Spooky Halloween Ideaology Panel

 

This project was a sample for a class I taught earlier this month. It was so much fun to design with all the new Halloween Ideaology and I am honored that Tim Holtz highlighted it in his Halloween 2017 Inspiration Series. Below are the basic directions for making this project and there is so much opportunity for making this uniquely your own. 

1. The CANVAS:

You need a 12x12 burlap covered canvas. You can make one or purchase one. I used a District Market 12x12 canvas for my sample, but they have been discontinued. If you have one in your stash, great! Otherwise you can do an internet search and find one.

Cut four 4"x8” and one 4”x4” pieces of paper from the Halloween Paperie Kraft Stash. Lightly distress the paper by sanding it with a sanding block so some of the kraft core shows through.

You can slightly trim the pieces or tear the outside edges, or overlap the 4x8 papers when you adhere them to the canvas. I adhered mine with collage medium and just overlapped the paper enough to leave a burlap reveal all around the outside edges. To get them to fit on the 12x12, you need to lay one 4x8 piece horizontally across the top, then one vertically, then one horizontally along the bottom and one vertically. This should leave a square in the center for the 4x4.

2.    The COFFIN:  

Paint the inside and outside sides of the Vignette Tray Coffin (henceforth known just as the coffin) in Black Soot Distress Paint. Once completely dry, brush some Frayed Burlap Distress Paint over it and wipe off with a dry rag. This should give it an old, aged wood look.

Trace around the outside edge of the coffin onto scrap paper. Cut out the coffin template and make sure it fits inside your coffin. Trim as needed until it easily comes in and out of the coffin. Cover the template with more of the Halloween Kraft Stash. Add a 1” strip of Halloween Paperie patterned paper across the middle. Then trim the patterned paper to fit the template. Adhere to the inside of the coffin.

3.    Attach some Halloween Design Tape around the top edge of the coffin to cover the unfinished edge.

4.    From the papers in the Halloween Paperie Stash, choose some ads or images to go inside the coffin and cut them out.

5.    Pick a word from the Halloween Typography Words and adhere to the top of the coffin.

6.    The Halloween TREE:

Using your Tim Holtz Scissors, trim off the handles of a Trophy Cup to form an urn. Using the sanding block, sand off any remaining little pieces. Paint the trophy cup with Black Soot Distress Paint, This may take a couple of coats. Then when completely dry, brush on some Frayed Burlap Distress Paint and wipe off with a dry rag. Glue some foam in the bottom of the cup.

Spray a Woodlands Tree with Antique Linen Distress Stain. You may notice that the trees can get horribly misshapen with all the packing and handling they go through. Don’t fret. Spray the tree with a good amount of Distress Stain and set it aside to dry. The moisture reacts with the natural bristles just like humidity and curly hair. They will poof back out in no time! I also tried this with just water and my Distress Sprayer and it worked as well.

Once the tree dries, glue it into the Trophy Cup urn. Choose the side you want facing the back and trim it flat with scissors. Crinkle the Halloween Fringe by balling it up into your hand and then roll it in a circle like you are making a meatball or cookie ball. Add a tiny amount around the bottom of the tree. 

Decorate the tree with paper bats, punched laurel pieces, alcohol inked baubles, or whatever fun Halloween items you have in your stash. It’s a Halloween Tree. Have FUN with it! 

I punched laurels from the Alterations Large Laurel Punch then cut the pieces in half and inserted them into the tree between the bristles and glued them in.   

I put liquid glue on the back of the small bats from the Halloween Mixed Media die and then held them onto the very tips of the tree bristles until they stuck. 

Attach two larger bats from the Bats, Cross and Shield Movers and Shapers dies, back to back on the top of the tree with liquid glue to form a bat tree topper.

Tie a longish piece of the orange and black twine from the Halloween Trimmings in a bow at the top of the tree just under the bat then roll the hanging pieces tightly around a pencil to get them to curl. 

7.    Arrange the cheesecloth on the bottom of the coffin, adhere the tree and urn into the coffin. Arrange the Skull, Mini Pumpkins and large bone from Boneyard around the bottom of the urn.

8.    The FRAGMENTS: From the Halloween Paperie Stash, pick various words, images and patterned papers to go on the back of your Fragments. Add some Glossy accents to the back of a fragment then put it on the paper image you want to show through. Push down and move slightly until all the air bubbles are out. Allow to dry as you complete all the fragments. Once dry, trim the excess paper from around the outside.

9.    Lay the coffin on the canvas, then arrange the fragments as desired along the right side. Lay the Scroll die cuts on the top left and bottom right of the fragments. Once you get both positioned as desired. Adhere them in place. 

 10.The FINISHING TOUCHES:

Add various Halloween Shape Tokens, Halloween Adornments, Boneyard bones, die cuts, and keeping one for the top right corner medallion. You can add the small bone on one, some small words from the Halloween Paperie stash, words or phrases from the Halloween Clippings sheets, or even some Halloween Remnant Rubs. 

11.The last piece is to use the remaining Halloween Fringe trim across the top of the canvas and then in the top right corner, cut two circular shapes – I used the small seal in the Labels die set and the Large Seal punch, as well as the Large Banner punch to make the ribbons. Layer them with dimensional foam dots, adhere a Halloween Shape Token to the center and attach to the top corner.