Halloween is just 7 weeks away but who’s counting?!? Umm. Me! I love Halloween even if I don’t get to dressed up anymore. It’s still sooo much fun!!!!
So I’m kicking off my Halloween series with an easy card. Black cardstock, stamps, embossing powder and some colored pencils is all you really need. So grab your favorite Halloween stamps and let’s begin!
I started with a panel of Simon Says Stamp Black Cardstock cut to 5 1/2 x 4 1/4″. When your whole image is going to be heat embossed, it’s a good idea to start with a piece of paper/cardstock that is slightly larger than you will need. This gives room for errors. God knows I need it! LOL.
I pulled out one my new favorite Halloween stampsets, the Spooky Hollow by Catherine Pooler Designs then using my MISTI, I laid out the stamps I needed and mapped out my scene.
I prepped the surface with an anti-static bag (especially important on dark cardstocks) and stamped the house, the tree, one bat and the moon first, using Versamark clear embossing ink and Wow white embossing powder. Next, I reapplied some more anti-static powder and stamped and heat embossed the second bat and the fence which I had to stamp 3-4 times to get a continuous fence. Then stamped and white heat embossed the sentiment onto a scrap of Simon Says Stamp Black Cardstock. Before I diecut this panel out, I added some white dots with my Uni-Ball Signo Broad Point White Gel Pen to the sky. This can also be done with paint splatters. I just wasn’t in the mood for the mess that day.
Once all the stamping was done, I diecut the panel using the largest die from Lawn Fawn’s Small Stitched Rectangle Dies which measures 3-3/4 x 5″.
Time to color the house… You can certainty leave it uncolored but I wanted it to stand out and I was curious to see how my Prismacolor Pencils looked on the black cardstock.
I used two greens for the roof and door, two purples for the house, two greys for the porch floor, a yellow for the window shutters and a yellow orange for the inside of the window, and finally two reddish browns for the wood boards. Prismacolor Pencils have a rich pigment so they show up on dark cardstock nicely. Then I fussycut the sentiment and adhered it using Stampin’ Dimensionals.
I diecut a panel of some very old Halloween pattern paper from my stash using the largest die from Lawn Fawn’s Large Stitched Rectangles which measures to 5-1/2 x 4-1/4″. I distressed it a bit using Ranger Black Soot Distress Ink. Then adhered the black panel onto it and that to a card base (Simon Says Stamp Blue Violet 100lb Cardstock) measuring 5-1/2 x 8-1/2″and scored at 4 1/4″.
Lastly I finished off the card with some Nuvo Glitter Drops in White Blizzard. But I couldn’t leave the inside empty so cut a panel of Neenah 110lb Classic Crest Cardstock 8.5″X11″ to 8 1/2 x 5 1/2″ and adhered a piece of the same Halloween pattern paper, measuring 3/4 x 5-1/4″ to the bottom edge, which I also distressed with Black Soot Distress Ink.
But I didn’t stop there. I was having too much fun with this card so I used the fence stamps from Spooky Hollow by Catherine Pooler Designs and white heat embossed it along the bottom edge of a black Euroflap Envelope.
Supplies
Thanks for stopping by and I hope I’ve inspired you to start making your Halloween cards. Leave comments or questions below or feel free to email me.
Hello friends. Another Monday is upon us and July is almost over. I don’t know when the whole Christmas in July phenomenon started but I look forward to it every year now. The Hallmark Channel shows Christmas movies all month long, which I just love; those cheesy Christmas movies are the best! There are crafty sales and giveaways and crafters share cute Holiday cards and crafts. What could be better? It’s also a great time to get a jump start on your holiday cards. Before we know it will be December and time to send out cards!
And since I love a good Christmas card just as much as the next gal, I had to join in the fun before July was over. I kept things simple with this card. First I cut a piece of Neenah 110lb Classic Crest Cardstock 8.5″X11″ to 8 1/2 x 5 1/2″ and scored it at 4 1/4″ for my card base. Next I cut a piece of Simon Says Stamp Card Stock 100lb Lipstick Red to 4 x 5 1/4″, grabbed my Stampers Anonymous – Tim Holtz – Holiday Script Stencil and some Therm O Web TRANSFER GEL iCraft Deco Foil and began the foiling process. It’s super easy but requires patience and drying time.
I taped the red cardstock to my work surface using some Post-it Tape and then taped in place the stencil where I wanted it. Since this stencil is narrower than the cardstock panel, if you want to cover the whole background you will have to do these steps twice. I did not have to do this however since I will be covering the left side. I used a palette knife to spread the deco foil transfer gel over the stencil, making sure to spread it evenly and thinly. You don’t want a thick uneven layer or the foil will not stick correctly. I set that aside to dry (it took a couple of hours) and took cut a piece of Stampin’ Up! Old Olive Cardstock to 1 1/8 x 5 1/4″ and ran it through my diecut machine using the Darice Diagonal Stripe Embossing Folder.
Still waiting for the first half of the deco foil gel to dry, I proceeded to diecut my snowflakes. I cut 3 snowflakes using the Delicate Snowflake Die by Catherine Pooler Designs from Neenah 110lb Classic Crest Cardstock 8.5″X11″ and adhered them together to create a dimensional snowflake.
Several hours later…
The transfer gel will look shiny once it is dried. I placed a piece of the Therm O Web Gina K Designs RADIANT RED Fancy Foils Deco Foil over the red panel, sandwiched it inside a folded piece of parchment paper and ran it through my laminator (make sure it is good and hot). It comes out so pretty! I took the embossed piece of Stampin’ Up! Old Olive Cardstock and adhered it to the left side of the red foiled panel, added a strip of the wider Pin Stripe Peel-Off Stickers – Gold Mirror Moondust from Love From Lizi and then adhered that all to my card base, leaving a 1/8″ border all around the card.
Time to add the snowflake. I adhered that 3D white snowflake roughly in the center of the card, added some Tonic PALE GOLD Nuvo Crystal Drops to the center of the snowflake, the top and bottom of the card panel. And the card is finished! Oh wait! we need a sentiment!
I added the “Merry & Bright” sentiment from Peaceful Flakes Stamp Set by Catherine Pooler Designs to the inside of the card using my Old Olive Classic Stampin’ Pad by Stampin’ Up! as well as a large snowflake from Peaceful Flakes Stamp Set by Catherine Pooler Designs in Real Red Classic Stampin’ Pad | Stampin’ Up! to the bottom right corner. Ok now this card I complete!!!!
Thanks for stopping by and I hope I’ve inspired you to start making your Christmas/Holiday cards. Leave comments or questions below or feel free to email me.
