Halloween Folk Cat

Hi Everyone!

This is the first in a series of folk art characters I’ve created since being a part of Johanna Parker Design’s JPD Partners in Craft Network! I am truly so honored to be here!

This project has turned out to be so much more fun than I ever anticipated and I’m so happy to share it with you in this tutorial.  I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Since this is the first character in the series I have attempted to include as many details as possible in this tutorial.  These same techniques are used in most of the characters so those tutorials will be shorter and refer back to this one.

(The instructions for the banner are in the next post.)

First I cut out all the pieces on manilla card stock.  Mostly because my paper supply is very low right now but also because I knew I would be hand painting these anyway.

I used Copic Markers to create the ombre look and as you can see below, you don’t have to worry about blending too much because they will also be embossed - so this is a very forgiving process.  You don’t even have to be too particular with embossing the red, orange and gold because there is yet another layer we will be adding later on.

I used Dylusions black paint for the cat head and body and then I embossed the entire pieces with Tim Holtz Black Soot Distress Embossing Powder.  Sadly, I don’t think these are available any longer and I just love the texture but I have an idea how to fix that.  I will share that in a later tutorial.

Next, I inked up the face pieces and trim with Tim Holtz Old Paper Distress Ink and then topped it off with Old Paper Distress Embossing Powder.  I just really love the texture and vintage look the distress embossing powders give to these pieces.

Now for the finishing touches.  I wanted some sparkle but I didn’t want it to be to bright.  I used my African Gold embossing powder and Tim Holtz Speckles stencil to give the pieces more dimension and texture.  I’m so amazed how cool it turned out!

Then, to give these pieces some definition I inked all the edges in Black Soot Distress Ink.

Now to start placing everything……I played around with the layout a bit until I was happy with it and glued everything down with Scotch Tacky Glue.  I was pleased with how well it adhered to the embossed surfaces.

Now to make the collar.  I just love the look of these vintage decorations made with crepe paper and tissue paper so I had to try it!

I used black and orange crepe paper and trimmed about 1/4” off of the orange.  Next, I used my sewing machine to run a gathering stitch down the length of it and painted the black edge with Windsor and Newton Gold Acrylic paint.  (you can see more details of this process on the Banner Tutorial)

After the paint dried, I pulled up the gathering threads and glued it down in a circle using hot glue.

I also used hot glue to attach the body, collar and head together (making sure to put my gold smudges on the bottom to cover up later with a bow)

Now for the hat.  I cut some strips of black and orange tissue paper (two of each color) and ran a gathering thread down the length of the strip.  Then, using my fringe scissors I cut the fringe and pulled up the gathering threads.

I glued a section of the fringe to the bottom of the hat piece and then added some tinsel on top.

To make the fringe on top of the hat, I rolled up a piece of the leftovers of fringe and hot glued it together and then glued it to the top of the hat.  I also rolled up a swirl of tinsel and glued that on top as well.

Hot glue the hat on and you’re all done!!  Super fun - right?!?!?

Next….to pull it all together here are the instructions for the banner.

Don’t forget to purchase this cat pattern in .svg format here.

Please leave comments below if you have any questions and stay tuned for the second character in the series that is coming soon!!

Happy Halloween Crafting!