Many years ago, my sister (-in-law), Judy, Retired2stamp, invited me to a Stampin' Up Party. I was drawn to the 6X6 recipe card swap our local group was doing and had wanted to scrapbook too. I wasn't really interested in card making because I had witnessed my brother (in-law) Ed fold up a handmade card and put it in his pocket. I almost fainted and I didn't even make the card. But after a few parties, I was hooked and now make more cards than I had ever thought I would. My most recent passions are ATCs, tags & altered art. As you look through my blog I hope you can see how I've grown in my crafting ability!

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Spooky!

I love doing ATCs & if it's interactive I love it even more!  I saw a video by Craftin Desert Divas Happy Halloween for an interactive card.  It inspired me to do this floating ghost inlaid card for this month's ATC Club at The Craft Shack.  I did make several prototypes before I was happy with the inlaid tree so if you try this I hope it saves you a little time & maybe frustration!

There's a short video at the end, it's not very good but it shows how the ghost floats & swirls around!

I used 3 pieces of cardstock-Georgia Pacific White for a backer, Neenah Premium 110lb Extra Heavy CS for the ATC front & SU Early Espresso.  I used thicker CS to make sure the Impression Obsession's Bare Tree would lay flat when inlaid so the ghost would glide up the ATC smoothly. The backer made the inside smooth once the tree was inlaid.  The CS is cut 4 1/2 X 4 1/2.  It sounds big for an ATC but it was easier to inlay the tree so I didn't have so many tiny pieces to add.  You 'll see why later.

I started with the thick CS. I laid the tree die on the CS as far to the right as it would go without being off the edge, decided where to place the moon then removed the die. I blended scattered straw ink in that area for the moon.  

Then I blended walnut stain at the base of the tree, chipped sapphire around the moon & a little dusty concord at the bottom of the sky.  To distress the moon, I went over it slightly with chipped sapphire.

I used the same inks on the backer CS so when the tree was inlaid the white CS wouldn't be seen if it didn't fit perfect.  The tree was die cut from the early espresso & the thick CS (as far to the right without going off the edge).  I used the brown tree & the negative of the background. When removing the tree from the inked background CS I saved the 4 tiny pieces in the black box.  Also this die isn't really made to be inlaid & it cuts a small hole towards the top left which I made sure stayed in the background CS.  I covered the hole with an embellishment later. 

In the next step I wet my brush slightly & applied a thin coat of liquid glue over the entire backer. This is where it gets a little tricky, working quickly I put the ATC front over the backer, making sure the branch areas are laying straight & didn't get pushed to the side.  The first time I had a little trouble & that's when I decided to ink the backer CS.  Then I inserted the tree & the 4 tiny pieces I saved from the background.  I really like how the moon appears from "behind" the tree!

Once the glue dried, I cut the piece into a 3 3/8 X 2 3/8 for the ATC front & inked the edges.

After cutting the tombstone from SU Going Gray with the smallest die from Spellbinder's Labels 11, I cut it off at an angle, distressed it with pumice stone ink then with a Sharpie fine point pen hand wrote the epitaph. 

I added the tombstone to the left side of the ATC front using 2 layers of small pieces of  1/2" black adhesive foam tape.  They are only on the left side, bottom & lower half of the right.  This will allow the ghost to "hide" behind the tombstone.

The slider is made from chipboard cut approx. 4" long & 1/2" wide.  I sanded the edges smooth & inked it with chipped sapphire.  Then I added a tiny thin magnet to the end.  The slider will be sealed between the ATC front & back.

This ATC is thick because of the magnet on the chipboard slider & I didn't want a lot of white showing on the edges so I used 1/2" black adhesive foam tape down the sides & across the bottom.  I measured & cut each piece then cut it in half & stacked it so it ended up being 1/4" wide.  The channel is at an angle & it starts behind the tombstone.  I used 1/2" white foam mounting tape, cut it in half & stacked it.  I made sure when I put the tape down that the factory edge faced the inside of the channel so there were no rough edges & the slider fit between the 2 rows of tape.  At the top of the channel, I stacked 2 foam squares to act as a stopper.  The stopper does not have the top backing removed or the slider would stick & not move over top of it.  I added more black tape & foam squares along the top.  

I cut a small piece from a Darice sticky back magnet sheet & adhered it to the back of one of the small ghosts.  The other ghost was adhered to the tree.  I punched 2 bats from Martha Stewart's Vampire & Bats in SU Basic Black.  The small one was adhered to the left of the tree to cover the hole from the tree die. The bigger bat is adhere to the end of the slider after it was trimmed so it would barely be above the ATC. I decided it need something else so I die cut a Poppy Stamp Walking Cat in black & he's walking through the graveyard.

Now that all the embellishments are on, I removed the adhesive backing (except the slider stopper), put the magnetic slider in place & put it on the SU Elegant Eggplant ATC base.  Now all you have to do is gently pull on the bat at the top of the slider & watch the ghost come out from behind the tombstone & swirl up the tree.  Push the slider down & he goes back behind the tombstone.  Of course he may need a little help getting back home every now & then!

  

Hope you enjoyed my project as much as I did making it!  TFL!!



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