Oh, October! Falling leaves, chilly nights and spooky things are afoot. In 1955, Ray Bradbury released The October Country. It is a collection of 15 macabre short stories. Is there anything better then curling up with a spooky book while the wind whips around the bare branches? Or maybe Stephen King is your fright of choice. No matter, grab your blanket and let your imagination loose!
My project is an homage to every scary story that has a couple of kids wandering through the woods. They just wanted to take a shortcut, so they could get home before dark. We ALL know that NEVER goes according to plan! A little lost, a little cold and a lot scared, they stumble into a small clearing. In the middle of this clearing is a Curious sight. It seems to be a marker of some sort, maybe a shrine or a mirror.
Maybe a wish or a warning. Or maybe they are all ready at home, tucked in, all cosy in their beds, having mysterious dreams because they ate WAY too much Halloween candy. You decide…
Goods from PaperWhimsy:
Curious Spiky Frame with Stand
Other bits: InkaGold- Old Gold & Old Silver; PanPastel-Yellow Ochre, Red, Turquoise; ModPodge; SuperGlue Gel; Dried weeds from the lakeshore; Assorted Milagros; Cross pendant; Mini candle made of Sculpey Clay; Melted candle wax.
This project came together very quickly. As soon as I saw the Curious Spiky Frame with Stand, I just knew it had the potential to go the way of the Twilight Zone. Hauntingly beautiful town, here we come!
First everything is painted with the Old Gold paint. I printed out the Digi sheet #197 in black and white, and glued that image using the ModPodge. I used the Beautiful Faces sheet 323 for our mysterious redheaded girl, and again used the ModPodge to make sure she couldn’t get out, I mean to glue her into place. Then I glued the front of the frame to the back.
The next step was to go over the base with a tiny bit of the Old Silver, then the PanPastel in Yellow Ochre. When that was dry I glued the frame to the stand using the SuperGlue. I used the foam brush to tap more of both colors of the InkaGold paint on the spikes and front of the frame. Then with a small brush I used all three of the PanPastel paints to make the frame look old and distressed. (note to self, do not use this technique while applying makeup!)
I used the Yellow Ochre to age the ceramic Milagros, skulls and cross pendant. I made a little candle using Sculpey Clay, and a tiny piece of burnt wick. I used a candle to melt the wax for the base of the frame, and while hot I placed the Milagros. The other pieces were glued on using the SuperGlue.
When we were at the lake, I found this cool, creepy “weedy” stuff growing out of the sand, so of course I had to take some home! It was perfect to use as an embellishment , did this frame somehow grow in this clearing? Was it trapped there by the branches? Was it the by product of too many mini Snickers? In any case, it was the perfect icing on my eerie frame.
Boo!
Michelle
I love your project AND your delightful story.Nobody can tell a tale quite like Ray Bradbury.Beware! Something wicked this way comes! 😀