Amazing Oz Centerpieces

I've been wanting to share something amazing that my brother made for the National Convention for the International Wizard of Oz Club, but I had to wait until the event occurred for these centerpieces to be "revealed."

You can read more about the steps that went into making these and see many more photos on my brother's blog, The Oz Enthusiast.  Be sure to click on the photos to enlarge them.

I think they are just wonderful and I want to get my hands on some of the metallic crepe paper he used to make the husks!  Please leave him a comment if you pop over to his blog.  If you are interested in the Wizard of Oz and the artwork from the original books, you'll find lots of interesting posts there.

We had planned to do lots more work on our remodeling and rearranging projects today but that didn't happen.  My husband injured two of his fingers when a piece of wood he was cutting kicked back at him - thank goodness it wasn't the blade!  We spent most of the afternoon at the emergency room where they stitched him up and added splints to protect the fingers since the top bones were cracked by the impact.  The projects will just have to wait while he heals.  We are very grateful for the care he received by the emergency crew and our local hospital. 

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This and That for Halloween

Today is the day for trick-or-treating and our neighborhood "Halloween Parade" (it's actually a stroll around the block but lots of fun to see).  After a very busy weekend, I just have a couple of quick things to share with you today.

an idea...

This clever idea for Halloween "eyeball" treats is easy to do - just stab a munchkin donut hole with a fork and dip it in white frosting.  Then add some lines of red frosting and use a chocolate chip for an eyeball.  My sister-in-law did this last year and I thought that some of you may not have seen the post where I originally shared these gruesome treats!


a card...

I also shared this card last year - I made it with some Lettering Delights Halloween circles (you can read more about how to make the card here).  The same method can be used for any occasion using images that are appropriate to the day.


a sale...

If you like working with digital images, there is a dollar days sale on lots of holiday items at Lettering Delights - the sale ends tonight.  Fonts, alphabets, graphic sets and paper packs are $1 and cut-it sets are $2.  The cut-it sets can be used with machines and programs that will cut SVG files.  You can use the code "DollarHoliday" to save 20% on an order of $20 or more.

Holiday Dollar Days   (click to go to the sale pages)


and something interesting...

Finally, my brother recently shared a link to a very interesting post about making "Wicked Witch of the West" dolls.  There is a company called R. John Wright in Vermont that makes all sorts of collectible dolls and animals. 

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that I use step-by-step photos to share the methods for making various projects.  If you have a few minutes to spare, the step-by-step explanation of the creation of the Wicked Witch of the West doll is fascinating - and makes me want to take up doll making!  (click the red words above to go to the page with the production photos),

I hope our trick-or-treaters are not discouraged by the snow - I think most of it will be melted and they will just need to bundle up to stay warm.  If you are celebrating Halloween, I hope you have lots of fun - just don't eat too much candy!  

A great big Happy Birthday to Rebecca! (my niece who thought everyone dressed up and came to the house to see her when she was a very little girl - Halloween birthdays can be fun!)


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The Wizard of Oz - on "Zazzle"

Happy Wednesday!  Have you heard about a site called Zazzle?  Today I want to share something new with you - well, it is new to me - maybe you have heard of this already...

My brother is an amazing artist.  In addition to the stained glass lamp and window business that I have mentioned here in previous posts, (Century Studios in St. Paul, Minnesota), he also does some painting and book illustration.  We share a childhood fascination with the Wizard of Oz - though his has developed much further.

One of my favorite childhood memories is of the excitement at our house when we got our first color TV (yes, I am that old!). We were finally able to see the transformation in the classic Judy Garland movie when she opens the door of her house in the Land of Oz and the picture turns from black and white into color.

Dorothy

Bill has been collecting Oz books most of his life and shares his collection and other information on his blog, The Oz Enthusiast.  He recently started doing a series of paintings based on the illustrations of the Oz characters by John R. Neill.

Jack Pumpkinhead

The original paintings are 12 x 12 inches and I have added watermarked copies of some of them to this post.  Eventually the series will have close to one hundred paintings.

Polychrome

Zazzle is a site that allows you to create custom printed items of all sorts - mugs, pins, buttons, stickers, magnets, t-shirts, sneakers, neckties, bags, cases for electronics - the list goes on and on.

Tik Tok

Artists can make their work available to be ordered on various items - so if you are an Oz enthusiast or know one you can create custom items at a reasonable price.  These would make great gifts for the holidays or anytime.

Toto

The artist who creates the image that you use is paid a small fee when you order something from their shop.  You can request custom combinations of images and products by leaving a comment in the OzShop section of the Zazzle site.

Wogglebug

There are so many options available and a wide variety of types of art.  It is something that you just need to see to understand all of the possibilities.  I have pasted in the "official" description of Zazzle from the Introduction page on the Zazzle site.

Zazzle is the world's leading platform for quality custom products. Zazzle's proprietary technology enables individuals, professional artists, and major brands, including Disney and Hallmark, to create and offer billions of unique products for customers worldwide. Zazzle's rapidly expanding product base covers every topic imaginable and includes t-shirts, business cards, invitations, in addition to a variety of custom gifts. Upon creation, products are instantly and accurately visualized on the site and offered in the Zazzle marketplace. When ordered, each product is made on-demand, typically within 24 hours. Launched in 2005 and based in Redwood City, California, Zazzle's vision is to redefine commerce, powered by the world's imagination.

I think it is a very interesting way for artists to make their work available and I expect to spend some time checking out more of the shops on this site.

If you would like to see more of the Oz images and the products available, this LINK will take you to the OzShop on Zazzle.

If you are curious about my brother's Wizard of Oz collection, this LINK will take you to his blog, The Oz Enthusiast.

 In case you were wondering - Polychrome is a sky fairy and the "sweetest and merriest of the daughters of the Rainbow."

Thanks for all of the nice comments about my "upcycling" project.  I need to drink lots of orange juice to get more caps so I can make some more projects with them!  Watch this space....

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A little bit of this and that...

I have a few interesting things to share with you today.

First, I want to let you know about an event in New York City next month.  Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia will be holding their annual holiday craft sale which is held in the company's creative headquarters.  Members of the Crafts team offer their handmade gifts for holiday shopping.  The sale date is December 4th.  I think it would be fun to attend and see all of the crafts and meet some of the craft designers.  Maybe I'll "need" to go see our son at college that weekend!

There is a contest to choose three lucky crafters to be vendors at the sale.  You can get all of the information HERE.  Submissions are due by Friday, November 5th at noon.  What a fabulous opportunity to have your work seen by thousands of people and kick start a crafting career!  (Just promise to remember the rest of us when you make it big!).  You can check out photos from last year's show HERE.  (The bird image above is from the contest page - isn't it clever!)

I have mentioned my brother's blog, The Oz Enthusiast, which is about all things Oz a few times.  While his business is making stained glass lamps and windows at Century Studios, he is an avid collector of Oz books and illustrations.  On Monday he posted about a great project. - a book of the Wizard of Oz made featuring Riley and Company stamps.  You can read his post HERE and when you go there you will find the link to see the book.  You can find more information about the stamp sets HERE.  The stamps feature Riley and Sophie dressed in many costumes - maybe I need to get a few of these to use to practice coloring with the ProMarkers.

Speaking of the ProMarkers, did you have a chance to visit Enfys and see her cards and tutorials?  She'll be posting them all week and you can enter to win a full set of 148 ProMarkers generously donated by Letraset.  If you have been wanting to try these markers this is a great opportunity for one lucky winner - maybe you!  This LINK will take you to Enfys' blog,  Going Buggy

Finally, I was away most of the day Tuesday so I wasn't able to test cut some of the designs I showed you last week.  There is one more preview of a snowflake I created at the top of this post.  Can you guess which cartridge I used?  I hope to have some crafty time Wednesday so I will be able to post a few finished projects made with my "doodle designs" soon.


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Gingerbread and Snowflakes

My brother is a talented artist.  He and his partner make Tiffany reproduction lamps and other stained glass art.  They have a lovely shop in St. Paul.  If you have been reading my blog for a while, you may remember the post I made a while ago about the store hours sign I did in vinyl for Century Studios (here is a LINK to that post).

Bill is also a collector of all things related to the Wizard of Oz and has a blog called The Oz Enthusiast where he showcases some of his collection and research.  I just had to share this amazing Gingerbread Emerald City Palace that he made - you can see a bit more about it on his blog (please leave a comment if you can).

I did make some files with more snowflakes in circles - these are from Winter Woodland - but I did not have enough time today to do test cuts (or make the video).  You can see from the preview that they will be very pretty!

Here are a few from When It's Cold Outside - I won't do all of the variations but they are simple to do so you can make yours with whatever snowflakes you like.  I hope to post the video tomorrow but it will depend on how the drive home goes.

There was a fair bit of snow last night but fortunately today it turned to rain so I was able to get to our son's concert despite a bit of fogginess tonight.  It was wonderful - lots of talented students sharing their compositions.  I only got to see him for a few minutes before he had to rush off to another event but next week I'll come back to bring him home for the long winter break.  So tomorrow I'll be on the road again!