Distress Oxide Vortex & Halloween Misfits

I love Halloween. I love Dia de los Muertos too. But they are so different. Dia de los Muertos, as I wrote about here, is about celebrating the lives of loved ones who have passed away. It's fun, and joyful and bright. There's nothing dark or spooky about it at all, even though that's the perception from non-Southwest dwellers.

But Halloween does have a little darkness about it which I love. I love it because I feel like it's less about evil spirits, and more about misfits, and our attitudes about misfits.

If you're a female, odds are you are obsessed with the Salem witch trials. For women especially, the witch myth is all about outcast and unwelcome women. The Salem witches were most definitely outcasts, and witches in general are forced into the forests and their covens of similar outcasts because they're ugly, or maybe mentally or otherwise ill. I never thought it was a great message, but I'm pretty judgey about fairy tales in general.

Black cats are outcasts too - still to this day. Many of the iconic characters of Halloween are really just marginalized misfits - Frankenstein's monster, anything with a mask. For this reason, all those characters warm my heart. Halloween is the day they get to come out and just fly their flags for all to see. And get candy for it. It's sweet, really.

And black cats are the best cats, so there's that. 

So I love making cards that glamorize those outcasts - I've always been a sucker for an underdog, and this beautiful stamp set does just that. I love the flowy little silhouettes, the candy bucket, the motion in the image.

I decided to add just a little more motion with an Oxides vortex behind the witch and her kitty. I did that by brushing on Squeezed Lemonade, Peacock Feathers and Picked Raspberry Oxides with my "Life Changing" Blender Brushes onto just white cardstock. Then I put that in the center of my MISTI and centered this background stamp on the inked cardstock. I misted the stamp with water, and stamped it onto the background. Then I flicked a few more droplets onto it, set it with my heat tool and stamped the image in Nocturne.

I used the sentiment from this set to finish it off.

If The Broom Fits - Picket Fence Studios [ PFS ] Circles of Faith - Picket Fence Studios [ PFS ] That's Flocking Great - Picket Fence... [ PFS ] "Life Changing" Blender Brush Set -... [ PFS ] Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad... [ SSS | JGG | CRF ] Tsukineko VersaFine Clair NOCTURNE... [ SSS | ELH ] Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad... [ SSS | MFT | CST | CRF ] Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad... [ SSS | MFT | CRF ] Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White [ GNK ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSW | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT ] Absorber - Synthetic Cleaning Cloth [ AMZUS ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Mudder 10 Pack White Buffer Sanding... [ AMZUS ] Xyron ADHESIVE ERASER 23675 [ SSS | ART | AMZUS ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC [ ELH | SSS ] Tombow MONO MULTI Liquid Glue Two... [ SSS | ART | BLIC | ELH ] Ink Off Cloth [ INK ] Ranger 2 oz MISTER BOTTLE MIS30676 [ SSS ]

She's beautiful! Take that, Salem! Remember to be nice to misfits.

Loveyameanitbye.