Halloween Mask

Hi everyone,
Today I'm sharing a Halloween project for the Tim Holtz Media Team.  I love decorating for Halloween, but I really like the more vintage look in decorations.  A couple of years ago I made a halloween mask, and really enjoyed creating it.  So, I decided to make another one, and on this one I did some embossing using my own custom embossing powder.

 I'm also going to show how I achieved that embossed pattern on my mask.  You are going to be surprised when you see what Tim Holtz die I used to achieve the branch looking top of my mask!  Let's get started!

This is the paper mache mask I used.  I bought it in the kid's craft section in Michaels.

To cover the mask, I used this patterned paper in the Tim Holtz Wallflower Collection.  Because this mask is shaped, it's hard to use one single sheet of paper.  I traced the two sides, cut out and then cut out a section for the nose.  This section is cut a little large, I trim it to a smaller size, once the side parts are glued down.  When I'm covering something that is not flat, I lightly wet my paper first.  Dab the paper with a paper towel to remove any excess water.  This allows the paper to have a bit more give when adhering it.  I applied Ranger's Matte Multi Medium to my mask and adhered the sides.  The inside of the eyes and the outer edges are clipped so they turn under smoothly.

Once these were glued down, I trimmed my center nose piece and adhered this.  You will probably end up with a few creases, as the nose section is quite shaped, but once your mask is decorated, it won't be very noticeable.  This is where having damp paper helps shape it to your mask.  Just be very careful, as the paper can tear easy!

Here, you can see my nose section has a few wrinkles.  I try and choose paper that has a pattern which blends well when pieced.  The seams can also be covered up!

I made my own custom embossing powder to decorate my mask.  I didn't want to use just Black Soot, and Vintage Photo was too brown, so I combined the two.  I start with a small amount of each to figure out what proportions I want to use (you don't need very much if you want it just for this project) and add more if I need to.  I save empty little jars for these custom powders.  I wanted some glitter in it so I added in some Seedless Preserves Distress Glitter to my mix.  

With my Ranger's Emboss IT clear pen, I traced the pattern on my patterned paper.  I didn't do the entire mask, just certain areas I wanted to highlight.  Love using these embossing pens!  You can write, trace, outline or even draw with them.  Once I had my mask all traced out, I used my custom powder, applied it to my mask, and heat set it.  In this photo, I started with a small section to see what it would look like before I carried on with the rest.

Here's what my embossed mask looks like.  It doesn't show up well in my photo, but there is purple glitter there!  Around by the nose I wanted it to look a bit faded, so I brushed some of the powder off, before heating it. Now to start with the embellishments.

The branches on top of my mask were created with the Tim Holtz Sizzix Pine Tree Bigz die. 

I die-cut six trees using Grunge Paper and then cut off the trunks.  The trees were inked with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and then the edges with Dusty Concord Distress ink.  I then took an old brush and brushed on Ranger's Glossy Accents to the edges and a bit in the middle of the trees.  I sprinkled on Seedless Preserves Distress glitter.

The trees were glued on with a hot glue gun upside down. 

The moon was die-cut using the Sizzix Crescent Moon Bigz die and Sizzix Little Sizzles Mat Board.  This white mat board is really lightweight but is the same thickness as chipboard. I covered a piece with patterned paper from the Wallflower collection and then cut out.  The edges were sanded, then inked with Frayed Burlap and Dusty Concord Distress ink.

I applied Ranger's Crackle Accents to my moon and set aside to dry.  Once this was dried, I applied my  Dusty Concord ink to the cracks and wiped off the excess.

The stars(I cut out quite a few) were die-cut from the Crescent Moon Bigz die and white Sizzles mat board.  Some of the them were inked, then Distress G

litter was applied with Glossy Accents, others covered with patterned paper, then crackled with Ranger's Crackle Accents.

My spiders were die-cut using Sizzix's Tim Holtz Mini Movers & Shapers Spider die and Ranger's black cardstock.  I covered the legs and head of the spider with glossy accents, then applied Black Soot Distress Glitter.  The Tim Holtz Gum Drops were coloured with Wild Plum Alcohol Ink  and then adhered to the body of my spiders.

Using a piece of Wallflower Vellum, I die-cut one Sizzix Snowflake Rosette and trimmed off a bit of the longer points, so it looked more like a flower.

I cut off a piece of my Tim Holtz Industrious Border sticker sheet, applied it to a piece of mat board and die-cut my Mini Owl movers and shapers die.  I lightly sanded the raised areas and inked with Latte Alcohol Ink, then inked with Dusty Concord distress ink.  I've probably said this many times, but I love these industrious stickers and how they can be altered.  I wish there were whole sheets of different patterns that could be die-cut!

A strip of cobwebs was cut apart from my black cardstock Cobweb Decorative strip.  

My little strips hanging from the stick were cut out from Wallflower vellum and paper, and the Washer Border and Vintage Lace Decorative Strip dies.  The vellum washer piece was tinted with Wild Plum and Latte Alcohol ink, then cut lengthwise down in-between each row.  Now, that all the embellishments are finished, they can be adhered to the mask.

Before I started embellishing, I hot glued a 1/4" x 14" wood dowel that had been wrapped with Tim Holtz Tissue Tape.  After it was wrapped, the tissue tape was lightly tinted with Latte Alcohol Ink at the top, then Wild Plum Alcohol ink at the bottom. The webs were adhered first, then the (snowflake) vellum flower.  Next came the moon, with the owl on top.  The washer and lace strips glued to the mask in front of the wood dowel.  

Finish off adhering the stars and spiders.

This mask doesn't have to be just a decoration, it would be great with a costume. If you are going to use it as part of a costume, I would recommend covering the inside after it's completed.  I've used strips of tissue or book paper and matte medium. Check out my first mask I created for more ideas!

Thank you so much for stopping by, and hope you enjoyed my tutorial!

Jan