Double Treat Halloween Cards and Photos

Because this is Halloween, I thought I'd give you a double treat...two cards today and photos from Halloweens of my past.  First, this card was an easy peasy one because it only involved a background of printed jack-o-lanterns from an old pack of K and Company papers and a stamped, colored and fussy cut image of a sassy costumed lady (Art Impressions). A Lawn Fawn die was used to cut out the DCWV foil paper words in the background.  I stamped the words for the conversation bubble cut it out freehand and colored the edges. Everything was attached with foam dots or Fabri-Tac glue.  I enjoyed making this card because it reminded me of a Halloween that I remember with great fondness....baby's first Halloween! See the photo below...it'll make you smile!

Here is the second Halloween treat....a card with a sweet little boy dressed as dinosaur ready to eat a luscious candy apple.  It was basically made the same way as the cat lady Halloween card. The background paper was from my Halloween  paper scrap bag and the die for the words was made by Sizzix. The dinosaur boy image is from Yumi and Fumi (no longer in business?) and the candy apple is a Lawn Fawn stamp/die set.

I hope this card and the following photo make you smile and enjoy the special time that only Halloween can bring.  Don't miss out on the fun of trick-o-treating, dressing up, being spooky and eating candy! Please give out the good stuff... full sized candy bars! LOL!

Why are you smiling little boy?  Aren't you afraid of me?  Hahaha!  Happy Halloween!!!!

Halloween Tags Made from Used Scrap Foil

I've always been a 'waste not, want not'sort of person so when I was doing some foiling using the Heidi Swapp Minc system I was bothered by the foil leftover after it was used on some toner design cards. In my previous posts you can see the foiled designs that I used on Halloween cards.  When I saw that Pink and Main sold ombre toner cards created just for using up the usually discarded foil sheets that had the reverse image of the original toner cards, I immediately ordered some. They did work but the resulting cards did have some minor spots of missing foil so I used them to make some Halloween tags. The missing foil spots actually look spooky like cracks or spider webs. LOL! 

Basically, I just cut tags using Little B dies and added some fussy cut stamped images.  Copic pens were used for most of the coloring but for the tiny parts I used Click Art pens.

To add more fun to the tags, I attached some specialty yarns and Halloween buttons (from HM BFC). A cute, colorful tag can turn even a plain bag into an exciting goodie treat container. Next, I will be testing out some toner ink to see if I can stencil it onto plain and printed card stock so that I can create my own foiled toner cards. Please check back to see the results. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

 

Happy Meow-lloween Card

For this card I used a Whimsy Toner Card and the Heidi Swapp foiling machine.  Because the toner cards are a bit boring (the background is a plain white), I decided that candy-corn-like colors applied  via the Distress Oxide sprays would help to liven up the foiled background.  The foiled candy corn repels the oxide colors so you could really apply any water based ink meant for porous paper. I think that the cats playing on the carved pumpkins are delightful even though they were a bit time consuming to fussy cut. Once mounted on foam dots, the cats playfully match with the heat embossed words, Happy Meow-lloween! I have a few more Halloween project to show you so please check back often for some ideas and inspiration. 

 

You Scare Me Halloween Card

I really like the frightened look of the cat from the Art Impressions (Ai) Halloween stamp set.  I would be scared too if bats were after me!  Anyway, by using the Whimsy foil toner card I was able to quickly put together this card. Some simple stamping, Copic marker coloring, fussy cutting plus heat embossing metallic powder for the words on the moon was all that was required for this card. A bit of Distress ink spraying on the moon made it look more spooky.  I just learned that the leftover foil paper can be used on other projects!  Wow! I'm so happy that the pack rat in me saved the scrap pieces that I had a feeling could be used for another project. Please return to Lynn's Craft Blog to see what I do with the reverse pieces of leftover foil. Thanks for visiting!  

 

Halloween Moon Foiled Card

This card was super simple but wasn't what I originally planned.  I started by using a Whimsy toner card and light blue foil (for use in the Heidi Swapp foiling machine system).  The photo above makes it seem like the foil is black on the lower left corner but actually this area is blue foil colored too.  Because the moon was too white and boring, I decided to spray on some Distress Mica Stain (Harvest Moon). This liquid is intended for porous paper, so I was able quickly blot off the liquid that pooled on the foiled surface.  I really love the blotchy, mottled surface of the moon...spooky! I was going to add more stuff but I liked the look of the card already so I decided to stop....before I ruined it!  As a final touch, I added the stamped and heat embossed 'Halloween' black paper strip. I am super pleased with this technique of foiling and coloring the Whimsy Toner Card. I think this method should work with other toner cards and foiling machines. You can be sure that I will be making tons of foiled holiday projects since this one was so easy. Please come back to this blog to see them!

 

Bewitching Halloween Shaker Card

This card was created in a similar way to the one on my previous post except some reddish Distress Mica spray was applied to the luster rubbed bark-like front and a die cut witch image was used.  By changing up the metallic luster cream, mica spray, and card stock, the look of the card can really change.  For the words, I stamped with clear ink and applied white pearl embossing powder before using a heat gun.  Like on the previous card, the candy corn shaker window helps to tone down the scary vibes of Halloween. Who wouldn't venture out into the darkness for some free candy?

 

Halloween Trick-o-Treaters Card

I told myself that this year I wouldn't get any more Halloween supplies because I have boxes of seldom used scary craft items....but then I was tempted once again! LOL!  I purchased a very intricate Sizzix  die set and an adorable Art Impressions stamp set of Halloween cat images that also included some very usable Halloween words. The background for this card was made by using an impression folder that has a reptile skin look. I chose a brownish card stock and rubbed the surface with Viva Inka Gold metallic cream.  This product comes in lots of colors and was purchased many years ago at HM Ben Franklin Crafts. If your jar of cream dries out you can refresh it with a little water.  I think HM BFC may now be selling a brand of luster cream called Metallic Luster.  It is usually available for the holidays to decorate pine cones, candle holders, picture frames, etc. Oh yes, I cut the circle out with a Spellbinders die before using the impression folder.  To make the shaker part of the card, a small piece of acetate film was glued behind and then double sided sticky foam tape was positioned around the window.  The Halloween candy corn confetti (from HM BFC) was placed right below the window before the embossed card top was pressed down.  You can then glue the edges of the embossed piece to the card blank or apply some foam tape to the edges.  To finish up the card, die cut the figures from black card stock and glue them down. (Be sure not to get Fabri-Tac glue on the acetate window because it is super hard to remove it completely. Guess how I know this?)  The last step was to stamp 'Halloween' on white card stock, trim it and grunge up the edges with grey ink. I really love the spooky way this card turned out but that the candy corn made it seem less frightening and highlights what Halloween is all about... CANDY!

 

Life in Full Bloom Distress Oxide Ink Card #4

Yes, this is Ranger Distress Oxide card no. 4 which features some wild flowers and a butterfly  on a bright orange background.  This card was created in a similar way to the previous three cards posted on this blog site.  On this card, one difference is that I scribbled on some Distress Crayons to add a bit of color interest.  Although these crayon colors don't change much when moistened with water, they do have an intense, easily smudged quality. I enjoyed making the last four Distress Oxide Ink cards and I intend to make more experiments with a technique I've been inventing in my mind. Please check back to this blog site to see the results of my creative thoughts. 

 

Dragonfly Tea Distress Oxide Ink Card #3

Yes, this is another Ranger Distress Oxide inks...No. 3 in my series.  Like on the previous cards, I wish I had used less ink or lighter colors before attempting to stamp the images.  I did like the silvery Distress Mica Spray applied which gave a very lovely speckled sheen.  The dragonfly image was from a Vintage Collage stamp set that came with a magazine purchased at Barnes and Noble.  The tea definition words and French image were from a red rubber set I purchased so long ago I no longer remember where they came from...that is really unusual for me because when it comes to art supplies I have a memory like an elephant...is this elephant aging? LOL! Anyway, I hope you'll try the Ranger Distress Oxide Inks because I know you'll have a creative, exciting, artistic time with them.