I had so much fun with this Halloween altered tin with articulated skeleton. I found the skeleton at Calico Craft Parts. He came in bits and was in his original wood color when I first got him. I bought a few because I couldn’t resist him. The first one I managed to ruin by painting him in acrylic paint and it didn’t turn out the way I wanted. Luckily, as I bought more than one, I got a second chance and coloured the next one in a cream gilding wax. I have decided I absolutely love gilding wax. Unlike the acrylic paint it gives a subtle sheen and shows all the detail whereas the acrylic paint covered up all of his features. I then proceeded to use jump rings to put him together.
The inside of my Halloween Tin with my bony friend hanging out
He’s a lot larger than the tin but it doesn’t matter because he folds up nicely in order to become a pile of bones. Just right for Halloween. I thought he deserved a nice tin to go in and a purple color seemed to be the right choice for him. I ended up going through my pile of Victorian books and found a nice black and white spooky image of a churchyard. I’m one of those people who can’t stand cutting up antique books, (you never know when you are cutting up that valuable one) so I scanned it and colorized it in Photoshop leaving me with my beautiful antique book in one piece.
“I really need a bigger closet” quote on the inside of the tin
Bones in a crumple heap inside of the tin which he’s grown out of
I flipped the image so that I could use it on both sides of the inner tin. What better caption could I use than one which says “I really must get a bigger closet”.
I decided I wanted to list him in my new Etsy shop and knowing some people like to use the tins to hold little nick nacks, I decided to make Bones detachable. So, I punched a hole into the rim and used some wire and jewelry findings so that he can be posed and left in or out of the tin. That way, the tin can be used for Halloween treats until the sun comes up and Bones can go back to bed.
Bones out of his tin and ready to hang out anywhere until the sun comes up and it’s time for bed
For the front cover, I found a black and white image of a lady in a bat costume from the Graphics Fairy (no relation) and an image of some pansies. I colorized the witch lady the same way that I colorized the churchyard scene. I then used a background of latin text, digi stamped some magic symbols on it and framed it with the pansies. The result was perfect for Bones.
One thing I don’t like about digital printing is that the only way to get really decent images is to print them on high quality photo paper but I find the feel a bit sticky and not very nice. However, I’ve found a way to overcome that by spraying with a fixative / varnish spray. I was really pleased with the result. I gave it a couple of sprays and the touch now feels like a professionally printed image. I haven’t tried it, but you’re supposed to be able to wipe it with a damp cloth. Can’t guarantee it though. I’ll have to have a go with some leftover bits before committing to it.
The final touches were some purple bling on a roll and some antique / vintage black lace which I bought ages ago.
I hope you enjoyed this post and please visit my Etsy shop. Not many items in it yet but hopefully that will change soon. Bye for now.
