Spooky Candy Bark

Spooky Candy Bark
by Sophia Vida

I wanted to share a fun and super easy Halloween candy bark with you that is absolutely delicious. I made this last year and had requests for another one this year.

This recipe was created by a very talented lady, Kelly Senyei.  You can you can find it on my Pinterest Board Fall-Halloween Crafts Board or go directly to her website at justataste.com/halloween-candy-bark.

Last year I was lucky enough to be in the right place, at the right time during the holidays and purchased a Chocomaker Melting Pot for next to nothing at the craft store. In the past, I used to make candy recipes the old fashioned way by melting the chocolate in the microwave or stove top. The down side was I needed the melted chocolate to stay liquid and if I didn’t move fast enough, it would start to harden. This melting pot has a warm setting so you can keep it liquid, which is a really nice feature.

The recipe for the bark is really easy to make and the variations are endless if you use your imagination!! Visit Kelly Senyei’s website for details and instructions on making this deliciously fun candy bark justataste.com/halloween-candy-bark.

Hope you all have a Spooktakular Halloween!!!

Enjoy!!!

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Patchwork Pumpkin

Patchwork Pumpkin
Created by Sophia Vida

I’ve been away for a while and really miss everyone but I’m happy to be back!! My break wasn’t really a break. We had to replace our flooring and as a result, had to pack up the entire house which at the time seemed like a monumental task.

While waiting for everything to get done, I read the book “Clear the Clutter” by Karen Kingston. Most Feng Shui books I’ve read in the past were complicated and hard to understand. But Karen made this book an easy read, filled with great advice for clearing the clutter and getting the energy moving again. I highly recommend it!!

So when the time came to finally unpack, I couldn’t wait to get rid of the clutter. It was amazing how much “Stuff” you can collect over the years. I got rid of bags and bags of “Stuff” that I didn’t even remember I had. And it felt great!! My creative energy is zipping right along again. So now back to art and this fun project:

I purchased an inexpensive paper mache pumpkin from the craft store along with 3 different printed fabrics. To start, I coated the pumpkin with gesso and cut the fabrics into 1 inch squares. Using Matte Mode Podge, I adhered the pieces of fabric to the pumpkin making sure to overlap the squares. Once it was completely covered, I let it dry and finished it off with brown ribbon that I glued to the stem with Aleene’s Tacky glue. Last I added a few fall sprigs and leaves to the top and Voila! I had a cute patchwork pumpkin to display for Fall!

Hope you enjoy!!!

Supplies Used:

• 6.5″ – 7″ Paper Mache Pumpkin
• 3 Different Print Fabrics cut into 1 inch squares
• Matte Mod Podge
• Aleene’s Tacky Glue
• Fall Sprigs
• Fabric Scissors
• Small Foam Brush

 

Spooky House Watercolor

“Spooky House Watercolor”
Created by Sophia Vida

Time is just flying by and Halloween is almost here. I saw a spooky house on Pinterest that inspired me to paint this one in my little 5.5″ x 8″ watercolor art journal. This was a fun piece to do while watching TV.

I started with a pencil sketch and then outlined it with a Sakura Micron Pen 03. The next step was to color it in with the Kimberly watercolor pencils. I used Niji Waterbrushes to activate the colors. Once it was dry I added accents with Sakura Gelly Roll pens and of course my all time favorite, Stickles. Last I accented the cat with Ranger Glossy Accents and Voila! I had a new painting in my journal!

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy!!

 

For this Project you will need:

• Sakura Micron Pen #03
  
• Kimberly Watercolor Pencils
  
• Strathmore Visual Journal, Watercolor Cold Press 140 lb Paper, 5.5″ x 8″
• Niji Waterbrush – Small and Medium
  
• Stardust Stickles
• Sakura Gelly Roll Pens
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Paper towels

    

Mixed Media Haunted House

 Mixed Media Haunted House
(created by Sophia Vida)

I wanted to create a little something for Halloween. What could be better than a haunted house, right? It needed to be scary, but not too scary. Quite a bit of the supplies for this house were items I had leftover from other projects. I purchased a couple of new things like the bead strand, crossbones and beware sign but that was about it. With everything I pieced together, this is what I ended up with…..

For this project you will need:

– 8-1/2″ Plain Wood Bird House
– Americana Acrylic Paints:  Persimmon (Orange), Light Cinnamon (Brown), Dove Gray and Black
– Martha Stewart Pumpkin Craft Stickers #48-20391
– Folk Art Crackle Medium
– Miniature Halloween Beware Decoration from Michaels
– Tim Holtz Crossbones Adornments #TH93089
– Favorite Findings Spider Mix Flatbacks from Joann’s (#1194)
– Glitter Hanging Jack-O-Lantern Ornaments from Joann’s (#1351-0888)
– Crafting Moss
– Jesse James 7″ Bead Strand from Michaels
– Ranger Glossy Accents
– Ranger Liquid Pearls – Onyx
– Stickles: Stardust, Dark Blue
– Thin white fabric
– White String
– Stylus in varying sizes
– Two 1″ – inchie squares for windows
– Two 1″ squares of copper sheet for shutters
– 1″ Styrofoam Ball
– Sharpie fine point pen
– 3 small black beads (any kind)
– Tim Holtz Distress Ink – Walnut Stain
– Aleenes Tacky Glue
– Glue Gun
– 1/2″ Paint Brush
– Plastic Coated Paper Plate
– Paper Towels
– Container with clean water to rinse the brush

1. You can gently sand the bird house if you like but I wanted it to look more rustic so I skipped this step. Coat the entire house with black acrylic paint. Let dry. Then give it a second coat and let dry.
2. Cover the entire house with crackle medium. Let dry.
3. Paint your roof with 1 coat of brown paint. Let dry.
4. Paint your walls with 1 coat of orange paint. Let dry.
5. Paint your fence with 1 coat of gray paint. let dry.
6. Randomly adhere the pumpkin stickers all around the house.
7. Using Aleene’s Tacky glue, adhere the Halloween beads to the front line of the roof. Let dry.
   
8. Using Aleene’s tacky glue, adhere the beware sign to the front left side.
   
9. Using the glue gun, adhere the moss all around the edges and yard of the house.
10. Make a smaller loop on the Jack-O-Lanterns and cut to size. Glue them to the  front left and right corner of the roof using Aleene’s tacky glue. Cover the strings by gluing a little moss on top.
    
11. Using the glue gun, adhere small pieces of moss randomly on the roof.
    
12. Using your sharpie pen, draw your spider web in the top left corner. Go over web lines with Glossy Accents. Let dry. Note: If you get the Glossy Accents in between the webbing, use the end of your stylus to remove it before it dries. Just be sure to wipe the stylus clean every time.
    
13. Add 3D Onyx Liquid Pearl around hole. Let dry.
    
14. Glue your crossbones over the hole. Also glue your spider by the web and add more spiders if you like.
15. Paint both of your inchies with a mix of black and gray paint. Let dry. Add white accent lines and go over the lines with Stardust Stickles. Let dry.
16. On one of the copper squares, mark the center with a pencil. Score down the middle with a thick stylus. Score shutter lines across both sides. Distress with Walnut Stain and Liquid Pearls. Cut in half on center score line with scissors and adhere edges to the back of the window. Repeat this step for second window.
17. Glue windows and shutters to sides of house.
    
18. Glue the black beads to the Styrofoam ball for eyes and mouth. Push them in a little so they are flush. Let dry.
19. Cut a small piece of white fabric and wrap it around your Styrofoam ball. Secure with a piece of white string. Gently stuff part of your ghost into the hole and glue the back of the head onto the house. Let dry. Voila!! You have a one of a kind work of art!!
    

Thanks for looking and have lots of fun making your own Haunted House!

 

          

Blue Watercolor Teacup Birdies

          

“Blue Watercolor Teacup Birdies”
Created by Sophia Vida

I love working in many mediums but watercolor is always my favorite. I took a wonderful online class by a very talented artist, Laurie May at Creative Workshops called 3 Stacking Cups with Birds and Roses. In the class Laurie gave detailed and easy step-by-step instructions on how to create this cute and whimsical watercolor painting. The class was reasonably priced and I highly recommend it!! For more information on Laurie May, visit her blog at  http//www.lauriescharmingdesigns.blogspot.com.

To start his painting I lightly sketched the design with pencil and then colored it with watercolor paints. Next I outlined everything with the Sakura Micron pens.  After the paintings were dry, I couldn’t resist adding a little bling to some of the roses and highlights with Stardust Stickles.

I had so much fun with the first painting that I decided to try a second one with fall colors. It didn’t turn out quite the way I had envisioned but I love it nevertheless.

Hope you enjoy!!

       

    

Fall Journal

“Fall Journal”
Created by Sophia Vida

For this Project you will need:

– Sakura Micron Pens in varying sizes

– Derwent Inktense Pencils

– Kimberly Watercolor Pencils

– Stardust Stickles
– Round Watercolor Brush
– Clean water and paper towels

I have two pieces of inspiration for this painting. First let me say that I finished reading Pam Carriker’s book “Art at the Speed of Life” and thought it was absolutely wonderful. In her book she gives tips on how to manage your art time and schedule it into your busy life. This is something that I’m sure we all struggle with from time to time. Sometimes it doesn’t seem to matter how organized you are, life simply gets in the way and that’s okay.

Pam also gives detailed instructions on various art projects, one of them being on how to make your own book from a single sheet of watercolor paper which is what I created this piece in. This was my first handmade book and I really love it. It has a cool factor because I made it and that in itself was very gratifying.

While on Pinterest I found a tree that was colored using a similar technique to my “Simply Groovy” project. So I decided to go with that. I drew the tree in pencil, then outlined it with the Micron #03 and #05 pens. I colored it with the Kimberly and Inktense pencils and used a wet brush to activate the colors. Once it was dry I added my sentiment and outlined the outer lines of the tree with a thick sharpie marker because the Micron #08 pen wasn’t quite what I was looking for. I couldn’t resist adding a little bling with Stardust Stickles and Voila! I had a one of a kind work of art in my new journal!

For those of you who are interested, this is the book by Pam Carriker:

 

 

Halloween Ghost Boo Card

 

Halloween Boo Card
Created by Sophia Vida

I found the Martha Stewart Haunted Fence Punch Set and the Pumpkin Punch on sale and couldn’t pass them up.  I loved the details on the fence punch with the crows, spider webs and pumpkins. Plus, the pumpkin punch is really cool because not only does it punch your image but it embosses at the same time!

For this Card you will need:

–  Great Impressions Ghost Stamp E622
   
– Any “Boo” Stamp or Letters
– Martha Stewart Haunted Fence Punch Set
 
– Martha Stewart Jack-O-Lantern Medium Double Embossed Punch

– Cardstock: Orange, Black, White
– The Stencil Collection Chalks – Dark Brown (These chalks are great! Unfortunately I just found out the company closed. If you find a set online, definitely get it. I love these chalks because they become permanent after applied and don’t require additional fixatives.) Another alternative would be to use Ranger Tea Dye Distress Ink.
– Souffle Jelly Roll Pen in White

– Stardust Stickles 

– Small amount of raffia ribbon 
– Color Box Black Pigment Ink
– Ranger Clear Embossing Powder
– Heat Embossing Gun
– Round Watercolor Brush
– Watercolor pencils: Rose, Gray
– Foam Squares 1/16″ and 1/8″
– Glue Dot
– Glue Stick

1. Cut a 6″ x 12″ piece of orange cardstock and fold in half. This will be the base of your card.
2. Cut a 6″ x 6″ piece of black cardstock. Using your Martha Haunted Fence punch set, punch the corners of the 6″ x 6″ black cardstock. After you punched all 4 corners, punch the sides as shown on the instructions.
3. Using the pumpkin emboss & punch, punch 2 pumpkins from the leftover orange cardstock. Set aside.
4. Stamp the ghost image onto white cardstock with the Colorbox Black Pigment ink. Sprinkle with the clear embossing powder and remove excess. Use the heat gun to set. Trim your stamped image to size.
5. Using the gray watercolor pencil, lightly shade the top of the heads and hands for each ghost. Using the rose watercolor pencil, lightly shade the cheeks for each ghost. Use a round watercolor brush dipped in water to blend the colors.
6. Stamp the Boo image onto white cardstock with the Colorbox Black Pigment ink. Sprinkle with the clear embossing powder and remove excess. Use the heat gun to set. Trim your stamped image to size.
7. Use the dark brown Stencil Collection Chalk or Ranger Tea Dye Ink to distress the edges of the card. Glue your black cardstock with the haunted fence border onto your orange card base.
   
8. Adhere the Ghost Image to the bottom center of the black cardstock using the 1/16″ foam squares. Adhere the Boo Image at a slight angle above the ghost image with the 1/8″ foam squares.
9. Draw a cloud around the Boo image. Draw a few white circles from the ghost image leading to the Boo image.
   
10. Using the glue stick, adhere the embossed pumpkins to the right and left of the Boo image.
11. Cut a small bundle of raffia ribbon and tie in a knot. Use a glue dot to adhere to the top left corner of the black cardstock just under the fence.
    
12. Highlight the orange pumpkin eyes with the Star Dust Stickles. Also highlight the eyes and smiles of the corner punched pumpkins on the black cardstock with the Stickles. Let dry. Voila! You have an adorable Halloween Card!!!

Thanks for looking and have lots of fun making this Halloween Ghost Boo card!

For more Crafting Tips and Techniques visit our main website at Just4Crafters.com