Happy Haunting

Halloween, one of Heather Collins’s  favorite times of the year. Ghouls, Ghost, Gobbins...but most of all CANDY and dressing up!  My husband and I host the neighborhood Halloween parade. Police, Firetrucks, A Commisioner, kids, dogs, neighbors.  It is a wonderful event. I organize the neighborhood streets to be shut down and the parade goes to my house. The kids get treats and to explore the community’s emergency personal along with their vehicles.  We even give out prizes. This is a wonderful event, not only to have the backing of a community, but for people to get to hang out with each other and just relax. So when I saw Brutus Monroe’s bonus 2018 Halloween Inspiration stamp set, I knew I just had to make it a centerpiece.

I started by taking some Brutus Monroe Alabaster 100 lb cardstock and stamping the “All Hallow’s Eve” stamp set with some Raven Detail Ink.  This ink can be used when one is stamping, using with watercolors or alcohol markers. It literally is the last black ink that I will ever use.  Next I fussy cut each of the characters out. (Truly fussy cutting is one of my favorite things to do in life.) Then I colored each character. I used watercolor markers and one of Brutus Monroe’s Medium Tipped Water brushes.  These water brushes don’t soak up the color into the pen and clean off easily for the next color without needing 10 of them. For some of the characters, like the eyeballs, I made several. Lastly for this step I put Nuvo clear crystal drops.  I let these dry overnight, the Nuvo doesn’t like to be rushed.

The Brutus Monroe Aqua Pigments were the perfect item to create a one of a kind background piece.  I got a piece of poster backed 16”x20” cold watercolor board. As a mixed media artist I truly love to get all inky.  The wonderful thing about these watercolors from Brutus Monroe is that they are a full one ounce bottle. The dropper is childproof, which makes transporting them and keeping them safe from children playing with them more likely.  But they are also non toxic too.

To create the background piece I simply took a dropper of the Brutus Monroe Aqua Pigments and applied directly to the canvas.  Then using the Medium Tipped Water Brush I spread and mixed the colors till I got the desired look I was wanting. The different colors of the rainbow blended beautifully.  I hit with my heat tool, to speed up the drying process somewhat. Lastly I used the dropper technique to apply where I thought it might look like a haze to the sun and the clouds.  Lastly I spritzed with white and black acrylic paint, sprinkled some glitter and stars on the piece to finish it off. Since this was such a large piece I let it dry for a few days before trying to set it up.

Lastly, using iCraft 3D White Foam Squares, Zots and Brutus Monroe glue to attach all of my fussy cut characters from earlier.  I had some Fairy Garden vines that I twisted around some fence that was left over from another project, adding the little eyeballs on so that they looked as if they grow on like flowers.  This piece ended up being a favorite centerpiece at the Brutus Monroe store, come on by and check it out!

#brutusmonroe #happyhalloween #halloween31 #halloween

Items used for “Happy Hauntings”

Brutus Monroe Alabaster 100 lb cardstock

“All Hallow’s Eve” stamp set

Raven Detail Ink

Brutus Monroe’s Medium Tipped Water brushes

Aqua Pigments