Vintage Halloween!

I really wanted to make a vintage Halloween card, I selected a little girl holding a pumpkin candle to light her way from my stash and designed my card around her.  This card is definitely for my mother.  I think she will really like this cute little girl image for sure.  I wanted three distinct layers beneath my framed image, so I actually built this card from the top down to get my layer sizing compatible with the size of the framed image.  I'm sure it could have been done the normal way---from the bottom up--but I do seem to choose the more difficult method at times!  LOL  I then composed a little verse for the inside and add decorations and embellishment to compliment the front of the card.  I can't wait until Mom gets a chance to open her card!

Recipe:  Stampin' Up cardstocks: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White.  DCWV Halloween & Fall Stack (2011), Paper Pizzazz (stripe).  Digital vintage image (2.65" x 2.10"). Colobox Charcoal (distressing).  EK Large Scallop Corner punch, Spellbinders die: Classic Rectangles & Scalloped Rectangles.  Recollections flower. Stampin' Up Dazzling Details. Stash: ribbons.  Computer-made verse. 

A Raven Visits West Virginia!

I attended a craftmaking affair last year, on my annual fall visit to my mothers, at the Rock, Paper, Scissors store in Redding, CA, which has now, unfortunately, closed since that visit.  We made several Fall/ Halloween items: two card, a paper sack gift card holder, a framed papercraft project, and a Harvest mini block.  Each was taught by a different store design team member or local craft artist.  The framed papercraft project was taught by Sara Moreno, and I loved its design, but as I do not generally decorate my walls for Halloween, I decided to turn my project into a card.

My card retains the flavor of the original project using the same papers and center design embellishments; but, I made the following changes.  I re-sized the orange word mat layer to a 5-1/2" card size and placed it on a black cardbase.  I moved the dripping ooze border and the black bow to the top of the card.  I added a ribbon strip over the ooze edge, silver sparkle to the rosette spines, offset the button in the center design area, and gave the raven a little back bead for its eye.  I was very happy with my card and decided it was perfect for a visit on Halloween to my daughter and her husband in West Virginia.  I hope they like my raven card, and it makes their Halloween more fun knowing they are remember and loved!

Recipe:  SU Basic Black (base), Authentique Enchanted-Haunted, DCWV Fall & Halloween stack (2012), SU Whisper White.  Spellbinder die: Fleur de Lis Squares. Martha Stewart punches: Icicle, Spider Web corner.  SU Dazzling Delights Silver.  Rosette (handmade). Black seam binding ribbon crinkled.  Colorbox Charcoal (sponging/ distressing).  Stash: Orange button, Black twine.

Halloween Cauldron of Potions!

I recently purchased a few Halloween QuicKutz dies that I was anxious to try out.  I envisioned a Halloween scene with a witch's cauldron of oozing, bubbling green slime and wicked flasks of potions ready to be added to the brew.  I decide circling bats would add to the eerie night scene.  The ideas for this card seemed a perfect fit for my son, David.  I hope he enjoys this little card I made just for him.

Recipe: DCWV Halloween & Fall stack (2011), Stampin' Up Cardstock: Basic Black, Cajun Craze, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive. DCWV Glimmer stack (moon). Recollections glimmer (lime). Stash: cork paper. Martha Stewart bat and spider stickers.  Recollections Halloween embellishments (quarter moon). Martha Stewart Spider Web border punch. Tim Holtz fence die. Stampin' Up: Googlie eyes. Colorbox Chestnut Roan sponging. Colorbox Charcoal distressing.  Stash: mesh netting. 

Grab Your Broom!

I made this little Halloween card last year using a card kit from Rock, Paper, Scissors in Redding, CA.  The card retains the flavor of the originally designed card, but I tweaked the layout spacing and the mat layer sizing a bit, added color to the witch's boot with Copics, added the glimmer brads, composed a verse, and decorated the inside of the card to compliment the card front.  I just love this Stampin' Up stamp and thought it was perfect for my daughter Jackie to place in her holiday shadow box picture frames.

Recipe:  Bazzill cardstocks: Blackbird, Yam, Clay.  Bazzill Dot.  Pattern paper: Authentique Enchanted.  Stamps: SU Bootiful Occasions.  Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black. Colorbox Charcoal (distressing). Stampin' Up Glimmer Brads.  Spellbinders dies: Classic Ovals/ Scalloped Ovals. EK Large Scallop Corner Punch (inside). Copic Markers. Computer-made verse; Font: Homemade Apple/ size 11.  Card size: 5-1/2" square.

Punch Art "Otzi the Mummy" for Halloween!

After making Scary Mr. Frankie (and a pirate punch art card in between), I decided why not a mummy, so I put myself to the task.  I have seen several rectangular cards made with mummies and even made one at a Liz Thayer cardmaking class in September.  Liz's card was my favorite of all that I've seen because she used the torn paper technique, which I thought made the bandages more authentic.  So, I decided to try my mummy with the Top Note die punch art technique, which was one I have never seen done.  I then made up a little verse and complimentary inside decorations.  My sister was particularly fond of Otzi the Mummy when I finished him, so I thought it only appropriate that he go to here to wish her a frightful Halloween!

Recipe: SU CS: B. Black, Tang. Tango, Ivory Naturals-torn. Echo Park Chillingsworth Manor: Apothecarthy Labels green chevron. DCWV Halloween/Fall 2011 Stack-dots. SUInk: B.Gray-distress, B.Black-markings. SU TopNote die-head. SU Punch: Circles-3/4"-iris, 1-1/4"-eyeball, 1-3/8”-eye orange; 2" Ex Lrg Oval-ears. EK Stickos-pupil. WRMK Deco CornerChomper. SU ChalkMarker. M.Stewart Halloween ribbon. Stash: Black/Orange seambinding.

Punch Art Busyness for Halloween!

I love to make Halloween cards!  So many thoughts and ideas roaming in my head.  I wanted to try my hand at Top Note Die punch art.  My first attempt was Scary Mr. Frankie whose inspiration came from Jacqueline Dorer-Russell (http://sugarssmilinpapercrafts.blogspot.com/2013/09/frankenstein-card.html) when I saw her Frankie card on Pinterest. I decided to tweak his ears a bit, as she is now using the Stampin' Up Decorative Label as shown on her video tutorial.  I also wanted to use patterned Halloween papers from my huge stash.  I decided to put him on a 3/4 front-fold card so I could use SCARY alphabet letters beside him, and give him a bow-tie as well.  I designed an interior to compliment the outside and added a little verse that I composed.  Scary Mr. Frankie will be going to my son Mark and his wife Ginger, to wish them lots of fun on Halloween!

 

Recipe:  SU Basic Black cs, Wild Wasabi cs, Recollections Spice Market Burnt Orange cs, Karen Foster: Spooky Collage, Bazzill cs: Honeycomb; DCWV Halloween & Fall Stack (dots). SU Top Note die (head). SU Punches: 3/4" circle (eye pupil), 1" circle (eyeball/ lids), Round Tab (nose), 2" Extra Large Oval (ears), Decorative Label (mouth). Sharpie marker. SU Chalk Marker. SU Ink: Basic Black (distressing). Sizzix Wingo Zingo Alphabet Sizzlits. SU Dazzling Details (frost). Stash: 3/8" dot satin ribbon, Halloween Baker's Twine.

Ladybug Tilda Visits for a Niece's Birthday

Another of my niece's has an October birthday. . .this time late in the month.  Sara has bought her first home and has a lovely garden every year.  My guess is she probably has some very large pumpkins in her garden right now.  Last year she should have entered the Guiness Book of Records because I think she would have won for the strangest looking and strangest shaped pumpkin grown.  She managed a hybrid between a green squash and a pumpkin somehow without even trying!  With this in mind, I thought a visit from Ladybug Tilda would be just right.  Tilda brings a large ladybug with her, which I have heard are good for gardens!

This card features a Magnolia stamp on its front and was one of the cards I made when I first started cardmaking back in 2010.  I look back on it and think, "you know that wasn't too bad."  I had never done any coloring before, and this class I took from my sister, Heidi Gonzales (My Lil' Scrap Corner) taught woodless-colored pencil coloring using mineral spirits to set the color.  It was a fun way to color images for cards, but I have to say, I do prefer my Copic markers today!  I hope Sara enjoys her Tilda with her Ladybug birthday card.

Recipe:  Magnolia stamp: Ladybug Tilda. Woodless Coloring Pencils (available at Michaels). Papers: cream cs, Bazzill-Paprika & Sour Lemon cs, MME-Be Loved. SU Punches: Modern Label, Word Window. Offray 3/8" Mint satin ribbon. Red-Orange dew drops.

Three Masculine Birthdays!

October brings three male birthdays in my family~all nephews or nephew-in-laws, and of course, all living in states other than mine!  I went to my card stash because I knew I had at least three masculine cards made that would be useful.  In addition, as I was making these cards, I was thinking, "Oh, these will be nice to have when all those October male birthdays arrive at my doorstep demanding attention, and I am so short of time getting ready for my annual fall trip to visit my mother."  

So, out from the stash they came to receive verses and embellishments to compliment the already complete exteriors and with each gentleman in mind as I worked.  My next step was to get them into bubble-wrap-protected packaging to fit into mailing envelopes, addressed, and then I would be all set!  I hope Davis, Jesse, and Jared enjoy their cards when they arrive throughout the month of October.  Below is a picture of each card.

This card is for Davis and was made at a Stampin' Up Card Club hosted by Amy Muhly, using all Stampin' Up products.

The inspiration for this card came from one made at a Stampin' Up card class given by Misty Bradley (Rock, Paper, Scissors - Redding, CA).  In my version of the card, I have added trim and black pearls and changed the layout positioning a bit.  I also added the black matting to give it another layer.  My sentiment is computer-generated.  I hope Jesse enjoys it on his birthday.

Again, inspiration was from a previous card made by Misty Bradley (Rock, Paper, Scissors - Redding, CA).  The black and white color theme is the same as the original card, but layout elements are re-arranged and embellishments added: white and black buttons, ribbons, Baker's twine, and white enamel brads. This one is for Jared who is serving our country and stationed on the East Coast.  Here is hoping he enjoys his card, and know we are thinking about him and his family!

Sister-in-Law Birthday...#8 and Final for 2013!

One of my many sister-in-law's just returned from a vacation in France.  She absolutely loved it, and divulged that to her surprise France was absolutely beautiful!  One of the many, many sites they saw, of course, was the Eiffel Tower.  I completed a card this last spring while in California, and I posted it on my blog on June 2 after coming home.  There is a lot of information in that post about how this card evolved, but after all that I had done, I still wasn't happy with it.  I know you have all been there...a card that just doesn't "jell" well, and there is this sense of dissatisfaction with what you've done and how it turned out!

Surprisingly, when I decided I would give this card to Judy for her birthday, because it depicted Paris, IF I could do something to it to be more pleased with it, then a creative light bulb went on!  My creative juices seem to work better when I am making a card with a specific person in mind.

All of a sudden, I just knew it needed a flower that blended with all the papers on the front; that meant I had to make the flower myself from the card papers.  My final decision was to use a soft gold metallic paper to blend with the metallic look in the ribbons used and just one of the papers (Graphic 45 Birdsong-Joy Luck).  I was able to peel off the bow that I had previously adhered with hot glue by heating it well with my blow dryer.  The bow peeled off looking like new, so I would be able to re-use it.  Since I knew the card was to be for a birthday, I was also able to add a mini sentiment flag to add a bit more color to the front, which I also felt was needed.  I really hope Judy likes my Eiffel Tower card, as I go to bed pleased with the way it finally turned out!

Recipe:  Bazzill cardstock: Starburst-base, Blackbird, Straw (embossed); Graphic 45 Birdsong-Joy Luck (layer #2).  Extras: Sizzix TH Eiffel Tower Embossing Folder; Spellbinders-Rose Creations die; Recollections Black pearls, Fleur de lis; Memento Tuxedo Black Ink (sponging/ distressing); Trims: 1" black lace, 3/8" gold sheer/ satin edge ribbon, 1/4" Black satin/ metallic gold-edge ribbon.

October Sister-in-Law Birthday....#7

I'm on the HOME STRETCH!  If you read my blog last May, you would have found that I have eight, YES, eight sister-in-laws; therefore, eight birthday cards to be sure I make...and don't forget anyone or be late!  My first card in May was for my only brother's wife, Diane.  The other seven are either for my husband's sisters (4) or his brother's wives (3)!  My last two sister-in-law birthday cards are the two in early October!  So, as I say, I'm on the HOME STRETCH!

The card I chose to make is for June, one of my husband's four sisters.  As her birthday is in the fall, I am able to make a fall card, which is so exciting!  I love fall colors and an excuse to make a card using the wonderful oranges, red-oranges, yellows, reds, burgundies, cinnamons, etc. that we see in nature's color palette as trees change colors and drop their leaves.  I cased the following card layout from a card my sister (Heidi Gonzales: My Lil Scrap Corner blogspot) taught in a Stampin' Up class a year ago.  I tried the layout of the leaves and acorns about three times last year and could never get them arranged evenly, so I gave up, deciding to bring it home and try it later.  Well, I was determined and I finally succeed on this fourth try. . .don't know why I was having such a time with it!  I changed the sentiment and its punched design so that I could use it as a birthday card.  I hope my sister-in-law likes her card and its fall colors as much as I do.

Recipe:  Stampin' Up Products:  Papers-Cherry Cobbler cs, Natural White cs.  Stamps-Day of Gratitude (retired).  Inks:  Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard (retired), Bravo Burgundy (retired), Early Espresso, Baked Brown Sugar (distressing).  Punch: Ex. Lrg. Oval.  Framelit die: Apothecary Accents. 3/8" Soft Suede Taffeta ribbon. Sentiment: computer-made.   

A Friend's October Birthday!

This is a very busy month with all the friends and family birthdays and the Halloween holiday ~ all great excuses to have to make cards!  I have 18 different cards that I must make during the month of October, and only 7 of them are Halloween cards!  The only month that comes even close is December when I have to make a total of 37 cards, and 35 of those are Christmas cards.  As a result, I have been very busy, but enjoyed every minute of it.

I just found out that a friend, who has become an even better friend in the last year as we began cropping and cardmaking together, is having a birthday.  My usual modus operandi that allows my creative juices to flow more smoothly is if I know things about the person I want to make the card for, then it seems to speed up those juices for some reason.  Does anyone else operate this way?  Probably not, I find I'm usually "strange."  What I found was this person likes flowers and gardening, so that is the direction I went.  (For future reference, I found out she does not like tea or coffee, but does like soda. . .all good tidbits to know!)  

I had a little card kit I had not made up that my sister (remember her ~ my cardmaking mentor:  Heidi Gonzales - My Lil' Scrap Corner) had designed last spring.  As you know from previous posts, many times I change a few things, add embellishments, or tweak kit cards a bit to make them more "me," but usually, I find I can hardly improve upon Heidi's designs.  I love this card's design, and it follow Heidi's typical, "you don't need to change a thing" style.  I designed the inside to coordinate with the outside and added my little verse to finish it off.  I hope Charlene likes it as well in wishing her a very happy birthday!

Recipe:  SU stamp: Bloomin’ Marvelous (2013 SAB-sentiment). Papers: SU cardstock-Night of Navy, Old Olive. WRMK Feelin’ Groovy dsp: Stripes, Stripes back; Retro-gold. SU canvas. PTI die: Tag Sale #6 (tab/tag). MFT die: Rolled Daisy. WRMK Deco Corner Chomper.  EK Punch: Fancy Photo Corners (inside). Colorbox Chestnut Roam Ink (edge distressing). Brown burlap. Olive felt. Pumpkin Twill trim.  3/4" brown button. MayArts hemp twine. 

A Sweet Niece's Birthday in Early October!

One of my sister's girls is an Army wife and is far removed from home while her husband is stationed in Georgia.  I know how difficult it is to be so far from home, so I wanted to send her a homemade card to let her know that her Auntie was thinking of her and remember her birthday.

I have always loved the Authentique Grace papers that I bought last spring.  I went to a card class hosted by Misty Bradley (Rock, Paper, Scissors) while visiting my mother and made several of her cards during the class.  One, in particular, was a favorite of mine, and gave me inspiration for my card.  I decided to case the layout and the patterned papers as I was running late getting Shauna's card made.  But, as those of you who know me well, I can't just copy something; I have to add my own twist and creativity to most things I do.

I changed the cardstock matting to browns instead of grays, made the "word" mat a bit smaller, and the card size a bit bigger. I re-positioned some of the layout elements just a tad to accommodate the slight paper size changes made. I made my bow a double loop and re-positioned it a bit and added some pearl embellishments.   Though the original card used a "ticket" sentiment, I wanted a different sentiment word and color.  I scanned some of the tickets on my Authentique sticker page and dropped the gray-green Sweet ticket into PaintShop Pro, re-coloring it to a soft golden background to bring out the gold in the paper.  Now, I was much happier, plus Sweet fit a birthday card for a sweet niece much better.  I decorated the inside of my card with similar paper layers and home-made corner embellishments and I was done!  I hope Shauna likes my take on this card.

Recipe: Georgia Pacific-white cs. Core’dinations-Coffee cs. Authentique Grace patterns: Beauty/ flowers, Sweetness/ Words, Foundations/ Sweet Ticket (background changed to Gold). Hug Snug/ Brique seam binding ribbon. Sizzix Sizzlits Vintage Doily die. Recollections half-pearls/ Copic E74. 

October Birthday for a Son. . .

My youngest son, Mark's, birthday is in October is just a few days.   I was thinking about what theme I should use this year and it was a bit of a challenge.  For previous birthday years, I've done a vintage truck (representing his very first vehicle that he owned), tools used as a building contractor, and his dirt bike riding hobby. . .so what to do this year?  After pondering a bit, I know Mark has always loved the outdoors.  As a teenager, he used to ride his dirt bike in the forest behind and around the area where we live with a couple of his high school buddies, and as they grew older, they added camping with bike riding trips to their hobby list.  I remembered two stamp sets: "The Great Outdoors" and "Under the Stars" by Stampin ' Up, which I thought both had great potential.  

I had a vague memory of seeing "The Great Outdoors" bear carrying a bear stein.  I went in search of it to refresh my memory and found Michelle Surette's beer-bearing bear card with a "Cheers to You" sentiment.  I thank her for the idea as beer is Mark's beverage of choice on a hot day and especially after the dirt bike riding is done for the day.  I wanted to do something with camping and a forest scene involved, and I thought the bear with the beer could be somehow incorporated.  The problem was I didn't have a stamp with a beer stein and the one Michelle Surette used was retired after 2010.  Whoa is me!  To the computer I went. . .I found a free, black and white line drawing of beer in a stein very similar to the one Michelle used, but much larger.  I downloaded it and put it into PaintShop Pro and fixed it up a bit and saved a mirror image of it as my bear is a two-fisted beer deliverer, and I was ready to go.  

The card evolved as I progressed.  I decided I needed lots of trees so I could make a layered forest, so I used Stampin' Up "Evergreen," which is actually a Christmas stamp set, but then that is the kind of trees we have in the Northwest.  As I Copic colored eight trees, I had plenty of time to ponder and my mind got stuck on a big moon behind the bear with his delivery of beer.  The card is done, as well as the inside with my poem and embellishments too.  I think Mark will absolutely love it.  It was so fun to make!

Recipe:  SU Stamp: Under the Stars (bear).  Digital beer stein.  Ink: Memento Cocoa Brown.  Moon Sponging Inks: Memento Desert Sand, Cantaloupe; Stampin' Up So Saffron.  Paper: Darice Kraft cs; BoBunny-Camp-A-Lot Plaid/ Dots, DoubleDot-Mellow Yellow (moon);  PTI-Summer Camp (sky); X-Press It Blending Cardstock-White (w/Copics).  Copics: bear, steins, trees.  Dies: Lifestyles: Circles; Spellbinders: Fancy Tags 1. SU Corner Rounder mini punch.  Colorbox Chestnut Roan-distressing.  Stickles-Lace (beer foam).  Favorite Finding Buttons (mini). May Arts twine.  Computer-made sentiment (Font: Annie Use Your Telescope).

Jolly Roger Brings Birthday Wishes!

It's my nephew's birthday this month.  I recently saw this cute little pirate punch art card by Rae Harper (Wild West Paper Arts) inspired me to make this little pirate card that I thought would be perfect for Landon.  As I did with my Frankie card earlier this month, I decided I didn't just want a card made in the shape of the punch art head, but that I would incorporate the head as the main feature of a layered card.  I also decided I liked the 3/4-front fold layout of my Frankie card, so I would repeat it with "Ahoy!" as my vertical word.

While I was doing errands the other day, I found a fat-quarter at Wal-Mart with skeletal pirate heads and I thought it would be perfect for my pirate card that I planned to make the next day (though I have never used fabric when making a card before).  But, I thought, "Oh well, let's give it a whirl and see if I can figure out how to make it work."  I am pleased to say that I did!  I took a piece of cardstock and the fabric and hand-cut them to the same size.  Next, I rolled my tape gun in very close vertical and horizontal glue strips on the piece of cardstock.  I adhered my fabric onto the cardstock, and it adhere very well.  The cardstock gave the fabric body, and I was able to treat it just like a single piece of cardstock that had always been a unit.

Most of Captain Pirate's parts are cut with punches and used just like they punch out.  But, there are a few exceptions that were a bit challenging to modified, such as the 2-1/2" circle cut for the mouth and teeth.  These circles need to be re-punch cutting them into approximate 1/4 moon shapes with the teeth being slightly smaller than the black mouth.  The top curve of both then needs to be hand-cut to make a more shallow curve.  The mustache is part of the side of the Top Note die with the perforated edge hand-trimmed away and the lower shape hand-cut and shaped to match the top.  The scarf also ended up being a bit of trial and error to get it just right.  I started with a circle a bit larger than the Top Note head, but the crown was too rounded.  I re-cut it, using an oval to make it shallower and trimmed the sides to fit the width of the Top Note.  I ended up trimming the crown even more with scissors so it was curved just above the edge of the top note.  I decided to make templates so that I would not have to re-created them from scratch if I wanted to make Captain Pirate again.  Here is my finished card for Landon's birthday. . .I think he is going to like Captain Pirate a lot.

Punch Art Pirate head inspiration from Rae Harper (Wild West Paper Arts).

Recipe: SU Papers: Basic Black cs (base), Real Red.  DCWV La Crème Paper Stack. SU Ink:  Burnt Brown Sugar (pirate distressing), Basic Gray (verse distressing).  SU Die:  Sizzix Top Note (head/ mustache).  SU Punches: 1/16” circle (patch punches), 1/2” circle (earring hole), 3/4” circle (pupil/ earring), 1-3/8” circle (eyeball/ eyelid/ patch), 2-1/2” Circle (mouth/ teeth), 2” Ex. Lrg. Oval (ears), Owl Punch (nose). Scarf/ Tails:  Hand-drawn/ cut.  Sizzix Wingo Zingo Alphabet Sizzlit.  SU Chalk Marker. SU Dazzling Details: frost (alphabet glitter).  SU rhinestones (Copic colored).