Distracted by skulls

Hello all!  I suddenly realised Halloween is almost upon us and I've got a number of eerie/spooky/uncanny tags which need sharing before we get there.  So I'm going to be quick with these, as they were quick in the making too.  They had to be - I was in the middle of packing up ready for the move, so I really wasn't supposed to be playing at all.

The thing is I was packing my dies, and I came across some that I'd picked up dirt-cheap in the Sizzix sale months ago and hadn't had a chance to use.  In fact, they were still in their packaging.  So when I opened them to pack them (keeping the acetate for future crafting purposes), the plain white test cuts which are always included fell out.  

So there I was with these two paper skulls staring at me, and Halloween just a week away... what was I supposed to do?! The backgrounds were already under way - just layers of Distress Ink and Oxide, with even a bit of Oxide leaf print stamping somewhere in there.

All I had to do was add some stencilling, done with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and embossed with Hickory Smoke Distress Embossing Glaze, and the Tangled Webs, embossed in Seafoam White (the Vanilla which I would usually use had gone walkabout, and there was no time to look for it).

I smooshed the skulls in a bit of Pumice Stone (I think the paper they used for each test cut may have been slightly different, as the colour tones and ink soakage was different on each)...

... and did a bit of extra distressing with an ink-blender and whatever colour ink was on the sponge (somewhere between brown and grey!).

There had to be some words, of course, and who better than William Shakespeare to provide them?

The quote is on my EAB04 Autumn Edition for PaperArtsy and is embossed in my much-loved Wow Pepper powder.

I mounted the skulls on padded tape so that you would get some shadowy hollows in those eye-sockets.

I love this "alas, poor Yorick" skull so much.

A couple of Typed Tokens add a little touch of metal.

The words are highlighted with some acrylic paint.

And I've only just noticed that I forgot to add the twine at the top of the tags before photographing them.  Ah well!

For me skulls aren't merely "spooky" - they have a beauty... they are after all the protective shell which houses our brains - our minds, our imaginations.  What could be more beautiful than that?  So Yorick will have more than just seasonal use. (The other one might have to stick to Halloween - he's really a bit scary-looking!)

I hope you're geared up for however you might celebrate All Hallow's Eve - whether that's the full-on US version or the simpler apple-bobbing and toffee apples I associate with the Halloweens of my childhood (seems quite apple-based that, now that I look at it!).

Take care out there - it really is a scary world at the moment.  Stay safe, stay well, stay creative and I'll be back with some more eeriness very soon.

Alas, poor Yorick!  I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy: he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is! my gorge rises at it.  Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft.  Where be your gibes now? your gambols? your songs? your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar?  Not one now to mock your own grinning? quite chap-fallen.  Now get you to my lady's chamber and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favour she must come; make her laugh at that.

From Hamlet by William Shakespeare

I'd like to join in at Tag Tuesday where they are playing All Hallow's Eve as the theme

Over at Try It On Tuesday they're playing Embossed - both the webs and the Gothic stencilling are embossed, so this should fit right in

#newbloggersucks