Cool, Creative & Crafty Halloween Blogs!

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Halloween balls

I love Halloween so, so much and if you follow my blog often, I’m betting you do too. I thought I’d share the craft Halloween love and tell you about some other great creative Halloween blogs and sites that I think you’ll love checking out too! They share all things Halloween, decorations, recipes, inspiration, and more this time of year!


Nancy Dorsner’s Dabbled blog has some of the most clever costumes, cocktails, general crafts food ideas on the net. She just launched her exclusive Dabbled Halloween section loaded with hundreds of ideas. If you are looking for something creative and unique for the season, this is the spot.


I met Amy Locurto of Living Locurto and iHeartFaces fame about 4 years ago, when she linked up to my Terrorific Tuesday Halloween blog roundup. We definitely share a kindred spirit for all things Halloween and she always comes up with the best free printables, food crafts, costumes, and décor (my fave has to be her pretty Halloween table décor).


Blogger Creepy Cupcakes shares her décor, recipes, craft projects, and fun finds around the web. She features all things Halloween and serves up a whole lotta Harry Potter fun!


The Skull-A-Day Blog by artist and author Noah Scalin is, if you haven’t guessed it already, all about SKULLS! I love it cause it contains everything from cool face painting to found objects in everyday life to cool crafts and illustrations! It’s a must if you need your spooky fix and he’s been featuring a Skull-a-Day since 2007, so there’s a LOT to see.


Since I do social media part-time by day and my own blog by night, I honestly, don’t get to scout out blogs and really read them like you might think. The one that I do visit religiously for the best of craft on the web is CraftZine! Craftzine compiles and features the best crafts from the web. If it’s hip, unusual, or just plain cool, you’ll find it on Craft, and their Halloween Crafts are no exception. Check out their picks, you’ll be glad you did 🙂


Are you throwing a Halloween party? Then the Hostess with the Mostess blog will be right up your alley! There are so many bewitching ideas to be found on this site. All the little details that makes a Halloween party so much fun! I love their unique take on Halloween, including decorating in pink and black for a Ghouls Night Out and throwing a “Monsterfest” for Kids. The photography is a real treat too!


A Nostalgic Halloween is a feast for the eyes! Kris Dickinson shares her beautiful artist trading cards, vintage illustrations, Halloween pinups and retro finds. I can get inspired for hours there!

Here’s some others I think you might like too:

My Busy Craft Life If you love detailed sewn costumes, Halloween faires, you’ll love seeing the wonderful creations featured here!

Langes Fädchen, faules Mädchen blog Lena at the Langes Fädchen, faules Mädchen blog, shares some up some fun Halloween treats, inspiration, and photos. Her photos (I love this one) and projects are perfectly spooky for Halloween.

Spooky Vegan offers up gothic goodness and shares a lot of cool finds she spots out and about!

Dollar Store Crafts has so many projects all for a fistful of cash. Check out Heather’s great costume roundups and fun (and cheap) food ideas!

Craft Gossip also brings the Halloween goods this time of year. I’m in love with this Edgar Allen Poe Red Velvet Cake that they featured!

Pumpkin Rot shares some super scary ideas, art, fun finds and inspiration and inspiration on their blog.

Is there any I missed? Please share and I’ll add them to the list! I may just not know about them!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

5 Freaky Friday Finds

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Every Friday until Halloween on Fridays, I’ll be sharing you 5 Freaky Friday Finds that I love and think you will to! These range from things you can buy to inspiration that might get the ideas flowing (or the blood curdling). Anyway, I hope you have fun with me while I share these fabulous Halloween features!

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Spooky Vintage Typewriter from Poetic Home.

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Lisa Marie’s amazing lined stripe dress via Chud.com. This is what a sexy Halloween costume SHOULD look like!

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This is a Halloween craft I want to make! Right up my alley with the stripes and vintage-look! (Via the Allsorts blog)

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This cool skull made from pots, pans and other kitchen stuff (via Modern Living).

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Great vintage-inspired Halloween tshirts from SpookShows.com.

I’ll be back in another week with 5 more Freaky Friday Finds!

Terrorific Tuesday 2009 Week 3

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Another week, another fun roundup of Halloween craft ideas! I want to give a shoutout to everyone who has participated over the past few weeks! I can really tell that you guys have really enjoyed sharing and making your projects. I think there is something about Halloween that enlivens people and gets them excited about crafting throughout the holiday months! I know it puts some mojo in my holiday step!

Now onto the projects!

Spooky Spider House
Silvia creates a miniature haunted house that is spooky and oh-so fun!

Witchy Embroidered Postcard
Sharron Westerfield brews up a whimsical witch postcard

The Impatient Crafter
Vintage plastic owls become the focal point of a charming necklace you can wear for Halloween and all year round!

Pumpkin and cat felt treat bag
Felt bag that can also be made as a wall hanging or door hanger

Cheryl Ball’s Halloween Door Hangers
Create these door hangers from inexpensive gloves for Trick of Treaters

My Big Mouth
Make a creepy wire tree just in time for Halloween!

Mel’s Day of the Dead Necklace
Linked chain, skulls and spiderwebs for Dia de los Muertos

Crafty Chica’s Matchbook Shrines
Adorable little folding shrines that fit in your pocket!

Paper Pumpkin
Make a plump paper pumpkin from some strips of paper plus a little Halloween craftiness!

Polymer Clay Zombie
Candace’s diabolical plan to populate the world with zombies continues!

The Impatient Crafter for iLoveToCreate
Make a retro style styrofoam ornament into a fab Halloween Party centerpiece! Madge shows you how using iLoveToCreate products!

How to Make a Spooky Spice Rack
Come make a spooky spice rack with Crafterella, she’s sharing her unique labels with everyone!

Halloween Treat Tote
Conjure up a quick Halloween cupcake basket using new ScoreBoard dies!

Brenda Pinnick’s Halloween Banner
A little scary, a little fun, this delightful banner celebrates all things Halloween. Made using Brenda Pinnick Sizzix dies, glitter and ribbon.

Creepy Candlesticks
Pattie Wack turns mini pumpkins into a boo-tiful Halloween lighting idea!

Strands of Beads
Melissa explores the holiday possibilities in a black and white checkered bead

Glow in the Dork Wall Hanging
Turn off the lights and have a laugh with this goofy wall hanging from Alexa Westerfield!

Picture Perfect Pumpkin
Vanessa Coppola turns a traditional pumpkin into a decopauged masterpiece!

And the winner Swell and Spooktastic prize pack is…

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Pixie wasn't interested in picking a winner

So I held the drawing tonight for the contest winner of the Swell and Spooktastic Halloween Prize Pack!

I asked Pixie, our Terrorific Tuesday mascot to do the honors, but do you know what? She wasn’t the least bit interested. She snubbed you guys! She just sniffed at the box then turned around and walked away and went in the bathroom to eat more cat food.

I told her, “Missy, you need to straighten up and participate!”, but like most children, it goes in one ear and out the other. Same goes for when I tell her to clean out her own litter box. Kids these days.

So I did the honors for the contest myself and the winner was:

The winner

Cheryl! (cebrown117 at yahoo dot com)

Here’s what she had to say in her comment:

“Hi Alexa. I love your blog, I came across it a few days ago and I’m currently reading ALL of the old posts to get caught up. I know, totally crazy.

Anyway, here’s my (food) craft.
Last year for my daughter’s Halloween party I made a “Yummy Mummy” for dinner. The children loved it! I used a generic calzone recipe but instead of making the normal half-moon shaped calzones I made mine log shaped plus 1 oblong circle for the head. I baked them all until they were almost done then I formed them into the mummy shape and cover them with fillo dough. I dusted him with parmesan cheese to get rid of the gloss that comes from the egg wash and also gives it an “aged” look. I had to make recipe cards for the other mothers, it was a huge success.”

I loved this idea as well as reading all your Halloween inspiration, stories, and ideas and links! I appreciate that you took the time out of your busy day to share! I totally suggest that you all go back in and read the comments section. There’s some great inspiration to be found in there.

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Terrorific Tuesday 2009 Week 1

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Terrorific Tuesdays are back! This first Tuesday of the month, I’ve rounded up some awesome inspiration that will hopefully give you ideas or inspire you to join in! If you would like to join in and create a project, craft, story, poem, photo…or anything else creative and relating to Halloween, e-mail me at swelldesigner@yahoo.com. Make sure to include “Terrorific Tuesday” in the subject line.

This week’s roundup include jewelry, fashion art, spooky décor, and much more! So sit back and enjoy this helping of Halloween goodness!

Studio Mama Blog
Creep out your friends with this Leatherface-esque collection of eyeballs strung on hardware!

The Impatient Crafter
Halloween is right around the corner and Madge kicks off the season with a stunningly spooky mixed media necklace and a bonus short story sure to send shivers up your spine!

Living Locurto
Kids will love dressing up this cute doggie in different costumes with this Halloween Doggie Dress-Up Free Printable!

Sharron Westerfield
Create an adorable jack-o-lantern baby bib for your favorite little one!

Crafterella
Join Crafterella in making you own spooky Mantipi specimen jar (with tutorial) using polymer clay.

The Fearless Crafter
Welcome your guests with this cute and creepy Spooky Spider Wreath wreath!

My Big Mouth
Craft a mini Halloween candy dish that looks like Frankenstein

Strands of Beads
Melissa creates a simple skully necklace to celebrate the season.

Kate Pullen, the Rubber Stamping Guide at About.com
Create a Halloween pyramid box perfect for use as a Halloween favor box or as an unusual decoration.

Allee Marderosian for iLoveToCreate
Take your look to the Darkside with these Twilight Romance tees, perfect for Halloween festivities or everyday adventures!

Candace Jedrowicz – Spirit Clay
These sparkly Candy Corn Riot earrings are made using real candy corn! No kidding!

Brenda Pinnick
Brenda uses her Sizzix Die to create a batty neck piece you’ll want to sink your teeth into!

The Impatient Crafter for iLoveToCreate
Madge shows you how to make a super cute Halloween tote in this week’s I Love to Create post!

Crafty Chica
The Chica, ILoveToCreate & Craft Zine have teamed up for a skullerific Dia de los Muertos Shrine Contest!

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner
Inspired by her love for True Blood, Swelldesigner takes a stab at bloody white pumpkins!

A red couch moment

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black cat on sofa

I’ve been noticing that my cat loves sitting right in the middle of the couch lately. She is such a peculiar, unpredictable girl. She really has no rhyme or reason. I decided to take a quick pic of her tonight to show you her lounging in her spot.

A quick post tonight. Had some work to do and watched a little TV. Kelly Osbourne was really good on Dancing with the Stars. She has a natural talent.

Did want to share some Halloween inspiration that I love. Enjoy!

– Love all this orange, black,white, and grey compiled inspirational images on Twoila.com.

– Graphic goodness postcards on Artjunk. Feels my heart with Halloween joy. What a great recycled magazine idea!

– Lovely cupcake canvases on Catherine Holman’s blog.

– What a cute idea for a little girl’s jeans! Found in All Sweet’s Etsy shop.

– And a super cute cover for a lollipop… an Amigurumi bear in Halloween colors! from Amigurumi Kingdom’s Flickr Stream.

Hope you have a great Wednesday!

Until next day Swellions!

Alexa

P.S. If you haven’t checked out the crazy red dust storm photos in Sydney, you should. Totally bizarre!

Fun rings and Halloween links!

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So unfortunately not my usual blog post…I do leave you with some of my fun Halloween rings. 🙂

halloween rings

Oh, some inspiring links…

– I want this lampshade.

– For you True Blood and Twilight fans, ya gotta love this iPhone cozy.

– And a great little year-round Halloween site with lots of inspiration… All Hallows Design.

– I love all of Country Living’s pumpkin décor. Divine!

– And part of me wants to dress up like this for Halloween. I don’t know about you, but it would make me laugh if I saw someone wearing it!

Have a great Thursday!

Until next time Swellions!

Some crafty/artsy inspiration

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Thought I’d share today some fun stuff that inspired me that I thought you would like too 🙂

One of my new Fresno besties, Silvia, had been telling me about her blog and I finally got over there to check it out today. I totally love it and I think you will too! It’s called Studio Mama!

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She’s a mother, wife, and artist and oh so inspiring. I think you will find her posts amusing and a breath of fresh air. And her little boy Joshua is just one part of her rich storytelling. Here’s a few photos that are a little visual representation of her blog

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I was inspired today by this image by Flickr user Better Off Dead (Claire Marie Vogel) (thus partially why I did my 172/365 photo today the way I did).

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I’m also in a very Lisa Frank mood these days. Look how bright and busy this imagery is! I always loved it as a kid…I remember when you had to get it at a sticker shop or little gift boutique…it wasn’t in the mass retail shops like Wal-mart. Oh, the good ol’ days when a find really was a find (and not a google find…haha).

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I found the cover of the new V magazine featuring Lady Gaga to be very visually interesting. I think she is truly innovative and and very conceptual with her looks and I like that. While I don’t follow her all that closely, I’m always amazed by her ever changing look and that she’s willing to push the envelope. I think it would be fun to do a Lady Gaga inspired photo shoot! Hmmm, maybe I’ll have to go wig shopping in the near future?

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Oh, and last but not least, this Inspiration Board post from It’s a Jaime Thing will make your heart swoon. Though I have no plans of marrying in the near future (you have to have prospects first in order for that to happen), I love, love, love wedding inspiration. I think it’s one of the few times when adults actually get in tune with their crafty side, so that’s why there is so much inspiration to be found. Oh, and check out the Halloween wedding inspiration toward the bottom of the post…LOVE!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Terrorific Tuesday: Week 3

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Another week has gone in October and you know what that means! It’s Terrorific Tuesday! This week, we are featuring 20! fabulous projects and inspirations! One thing I really wanted to do with this little roundup was get people of all artistic backgrounds and interests inspired, and by the looks of it, that certainly has been achieved!

This roundup features jewelry, scrapbooking, party ideas, knitting, sewing projects, mixed media art, photography, and so much more! And if you’re like me, you probably like to mix it up! I definitely think there’s something to be said about reaching out of your comfort zone and learning or atleast appreciating something new!

So without further ado, I present to you this week’s Terrorific Tuesday Roundup…

Furry Monster Bucket Kiki of Kiki’s Craft World shows how to make a clever project that you’ll have to keep an eye on!

Hooty the Hoot Owl Retro Jewelry Set Margot Potter, The Impatient Crafter tried her patience making a paper crafted jewelry set for this week’s Terrorific Tuesday.

Mini Pumpkin Quilt Phyllis Dobbs shares a spectacularly whimsical quilt!

Sugary Sweet Skull Coasters Stoopidgerl makes some awesome resin coasters packed with candy, rainbows, and skulls!

Halloween Party Pics/Picks Swelldesigner a.k.a. Alexa Westerfield gets nostalgic with cupcake pics inspired by Halloween’s of yesteryear.

Witch’s Hat Pin Tammy Powley of About.com has a super simple witch’s hat pin project for you that is so quick you’ll want to make up lots of these to give to other Halloween witch’s.

Witchy Woman Angela of Angela’s Art Diary gets in the spirit when she puts herself in her own bewitched portrait!

Fairy Witch Frame Lorilyn Hurley of the Dream Life piles on the glitter and vintage charm in this inspired frame.

Spooky and Kooky photos Chris Garris a.k.a. Universal Stopping Point puts his photography skills to the test and creates a set of haunting images to get you inspired.

Halloween Charm Bracelet Jean Yates charms us with this gothic and glam skull bracelet.

Easy Dia de Los Muertos Story Box Kathy Cano-Murillo a.k.a. Craft Chica uses toys, a mini box, and lots of glitter to tell a beautiful tale.

Double Skully Bracelet Melissa J. Lee creates this red and black dazzler strung with double the skull goodness!

Bootiful Belt Buckles Rebecca Hull at HHH Enterprises makes an awesome Halloween accessory out of ordinary belt buckles!

Knitted Ghost Sarah E. White whips up this little ghost, perfect for haunting your house!

Spooky Photoshop Tutorial Amy Locurto of Living Locurto shows you how to create your own Photoshop still life to use on a custom invite!

Pumpkin Scrapbook Pages Michelle McGee scraps up some adorable memories of her little pumpkin!

Wicked Witch Brenda Pinnick’s witch is a bit scary, a bit fun andoh so colorful. She is made using heavy weight watercolor paper and acrylic paint. The paper sculpture techniques bring this gal to life!

Rubber Stamp a Luminary Kate Pullen
shows you how to use your rubber stamps to create a paper bag luminary
for Halloween on her About.com Rubber
Stamping Blog.

Fall Owl Pillow Kim of Sew Sugary Sweet gives a hoot with this cute owl pillow perfect for fall!

Silhouetted Paper Lanterns Robin of Urban Debris gets super spooky with vintage paper lantern patterns.

And I want to note my little sidekick in swell, Pixie (the ultimate Swellion in my book), and mascot for Terrorific Tuesday was by my side as I arranged and compiled these crafty offerings. Have to give her a shout out! Say hi!

Pixie's ready, are you?

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa