Halloween 2022 | Project #5, BOO

I’m back with another Halloween project! This time I’ve decided to create a slimline card – my first ever slimline card. I found a delightful ghost background stamp from Technique Junkies called #S817 Boo Convention that I wanted to use on one of my cards this year. This is what I created. Enjoy!

I used the Whimsy Stamps “Slimline ATC Windows” die set (the largest rectangular die and the next to the largest die in the set) and used them to cut my frame from black glitter cardstock. Then using the largest double-stitched ATC die from the set, I cut a small frame for the top window of the card using Cardstock Warehouse’s Sirio Ultra Black cardstock. Now to prepare my two backgrounds for the windows.

I grabbed a 4”x5” piece of Strathmore Hot Press Watercolor Paper and also Ranger’s Distress Mica Stains in Bubbling Cauldron and Fortune Teller and was off to the splat box. I very lightly misted the cardstock with water using my Distress Sprayer, then heavily sprayed the cardstock with both colors of the Mica Stain. I allowed the two colors to mix together slightly, but evenly, and then used the Ranger Heat Tool to completely dry the cardstock. I set this aside while I moved onto my other cardstock panel for the lower window of the card.

Using another piece of 4” x 5” watercolor paper, I blended Tim Holtz’s Ranger Distress Oxide, Villainous Potion and Twisted Citron, using a blending brush until I achieved the balance of the two colors I was happy with – then dried the inks with my heat tool. Once the ink was dry, I went back to the splat box and heavily splattered the cardstock panel with the Distress Mica Stains in the Bubbling Cauldron and Fortune Teller colors. This too was set aside to dry.

I used Altenew Clear Embossing Ink and the Technique Junkies “Boo Convention” background stamp and stamped the image onto the watercolor cardstock for the top window (the cardstock that was only sprayed with the two Mica Stains). I then coated the cardstock with a generous amount of Brutus Monroe “Raven Sparkle” Embossing Powder and gently tapped off the excess and melted the embossing powder with my heat embossing gun. Next, I trimmed this panel down to fit the frame for the top window of the card and glued it into place with Distress Collage Medium Matte adhesive.

For the bottom window of the card, I die cut all the necessary pieces for the ghost trick-or-treater from the Spellbinders “Eek-a-Boo” die set and glued the elements together, using the product packaging as a guide, to create the cutest little ghost figure. I used the C2 Copic alcohol marker to shade the white portions of the ghost and colored his little eyes with a black Glaze pen to make them shine.

Next, I took the Distress Oxide ink blended cardstock panel and trimmed it down so that is fit the lower window of the card front and glued it into place with the Distress Collage Medium Matte adhesive. I adhered the ghost trick-or-treater to the ink blended panel with Simon Says Stamp 3D Foam Squares and also glued some Studio Katia “Black Magic” Confetti around it for additional interest.

For the sentiment, I stamped the large Boo greeting from the Simon Says Stamp “Spook Up Some Fun” stamp set using Altenew Clear Embossing Ink, applied a layer of Wow! Lime Rickey embossing powder, tapped off the excess, and heat set the embossing powder with my heat gun. After it cooled, I began to fussy-cut around the greeting and used a PenBlade craft knife to cut out the insides of the “O”s. Once that was completed, I used Nuvo Crystal Drops in a Gloss-Ebony Black color to make the bat black and add some glossy dimension. I used Simon Says Stamp’s 3D Foam Squares to add the sentiment to the middle section of the card and that completes this project.

Thank you so much for stopping by to see me – I appreciate you doing so!

Until next time…

Halloween 2022 | Project #4, Boo! Halloween Paper Doll

A while back I purchased a set of dies from Birch Press Design called Flora Plate Layer Set and I never did get a chance to use them. Today I sat in my studio and decided, “self, you are going to create a Halloween card with these dies before you do anything else”.

I began with a top folding, black card base using the beautiful black cardstock from Cardstock Warehouse called Sirio Ultra Black. For my layers, I chose Candied Yam (orange) cardstock from My Favorite Things, a piece of purple foil cardstock, and the top layer is the Distress Black Two-Tone Woodgrain from Ranger. I ran all three of these A2 size cardstock pieces through my die cutting machine and commenced gluing them together.

Next, I gathered up my Idea-ologyTim Holtz Halloween Paper Dolls and Halloween Transparencies to select a little boy and some bat wings to make the character for the card front. Using a YR07 Copic marker, I colored his sweater orange and used Ranger Glossy Accents to glue the bat wings to the back of the paper doll – of course I couldn’t leave well enough alone and decided to add the little mask to his face from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Curiosities Sticker Book.

Using the Sizzix Tim Holtz Bold Text Halloween Dies, I chose to die cut the word “BOO!” for my greeting. I cut the greeting three times out of black cardstock and once from purple. Then I used Distress Mica Stain in the color Fortune Teller to fully cover the purple version of the “BOO!” and, once dry, I glued all the greeting letters together to form nice, sturdy lettering for the top of the card that adds wonderful dimension.

I used Distress Collage Medium Matte to glue the greeting to the card front and the Simon Says Stamp 3D Foam Squares to attach my little trick-or-treater boy… and that completes the card!

Thank you so much for stopping by to see me – I appreciate you doing so!

Until next time…

Altenew September 2022 Inspiration Challenge | Fall Inspired Card!

Hello and thank you for joining me for another Altenew Inspiration Challenge!

Fall is not quite here yet, but I can feel the nip in the air before work each morning as the temperatures have dropped considerably. I cannot wait for the splash of color to begin as mother nature transitions our landscape into its annual autumn beauty.

For this month’s Challenge, I wanted to use colors from the Altenew Metallic Watercolor 14 Pan Set that best match the colors in the challenge. To create this month’s card, I began with a piece of Legion Stonehenge Black Aqua Coldpress watercolor cardstock. I stamped the mandala image from the Altenew Blooming Mandalas Stamp and Die Bundle using Altenew Clear Embossing Ink then coated it with clear embossing powder and heat set it with my embossing tool.

The next step was to watercolor the image with the Altenew Metallic Watercolor 14 Pan Set – the colors I chose to use were Prasiolite, Rose Quartz, and Rhodolite to paint the image. Once the painted mandala dried, I used the associated die and my die cutting machine to neatly cut the image from the watercolor paper.

To add some texture and dimension to this card, I used another piece of the black cardstock, misted it with water, and utilized the Altenew Enchanting Vines 3D embossing folder to emboss the beautiful botanicals onto the cardstock. I followed that by adding silvery splatter all over the card front panel.

Using the Altenew Sweet Sentiments Hot Foil Plate and Die Set, I selected the Hugs sentiment and hot foiled it with a shade of pink hot foil onto a scrap of the black cardstock and cut it out with the coordinating die.

I applied double-sided foam tape to adhere the mandala and Hugs sentiment to the card front panel. Then to wrap up the card I chose some color appropriate gems from my stash and glued them to strategic places on the mandala and scattered about across the rest of the card front.

I was quite happy with the way my spin on the color selection for this month’s Altenew Inspiration Challenge turned out and I hope you enjoyed it as well. I cannot wait to see your project inspired by this month’s challenge image. You can start by clicking on the link below!

Fall Inspired Card | Altenew Inspiration Challenge

Thank you so much for stopping by to see me – I appreciate you doing so!

Until next time…