Carey Burns

I've finally completed "Harvest Time," my altered Tim Holtz Idea-Ology Assemblage Clock. This piece was quite the labor of love and when I was just to the end, I tore it apart. You can see where I left off here . Looking at the clock, it was nice, but it needed something behind it and the layer of bones below seemed hollow and lonely. I decided to make a tree. First, I used a Tim Holtz tree wooden block stamp that I think may be discontinued. The shape of the tree was what I wanted but cutting it out onto paper it didn't look so hot. I decided to make my own and got some Aves Apoxie clay and used the stamp as a guide. When it was done, I added texture by running a metal pick over the trunk and branches. There was leftover clay so I made two more pumpkins to fill the clock. Clay tree and pumpkins curing While the clay cured, I decided I wanted hay around the pumpkins in the clock. This was a disaster - the platform was already glued in place and I was so ...

I ask this question too often lately. On Saturday, I overhauled the Halloween Room (office) and there's still some fallout that needs attention. In total, I think I spent over 12 hours cleaning, moving, purging, and organizing over the weekend and last night I couldn't do it again. I was tired and stressed out from the day job. But I had new orange ink to try out. This trio of tags are clipart from doverpictura.com and I used Tim Holtz® Mini Distress Ink Pads in Dried Marigold, Frayed Burlap, Forest Moss, and Stormy Sky. I also used Ranger® Archival Ink, but I cannot remember the color. Bad crafting form, I know… I also used Tim Holtz® ChitChat stickers.  I printed up the images and cut them out, running a black marker along the cut edge of the paper so it didn't look so "new."   Next, I high jacked my Tim Holtz ® Alcohol Ink Applicator to apply layers of inks. I used the same felt pad for all of the colors, again, bad crafting form. I liked h...

Crackle Jacks Good looking jacks! Today I decided to use up some items I bought last year on clearance: paper pulp jack o' lanterns. I've got a few more paper pulp items that will rear their ugly heads later in the month. Since I had a lot of time before work, during lunch, and after work, I decided to paint these little fellas and give them a crackle finish. Supplies: Acrylic paint (oranges, browns, white or the colors of your choice) Paper pulp jack o' lanterns Crackle Glaze (I used Tim Holtz ® Clear Distress Crackle Paint by Ranger ®) Sheet of waxed paper Tools: Paint brushes (I used several) Palette The How: The things you'll need! Lay a sheet of waxed paper down over your work surface. It will catch any paint drips and when the jack is totally finished and dry, it won't stick to the paper.  Choose the color you want to use first and squeeze some paint on your palette. Paint an even coat on the outer surface of the jack o' lanter...