From Regions Beyond....

Hello friends and welcome to a new week and a brand new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge! With Halloween just 10 days away, this week we are concentrating on all things that go bump in the night with our SPOOKY theme and hope you will join us and play along.

Now as you know I love all things spine-tingling and together with Christmas, Halloween is definitely my favourite time of year, so I decided to get my spook on and create this project full of mystery and darkness and of course, Halloween wouldn't be Halloween without some Tim Holtz products and I used these in abundance to bring you a story from regions beyond!

So, let's get started and here's how I made the Undertaker's Mausoleum...

To begin with I took one of the new Tim Holtz Tombstones ~ these come in three different sizes, Size 8, Mini and Small but for this project I used the mini size.

All the pieces that you need to create this tombstone are provided in one pack and I began by covering the main tag using paper from the Abandoned Paper Stash and adhering it to the tag using Matte Collage Medium. I then applied a coat over the top to seal the paper and allowed it to dry.

Once the medium is thoroughly dry, I then added some Crackle Paste to the edges, smearing the paste onto the surface using a palette knife and again, allowing it to dry and work it's magic. When the crackles have appeared, I then took the Black Soot Distress Crayon and ran it along the edge of the covered tag. With a semi dry baby wipe or a damp paintbrush, move the colour from the crayon around the surface, allowing it to seep into the cracks to accentuate them. Once I was happy, I then moved onto the remaining pieces of the tombstone and painted all the pieces in Black Soot Distress Paint.

Starting with the rounded top section which comes in two separate pieces ~ a main solid section and a frame that will sit over the top, I took the main section and covered it with some more of the Abandoned Paper Stash, again adhering it with Matte Collage Medium. I then applied some more of the Crackle Paste onto random areas of the covered piece and once it was dry and crackled, I used the Black Soot and a touch of Walnut Stain to accentuate the cracks.

Take the painted black frame and apply some more of the Crackle Paste around the edges. At this stage, I also applied some Grit Paste to the ledges that sit at the bottom of the tag/tombstone. Once the mediums are completely dry and starting with the frame, apply Black Soot and Walnut Stain Distress crayons, blending the pigment into the cracks with a damp paint brush. Dry brush some Brushed Pewter Distress paint over the top of the frame and after a quick blast of the heat gun to dry the paint, place the frame over the top of the solid covered top section and adhere with Matte Collage Medium, clamping the pieces together with clips so that they stay in place.

Taking the grit paste covered ledges, dry brush Black Soot Distress Paint over the top of the paste, gently heat dry the painted areas, being careful not to overheat or bubble the paste and then apply a second layer of paint, this time Peeled Paint over the top of the raised areas ~ removing the majority of the paint on your brush, so you have a minimal amount remaining and then when applying the paint, just allow it to just kiss the surface of the paste ~ you just want a hint of the Peeled Paint.

Heat dry once more and then apply a dry brushed layer of Brushed Pewter Paint over the top and then attach the textured pieces to the bottom of your tag, layering the smaller section over the top of the larger one to build up the ledge.

Moving back to the top of the tombstone, you will see that I've added a Bat Trim, together with one of the strips that come in the pack of trims and then, as with all the other chipboard pieces, I painted these with Black Soot Distress Paint and then added a dry brushed layer of Brushed Pewter over the top once the first layer of paint was dry.

After attaching the pieces to the top section of the tombstone, I added a Creepy Eye in the centre, that was inked with a little Mushroom Alcohol Ink to take away the 'whiteness' around the pupil.

After adding some moss to each corner of the trim, I then took the gorgeous skull metal embellishment taken from the Halloween Accents set and altered it with a little Rust Alcohol Ink and some Black Soot Distress paint and then attached this in the centre, at the top of the tombstone.

Now to build up the scene and it starts with a ledge that everything sits on. For this I used one of the Pinked Etcetera Trims and after painting it with gesso, I added a layer of Crackle Paste which I allowed to dry. I then coloured the crackly surface with Black Soot and Walnut Stain Crayons before attaching it along to my tag, placing it above the textured black ledge.

When the trim has dried and is set in place, I added the metal fence at the back. After altering the fence with Rust and Pitch Black Alcohol Ink, to make it look a little more rusty, I broke the fence into two pieces and then swapped the pieces around and adhered them into place with Collage Meidum, placing them so that the broken edges would overhang the edge of the tag.

Using the spooktacular lady from the Halloween Paper Dolls set, I colour tinted her dress using the Peeled Paint Distress Marker and then placed her onto my tag.

You will notice that she is actually standing quite away from the background to create some dimension and for this, I usually place a small wooden block, carefully hidden on the back of the paper doll and this allows me to attach the doll to the background but still give me some dimension to the figure.

At the back of the paper doll, I added a Halloween Ephemera piece but cut away the man's name from the top of the piece as I wanted it to be all about this mysterious lady. 

I then attached a couple of die cut bats that I had left over from a previous project.

Now this lady needs to be carrying something and I decided that the raven from the Regions Beyond Sizzix set would be the perfect size for her. So, I cut the raven three times from black card, layered the pieces over the top of one another, added some shading onto the bird and then attached it to her hand ~ it was the perfect match!

To create the curtain, I used Mummy Cloth, dyed with Pumice Stone and Frayed Burlap Distress Spray Stains and once dry, I frayed them a little and then attached them underneath the Bat Trim, allowing the ends to hang loose down the sides.

To complete the scene, I added a tombstone from the Cryptic set and applied a Remnant Rub, In Memory RIP.

I attached the tombstone to the ledge, together with a Skull Fragment and a painted pumpkin.

To complete the scene, I added a twig, some Reindeer Floristry moss and some Spanish Moss.

For the finishing touch, I used a Halloween Quote Chip and attached this along the bottom ledge, complete with Hardware Heads either side.

I then added some more hardware heads at the top of the tombstone, together with a couple of Vignette Hardware Findings nails that I hammered into the chipboard. 

Have fun creating your projects and don't forget, if you would like to see more inspiration from my talented teamies over on the challenge blog and every week, one lucky random participant has the chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in and good luck....

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by today and hope to see you again soon, love Emma xxx

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous: Mini Etcetera Tombstone, Bat Web Trims, Pinked Etcetera Trims

Tim Holtz/Sizzix: Regions Beyond
Distress Paint: Black Soot, Brushed Pewter, Peeled Paint

Distress Spray Stain: Pumice Stone, Frayed Burlap

Idea-ology: Cryptic, Mummy Cloth, Halloween Quote Chips, Boneyard Findings, Skull Fragments, Abandoned Paper Stash, Halloween Accents, halloween Ephemera Pack, halloween Remnant Rubs, Halloween Paper Dolls, Vignette Hardware Findings, Pumpkin Pieces

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Grit Paste, Crackle Texture Paste, peeled Paint Marker Pen
Surfaces: Black Card
Alcohol Inks: Rust, Pitch Black
Tim Holtz Media Glass Mat

Heat Gun
Big Shot
Moss

Spanish Moss and twigs from my own stash