Halloween Elegance

It is time for the new challenge at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog. Sara Emily, who is hosting this one has named it Purple, Orange, Green! Eek! It's Halloween! and describes it this way:

I love Halloween, and I would love to see your vintage or shabby chic Halloween creations, whether it be a card, tag, canvas, or any other make! If Halloween is not your cup of tea, simply use the colors purple, orange and green on your project to play along.

I haven't really been into Halloween since I was a kid although I did attempt to go for it when my daughter was little for her sake. I even went as far as making her costumes with the pirate being the least successful (it was the badly done face make-up) and a Rainbow Bright costume being the most successful despite the hours and hours of sewing.  In the past few years the only effort I made was to buy treats for the few kids that come to the door and to ensure that the treats were something my husband would eat for months following. This year because of the pandemic I am not even going that far. I don't know if they plan to ban traditional Halloween activities but even if they don't I will not be turning the porch light on and will not be opening the door until this virus takes a hike.

So for Sara Emily's challenge I was going to go the three colour route and make something non-Halloween but then I remembered that I had a mask in a box of kid-friendly craft supplies. It was actually a full face mask made of cardboard that I bought very cheaply at Michaels eons ago. I thought it might be fun to alter it and make an elegant mask much like the Venetian Masks.

I started by cutting down the mask to create the shape I wanted - easy to do with a kraft knife. The next step was to cover it roughly with texture paste. Then I convinced my husband to cut two identical spider webs from a cracker box and I glued them together to make them thicker but still bendable.

The spider web was then glued to the mask along with a bunch of paper flowers.

Everything was then given a generous coat of Heavy Black Gesso.

A row of purple sequins was glued around the edge of the mask and the eyes. Then the sequins and all the flowers were rubbed with Amethyst Antique Brilliance Wax Paste. I found a sparkly spider in my stash and covered it with watered-down PVA glue and then sprinkled a mixture of Orange, Green and Purple fine glitter on it before I adhered it to the mask.

The final touches on my mask were to add some black feathers, green gems and purple sheer ribbon ties.

I have no idea what I am going to do with this mask but perhaps when it is safe to do Halloween again, my Granddaughter might like it assuming it is safe before she is too old to go out trick or treating - that isn't a negative thought just a realistic one since she is already 14.

I hope you will share your Halloween or Non-Halloween project with us. The challenge can be found HERE and runs until 11:55 pm EDT on Tuesday, October 27th. One randomly chosen winner will receive a gift certificate to shop at The Funkie Junkie Boutique and the Design Team will choose their top four picks with the overall winner receiving an opportunity to be a guest designer at a future date.

Supplies list:

Ranger Texture Paste Opaque Matte INK44444
Prima Art Alchemy by Finnabair - Antique Brilliance - Amethyst Magic
Prima Art Basics - Heavy Gesso - Black or use Dina Wakley Media Mediums - Black Gesso - 4 oz. Jar MDM41719
Black Feathers
Green Gems
Sheer Purple Ribbon
Purple Sequin String
Cardboard Face Mask

Just Add Treats

It is time for the next challenge at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog.  Maggi is our hostess and is calling this one Treats, Not Tricks! Here is what she has to say about it:

Choose a theme and make something that will hold a treat for someone. It could be a Halloween treat bag, a Vaentine's candy box, a birthday card for a special person that holds a treat (could be a gift card "treat" or a bite of chocolate), anything that can hold a treat. So, for this challenge, choose a theme and make a vintage or shabby chic treat project to treat your someone special!

I got a head start on Christmas and created a couple little treat boxes and an altered gift bag using Graphic 45 papers.

For the altered bag, I used the Joy to the World collection and started with a layer of patterned paper  that was distressed and inked with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink (Tim Holtz).  Frayed Burlap was used for all the inking in these projects.

A strip of venise lace that was inked was added to the bottom and then a strip of patterned paper was punched with a border punch (Martha Stewart) and added on top.

Next came another panel of patterned paper followed by a panel of cream card stock that was embossed with a Starry Night embossing folder (Sizzix) and then an image panel cut from the paper collection.

I cut some Greenery using the Holiday Greens die (Tim Holtyz) and added poinsettias on top (Prima).  A big gold organza bow was topped with a little burlap bow and snowflake charm was added next along with a sentiment from the collection.

The little treat boxes were created from patterns I found online and turned into tree ornaments.

The red one has paper from the Joy to the World collection and a variety of ephemera from the St. Nicholas paper pad.  I cut greenery from the Holiday Greens die and also made a little poinsettia to which I added adhesive pearls (Kaisercraft) for the centre.

Some ivory satin ribbon (Fabricland) was used to make the hanger and then a red burlap bow and a little bells charm were added.

The other box is from a free pattern (Lori Whitlock) and is covered in paper from the Christmas Magic pad along with a fussy cut angel and circle sentiment from the Joy to the World collection.  Little poinsettias were made from red card stock and some patterned paper.

Ivory satin ribbon and a bow with a pearl centre were added to create a closure and the hanger.

Supplies list (links to The Funkie Junkie Boutique):

Antiqued Bronze Snowflake Charms - Set of 5
Graphic 45 - Joy To The World 12x12 Collection Pack 4501909
Graphic 45 - Christmas Magic - 8x8" Pad
Graphic 45 - St. Nicholas 8x8" Pad
Antiqued Bronze Snowflake Charms - Set of 5
Antiqued Bronze Bell Bowknot Charms - Set of 5
Prima Marketing Christmas In The Country Flowers - Kris Kringle 642495
Gold Organza Ribbon
Cream Satin Ribbon (Fabricland)
Starry Nights Embossing Folder (Sizzix)
Lace Border Punch (Martha Stewart)
Cream Card Stock (Staples)
Green Card Stock (Michaels)
Kraft Gift Bag (Michaels)

Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Frayed Burlap TIM21469	Ranger Inkssentials Mini Ink Blending Tool - With 4 Blending Foams IBT40965	Scor-Pal Scor-Tape 1/8" x 27 Yards	Scor-Pal Scor-Tape 1/4" x 27 Yards	Scor-Pal Scor-Tape 3/8" x 27 Yards	Venise Lace Trim - 2 inches
Sizzix Holiday Greens Die Leaves	KAISERCRAFT Pearls - Self Adhesive - Latte	Burlap String - 12 Colors

A Hot Box

It is time for a new challenge at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog (formerly known as Frilly and Funkie).  Suzz is our hostess for this one that she is calling It's Heating Up.  Here is how she describes it:

July is when the weather here in the Midwest really starts to turn warm and muggy. This is the inspiration for our challenge to interpret the heat with using one or more of the following colors: Yellow, Red or Orange. Your challenge is to create a vintage or shabby chic project where the main color is yellow, orange or red. I can't wait to see how you turn up the heat in your art!

It has been super hot so far this summer so I had no problem thinking hot colours but what to make with those colours - an altered box came to mind.

I took the process photos along the way and the finished product photos later only to discover that some of the camera settings had changed along the way so some of the process photos don't have a background that looks like the one I took them on.  I have decided there is a gremlin in my phone because the Bluetooth turns itself off from time to time and texts are disappearing - time for a new phone and maybe a new provider.

I started with a cheap paper mache box from Dollarama and gave it a coat of White Gesso (Dina Wakley) followed by a coat of Squeezed Orange Acrylic Paint (Dylusions).  Once the box was dry, I added Lemon Zest acrylic paint (Dylusions) with a sea sponge.

Next I inked it all over with some Red Geranium Archival Ink (Wendy Vecchi) and then sprayed it with Aged Mahogany Distress Spray Stain (Tim Holtz) and while it was still wet, I patted it with a piece of paper toweling to give a marbled look.

I found some little wooden finials at Michaels that I thought would make great feet for the box so I coated them first with White Gesso and then with the Lemon Zest Acrylic Paint.  They were too bright so I inked them with Orange Blossom Archival Ink (Wendy Vecchi) and was much happier with the finished look.  I used some Gel Medium (Dina Wakley) to glue the feet to the bottom of the box.

I grabbed some venise lace from my Funkie Junkie Boutique stash and dyed it using some Wild Honey Distress Stain (Tim Holtz - no longer available but Distress Ink Re-inker would be a perfect alternative) mixed in a little jar with a bit of water.  Once it was dry I adhered it to the outside edge of the box lid.

Now it was time to decorate the top.  I used the Shabby Posies die (Tammy Tutterow) to cut petals from paper pads called Floral Shoppe and Midnight Masquerade (Graphic 45).  The paper used for the yellow flower was too pale so I inked it with some Mustard Seed Distress Ink (Tim Holtz).  Next I shaped the flowers and layered the petals together.  I wanted a shiny look so I painted them with some Gloss Gel Medium and then when they were dry I added some adhesive pearls from Dollarama to the centres.

A branch was cut from the orange in the Metallics Jewels Kraft Stock pad (Tim Holtz) using the Skeleton Leaves die set (Tim Holtz) and then I cut some of the leaves from the branch.  I also used the Garden Greens die set (Tim Holtz) to cut some branches from some rusty red card stock scraps.

To make the butterfly, I coloured a piece of plastic packaging with Sunset Orange, Sunshine Yellow and Poppyfield Alcohol Ink (Tim Holtz) and then cut the little butterfly using the Entomology die set (Tim Holtz).  I used a black Micron pen to draw lines on the butterfly rather than stamping it.  I tried stamping one from the Entomology set (Tim Holtz) but did not like it.

I made a loopy bow from a large ball of yellow twine I found in my stash and then punched a little circle from the Metallics Kraft Stock, shaped it with a large embossing tool and added it to the centre of the bow.

All of the elements were adhered to the top of the box using either Scor Tape or Gel Medium.

I hope you will join us for this sizzling challenge.  There is lots of time to create as it runs through 11:55 pm EST on Tuesday, July 30th.  One random winner will receive a gift certificate to shop at The Funkie Junkie Boutique and the Design Team will choose their top picks with the overall winner receiving an invitation to be a Guest Designer at a future date.

Supplies List from The Funkie Junkie Boutique:

Tim Holtz Idea-ology 8 x 8 Metallic Jewels Kraft Stock

DYLUSIONS PAINTS, SQUEEZED ORANGE DYP46035	DYLUSIONS PAINTS, LEMON ZEST DYP45991	Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink Pad - Orange Blossom AID38986	Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Ink Pad - Red Geranium AID38993	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad - Mustard Seed TIM20226	Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain Spray - Mustard Seed TSS42358
Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Stain Spray - Aged Mahogany TSS42129	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink Reinker Wild Honey TIM27324	Tammy Tutterow Shabby Posies Die	Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 9PK - Garden Greens by Tim Holtz 661206	Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 5pk - Skeleton Leaves by Tim Holtz 663094	Sizzix Framelits Die Set - Entomology by Tim Holtz 663068
Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink - Sunset Orange	Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink - Sunshine Yellow	Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Ink - Poppyfield TAL40736	Graphic 45 - Floral Shoppe - 8x8 Pad	Venise Lace Trim - 1/2 inch wide	Ranger Dina Wakley Media Ultra Thick Gel Medium 4oz
Dina Wakley Media Mediums - White Gesso MDM41689	Scor-Pal Scor-Tape 1/8" x 27 Yards	Scor-Pal Scor-Tape 1/4" x 27 Yards	Scor-Pal Scor-Tape 3/8" x 27 Yards