Box of Tricks ~ Anything Goes Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

Hello everyone!

It's the start of a new week and a brand new challenge over on the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog and I think this week will be a popular one as it's ANYTHING GOES! No rules, just be creative and we can't wait to see what you make!

Me? Well, you know by now that I LOVE Halloween and as the 31st October approaches, I was in the mood to create another little project incorporating an ATB (Artist Trading Block) and all that's fun and spooktacular about this time of year! As always, I hope you love my box of tricks and I really look forward to reading all your comments!

So, how did I make it?
Well, to begin with I've used the wonderful Eileen Hull die to create an ATB which is the perfect base for all my decorations that I will be adding to it!

I cut a piece of card to size from the Tim Holtz Motif Resist cardstock pack, inked the pieces with Seedless Preserves, Spiced Marmalade and Peeled Paint Distress Inks and then attached the individual pieces to each side of the block.

To complete the block and give it that real vintage feel, I added some box corners to each of the four corners on the base.

I then made a rosette using Tim Holtz's Rosette die and another strip of the Motif Resist cardstock inked with Distress Inks and added this to the front panel of my block.

Now for the fun part of decorating the top section and to begin with, I crackled three Corked Vial bottles using the Multi Medium and Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint method that Tim Holtz explains how to do, on page 54 of the Compendium of Curiosities Vol III. Once each bottle. Once the crackle had appeared, I then applied alcohol ink with a blending tool to each bottle to give a vintage, worn look before applying Remnant  Rubs to vial labels and adding them to each bottle.

I also used the same crackle method onto one of the corked dome before adding Distress Glitter and some of the Wishbones inside the dome and applying the "Bone Dust" Remnant Rub onto the outside.

I placed the bottles over the top of a piece of cheesecloth, which I dyed with Frayed Burlap Distress Stain and added some bats, (the die that I used is now unfortunately discontinued but any bat die will be perfect for this project) die cut from Grungepaper, painted with Black Soot Distress Paint and attached to wire. At this stage, I also added some black flowers to one of the bottles to look like they were in a vase but I tore away some of the petals and scattered them onto the finished arrangement.

The number "31" is from Tim's Letterpress Set and I added Wild Honey Distress Paint to accentuate the numbers before adding this to the top of my block. Finally, I added some Wishbones which I cut in half.

Finally, I used another of the die cut bats and placed this on the front of the rosette, and added one of the crossbones adornments to the centre.

...and that, completes my Halloween box of tricks!

If you're looking for some more great ideas and inspiration for this challenge, then you need to look no further than the blog to see all the wonderful creations from all the very talented Design Team members and every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. Good luck....

Thank you so much for all your visits today!

See you again soon...love Emma xx

Products used:

Tim Holtz Sizzix Dies: Paper Rosette Strip Die

Distress Paint: Black Soot, Wild Honey, Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint

Distress Stain: Frayed Burlap

Distress Ink: Seedless Preserves, Peeled Paint and Spiced Marmalade

Distress Glitter: Antique Linen

Alcohol Ink: Gold Metallic Mixative, Cranberry

Prima Flowers Ink Black Wire Thread

Prima Flowers Adventurer Cartographer Flowers

Idea-Ology ~ Corked Domes, Vial Labels, Corked Vials Apothecary Remnant Rubs, Crossbones Adornments, Wishbones, Letterpress

Surfaces: Tim Holtz Motif Resist Cardstock Pad, 

Ranger Craft Sheet

Grungepaper

Ranger Multi Medium

Big Shot

Ranger Blending Tool

Compendium of Curiosities III

From my stash: Sizzix Movers and Shapers Mini Bat & Skull die set by Tim Holtz