Day 3 of THE 31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN WITH SMEARED AND SMUDGED

I'm Lady Brayton.  Welcome to my blog!

I am participating as a wicked blogger for THE 31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN blog hop hosted by the Smeared and Smudged Forum. 

I will be posting a new, stamped project everyday during the month of October dealing with the themes of Halloween and Day of the Dead. 

To learn more about the 31 Days of Halloween and to find out how non-bloggers can win prizes, click this link. There will be multiple prizes daily and a HUGE GRAND PRIZE at the end of the month!

 For your convenience, I will keep the blog roll posted on the left sidebar of my blog.  The hop goes LIVE everyday in October at 9:00am PST. 

You should have arrived here from Vee's Blog and your 

next stop on the hop is Lindsay's Blog.

The start of the hop is Terra's blog.

Today is Day 3 of the 31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN

Here is my offering:

(click images to enlarge)

This is the Halloween Decor Swap gift I made for Shell.  I only had 2 crappy pics so Shell was kind enough to take photos for me.  I started with Smeared Ink's "Bony Bunny Head" and chopped off his ears leaving me with a wicked skull image.  I printed the design to a suitable size to fit the face of a small foam pumpkin.  I cut the design out and outlined the image with an exacto-blade.  I then carved the silhouette with a rotary tool.  As you can see from the bottom photo, I did not cut through the entire pumpkin.  I just took the orange bit off to expose the "flesh" of the pumpkin.  Next I held the image over the silhouette and carved out the black parts of the design.  When I was almost finished, my template kept slipping so I didn't carve the image 100% accurately, but I think it still resembles the original skull pretty closely.  For carving the black parts and fine lines I used a wood-burning set which included and exacto-blade bit.  It cut through the foam splendidly!  I did a little sanding to smooth out some of the drill work.

Things I learned doing this project and tips to pass on:

It is best to print the design on sticker paper and apply to the pumpkin so there is no slipping of the template or stencil.  I had no idea sticker paper for printers existed.  If you don't want to spend money on sticker paper or can't find any, use cheap PVA glue and glue the image to the pumpkin.  At the end of carving, a 20 minute soak in the sink will remove the glue and paper.  The foam will dry and will not be harmed.  If using sticker paper, it peels right off and needs no soak time.

If using a wood burning kit work outdoors as the foam fumes are toxic.  Luckily I knew this :)  Also, have a glass of cold water nearby to soak your finger which will most likely get burned at some point no matter how careful you are.  Luckily I always have cold drinking water with me.  Don't wear contact lenses when drilling.  Even with safety glasses, dust will get in your eyes.  If you are visually impaired, wear your glasses with safety glasses over them. 

 Always wear protective glasses/goggles.  Trust me :)

Research carving foam pumpkins before actually attempting to carve foam pumpkins.  Lol! 

 I found these tips AFTER I carved the pumpkin.

Have fun hopping!

~ Lady B ~

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

Party Time Tuesdays: Frightfully Scary/Halloween - I carved a pumpkin from a stamp

Use it Tuesdays: Use hoarded supplies.  I used a foam pumpkin left over from last year and I used a wood burning tool (from 5 years ago) which I have never used until now.

Bearly Mine: Halloween - I carved a pumpkin

Art With No Boundaries: Halloween - I carved a pumpkin from a stamped image.