Friday 11 September 2015

He's behind you! - Spooky Shrine by Alison

Hello all, Alison with you again, and I've been enjoying getting spooky - so much so that this is a bonus extra project.  I'm not supposed to be here until Monday - but BOO... surprise!!  And here's what I've been playing with.  (You may want a pint of bat blood or witch's brew to see you through a photo-heavy post!)


There are so many amazing designs in the Halloween Craft Parts section - and some of them, like some of the bare trees for instance, will work on non-Halloween projects too.  I've been playing with just a few of them, and came up with this haunted house - I'm just not sure who's haunting whom!


I started with the Spooky Shrine Kit, and I knew I wanted to try to get in a zombie as well as a couple of skeletons.  Given their relative sizes, I needed to pretend the zombie was in the background.  And given their relative shapes, I needed him to be part way up the back wall!  So I had to create a bit of a trompe l'oeil... a corridor for him to come walking down.


I plotted the basic position and laid in the doorway and the light spilling out of it.


I wallpapered and laid flooring, adding more light over the top.


I extended the papers onto the side walls and the floor.  I also did some distressing with the DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics.  Turns out Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide, Quinacridone Gold and Raw Umber are perfect for creating a tobacco-stained look!


Putting in the corridor - hand-drawn dado rail and panelling - I had to cheat the perspective lines a bit, so now it looks as though the corridor arrives at a slight angle.  And I created a door frame with matchsticks painted in Raw Umber.  Once all that was done, I glued it all together.


Once glued, I cut papers to cover the back of the shrine.  I find it best to leave this until after the gluing together, as then you can work right to the edges of the walls, covering up the interlocking edges.


I had lots of fun painting my Craft Parts with more DecoArt Fluid Acrylics.  (You can see how they look "naked" in that first making-of picture above.)  The Zombie Style 2 is done with Green Gold and Viridian and maybe a touch of Paynes Grey, and the fabulous Carved Pumpkin has Red Iron Oxide, Quin Gold, Raw Umber, Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide and Green Gold.  They each got a bit more touching up after this stage.


My somewhat depressed seated skeleton needed something to help him sit further "downstage" in the room.  In the end, the simplest solution was to glue his pelvis to a small wooden reel.  As you can see, he's now self-supporting, so I was able to glue him in his position quite easily.


And here they come... the Zombie in the doorway...


Skeleton Style 1 a little further forward, supported partly by the matchstick doorframe...


And Skeleton Style 3 slumped in the foreground.


I think he's so exhausted with the whole haunting business that he can't even be bothered to warn his pal that "he's behind you"!


You'll see that the spooky old portrait on the wall has changed position - it was just getting lost behind Skeleton 1's head.


Around the back and sides, the Halloween fun goes on.  The Carved Pumpkin sits on the back under the excellent advice to "Scream".  I shaded the papers using Quinacridone Gold, Green Gold, Viridian and Raw Umber so that it would all tie together.


And on the sides there are some Bats hanging about - of course! - very simply painted with Paynes Grey.  These are from the Flying Bat Colony - a whole plate of tiny bats to play with.


Very happy with the look of the pumpkin - I think he's one of my favourite Jack o'Lanterns I've seen, even before you get the paint on him.  I'd happily use him "naked" on cards or tags too.


I love the sheen you get using the translucent DecoArt paints on the Craft Parts - very cool.


And because the Craft Parts are of such good depth and quality, the bats cast their own spooky shadows.


And finally, the Spooky Shrine front panel... same paints in action and then some DecoArt Crackle Glaze, Raw Umber rubbed into the cracks and wiped back, followed by a coat of Ultra-Matte Varnish because for once I didn't want it too shiny.


The Spooky word is done in Raw Umber with Paynes Grey - and the spider and his webs are basically Paynes Grey too.  It looks really cool over the dark wood of the basic Craft Parts.


So I hope I haven't spooked you too much...


No, I hope I have!  Mwaah hah haaahh!


I certainly hope I've inspired you to check out the Halloween offerings at Calico Craft Parts - there's enough inspiration there for even the most avid Halloween fiend.  As I said, I'll be back again on Monday - til then, sleep tight and mind the bugs don't bite!

Alison xx
Words and Pictures

27 comments:

  1. Oh! I LOVE IT! Brilliantly spooky. What a great halloween project. Lx

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  2. Oh great stuff! I love the 3-D effect...
    xx

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  3. A little stage with a wonderful Halloween scene Alison. Easier than it looked at first after reading how your made it. Thank you for taking us through step by step

    Love Chrissie xx

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  4. Oh but I love it! This is such a great project for Halloween :-)

    Sally

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  5. Great shrine Alison and super use of all those spooky bits! It looks as if you had great fun with it too!

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  6. Looks like you had lots of fun making this Alison, love it.
    Julie x

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  7. I am amazed at how you figured out all that "perspective stuff". Very effective. This is wonderful!

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  8. Brilliant spooky shrine Alison! Love the zombie coming from the corridor!

    Hugs
    Lesley Xx

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  9. This is just SO clever Alison with the papers inside creating the walls, doorway and floor in dimension! love all of these wooden pieces and the spooktacular box! Julia xx

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  10. Very clever of you Alison, creating that 3D background for spooky people...enjoyed your making process.
    Very interesting for some of us who does not have any clue about Halloween :)

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  11. You are a master dear Alison, oh how wonderful this is, to the tinyist detail,- everything is gorgeous!! The craft parts are looking amazing ,and all giving the feeling of something TOOO spooky here, lol- and your scrine, is fabolous done and decorated, as is the background to make it all look real porpotions !!! Thank you for your "tut" I enjoyed reading it all!!
    xoxo

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  12. Fabulous 'spooky' project Alison ! Love how you've created the light through the doorway and the seated skeleton is just genious ! Sue C x

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  13. What a fabulous project, Alison! It's always gorgeous to see how your projects come to life! You have such a great eye for details. Love it! Gaby xo

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  14. Alison, This is such great fun and it tells the spookiest of stories!
    It is so funny that I was in the middle of preparing a Spooky shrine this very afternoon, very early stages of development but I fear that I could be under the spell of shrines and cubbies!
    Wishes
    Lynne

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  15. Definitely spooky, and I love how you created the 3D effect! Chrisx

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  16. Fabulous Alison, only you would take the time to ensure you had the sizes and perspectives so spot on for your Spooky shrine! Love all of the amazing elements you've combined, a fabulous start to the Halloween season here at Calico Craft Parts. Deb xo

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  17. Oh! Stunning spooky box Alison!! Horrible room and hallway, the floor of the texture is also nice, two-body skeletons and love the zombie (Remind the MJ Thriller), and all sides great crackle texture. I love love it!! xx

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  18. I love every detail! But maybe especially the crackle background to this spooky scene.

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  19. This is so fun and fabulously spooky!!!!!! Love the pumpkin, all the skeletons and words, bats, we can fzzl your joy creating this, brilliant project Alison, LOVE it!! Coco xxx

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  20. Alison!!! This is absolutely the bomb!! how darn fun! I love your creativity and cleverness with creating the look of different rooms- spectacular! The shrine and pieces you have used are just fab and you truly have shown them justice!
    and, btw, I opted for witch's brew instead of bat's blood! heehee
    Jackie xx
    http://www.creatingwithoutcrayons-jackiepneal.com/

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  21. Squee! This is so lovely! Bats and zombies and spooky paintings, depressed skeletons and non-naked pumpkins! There is so much to love. You got me thinking about my Halloween yard decorations. I think we had to retire out scarecrow last year. Maybe we can get a new one this year... a zombie one!

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  22. What a fun creative way to showcase the skeletons and the zombie! Your matchstick doorway is genius! Really diggin this spooky shrine and all the little details. Awesome sauce! ~Niki

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  23. Good golly Miss Bomber, I'm on a catch up and finding you in genius form with all these posts and makes!!! Talk about stage management skills!!! This is absolutely superb. It will be a while before I'm brave enough to turn the light out. Nicola x

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  24. Well Halloween at your house must be fun, Alison! You definitely deserve the Spooky Crown for all these amazing creepy projects! How do you do it? Such a wealth of imaginative ideas; fantastic textures and perfectly chosen embellishments. I love the exhausted skellie! Great project! xx

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  25. OOOH! What I would give to have this in my home! Alison, I am totally floored by the level of detail and awesome creativity you have used on this spooky shrine! I'm not a big zombie fan, but this one has stolen my heart! Bravo, and a HUGE round of applause on this spine tingling make! To answer Julie Ann's question above, I bet you just can't help yourself when it come to making Halloween stuff; it practically makes itself, doesn't it? Halloween speaks to me, as I am sure it does you! hugs!

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  26. So spooky Alison - so spooky, spooky, spooky. I think I ran out of words.
    Now THIS is what I call Halloween!!
    Sandy xx

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