The Cat Who …

I recently discovered The Cat Who series of murder-mystery novels.

The books, written by Lilian Jackson Braun, tell of the adventures of a semi-retired journalist, Qwill, and his smart Siamese cat, Koko. They take place in Moose County, a rural region 400 miles north of everywhere, in Michigan.

While I enjoy the basic mystery portions of the novels, I also like to read about the slow-paced small-town life, the quirks of Koko and other small tidbits in the stories. I am particularly intrigued with the creative license Braun uses in her fictional county. It appears she has taken the best of Michigan and combined it into one location. So taken by trying to figure out where Moose County is, I decided create a scrapbook page about the clues in the book.

As always, click on the photo for a larger view …

The paper and flower stickers are from Cloud 9 Design. The state die cut was a gift from my sister. I printed the journaling on vellum and the clues on cardstock. The cat is a digital stamp by Doodle Pantry, printed on X-Press It Blending Card and colored with Copic Sketch markers.

As a side note … Copic will not react with laser or toner from a copy machine. They may react with ink jet printers. I have an HP and it works fine. I haven’t tried it with my Epson photo printer yet. So, always check your printer before coloring. Trust me, you will not like it when the black bleeds into your images and you could damage your nibs.

Back to the layout … the large letters and question mark are Grunge Board from Ideaology. The question mark is painted with Adirondack Paint Dabber and then covered with Diamond Glaze. The small letters are chipboard from Maya Road. They are colored with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink … a lot of ink for a solid color, less ink for the spotty ones … and then covered in Diamond Glaze. The black is painted on, then glued to the top of the squares and then the entire image is covered in Diamond Glaze. I love the finished look … especially the way the Diamond Glaze puddles where the letters meet the blocks. Once dry, I used Black Soot Distress Ink to ink the edges and then adhered it to my page. My favorite adhesive for these is Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear. I used Removable Glue Dots to hold the letters to my Nonstick Craft Sheet while painting. Trust me. You will want to do this!!

One-eyed Spiders

I am not a big fan of Halloween. I don’t like blood, ghosts and things that go bump in the night.  So, when asked to create a Halloween project for my first Design Team submission for Glue Dots®, I was more than a little challenged — not just in what to make, but what to do with it after I make it!

A friend suggested I use the Glue Dots® to make little spiders. I latched onto the idea and after several attempts, I created these adorable fuzzy one-eyed spiders.

Even someone like me who runs from the room screaming when they see a spider, has to agree that these little guys are cute! Of course, the best part is that they are super easy to make with Glue Dots®, Sparkly Fluff by OurCraftLounge,net, Dew Drops by Robin’s Nest and my newest favorite tool — Glaze Pen.

Here are the instructions for both the spiders and the little treat jar I made. The Glue Dots® give the spider dimension and the Sparkly Fluff makes him both fuzzy and just a little glittery. Too cute!

One-eyed Spiders Treat Jar

1. Ink the lid of a small, plastic jar with Slate Alcohol Ink. (I used an inexpensive jar from Meijer found in the kitchenware section of the store.)

2. Cut out a circle of paper (I used some Cloud 9 Design paper) to fit the top. Ink the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink and adhere to the lid with Glue Dots®. You will want to use one of the flat varieties — I used Mini Glue Dots®.

3. Apply a Pop Up Glue Dots® where you would like your spider to be. This serves as his body.

4. Cover in Sparkly Fluff (I used Coffee Bean Brown). Push in slightly to adhere well, being careful not to squish the spider. Tap off excess.

5. Use a Mini Glue Dots® to adhere a Dew Drop as the giant eye.

6. Create a dimensional circle in the center and legs with the black Glaze Pen to complete the look.

7. For the jar portion, cut a strip of paper to the desired width and ink the edges (it covers up the white edges you get from cutting patterned paper.)

8. Apply several Glue Dots® to one edge of the paper, make sure it is centered and straight and then press down. The Glue Dots® will provide an immediate hold. Then, wrap the paper around the jar until it starts to overlap. Trim. Apply another row of Glue Dots® and adhere.

9. The cobwebs are just a piece of May Arts ribbon, inked with Black Soot Distress Ink to match (they were a buttery cream color) and wrapped and adhered with Mini Glue Dots®. Only a few are needed this time.

10. The fence is made from American Crafts white cardstock and the Picket Fence Border die by Dies Direct. I inked it with Pumice Stone Distress Ink to add dimension and make it not quite so white. I used several Glue Dots® to adhere the first portion and then wrapped it just like the background paper and ribbon. However, I added Glue Dots® here and there on some of the posts. This makes the paper bend in and out and provides some added dimension. At the end, I added several Glue Dots® to finish it off.

11. The tag is made from the new Tim Holtz stamp set by Stampers Anonymous and the ticket strip die by Tim Holtz from Sizzix. I used the same white cardstock and then inked it with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and adhered with two more Glue Dots®. Be sure to ink the backside, as well, if you want it to stick out like mine does.

12. Finally, add a few more spiders — they are fun to make so stopping might be a problem.

13. Fill with your favorite treat (mine is filled with Candy Corn) and give to a teacher, co-worker or special child for Halloween!

(I wrote this blog while participating on the Glue Dots® Design Team)