Foolish Mortals...

Hello everyone...

Today, I'm sharing my Foolish Mortals framed panel which I made for the Tim Holtz Halloween Inspiration Series, inspired by the wonderful photograph from the Ancestor Paper Dolls set and telling the story of  Til' Death Do Us Part.

The panel itself is one of the large framed panels that from Tim's idea-ology range and I started this project by painting the frame itself. First, I gave both pieces, the frame and the edges and back of the backing panel, a coat of black gesso ~ this will prime the wood ready for my paint. Then, once the gesso was dry, I used Black Soot Distress Paint over the top of the gessoed surface.

I allowed the paint to dry thoroughly before then dry brushing the wood with a combination of Brushed Pewter Distress Paint and a touch of gilding wax, just to accentuate the beading.

For the next stage, I used paper from the Halloween paper stash, cut it to the size of the backing panel and then attached it to the panel using Matte Collage Medium ~ at this stage I also applied a coat of the medium over the top of the paper.

To create the inner layer of the frame, I then attached Designer Tape, ensuring that the tape was in the right place and would just show around the edge when I attached the frame over the top.

I now have my base to work with and the next layer is that gorgeous cobweb layer. The cobweb is die cut from black card and then embossed with a layer of Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder. Repeat the embossing a couple of times, to create a thick enamelled look to the die cut but on the final layer, sprinkle over a small amount of black embossing powder before heating the powders to become molten and shiny.

I attached the web to the top section of the frame using collage medium.

For the base of my panel, I used some more of the paper, this time the newsprint design, from the Halloween stash and rolled it up to create scrolls. I then attached the scrolls to the bottom section of my panel, over a bed of cheesecloth which I dyed with Pumice Stone and Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain, arranging the cloth so that it would also lie underneath the layers I was about to add. I also attached one of my favourite pieces from the Halloween release, those amazing skulls!

Moving onto the next section, I now created my coffin lid and for this, I used the lid of the Vignette Coffin Box as a template. I drew around the outline of the lid onto chipboard which I had covered with the wood effect paper from the Halloween Paper Stash. I then cut the coffin lid shape from the chipboard and added extra strips to create the look of wooden planks that would be nailed down onto the lid.

To complete the lid, I added a spider remnant rub and some small brads that I painted to create the look of rusty nails before attaching this section onto the background using foam pads to create dimension.

I then added my Ancestor Paper Doll and a Halloween Clipping Sticker over the top of the photo.

As for the all important finishing touches, I used one of the Halloween Word Bands, altered with Picket Fence Distress Paint and attached it to a piece of chipboard covered with linen. I adhered this to the top corner of my framed panel using foam pads and added a spider from the Halloween Adornment set, painted with Distress Paints, to just crawl out from underneath the band.

...and finally, I used some of the Bouquet Findings, spritzed with a little Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain and a tag, complete with Remnant Rub.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope you've loved the creative process behind this project...it was definitely one of the favourite pieces I made!

See you again soon...Emma x

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Sizzix: Cobweb

Distress Spray Stain: Antique Linen, Pumice Stone

Distress Paints: Black Soot, Brushed Pewter

Idea-ology: Skulls, Framed Panel, Halloween Word Band, Ancestor Paper Dolls, Halloween Remnant Rubs, Bouquet Findings, Mini Brads, Halloween Adornments, Halloween Clippings

Mediums: Collage Medium, Black Gesso, Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder, Black Embossing Powder

Surfaces: Halloween Paper Stash

Aged Brass Alchemy Wax

Ranger Craft Sheet

Splatter Brush

Big Shot

Heat Gun

 Cheesecloth and chipboard from my own stash