Halloween Haunt

I'm normally not one for decorating like crazy for Halloween, but this year I have a new Halloween haunt. Almost all of what was used on this house is Stampin' Up, but most of it is retired because I just don't have a big need for Halloween stamps and like many of us, I'm trying to use up what I have, instead of just leaping to buy new. The great thing about Stampin' Up is that using their core colors, everything continues to match, season after season.

All the characters used around the house are from the retired set Booglie Eyes. Here the spider dangles from the eaves from some silver elastic cording (currently available).

I don't know why, but Frankenstein is climing the tree from Seasons of Happiness. I needed somewhere to put him, and he's too small to be behind the fence! :)

The roof is "shingled" with strips that were punched with the (currently available) scallop punch and then layered from the bottom of the roof to the peak. I actually did some of the copper embossing on the shingles with the Versamarker and its refill. I poured a little Versamark refill onto the marker's tip and then used the Spritzer like I would with a regular marker. Then I embossed over it just like you normally would. This isn't a tidy outcome, but that wasn't the point.

The chimney is embossed with Copper embossing powder and then sponged with black Stazon ink. Around the base are some Sunflower dew drops because I wanted a little visual interest up there.

The fenceline is a stamped image from, I think, Martha Stewart's line, but you could easily sketch it out and then cut it out. I stamped it in Chocolate Chip ink onto some retired SU designer paper, then before cutting it out, I layered it on a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock so it would have more body to it and stand up better on its own. See below for tips on cutting out the fence using punches to get into the little spaces.

On the back of each fencing panel I mounted some More Mustard grasses.

The mummy was colored on the lines with Going Gray and Creamy Caramel markers and then the color was "smooshed" around using a blender pen.

Here is the stamp that I used three times for the fencing around the house.

Around the edges of each fence top, I used my 1/8" round punch so I didn't have to squeeze in there with my snips, and then in between the slats, I punched out what I could using my 1/4" square punch. Where the 1/4" wouldn't go, I punched there with my 1/8" round punch again, just to give my snips somewhere to get in there.

And, just for reference, here's the naked birdhouse before I got started. You can usually buy these at any craft store. Before you start, I like to take a permanent marker in a complimentary color and color all the edges of the house, this way if your paper is imperfectly applied, you don't see the gaps through to the plain birdhouse body.

This project took a while, and I recommend using a ruler or scrap paper to measure out your pieces so you don't waste paper trying to get things to fit. Any questions about how I did something, please feel free to ask!