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.
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. |
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!