Til Death Do Us Part - Ideaology Coffin 1

 

Til Death Do Us Part was inspired by the attic scene in Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. The story is of Constance Hatchaway, a ghost bride who basically murders all of her husbands. The attic is filled with mementos and wedding photos of all of them, ending with the ghost of Constance holding an axe and repeating her wedding vows ...until death....

In order to do the story justice, I decided I needed to use both sides of the new Idea-ology Coffin Vignette to show both sides of Constance’s story. This piece was a sample for the newest Halloween Idea-ology release from Tim Holtz. 

 To begin, I covered the Coffin Vignette. To do this I needed a template of the inside and back side of the shape so that I could cut the paper to fit. I started by laying cardstock across the front of the vignette and rubbing a bone folder or something like it across the front edges.

 You should end up with something that looks like this. You will want to cut along the inside lines.

 If you want to check to see if it fits before you cut it, just fold the sides in and check first.

I used my Tonic Trimmer to get straight sides when I cut along the lines.

To get a template for the back of the coffin, just draw around the outside edge. Once you have the templates, draw around the templates on the paper or wallpaper you want to use. I used paper from the Departed stack and some of the Halloween wallpaper, then used my scissors and trimmer and cut them out. Adhere the papers to the wooden vignette with Distress Collage Medium. Brush on a thin but even layer, then lay the paper in place and use something to press the paper down all over so that there are no air bubbles or raised areas. You will need to measure the sides, both height and width, and then cut pieces to cover the sides. I'll talk about the papers I chose later on.

I also wanted to make a base for the coffin so I could expand my attic story area. I covered the large and second largest Vignette Panels with some paper from the Departed paper pad after I painted the edges of each panel black. Then I adhered the smaller one on top in the larger panel in the very center. Gather four of the Metal Corners and four of the Idea=ology Mini Foundations.

Once the paper is adhered to the panels and they are secure, attach the Metal Corners to each corner of the largest panel. I even had to slip the edges under the corners of the smaller panel just a little bit as I worked. Then I squeezed the sides to make sure they were secure.

When the corners are secure, drill four small holes (I used a Dremmel) and then, as seen above, pound a Vignette Hardware nail into each hole to hold the coffin securely in place.

I covered the back of the coffin with this amazing architectural piece of paper from the Departed pad. Then I went through all of my Clippings and Chit Chat stickers to find all the words I wanted to be able to tell the story. It was tough but I managed to find all the words I wanted.  This is to be a bit of foreshadowing as to what is to come....

I added the Lace Baseboard Frame around one of the new Halloween Vellum scenes to hint at the Haunted Mansion. Also I picked this bride and groom from the Halloween Paper Dolls.

At the top of the lace frame I added this ribbon adornment but wanted it to feel a little more like a wedding ribbon.

So I put some white Picket Fence Distress Crayon on it and rubbed it in with my finger. That softened the darker color of the ribbon to go with the wedding feel.

I wanted this side view to show you the two different sides to the story, but also to show you that I covered the outside of the coffin with this wallpaper. I sanded it to bring out the texture. Once I adhered it I went over the sides with Distress Vintage Collage Medium to age it a little.

For the wedding flower arrangement, I took one of the Garden Relic urns, painted it with Distress Paint in Hickory Smoke and then aged it slightly with a little watered down Walnut Stain Distress Paint. Once I brushed it on wet, I wiped it off quickly.

The plant that goes in the Grave Relic can be made with die cuts or whatever, but I wanted to use the same products for both the front and the back of my coffin to give the same items a very different feel depending on which side of the altar you are looking at. So for the wedding side I wanted it a little green. I took one of the Broomsticks from last year's Halloween release and pulled the handle out, then scrunched it all up into a ball and sprayed it green with some green colors of Distress Oxide Sprays.

Once it is dry, put some hot glue in the holder of the Grave Relic and then push the Broomstick plant down into the glue.

For my floral arrangement I added some moss around the base and then attached a few flowers from Bouquet and some Beaded Berries from last year's Christmas Idea-ology release. I LOVE the Beaded Berries and am so sorry that last year was the last release, so hopefully you have some on hand or can find someone who still has them in their inventory.

The Idea-ology Metal Gates were perfect for this scene. They allow the design to have a church altar feel.

To help the Metal Gate fit in the wedding feel, I rubbed some Picket Fence Distress Paint over it and let it dry.

Then I adhered it to the bottom level of the Vignette Panel base with some Distress Collage Medium. To add to the wedding feel, I draped Mummy cloth over the Gate, doing my best to keep it from fraying so it felt more like tulle. Then I decorated it with some Heirloom Florals.

I wanted the Heirloom Florals to have a little something more than just the cream color, so I wet them and then brushed Perfect Pearls over them. I had to do this application a couple of times to get this to look like a pearl finish, but I was successful and pleased with the final outcome. At this point, I mixed some perfect pearls in a little water on my Glass Mat and then brushed it on the Mummy Cloth, the flowers and the lace frame to add even more of the pearl sheen to this side.

Here you can barely see the pearl shine of the florals and the Mummy Cloth.

As with the foreshadowing in the wording at the top on this side, I added a little foreshadowing here as well by adding a Black Widow Spider from the Halloween Adornments pack.

I love just that little hint on the lovely wedding flower, that the bride might be who she seems.

That does it for the wedding side of the Halloween Coffin Vignette. Message me through the link at the side if you have any questions about something I described above of something on this side that I didn't cover. 

Thank you for sticking with me through this long post. I hope it was interesting and helpful.

Tami

I am an affiliate with Simon Says Stamp and Scrapbook.com so the links below send you to one of those stores depending on which logo you choose.  If you wish to purchase something from either store and use one of my links below, I get a small percentage of your order, at no additional cost to you. This helps me to defray the costs of this blog, the time, the ideas and tutorials I post here. Your help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Candy? What Candy? - Snarky Halloween Cats Stampers Anonymous

 

 Everyone knows I love cats (and dogs too, but my husband is allergic, so we have kitties!) and the funny, silly, whimsical nature of the Snarky Cats that were released earlier this year by Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous were right up my alley. So when I got a hold of these Halloween Snarky Cats, I had to design with all of them. They are really too cute and so much fun! Like all of the releases for Halloween stamps this year, even the Snarky Halloween Cats are versatile enough to be used all year round. Including this guy because who doesn't eat candy all year round right? Ok, enough about these darling stamps and on to how I made this card.

I wanted this cat with his tail hanging down to be sitting on something, and I thought the pumpkin was the perfect seat for a cat who had obviously gorged himself on all the Halloween candy. To do that effectively I first stamped the cat in Black Soot Archival Ink onto a piece of Distress Mixed Media Heavystock. Then I stamped him again on a piece of Judikins Eclipse Masking Paper. It comes in a big 6" roll like you see above, and is the stickiness of a post it note, but all over the back. I have a link to it below. Trim around the cat on the masking paper and adhere it over the one on the Heavystock.

Here you can see the piece of Heavystock on my stamp platform. I have the original image covered with the masked image and I placed the pumpkin stamp in just the right position before I stamped it.

Once the pumpkin is stamped, you can remove the mask and it will reveal a cat sitting on a pumpkin. It's much easier than it seems! I saved my cat mask by adhering it to the front of the plastic stamp index card over the image of the stamp when I replaced it. That way I can used it again a few times if I want.

 Next I moved on to the background. For this one, I used the same technique I used from my background post. You can see that technique tutorial here. The only difference here is that I used my hand to stamp the Tapesty stamp so it would cover the entire 4.25x5.5 inch card base. You can see a couple of places that don't have an image stamped there and it's because I pressed the stamp down in the top right corner and  then moved it and pressed it down in the bottom left corner using Distress Embossing Ink. Then I heat embossed Rusty Hinge Distress Embossing Glaze over it, colored it with Black Soot Distress Ink, and proceeded with the iron-off technique.

Over some of the areas of the background where I didn't get an image, I really tried to play those up to make them look worn away and add a little spooky to it. Also the addition of machine stitching really helped!

When I stamped my image, I also chose the sentiment "Candy? What candy?" from the stamp set. I was trying to decide what I could do to add candy to the card, so I pulled out a Sizzix die set that Tim Holtz released last year called Sweet Treats. They are layered dies, but I just cut two of each shape, water colored them to go with the card, then glued them back to back with the twine bits in between. To make them shiny I sprayed them with some Distress Resist Spray.

The stamped focal piece was water colored with Distress Inks and a waterbrush. Then I double matted it with a piece of Blackout Cardstock and a piece of Distress Heavystock colored with Crushed Olive. It's a great Halloween green and perfect Black Cat eye green.

 I really love how this card turned out. Nothing too difficult, but just enough work to keep me interested. and the bits of Rusty Hinge Embossing Glaze that got stuck to a few areas of the background add the perfect amount of grunge.

Thank you so very much for supporting me by stopping by and checking out the details on this card. I am sincerely grateful for each of you who post on my social media, read my blog posts, comment, etc. Thank you very much!

Tami

I am an affiliate with Simon Says Stamp and Scrapbook.com so the links below send you to one of those stores depending on which logo you choose.  If you wish to purchase something from either store and use one of my links below, I get a small percentage of your order, at no additional cost to you. This helps me to defray the costs of this blog, the time, the ideas and tutorials I post here. Your help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Troublesome Ending - Stampers Anonymous Specimen

I am so grateful to have been asked to make some samples with the new Halloween release from Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous. There are some great stamps that can be used for so many occasions all year long. Today's card uses several of the new stamp sets that are all linked below if you haven't gotten a chance to order them yet. LOL

In my post yesterday I gave a photo tutorial for making these backgrounds. You can find that tutorial here. I used two of those backgrounds in today's card. The main background is the iron-off piece pictured in the bottom of the photo above. It is the smaller pattern from the Tapestry CMS414

The resist is so light that it gives the feel of a watercolor stamp, but you can see a slight blue from the Speckled Egg Distress Embossing Glaze.

I love how there are still some slight little details in areas.

The background for the beetle from the Specimen CMS410 stamp was the iron-off of the background set below. I die cut the Stacked Labels die from Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations and then stamped the beetle on the piece with Black Soot Distress Archival Ink.

 I used the bottom piece. It is the piece with the Ironed-off Walnut Stain Distress Embossing Glaze. You really can't tell that it is the upside down image of one of the Renaissance CMS415 stamp set, but if you look closely you can see some bits of the arch way and some of the carved details.

 I stamped not only the beetle, but also the sentiment from Tiny Text Halloween on that piece.

 To make the beetle stand out, I matted the label shape with a piece of Blackout Cardstock. Then I stamped the beetle a second time on some Distress Mixed Media Heavystock and then I colored it with some Distress Inks, I cut out just the body, sprayed it with Distress Resist Spray and then popped it up from the background so that it had some dimension.

 I also popped the entire label piece up from the Blackout Cardstock for even more dimension. and machine stitched around the outside edge with a Sewing Machine before adhering it to a black card back.

This card went together really quickly because I already had the backgrounds made. I highly recommend working on a bunch of backgrounds at once so that when you are ready to make cards, you can put them together quickly without getting out a bunch of products.

Tami

I am an affiliate with Simon Says Stamp and Scrapbook.com so the links below send you to one of those stores depending on which logo you choose.  If you wish to purchase something from either store and use one of my links below, I get a small percentage of your order, at no additional cost to you. This helps me to defray the costs of this blog, the time, the ideas and tutorials I post here. Your help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Stampers Anonymous Halloween Release!

 

What a great Halloween release from Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous right?  I love how versatile each of them are. Definitely not your regular Halloween stamps. They can be used for all kinds of things year-round, so if the term Halloween is turning you off of this release, set it aside and take a look anyway because you might be surprisingly intrigued! 

I am not doing a tutorial on any of the samples in the collage above today. Instead I want to focus on what I did as soon as I got the stamps in the mail, which is to try out a background technique with two of the new sets. So let's focus on that technique today because I used many of these in my samples.

I began by stamping each of the background stamps from Renaissance CMS415 and Tapestry CMS414 onto Distress Mixed Media Heavystock with Distress Embossing Ink and then heat embossing them with Distress Embossing Glazes. I used Speckled Egg, Hickory Smoke, Walnut Stain, and Weathered Wood on these four.

Then I inked each background with Distress Ink and spritzed them with water. I set them aside to dry on their own.

On the Hickory Smoke Tapestry I used Peackock Feathers and Brushed Corduroy.

On the Weathered Wood Renaissance I used Vintage Photo, Fossilized Amber, and Hickory Smoke.

This Renaissance background was stamped in Walnut Stain and colored with Chipped Sapphire and Crushed Olive.

Lastly, this very detailed Tapestry background was stamped in Speckled Egg and colored in Ground Espresso and Wild Honey.

Once the backgrounds are dry, then get a second piece of Distress Mixed Media Heavystock, line it up perfectly over the background, with the embossed side facing the Heavystock. Then Iron with a hot, dry iron. Do this will all of the backgrounds.

The heat of the iron will reheat the Distress Embossing Glazes and they will soak in to the paper on top giving you two prints from one. I love how the Walnut stain leaves I light brown resist on the original but a bit darker on the iron-off piece.

Not gonna lie, the Speckled egg was an immediate favorite!

Weathered Wood is amazing too! I love how the Embossing Glazes leave a little color behind on resist side while still having the most color on the iron-off side.

Hickory Smoke is a WOW! Look at the left behind color that is a light Pumice Stone and that smoldery iron-off color.

I colored each of the iron-off backgrounds with the same colors as the original, then sprayed them with water and let them dry.

These look really similar, but you can see the iron-off one is darker.

I know you loose a lot of the amazing detail on the Renaissance stamps using this technique, but I love how they give a super cool bit of resist detail interest to the papers.

This one is still favorite! I love how the iron-off side on this one has a watercolor affect.

I made two more backgrounds once I got started making cards and I didn't photograph the process but I wanted you to see them before I used them on the samples. This one I stamped the large Tapestry background in clear Distress Embossing Ink, and embossed with Fossilized Amber Distress Embossing Glaze. I colored the background on this one with Barn Door and Aged Mahoghany Distress Spray stain, then let them dry before I did the Iron-off technique I detailed above. It left a warm yellow on this side. I haven't used the iron-off side yet.

This one is a favorite! Wow! I stamped the smaller patterned Tapestry stamp in clear Embossing Ink, then embossed it with Rusty Hinge Embossing Glaze. The background was colored with Black Soot Distress Ink and sprayed with water, then sit aside to dry, I used the Iron-off Technique and it left a fabulous aged orangey yellow color behind with bits that turned brown. I forgot to photograph the iron-off, but it made a great orange color. I'll try to do a remake when I post the card I used it on.

That is it for the backgrounds on my cards.  Now when you see the cards you will have an idea about the backgrounds and I hope you are inspired just to get out some background stamps and play around with the Distress Embossing Glazes and your inks. It is really, really fun!

Happy distressing!

Tami

I am an affiliate with Simon Says Stamp and Scrapbook.com so the links below send you to one of those stores depending on which logo you choose.  If you wish to purchase something from either store and use one of my links below, I get a small percentage of your order, at no additional cost to you. This helps me to defray the costs of this blog, the time, the ideas and tutorials I post here. Your help is greatly appreciated! Thank you!