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!

Hooray… It’s Your Birthday | Katzelkraft + Hero Arts

Hi friends!  Today’s card will be a silly, festive birthday card using an older Katzelkraft stamp set that I had yet to use and some of the products from the May 2026 Hero Arts My Monthly Super Hero subscription kit.  Let’s get started!

The supplies used:

     Katzelkraft - Les Suricates Red Rubber Stamp

     Hero Arts – MMSH Birthday Icons Stamp & Cut Set

     Waffle Flower – A6 Piercing Layers Die Set

     Kristina Werner – Splash Stencil Pack

     Spellbinders – Sentiments for Everyday Hot Foil Plate & Die Set

     Altenew – Time to Celebrate Mini Delight Collection

     Spellbinders – Waterfall Cardstock

     X-Press It Blending Cardstock

     Lawn Fawn – Jet Black Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Pawsitively Saturated Ink Pads – Marine, Heather, & Bubblegum

     Copic Sketch Alcohol Markers – BG49, BG23, BG11, YG25, YG01, YG11,

          RV23, R85, BV00, RV66, RV55, RV21, BV08, BV13, BV01, BG07, FBG, BG01

     Waffle Flower – Background Blender Brushes

     Spellbinders –Lavender Petal Glimmer Foil

     Ranger Ink – Glossy Accents

     Altenew – 1” Double-Sided Adhesive Tape

     Scrapbook.com – ¼” Foam Adhesive Roll

     Scrapbook Adhesives – Thin 3D Foam Squares

     Hemway – Pearl Iridescent Eco-Friendly Biodegradable Glitter

     Trinity Stamps – Cave Crystals Embellishments

     My Sweet Petunia – Original MISTI Stamping Tool

     Anna Griffin Empress Gild Hot Foiling Machine

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

For the background panel, I die cut a piece of Spellbinders Waterfall cardstock using the largest die from the Waffle Flower A6 Piercing Layers Die set.  I added Altenew’s 1” double-sided adhesive tape to the back side of the Waterfall panel and adhered it to the front of a white, A6 card base.  Next, I used the Kristina Werner Splash Stencil Pack and selected two of the stencils to add Simon Says Stamp Marine, Bubblegum, and Heather inks to a white cardstock panel using Waffle Flower Background Blender Brushes.  Once the ink blending was completed, I used the second largest die from the Waffle Flower A6 Piercing Layers Die set to trim the ink blended panel to size, then used the third largest die from the Whimsy Stamps Wavy Nested Frames die set to cut an aperture in the center of the ink blended panel.

Creating the Focal Point

I chose one of the meerkats from the Katzelkraft stamp set called “Les Suricates” because he had his hands held out as if in celebration.  I stamped the image onto a piece of X-Press It cardstock using Lawn Fawn’s Jet Black Ink Pad.  I colored the meerkat using Copic Sketch alcohol markers in these colors:

     Belly & Muzzle:  YG25, YG01, YG11

     Rest of Body:  BG49, BG23, BG11

     Eyes:  BV00

     Tongue:  R85, RV23

Next, I stamped the balloons and one of the party hats from the May 2026 Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Subscription Kit called “Birthday Icons Stamp & Cut” onto a piece of X-Press It cardstock using Lawn Fawn Jet Black ink.  I colored the images with Copic Sketch alcohol markers in these colors:

     Pink Balloon:  RV66, RV55, RV21

     Purple Balloon:  BV08, BV13, BV01

     Blue Balloon:  BG07, FBG, BG01

     Party Hat:  YG25, YG01, YG11, RV66, RV55, RV21, BV08, BV13, BV01

Once the coloring was completed, I used the coordinating Hero Arts Birthday Icons Stamp & Cut dies to die cut the balloons and party hat.  For the party hat, I used a craft knife to cut along the inner edge of the bottom of the hat so that I would be able to adhere it to the meerkat’s head.  Lastly, I added Ranger’s Glossy Accents to all the balloons and the meerkat’s eyes.

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I used the “Hooray… It’s Your Birthday” greeting from the Spellbinders Sentiments for Everyday Hot Foil Plate and Die Set and used my Anna Griffin Empress Gild along with Spellbinders Lavender Petal Glimmer Foil to foil the sentiment onto a piece of Spellbinders Waterfall cardstock.  I trimmed down the sentiment and added Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3D Foam Squares to the back of it.

Assembling the Card

I used Glossy Accents to adhere a piece of acetate slightly smaller than the ink blended front card panel and placed an acrylic block on it until it dried.  Once the Glossy Accents dried, I added Scrapbook.com’s ¼” Foam Adhesive tape around the aperture in the ink blended panel and around the outer edges of the panel.  On a 3.5” x 5” piece of white cardstock, I used the same blue and purple shades of Simon Says Stamp ink colors as I used for the inky background panel and ink blended them in a circular fashion, starting at the center of the piece of cardstock, to create a background panel for the aperture.  Once completed, I removed the adhesive backing from the aperture panel and added pearl iridescent Hemway Eco-Friendly Glitter inside the shaker well and carefully placed the ink blended backer panel to enclose the glitter in the shaker element.  I added strips of Altenew 1” adhesive tape to the shaker panel and adhered it to the card base.

I added Thin 3D Foam Squares to the back side of the meerkat image and the balloons and adhered them to the card front over the shaker well.  I decided to add a bow where the strings meet on the balloons so I die cut the two bow dies in the Altenew Time to Celebrate Mini Delight Collection die set – one from a scrap of purple cardstock and the other from a scrap of blue cardstock and glued those on top of each other just above the meerkat’s hand.  My last step was to adhere the sentiment to the bottom third of the card front, glue a few Trinity Stamps Cave Crystals embellishments here and there, and that wraps up this card.

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

Sending Love | Simon Says Stamp + Hero Arts

Hi friends!  Today I’m sharing a Father’s Day card with you that I created utilizing products from Simon Says Stamp, Hero Arts, and a host of other company’s products – sort of a “shop your stash” extravaganza.  Let’s get started!

The supplies used:

     Simon Says Stamp – Friend Like You Stamp Set

     Waffle Flower – Cloudy Stencil

     Spellbinders – Precision Layering A2 A Die Set

     Simon Says Stamp – Love Garden Greetings Stamp/Die Set

     Hero Arts – Butterfly Confetti Die

     Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz – Tumbled Glass Distress Ink Pad

     Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz – Unchartered Mariner Distress Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Field Pawsitively Saturated Ink Pad

     Lawn Fawn – Jet Black Ink Pad

     VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad

     Brutus Monroe – Alabaster White Embossing Powder

     Taylored Expressions – Anti-Static Powder Tool

     Scrapbook.com – Heavy Weight Mixed Media Paper

     X-Press It Blending Cardstock

     Spellbinders – Oceanside Cardstock

     Altenew – Mini Ink Blending Tool

     Scrapbook.com – Foam Ink Blending Tool

     Copic Alcohol Markers:  E37, E35, E33, E31, E44, E55, E42,

          YG45, YG23, BG09, BG53, B00, R20, R00, R0000, E04, R32,

          R11, W3, W1, W00, E34, E43, E40

     Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3D Foam Squares

     Sakura Black Glaze Pen

     Sakura #431 Moonlight Gelly Roll Pen

     Sakura Black Pigma Micron 03 Fine Liner Pen

     Ranger Ink – Glossy Accents

     Altenew – Instant Dimension Foam Tape

     Winsor & Newton White Designers’ Gouache

     Altenew – Carbon Black Artists’ Gouache

     WOW! Dual Speed Heat Tool

     My Sweet Petunia - MISTI Original Stamping Tool

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

To create the background, I used a sheet of Scrapbook.com’s Heavy Weight Mixed Media Paper and smooshed Tumbled Glass Distress Ink onto my work surface.  I used a mister to spray a generous amount of water to the ink and used a scrap piece of plastic packaging to dip into the ink and place it in random locations onto my mixed media paper.  I repeated this step until I was satisfied with my results.  Utilizing the Spellbinders Precision Layering A2 A die set, I used the second largest die to die cut the inky, mixed media panel and used the largest die in the set to die cut an A2 matting layer from Spellbinders Oceanside cardstock.  I used the Waffle Flower Cloudy Stencil and an Altenew Mini Blending Brush to ink blend clouds across the top two-thirds of the background panel.  Next, I grabbed a foam ink blending tool and Uncharted Mariner Distress Ink to ink the edges of the mixed media paper panel to add depth and interest.  To add the grass, I used grass cling stamp from Simon Says Stamp’s On the Ground stamp set to stamp a row of grass along the bottom edge of the inky panel using Simon Says Stamp’s Field Pawsitively Saturated ink and my MISTI Stamping Tool.  Lastly, I used Winsor and Newton white gouache and Altenew’s Carbon Black Gouache to add spatter across the inky panel and placed Altenew Instant Dimension Foam Tape to the back side of the background and adhered it to the Oceanside cardstock panel.

Creating the Focal Point

I chose the cute critter scene on the Simon Says Stamp Friend Like You stamp set as my focal point.  I stamped the image onto a piece of X-Press It Blending Card using Lawn Fawn Jet Black ink since I will be coloring the image with Copic alcohol markers.  The Copic colors I selected for the stamped image were:

     Tree Stump Bark:  E37, E35, E33, E31

     Tree Stump Top:  E44, E55, E42

     Leaves:  YG45, YG23

     Grass:  YG45

     Bird:  Blue Tail - BG09, BG53, B00

               Belly - R20, R00, R0000

               Head/Back - E04, R32, R11

     Chipmunk:  W3, W1, W00, E37, E34, E31, E43, E42, E40

Once the coloring was completed, I fussy cut the image with scissors and placed Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3D Foam Squares on the back side of the image.

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I chose to go with a the “sending love” greeting from Simon Says Stamp’s Love Garden Greetings stamp set.  I used VersaMark Ink to stamp the sentiment onto a scrap piece of Spellbinders Oceanside cardstock that I coated with anti-static powder, then applied a coating of Brutus Monroe’s Alabaster White embossing powder.  Once heat set, I wiped off the excess anti-static powder with a microfiber cloth and used the coordinating die to die cut the sentiment and die cut two additional blank sentiment die cuts to glue behind the heat embossed one for dimension.

Assembling the Card

I removed the adhesive backing paper from the focal point image and adhered it to the bottom of the card front panel.  I used a black Sakura Glaze pen to color the bird and chipmunk’s eyes and added Glossy Accents to the chipmunk’s nose.  I used liquid glue to adhere the sentiment to the card front.  For the embellishments, I decided to die cut the Hero Arts Butterfly Confetti die from pink shimmer cardstock that I found in my stash and cut it from a piece of black cardstock from my scrap bin.  I selected three sizes from the pink die cut butterflies and selected three of the black ones that were the same size.  I trimmed the middle/body portion from the black butterfly die cuts and glued the body parts to the center of the three pink butterflies.  For the butterfly decorating, I ran a bead of Ranger’s Black Enamel Accents on all the black bodies, used a black fine liner pen to draw antennae on the butterfly heads, then used a Sakura #431 Moonlight Gelly Roll pen to add small dots on the butterfly wings.  Once the Enamel Accents had a chance to dry, I adhered the card front to a white A2 card base.

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