Dr Paine's Apothecary

I've been dying to do a shadow box and/or Configurations box. So I asked Pat, the owner of ONE LITTLE SPARK, if she'd be ok with a Configurations box. There isn't a lot of stamping but it does use a lot of goodies! She said yes right off.

So I started collecting goodies to go in the box. Surprisingly, (or maybe not) this time of year it's very easy to find cheap spooky stuff.

Here are most of my class ladies with their finished pieces. I was very happy they all got done in 2 hours!! Pat, the owner, is on the far left and I'm in the middle back.

So some close-ups:
Monkey Paw. One of the gals tore strips of Sticky Back Canvas and wrapped it around the boney fingers for a Mummy Hand.

A spider created a web in an empty hole.

Apothecary bottles.

Dr. Paine's shingle...

Skeleton and goodies.

Mouse (Martha punch).

Mini skulls

Raven.

The greenery behind most of the goodies is "reindeer moss", which I found at Hobby Lobby. It's very moist and flexible when it comes out of the bag. But I noticed today that it's dried out now. It's even creepier...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! Be safe!

A Murder of Ravens Class Cards

WOW! What a great weekend I had at ONE LITTLE SPARK teaching (and taking classes)!

Here are the classes cards from a Murder of Ravens.
THE RAVEN - we used the same photo transfer technique I did a tutorial on a while back. Stamps by Hero Arts & Stampers Anonymous.

THE SENTINELS - The tag background was done with Paint Dabbers - Lemonade, Butterscotch, and Mushroom. Stamps by Memory Box.

THE NIGHTWATCH - I love this one...so FAST! The background is a tag covered with Peeled Paint & Wild Honey Distress Stains. The image is a Mrs. Grossman's laser-cut sticker.

THE RAVEN - This is a good old Tim "Spray and Smoosh" background. Stamps Memory Box & Stampers Anonymous.

Tomorrow DR PAINE'S APOTHECARY!

A Murder of Ravens & Dr Paine’s Apothecary!

Today’s Random Redhead Challenge at Gingersnap Creations is RAVENS! And it’s the perfect tie-in to the class I’ll be teaching at ONE LITTLE SPARK in Little Egg Harbor, NJ this SATURDAY, October 22nd!
This tag is one of the projects in the class – A MURDER OF RAVENS. All the cards/tags in this class have a raven theme.

Here’s the class description: Did you know a flock of ravens is called a "murder?" Neither did we until Deb shared her fabulous Halloween class designs with us! You'll learn tons of great new techniques, while making gorgeous cards and this great tag in her Murder of Ravens class.

The 2nd class I’ll be teaching is Configurations Box where we’ll create DR. PAINE’S APOTHECARY – full of creepy crawly potions! I don’t have a full picture of the box but here are a few highlights.


Here’s the class description: Using products from Tim Holtz and 7Gypsies (just to name a few) you'll have a blast creating this fabulously spooky curio cabinet!

If you live in the area, I hope you’ll join us! And a special thanks to Heather for taking such great pictures of my stuff!

Howl at the Moon! Class preview

I can't believe it's a little more than two weeks before I head over to New Jersey to teach my "grungy tags" at ONE LITTLE SPARK!! I'll be taking Heather and Sue's classes on the 23rd (I can't wait). And here's another sneak peek at my classes!

A Distressingly Good Time - An introduction to all the wonderful things you can do with Ranger Distress Inks. We’ll be creating some fabulous spooky tags that you can add to a card, use on a gift, for scrapbook embellishments, or keep them as handy reference. Join Deb and get your grunge on!


A Ghastly Glimmer - Do you love the look of Glimmer Mist, but are stumped on how to use it? Join Deb, as she teaches you the tricks of the trade - both on it's own AND paired with other products to a ghastly, glimmery effect! You'll go home with tags you can use on a card, as a scrapbook embellishment, or keep them as handy reference!

The Elegant Mess - Fred B Mullett class

The best thing about having an independent local stamp/scrapbook store (LSS) are the traveling teachers that come! My LSS hosted Fred B Mullet this weekend. I had signed up for his "THE ELEGANT MESS" class before I was laid off. What a TREAT this class was!

Using Ranger Adirondack Color Wash sprays, masks, and Twinkling H2O's we made background papers.

Unlike Glimmer Mist, the Color Wash sprays are straight color with no mica powder. Fred had watered some of them down for lighter shades. The H2O's add the "glimmer" - both through splattering and stamping with H2O's (you wet them down until they are mostly goop).

Here's the first background made on a thin Japanese paper. It's like tissue paper but a bit thicker.

Here's the card from that background.

This is the other Japanese paper background. The H2O's I was using were not "flinging" in a droplet manner but in big blotches. I thought I had "ruined" the paper but as you can see below, it turned out ok!

I think this is my favorite - but in the class it's like trying to pick between your favorite kids. I love them all equally! Then we turned to another paper...

... to 90 lbs. watercolor paper. This time the paper wasn't saturated with color and is more subtle. We also didn't use the H2O's.

The class handouts included a set of "masks" to cut out for a positive/negative image. These "masks" are available on Fred's website in PDF format. I picked the petroglyph horse. The background of this card is the paper above. The horse was cut from the right half of the piece below.

The 2nd sheet of 90 lbs. watercolor paper.

I also used the negative image of the petroglyph horse and a piece of the Japanese paper to back the image.

Both watercolor papers also had backs - the "wiped up" mist left from the other side of the paper. I do this often with glimmer mist - it makes the best backgrounds!

I still have LOTS and LOTS of paper left. I can't wait to continue playing with the left over scraps (and make some more)!!!