The Monster

Hi everyone!

Hope you've all had a great week and looking forward to the weekend! Have you been following the Halloween Inspiration Series over on Tim Holtz's blog? There's been so many wonderful projects so far and so much to inspire you all for Halloween and today, I'm sharing my second project ~ a piece of halloween decor, created using many of the fabulous new seasonal products including The Monster die and the Dripping Texture Fade which I combined with idea-ology and so much more...

So, don't be afraid and hope you'll join me in how I made this multiple layered Halloween centrepiece!

To began with two flat backed canvases, the largest is 21 x 30cm and the smaller canvas measures, 21 x 14.5cm. Both of my canvases were pre-gessoed but if your's aren't then it's always a good idea to give them a coat of gesso to prepare the surfaces for the paint!

For both canvases I started by adding a layer of Pumice Stone Distress Paint to the surface as a base colour and used a heat tool to dry the paint. Next, I used a dry brush to add some darker tones of paint, Ground Espresso and Frayed Burlap and applied these onto the painted surface of each canvas. Once happy, I dried the paint and then stamped the webs in Jet Black Archival Ink, using the Tim Holtz Webs stamp. Finally, I took a make up sponge which I bought cheap from a chemists and applied dabs of Black Soot Distress Paint over both of the canvases to create the look of aged stone before adding flicks of the black paint over the painted surface and drying thoroughly.

Next I wanted to add more detail and more interest to the background of the larger canvas and for this, I blended Black Soot Distress Paint with Texture Paste.

Apply the coloured paste with a palette knife, through the Bats Layering Stencil, adding it to random areas of my canvas.

At this stage I used any left over paste and just added it to the edges of my canvas for interest and texture ~ it was a great way to use it up and not waste it! Finish by adding torn pieces of the Regions Beyond Design Tape and also add strips, placing them across the entire canvas.

Now take the smaller canvas that will be layered over the top of the larger one and to begin, add Design Tape around each of the four edges of the canvas.

To build up the layers I started by embossing a piece of Manila card using the Dripping Texture Fade. I actually did this twice and joined the two card pieces together to create a dripped section that would go across the width of my canvas. I cut around the embossed outline of the drips and discarded the rest of the card before painting the embossed drip section using a combination of Festive Berries and Fired Brick Distress Paints. I added highlights to the drips with a white pen and then inked the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink. I mounted the drips across the centre of the canvas using foam pads for dimension and then added various pieces of the Frightful Ephemera, together with more Design Tape and Film Ribbon.

Now for the main feature and my focal point of the whole canvas ~ The Monster. For this I began by covering Manila card with some Metal Foil Tape and then die cutting the pieces of the Monster.

When all my pieces were die cut, I added Black Soot Distress Paint over the surface of each piece, allowed it to go slightly tacky before wiping away the excess. I built up the 3D monster, folding along the scorelines to create the dimension and adding each layer over the top of the previous one using foam pads and then, to make the head look slightly rusty, I used Gold Mixative Alcohol Ink to the Alcohol Ink applicator and swiped it gently over the surface of my monsters head so that it would highlight the folds and the edges.

Take the small painted canvas and wrap pieces of gold wire around it, securing the ends of the wire at the back. I then mounted my monster onto some cheesecloth, dyed with Spiced Marmalade and Hickory Smoke Distress Spray Stain and positioned this onto my canvas, over the top of the wire.

To complete this section I added some more wire pieces to come out from around the monster's head, some Sprocket Gears altered with Distress Paint and added Curiosities Remnant Rubs to the background. I also added a clock key to just above his head!

Finally, I used an offcut of the metal foil tape to die cut the "Beware" wording using the Halloween Words/Script Thinlits dies and attached the wording below the head.

Using foam pads, mount the smaller canvas over the top of the larger canvas, placing some more of the dyed cheesecloth underneath.

I added jewels from my stash to some spiders from the Gothic Industrious Stickers set and attached these to the canvas.

We're nearly there and all that's left to do is take the Halloween wording from the Wicked Alpha Parts set and apply a layer of Glossy Accents over the top before sprinkling the word with Spiced Marmalade Distress Glitter. Once dry, attach to the base of your smaller canvas, together with the October wording from the Frightful Ephemera set and a enamelled number 31 metal placquette!

As the very last detail, I attached the metal corners to each of the four corners of the larger canvas and applied Spiced Marmalade and Antiqued Bronze Distress Paint over the top. Allow the paint to go dry slightly before wiping away the excess with a paper towel.

...and that completes my canvas which is ready to display for Halloween! I really hope you've enjoyed the creative process behind this piece and that it's given you some inspiration using all the gorgeous Tim Holtz products that are now available to purchase!

All Tim Holtz products are available from Simon Says Stamp ~ just click on the SSS link in my sidebar  which will take you shopping!

Thank you so much for stopping by today and thank you once again to Tim, Paula and Mario for inviting me along! Be sure to keep checking Tim's blog for more inspiration from my very talented friends and designers!

See you soon....love Emma x