Tim’s tag for October – a Halloween journal pouch

OMG here I am just coming in under the wire with my October ‘tag’ and it’s the last Halloween make for this year. I decided to make a tag pouch using the giant size 12 tag from Ranger. I had a brand new set of Retro Halloween framelits sitting on my shelf  just waiting to be used and as they come with both stamps and dies I thought they would be perfect for Tim’s technique using a mask to cover the image.

I have followed Tim’s instructions for the outside but used a mixed-media layered technique for the inside.

I began with blending victorian velvet distress paint through the gothic stencil and went on to add some aged mahogany through halloween words.

I dipped the tag in distress stains and dried it, then used more stencils to blend distress inks over the top.

I love the colours and how they mixed together creating some fabulous blends.

I used the reverse side to create the outside of the pouch following Tim’s techniques – go take a look at his process steps, they are so easy to follow and he produces amazing results.

You can see I used texture paste in both white and black.

When all the layers had dried I stamped, painted and die-cut all the images from the framelits set and found some mini movers and shapers dies which I cut from black card.

I added phrases and quotes to both side to create more of a journalling effect. The lettering was made up of chit-chat stickers, label letters, the stenciled lettering and some were computer generated.

I got right to the end and suddenly realised that the front cover didn’t look quite right.

Can you see what I changed?

Distress inks – seedless preserves

Distress stains – victorian velvet ,dusty concord, stormy sky

Distress sprays – iced spruce, dusty concord, tattered rose, brushed pewter

Phew, so pleased I had time to play today and do this piece, I was feeling so disappointed that I hadn’t found time to take part and now I feel re-inspired and ready to move on and make some more DT and workshop samples.

I am linking to Tim's blog and wish to say thanks Tim for your continuing inspiration and ideas.

Just before I go it’s officially the hottest Halloween ever in the UK, today we have had highs of 23 degrees Celsius which is 73 degrees Fahrenheit. At home we have had all the windows and doors open as it’s just like a really warm summer day. The only difference is that the shadows are long and the cherry trees have completely lost their leaves. what is happening to our weather?

I have flowers still budding.

Summer bedding still full of colour.

Spring flowers blooming again.

Pots still a riot of colour.

And the cats enjoying the sunshine.

This is my bee box, I’ve seen bees going in, but need to do some research about how they use it.

And lastly I just love this photo of a single red rose peeking through the bare branches of the Cherry tree.
Update - it seemed silly having a bee box and not knowing how it was used so googled it and found out -
Red mason bees need a box filled with hollow pipes, such as cut lengths of bamboo. They lay their eggs one at a time with a supply of pollen or nectar and a plug of mud between them.
So now I know what will happen next year when the eggs hatch, we will have lots of Red Mason bees in the garden yay.

Have a great Halloween evening with plenty of treats and no tricks.

See you again in the morning.

hugs Brenda xx