2 Little Witches- Idea-ology Halloween 2023

Hello friends! Well, I’m back again…life has been busy, all sorts of Halloween and Christmas making going on behind the scenes and a new puppy, has swallowed a lot of my free time to write blogs posts. Plus, a family emergency mixed in the middle of all that too, but, I’m happy to say, that things are starting to be on a regular schedule, the emergency is on the mend and the puppy is starting to get to know the in’s and out’s of things. So, with any luck, I am planning on focusing some more time my blog and getting more tutorials up and running. I hope that you all are well and that you are enjoying the last days of summer before all the wonderful fall festivities begin and thanks for being patient with me for the absence. I appreciate you following me, the kind comments and support and I’m grateful being able to share my passion for making.

Today, I have a tutorial for you focusing on some of the new idea-ology 2023 Halloween release. I’m sure you already know how much I love Halloween and this release celebrates it so perfectly! I had so much fun creating projects for the Youtube LIVE that Tim Holtz hosted. If you missed it you should check it out! It was AMAZING seeing all the wonderful inspiration and bonus, Tim had a couple demos too!!

My first project I titled “2 Little Witches” and started by perusing through the new idea-ology Halloween Layers Ephemera Pack which features ephemera and vintage photos. The photo totally inspired this collection of witchy things that I thought two little witches might have collected.

I started by getting a general layout and idea of how I wanted my cabinet to be. (hence the fabulous photo below…this is how a project starts, completely bare bones without a general idea and a jumping off point).

I decided that I wanted the cabinet to have drawers because what witch wouldn’t have junk drawers to stuff. The idea-ology matchboxes were the perfect way to add them.

I added a couple additional shelves to the layout by adhering a couple scraps of Etcetera trims (this would be how I added the small space for the nest and bird bone covered dome and space behind the photo for the tiny lights, that you see in the finished piece). The trims are hardboard pieces that can be trimmed and used for various shelves or dividers in a project.

Then, I used some Black Soot Distress Paint and painted the vignette drawer and set it aside to dry.

I shortened 5 matchboxes (and had a regular size one not pictured) fit to size within the vignette by trimming them down, then scoring new fold lines, and adhering them together. These don’t have to be perfect because the majority of the drawer is shut, and you won’t see the inside too much once the drawers are in place. I painted both the outsides and insides with Black Soot Distress Paint, then set them aside to dry.

Once the drawers were dry, I used the mini Rosette stencil and added one of the round designs in the center of each drawer front using a palette knife and the new Black Opaque Texture Paste.

In this photo you can see where I placed the shelves that I told you about previously. I chose a couple papers from the new Halloween Backdrops paper pack, trimmed one of them to fit inside the sides and back of the shelves, and then cut the second to fit around the outside top of the vignette. The shelves were made from various Etcetera Trim pieces I had in my stash, then fit to the vignette, painted, and adhered inside using Distress Collage Medium. I set the vignette box aside to dry, which is best overnight to make sure that the shelves were set. The placement of the shelves were done with only the photo in mind that would be placed on the right side middle of the vignette. I wasn’t sure at the time what would go in that tiny shelf section…but it became the perfect spot for my little nest with eggs. You know I love a good nest! 😉

Here is a photo of the back and sides of the vignette and some of my thoughts as to what I was thinking as I created it.

I chose to only cover the top portion of the vignette with patterned paper that covers 4 pieces of black chipboard. This created the look of a room with wallpaper and made a great place to add some “wooden” shelving and pegs for hanging things… This piece feels like a vintage built in cabinet and room in an old house, to me, where the witches most likely would have had drying herbs for their potion making.

I cut the chipboard to fit the top, sides and back, then roughed up the edges with scissors, then I cut the patterned paper, roughed up the edges, blended it with brown distress ink (walnut stain), then covered the cut chipboard. These pieces were then placed at the top of the vignette and adhered with collage medium. Then I used some nails and added nails into the four corners at the back and did the same to the sides.

Then I went to work at creating the shelves and wood bases for around the outside of the vignette… I started with the woodgrain paper to cover all the Etcetera Trims.

Using my finger, I rubbed on some Black Soot Distress Paint over the woodgrain to bring emphasis to the lines, then let it dry.

Then I spritzed the paper with water and Walnut Stain and Ground Espresso Spray Stains, then let it dry.

I glued some Etcetera Trims onto the paper using collage medium. Then trimmed them using an exact knife and sanded the edges till the edges were smooth using a sanding disk. (these trim pieces originally came with the Etcetera Tombstone)

Then, using my Sizzix Trims Thinlet set, I trimmed some of the woodgrain paper to fit the pinked etcetera trims. The Sizzix Trims Thinlet set matches the Stampers Anonymous Etcetera Trims PERFECTLY…and makes it super handy when you want to cut papers to fit them to coordinate with projects.

Next, I added the “wallpapered” walls and the shelf trims to the vignette. Once the wall were glues on, I tapped into each corner of them a tiny nail to add to the feel of the piece. The wallpapered walls worked as the perfect guide to get the trim pieces adhered in a straight line across each side of the vignette. The shelves were adhered in shifts so that there was enough time for the collage medium to set in-between. That’s the hardest part…waiting for the glue to dry!

But, have no fear, as the shelves were drying, I had plenty of fun things to keep me busy..all the witches goodies that would be added to the shelves!

The cauldron and bubbles…

Using Black Soot Distress Paint, I rubbed paint onto the cauldron, using my finger and set it aside to dry. Once dry, I rubbed on some Distress Crypt Grit-paste, and set it aside to dry again.

Once both were dry, I used a Peeled Paint and Rusty Hinge Distress Crayon, and scribbled some onto the cauldron to create the look of rust and moss… you can see the finished cauldron in the photos below. I added an idea-ology spoon into it and glued it into place using collage medium.

The bubbles were colored using a combination of Alcohol Inks and Alloy (Oregano, Lettuce, Meadow and Rose Alloy. Several drips were added to a disposable cup, then I added the clear idea-ology bubbles and spun them around in the alcohol inks. Then the bubbles were set onto a piece of paper towel to dry.

The bubbles were glued in place using Glossy Accents. Glossy Accents leaves a shiny effect and not a matte so it’s perfect for things that you want to be shiny, like bubbles!

The books…

The little books in the vignette come from the idea-ology Ephemera Halloween 2023 pack. I folded random scraps of paper which included vintage dictionary, onion skin typing paper and computer paper. They were cut into strips that fit within the book, then I folded them back and forth, then stapled them with my tiny attacher stapler. Then I adhered them within the book covers and cut the folded edges then ran a blending tool with brown distress ink to give them an aged look. The little owl ephemera pieces the front of one of the tiny books was from the same package and adhered with collage medium…I thought a spell book would absolutely have an owl on the front! 🙂

The photo of the two little girls was found in the Halloween Layers and Paper Dolls Ephemera pack 2023. They are what inspired the entire project. I trimmed the photo to fit the right section of the vignette. I stitched one of the cobweb transparencies over top of the photo (found in the Baseboards and Transparencies Halloween Pack). The transparency was scratched up to add age using my Sanding Disk, rubbed with some mushroom Alcohol Ink, and trimmed to fit the photo. Then I stitched around the edge of the photo to join the photo and transparency together. Black Ribbon and fabric was then stitched around the photo and some vintage black buttons were stitched at the edge. I left several of the black threads and pinned a few small safety pins to the edge.

Mummy Cloth was used to create the hinge of the photo door and hide the battery pack of a set of tiny lights. I stitched some scraps of mummy cloth to the right side of the photo then adhered the mummy cloth within the vignette section.

I drilled a hole into the shelf underneath the photo using my dremmel tool, then added the Halloween green tiny lights into the cauldron. The workings are hidden behind the photo and underneath the tiny drawers. I just slipped the wire on lights into the cauldron prior to the glue being dry.

The tiny nest, bird bones dome and tiny potion bottles…

What type of things would be in a tiny witches cabinet? Well, for my story, they’d definitely be little naturalists and need a nest or two plus a collection of found treasures from their outdoor explorations.

The nest was created using natural Sisal Basket Filler. I spritzed a small little section of sisal with water, then some Ground Espresso Spray Stian, the dried it with my heat tool. Then in a circular motion and both hands, wound it into a small ball form and then molded it into the shape of a nest. using a needle tool, I stuffed in some bits of thread and moss then went to creating the eggs to put inside.

The eggs were from the Spring idea-ology release (yes, I may have bought 8 packages of them) but, having tiny eggs to make tiny nests is important to me! I painted the eggs by rubbing them with Antique Linen Distress Paint, let them dry, then rubbed them with a little Pumice Stone Paint, then let them dry again.

Then, I splattered the eggs with some Black Soot Distress Paint using my splatter brush, and added the eggs to the nest with collage medium.

The dome and tiny jars and vials were rubbed with collage medium, then rubbed with Distress Clear Crackle Paint. I set them all aside to dry and crackle then rubbed them with a variety of mediums…distress crayons, alcohol ink and Distress Foundry Wax.

I placed some tiny idea-ology bones, string and one egg within the dome, then adhered the dome to the cork. I tied a small ephemera piece and painted bird charm to the outside.

The vials and jars were then added to the vignette shelves and around the outside tied and hanging on the nails. I added some idea-ology candles, tied string around the brooms and hung them onto the pegs.

The framed spider on the back of the vignette was created by painting the frame with Black Soot Distress Paint, letting it dry, then rubbing it with Distress Foundry Wax, then setting the wax with an embossing gun.

I adhered a piece of Ephemera to the back of the frame, then using a palette knife, added a good amount of Translucent Crackle Paste. I set it aside to dry and crackle meanwhile painting the spider with a little black soot paint.

Once the paste was dry and crackled, I rubbed it with some black soot paint being sure to get some into the cracks, then wiped some off with a damp baby wipe to reveal black in the cracks, then dried it with my heat tool. Then, I rubbed the crackled area with a little Foundry Wax, and set it with an Embossing Gun.

I wrapped some thread around and around the frame to create a web look, then tied on the spider and adhered it to the front. I then added the frame to the back of the vignette and began adding moss, the drippy candles and let the sections dry before adding the next.

My final addition to the vignette was the small vial that I added a title to using words I found in the idea-ology Halloween Sticker Book.

My final addition to the vignette were some found porcelain frozen Charlotte heads and grungy vintage dice. The tiny crowns atop their heads were from the idea-ology Treasures Adornments pack. They were colored gold with some Foundry Wax and adhered to their heads. They seemed to fit the theme of my project and were the perfect nod to my vintage love.

I added some small sticks, floral moss and bits of vintage lace and thread into the cubbies to finish them off and with that, my vignette was complete.

Whew…what a project, but this one has to be one of my favorites that I’ve ever made for Halloween. I hoped you enjoyed following along and hope you make something similar this Halloween season.

Thanks so much for stopping my today and I hope to be back very soon!

Creatively yours,

Stacy

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