TRICK-OR-TREAT

Wishing you all a safe Trick-or-Treat!

Toothy

Smiles.

ON THE WEB

Cookie Cutter Builder Punch to the rescue once again! This time I used it with the skeleton dude. Isn't he simply adorable? To think we all look just like that inside . . .

Here he is up close and personal. I embossed him in white on black cardstock, then punched him out with the Cookie Cutter Builder Punch (page 6 of the Holiday Catalog). 

Because I do not have the Stampin' Up! spiderweb embossing folder (besides I think that would overdo this card anyway), and none of my other Stampin' Up! folders were appropriately creepy enough, I turned to this old Tim Holtz embossing folder, which to my eye looks like multiple spooky spiderwebs and contrasted nicely with the spiderweb behind our little skeleton. Embossed on Smoky Slate cardstock, it gave the exact impression I was going for.

The spiderweb doily stuck over the two side edges a bit. So, in order to fit the cards inside an A2 sized enveloped, I just trimmed the sides of the web at the edges of the card. I think this worked well because it added a bit to the creepiness what with the hanging edges and all.

Little Skeleton Dude and I wish you and yours 

a safe and spooky Halloween!

Skeleton

Smiles.

PAPER PUMPKIN TRIO

This month's Paper Pumpkin kit is sort of two-kits-in-one. This is the card I made from my second kit:

You see, this is what the eight cards in the kit are SUPPOSED to look like. Adorable shaker cards.

OK. Now, the second kit might not be readily noticeable to others. They might just take those 24 (TWENTY-FOUR!!) leaves that you punch out of their spots and throw them on their leaf pile. I dunno! Use those leafy darlings in your SECOND KIT!

One of the stamps that comes in this versatile kit is sort of a crackle, veiny stamp. You are supposed to stamp the spaces underneath the leaf cut-outs for the sequins and other shakers to move around on.

BUT, you can take that stamp and those 24 leaves that you tossed on your leaf pile and make something brand new! I stamped right on top of the leaves with this stamp and VersaMark ink. I then covered the stamped leaves with clear embossing powder, and heated 'em up.

Back at my work table, I used Soft Suede, Cajun Craze and Crushed Curry to sponge over the veins, obviously using the veins as a resist.

And this is the cool effect you get for your second kit!

I dug through my stash of Designer Series Papers and ultimately came up with this card. 

And don't you love the sentiment banner? It's a "thanks" from a retired kit, stamped in black and punched out with the Duet Banner Punch (page 186 of the catalog). I then used a ruler to carefully draw the lines to make the banner look more 3-D. A little bit of black and white baker's twine was a perfect finishing touch.

So, that's how you get a BONUS KIT! And, now I have TWENTY-ONE (21!!) more leaves to play with! There are so many things you can do with these leaves. Put your thinking caps on and have a ball with your second Paper Pumpkin kit!

Leafy

Smiles.

MOONDANCE

PLEASE NOTE: I do sell framed prints of these pieces. If you are interested, please contact me.

Moony

Smiles.

RAINBOWS AND BUTTERFLIES

I know I've been overloading my blog posts with Halloween stuff. So, I thought I'd give you a little bit of a break today and treat you to . . . RAINBOWS AND BUTTERFLIES!

This is a card that my girls created at the September 2016 Stamp-In Workshop. Initially, when I was planning my projects for the August Workshop, I intended this to be the card they would make. Then, however, after it proved to be a bit much for a workshop project, I decided to go ahead and make it a unique framed piece. 

I still wanted to do something with butterflies and rainbows that they could make, so I came up with this:

I loved being able to use actual music as my background, and a black diecut with the Swirly Scribble Thinlits to act as the music "staff". To continue with the music theme, I used the "just a note" stamp from the beautiful stamp set that comes with the Watercolor Wishes Card Kit (pages 8 and 9). Popped up over some thick baker's twine, it was the perfect addition.

The combination of the popped-up butterflies, the sentiment and a little from the baker's twine, the card has some dimension. Not a lot. But pleasing enough.

Following are the instructions on how to re-create this card on your own. Have fun!

SUPPLIES:

Watercolor Wishes Card Kit stamp

Real Red cardstock

Tangerine Tango cardstock

Daffodil Delight cardstock

Wild Wasabi cardstock

Marina Mist cardstock

Pacific Point cardstock

Elegant Eggplant cardstock

Very Vanilla cardstock

Black cardstock

Black ink

Big Shot

Swirly Scribbles Thinlits

Bitty Butterfly Punch

Wild Wasabi Thick Baker's Twine

Stampin' Dimensionals

Music

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fold a 11" x 4 1/4" piece of Real Red cardstock in half, creasing well with a bone folder.

Add a 3 1/2" x 5 1/2" piece of music to a 3 3/4" x 5 1/2" piece of Daffodil Delight cardstock. Wrap a 6 1/2" piece of Wild Wasabi Thick Baker's Twine around this piece, about 1/2" from the bottom of the yellow portion. Adhere this to the card base.

From Basic Black cardstock, cut the long scribble from the Swirly Scribble Thinlits. Trim the ends as you wish so it is the same width as the card. Adhere this over the music so it is somewhat raised from the center point.

From each of the rainbow colors, use the Bitty Butterfly Punch to create the butterflies. Before adhering them in place, position them across the black scribble as you think you would like them. When you are pleased with the arrangement, adhere them, one by one, with a bit of Dimensional on the backs.

On a 3/4" x 1 3/4" piece of Very Vanilla cardstock, stamp "just a note" in black ink. Adhere this over the Baker's Twine with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Rainbow

Smiles.