Franken Diva

For days those of us who live on the East Coast have been warned of the impending arrival of Hurricane Sandy. My family made the necessary emergency preparations for the arrival of Sandy. We are not near any water sources and our house sits on a hill so we are expecting a lot of rain, high winds and possible power outages. Fortunately we are not in an area where we are forced to evacuate and can wait the storm out at home. While I am waiting out the storm, I decided to head off to my Atelier to work on some projects. While I still have power (although the lights flickered while I am typing this) I fired up the Cricut and cut the necessary shapes. My drafting table faces the window and every time I look up from my work I can see the trees swaying wildly in the wind and rain furiously, pounding on my window.

Just in time for Halloween, Cricut released the Frightful Affair cartridge. The images on this cartridge are a little more sophisticated than the cutesy Halloween cartridge that they previously released. I like both types of cartridges and like have a variety of images. My favorite image on this cartridge is the Bride of Frankenstein. She is not the same old Bride of Frankenstein that one encounters every where but a "Bride" with attitude.  I was looking for a background for my Hello Kitty Halloween project and had the purple paper laying on my desk. The color didn't work for Hello Kitty but it would be perfect for the "Bride". I viewed her as a bit of a diva and decided to work from there.

 Here's the finished card. Oh, did I mention that I love bats and that they are a must for my Halloween cards?



Directions for Franken Diva Halloween Card:

Black, cream, light grey and yellow card stock
K&Company Kelly Panacci Halloween paper- purple with black dots and black with black glitter design
Cricut A Frightful Affair cartridge
Martha Stewart Iron Fence border punch
Stickles glitter glue-Ice Stickles
Recollections self adhesive pearls, Halloween crystals, small clear crystal
Black ribbon with silver spider web design
Sizzix die cutting machine
Sizzix bat die


1.  Fold an 8 1/2 by 11 inch piece of light grey card stock in half to make a card.

2.  Cut a piece of black card stock with black glitter design approximately 7 3/4 inches high by by 4 3/4 inches wide. Cut the purple dotted card stock approximately 6 3/4 inches high by 4 1/2 inches wide. Glue the purple dot card stock on top of the black card stock leaving a border of approximately 1/4 on all sides.

3.  Cut nine bats using the Sizzix machine and bat die. If you don't have the Sizzix bat die, you can substitute any bats (Cricut, etc.) You want the bats to be fairly small with long wings and small bodies.

4.  Cut a small round circle out of yellow card stock. I used a circle template just because I had one available, but you can use any small circle shaped object as a template.

5.  Use the Martha Stewart Iron Fence border punch to punch a fence out of black card stock. Trim the fence to fit the purple and black dotted card stock. Glue the fence to the bottom edge of the purple and black dotted card stock.

6.  Using the Cricut Frightful Affair cartridge cut the "Bride" 's dress out of black card stock at 5 1/2 inches. Press the shift and "Bride" key.  Next cut the "Bride" out of light cream card stock by pressing the "Bride" key.  Assemble the "Bride". Use a fine tip red marker to draw in her mouth.

7.  Center the "Bride" on the purple and black dotted card stock and glue her in place slightly above the bottom edge of the fence. Use Ice Stickles to fill in the white streak in the "Bride" 's hair. Add a small self adhesive pearl to the bolt on the side of her head. Apply 3 small pearls to her wrist to make a bracelet. Apply one small clear crystal to her ring finger and apply a golden Halloween crystal to the neckline of her dress.

8.  Apply 2 small and 2 medium purple Halloween crystals to the fence posts.

9.  Glue the yellow circle to the top right corner of the purple and black dotted card stock to make a moon.

10.  Gently fold the bat's wings upward to give them the illusion of flight. Glue 2 bats on the moon and glue the rest of the bats randomly around the top of the card.

11.  Center the black and black glittered card stock base on the light grey card stock and glue it in place.

12.  Tie a small bow out of the black ribbon and glue it to the bottom of the card.

Custom File Folders

In my continuing effort to reorganize my atelier, I purchased two of the Jet Max cubes from Michaels. I decided that a hanging file drawer and the three drawer cubes would give me a lot of useful storage and tuck neatly under my drafting table. The drawer for hanging files was a great idea! I imagined being able to store patterns and drawings from art projects and having them readily available when I needed them. The drawer went together easily and it even came with a package of six hanging file folders. I quickly filled up the six file folders so I reached for a box of standard hanging file folders from the office supply store. Then I discovered that the hanging bars on the file drawer were not standard ( they are wider than standard file drawers). I searched the Internet and ultimately found that the wider file folders could be purchased from Michaels but my Michaels doesn't carry them.

My search for the file folders indicated that a lot of people are still having trouble finding folders to fit the Jet Max file drawer. I decided to post my handmade file folders for those of you who want to make your own. The Jet Max file folders are 1/2 inch wider and three inches higher than the standard office supply store file folders. They are also lighter weight and not as sturdy as the standard file folders. My file folders are sturdier and can be made in any color to match your decor. The only drawback is that you need to use two file folders to make one finished hanging file folder.

Remove hanging bar from second file folder.

Open folder and lay flat with outside facing up.

Use a brayer to help the card stock stick to the file folder.

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Fold the edge of the card stock over the hanging bars.

Score card stock 2 1/2 inches from the end.

Finished hanging file folder.

                                      Directions for Hanging File Folders:

Box of Standard Hanging File Folders- available at Office Supply Stores
X-Acto Knife or other craft knife
Glue or double stick tape- I used the Scotch ATG tape gun
Card stock- I used a blue and yellow print from DCWV Sorbet Stack. You will need 2 pieces of the same color or print to cover one file folder.
Brayer
Hot Glue Gun
Martha Stewart Scoring Board and Bone Folder


1.  Split the top edge of a file folder with the craft knife and remove the metal hanging bar. Repeat on the other edge to remove the other hanging bar.  Remove the hanging bars from the second file folder and carefully peel off the overlapping edge from the inside of the folder. Try not to damage the folder because this is the one that you will cover with card stock.

2.  Open the second file folder and lay it on the desk top with the outside of the folder facing up.

3.  Score a piece of card stock 2 1/2 inches from the edge of the card stock. I used the Martha Stewart Scoring Board to get a perfectly straight scored edge.

4.  Lay the card stock on top of the open file folder and center over the folder. The card stock will be slightly wider (approximately 1/8 inch on each side) than the file folder. Apply tape or glue to the file folder along the edges and across the middle. Align the card stock with the bottom edge of the file folder. center the card stock and press into place. Use a brayer over the card stock to assure that it adheres to the file folder.

5.  Position the metal hanging bars one on top another so that they create a 13 inch long hanging bar. Use the hot glue gun to glue them in place.

6.  Fold the card stock along the scored line and use a bone folder to crease it.

7.  Apply a thin layer of glue, with the hot glue gun, near the folded edge of the card stock. Position the hanging bar, that you just made, close to the folded edge of the card stock (on top of the hot glue) and press in place.

8.  Repeat these steps for the other side of the hanging file folder.