Monday, October 5, 2015

31 Days of Halloween


It is time for a new challenge at Anything But Cute and this time Sara Emily is our hostess and she has chosen to call it 31 Days of Halloween.

She describes it this way:

If you love Halloween like I do, it's more than just one day out of the year, it's a season! For this challenge I would like you to make a mixed media card or project for Halloween. It can be spooky or not, but you MUST include the number "31" somewhere in your project. We can't wait to see the creative ways you'll be incorporating this number in your mixed media piece! 


I decided to alter a bottle that I picked up at a local thrift store for next to nothing.  Here are some views of the other three sides.




I started by coating it with Americana Decor (by Deco Art) Chalky Finish Paint called Carbon.  The chalky finish paint sticks fairly well to glass and gives a base for adding other materials.  I then added a piece of black lace around the middle of the bottle.

The next step was to print and fussy cut some vintage Halloween labels that I found on the internet (I forgot to write down the sources so I can't give credit - my apologies).  Then I cut a copy of each one from scrap card stock slightly larger than each label.  I temporarily attached the copies to three sides to get an idea of placement along with a rectangle on the front.  These scraps allowed me to work on the bottle without damaging the actual labels but still leaving me with a flat spot to attach the labels when I was ready.

Next I mixed Liquitex Black Gesso with Golden Light Molding Paste and covered the bottle using a palette knife to pat it on so it would be bumpy.  Then I used Mod Podge to glue pieces of cheesecloth randomly on the bottle.  Once these texture elements were dry, I covered the cheesecloth with Black Gesso.

The next step was add different spray inks - Lindy's Stamp Gang Pegleg Pete Purple Moonshadow Mist and Wild Honeysuckle Coral Starburst.  I also dabbed on some Folk Art Metallic Silver and Peridot acrylic paint.


I created the front chevron from some Tim Holtz paper called Regions Beyond and used Jet Black Archival Ink to add a skull from a Recollections stamp set called Witch's Dust Halloween.  The 31 are wooden pieces that I coated with Black Gesso and then with Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle.  Once they were dry I dabbed on some Treasure Gold Pewter wax paste.

The front chevron and the other three labels were distressed on the edges and inked with Black Soot Distress Ink and attached to the bottle in the spots that were being saved for them by the scrap pieces of card stock.   If there were any gaps in the texture around the labels where the card stock scraps had been, I used the end of the palette knife and some of my black paste to carefully fill those in.


I wound some black burlap string and some copper wire from Artistic Wire around the neck of the bottle.  Next I used beads from Michaels, Arton Bead Supply and Dollarama to make three charms and hung them from the wire using a jump ring.

Once the bead charms were in place all that was left was to add gems, some black glitter spiders from Michaels and some bead clusters.  The black beads are from Michaels while the coppery beads are from my stash but were leftovers from one of the many bathing suits I decorated when my daughter was a competitive synchronized swimmer.

I am going to enter this project in the following challenges:

Altered Eclectics - Anything Mixed Media Goes (no cards or ATCs)
Our Creative Corner - Horror
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Anything Mixed Media Goes
That Craft Place  - Mixed Media Anything Goes
We Love 2 Create - Anything Mixed Media/Creative Goes

16 comments:

  1. Wow, Cec! I could not wait to get up this morning to see the details of this creepy Halloween bottle, and oh, was it ever worth it! This is amazing, and that texture on the background is just so awful and disgusting (all good!) and I just wish I could pick this up, stare and touch it, and then take it home! Tee Hee! Fabulous use of the number "31" Just a lovely, gruesome piece of art! Thank you for making it with love for my challenge! I'm so happy you had fun making it! Hugs!

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  2. Ooh, spooky girl. This bottle really tells the story of Halloween. What a great job on this challenge, hugs....

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  3. Oh, Cec, I am crazy in love with your grunge spooky altered bottle! So many awesome elements perfectly arranged together creating such an amazing piece of art!
    Brilliant!
    Hugs! Branka xxx

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  4. Fantastic textures and I love how old and creepy this bottle looks, fab.
    Julie x

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  5. Dark suits you Cec! This is superbly textures and so well thought out! Wowzers on keeping those labels clean and such a genius idea to use a scrap so you had a clean space to work with! I just had a Duh moment when I read that! Lol! Isn't the chalky finish paint awesome to use on a glass surface! Your use of the beads (so very sweet of you to add some bling to your daughters amazing suits!) and wire at the top add the perfect finishing touch to this amazeballs altered bottle! Wowzers and awesome sauce! I love the texture and want to touchy! Hugz to you muffin! ~Niki

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  6. This is so creepy and crawly and absolutely wonderful. Can you tell I like it? Heck I love it!!
    sandy xx

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  7. What an amazing project Cec!!! Love all those spooky spiders and rustic bottle. What a fabulously creepy make!
    Hugs
    Samra

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  8. Very awesome bottle! Love the texture and addition of the spiders. The way you painted it makes it look like there is mold and fungus growing on it. Looks like a wine bottle found in a hidden cave or sunken ship with pirate's treasure. Super cool!

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  9. What a creative altered bottle! Love all the texture. Thank you for sharing with us at Altered Eclectics October Challenge.

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  10. oh wow this is awesome,love all the texture,brilliant bless you for playing at that craft place too hugs Cherylx

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  11. A fabulously spooky altered bottle, I love it, thank you for sharing it with us at Altered Eclectics.
    xxx Hazel.

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  12. Wow Cec, what an amazing spooky Halloween bottle! Incredible texture and so much interest with the labels and layers of Halloween ephemera. Thanks so much for sharing it, it is wonderful! Deb xo

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  13. Gorgeous altered bottle...the texture is fabulous and love the bead dangles along with that copper wire top! Thanks for sharing with us at Rhedd's Creative Spirit this month! Nanette, DT

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  14. What a lot of detail you have on your altered bottle! Thank you for linking to Rhedd's Creative Spirit this month.

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  15. Great altered bottle. My shivers started the moment I saw all the spiders!! Thanks so much for joining us at Our Creative Corner. Juliax

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  16. Congratulations on your win at OCC, Cec! I think that's the closest I've ever been to a random win--I was #10! So happy for YOU!!

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Thanks!
Cec