A Haunting Halloween at Frilly and Funkie

Hi everyone and welcome. First off, talk about a boost to the old ego; I can't begin to describe how privileged I felt to be added to Paula Cheney's 'Inspiration Found' blog post alongside some incredibly talented creatives, including my team mate and good friend Trace Metcalfe. To get recognition like this from someone so highly respected and loved in the industry is such an honour. Thank you SO MUCH Paula!

Now back to the main purpose of this post; today it's the turn of the Funkie Team from the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog to share their take on this fortnight's theme 'A Haunting Halloween'. With the days already growing shorter and a hint of evening chill in the air let's begin our Halloween preparations. Simply create any type of vintage project, card, or lay out with a Halloween theme and get ready for some chills and thrills! The winner will earn a Guest DT spot at the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog, and everyone who enters will have the chance to win a $25 spending spree at The Funkie Junkie Boutique. Now I'm not a Halloween person normally so this theme had me scratching my head for quite a while. Then, a light bulb moment courtesy of a song recorded by The Lambrettas in my formative years - 'Poison Ivy'...

So where to start with this; a little Artist Trading Block was a great place to house and smother this most treacherous of plants. The outside was covered in Tarnished Brass Distress Paint and the inside with the Dusty Concord flavour.

 Then I mixed Wendy Vecchi's Crackled Texture Paste with Hydrangea Archival Reinker to create that beautiful mauve hue, covering the outside panels so that when it dried hints of that wonderful brass colour could shine through. 

To finish the block I stamped the border from Wendy's 'The Beauty of Art' stamp set in Jet Black Archival. It fit the sides perfectly! Now for the poison ivy itself; the vine which winds itself around the outside of the block was cut from Core'dinations Kraft Core using Eileen Hull's Vine decorative strip die. Having sanded it back a little to reveal the core I added Peeled Paint Distress Glitter to give the ivy a touch of sparkle.

Using the same card and Tim Holtz' Spring Greenery decorative strip die to cut more un-glittered ivy for the inside I added small Dusty Concord painted flowers, folded ribbon strips and purple burlap string frayed at the ends. To top the block I made a paper flower painted with the Dusty Concord and Tarnished Brass Distress Paint and centred with a Prima Bling flower centre embellishment - I had to colour mine with the Brass paint but Linda now has a gold version in stock at The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

Of course there needed to be a place to store the poison extracted from this deadly plant so a little bottle was ideal. It was great fun to slosh (technical term!) around Dusty Concord paint and Hydrangea Archival Reinker, and I stamped a label from the Tim Holtz Mini Blueprints #5 set to warn those who may be foolishly tempted to sample the deliciously evil contents.

So, have I got you feeling ready to tackle your own spooky project? Either way, I highly recommend a trip over to the Frilly and Funkie challenge blog to take a look at the fabulous pieces created by the rest of the Design Team as they are bound to do the trick (or treat - sorry!!)

And I've just seen there's a challenge theme which is ideal for this project! Country View Challenges theme for October is 'Sparkle and Shine'!

That's it from me today. Whatever you're up to take care of yourselves, Jenny xxx