Halloween Card Mini Series #3

Card number 3 in the Halloween mini series, a simple yet 'bewitching' card :)

To start with I folded an A5 Stampin' Up! Basic Black card stock to create a C6 size base. Using the designer paper from Echo Park Hocus Pocus collection for the background, cut slightly shorter to create a nice 'wide screen' style boarder.

The owl is from the Clearly Besotted 'Still a Hoot' set and stamped with Stayzon Black Ink. For this card I did not want the tie that comes with this particular owl, so I cut out the center of the stamp so I had the option of with or with out the tie. Of course you can use a wipe/tissue to wipe off the ink that is on the tie if you do not wish to cut your stamps.

I hand drew the hat, coloured the hat and owl with Spectrum Noir Markers.
Colours used for the owl; HB1, HB2 and HB3. I used LG3 and LG1 for the eyes, finishing off with GB6 and GB7 for the beak and feet.
Colours used for the hat; IG7 and IG9. HB1and HB3 where used for the band around the hat to keep with the theme. I used a silver gel pen for the buckle on the band.
The hat was fussy cut out, followed by die cutting the owl ready to place on the designer paper.

The designer paper was adhered to some fun foam to give the whole panel even dimension. Before sticking the owl down I took my clear Wink of Stella to the tree, just adding a kind of 'frosty' effect to the edges. Of course I could not resist also adding some to the owls eyes too. (The below picture shows how slightly shimmery the card is). I glued on the owl and popped up the hat with dimensionals.
Using again the Echo Park Hocus Pocus collection for the sentiments, which are stickers within the pack. These have also been popped up with dimensionals.

To finish off the card I used green and yellow Dovecraft 3D pearl effect to add some varied colour.

Hope you enjoy this card and maybe got some ideas :)

Halloween Card Mini Series #2

For the second card in my Halloween Card Mini Series I have made this fun Pumpkin Pop-up Box Card! As you can tell by a previous post in my blog, I love making these and was looking forward to creating a cool Halloween themed one.

Starting with the base; I used Stampin' Up! Basic Black card stock, then layered it up with Papermill's Orange card and Echo Park Hocus Pocus designer paper. By layering the card/papers you get a really nice thicker finish which just makes the whole thing look better and more sturdy when 'popped-up'. (I will be doing a step-by-step tutorial on how to make the base shortly but if you put 'pop-up box card tutorial' into google or YouTube there are already some fab ones out there!)

For the embellishments; I stamped the Pumpkin from the Stampin' Up! Jar of haunts set with Espresso Truffle Momento Dew Drop Ink onto Papermill's Orange card. I then added colour to the shaded areas with Spectrum Noir markers, using OR1. After seeing it all shaded I decided I wanted a brighter Pumpkin and a smother blend with the shading, so I went over the whole Pumkin with OR1 and then shaded with OR2. The final coloured image can be seen on picture to the right.

The vines were randomly fussy cut out of green leafy designer paper from the Eco Park Hocus Pocus collection and Wink of Stella added once the rest of the card was finished. You can not really see it much on the photo but it is so shiny and pretty. 

The spider webs were hand drawn using a white gel pen and Wink of Stella added before covering the lines in Glossy Accents. This gives a lovely shimmery and raised effect to the cobweb. Small spiders have been stamped using Stayzon Black Ink and the large was fussy cut from Basic Black card. The body's have been given a coat of Glossy Accents to add dimension. 

This card has a magical shimmer to it and a fun Autumn feel. The sentiment can easily be changed to suit Harvest, Autumn or Thanks giving.

Thanks for visiting :D

Halloween Card Mini Series #1

Hello!

So its that time of year where I can get crafty with the Halloween cards. I love Autumn...Halloween, Bonfire Night and Fireworks, then Christmas!! :D

As you can see from my latest Craft Haul post I purchased the Stampin' Up! Jar of Haunts stamp set and the Echo Park Hocus Pocus 12" Collection kit. To make the most out of the bits I now have in my stash and to encourage myself to make some Halloween Cards, I have decided to do a Halloween card mini series!
This will consist of 6 blog posts with different ideas and inspiration for Halloween themed cards :)

To kick start this mini series off I have a very simple card using the Jar of Haunts stamp set.

I stamped the image with Stazon Black Ink on to Papermill super smooth white card. The jar has been coloured using Spectrum Noir marker pens. For the Liquid I used GT1, GT2 and GT3, for the lid; GG3 and GG5. 

At first I had trouble to get a look I was happy with as the colours I was using were too dark and not 'transparent' or liquid like enough. I found the lightest shades have the best effect...also HB1, HB2 and HB3 have a nice look (below image).

The card base is Stampin' Up! Basic Black A4 card cut in half to make 2 bases then scored in half again. The designer paper is from Echo Park Hocus Pocus 12" Collection kit. I really love the variety in this pack. So many fun papers to chose from!

I then cut a white panel using the Cottage Cutz Stitched Rectangle die from Papermill's white hammered card, and backed this with another layer of Basic Black card stock to help it pop. The 'Happy Halloween' sentiment is from the Jar of Haunts set and was stamped using Stazon Black Ink. 

This set has some cute additions so I could not resist hanging a little spider from the sentiment.

The white layer of the card and the jar itself has been raised using foam dimensionals to make it a little more interesting.

A simple card that is easy and quick to make...

Let me know what you think :)

Perfect Pop-up Gift Cards...

I absolutely love making Pop-Up Box Cards. Not only are they fun and look fab, they make a lovely gift...and they are not as difficult to make as they may look. 

I make 2 sizes, one is the average size to make (Large to me) and the other I make, you can get 2 out of a single A4 sheet of card. This size is perfect for sitting on a shelf or desk with out taking up too much room. It stands 14cm high and 5cm wide, also fits into your standard C6 envelope!

There are a number of brill tutorials on Youtube to get you started, then you can find a way that works best for you. 

Here are a few of my own makes that will hopefully give you some inspiration;

CRAFT HALL - September

I kinda spoiled my self this month...
For my Birthday I was gifted a Sizzex Big Shot die machine (Lucky I know!) So I wanted to get a few basic bits and dies for my stamps. Mostly though, as we are coming into Autumn I was excited to grab some Halloween and Christmas bits, and place my first order with Stampin' Up!
Items are listed below each image :)

Echo Park Hocus Pocus 12" X 12" Collection Kit; 12 double sided papers, really nice designs and includes a sticker sheet! (From Ebay)

Black Stazon Ink Pad: I was having trouble with another brand's black ink smudging even after being left to dry for like a week, so thought i'd try Stazon.

Black Sharpie Marker.

Stick It Refill. (From Ebay)

Cottage Cutz Stitched Rectangle Nesting Dies; I have seen so many Youtube tutorials where these have been used I just had to grab them. I have used them already and love them, worth the money!

Clearly Besotted; 'Your a Hoot II' Stamp Set & Die 

                               'Hanging Around' Stamp Set

I just love the Clearly Besotted range, beautiful stamps and at fab prices. I grabbed another owl die as it was in the clearance rack and for 60p! The owl set was half price at £2.00, just had to grab it to go with my other owls.

For my Stampin' Up! order I made the most of the bundle offers and thought I'd try out their card stock and ink pads.

These items were brought from the Stampin' Up! Website!

'No Bones About It' Stamp Set; Have some fun ideas for this set which I will share soon!

'Jar of Haunts' Stamp Set; Love, love, love this set. As soon as I saw it I just had to have it...how cute is that mummy! This is perfect for fun cards and spooky treats.

'Cookie Cutter Christmas' Stamp Set & 'Cookie Cutter' Builder Punch: I was in two minds about this one, but glad I went for it. Its fun and traditional...what more could you want :)

'Hang your Stocking' Stamp Set & 'Christmas Stockings' Thinlits; This set is fab, the dies are amazing. This was another set I just had to have as soon as I saw it! The designs on the stocking dies are so detailed and pretty, giving you lots of options to play with.

'Balloon Bouquet' Punch: Thought this was a good standard punch to have in my stash...saves me cutting out lots of balloons for all those birthday cards :D

12" X 12" 'Candy Cane Lane' Designer Paper; Look at all those lovely patterns! Can't wait to cut out those ginger bread houses.

And of course some basics: 

Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock

Basic Black A4 Cardstock

Pumpkin Pie Ink Pad

Real Red Ink Pad

Crumb Cake Ink Pad

Well that was my mega haul for this month (and probably next!)...a Birthday treat to myself :D 

I am now of course starting my Halloween and Christmas cards so will share with you soon. 

Cute Animal Cards...

It's been a busy month but I have managed to have a couple of card making sessions. I was dying to try out the Clearly Besotted 'Still a Hoot' Owl stamp set....

I coloured the owls using Spectrum Noir Markers, which I am still getting to grips with. I do love how the eyes turned out, used darker shade near centre and blended it out with the lighter shade. I found if you use a good 3/4 shades difference the results are better. Added some Wink of Stella to the eyes and finished off with Glossy Accents on the scarfs and eyes.

The bottom card in the pic is for a Harry Potter Fan, hence the themed scarf colours. I am happy with how they turned out and totally adore this stamp set! Looking forward to creating some Christmas themes with them.

Another set of stamps I have been using a lot lately are the Avery Elle 'Whale Hello'. I made some simple note card sets using paper from the First Edition 'Sail Away' 6X6 paper pack. Simple yet cute designs. Again the Images were coloured using Spectrum Noir Markers.

I also used the same stamp set to attempt a nautical themed shaker card. The sentiment was heat embossed with gold embossing powder and the orange rope frame was taken and fussy cut from the cover of the First Edition 'Sail Away' paper pack! I am so so happy with how it turned out. Looking forward to making a lot more shaker cards in the future. 

Please feel free to leave a comment or any feedback you may have... :)

CRAFT HAUL - August

Hello

I thought I'd start my craft blog off with a Haul of items I have purchased this month. I really love watching all the Craft Haul video's on YouTube and getting some inspiration from them.
I have been card crafting for about a year now, so still learning and gathering the basic tools to create the type of cards I love to make or hope to try out. 

Here are some of the fab things I have gathered this month, descriptions below photos: 

WOW Heat it up! Embossing Powder - 10ml Clear

Ranger Mini Blending Tool - plus refills

A5 Clear Acetate - 180 micron (£1.99 for 10 - Ebay)

Card Stock - A4 & A5 (papermilldirect.co.uk)

Tsukinek, Momento Dew Drop Ink Pads - Bahama Blue, Summer Sky, Espresso Truffle & Bamboo Leaves.

Dovecraft Ink Pad - Black

I love love love how Clearly Besotted wrap the items you buy. Its like a little gift for yourself when it arrives :) I took advantage of the clearance rack and grabbed a few Christmas stamps, and how cute are these Owls <3 Love them!

Home at Christmas Stamp + Die

Still a Hoot Stamp + Die

Joyeux Noel Sentiment Stamp

Well that sums up my haul this month. I will be posting some of the cards I have created with these shortly.

Bye for now :) x