Dance Among the Shadows!

Welcome to Magpieheaven! Today I have a spooky little house to share, which I would like to link to the 'That's Crafty' challenge here. This make was inspired by so many things I'm not sure where to begin!

 Chiefly I think I have to thank Lynne Moncrieff, an amazing artist who always produces work that takes my breath away: I loved a Halloween card by her for That's Crafty called 'Boo cry the Children!' You can see it here. It captured my imagination so much I just had to have the stamp plate she used - Oxford Impressions' 'Trick or Treat'! Halloween is not far off, when local children with parents in tow; but unrecognizable as witches, wizards, little demons and even a sprinkling of fairies and Disney Princesses, will be knocking at the Magpie's Nest. We always have a basket of treats by the door. I love that our street is friendly and safe enough to share this community evening with its blend of excitement, tradition and fun! I suppose the sense of community we feel living here has also inspired this make. It reminds me of all the fun our own children had dressing up for Halloween parties; baking and decorating spooky treats and devising games. I remember one year they transformed our little cottage into a 'haunted house' and took guests on a tour of displays they had created in each room!

 I started by giving this little house from 'Tiger' a good couple of coats of Gesso! Those 1970s style flowers take some hiding! I also got out the rusting powder. The bare tree you can see in this image is from a broken Christmas earring and it aged very nicely with rusting!

When the flowers had sufficiently faded, I painted the outside of my house with PaperArtsy Fresco Little Black Dress. Inside I painted with Fresco Stone and blended in places with a touch of Toffee Fresco. This was very roughly painted, as I was going to add peeling paper - thin card, coloured with spritzed Distress Inks in Walnut Stain, Frayed Burlap and Spiced Marmalade. Can you see the palette knife? I used this to apply a thin layer of PaperArtsy Crackle Glaze to my house. When this was quite dry, I painted with thick, singe brush strokes of Turquoise Fresco and then stamped with a PaperArtsy mini flourish in Potting Soil Archival ink by Wendy Vecchi.

You can see how the rough painting gave an aged appearance to the floors! I filled in the little rusted frame with some Glossy Accents to create the appearance of a looking glass.

I combined two sets of Halloween Stamps in the end - both available from 'That's Crafty'! I had to include my favourite little Artistic Outpost witch! Later I gave her a spare broom, which I created from a tiny twig.

 The Gothic house from Artistic Outpost is stamped onto tissue and then fixed with Satin Glaze. It reminds me of a house where I had a flat before I was married - the rather gothically named Greystoke Court! I stencilled the peeling paper with a Prima flourish stencil and spritzed both sides so that the reverse, curled over side would have some interest.

Here are the little pierrots who stole my heart! I stamped them onto some of the spritzed card and then coloured them with Inktense pencils to create chalky white faces and hints of shadowy colour! I created the little midnight clock with a painted Prima wooden frame; Pewter mixed with Turquoise; a tiny watch part and a black permanent marker to create the hands fixed at the witching hour!

I used a white pen and Inktense pencils to add depth to the Moon's face and dimension to the sign on my house.

Treasure Gold also helped to age the house.

I added some details - a couple of autumn leaves cut from Shrink Plastic painted with Frescos and stamped with text and a tiny lantern!

A couple of found objects - a tiny pine cone and a bird's egg, both discovered on a walk earlier in the year. Now the Halloween House is finished and ready to stand next to the 'Treat Basket' in the hall.

May all my lovely followers and friends have a wonderful time next Friday! May Halloween be a time when you 'Dance among the shadows', chasing the darkness away as you celebrate warmth, light, love and friendship.