Echo Park Apothecary for Halloween

Hi everyone,
It's Geli here. 

I had the perfect Halloween photo from last year to go with the new Echo Park Apothecary range.

The beauty of a grungy page is that you really can't make a mistake; just keep adding layers until you are happy. Let me take you through my process, which admittedly is a little all over the place. What can I say...it's school holidays!

I used the Under Your Spell  paper for the background and there wasn't much to add (except maybe a pinch of Wicket Potions , since it's quite perfect the way it is.

First I tore a hole for the photo. The hole needs to be about 1" smaller all around than what you want in the end, so don't make it too big! Scroll it open to reveal the nice colour on the back of the paper. I then messed around a little with Picket Fence Distress Crackle Paint. I like how it has a paint brush in the lid: minimum clean up!

Once it was dry I rubbed a little orange ink into it highlight the cracks and wiped the excess off with a baby wipe.

Then I stamped all around the hole. Yes, it means I don't see the cracks all that much anymore but that's what I'm talking about: layers!

For the black paint drips on the bottom I made a quick home-made comb from a scrap of cardstock packaging. I used a slot punch but you can use scissors too. It doesn't even have to be even.

I applied a generous amount of black soot Distress Crackle Paint and dragged the comb through the paint downwards. The messier the better. Easy!

While all this was drying I tore some strips from Wicket Potions  and inked around all the edges with a distress stain . A bit of chipboard barbed wire got a coat of glitter embossing and I added the silver pendant . Very gothic! To make it stand out I inked a bit under the pendant and popped on a black skeleton charm .

My journaling says, "Truth be told I'm not a big fan of the ghoulishness, but it is a bit of wild fun." The title chipboard  was embossed and inked. In the end I used a bit of Ranger Stickles here and there and it was done.

Don't I have a gorgeous family! Let's see what costumes they come up with this year...

Geli