👻 Happy Halloween & Día de Muertos! Let's Talk About Your Inner Monster (It's Not Scary, Promise!) 🎃

Hey, brave souls! As the leaves blaze and the air gets that perfect, crispy chill, we’re standing right in the middle of the most magical time of year. Whether you’re saying “Trick or Treat?” (October 31st) or setting up marigold altars for Día de Muertos (November 2nd), this season has a secret invitation for you: to embrace your inner darkness.

Don't worry, we're not talking about anything under the bed! We're diving into the coolest, most liberating concept from the legendary shrink, Carl Jung: The Shadow.

 Your Shadow Is Your Unlived Life

Jung taught us that the Shadow isn't a monster; it's simply the part of you you’ve locked away. Think of it as "the attic of the psyche."

From childhood, we learned to be "good," "polite," and "acceptable." Everything else—that sudden flash of rage, the urge to be totally selfish, the intense jealousy, or even a wildly untamed creativity—gets shoved into that forbidden drawer.

                               "The attic of the psyche." AI generated  and digital work by Hands and Heart

The Problem? What you repress doesn't disappear. It just gets stronger! It whispers, it lurks, and sometimes it erupts in unexpected ways:

• The sweet person who suddenly unleashes whips of contempt.

• The disciplined soul who only allows excesses on the weekend.

• The immediate, fierce judgment you throw at someone else (that’s often your own flaw reflected back—a projection!).

  

  Happy day of the dead! AI generated  and digital work by Hands and Heart

  
  

  💖 This Season Is Your Permission Slip to Be Whole

  Our culture usually doesn't give us a healthy way to deal with this darkness. But this season is the blessed exception!

  • 🇲🇽 The Deep Healing of Día de Muertos: Look at the vibrant calaveras (sugar skulls)! Mexico doesn't deny the darkness (Death); it invites it to the party, adorns it with flowers, and makes it sweet and comforting. We dress as Catrinas and Catrines, acknowledging the inevitable with sacred lightness. It’s an act of profound psychic hygiene!

    

    "Catrina" Acrylic on canvas by Monica Zuniga
    
    

  • 🇺🇸 The Play of Halloween: It’s our annual chance to wear a costume and flirt with the mischievous! We get to embody archetypes—witches, monsters, villains—and give those usually hidden parts of ourselves a night out to play.

    

    "Trick or treat" Acrylics on canvas  by Monica Zuniga

    
    

  The goal is not to become "bad," but to become WHOLE. Integration means recognizing that your anger might be assertiveness waiting to be used healthily, and your selfishness might be healthy self-preservation.

  

  AI generated and digital work by Hands and Heart

  
  

  

  Painting Your Shadow: A Final Invitation

  Seeing your Shadow can bring immense healing. Learning to recognize it in our own reflection—to allow it its space without it becoming a harmful whip—is the first step to healing that unseen wound. The Shadow is not the enemy; it is the part of our Being that yearns for us to be whole.

  In this spirit of playful integration, I've created a fun digital collage sheet of sugar skulls to celebrate our "happy Shadow" and encourage you to play with this energy. You can be inspired by this simple skull paper doll tutorial to give your own inner darkness a beautiful, dazzling costume or follow the next instructions! 

  

  "Día de Muertos" Digital collage sheet
  Right click and download 🥳

  
  

  ✂️ Simple Instructions for Your Paper Sugar Skull Doll
  Materials You'll Need
  Easy Steps
  1. Prepare and Cut Out (The Integration)
  2. Basic Assembly (The Structure)
  3. Decoration and Personalization (The Expression)
  4. Presentation (Turning Up the Volume)

  Creating a fun paper Catrina or Calaverita using Hands and Heart day of the dead digital collage sheet is a simple and playful way to "paint your Shadow" and celebrate the season.

  • Your Digital Collage Sheet (Printed on paper or cardstock, preferably matte for better color).  Go upwards, right click and download. 

  • Scissors (or a craft knife/precision cutter if you prefer more detail).

  • Glue stick or liquid silicone glue (for attaching accessories and the body).

  • Optional: Wooden skewers or pipe cleaners (for mounting the doll to stand up).

  • Optional: Glitter, small faux flowers, or feathers (for extra decoration).

  • Cut the main pieces: Carefully separate the head (the skull), the torsos/dresses, and any accessories you want to use (flowers, hats, gloves, etc.) from your collage sheet and collage pieces of papers. (Find some freebies here! 🥳

  • Choose Your Shadow: Select the skull head that most attracts you or challenges you to decorate, and the dress or body you wish to use.

  • Glue the Body: Apply glue to the top of the chosen body/dress piece and attach the skull head. Make sure it's centered.

  • Reinforce (Optional): If you want the doll to be sturdier, glue the back of the body onto an extra piece of cardstock before cutting around the excess.

  • Add Accessories: Use the glue to place the flowers, hats, veils, or bows on the head. This is the moment for creativity!

  • Give It a Unique Touch: If you have glitter, use liquid glue to trace the eye sockets or skull patterns and sprinkle the glitter over them. If you have feathers or ribbons, glue them to the back or shoulders.

  • For Display: If you want the doll to stand upright, glue a wooden skewer or thick pipe cleaner to the back of the body (as a spine). You can then insert it into a base made of styrofoam or clay.

  

  "La Catrina" Watercolor on paper by Monica Zuniga

  
  

  Have fun and enjoy the profound magic of this season! 

  Happy painting and creating brave souls. 👻🎃🎉

Intentions Mixed Media Paper Dolls Tutorial

There is no better teacher than experience, 

that is why I believe it's important to experiment,

in any area of life, experimenting will teach you for sure.

The inner student is always hungry for knowledge and lessons
are always there to be acknowledged,  stay open for lessons,
that is what makes our lives richer and our understanding
of life and the meaning, even more profound.

This requires that you want to, nothing will be pushed
forcefully in to you and growing is not easy.

It  means that you will be vulnerable and that you may fail,
many times, sometimes in a big ways but like in science,
if you not fail, you can never learn what is right, specially for your self,

you are unique and your answers will be very different from others,
but that is OK, you are in your own path,

let us respect that and be patient with our selves as we grow, this is Love.

Fortunately, life doesn't have to be hard or boring all the time,
we can have our delights and be content while we are discovering who we
are and who we want to become, this changes and evolves and that always
amazes me deeply, we adapt and manage, we re write and re paint,
we accept and let go, we re new and continue, we survive and grow stronger.

Here are the materials I used:

Watercolors

Watercolor paper cut in the size you want for your paper dolls

B2 pencil

Kneaded eraser if needed

Soft brushes

Fabric, I used linen 

Sewing machine

Thread in darker color

Cutting tool

Heavy gel medium

Draw and paint softly your dolls, I go for layers

allowing each to fully dry, I used ochre for mine.

I used a fine cutter to remove the white part I don´t want.

Add more details with a fine pen, I used dark brown and then

painted over with more color until happy.

Make some halos and sew around them, paste them on the back

using some medium, sew some fabric around the the body, 

I used a square shape.

In the Chinese culture, the circle means heaven and

the square the earth.

Simple shapes can be powerful and with meaning!

This is the back, I covered the sewing and adding this

can be used to write a quote or signing your work!

Trust

The ability to feel deep inside that everything is good and 

that this good will be in our lives.  Understanding that everything

happens for a good reason, we might not see it at the moment but 

time will give us perspective to see clearer. 

*

Peace

The opposite of stepping in everyone so you get what you want,

peace means allowing and respect, slowing down and listening

what life is telling you, truly listening.

Peace is to live the days gracefully, in content with what you are doing,

knowing that you are in the right path.

Peace is going to bed at night with the knowledge that tomorrow

is a new day and that you will be having many more opportunities.

Open

Open, allowing, receiving, trusting, learning,

this word is many things, we have to dig deeper into words

to be able to understand more of them.

How are you open? 

How are you allowing?

How are you trusting?

Only you can do this for your self.

*

Love

The true force of it all,

The strength that resists and also lets go,

the energy that sustains everything,
us, life, the universe,

allows and reveals, teaches and embraces,

brings peace and fulfillment,

the base and the sustain, 

the self.

Life

Our journey, what we are, what we experiment with,

what we are allowing, were we are expanding, what we

are giving shape.

Here

In the here and now is were we live,

how is it you want it?

peaceful, loving, harmonious, trusting?

The power of intentions will be so as much as we understand the 

meaning of the words, you can write in your journal the words you

want and write more about the meaning of each, research and

understand so when you see your doll, it will tell you much more,

it will be the conversation you and her will have!  

Hang them on a 

place were you can have this conversation with them and keep 

writing in your journal this conversation, it will grow richer in time.

Thank you for being here, blessings!

Boo Card and Spooky Journal Page

I love working inspired by the seasons and holidays, this keeps me
motivated and changing helps me in not get bored so this week I
made a cuple of proects one a cute card using my new home made
stamps wich I can`t stop telling you about how much I love making them!

The background is also a stamp I`ve made, then I`ve cutted the stamped pumpkins,
I`ve been making this caracters for quite some time and now I love having them
as stamps!  A long time dream! The bats are made carving an eraser,
the rest is die cutted or hand cutted!

To finish I added a splash of glitter to the background for I love this
look of splattered stars! This unique card could be framed as it is!

The other fun project is for the new journaling group over

Hands and Heart Online Comunity I`ve creadet this group to share

my ideas on creating fun art journal pages, I love this art form,

is so relaxing, freeing and I learn so much from it!

The prompt for this month included making a paper doll witch!

Making a pocket and using the colors of the season...

Of course again those swirls stamps were home made!

There are some that repel the idea of halloween, I think is super fun and

this works prove it!  Halloween can be so inspiring and full of diverse caracters,

it is just how you apporach to it, everything has two sides and one can choose

how bright or dark you want to go! Don`t you agree?

Happy Halloween Sweet Friends!

Sweet tiny shadow box... out of the roller paper?

From Toilet Roll to Tiny Treasure!

My fascination with boxes—of all shapes and sizes—goes back years. For me, they’re not just storage; they’re little treasures waiting to be filled. After a while of collecting them, the idea of transforming these containers into art gave birth to my shadow boxes.

I was inspired by the world of altered books and fell in love with the process. Some of my shadow boxes are intricate, filled with curiosities I've collected from flea markets and travels. Others are wonderfully simple, like the one we're making today from an everyday toilet paper roll!

Upcycling is a great way to be creative and resourceful, and I hope you enjoy learning this simple technique. Variety is the spice of life, and mastering different crafting methods makes any artist more complete!

Part 1: Crafting the Miniature Box

This little box is the perfect rustic canvas for a small shadow box display. Here’s how to make it:

Materials

• One empty toilet paper roll

• Ruler

• Pencil

• Scissors or craft knife

• Bone folder or embossing tool

• White craft glue

• Small pins or clips

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Mark the Sides: Using a ruler, measure and trace guide lines on all four sides of the roll. Pro tip: I used 2 cm per side (a little less than an inch), but using a full inch might be easier for you and won't stretch the box much. The sides need a good size to protect what’s inside!

2. Score the Lines: Use a ruler and a bone folder or embossing tool to gently score over your traced lines. Scoring helps the cardboard fold cleanly and easily. Be gentle!

3. Cut the Corners: Cut the lines at the ends of the roll, which will create flaps you can see in the photo below.

4. Fold and Shape: Use your ruler to help you fold all the sides inwards. You’re now close to the final box shape!

5. Secure the Box: Apply craft glue to the flaps. Use pins or small clips to hold the corners together until the glue is completely dry.

Voila! You have a sweet little rustic box. Isn't that easy and fun?

Note: Read the second part before crafting your box, maybe you want to add some collage before crafting it!

Part 2: Decorating and Designing the Shadow Box

Now for the fun part: turning your basic box into a dimensional piece of art!

Covering the Box

You can cover your new box with anything you like! I chose to use the paper maché technique, covering my box with vintage sheet music for a beautiful, aged look. Scrapbook paper or even painted gesso would look fantastic too!

Preparing the Background

1. Flatten the Roll: Take a second toilet paper roll and flatten it out. (You may do this step before the crafting of the box)

2. Attach Paper: Using white glue, attach a nice, natural fiber handmade paper to the flattened cardboard roll.

3. Cut to Fit: Cut this prepared piece to the exact size of the inside of your box. This will be the perfect rustic backdrop for your design.

Creating the Design

My design for this box is a sweet angel:

1. Cut the Focal Point: I carefully cut out the angel shape. A fresh blade on your craft knife is essential to prevent tearing your work!

2. Upcycle for Details: I used scraps from the same natural fiber paper and even pieces of the toilet roll to craft the angel’s wings and halo—no need to waste materials!

3. Prime the Surface: Lightly brush on some gesso. This primes the paper so paint absorbs better, but avoid covering it completely so the beautiful paper notes or words still peek through.

4. Add Dimension: I attached foam dots to the back of the angel. This simple step creates shadows, adding wonderful dimension and depth to the final piece.

Final Touches and Assembly

Paint your design as you like! I added words to accompany my angel, along with a sprinkle of glitter and stars. On the bottom, I used a universal transparent glue to attach moss and tiny flowers.

• Finish and Protect: Spray the entire work with a fixative to protect it from dust and fading.

Hanging Your Art

To hang it, I created a loop with a piece of wire and attached it to the back using more paper maché (paper and glue). Since this box is super light, this method is strong enough. If your design is heavier, consider using a piece of strong fabric instead.

This little box is now hanging proudly! I plan to make a few more to create a charming wall arrangement.

The words on my finished box read:

"The fragrance of her soul remained humble and simple."

New watercolors Gallery

New Altered books Gallery

Altered book page

Altered book spread

Inspired in a dream Altered book page

Altered book spread 

"Sometimes it is so dark, it's hard to see where to start walking. Whenever scared, close your eyes to the world. Listen, listen for a while— you will be guided."

I hope you had fun, thanks for visiting! :D