• Halloween crafts and Pumpkin Harvest!

    It has been a very long month and seemed to have gone by so quickly. I never seem to have enough time to get all of the arts and crafts I want to get done for Halloween. There are so many directions you can go to be creative for Halloween: home decor, themes, costumes and accessories. Jewelry is thankfully one of those crafts that is easy to make, even with time constraints. I ended up finding this perfect twisted tree pendant from Blue Moon Beads. It had a silver bird dangle attached to the tree; while cute it did not lend well to a Halloween theme, so I removed it and started to brain storm. I wanted to make a more classy addition to a witch costume. Going with the classic idea of poison apples, I started to rummage through my glass and crystal beads.


    “The wicked tree” ended up being simple to make but classical in design. I thought blood red crystals would add the needed flash of color with a touch of sparkle to remind of the ruby red but deadly apples.

    Now still going with the Halloween theme, I bring you to my garden. As I noted in my last post pumpkins have been a big theme for me this season. For me Halloween is one of the best times to showcase this lovely squash. This year I attempted my first try at a completely organic pumpkin patch. Starting with only homemade organic compost and organic seeds I ended up planting 12 seedlings. Traditionally you want to plant pumpkins no later than June, I ended up planting them in the beginning of July but they still came out wonderful. I picked a small variety called New England Pie. This is a classic traditional heirloom pie pumpkin on the East Coast. They are small and usually only weigh a few pounds.


    Quickly they took over my little raised garden patch and started to bloom! The bees did the rest and little pumpkins started to form!

    I was so happy to harvest the first pumpkin of the season. But many more started to turn orange….


    I have many more still turning orange on the vine but I was able to harvest these. They have to cure for 10 days but they look wonderful as Halloween decor until I can cook them up. 🙂

    My family can’t wait for them to be ready to eat and they are already planning on what to make. One of my favorite recipes to use for pumpkins besides stuffed pumpkin is Olive Oil Pumpkin Bread. At first it might sound a bit odd but it is a wonderful recipe to use. The flavor is light but the bread is rich in nature, perfect to give as a gift.

    Wishing everyone a Happy and Safe Halloween! Until next time, Safe Travels!

  • Family of Pumpkins

    I have pumpkins on the brain lately (sounds like a condition doesn’t it? LOL). I am trying to grow a pumpkin patch, wanting to make pumpkin pie, finding vintage ads of pumpkins and creating pumpkins out of polymer clay.  I have always had fond memories of carving pumpkins, making pumpkin cakes and cookies with my family. To me they are what Fall, Halloween and harvest festivals are about.

    This year I am making all kinds of Fall crafts but I wanted to make something showcasing pumpkins and the happy feeling of family together for the seasons. I started with making a cute little family of pumpkins out of polymer clay. I really liked how they came out but felt I could use them on so many projects such as cards, magnets, jewelry and wall decor. So I decided to make a mold of them so I could do all the projects I thought of and more.

    For the pumpkin family mold I used:

    Polymer clay (any brand or color will do since I made a mold from the original polymer piece)
    Amazing Mold Putty
    Amazing Casting Resin
    Martha Stewart Crafts 2oz Multi-Surface Satin Acrylic Craft Paint Carrot, Jonquil and Beetle Black


    Here is the original pumpkin family made out of poly clay. I gave them deep smiles and happy faces, I don’t have to worry about any detail being lost since the Amazing Mold Putty does wonderful with anything with high detail.


    I mixed the putty according to the manufacture’s instructions, though the Amazing Mold Putty is rather forgiving if there is not exact amounts used. I do not attempt to remove the mold for at least 20 minutes to make sure the mold has set.

    While the cure time for the molds is 20 minutes I like to leave the orignal in the molding putty for longer, making sure the mold is a rigid as possible (but keep in mind it is silicon and very flexible once cured) before trying to make any replicas. The mold can be cleaned with mild soap and water before you make any replicas to remove any loose particles left by the original.

    When mixing the Amazing Casting Resin I have to be careful about stirring too fast and for too long. Once the two parts are combined stir carefully until clear, scraping sides, about 15-20 seconds. I then immediately start to pour the resin into the mold; be careful not to pour too quick as you will increase the amount of air bubbles. It will set in 10 minutes, but keep in mind that the thicker the piece the faster the cure time. In this case the pumpkin family is a thick piece and set in about 8 minutes.

    Here the resin copy is next to the original and the mold. Once the piece is cured I demold, trim any rough edges, sand and started painting.


    Here I show the 3 stages of painting. I have found that the Martha Stewart Crafts Multi-Surface acrylic paint bonds well with the resin replicas. I start with the Carrot, then a color wash of Beetle Black and then paint the Jonquil paint only in the eyes, noses and mouths of the pumpkin family.

    The first project I wanted to make with a pumpkin family was a home decor piece for my mother. She loves the holidays and always likes to have the family home to celebrate.

    For the home decor piece I used:

    Globecraft Memories Classic Fancy Rectangle
    Globecraft Memories Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze
    Globecraft Memories Enamel powders 24K Gold and Mossy Glen
    Globecraft Memories Piccolo Accents
    Cardstock (any color or brand will work, I used orange, metallic white and black)
    Mini Fall Leaves (most local craft stores carry small bags of fabric or paper leaves in the scrapbooking or floral sections)

    Using one of the finished pumpkin resin pieces, I placed it in the middle of the Classic Fancy Rectangle and traced along the inside of the oval to make sure the background paper, pumpkins and a leaf embellishments fit inside the globe.

    Once I decorated the outer layers of the frame with the paper, enamel and Piccolos, I coated the outside layers with two coats Glastique Gloss glaze. Once completely dry I glued the layers and globe with Glastique together.  I then glued the pumpkin resin piece to the backplate of the frame with a thick layer of Glastique. I carefully added the mini leaves around the bottom of the pumpkin family to give them a “bed” of leaves to be on.

    Glue the top layers of the the frame to the backplate with Glastique and once dry it is now ready to hang on the wall! 🙂

    Until next time, Safe Travels!

  • So many things so little time!

    As per normal last month, October was busy but I worked hard, had a lot of fun and made a lot of new connections.

    At the beginning of the month I attended the Annual American Indian Celebration at the Antelope Valley Indian Museum. This rare and unique eclectic folk art structure is located in northeastern Los Angeles County. The museum houses objects created by the American Indian cultures of the western Great Basin, California, and the Southwest. The Celebration featured Native American dancers and many Native American artists who work with the museum and staff on a regular basis. The Museum was open to the public during this event. Due to budget cuts in California this state park is on the list to be closed in 2012; the museum is trying to independently raise funds in hopes of keeping it open longer. This is such a jewel of the desert, so please take the time to visit their website.

    Front of the museum. Built in the 1920s among rock formations in the Mojave desert.