Works From the Attic by Linda

Isn't she beautiful? In a creepy way of course! I just love this. It is a gift from a dear friend in Brighton that knows how much I love the macabre, Poe, skulls and all things creepy! She did a beautiful job on it. The picture really does not do this justice. The dress is made of a black crinkled tissue type paper. It is very delicate looking in person with so much detail. I love the little roses and skulls...all the little touches that make it so special. Thank you Rachel for taking the time to make this beautiful Altered Art Shrine just for me. I'm so glad it made it across the pond safely!

My grandson and I recently had a day of crafting and enjoyed making bottles of "Octopus Slime" and Bat Garland just to name a few. His bedroom will be creepy and ready for Halloween now! It is so enjoyable having him in the studio working with me. I love him with all my heart and soul. {{hugs}}

RAK From Glo~ Gloria sent me the cutest steampunk altered art tin. It is filled with a beautiful book filled with nature pictures and three vials with specimens. Thanks so much Gloria for making my day sunnier!

Friends have a way of making some of life's most awkward and painful moments bearable. I have a dear friend Glo, who made me a wonderful certificate and fractured nose statue to commemorate my /not so graceful/ nosedive over the coffee table and into the Oak ball and claw foot of the couch. I quickly learned several lessons, especially the meaning of comminuted fractures of the nose. It was a painful surgery and has been a less than enjoyable recovery, but I am finally turning the corner and beginning to feel human again. I have a new admiration for anyone having to do through that kind of ordeal. It happens easily but it not such an easy fix. Thanks Gloria for making the whole thing not only memorable in a good way, but most of all for making me laugh and smile.

I wanted to share my first Halloween SVG file. Hopefully everyone will be able to get the file okay, please let me know if you have any problems. Here is the link for the SVG file for Scal or MTC. http://www.box.net/shared/9auird14evy2aq7uzbar Happy Halloween! ~Linda

There were many things in October that were very good for me, exchanges were one of those things! This is my wonderful collection of Alice in Wonderland items that Holly made for me for the Altered Tin Swap on AlteredStart! The tin is fantastic but of course she did not stop there. She created some ATC cards, a little flip book, an altered Domino necklace with Alice on it and some silk bags of goodies that I can't wait to use! With all that has happened in September and October, swaps like this really have helped to brighten my days and see me through. Thanks SO much Holly!

It is that time of the year again! The bats are flying, the ghosts are ghastly and the pumpkins are adorning all the porches in town. I LOVE this time of the year. We have a big Halloween parade in town each year and it is so much fun to see the ingenious costumes that everyone comes up with. our neighborhood dogs and other animals get into the act as well. Recently on the AlteredStart Yahoo group, we had an Altered Art Halloween Charm swap! I love the charm swaps and the Halloween swap was so much fun! Here is a picture of the charms I received, each is adorable but the most important thing is the love everyone puts into their work. I will be sure to post a pic when I get my bracelet made with the charms. Thanks to everyone who participated in the swap!

This post is LONG overdue! In July I won a blog contest from Crafty Secrets for three sets of their Clear Art Stamps. If you haven't tried their products, they are wonderful! I loved them before winning but can honestly say after using these for several months now that their stamps hold up beautifully and give nice crisp detail lines. I just love the little fairies and the ATC sized stamps. I have thoroughly enjoyed my gifts and can't thank them enough for their generosity. If you haven't checked out their site, they have much more than just stamps! They have a really cool selection of vintage papers, stickers and more. Their blog is really great, and their gallery gives you a bunch of ideas to check out. Check out the website and then take a look at the blog as well. http://heartwarmingvintage.blogspot.com/ Thanks again for the wonderful gifts!

This time of year means a lot of time being spent making skull charms, bracelets and earrings. This bracelet was a little deviation from that. My September Mini-Swap partner, a dear friend, on the AlteredStArt group is also receiving this special bracelet. It is all silver, black and white. There are some black onyx, obsidian, mother-of-pearl and several other precious gemstones. There are three custom miniature "painting" charms of JW Waterhouse paintings, one of her favorite artists. I hope she enjoys it! Just in case she peaks at this blog, the rest of her gifts shall remain secret! ~smile~

I received my September mini-swap gift from Beth W. of the AlteredsArt group. It was awesome! Some of the goodies are obvious in the photo but what you can't see is that there are beautiful ATC cards in the book with the pages in it. Each one is beautiful. She also included a bag of steampunk things like pen nibs, gears and other trinkets for that Tim Holtz admirer in me! She made me a beautiful bookmark which will come in handy as I recuperate from surgery tomorrow. I will have a lot of fun with everything she sent! Thanks Beth!

I received a wonderful surprise call from Brighton Friday night. Rachel received her bracelet. As you can see, it differs a bit from the other one. I decided to make it with all black and red, bone, crystals and silver. She loves it and it made it all the way to the UK in one piece, safe and sound. Three cheers for the USPS! It is so delightful to talk to her, I love her accent. We were at the local Irish Pub having chicken wings (yes, there went the diet) so I had to cut it short sadly. Thanks for the call! You brightened my day!