Thursday Theme: Halloween!

Just a short one this week.  I did work on stuff this week, but it's all just started and I haven't taken any pictures yet.  But for this week I did want to do a particular theme.  Halloween!  Normally, Halloween is my second-favorite holiday (behind Christmas).  However, this Fall is not normal for me, and for various reasons I just haven't been all that into it.  But while I was feeling pretty okay, I did do a few Halloween tags anyway.

First off, Mom and I were both quite taken by this collection of papers this year:

There was a sheet of stickers available too.  Really cool ones!

So I wanted to use the papers, but I also wanted to play with my Michelle Ward stencils, and the new embossing ink dabber from Ranger.  so I did a background kind of like this:

This is not the one I started with, but it's the same technique:  Ripe Persimmon and Black Soot Distress Ink directly on my non-stick sheet, sprayed with water and Perfect Pearls mist in Heirloom Gold, and I soaked up the resulting puddle with the tag.  It's a Tim Holtz technique that I've now seen elsewhere as well.

Then I laid down the stencil I wanted to use, dabbed through it with the embossing dabber, and embossed with clear powder.  With that done, I scudged black Distress Ink onto the tag, letting the embossing act as a resist.  Then I went ahead and played with papers, Martha Stewart and Authentique stickers, and feathers to embellish.  And I ended up with these:

The owl one wasn't as successful a background.  I like the other two, though.

Then also, Mom got me this awesome stamp.  I used it on a similar background, but then haven't done anything else with the tag.  So here's what it looks like:

That's right.  That raven is wearing a witch hat.

Sadly, that's kind of all I did for Halloween this year.  I haven't even put out any Halloween decorations, just my Fall ones.  It's okay, though.  Next year maybe I'll have the mojo back.  I'm still going to enjoy tomorrow night's Halloween episode of Haven :)

Happy Halloween, everybody!

Once Upon a Midnight Dreary

Happy Halloween everybody!  Are you dressed up?  After spending an exhausting day appropriately surrounded by mold and decay, I'm not actually dressed up tonight (except in my Halloween pjs and Little Miss Spooky shirt from Target...), but Mr. Pocket and I went to a Halloween party on Saturday, and... well, do you recognize me?

Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;
But with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door.
Perched upon a bust of Pallas, just above my chamber door,
Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

...

And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door...

 (Dunno how well you can see it, but behind me in that pic is a "trick or treat" garland that my mom made me :) )

You know how much I love a good Raven reference.  Ever notice that the Baltimore Ravens wear black and the only other color mentioned in the poem - purple?  

And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

Thrilled me---filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before... 

Their mascots used to be Edgar, Allen, and Poe.  Now there's only Poe, but it's ok because he's adorable:

If only the Ravens were playing Monday Night Football tonight.  That would be appropriate. 

So, are you giving out candy?  Are you giving out good candy?  We haven't gotten any trick or treaters, not that we expected many.  We only had a few KitKats left anyway.  I have no idea what happened to them...... Must've been eaten by ghosts....... or something.................... *innocent grin*

This is my I-didn't-eat-the-KitKats face :)

Columbina Revealed

Well, it didn't quite go off without a SNAFU (none of my projects ever do, so I don't know why I expected this one to...), but I'd say my costume turned out okay. Not quite as elegant as I'd envisioned, but hey. Nothing ever is. So now, because I know you, my friends, have been waiting for pics, I give you...

Columbina!




From the back:


The mask is from Mythical Masks and the feather barette is from Dragon Wings. The blouse, skirt, and corset were of course painstakingly crafted by yours truly. I painted the diamond pattern -- well, printed more like. I cut a big chunk of stamp rubber into a diamond, and painted fabric paint onto it, and printed the fabric with that.



The sequins at the points were Mom's idea, and she even volunteered to sew them on. My mom rocks. :)

Happily, the party went far more smoothly than the costume. I think my friend Matt had the most clever costume: he was the Nile turning to blood!

P.S. OMG Football! Both my teams were comeback kings this weekend. Amazing. And awesome.

Inspiration

So, this Halloween costume I'm making. When I really think about it, it's been years in the planning.

See, as a child, I watched Mystery! on PBS with my parents. Poirot was always my favorite. And my favorite Poirot story was "The Affar at the Victory Ball" featuring some of the most exquisite costumes I'd ever seen. The story centered around a group of friends who all dressed as characters of the Commedia dell'Arte, and thus began my fascination with Harlequin. Ironically, I never did study or read up on the Commedia, and to this day I know very little about it. But harlequin patterns and characters loosely based on Harlequin and his friends I find completely enchanting. I buy harlequin patterned scrapbooking papers, anything diamond patterned -- I adore argyle, and I swear it has to be for the diamonds -- I've even bought a graphic short story just because it features Harlequin.

Fast forward quite a bit. In, oh I dunno, January? or so, sometime between last Halloween and this Halloween at any rate, I sketched out a costume idea. I knew exactly what colors it must be, though I couldn't tell you why, and what materials I'd prefer. This costume is the reason I decided not to theme our Halloween party this year. That's how determined I was to make it. I made a special trip with Mom and Pam to the uber-mega-fabric-store-of-doom just to find the right fabrics. I already have the zip ties to bone my corset (trust me on that one). I bought a classic mask at the renaissance festival just to go with this costume, and then serve as a decorative piece until I have occasion to wear it again -- which I most certainly will. I started actually googling the concept sometime about a month or so ago, and found no other examples that are anything like what I'm making. Mine is a very loose interpretation. And what's odd is, I haven't even found anything else in my color scheme. Hmm. Where on Earth did I come up with that?

So I've started working on it, as mentioned previously, and I tend to watch movies while I sew. The other night, I put on the only vaguely ghost-related movie I have that's absolutely not creepy or scary whatsoever. Even tamer than Van Helsing. I watched The Phantom of the Opera. Halfway through the movie (give or take), I realized something. I found my color scheme.

For those of you who've seen the movie, do you remember the Masquerade scene? You should, it's easily the most beautiful scene in the movie, which is saying a lot considering how spectacular the whole thing is (if you disagree, just bear with me, k?). The entire scene, except for the technical staff and two notable guests, is clothed in black and shades of antique gold and white. As the scene opened, I answered my color scheme question. Without realizing it, I had based my costume not only on my lifelong fascination, but also on the most brilliantly costumed scene I can think of.

Hmm...

If only my costume were to turn out that gorgeous.

The Trouble With Halloween...

See, the trouble with Halloween is that it requires a costume. At least, when you're me it does. I know plenty of people opt not to dress up, but where's the fun in that? I must not only have a costume, I must make said costume. It's a point of honor. I know how to sew, therefore I must use/show off/practice my skill by making my own costume.

This year I have chosen to outdo myself (hopefully) by making a costume with staying power. This will be my most ambitious (and expensive) endeavor yet. It actually may be more spectacular than the dryad of two years ago:



Freezing, by the way. It looked better in motion, too.

Anyway, I'm hoarding all of my precious spare time in these last two weeks before Halloween, because I MUST get this costume of mine finished before THE night. Boy am I glad that The Man (as I shall henceforth refer to he who I love best in the world) and I didn't decide to have our party on the weekend before Halloween...