Kiki's Cocoa: Halloween Edition by ChiChiLand

This Halloween I once again collaborated with Kiki’s Cocoa, as well as a number of other makers and artists to create a special spooky treat for all the subscribers of Kiki’s Cacao Club. Inspired in equal part by traditional Day of the Dead imagery as well as contemporary character designs, here is a peek behind the curtain for the making of the ChiChiLand Halloween Bandanas!

Follow this link to learn more about the Kiki’s Cocoa: Halloween Edition project and to see more photos of the finished products.
…or read on to see how we made them.

I created the set of original character designs in Photoshop and then vectorized them for laser cutting.

Kiki's Cocoa: Halloween Edition by ChiChiLand

The stencils were then etched into linoleum blocks, using high-precision laser cutting. Each block contained 5-6 stamps and took nearly 3 hours to engrave.

Kiki's Cocoa: Halloween Edition by ChiChiLand

…and came out all charred, dirty and generally eew.

Kiki's Cocoa: Halloween Edition by ChiChiLand

Considering the amount of chemical washing required, mistakes such as forgetting to mirror the logo were… costly.

Kiki's Cocoa: Halloween Edition by ChiChiLand

By the way, my arms are not this hairy – it’s Quba cleaning the stamps on the photo above.

Kiki's Cocoa: Halloween Edition by ChiChiLand

All cleaned, the first of three plates is drying in the sun.

Kiki's Cocoa: Halloween Edition by ChiChiLand

Once all the plates were ready, Quba and Bryan got them cut into separate stamps, trimmed and sanded.

Kiki's Cocoa: Halloween Edition by ChiChiLand

We also used the laser cutter to create cardboard stencils for the stamps.

Kiki's Cocoa: Halloween Edition by ChiChiLand

So that I could pretend I am bat girl.

Kiki's Cocoa: Halloween Edition by ChiChiLand

…and so that the paint does not smudge all over the fabric :)

Kiki's Cocoa: Halloween Edition by ChiChiLand

This is what the stamps looked like without the stencils – paint EVERYWHERE.

Kiki's Cocoa: Halloween Edition by ChiChiLand

This is the first “smudgy” draft for the layout purposes.

Kiki's Cocoa: Halloween Edition by ChiChiLand

And here are the final bandanas drying out in my studio.

For more pictures of the finished project, check out Kiki’s Cocoa: Halloween Edition

Credits:
Concept, design and prints: Çiğdem Michalski (ChiChiLand)
Cholcolates and packaging: Kirsten Ritschel (Kiki’s Cocoa)
Blocks crafted by: Quba Michalski (QubaHQ)
Crafting assistance: Bryan Turbett