Halloween 2023 | Trick or Treat

The Unity Stamp Company released this adorable “Ghostly Bat Ensemble” stamp set that I had the perfect patterned paper to serve as a background. Today is the first day of Fall 2023 and I was inspired to start making for the spooky season.

For starters, I grabbed a gorgeous piece of patterned paper from the Whimsy Stamps “BOOkeh” designer paper pack… sort of a candy corn color theme happening – too cute – and cut it to be 4” x 5-1/4” using the Trinity Stamps “Modern Embossed Rectangle Stack” dies. I also used this die set to cut an A2 sized piece of black cardstock to frame my decorative panel on the card base.

Next, I stamped the ghost stamp from the Unity Stamp Company “Ghostly Bat Ensemble” onto a piece of white cardstock using VersaMark watermark ink and added a layer of Brutus Monroe Raven Sparkle Embossing Powder and melted the embossing powder with the heat gun. I used Prima Marketing “Shimmering Lights” watercolor paints (Chandelier and Antique) to paint the ghost image to give it a pearlescent finish and used the Brother Scan N Cut to cut out the image for me.

I stamped the “Trick or Treat” image from the same stamp set onto the upper right of my BOOkeh card panel using StazOn Jet Black ink since the patterned paper has a bit of a shiny finish and I wanted to ensure the ink wasn’t going to smear. I added Simon Says Stamp 3D Foam Squares to the back side of my ghost and adhered it to the card front. I found some This Calls for Confetti “The Autumn Leaves” sequins in my embellishment stash and glued a few of those cascading across the panel.

Lastly, I adhered the decorated panel to the A2 black cardstock panel using Simon Says Stamp Big Momma Foam Tape and used Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium to glue the card front to the card base… DONE! This was a quick and easy card but was so much fun to make. Until next time… Happy Making!

Halloween 2023 | The Boo Crew

Simon Says Stamp released this adorable stamp set last year (I think) and I think the images are absolutely the cutest!

I stamped the Halloween image from Simon Says Stamps' The Boo Crew" stamp set onto a piece of Kraft cardstock from my collection, then stamped it a second time onto Gina K. Designs masking paper. I fussy cut the masking paper version and applied the 'mask' over the Kraft cardstock stamped version. My next step was to stamp my little witch and black cat to overlap just slightly onto the masking paper covered stamp on the Kraft cardstock. I removed the masking paper to reveal the images to be colored.

Using Prismacolor Premier colored pencils, I colored the images and outlined the Halloween letters with a grey Uni Posca paint pen to cover the line work. Once that was completed I grabbed a piece of Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Black Two-Tone Woodgrain cardstock and cut it to be 4-1/4" by 5-1/2". I then used the Paper Rose "Stitched Rectangles" dies to cut out the Kraft cardstock panel to be smaller than the woodgrain cardstock. To complete the card, I used my Scotch ATG to adhere the stamped/colored panel to the woodgrain panel and glued the card front to an A2, top folding card base.

Thank you so much for stopping by... I appreciate you doing so!

Until next time... :)

Halloween 2022 | Project #8, Trick or Treat

Hi friends! Today’s card was inspired by a recent faux dip-dye watercolor technique I learned from Kristina Werner (IG: @starofmay, YT: K Werner Design). Kristina is an extremely talented card maker and has so many amazing techniques to share on her YouTube channel, if you haven’t already done so, I highly recommend you checking out her channel… AMAZING ARTIST!

I started by taping a piece of Strathmore Watercolor Paper to one of my hardboards using blue painter’s tape and gathered my watercolor paints, paint brush, and a cup of clean water to create the background for my card front. I used Kuretake Watercolor Paints (#31, #46, #47, and #20) and about halfway down the page began painting layers of the colors I listed previously beginning with a very watered-down version of #31 and dried that layer with my heat gun before proceeding to apply the next layer of paint. Each subsequent layer of paint is going to be darker and darker until I eventually ended up with black. Each layer must be dried before adding the next layer of paint. It’s such a fun painting technique – this is a link to Kristina’s YouTube video where she uses this technique to create a card: 🔴 EDITED REPLAY - Faux Dip-Dye with Watercolor (4 color combos) - YouTube.

Once my painted background was completely dry, I misted the entire panel with a couple sprays of Technique Junkies’ Iridescent Shimmering Bliss. Next, I used Trinity Stamps’ Modern Embossed Rectangle Stacks to die cut the panel and adhered it to a black, top folding, A2 size card base using Simon Says Stamps’ Big Momma Foam Tape.

To finish the card, I stamped the Trick Or Treat sentiment from Simon Says Stamps’ Handlettered Halloween stamp set using Altenew’s Embossing Ink onto a piece of black cardstock and dusted it with Ranger’s Silver Super Fine Embossing Powder and set it with my heat gun. I fussy cut the sentiment, applied foam adhesive to the back and adhered it to the card front. Card complete!

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

Until next time…