Open If You Dare!

This is not only a Halloween card but a birthday card too.  My friend, Mary Ann has an October birthday & she loves everything Halloween.  I  recently saw a similar card but unfortunately I can't find it again to give credit for my inspiration.

The white card front was cut 5 1/4 X 4 from SU Thick Whisper White then inked with Tim Holtz's Crackling Campfire, Spiced Marmalade & Fossilized Amber Distress Ink.

Using Tim Holtz's Stamp Platform, the spooky house from his Haunted House stamp set was stamped in his Archival Black Soot Ink.  It was also distressed with a little Pumice Stone Distress Ink.

Tim's Tangled Twigs was cut from his Kraft-Core Nostalgic Brown Cardstock. Once cut, it was gently sanded.

The ghost is vellum, cut with Tim Holtz Village Graveyard Die.

The ghost was then inked on the back with Tim's Pumice Stone Distress Ink. 

The card front & Tangled Twigs die cut were sprayed with Tim's Brushed Pewter Mica Spray. 

To complete the project the ghost was woven into & adhered to the Tangled Twigs die cut.  It was then adhered to the card front leaving a narrow reveal & added to the SU Basic Black card base.

The final detail was "open if you dare" from Tim's Regions Beyond Stamp Set.  It was stamped on white cardstock, hand cut, inked with Pumice Stone Distress Ink & popped up.  

Hope you like my creation & thanks for looking! 

Mississippi Moo

It's been a while since I've done any crafting & it just so happened that Lisa was having a Fast 'n Free event at The Craft Shack.  I designed this recipe card for 1 of the 3 projects that were free to her customers.   It was pretty simple & lots of fun making the grass & sky!!.  

The recipe was printed on a piece of 8 1/2 X 11 white card stock then cut to 5 1/2 X 5 1/2.

The cow was stamped on a small piece of white CS using a clear embossing dabber then heat embossed with Rusty Hinge embossing glaze.  After the cow was die cut, it was temporarily adhered to the recipe card so it would have the grass & clouds on it.  The cow was stamped again on masking paper with black ink, fussy cut out then placed over the embossed cow to protect it.

For the grass, I watched a Lawn Fawn video which explains how to use their stencils/masks.  It's a very cool process!  Using the Grassy Hillside Stencil (there are 3 stencils in the pack), I did the top row of grass first by applying Twisted Citron Oxide Ink then a little Peeled Paint Oxide Ink with blending brushes.  I then chose another grass stencil & did the bottom row.

Again, following the directions in the video, the clouds were done using Broken China Ink for the first 2 top rows then Tumbled Glass Ink the remaining clouds.  I kept turning the stencil for each rows, working my way down the recipe card.  When I got to the last row I used the grass mask to cover the grass & blended the final bit of tumbled glass.

To finish up, the mask was removed from the cow (& kept to use another time) & then the oval was removed from the recipe card.  Dimensionals were added to the back of the oval & adhered back onto the recipe card lining the grass & clouds up.  Then all 3 layers were put together.

Supplies:  Stampin Up Whisper White, Mossy Meadow & Real Rust CS, Tim Holtz Funny Farm Stamp Set, Tim Holtz Ranger Clear Embossing Dabber, Tim Holtz Ranger Distress Rusty Hinge Embossing Glaze, WOW Dual Speed Heat Tool, My Favorite Things Die-namics Wonky Stitched Oval Die Stax, Gina K Designs Masking Magic Sheets, Ranger Archiva Jet Black Ink, Tim Holtz Ranger Distressed Oxide Twisted Citron Ink, Tim Holtz Ranger Distressed Twisted Citron Oxide Ink & Peeled Paint Oxide Ink, Picket Fence Blending Brushes, Lawn Fawn Clippings Cloudy Stencil, Tim Holtz Ranger Distressed Broken China Ink & Tumbled Glass Ink

 

Hmmm...Smell the Cinnamon!

My mojo was pretty much gone for the December Recipe Card Class at The Craft Shack so Mary Ann & Lisa gave me a hand in designing the card.  This recipe was shared by our stamping friend, Karen at our annual stamping event.  They were delicious!

It's pretty basic except for the "cinnamon buns" at the bottom.  I wanted to place something on the recipe card that represented cinnamon buns so we used the Tim Holtz Peppermint Shifter Stencil.  I mixed Ranger Texture Paste with drops of Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Reinker then added cinnamon spice.  I didn't measure anything but kept experimenting until I got the color I wanted & a consistency to spread over the stencil.  We then sprinkled some chunky glitter like elements over it to represent the pecans.  After letting it air dry, the edges of the strip were inked & popped up.  And yes, you can smell the cinnamon...mission accomplished!!

The 3 layer base is SU Kraft, Cherry Cobbler & a Maja Design DSP.  The cook, from a retired My Favorite Things Stamps Set "What's Cooking", was colored with Copic markers, die cut with an oval, inked then popped up.  The natural twine bow was added with a glue dot.

We were happy how it turned out & the smell makes you hungry!!

TFL!!

Sea Turtle Candle

For Christmas this year our stamping group decided to have a Secret Santa gift exchange.  We were to write down a few suggestions or hints to help the Secret Santa select our gift.  I drew my SIL Pam & the only hint she gave was she liked the color green.   I was lucky to know that she recently purchased a painting with a sea turtle for her living room.  I had stamped on a candle many years ago but recently discovered people were using battery operated candles.  After watching several YouTube videos, I decided to make one for her.

Any brand of battery operated candle can be used, it just needs to have a waxy surface so it will slightly melt when heated.  If there are batteries in the candle they should be removed before heating.

White tissue paper was cut to fit the candle then  the turtle from Designs by Ryn Sea Creatures 1 was stamped in Memento Cocoa on the dull side.  A paper mask for the turtle was placed on the tissue paper then several of the sea plants were stamped in Memento Potter's Clay & Bamboo Leaves.  The turtle was colored using Copic YG61, YG63 &  E44 then E21 for the sand at the bottom.

The tissue paper was torn, leaving an edge around the image then centered on the candle with the shiny side against the candle.  A piece of wax paper was cut wide enough to cover the image & long enough go around the candle with some left in the back to hold onto.  The wax paper was placed over the stamped image smoothly & held tight.  A heat tool was used on the image, leaving it just long enough to see the image change appearance. The wax paper was carefully removed, making sure the image was melted to the candle.  If necessary it can be heated a little more.  Using a finger, the tissue paper cam be smoothed out but be careful, it's may still be hot.  If the candle is heated to long it may become bumpy.

I tied a piece of twine around the bottom to finish it off. 

I was happy how it turned out for my first try!  TFL!

Tis the Season

This is the Christmas card I did for my stamping friends.  I decided to use a buffalo plaid since it's "in" this year and a shifter stencil because I hadn't played with them yet.  I think they were both good choices!  Sorry this one is a little crooked but it was the only one I had left!!

The background was made by stamping a piece of 5 1/44 X 4'  Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler CS in VersaFine Black Onyx Ink with Concord & 9th's Plaid Background Stamp.

Instead of using a stamping platform, I laid the stamp on my Tim Holtz Glass Media Mat.  It worked as a giant block!

After laying the cherry cobbler CS over the inked stamp, it was covered it with piece of copy paper.  I rolled a Tim Holtz Brayer over the copy paper instead of using my hand.

This gave a nice even image.

I wanted to use one of the new shifter stencils & decided on the Tim Holtz Tree Shifter Tree Stencil.  A tip Tim has for using the shifter stencils is to paint the back of the stencil with Tim Holtz Black Soot Paint.  The paint will fill in the laser cut outline of the image so you will be able to see where to line it up.   REMEMBER to quickly wipes away the paint with a wet paper towel so just the laser lines are filled in.  If you don't once the paint dries it will be permanent!

I started by positioning Stampin' Up Crumb Cake CS under the stencil & taping it down to hold it in place.  Using a Ranger Blending Tool, it was inked with Tim Holtz Twisted Citron Ink.  Using taping the stencil on the edge, I was able to raise it up to make sure it was completely inked.

The stencil was cleaned & dried before moving onto the next color. The 1st image on the CS was lined up under the painted laser lines.  See how painting the lines helped?  The next set of trees were inked with Tim Holtz Peeled Paint.

The edges were inked with Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Ink.

I decided to add "snow" using Dina Wakley White Gesso.  I put a little gesso on my media mat & sprayed it with water until it was a thin consistency.  After placing the panel in Tim Holtz Splat Box, I used a brush to spatter the panel.

I stamped "Tis the Season" from Stampendous Tis the Season Stamp Set at the top of the panel & added it to the plaid card front.  I'm not sure where I got the reindeer charms but threaded jute string though the hole & wrapped the jute around the card front & secured it in the back with tape.  It was then added to the Stampin' Up Crumb Cake card base using double sided tape.  I added a small matching bow over the reindeer with a glue dot.

I made 19 of these & it really didn't take very long.  TFL!!

Watch Out For Spiders

Judy, Lisa & I had a good time designing this recipe card for a class at The Craft Shack.  Judy had the recipe & it was perfect for our October class & I made them as a treat for the class.

Starting with SU Pumpkin Pie CS cut to 5 3/4" X 5 3/4, the spider web was stamped with embossing ink then heat embossed with silver sparkle enbossing powder.  The edges of the CS were distressed with black soot ink.  It was then adhered to black CS cut 6 X 6.

Using a stamping platform tool, the trick or treaters were stamped with jet black archival ink.  Using a stamping platform is the only way to go because you can re-stamp it if you don't get a good image.

The tree & ghost house were die cut from black CS.  Lisa added several elements to the back of the ghost house including cheesecloth & yellow CS in the windows plus purple CS for the front door with a black dot for the door knob!  The smoke coming from the chimney was cut from vellum then inked with hickory smoke & adhered with a glue dot.  The ghost house was popped with dimensionals.  Two trees were stacked together & adhered using a fine point glue pen.

The recipe was torn then sponged around the edges with black soot & adhered to the pumpkin pie layer.  The spider was stamped in black soot over the spider web & recipe.  It needed a little sparkle so a red dot was added to the spider.

Below is a photo of the cupcakes & not only were they delicious but fun to make too!

What a Catch!

The September recipe card class at The Craft Shack was a recipe from a friend of mine & is what I'd call comfort food!

The 2 layers of Stampin' Up CS were cut Tempting Turquoise CS 6X6 & Whisper White CS 5 3/4 X 5 3/4.

The background was made by randomly swiping Tim Holtz Distress Cracked Pistachio Ink Pad over the white CS.  This gives the effect of swirling water.  The underwater foliage from Tim Holtz Sea Life stamp set was randomly stamped in evergreen bough.

Charlie Tuna & his trademark symbol came from the Internet.  He was colored with Copic markers & fussy cut then popped up with dimensionals.

A hole was punched in the matted recipe & an Eyelet Outlet Fish Hook was added then a line was drawn with a silver marker for the fish line,

It needed a little bling so I picked out some clear sequin from Neat & Tangled Mermaid Tail Sequin Mix to appear as the bubbles.

TFL!