Monday 31 October 2016

Happy Halloween! - by Claudia

Hi, servus and happy Halloween, dear Calico Craft Parts friends!!!
I hope you are all enjoying this holiday as much as I am and are having a lot of fun!

This last Halloween-ish project of mine can also be seen as a celebration of late fall - with fog blurring one's vision, the first bit of snow in higher regions, with crows in the bare trees's branches and spiders looking for a cosy place inside the house and with darkness already setting in in the afternoon. Which makes me want to look for a warm and cosy place inside too and light some candles.

I have created a shadow frame - using one of Calico Craft Parts' alterable printers trays and some of their wonderful (and wide range of) autumnal and/or Halloween MDF pieces - and tried to capture what I love most about this time of the year.





Calico Craft Parts used: 

- MDF Printers Tray Kit - Style 4
- Gothic Mansion Haunted House MDF Wood Shape - Style 4
- Flying Barn Owl MDF Wood Shape - Style 4
- Pair of Ravens on Branch MDF Wood Shape 
- Sheet of Mini MDF Wood Birds - Crows & Ravens 
- Spider MDF Wood Shape - Style 7


I kept the number of parts used and background techniques quite small so the lovely wood shapes and the papers and crackle of the background would be the stars of my make.



The printers tray was glued together using DecoArt matte Decou-page and then I added torn dictionary page pieces to it quite randomly. I tried not to work too neatly so the edges would still look torn and worn. I also added a thin coat of matte Decou-Page on top to seal the surface.

The wood shapes were dry brushed with DecoArt media black Gesso, so none of the beautiful detail would get lost!



Next I scraped on some white DecoArt media Crackle Paste here and there using a palette knife. I left it to air dry.




In the meantime I took a worn bristle brush and added strokes of a mix of black and white DecoArt media Gesso in some spots.




Once the white Crackle Paste had dried I applied a thin coat of DecoArt media carbon black Antiquing Cream. I heat dried the Antiquing Cream and then wiped off the excess using a damp soft cloth.




This way the cracks became more visible, the whole project was toned down and the black that had seaped into the tray's corners and edges formed a visual frame too.




I used the left over parts from the MDF plate the printers tray came in to stack all my wood shapes.




For my hanging device I drilled two holes into the tray's frame and fixed some rough string to it.






Done!










Thanks for stopping by 
and 
hugs and happy shopping and crafting 

Claudia 
xxx





9 comments:

  1. Wow, I love it!! Die neutrale Farbgebung, zusammen mit den wenigen zufällig angeordneten crackle Efekten geben der 3D Shadow Box genau den richtigen Rahmen, die Zusammenstellung und das großartige Haunted House erinnert mich auch irgendwie an Harry Potter. Awesome!!!

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    1. Vielen, herzlichen Dank, liebe Kerstin!
      Da du für mich ein großes Vorbild warst bei diesem Projekt und ich versucht habe, das umzusetzen, was mir an deinen Arbeiten immer so gut gefällt, freue ich mich natürlich besonders über ein Lob von dir! Ich kann's zwar nicht so spooky und verzaubert wie du, aber das ist ja auch gut so - deine Projekte sind immer ganz "DU! und das soll auch so sein und bleiben. Und meine sind halt auch immer irgendwie "ICH". lol

      Bussi!
      Claudia xxx

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  2. A fabulous Halloween-ish project Claudia, I love the look of the haunted house and the flying owl looks amazing! x

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    1. Thanks, Anne! So glad you like it! That haunted house shape so cool, isn't it? I just needed to slap some Gesso on it - but it's one of my favourite Calico Craft Parts for now. ;)

      Hugs,
      Claudia x

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  3. Absolutely perfect for Halloween! This is such a brilliant composition, Claudia with the Halloween critters virtually swooping out of the frame toward us! I love the texty background too and those ragged edges! Great idea! You always inspire! xx

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    1. Thank you very much, Julie Ann! Happy Halloween! xxx

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  4. Simply magnificent, Claudia - this is the perfect Halloween shadow box. Love the collaged background, and the way you've altered the other elements is so clever - simple but really effective.
    Alison x

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    1. Aw! Thank you very much, Alison! So glad you like my shadow box!
      Hugs,
      Claudia x

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  5. Yes it's brilliant! I knew it would be! Happy crafting, Angela x

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