Happy Haunting Houses

And fall is officially well under way!  The arrival of Halloween this week means that those cold cozy days will be upon us in no time. Graphic 45 challenged the team to come up with some easy Halloween decorating ideas and this is what transpired.  

For this project I was inspired to upcycle something I had in my existing stash.  These painted wood houses from a rummage sale had been on hand for quite some time and I knew they would be a perfect fit for this project.  Since I still have more on hand I am thinking I could do several season and change out the display.

To start, I simply covered each house in black gesso.  A layer of paper on each side made for a perfect base for my simple collage.  Notice how I chose to use the positioning of the paper to create a fence on the back side of the house.  

I used some acrylic paint on the edges to give the houses a bit of a grungy look.   It was so hard for me to use that starry paper.  I have been hanging on to the two sheets I have forever.  Alas, I now only have scraps.

The owl cuts outs are from Retro Cafe Art.  Kristen has a ton of cut outs that make for awesome artsy elements.

I hope you are inspired to look at some of your stash in a new way. 

Happy Halloween!  

Rhea

Halloween Charm

One of my favorite Yahoo groups has to be Art Charms.  I love making tiny little bits of art and trading them with artists all over.  Last year I did not partake in the Halloween antics and I really missed out, this year I was able to join up at the last minute.

The brass ghost has been altered with both black and white Guilders Paste.  Love this stuff!  I used an acrylic sealer to ensure that all my hard work would not wear off. 

The brass stamping base was colorized with Vintaj patinas.  This was my first time using these, even though I bought them ages ago because I "had" to have them.  I do love the finish they created.  It really looked like enameling before I covered it with stickels.  

On the back I also added a tiny little moon detail.  This too was touched with a bit of Guilders Paste to age it a bit.  They were charms that I simply cut the loop off of and then glued with a bit of Hypo-Cement.  Very handy glue, but I always hate that it oozes out as you try to get that needle cap back in.  Ah the joy of crafty "stress."

Stay tuned for lots more Halloween goodness, it seems it is that time of year and I am embracing it.

Cheers, 

Rhea