R.I.P. Mr Undertaker

Hi folks, today I'm sharing my fun adventure decorating an Etcetera Tombstone Tag. Not only did I end up with hands that were every bit as textured as the tombstone requiring a hose down, a hot shower and a major session with the scrubbie, it turned out to be one of those "fools rush in" kind of projects. I'm a great believer that any task is made easier with a little bit of forward thinking and planning which on this occasion I chose to ignore, so there were quite a few hiccups and hurdles to overcome along the way but I got there in the end.

I started off by applying Distress Grit Paste to the top and bottom overlay sections and while they were still wet, I pressed a Tim Holtz/Sizzix 3D Impresslits Medallion into the top section

and letters and numbers die cut using Tim Holtz/Sizzix Alphanumeric Thinlits into the bottom section. Any random old date was my thought at this stage but you will see later on that I should have given it more thought because the gentleman in question (Edgar Allan Poe I believe) certainly isn't dressed in 14th Century attire.

I attached the overlays to the tag with Distress Collage Medium Matte and applied Grit Paste to the middle section. Then the marathon began to transform this ghostly tombstone into something that wouldn't look out of place in an ancient graveyard. I mixed Black and White Gesso to create a dark shade of grey and applied all over the tag scrubbing the paint down into the detail and oh boy was there a lot of detail.

Then I applied layer after layer of drybrushing, lightening the gesso with more white each time and lastly drybrushing randomly and very lightly with Peeled Paint

I fixed a Baseboard Frame which I had coated lightly with Grit Paste, painted with gesso, sanded and drybrushed to a crunched up and distressed "perfect Undertaker" photo from Idea-ology Halloween Ephemera.

At this point I had another "should have planned this out" moment and decided that I wanted to use the bottom overlay section as a shelf, so throwing caution to the wind I managed to prise it off without too much damage and fitted it back on the tag with 4 layers of Tim Holtz/Sizzix Black Mini Foam Adhesive.

I stamped the image from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Inventor 4 on to Distress Watercolor card twice with Black Soot Archival ink and fussy cut. I layered them to create a bit more stability, applied a coat of Distress Vintage Collage Medium and fixed to the panel with Tim|Holtz/Sizzix Mini Foam Adhesive.

I added Idea-ology Mummy Cloth fixed in place with Vintage Distress Collage Medium and coloured lightly with Black Soot Distress Paint, Idea-ology Halloween Quote Chips, Halloween Remnant Rubs, Clippings Stickers and a Halloween Story Stick

Idea-ology Skulls and Heirloom Roses

an Idea-ology Tombstone and Boneyard Findings

I covered an Idea-ology Apocethary Vial with Grit Paste, coloured with Black Soot and Picket Fence Distress Paint to create a stone effect. I fussy cut a flower image from Idea-ology Halloween Worn Wallpaper and added Heirloom Roses highlighted with Picket Fence Distress Paint.

an Idea-ology Zombie Hand distressed with Black Soot Distress Paint and added an Idea-ology Halloween Remnant Rub on a strip of Halloween Worn Wallpaper.

and that date was bugging me, so I switched the 8 and the 3 around, put my feet up and enjoyed a well deserved cuppa before tackling the task of removing the grit paste from my hands and most of the cubbyhole surfaces.

Toodle-oo for now

Hugs Kath xxx