Hello magical friends! Today I'm sharing a behind the scenes peek at the making of the newest addition to the Magical Collection - Scary Harry Halloween! Sorry in advance for the watermarking. Gotta make sure no one gets too swipey! ;) 

The painting that started it all! Who would've thought a little pumpkin could spark a whole new set of planner things, but that's just how it works sometimes. A while back, while bored one evening, I thought to myself, "Dani, you haven't painted in a while. Why don't you do that?". So, of course, with fall (and Halloween!!!) being right around the corner, I thought I'd try my hand at a pumpkin. You can see the test pumpkin and the final one above it. I liked how it turned out, and at this point the inspiration of something spooky was starting to hit, so I decided to try painting a cauldron. It turned out well, too! 

Naturally, the next spooky thing to pop into my head was a witch's hat. And, you guys, this is where Scary Harry Halloween started to take off. My favorite witch is Professor McGonagall because she's so tough on the outside, but deep down, she just really loves everyone and wants to protect everyone. She's also very sassy and has the best comeback lines. She's the best. So what better witch's hat to paint than hers? Once I realized that I could actually probably paint a bunch more things for another Harry kit, I went for it. And you all love the Harry things, so why not indulge everyone? 

As I thought more about the films, the first Halloween the kids spend at Hogwarts really stood out to me as extra Halloween-y. Especially the TROLL! In the dungeon! But there was no way I could paint a troll, my skills just aren't good enough. But I loved the idea of all the candy and goodies on the tables in the great hall during that first Halloween feast, so I went with that instead. Besides, Halloween isn't Halloween without candy. And spider lollipops, apparently.

Of course, there are lots more paintings that went into this kit, but I think the dementor is among my favorites. I've never painted something like it, but I love how it turned out! Especially those creepy fingers! *shiver* I personally find the dementors the among the scariest things in the whole HP universe so I felt they should definitely be included in a Scary Harry Halloween set. 

You may have noticed that all my paintings seem rather large. That's because they are! I find that the bigger the image I'm working on, the more detail I can put into it, so that's what I like to do. Once the final images get moved over to the computer, it's easy to size them down while keeping the details intact. 

As for the actual painting process, I typically sketch out my design using Inktense Watercolor Pencils, then fill in and add details with the Sakura Koi Sketchbox watercolors. I like the saturation I can achieve using these two together. I use this waterbrush set I got off Amazon because they have a nice variety of brush heads, work well, and aren't messy. Also the water seems to last forever in them, so less filling up equals a happier and more productive me. :D 

I hope you enjoyed this behind the scenes look at the Scary Harry Halloween set! Make sure to pick up the collection here to celebrate your holiday. And tag me @popfizzpaper on Instagram when you use them, I would LOVE to see!

I am so excited to announce the Magical Collection here at PopFizzPaper! Of course, we all know and love the Merry Harry Christmas items, but this year we have added a new holiday to the lineup - Halloween! It is called Scary Harry Halloween. Let me introduce it to you! 

First up, the planner stickers! This weekly set features all sorts of new watercolored designs. From pumpkins and cauldrons to dementors and spooky spiders, this set has it all to plan for Halloween in spooky style. Everything was handpainted in our studio and we couldn't be more proud of it! 

A holiday collection isn't complete without NEW digital papers! I love digital downloads because you can use them for so many things. Planner dividers, of course, but also happy mail, cardmaking, Project Life, mini albums, and more. You can also save the digital papers to your phone and use them as festive wallpapers (which I may have already done!). The papers above are named from L-R: Scary Harry, Wingardium Leviosa, The Boy Who Lived, Lumos, Hallows Eve, and Pumpkin Pasties. We've never named our papers before, but I think we'll be doing it from now on. It's too fun not to!

And last in the lineup of brand new stuff is a watercolored quote sheet. Each quote or phrase is layered over a handpainted image that goes well with the quote. I'm pretty sure my favorites are the LUMOS candles (so pretty!) and the Turn To Page 394 (who doesn't love Snape, amirite?). There are also several little deco stickers on this sheet to make your planner spread extra Pottery.

Thank you so much for allowing me to introduce you to the newest designs in the Magical Collection! You can check out all the items here, including the Christmas designs as well (and washi!).