Poe knows.....Curiosities

It's getting spooky over at the Emerald Creek Dares Blog ~ be sure to check out some 

of the weird and wonderful creations from the Emerald Creek Design Team

My creation is a  shadow box made from a wood frame I bought at my local dollar store.

I started by first painting the entire frame with black acrylic paint (probably bought at the dollar store too). I then applied Ground Espresso Distress paint with my fingers along the sides and in the corners to grunge it up a bit & added a bit of texture paste through the 

Harlequin & Speckles stencils by Tim Holtz.

The bats are made using the Batting Practice stamp from Emerald Creek Craft Supplies - I stamped them on cardstock then cut them out. They were a perfect addition to Mr. Poe's 3D Box of Curiosities.

To add some texture to the inside of the frame I peeled back the outside layer of a piece of cardboard to expose the corrugated part. I painted this using the same products as the outside of the frame.

Mr. Poe's skull is from The Graphic's Fairy - which I downloaded, resized and printed onto a piece of canvas that I then grunged up using Ground Espresso inks & stains.

 My favorite part of this whole project was the glass vials. The larger one I bought, where else, the dollar store & the smaller one is from the Apothecary Vials set from Tim Holtz.
I first painted the large vial layer of Patina Green Antiqing Cream from DecoArt Media then when that dried painted on a fairly thick coat of clear rock candy Distress Crackle Paint. I finished it off with a bit of Ground Espresso stain to bring out the gorgeous crackle finish. I also stained the corks with Ground Espresso.
 

The final touch was sprinkling on some Burnt Copper Leaves embossing powder on the sides and in the corners of the frame. It gave it that grungy & dirty feel I was wanting.

Products Used:

Burnt Copper Leaves Embossing Powder - Exclusive to Emerald Creek Craft Supplies

Batting Practice Stamp 

Ground Espresso Distress Ink Pad 

Ground Espresso Distress Stain  
Harlequin Stencil By Tim Holtz 
Speckles Stencil by Tim Holtz

8X8 Regions Beyond Paper Stash by Tim Holtz

Curiosities Remnant Rubs by Tim Holtz

Frightful Ephemera Pack by Tim Holtz

Thank you so much for visiting my blog today!

Be sure to check out the blog posts from the rest of the Emerald Creek Dares Design Team for a lot more Halloween Themed inspiration!

Diana Hetherington - missusgmoments
Cathy Potosky - Amethyst Dragon's Alcove
Karon Hughes - Karon's Krafty Korner 



Don't forget to check out the Emerald Creek Dares blog for your
 chance to win a $25 gift certificate to
Emerald Creek Craft Supplies

Challenges Entered:

4 Crafty Chicks - Halloween
Frilly & Funkie - Something Wicked

Crafty Storage Boxes........Part 1

I am in the final stages of getting things ready for our move to Edmonton and have been frantically focused on figuring out how to make a workable craft space in a small condo. 

Last weekend I found an amazing computer desk/hutch that was PERFECT!

After a few modifications by my amazing dad it has been painted & is ready to be loaded on to the moving truck. Watch for the desk reveal in blog post next week.

Today I have storage boxes.....lots & lots of storage boxes.

This one I particularly excited about. I first sanded the heck out the box, then painted with a coat of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Florence & then 2 coats of Old White. After a bit of sanding I had a lovely distressed box. I tried a new transfer method for the French Typography Graphic I found on the Graphics Fairy. I think I worked out well - I first applied a thin coat of Aleen's Tacky Glue to a thin sheet of cardstock, let that dry completely, then printed my reverse image on it. I trimmed it so I just had my image and not the entire sheet of cardstock. I think applied a thin coat of matte medium to my box where I wanted my image to be. I then placed my printed image face down on to the matte medium, pressed it down then let it dry overnight. In the morning I sprayed it with water then slowly & carefully began to rub the paper pulp of with my finger tips. I then used the edge of an old hotel key card to gently scrap off the glue residue. It was a bit time consuming but it was by far the best image transfer result I have done.

I think it turned out really well....not bad for a $10 old wooden tool box I found at Restore.

Its the perfect storage box for my Tim Holtz stamp sets & the casters I added to the bottom finish it off perfectly!

Stayed tuned because on Thursday I will post more crafty boxes I made with dollar store purchases!

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

~~~~~~ stay crafty ~~~~~

julia