Simon Says Stamp Designer Spotlight - The Count in his castle

Sadly, this is my last week in the Designer Spotlight for Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge.  

Those who know me, know how much I love Halloween and completely inspired by several of Tim Holtz's Makers in his recent Halloween release video I just had to create a special Halloween Project using some of the new products that Tim has just released.

The challenge this week is Glimmer & Sparkle!  You may not see mine immediately, but it is there in abundance!

I created a vignette of 'The Count' in his castle, looking out and surveying his vast and very spooky estate...... Glimmer and sparkle may not be immediately evident in the photos but I have used Tim's new Distress Mica Sprays along with his Distress Midnight Mica Flakes and Nightfall glitter.

I don't have any process photos to share with you as I was not sure when I started this project what I actually wanted to achieve!  I can show you how it all started though... I used a piece of mount board from my stash to create the inside castle wall, mainly so that I could die cut the cathedral window through it and the window frame would have lots of texture too.

I scraped some Distress Texture Paste - Grave, over the whole piece before applying a coat of Distress Grit Paste - Crypt over the whole piece, making sure there was plenty of texture.  I wanted it to resemble an old castle wall.  Once dry I sprayed with Distress Oxide Spray in Pumice Stone and then finished with a good spray of Distress Mica Stain - Empty Tomb.  This gave a lovely shimmery finish.

Next I die cut the cathedral window from the textured mount board and then glued it back into the opening and used some of the die cut left overs to create a 'frame' around the window.  I took one of Tim's Etcetera tags - small, and cut the mount board to match the tag as I wanted to create a 3D project.  I used a vignette box between the tags to give some dimension.  I painted the sides of the vignette box with Hickory Smoke Distress Paint.

I took a piece of watercolour cardstock and placed a small round mask where I wanted the moon to go and spritzed the whole piece with Hocus Pocus Distress Mica Spray, to add a lot of shimmer.  Inspired by a technique that Stacy Hutchinson used I spritzed the moon with water (rather than ink) to make the moon image bleed a little and give it a spooky appearance.  I die cut elements from Tim's new Vault Series die set and Ghost Town #2 set, attaching them to the inside of the vignette box, along with a set of Tiny Lights before attaching the cathedral window tag to the front of the box. 

I wanted the Count to appear as if he was inside his castle, looking out onto the graveyard and moon outside.  I die cut the Count, assembled him and added Nightfall Distress Glitter to his cape to give him some sparkle.  I added an Etcetera Bracket Trim for a ledge under the window where I could place my die cut Candle from the Candlelight die set.  I sprinkled some Distress Mica Flakes - Midnight here and there to also add a bit of shimmer. The candle holder was spritzed with Distress Mica Stain in Crooked Broomstick, which gave it a lovely shimmer.

I thought it would be fun to add a Creepy Eye to the Count and the small size fits perfectly!

I added another Etcetera Bracket Trim to the bottom of the vignette to give the Count a base to stand on.  I added a few pieces of Tim's Idea-ology bits and pieces from my stash, including the lovely Toadstools and lots of Mummy Cloth which was tinted with Distress Mica Stain in Empty Tomb and Pumice Stone Distress Oxide Spray.  I finished it off with some more Mica flakes.

We are hoping you will join in the challenge this week, it would be lovely to see you there and as always, there is a $25 gift voucher for one lucky winner to spend.

 

And finally, here is a view of the vignette all lit up!  It looks quite spooky in

 real life.  I just love the expression on the Count's face....

The products I used are listed below.

 

Thanks so much for your visit, I hope to see you again soon.

Crafty hugs,

Anne xxx

PRODUCTS USED:

Tim Holtz Sizzix Bigz Die - Cathedral Window

Tim Holtz Sizzix Colorize die - The Count

Tim Holtz Sizzix Colorize die - Candlelight

Tim Holtz Sizzix Thinlits die - Vault Series Halloween 2021

Tim Holtz Ranger Texture Paste - Grave

Tim Holtz Ranger Grit  Paste - Crypt

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Mica Spray - Empty Tomb

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Mica Spray - Hocus Pocus

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Mica Flakes - Midnight

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Glitter - Nightfall

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Oxide Spray - Pumice Stone

Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Paint - Hickory Smoke

Tim Holtz Etcetera Tag - Small

Tim Holtz Idea-ology - Vignette Tray

Tim Holtz Etcetera - Bracket Trims

Tim Holtz Idea-ology - Tiny Lights

Tim Holtz Idea-ology - Toadstools

Tim Holtz Idea-ology - Creepy Eyes