Blackout Banner 2019

Hello friends! Hope you had a hauntingly happy halloween and you’re still enjoying your candy hauls. I love this time of year so much, the cool crisp weather, cosy candlelight, pumpkins as far as the eye can see, (and not just in my apartment)! It’s also time for my annual Halloween banner, which is a little late this year, but this witch had to stitch…

You may have heard (me screaming) about the newly released BLACKOUT kraft-stock. I’ve burned through so many pads of classic kraft-stock taking the black sheets out and this year I had none left, so I am eternally grateful for this little pad of black only!

This years banner celebrates the blackout kraft-stock and gave me chance to use the halloween dies one more time. Of course the banner would be incomplete without a hat and I had to mix it with the bat crazy dies, which were my favourite of 2 sets this year, frightful things being the other, those ghosts are just epic! I am going to use them every year, I know it. I highly recommend investing in a few of your favourite dies from the seasonal collections because they will serve you year after year and I had a lot of fun mixing and matching from older years too.

To start off I cut the banner panels, see my 2017 banner post for the measurements. I sprayed mixed media heavystock with black soot distress spray and antique linen oxide spray. I love this combination of inks and I’m on my second bottle of antique linen oxide spray! Thanks to Stacy Hutchinson for the colour combo inspiration.

Prepare the other banner layers using the blackout kraft-stock. Sand and fray the edges and blend in distress ink, I used frayed burlap.

This years banner started with a creepy eye. I love these eyes and I really hope they return next year, but I stocked up just to be on the safe side. I love the cobweb die, it appeared on my 2017 banner but this time I made it more dimensional by only adhering at the edges. It’s cool to look back at the different techniques you use with the same products over time. Another reason I enjoy making something annually.

This is the first time I’ve used one of the dimensional domes and I’m hooked. I added some mushroom alcohol ink and distress rock candy crackle paint to make it grungy. I placed it over some creepy eyes and added the woodland branches die cut over the top, another die from last year and one that I just keep using.

The next piece I had in my head from the moment I saw the creepy eyes. Really simple and one of the easiest pieces to make. I added black soot distress crayon to the eyes. The iris pops out with a pin to make it easy to alter and then a dot of collage medium to secure back into place.

These ghosts are one of my favourite halloween die pieces from all the sets. I just love how they look like they’re howling. I love them in every project I’ve seen them used in. Super cool!! I decided to die cut mine from blackout kraft-stock and sanded back a little to give some dimension. I mounted the mouths over creepy eyes and added a cobweb from the same die set with the iris of a creepy eye in the center. Love love love these dies!!

Of course there had to be a hat from my favourite stamp set Distinguished (CMS371). I paired it with the very awesome bat crazy thinlits die set! I die cut from blackout kraft-stock and blended in vintage photo distress ink to match the pop of rusty hinge distress ink added to the hat and coat. I curled the bat wings and adhered by the body only to give some dimension. I added the iris from the creepy eyes to the center. Those eyes really are super creepy!

If creepy eyes grew on creepy trees how frightful would that be… I used a leftover bat from the bat crazy die and the tree from the ghost town die, along with a sentiment from the vintage spirits thinlits die set, all cut from blackout kraft-stock.

I told you that this witch had to stitch and I did with orange thread which popped against the awesome blackout kraft-stock and abandaoned paper pad, my favourite paper pads of all time! I use a Singer heavy duty sewing machine.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have enjoyed this years banner and it has inspired you to make your own. There are more details on 2017 and 2018 banners if you’re interested.
Zoe