Monday, October 19, 2015

Spooky for Freshly Made Sketches


Many of my customers are not really into Halloween at all, so I don't focus much on it. Even those who are into it don't really send Halloween cards, so I don't have a lot of use for Halloween images and cards. I do find them fun to make, though, and I especially had fun with this design using the Hearth and Home Thinlit dies and several different stamp sets. The layout was based, with some artistic license, on the Freshly Made Sketches Challenge for this past week.




  • Overall, this card is supposed to represent the view through the window of a haunted house out to the spooky Halloween night. The inside wallpaper is the crow and gravestone design from the Happy Haunting Designer Series Paper. I sponged it with Soft Suede ink to make it grungy, and then I did something I haven't done in a long, long time. I distressed the edges to make it look like torn and peeling wallpaper. I don't know if I succeeded. I think I should have been a bit more brutal, but you get the idea. 
  • I like the layer of Black Glimmer Paper behind that and behind the sentiment. I was worried about the quantity of glimmer paper I would have for my up-coming class, so I implemented a paper conservation technique - I die cut the circle for backing the sentiment right from the middle of the Black Glimmer Paper panel behind the wall paper. This is a great way to conserve paper. You don't see the hole at all and it saves cutting a new small piece.
  • I added some clear Window Sheet behind the die cut window frame (Hearth and Home Thinlit dies). To make them look streaked and dirty I used the streak image from Gorgeous Grunge and embossed it with White Stampin' Emboss Powder. It also adds to the depth of the images behind.
  • On a small piece of Very Vanilla cardstock, measured to fit behind the window frame, I made a circle mask for the moon, and sponged the whole piece in Soft Suede. When you remove the mask, you have a full moon, and I always add just a bit of sponging on the inside as well to soften it and give it dimension. Then I stamped the branch and the owl from Among the Branches stamp set, as well as the spider web from the Happy Scenes stamp set in Basic Black archival ink. I used a Stampin' Pierce Mat under the paper to get better coverage on the image, but when there were areas not covered completely, a little ink from the pad applied with a blender pen fixed it up.
  • The sentiment is also from Among the Branches.

Don't forget that today is the start of the BIG 5 DAY SALE on stamp sets from Stampin' Up! For today until Friday, all stamp sets are 15% off. (Rotary stamps, Host sets, Clearance Rack, kits and bundles are excluded.) Don't wait until it's too late! This is the perfect opportunity to get that set that you have had your eye on! It's also a great opportunity to start your Christmas shopping early for those stampers on your wish list (or let your family know about it so that they can shop for you!!) You can phone (250-768-7379) or email me your order. I will have an order going out today and one more near the end of the week. Or, if you like, you can shop online, in the comfort of your own home, 24/7, at my Online Store.


Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today!


Product List

3 comments :

  1. Great card! My favorite part is the white streaks on the window glass.
    :) Marie

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  2. Love all the techniques you used to make this card. Like NJ Stamping Queen commented, I also thought the white streaks on the window glass was really a great idea! Never have seen that trick before.

    My question is about the sentiment stamp. How did you get the ink to cover evenly? Every time I try to stamp this sentiment, I get a blotchy look. What is wrong? Thanks for any advice.

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  3. Hi, JeanH! Thanks for your comments, and you, too, NJ Stamping Queen. I did have trouble with that sentiment, but I find that when I put the Stampin' Pierce mat underneath (or any firm foam surface) I get better coverage. And when there are only 1 or 2 uneven spots, I use a blender pen with some of the same ink to fill in the gaps if necessary. Some inks are more troublesome than others, with black being the worst.

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