Craft Fantastic Blog: October 2012

Monday, October 29, 2012

'Tis near Halloween!

When witches go riding

and black cats are seen,

the moon laughs and whispers

'tis near Halloween!

Here at Craft Fantastic, we're big fans of this colorfully festive celebration. It brings back happy memories of panhandling door to door dressed as our favorite cartoon character or superhero, or if we were brave enough, perhaps something more on the sinister side. Mom and dad were always standing by to escort us along our journey and a cool nip in the air might mean that our carefully constructed costume would be obliterated by a bulky warm coat, but we didn't care. There was candy to be had! Even though the occasional toothbrush or apple found it's way into our plastic pumpkin head, we were always giddy with our loot at the end of the evening, which always ended with a big shower of candy on the kitchen table as we dumped the contents of the night's haul out for full display. Who had the biggest pile? Who acquired the best candy? Ah, the simple joys of being a child.

Nowadays our treats have changed a bit. Sure, we still enjoy the gooey deliciousness of a mini Snickers or 2 (or 5), but sometimes we like to mix it up with something of the fat-free variety. I'm talking about Halloween goodies that put a smile on your lips and provide enjoyment throughout the year.

Take a look at these Halloween projects created by our resident Craft Fantastic Artists, Teresa Frankenstein and Shay Silva. This incredibly yummy eye-candy is sure to quell your Halloween cravings.

Find the glass beads, trays, images, and Craft Fantastic Glaze and Glue in the Craft Fantastic shop!

Created by Teresa Frankenstein:
Find the glass beads, trays, images and glue in the Craft Fantastic Shop.

Created by Shay Silva

Created by Shay Silva:
Find the glass bead, image and glue in the Craft Fantastic Shop.

Created by Shay Silva

Created by Shay Silva:
Find the glass beads and glue in the Craft Fantastic Shop.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Fall Celebrations

Here in the Southwest, the warm days are cooling off and the evenings have a crisp quality that might even have you reaching for a light sweater. Along the Rio Grande, the leaves are taking on the fiery hues of orange, red and gold. Yes, Fall has made her presence known and with her, she has brought the Autumnal celebrations of Halloween and Dia de los Muertos.

Cozy up with a cup of tea and your art table, and create something joyous and reflective for these 2 very special occasions. You might want to start with some of the Craft Fantastic images and maybe a Retro Round Bracelet Kit.

Find all of this and more in the Craft Fantastic Shop.

Retro Round Bracelet Kit

Halloween - Medium Squares and Circles, Small Ovals, Hearts

Day of the Dead - Large Square and Circle

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Craft Fantastic and Paper: A winning combination!

Welcome back to the Craft Fantastic Blog! Cheryl here and today I want to share a project I created about 10-months ago. I know it's older, but what I like about it is the unique look that the rectangular glass bead in the right-hand corner adds. The bead was very simple to assemble...I used an exotic Japanese Washi paper, a rectangular glass bead, a silver bail, and the Craft Fantastic Glaze and Glue, all from the Craft Fantastic line. I also pulled a couple of items from my own stash including a small heart charm, a dragonfly charm, and some twine. I punched the tiny tag out of a piece of scrap paper and stamped "thanks" on it. Put all those elements together and you have a lovely one-of-a-kind embellishment to add to any type of project. I want to note, the beads now come with a smooth beveled edge giving them an even more elegant and refined appearance. What type of projects would you add one of these unique, custom-crafted beads to?

You can find glass beads, silver bails, and Glaze and Glue in the Craft Fantastic Shop. The beautiful stamped image is by Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps and you can find it here.

Also, don't forget about the 500 Followers Giveaway going on right now! Tell your friends and family about Craft Fantastic and once we hit 500 followers, one lucky random person will be selected to receive a $100 Gift Certificate to use in the store! Thanks for stopping by today!

Friday, October 19, 2012

500 Followers Giveaway

Don't you love the excitement of a giveaway? We do too and that's why we're having a generous giveaway to say "hello" and welcome our new friends to the Craft Fantastic Blog. Once we hit 500 Followers, we're going to randomly select one person from our Followers List to receive a $100.00 Gift Certificate to spend in the Craft Fantastic Shop! Yes, that's right. One lucky person will have an opportunity to enjoy a fabulous shopping spree in our store and enjoy $100.00 in Craft Fantastic products, on us. Here's how you can join the fun and spread the word...

A Simple 3-step Process:

1. Sign up to follow the Craft Fantastic Blog under our Followers List in the sidebar.
2. Post the giveaway photo (above) with a link to this post in the sidebar of your blog.
3. Spread the word. Feel free to share on Facebook, Twitter, anywhere you socialize on the Internet. The sooner we hit 500 followers, the sooner we can give away the $100.00 gift certificate!

A couple of additional details...everyone is invited to play, no matter where you reside. If you are already a follower, then you just have to complete step #2. If you don't have a blog, you are still invited to play, just complete step #1. Remember, the sooner we hit 500 Followers, the sooner one of you will get to have fun in the Craft Fantastic Shop! Spread the word, because we are itching to make someone's day!

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Featured Artist: Lizzie Oakley

Welcome back to the Craft Fantastic blog! Today we're sharing art pieces created by Lizzie Oakley of Oh Snap, Lizzie. Lizzie is an amazing artist who creates beautiful cards, layouts, mini albums, jewelry, and more. Visit her blog and you'll also see that she is quite the photographer. A few months ago, at the CKC Houston show, Lizzie assisted Jenny in the Craft Fantastic Booth with make and takes. She immediately saw the versatility of the Craft Fantastic products and the creative cogs started to turn.

What a fabulous surprise for Craft Fantastic when we received these pics from Lizzie showcasing these gorgeous necklaces. Lizzie combined CF glass beads, trays, bails and chains with papers and ribbons from her personal stash and the results are spectacular! Take a look...

We thank Lizzie for creating these amazing pieces and we can't wait to see what she does next! Visit Lizzie's blog at OhSnapLizzie and also check out her Etsy shop. Pick up the beads, trays, bails and chains used in these projects in the Craft Fantastic Shop.

Monday, October 15, 2012

What we do...

Craft Fantastic is a jewelry resource for artists and crafters. We specialize in high-quality flat-backed glass beads, decorative trays, chains, bracelets, images, and more. Use our products to create exquisite handmade jewelry, design one-of-a-kind embellishments for scrapbook layouts and card projects, or enhance decorative pieces to add to your home decor...the possibilities are endless! Here is a small sampling of the products we offer. We encourage you to visit our shop to see the full line of Craft Fantastic tools and supplies.