Halloween Fabric Postcards

I was invited to join a fabric postcard swap awhile back--and, having never heard of making fabric postcards, I just had to check it out--and then, of course, I just had to sign up for a round of the swap!  (It's like that book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.)  I was intrigued over the idea and with the theme of Fall or Halloween, I thought it'd be a perfect chance to use some of those cute Halloween ideas I've seen, but never really gotten around to.  I know back East, Halloween is a pretty big deal, but around here, not so much--guess we're just not that into trick-or-treating in the rain!  LOL

The swap was three postcards, each one to a different partner.  All three of my partners said either Fall or Halloween as a preference, so I went with Halloween for all three.  I had a lot of fun trying out some ideas on these.  Each one has a different front, but the backs are all simple muslin with a quick message to my partner and their address (which is why I won't be showing the backs).  I would have loved to use some of my Halloween fabric on the back, but we were supposed to write on them, so prints were out.

All three have a border of varigated quilting thread and an interior of a very stiff heavy Pellon interfacing--no one wants a floppy postcard.  I used adhesive photo spray instead of an iron-on as that was what I had on hand.  It actually worked quite nicely and I definitely would use it again.  I knew I'd be mailing them in an envelope rather than straight through the mail (wanted to keep them clean), so I had some fun with a couple of simple embellishments.

The first one I made was the pumpkin face.  I found a goofy pumpkin in one of my mom's tole painting books by Gaye Shoell that was just to funny to pass up.  His eyes, nose and tooth are appliqued. I sewed shell beads for the center of each eye.  The rest of his face is hand embroidered.  I did add a bit of blush to his cheeks with a colored pencil and a few black lines with a pen.  Makes you smile, doesn't he?

The second postcard I created was the ghost.  I used a patterned fabric for the background and appliqued the ghost body (another Gaye Shoell design) down with a bit of batting underneath so he's a little puffy.  His eyes are French knots and the cheeks are colored with colored pencil and a few small embroidery stitches.  The star and square are raw edge appliqued--the black square says "Boo!".  I also sewed an pale orange mother-of-pearl button on for added dimension.  He's a sweet little ghost.

For the last postcard, the little witch, I wanted to do something a little more detailed.  She is from a vintage embroidery pattern.  I raw-edge appliqued her hat and dress with a fun fabric that had holographic stars on it.  The main coloring is with coloring pencil (ironed) and a black pen.  Her broom straw, eyes and hat band are hand embroidered.  I gave her red hair like me (okay, mine is not literally red like that).  Who could be afraid of a cute little witch like this?

So, there you have it--probably, the only Halloween crafts I'll get to this year.  I definitely had fun making these postcards.  They are quick to make and I'm sure I'll make more in the future!