Halloween Swap Gifts for LadyKatka

LadyKatka (ravelry) was my other partner in the larger Halloween swap.  She received her package recently (in Canada).  Here is what I made for her.

A treat bag / project bag made from 3 large M&M wrappers (donated from a restaurant) and skull duct tape (more pictures below), a knitted dish towel, a crochet plarn scrubby, a google eye picture frame, skull stitch markers, gauntlet style fingerless gloves, toilet paper tube treat containers, a cork witch...

Some small goodies like a skull stamp, parachute black cat, spider rings...

A magnet made from a wooden Halloween piece (the toad warts), a plastic bottle ring crochet wreath ornament, pumpkin decoration, a bat ATC, Halloween pencils, Peanuts Gang activity pages, and a card.

Here is my video tutorial on how to make this google eye picture frame.

Gauntlet style fingerless gloves, which I am currently making myself a pair.

This wreath ornament was made by crocheting around a plastic bottle ring.

The pattern for this ornament is:

- Chain 20 stitches.

- Take a plastic bottle ring and half double crochet around it.

- Join with a slip stitch.

- Triple crochet twice in every stitch around, and join with a slip stitch.

- Chain 15 to 20 stitches, and tie to the other chain length.

- Then just add accessories.

Here is my video tutorial on how to make this bag.

Modfied Feather & Fan Hanging Dishtowel

The plarn scrubby pattern is just simply crocheting a basic circle:

- chain 2
- crochet 8 times into the 2nd chain from the hook
- single crochet twice in every stitch = 16 sts
- 2 sc in next stitch, 1 sc in next stitch, repeat = 24 sts
-  2 sc in next stitch, 2 sc in next 2 stitches, repeat = 32 sts- repeat until it is the size that you want. 

I used 1 Kohls gray plastic bag and 1 small black plastic bag to make the plarn.

These were the first stitch markers that I had ever made.  I loved them so much that I made myself a set.  The skull beads were found at Michael's Craft Store.

These cork witches were based off of this  Korknisse pattern.  I just modified the pattern slightly.

This artist trading card was made by watercolor painting on watercolor paper and then drawing on it with a black fine tipped sharpie.

Here is my video tutorial on how to make these toilet paper tube treat containers.  I put all of the smaller items in these containers.

LadyKatka said that she wants that skull duct tape.  She loved the skull stitch markers, especially since they are piratey.  She was hoping to get a cork witch and an ATC from me, so its good that I made some for her.  The magnet is already on her fridge.  Not pictured above, because it was a last minute add, was a red Kool Aid juice pouch notebook.  I had so much fun making things for her.  

Crayon Swap Package & Other Items

Before the Summer I lead a swap called the Crayon Swap.  We each picked a color that we wanted someone to make things for us in, and then we each made items in that color for the other person.  Recently I found out that one person's partner never followed through with the swap; so, I made her a bunch of things with her color in mind (turquoise) as an angel gift.  An angel gift is when someone sends something to another person without wanting anything more than a thank you in return.  The diamond patterned item is a notebook made from a juice pouch cardboard box.  There is a crochet soda tab flower pin, a plastic bottle cap pincushion that looks like a flower, a juice pouch notebook, a juice pouch coin purse, a small drawstring bag made from a t-shirt sleeve, 5 paper bead stitch markers, an artist trading card (my drawing), a crochet cotton scrubby, a crochet cotton dishcloth, and a crochet cotton floral hot pad.  She received everything last week and loved them all.  I'm so happy that she liked everything and that she got something from this swap.

Here is a close up of the hot pad.

Here is a close up of the scrubby.  Normally I knit scrubbies, but I found a crochet pattern for them.  It works the same way as the knit one: increase on one side and decrease on the other side, then do a running stitch on the sides to make the top and bottom like a circle / spiral.  Very easy.

The top stitch markers are the blue paper beads ones that I made for her.  I'm new at making stitch markers, so they aren't perfect. I found some cool skull beads at the craft store, and made some fun Halloween stitch markers for myself.

Here is the front of a card that I drew and mailed to a friend recently.

I then took an out of date calendar and made an envelope out of the October page.

Here is one of the Summer months calendar page turned into an envelope.

Here is a recent artist trading card (ATC) that I made using watercolor paints and a black pen.  An ATC is 3.5" x 2.5" - the same size as a baseball trading card.

ETA: Here are more photos of the swap package.

ATCs

The other day I was inspired to draw some more ATCs (artist trading cards).

This one is called "The Last Burst of Light."

Watercolor paint & black ink.

This one is not my usual style, but it needed to be drawn.

It is called "Clinging Chameleon."

Watercolor paint & black ink.

I recently did an ATC trade with knityoga (ravelry name) who lives in England.  This is the ATC that I received from her.  Isn't is cool?  I love that she did embroidery / string art on an ATC.

She also sent me 2 fabric postcard that she had made.  I sent her 3 ATC's, 2 originals and 1 photo copy of one.  Some of mine are hard to give up/trade, so I made copies of them on card stock.

ATC Swap & other Summer pictures

The other day I received my ATC (artist trading card) swap.  These 12 cards came from 4 different people.  Each row of 3 is from a different person.  They are all so different and unique, and I love them.

I accidentally sent out extras and these are the ones that I had made that were returned to me.  I'll save them for another swap.

I've been working on a secret amigurumi project for a friend's birthday.  I'll let you wonder what I'm making ;)

Here are some pictures that I took at the beach the other day.

I took this picture tonight.  My family was waiting for pizza (I can't have any due to my diet), and I took a picture of the umbrella that we were sitting under.

Then I took a picture of one of my son's bike.  We took the kids out for a bike ride tonight and discovered a new pizza place.

Sorry that I haven't been posting much.  My husband recently installed a new hard drive in my computer.  I really needed the space.  Plus the amigurumi project is taking a little while to make.  I hope all of you are having a great summer.

More Artist Trading Cards

Here are the 5 artist trading cards that I made today.  I had watercolor painted them a few weeks ago.  Today I drew on them with a black pen.  My favorites from this set are "Rocky Mountain High" and "Pondering."

Rocky Mountain High

Wilting in the Heat

Pondering

Radiating Heat

Growing Towards the Sun

Ocean Haiku Artist Trading Cards

Using the pre-cut cards that a friend of mine sent to me, I made the following artist trading cards.  I had bought some cute stickers that I placed to one side of the cards.  I then went online and found some ocean haikus and a haiku about buttons (for the last card), then wrote them on torn pieces of papers.  Next I watercolor painted the papers to match the cards that they were going to be placed on.  When dry, I glued them in the empty space next to the stickers.  They seemed a little to plain though, so I added some glitter glue to spice them up a bit.  I like them.  They are simple, but they are still nice to look at.  Sometimes simple is best.  I wanted to include a link to the page where I found the ocean haikus, but I can't seem to find it again.  They also did not have any author's name attached to them.