This is a unique challenge blog where we are inspired by and focus on the Vintage; shabby; mixed-media; art journaling; industrial, timeworn and steampunk genres and encompass the talent, flair, expertise and ideas of many artists that we are inspired by. We welcome all types of projects - cards, journaling, assemblage, layouts, albums, atcs, altered art in fact whatever you want to share (as long as it is in good taste).

Friday 23 October 2015

Welcome Candy as our Guest Creative Guide

Welcome to our Friday Guest Post everyone and all I can say is you are in for such a real TREAT. When I first saw this project and post my jaw dropped to the floor in sheer delight and amazement, oh my gosh you are sure gonna love it and of course it comes from our wonderful dear friend and ex Creative Guide Candy Colwell.



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Hello A Vintage Journey Friends! 
I am Candy Colwell from Springfield, Missouri. My blog name reflects my philosophy that "Creativity Is Contagious".

This is like a homecoming for me as I was one of the original "Creative Guides" when "A Vintage Journey" began in February of 2014. You can click on my photo below to be transported back to that beginning post and see my "all about me."

I would like to thank Brenda and all of the guides at A Vintage Journey for welcoming me back to do this guest designer piece for all of you. It is such a thrill for me!


I have been a fan of Tim Holtz since I began this art journey several years ago. I love his grungy style and particularly his Distress Inks and Ideaology lines of products. Even more than his grungy style, I am drawn to the vintage aspect of it. There is something about vintage work that I find calming, nostalgic and so reflective of our own past experiences. Vintage work makes me feel good inside; to see it and create it! 

Recently, I was proud to be a part of the "Curiosity Crew", a design team for another heavily influenced Tim Holtz challenge based on "Compendium of Curiosities III". I am currently thrilled to be a member of DecoArt's International Design Team with more of a mixed media focus. 


October's theme at A Vintage Journey is "Journaling with Tim". This is a perfect theme for me as I am currently fascinated with creating my own art and junk journals. Since it is so close to Halloween, I have created an art/junk journal with a twine binding to resemble a Haunted House using a vast array of DecoArt and Tim Holtz products. But this house exterior doesn't necessarily have to be a Haunted House. For example, with different colors and embellishments, it could be a gaily decorated Christmas house with Santa in the window instead of a witch.

The twine binding is an awesome way to attach signatures or pages to your book without sewing anything. You can simply add, remove or move pages around in your journal whenever you want simply by slipping the pages through the twine binding. And yes, they do stay in place!

**Note - you don't necessarily have to use twine. You can use waxed linen thread, string, ribbon, fibers, cording; whatever you choose to use. I actually used almost a black cord type twine for this book.

I hope that you will enjoy this pictorial tutorial and that it will inspire you! Let's get started ...


For this project, you will need the following list of supplies:

DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics - Carbon Black, Titan Buff, Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide, Quinacridone Gold, Medium Grey Value 6, Dark Grey Value 3, Burnt Umber, Payned Grey
DecoArt Media Antiquing Cream - Raw Umber
DecoArt Media White Gesso
DecoArt Media Texture Sand Paste
DecoArt Media Modeling Paste
DecoArt Media Crackle Glaze
DecoArt Media Crackle Paste
Archival Jet Black Ink (Permanent ink)
Distress Inks - Tattered Rose, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Weathered Wood, Fossilized Amber, Ground Espresso
Distress Paint - Picket Fence
Tim Holtz Stamp Sets - Oddities, Mini Halloween 2, Regal Findings, Photo Studio
Misc. Oxford Impressions Halloween Stamps
Tim Holtz Tissue Tape - Hobgoblin, Regions Beyond
Misc. Tissue Tape
Tim Holtz Ideaology - Tiny Vials, Foundry Frames, Fragment Charms, Regions Beyond 8x8 Paper Stash, Oddities Adornments, Plaquette
Sizzix - Artful Dwellings, Mini Openings Set, Sized Arches, Graveyard, On The Fence
Black Adhesive Pads
Specialty Stamping Paper
Detailer Water Brush
Sticky Back Canvas
1/4" and 1/2" Scor Tape
Black Embossing Powder and Embossing Ink Pad
Glossy Accents
Glue Stick
Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
Corrugated Cardboard
Black Cardstock
Chipboard
Vintage Photos sized to fit the project
Vintage Black Netting and Muslin
Black Cording (for the spine signatures)
Black Photo Corners
Grass or mossy substance
Mini Metal Lion Head Door Knocker and Mini Metal Hinge, Dresdin Ornate Piece (behind Plaquette)
Black Spider (to tie onto spine binding)


Begin with two 6" x 6 1/2" pieces of chipboard for the book covers and a 6" x 1" piece of chipboard for the spine. (Six inches will be the height of this book.)


Now using corrugated board from smaller cardboard boxes, cut two pieces 5 3/4" x 6". These will be glued over the chipboard covers to create "siding" for the house. 

Using Tim Holtz' Artful Dwellings die cut, cut 4 of the largest house, 4 of the next size house and 2 of the tallest, thinnest house. Cut straight across one of the tallest, thinnest houses where it starts to rise to a point. Join this piece with the bottom of the other tall thin piece to create a "tower" on one end of the cover. The other pieces will be stacked on top of each other to create various thicknesses and depths. 

Cut the windows on the Artful Dwellings pieces using Tim Holtz' Mini Openings die cut. Cut THREE of the arched front door (on the largest of the Artful Dwellings pieces) using the smallest of the arches from Tim Holtz' Sized Arches die cut. (Keep one of the arched door pieces.) Leave ONE of these pieces without a door. It will be used as the backing for the front door assembly. Cut only one of the paned window and one of the small single window out of the next size dormers. The other pieces will be used as a backing. Tear away the smooth top layer of the corrugated paper on the exterior dormer pieces, revealing the corrugated texture underneath. This will represent "siding" on the old creaky wooden house. Do not peel away the smooth paper on the backing dormer pieces.


Cut a hole in what will be the book cover front (that will form a picture window). Your window will be 2" x 1". Measure 1/4" from the edge and 1" up from the bottom. This will be your outside lower corner of the window. Then measure up 2 1/2" from the bottom. This will be the top corner of the window. Draw lines to complete the window and then cut out using an Exacto Knife.


Remembering that your height on the book is 6", measure in 3/4" from one side of the chipboard. Draw a line down the length of the chipboard. Repeat this for the other chipboard piece. Add 1/2" and 1/4" Scor Tape to the chipboard base everywhere except this 3/4" strip at the end. This 3/4" strip will become part of the book binding.

Peel away the adhesive protection and lay the 6" x 5 3/4" piece of corrugated board over the chipboard. Be sure that the corrugated texture is running horizontally to represent wooden siding. Use an Exacto Knife to cut out the picture window on the front cover of the book.


Place the 1" x 6" chipboard strip between the two chipboard book covers. Use Masking Tape to join the spine and the book covers together. First tape the outside edges together, turn the book over and tape the inside edges together. Gently bend the book covers back and forth to make them more pliable.

Now the REAL creative fun begins!


Do not paint over the spine area of your book. Paint all of the exterior corrugated area first with DecoArt Media White Gesso. When that is dry or gently heat set, follow with a coat of DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Titan Buff. Be sure to add Gesso and then the paint about 1/2" in from the edges on the INSIDE of the book covers as well. (The rest of the inside will be covered with paper.)


While the exterior book covers are drying, use a vintage image sized to fit into the arched doorway of the haunted house. In this case, I have used this little girl. I created a witch hat to fit her head out of black cardstock. I laid the girl's head onto the cardstock to get the proper size for the hat. Draw an oval to represent her hat brim. Cut it out and make a horizontal slit a little off center of the hat. Bend the top portion of the oval at the slit. This will be the outer brim of the hat. Now draw a triangle starting at either side of the girl's head. Add about 1/8" to your pencil lines and cut out the triangle. Bend the cardstock back at the lines and create the top portion of the witch's hat. Stick the girl's head up through the slit in the brim. Add a dot of glue to the back of her head and glue the back of the oval in place. Then lay the triangle over her head that is sticking through the slit, arrange it to fit and glue in place. Add a piece of vintage netting to hide where the hat is joined and also for added interest. I also added a black netting shawl over her shoulders, tied it in the front and added a dot of Glossy Accents under the knot to hold it in place.


The Artful Dwellings die cut pieces will be stacked like this: The largest piece for the front door assembly is stacked and glued three together. Glue a piece of distressed text in the center of the fourth piece. This will fill up the doorway and serve as a background for the little witch. Make two stacks of two of the next dormer pieces and glue them together. One should have a paned window the other should have a single centered window. This leaves the longest, thinnest tower piece that has already been glued together. Just as you did with the book covers, first paint a layer of White Gesso. When dry, add a layer of Titan Buff and let dry or gently heat set.


Add DecoArt Media Modeling Paste to the corrugated sides of the front door to make it smooth all the way around. Let dry.


Dry brush DecoArt Fluid Acrylics Burnt Umber over all of the corrugated pieces and in all of the openings. Add more brown to areas around the window and door openings and randomly on the "siding". Then add some black just at the openings and randomly on the siding to give even greater depth. Glue the sized images of Halloween people in the window openings of the tower. Also paint the front door with Burnt Umber.


Now for the trim to hide the corrugated edges of the dormers and tower! Using a fairly stiff brush, dry brush Titan Buff over a piece of textured black cardstock. Then cut strips that will glue onto the top and the side edges of the stacked dormer pieces. For the front door assemblage, cut a strip 3/4" wide and the length of the cardstock. Score the strip at 1/4". Fold down the score line and add Scor Tape on the underside of the strip. For the remaining pieces, cut two strips 1/2" wide and the length of the cardstock. Score at 1/4" and add Scor Tape to the underside of the cardstock. Set aside.


The dormer with the single window will now be cut so that the larger front door assemblage fits snuggly onto the dormer top. Lay the front door assemblage on top of the single window dormer piece. Center the point of the tower on the small window. Use a pencil to mark the slopes of the front door assemblage. Using an Exacto Knife, cut away the top corrugated layer of the dormer only. Glue the dormer in place at the top of the front door assemblage.


Using the "31" Ideaology Plaquette cover it with a light coat of DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Quinacridone Gold and gently heat set. Then apply a layer of DecoArt Media Crackle Glaze and let dry. Once dry, add a layer of DecoArt Media Raw Umber Antiquing Cream and wipe away the excess. (In this photo, you can also see the trim strips in the background that have been cut to the length of the dormer sides and ready to be glued in place.)


I added a backing for the Plaquette with an ornate copper piece that was distressed with DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Paynes Grey. I made two small holes in the metal piece and also the corrugated front door assemblage and added Long Fasteners to secure the "31" Plaquette in place.


Adding the trim strips to the dimensional pieces on the house was easy and fun. I cut them to the length they needed to be. Then I removed the adhesive backing and starting on the front of each piece, pressing the front of the strips in place first and then pressing the sides in place. The dry brushed black trim really sets off the dormers and adds even more depth. Pieces of trim under the roof peaks will be added later.

None of the haunted house pieces have been glued in place yet! That comes at the very end! Now it's time to add the roof peaks and also the graveyard!


Using Tim Holtz' Graveyard die cut, I cut three sets of gravestones out of plain Grungeboard. I then cut them apart and randomly stacked some of the headstones by two or even three to give them depth. The roof pieces are all cut from chipboard. 

Their sizes are as follows:

Front door assemblage is 6" x 3/4". The two identical dormers are 4 1/2" x 1/2". The tall tower is 5 1/2" x 1/2". All the roof pieces were scored in the center. 

All of these pieces were first painted with DecoArt Media Texture Sand Paste and gently heat set. This gives them a gritty feel. The headstones were then painted first with DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Medium Grey Value 6 followed by random edging with DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Dark Grey Value 3. The roof pieces were all painted with DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Paynes Grey. Once dry, all of the roof pieces were hot glued into place, being sure that they lined up flush on the back side of the roof peaks. 

Now the outside pieces were finished and ready to be glued in place. BUT ...

the spine assemblage and the interior covers need to be finished before all of the dimension is added to the front cover!


Here is a photograph of the interior of the book at this point. You can see how the interior covers have been distressed at least 1/2" all the way around. Paper will eventually cover almost all of the interior covers and create a finished look and ready for embellishing.

Let's start the final spine assembly ...


I am using the natural color Sticky Back Canvas that is cut in a 2 5/8" x 7" strip. The width of the strip will fit perfectly into the area in between the corrugated covers of the book. The length is cut 1" longer than the length of the book so that there is 1/2" of fabric that can be folded over the chipboard spine and book covers, leaving a nice finished edge. Using a baby wipe, randomly add Paynes Grey paint to the canvas.


Find the center of the canvas and peel back the adhesive backing to that point. Press the canvas in place and continue to lay the Sticky Back Canvas over the chipboard spine and book cover ends. Fold under the 1/2" canvas on each end. Gently move the book covers and press the canvas in place so that the book covers can open and close properly.


I found two pieces of paper that would be perfect background pages for my interior covers from Tim Holtz' new 8" x 8" Regions Beyond Paper Stash. They are cut in 5 5/8" x 7" pieces; so that there will be approximately a 1/4" edge all the way around the book covers and a small overlap at the center of the interior spine. I distressed the papers first with Wild Honey and then Ground Espresso around the edges. But before I could glue them in place, I needed to add my watchful witch at the picture window on the cover of the book!


Also from the Regions Beyond Paper Stash, there are two wonderful pages full of cabinet card vintage photographs. Here, I have applied the same technique for adding a witch had and shawl that I did on the little girl at the beginning of this tutorial. I have put the photographs side by side so you can see the difference it makes to add the witch outfit and also by adding Wild Honey Distress Ink around my witch. I glued her in place at the window, allowing the hat to slightly be above the window opening.

Now it was time to add the interior book papers and make it look more professional and finished.


I added Scor Tape around the edges of the papers and also a couple of strips across the interior of the papers and glued them in place. Here is the new and improved interior of the book covers. 

Now to start embellishing the interior pages ...


These are the kids from Tim Holtz' Photo Studio stamp set. He affectionately refers to them as "the creepy kids". And yes, they are a bit creepy! But they are perfect for this Halloween art/junk journal. I stamped them on Specialty Stamping Paper using Archival Jet Black Permanent Ink. I heat set them and then began coloring them with various Distress Ink colors and Tim's Detailer Water Brush. Then they were cut out and laid to the side while I prepared the creepy, rickety old fence that would be in front of them.


Tim's Sizzix On the Fence die cut is a perfect rickety fence. It was cut out of plain Grungeboard and then covered with a generous coat of DecoArt Media Crackle Paste. Once dry, I added a coat of DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Titan Buff and then DecoArt's Media Raw Umber Antiquing Cream. I wiped off the excess cream, leaving a nice weathered crackled, peeled paint effect on the fence.


I used one of Tim's Foundry Frames with another of the vintage cabinet card portraits from his 8" x 8" Regions Beyond Paper Stash to create this lovely portrait of Grandma Witch. Her witch's hat was created as I had done on the previous witches. I added DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Carbon Black around the perimeter of the frame (using my finger) to give it more of a perimeter against the paper background and also to bring out the black witch hat even more. 


Next I added some Oxford Impressions vintage pumpkins stamped onto orange cardstock, a black crow stamped on Specialty Stamping Paper and a lone spider from Tim's Mini Halloween 2 stamp set. I also added some Regions Beyond Tissue Tape to the background page and a Happy Halloween banner using Black Embossing Powder on muslin. So this is the left interior cover. Some of the elements were put in place using black pop dots. So there is even a little bit of dimension on the interior covers.


The right interior cover has more Regions Beyond and other random Tissue Tapes added to the background paper. I stamped Oxford Impressions' "Trick or Treat" onto one of Tim's labels from the Regions Beyond 8" x 8" Paper Stash. The vintage children are photos that I have saved to my computer and sized to fit the page. The moon and witch hat are also Oxford Impressions stamps. The hand is a Tim Holtz stamp from his Oddities stamp set. It and the moon face have been colored using various Distress Inks and a Detailer Water Brush.


Here is a photograph of the completed interior covers (with the twine binding already in place).

Now that the interior pages are finished, it is time to put the finishing touches on the roof peaks. Then I can glue the exterior haunted house pieces in place and add the twine binding to the spine of the book. 

To finish off the back side of the roof peaks (which will be visible above the top of the book) simply lay each dormer piece on top of the scrap paper left from the interior book covers. Draw a pencil line down either side of the roof peak and down the sides of the dormers until they will be glued onto the book front. Cut out the pieces and adjust them to fit the back sides of the dormer and peaks. Distress them and glue them in place. Now add small pieces of black cardstock trim about 3/8" wide underneath the roof peaks. I simply hot glued them in place and then cut them off at the bottom of each roof piece. Refer to the photograph below to see their placement.


Now it's finally time to hot glue all of the exterior pieces in place to bring the haunted house book to life!! First, I glued the tower to the left and just over the Sticky Back Canvas edge. Next I glued the dormer on the far right where the end of the roof peak is lined up with the side of the book. Then I nestled the center piece in its place. Next came the "grass" followed by the gravestones.


To add the twine binding, decide on the number of twine pieces you want to wrap around the spine for adding your pages. In this case, it is 5. The length of this book is 6". You need to double that number to figure the length of twine on both sides of the spine as you are wrapping it. So, that number is now 12". Take the number of twine wraps (5) times the number of doubled inches to wrap the spine one time (12) and add another 12-18" to the total. So, the total length of twine you will need for this spine twine binding to comfortably wrap this book is 72-78". (This the is formula you will need to twine wrap any spine-the number of times you wrap the spine is up to you.) 

Begin by leaving about a 6" tail and begin at the top outside of the book spine. Begin wrapping the spine towards the inside of the book. Make sure that the twine is not overlapping as you wrap and pull tight as you are wrapping.


Cross the top end (tail) with the bottom end of the twine up towards the upper end of the spine. To tie off, pass one end of the loose ends underneath ALL of the wrapped twine. Pull the twine tight while you are tying off the ends. Make sure that all of the wrapped twines are laying next to each other, not overlapping. Tie a square knot to secure. Then you can tie a bow or add embellishments to hide the knot. I also added some extra twine by tying it above the knot so I could add more embellishments to the spine.


First I created some charms out of Tim's Fragment Charms. I used images from his 8" x 8" Regions Beyond Paper Stash and glued them onto the Fragments using Glossy Accents. I also added two of Tim's new Oddities Adornments (the "fright" token and the spider charm). The "purified guts" vial is a Tim Holtz Tiny Vial that has a bit of DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Green Gold paint coloring the sides of the glass vial. The cork top is glued in place using Glossy Accents. All of these pieces are tied onto the spine using the twine. Finally, I added a rather large ominous looking spider that I found at a local craft store. It is also tied onto the spine using the extra twine pieces.


Now cut or create your interior pages, fold in the center and slip in between the twine bindings. You can add as many pages to each "signature" as you wish but usually between 4 and 6 pages is a good number.

Thanks so much for checking out this tutorial. I hope you enjoyed it and maybe learned something along the way or you were inspired to try something fun and a little different on your next artistic adventure!

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Wow, wow, wow. What did I tell you? How a-m-a-z-i-n-g is that?
Thank you Candy for all your time and hard work in creating something so different and so special for us, your creative mind is incredible and who knows where it will take you next but whatever it be we are going to remember this one for a very long time to come.

Please pop over and leave Candy some love and take a good look around her wonderful blog if you haven't already. There is so much creativity in this lady her talent shines through in everything she makes and she loves sharing everything with us.

Phew how do you follow that? Well we will on Monday with an extra Destination Inspiration post for the month and next Friday is one of our rare and popular Tag Friday posts, so we look forward to seeing you back again and you still have two more weeks to get an entry into Alison's Journalling with Tim challenge. See you there.

Have a great weekend.

hugs Brenda xxx

44 comments:

  1. Brenda.....you are too kind with your comments! I sooo appreciate your asking me to be a guest designer for you and the crew. I totally LOVED doing it and hope you will ask me again sometime. This was so much fun to make and I love the combination of Tim's wonderful products and DecoArt's Media line of products to alter surfaces and create really cool effects. <3

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  2. Welcome back Candy, as usual, you have created a stunning project. I love everything about it. It is fun and playful while still having a wonderful purpose. Creativity is certainly contagious when you show all the steps along the way. Thanks for your detailed tutorial and photos. We miss you here and hope to see you stop by again soon. S@ndy xx

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    1. Sandy, thank you so very much for the nice comments. I loved doing this journal cover.

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  3. Oh wow Candy what an amazing spooky book. So many brilliant details. That spider binding is fabulous. Thanks for sharing your talents back at AVJ xx

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  4. Oh Candy it is fantastic to have you joining us here again today, welcome back! You have totally surpassed yourself with this project, wow, wow, and wow again. So much creative genius has gone into every little detail! I love every corner of it, the way you have transformed the original vintage photos and stamps into Halloween witches and imagery is amazing, - the way you did the spine is so clever, every inside page is stunning, - love this so much and thank you for your detailed tutorial and all the time you must have spent on this, - it is simply amazing!!

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    1. My goodness Astrid....your art is always so inspiring to me. I am thrilled that you enjoyed this art journal cover so much! Thank you for ALL of the kind words. I loved doing this for AVJ. So fun!!

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  5. Welcome back Candy!!! What an incredible creation full of so many clever ideas!!! I LOVE the way you've dealt with the spine in particular. Thank you for sharing so many tips and techniques - as Astrid says you must have spent an age putting it all together and it's very much appreciated. Jenny xxx

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    1. Hello Jenny!! You are such a fabulous card maker as well as artist. I think you would soar with this twine binding idea. Thank you so much for the kind words.

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  6. Jaw-dropping indeed! What a wonderful return to AVJ, Candy - a fabulously spooky project full of wonderfully intricate details. I love the creepy children behind their fence, fabulous netting shawls around the other photos, brilliant corrugated texture throughout - just stunning!
    Alison xx

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    1. Alison!!! Thank you so much for the sweet comments! I love seeing what catches everyone's attention to this journal cover. I am such a fan of your work and your lyrical blog posts are always enchanting.

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  7. OMG....this is absolutely fabulous Candy.........wonderful details as always and your step by step is wonderful.
    Love the lady in the frame and those children.........in fact I love it all !!!

    Great to have you here at AVJ....come back soon xx We miss you xx

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    1. Hello my sweet friend, Annie. Thank you so much for your comments. They are always appreciated. I need to hop over to your blog and see what gorgeous creations you have been working in lately!

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  8. Absolutely fantastic piece Candy. I adore the corrugated card it adds so much texture and interest. I ansolutely live the imagery and how you added witches hats and shawls. I love the finishing touches like the dowel pieces the canvas spine and the aged paint effects. Absolutely brilliant piece of work. Tracy x

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    1. Hey Tracy!! I have missed you, girlfriend. You have been churning out such lovely creations on your blog. I am still just blown away with all you are able to accomplish in such short time! All amazing! Thank you so much for your kind thoughts.

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  9. Brilliant, Beautiful and Wow!

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    1. Hey Suzanne! It's been ages! 😊 I still love your vintage work and apologize that I don't make it by more often to check it out. We had some fun times working together at SSS. Thank you for your nice comment.

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  10. This is so totally amazing! Wow - I wish I could stay home from work today and make something inspired by this! Impressive stuff here!!!! TFS

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    1. Hello! First of all, congrats on your new grandson, Patton. Such fabulous news and pictures! I have 4 grandchildren and as you well know, they are such blessings! I also just saw your card with the hit air balloons. Just beautiful! Loved reading your posts and I wanted to thank you for the kind comments you left here.

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  11. Really fantastic and spooktacular Candy, many thanks for your great tutorial!

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    1. Hi Kerstin! I am a fan of your mixed media work! Always inspiring and different. You really have a way with steampunk! Thanks so much for your comments.

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  12. Welcome back Candy, what an incredible mind blowing post. I feel totally inspired. Thanks for sharing.
    Julie x

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    1. Hey Julie! Thank you so much for your sweet comments. It makes me feel so good to think I have inspired someone else. Your current blog feature with the altered bottles is so cool! LOVE what you've done on those bottles!

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  13. Welcome Home Candy! I always enjoyed seeing your work here and I still enjoy seeing it since I am an avid stalker! Your journal is beyond amazing! I am always impressed with your style and attention to detail! Fantastic detailed journey. Cheers

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    1. Hey Nicole! Thanks so much for your sweet comments. Girl, I have watched you take off with Ranger and Eileen Hull. Good for you! You do wonderful work and I am happy for you!

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  14. Oh my as always an amazing talent! Candy, this haunted house you built is filled with so many wonderful details and awesome artwork! Love all the hats and netting details for such a great 3-D effect! Did I say "AMAZING?" Hugs!

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    1. Hey Terry! You are so sweet! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving such a nice comment! I'm so glad that you love it so much! It was so fun to do; especially for all of the wonderfully talented souls at A Vintage Journey! <3

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  15. Candy, it is such a treat to see you back here at A Vintage Journey and as always, you have wowed us with your talent! This book is incredible! For me, it is always the little bits and pieces you add to your projects that takes them above and behond, I love the little witch in the doorway, the fantastic witch frame on the wall (the hats you did are a fabulous addition) and I even love that huge spider you added to the twine binding! I am a huge fan of DecoArt as well as Tim and love how you incorporated both so beautifully in your project. You are such an inspiration. Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us, you are always so generous with your how-to's. Hugs, Anne xx

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    1. Anne...thank you so much for your really sweet comments. You encourage me so much and inspire me through your always positive thoughts and your wonderful art! You are such a dear person and A Vintage Journey is enriched by your presence here. <3

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  16. oh my goodness candy - this is totally amazing - the details are really awesome - you have thought of everything!! big hugs rachel x

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    1. Hello Rachel! I thank you so much for your very kind comments. I'm so glad that you liked the haunted Halloween art journal so much! It was such fun to make and I hope it will inspire lots of people to try something different or outside of their comfort zone.

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  17. Simply incredible piece! Fabulous textures and what an amount of work for a fantastic result. Thanks for sharing, Candy!

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    1. Hello! I just took a quick hop to your blog and your art is beautiful! I so love your current painting and the spooky orange and black lantern before that! I am humbled by your stopping by the blog to see my art journal cover and thank you so much for leaving such a nice comment!

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  18. Holy Smokes, Candy, you've done it again and BLOWN my socks off! This is such a fun journal/album filled with such texture and technique. It's always a wonderful journey following your process. You totally ROCK!!

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  19. I loved this at first sight - thinking it was a Halloween decoration - and then to find that it's a Halloween BOOK!!! What a lot of love and labor you put into this marvelous creation Candy! Each detail from the book itself to the hand made witches hats and great method of binding! Thank you so much for being our Guest CG at AVJ - and for showing just how you made this beautiful book! Julia xx

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  20. Surely this has to be at the top of the list for THE BEST EVER Guest CG at A Vintage Journey. I can't even begin to fathom the extent of the artistic intrigue of this project Candy. Truly FABULOUS. Seriously WONDERFUL. Shaking my head in sheer amazement. AWED. So... HAPPY HALLOWEEN dear Candy.... you have done it up PERFECTLY. j.

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  21. Wow! An amazing project and a fabulous in depth tutorial, thank you Candy, your creativity knows no bounds ! Xx

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  22. Terrific to see Candy back at AVJ! Stupendously FAB-U-LOUS make!!! Your heart and soul goes into each and every make Candy - simply love all your amazing little details. Hope you are back again soon and thank-you for great step by step. Nicola x

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  23. Oh my gosh, this is amazing! What a fabulous Halloween book, so many incredible details and your tutorial is wonderful Candy, thank you so much for sharing your talent with us all, I don't have words to express how much I love this! Deb xo

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  24. This is sooooo cool! I love all the details and the binding instructions are great! Thanks Candy!

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  25. Omg! Candy!! I absolutely awe struck! Are you kidding me? This is so incredibly delicious!!Every inch of it- Your mind must never sleep- the imagination here is truly brilliant! I want to come play art at your house!! ")

    Thank you Soooo very much for providing this tutorial, If, and say If I ever get the ambition like you did, I think I should like to do one for the winter as you suggested!
    Absolutely delightful Candy!! xo

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  26. Oh my gracious... truly amazing seeing this again Candy. This is such a fabulous step by step - so many pictures and a great guide. STUNNING and SPECTACULAR.... j.

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  27. Superbe bravoooooo merci 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏🦋🦋

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