The Clock Tolls 6--Winners of the Hallowed for Halloween Contest

Okay, first let me start out by saying this was HARD. I had no idea when I came up with this little contest idea that I'd get such a big response, which is so cool. There were more than 100 entries, and I have to narrow the winners down to 4 (2 for the cover, 2 for the description). I wish I had like 100 ARCs to give out, seriously.

But, there can only be 4.

Plus 6 runner-ups, who will not receive Hallowed ARCs (boo), but who WILL receive any other kind of Unearthly-related stuff I can scrounge up, like bookplates and bookmarks and maybe Clara's favorite Halloween candy.

So, without further ado, the winners:

For the cover contest:

an entry by Jessica M. I thought this was gorgeous, first of all. And I liked how she incorporated the quote from Unearthly but gave it a whole new and devious meaning. Awesome. Congrats. An ARC of Hallowed is yours.

The other ARC will go to Roberta Mansfield, for this image:

This made me laugh out loud. Tucker's dismembered head was such a nice touch, and changing the name to Hollowed and having a hollowed-out space in Clara's chest. Classic. Plus fire and black wings and blood. Wow.

And now the runners up, who won't get an ARC but some other cool stuff:

Priscilla Peters, who sent me this lovely image:
Priscilla sent me 5 different entries, and they were all beautiful, but in the end I went with this black and white one. It was just . . . creepy. Bravo.

Christina Rose:
This was the first entry I received that really made me sit back and go, WOW. So Halloweeny. I loved it. I swear Clara's been looking a bit thin lately.

And last, but not least, Katie Kelly:
This was so beautiful and eerie and cool. I loved it.

Maybe this is torture, but I also want to mention Alexandra Torres, Ashley Ferguson, Faithe Maher, Kaylee Maddox, and Olliver Hood (Olliver's had this quote: "Simply brilliant"--The Devil, which also made me laugh out loud.) You guys made my top 10.

And on to the book descriptions.

Winner #1, funkelstein17, with this:

She´s waited such a long time for this day. It was October 31. Halloween. Night of demons and vampires. Her night. This was the night to finally fulfil her purpose. Clara Gardner, supernaturally beautiful and pale faced vampire, who had the ability to switch between dimensions - has trained for this day for years, mentally and physically. It was the darkest night of this year too, no moon, no stars, just blackness. Together with her mate Christian Prescott, scarred and red-faced king of demons, she´d do it tonight. Standing on top of a mountain near Jackson lake she´d raise her hand and with her high pitched scream a gap in space and time would appear like tongues of flames out of nowhere. Through the tunnel-like flame hole she would be able to see right into Cynthia Hands home, watching Cynthia writing at her desk while she was being completely oblivious to what was coming for her. Christian Prescott writhed in agony as he read Clara´s thoughts: Tonight Clara would torture Cynthia painfully to death if Tucker could not be her boyfriend anymore in the next book. He was determined to avert this, he was supposed to be her soulmate for eternity…

I was highly entertained by the idea of Clara torturing me to death if I separated her from Tucker.

Winner #2:
Mimi Valentine

Clara Gardner wasn't dead.

But every zombie hunter wished she was. Dubbed the legendary Severed Hand because of her missing right arm, Clara was one of the most notorious undead beings to haunt the Earth. She ate hearts and stole hands, as if to compensate for the she'd lost; according to rumors, she didn't even chew before she swallowed. There wasn't a single hunter who had managed to stop her wrath.

Until Tucker. Gorgeous, golden, and absolutely determined, Tucker Avery was one of the best zombie hunters out there... except he was dead too. As a zombie-hunting zombie, he was trusted by neither the dead nor the alive. Not that it mattered much to him. After watching his family die at the hands of a zombie and then being infected by the same guy, Tucker's only goal was to rid the world of all undead beings -- and then himself.

So it was natural that he'd take it upon himself to destroy the one-handed girl who haunted the boonies. Only problem? There were some things about the mysterious Severed Hand that not even the gory stories told.

Like the fact that, once upon a time when they were both alive, Tucker and Clara had known each other.

And she remembered him.

I picked this because, well, it was just an excellently written description. I want to read that book. And nothing says Halloween like Clara and Tucker as star-crossed zombies.

Runners up for this were Shannon (my agent liked this one!), Sara, and Gabi. Bookplates, bookmarks, and fun stuff for you!

If you didn't win, never fear. There will be more giveaways and contests in the future, and some not as difficult, I promise.

Whew. This was SO fun. Thanks for all the support for Hallowed.

Unearthly comes to PAPERBACK tomorrow! Tell your friends!

And now I'm off to trick-or-treat with my kiddos.

XO

C

Hallowed for Halloween Cover Entries

Below you'll find a video I made of the entries (so far) for my Hallowed for Halloween contest. You guys. This has been CRAZY. There have been more than 60 submissions to the cover part of the contest alone, and they are wicked awesome. I have no idea how I'm ever going to choose two. Thank you so much for making my Halloween so fun and showing such support and excitement for Hallowed. You make me proud!

Enjoy!

HandmadeMN Giveaway - Good Egg Girls

By Jessica of Clay By Clay

Congratulations to our latest giveaway winner! Thanks to all who entered and we wish you good luck with this week's giveaway!

This week's giveaway is from Sonya of Good Egg Girls.  Sonya is giving away this fun choker.

Good Egg Girls give their chokers women's names and those names and their meanings serve as inspiration for their accessories.  This choker is called Cora and Cora means Serious!

Sonya found new life for a necktie in this unique choker.  Sonya describes the design as "a statement piece" and the "perfect marriage of masculinity and femininity of 21st century."  The choker is made from a vintage tie, which is 100% silk by Liemandts.  The tie is adorned with a hand-sewn, gold-plated hanger and chain.  The choker has a silver, medium-sized snap for ease of closure and to change direction. It can be worn with a variety of outfits from dressy to casual.  The choker fits a neck size up to 16.5 inches.  The width is 1.5 inches and the chain on the hanger adds another 1.75 inches.  Wear it and know that there’s not another one like it!

Open to US and interntaional residents.

How to Enter:

Visit the Good Egg Girls shop, pick your favorite item and leave a comment on this post about it. (Scroll to bottom of post and click on Comments)

Please make sure we have a way to contact you!

For Bonus Entries:

Please leave each in a separate comment, as each comment is an entry (To qualify for extra entries you must do step one above).

1. Visit other HandmadeMN team members shops (listed in the sidebar here) and leave a comment(s) here with your favorite pieces.

2. Blog about this giveaway with a visible link back to this posting and comment here with a link to your post.

3. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment(s) with a link to your tweet(s).

4. Follow our blog (you want to do this anyway to learn about upcoming giveaways!). Leave a comment here letting us know you are a follower. If you are already a follower, leave a comment anyway, as each comment is an entry.

5. Follow HandmadeMN on Twitter. Comment back here with your Twitter link. Existing followers just leave your Twitter link here.

6. Become a Facebook Fan of HandmadeMN. Comment back here with your Facebook name. Existing fans just leave your Facebook name here.

7.  Follow Good Egg Girls on Twitter.  Comment back here with your Twitter link. Existing followers just leave your Twitter link here.



Contest ends Saturday, November 12, at 12:00 noon Central. One winner will be chosen by Random.org.

Good luck!

HandmadeMN members are not eligible to win.

A Haunted Office! Wait...What?

Every year my work hosts a 

HAUNTED OFFICE 

for the little ones...

source
 It's a super blast and the kids love it.  
Here's what my office area normally looks like!


Super exciting eh?!?

And this is what it looked like when I was done decorating! Phew...
{{BEFORE the lights get turned off and all the motion sensor shtuff gets turned on!}}


Scary right?!?  Teehee...especially with the deflated witch!

Here are some close-ups:


The first thing the kidlets will see when they walk into my space...a motion activated spell book that welcomes them to the haunted house and warns them that they are the next ingredients!


Then there is my ingredients table...


Isn't it FABULOUS?!?
It's missing the JELL-O brain but I'll be making that tonight...


The eyeball lights line the walkway and the life size broom is motion activated.
That broom CRACKS ME UP!

On the opposite side of the ingredient table is the blow-up witch...you'll see her below.
And right before you leave my space you see the kids fave part...
the CANDY table...


But they have to walk under my
GIANT SPEE-IDER to get out!


And then the lights turn off...




The video quality isn't the best...but you get a pretty good idea of what it looked like.

Fun Friday Finds—Happy Halloween!

By Sharon Parker ~ Arty Didact

It's getting darker earlier—must be Halloween time!

Happy Halloween



(Click on the image to go to the Etsy Treasury)

Visit these HandmadeMN shops to see more:
Click on any of the names below
Second Row (Left to Right): A Handmade Princess, Beatific Bijoux, Scrap Savvi, Twistmo
Third Row (Left to Right): Tracy's Bracelets & Soaps, Suz and Roo, FeatherMePretty, Glass Garden Designs
Fourth Row (Left to Right):  Simply Playing, Sacred Suds, XO Handworks, Kept Fresh

DIY Glitter Ornaments {tutorial}

I'm finally going to share with you something you got a little sneaky peaky of a while back...

How to make Glitter Ornaments!!!


Ya ready for the full shebang?  Why of course you are...


LOVE EM'

These were SO easy to make...SO EASY!!!

All you need is:


Clear ornaments and glitter
{take it from me...buy the clear glass ornaments, not the translucent ornaments}

and...now this is KEY...

pledge

PLEDGE Floor Care Finish with FUTURE SHINE

There is something with this cleaner that makes the glitter stick and hold!!!

Step 1...this is the easiest part {teehee}...remove top of ornament!


Remember that tip about NOT buying translucent ornaments?  
As you can see...I had to learn that the hard way!

Step 2...Pour some PLEDGE in your ornament.  You don't need a lot.


Step 3...Cover the opening of the ornament with a plastic bag or plastic wrap, press finger down to close the top and SWISH the liquid around so that it touches every spot of the ornament.

DO NOT SHAKE THE LIQUID!!!!
THIS WILL CREATE BUBBLES AND WILL NOT COAT THE ORNAMENT PROPERLY.

Step 4...Empty ornament back into your PLEDGE bottle.

Step 5...Take a horrible picture of the glitter that you just poured into the ornament.


Step 6...Cover opening with the same plastic bag or saran wrap that you used with the cleaner, press finger down to seal the opening and 
SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE...SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE...SHAKE YOUR BOOTY...
wait, I mean SHAKE YOUR ORNAMENT!!!


Step 7...Replace top and decorate as you see fit.

{yes I see the bubbles/creases in the vinyl...and yes, I smoothed them out}

Repeat steps with other ornaments.  I obviously did all the glitterfying before the decorating!!!
And yes, glitterfying IS most definitely a word...in My World!


When decorating you can use whatever you want.  I used a combination of vinyl cut from my Cricut and Halloween stickers and a lot of ribbon.  I found the cute little tree at Hobby Lobby for 40% in their Christmas section...PERFECT!!!

{I already had the little BOO ornament from years ago...}

So...there you have it.  My Halloween Glitter Ornaments!


Now...on to all the Christmas ornaments I plan on making!!!

Oh ya...
I found this tute on applying the glitter in this video way back when
{I love listening to the little girl explain how to make them}
 

I love your funny face Audrey Hepburn!!!! (part 1)


Sometimes all you need is a glowing smile and two sparkling eyes to be the most stylish woman in the world. That's what Audrey Hepburn is. An amazing actress, a great humanitarian and an eternal style icon. No words can describe how much Audrey has influenced numerous women, not only in the world of fashion by her flawless chic look and naturally beautiful face, but generally by her charity work for children and her historical filmography. Who can forget 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' and 'Roman Holiday'? Who didn't fall in love with her singing 'Moon River'? Who didn't once dream to wear one of those glamorous dresses made by Hubert de Givenchy especially for her? For me she is the epitome of elegance and modesty, the only actress with such an unforgettable and inspiring personality that her individuality placed her among the greatest stars worldwide. One thing is for sure, anything Audrey did was wonderfully magical because she was a part of it.

This post is the first part of a photo tribute to her. I hope you will enjoy it!

Fashionably yours,

Despina

Audrey in Breakfast at Tiffany's




















Audrey in Roman Holiday






 Audrey in Sabrina






A star is born

























Singing Moon River in Breakfast at Tiffany's