Halloween 2024 | Boo!

Hi friends!  For today’s Halloween card I wanted to try something different.  I’ve combined a little watercoloring, colored pencil work, and vellum stamping to make a not-so-spooky little ghost card.   This project can also be found on my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@VeehattInspired

The supplies used were:

§  Paul Rubens Hot Press Watercolor Paper

§  Schmincke Watercolor Paint – Colors:  Deep Sea Black & Tundra Orange

§  Whimsy Stamps “Dungeon Door” Red Rubber Stamp

§  Simon Says Stamp Clear Embossing and Watermark Ink

§  Taylored Expressions Anti-static Powder Tool

§  Ranger Super Fine Black Embossing Powder

§  Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils – Door: PC947, PC1082, PC1033, PC1034, PC942, PC914 and Stones: PC1058, PC1056, PC1052, PC1050)

§  Tonic Studios Craft Perfect Pearled Silver Vellum

§  Honey Bee Stamps “Lovely Layers: Party Frames” Die Set

§  Sizzix/Tim Holtz “Vault Gothic Portraits” Die Set

§  Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz “Spooky Spirits” Red Rubber Stamp

§  Xyron Creative Station Sticker Maker

§  Distress Black Two-Tone Woodgrain Cardstock

§  Altenew “Black Diamond” Glitter Cardstock

§  Thermoweb iCraft Black 3D Foam Tape

§  Tim Holtz Idea-ology Halloween Deco Sheets (Orange)

§  My Sweet Petunia Misti Stamp Positioner

For the background, I started by placing a piece of Paul Rubens hot press watercolor paper into my Misti stamp positioning tool and dusted it with anti-static powder.  I then stamped the Whimsy Stamps “Dungeon Door” red rubber stamp onto the watercolor paper using Simon Says Stamp clear embossing ink.  I applied Ranger black embossing powder over the stamped image and tapped off the excess.  Lastly, I used my embossing tool to melt the embossing powder.

Once the embossed image cooled, I used masking tape to adhere the watercolor paper to a hardboard.  I added a few drops of water to my pans of Schmincke watercolor paint in the colors Deep Sea Black and Tundra Orange to get them ready for use (these come in a tube, but I keep quarter pans of all my colors, I feel I waste less paint that way). 

Using a #16 round paint brush, I applied water to the entire piece of watercolor cardstock and began to apply a watered-down layer of Deep Sea Black to serve as a base layer for my colored pencil work that will come later.  Then I used a #6 round paint brush to apply a watery layer of the Tundra Orange watercolor paint.  I used my Ranger Heat Tool to speed up the drying process.

Once the watercolor panel was dry, I used my Prismacolor Premier colored pencils (colors listed above) to color the dungeon door and the stonework directly surrounding the door plus the steps.  I removed the cardstock from the hardboard and set it aside.

For the ghost, I stamped one of the ghosts from the Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz “Spooky Spirits” stamp set and Jet Black StazOn ink to stamp it onto a piece of Tonic Studios Craft Perfect Pearled Silver vellum.  To make the ghost image less transparent, I ran the piece of vellum through the Xyron Creative Station to essentially make it a sticker, then adhered it to a second piece of vellum before fussing cutting the image.  Once the ghost was trimmed out, I ran it through the Xyron again to add adhesive to the back of the double-stacked vellum ghost.

To create the sentiment, I cut the “boo” die in the Sizzix/Tim Holtz “Vault Gothic Portraits” set twice from black cardstock and once from the orange piece of Tim Holtz Idea-ology Deco Sheets that were from a Halloween release.  I adhered the stack sentiment die cuts together using liquid glue.  I also cut the smallest bat from the same die set out of Altenew Black Diamond glitter paper.

Now for the card front.  I used Honey Bee Stamps’ “Lovely Layers: Party Frames” and used the postage edged die to cut out the watercolored panel and then used the largest die in this set to cut my base layer from Distress Black Two-Tone Woodgrain cardstock.  I believe Tim Holtz commented that this cardstock was no longer going to be made; however, I had purchased several packages when it was released.  If you want to recreate a similar look you could use black cardstock ran through a woodgrain embossing folder or simply use a piece of black cardstock… it’ll still look great.

I applied Thermoweb black 3D foam tape to the back side of the watercolor panel and adhered it to the woodgrain cardstock.  I removed the ghost from the Xyron backing sheet and adhered it to the card front at the bottom of the steps.  Using liquid glue, I adhered the sentiment and bat toward the top of the dungeon panel. Lastly, I glued the completed card front to an A2 size, top folding card base.

I hope you enjoyed the card and found inspiration for some of your own card making projects!  Until next time… happy making!

Hamsterific Birthday | September 2023

For this birthday card, I’m using some supplies that were already in my stash from My Favorite Things (MFT) and Mama Elephant that I just didn’t think I showed enough love to during their initial release.

I started this project by cutting a piece of diagonal striped patterned paper from the My Favorite Things “Time to Celebrate” paper pad and trimmed it to measure 5” x 5”. I took the paper and cut a hole in the center using a circle die from the Hero Arts “Nested Circle Infinity Dies. For the decorative trim for the circular hole, I used the “Nested Decorative Circles” dies (the middle sized one that looks rainbow-ish) from Scrapbook.com and a piece of black cardstock, then glued this trim piece to what will be my card front.

Using a scrap piece of white cardstock and the hamster with balloons stamp from Mama Elephant’s “Celebration Hamsters” stamp set, I stamped and used my Prismacolor Premier colored pencils to color the balloons in colors that closely resembled the stripes of the MFT paper for the card front, as well as colored in the little hamster. I also stamped a sentiment from MFT’s “Itty Bitty Celebrations” onto white cardstock, used Simon Says Stamp Black Ultra Fine Embossing Powder, and heat set the birthday greeting. When the heat embossing cooled, I cut out the sentiment using Avery Elle’s “Simple Sentiment” dies.

Since this card was going to be a shaker, I cut a piece of acetate and glued it to the back side of the hole in the card front and added strips of foam tape around the edges of the card front and around the edges of the hole in the middle. I filled the well (the center of the cardstock that is covered with acetate and surrounded by foam tape) with a few different types of clay bits I had in my stash and carefully placed this aside so I could work on the card base.

For the card base, I cut a piece of 110# cardstock to measure 10” x 5” and scored it on the long measurement at five inches. I used another piece of patterned paper from the MFT “Time to Celebrate” paper pad and glued it to the front side of the card base. Next, I carefully removed the backing from all the foam tape and adhered the card base to the shaker card front. WHEW!! That part is always sketchy for me!

Now for final assembly. I added Simon Says Stamp 3D Foam Squares to the back of the sentiment strip and hamster with balloons image and adhered those to the card front.

My final touch was adding Pink & Main “Musical” enamel dots in random places on the card front for some additional interest. Project complete!

I hope you enjoyed the card. Thank you so much for stopping by to see me - I appreciate you doing so!

Until next time…

Happy Birthday Bear

I purchased this adorable Gerda Steiner stamp set when it was released, but only now am I getting the opportunity to use it. Shame on me!

I began creating this card by using Waffle Flower's "Confetti Foil Plate" and the Gemini Foil Press along with Spellbinder's "Rainbow" foil to hot foil the metallic-looking confetti on the base panel for the card. I trimmed this panel to be 4-1/4" x 5-1/2". Next, I cut two more cardstock panels - one from turquoise cardstock and the other from white Canson Bristol Smooth cardstock.

My next step was to stamp the images I wanted to use on the card front from Gerda Steiner's "Birthday Bear" stamp set using Lawn Fawn's Jet Black ink pad onto the Bristol Smooth cardstock. I colored the images using a combination of Prismacolor Premier colored pencils, Karin Star Sparks DecoGel pens and Sakura Glaze pens. Once the gel pens dried, I cut out the image using the Brother Scan 'N Cut and attached it to the card front using Spellbinders White Foam Squares.

I attached the stamped card panel to the turquoise panel, followed by adhering those two to the hot foiled panel, then glued all the panels to an A2 size top folding card base. My last task was to add some Pink & Main "Floral Pumpkin Sparkle Dots" to random locations on the decorated panel for a touch a magic.

Thanks again for stopping by to check out my card... I appreciate you doing so!