Monday, October 4, 2010

Not a Shadow of a Doubt...It's Halloween!

A couple of weeks ago, I found half a dozen frames at Goodwill just screaming to be reincarnated into something for Halloween. Out came the black and silver paint, orange "gemstones", and glitter! It was a quickie project that followed up by posing the question,"What to put inside?"              
One of my very favorite things is a silhouette done of my daughter when she was two. Well...shadows are pretty spooky, aren't they? Not just ANY shadows, of course. How about a witch, since that is what she is dressing up as this year.

I had fun taking a profile photo of my daughter, and then utilizing Photoshop to drop out the background, fill in the profile and add a hat at a jaunty tilt. And I have to admit I was really giddy with the result!

But a non-Photoshop-friendly friend asked how she could achieve the same result without a computer. Ahhh...back to old-school methods. That was fun, too.

To demonstrate, I took this shot of my niece's daughter. All you need is a clear profile shot, without too much clutter in the background. Yep, it took a few tries. A one-year-old's favorite thing isn't to look in a single direction for any length of time. But finally: success!    
    
 I used tracing paper to capture the general outline. And remember the grade school trick of transfering? Just pencil shade the back of the paper, flip the shaded down onto nice cardstock ("outline side" facing up), and gently re-trace the outline, all except the top of the head...which is where you can roughly sketch a witch's hat.                                                                                               
I used a fine-tip Sharpie to go over the outline, and a nice chunky one to fill in the shape. 

Well, what d'ya know? The old-fashioned way looks just as good.

Just pop a couple into frames, along with some creepy antique photos found on the internet. They make a season-appropriate replacement for the usual warm and smiling family pics on the mantle.

Why not try one yourself? A witch, sorcerer, devil, or maybe a flat-headed Frankenstein! Let your imagination fly!




Follow along and join the fun! I'm linking up to:

Simpsonized Crafts



  http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/The Girl Creative

PhotobucketTuesday Tag-AlongGet Your Craft On Tuesday
BWS tips buttonMake it Yours @ My Backyard Eden
giveawaysHookingupwithHoH

Get your craft on Thurs.



It's a Blog Party

















36 comments:

  1. very nice, I love how it turned out. You're very handy even without the use of the PC. What a great idea to add the hat or to make it flat like Frank. I'll try it this weekend.

    Stopping by from Take a Look Tuesday.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love the idea! It turned out so cute and so personal:) I am now following you thanks to Tuesday Tag-Along, and it would be nice if you could share the love back on my blog;) Also don't forget, if you need any help increasing your blog's traffic or easy blog design tips, you know where to come!
    Today we teach another one of our easy HTML tutorials, so make sure you don't miss it! Happy Tuesday!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love it! So personal and striking. I clicked over here from Sugar Bee thinking you bought the witch image. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love this! I liked it before I even realized you could do it with your own kids profile! Just the witch image is so cute!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow...saw this on Anything Related and you did an amazing job! Yay for old school!

    ReplyDelete
  6. That is adorable, love the other halloween decor too!

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is adorable! I've always loved silhouettes and I have never seen a Halloween one like this before. I'm going to flip through the photo album and dig out photos of the kids when they were little and do this. Thank you so much for the idea!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Adorable idea!! Thanks for linking up to Sassy Sites "trash to treasure Tuesday!!"

    xoxo
    Marni @ Sassy Sites!

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love love love this idea! So cute!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm definitely ready for some fall weather. It's been miserably hot all summer.

    Thanks for joining the Tuesday Train today! Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thanks for linking up on my Terrifying Tuesday blog hop - I love this idea! If nothing else I am going to print off the creepy old photos from the internet to fill frames with! Great ideas!

    ReplyDelete
  13. That's awesome! Nice to see how to do it for those of us who don't do Photoshop. New follower from a blog hop.
    ~K
    bigklittlea.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. I found you on Tuesday Tag Along. The Silhouettes you have done are pretty awesome. I have done a few different one in stitchery pillows (:

    Samantha

    http://www.samanthasaccessories.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Darling idea! I was thinking of doing this with my dogs... How crazy is that?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Nita- I think that's a GREAT idea!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Very cute idea! Love it! Thanks for stopping by and linking to Anything Related!
    {Rebekah}

    ReplyDelete
  18. very nice....love it:))...
    greeting from croatia:))...
    M....

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hi Kathleen!
    That came out great! I am sure they will treasure it!
    Kathleen
    www.cuisinekathleen.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wow! This is so CUTE! I absolutely love the idea! Thanks so much for stopping by for Crazy Cute at Between U & Me!

    www.betweenuandme.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. This is great. I have been wanting to make some silhouettes but I had never thought of making Halloween ones. Great idea!

    If you'd like to link up *one more time* stop by my blog for Theme Party Thursday!

    ReplyDelete
  22. totally adorable! i am your newest follower. i'd love for you to share this over at a crafty soiee-- the weekly linky party i cohost on thursdays at www.yesterdayontuesday.com

    ReplyDelete
  23. This is incredibly cute. I hope you'll come share this at my Halloween party this weekend! It turned out amazing.

    Krista
    whilehewasnapping.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  24. Fabulous! I've seen Halloween clipart all over the place, but yours is so much better!

    Would love for you to stop by Sunday and link up to Passion for Paint!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Incredibly adorable idea! Thanks for linking up (AND linking back with my button!) to Thrilling Thursday @ Paisley Passions :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. So cute! Thank you for linking to my party!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Love this. I featured it today. Thanks for linking up.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I love it! The witch's hat is a fun spin on the silhouette art. Thanks for joining my Halloween Link Party!

    - Megan
    www.polishthestars.com

    ReplyDelete
  29. That is so darned wicked!!!! Cute, cute, cute.

    I love Halloween.......

    My Show n Tell is my newest Witch for my collection.

    The link is HERE I'd love to have you stop by for a visit.

    ReplyDelete
  30. You did such a great job, this is just adorable-enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  31. That is so much fun. What a cute idea. Thanks for linking up to my challenge.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I have been wanting to make one of these for a looong time, I even took the picture but I never got around to do it... Thank you for the inspiration! Great result, looks fantastic! I love your blog! I will follow! Greetings from FrenchCountry!

    ReplyDelete