Hi ladies,
Well almost all of you ordered the pumpkin already finished. But I do want you all to see how easy it is to do. I'll be honest I thought about doing a video but I could just not get over the sound of my voice. Is that what I really sound like?? I will have to work on the video... but here is step by step pictures and instructions. I bought all my supplies at Walmart. Micheal's, Ben Franklin, or any craft store should carry them as well.

You will need Crackle Medium and 2 colors of paint. I used Pure Orange and Metallic black which had a shimmer to it. For fall Brown and red would be 2 colors that this technique would look great with.

Next Paint your base color on your chipboard. Notice that my brush strokes are going Horizontally. The crackle paint is going to crack in the direction of your paint strokes. So if you want your cracks to go up and down, then your brush strokes need to go in that direction. If you would like your cracks to go from side to side then you need to paint them Horizontally. Cover the entire pumpkin with the black Base color.

Next you are going to paint the entire pumpkin with the Crackle Medium. For the best results apply quickly and evenly. For large cracks, apply a thick coat; for finer cracks, apply a thin coat. Try not to stroke over any area twice- this will ruin the crackled appearance. You want to make long strokes across the pumpkin. Again the crackle paint is going to crack in the direction of your paint strokes. So if you want your cracks to go up and down, then your brush strokes need to go in that direction. If you would like your cracks to go from side to side then you need to paint them Horizontally. Let the crackle dry, it is NOT going to look crackled. It will just look nice and shiny.

Now this is the fun part....Take your orange paint (or the top color you choose) and with long fluid strokes paint over the crackle. I started at the top of my pumpkin and just did one long stroke after another. Try not to stroke over any area twice. The thinner you paint on your strokes the smaller the cracks are going o be. If you put on a thicker coat of paint, it is going to make larger cracks. I thought it looked cool having a bit of both. As soon as the paint begins to dry the crackle will begin to happen. It dries fast so you have to work quickly. I would do a test run on the back before you begin.
On the first piece of chipboard my brush strokes are going vertically (up and down) so my cracks are in that same direction. On the second piece of chipboard my brush strokes are going horizontally (left to right) and that is the way the paint has cracked.
Let the chipboard dry. If the chipboard begins to curl a little, after the pumpkin is dry put a large book on it to flatten it before you adhere it to your front cover.
That is it!! I loved this technique because it was easy to do, you could do it on so many projects, and it was inexpensive. I hope you will try it. If you do, send me a picture so that I can post it on the blog.
Happy Scrappin'
Traci