WITH A GRATEFUL HEART...

Greetings, dear readers!

I am happy to greet you on day 1 of my month of gratitude...each post will be full of crafts, photos, and thanksgiving!

To kick off this event, I have made a November desktop calendar for you! I hope you like it!



More soon! Hugs,
Paula Clare

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Greetings, dear readers!

We are home relaxing...and as I enjoy a cup of hot chocolate (with a Peeps marshmallow ghost melting on top... in my one-eyed witch's mug:



Isn't it hilarious? I just love it...a Cracker Barrel 50% off special!



I'm wearing my locket made at the Red Lead Workshop Yesterday...







The double sided lockets are made with a combination of tape transfer, inked images and collage. Of course the charms and bit of orange ribbon complete the look...What do you think?

We have just returned from a beautiful one day spur-of-the-moment trip to the southernmost tip of southern Illinois! The fall foliage was beautiful down there! Behold:







Hope yours is a happy haunting! See you next time with a brand new look!

Hugs,
Paula Clare

ITS GREAT PUMPKIN EVE!

Greetings dear readers! I am so excited Halloween is just around the corner! Tomorrow I am attending a workshop at Red Lead...behold the magic:



I also found some forgotten pumpkins to await with me the arrival of our fearless leader, the Great Pumpkin!



I am rationing my candy corn taffy, compliments of Sandy at 521 Lake Street!

I WON! I WON! I WON!

The Crafty Secrets Drawing! HOORAY! I am SO excited!

As many of you may know, our dear friend Julie Campbell of A Vintage Chic is on the Design Team for Crafty Secrets...I have fallen head over heels for their line of sweetness inspired vintage images...and here's the announcement:

Heartwarming Vintage Winner

You simply MUST check out their new stamps and heartwarming images! So sweet! Here's a card Julie made for Halloween:

and here's one made for Christmas with one of the stamp sets I won! From Design Team Member Pam Hooten:



And look at these little darlings:

AND as if the winnings weren't generous enough, I also get a new compilation CD they have created for Christmas! WOOT! SO EXCITING! I can't wait!

Okay, have to go and select my stamps and gush over at the Crafty Secrets website! Hugs to all! YAY!

Paula Clare

WIN A FREE COPY OF "HELLO CUPCAKE!"

Greetings, dear readers!

Just wanted to let you in on the fun contest at Creme Hurray Bakery! Visit their facebook page at this link:

Creme Hurray!

Leave a comment to be entered into a drawing to win a copy of the book, "Hello Cupcake!"



YAY for cupcakes!

More soon!
Hugs,
Paula Clare

TRICKS...AND TREATS!

Greetings, dear reader!

As you have probably heard, my daughter in love, Leah has opened a from-home-bakery, Creme Hurray! I decided to sample her wares for this most auspicious holiday...behold the goodies:

Haunted Owl MoonPie Pops, Zombie Cookies, Giant Candy Corn Cookies, and Boo Pops! Aren't they all just FAB?!?!

Our church sponsored a cake walk at a local festival, and these goodies were the most coveted at the festival! The kids were "ga-ga" over them, and the adults thought I was the most creative in the kitchen! Of course I confessed to EVERYONE that these were NOT my concoctions but those of my dear daughter who "found herself" in the kitchen!

Go to her website and check out the menu...cookies and pops can be shipped so you can get in your orders for Christmas now!



Tell her Paula Clare sent you!

HALLOWEEN CLASSICS...PREVIEW #1: THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER

Don't let the Halloween season pass without seeing this classic!

AND THE WINNER IS...

Via the ever faithful Random Number Generator, we have a winner!

And the winner is....(drumroll please)

2amscrapper (Helene Huber from the Red Lead Swap Group!) from Lotsa Scrap! WOOT!

Congrats, Helene! Please email me with your snail mail addy and I'll get these little goodies out to you STAT!

Thank you to all who entered! I wish I had a pair of earrings to send to each one of you!

I'll be back later with more Halloween fun!

Hugs,
Paula Clare

"GIVE A HOOT" JEWELRY GIVEAWAY! ENDING AT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT!

Greetings, dear readers!

I didn't want the Halloween season to pass without my giving you the chance to win something FABulous from the Palace!

While pilfering through my purchased-but-not-yet-loved treasures, I spied this set of gorgeous rhinestone owl earrings! They are not vintage (obviously, as they are french hooks and for pierced ears) but oh my goodness! The sparkle! The shine! The dazzling owl-y-ness of them! I pulled them off their store card (they are Mudd brand by the way) and put them on this darling little Halloween tag I made a year ago. I am also including a teeny tiny surprise in the little punkin box sitting next to the tag. You'll have to win to see what's inside!


So, in the spirit of Halloween, leave a comment telling me your favorite Halloween treat. I will randomly choose one (via the ever popular random number generator) at midnight on Sunday evening (that's THIS Sunday, October 24) and will announce the winner on Monday! I will hopefully have time to get the earrings to you by Halloween. If not, owls are ALWAYS en vogue! (At least they are in MY house!) So comment away! If you tell a friend and THEY leave a comment here, you get two chances in the hat! WOOT! SO MUCH FUN!



Good luck!

Hugs,
Paula Clare

OCTOBER'S YOU INSPIRE ME AWARD GOES TO...

Greetings, dear reader!

Well, the month of October has nearly come and gone, and that means it's time for the Paula's Palace of AltAred Art's "You Inspire Me" Award!

This month, I was inspired by the images and musings of:

Viv Out On A Whim!

Viv's blog is a wonderfully creative place where every visitor feels like they have been invited in to sit for a chat and a cup of coffee!

From her wonderfully whimsical handmade creations:



I just LOVE these punkin girls! So sweet and silly!



And her hand-felted monsters just slay me! LOL! (You MUST go to her blog and see all of them...HYSTERICAL!)

From her swaps, challenges and stunning skill at seemingly EVERYTHING she puts her hand to...





to her amazing collection of vintage-esque decorations and All Things Halloween:



Viv is the kind of creative soul that just makes me excited to know her! A toast to you, Queen Viv, for being such an inspiration to me and to all of us in blogdom...



Join me in congratulating Viv by leaving a comment here and/or paying her blog a visit! You'll be glad you did!

More soon,
Paula Clare

"WICKED" GOOD READS AND MOVIES!

Greetings, dear readers!

As we prepare for Halloween and all the festivities therein, I would like to take this time to share with you some of my favorite Halloween plays, movies, books, etc. Obviously, this is a MUST SEE/READ for anyone with the slightest affinity for the Wizard of Oz...

I have made a list of "classic" books I would like to build a library of leather-bound, gilded, embossed, and vintage-esque books...this past Christmas my eldest got me my first installment (pictured above). Isn't it just wonderful? And the storyline is great...it's about the witches in the Wizard of Oz. Here's a brief synopsis from Wikipedia:

Wicked tells the story of Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, and her relationship with Galinda, later Glinda, the Good Witch of the North (in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz novel, Glinda is the Good Witch of the South). Their friendship struggles through their opposing personalities and viewpoints, rivalry over the same love-interest, their reactions to the Wizard's corrupt government, and, ultimately, Elphaba's public fall from grace. The plot is set before and during Dorothy's arrival from Kansas, and includes several references to well-known scenes and dialogue in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz as a backstory.

Brilliant! Also, I have several movies on my "Must Watch" list each Halloween. I have told you before that I am a fan of Edgar Allan Poe, and homage is never better paid (in my opinion) than with Vincent Price and the old, theatrical versions of his writing: The Tell Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendelum, The Fall of the House of Usher (one of my faves), The Masque of the Red Death, and The Raven. Classic. Absolutely Classic.

Halloween is a WONDERFUL time to introduce kids to gothic fiction literature...here are some ideas to kickstart your thinking:

1. Host a Halloween Read-Aloud. Ask your friends to bring along their favorite literary tale of ghosts or goblins, scares and terrors. When you all get together, each reads their story. If you want to make it more academic, you can even discuss the literary significance of the tale.
   
   
2. Plan a Halloween Creatures Party--With Only Literary Monsters Allowed. There are lots of tales of monsters to draw from in literature. Invite your friends to dress up as their favorite literary creature: Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, Grendal, or any one of the other many monsters from the pages of your favorite book.
   
   
3. Put on a Halloween Theatrical Show. The tales of Edgar Allan Poe (and other literary masters) are perfect for putting on a theatrical show. Get some of your friends to act the parts; find an audience; and remind them all why Poe is such a master--perfect for Halloween.
   
   
4. Celebrate With Your Favorite Author. Of course, Halloween doesn't have to be about frights and spooky legends. You can invite your friends to dress up as their favorite authors: Mark Twain, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, etc. It's even more fun if you all stay in character for the party.
   

You can finish the night with a classic movie, that tells the tale of one of the literary works. (Some of the tales can be a bit gruesome, be sure to have age-appropriate versions available.) While many of the Vincent Price movies may seem a bit "hammy" or "campy" compared to more modern versions, the quality of a well written story still makes for great suspense and a wonderful Halloween experience!

DOUBLE WATERFALL ALBUM COMPLETE!

Greetings, dear reader!

As promised, I have completed (amidst a hideous onslaught of a nasty COLD, mind you) the double waterfall album. I am such a fan of the sweet images of Dolly Dingle in her Halloween costumes! And so, inspired by Dolly, I decided to make the album all about Trick or Treat!

But first things first: The cover:



Of course I inked, grunged, and Stickled everything! (It made the cat's eyes glow yellow...how cool?!)

And I even filled the Trick or Treat bag on front with images of vintage candies! (Some are adhered to the book and some are loose and can be taken out)

An d now the first waterfall: I simply glued an image of vintage candy to the front of each flap!



I made sure the images were printed large enough for the name to be seen under the flap...

Waterfall Number Two: These are candies I remember getting as a little girl while out Trick or Treating...my dad always called "dibbs" on the Hershey bars!

And then, because the history of each kind of candy is (I think) really interesting, I created a "history tab" for each of the candies pictured in the waterfalls...

When pulled, each tab reveals a brief history of the candy bars in that waterfall. This particular tab is a brief history of Butterfinger.

I will, of course, embellish the binder rings with ribbon, ricrac, and anything else I happen to have laying around. One can never hanve too many embellishments! At least, not in MY house!

A shout out to my friend Sandy, who supplied me with many of these vintage candy images! This book is for you, dear friend! I hope you like it!

Be back soon with something fun!

Hugs,
Paula Clare

DOUBLE WATERFALL HALLOWEEN ALBUM!

Greetings, dear readers!



As promised, I am here to show you the first few steps of creating a Double Waterfall Halloween Album!

Here are the first few things you need to gather:

Chipboard (2 pieces cut 6" x 11")
8 paper lunch bags (6 bag bottoms cut to 5 1/8" long, 2 bag bottoms cut to 4 7/8" long)
Double sided tape
Paper (cut 7" x 12" (to cover the chipboard))
Paper (cut 5 3/4" x 10 1/2" (to cover the inside of the chipboard covers)
Cutting Blade (X-acto Knife) or Large Scissors
Cutting Mat
Crop-o-Dile (or hole punch)
Pop Dots (OF COURSE!) For decorating the outside of the front cover

The rest of the stuff (for decorating) can be gathered later.

The basic idea is to make two waterfall paper bag albums, but instead of the waterfall being horizontal as it was in my first project,



we will make them vertical this time...like a REAL waterfall! Also, the bags will need to be mounted on something sturdy enough to hold them all in place...therefore the chipboard covers.

Here are the basics: You cover the two pieces of chipboard, inside and out, and then you begin adhering the bags to the inside of each cover. 3 bags (5 1/8") and then 1 bag (4 7/8") are adhered by gluing (or taping) the back of each bag to the chipboard cover. The first will line up with the top edge of the paper you glued down for the inside cover.

Fold the bottom flap of the bag up (toward the top of the cover) and then glue down bag #2 under the flap (lining it up with the first fold in the bottom of the bag). Glue the next bag down on top of bag # 2, again folding the bottom flap of the bag up so you can adhere bag #3 under the flap. (The bottom of the previous bag will "flap over" the top of the next bag.) Adhering bags in this way will leave you with a "shortage" for bag #4. Time for the bag cut 4 7/8"! Line up as before, adhere under flap of bag #3...voila! A perfect fit! Your first "waterfall" is complete!

FYI: (I tried to get photos of this process, but I am without a "camera person", and Webster's lack of opposable thumbs makes it tough for him to do the photography!) I hope you can look at my pictures and "get" what I'm saying. :-) I was never much for this step-by-step "how to" stuff (it was my worst rated speech in college!) I'm a "GLOBAL" thinker which makes breaking ANYTHING down into "easy steps" difficult!

Anyway, more pictures, and explanations as I complete the album! Now I need to hear from a friend in Arizona so I can move to the next step...oh SAAAAAAAAAANNNDY?!?!?!

OH! Before I forget! My daughter in law (the wife of the screenwriter) is opening a bakery! The name is Creme Hurray (like Creme Brulee!). Here's a button to add to your blog and/or website! Anything you can do to help get word out will be wonderful! I've just ordered a bunch of Halloween treats...I'll share more later!


Hugs,
Paula Clare

ON THE SUBJECT OF HALLOWEEN...

My son Paul is a finalist in a Horror Film Screenwriting Competition!

(A pic of my zombie son and his zombie wife)

Go here to read all about his screenplay!

http://rue-morgue.com/blog/archives/2010/10/11/sinister-seven-all-about-the-knoxville-horror-film-festival/

EXCERPT:

You have a Screenplay Contest for the first time this year. Tell us about that, including the finalists.

Film festivals have a natural tendency to focus on directors, and we wanted to give horror screenwriters their share of the glory. Since this was our first screenplay competition, we took it slowly and were pretty low-key about it, but we ended up with three very strong finalists: Justin Simpson’s Laura, which is a character-centered zombie tale; Philip Tatler’s Eyepole, which is a clever horror riff on ’50s sci-fi flicks; and Paul Clouse’s Voodoo Daddy, which is a fun throwback to old-school late-night horror that kind of reminds me of an EC Comics story.

HALLOWEEN BOOKS, BANNERS AND BOOS!

Greetings, dear readers!

As I had hoped, my banner from Elizabeth at Creative Breathing came to my door today! It's an amazing collaborative effort to make what is usually a gory and scary holiday, CUTE! Behold:



Elizabeth at Bluebird Papercrafts (aka Creative Breathing), Julie at A Vintage Chic, Mimi of Dandelion Wishes



Lisa from Always Home, Sandy from 521 Lake Street, Joyce from Scrap for Joy



Betty from She's Sew Pretty, Yours Truly, and Viv from Viv Out On a Whim



And the backs of each were not neglected either:

Also, look at this FABulous prize I got from Heather Hudson at MyArtisticAdventures.com. I just LOVE her stamping and "grunging" skills!

Heather's tag book "style" is very similar to my own...stuff sticking out EVERYWHERE!

g

The paperbag album and vintage images are just the sweetest...and all original!

And my favorite piece? A little owl who peeks out over the front flap of the book...I just LOVE him!

Check out more of Heather's art here!

I'll be back with a new album idea!

Hugs,
Paula clare