Happy Halloween!

Wishing you all a Happy Halloween from The Scrappy Tree! Here's hoping you get all the candy you could wish for and none of the side effects ;)

As the other members of TST can tell you, I have had this beautiful Graphic 45 Halloween in Wonderland paper for some time, and have found it really difficult to use it because it's so pretty! I finally bit the bullet and used some to make this mini-album of some old photos of df and I having some fun with pumpkin-carving :)
I really love these Halloween-themed flowers by Recollections; the skulls, spiders and web patterns on the flowers are fab!

I think my favourite thing about these photos are the wonderful faces that df pulls!

Can you guess which was mine and which was df's??

I really liked these Halloween stickers I found at the pound shop; the photos were really fun and I was glad to find stickers to match.

Happy Halloween to everybody from The Scrappy Tree!

Gayle xx

Art Journal Friday

After a little time away, I am excited to be bringing Art Journal Friday back to The Scrappy Tree! To do something different from the Halloween weekend, in just a week's time it will be November 5th in the UK, a reason to let off lots of fireworks! Guy Fawkes Day is a traditional day in the UK where we burn a 'guy' on a bonfire (the guy is some old clothes stuffed with newpaper) and let off fireworks to commemorate the foiling of a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament and the King of England in 1605. If you'd like to read more about the history behind the celebration, I have included a link here.

''Remember remember the 5th of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot,
I know no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.'

I would like you to take something from this that speaks to you personally and journal it this weekend! Whether you are an ardent fan of firework displays, or whether you would prefer to take something a little darker from the plots and the treason... your choice! Scrappers, card-makers, artists, combinations of these and more! - make something and share it with us :) you can use any medium that you feel comfortable with, and combine them if that is what helps you to get your ideas onto paper/wood/metal/fabric :)

This one is just for fun, so have some fun with it :) if you'd like to share (and we'd love to see!) please feel free to upload your pic to our Ning site, and if you see something you like there then please leave some love! Have a great Halloween weekend Scrappy Tree-ers!

Gayle xx

Save the Children-Kevin McKidd-World Pneumonia Day

Help support a wonderful cause!

Save the Children and Kevin McKidd (Owen Hunt) from Grey's Anatomy are supporting World Pneumonia Day



Below are small ways YOU can help to make a BIG difference!

Visit:
http://worldpneumoniaday.org/



1 Raise a Glass to Pneumonia’s Last Syrah Every time you buy a case of syrah wine, you can help get rid of a case of pneumonia.

2 Ask Decision Makers to Help Stop a Killer Help us urge leaders to help stop the deaths of more than 1.5 million children each year. Send a message to your public officials today.

3 Spread the Word—No matter if you’re online, off-line or standing in line! There are many ways to build awareness about pneumonia, and we have the to assist your effort. Share and retweet messages on Facebook and Twitter.

4 Donate! Just $10 can vaccinate a child against the most deadly causes of pneumonia. You can make your life-giving gift by visiting the GAVI Alliance.

5 Wear Blue on November 12! Concerned citizens around the world are wearing blue on World Pneumonia Day to show their support for the fight against pneumonia.

Re-posting from Kevin Mckidd Online , visit to see other ways to help make a difference.

Halloween is creeping up on us....

Hello Bloggers!

Well Halloween is creeping up on us and I thought I would try the Trick and the Treat part of Halloween! I had recently seen some Laughing Cow Cheese containers used (I forgot to save the links for these projects) for some cool things, the containers look like this with a little paint:


I started with a few layers of paint inside and out, then chose my paper, embellishments and I was off and running! The idea was to create a Trick and a Treat using two containers. The Treat was easy, I went with Candy Corn because it doesn't melt but also toyed with home-made chocolates shaped like spiders, anything will work! The Trick was harder but I made it work. I wanted a spider to jump out of the box as it was opened. I still to this day remember my Mom bringing home an envelope of rattlesnake eggs, that when opened, unwound a paperclip and rubber band against the envelope and sounded like a rattlesnake, ha ha I know, my Mom loved to laugh :) Anyhow, here it is...













My husband was help with this one, he pulled a spring out of his bags of tricks as I traced a spider and cut it out of mat board and covered it in black embossed spider web paper. The inside was painted black, I used my glue gun to glue the spring (about 1" tall) to the center bottom of the container and to the center underside of the spider. I added some filler to hide the spring and Voila! Tricky spider jumping out of a container! Not quite the rattlesnake eggs but I will keep trying :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Kristin


*Products used: My Back Porch Memories Halloween kit and a few misc. pieces from last year (Pink Paislee papers and clear stickers, Jenni Bowlin tags, American Craft ribbons & Thickers)

Inspiration Monday: A little creepy

This time of year is just so fun. With the trees changing colors and all the Halloween decorations coming out, I just had to pick something using those things as inspiration this month. I thought this image was a good Halloween image with the spooky look of the colors and tree. Your challenge is to use this image (found from a google search for Fall leaves) as a springboard and create something! You can create anything that you'd like.

I chose to create a Halloween wall hanging. I really liked the colors from the inspiration image so I recreated those by using my alcohol inks on glossy paper!

A closer view:

I started by taking my glossy paper and recreating the colors from the inspiration photo. The first line of color was made by using the Butterscotch alcohol ink. I used Wild Plum for the second layer, Carmel for the third layer and finally a mixture of Ginger and Wild Plum for the final layer. Then I used a Maya Road acrylic album page and traced it onto my glossy pater and cut it out. I adhered it to the acrylic page by using Yes Glue. Then I painted a Maya Road chipboard tree with acrylic black paint. Once dry, I added it to the glossy paper. Finally I added Thickers to complete the hanging!

We can't wait to see what you make using the inspiration image. Upload your creations to our Ning site by this Friday night, October 15th so we can comment!

Let's start thinking Halloween!

Hello Bloggers, it's been a while since we've posted! Lives got way too busy and we needed to take a break, but we are back! We hope to showcase many projects to inspire and delight you! Thank you for coming back to us!

Don't you just love this time of year? The leaves are turning and there's a slight chill starting to creep in the air. Halloween is just around the corner and I thought I would scare up a Halloween card for my first post of October for The Scrappy Tree.



All of the paper I used on this card is from My Mind's Eye. They make some of the greatest papers out there! I also used a Melissa Frances Rub on that says "creepy, crawly, spooky". I also used my Fiskars border punch on this card and a Pink Paislee flourish that you can even Glimmer Mist on!! (Which I did with an Apricot Glimmer Mist). The gemstones are from Hero Arts. A little candle wicking yarn tied into a bow completes the card!

This side view shows how I pleated the skull and bones paper. It is a great way to add some dimension to any paper crafting project!

Be on the lookout for some fun Scrappy Tree Halloween activities and projects this month! We are glad to be back posting and can't wait to bring even more crafting to you!