Carey Burns

Since I completed my Creepy Charlottes, I'm moving back to some assemblage pieces with one bisque doll representing one of the Seven Deadly Sins. I've been picking up these bisque dolls for a while because when rusted, they become mighty creepy! These dolls have been rusted with Modern Options Sophisticated Finishes and I added a wash of white paint to them. Next up, I'll be figuring out a wash of color for each and putting the dolls in vintage wooden boxes or on some sort of stand. I hope you'll stick around to watch the progress unfold! Lust Pride Sloth Wrath Envy Gluttony Greed

I've been a bad blogger and missed Free Fiction Friday. Let's just say, life got in the way a lot last week. For today's Maker's Monday, I had a nice how to for a bunch of neat tags I made, but my photos won't upload so I just put together this sweet little tag that pays homage to one of my all-time favorite Halloween movies...Trick 'r Treat! When I first saw the Sizzix Thinlit "Trick or Treat" die by Tim Holtz, I imagined the victims of the Halloween School Bus Massacre and knew I'd be making something like this tag. I can almost hear Mr. Wilkins tell Charlie to "Always check your candy." As with life, there were many hiccups along the way of making this tag. I had gotten only a few die cuts made when my machine broke. I'm still in a bit of shock and possibly denial. RIP Vagabond! There were also several elements that I thought would look awesome that ended up not wowing me. Supplies: 1 craft tag (I used Ranger Inkssentials, s...

I finished my Creepy Charlottes and posted them in the shop and one already has been claimed. These necklaces were so fun to make! I'm thinking of doing another batch... To start, I dry brushed white craft paint onto the high points of the rusted dolls. I always end up using way too much paint on the brush, so I dab my index finger in the paint, rub most of it off, then lightly brush the high points of the dolls. It didn't take very long for the paint to dry. Rusty girls Just a smidge of white acrylic craft paint First doll all dabbed up Ready for the wash! Next, I decided a very blackish blue wash would look good on the dolls. I mixed up a wash of paint and brushed it on the dolls, blotting away some of the excess. I added a few layers of wash until I was satisfied. My first doll had too much blue so I added more black to the remaining two. One layer of wash Love her light blue hue Barely there wash Love that dark grunge! Once the wash...

Over the weekend I went full-tilt into making creepy tags! Today's project is a little rustic, a little manly, and a little creepy! Supplies: 1 craft tag (I used Ranger Inkssentials, size #8, manila tags) 1 sheet of scrapbook paper the same size of the tag or larger (I used Tim Holtz Halloween stack) 1 Tim Holtz Word Band and brads 1 Tim Holtz Trinket Pin 2 Tim Holtz Game Spinners and brads 2 Tim Holtz Salvage Stickers (one with the dates, one with months) 1 Tim Holtz Halloween ephemera photo Tim Holtz Distress Stain in Walnut Glossy Accents Lots of supplies for this project! Tools: Scissors Standard hole punch Small hole punch (1/8") Black marker Instructions: 1.  I knew with this tag I'd be using brads and I didn't want them visible on the backside. I traced the tag onto a rustic wood plank scrapbook paper and then cut it out, making sure I traced out the hole at the top. Tracing the tag - those bad nails again! Cut and ready ...

Work on the Creepy Charlottes continues! I ended up adding more rusting solution to the Salvaged Dolls and really like the colorations now. I found some nice brass-toned chains for the necklaces and trimmed them down to size and needed to figure out what kind of dangle I wanted from the bottoms of the pendants. I had beads on-hand, but they didn't look right so I went on a shopping trip. I ended up finding some gorgeous Swarovski teardrops and some cool brass-toned skull and crossbones charms. I bought them both so I could decide which looked best. After hemming and hawing, I decided the Swarovskis went better with that chunky black glitter. What do you think? Now that the Charlottes are as rusted as I want, I'm going to add some highlights and a wash of color. With luck, they'll be done by the weekend!