Friday 7 October 2016

Make It Spooky - A Vintage Journey

Today sees the start of a new challenge over at A Vintage Journey and this month our host is the lovely Anne. Here is what Anne says about this months challenge.

"As we approach All Hallows' Eve we want you to create a vintage, shabby, industrial, steampunk or mixed media project to celebrate the spookiness of Halloween, don't limit yourself to black, orange and purple - just 'Make it Spooky'!"
 
I had a fabulous Laser Cut ATC Block from Fernli Designs that I wanted to decorate and this seemed the perfect opportunity. I began by painting the Block with a coat of DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic Carbon Black and I then dried the paint with a heat tool. The next layer was a coat of Medium Grey Antiquing Cream and once dry I then rubbed away some of the Antiquing Cream, around the edges and randomly around the Block using a soft baby wipe. Once I was happy with the look I then used Andy Skinner's background stamp from his Toxic set to stamp around the block. I stamped using Black Stazon which I then dried with my heat tool. I then applied a coat of DecoArt Matte Medium to make sure the Antiquing Cream was then permanent and could no longer be moved.
I then had great fun with a new skull mould I have just taken delivery of. I broke up some old childrens crayons and added them to the mould. I did not melt the crayons as I added layers, I simply added all the crayons in one go and then started to melt. I was hoping that the top crayons would melt before all the bottom layer of crayons and it worked! some of the crayon pieces have stayed whole which I absolutely love! Once I had melted the crayons I allowed them to set overnight before removing from the mould.
I just adore the detail in the teeth; it's the little details that always make me happy!
I added a touch of stencilling to the background before adhering the skull. Applying DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic Carbon Black over Andy Skinner's French Elements Stencil to add numbers to the background, giving a further layer of interest. I also added splatters of DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic Pyrrole Red to coordinate with the red in my skull. I added some cotton thread and a circle of twine around the skull for added texture.
I added skulls around each side of my Block using Andy Skinner's Day of the Dead stencil; again using Carbon Black Fluid Acrylic. More splatters of red paint added as a contrast.
A second skull around the other side and more of those red splatters.
I love that all the layers are still visible which adds so much interest to the background.
Our sponsor this month is Country View Crafts who are offering a £20 voucher to one randomly drawn winner.
Thanks so much for stopping by. Tracy x x



23 comments:

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

WOW!!! WOW!!! That skull from the crayons is FABULOUS! The way you left some parts intact is artsy wonderful! This is beyond cool! PINNED!

Julia Aston said...

Oh my gosh - love the 'brains' that show through the skull - great colors on this - a wonderful spooky box - super stenciling on the other sides Tracy but that dimensional skull is a 'killer'! Julia xx

Barbara said...

FABULOUS! Amazing project, I love the dark soul of this skull, colors are fabulous , grey and red are fantastic together and absolutely unusual! BArbara

Amanda said...

Brilliant! Loving that skull mould
Love
Amanda x

Jennie Atkinson said...

Oh err .... that skull mould is really Scary !!! Great use of the colours to create a really deep project for Halloween. Not sure I would want him looking at me in the craft room though Truly scary Tracy! .... but a great project! Jennie x

Brenda Brown said...

Oh my gosh, creepy, creepy, creepy. What an amazing work of art Tracy and beautifully scary at the same time. I just love the skull with the crayons still showing through what a brilliant idea and then coupled with those very atmospheric colours ooooooh so eeeeerie. Xxx

brenda said...

A stunning creation Tracey, perfect colours to compliment the spooky image and so much texture.

B x

A Pink said...

Absolute knockout Creation! Tracy The moulded skull is superb! Gotta love those pearly 'greys' and that sinister smile !! Mwahhhhh! Love the unmelted crayons too. Great colours and stenciling.
An all round spooktacular piece . LOVE it !
hugs x

Suzanne C said...

Okay that is gruesome and brilliant! Love how you melted those crayons and they mixed the colors are fantastic.

Tracy Welham said...

A spook-tacular creation! So creepy and a little gruesome too - I love it. Creative Blessings, Tracy x

Beverly Gray said...

Love it. Spooktacular!

Redanne said...

Totally spooky and totally fabulous Tracy, I love how some of the crayons did not melt and that mould is fabulous - I need one now!! The grey and red are wonderful, much scarier than black and red I think. The stamping and stencilling around the block looks wonderful but for me the spooky skull really does it for me!! Love, love, love this! Hugs, Anne xx

Kaz said...

Totally awesome love it xx

Astrid Maclean said...

A superb spooky make Tracy, goodnes, the expression is just so creepy. Brilliantly put together, with great techniques!!

Words and Pictures said...

Eeurgh - in the best possible way!! Love all those blood spatters and that brilliantly scary skull. This is a fabulous bit of spooky creativity.
Alison x

Annie said...

Tracy this is fantastic !!!! Love the background but the way you have created the skull is very clever !!! It looks really spooky all melted and with the brain showing !!! Love it !!!!

Tfs and hugs xx

sarascloset said...

Eeww! So creepy, Tracy! Fantastic sculpture, and those un-melted crayons are the perfect touch! And so its the blood splatter! Where did you get that amazing mold and how did you heat your crayons? Very inspirational piece!

Deb said...

Tracy, that is fabulous, the skull mold is amazing and brilliant idea to use the crayons, the effect of the unmelted pieces showing through is wonderful. Love the stenciling and spatters on the block, a truly spooky creation, love it! Deb xo

Juliz Design Post said...

This is such a cool project in a very creepy way. Love your creativity and design on it.
Julie x

Sue said...

Tracy this is amazing! I love it xx

S@ndy Diller said...

WOW - JUST AWESOME. LOVE IT S@ndy xx

Jenny Marples said...

Oh my goodness!!! The contrast between the melted and unmelted portions of those crayons absolutely makes that skull Tracy! It sits perfectly on the beautifully painted box and makes for a seriously arty and unusual piece xx

Unknown said...

I am just completely AWED and AMAZED by your GENIUS Tracy. This skull is for sure my favorite skull EVER... and I am not a big skull person either!!! The crayons are PERFECT - the way they melted and didn't etc. JUST PHENOMENALLY CREATIVE. Wow. Xj.