Over at Simon Says Stamps Monday Challenge is ‘Stamp It’ and once I seen this theme I knew immediately what I was going to work on.

Although in my book Zoe Hillman (iGirlZoe) is the queen of Halloween Banners, I had a perfect spot at work that I wanted to hang one, so here is my go at one 🙂

For the back or base layer of the banners I used Mixed Media Paper (MMP) that had been inked up with Distress Ink (DI) in Black Soot. I then inked the stamp from Perfect Plaids CMS383 with Distress Oxide (DO) in Black Soot. To get a watercolor type look I spritzed the inked stamp with 2-3 squirts of a very fine mist of water, then stamped. Continue with all 5 pieces.

Next I used the largest Stacked Deckle Thinlit 662694 and ran through the Vagabond. Found the center of the paper and went up 1 1/2″ and cut the ‘v’ with decorative scissors that had a deckle blade.

For other layer on the banner I used a variety of spider web stamps (Skulls & CobWebs CMS306, Tangled Webs CMS346 & Life of the Party CMS380) with DI Picket Fence on Ranger Black CardStock. These were cut using the 2nd largest Stacked Deckle Thinlit and triangle cut from bottom same as steps above.

Next, stamp 5 images of the skull from Life of the Party CMS380 with Black Soot Archival Ink in the stamping platform, that way I can color the teeth and add highlights then re-stamp to maintain any lines that may have been colored over. I highlighted with Stabilo All pencil in white which reacted a little with the ink which gave a real creepy gray, wonderful surprise 🙂

To dress up the skull, I stamped hats, collars and bows in Distress Archival colors shown above. Stamp sets used~ Distinquished CMS371, The Professor CMS373 & Life of the Party.  Again, these were done in the stamping platform to add any addition coloring like in the polka dots.

Mummy cloth was then colored using DIspray & DOspray in Black Soot. To attach the banner pieces to the cloth I ran a bead of Collage Medium close to the top edge of the backside of the pieces and allowed to dry.

Once dry, I poked holes along the top edge on the right side of the banner pieces to make it easier to hand stitch thread through the holes. The TH ruler has these holes and to make this super easy, I placed items on top of a squishy package material piece that I have on hand just for this technique. A sewing machine can be used in place of this step but I was looking for bold, longer stitches.

A few more details …. To remove the iris from the white eyeball housing from Creepy Eyes, I used a pick and came in from the backside which will pop the iris out, that way no damage to the iris occurs. The sayings from the stamp set are pretty thin and small, so I find it easier to stamp this size in the platform. This way there is no slipping or tilting when I do it by hand. Here I have used White Daisy pigment ink by Close to my Heart and White EP by Stamping up.

Here it is done…. I really wanted to get the final pictures of this outside but we have had rain for the last few days here in Michigan and I wanted to bring this into work tomorrow, so not the best staging but will do 🙂 I did also add die cuts from Bat Crazy 664203 with clear thread which will sway in the wind at work. I really think the crew is going to love it! Now for close ups ….

 

Thank you for joining me and as always….

Have a blessed day,

Wendy xo

*I have supplied the links to some of the products I used but it’s a courtesy,  I am not affiliated with Stampers Anonymous.