Carey Burns

So today I'm putting away all those awesome craft supplies and feeling very tired from a great Halloween. I also decided to put away items from my work Halloween party and clean the cesspit I call the office. I hope you all had a splendid holiday!!! Tomorrow we set the clocks back and the downhill sprint to January begins. Later this month I'll be selling items at a craft/vendor fair and I'll be adding more items to my Etsy store so if you liked any of the jewelry I made during the Creep-a-Day Challenge, check out my store and you might see some very similar items available. I thought about doing NaNoWriMo this year, but have other commitments (writing-related) so I am skipping the fun this year. If you are taking the challenge, I salute you and cheer your success.  There may be a cool thing coming up next year and once I discuss it with the hubs and get a firmer plan, I will share it here. Don't you love vague statements like that? Happy November!

Polymer Clay Fingers Can you point me in the right direction? Happy Halloween! Thank you so much for following me through this magical month of crafting insanity! I'm glad and sad to see it come to a close, but hey, there is always next year! Since this is the last night and we'll have trick-or-treaters and other fun things going on, I thought I'd do something simple, yet fun. Behold...polymer clay fingers! These awesome candy molds have been tucked away in a closet, waiting to be used for at least five years. FIVE YEARS! Well, they shall wait no longer. Cautions: Polymer clay can give off fumes--make sure you are in a well-ventilated kitchen. They say it is best to keep your polymer clay tools strictly for polymer clay. Supplies: Polymer clay in various colors (I used Sculpey) Candy mold Baking dish Parchment paper The How: Preheat your oven to 275 degrees and line a baking pan with parchment paper. Make sure your candy molds are clean and dry. Sele...

Shrunken Skull Shrinky Skull! I've had a Shrinky Dink kit for jewelry for several years and only made a few things out of it. A few weeks ago, I thought about making an articulated Shrinky Dink skeleton, but the paper I have isn't big enough for the size I wanted. Sifting through my royalty-free clip art collection from Dover, I decided to make a skull ornament. Supplies: Shrinky Dink plastic sheets Felt tip pen Aluminum foil Baking pan Oven Tools: Scissors Hole punch (mine came with the kit) The How: I traced out my image on the rough side of the Shrinky dink paper, per the instructions, adding shading where appropriate. It was time-consuming but it reminded me of my college osteology class. We spent a lot of time sketching the different bones in the lab and I still have many of my drawings. Base image With Shrinky Dink paper and my sketch over the top Lifting the sketch off My sketch ...

Spooky Halloween Album My own Halloween pictorial history Today's craft was unplanned. I thought I knew what I was making...but had swapped the craft out for a different night that had no craft earlier this month. What to do? What to do??? I couldn't sleep because of this then I thought of all the supplies I have the most of. Paper. Good gravy, do I have paper! And doo dads. Lots and lots of doo dads. I would combine the two to make a spooktacular Halloween photo album. Supplies: 2 book boards (I used 8x8) 8x8 Halloween scrapbook paper 2 Binder rings Halloween scrapbook paper in contrasting colors/patterns Glossy Accents Tim Holtz metal corners Photos Tim Holtz word bands Brads Double-sided tape Tim Holtz Clear Rock Candy Crackle Tim Holtz ornate plates Tim Holtz gears Tools: 7 gypsies Binderie Punch Scissors The How: A wee bit of what you need I had different sizes of book boards and the 8x8 size already had holes punched in them so that help...

Mother of the Year This could easily be rendered into a cake. Hint-hint... I bought this paper pulp pumpkin on clearance last year, not knowing what I'd make with it. As this month progressed, ideas ranged from a newspaper-covered pumpkin to a button-covered pumpkin to a googly eye-covered pumpkin.Staring at the naked pumpkin, the idea of the pumpkin being an egg sack both terrified and delighted me. The spider on top is the Mother of the Year for protecting her soon-to-be hatched hellions. Supplies: Paper pulp pumpkin White acrylic paint Black paint (I used a paint pen as well as acrylic) Styrofoam ball Crackle Glaze (I used Tim Holtz® Clear Distress Crackle Paint by Ranger®) Tools: Paint brush Palette Knife The How: I applied a thick layer of white paint over the pumpkin except for the stem. I only used one layer because I wanted a webby/woven appearance. You won't need string for this one--this photo was before the spider idea took over my brain ...

Spooky Silhouettes Don't be scared! Each year, I come up with different silhouettes for our front windows and I usually have all of the supplies for this project on hand. Bats always look awesome and crows look cool too. If I'm feeling extremely ambitious, I cover the windows in colored cellophane. This year, I was only feeling mildly ambitious. Supplies: Black paper (card stock or construction paper) Colored cellophane (the stuff you wrap gift baskets in) Tape Pencil Tools: Scissors The How: Some of what you need I start out folding a piece of construction paper in half and cut out a rough pumpkin shape. This guy was tall so I folded the paper long-ways and cut. With the paper still in half, I drew a large X where I thought the eyes should go. I opened the paper to make sure the placement was good. Next I drew an open, wailing mouth. I refolded the paper and carefully, I poked a "pilot hole" in the center of the X and began cutting it o...

I kept my word and finished this beast of a craft project. I won't say when I began or when I finally finished...but I'd say over 7 hours were put into this thing today only. If (this is a big if) I do any other cross-stitch projects in the future, I seriously would consider getting a magnifying light of some sort. Or just do needlepoint on bigger canvas holes. Anyway, this is my cross-stitched zombie that will be gifted to my hubby. The craft project that would not die! I'll post Day 27 very soon.