Halloween isn’t something I enjoy or celebrate and because there are no longer many young kids living on our street, we often disappear that evening and avoid the fuss. That said one of my neighbors now has a young daughter, so I usually make her a card and add a few dollars inside.

I have one set of Halloween stamps, unfortunately of very poor quality, as they are very soft and two of them have torn in half. Using the spider web stamp and iced spruce distress ink I stamped it over the white cs. I then added the strip of ribbon I had left over from something else. Taking a small strip of white cs I stamped the stars and then the spider sentiment. Using an orange pen I filled in the colour on the words and a sakura jelly roll pen to add some glitter to the stars. I then adhered this to the spider web card. This set included the word Halloween which I stamped in Carved Pumpkin and cut to size. A few gems to fill in some spaces were required to give this card a bit more impact. Inside I have used a new Lawn Fawn die that allows me to make a pocket for a gift card or in my case some dollars.

Here is the second card from my initial attempt at one in orange and white. It fits another challenge so am entering it for fun.

Using the skeleton leaf set from GKD I stamped two of the larger leaves in Ripe Persimmon. I also stamped the word grateful in Spice Marmalade. Using the same inks I placed some on my craft mat and sprayed it with water so I could get it onto a wet brush and gently sprinkle over the top. When dry I added the paper pieced thanks to the bottom. The die is from a Concord and 9th turnabout set I purchased.

Orange isn’t a colour that I normally uses for my cards but this challenge made me want to try it out. I am pleased that I did and feel the results are not bad …

It actually fits two challenges and I also got two cards as I die cut the word several times, in both white and a lovely foil orange paper. I paper pieced the white letters into the negative of the orange piece and the orange letters into the negative of the white. I measured out how wide that piece was and placed my GKD stamps above and below it in my misti knowing that the sentiment part would cover up some of the stamped images. To do my stamping I used distress oxide ink in spiced marmalade and then I water coloured a little of the dried marigold in several places. It seemed a bit yellow so I added a small amount of rusty hinge to darken it. I added the white cs to the leftover foil piece to get a fine border edge and then adhered that to the card front.

The Paper Players have a sketch challenge so although I often don’t do well with sketches, I decided to try my hand with one.

Started out with some silver CS that I cut down to 6″ by 3″ when folded. I then added some washi tape down the (almost) middle and in the tiny gap between the two strips I added a StarForm glitter sticker. The die cut is from Tattered Lace and is one I haven’t really used very much, however it seemed to fit here so I cut it out in Mirri Card and then adhered it to the front. I added a tiny sentiment, from a GKD stamp set, to the bottle. It looks better in real life than on the photo.

This is the second card and I like this one a lot too.

I had 2 pieces of the inked background left over, but on their own, too small to use this die so I had the bright idea of using the washi tape to hold them together. Then I die cut it out. It gives a good effect and meant I could use up the last bits of cs. With the punched out bits from another die I added them inside a couple of the shapes. Then I added another die cut frame from the Concord & 9th kit I have. In the middle of that I placed the die cut snowflake. Stamped the sentiment from a GKD set called Holly Jolly received as a gift from a stamping friend. I also went over the sentiment with a Sakura jelly roll pen to give it some sparkle.

Decided to have a go at using inchies as per the challenge at CAS Mix up. In the end I made two cards and had fun creating them.

For the frames I used a small die from a Concord & 9th kit purchased this year. I really like the turquoise blue on the bright Jelly Bean green card stock so I laid them out and glued them. I stamped the greeting in black beside the frames and when dry added a bit of sakura glitter from a pen to the word Merry. using up a scrap piece of white sparkly cardstock I die cut the poinsettia flowers from a Creative Expressions set. I added the centers and then a small piece of gold star/flower left over from the bits that came out of a previous die cut. To make the leaves I added a strip of sparkly washi tape to scrap cs and die cut them. Sparkle doesn’t really show here unfortunately.

Just missed the challenge this was intended for. Had to go out earlier and too late on my return. Sad …

It is perhaps a bit busy (?) for a CAS card but it is simple card to make and there is white space. I used a new die called winter forest scene by TuttiDesigns and a word die for the sentiment. Sentiment die is from a company called Essentials and I got it last year. I used metallic gold mirri card and added it to a white embossed background piece. I like how it turned out.

Created for 2 challenges this week … the Modsquad Stenciled background tag or card http://modsquadchallenge.com/stenciled-background-tag-or-card/ and Double D challenges Focus on the Sentiment https://daranddiane.blogspot.com/ . Here is the second card.

Initially I sponged/brushed on the background colour using Distress Oxides. When it was dry I took another of the KaiserCraft Stencils, and again used Nuvo Glimmer paste this time in Blue Topaz. I left it overnight to ensure it dried fully before trying to use it. I had die cut star left from another project so decided to use it here. As well I had the negative in mirror CS left so I cut it down and added it too. The sentiment comes from a PaperWishes set that I’ve had for ages. I stamped it in VersaMark and heat embossed in Pine green then fussy cut around it to add to the smaller star.

Created for 2 challenges this week … the Modsquad & Double D, http://modsquadchallenge.com/stenciled-background-tag-or-card/ and Double D challenges Focus on the Sentiment https://daranddiane.blogspot.com/ . I ended up with 2 cards but will do a separate post for the other one.

From one of my paper pads I chose this pink piece and using a stencil from KaiserCraft called Ornaments and some Nuvo Glimmer paste in Plum Spinel I stenciled out the words. The glittery finish doesn’t show in the photo but it has a lot of glitter to it. I added the Creative Expressions die cut dove on top and because I am I couldn’t get the pink piece adhered straight to the card base I ended up with some white showing on the fold side. Hid that with a tiny strip of washi tape. I still like the result but wish the tape wasn’t there.

Found a new challenge at AAAcards blogspot earlier today and decided to give it a go.

Using a new die from Memory Box called snowflake Marquee I cut the shape in the middle of the card front. I also cut the same thing from a piece of scrap mirror card. I pieced the snowflake spikes back into the card front securing them on the back with a bit of tape. I then took a scrap piece of glitter cs the same pink as the mirror card and added it at the back so that it shows through the small holes. Added a sentiment from a GKD set called Deck the halls to the middle of the snowflake. Its a very simple card, didn’t take much time to create and I like the result.