August 31, 2015

No. 31 Haunted Lane

Hello everyone!

I've just finished a Halloween project which I am calling "No. 31 Haunted Lane".

It is a Victorian Style house designed with lots of construction details - tower, dormer, porches, etc.

It features the 2015 Halloween paper line from Graphic 45 - "Rare Oddities". I used both the 12x12 and 6x6 paper pads.

But as you'll see in a minute, the project is much more than the house - it opens up on the left and right to showcase niches with little Halloween oddities and 31 little treat drawers to countdown the days from October 1st to Halloween.



So let's first take a tour of the outside...

The front door features one of the images from the Rare Oddities paper - a skull in a glass dome.
Above the door in the window is a little gargoyle.

You can also see the columns and railings for both the entrance porch and the side porch.

The images you see in the windows came from several Laura Carson (Artfully Musing) digital image sheets which I purchased from AlphaStamps.com.  Many of them are from Laura's Halloween Carnival series which I made in 2013; some are from her new Alchemy series.

As we turn to the right we see how the side porch wraps around.

We also get a good view of the chimney and fireplace.


















The back side of the house features windows with more of the Laura Carson images.

On the right side roof, the circular object is the lid which allows access to a storage space for extra Halloween treats.













... and then we come around to the left side of the house.

In the back of the house you can see a ghost lurking in the circular window.

The octagonal tower has a roof that resembles a witch's hat.

Lots more of the images add interest to these tower windows as well.







So now let's open up the house...






... starting with the tower.

Here you can see the first 12 treat drawers.  Each one is big enough to hold a Hershey Kiss (but only one - hence the need for the extra treat storage space in the back of the house.)  The numbered tags are Tim Holtz Type Charms for which I made the numbers using MS Word.

Each side of the tower also has three niches decorated with "oddities", The niches are one inch deep.





Let's take a closer look at each niche,,,





In the top left we have a bouquet of black roses in a glass bottle.  I rolled up a strip of the decorative paper and put it inside the bottle.

The skeleton in the frame was fussy cut from the paper line.  I used an acrylic cabochon and filigree frame (AlphaStamps) to complete this item

The tiny bottle is one of Tim Holtz' Tiny Vials.  This bottle as well as all of the other bottles and jars in the niches have labels from "Witchy Little Labels" Collage sheet (Teri Calia, available from AlphaStamps).









In the next niche, we have a disembodied skeletal hand clutching a bottle of poison.

There is a cameo of a skeletal lady in a filigree frame (AlphaStamps) hanging on the wall.

A cobweb from a chipboard set of cobwebs and spiders from CoffeeBreakDesigns finishes this niche.










... and finally at the bottom are some teeny tiny potion bottles (AlphaStamps).











On the top right in the tower we have a bat in a Tim Holtz glass dome.  Another one of his tiny vials sits next to the dome.

On the wall, an eye is gazing at us (AlphaStamps).















Below is a skull trapped in a bird cage (Tim Holtz).

A raven sits on the shelf below.
















The last niche in the tower features more of the tiny vials with Witchy Labels, a Poison placque and a little owl charm (AlphaStamps).










... and now let's move on to the right side of the house.

The front section with the dormer hinges on the right and opens to reveal more niches and treat drawers.

These niches are a little deeper since the right house section offers more space.

On the left side, an image from the Rare Oddities paper line decorates the top.







Now let's look at these niches more closely.





On the top left we have another of the skeletal cameos is a filigree frame.

A book charm is displayed on the shelf.

I followed Laura Carson's tutorial to make the unique skeleton hourglass from some tiny bottles and skeleton charms.

By the way, Laura Carson is having another Halloween event this year - it is sure to be super!! - see the badge on the right or follow this link.





In the next niche down, a poor skeleton is unceremoniously stuffed inside while a spider crawls up the back.




















... and in the bottom niche a tiny gargoyle (AlphaStamps) stands guard,


















On the top right a little skeleton bead.

















In the next niche, two claws are hanging from the ceiling and grasp an eyeball (AlphaStamps).

And in a little crock boiling over with green goo another of the skeletal hands is poking out.










And finally on the bottom right we have a skull in another glass dome.

Next to it are some books I created from chipboard and images from the Rare Oddities paper.

Framed on the wall is another image from the paper line.














Here;s what the house looks like with both sides open...




In case you were counting the treat drawers and realized that a few were missing...


... here's where they are hiding - behind the front door.












If you would like to take a video tour, I've posted a video to my YouTube channel.

Also, in the next week I should have all the construction videos, cutting guide and templates ready to post, so stay tuned if you would like to build this project yourself.


3 comments:

Linda FS said...

As always an amazing attention to both detail and creativity. Of course, all of the oddities incorporated in every niche both inside and outside are astounding. But the technical details of the sections opening and closing is also astounding. It is absolutely intriguing how you got all of the movable (opening) parts to cooperate so seemlessly with the non-moving parts. And then all the little drawers with the treats interspersed with the oddities inside. I have to say that the witch's hat as a turret is fantastic and my favorite bit, followed by all of the details of the front door section, including the steps, railings, font door decoration AND the gargoyle. A masterpiece of cunningly integrated spookiness and fun. Perfect for Halloween!

Unknown said...

Amazing! I cant wait for your instructions. I love your work. I just got done making your Christmas village advent, and I am in the process of making another one only for Halloween! will post when its done.
Again thank you for your sharing your amazing work!

Theresa said...

Wow! Wonderful use of the space and great ideas for what to put into all the little niches. My daughter is a nut for halloween and I can see this in her future. thanks so much for sharing.