Charming Obsession

Because of my seeming allergy to any type of jewelry, I haven't been interested in learning much about jewelry making techniques. But, when a Yahoo group I belong to proposed a charm collaborative, I signed up, thinking it might be fun. I tried out several ideas I had, but quickly discarded them as not feasible to make in the time I had. Finally, I settled on what I was going to do, and started on the project. It's a very simple idea, but kinda cute. I'll show the finished project after the trade.

Since I had to wait 36 hours for the resin application used in the project to completely cure, I started making charms with found objects I had in a junk box. Once I started, I couldn't stop until I had about 18 charms! I put them in little bags and will use them in future exchanges if possible.

So far, this is the only Halloween item I've done to date. The "fashion plate" in the ATC is from a 1957 catalog. She's carrying a tiny pumpkin charm as a purse.

All Hallow's Eve Just Around The Corner

I love doing Halloween themed stuff, especially Paper Bag Books. I don't make paper bag albums, just little books filled with ephemera, tags, dangles and bangles, anything that looks appropriate. They serve no purpose, but I love going through them occasionally.

So far, I've done three books and participated in several Halloween Chunky Book and ATC trades. I've acquired some heavy 6" X 6" paper bags, so as soon as I get my office organized and all my supplies sorted, I'll start on some more (and larger) books.

The dollar stores are good for loads of Halloween themed paper supplies and emphemera, so when they stock up, so do I.




Last fall, I held a class on paper bag book making, and the participants all made their own Halloween themed books, as well as an ATC to use as an embellishment. The results were great, and I wish now I would have taken some photos of everyone's art.

This year I'm also going to do a fabric Halloween book as a change of pace, as well as a 'Zine-type book. I've made one Halloween themed Zine so far.