August 28, 2018 December 3, 2018 Wendy B.
Hello and thank you for viewing. Last year I started what I hope becomes a tradition of gifting my awesome dad and step mom a Halloween dwelling home decoration piece. Last year it was a bit spooky and my SM really likes more bright whimsical decor. They said they loved it, so let me share a slideshow of last years ….
I definitely tend to create more grungy, spooky stuff so I definitely challenged myself to give her what she would really enjoy this year. Bright, whimsical, witch style Halloween decor.
Grab a cup of coffee, sit back and enjoy. Not gonna lie, this is a long one and gets wordy but I do hope something inspires you to try and/or you have a 'aahhaa' moment. Either way, this was a really fun project to do and I got to play with some really cool products.
I cut the structure from Sizzix Little Sizzles Mat board. Using Ranger Dina Wakley Black Gesso painted the inside of all the structure pieces. I love this gesso, it is very matte and dries so quickly which made painting the fronts with Distress Paint (DP) in Twisted Citron pretty much immediate.
Unfortunately, I had run out of Wilted Violet DP so I had to improvise due to not having the patience to wait for a new bottle. So I took DP Picket Fence and mixed with Distress Oxide (DO) Re-Inker Wilted Violet and mixed. I used DO re-inker vs Distress Ink (DI) re-inker due to wanting the opacity from the pigments that DO has. I had also cut the trim pieces out of Tim Holtz (TH) Woodgrain Cardstock.
On the inside of the structure, I glued down medical gauze for curtains. This piece will have the option for lighting inside but thought this would add a touch of whimsy.
After structure pieces were dry, with an makeup applicator I applied DP Spiced Marmalade through the Dylusions Bubble Stencil to the bottom portion of the manor, which is from the Sizzix TH Village Dwelling 660992 and applied my Wilted Violet mixture through Stampers Anonymous(SA) TH ZigZag stencil THS047.
So here is an oops, I applied a little too much paint here through the stencil and found that my mixture of DP and DO re-inker did reactivate. My solution for this (which can be done over any of the Distress Inks) was a really quick, one swipe application of clear gesso with a credit card or palette knife. This then seals the ink but leaves you a surface that has some grip to it. I then placed my stencil over the WV areas and repaired the oops with the Twisted Citron. Placing over the Wilted Violet served as a mask, since originally the WV was the positive application (I hope this makes sense). I wasn't worried if it correction wasn't exactly edge to edge due to knowing I was going to be doing pen work.
After completely dry (you could ruin your pen tips if you don't wait) I then loosely outlined the stencil work. I am not looking for perfection, just adding the element of black and a little interest.
I have chosen not to show assembly because I referred back to Tim's awesome tutorial that you can find ( here ).
For the roof tiles I used TH Textured Surfaces cork sheets. I cut it in 1″ strips, painted, let dry and die cut them with the scalloped edge die that comes with Thinlits Stitched Ovals 661188. They were then snipped at the scalloped edge creating little tiles and the bonus is these sheets are sticky backed 🙂 I didn't end up using any of the black soot painted ones but have no doubt they will end up in a future project.
For the gabled roof piece, I colored clear chunky glitter with Alcohol Ink in Pitch black, add a couple drops mix up and presto, colored glitter (this is a Tim tip 😉 ). I did make up all colors but did not end up using them. For the fences I applied my wilted violet mixture and let dry. The coolest effect happened when I applied the crackle, the DO reactivated and created a new variance in the color. I was pleasantly pleased.
For the porch, using THS007 & THSMM2 I stenciled though texture paste, applied collage medium and then inked with DI Wilted Violet, DI Dusty concord spritzing with water while still wet so it would run into the un-textured grooves. After dry, I positioned the stencils over the texture paste and dry brushed DP Black Soot with the Dina Wakley brush, perfect for this due to it's stiff bristles.
I altered the step piece to be larger and appear as a bit of a porch. The TH Mixed Media Mat is perfect for this with the built in grid. The dimensions I wanted were 1″ x 2 3/4″ x 1/16″. I took 4 of the step pieces and cut off the insides so I could tape them together and not loose the tabs to glue to the main manor. Before adding the top piece I glued a 1/16″ strip around step.
For the base of my piece, I had a box that I held onto that I knew would get use someday. I apologize but I don't recall what it housed. The dimensions are 6″ x 6″ x 2 1/2″. I used gesso inside and out. Also thinking I may use the plaster paste for added texture but did not end up using it.
Instead of using paper to add to my base, I was looking for something that was very flexible with texture and found this printer fabric substrate that my sister had given me in my stash. So I thought, why not fancy it up a bit (I am sure someone out there has done this before but I have not seen or done it myself, otherwise I would give a shout out). I kept the backing on the sheet and ran through the Vagabond sandwiched in "the Sizzix Texture Fades Embossing Folders By Tim Holtz 4 / Pkg Halloween Background & Borders. The number looks something like 657465" TY awesome Tim Holtz Addicts members for finding the name of this folder for me! I bought it in a de-stash group and had no idea it was retired…. Anyway, after the fabric sheet was embossed, I went pad to fabric with DI Spiced Marmalade but realized I wanted more 'pow' and did the same only using DO Spiced Marmalade pad to fabric. I then spritzed with water.
I found after spritzing with the water that the fabric wasn't staying flat, so I pinned it down onto another saved packing piece that is kind like a plastic foam. I keep everything, lol. When the DO and water were dry I then splattered, splashed and applied Distress Stain (DS) in Twisted Citron, changing how much water was added for different hues of the color. I love how the DO ink still stayed on the main portions of the embossed lettering.
This style of decor IMO has a lot of sparkle so to get a small hit of glitz, I mixed the Perfect Pearls with DS Spiced Marmalade in random areas, being careful not to over do it. Tip * cheap brushes are great for splatters and blobs, they hold a ton of liquid and are so flexible for random splats. Allow to dry. Optional and not pictured but next step was to realign fabric into folder, tack with washi tape, ink other flap with Archival Ink (I have Black Soot re-inker ink in my Jet Black pad) and run through the Vagabond again.
For the horizontal surface of the base, I did the steps differently. I first inked, stained and misted the fabric sheet to already have color prior to embossing. Allow to dry.
I then ran through embossing folder TH Burlap & Swirls (sorry this one is also retired). Inking with the Archival Black Soot direct pad to embossed fabric. This works great when you only want a raised area to be inked due to the flat surface of the pad. This piece when I added to the base, I took off the backing (I thought it was sticky but it wasn't~ I didn't read package instructions to see to activate sticky you use a iron). Anyway, I applied with collage medium and the fabric did flatten out, loosing the actual raised embossing. Which I was good with since I was going to have items sitting on this and needed it to be flat. For the worded fabric ones, I kept the backing on and glued that way since they were going to be vertical and wanted the additional texture.
So for Miss Witch herself. I knew I wanted her to appear flying but the trick was having her view-able from both sides. I first stamped the image from TH SA Haunted House CMS308 onto TH Plain Collage Tissue Paper, then gluing to TH Specialty Stamp cardstock and fussy cut. On a scrap piece of copy paper I also stamped the image and placed in my TH Stamping Platform.
I then placed the fussy cut piece (tissue side down) onto the exact placement of the stamped image on the stamp platform. A little more fussy cutting and I have the image on both sides, even in all those skinny areas 🙂 Again, I am sure someone out in our awesome crafting world has done this and I would shout out to them if I had researched first, but I was in the moment and just did it this way. I attached her with 50 lb fishing line which has the perfect amount of strength to appear as if she is flying.
For the tree I started with a empty spool that I have for my serger sewing machine (again, throw nothing out) and it was perfect. I molded some wire mess and pipe cleaners, then hot glued them in place.
I am participating in Wanderlust 2018 and a few of the lessons had used this cloth wrap which I had bought to try but didn't get around to playing so how lucky am I that this was still waiting to have a go. I cut in strips, wet and placed onto the structure.
Next I applied Distress Crackle Paint in clear rock candy, unfortunately the plaster cloth was not dry enough and most of this chipped off. Note *if the piece still feels cool, it is not dry. When piece was completely dry and room temperature to the touch, I used my finger to apply Ranger Texture Paste into mesh holes and around base of small branches. This seriously is my favorite texture paste! Perfect amount of tooth, fluffy and drys so quick.
For coloring I started by using a pipette to drip on DS Spiced Marmalade but it was really soaking in a ton of stain. So I applied a layer of TH Collage Medium to help seal the plaster. Then added a mixed of Spiced Marmalade in DP, DS and DO covering the tree. I was going for a whimsical, bright tree that is why I went with the orange vs mostly brown.
I did add a little Distress Spray (spray is the same formula as stain) in Walnut stain to the spiced marmalade and let it fall into all the deep cracks and crevasses. Also a little DS in tarnished brass for a little sparkle. Final step for tree texture was to add DP Black soot for shadowing and deep variances in the plaster being sure to get some in the hole area.
So that about covers it… A few things to add; I used Archival Black Soot to ink around all edges, layered the trim pieces on the painted black matte board first for dimension and used applied Distress Crayon with anything that had cracks.
Additional products not mentioned above (mainly added in final detail stage) feathers from a craft boa, dies from a TH Micheal's exclusive Hocus Pocus set (Bats, hat, fence on gable rooftop , trick or treat), mica for round windows, We-R-Memory halloween ribbon trim, clear thread for hanging bats, TH Idea-ology resin pumpkin & bones and moss.
Here are close ups ….
If you really like this Village Dwelling, Tim Holtz and Sizzix has a few in this series and I would recommend you give them a try. I only have the dwelling and manor accessory so far but and have only done the two. If you would like more inspiration as to what you can do with these fun dies, here is a link to a great artist (Lucy is a fellow member from the Tim Holtz Addicts Facebook group) who has done numerous dwellings and we get to see her awesome makes often.
Wendy, I am so impressed with your delightfully spooky manor. And then to get to the end and see my name – that was quite a surprise. Thank you for that. But mostly, thank you for all the incredible details you shared in your blog post. I will be borrowing some of the ideas – 50# fishing line – who knew?? Thank you.
I Wendy, this is Carolyn Garcia my email(edited) I love your work it is awesome. If you have a blog I would love to sign up, as far as all of these sights to follow I;m new to everything, ran up on this site I don't know how but I did. Thanks Carolyn Garcia. Is it fine that I pin this to Pinterest/Gcarolyn855 I will link back to your name please let me know, Thanks again. If you know of any other sites about Halloween I would love to know about them if you don't mind thanks.