Spooky Skull Wall Hanging

I recently bought the Tim Holtz Alterations Skull Blueprint which, in case you don't know, gives you the dies to cut out certain stamped pieces of course this isn't the only one I bought; but those will be introduced on another day.  I am Halloween crazy, and skulls and skeletons are my one of my favorite Halloween embellishments.  In fact, throughout my home, you’ll spot skulls tucked in various places because they aren’t just for Halloween in my world!  A while back I commandeered some scrap wood and had my resident handyman cut it into panels I could use for my art.  This project is born from my love of all things Halloween, Tim Holtz and one of those panels.

What I Used to make My Project:

Wood panel (approx. 7” x 7”)

Gesso

Golden Acrylic Paint in Micaceous Iron Oxide & Carbon Black

Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Paper Stash in Laboratorie

Tim Holtz Alterations, Skull Blueprint, #659375

Grey Paper

Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black

Paper Frame cut with Silhouette Cameo

Black Paper for frame cut out

Thin Pop-Dots

Dresden scrap

4 Silver Skull Charms

First thing I did was gesso the wood panel.  Since wood soaks up paint like crazy, the gesso adds a barrier between the wood and the paint.  After the gesso was dry, I followed up with one coat of Carbon Black paint so I wouldn’t have to use too much of the Micaceous Iron Oxide paint (it is my favorite color and it has such a cool sparkle to it when it dries) and waited for that to dry.  Once I painted a coat of the Micaceous Iron Oxide I moved on to making the skull while I waited for the last coat of paint to dry.

I stamped the skull with Jet Black ink on the grey paper, and then lined up the dies with the stamped image.  My dies have a tendency to move when I am

3D - and no special glasses required!

rolling them through the machine (I am sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I need to use all my strength half of the time) , so I used a bit of removable tape to hold everything in place.  I cut the entire skull, then just the head part and finally the jaw.  I pop dotted them together for a bit of 3D action.

I had already cut the frame for another project so I had it lying around with the Dresden scrap.  This time of year I have lots of things lying about as I am usually creating like crazy and being neat is not an issue for me in my room – thank goodness!  I picked the paper out of the Laboratorie Paper Stash and cut it out.  It is from a

sheet that had four squares on it, each square was a different pattern, so I didn’t need to crop it or anything. 

I laid everything out, tweaked this and that, and finally glued everything to the paper before I glued the paper to the wooden panel.  Once I glued the paper, I finished up with the little silver skull charms (with the holes cut off) and put one in each corner.  I literally built the piece around the skull because I think it is so awesome!  

I hope you enjoyed your visit here & I'd love to go to your blog and see your Halloween creations, so please be sure to leave me your blog address in the comments box.  Happy Halloween! ~ Christi

I am entering my Spooky Skull in the following challenges:
Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - #19, H is for Hopeful Halloween 
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Anything Goes
Craft Hoarders Anonymous - #18, Layer it (use at least 3 layers)
Haunted Design House - Week 1 of Hellacious Halloween
A Vintage Journey - #17, A Halloween to Die For