The BOO Banner

I have seen a plethora of banners lately but this is my first attempt to make one; mostly because I have no where to hang one & I can’t draw a crooked line.  But then I got my Silhouette Cameo and I actually made my own triangles and viola! My banner was born – well, at least the idea of my banner.

 

In hindsight, I would have made them larger as I don’t feel I had enough room to truly decorate the individual triangles as much as I wanted but overall I am pleased with the results. 

First, I designed the triangles – the tops are about 5” across and the V part is about 6 ½” on each side. I cut them from more of the My Mind’s Eye Halloween paper I had (all from the old Spooked collection).  I then dug through my stash of Dresden – I knew I had these medallion-like black pieces and I thought they’d look great on the banner.  I then used my Silhouette Cameo  to make the BOO letters – I cut them out in various fonts and sizes because I am still not trusting of the measurements the machine shows me & I wanted to pick the best one for the banner.  And who doesn’t like to play around and try different things? Plus, I know I can use whatever I have left on another project.  So I picked the letters I wanted to use and glued them to the medallions.  I put a black plastic gem on each tip to, hopefully, give some weight to the paper; I had originally planned on using this wonderful orange piece of plastic folder under the triangles but I ruined it by drawing on the wrong side with a black Sharpie – so I threw the plastic and the idea out.  I got this wonderful pack of paper, called Glitter Silk from Core’dinations so I decided to punch out some stars to add some bling.  I was surprised at how easily this paper was punched – I used a small old star punch, one of those button ones (not the cool new lever ones) and it punched like a dream! I have had more issues with trying to punch regular card stock than this paper and if you get a chance to get some I highly recommend it.

So I ironed my ribbon (that I got from May Arts) that I used to actually dangle my triangles from – I know, I was shocked that I actually ironed it but I really wanted the ribbon to be creased in half & the only way to do that was to iron it.  I haven’t used my iron in years and am happy to report it worked fine.  Then I glued my banner pieces to the ribbon.  I used “ribbon glue” hoping that the glue wouldn’t show through the ribbon and for the most part, it stayed hidden.  I decided my banner needed more bling and I found a foam die cut I had made of a skull using one of the Tim Holtz Sizzix Dies and it looked blah, so I glittered it.  I also decided to punch out some more stars, just bigger, to add along the ribbon. 

That was it!  I must confess the word “boo” means more to me than just a word to use to scare someone.  As some of you know, I am the mom to four beautiful kitties, 2 boys, Spike, who will be 19,and Boo, who is 17. My girls are Monster, 16, and Mew, 4 months .  Boo is a Mama’s boy – he hates everyone but me.  Honestly.  If I am home alone he acts almost like a normal cat, but if someone else is around, he would live under the bed if I fed him and provided a litter box.  He recently had some dental surgery and I’m happy to report he came out fine and is starting to feel much better – so this banner is also a celebration of Boo’s recovery! (the pictures aren't the best - the banner is literally tacked to my wall in the laundry room.  To see them bigger, as always, just click on them).

 

I am entering my banner in the following challenges:                        
Crafty Ribbons Challenge  - Anything Goes

2 Sisters Challenge  - cute & spooky

Crafts 4 Eternity - Halloween

Cut It Up - Halloween/Day of the Dead

Left of Center  - Halloween/LOC

I am adding my project to this challenge as well - Thanks Linda!!
Craft My Life - Anything But a Card (challenge runs for 2 months)

Thank you for stopping by!  I have one more spooktacular project to share before Halloween is over – look for it to be posted in the next few days.

And if you are wondering where I found these fantastic challenges to enter just take a look at Challenges for Days – an awesome blog that lists crafty challenges!

Halloween Shadow Box & May Arts Ribbon Halloween Crafts Challenge

I had a shadow box frame I had bought at a hobby store ages ago & it’s been hanging around my craft room getting in my way so I decided to use it to make a project out of some scrumptious May Arts Ribbon I had gotten so I could play in their  Halloween Crafts Challenge  - please go take a look at the amazing creations that other artists made for this challenge; and, if you leave a comment about which project is your favorite you will be in the running to win some ribbon for yourself!  

The wooden frame did have a glass front but I took that out and will use it another time.  I gessoed the frame and then painted it with Lumiere Pewter acrylic paint – if you have never worked with Lumiere paint it is the most beautiful metallic acrylic paint I have ever seen & the colors are amazing! It is made by Jacquard Products and I strongly suggest you get a bottle – there are SO many colors and color combinations you can choose from & you can find them online or in art stores; I’ve seen them priced any where from $3.50 to $5.00, a pretty good deal since the small bottles are 2.25 fluid ounces and can last you a while.  Anyway. . .

Skelly's hanging with his bird friend

I had this very long old necklace I had gotten from a friend of my mother’s who was cleaning out her jewelry – the necklace had been broken once and there was a knot in it or I probably would have kept it to wear – but I cut it and used a length on each side of the box.  I altered a Dollar Tree skeleton (I had to cut him apart & rearrange him a bit) gave him a Dollar Tree bird buddy (who was painted with black acrylic paint long before this project) and made him a festive hat out of some of the May Arts ribbon.  I also added some ruby red gems to his eye sockets so he'd be that much scarier.

And a close up of his scary eyes & cute hat

For the back of the box I painted the panel with Golden Quinacridone Violet with some Golden Micaceous Iron Oxide mixed in (gives it a shimmer that you can't see in the pictures) and then I put some of the spider web ribbon on the top (doesn’t this ribbon rock!?!). I then cut out the Happy Halloween, in orange card stock with my Silhouette Cameo machine & glued it to a piece of the silky black ribbon and attached that below the spider web ribbon. 

My Bat

I had the metal pumpkin in my stash, attached that to the back panel.  I had made the bat already; he is from a mold I made with Amazing Mold Putty (the original of the bat is a metal stamping I have) and then he was cast out of Amazing Clear Cast Resin. I painted him with Golden Carbon Black and attached him to the top of the shadow box.  Done! 

DONE!

I love LOVE this box – it has to be one of the projects I am most proud of and it went together like a dream!  It started as one of those ideas that just seem to sprout wings and all the elements just flocked together (get it? Wings, flock? LOL).  I hope you enjoyed my project & I encourage you to visit both the May Arts Blog & Amazing Mold Putty (find the links within the post). 

I knew I had a better picture of the entire box!

I’d like to enter this shadow box in the following challenges:

•  Creative Cutting Challenge – Halloween, not a card (my SVG is the Happy Halloween Words) 
•  Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge – Spooky 
•  Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge – Halloween or Halloween Colors 
•  The Ribbon Reel Challenge – Purple & Black with a Halloween theme plus Ribbon
• Anything But a Card – Orange and/or Black 
• Drunken Stampers – Wood (The frame is wood)