Scary & On Sale

August 25, 2010 by Alexa 1 Comment

Last night I went to Joann, mainly to check out the new Halloween stuff on sale. I was surprised to find out that Martha Stewart has a Halloween line there. I was super excited! I wanted to share with you some of the cool, spooky craft and décor items they had that I was excited by. I think you will be too! Such cute and spooky stuff!

There were patterned paper packs in cute orange/yellow/green characters as well as vampire/haunted pack in blacks, red, and gothic papers.

These are just some of the stickers. I love the candy ones the best!

These glitter letters are spooky and fun! Love the little spiders!

I love these treat favor gloves! Such a cute update from the plain plastic gloves you fill with popcorn.

Of course, I heart vintage characters. I have a soft spot for the black cat. Like I said, there’s a funny/cute version and a more gothic set.

There were paper punches too that wer spider webs and blood drips. Too cute.

And look at this glittery fun!

And love the red foil on these. I don’t really buy labels like this, but I think they are really cool.

Look at these cute banners and décor. Love it!

And speaking of blood drops, I think the blood drop is my favorite stencil from this set.

Here’s a little look at more items in the aisle…

Just a heads up, I know this line is available at the Etc. stores, but I’m not so sure if it is at the smaller stores. You may want to call your local store just in case!

Here’s the loot I brought home! Crafty projects to come!!

I hope you enjoy these spooky finds. I’ll be bringing more Scary & On Sale finds I find at various stores at some of my fave places.

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

My 24 Halloween Crafts in 24 Hours Compiled!

October 15, 2009 by Alexa 11 Comments

Well, I’m gonna pimp these 24 Halloween Crafts in 24 Hours for all they are worth, so I’m sharing them again…this time in compiled version for anyone who might have missed some 🙂 Enjoy!

Hour 1 – Green Slime Lantern

Hour 2 – Easy Halloween Ribbon/Button Bracelet

Hour 3 – Spooktastic Halloween Pennants

Hour 4 – Simple Halloween Button Earrings

Hour 5 – Decopauged Halloween Tissue Ornaments

Hour 6 – Deviled Egg Halloween Costume

Hour 7 – Glitter Boo Banner

Hour 8 – Mini Grim Reaper Glitter Trinket Box

Hour 9 – Bewitching Plaque

Hour 10 – Halloween Pennant Cupcake Picks

Hour 11 – The Easiest Halloween T-shirt you’ll ever make

Hour 12 – A Halloween Costume Masterpiece

Hour 13 – Easy Stripe and Polka Dot Pumpkins

Hour 14 – Dark Shadows Photo Frame

Hour 15 – Vintage Halloween Character Ornaments

Hour 16 – Halloween Sticker Crafts

Hour 17 – Frightfully Funky Feather Wreath

Hour 18 – Polaroid Pumpkins

Hour 19 – Breast Cancer Awareness Pumpkins

Hour 20 – Halloween Swirly Doily Purse

Hour 21 – Halloween Spooky Swirl Vase

Hour 22 – Fun and Funky Halloween Doodle/Star Earrings

Hour 23 – Veggie Head Halloween Party Idea

Hour 24 – Halloween Composition Notebook

Halloween crafting starts early in the house of swell!

August 10, 2009 by Alexa 5 Comments

Tonight I spent 3 hours or so doing Halloween crafting…wanna see what I made?

I made 2 tulle/felt/button headbands and several ring stacks ready for their blanks!

So what does this really mean? Well, I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve I want to share:

– I plan on once again doing Terrorific Tuesday. I’ll be sharing details in the next couple of weeks how you can get in on the action and share in the love of Halloween Crafting! I want to give you a bit of a headstart. I know holidays can be hectic!

– I plan on opening an Etsy site exclusively selling my Halloween goods. I have a couple of weeks to get it up and going…I plan on selling the goods above on there, so stay tuned. I’ll let you know when it’s prepared to launch.

– And finally, I’m taking on a big endeavor…early to mid October, I will be posting 24 Halloween craft ideas in 24 hours! More than likely it will be on a Wednesday or Thursday, but I will keep you informed. And don’t worry, I can set my blog up so that I can save posts ahead of time and for them to be launched at a certain time. I used to think that you had to physically go in and post a blog every hour. Man, that wouldn’t be any fun!

Hope you are excited about these future Halloween crafts I plan on sharing. Are you busy working on any of your own, or am I the only nut out here doing stuff ahead of time?

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Terrorific Tuesday: October Week 1

October 6, 2008 by Alexa Leave a Comment

Yep, it’s that time. It’s the first official post of Terrorific Tuesday!!! Eleven artists posted projects over the past week on their blogs in celebration of their love for all things Halloween. The pics above are in order with the links below, so check out these spooky and inspiring projects by some of the most inspired crafters on the “web”.

Eye of Newt Necklace Melissa J. Lee treats us to this stunning necklace filled to the brim with lots of texture and gothic appeal!

Halloween Knitting Patterns Sarah E. White whips up some insanely fun knitting patterns on her About.com Knitting Blog. Learn how to knit a ghost, pumpkin hat, Halloween bag and more!

Spooky Googly Eyed Crafts Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner creates 6 projects which includes a frame, pumpkin, and fashion accessories with her crafty stash of googly eyes.

Trick-or-Treat Candy Pot Phyllis Dobbs paints up an adorable pot that will make all the little ghosts and goblins smile.

Owl & Witch Halloween Cards Brenda Pinnick uses her Sizzix dies to craft these totally spooky cards. So swell!

Franky Halloween Card Marice Rodriguez crafts up this adorable glittery and colorful Halloween concoction on her Flickr page.

Resin Halloween Cabochons Tammy Powley’s experiment with resin turns out to be a success! Check out her adorable cabochons and ideas for using them on her About.com Jewelry Making Blog.

Pumpkins & Swirls Halloween Candle Kate Pullen shows you how to make this beautifully-inspired candle using simple rubber stamping techniques on her About.com Rubber Stamping Blog.

Crystal Web Necklace Margot Potter a.k.a. The Impatient Crafter wins the webby award with this dramatic necklace using CRYSTALLIZED™-Swarovski elements and Beadalon silver plated wire.

Happy Haunting Collage Lorilyn Hurley of the Dream Life creates this collage filled with vintage goodness and an oh-so-risque flying witch!

Halloween Ephemera Collage Christina Tuey a.k.a. the Collage Contessa shares her artful wall hanging filled with all kinds of whimsical Halloween goodness.

If you’d like to participate, please read more about it here. It’s open to all bloggers out there who want to join in!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Join me for Terrorific Tuesdays!

September 24, 2008 by Alexa 13 Comments

If you haven’t already guessed I just love Halloween! I would call myself the queen, but I’ll settle for princess (I do have the tiara after all). And I have my own black cat too! That’s my cat Pixie in the banner above, the official mascot of Terrorific Tuesdays. She’s actually more of a scaredy cat than a scary cat!

If you have been reading my blog for a couple of months, you may have noticed that I’ve been posting a project each Tuesday and titling it my Terrorific Tuesday project. Well, I wanted to expand upon this idea and open it up to all my blog friends out on the “web”! I wanted to create a blog circle for October focusing on Halloween crafts and ideas. Tons of people are looking for clever ideas during this season in every shape and form and I wanted to create a positive, happy network of crafters for that!

You can choose as little or as much as you want to participate. I don’t want this to be something you stress over! Halloween is supposed to be FUN after all!

All I ask is that you please contact me and atleast let me know that you are interested so that I won’t be surprised last minute by someone I don’t know.

Guidelines:

1. Project can be a new or old idea. There will be no set theme from week to week. You can choose to include or not include instructions in your post, but I do ask that you post a photo and a brief description or explanation as to why you were inspired to make that particular project.

Consider one of the following ideas for your post:
– home décor
– jewelry/accessories
– spooky food and drink recipes
– party and table decor
– clever costumes
– cards and paper crafts
– invitations
– outdoor décor
– pumpkin carving/painting

2. I want to keep this simple for everyone. I don’t want there to have to be a set day of the week that you post your project. For example, if you want to post your project on the Friday prior to October 6th, that’s fine, just send me the URL to that post via direct message on twitter (swelldesigner) or e-mail (swelldesigner@yahoo.com). If you want to be included in the Terrorific Tuesday Halloween Crafts and Ideas Roundup for that week, the absolute deadline is 6pm (Eastern time) on each Monday of October 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th. I will send a reminder on Monday morning on Twitter. Please get it to me each Monday by 6pm, or expect to have your project left off the roundup until the following week.

On that Monday evening, I will compile all the links and create a cute photo mosaic of all the featured projects and write up copy for everyone to use on their blogs. I will e-mail you back late Monday evening this info for you to be able to post in your blogs on Tuesday.

As you probably already know, I like promotion, so I’ll try to stir up some interest on the “web” after our first post! Hopefully it will generate excitement, while also generating us some positive traffic.

Here’s a little button I made for you to be able to promote this fun roundup on your web site. Click on it and it will take you to the HTML code and the Hot link information that you can then copy and paste into your own web site.

I can’t wait to see what you guys “brew” up!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Terrorific Tuesday: Cute CD Cupcake Stand

September 23, 2008 by Alexa 9 Comments

Hello Swellions! Today I am presenting to you an idea that I kinda changed last minute. I knew along that I wanted to make a cake stand, but yesterday after looking at an ejected cd in my car, I got the idea that I wanted to use a used CD as a base for adorable project. And it’s the perfect size for a cupcake (in my case, mine is faux and I’ll show you how to make them as well). So onto the show!

Cute CD Cupcake Stand

Supplies for Stand
– 1 used CD
– 1 piece of 12″ x 12″ orange scrapbook paper
– 1 piece of 12″ x 12″ silver polka dotted scrapbook paper
– Xyron runner or self-adhesive spray
– 1 package self-adhesive rhinestones (I got mine at Michael’s in Halloween section)
– 1 small styrofoam cone

Supplies for Cupcake
– Jack o’ Lantern Orange Americana Acrylics paint
– Black Craft Twinkles Writer paint
– jar of Snow-Tex (4 oz.)
– Glamour Dust Glitter by DecoArt
– White jumbo cupcake holders (mine were from Wilton)
– medium sized smooth foam ball
– Orange seed beads (mine were an assorted mix)
– medium sized wooden orange bead

General supplies for both
– Glue gun and glue sticks
– scissors
– palette knife
– paper cutter or ruler and exacto knife with cutting board
– small liner brush
– pencil
– kitchen knife
– skotch tape

For CD cupcake stand

1. Take spray adhesive or Xyron runner and coat back of 12″ x 12″ paper. Wrap paper around cone until tight and secure. Cut off top and bottom of paper around cone.

2. Lay cd on top of adhesive on remaining 12″ x 12″ paper and trace with pencil. Cut out with scissors.

3. From the 12″ x 12″ black paper, cut out two strips 12″ long by 2″ wide. Lay side by side to form one long strip. Place tape in middle to join the two strips.

4. Accordian fold the strips back and forth in approximately 1.5″ segments. When finished, cut diagonally on both sides 1/8″ down from top of folded strip. Unfold to reveal pennant banner design.

5. Carefully glue gun pennant banner around side of CD, and cut off and glue any excess that overlaps.

6. Use glue gun to glue top of styrofoam cone to bottom of CD.

7. Embellish bottom of stand with black and silver self-adhesive rhinestones, and dot in between pennant sections using orange rhinestones.

For cupcake

1. Using liner brush, paint alternating sections fo the cupcake holder Jack O’ Lantern Orange. Let dry.

2. Use Black Craft Twinkles to dot in between these alternating stripes as shown. Set aside and let dry.

3. Cut off the bottom of the foam ball to create a flat surface using kitchen knife or styrofoam cutter.

4. Add a few drops of water to your bottle of Snow-Tex paint. This will give it a creamier consistency for your “frosting”. Frost your cupcake everywhere except for the bottom. While wet sprinkle on beads and gently press into place. Also place wooden ball into place into this wet paint. Sprinkle on Glamour Dust as well over top. Let dry.

5. Once dry, use glue gun to glue cupcake to bottom of paper cupcake holder. Place on top of your finished cupcake stand and admire 🙂

Here’s a detail!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

2 great Halloween finds

September 22, 2008 by Alexa 2 Comments

While I was up in Chicago a couple of weeks ago, I stopped in this store called Climate. It was the most adorable little gift shop. It had all kinds of goodies like my favorite Dept. 56 Glitterville line as well as some Fred products and Two’s company finds.

Well, anyway, these were two of my spooky purchase that I couldn’t pass up. I buy a little something each year for Halloween to add to my collection. I also make tons of stuff as you notice each Tuesday to add to my growing stash (about to get it out and I’ll post a pic just to show you how out of control it really is). Well without further ado…

Zombie Finger Puppets

Finger Fork/Poke

Aren’t they awesome?

WEll, planning on having another fun project for you Swellions tomorrow. I wanted to work on it tonight, but time got away from me. I did work on organizing and throwing away a whole slew of stuff i designed from many years ago that I had tons of copies of and design school mailer stuff (I never went) that I have no intention of pursuing any more.

Until tomorrow Swellions!

Alexa

The Swell Designer

Random musings of a crazy, crafty, pop culture-obsessed girl!

Scary & On Sale

My 24 Halloween Crafts in 24 Hours Compiled!

Halloween crafting starts early in the house of swell!

Terrorific Tuesday: October Week 1

Join me for Terrorific Tuesdays!

Terrorific Tuesday: Cute CD Cupcake Stand

2 great Halloween finds