GIRL IN THE MOON - TIM HOLTZ HALLOWEEN IDEA-OLOGY 2021 RELEASE

Hello everyone! I can't believe it’s Halloween in a couple of days and then we're already into November. I’m sharing my last Halloween Idea-ology project in today's post.

My favourite piece in the Layers Package is this Vintage Moon Card.  I love any kind of vintage looking moon illustration, so I was excited to see this one.  It's perfect for the Paper Dolls.

I've used the smaller Vignette Tray TH93568 as the base for my make.

I have this photo of my mom and her sister in costumes made by my grandmother, who was a beautiful seamstress.  This photo was taken around 1935, so my mom would have been around 10 (she's got the cone hat).  I love the old photos that were tinted with colour, and I was inspired by this faded orange colour with the black and faded white photo, so I wanted to use this colour scheme in my project.

My Vignette Tray is about 9 x 4 3/4".  I covered the inside with paper from the Backdrops pkg. TH94146.  The outside was covered with Orange Kraftstock from the Warm Package(TH94112). At this time, I did not cover the outside bottom of the tray. This smooth Kraftstock can be sanded to reveal the kraft underneath.  You're not going to really see the paper on the inside back, just a bit of the sides, as it will be covered.

I decided to have this stand up and as the frame is only an inch wide, I decided to make a bigger base at the bottom using Stamper's Anonymous Bat Web Trims Thickboards(THETC014).  I've glued two together of the same width (There's two different sizes), I think I had to take a touch off on each side to make it the same width as the tray.  I used two to make my base thickness the same height as my tray base, about 1/4".  This was painted with Distress Black Soot, then dry brushed with an orange, then cream color.  This was glued to the bottom with Distress Collage Medium.  To secure the web add-on, I covered the vignette tray bottom with the Warm Orange Kraftstock, extending it past the vignette tray to the back solid part of the web trim.  I hot glued (careful, don't glue near the lights!) the tiny lights mostly the edges, top and bottom.  There's a few in the centre.  The hole for the lights is drilled in the middle.  

I painted a piece of white Distress Heavystock cut to fit inside the frame, with Black Soot paint.  Then with Glossy Accents and Ranger's Distress Nightfall Glitter from the Halloween Sparkle Set TSHK77411, I covered the entire piece.  I really wanted the glitter to stick well, glossy accents did that, and if there were any parts that weren't covered thick enough with glitter, the black underneath covered that.  After everything had dried, I used Tim's Sizzix Swirling Stars Thinlits set to cut out masses of stars.  I used the negative piece and saved the cut out stars for future projects and the Paper Doll and pumpkin.  I had to move the dies around a few times to get more stars cut out.  The reason I didn't cut the stars out first and then glitter, is that I wanted the stars to have a crisper look.  You could always do it the other way, and probably have less mess, as there might have been a few, ok, a lot of glitter everywhere!

I wanted the lights to shine softly behind the cut out stars, so I used a page from an old book (I had to use two pages to extend it to get the same length) to place behind the black glittered paper.  

My little girl was from the Halloween Paper Dolls pkg. TH94149, the Bat Transparency wings are from the Halloween Transparencies pkg TH94167, and the Moon postcard(yeah, there's 2!) is from the Layers pkg. TH94150.  My postcard was matted with the same orange Kraftstock and machine stitched around edges.

 

I've lightly tinted the girl's dress with Distress Crayon.  I want to say that it was Carved Pumpkin, and a lighter shade of Orange, but I didn't write it down, sorry!  I added a bit of glitter to a mask sticker (Curiosities Sticker Book TH94148) and placed that over the doll's eyes.  Leftover glitter stars were added by her hands, and falling downward. The Bat Wing Transparency was adhered behind her.  Now, because the matted postcard is too thick for any light to go through, I punched some tiny holes through a few places where the stars are in the moon picture. I didn't do too many, I kind of wish I had done a few more.  I added a few holes where there weren't any stars too. I die-cut some stars with my Swirling Thinlits die out of the same book paper, using parts of the paper where there wasn't any words.  This book paper was the same colour as my postcard and quite thin, which was perfect.  These stars were glued on top of the holes, so you just saw stars, but when it is lit up a tiny bit of light shines through.

I had enough room at my base to add in a little cluster of goodies.    I've used the Jack O' Lantern TH94179 as my main object.  This is quite a bright orange, so I painted it lightly to tone it down with Distress paint. I think any combination of these; Dried Marigold, Rusty Hinge, Old Paper, or Bundled Sage works. In the Jack O' Lantern, there's a tiny bit of Mummy Cloth TH94155, Halloween Confections TH94170, some glittered stars, and a '31' Sticker from the Sticker Book.  Spanish moss with some Pumpkins TH94169, Book Clippings (TH94148) and a ticket from Ephemera TH94151.  My book clippings used were:  ‘Dorothy liked anything spooky’ - at the top of the vignette frame, and at the bottom  ‘most becoming costume’.

Here's a look at the back of my project.  This paper was also from Halloween Backdrops TH94146.

Here’s what my project looks like with the tiny lights on. 

Thanks so much for visiting and for all your wonderful comments!  I will be sharing my Christmas projects next!

Until next time,

Jan

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THE APOTHECARY CABINET - TIM HOLTZ HALLOWEEN IDEA-OLOGY 2021 RELEASE

 Hello everyone! It's hard to believe that Halloween is almost here, I don't know where this month has gone.  Here's my second Halloween Idea-ology project that I had created for the YouTube reveal.

This is another project that became a lot bigger than what I had planned!  I've concentrated more on the front of my cabinet and have explained how the door was created.

I've used the new Ornate Metal Gates(TH94159) on the front of my Apothecary Cabinet. Of course they need to be locked up, there might be a few sinister potions and spell books in there.

Here's a photo of the cabinet opened, revealing it's contents.

  

Here's a look of the side and back.  I've made a small paper pocket for the Tiny Lights battery case to fit into.  Now, on to my tutorial, it is a rather long one.  

For my cabinet, I’ve covered the Vignette Divided Drawer (TH93793) inside and outside with Backdrops (TH94146)

The 'feet' of my cabinet are the skulls(TH94169) that have a hole drilled into the top of the head.  I hammered a nail from the inside of the cabinet through to the head (fill the hole with Distress Collage Medium first for extra strength).

The cabinet door is made from Sizzix's Mat Board 656492, but you can use chipboard.  I like this mat board as it's very lightweight yet still sturdy and I wanted to keep the door as light as possible especially because the Ornate Gates are a thicker metal.  The door piece was cut to fit the dimensions of the outside Divided Drawer. On the door piece, I traced around my gates to get an idea of placement and how big to cut out the opening.  You will want to leave room for the spinners(hinges) that make the gates swing open.

I decided because the gates were quite heavy and I didn't want the door to bend, I cut out an extra center piece, plus 2 extra small pieces for above and below the center piece. There's about 1/4" space in-between and this also looks like panels. The hole is cut out in the middle for both the main door and the center piece, so they match up. At some point, while you are working on the door front, if you choose, add some Halloween Distress Grit Paste to the gates, along with colour(paint or alcohol ink) to age them.  Set aside to dry.  

These pieces were also covered in Backdrops paper except for the door inside.  This was painted with Distress Paint.  Ink the edges.  

Now for the Metal Game Spinner (TH92717) hinges.  Lay your metal gates on the front where you would like them and mark where the little bars will connect with the spinner.  The top ones have a bit more room to play with, but you have to be pretty exact with the bottom ones.  Make a cut wide enough for the spinner to poke through with your craft knife.  The center of the spinners is a hole, which is what your gate posts are going to fit into.

On the backside, bend the end of the spinner down at the bottom and then up at the gate tops.

After making sure that your gates and spinners are connecting, reinforce the back of the spinners with Distress Collage medium.  I put quite a bit on and let it dry naturally to ensure there was no movement.

The Game Spinners at the front of the door piece and bent down at the bottom and up at the top, as shown in the photo.  Your gate can now swing open.  I've also added Distress Crackle Texture Paste(TDA71303) to the door and cabinet base.  This was coloured and aged with brown Distress Crayons.

Here's a closeup of how the gate bar fits into the game spinner at the top.

Here's another closeup of the bottom hinge game spinner and bar.

To stop the gates from swinging open, I've used the new Lock & Key Adornments (TH94162) latched to the gate with a Hook Clasp TH94133. These were grunged up with a bit of Halloween Distress Grave Texture Paste and paint.  A door knob was added to the edge which is a Hitch Fastener TH92731.  I've added another game spinner on the other side, the screw going through this to the hitch knob on the front of the door.  The game spinner is bent so it is used to keep the door closed.  The pointed end is bent over the bolt and the other end is bent 90 degrees.  There's another photo further down of the bottom of the door.

To attach the door to the cabinet I have used Tim Holtz Hinges TH93075.  These attach with brads.  I've poked a hole through the wood divided drawer and the door for the brads.   These hinges were also grunged up with grit paste and paint. 

To cover up the brad bent ends and secure them, I applied Distress Collage Medium quite thick, dry, then applied a bit of grit paste with some Hardware Heads TH93788 that were also painted a bit.  A piece of Halloween Ephemera TH94151 was adhered (also distressed and inked) with a portrait sticker from the Halloween Sticker book TH94148.  Also included were some Book Clippings from the sticker book.

You can see the game spinner behind the door knob(hitch fastener), where it is bent so it catches the edge of the cabinet to keep the door closed.  Ephemera was added under the cabinet opening also.  Also hardware heads covered the brads from the hinges.

Now for the inside of the cabinet, which I did not take any step by step photos.  Must have been a very late night!

This is the top shelf.  I started my Halloween Tiny Lights 94157 at the top here (the hole is drilled behind the moon).  I used just a few along the bottom and then pulled the strand behind the shelf to the one below.  The moon face is from the Halloween Layers TH94150.  This has been grunged up and also with a bit of Crackle Texture Paste on the edge.  A Halloween Quote Seal sits on top of the boxes, distress crayon was added in the recessed areas.  A Corked Vial Glass Bottle TH92899 is filled with Creepy Eyes TH94061 in Resin.  There's also a Tiny Vial Corked Glass Bottle filled with.  A rolled up piece of Ephemera is laying on its side.

My little boxes, explanation below, have the Halloween Snippets TH94152 glued on the ends.

I made the little boxes using the skinny house from the Paper Village Thinlits set 664741.  I cut two pieces per box. glued together like I was building a house, expect I bent the pointy ends in to look like a flap.  I also clipped the other end along the fold, just enough so they would fold closed also.  If you want a shorter box, just cut of a bit from the one end.  Perfect size for vignette and the Snippet Labels!  It's also a good way to use all those small scraps of paper that we never want to get rid of.

For the middle shelf, I have the Lantern TH94160, which has a bit of Distress Crypt Texture Paste and paint added to age it.  The tiny lights come down from above behind the rolled Ephemera papers, poking out behind the Candle Stand TH94166, then behind the books, into the Lantern and out again, down behind the shelf to the bottom shelf.  The Candle Stand has been grunged also with Texture Paste and paint.  A small Mini Flair button 94158 was adhered with Collage Medium, upside down so that the Alcohol Inked (purple) Glass Bubble TH94180 sits securely inside.  This was also adhered with Collage Medium and a bit of Texture paste added around the bottom.  My books were made with the Book Covers that are included in the Halloween Ephemera package TH94151.  I cut up old book pages to fit inside.  Halloween Snippets were added to the book covers.

The bottom shelf has more boxes made with the Tiny House Thinlits set.  Halloween Snippet Labels were added.  There's a Halloween Baseboard TH94153 in the back (the tiny lights come down behind it) which has been distressed.  The tiny lights come behind the candle and one is right behind the wick, then back down behind the book and Test Tubes TH94156.  This is where the tiny lights end.  The Test Tubes are filled with moss, the smallest Toadstool (TH94082) in one and bones TH93964 in the other.  The outsides were covered with Collage Medium to make them look aged.  Distress Crackle Paste was added lightly to the edges of the Divided Drawer, Distress Crayon added to age.

For the top of the cabinet, I used a Stampers Anonymous Bat Web Etcetera Thickboard Trim ETC014 cut to fit the width of the cabinet.  This was covered with a piece of embossed mixed media cardstock.  I used the Mini Botanical 3D texture fade 665631 to emboss this.  Distress Paint was used to color it.  A skull from the Skull & Spiders Adornment pkg TH94161 was adhered in the middle.  A bit of Grave Texture paste added to it to make it look like it was carved into the back.  This was painted also.  

Moss glued to the top before a pumpkin TH94169 was added.  A Tiny Vial TH93201with cut up pieces of the Halloween Confections TH94170 inside.  A Halloween Snippet label added.  My sign is one of the Halloween Word Plaques TH94164.  The recessed area was filled in with Halloween Distress Grave Texture paste.  I cut two bones in half and stuck them through the holes and glued the other ends behind the sign.  This was adhered to the top also.

Here's a photo with the lights on of the top shelf.

Here's the lantern lit up.

This is what the candle looks like lit up.

Here's another look at my finished cabinet.  Hope you enjoyed my tutorial!

Thanks for visiting, and I hope to post my last Idea-ology project before Halloween!

Until next time,

Jan

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THE WITCH'S COFFIN VIGNETTE - TIM HOLTZ HALLOWEEN IDEA-OLOGY 2021 RELEASE

Hello crafting friends!  This is the first of my Tim Holtz Idea-ology Halloween 2021 projects that I’m sharing today.  

I'll just say, this project had a mind of its own and became a lot more than I was intending.  I had no idea what I was going to create, and I was pressed for time, I think I had five days to get all my makes done. My shipment of product never arrived, it's somewhere out there, along with  a couple of my previous projects, so Mario managed somehow, to resend me everything. One of the other makers, Stacy, also had her projects go missing, maybe they are together! lol!  Anyways, I like to think of this as the old witch who lived in a coffin, the dark side of the old woman who lived in a shoe!  There's a lot going on here, I did try and take photos as I went along, but there might be a few times that I was creating late at night, so there might be a few things with no photos,  I will try and explain as best as I can. 

I started out with a Vignette Coffin (TH94177) and covered the outside with Distress Kraft HeavyStock(TDA76384).  First, this was embossed with the 3D Lumber Texture Fade and coloured with Distress Oxide Sprays and Distress Sprays.  The line across the coffin where I embossed the paper from opposite ends, will be covered with an extra piece of embossed paper.

There are two extra embossed and coloured pieces that go across.  But before adhering the paper, first I am cutting a hole through the coffin for the window.

I've used two round windows in the Window Frames Baseboard pkg. (TH94154), one is slightly larger than the other (I've used the larger one on the outside).  I've used a piece of the web transparency (Halloween Transparencies TH94167) cut to fit behind the larger frame and a piece of Mica (broken in the corner) for the inside window frame.  I've sanded very lightly in the corner of the spiderweb transparency, so that a spider can be spotted from the inside.

Before adhering the window on the inside, I've covered the inside of the coffin with Halloween Worn Wallpaper(TH94147).  The edges are inked before adhering. 

Here, you can see my bad attempt at cutting the hole.  I just traced the inside of the window frame, and drilled holes all the way around, then punched out the inside piece, sanding everything flat.  I'm sure if I waited for my husband to get home, he would have had the proper tool, but I needed to get on with it!  The frames cover it anyways.  Before gluing on the embossed paper, I adhered black pieces where I've cut out part of the embossed wood paper.  I've glued a creepy eye(TH94178) on top of the one piece of black cardstock.

Cut out the piece for the window and glue in the embossed heavystock.  I've glued in a small bone(Boneyard TH94168) in the other slot.  

Next glue on the two extra boards and window frame.  I've added some Ranger Ink Halloween Crypt Grit Paste around the edge of the window frame.

I then decided to put the coffin on a wood base, using a vignette box TH93279 (3 1/2" x 4 3/4").  This was covered with paper from the Halloween Backdrops Pkg. TH94146.  I've drilled two holes in this for Halloween green Tiny Lights(TH94157).  One is for the cauldron( about 5/8" from the front and 1" from the side) and the other will be under the coffin( about 1 3/4" from the side and 3/4" in)  These measurements are just to give you an idea, and they were taken from the inside.

It must have been a late night when working on the cauldron(TH94171), no photos!  For my cauldron, I drilled a hole through the bottom for my tiny lights.  If you are unable to do this, just plan where you are bringing the lights up the outside and into the inside, this can be camoflouged later with bubbles, sticks, or moss etc.  I've added Crypt Grit Paste randomly on my pot.  The green bubbles are alcohol inked Halloween Bubbles(TH94180).  These have been glued into the cauldron with Distress Collage Medium, just one or two at a time, letting them dry in-between  (yes, I know this will take awhile, but you won't have them falling apart while drying).  I have kept the bottom and centre hollow, so there is room for the tiny lights.  I can't remember but I might have put the lights( I used two or three) in while gluing the bubbles, taking care not to glue in the lights, just so I have that space empty.  I also cut a bone in half and glued in the ends with the bubbles.  On my base, I broke up small pieces of sticks and hot glued them in a small circle, leaving the center open for the lights to thread through.  There is some Crypt Grit paste in-between the sticks at the bottom.  You can also leave a bit of space in-between the sticks so the light shines through.  The tiny lights(you don't need that many) go in the cauldron and back out underneath, and then over to the other hole.  You can always use two sets of lights if you want.  In front of the cauldron, bent down the side, there's a tiny piece of embossed 3DCobblestone 665375 Black Alcohol Ink Cardstock.  The stones are highlighted with Pearl Alcohol ink.

At this point, I wasn't sure what I was doing in front of the Coffin, so that is why I drilled a hole through the bottom of the coffin to match up with the one in the base.  I placed my coffin where I wanted it on the base and stuck a toothpick with a bit of paint on the end, through the hole, and marked the bottom of the coffin so I knew where to drill.  You can always just thread the tiny lights in front of the coffin and cover it up, you wouldn't really see it.

Here's where I drilled the holes in the coffin for my tiny lights.  I created a hollow post with three coffee stir sticks and covered them with these thin strips of Worn Wallpaper pieces.  If you want lights to shine through in places, just carve out a few spots up the side with a craft knife.  You can also add Distress Crackle Texture Paste(TDA71303) to the front edges of the coffin and also randomly on the top and sides at this point.  After this has air-dried, colour with Distress brown crayons.

The post also acted as base for my curtain to be adhered, so it was away from the back, giving it more dimension.  I also have a little girl Halloween paper doll (TH94149) peeking behind the curtain.

I used some wood slices for steps, so it looks like there's a hidden staircase behind the curtain. I did add These are old ones, but there are new ones that are part of the Christmas release(TH94209). The Edgar Allen Poe round picture is a Halloween Mini Flair Button (TH94158), that's been grunged up a bit.  Right below that is an Idea-ology Urn(TH94174) with some Distress Spray dyed Blossoms(TH93569).  A bit of Crypt Grit paste was added to the urn also.  Under the flowers is some Mummy Cloth(94155) shredded up.

For the top shelf (the attic) I've placed one tiny light behind the candlewick and then the rest along the back of the shelf.

The  Drippy Candle (TH94172) is grunged up with a Distress Crayon and glued on top of a Candle Stand (TH94166). On my craft mat, I applied Glossy Accents shaped like a tear drop and a drop of orange alcohol ink added and let dry.  This was adhered to the candle wick to look like a flame.  A tiny light was bent behind it.  I've added a Spider Adornment TH94161(a bit of green alcohol ink added) in the cracked opening of the mica in the window frame.  The book is made from a book cover ephemera piece in the new Halloween pkg.TH94151, pieces of old book paper cut up and the words are from the Halloween Sticker book TH94148.  There's quite a few of these book covers in the package but I think we need a whole package of these, they are addicting to make.  The '31' is also from the Ephemera package.

All the tiny labels are from the Halloween Snippets Ephemera pack TH94152, which is all labels!

The rolled up papers are scrap pieces of backdrops paper or ephemera pieces with the word clippings from the sticker book down the fronts.  There's a small vial grunged up with Rock Candy Crackle paint (TDC31888) and Ranger's Halloween Midnight Mica Flakes mixed in Rock Candy and hardened to look like it's spilling out of the bottle.

I made little boxes for a couple of my Halloween makes, using the skinny house from the Paper Village Thinlits set 664741. I cut two per box, glued together like I was building a house.  Except I bent the pointy ends in to look like a flap and clipped the other end along the fold, just enough so they would fold closed also.  If you want a shorter box, just cut off a bit from the one end.  Perfect size for vignettes and the labels!  Good way to use small scraps of paper.

I decided to place my Paper Doll in front of the bottom base for she's right at the front.  I traced the doll shape onto a piece of Ranger's Black Matte Alcohol Ink Cardstock TAC65487 and instead of her skirt curved on the bottom, I added a touch so that it was straight.  The paper doll was tinted with Distress Crayon and glued to the cardstock.  I did this so she was very sturdy, as I just adhered the bottom of her to the box.  This alcohol ink cardstock is a really nice dark matte black, is non-porous and very sturdy.  I wanted to turn my paper doll into a mysterious witch, so I coloured Mummy cloth with Distress sprays and Oxide Sprays, cut them in short strips, except for one which was 2-3 times longer.  The short pieces were hand stitched together at the top and tied around the witches neck.  

The longer piece was loosely draped around her head and shoulders.  I've added some smoke or mist, can't quite decide what it is, behind the witch.  This is just cotton batting used for stuffing in pillows, etc. that I coloured with Distress sprays.  I also used Empty Tomb and Hocus-Pocus Mica Sprays in there to give it a bit of glimmer. I sprayed the bit of batting, and with a paper towel, patted it dry.  You don't need a lot to tint it.  I used a small bit of hot glue to the back of the doll and stuck a small bit of the batting to her.  It's not really stuck on a lot, it's so light, it just kind of sits there.

A small piece of Ball Chain (TH92675) was tinted with green alcohol ink and one end was put through a small hole in the witch's hand.  The other end was attached to the Halloween Birdcage (TH94165) which was also tinted with a bit of green.  There's a crow ephemera piece, covered with black glitter inside.  Moss and Crypt Grit paste were added to the cage.  This cage was attached through the bars to the front of the vignette box with wire poked through the box, so it's on there good!

Now for my favourite part, the creepy toadstools(TH94082)!  I took the Creepy Eyes(TH94178), glued one on a larger toadstool, that I coloured a bit with Distress Crayons.  For the smaller toadstool, I took out the pupil from an eye and just used that.  Hot Glue some moss around the eyes, to make it look like the eye is part of the toadstool. For the Skull toadstool, I broke off the stem right under the top, glued a Skeleton head (TH94169) under the top and then glued the stem under the skeleton.  Glue your moss to cover up all your connecting parts.

These creepy toadstools were hot glued around the base at the back of the coffin.  I added moss a a twig all around and also where I have the little openings in the coffin boards.  I've also added another spider, strung on some invisible thread so it can slide back and through.

Here's the skeleton toadstool at the side.

I didn't have photos of the finished sides, but I added in some book clippings phrases from the Sticker book(TH94148), lots to choose from!  I also added one of those tiny masks to my little creepy paper doll behind the curtain.

There's my spider handing from the invisible thread and moss was also added.

I also added a metal Halloween Word Plaque (TH94164) to the back of the base.  Halloween Grave Texture Paste was added to the recessed area.

Here's a look at the Vignette with the tiny lights turned on.

Here's from the back of the coffin with the lights on.

Here's another look at the finished vignette.  I know this is a project that has a lot going on, but hopefully I've inspired you to find one or two ideas to use for your own Halloween projects.  I have two more projects to share, hopefully before Halloween, I'm trying!  Unfortunately, here the weather is turning cold and I've been trying to clean up the yard and prepare everything for winter.  We've had a few nights already below zero, so it's coming!  I'm not ready yet, I really don't want snow, which we could get next week.  Yuck!

Thanks so much for visiting!

Until next time,

Jan

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