Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Haunted Mansion-Guest Designer for Frilly and Funkie

Beware! Longer than average post!

Welcome friends and visitors, and a big Boo to you! I'm so thrilled to be Guest Designing at Frilly and Funkie and crafting alongside these super talented ladies on the Design Team. I was over the moon excited when Linda asked me to fill in for one of her DTs for a day, and when she told me the theme was A Very Vintage Halloween, I nearly spit my coffee out! Helllooo! Why, CERTAINLY! I knew then just what I would make. My inspiration comes from Pamellia's Haunted House and Anne's Haunted House. Welcome to my Haunted Mansion...




My house started as this birdhouse kind of thing I picked up a a yard sale. I've had it as a decoration for awhile in my home, but each time I walked by it, I just knew it was haunted!


I started in the usual way, by pulling off the shutters and giving it a nice thick coat of gesso. Whoever made this the first time around used some very powerful glue and yanking off these resin shutters was an act of Congress! It was not a clean demolition. Some of the wood yanked off with the shutters and some of the resin cracked and broke. But all is good in my grungy world and it adds to the sense of decay and disrepair. In the end, I can't tell what destruction happened by accident and what I did on purpose! I added Peeled Paint (how appropriate!) Distress Embossing Powder to the shutters and a few Tim Holtz stamped images on Frosted film for some of the windows. Other acetate windows were treated to Rock Candy Crackle paint colored with alcohol inks.





 I have no step by step photos for you today, because... well, I didn't take any! I was so excited, I was lucky to remember to take a before shot! I hope my close ups will give you an idea of my process. After the gesso was dry, I added Wendy Vecchi crackle paste randomly. Unfortunately, I am at the end of my jar. It was quite thick and dry and once it dried, a good deal of it fell off. Again, all good... remember this is supposed to be an old neglected house...we're not putting a 'For Sale' sign out front! Next I added crackle paste through a homemade brick stencil randomly and left it to dry.

 

After it dried for at least 24 hours, I added some grungy color. I have a new man in my life, and his name is Ken--Ken Oliver! I just got my new Ken Oliver Color Bursts from The Funkie Junkie Boutique, and I'm in crafty love! I used just two colors-- Burnt Umber and Lamp Black to color the entire house and base. I spritzed random areas with water and added just a tiny sprinkle of the powder, and like magic these wonderful little bursts of color appeared. I added more water, and wow--more magic! I just kept repeating with the brown and black until I was happy. Ken, where have you been all my life???

Gotta love those spider charms colored with Picket Fence Distress Crayons. I picked these up in Linda's shop, again this year, without checking my inventory. Now my Closet is infested with spiders! And are those spider eggs? Eek! No that's just Prima's Art Stones. I'm probably the last crafty blogger on earth to add the Art Stones to my collection, but I'm hooked! The small stones are all over the house, and the large ones are in the yard.




Around back more decay and spookiness. I stamped Tim Holtz Mini Halloween 4 images on Ideaology Plain Tissue Wrap and adhered with gel medium. They were colored with Distress Crayons. I gave the house a base to sit on to allow for the yard, and in the back you can see that Grit Paste I covered the sides of base with. Because I really liked the look of the stone, I left this part partially exposed. Hopefully it gives an illusion of the house being built on a slab. This mansion had to be built on a slab because this was once swampland and basements would always be flooded. 



The owl and the jack-o-lantern might be a little out of scale, but they add a touch of whimsey. I don't think the spiders are out of scale at all, do you? Or is it just my warped sense of how big spiders look to me?






On the rooftops, I've covered all the caps with Tim Holtz's Grit Paste and textured with a palette knife. Once dry, I again used the Lamp Black Color Bursts to give it the stone look. A couple of tiny skulls that come in the little gift bag Linda sends with your order that I've been hoarding along with a pumpkin from my stash top this roof. And the other three have the original finials altered to look like algae covered stone. Yuck! Another HUGE, hairy spider!



 Under the eaves beautifully detailed gingerbread (well maintained, I might add, for this old dilapidated mansion) that I crafted from paper clay and a Prima Vintage Art Decor Mold. While Linda's products at The Funkie Junkie Boutique are always 15% off, I picked this and other Prima products up at an additional 15% off on her Friday Focus sale. Be sure to check in regularly to see what great products you can get at a huge discount. I used only part of the cavity of the mold so the gingerbread would fit better under the eaves. If you're wondering where that missing shutter is, you can find it lying in the neglected side garden. It looks as if we have some bats in the attic--looks like we need to exterminate more than spiders!



You can see the ornate iron fence (Tim Holtz Ironwork Gate) has also seen better days. I rusted it with Grit Paste and Mustard Seed and Evergreen Bough Distress and Decoart paints.





The weathered front door (Tim Holtz Labels Thinlit) is crackled with Rock Candy Distress Crackle paint and Ground Expresso Distress paint. The cobblestone path is laid down with Tim's Crocodile stencil and Grit Paste. The yard "floor" is crackle paste, thread, gel medium mixed with acrylic paint and Lamp Black Colorbursts.

The headstones are wood chippies (gessoed) from my stash covered with crackle paste and Grit Paste, colored with Lamp Black and Peeled Paint embossing powder. I scratched a few epitaphs on a couple of the stones in the gesso while it was still wet. I love how the Colorbursts collect in the cracks and inscriptions. I whacked up a little skellie and colored him with alcohol inks. The spider webs growing under the eaves are bits of plastic I heated with my heat gun.












And outdoors, posing with my rusty iron fence--my newest addition to my Halloween yard props. You can see I'm a little behind with my cemetery, and only one week 'til Halloween! Yikes!




When the sun goes down, this place gets a little creepier. 










Would you go trick or treating at this house?


A special thank you to my husband, who helped me with the lighting. Each of the four towers is a separate compartment, and small holes had to be drilled for each, so I could insert my light string into each tower. Even the tallest tower is illuminated, but does not show up well on camera. I velcro-ed the battery pack to the underside of the base. The house stands just under 18 inches tall.


Thank you to Pamellia of My Little Craft Things  and Anne of Redanne for their amazing inspiration!

Thank you to Linda of The Funkie Junkie blog for inviting me to design for this wonderful challenge! I had a blast! Now I can get to work on those 12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style!


All of the following products that I used can be found at The Funkie Junkie Boutique:




Challenges I would like to enter:
Dies R U Challenge #59- Fall (Including Halloween) I used two dies one for the door and  one for the fence/gate.

Thank you for your visit today and for all your amazing comments! They mean so much to me!
Hugs and Blessings!
Sara Emily

UPDATE: I'm so honored!




43 comments:

  1. WOW, WOW, WOW!!!! This is incredible!!! I am so glad you've shared so many close ups and different views of this fabulous house so we can get to enjoy it in more detail. Jaw-droppingly superb! Thrilled to bits to have you joining us at Frilly and Funkie today xx

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  2. Amazing !!!!! This is fantastic Sara, such attention to detail . I love it ! X

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  3. Wow, Sara, this is magnificent...totally amazing and wonderful!!! I love all of the elements and textures you've added! I don't think the owl and spiders are too big - if this house was in a horror film, of course they'd be bigger! I love what you've done to the place - much better than the before pic! Your yard and fence is awesome - I would definitely want to trick or treat at this house but would be too afraid. I have those Ken Oliver color bursts colors on my wish list, as well as Art Stones (so you're not the last!). I also wanted to tell you I haven't been getting any email notifications of your new posts and thought maybe you were taking a break - glad you aren't! I'll have to check into it. Just love this, Sara!!!

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  4. Totally and utterly Incredible! Sara Emily. I really don't know where to begin expressing my LOVE for your Haunted Mansion and would be here for hours just getting started. Design , execution and attention to detail are super wicked ( thats in a good way ) Your post was a joy to read , new man huh , aint no flies on you girl ;) and then all those fabulous photos - I feel well and truly creatively indulged . Thank you Sara for always sharing and inspiring .
    Happy Halloween
    Hugs
    Amanda xxxx

    Again I apologise for not having been around much . A very bad fall the other week has left me very injured and sadly I'm not able to craft a deal at the mo . I'm heartbroken
    Please bear me with me and I will be sure to visit as and when I can . thanks
    xx

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  5. What a wickedly wonderful transformation from a cheery birdhouse to a weird and eerie haunted house! What a fabulous creative adventure you took in creating this Halloween masterpiece.

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  6. Okay that is just brilliant and jaw droppingly spooky! Fabulous up-cycle from a sweet little home to the scariest house in town! Thank you for guest designing with us!!

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  7. What an amazing haunted house! I adore all the oozing, rusting and gross bits! Perfectly Haunting! Congrats on your Guest Post!!!

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  8. Yikes! Yicky Icky CREEPY! LOL You have been inspired by the best, and risen to the crest, Sara! LOL I love that you took your pretty-yet-haunted-bird-house-thingy and created what it was longing to be in another life! The green oozy-lichen-like paint on the shutters is genius! Love the graves spilling their contents, the rusted fencing, the ghoulishly lit windows, the dilapidated shutters, the stone-like facade, your "foliage" - it's all like something right out of The Haunted House! Yikes! GREAT job! Thanks for sharing your before and after shots as well, Sara! hugs, de

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  9. Holy guacamole, Sara Emily, this is absolutely jaw-dropping spectacular!! I am blown away by your attention to detail...everything from the broken shutters to the crumbling facade to the rusted fence to the graveyard...perfection!! How you transformed that beautiful birdhouse to a dilapidated haunted mansion is amazing!! I don't even have this amount of creativity in one pinky!! That it lights up at night is the icing on the cake!! And heck no, I wouldn't trick or treat there!! Eek!! In case you couldn't tell...I adore this!! Wow my friend!! Spooktacular!! Thank you so much for playing along at Scrapy Land!! And huge congrats on your guest design post!! Have a great day!! Big hugs :)

    Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  10. This is utterly amazing, Sara! And I can see not only a lot of love and labour that went into this fantastic spooky mansion, but also loads of time and thought! And it all paid off so very well! Love every tiny inch on and around the house! You're a very talented and clever lady with loads of imagination! Wow!

    Claudia xx

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  11. Fantastic transformation. You sure can execute a vision in a very spectacular way. This is spooky and creepy and I wouldn't want to come trick or treating there either even if you were giving out the best treats. So glad you are a Guest Designer with us.
    Hugs!
    Cec

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  12. Congratulations Sara Emily! And... what a fabulous transformation! Crazy! All the details are amazing.

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  13. Only you would see a wickedly spooky haunted house in that sweet bird house!! and isn't it perfect with all it's towers and windows! Your cracked walls and all the adornments are just perfect! creepy crawly spiders - just wonderful Sara Emily!!

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  14. Oh, be still my beating heart!!!! Firstly, thank you for the mentions, I am so honoured to have inspired you!!

    This haunted house is nothing short of sensational and yes, I would definitely go trick or treating there - bring it on - lol!! I love the way you 'aged' the walls, the shutters look amazing, I love the mound of bones outside too. The graveyard is a joy to behold and that rusted fence is just incredible. I don't know what else to say, other than I LOVE THIS!!!! Congratulations on your Guest spot at F & F too.

    Whilst I am here, thanks so much for joining in our 'Make it Spooky' challenge at A Vintage Journey. Hugs, Anne xxx

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  15. Unbelievable! So creative and sooooo spooky! Awesome creation. Thank you for sharing your design in our "Things That Go Bump in the Night" Challenge at Crafty Cardmakers!
    :) Pam

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  16. Holy cannolis! This is the greatest thing since sliced bread!

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  17. This is such an amazing Halloween project. Thanks for sharing with us at Dies R Us Challenge Blog.
    Kathy
    DRU DT A

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  18. Wow, I'm speechless, incredible!!! Absolutely perfect, I love every spooky detail, soo much to see and marvel! Many thanks for this fantastic inspiration!!!

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  19. Everyone on Frilly and Funky are INCREDIBLY TALENTED but I just have to say.... Sara - this is UNDER THE MOON SPOOKTACULARLY BOOOOOOOOdaCIOUS. You did BETTER THAN THE BEST. Never in a million years would I have believed such a quaint little skinny house could be remade into such a AWE INSPIRING HAUNTING. Absolutely positively FABULOUS in EVERY WAY. j.

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  20. OMG! This is just AMAZING and absolutely SPOOKTACULAR!!! It was pretty cool originally but I really LOVE it as a haunted house! A lot of work but you did an AWESOME JOB!!! WOWZA!!!
    Thanks so much for playing in our ‘FALL including Halloween’ challenge at Dies R Us! Please come back again soon!

    Darlene (DRU Blog Leader)
    DIES R US CHALLENGE BLOG
    DAR’S CRAFTY CREATIONS Please come for a visit.

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  21. Wow Sara, this is fantastic. Your spooky details even down to your spider eggs is just brilliant. An amazing treat for all us bloggers.
    TFS, Julie x

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  22. Wow this is absolutely amazing! So many perfect little details - I love those bones lol. Thanks so much for sharing with us at Country View Crafts. Sue xx

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  23. Holy cow and a half! This is totally and completely AMAZING! I have never seen such an extreme birdhouse makeover! I love that you saw haunted potential here and I am stunned at the amount of texture you were able to achieve. And your attention to detail is admirable. This is remarkable both at night and in bright light. Totally inspiring! Thank you for sharing such a fabulous creation with us for this week's Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge!

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  24. Well slap my thigh and call me Betty, you could blow me over right now!! Sara, I don't even know where to start with masterpiece! I've been scrolling up and down forever, taking in all the details! The spiders and the spider eggs, the broken shutters, the cemetery, the moss, the textures, the ooey gooey colours and even how it lights up at night time. I just think I could stare at this for hours and keep seeing new things every time I look! You have put so much time and love into this beauty and it sure was worth it! So many amazing techniques, I am loving how eroded your fence looks, so eerie and authentic! I am just tickled pink that I had inspired you even in a small part to create such an incredible haunted work of art! Thank you for the shout out and thank you for stepping in at Frilly and Funkie and raising the roof with your amazing talents! You have definitely set the bar high and inspired everyone to get spooky this challenge!! sending big hugs my friend!

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  25. OMG, I am totally blown away by this masterpiece of art, Sara! I can't believe what you created out of that bird house decoration! I am still exploring the photos and I could do that for hours! What a brilliant attention to details and such an amazing lightening! Your hubby has done a wonderful job! I wish I could create something that fantastic! So many fabulous techniques and details! You have outdone even yourself, my friend, with this spectacular piece! Hats off! Congrats on your GDT spot at F&F! It's so well deserved! Lots of love to you! Branka xx

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  26. Jaw droppingly stunning Sara !!!!! WOW WOW WOW!! What an amazing transformation! Congratulations on your GDT and you've really blown everyone away with your amazing project! Have a lovely weekend. Jennie x

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  27. Oh my Sara you have gone to town on this piece and created the most amazing and haunting house. The ways you have altered, revamped and transformed it from the original to this spooky mansion is incredible and the lights at night make it look spectacularly eeerie. What a great job you did on it, love it xxx

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  28. A stunningly spooktacular creation Sara. So many awesomely creepy details, ghoulish colours and wicked textures. This sweet old birdhouse was obviously destined to be the scariest haunted house ever.
    Thank you for joining in with the October challenge "Anything Mixed Media Goes" at Creative Artiste Mixed Media and good luck x

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  29. Wow just wow! This is amazing what an incredible piece of art. Thanks for joining us at Crafty Cardmakers.

    Bec

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  30. Anne is definitely an inspiration and I am fortunate to have several of her 3D makes.
    Sara this is a dream come true for a Halloween junkie like me -- I now have to look for a bird house and copy you the best I can!!! I am a Halloween fanatic and love all the fun that goes with Halloween. I am sure when Anne saw this she almost fainted - I did too.
    Wonderful Sugar!!
    Sandy xx

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  31. Fabulous !
    Thanks for joining us at Scrapyland Challenge blog and Good Luck !
    Maryvonne – DT member

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  32. Totally awesome! Thank you for joining us at Let's Craft & Create challenge. We hope to see you again.
    ~DT Sherry x

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  33. OMG, What an amazing, amazing project, I adore this, thank you for sharing with us at Creative Artiste this month, best of luck xxx

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  34. Wow, wow, wow and wow! This is incredibly phantastic! Don´t find words for this, it´s absolutely outstanding!
    Thank you for joining in our challenge at Country View Challenges!
    xx Evelyn

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  35. WOW!!!! This is such an amazing piece. Love everything about it! So glad you shared it with us for the Scrapy Land Challenge too!

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  36. YAY!! Huge, huge, huge, huge congratulations for winning the Scrapy Land Challenge, Sara Emily!! So deserved, my friend!! This is so mind-blowingly (is that a word??!!) spectacular and just seeing it again - wow!! And congrats on your other two amazing projects getting Honorable Mention!! You are such an inspiration!! Have a wonderful evening dear friend!! Big hugs :)

    Lisa
    A Mermaid's Crafts

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  37. THUD! I saw a photo of this somewhere and I think I commented, but coming here and seeing all the incredible details...holy halloween, Sara Emily! What an amazing creation. The texture is just spot on...so crumbling and decrepit looking. And the little treasures you've planted everywhere. I'm gobsmacked. Then it lights up? It lights up? Even more amazing!!! You outdid yourself on this one. Best Halloween Project on the web this season. Standing O!

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  38. Mind blown! It's insanely awesome. I love very single altered inch of it. Thank you so much for joining us as a guest designer at Frilly and Funkie! You absolutely nailed the challenge. :)

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  39. Holy Toledo in a hand basket dearie Sara!!!! I am flabbergasted by the total transformation of this house! I can't believe what a change it has undergone. All of those tiny details and time consuming and I can tell you absolutely loved every minute of it! Hauntingly spectacular and special! The Windows with the light added is genius and I bet your DH was more than happy to help once he saw what transpired with altering this. Taking the shutters off must have been a pain in the rear! I can only imagine. Love the fence, the cracks, the decay, everything about this design is screaming AMAZEBALLS! The molds are amazing and add the perfect touch to the mansion. I would live in this and then start a haunted house tour! Love love love love everything! The spiders are delicious and the skulls are so creepy good. GORGEOUS!!!!! Congrats on your guest spot! Hugz to you muffin! ~Punkin

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  40. Thank you for sharing your lovely crafting for Let’s Craft and Create challenge 118, Hazel, DT x

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  41. What a stunning piece of haunted house altered art, Sara Emily - breathtaking textures and details and spooky fabulousness! Thanks for joining us on A Vintage Journey.
    Alison x

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  42. I'm running weeks behind once again with my blog commenting, but I just had to come by to tell you how amazing I find this project!!! Wow, wow, wow, just incredible and even the photos you took are superb!!!

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  43. Fab project.Thank you for playing with us at Mixed Media World

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Thank you for leaving your comments...they mean so much to me.