Quickutz - Spooky scroll Die
Quickutz - Houses Die
Quickutz - Leaves Embossing folder 12"
My entry in the Stampsmith Yahoo Challenge - Halloween.
The challenge was of course Halloween.
Now Halloween hasn't really taken off in my corner of Australia. I thought last year we'd get a few knocks on the door but no....nobody.....I even bought chocolates to give... I have US friends so I hear about Halloween and how great it is and lots of fun but I guess you have to be there. So what was a girl to do. No Halloween stamps, no stickers or ribbons........luckily I had bought the Spooky scroll from Quickutz for a different reason but came in so handy as did the house dies.
OH Silvery Moon
I cut the folder to the required size and used watercolours, sponge and brayer to colour the background. The folder just sucked up the colour and water and ended up warping and buckling but it just adds to the character. A bit of chalk is also used around the moon to give a little glow. For the moon I used a circle of paper with a few smudges of gray chalk the glued Angelina film over the top so it glows. I love doing the moon like this as it's so effective. I used a fine black pen to draw cobwebs and spiders all over the scroll with silver highlights. I also drew the bats flying around the moon. They look a little kooky rather than spooky though. !
The little girls in the original stamp all had pretty dresses on and flowers. I sew and have a little niece and just love the idea of making her costumes one day so that's my inspiration. The arm of the clown girl is cut separately and raised up to give a 3d look and what girl doesn't love oodles of glitter............ So I made sure the dresses had lots of sparkle. 
(Right) The grass is a bit of freehand machine stitching in a glitter thread and some fluffy black wool for spooky grass. (Left) I used the quickutz Leaves folder on some adhesive aluminum tape used for guttering and household repairs. You can find the one with the texture or the plain one from hardware stores. For Aussies, I found both at Bunnings in the plumbing section. It takes the embossing beautifully. I coloured the leaves and added some scrolls with the Bic Mark-It Colour Pens which come in a pastel and bright set. These pens are great as they are alcohol based and are permant on shiny surfaces. I found mine in the stationary section at Woolworths in Aust. I'd never seen them anywhere else, not even in craft shops but they are brilliant for shiny paper and hard to colour things like metal and glass. (No affiliation but I should be offered shares now...lol...)This was a fun challenge...and challenge it was.! I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out and venturing outside my comfort zone.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN to all my US friends....hope it's a spooky one for you....! BOO!
