Monday 29 October 2018

Haunted House Hallloween Diorama - by Claudia

Hi, servus and welcome to my last Halloween project for this year!

Two weeks ago you had the pleasure to meet young witch Porticia Crimpbottle and learn about her witch family (which can be re-/visited over HERE), but today I am back to share with you a little fun Halloween diorama I have created using a piece of press board from my stash and a variety of Calico Craft Parts from their Halloween and Autumn range.



























Calico Craft Parts used: 

- Haunted Mansion - MDF Wood Shape 
- Graveyard Halloween Wood Corner
- RIP Gravestone and Pumpkin MDF Wood Shape
- Haunted House - MDF Halloween Wood Words
- Woodland Fungi - Autumn Wood Corner
- Flying Eyeball with Bat Wings Style 1 - MDF Wood Shape
- Skeleton Tree Duo MDF Wood Shape - Style 1
- Haunted Graveyard - Sheet of Mini Halloween Wood Shapes
- Flying Bat Colony - MDF Wood Shapes
- Sheet of Mini MDF Wood Birds - Crows & Ravens




I haven't done any steps images this time as I had a rough plan when I started but some things found their way onto the project as I progressed (but if you know me and my style you will find that I have been using the same techniques as always and there are a lot of pictures that explain what I have done better than any written up text).

I have a lot of left overs from various Mini Wood Shapes and these are always perfect to add that little liveliness that rounds up scenes just perfectly. But I knew from the start that the Haunted Mansion and the Graveyard Halloween Wood Corner alongside the Skeleton Tree Duo and the Woodland Fungus had to become the core pieces to create a scene with a lot of depth.



So when I ordered my wood shapes I made sure I chose them in sizes that were later perfect to create a fore-, middle- and background by . The Fungi Wood Corner is the classic foreground element that draws you into the scene as it looks so close (due to its comparably large size). The other layers just about followed the laws of size perspective - largest gravestone to the front, smaller ones behind it - and the mansion in the background looks as if it was a short walk away from the woodland fungi.





Finding the perfectly matching press board while searching for an emptied chocolate box from my stash was what made me change my mind and do a diorama instead of a shadowbox (which had been my original plan). The diorama can even be put in front of a light source so the windows get lit from behind!  I have used transparent tissue paper that I have painted with DecoArt media Diarylide Yellow (as that is a transparent acrylic paint) and glued behind the openings from the Wood Shape.
















To fuse all the pieces on my projects I always try to repeat the same colours in at least three different spots or areas - like the red from the Woodland Fungus, the Haunted House Wood Word and the Flying Eyeball, the orange from the three pumpkins and the windows and the green that I have added to the bottom sections of all the layers. Repeating shapes or colours is always a good thing to do when you want to visually "bind" all your pieces together.





The pieces were painted using DecoArt Americana Lamp Black and Snow White alongside Primary Red, Jack-O'-Lantern Orange and Citron Green acrylic paints. Most of the colours I applied wet on wet, some in dry-brushing technique. As you can see I have aimed for a quite messy and loose style. The visible brushstrokes from the dry-brushing in white and grey add great texture which I have contrasted by adding DecoArt media Liquid Glass to some of the Wood Shapes.



The finished pieces were all glued in place using superglue. I especially like using superglue when fusing pieces that do not have a large contacting area. The little owl in the tree is a separate wood shape from one of the Mini Halloween Wood Shapes sheets but I have added it to the tree as it was sitting on a branch already. The pumpkin to the outer left, the small raven in front of the house and the cat on the gravestone were fixed to their spots with superglue too and all the very narrow sides of the wood shapes that "stand" on the press board base were easily glued in place with it as well. This way I didn't have to support them during drying time.














What I really like about all Calico Craft Parts (not just the ones I have used on this project) is that their silhouettes can stand for themselves as they're so expressive and detailed! See?




There are so many different Wood Shapes to choose from with the Calico Craft Parts Halloween and Autumn section that I could easily create dozens of totally different dioramas....so I am sure you will find the ones you like most to create your very own unique creepy Halloween scene and have a lot of Halloween fun!





Happy Halloween and as always
hugs and happy crafting!
Claudia
xxx








Friday 26 October 2018

Tales from the crypt... by Zuzu

I’ve used one of the coffin kits for this weeks project. Coffin kit

On my first attempt, I turned it into a mini vampire hunting kit. I loved it, but I realised the religious iconography may have annoyed some people as I used a rosary, a crucifix and a mini bible or hymn book.
So, I went back to the drawing board so as not to offend anyone and made a little bandaged mummy with hints of Egyptology. Tales from the crypt... I am not a fan of  dolls in the usual sense. They’re way too creepy. Lol
But at this time of year, creepy is good.
I made a mummy out of one. (Kept one of her arms aside for another project.). It’s eyes still open and close *shudders*...


When you get your little coffin, it doesn’t have a lid as it’s a little shrine with shelves. But there is 
a section in the parts to discard that does fine as a lid if you cover some of the gaps. I used card on one side and black velvet on the other.

I stained and painted it all. Used mini hinges to attach my lid. Then added some Egyptian themed embellishments.
A nice new home for my mummy doll...

Wednesday 24 October 2018

Fright Night at the Circus-by Lesley

Hey people. Lesley here with a piece that my dog hasn't destroyed! Yay!!!

Continuing on with Halloween type stuff, I decided to alter one of the little circus tents.


I started by gluing the square bit of the tent together and painting it red. 
I then used a cobweb stencil and black paint.


I painted the front of the circus block, using a touch of silver as well.

I snipped the tiny flag off the top, and attached one of the new flying skulls with bat wings. Which I had painted and used glaze on top of the wings.


I used a blob of clay, which I painted black and glued it to the base of the tent. The skulls were painted and roses attached, and then glued to sticks before placing into the clay.


To finish, I added a word element from the Horror and Halloween set.


Thanks for reading

L. x

Ingredients used

MDF Circus Tent, wide
Flying skull with bat wings
Word Elements, Horror and Halloween

Sunday 21 October 2018

The Little Bee Keeper - Calico Cube Storage by Julie Ann

Hello, it's always such a treat to share with you at Calico Craft Parts. Today I'd like to introduce you to Melissa, the Bee-keeper and to share a little storage cube I made to house a collection of tiny tiles I've been creating. Something about the honeyed autumn light inspired me to create a cube of warm muted colours, and to visualise a miniature character, responsible for caring for the bees and protecting them and their precious honey as the days shorten and winter approaches.



The cube kits are so easy to assemble. You can decorate them before assembly, or - as I did here - add your papers, stencils and stamping once you have glued the parts together. I use an extra heavy gel medium, but any white, non-toxic super glue does the job.



 On my lid I've used torn papers, stencils and stamping with acrylic paints: the whole, collaged and painted effect blended together quite well, I thought. I chose soft greens, rusts, creams and yellows to evoke the mellow tones of autumn.




I gesso'd the front of the box and then added tissue text. To suggest the papery texture of autumn leaves, I then applied watery drips from water-colour blocks, allowing them to trickle down. The MDF mini label holders come on a handy sheet and they are ideal for adding to storage boxes.



This side, with its stencils over design paper blended with papers created by me became the background for Melissa's Mistress, the supreme Bee Goddess, Potnia.




 The bright-eyed bird is the top layer of a napkin, fixed with a fluid matt medium.



Although the Bees are her main subjects, Potnia loves and protects all winged creatures.



Here I've used more torn papers and stamping with acrylics to create that weathered autumnal look.



Stamping with white acrylic paint and edging the cube with a warm terracotta paint helped create a background for Melissa. It was pure serendipity that the paper across the middle resembled a mellow brick wall.



Washi tape and crackled card corners provided the perfect finishing touches to the lid.



As the rays of the autumn sun ignite the grass, a majestic stag turns to listen to the sound of the humming bees and Melissa's autumn song as she wends her way through the woods, home to a supper of bread and honey.



Now Melissa is perfectly at home in my studio among the other storage boxes. Thank you for stopping by today. Until we meet again enjoy the autumn and all its creative opportunities.




Calico Craft Parts used in this Project
MDF Cube Storage Box Kit
Bees and Beehives -Sheet of mini MDF shapes
Group of Deer wood shape, Style 6
Mini Angel Wings Wood Shapes, Style 4
Blackberry Bramble Wood Shape
Sheet of Mini Label Holders

Friday 19 October 2018

Minialbum - Witching Hour by Kerstin

Hello, crafty friends!

As you can remember, I was totally in love with our winged devil, so he needed to find his place on my next Halloween project too. It's a mini album in mixed media style and I used a mix of wood shapes and cutting dies and some suitable embellishments.


My base was a castle shaped cardboard blank, which consists of three pages that are
coloured with a mixture of three acrylic paints - white, black and grey, - then altered with splatters and stains from a brown spray paint and highlighted in some spots with texture stamps

Calico Craft Parts used:

some details:
 

first page: in the background you will find some die cut elements - spiderwebs, ghost and leaves;
the frontdoor 'Sunbeam Glazed Door' was supplemented with Cat scrap silhouette and the title Witching hour



 the door knocker is a self made skeleton hand made with modelling paste silicone mould


 OMG the window is charged  - electrically charged ;-) 


 the one and only Winged Devil  
is sitting on the roof and enjoying the nice view




 on the second page you can find two roofs made with more cutting dies;
I also created my own broken windows with the help of foil, crackle glaze and brown spray paint


 third page  -
the time is right when the bells strike twelve o'clock in the night
yes, you know it, it's - WITCHING HOUR -  


... and as the moonlight shines faintly on the clearing, someone enters the enchanted castle

And now get enchanted and plunge into the wonderful
world of creativity!
Happy crafting!
Kerstin

Wednesday 17 October 2018

Autumn Love by Jennie

Hello and welcome to my second project this month, celebrating my love of Autumn and ATCs!


You are perhaps getting the gist that I really love ATCs and particularly working with the Calico Craft Parts MDF ones. It is so nice to be able to pile on products in the knowledge that the ATC is not going to buckle or bend.


I have quite a few layers on this ATC - gesso, crackle paste and texture paste ........


Followed by water based dye pigments and stamping.


The MDF is great for allowing me to add a pretty heavy cluster of flowers and berries ........


.... and one of the mini MDF tags.


All in all it is a great substrate to work on!

Thank you for joining me today for this short post about how much you can layer in a small space!


Jennie x


Calico Craft Parts used: