Liz Borer Project #3 The Witch's Midnight Garden ....

"When I started this project I decided to keep to a Halloween theme but I wanted to use a different colour palette . I found a laser cut frame that was supposed to be a book cover in my stash and it inspired me to make this project". 

This is the book cover which inspired me and which I cut into two pieces. 

 I used Grey Board to create a box the correct size for the cover but then I decided it wasn’t big enough and that the cover would obscure most of what was inside so I built the sides. I then cut Grey Board to cover the back and make a curved top and also to reinforce the base. I also added grey board under the straight edges of the book cover to support it.

I felt that the finished surfaces were not very smooth so I covered everything with good quality paper to create an even surface and started painting it. I started with Space Cadet and Pansy. I painted with one colour and then blended it with a wet wipe to get a mottled effect.

I continued with some darker colours – Peacoat andEggplant. I then wanted to create a lighter area so I used a small amount of Nougat in the center. 

I mixed a very dark blue – Peacoat, Eggplant and a little bit of Little Black Dress and continued around the edges.

I cut paper to fit the inside of the aperture. To start with I had considered using this paper because it looked like wood however I changed my mind as I went along. I used stencils for leaves and skeleton trees which I spread Grunge Paste over and dried.

 I then started painting the paper with a turquoise colour (Inky Pool). I painted with small amounts of paint on the brush from top tp bottom to get a streaky effect.

 I then added more colours, Eggplant, Peacoat and finally the dark blue mix.

 I wanted a paler colour in the middle so I blended a small amount of Nougat in.

I added a bit more Eggplant because it seemed to have got ‘lost’ in the dark blue.

Then rubbed White Fire Treasure Gold over the stencilled areas.

The moon was stencilled using a circle cut out of paper. Using Snowflake and a stencil brush with little paint on it dab in the moon fading out towards the top.

Paint the book cover with Stone paint and the edges with the dark blue mix . When dry spread Crackle Glaze onto the dark edges and when this is dry paint over with Stone.

The face is stamp plate WW6 and was stamped onto Smoothy White Stamping Card. I painted her face with Vintage Lace and then a light wash of Spanish Mulberry. The hair was painted with Eggplant and Peacoat.

Cut out the face and a ‘body’ and paint a top in black. I made the wings by stamping bat wings from Eclectic Plate 6 onto parchment paper and embossing with various colours. I cut out three wings and attached them to the back of her body.

Eclectic Plate 6

I used some spider web ribbon to make the top. It wouldn’t stick with PVA glue so I spread Pinflair Glue over the whole of the top and stuck it down. This made a rather nice effect because the glue dries shiny which made a nice contrast. I neatened the top with a little black lace.

To make the witch a hat I cut out circles of black card which I embossed and then stuck together. I rubbed Treasure Gold over the hat.

I stamped flowers onto Smoothy White Stamping Card and embossed them all using black powder I wanted them to stand out and not to loose the black when I painted them. I mixed various shades of purple and blue using Eggplant, Peacoat, Inky Pool and Claret and painted the flowers. To add highlights I used an opaque white pen. I then cut all the flowers out.( HP1006, HP1009, HP1010, HP1011 and HP1111. )

I made more shrink plastic leaves from the oak leaf stamps HP1105 and coloured them in shades of purple and blue .

HP1105 

I painted bottles black and stamped and embossed with gold powder onto black tissue paper. I used stamps from ID02 and just cut pieces small enough to fit onto the bottles. Fix the tissue with Matte Medium.

To make the scroll I cut one long and two shorter pieces of grunge paper. To make the edges ragged I cut little pieces out of the long edges. I then rolled the small pieces up at a slight angle so that the edges spiralled out and stuck them in place. When the small pieces were firmly stuck I stuck one at the bottom of the scroll turning the bottom around the spiral so that the end was hidden and I stuck one at the top in the same way. I painted the whole scroll with Stone paint. I have tried stamping on a scroll before sticking it together but it’s very difficult to get the correct placement. So I stamped images from HPHW03 and embossed onto tissue paper, then stuck that onto the scroll. I then dry brushed the edges of the scroll with dark blue paint and rubbed Treasure Gold along the edges.

HPHW03

The metal flowers are from the Finnabair Mechanical range which I painted black . The smaller one has a piece of stamped and embossed tissue stuck in it. I stamped the eye design from PetalsPlate 2 and painted it before cutting it out to fit into the flower.

Petals Plate 2

Finally, the owl was stamped twice so that I could cut the top half off  to make two layers. I then painted a stick black and attached it to the base owl and attached the other piece over the top (HP1011 ).

 Onwards are the finished piece.

  I hope that you have enjoyed my projects and I will be back again next month.

Leandra Says: Very , very, very cool. The layers are wicked! And the way you have pulled it all together - exceptional! Thanks Liz, your spooky projects this week have been superb!

Gillian Says: Words fail me Liz, this is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Love Love Love the blue/purple colour hue to this project and the detail OH MY, fabulous way to end your week.