Something wicked this way comes……Halloween at TioT

I am not a big fan of halloween challenges. It’s not that I dislike it, quite the opposite, In fact some of the greatest things I see are quite ‘dark’ (Check out Laura Carsons blog for starters!!) but I just don’t really get it, it’s not the kind of stuff I buy and I never know what to make. So I was wondering what on earth I could do as my DT entry for this fortnight’s challenge at Try it on Tuesday that would pass muster. And then ………
…….I fell in love with Graphic 45’s Steampunk Spells papers. Serious, serious, obsession. So although I wouldn’t call my project overly halloweenly, it will have to do. (Warning: Picture heavy post follows!!)
Having bought some of the papers and stickers etc, I resolved that for once I would actually USE them rather than stroke them. It’s actually quite liberating to take the plunge and cut into those papers!! After looking around the Graphic 45 blog I came across this gorgeous mini tag book ‘tutorial’ by Annette Green. There are two parts to the tutorial – watch them both BEFORE you start if you want to follow all of Anne’s instructions, especially regarding construction – believe me it does make a difference!! (From that I guess you can work out I didn’t do that!!)

I recycled a damaged children’s board book for my project – I can usually lay my hands on these quite easily at work and it makes for a very substantial base. I copied Anne’s staggered look – the board book was already this shape so that was quite easy. The front cover is quite simple, I used one of the topper cards, made up a flower and added a ‘Halloween’ embellishment I had in my stash (so now it qualifies – so  there!!).

The next page we have a kind of double spread. The little book is a removeable accordian book and   uses some of the small elements in the papers. I cut some other bits from the papers and did a little stamping. There was supposed to be a removeable tag tucked in the other side but guess who glued the ‘love potion’ plate on all four sides? (No, there are no prizes.)

The next double spread has a little pocket with some removeable tags, and an extra page with a photo or journal block. Turn this over and and we reveal another tag and a journaling block folded over and secured with a metal spinner. This is something that Annette had in her mini and I just had to try it out – fantastic!!
Here are the next pages – another insert attached to the right hand side tag.

Are you still with me? Turn it over and discover a little pocket and tag on the reverse.

The final spread has some bunting and another journal block.

Sometimes I have a hard time just making things if I don’t have an idea who they are to go to, or what their purpose is. I have no idea what this is for, and although there are journaling spots and places where one could add photos I doubt I ever will - but I don’t care. One of the things Annette said in her video when explaining one of the delightful little details on her project was ‘it’s just fun… there’s no purpose, it’s just fun’. It really struck a chord with me and I think I need to adopt this mantra and not worry about why I am doing things so much!!
So there we have it, it certainly was fun to make and I am really pleased with it - I hope that maybe it will inspire someone else to just create for the fun of it. But whatever your Halloween make is, we’d love to see it over at Try It On Tuesday so go on over and join in!!

Challenges:
Dream Valley Challenges - Halloween
Country View Crafts  - Something SpookyMake my Monday  -Halloween