AND THE WINNER IS...

Greetings, dear readers!

It is once again time for the Paula's Palace of AltAred Art You Inspire Me Award!





The award for September goes to: (drumroll please)...

Julie of "A Vintage Chic!"

Julie is a designer for Crafty Secrets, and her posts and creations are always inspiring, always DARLING! Here are a few of her recent creations:





Julie always gives instructions on how to create her wonderful pieces, as well as telling us what products she uses to make them so darn adorable! Crafty Secrets has the SWEETEST Halloween Line!











But I'm sure you'll agree with me...it STILL takes talent to know how to put together even the most darling stamps and embellishments! Julie has it "down" to a science! Her sweet, homespun style just makes my heart swoon!

Please join me in congratulating Julie on her award, and visit her blog to see her incredible talent for yourselves!

Hugs,
Paula Clare

SCAREDY CAT WANDS...AND MORE!

Greetings, dear readers!

Because a dear blog sister inquired about the decor in the first picture of my last post, I have decided to do a sort of "repost" of the Halloween Trinkets created ... behold, the Scaredy Cat Wands!

These were made when I took an online Halloween class a year or two ago...the original cat image came from the tutorial...however, these are, par my usual, NOT just like the tutorial...I used hollow paper mache forms, (sold as ornaments at Michael's, Hobby Lobby, etc) poked a hole in the bottom (the hole to be where I will later insert the dowel rod for the wand) and put beans in them so they are Halloween rattles (I seem to have some memory of my gramma telling me that their Halloween toys during the Great Depression were rattles made with decorated cardboard boxes and beans...I guess these are those...several generations removed!)

I painted the entire shape with black paint, and then glued the papers onto both sides of the shape. I sanded and then inked the edges of the paper with black ink. Then, instead of glitter around the edges, I glued down silver chenille pipe cleaners (I like the vintage-y look of them) and instead of paper words I used faux typewriter keys to spell out Halloween-esque words. I added LOTS more ribbon than was called for, a jack o lantern jingle bell, and a stylish witches hat and crown (fashion first as they say!)

I saved them and use them to decorate year after year...this year, I plopped them in a vase that was on my mantle...



So THERE, dear NanE, no more "holding out" on you! lol

More soon! Hugs,
Paula Clare

INDY WEEKEND: FLEA MARKET FINDS AND SISTER TIME!

Greetings, dear reader! I am back from my weekend jaunt with my sister! We had SUCH a good time! I discovered a new Yankee candle: Cozy Cabin! It's a combination of Mountain Lodge and Autumn Leaves...WONDERFUL!

I found a few treasures at some of the flea markets we visited:

Vintage decals for my kitchen! YAY! All the perfect colors!


A darling little block/puzzle set from Japan:





And some vintage and not-so-vintage Halloween goodies...treat bags, a pumpkin flashlight (for my grandson!) and some cupcake goodies!

See the black fuzzy chenille pipe cleaner ring? Isn't it adorable? The lady I bought it from said she found the idea on Martha Stewart! Oh...and speaking of Halloween...here's the waterfall paper bag. The next step was to add papers to the inside pages and the inside of the paper bags...

Next is to add the vintage ephemera and/or the tags, stickers, etc. to the inside of the book...photos soon!

Hugs,
Paula Clare

ON THE ROAD AGAIN...

Greetings, dear reader!

I will be leaving shortly for Indianapolis! My sister Peggy (the one who lives near Fort Wayne, IN) and I will be spending our weekend together flea marketing, eating, and no doubt regaling each other with stories of our recent pasts.

I am taking my waterfall album with me so I will hopefully have a few new things to show you in my next post!

Meanwhile, a few posts from decorating: Halloween past! For more info, check out my Flickr badge and/or type "Halloween" in the search bar!

Talk to you again soon!

Hugs,
Paula Clare

HALLOWEEN WATERFALL!

Greetings, dear reader!

Instead of making the usual tag book this Halloween, I've decided to change things up a bit and create a "new" paperbag album...behold the "Waterfall":



The waterfall is the 4 different colored pieces of paper...each one longer than the previous one. It's a wonderful look and is so easy to achieve...here's a simple how-to:


1. Take your paper bag and measure the length. This example uses bags 10" long. divide the length by five. This will give us the width of the first page which will be 2" for my example.

length 10" / 5 = 2"

- Lay the bags out as per the diagram alternating the ends.
- Score a fold on the first bag at 2".
- Score a fold along the 2nd bag at two times the page width ie. 4".

Lay the 2nd bag on top of the first bag keeping the folds aligned.



Sew along crease to form spine (or use eyelets, brads, or other means of holding your bag together. I used eyelets)



Once you have sewn your spine your waterfall paper bag album should look something like this. Embellish, embellish, embellish! More tutorials for other paper bag albums can be found at Scrapbook Crazy!

I'll be posting pictures and "how tos" as I progress! More fun to come!

Paula Clare