That is a staggering number for any author, let alone (pre-Harry Potter at least) one whose work was geared at children and teens.

Sadly, the world lost Mrs. Clearly in March of this year. She passed away at the venerable age of 104 years old.

Many pieces were, understandably, written about Beverly Cleary’s work and life in the aftermath of her death.

This one, which delves into her life, career, and the inspiration behind some of her most beloved stories stood out for me in particular.

Whether you’ve read any of Cleary’s stories or not, it is a captivating, enjoyable look at an author whose work is likely to keep enriching the lives of youngsters for many more generations to come.

–Fifty Dog Quotes That Every Animal Lover Will Relate To: As both a lover of dogs and a proud dog mama to Annie, our nearly nine-year-old Bullador (half Lab, half American Bulldog), I couldn’t help but smile and experience plenty of the “feels’, as they say, while reading through this heartwarmingly lovely selection of dog quotes.

–Grandma’s Vintage Desserts: There are so many wonderful recipes – as well as plenty of fascinating culinary history – on this website that instead of singling out and featuring just one here, I’m sharing Grandma’s Vintage Desserts as a whole.

Helmed by a passionate chap named Don, this delightful website is chock-a-block with the kinds of classic, endearing, and hugely adored sweet treats that many of us grew up with.

These recipes aren’t about the latest fads or most cutting-edge cooking techniques. They are honest, downhome, salt of the earth (or would that be sugar of the earth?) culinary creations that have been made and savoured for generations.

Be it during the holiday season or at any point in the year, if you are on the hunt for an ever-expanding selection of wonderful vintage and timeless recipes “just like grandma used to make” then this site is a must-visit + bookmark (or pin).

–How The Iconic Late Night TV Personality of Elvira Came to Be: Lily Munster and Morticia Addam are indisputably two of the most famous and beloved darkly inclined ladies. However, they’re both fictional characters portrayed on screen my talented Hollywood actresses.

Another spookily souled woman who has been delighting us for decades now is Elvira – aka, The Mistress of Dark.

Unlike Morticia and Lily, Elvira, while still a persona in part, is real. If you have ever wanted to know more about her origin story, then this wonderfully engaging look at how Elvira rose to – and has long maintained her – fame is just the ticket.

–Scientists Discover an Adorable New Species of Brown Frog: Brace yourself for some serious cuteness when you click through this link, as you are about to meet the precious little Chocolate Frog (most likely) for the first time.

This darling amphibian was found in some of the roughest terrain of New Guinea, where it is believed to exist endemically.

I adore learning about newly discovered species and continually marvel at the fact that for all of our global exploration and 21^st century scientific knowledge, there are still critters out that have yet to be documented by humans.

–Some Haunted Trees in the United States: You didn’t think I would let the season that houses Halloween wrap up without at least one ghost related link appearing here, did you?

Whether you are the biggest skeptic of spectres to ever live, have your own ghost hunting gear at the ready, or fall anywhere in between, this engaging post about some of America’s most legendary haunted trees makes for a fascinating read that might just have you looking at the oldest trees in your own neck of the woods a little differently from now on.

Celebrating both the chill and warmth of wintertime

We could likely sit here until the next Fall Equinox debating which season is cozier, autumn or winter?

Honestly, it’s a two-way tie for me. As I suspect it is a good many others as well.

Fall is my favourite season. The slice of the year that delivers us from summer’s parching heat, yet keeps the wolves of winter at bay for (if we’re lucky) at least a few weeks.

Winter is wildly cozy, too, however. Its comfort stretches back into the furthest ethers of time, resides in tradition and nostalgia, and invites us to slow down and embrace the serenity that comes from tumbling snow and the stillness it imparts to the slumbering natural world.

Throughout my life, I have gone back and forth regarding what season takes home the silver medal in my books. Each has held that spot at times, though summer and winter are usually the two that vie most fiercely for second place.

This year, as has often been the case, winter wins out. I need its tranquillity, the productivity that cool days spent indoors delivers, and the merriment of Yule, Christmas, and New Year’s – to say nothing of Valentine’s Day (or as I like to celebrate it, Valoween) a few weeks later.

Winter and I jive. Even during those years when I have experienced SAD, I love winter no less.

My witchy, gothy soul embraces the year’s dark heart. Which, really, is not all that dark in many respects.

Show me another season where we light as many candles and fires or hang up as many strings of twinkling lights both indoors and out?

Humans are astonishingly resilient creatures. Both prior to, and in the years since, electric lighting came into our lives, we stood our ground against even the most powerful of arctic gales via the use of flames.

As though the warmth we generated could melt, if only symbolically, some of winter’s intense chill.

This tradition continues to the present day. It is the heat generated on stoves and in fireplaces, the joys of classic comfort food that invite us to linger in the warmth of good company and wonderful conversation around the table.

It is each simple tealight and heady seasonal candle we watch slowing burn down. Scents of everything from pine to cinnamon to cranberries gloriously filling our indoor environments.

In the glistening of a menorah’s nightly lighting, the multi-coloured bulbs nestled between the needles of Christmas trees, and even the fireworks of New Year’s Eve, we ensure that light is never far from our lives throughout the winter months.

The experiences these activities bring generates treasured memories and helps to remind us that even the chilliest January night can only last so long.

Winter is not the enemy though in my books. It is an ally to my creative process, my spiritual path, and the holidays I embrace annually. Just as it is for countless others around the globe.

Sure, by early March, I will practically be begging for summer, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be a touch blue to see winter go.

We are old friends at this point. A Canadian born and raised lass and a season that frequently consumes this nation for five, six, or even seven pages of the calendar.

Tomorrow, as winter officially returns, I will smile and give thanks for the ever-turning Wheel of the Year and for the beautiful serenity this season houses.

To say nothing of the holiday time joys that we are presently enmeshed in.

Much like its predecessor, 2021 was an intensely challenging year for many of us – be it personally, globally or both.

It is impossible to know with any certainty what this winter (or summer, if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere) will bring in terms of the pandemic, climate change, and myriad other things.

But what we can, as a general rule, count on is the familiarity of winter. From its icy bite to its festive feasts, its sweatshirt grey skies and the promise of sun-kissed new life that lays beyond its snowy borders.

May this winter find and keep you well, safe, and, in all ways possible, wonderfully warm and happy.

What were some of the standout elements of this autumn for you? What aspects of winter are you most looking forward to?

The post Fall 2021 Edition of Magick, Crafty Makes, and Me appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

Darkness falls across the land, the midnight hour is close at hand. – Rodney Lynn Temperton

It is safe to say that 365 days is a fairly long time to wait for anything. Yet some events are more than worth the days, weeks and months of pining and patience.

In my books – and those of many others – one such happening is October 31^st.

This enchantingly magickal day houses not only Halloween, but for many Pagans, witches, and Wiccans who observe it, the sacred sabbat of Samhain as well.

There is almost a sense of disbelief that greets me when my eyelids blink open on the morning of Halloween/Samhain (I observe both events, seeing them as being akin to two sides of a coin).

Can it really and truly be October 31^st? Have I fallen asleep on an icy February night or a sizzling hot July afternoon and dreamt that All Hallows’ Eve had returned once more?

Awesomely, today is not a figment of one’s imagination. Halloween/Samhain is real, it is magnificent, and it never fails to be even more incredible and meaningful than I could have hoped for.

On this day, the veil between the worlds is the thinnest (in the Western Hemisphere). Mystery hangs in the air like a chorus of bats dangling from a fall maple tree branch.

Halloween swirls with nostalgia, spine-chilling thrills, a glut of sweet treats, old favourites, new ways of celebrating, and the promise of a day filled with intrigue and enjoyment.

As much as I could (gleefully) wax poetically at length about Halloween and Samhain alike, I know that plenty of us are very, very busy today, so I shalln’t keep you for too long.

Here, on the last and final day of October, when spirits drift through the nippy fall air, grinning pumpkins peer out from porches near and far, and magick of all kinds reigns supreme, I am popping in to share one of my latest Halloween cards with all of you.

Sweetly spooky multi-layer Halloween card

Here on the blog, October began with a Spooky Multi-Window Halloween Ghost Shaker Card that featured a colour palette of dark blue, black, cream, gold, and copper.

Thirty-one days on, a good chunk of that same colour palette returns in the card featured in this post.

Gone, however – much as on many of the local trees that now sit barren until spring jolts them back to life again – are the warm autumnal hues of sunshine and fire.

From the colour scheme to the imagery, I set out to create a Halloween card that channelled the dark, inky evening hours of this resplendent annual happening.

A realm filled with things that go bump in the night, where shadows seem to take on a life of their own, and which those of us who celebrate Halloween and/or Samhain are likely to have many fond memories of throughout our lifetimes.

A touch eerie, but considerably more sweet and charming, this card is a multi-layered symphony of All Hallows’ Eve related imagery, merriment, and the timeless soul that embodies October 31^st.

It features a palette of midnight blue, jet black, grey the colour of cold sidewalks, ghostly white, and a wee hint of gunmetal (via the pearl embellishments).

Only one patterned paper appears on this card. That of the black tree silhouetted against a dark blue sky. This layer is subtle though, and that is intentional.

Much like how one often begins to make out their surroundings more clearly after you’ve been outside in the dark for a while and your eyes have had a chance to adjust, so too did I want there to be little details to this greeting that take a moment to spot.

Vellum – a most apt and delightful material to use on Halloween cards – appears here three times. One of which creates a ghostly base for the “Happy Halloween” sentiment before extending on to the top of the design.

This card takes a little while to compose due to the volume of die cutting involved. However, the materials required are (aside from the dies) both relatively minimal in number and fairly budget-friendly to boot.

You could recreate this All Hallows’ Eve card in different colours – think, orange, black and green or an earthy harvest season combination, for example – if so desired and it would be no less festively fantastic.

If you are aiming to channel Halloween night itself, though, then I would suggest sticking with at least one or two intensely saturated shades and, likewise, one or two paler ones to help convey a sense that darkness is indeed falling across the land…

Products used to make this beautiful blue and black Halloween trick-or-treat card

-Black, light grey, navy blue, and white cardstock

-Pearlized white paper or cardstock – Cool Metallic Sheets from The Paper Company

-White vellum – Vellum from Core’dinations

-Dark blue night sky and tree silhouette print paper – Full Moon Night Sky Paper from Ella & Viv

-Leaf frame die with an oval aperture

-“Spooky” and “Trick-or-Treat” wavy word dies – Halloween Trimmings Dies from Studio Katia

-“Happy Halloween” oval shaped sentiment die

-Various small pumpkin, bat, spider, spiderweb, and cat-shaped dies

-Decorative edge scissors – Heartbeat Paper Edgers from Fiskars

-White gel pen – Signo White Gel Pen from Uniball

-Two sizes of dark grey/gunmetal coloured pearl embellishments (silver pearls could be used here, too)

-Liquid glue with a very fine tip nozzle (or use double-sided adhesive sheets with your die cut layers when cutting them out)

-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 festively spooky multi-layered Halloween night themed card

To begin with, I suggest die cutting (and, where applicable adhering) each of the layers that you’ll be using for this handmade Halloween card in advance, as doing so will help speed up the process of putting your card together.

Cut two layers (one light grey, one black) of the leaf frame. Then, once adhere to each other, cut your layered frames in half vertically down the center, as you will be using half of this frame on each side of the middle of your card.

Cut two layers (one white, one black) of the “spooky” and “trick or treat” curved words

Cut two layers (one light grey, one blue) of the leaf frame.

Cut two layers (one pearlized white paper or cardstock, one black) of the “Happy Halloween” sentiment and cobweb-filled oval piece.

Cut two layers (one white, one black) of the bats, pumpkins, spiders, spiderweb, and cat.

Once you have die cut and adhered these layers together, it is time to start assembling your Halloween card.

Start your design with a card base made from white cardstock (pale grey would work well here, too).

Cut a piece of white vellum slightly smaller than your card base and then adhere it to the card base.

Position and adhere the light grey and black (die cut) leaf frame halves on the center of the vellum layer.

Use decorative edge scissors (or a suitable border punch) to cut a piece of dark blue (or navy blue) cardstock slightly smaller than the vellum layer.

Utilize a ruler and a white gel pen to hand draw stitching lines around the edges of this piece, then attach it to vellum + leaf frame layers.

Cut a large rectangle from black cardstock. Top it with a layer of vellum that is just a teeny bit smaller than the black cardstock itself. Adhere these two layers to one another, then to the previous card base layers.

Top those two layers with a piece of Ella & Viv nighttime sky and tree print paper, cutting the top and bottom edges with the same decorative edge scissors (or border punch) used previously on this project. Adhere this layer of paper to the latest vellum layer.

Next, take the second pair of leaf frames that you die cut earlier and back the oval opening with a piece of vellum. Top this vellum with the “Happy Halloween” sentiment pieces. Adhere across the center of the vellum oval.

Use the smaller of the two sizes of dark grey/gunmetal coloured pearl embellishments to create an oval ring around the border of the central oval opening (see photo immediately above).

Arrange and adhere your die cut “Spooky” and “Trick-or-Treat” wavy words across the top and bottom of the central card panel.

Place layered die cut Halloween critters and pumpkins around the card, as shown in the photos here (or, however you please).

Adhere the larger of the two dark grey/gunmetal coloured pearl embellishments on some of the central panel layers, also as shown.

And there you have it, one sweet, spooky, and thoroughly eye-catching Halloween evening themed card that is sure to bring howls of happiness to any lucky soul who receives it.

Joyful Halloween and Samhain wishes to one and all!

Fellow Thriller fans may have spotted that the quote which begins today’s post is from that wildly iconic Michael Jackson hit, which many of us make a point of listening to on Halloween.

While just a few words long, it does a stellar job of capturing the sense of anticipation and elation alike that October 31^st delivers.

Halloween is as much a day (and night) of possibility and promise as it is of mystery and hair-raising fun.

The card featured in this post, naturally, falls squarely under the header of a #MakeHalloween365 project.

A huge and incredibly heartfelt thank you to everyone who has used this hashtag not only throughout October, but since its launch back in March of this year.

So much of the driving force behind the creation of this hashtag was, and is, for oodles of people to embrace and derive inspiration from Halloween throughout the entirety of the year.

I plan to continue sharing at least one new Halloween themed project here with you every month for the foreseeable future.

This means that my fellow Halloweenoholics can join me in (quite literally) making Halloween an amazing part of our lives the whole year through.

And I enthusiastically encourage you to keep using #MakeHalloween365 long after Halloween 2021 has wrapped up, as this festively fun hashtag is fully intended for ongoing year-round use by one and all.

For many years now, I have opted to focus a lot of my Samhain related happenings in the early morning and late evening hours of October 31^st. The time that sits between these two points in the day is filled primarily with Halloween activities of all sorts.

Objectively though, for me personally, there is a lot of crossover between the two and each one helps to ensure that my undying love for All Hallows’ Eve grows stronger with each passing year.

With the pandemic still going strong, we are once again foregoing holding a Halloween party at our house (something that we did for several years running before Covid gripped the planet).

Instead, much like last year, Tony and I will celebrate the holiday here at our house with mom (who only lives an hour’s drive away from us).

Costumes will be donned, candy piled high in multiple bowls, ready to hand out to all who come knocking; beloved movies will be watched and songs listened to on repeat, a festively themed jigsaw puzzle will be done, and we will nosh on plenty of hauntingly delicious fare.

What does this Halloween/Samhain (or Beltane, for those in the Southern Hemisphere) look like for you?

Are you as excited as I am that October 31^st has returned again at long last?

However you spend this today – be it a time of sacred reverence, lighthearted fun, chilling suspense, or simply the final day of the year’s 10^th month – I am sending my unending wishes your way for a sweetly spooky October 31^st.

Have a safe, incredibly happy Halloween/Samhain, dear friends!

The post Sweetly Spooky Multi-Layer Halloween Card, and The Happiest of Samhain + Halloween Wishes Coming Your Way! 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.

Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. — Henry James

This week is the first of summer. A season that, while not always the easiest to bear unless one lives for the heat, is utterly and completely gorgeous.

I can relate to the estimable Mr. James’ words – though might personally swap “fall afternoon” in for summer.

Though, that said, I have a deeply rooted love of summer and find many positives in the languid days of scorching sun, verdancy aplenty, outdoor living, and nights of enveloping, bathtub-like warmth that makes one feel extra glad for the blessing that is life.

Before we get too far into the season of ice cream cones and sandcastles, however, let’s pull up a folding camping chair (or a comfy hammock) and sink into enjoying some of the most inspiring, informative, or just plain interesting links that crossed my path during the spring of 2021.

(As well as the lowdown on some of what’s been transpiring in my own life over the course of the season that just was.)

Magick, Witchcraft, Paganism, and Spirituality

–DIY Crescent Moon Incense Burner: From fellow Canadian witch, Breawna, comes this lovely, wonderfully easy to follow along with video that shows you how to make a crescent moon-shaped incense burner with a mere handful of basic crafting supplies. The end result is both beautiful and functional, and would make for a fantastic homemade gift to boot!

–DIY Magickal Slow Cooker Candles: No matter the season, candles are a mainstay in our home and in my witchy workings. Big or small, scented or unscented, white or coloured, handmade or store-bought, candles are always welcome under our roof.

I love finding new ways to make or utilize candles, and while we don’t currently own a slow cooker/crockpot/Instant Pot, should one enter our lives again, I’m delighted to have this awesome DIY tutorial for making magickal candles in a slow cooker at the ready.

Should you have a slower cooker, and enjoy creating your own candles, this looks like a really fun and rewarding DIY project to whip up.

–Do Something Witchy Everyday: The message that drives this post is one that aligns greatly with my own practices, which often centre far less on OTT or complex workings and rituals, and much more on feasible, enjoyable, and diverse forms of everyday witchcraft.

If you’ve been looking to up your witchy workings or just need some ideas for meaningful ways to connect (all the more) with your witchy daily, swing by this I, Medusa post written by Anna Mist and be inspired.

–How to Officiate a Handfasting Step-by-Step: In many parts of the world, mid-spring to early fall is seen as wedding season, as nuptials proliferate during the sunny months.

If you’re fortunate to be in the position of being able to officiate a handfasting ceremony, or are looking to find someone to officiate your own handfasting/Pagan wedding, this informative post on the subject from the beloved witchery blog Moody Moons is just the ticket.

–How Spirituality Benefits Highly Sensitive People: Spirituality is a profoundly personal and important element of many peoples’ lives, and while certainly, by no means, the sole domain of highly sensitive individuals, those who identify as such often find immense benefit, comfort, and meaning in their spiritual journey.

This look at the subject was recently shared on the superb HSP-focused website, The Highly Sensitive Refuge. It resonated with me, just as I suspect it will with many of my fellow spiritually inclined HSPs and empaths.

–The 25 Most Important Witchcraft Books Ever Published: Whether you concur entirely with the list of entries on this engaging post from Jason Mankey (himself a renowned Pagan author) or not, chances are you will appreciate the significance and importance of each witchery related title highlighted therein.

I definitely did and, in the process, really appreciated the fact that Mankey arranged his list chronologically, thus further helping readers to understand all the more just how influential these books have been on multiple generations of witches over the years.

–20 Powerful Herbs for Protection: Like many a magickally inclined soul, I do my fair share of protection and guarding work. I’m a trusting person, but am far from naïve and I know that there are many forces at play in the world that we can use some extra protection against.

If protection magick strikes a chord with you as well, this helpful look at 20 Powerful Herbs for Protection is an excellent resource on the subject that feels all the more at home as we embrace the fresh greenery-filled season that is summer.

Card Making, Scrapbooking, Paper Crafting, and Other Crafts

–Crocheted Succulents Free Pattern: For those who are fortunate to possess crocheting skills, this free pattern for eye-catchingly wonderful crocheted succulents is bound to find favour – especially if also have a green thumb, enjoy green witchery, or simply swoon at the sight of succulents.

–DIY (Paper Crafting) Jewelry Box Tutorial: As someone with an immense fondness for jewelry, it may come as no surprise that I’m also rather partial to jewelry boxes that can house my beloved wee collection of beads, baubles, and brooches.

The idea of creating one’s own jewelry box is really appealing to me, so when Graphic 45 recently shared a handy tutorial detailing just that, I bookmarked it for myself and knew I wanted to share it here with all of you as well.

Beyond serving “just” as a jewelry box, this project could be used to store any number of small items, from thimbles to dried flowers, crystals to marbles – and can be customized to your heart’s content, depending on the materials that you employ.

(And speaking of Graphic 45, I really like this beautiful summertime perfect beach-themed mini album that was shared on their blog a few days ago.)

–DIY Terracotta Essential Oil Diffuser & Car Air Freshener: My recent Litha season post, 15 Essential Oils That Are Perfect the Summer Solstice, has put me in even more of an essential oil mood than usual (which, given my passion for this subject, is saying a lot! ).

Combine essential oils with a fun DIY project and I’m there faster than you can say “take a whiff!”

If these are topics that tickle your fancy (not to mention your olfactory sense) as well, be sure to check out Cintia’s fantastic tutorial on how to make your very own DIY terracotta essential oil diffuser and car air freshener.

–DIY Summer Wreath from a Straw Hat: A sizable smile spread across my face the moment I spied Patti’s wonderful tutorial for making a strikingly pretty summer wreath from a straw hat.

Like many who experienced the 1980s and early 90s firsthand, I well remember when decorative straw hat home décor was having a serious moment.

Indeed, straw hat wreaths hung both in my family’s home and in those of multiple relatives for many years. I even had one in my own bedroom for a few years during my early childhood.

It’s fantastic to see this charming way of dressing up classic straw hats finding favour again (I suspect that the recent trend for #cottagecore and similar aesthetics is doing its part on that front).

If you’re keen to rekindle a trend or to experience straw hat home décor for the first time, follow Patti’s lead and adore your home with an attractive DIY straw hat wreath.

–Easy DIY Earrings You Can Make on a Budget: Fun fact, I’ve been creating handmade jewelry since I was a child and had a fun little side business selling handmade nickel-free jewelry for a time during my teens and early adult years.

While the arson fire that we experienced back in 2016 completely destroyed my stash of jewelry making supplies, my love of this endlessly versatile (not to mention, practical) art form has never left me.

Little by little, I’ve gathered a few jewelry making materials again and hope to continue to do so as time goes on.

One needn’t have a plethora of supplies (or a lavish budget) to create wonderful handmade jewelry. A few basic items, some inspiration, and a desire are usually all it takes to do just that – as the more than 40 projects highlighted in this terrific post over on the Mod Podge blog amply demonstrate.

–How to Setup a Portable Craft Space: As awesome as it would be for every crafter to have a large, roomy space in which to craft to their heart’s content, the fact of the matter is that for many of us that simply isn’t feasible.

Naturally, lack of space for a big craft room shouldn’t prevent one from getting their creativity on all the same.

And by the same token, sometimes even those with their own craft rooms, shed sheds, etc enjoy having a portable crafting station elsewhere in their home (say in the family room or den, for example).

If you’ve been curious about how to set up a portable craft space that can be placed wherever is most convenient/functional for you in your house, I highly suggest checking out Bea Valiant’s great photo-filled post on how to do just that.

–Zippered Pouch Tutorial (Using Scrapbook Paper): Ever looked at some of your favourite papers or cardstocks and thought that they’d look fabulous as a zippered pouch?

Whether the answer to that question is yes or no, chances are you’ll be intrigued and inspired by this lovely tutorial shared by Split Coast Stamper member Betty Traciak which shows you how to do just that.

Just think of the endless possibilities, from gifts to practical storage, holiday and home décor to an instant conversation starter at your next crop!

What’s Shaking in My Life and On My Radar

Where to begin?

I’ve thought about this portion of this very blog post many times over the course of the past several weeks. In a sense, there is a lot I want to say, and yet perhaps even more that I would prefer to keep to myself for the time being.

As those of you who follow me on Instagram may have noticed, I have not been on IG (which is my primary social media platform) much at all in recent weeks.

There have been various reasons for that, with two in particular accounting for the lion’s share of why this has been the case.

First and foremost, in recent months I have been dealing with some perplexing and challenging new medical issues that are (true to form a lot of the time when it comes to my health) proving very difficult to unearth answers/diagnoses for.

At present, I am not going to go into specifics publicly about these issues – especially until I have some solid answers as to what it is that I am actually contending with.

On top of the physical issues themselves, this newest medical battle (for those readers who may not know, I have been a multi-chronic illness fighter of more than a dozen different chronic medical conditions for twenty years now) – and the frustration, stress, and uncertainty that comes with fighting tirelessly for a diagnosis – is having a substantial impact on my mental health.

Between the physical and mental challenges, what little (personal) time I have been able to carve out online has mostly been devoting to blogging.

Thus far, much to my surprise at times, I have been able to keep up with my usual pace of at least one blog post here per week. While I accept that either by choice or circumstances, there may be times when that isn’t feasible, I hope/plan to continue on at that pace this summer.

Compounding matters and much to my great unhappiness, the severity of what I am dealing with on the health front at the moment has meant that my initial plans of launching my ASMR YouTube channel this spring didn’t even come close to happening.

I am fully committed to this long-held dream and will do everything in my power to create content and get that channel off the ground as soon as I realistically can.

At this point, I don’t know when exactly that will be. I really hope it can happen in 2021.

If not though, I will just keep trying even harder for it to happen the following year (and will continue to keep you informed here and on SM as to when that exciting event occurs).

The second primary reason is a lot more positive. Long story short, several weeks ago now, my husband and I put in a bid on a contract job to create the ecommerce website for a local outdoor goods store here in town and were very fortunate to win that bid.

This project is labour heavy for both of us and on a very tight deadline. As such we’ve been devoting a great deal of time over the past couple of months to this job.

It isn’t complete quite yet, but is definitely getting a lot closer. Very exciting!

Aside from those two points, which are, I’m the first to say, quite different from one another, some of what’s been happening around these parts include…

Having central air installed in our house. We live in one of the hottest regions in all of Canada (case in point, multiple days next week are forecasted to reach highs of 40 – 44C/104 – 111F) and have struggled a fair bit to live in a house without this feature since moving into our current abode in early 2018.

Thankfully, the installation went smoothly, quickly, and without any complications.

As anyone who has had central air installed in recent years will no doubt tell you, this is not an inexpensive job at all – which is the main reason it didn’t happen right out of the gate when we moved in.

Tony and I feel that the cost is well worth it though for the quality of life and health benefits it brings not only to us, but to our precious dog (Annie) as well, and know we made the right choice in having central air installed in our house.

By pure coincidence, on the very same day that installation happened, I received my first Covid-19 vaccine.

I registered for it as soon as my age bracket (those under 40) became eligible to do so and was told I’d receive an email prior to the end of May informing of when and where I could book my first shot.

In the final days of the month, I did indeed get that email and then proceeded to book the first slot on the first date that was available to me.

Not being the world’s healthiest person, I was a tad concerned regarding how my body might handle the vaccine. I am (very!) happy to report that aside from a minorly sore arm and a bit of lethargy for about 72 hours afterwards, I didn’t experience any issues (let alone serious ones) from the shot.

I was told by the nurse who administered my Covid vaccine that I should be contacted by the provincial health system in about 6 – 8 weeks regarding when I can book my second shot.

It is such a positive feeling to know that I am partially vaccinated and that in getting my shot, I am continuing to do everything I can to not contract nor, moreover, risk spreading this terrible illness.

So, assuming all goes to plan, I should get my second shot in the later weeks of summer and will thus be vaccinated in full by the time my very favourite chapter of the year (autumn) rolls around once more.

We’ve just covered a lot of ground and as I don’t want to keep you here reading until fall does in fact return, without further ado, let me jump right into sharing some of the various links that stood out for me during the spring of 2021.

–Exquisitely Designed 2,000-Year-Old Roman Shoe Discovered in a Well: Boasting skilled handiwork and a design that would put it seriously on-trend to this day, it’s hard not to stare and marvel at the beauty of this exceedingly rare archaeological find.  

–How to Compliment Someone Without Mentioning Their Looks: As much as many people enjoy receiving positive words about their appearance, not everyone is equally comfortable with these kinds of comments and, moreover, there are countless other things to complement most folks on besides “just” their physical appearance.

This Wit & Delight entry explores the subject of non-physical appearance focused compliments and provides an array of terrific suggestions for what to say instead.

–Listen to Random Radio Stations from Around the World: At the end of the 1970s, British new wave/synth-pop group the Buggles made the line “video killed the radio star” an instant classic with their eponymously named song.

By the dawn of the twenty-first century, one could easily state that the internet had, in turn, usurped the video star (at least as far as the music industry is concerned).

However, while fewer of us may tune into the radio daily than we once did, this world-changing form of media is, in truth and very happily, far from dead.

If you’re in the mood to sample a station (or dozens of stations) from around the world, then make your way across the world map on this website until you find one that is a – *cough, cough* – hit with you.

–9 Things to Try if You Hate Social Media But Don’t Actually Want to Quit: Whether you loath SM or just find yourself feeling seriously burned out or “over it” at times, the practical and supportive tips in this post are ones that stand to benefit just about everyone who opts to engage with social media.

–Plants Might Be Helping Each Other More Than Thought: The world plants and the profoundly interconnected relationships shared between many species fascinates me greatly. For all we know on this subject, there are untold volumes more that remain to be discovered – as this captivating look at how certain plants may in fact help, not compete, with one another demonstrates.

(Another Phys.Org post that recently caught my attention was this fascinating story about the recent discovery of a 3,000 Year Old Shark Attack Victim.)

–What Would a Truly Wild Ireland Look Like?: Once, in a time now long past, I called Ireland home for the span of a couple years.

Make no mistakes, Ireland is everything and more you imagine it to be and is a country with an extraordinary past that deserves our respect and research alike.

Like many corners of the globe, Ireland – for all of its pastoral farmlands, rolling hills, and windswept shoreline – is not quite as wild a country as it once was.

This thought-provoking BBC post by Chris Baraniuk asks us to imagine what a truly wild Ireland might look like and explores the feasibility of rewilding the landscape of this majestic nation to a greater degree.

–Why a Clutter Free Life is an Intentional Life: I am not a minimalist, nor am I a maximalist. I can exist quite contently with very little or with a fair bit more, but no matter what volume of belongings fill my home, I cannot abide by clutter.

I weed out clutter at every turn, thankful that organizing and (possession) purging are both tasks I sincerely enjoy.

Having long believed and experienced (the fact) that a clutter-free life feels, and is, all the more intentionally lived, this lovely post on the subject reverberated with me.

Its message is one most of us can connect with, especially if we also find our lives, minds, and spirits tend to feel and work their best when clutter is kept as low as possible.

Summer Lovin’

In the late hours of a July night so warm it gave furnaces everywhere a run for there money – and which would break into a rapturously loud storm before dawn had broke – I came into the world nearly thirty-seven years ago now.

And while there is no hard and fast rule that says a person has to love the season into which they were born, I adore mine with even more fiery passion than that of the sun which fuels the vibrancy of summer itself.

I am a lover of all seasons though. Each is a kindred spirit, a treasured friend, a vital element of life itself.

Summer is wild and outgoing. It beckons us with notes of Coppertone, grilled foods, fresh-cut lawns, and the siren’s song of sultry, unforgettable warmth.

In summer, I find, it is often easier to forget our troubles. Or, if we cannot banish them from our mind entirely, at least (it becomes) a touch easier to navigate their waters.

I would venture to call summer the most chill of season. It is laidback and cool. Enigmatic, yet wildly and wonderfully familiar.

Summer begins in a sea of green life and concludes with the first lag of the harvest season.

In many parts of the globe, summer bridges the chilly portions of the year, has an inherent air of playfulness to it, and will be yearned for something fierce when – to quote the classic holiday season song Good King Wenceslas – snow lays round about, deep and crisp and even.

At the moment, the world is beginning, in some respects to rebound from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. This heartbreaking illness is still with us though, still causing new cases to develop daily, still impacting countless areas of our lives.

Like most people, I hope dearly that by this time next year, the pandemic will be over. The realist in me might not place any bets on that being the case, but my optimistic side holds onto hope with gusto.

Just as I hope mightily that at least some of the medical challenges I am currently experiencing personally will be less of an issue by this time next year. (Fingers firmly crossed!)

No matter what obstacles, curveballs, or stresses life throws my way, that fact autumn is now less than three months away injects some serious happiness into my days and makes getting through difficult times more tolerable.

Summer doesn’t too shabby a job of that either. From Canada Day on July 1st to my birthday later that month, Lammas in early August to simple everyday warm weather pleasure, this is a positive and life-affirming chapter of the year that gives many of us a lot to enjoy and feel grateful for.

So, my dear friends, let us tackle whatever summer may hold, make the most of these sizzling hot days, do our best to overcome difficult times, and know that, no matter what (north of the equator), summer always leads to fall’s return.

If that isn’t worth raising a glass of ice cold lemonade to, I don’t know what is!

Happy summer, everyone! May you have a safe, sunny, and seriously enjoyable season!

The post Spring 2021 Edition of Magick, Crafty Makes, and Me appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

You will have to experiment and try things out for yourself and you will not be sure of what you are doing. That’s alright, you are feeling your way into the thing. ~ Emily Carr

The card in today’s post is definitely one that I feel falls under the header of what (fellow) British Columbian and world-renowned early 20th-century artist Emily Carr was speaking about in the quote above.

I’m not going to lie, this isn’t my absolute favourite card I’ve ever made. However, I do not dislike it and the more time that passes since I created it, the more this spring themed project is growing on me.

Thus far, I don’t have a lot experience when it comes to using pencil crayons with stamped images – let alone ones on black cardstock.

In setting out to do so here, I knew that I wanted to go for a soft, chalkboard-like look to the way the pencil crayon colour lay on the black cardstock. Happily, I feel like that was achieved.

The inspiration for this card lay in springtime itself (with the colour palette here tapping squarely into Springoween) and in various Victorian design elements.

Make no bones about it, I am not saying this card is not authentically Victorian looking. It most certainly is not. But it was inspired by various styles, colours, and textures of that era.

Actually, when all was said and done and I stepped back to look at this card (something I do with all of my paper crafting projects, as I find it helps me gauge if I need to change and/or add anything before calling a given project complete), I was struck by how it looked both a bit 19^th century and somewhat 1980s at the same time.

Hey, why not? I adore both of those time periods and am all for a fun, creative merging of the two.

This card was an experimental one for me and that’s totally okay. Not everything we create is destined to be our personal favourite, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn and grow (our skills) from it. Nor, just as importantly, that our recipient won’t appreciate the end result just as much as if it was our all-time favourite make.

Victorian Inspired Pencil Crayon on Black Cardstock Spring Greetings Card

On top of the inspiration mentioned above, the stunning Arabesque Medallion Stamp from Altenew (a wonderfully kind gift from a fellow paper crafting friend in the States) was a jumping-off point for this card.

The flowers in its design s struck me as being perfect for spring and were all but begging to be coloured with pencil crayon. Who am I to argue?

The sentiment stamp that I used here is not part of the Altenew Arabesque set. It is from a run-of-the-mill quality AliExpress spring-themed stamp set.

Unfortunately, as with many fine/small sentiment stamps (especially inexpensive ones), the size and intricacy of the stamps that I used for the embossed sentiment have a somewhat blurry end result. This is particularly noticeable in the portion of the sentiment that says “greetings”.

I’m not wild about that fact, but it looks a touch less pronounced in person, so I can live with it. I just wanted to mention that point here so that you don’t think my photos themselves are out of focus.

And, in the same vein, I am aware that despite prepping my black cardstock, a little bit of stray silver embossing powder stuck to the cardstock surrounding the Arabesque Medallion Stamp design.

Not much though, luckily, which is great. And honestly, in an appreciated bit of happenstance, it actually seems to help telegraph the look of chalk on a chalkboard all the more.

Also in person, the tulle trim and the colour of the (pencil crayon coloured) leaves in the stamped image are closer in tone than they rendered in these photos.

As I wanted to ensure that the stamped image remained the star of the show on this card, I didn’t embellish it nearly as much as I do many of my other cards.

Instead, I opted for numerous layers of cardstock, three different trims, and a pretty pink pearl flourish.

Even with the colouring, this card was quite quick to make (about three hours from start to finish) and I did sincerely enjoy colouring on black cardstock.

While not the first time I’ve done so, it’s been a number of years since I last partnered the two and this project helped to remind me of just how enjoyable an act that can be.

(Note: I did not use a colourless blender pencil, gamsol, or any other blending products with my pencil crayon colouring here. I simply laid down and lightly overlapped, in some areas, the colours and left them at that to heighten the chalk colouring look I was aiming for.)

Products used to make this elegant stamped and embossed spring card

-Black cardstock

-Pinky-light purple cardstock

-Light blue cardstock

-White cardstock

-Silver metallic cardstock

-Nested scalloped edge rectangle shaped die set

-Corner rounder punch – 10mm Corner Rounder Punch from X Cut

-Assorted colours of pencil crayons (I used Prismacolor Premier Pencil Crayons on this project)

-Large floral medallion design stamp – Arabesque Medallion Stamp from Altenew

-Springtime sentiment stamp

-Watermark (or other embossing suitable) clear ink – Watermark Stamp Ink Pad from Versa Mark

-Silver embossing powder – Silver Embossing Powder from Ranger

-Heat embossing tool

-Pink pearl flourish – Self Adhesive Pearl Flourish from Zva Creative

-Dusty teal-grey coloured tulle trim – Trendsetter Designer Trim from Webster’s Pages

-Grey crochet trim – Artsy-licious Kohl Splendid Ribbon from Chatter Box

-Narrow black velvet ribbon – Artsy-licious Kohl Splendid Ribbon from Chatter Box

-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 springtime card using coloured pencils on black cardstock

Begin by making a card base from black cardstock. Cut successively slightly smaller pieces of pinky-purple, black, white, and black (again) cardstock, respectively. Adhere together and then adhere to the card base.

Cut pieces of white, pinky-purple, and light blue cardstock a little smaller than the width of your card base. Round the corners of each of these pieces, then adhere them one on top of each other. Adhere this layer to the back of your card base (aka, the back of the card).

If you wish, you can then cut a larger piece of cardstock or patterned paper of your choosing to cover the back of the card and (somewhat) camouflage where the cardstock is attached.

Alternatively, you could place the rounded corner layers beneath the first cardstock layer on top of your card.

Next, cut a piece of black cardstock slightly larger than the Altenew Arabesque Medallion Stamp.

Prep the black cardstock for embossing by using an embossing bag or similar antistatic tool.

Stamp the Arabesque Medallion Stamp in watermark ink. Top with silver embossing powder and heat emboss.

Using a selection of at least two different shades (one lighter, one darker) per colour, select pencil crayons in springtime-y shades of blue, pinky-purple, yellow, and green.

Colour in portions of the stamped and embossed Arabesque Medallion Stamp design as shown in the photos throughout this post, or however you desire.

Once you have completed your colouring, die cut a frame from silver metallic cardstock that leaves most, or all, of your stamped and coloured image visible. Adhere the frame to that piece of black cardstock and then attach the two combined layers to your existing cardstock base layers with foam squares, foam tape, or dimensional pop dots.

Adhere a pink pearl flourish to the lower left-hand side of the card design.

At the top of the card base, adhere a piece of silver metallic cardstock die cut with the same frame die that you used to surround your coloured image (you only need to die cut one of the four sides of the die here) and a strip grey crochet trim.

Towards the bottom of the card base, adhere a piece of grey-blue tulle trim topped with a strip of narrow black velvet ribbon and a piece of the same grey crochet trim.

Using two of the smaller sizes from the nested die set, die cut a piece of black cardstock and a piece of silver cardstock. Adhere together. Position both so that they create a diamond shape, as shown.

Prep the black cardstock for embossing, stamp your sentiment using watermark ink, and emboss with silver embossing powder.

Attach your sentiment “diamond” to the lower lefthand corner of your card using dimensional foam or a similar dimensional adhesive.

If you wish, arrange some of the pink pearl flourish so that it overlaps with the sentiment piece.

And there you have it, one eye-catchingly unique springtime card design created using a stamped and coloured image on black cardstock.

Making springtime cards while the sun shines

Much as the classic expression “make hay while the sun shines” reminds us to seize and utilize the moment, so too does each season encourage us to celebrate it with creative projects of all types.

I’ve felt even more pulled towards creating springtime cards this year than I have in ages. However, as the current season is starting to wind down, I’ll soon be shifting my paper crafting focus to summer and fall makes.

And, honestly, it wouldn’t hurt to get a jump on my winter holiday season projects, too – though I might be getting ahead of myself a tad there!

And, while I’m at it, this summer I’m planning to embrace Emily Carr’s words all the more and dip my toes into the pool of experimentation on a regular basis.

Why not hop in with me? The water is warm and, at the end of the day, even if an experiment is a total write-off, chances are you learned something and may have developed some of your paper crafting skills further in the process.

That is a win in my books, regardless of how your project turns out. (Plus – and trust me on this – we are often far harsher critics of our own skills and projects than most others ever would be of our work.)

The post Victorian Inspired Pencil Crayon on Black Cardstock Spring Card appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

While I didn’t track the time involved to the minute, I’d estimate that no less than 70 hours went into sourcing + verifying the accuracy of the words, creating the more than 100 different graphics involved, and writing the post itself.

I adored every minute and hope to put together a second edition one day. However, as I worked for long hours across several consecutive days on that post, it did leave me a touch drained energy and productivity wise.

I contemplated taking a brief “spring break” sort of breather from blogging this week to recharge my batteries, yet ultimately decided against it.

My energy was bouncing back and, moreover, I wanted to share my most recent paper crafting make here with all of you.

You Make My Heart Smile Elephant Themed Birthday Card

Spring officially begins in the Western Hemisphere on, or around, the 20^th of March. And while I readily and happily embrace the Spring Equinox/Ostara, for the whole of my life, a second event has also marked the changing of the seasonal guards in my books: my mom’s birthday.

Beginning life under the sign of Aries, my mother’s special day has always held a very meaningful place in my heart (after all, if she hadn’t been born, neither myself nor my siblings would be here either).

I cherish my mom. We’re blessed to have a very close bond and love each other dearly.

Not being able to visit and see one another whenever we please (we live about an hour’s drive apart) during the pandemic has been tremendously difficult. Just, of course, as being unable to do the same with their own families has been for countless others around the world, too.

This year was the second birthday running that I was not able to celebrate in person with my mom, so I wanted to make sure the card that I sent her way was extra special (just like her!).

My mom has numerous interests and enjoys a wide range of things, however she is not one of those folks that you automatically associate with a certain hobby, passion, sport, or so forth.

Save for a small array of beautiful angel figurines, she doesn’t really collect much, so there too, you didn’t think of my mom and have “x, y, or z” type of collection instantly spring to mind.

Without any of these things in place, it can sometimes be a bit tricky to come up a birthday card that I feel is highly tailored to my mom herself.

Luckily though, I’m not without a few helpful jumping off points.

For example, my mom loves the colour purple, adores flowers, and her favourite animal is the elephant.

I am also a big fan of elephants. However, as I discovered recently, I currently have next to no elephant-themed products in my post-fire paper crafting stash.

Surely, I figured, there’d be a stamp set or pack of stickers to the rescue. Nope, no dice. What about ephemera or patterned paper? Again, it was crickets all around.

Hope was not lost though, as I did have one charming elephant themed die in my collection. Phew!!!

And not only an elephant die, but one in which the sweet pachyderm pictured is composed from flowers, leaves, and vines.

Now we’re talking!

I went into this card with a rather different end result in mind. I had initially thought that I would made a shaker card and even created a shaker component for it.

However, as more layers and elements began to be added, I really wasn’t digging the overall design and decided to save that shaker element for a different project.

Holding fast to the cute little elephant, I pretty much started from square one again, and am considerably happier with how the final result turned out.

Not only does this card feature an elephant, but there’s plenty of blooms and hearts (to convey love and to reinforce the “You Make My Heart Smile” sentiment), along with touches of purple as well. Not to mention a balloon, which works perfectly for a birthday card.

I haven’t made too many elephant themed projects over the years. Given how much my mom adores this beautiful animal and how fun a subject matter they make, I’ll definitely be looking to grow the number of elephant products in my craft room.

I am happy to report that my mom loved this card and that while her b-day wasn’t observed as it would have been had the pandemic not still be going strong, she was able to have an enjoyable day all the same.

Products used to make this cute, shabby chic elephant birthday card

-White cardstock (pale grey would work fabulously here, too)

-Navy or midnight blue cardstock

-Light blue cardstock

-Pink cardstock

-Pinky-red metallic cardstock – Opera Red Mirror Card from Tonic Studios

-Silver metallic cardstock

-Nested circle die set with at least three different sizes of circle dies

-Blue tone-on-tone floral print paper

-Elephant floral filigree die – Ali Express (bought 2 – 3 years ago; still available, at the time of writing, from various sellers, such as this one)

-Happy birthday word dies (or letter dies, stickers, stamps, etc to spell the same sentiment)

-Filigree (or other style of) leaf die

-Flower, butterfly, and “You Make My Heart Smile” sentiment die cuts – Poetic Rose Ephemera from Prima

-Small pearlescent white plastic heart embellishments

-Heart design border punch – Hearts border punch from Fiskars

-Either an adhesive with a very fine, precise tip or double sided sheets of adhesive used to use on the elephant and word die cuts (not having any of the latter, I employed a light-handed amount of Ranger Glossy Accents in the mini squeeze bottle size to adhere these components)

-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 elephant birthday card

Begin by making a card base from white cardstock. Next, cut a piece of pink cardstock slightly smaller than your card base and adhere it to your base.

Cut a piece of blue tone-on-tone floral print paper a little smaller than the pink cardstock. Use the Fiskars Hearts border punch on the top and bottom of this piece of paper. Adhere the blue floral print paper to the pink card base.

Using a ruler and scissors (or small suitable punch or die, if you have one) cut four equal sized mini photo corner shapes from Opera Red Mirror Cardstock. Adhere one corner piece to each corner of the blue patterned paper.

Next, die cut three different sizes of nestled circles, one each from silver, pink, and navy blue cardstock. Layer and adhere the three circles to one another, then adhere this “stack” to your card base.

Die cut the filigree elephant from silver metallic cardstock. Adhere it to the centre (or thereabouts) of the navy blue circle. Repeat process with the words “happy birthday”, using Opera Red Mirror Cardstock.

Die cut two pairs of filigree leaves from light blue cardstock and two pairs from Opera Red Mirror Cardstock.

Arrange Prima Poetic Rose ephemera flower die cuts, along with the die cut leaves you created, around the top and bottom of the largest nested circle die cut, as shown.

When you’re happy with the placement of the leaves and flowers, adhere them down, then place a few small white heart shaped embellishments throughout the leaves and blooms.

This elephant die cut includes a heart shape balloon component, top that heart shape with the “You Make My Heart Smile” sentiment from the Prima Poetic Rose ephemera pack.

Lastly, arrange two butterflies from the same Poetic Rose ephemera pack on the largest-sized nested circle die cut. You may wish (as I did here) to gently fold the wings of the butterflies upward to give them a greater sense of dimension.

And voila! Your adorable handmade elephant birthday card is complete.

Cards take on even more importance when you are not there in person

I have touched on this subject here and there across various posts in the last thirteen months and counting, but I feel that it deserves revisiting now that we are squarely into year two of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The longer this pandemic carries on, the more important it becomes to find ways to safely connect with our loved ones.

Thankfully, many of us are fortunate to have access to things like emails, text messages, DMs, Zoom meetups, and good, old-fashioned phone calls.

Each of these can enable us to stay in touch with those we cherish, and it’s safe to say they’ve been godsends for a lot of people during these highly challenging times.

Yet, with safe in-person face-to-face interactions still being rare (or impossible) for a lot of us, the act of sending and receiving a physical item – be it a letter, card, gift, or all the above – takes on even greater meaning.

It is a small part of ourselves that we have selected, or created, with a specific person in mind, sent with love and care, and which can travel from our home to theirs.

If you have the ability to make (or purchase) and send cards to your loved ones, I highly encourage you to do so.

You need to not wait until a major event such as a birthday, Mother’s Day, or Christmas rolls around.

“Thinking of you”, “miss you”, and “just because” cards can be every much as meaningful and special as those for big events.

Perhaps, it could be argued, even more so in some ways, as they’re often wonderful surprises that (unlike special occasions) we didn’t see coming.

If you can tailor your card to your recipient, all the better. But doing so isn’t necessary. Had, for example, a deer, bird, fox, or dolphin appeared on this card, I doubt my mom would have enjoyed or appreciated it any less.

In card making and giving, it is the thought behind the card that often matter more than the actual subject matter depicted.

Sending or giving a card shows not only that you care, but that – in what must surely be an act approved by elephants everywhere – you have not (and likely could not possibly have) forgotten about that person.

PS: Fun birthday related fact: today marks exactly three months until mine returns.

The post You Make My Heart Smile Elephant Themed Birthday Card appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

It is awesome to see the positive reaction that this Halloween crafting hashtag has already received. Thank you very much to everyone who has supported and engaged with this hashtag right out of the gate.

I am excited to watch #MakeHalloween365 blossom and grow, like the loveliest of autumn pumpkins, into a thriving hashtag community for Halloween crafters and creative folks the world over.

To that end, I’m delighted to share my own contributions to the tag and have decided that this year (and quite possibly beyond), I’m going to be posting at least one Halloween themed craft project per month here on the blog.

Some will have accompanying YouTube videos as well.

Not only will this help to generate more content for which to use and share the #MakeHalloween365 hashtag, but it will go a long way to ensuring I have plenty of Halloween paper crafting projects ready go when fall returns.

If you enjoy Halloween related crafting of any kind – be it paper crafting or otherwise – and would like to join me in sharing at least one Halloween craft project a month, I wholeheartedly welcome you to do so.

Of course, you do not have to do so in order to use #MakeHalloween365. Whether you create one, five, twenty, or a hundred Halloween craft projects throughout year, you are always welcome to use this hashtag.

One of my favourite elements of fall time is the gorgeous display of colours that the sky often takes on as the sun sets.

We live deep in the heart of a narrow valley, so we don’t get to see as many sunsets as in certain other parts of the world. Thankfully though, we still experience some, with those of October and November often being amongst the most breathtakingly beautiful.

Throughout the year, I often think fondly (and longingly) of those gorgeous displays of overhead autumnal colour.

Recently, I was in the mood to celebrate them in paper crafting form.

And so set to work creating this oversized tag that features a sunset tucked behind a classic four-pane window that comes complete with a dangling spider to up the spookiness factor all the more.

Products used to make this handmade oversized Halloween tag

-Black cardstock

-Grey cardstock

-White cardstock

-Orange and black bat print paper – Halloweeny 12”x12” Paper Pad from Recollections

-Peachy-orange embossed skull cardstock – Embossed Halloween 6”x6” Paper Pad from Recollections

-Black embossed bat cardstock – Embossed Halloween 6”x6” Paper Pad from Recollections

-Teal and peach print paper – Splendor Lovely Paper from My Mind’s Eve

-Black (or other colour) oversized tag – 4 1/8” x 8.5” Dylusions Black Journaling Tag from Ranger

-Window with dangling spider die

-Flourish die

-Polka dot border punch – Double Bubble Border Punch from Fiskars

-Black and cream journaling pieces – Narratives by Karen Russell from Creative Imaginations

-Black ink pad – Autumn Leaves Onyx Black Ink Pad from Stampology

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads in the following colours: Pumice Stone, Rusty Hinge, Spiced Marmalade, and Stormy Sky

-Black enamel drops – Ebony Black Crystal Drops from Nuvo

-Pleated black satin ruffle trim

-Black lace

-Teal green seam binding

-Orange ribbon

-Blue and green ribbon

-Blue embroidery thread

-Peach embroidery thread

-Black buttons

-Teal buttons – Charm Pack G0R356102 from Santoro

-Small peach ribbon flower embellishments

-Blue paper flower

-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)

Note: Following on what I said in my last project share post regarding the requests I received to give more in-depth project instructions, it struck me that it is logical to list the materials used in a given project and then proceed with the instructions themselves. Thus, I will be doing just that starting with this post.

How to create a beautiful peach and teal Halloween sunset window oversized tag

Start with a black (or other colour) oversized tag 4 1/8” x 8.5” Dylusions Black Journaling Tag from Ranger.

If you do not have a tag this size on hand, you could use a ruler to draw the same dimensions onto a piece of sturdy cardstock or chipboard, cut your handmade tag out, and use that instead.

As well, the general layout of this tag lends itself excellently to a card, so that is another alternative to making a tag that still works great with this particular Halloween window design.

Next, trim a piece of teal and peach print My Mind’s Eye paper slightly smaller than the tag front and punch two pieces of grey cardstock the same size as the top and bottom edges of the MME paper using a Fiskar’s Double Bubble border punch.

Attach the grey punched cardstock to the top and bottom of the teal and peach paper and adhere this to your tag base.

Cut two pieces of peachy-orange embossed skull cardstock and distress them with some fine sandpaper or a nail file to give them more of an aged, worn look.

Apply a small amount of Pumice Stone Distress Oxide Ink and a very light amount of black ink in various spots across both pieces of embossed cardstock to give even more of a distressed and aged appearance.

Back both of these pieces of embossed cardstock onto black cardstock, leaving a very narrow visible border of black cardstock on all sides.

Arrange one panel towards the bottom of the teal and peach print MME paper and another (horizontally) about halfway down the total length of the tag.

Select three cream and black journaling pieces, topping two of them with pieces of orange and black bat print paper. Arrange as desired slightly above and below the middle of the tag.

Die cut two flourish shapes from black cardstock, arranging them just below the middle of the tag.

Cut a piece of black embossed bat pattern cardstock that’s a little over half the length of the MME teal and peach paper, trimming it just slightly smaller than the width of that panel. Attach with either adhesive or foam dots, if added dimension is desired.

To create the fall sunset panel, begin with a piece of white cardstock. Use Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads in the following colours: Pumice Stone, Rusty Hinge, Spiced Marmalade, and Stormy Sky to make an ink blended sky. Apply a light dusting of water to the ink once you’ve blended it.

Next, die cut the window (with spider) shape from grey cardstock. If you do not have a die like this (I picked mine up 2 – 3 years ago on Ali Express), you could use any suitable window shaped die of your choosing and (optionally) add a die cut spider, spider charm, spider sticker, or even a small black spider toy to the window instead.

Apply black enamel drops to the spider and allow to dry before attaching the grey cardstock window piece to your inked sunset background.

If you do not have black enamel drops, you could use black embossing powder, black glitter, black Stickles, or colour the spider with a black marker or pencil crayon instead (or simply leave it as is for a uniformed grey look).

Attach the window panel to the tag base. Thread the round black and heart shaped teal buttons with embroidery thread and arrange them as shown. Likewise place the peach ribbon flowers and blue paper flower as shown around the base and sides of the window panel.

Top the window panel with a piece of black lace to create the look of a valance.

Beneath the window panel, adhere a piece of black ruffle trim, a piece of teal green seam binding, and a piece of orange ribbon.

Tie a basic bow from a piece of the same black lace that you used for the window valance and attach it below the blue paper flower.

Lastly, cut one piece each of teal green seam binding, orange ribbon, and blue (with green edges) ribbon, or other ribbons and trims of your choosing, and tie them through the hole at the top of the tag.

Your Halloween sunset window tag is now complete and ready to be enjoyed as part of your festive décor or gifted to whomever your heart desires.

It’s never too soon to start counting down to – or crafting for – Halloween

From the get-go of this blog’s life, I have wanted to make fall/Halloween/Samhain relating crafting a big part of the projects that I share here.

Things got off to a decent start on that front in 2020, WCL’s first year of life.

However, I feel that thanks to #MakeHalloween365, I will be able to amp up my Halloween crafting all the more. And, in turn, help to make it a standout element of my blog, Instagram, and YouTube channel.

As of today’s date, March 28th, there are 217 days to go until Halloween.

While I do not want that time to vanish too quickly (after all, each day behind us is, objectively, one less in front of us), as a perpetual Halloween lover, it just comes naturally to me to countdown until All Hallows’ Eve the whole year through.

Whether you do the same or not, I hope that the Halloween projects I share here and those posted by others who use the #MakeHalloween365 hashtag will prove inspirational as you go about making your own fall and Halloween themed creations of all kinds.

Here’s to a year of fa-boo-lous Halloween fun and crafting! I can hardly wait to see what you all make!

The post Beautiful Halloween Sunset Window Oversized Tag appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

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Here in the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice returns tomorrow. In the midst of ever colder and snowier weather, as hard as it is to believe at times, the days ever-so-gradually begin to grow longer again.

It will be many weeks more still before we begin to experience much in the way of notable longer hours of daylight, and the start of winter may seem like a odd time to focus on sunshine aplenty. Winter, however, is not as desolate and forlorn a season as the barren landscape outside may have you believe.

For under the hibernating heart of a season that sends us running for extra sweaters and a near constant supply of steaming hot drinks, the embryo of next year’s warmth and vitality is slowly developing.

Its birth will usher in the near heady verdancy of spring, which in turn leads us to the sizzling, dreamy days of summer, before returning, in due course, to the majestic beauty and mild temperatures of autumn.

The seasons and how they progress – be it in this order, or in reverse when south of the equator – are familiar to just about everyone.

It is one of many constant patterns in our world that provide background structure and comfort. Even if a person favours certain seasons over the others (*cough, cough* fall), each of the four chapters of the year has an undeniable spirit and energy all its own.

This autumn flew by with stark rapidity. On our end, snow started tumbling down in mid-October, effectively putting the breaks of fall weather and ushering in winter even earlier than usual around these parts.

Yet, no matter how many inches accumulated outdoors, I clung fiercely and lovingly to fall.

It shone out in our seasonal décor and the (real) pumpkins – both full sized and miniature – that are still thriving several weeks after they were purchased. And it resided in the cores of ours hearts, where we mused over past autumns and did our best to make the most of this strange and unsettling year’s own iteration of a treasured season.

For all the changes and uncertainties in the world, and even with the comically early start of winter weather, this fall was lovely.

Simple and classic, busy and yet serene at times as well, it housed traditions and new experiences alike, reminding us not only how much we cherish this slice of the year, but of how far we’ve come as a collective whole since 2020 began.

Today on the final day of this glorious season, we are capping off autumn with the Fall 2020 Edition of Magick, Crafty Makes, & Me.

This will be the last post in this series for 2020. The next one – the Winter 2021 edition – will begin the series anew in a year that many of us are anticipating with both eagerness and thoroughly justified trepidation.

For now though, with a few more days of the present year remaining on the calendar, let’s curl up with one of those aforementioned roasty-toasty drinks and delve into some of the stories and posts that grabbed my attention throughout the fall – and which I hope you will enjoy, find informative, or be inspired by as well.

Magick, Witchcraft, Paganism, and Spirituality

–5 Ways to Find Focus in Your Magic: I’m thoroughly convinced that there is something of a magpie tendency to many a witchy soul. We love so much, enjoy learning about a wide array of topics, and (in some cases at least) have a naturally eclectic nature that helps to create a varied and ever-evolving practice.

At times though, it is important to take stock of what our core beliefs and practises are, to hone in on the key elements of our spiritual path, and to strengthen our bond with those areas that presently resonate most deeply for us.

If your practice is in need of some direction at present or if you’re just feeling a bit spent spiritually after the intense year we’ve weathered, this insightful entry from Avery at The Travelling Witch may be of interest and benefit to you.

(In a similar vein, The Magick Kitchen recently published a terrific post entitled The Stuck and Unfocused Witch, which also provides plenty of helpful advice for those who are feeling out of sorts with their practice at the moment.)

–Holiday Gift Ideas for Naturalist Pagans: This time of the year sees a bevy of holiday gift guide posts shared far and wide across the blogging sphere. The Pagan and witchery-centred blogging world is no exception, and I’ve really been enjoying those that have crossed my path so far this festive season.

One that has stood out in particular is this splendid array of gift ideas for Naturalist Pagans (those who generally speaking do not subscribe to/believe in, or who are skeptical of, the theistic, supernatural, and/or metaphysical components prevalent in some forms of 21^st century Paganism), the entries of which will, no doubt, also appeal to many other types of Pagans and witches as well.

–9 DIY Witchy Yule Gifts: Handmade gifts are amongst the most meaningful and heart-touching presents we to both give and receive. If you’re looking for some wonderful ideas for DIY holiday gifts to make for your fellow witches/Pagans or anyone else you think might enjoy something you crafted by hand, be sure to check out Moody Moon’s lovely array of project ideas.

–Resources for Non-Theistic Pagans and Skeptical Witches: Both outside and inside of the Pagan/witchy sphere there is often a prevailing notion that nearly all witches and Pagan work with and/or believe in some form of deity/Source/Spirit/god or goddess/higher power.

Yet in truth, a fair number do not hold these beliefs or practises and there are no shortage of witchy/Pagan folks who consider themselves to be atheists or agnostics (or who otherwise simply don’t feel called to involve deity in their own spiritual path).

This is, of course, 100% okay and it is, I believe, very important that the community not feel any less inclusive to those who are not theistic or who may have a healthy dose of skepticism when it comes to certain spiritual matters.

If you fall under this header or are simply interested in learning more about non-theistic Paganism/witchcraft, this extensive and highly useful list is apt to be right up your alley.

–10 Powerful Ways to Make Urban Magick: At present, my husband and I reside in a tiny rural-ish town that is rife with both beautiful farmlands and enchanting woodlands.

Throughout the course of my life, I’ve lived in a number of locations that spanned populations of less than a thousand to multiple millions. There is much to be said in favour of small towns and even more remote locations, but I can just as easily sing the praises of larger cities as well.

I feel fortunate that my heart is largely spit down the middle when it comes to loving both city and small town existence. This helps to ensure that I tend to get on well most anywhere I call home, but it doesn’t mean that at times I don’t yearn for one when living in the other.

Each time I’ve called a town or city my own, I have loved finding ways to integrate my metropolitan surroundings with my witchery.

City magick is a special, awesome type of witchy working all its own. Given how many of us call large urban centers home these days, this post from Other Worldly Oracle is apt to appeal to plenty of magickal folks from Montreal to Madrid, Sydney to Sacramento – and everywhere in between!

–Witchcraft Legacies – Witch Will & Succession Planning: As a chronically ill witch with no children of my own, (to date) only one nephew (who doesn’t speak the same language as me), and no other Pagans or witches in my immediate family, the subject of what may become of my witchy related belongings, written records, and a lifetime of accumulated knowledge + personal experience is one that I have thought about many times over the years.

To be perfectly honest, at this point in time, I don’t have all the answers there. If possible, I would love to gift as many of these things to some of my dearest witchy friends, but as they all live in different parts of the world, not nearby, the costs and practicality involved there may not make such possible.

It is comforting and helpful to know that others in our sphere are thinking about this topic (perhaps all the more so this year because of the pandemic) as well.

If the fate of your witchy knowledge + belongings is a subject that is applicable to your life, you will definitely want to check out this thought-provoking post from The Witch & The Walnut.

Card Making, Scrapbooking, Paper Crafting, and Other Crafts

–Acorn Crafts for the Best Fall Ever: Cute and classic, acorns are a widely adored element of fall that one can easily put to great use on the crafting front. If you swoon over acorns, chances are that at least one idea from this handy craft project list is sure to make you as happy as a squirrel who just found a huge windfall of these delightful oak tree offerings.

–Crochet Cat Paw Chair Socks: If you ask me, whimsy deserves a bigger place in many of our lives and homes alike. Should you feel the same – and know your way around a pair of crochet hooks – then this cuter-than-cute project is bound to be the cat’s meow in your eyes!

–DIY Romantic Fall Boho Wreath: This fall may be ending, but doesn’t mean that you can’t get a jumpstart on creating beautiful seasonal décor for next autumn. I spotted numerous stunning handmade fall wreaths online this year, but few made my heart skip a beat quite like this modern meets timeless stunner from The DIY Mommy.

(I also really enjoyed + was inspired by Christina’s recent posts on how to Make Tiny Terrariums from Jam Jars, How to Make DIY Dryer Balls, How to Make DIY Cocoa Bombs for Hot Chocolate, and DIY Pillows from Napkins.)

–Five Ways with Sparkle Embossing: Few times of the year are better suited to all things shimmery, glittery, and sparkly than the winter holiday season. If you’re looking to inject more shine into your festive makes this season, be sure to take a gander at Jennifer McGuire’s lovely array of five ways to work with sparkle embossing.

–How to Create a Glazed Pottery/China Look on Die Cuts: I am nothing short of smitten with this elegant, versatile, and totally gorgeous embossing technique, as well as the accompany die cut teacup project featured in this post.

–101 Fall Sewing Tutorials (with Free Patterns You’ll Love): If you’re a fan of both fall time and sewing, this awesome post is one you’ll want to check out now and save/pin for later reference as well.

What’s shaking in my life and on my radar

As I knew would be the case, the – how shall we say – Labrador puppy level temporary jolt of energy I experienced at times this summer didn’t last for long.

Thankfully, however, it didn’t fizzle out completely either. Instead, much like fall weather, it mellowed, but remained vibrant at least some of the time.

My husband and I strive to live a simple, uncomplicated life with as little stress and strife as possible. Of course, sometimes the universe has other plans, but whenever possible, we lean into the inherent positives that come with embracing serenity and being grateful for the here and now.

As fall returned, in the wild pockets of woodland and on the wild outskirts of local farms, I continued to walk whenever possible. At times, in the process, forging and bringing home some of nature’s bounty to swirl into our meals, include in my magickal workings, or use as decorations around the house – depending on what Gaia had gifted me with that day.

Unlike most autumns, there were no big family shindigs for Canadian Thanksgiving or Halloween, no gatherings to pick pumpkins, hit the last of the year’s yard sales, or huddle merrily around a bonfire.

Yet, in our own ways, we made the best of things and adapted to the changes. We were still able to hand out candy to the 37 or so trick-or-treaters who came to our door this year on Halloween night (in past years, we’ve averaged between 110 – 120 at this address).

And as a solitary witch who usually observes the sabbats at home, my Mabon and Samhain happenings were, thankfully, not overly impacted by the pandemic.

This year has not, by any stretch of the imagination, been the kindest to me on the health front. As a long time multi-chronic illness warrior, I know though that rougher weeks/months/seasons/years come with the territory.

I’m an old shoe at navigating the waters of a body that often seems to have a mind and a will of its own. That doesn’t mean though that I’m not still caught off guard on occasion by just hard medical flare-ups, new issues, and ongoing challenges can hit me sometimes.

Through it all though (almost amazingly to me personally at times), I’ve been able to post here at my usual pace of at least one new entry per week.

I cannot claim the same for IG, however. There too, however, I have done my best to stay as active as possible. Accepting, in the process, that 2020 is not going to set any records as the year in which I posted the biggest number of new snaps to Instagram. C’est la vie!

We must adapt and accept, be grateful for what we have and can do, not spend our precious energy (and health!) on fighting things that cannot be changed at present.

For me, some of the main positive highlights of this fall include:

-Leasing a brand new car around the start of October (our previous vehicle needed a substantial amount of repairs and it would have been illogical to invest thousands of dollars into a car that wasn’t worth a massive amount any more, so it just made sense for us to lease a new vehicle instead). This is the third car Tony and I have now had and we’re really looking forward to spending the next three years (the duration of the lease) with our new 2021 Mazda.

-All the fall walks – even when they looked considerably more like winter treks from the second half of October onward. I especially adored seeing the autumn and Halloween décor that many people put out in our neighbourhood, followed not long after by Christmas decorations + lights aplenty (so magical!).

-Halloween/Samhain. My favourite and most treasured day of the year. So long as I live, I will breath for October 31^st. This year’s was unquestionably different in some respects, but the ancient spirit, spooky soul, and captivating magick of the day were, thankfully, as strong as ever for me.

-Getting in some lovely crafting seasons, particularly in the calm lull of November, between October and December’s extra full days. These sessions afforded me the opportunity to create my handmade holiday season greetings for the year (yay!).

-Tweaking some elements behind the scenes when it comes to my blogging and SM approaches and schedule. Brainstorming post ideas for my blog content here for the first half of 2021, and feeling all the more like I’m finding my stride in terms of this site (which will celebrate its first birthday on January 1^st).

On the good ol’ interwebs front, here are a handful of stories and posts that have captured my attention this autumn.

–Amazing Abandoned Long Island Farmhouse That Sat Untouched for 40 Years: Many who are familiar with my Instagram account and/or who used to follow me on my (now retired) vintage blog, know that I have a tremendous passion for the past.

Tied into that adoration is a great love for abandoned buildings. There are relatively few such structures in our area (especially if we’re talking beyond things like decaying old barns and tiny log cabins), so I experience most of my abandon house hunting vicariously through other peoples’ photos and videos.

There is a concept in both the vintage and the real estate world know as a time-warp home. Be it currently occupied or abandoned, a time-warp house in one in which the interior (and often exterior, too) has been largely unchanged for decades or even centuries, as the case may be.

Stepping into such a home is rather like hopping in a time machine and jettisoning back to a previous era.

This story highlights, via many captivatingly beautiful photographs, the recent discovery of an abandoned home that has sat (presumably) untouched since the 1970s.

Upon hearing this, you might expect to be greeted with a sea of shag carpeting, harvest gold appliances, and macrame plant hangers.

Instead, what greets onlookers is a time-warp home rife with Victorian, early and mid-twentieth century furnishings and other belongings. It is a striking, remarkable find and a powerful look at a home whose final owner valued and preserved history right up until her last days on this earth.

–Black Creatives in the Halloween and Horror Community: From one of my absolute favourite Halloween blogs (seriously, if you’re not following Spooky Little Halloween already, run, don’t walk to do so at once!) comes this terrific list of some of the most creative, inspiring, and flat out awesome individuals in the Halloween and horror community.

–Cottagecore Debuted 2,300 Years Ago: It is entirely natural that various styles rise and fall in popularity over the years. Relatively little is new under the sun at this point, but even knowing that, it might surprise you to learn that cottagecore – a true darling of the aesthetic scene as of late – is thought to have got its roots over two thousand years ago, as this fascinating, history rich article details.

–Holiday Simmer Pot Recipes: To me, few things personify the winter holiday season quite like certain memorable, beloved aromas. From freshly cut pine trees to nutmeg rich eggnog, gingerbread to candy canes, this chapter of the year is enriched by the many delights available to us via our olfactory sense.

If you enjoy holiday season scents, I recommend checking out Kayla’s delightful recipes for homemade simmer pots that are natural, easy to make, and sure to have your house smelling more festive than a fleet of Bath & Bodyworks stores.

(And while we’re on the subject of swoon worthy seasonal scents, may I suggest you also give Hello Glow’s Make Your House Smell Like the Holidays with DIY Aromatic Wax Fire Starters a gander.)

–11 Salves for Holiday Grief in the Time of COVID: In one way or another – and often, in a multitude of ways – grief has impacted most of us this year. Some, of course, are harder hit. Their losses profound, their lives irrevocably altered.

Grief is an extremely personal thing and each of us experiences, processes, and (if possible) begins to heal from the trauma or loss that caused it differently.

If you are experiencing grief this holiday season, be it COVID related or otherwise, the caring, easy to implement ideas laid out in this post may just help to make December a bit easier to bear this year.

–1989: Shopping Malls, America: I was four years old in ’89 and view this year as the first one for which I can clearly remember a multitude of days and happenings (though do have a smattering of earlier memories).  

I grew up in Canada, not the US, but much like south of the 49^th, malls were a really big deal for a lot of people here in the 1980s and 90s.

Looking at these candid snapshots of everyday folks going about their lives at the mall whisked me back in time faster than any DeLorean ever could. And in doing so, made me more than a wee bit nostalgic for a chapter of our collective history that often feels like it was a million years ago now.

Gone but not forgotten

Fall, sweet, enchanting, sublimely wonderful fall. You are like honey to my tongue and music to my ears. Your aromas and colours thrill and inspire me like no other, and though we must part for now, I will not soon forget you.

Indeed, I will carry your name in my heart the whole year through, weaving you into my crafting projects and fashion choices, the movies I watch (rare is the season in which I don’t view Hocus Pocus at least once), the books I read, the poems I pen.

I will think of you with the clarity of a ringing bell when the veil thins in a similar, yet different way, at Beltane. You will be my thoughts as mercury boils on my birthday in July and when, to my mind at least , the very first unofficial steps toward autumn begin the very next day.

When winter’s stronghold refuses to give up the ghost in March, and on Walpurgis Night as a witchy stirring and ancient energy not entirely unlike that of Samhain fills the mild late April air.

For fall is in my DNA and even when we say goodbye, we are never truly parted for good. Indeed, autumn, like all of the seasons, reside in each of us. We are borne of them, and they, in a sense, of us as well.

I would be kidding myself if I said that fall’s end isn’t a melancholy experience for me. Thankfully though, I know that like the harvest moon, it will rise again next year. A wonderful kindred spirit whose lifeblood helps to keep my own going strong.

Right here and now though, like many a Pagan and witch, I am celebrating the Yule season and settling in for what will most likely be about four more months of snow, snow, and more snow (this is Canada after all ).

Thankfully, the merriment of both Yule and Christmas help to ease the sting of autumn’s departure, while ushering in a season that, objectively, I’m also very fond of.

Winter is not without its own distinct beauty and charms, blessings and reasons to be grateful for these cold, dark days.

In the coming weeks and months, we will shine the spotlight on some of them, delve into numerous fun seasonal craft projects, and help one another through the teeth chatteringly chilly days of winter.

From the bottom of my heart, sweet friends, I wish you a cozy, safe, serene, beautiful, and happiness filled winter (or summer, if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere).

May it help guide us all to a better, healthier, and less challenging year ahead.

The post Fall 2020 Edition of Magick, Crafty Makes, and Me appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.