Halloween | Hero Arts + Tim Holtz

Hi friends!  Today’s project is a fun Halloween card using the Hero Arts Beep Beep die set and some spooky characters from the Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Halloween Paper Dolls package.  Let’s get started!

The supplies used:

     Hero Arts – Beep Beep Die Set

     Sizzix/Tim Holtz – Moonlight Die Set

     Sizzix/Tim Holtz – Haunted House Die Set

     Waffle Flower – A6 Layers Die Set

     Trinity Stamps – October Night Sky Stencil Set

     Lawn Fawn – Hocus Purr-cus! Stamp Set

     Tim Holtz/Idea-ology – Halloween Paper Dolls

     Altenew – Cosmic Berry Cardstock

     Spellbinders – Royal Amethyst Cardstock

     Spellbinders – Raven Cardstock

     Spellbinders – Fog Cardstock

     Spellbinders – Sage Cardstock

     Impression Obsession – Bats for Halloween 6”x6” Paper Pack

     Altenew – Black Diamond Glitter Cardstock

     Gina K. Designs – Magic Masking Sheets

Ranger – Spun Sugar, Twisted Citron, Picked Raspberry, Dusty Concord Distress Crayons

     Altenew – Grape Agate, Teal Tempest, Jet Black Fresh Dye Inks

     Ranger/Tim Holtz – Bundled Sage, Shabby Shutters, Forest Moss Distress Inks

     Ranger/Tim Holtz – Old Paper Distress Oxide Ink

     Hero Arts – Unicorn Pigment Ink

     Tsukineko - VersaFine Clair Nocturne Pigment Ink

     Altenew – Mini Blending Brushes

     Idea-ology/Tim Holtz – Distress Crayons:  Spun Sugar, Dusty Concord,

          Twisted Citron, Picked Raspberry

     Copic Sketch Alcohol Marker C4, Cool Grey No. 4

     Picket Fence Studios – Liquid Silver Locket Paper Splatter Watercolor

     Ranger Ink – Glossy Accents

     Altenew – 1” Black Double-Sided Adhesive Tape

     Scrapbook Adhesives – Black Thin 3D Foam Squares

     My Sweet Petunia – Original MISTI Stamping Tool

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

I started the development of the background panel, by die cutting the smallest moon die outline and the smaller moon full die from the Sizzix/Tim Holtz Moonlight die set from a Gina K. Designs Magic Masking Sheet (for the full moon with detail die – keep the outside the moon scrap piece as well as the actual moon).  I die cut a piece of Spellbinders Sage cardstock using the second largest die from the Waffle Flower A6 Layers die set and die cut Spellbinders Raven cardstock using the largest die in this set.  I used a blending brush and inked the entire Sage panel using Distress Bundled Sage ink to give a darker tone than the Sage was presenting.  Once the ink dried, I added the moon mask that I die cut to the top center of the card so that the moon mask was only about 3/4” onto the card panel.  Next, I ink blended approximately an inch of Shabby Shutters Distress Ink around the edge of the moon.  I ink blended Forest Moss Distress Ink beginning at the edge of Shabby Shutters and continued the ink blending until the ink was blended about three fourths of the way down the cardstock panel.  For the bottom quarter of the ink blending, I used a very heavy layer of Altenew Teal Tempest Fresh Dye Ink since I was trying to come up with something more along the lines of a phthalo green and I didn’t own an ink color in that shade of green, then finished out the ink blending with Altenew Jet Black on the bottom edge.

Now back to the moon… I placed the “outside the moon” Masking Magic moon mask to protect the card’s background to mask off the moon.  I added a layer of Distress Old Paper Oxide Ink to serve as the surface of the moon.  Once the ink dried, I removed the outside the moon mask and added the mask that has the moon with the holes in it and inked the apertures with Distress Bundled Sage Ink.  Using the Trinity Stamps October Night Sky Stencil set, I used the stencil with the wispy clouds and inked them onto the upper portion of the background using Hero Arts Unicorn pigment ink and spattered the background with Picket Fence Liquid Silver Locket Paper Spatter and a small paint brush.  Alas, I could now set the background panel aside to fully dry.

Creating the Focal Point

Using the Hero Arts Beep Beep die set, I die cut the car twice from Spellbinders Purple Amethyst cardstock and glued the two car die cuts together, then partially cut it a third time from a patterned cardstock in the Impression Obsession “Bats for Halloween” paper pack so I could get the windshield negative piece to adhere behind the occupants of the vehicle.  Next, I used an Altenew Mini Blending Brush along with Altenew’s Grape Agate ink to add shading to the car die cut where I felt shading should be.  I die cut the other vehicle dies from these cardstocks:

     Side Mirrors, Metal Rings Around Lights, Front Bumper:  Brushed Silver Cardstock

     Tires:  Spellbinders Raven Cardstock

     Steering Wheel, License Plate:  Spellbinders Fog Cardstock

     Lights:  Spellbinders Sage Cardstock

Once the die cutting was completed, I glued all the car die cuts (except the license plate and negative, windshield piece) to their appropriate location onto the ink blended car die cut. 

After digging through the many options in the package of Tim Holtz/Idea-ology Halloween Paper Dolls package, I selected two of the paper dolls that made me giggle the most, positioned them behind the front window of the car, trimmed any excess that exceeded the edge of the car, and gave them a bit of color using Tim Holtz Distress Crayons before gluing them into place.  If you would like to use the same colors, I used:

     Cheeks:  Spun Sugar

     Dress:  Twisted Citron

     Suit Coat:  Picked Raspberry

     Suit Vest:  Dusty Concord

Of course, you don’t need to add color to the paper dolls, but I thought it added to the creepiness.  Once the people were glued behind the open windshield, I added the patterned paper windshield die cut and glued it in place behind the paper doll characters.  Next, I used a C4 Copic marker to add some dots to the steering wheel to give it some more interest and added Ranger’s Glossy Accents to the headlights and turn indicator lights then set the car aside to allow the Glossy Accents to dry.

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I placed the license plate die cut that was created using Fog cardstock during the Creating the Focal Point into my MISTI stamp positioner and used the HALLOWEEN sentiment from Lawn Fawn’s Hocus Purr-cus! stamp set along with VersaFine Clair Nocturne ink to stamp the word onto the center of the license plate die cut.  Once the ink dried, I went around the edges of the Fog-colored license place with a black marker so it would stand out better against the brushed silver car bumper.

Assembling the Card

I added Altenew’s black Instant Dimension Foam Tape to the back side of the car of characters and adhered it to the lower front of the card’s background.  For the bats, I used the Sizzix/Tim Holtz Haunted House die set and Altenew’s Black Diamond Glitter Cardstock and die cut the little bat dies and used liquid glue to adhere them to the night sky.  I adhered the license plate onto the car’s bumper using black Instant Dimension Foam Tape.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really appreciate it.  Until next time, happy crafting!

2026 Holiday Card Series #6 | Season’s Greetings

Hi friends!  Today’s card is my sixth installment of my 2026 Holiday Card Series where I made an easy-to-create Christmas card using products from Altenew.  I hope you enjoy it and that it inspires you to get cranking on those holiday cards!

The supplies used:

     Altenew – Patterned Petals Builder Stencil Set

     Altenew – Holiday Essentials Die Set

     Spellbinders – Precision Layering A2 A Die Set

     Altenew – Silver Shimmer Relief Paste

     Simon Says Stamp – Kale Pawsitively Saturated Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Cranberry Pawsitively Saturated Ink Pad

     Lisa Horton – Solid Gold Cloud 9 Metallic Pigment Ink Pad

     Altenew – Forest Canopy Glitter Cardstock Set (Emerald)

     Cardstock Warehouse – Stardream Silver Cardstock

     Scrapbook.com – All Purpose Craft Scraper

     Altenew – Mixed Media Palette Knife

     Altenew – Ultra Sticky Grip Mat

     Altenew – Ultra Sticky Double-Sided Tape (1” x 50m)

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background

For the background panel, I trimmed a piece of white cardstock to measure 5.5” x 5.5”.  I placed the cardstock onto my Ultra Sticky Grip Mat and using Stencil 1 from Altenew’s Patterned Petals stencil set, I inked Simon Says Stamp’s Kale ink through the stencil openings.  Using Stencil 2 from the same set, I inked Simon Says Stamp’s Cranberry ink through the stencil openings.  Next, I ink blended Lisa Horton’s Solid Gold metallic ink though the openings of Stencil 3 from the Patterned Petals stencil set and, lastly, I used a palette knife and craft scraper to apply a thin coat of Altenew’s Silver Shimmer Relief Paste through the openings of stencil 4.  I set the panel aside to allow the pigment ink and the paste to fully dry.  Then using the Spellbinders Precision Layering A2 A die set, I used the largest die to die cut a piece of Cardstock Warehouse’s Stardream Silver cardstock.  I used the second largest die from this die set to die cut the stenciled cardstock panel and used Altenew’s Ultra Sticky Double Sided Tape to adhere the stenciled panel to the silver panel.

Creating the Focal Point

For the poinsettia, I chose one that I had already prepared when I created the 5^th card in my 2026 holiday card series using the Altenew Poinsettia and Berries Stamp and Die Set (I always make extras in case I mess something up).  I’ll post the link here for the tutorial for the poinsettia:  https://www.veehatt-inspired.com/post/2026-holiday-card-series-5-a-gift-for-you

 

 

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I chose to use the “Season’s Greetings” greeting from Altenew’s Emerald glitter cardstock that is in the Forest Canopy Glitter Cardstock Set and twice from heavy weight white cardstock.  I also die cut the coordinating shadow layer die from Lawn Fawn vellum since it will be placed on a somewhat busy background.  I used Bearly Art Craft Glue to adhere the layered sentiment together with one white cardstock layer and the glitter cardstock layer glued on top of the shadow layer and the second white cardstock layer glued behind the vellum shadow layer.

Assembling the Card

First, I adhered the background panel to a white, A2 size, top folding card base using Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue.  I positioned the poinsettia and greeting onto the bottom third of the card front and, once happy with the placement, glued them to the card front.  With that… this card is completed!

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really appreciate it.  Until next time, happy crafting!

2026 Holiday Card Series #5 | A Gift For You

Hi friends!  Today’s card will be the fifth installment in my 2026 Holiday Card Series where I am attempting to have my holiday cards mostly completed before mid-November.  I’ve created this installment with die and/or stamp sets from Altenew and Spellbinders to create a unique Christmas card that also serves as a gift card holder – a gift and Christmas card in one!

The supplies used:

     Altenew – Poinsettia & Berries Stamp and Die Set

     Spellbinders – Envelope of Wonder Die Set

     Lawn Fawn – Jet Black Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Rhubarb Pawsitively Saturated Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Cranberry Pawsitively Saturated Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Aster Pawsitively Saturated Ink Pad

     Copic Sketch Alcohol Marker YG95, E79, E74, R89, R37, G29, G46, G21

     Tsukineko – VersaMark Watermark Ink Pad

     Brutus Monroe – Alabaster White Heat Embossing Powder

     Woodland Scenics – Paper Flower Pollen – Yellow (Spellbinders)

     Spellbinders – Merlot, Graphite, and Lunar Grey Cardstock

     Ranger Ink – Glossy Accents

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Scor-Tape – ¼” Double-Sided Adhesive Tape

     Scrapbook Adhesives – Thin 3D Foam Squares

     Tonic Studios – White Blizzard Nuvo Glitter Drops

     Altenew – Stampwheel 2.0 Stamping System

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Envelope

For the envelope, I used the Spellbinders Envelope of Wonder die set and die cut the envelope’s pieces from Spellbinders Graphite and Lunar Grey cardstocks.  I glued the flaps and the trim die cut to the envelope base. 

Creating the Floral Elements

For the poinsettias, I used Altenew’s “Poinsettia & Berries” stamp and die set – in case anyone wanted to use this stamp/die set, I’m not sure if it’s available anymore because I bought this one in 2020 (sorry!).  I die cut six poinsettia outlines with the coordinating poinsettia die in the set– I wanted to die cut before stamping to make sure I was able to get the florals centered as best I could and there will be three total ink blended poinsettias for the card and die cut six so I could double-up each die cut.  I placed the poinsettia die cut in my Stampwheel 2.0 and positioned the A1 stamp in the stamp set over the white die cut and inked it with Lawn Fawn Jet Black Ink, I repeated this step two additional times.  For stamp A2, I chose to use Simon Says Stamp’s Rhubarb ink and stamped each of the die cuts with that stamp layer consecutively then used Simon Says Stamp’s Cranberry ink for stamp A3 in the same fashion.  Instead of stamping the poinsettia centers, I chose to color them with Copic alcohol marker YG95 as a base coat and then added a few dots of Bearly Arts Precision Craft Glue to the centers of each flower and layered a coating of Woodland Scenics Yellow Paper Flower Pollen over the glue and set them aside to dry. 

Since I wanted to add a secret money/gift card element to this card, I trimmed a piece of the Lunar Grey cardstock to measure 3” x 3” and used liquid glue to adhere the bottom of one of the poinsettia flowers to this small cardstock panel.  Next, I glued the second set of plain white poinsettia die cuts to the back side of the each of the three ink blended poinsettias (for the one attached to the Lunar Grey cardstock, I sandwiched the grey cardstock between the two poinsettia die cuts.  For the money pocket, I cut a piece of vellum that measures 4” x 2.75” and I scored the vellum with my Scor-Buddy along three of the edges at ½”.  Before reinforcing the folds, I used scissors to cut out the two squares created by the scoring along the bottom edge which will allow the folds to be sharper and the pocket less bulky on the back side.  I applied ¼” wide Scor-Tape along the three half inch edges that I previously scored, removed the adhesive backing, positioned the vellum over the bottom edge of the grey cardstock with the poinsettia attached at the top, then folded over the three adhesive edges to wrap around to the back of the grey cardstock element.

To finish up my floral element portion of the card, I stamped the holly five times for each design (may not use them all) from the same stamp set using Simon Says Stamps’ Kale and Artichoke ink pads.  I inked up the stamps first with the Artichoke ink, stamped them, then added the Kale ink around the bottom edges, smoothed out the hard line with a blending brush, then stamped the Kale inked stamps onto the same location on the cardstock.  For the berries on stamp B2, I used the Simon Says Stamp Cranberry Ink pad and for stamp B3 I used Ranger/Tim Holtz’s Archival Brown Espresso ink.  Once the stamping was completed, I added Ranger’s Glossy Accents to the berries on the holly twigs.

I decided to color the branches with the berries on them using Copic Sketch alcohol markers.  The color combinations I used were:

     Branch:  E79, E74

     Berries:  R89, R37

     Leaves:  G29, G46, G21

Once the branches with the berries were colored, I added Glossy Accents to the berries.

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I die cut a tag using Lunar Grey cardstock and one of the tag dies from the Spellbinders Assorted Tags die set.  The sentiment I chose to heat emboss onto the tag is from Altenew’s Holiday Tag Sentiments stamp set and I used Brutus Monroe’s Alabaster White heat embossing powder and Versamark ink to complete the sentiment stamping.

Assembling the Card

To assemble the card, I added a combination of thin foam adhesive squares and liquid glue to begin adhering the floral elements behind the money holder element in the envelope.  I kept all the holly and berry twigs glued flat behind the money holder element so that it wouldn’t snag it when pulled in and out of the envelope.  I did, however, pop the poinsettias on the outside of the envelope up on the foam squares since their dimension wouldn’t hinder anything inoperable.

I cut a piece of the Graphite cardstock to measure 5” x 7” for the matting layer of the card, then cut a piece of Spellbinders’ Merlot cardstock to measure 4.75” x 6.75” for the background.  I added texture to the Merlot cardstock panel by using the Spellbinders Bark 3D Embossing Folder and then darkened the outer edges of the embossed cardstock panel by applying Simon Says Stamp Aster ink to the edges using a foam blending tool.  I adhered the Merlot cardstock to the matting layer using liquid glue and adhered those two layers to the front of a white 5” x 7”, side-folding, card base.  Next, I attached the envelope to the card front using liquid glue and a few small, thin 3D foam squares under a few of the pieces of foliage that extended beyond the envelope onto the card front and the very last step was adding the tag/sentiment to the front of the envelope using foam squares.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really appreciate it.  Until next time, happy crafting!