Today's Guest: Less Cake {more frosting}

Hey all you eighteen25 fans! (which would include me....since I'm kind of an eighteen25 groupie.) My name is Lara. But most my bloggy buddies know me as "Ellie g" at Less Cake {more frosting}. Lots of people ask me why I blog under a different name. And the real answer is: I had taken an Ambien when I set up the blog. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Let this be a lesson to you, children....
Okay, let's get to it! I must start out by saying. I don't really like Halloween.Well, that's not true. I don't like SOME aspects of Halloween. I detest anything remotely scary or gory, or creepy in any way. My Halloween celebrations, to this day, consist of watching Halloween cartoons, (Peanuts, Charlie Brown, Garfield) and eating candy. I don't do Haunted Houses. (except the one at Disneyland) And I DON'T do scary movies. One movie I WILL do is Disney's "The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad." We watched it every year on VHS as kids. We'd get in our jammies and make popcorn, and snuggle up for our annual showing. (I admit I kinda miss the days where shows weren't always "on Demand". It made things special!) I also have to say, that it's borderline scary for me. C'mon! The Headless Horseman is a creepy guy! (Good thing the movie has that funny little plump girl, in the blue dress, to keep me laughing) Since I love this movie, (keep in mind--DISNEY version...not scary version) here's my homage to one of my favorite Halloween cartoons. This is one of my favorite techniques for creating custom art pieces. Yours will look different. That's what makes it so great. In fact, I couldn't make 2 identical ones if I tried. You must start out with some kind of canvas. I used to buy new ones with 40% off coupons at craft stores. Lately, the 80% off section at Hobby Lobby has become my headquarters for canvas. I think I paid $3.69 for this one. (Originally $45)

 Oh so sad. But begging for a make-over.

I started by spraying the whole thing with black spray paint. Sometimes I use a primer first, to help the new paint adhere to the glossy surface. This time I didn't.(you'll see why in a minute)

After it was dry, I taped off the raised sections so I could paint them a different color. When you do this consider the underlying color...as it will most likely show through at some point.

Next I designed my artwork in Photoshop & Illustrator. And then printed it on ink jet T-Shirt transfer paper.

Printing Tips

**Make sure it's the kind for white shirts, or it won't work.

**You must flip your picture to print out backward. (especially if it has words)

**Bold shapes work best, and words (if you want them legible) should be fairly big and chunky. (I didn't care if this one was really rough looking)

I made the image all together and then after printing, cut it apart. Your technique will depend on what your canvas looks like, and what art you put on it. Then place it where you want it and iron it on to the canvas.

**The iron-on paper works best on a HARD surface. So if you can, put a book or a block of wood up inside the back. That wasn't a possibility for me this time, and it still works fine. You just have to press hard and be patient.

**Slowly peel up the backing paper. Some of your transfer material won't stick. But as long as most of it does...keep peeling. If not, iron some more.

It needs to look weathered. So if you need to do some strategic "scratching" to get it to look good.....go ahead. I also did some strategic paint peeling on the black paint. To keep the weathered theme going.

This one got an extra special touch. I decided to add orange glitter to the pumpkin to make it look flaming....and it does! I love it! I just took a fine tip glue pen to the pumpkin and then poured the glitter on top. It worked out amazing!

The result is ALWAYS original. And in this case, it is perfect for a not so scary Halloween celebration. As Braum Bones warns us in his tale to Ichabod:

"Beware, take care, he rides ALONE!"

OOOOOOHHH.....almost too spooky!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN.

(and thanks eighteen25! You guys rock!)

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Thanks Lara (aka Ellie g)!!  :)

I love reading the blog Less Cake {more frosting}... Lara always has something creative posted over there. But let me tell you what i really love about it....  she makes me laugh. She's a funny girl and someone you'll want to be friends with. (even if she likes to dip her grilled cheese in peach juice... i'm not holding it against her.... you shouldn't either) Go over and tell her hi!  You'll be inspired and happy when you do!