Spooktacular!

By Jules Loeschke

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It’s been a “Spook-tacular” October at Paper Whimsy! Here are two more projects to add to the fun.

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Mina’s Lair

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While exploring a forgotten part of the old cemetery,we come across a beautiful little structure that appears to be covered in tooled metal.Peering inside, we see beautiful Mina the Vampire.She seems to be just waking.The moon is on the rise, and she will soon begin her evening stroll.Time to move on….quickly!

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Instructions

1.Assemble the box portion of the reliquary.Do not attach the front.

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2.Paint all surfaces with black gesso or paint.Include both sides of the front piece.

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3.Emboss several 6″ pieces of aluminum tape using desired method.  You can find this at your local Walmart, Meijer, hardware store.

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4.Apply tape to the sides and back of the box.Do not allow the tape to cover the front edge of the box.Apply tape to one side of the reliquary front piece.You will need to piece this,but the join will be hidden by the skull-wing piece.

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5.Attach your image to the inside back of the box.I used pop squares to add depth to the figure.

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6.Now, glue the front of the reliquary to the box.Go ahead and apply tape to the exposed area above the box on the back.

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7.Paint the entire embossed surface with black gesso and then,with a damp paper towel,remove the wet gesso from the raised areas.Let dry.When dry,high light with Rub ‘n Buff and finally,spray with sealer.

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8.Base coat skull and wings with black gesso.Apply crackle medium,if desired,and let dry.Paint with grey paint.Shade and distress to your liking.Assemble skull-wing piece,and attach to the front of the reliquary.

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9.Bend the wire as desired,and sandwich between moon face and card stock cut to size.Glitter star and raven and apply as shown.

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10.Attach wire to the back of the box with a scrap of embossed tape.

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Dias de los Muertos Skulls

Dias de los Muertos,or Day of the Dead,is a holiday celebrated mostly in Mexico and on a smaller scale in other parts of the world.Although it shares the date of Nov.1 with the Catholic observance of All Saints Day,its origins actually reach back to Mexico’s Aztec past.It is an exuberant celebration of family and friends who have died.Families decorate the graves of loved ones with gifts of favorite foods,sugar skulls and especially an abundance of marigold flowers.This project invokes the joyous fiesta quality of the holiday.

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Instructions

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1.Prime skulls and wings with white gesso or paint.

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2.Paint and stencil skulls as desired.Paint teeth white.Add flowers and other embellishments.If the eyes will be attached to the wing piece,wait until after assembly.

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3.Purple Wings:Paint wings,and then,using a stencil,or freehand draw on vines and leaves.Add sequins,beads or other embellishments.

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Yellow Wings:Position stencil as desired,and apply light modeling paste.Allow to dry and base coat with background color.When dry,shade lightly with Fluid Chalks.

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4.Paint the area where the skull will lie with black paint or gesso.Be careful not to go too far out.

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5.Glue skull to wings.Add eyes if using.

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6.Add wire as desired for hanging.See photo for ideas.

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Enjoy! Let’s see what you make!

Jules xo

 

Supplies:

Mina’s Lair

MD Skeleton 01 reliquary
Aluminum tape (Walmart, Meijer, hardware)
Embossing folder or tools
Black gesso
Rub n’ Buff or similar product for coloring metal
PW images: Sheet 310
PW images: Moon Digi 171
Glitter: black and green
Wire
3-D dots
Distress ink

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Dias de los Muertos

Fancy winged skull cutouts
PW images: Butterflies: Digi 185 and Digi 031
Black and white gesso
Paint in festive colors
Small silk or paper flowers
Sequins,buttons,brads etc. for embellishment
Stencils : Harlequin or your choice
Modeling paste
Fluid chalk ink pads or similar
Black pen
Wire for hangers