Halloween Mini Book - Guest Designer Spot for Mixed Media Monthly Challenge

Oh, I love October!  It was a wonderful surprise to be asked to be a guest designer over at the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge blog and when I realized it was for the month of October (my favorite month!) I was extra pleased.  When I ran across a Halloween poem by Jack Prelutsky I jumped at the chance to turn it into a mini Halloween book.

I started with 8 playing cards which I covered with torn paper scraps.  (Apparently I got very into the project because I only remembered to take two pics!)

I gesso'd both sides of the cards and on some of them I applied modeling paste through a stencil.  Once those were dry, I painted all the cards.

I used stamps and die cuts to decorate each page to go with the lines of the poem.

 I like the way the paint moved around the stencilled parts.  I used crackle glaze over the moon and when it was dry I rubbed some Distress ink into the cracks and Inka Gold around the edges.

I turned my buddy, Cecil, into a ghost by stamping him on vellum and then heat embossing so the ink wouldn't smudge.

Spooks made spookier with tissue paper ...

...and watercolor crayons.

 Jillian is all fancy with her glitter eyeshadow and rhinestone spider.

There is something about this Sizzix die that I just love.  Probably because Halloween is my hands-down-favorite holiday and I secretly want to dress up and go trick-or-treating.  :)

Oliver and Pigtales make a delightful, if grim, Halloween couple...

The tricky part was trying to determine what type of binding I wanted to use.   I really thought I was going to go with the Bind-it-All but decided to simplify and go with the chain instead.

This was a lot of fun to make and I loved digging into my stash to use things that had been collecting dust.

Many thanks to the Mixed Media Challenge Blog for letting me play along with them this month.  How abour you playing along, too?  Simply create a project based on their October mood board.

Happy Halloween!


Products Used:
Playing cards
Gesso (Art Alternatives)
Archival ink (Ranger)
Dye ink (Memento)
Crackle glaze (DecoArt)
Inka-Gold (Viva Decor)
Stampotique stamps (Cecil, Spiral, 3 in a Round, Heads, Oliver, Pigtales, Web, Jillian)
Acrylic paint (Americana)
Cardstock
Vellum
Stickers (Karen Foster)
Gel pen, white (Signo Uniball)
Alcohol markers (Copic)
Watercolor crayons (Caran d'Ache)
Light modeling paste (Liquitex)
Distress inks, paints, sprays (Ranger)
Grungeboard (Ranger)
Glossy Accents (Ranger)
Texture paste (Art Extravaganza)
Stickles (Ranger)
Tissue paper
Sequins (Recollections)
Stencils (Ranger, TCW)
Dies (Sizzix, Cricut)
Rub-ons (unknown)
Book pages
Cheesecloth
Chain

Creation of a Monster ATC

Mwah-ha-ha!  Oh, I LOVE this time of year!  Halloween is my fave.  When I was lucky enough to win a contest over at Lost Coast Designs it was an easy pick to nab the Boris Karloff stamp.  I've used him here on an ATC.

I used Distress inks on the background and glossy accents on the creepy, drippy border.  Boris was the original (to me anyway) Frankenstein so I picked one of Mary Shelley's quotes from her book to add on here.

Thank you, Lost Coast!!

Put a Bug on It!

We've got a new challenge over at the Stampotique Designers Challenge Blog.  Ink up some buggy delights and join us!

I used Lightning Bug (from the July release) to make an ATC.

I started with a watercolor base and stamped the image with black Archival ink.  I colored it in with watercolors and Distress inks.  'Shine' was typed on Dymo tape.  Easy breezy!

Check out the SDC blog for more creative inspiration!

Mail Art with Stampotique

I think it's fun to send mail in decorated envelopes.  My thinking is that it will certainly make the envie stand out from all of those nasty bills.  ;)

Over at the Stampotique Designers Challenge blog we have a new theme for the biweekly challenge - Mail Art.  I made a little somethin' somethin' to send some swap mail in.

Stamps used:

Pigtales

Daisy, Daisy

Kate's Doodle Cube

Spiral

Have you given mail art a try?  Go ahead...try it.  You just might get addicted.  :)