Here for the Candy

Hello friends!

Back again with another idea-ology Halloween project! This one features a double stack of Vignette Boxes packed with plenty of eerie idea-ology embellishments.

Each box was created as its own individual scene before being joined together to form a whimsical wooden tower. Those two Paper Doll brothers look like they’re strictly "here for the candy," and the Trick or Treat pumpkin overflowing with Confections is primed for picking. It’s definitely going to be a fun Halloween night!

All the details + step-out photos can be found on the Simon Says Stamp blog. Just click HERE.

Now carry on,

Paula

(Here is the link again)

Halloween Vignette Tray - A Strange Thing Happened

Hello Friends!

I'm back today with another idea-ology Halloween project! Today’s project is a Halloween Vignette Tray filled with idea-ology goodness. To divide up the space and create unique little display niches, I added three smaller Vignette Boxes inside the main tray. See if you can spot them: the harlequin box featuring the number 31, the bottom-right box framing the boys, and the smallest box on the left piled high with skulls. Vignette boxes are perfect for breaking up a large space and giving you multiple places to tell your story.

Here is the basic plan to build the tray with any theme. Well, maybe you don't always need step 6 and 7, but all the other steps work with any theme or season.

1. Paper on the tray (inside and out).
2. Add the Design Tape (Trims) on the lip edge with Collage Medium. I did wipe black paint randomly over some of the tape to disguise some of the numbers.
3. Paint the Vignette Boxes black, then add paper to the background.
4. Glue the boxes into the tray.
5. Start decorating!
6. Once done, add the Baseboard planks with Tack Nails.
7. Use thread (dyed with Gathered Twigs Ink) as a spider web and wind between the nails. 

Let's get started!

The entire tray (outside and inside) was covered with Collage Strips. Collage Strips are so easy to use because they mix and match. They make it look like you have done so much work collaging the images, when in reality it's all be done for you. 

You can also see the battery pack for the Tiny Lights. I drilled the hole through the tray for the lights once I knew where the cat would it would sit on the front.

Once the box with the 31 is secure, you can add the BIG Baseboard piece at the top. I added wood blocks to the back so the piece sits out from the background. Of course I added the Portrait and spiral to the background before adding the Baseboard with the added shattered window Transparency.

The fringe was added with Collage Medium. Then I added a little nest of sorts in the "shattered window" of the Transparency. NOTE: the skulls have added Mushroom Alcohol Ink that I added by dripping the ink over the top and moving it around with a cotton swab - a great way to get the ink into the eye sockets.

The box with the 31 is a fun one. I love the harlequin paper in the background which goes perfectly with the Fringe above, making it more whimsical that scary. The box is filled with a small Woodland Tree (sprayed black and rolled in Rock Candy), two Drippy Candles, and a Tiny Vial laying on it's side. The 31 is from the Layers pack and has been added with thin Foam Squares. 

You can see inside the box a little bit better in this shot. There are some melted wings on the right (more on those later on).

The Trick or Treat cat fit perfectly in the niche created between the boxes.  I filled the cat with purple Tiny lights and bones I previously rolled in black paint.

Here he is with the lights on! Magic!

The smallest box has skulls stacked inside with a ephemera piece, "keep in refrigerator". 

The spiderweb Transparency was cut and attached to the box with Scor-tape. You honestly can't tell the tape is even there! 

The niche that was created under the box is filled with tiny book and moss and an urn that I painted black. Don't forget to use Clippings from the Sticker Book on the spines of the books to make them look realistic.  

I filled the urn with small Bubbles I colored with Alcohol Pearls Envy.  So, so easy!

The last box is the floating boys. I use them over and over because they are just my favorite set since they can be sitting on something or floating. Here I added a 1/2 wood block to the bock so they float in the middle of the window.

I wanted to fill the bottom box with something, but I wasn't sure what. Then I remembered a project that I did quite a while ago and I decide to use the idea again. I took small butterflies from the Transparent Butterflies pack and melted them with an embossing tool. I used a wooden skewer to hold the butterfly in place when I was melting so they wouldn't shoot across the table. I also used a small paintbrush to add Mushroom Alcohol Ink over some of the butterflies (very random) so make them fit the theme. That small added detail made them look even better.

Just a view from the top!

I added a Tack Nail to the side to hang the broom from some added string.

It looks good with the lights off...

and on!

I'll see you tomorrow with yet another Halloween Vignette project...a little smaller, but just a fun!

Now carry on,

paula

Various Departures

Hello friends,

Super excited to share another Halloween project with you today. I had so much fun making this one - I think my nail beds are still black from all the messy black paint! 

I started with spraying the trees (because why not use Christmas trees for Halloween?) and then began building from there. Funny how things come together when you have no plan other than "use some trees", lol.  Let me show you how I made a couple of the things and then I'll share some photos of the finished sample. I love it, so I hope you do too!

As I said, the project all started by spraying some idea-ology Alpine trees. They are a sister product to Woodland Trees, but skinnier! I sprayed a full package of the trees because I just wasn't sure how many I would use in the project. 

NOTE: I ended up using two large and one small.

I dried the trees with a heat tool, then twisted the base off the bottom (I also used wire cutters to cut off the wire at the bottom). 

Next, I gave the trees a haircut using my Recoil Scissors (so the trees have a flat back).

Then I sprayed three of the Alpine trees with Distress Spritz Rusty Hinge to give them an orange color. The shine of the Spritz does not show up in the tree but the color was perfect.

I needed some kind of structure for my trees, so I chose the Vignette Divided Drawer. I did test the trees in the box before I started adding the paper to make sure they would fit. The cool thing about the Divided Box is that you can choose to to use both shelves, one shelf or none. I chose to use one shelf in the slot that created a 3.5 x 3.5" space at the top.

1. Paint the outside of the box with black paint.
2. Once paint is dry, sand away some of the paint to reveal some of the wood below.
3. Add Halloween Backdrop papers to the inside of the box with Collage Medium.
4. Once dry, add the Design Tape on the lip edge of the box.
5. Once I was done, I painted a thin coat of Collage Medium over the painted wood on the outside of the box to give it a much more finished look. Let dry completely.

I wanted to add a base to the Divided Drawer so my trees could be at different levels. So I dug around in my drawer of vignettes and wood pieces to find an old vignette panel that was 2 3/4" x 4". This was the perfect size for what I had envisioned.

NOTE: If you don't have something like this in your stash, you could make it by cutting pieces of heavy chipboard or book board and sandwiching them together with Collage Medium.

I had a leftover piece of a Transparency on my desk and I thought that maybe I could somehow use it. The piece was chopped up but I thought, "I'm going to give it a go! I started by cutting away some of the plastic between the ends of the web.

TEST RUN: Then I tested the web in the top compartment for fit. I am a big proponent of using Transparencies in a "bended situation" sorta speak, meaning that the edges bend around the corners (like a real web would do). 

Because the box is laying down, you can clearly see missing chunks of web, but I know that once the box is standing up, it will fade into the background and you will never even notice the missing web. Just because it's chopped up, doesn't mean you should throw it away!

I used a piece of Scor-Tape on the back of the web to hold it in place inside the box, then used dots Collage Medium on the web "arms" that I previously cut out.

Once dry, I clipped the web "arms" that were sticking out beyond the box. The "arms" on the left side were never even glued down because they were back inside the box. Really, the 1/8" Scor-Tape that is hidden by the design of the web is holding everything in check! It's not going anywhere.

So if you are a Tim Holtz Halloween fan, then you probably recognize this Baseboard window. It was used on multiple projects (especially journals) in the idea-ology Halloween Live. Well I decided to cut it up to use in my project...because why not?

I ended up with 4 separate pieces - the double window at the top, the boarded up part of the window in the center (that I cut in half), and the skinny piece at the bottom. Set these pieces aside so they will be ready for use.

I also needed some bats. I have multiple dies that have bats, so I picked one called Moonlight. You can use whatever die you might have to cut at least 5 bats from black cardstock.

Moonlight #666386

I was just going to use them as is, but then I decided to add some glitter so the bats would stand out from the trees. 

I took that cheap spiderweb stuff that you can buy at any craft store and wrapped my trees with it. Not too much, but just enough to make the trees look a bit spooky.

I painted 2 wood blocks (1' and 1/2") with black paint and added my trees to the wood blocks (hot glue) to give them a bit of height in the bottom compartment. *Adding that Spritz in Rusty Hinge gives the trees a bit more depth, rather than being all black! The smallest of the trees was hot glued directly to the base. It sits out in front of the other trees, leaving a space for the skull embellishments to come.

I also painted the medium sized Toadstool with black paint and added it to the right side. You can see one of the Baseboard pieces was added to the right of the trees at an angle.

You can see here how I added the Toadstool to the structure. I cut a piece of chipboard (painted it black) and hot glued the Toadstool to it. I added Collage Medium over the top of the hot glue (I trust Collage Medium more than hot glue for longevity) and added the Toadstool to the box with more Collage Medium. That base gives stability to Toadstool so it will always stand up straight!

Next, I decided to colors some bones. I have a bunch from not only this year, but past years so I could afford to color as many as I wanted. Something about things in bulk is just my jam!

I quickly painted the bones black, leaving some areas untouched. Basically, I painted the bones then rubbed the paint all over making it thin in some places. Yes, I used my hands. Yes, it was messy. Yes, I would do it again. While the paint was still wet, I sprayed Gathered Twigs Distress Spray Stain over the bones and dried them with a heat tool. 

NOTE: if you use a hand sanitizer right after you rub the paint on the bones, the paint will come right off your hands.

Then in one last step, I picked up the entire pile of bones and rubbed Collage Medium over the entire thing. This gave me just the color I was looking for.

NOTE: If you are ready, at this point you can just thrown the bones into the top box like I did and move them around while they are still wet with glue.

Top Section

For the top section, I divided it visually into two sides. We already have the spiderweb in the back, so I just needed to work on what was going on in the front. I added the cut window on the left with Collage Medium. Once it was secure, I used Cello Tape Stickers to suspend the Poison label in the window. The words various Departures came from the Halloween Sticker Book. And the bones, well you know where those came from. I just made sure they were hanging out the window just a bit.

The Trick or Treat pumpkin seemed like a good idea to add to the right side since it fit perfectly. I did a little work on him before he was added though. I wanted the bones to stick up inside the pumpkin so I filled the bottom with some hot glue...and as you would imagine, the hot glue came out the mouth and gave him a tongue! I decided I had to go with it (because I thought it made him super cute) so I gave him a quick once over with Collage Medium and a layer of Rock Candy Glitter. He's sparkly, but old world sparkly because of the dark orange color underneath. Anyway, I love the way it turned out and now all I can think about is putting Rock Candy over all my other Trick or Treat pumpkins!

Bottom Section

The bottom section almost needs no explanation since I already talked about the placement of the trees but this is an excellent shot of the section as a whole. 

You can see I added the bugs (Layers pack) in the background with 3D Foam Squares, so the skinny Baseboard piece could be glued to the back of the box and slip just under the edge to cover the cuts.

I also added a metal tag to the second Baseboard piece. I glued the Baseboard piece to the right side wall and the bottom Baseboard. Kinda like a swinging dutch door that someone left open.

I added two Mini Skulls (painted with black paint, then rubbed off) to that space I created in the trees. The base of the Toadstool and the trees has been covered with moss and shredded Mummy Cloth. Think subtle, so not too much of anything.

Here is a good shot of the compartment so you can see all the layers of Baseboards, Layers ephemera and trees.

I sure am happy with this one! That sparkly pumpkin just makes it for me!!

Thanks for stopping by today. More next week as we wind up our celebration of all things Halloween!

Now carry on,

paula