Trick or Treat

Autumn means it’s time to bake all things pumpkin and my sister has just given me a huge pumpkin that she grew in her garden. So this thoughtful “treat” inspired my page!

I started by making a template for the moon and also for the foreground out of thin card and used them to mask off areas on my page. Then for the sky, I applied layers of Black Soot Distress Ink by Tim Holtz using a blending tool concentrating the colour at the top of the page and shading so it was lighter towards the horizon. I also made a set of three cloud templates and stencils which I used to create the cloud images using some old black and purple ink pads which I applied with a sponge; I offset some of the clouds to give them a lighter border so they look like the moon is highlighting them. Then I removed the moon template to add a cloud across the bottom. I also added some texture to the moon using a sponge and the same black and purple ink pads. With the foreground mask still in place, I stamped the village scene from a Winter Wonderland stamp set, so it looks like it’s behind the hill giving a landscape perspective. Then I removed the foreground mask, and used another template to mask off the sky which I positioned a few millimetres lower than the village so that the horizon was clearly defined with a white line. I added the same Black Soot Distress Ink to the foreground and shaded it using a blending tool so it looked patchy. I also added some brown accents using a sponge and an old brown ink pad. I then stencilled some wavy black lines using a Texturized template from The Crafter’s Workshop and black Distress Ink. I stamped the trees by Clear Impressions using black and dark green ink pads and then used a black Uni Pin marker to add more detail. Next I drew the flying witch on her broom, her hat and a bat onto black paper, which took me a while as drawing isn’t really my thing. I fussy cut them out and stuck them to the page, as with all of the elements, using Winsor & Newton Matt Gel Medium. The banner is created from card which I folded in half and cut into triangles so that when they are unfolded they formed a diamond shape. They are coloured using a sponge and an orange ink pad, and the letters are stamped to spell out “Trick or Treat” using an alphabet stamp set from Dovecraft and a black ink pad. When they were dry, I folded them over a piece of Hessian/burlap string to create a banner and stuck the two halves together so they made a triangular shape. I stuck the banner in place at the same time as the witch, which allowed me to tuck the string behind her so it looked like she was pulling the banner along as she flew across the night sky. Once they were all in place, I outlined them with a black Uni Pin marker, added white dots to the banner using a Uni Posca paint pen and three purple gemstones to create a band on the witch’s hat. I also emphasized the ears and feet on the bat using a black Uni Pin marker. The pumpkins are drawn onto white mixed media paper, coloured using a sponge and orange, yellow and green ink pads. They are outlined with black Uni Pin marker and a white Uni Posca paint pen. I added shadows under the pumpkins using a paintbrush and the black ink pad, and also a white gel pen. I placed a little robin, adorned with a purple witches hat, on top of one of the pumpkins which I had made with paper and coloured using a paintbrush, ink pads and yellow acrylic paint. The village windows are also coloured using the yellow acrylic paint and I covered them along with the pumpkin’s eyes, nose and mouth with Glossy Accents so they looked like light was shining from them. To finish, I stamped the stars using a silver ink pad, outlined them with a white Hybrid gel pen and filled them with silver Stickles glitter.

This page makes me smile as it’s a lovely reminder of my autumn pumpkin and it was so much fun to get creative in order to join some fabulous blog challenges. I enjoyed making my own templates/masks, drawing my own images, adding autumnal colours using up old ink pads as well as using stamps to create the village, landscape, stars and banner focal point.

Having used stamps to create many of the elements on my page, I’m pleased to be able to join the lovely Avril who is Guest Designer over at Stamping Sensations for their “Autumn Glory” challenge.

With the different autumn colours I’m also joining the fun over at Country View Challenges for their “Mixed Media with Autumnal Hues” challenge.

Over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge their theme is “A Walk On The Dark Side” and I’m pleased to be able to join them with my dark Halloween page.

I’m also joining Moo Mania & More for their “Automobiles/Cars/Vehicles” theme as my witches broomstick is her preferred vehicle of choice (grin!).

The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge has a new theme for this month, so I incorporated orange, yellow, purple and green from the selection on their “Color Challenge” onto my page.

Here’s a picture of me holding the huge pumpkin I was given, I’m standing in our hallway next to the wreath I made, which changes with every season. I’m not carving this pumpkin because being home-grown it should taste delicious, so I plan to bake it and make puree to freeze for pumpkin rolls – yum! I’m guessing it will make quite a few (grin!).

Of course I could make a cake with pumpkin butter cream icing or even a pumpkin pie like I did last year (double grin!).

Or maybe my hubby can make some homemade pumpkin beer – cheers and Happy October!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot)
• Hobbycraft (Assorted Ink Pads)
• Liquitex Artist Color Acrylic (Cadmium Yellow Medium)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.8mm)
• Uni Posca Paint Pen (White)
• Hybrid Gel Grip pen (White)
• The Crafter’s Workshop Rhonda Palazzari Designs 12×12 Template (Texturized)
• Clear Impressions (Woodland Christmas)
• Free set with Simply Cards & Paper Craft Magazine (Winter Wonderland Embossing Folder & Stamp Set)
• Star Stamp
• Leon (X-large Colour Paper Pad)
• Daler-Rowney Mixed Media paper
• White card
• Hessian Material
• Hobbycraft Self-Adhesive Gems (Assorted Squares 5666141000)
• Ranger Stickles (Silver)
• The Range 3D Glue Pen (Glitter Glue GLT4321000)
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Winsor & Newton Matt Gel Medium