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!  

Vintage Halloween Banner

Original Post: October 2017

Disclaimer: In the name of full transparency, please be aware that this blog post contains affiliate links and any purchases made through such links will result in a small commission for me (at no extra cost for you).

TUTORIAL

This super cool banner has been so much fun to make and it's actually really easy too.  I purchased this pattern from svgcuts.com - it's called "Midnight Jamboree," and I purchased the digital paper for the one below from Etsy stores HoneydesignStore and EmilyPetersonStudio .

But loving vintage Halloween decoration so much, I just had to play around with some ideas I had for making this one with a Victorian touch.  So here goes......

For the Jack O'Lanterns, I printed them out on digital paper I purchased more than 10 years ago and I'm sorry to say I have no idea who to credit for this, but it was the perfect pumpkin color.  I inked all the edges of each piece with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Rusty Hinge, to give them more definition and also to make each layer a different shade. Then I put all the Jack O'Lanterns together according to Mary's tutorial on svgcuts.com and used pop-dots between the layers for added depth.

For the banner pages, I found the perfect paper on  HoneydesignStore on Etsy, printed and cut them out.  Next, I really love vintage rosettes and so I used my Tim Holtz rosette die and cut out several black rosettes.  I played around with several layouts before I decided on orange tinsel.  I love the way the black rosette shows through the orange tinsel!

Next, I wasn't sure how the mini vintage postcards would look but I ended up really liking it.  I decided to ink the edges of the orange circle (which I cut out with my Taylored Expressions Stitched Circle Stacklets die set) with black ink just to add a little more contrast.  I'm not sure that it really accomplished that, but I liked the effect so I went with it.

Next, I wanted to do something different with the bands that go across the top of the banner shapes.  I found some ribbon I had from years past from Recollections that went really well with the tinsel so I glued that in between the layers of the bands and then glued the bands to the banner shapes.

Since I had added ribbon between the layers I used my Martha Stewart punch to add holes to the ribbon for stringing.

I was pretty happy with how it was starting to come together but I didn't like the holes showing up so much.  It seemed like something was missing but I don't have much in the way of gems or bling so I decided to try making gems out of hot glue, knowing that some have had good luck with this.  So I just made a bunch of 'gems' - trying to get them as much the same size as I could.....

And then I used my Adirondack Alcohol Ink to turn them orange...

Then, I just picked the two that were the closest to being the same size for each banner shape and voila!  I think it made a big difference!

Anyway, I strung them with twine - would really like to improve this on the next one and use ribbon or something a little nicer, but all in all, I am pleased with the results!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  Please let me know if you have any questions :)