Swap: "A Haunting We Will Go"

I went out of my comfort zone and participated in my very first swap. 

The Yahoo group "All Things Tim" hosted 

 a Halloween themed swap using Tim Holtz products. 

It was to be a 4" x 6" postcard size on chipboard.  

This is what I came up with:

Here's how I made it:

1.  I cut two 4" x 6" pieces of recycled cereal boxes and glued them together.  I roughed up the shiney printed sides to make the glue adhere better.  Then each piece sat under something heavy until it dried...to keep the chipboard flat.
2.  I cut a 4" x 6" piece of scrapbook paper for the front.  I used "Pretty Please Polka Dot Orange" by My Minds Eye.  (I know the name of the paper because I bought it specifically for this swap)  Then I distressed around the edges with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink.
3.  I stamped the left screen stamp (from Tim Holtz) twice, directly onto the paper with Archival Jet Black ink.  In the center of the screens, I swiped on a subtle hint of Wild Honey Distress Ink.  I also stamped 1/2 of the large clock face directly onto the paper.
4.  Using a small clock stamp (from Tim Holtz) and the same 1/2 of the large clock face, I stamped with black ink on white cardstock.  I then "painted" Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade and Vintage Photo Distress Inks over the image using a water pen.  After they dried, I punched out the small clock using a 1.5" round punch and hand cut out the inside portion of the 1/2 clock face.  I also stamped the hands on the larger clock using black ink.  I then glued the cut out clocks onto the base paper.  I used a brayer on everything I glued to be sure each piece was securely down.

5.  Glued black ribbon onto the paper about 1/2" up from the bottom.
6.  I chose a vintage image and printed her onto white cardstock.  To set the ink, I sprayed with fixative and then using the same Distress Inks that I used on the clocks, colored her dress.  I also added some color under her eyes to make them more "spooky"!

7.  The hat is a SVG cut file that I created and cut using Sure Cuts Alot and my Cricut.  I cut it out of black cardstock and added the hatband and shading with watercolor pencils.
8.  Using Photoshop, I found the scroll artwork and made it the correct size.  I then found the font "Nightmare 5" on http://www.dafont/ and added the wording on the banner.  I printed it out on white cardstock and sprayed with fixative.  Shaded the banner with Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Inks and the water pen.  I hand cut out the banner and glued it to the paper.
9.  I stamped the spider in black ink and added Glossy Accents to the body for dimension.  I also created eyes using yellow Stickles.  The web string was drawn on with a thin Sharpie.

10.  I took clear round gems and colored them to match my paper using Red Pepper and Sunshine Yellow Alcohol Inks.  Glued them to the ribbon.

The back was required to be finished and, never having done a swap before, I wondered how I should do it.  I decided to create a "label" with the swap information.  I used PhotoShop and a clip art border to add the swap info.  I printed it out on a cream cardstock and then hand cut the label out and added some Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink to the info box.  I numbered and signed the label using a thin Sharpie.  The black background paper is "Texture Black" from The Paper Studio.  I used more of the front base paper on the sides, which I tore using a deckle ruler.

So there you have it...my first Swap submission!  I made 18 of these.  I had the basic idea in my head and probably spent most of one day gathering, creating and placing the elements I wanted to use. 

I can't wait to see the pages I get back from the other swap participants.  I'll be sure to share them with you!