Good Morning everyone
Its the first Friday of the month so time for a new challenge over at Creative Artiste where the theme is anything MIXED MEDIA goes, using at least 3 different mediums.
I decided to go for a Halloween make using a coffin shaped box as the base for a Witch themed assemblage
Approx size
closed 3x6" / 7.5x15cm
open 6x6" / 15x15cm
See lots of photos below for how i decorated the wooden box and more detailed photos of each section.
I then had fun raiding my stash of trinkets collected over the years to build up each shelf section
The lady in the mirror (see pic below) I added the paper element and tim holtz chat stickers and mod podged to seal. Added a broomstick and skull and propped a plastic witches hat on the skull. As a witch you just drop your broom and hat just as you get home beside the door ready to go again
I added some fibrous 'stuff' 😂 No idea what its made from - man made material but boy did i get in a mess trying to glue the stuff into place, once it touched the small dabs of glue Id added in place it wanted to stick to everything but where i wanted it🤣.....i might have had less trouble using real cobwebs.....
For my birthday I was treated to a couple of junk journal kits by Ciao Bella. I thought this image in the frame looked a bit spooky and added a Tim Holtz chit chat sticker reach says 'look in your mirror for the other one' as I thought the lady could be looking out of a mirror.
In hindsight with the shelves I would do differently next time so that the supports are hidden more - one of those live and learn moments.
The top shelf is the book shelf, as you can see its very higgledy-piggledy and this witch just throws them back after use. I used some thin tubular wooden beads which i thought looked like scrolls side on, just added some dark acrylic paint to take away the wood look. I made up some tiny books using a script print paper and aged the edges with brown acrylic paint and ruffed them up to look like thumb pages. More cobwebs added
2nd Shelf is for potion bottles, I added printed bottles at the back to make a fuller looking shelf then added 3 real glass mini bottles in the front. The green one on the left i filled with holographic glitter flakes, middle one was clear and i added red alcohol ink and a clear one of the right I added dandelion seeds to. Adding chat stickers and ages with touches of brown paint. More cobweb added with a plastic spider, small skull and bone. Chat sticker adhered to the back which reads 'a small grinning skull'
and the base layer
I took a small plastic cauldron and coated with acrylic paint to take away the plastic look and then filled with a teal metallic texture paste and had it spilling over the side. I cut a Tim Holtz bone in half and added into the cauldron before the texture paste cured - this is the other half of the bone i used in the 2nd section with the potions.
2 pumpkins added to the back, with some cobwebby stuff and a 'genie' lamp at the front, this is plastic which i aged it with acrylic paints. I added some moss and a paper eye to the back panel which is keeping an eye on things
I gave 2 Tim Holtz pumpkins a make over with acrylic paint so a bit more realistic
I wanted to use a witches hat on the skull but it wouldn't fit nicely in the space or on the head/skull so i cut the back off with scissors so it would fit better. I also added a little gold paint to bring out the texture more.
I added a 'hocus pocus' chipboard sticker to the front and a door handle/knocker.
There is a big design flaw with this coffin, its upside down, the feet are on the shallow part which in real life would not be good as the occupant would fall out on opening......😂
I first coated the wooden box with bright acrylic paints in a random way and then added texture paste through a foliage stencil which of course was the wrong way around! lol Didn't think ahead here - of course when you do it, add the texture paste first and then your paint as i needed to add the paint again to cover the texture paste😩
I removed the hinges and closure from the coffin to make painting easier, they just need my mini screwdriver and were easy to take off and put back on once it was all finished
Dry brushed on navy and dark purple paint over the outside so its not as bright and picks out the texture paste.
I added shelves to the deep side of the coffin using 450gsm cardstock and then dry brushed over all the inside with vintage white to soften the brightness so that my elements don't get lost.
I then added gilding to the outside using my trusty Cadence Dora paints, these are my go to for any kind of gilding as find them way easier to use than waxes but get the same effect but being a paint makes them so much more versatile as well. I first went over with light coats of a blue and green dora paint and then finished with a very light coat of the gold which is definitely my fav colour in the range as you only need the smallest touch and it shimmers like crazy.
Items Used:
Wooden coffin from 'The Works'
Various Tim Holtz ideology pieces
Other assemblage items collected over the years
Ciao Bella junk journal 'The witch's grimoire'
Folkart matt acrylic paints
Cadence Dora paints
Texture paste
Foliage Stencils
Id love to enter the following:
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