Tuesday, October 30, 2018

From One Witch To Another...

I'm back again and with my last Halloween make for this year. I have to say, in the last year or so, I haven't created things like I used to or as often due to life's goings on that haven't been so good, but Tim Holtz's new Halloween Idea-ology release got me fired up, and I so needed that. Crafting and making Art really is the best therapy, and once you get going it's hard to stop, because it makes you feel good.  I know a lot of you out there can relate, and if you are feeling blah like I was, I encourage you to just make something. Anyway, enough therapy. Hope you enjoy, and read on to see why I added all the Clippings Stickers, as well as the result of an inking experiment.
When I first saw these witches in the Ancestors Paper Dolls pack, I thought these two ladies (now Mrs. Drury and Mrs. Tibbitts) looked more like the Stepford type wives who were just dressed up for Halloween, and the look on their faces made me think they were a little disgruntled about it. So I went through the Clippings Stickers to see if I could come up with a story about it. I cut out way more than I used, and it took me awhile to figure it all out. So here goes...
Mrs. Drury and Mrs. Tibbitts were best friends since childhood. They did everything together, and often met at their secret spot in the woods to dream about their futures. At about the same time, they got married and then started having children. They prided themselves on how good of a wife and mother they were, and often compared notes to help each other be even better. Everyone in town knew what upstanding women they were, and most women envied them and even strived to be like them. However, after about ten years into marriage and mothering they both were getting little acknowledgement from their husbands and children for all the hard work and overachieving they had done. Their family members just expected them to take care of everything and everybody, and really just became spoiled. They would leave messes and chaos, and none lifted a finger to do the everyday chores. Moreover, there was nary a kind word given to the women, not even a thank you. On Mother's Day, holidays, and even the women's birthdays, they were pretty much ignored and looked over. They of course had had enough. If the townsfolk could see how blessed the women's family members were, why couldn't their family? So, the friends planned out a way to get the recognition and appreciation they deserved. The whole last week of October, they were going to dress and act like witches, right down to being snarky and mean, and if that included having to curse their loved ones, they would. On Halloween, they would give their family members an ultimatum...either be nice, respectful, and appreciative or we will continue to make your lives horrible and maybe even leave. After a few days into their plan and their meanness, the families of both women were in misery and they just couldn't understand why the matriarch of their families would act like this. The whole town was in an uproar about the women, and the gossip was salacious to say the least. The town's people met at the sheriff's office, and demanded the women be burned at the stake, as they would not allow witches to run amuck and defile them. The sheriff agreed, and on the morning of October 31st, he headed to the women's homes to arrest and persecute them. However, each woman saw the sheriff coming, so they each ran away meeting at their childhood secret spot in the woods. They decided they had no hope to convince their family and the town's people of why they were pretending to be witches, as women had very little say at that time, so they fled the town and their families, to begin anew elsewhere, and were never heard from again. The end.
Using a Mini Etcetera Tag from Tim and Stamper's Anonymous as a base, I painted over it using Antique Linen Distress Paint. Reaching for my Archival Inks to start stenciling in the Diamonds Shifter Layering Stencil, I got to thinking that I hadn't used my Distress Inks in quite some time other than inking edges, as Oxides and Archivals seem to be my go tos lately. However, I had already painted the surface of the tag and I didn't want to start over, but I knew Distress Inks should not go on top of Acrylic Paint as they need a more porous surface. So I did a tester tag, as I often do,  to see if using Distress Micro Glaze as a sealer would solve my problem, as I hadn't tried this before. On the tag above, I stenciled in the left side with Distress Ink, and on the right Archival, over Distress Paint. I noticed immediately that I had to use a lot of Distress Ink to get a good darker color of ink. I sealed the left side of Distress with Micro Glaze, and it smeared a little at first. I wiped off the excess and then sealed both sides with Vintage Distress Collage Medium to see the ending results. Once dried, I inked over the Collage Medium on the Distress side (lower left) again to see if I could get the ink darker and if it would stay. It did. You can see the results in the colors of the inks and the staying power with the Micro Glaze. Since it worked, I went ahead with my project using Distress Ink. I know, I know...I'm a geek!!! But, I need to know these things to be able to answer questions when I teach.
After I painted the tag, I inked over it with the Carved Pumpkin and Hickory Smoke Distress Ink through the smaller Diamond Shifter Layering Stencil. I also added a little Black Soot over some of the Hickory Smoke areas. I gave this a good drying with a heat tool, and my ink faded a little, but I carried on. I added a bunch of Remnant Rubs from five Halloween sets.
Using Distress Heavyweight Tags, I planned my layers and trimmed the tags down to fit the way I wanted. I inked them over with Gathered Twigs Distress, and then splatter on more Gathered Twigs and Carved Pumpkin using a paint brush and water with the inks. I added more Remnant Rubs to these tags. I cut my witches apart from two of the same paper dolls (I'll use the other two for something else.) so I could place the witches apart on my tag. I tinted them with Faber Castell Pitt Pens, getting a little too heavy on the make up, but I left it. Then I started cutting out my Clippings (from the Halloween and original set) to make my story.
I sealed the tag with Distress Micro Glaze, wiped the excess off, and then added the Vintage Distress Collage Medium on top to yield a gorgeous grungy background. I painted the edges of the tag first with Antique Linen, painting it  up over the edge and on the surface of the tag, and after it dried painted over that with Black Soot allowing some of the Antique Linen to show, for a more enhancing border.
I tied jute string into all the tag holes, and then adhered the tags onto the base using single and double layers of foam tape since they overlapped. I added Fringe to the bottom. Then I adhered the witches and Clippings on. I also added Heirloom Roses as corsages for the witches.
 
 
 
 
And this concludes my Halloween makes this year, which is good because the crafty cave is thrashed and needs a good clean up before the next wave of creating. I hope all of you (that celebrate and want them) have a bunch of trick-or-treaters to entertain you for the night, and hope there are no stomach aches from all the candy consumed...I've already started! ;0) Happy Halloween!

I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!

8 comments:

  1. Anita this is beautiful. I love the finished design but also the process steps to get there. It’s lovely that you are so fired up again. Happy Halloween xxx

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  2. you created such a a scrumptious background with that new stencil. I have it, but haven't taken it for a test drive yet. Cute tag! Happy Halloween, Beautiful Soul!

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  3. You are a great story teller Anita (my namesake was the last witch to be put to death in England) - I am glad they got away!! Your tag is wonderful, I understand the words you used now. I do love the new Harlequin stencil and I love how you used it to create your Halloween background. Hugs, Anne xx

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  4. Happy Halloween. Beautiful makes. I always love your art!🤗

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  5. Happy Halloween Anita xx Delighted to hear that you are feeling better and I so love this fabulous Halloween make xx Wonderful details and I just love those wonderful witches, against your awesome background xx
    Sending huge hugs
    Annie xx

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  6. Hi Anita x I hope you had a lovely time at Halloween xx This tag is simply fabulous and those two ladies are just the perfect addition to the wonderful background xx
    I apologise for my lack of comments but Blogger glitches have prevented me from publishing them.....so frustrating x Using another search engine so fingers crossed xxx
    Have a lovely weekend

    Annie xx

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  7. Ha ha - I can relate!! Oh just wait till I get snarky!!! Love your creation with the fabby clippings and story!! There has to be a sequel .. Nicola x

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  8. It's easy to see how inspired you've been by the Halloween release, and it's been a real treat to find some catching up time. Hoping to get back in the swing of things myself over the next few months, but thank you for a very enjoyable time seeing all your amazing spooky makes.
    Alison x

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