my box-o-stuff from the Craft/Crafty Chica Dia De Los Muertos Altar drawing has arrived!

paints and glitter and a book and shrine kits and papers and inspiration cards… yup, that’s a lot of stuff. it should keep me busy for awhile.

apparently the gift certificate included in the prize is being sent separately. i hope it arrives soon! because then i’ll have MORE STUFF! heh.

a worn t-shirt, some freezer paper, acrylic paints and textile medium:

i figured out the design as i went along, and cut three separate stencils: one for the flowers, one for the stalks, and a third for the roots.

the white dots were made with a pencil eraser dipped in paint.

i started with this old lightweight cotton sweater that i purchased at some discount store eons ago:

and i turned it into this:

well, technically, these are some of the last two weeks’ FOs, but, uhhhhh, i’ve been busy. or just tired. take your pick.

first, a hat knitted using skein remnants.

the black is caron simply soft acrylic, left over from the felicity hats i made earlier this year. the other yarns are leftover chenilles from years and years ago. i’m not one to get rid of craft supplies i can use later!

i pretty much winged it with the pattern.

and then there’s this:

i needed a little pouch that would fit my notebook and whatever writing/drawing implements i want to carry with it, so i sewed up a bunch of scraps and made this zip-top pouch.

the finished size is 7.5″ X 11.5″.

and it’s fully lined.

fits my notebook, fountain pen, colored pencils, and then some. and best of all, i depleted my stash by using only what i had on hand.

and now i’m off to do some more stash-busting!

I’ve dismantled the altar, but took one last photo before packing it up.

as usual, i have about a million projects to work on right now. for those who asked, YES, i’ll be posting a skull-making tutorial, as soon as i can get around to doing it. uhhhh, so that should be sometime before dia de los muertos 2010. or maybe even in time for this year’s winter solstice! hee.

yup, i’m about 99% sure that i’m done. i really should just say i’m done, and i’m keeping it simple and i’m not adding anything more, but then i might be fibbing. i may get a wild hair and add a little more later…

a little background before the rest of the photos:

this is pretty much an homage to my mom, who died last year, with a nod to my dad, who died just before i turned two. i included items that my mom enjoyed: scrabble, playing the lottery (the tickets on the altar are the number choices my mom pulled for every draw), gardening, gnomes, creative stuff (the wood carving on the floor is one made by her way back when), cribbage.

and yes, that urn in the back contains her remains. cremains. whatever.

the two buddhas on each side were hers – a happy one on the right, and “profound buddha” on the left. the fruits on the altar are a pomegranate (a nod to the greek mythology of persephone and the changing of seasons going on right now) and limes (which mom grew for years and loved). the keychain has the brass “bitch” fob that mom carried ever since i was a little tot, along with a copy of dad’s dog tag and our old abyssinian cat’s tag. the old black & white photo is from one of the happiest points in mom’s life – just after she married my dad. the other photo is from 2007 – not long before the cancer came back. she’s standing in her front yard garden and she’s smiling. that’s how i like to remember her.

and now, the photos:

and i just joined the crafty chica/craftzine shrine challenge… i hope i win!

happy halloween, y’all. y feliz dia de los muertos.

we’re back from a lovely trip to california’s central coast, and i’m diving right back into working on my dia de los muertos altar.

i (think i) finished skull #2 (skull #1 is the sequined one, and yeah, that’s done):

i used some dmc satin floss for all except the green – that’s dmc light effects.

and i started skull #3:

i glued and sewed little ribbon roses to the crown. and now i’m going to get back to it so i can put together the rest of the altar tomorrow.

at the beginning of october, i started putting together what’s going to be a small altar for dia de los muertos, in my craft room.

since i have a limited amount of space, i set up a room divider and covered it with a sheet, and placed it against one wall. in front of that, i covered a couple of plastic bins with a cloth.

and i hung up some papel picado banners that i picked up at the folk tree in pasadena.

i gathered up a bunch of other items to place on the altar, and tried to figure out what was going to be the best way to sew up some skulls that would kind of look like traditional mexican sugar skulls. setting out sugar in our apartment would just be a giant open invitation to the ant colonies in our walls.

and then i got sick. the usual yearly head/chest cold. i’m still working on getting rid of it. inevitably, work on the project has stalled a little.

BUT! i did work on the skull quandary over the weekend.

after a little trial-and-error, i modified a head pattern from one of my doll-making books, and i think it’ll work out just fine.

i made a few of ‘em to try out some different techniques, but i only got around to starting the decorating on one of them.

yup, i busted out the sequins! i ended up removing that bead that i was going to use as the nose, and this one will be all sequins. i’ll try some embroidery on the others, and maybe some painting, or a combo of both, or maybe even embroidery, painting AND sequins. or maybe that’s getting a little too ambitious…

i’ll post more when the altar is done (or as close to done as i can get).

what would you do if you found some cute toddler socks in the dollar bin at target? i mean, besides the obvious “put them on a toddler”.

i’d make something happy.

like a puffer fish.

it took lots of time to sew those little poky spines onto his skin.

but in the end, the effort was worth it.

the button is meant to be his mouth. my husband thought it looked more like a pig’s snout.

this puffer’s name is barry puffins, and he’s become quite good friends with mrs grimbley. i’m sure i’ll be adding more creatures to their entourage before too long.

adventures in chalkboard painting!

first, grab some 10″ square pine-framed ikea malma mirrors.

remove the mirrors and cover the wood with a couple coats of chalkboard paint.

after 24 hours, use acrylics to paint aliens or monsters on the chalkboard-painted surface. paint the edges with paint that matches the alien or monster.

glue the mirror back into place.

hang the chalkboard and enjoy!