Whaley House

Antique Orange And Black

Hi scrappers! Now that we’re into October, the spooky-themed challenges are here! There are several challenges across scrapbooking blogs featuring black and orange and I created a page with this color palette. To match the vibe, I used some photo’s taken at San Diego’s Whaley House.

These days, this building is the oldest thing on the block, surrounded by an incredible amount of Mexican restaurants (the few we tried all being incredible.) But the Whaley House used to be the only thing for miles, built in 1856 with an uninterrupted view all the way to the ocean. It’s also supposedly incredibly haunted. My husband and I participated in an evening ghost tour, and while we didn’t see or hear anything weird, we both simultaneously became nauseous and dizzy when entering the theater, which has never happened to us before or since.

The building was living quarters for the Whaley family which many members dies tragically, but also a courthouse (which is still in use today!) and a general store. The photo to the right is of the general store, setup to look just like it did when it was still operational. The tour was both interesting and spooky and if you’re ever in the neighborhood, I recommend grabbing some tacos and margaritas and then touring the home!

I started with some sepia paper from the Tattered and Worn stack by the Paper Studio. It matched the coloring in my photos as well as being a toned down version of Halloween orange. I used some Coffee Distressed Dots paper by recollections behind my photos and then cut a journaling card by Tim Holtz in half to stick out of the top and bottom as a design element. The alphabet tiles are also by Tim Holtz and I liked their muted colors and mismatched font.

My main embellishments were a bunch of fake flowers, held in place by some brads by My Mind’s Eye and Doodlebug. I added in some Vintage Coffin stickers by Jolee’s Boutique and butterflies by 49 and Market. A few enamel dots by Waffle Flower and Altenew finish the look.

This page was made for the October Sketch with a Twist challenge at A Cherry on Top. I used 2 photos instead of 3 but definitely included the twist which was to use flower clusters. I added glittery leaves and spooky stickers to mine!

This page was also made for the October Mood Board challenge, also at A Cherry on Top Crafts. I liked the muted tones rather than the typical bright orange and black and was also inspired to use flowers, leaves and grass/seedpods (see the small image card above my left photo).

Lastly, this page was made for the October challenge at Colorful Options, which has a fun mood board with all shades of black and orange. I used a muted palette with little pops of bright orange and deep black.

That’s all for this week! Thank you for joining me this week and I will see you soon!