Chills and Thrills Halloween Box

Inspiration: Simon Says Stamp Wednesday (Anything Goes) + The Paper Player #460 (orange + die-cut + Halloween)

I'm really happy with the project I'm sharing today. Inspiration for it struck in such a random way. I found an old box of chipboard elements from K & Company and as I was putting it away, the top part came unglued. I looked at the piece and realized it would make a fantastic frame, so I put it aside for later. Today, I was tinkering around my desk and on a whim, I decided to use the Happy Halloween papers from Carta Bella (told you the other day I love Steven Duncan's designs!) to cover the frame. My initial idea was to do the checkered pattern on top and fill the inside with the city paper (which is probably my favorite of the stack). I used Distress Collage Medium applied with a paintbrush to glue the paper in place and then I got out my old precision file set from Basic Grey. I've had this thing for over a decade. Covering chipboard letters with patterned papers was all the rage when I got into scrapbooking and this set of precision files was perfect to get into all of the nook and crannies. I rarely pull this kit out nowadays, but today it came in handy to follow the intricate edges of the outside scallops and curvy edges inside the frame.

Because I had gotten the collage medium out, I decided I could collage some of the die-cuts on it. Initially, I was planning on then filing the edges as well, but once I got those on, I decided to cover them with collage medium so they'd be more sturdy and leave the edges as is. I handcut more images, added them, then I looked at my Halloween stamps and pulled out Haunted from Cosmo Cricket, which is probably as old as the filing set. Using Jet Black StazOn, I added the crow, stars and the sentiment in the top corner. Then I decided I wanted to add a fine dusting of glitter using the Glitter Duster from Tim Holtz. I filled the duster with champagne fine glitter and gave it a go. It was my first time using it and I was sure I was doing it wrong, as it looked like nothing was coming out. That,s the beauty of the tool, though - it produces a very fine dusting and distribute the glitter evenly. It was perfect because it did not ide the patterns on my box, but when you move the project around, the glitter is definitely there and picks up the light.

That is when I realized that I could actually decorate the whole box and glue the frame back on it and it would make the most awesome candy holder. So I went back to the chipboard box, moved the chipboard pieces to another container, and two of the chipboard stars caught my eye because they are distressed vanilla, so they matched the papers very nicely. I added those to the frame and added a few Ripe Persimmon pearls from Studio Katia on the stars and around the frame. Those are absolutely gorgeous, by the way. I was already loving my red pearls and adding them everywhere, and I think those orange ones are going to be right there in my most-used embellishments.

I kept the idea of having the village show through the frame and glued a square of village paper in the bottom of the box, covered with collage medium. I added four strips of striped paper to the sides of the box, and I added one last piece of patterned paper and a die-cut to the bottom to add the product info. Luckily, the sides of the bottom part of the box were vanilla and already fitting with the rest of the papers. Trying to cover those would have been hard because it would have made the top of the box too tight to fit.

 

 

 

 

Supplies
Stamps: Haunted (Cosmo Cricket)
Patterned Papers: Happy Halloween (Carta Bella)
Ink: Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: Distress Collage Medium (Ranger); Ripe Persimmon Pearls (Studio Katia);
Chipboard Stars (K & Company); Champagne Fine Glitter, Gold Glimmer Paper (Stampin' Up!);
Glitter Duster (Stampers Anonymous); Outside In Stitched Christmas Tree Stackables Dies (Lawn Fawn)

 

Comments

[Windy Ellard]

Isn't re-purposing something so cool..awesome collage! Thanks for playing along over at The Paper Players this week!

[LeAnne]

Woohoo, this appeals to my vintage/Halloween/cute project heart! This is amazing and what a great save of your box that was falling apart! I didn't get ANY Halloween papers this year, so I am going to see if I can find those papers---LOVE THEM! Thanks so much for playing with the Paper Players this week and sharing your fun project!