The Corpse Bride...

Hello friends...

Thank you to everyone who dropped by and visited my last post, as always, I really can't thank you enough for the love you show and the comments you leave ~ they all mean the world to me! Today, I'm sharing a project that I created for Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous and if you were watching Tim's recent Facebook Live, then you might have seen this project but for those who didn't watch FB live, then you can see it HERE! So...moving on from my last post, "creepin' it real", where I introduced you to the first guests at the Monster Reunion...I thought it was time for another monster to join the party and here she is ~ the corpse bride!

...and lol, this is how I bought her back from the dead!

So, I began this project by painting the outside of a Vignette Box, I used the second largest box in the set and painted it with Black Soot Distress Paint. Allow the painted box to dry and then apply some Grit Paste to random areas of the wood. I wanted to create a really gnarled look to the box and give it some texture. When the paste is dry, I applied some more paint all over, working the paint into the Grit Paste to cover it completely. 

I love the finish the paste gives and all that I did to accentuate the gritty look was dry brush the surface with a dry paint brush and some Brushed Pewter Distress Paint.

Now moving on, I started to make the background for the inside of the box and for this I took a piece of watercolour card and started by adding some inky layers. I began by misting the card with a little water, then after applying Antique Linen and Old Paper Distress Ink to my glass mat which I also misted with water, I dipped the card in and out of the inks before lightly drying the card surface to remove any excess water ~ you can also do this with a paper towel or cloth. Once dry, I then took my Oxide Sprays, Wilted Violet, Faded Jeans and Blueprint Sketch and spritzed them onto the card, layering each of the inks to create this gorgeous colour. After a few splatters of Twisted Citron, I heat dried the surface. Once the card was thoroughly dry, and it is important that it needs to be really bone dry as you don't want to pick up stray bits of the embossing powder, I cut a panel of the inky card to fit the back of my Vignette Box and then, using the Hocus Pocus Mini Layering Stencil from Set 43, I applied some Crackle Paste through the stencil, directly onto the inked card. I then sprinkled some Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder over the top, tapped away the excess and set it to one side to dry. Once I could see small cracks forming, I then went in with my heat gun and heated the powder until molten. You can see the gorgeous effect it gives below.

After inking the edges with Black Soot Distress Ink, I adhered the panel of inked, embossed card onto a piece of chipboard, trimmed down to the same size as the card. I then placed the panel into the back of my box, using foam pads which create a 'false' back to the box, as I didn't want the box to be as deep as it is. With the remaining inked card, I lined the sides of the box.

Setting the box to one side, I stamped the image of my Corpse Bride onto watercolour card and watercolored her with Distress Marker Pens. I then fussy cut around the outline. I placed some foam on the back of the stamped image and popped her directly onto the starry night background, that is on the inside my vignette box.

Taking one of the Lace Baseboard Frames and matching the size with the front of the box, I then inked the edges of the frame very lightly with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink before attaching the frame onto the front of the box with Matte Collage Medium. Allow to dry.

At the base of the aperture of the frame, I added some of the Mummy Cloth which I really did pull apart to create just long fibres that I then placed and attached behind the frame, but arranging them so that these would spill out of the aperture.

Whilst that is drying, you can move onto the base and for this I used a Vignette Panel, which I painted with Black Soot Distress Paint and then once again, added some Grit Paste to the surface but this time, once the paste was dry, I rubbed Peeled Paint and Gathered Twigs Crayons over the surface before using a damp brush to spread out the colour.

I attached the Vignette Box to the base and added some moss where the two pieces join. so that it creates a seamless finish.

At the back of the box, I had a little bit of fun and added a Creepy Eye onto a memo pin and stuck it into the base but then using the quote from the stamp I used, I stamped this onto a strip of card, cut down to size and then attached it to the memo pin before adding some more moss.

Moving around to the front, I added some of the Bracket Trims, you can see how I crackle the trims in a previous post, HERE. Once the magic has happened, I then attached them with collage medium, to create a step along the front of my base and allowed them to dry.

For the trim that you can see at the front of the box, I used one of the new, and simply amazing Bat Web Trims. I applied some Black soot Distress Paint to the trim, heat dried the painted surface and then dabbed the trim with some clear embossing ink. I then sprinkled some Liquid Platinum over the top and heat embossed the trim. I repeated the inking and the embossing powder a second time but also added a sprinkle of Black embossing powder into the mix. Heat emboss once again.

I then attached the trim to the base of my project, using matte collage medium and set it aside to dry.

On the top of the box, I added a small finial, again painted with Black Soot Distress Paint and attached with some Matte Collage Medium and also a couple of Hardware Heads to either corner of the box.

I added some moss along the base and added some Bouquet Findings that I dyed purple using Seedless Preserves Distress Spray Stain.

...and that completes the box and the Corpse Bride is ready to join the Monster Reunion!

Thank you so much for popping by today and I hope you've loved this project!

See you again really soon...love Emma xx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous: Monster Reunion, Hocus Pocus Mini Layering Stencil Set 43, Bat Trims, Bracket Etcetera Trims
Distress Ink: Antique Linen, Old Paper, Walnut Stain
Distress Paint: Black Soot, Brushed Pewter

Distress Spray Stain: Seedless Preserves
Distress Oxide Sprays: Blueprint Sketch, Faded Jeans, Wilted Violet, Twisted Citron
Distress Marker Pens

Idea-ology: Bouquet Findings, Mummy Cloth, Creepy Eyes, Lace Baseboard, Vignette Box, Vignette Panel, Memo Pins, Hardware Heads, Vignette Finial

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Crackle Paste, Archival Ink Set 3, Liquid Platinum, black Embossing Powder
Surfaces: Mixed Media Heavystock, Distress Watercolour Card
Tim Holtz Media Glass Mat
Tim Holtz Watercolour Brush

Heat Gun
Stamp Platform
Moss