The Haunting...

Hello friends...

Today, I'm sharing my second project from Tim Holtz's Sizzix Chapter 3 release and this piece is called The Haunting! I decided to make a canvas panel using a combination of dies from the Frightful Things set and combining them with the Cauldron die, Handmade and Bat Crazy! I just thought it would make a fun piece that can be either displayed on a stand as part of a Halloween display or hung on the door as a welcome sign for a party, or maybe as Tim suggested in his FB live, which you can see HERE, you could turn this into a book cover ~ it's entirely up to you how you use my inspiration to create something cool of your own!

So, let's get started and here's how I created this project...

As my base, I used an 18 x 24cm canvas panel and I created my own background using Distress Paints and crayons ~ Picket Fence, Antique Linen, Pumice Stone, Hickory Smoke paints, with a top layer of Peeled Paint and Rusty Hinge Crayon ~ all combined, layered and blended to create this wonderful aged look. For those of you who are first time visitors to my blog, when I layer my paints, I always start with the lightest colour, building up to the darker layers and always drying the paint between each one before I then apply a final layer of the Picket Fence, applying it randomly over the surface. Once I'm happy, I apply the crayons, blending out the colour with my fingertips.

To complete the background, I applied some Ranger Ink Crackle Texture Paste and just allowed it to crackle before I added some die cut spider's webs, that are cut from mixed media card using the web die in the Frightful Things set and then embossed with Bone Embossing Powder. I then cut the spiders from black card, painted little red backs onto each of them and hung these from the webs.

I absolutely LOVE texture and dimension on my work and in this post, I'm really going to concentrate on how I created all that delicious texture that you can see on the cauldron just using Tim Holtz mediums, paints and some chipboard.

1. Die cut the cauldron and the handle, cutting it twice from thick chipboard and layering the pieces over the top of one another to create one substantial piece. At this stage also cut 6 flames, together with the handle.

2. Apply a coat of gesso to the surface of all the die cuts to prime it for the layers to come.

3. Once the gesso is dry, add Grit Paste to the surface using a palette knife to apply it randomly over the top.

4. Allow the paste to dry thoroughly and as soon as it's hard and set, paint the cauldron with Black Soot Distress Paint.

5. Gently heat dry the painted surface. Taking a dry paint brush, apply a small amount of Brushed Pewter Distress Paint to your glass mat and pick up the paint with the brush. Remove any excess paint from the brush by wiping it onto a kitchen towel and then gently apply the paint across the surface, just allowing the brush and paint to kiss the texture. If you feel you've added too much, don't worry ~ just add a touch more black over the top. Heat dry this layer and then repeat the technique using Antiqued Bronze Distress Paint.

6. If you feel you need to add more of any of the paint colours, just keep going but always remember ~ less is more, just build the layers up gently.

7. Taking the gessoed die cut handle, dab the surface with a clear embossing ink. Sprinkle Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder over the top and heat emboss until molten. Once cooled, repeat the process three times, adding clear embossing ink, followed by the powder and heat between each layer to build up the enamelled look on the handle. On the final layer of powder, sprinkle a small touch of gold embossing powder over the top and once again heat emboss.

8. Attach the handle to the cauldron.

9. To add some highlights to accentuate the texture even more, I then ran the Tarnished Brass and Brushed Pewter Crayons around the outside edge of the cauldron and over the top of the textured die cut, blending away any harsh lines with my fingers.

10. For the flames, I coloured one of the die cuts with a combination of Twisted Citron and Mowed Lawn and the remaining flames with Candied Apple and Black Soot. To take the brightness off the die cut pieces, I applied Black Soot Distress Crayon around the edges and then blended out the colour with my finger.

You now have all the cauldron pieces ready to go...

...and can move onto the other pieces.

To create the little shelf that all this sits on, I took the largest size of Pinked Etcetera Trims, and crackled them. You can see how I did this in a previous post, HERE.

I attached the shelf directly onto my canvas using Matte Collage Medium and allowed for it to dry.

Once the shelf is set and solid, I then started to build up my cauldron scene, attaching the cauldron using foam pads, adding the red flames around the base and then tucking the green smoke into the slit in the top, together with some sisal fibres.

To create the 'bubbles' I used Bauble Adornments which I coloured with Lettuce, Botanical and Mushroom Alcohol Inks. I then just attached each of the baubles, arranging them to cascade out of the cauldron and onto the shelf.

I added some dried moss around the base of the cauldron and placed a few of the Boneyard Findings in and around the base and the top of the pot.

To complete the shelf section, I cut another of the webs and once again embossed it with Bone Embossing Powder and attached this beneath the shelf, together with a Halloween Quote Chip.

For the ghosts, I used the Frightful Things die set, (I have so much love for this set, it's one of those dies that everyone needs as it has so many useful images) and just cut these twice from Mixed Media card, layered them over the top of one another and then painted them with Picket Fence Distress Paint. Once the painted surface was dry, I 'dirtied' them up a little with some Pumice Stone Distress crayon around the edges, creating depth and shadows to the die cuts. Behind their open mouths, I placed a piece of dark grey card...

 and then attached each of the ghosts to the canvas using Matte Collage Medium. I also placed a Bat from the Bat Crazy die set, and placed this between the ghosts, shaping and lifting the wings so it appears to be in flight.

Finally, we come to the wording and I used the fabulous Handmade die to create this, cutting each of the letters twice from chipboard, layering them over the top of one another to create dimension and then painting them with Black Soot Distress Paint. To add a hint of shimmer over the top, I ran the Brushed Pewter Distress Crayon around the edges, again blending out the harsh lines with my fingers.

Attach the lettering beneath the shelf using Matte Collage Medium.

To complete the panel, I added some Hardware Heads to either side of the shelf, which I 'rusted' with Ground Espresso, Rusty Hinge and Antiqued Bronze Distress Paints and then added four more in each corner of the panel....

...and that completes this project, which I hope you love and find inspiration from all the techniques that I've used!

Thank you so much for visiting today and see you again very soon!

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Sizzix: Bat Crazy, Handmade, Frightful Things, Cauldron
Stampers Anonymous: Pinked Etcetera Trims

Distress Paint: Black Soot, Brushed Pewter, Antiqued Bronze, Picket Fence, Antique Linen, Pumice Stone, Hickory Smoke, Ground Espresso, Candied Apple, Mowed Lawn, Twisted Citron, Rusty Hinge

Distress Crayons: Metallic, Pumice Stone, Peeled Paint and Rusty Hinge

Idea-ology: Hardware Heads, Bauble Findings
Alcohol Ink: Lettuce, Botanical, Mushroom

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Crackle Texture Paste, Grit Paste, Ranger Bone Media Powder, Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder, Emerald Creek Charred Gold Embossing Powder
Surfaces: Mixed Media Heavystock Card, Chipboard, Canvas Panel
Tim Holtz Media Glass Mat

Heat Gun
Palette Knife
Moss
Big Shot