Trick or treat

I'm not a Halloween fanatic; I don't go to big parties, I don't put up a ton of crazy decorations, and I don't usually even dress up. But I do love the fun spirit of Halloween (no pun intended). Plus it gives me an excuse to eat candy. Not that I need an excuse, mind you, but it's nice to have one all the same.

I'm more excited than usual for Halloween this year because I think we'll actually have trick-or-treaters. I've already been thinking about what kind(s) of candy I'm going to buy. (At our old apartment I bought candy every year for fourteen years "just in case" we had tick-or-treaters. We never did. I was forced to eat all that candy myself.) In honor of all those treats -- and I hope no tricks -- here are three trick-or-treat-themed Halloween cards:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^® unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Halloween Hedgehogs
Card stock: Lovely Lilac, Basic Black, Naturals Ivory, textured Crushed Curry
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Lovely Lilac pads; Lovely Lilac, Basic Black, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Tangerine Tango, Real Red, Soft Suede, Early Esresso, Basic Gray, Going Gray
Accessories: Large and Small Classic Scallop Oval Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders), Herringbone embossing folder (Cuttlebug), polka dot Crushed Curry ribbon, crochet thread, black btton (Making Memories), Dimensionals

I have two or three of these old hedgehog stamp sets from Stampin' Up,but this one is probably my favorite. How could this image not make you smile? I struggled a bit with the layout for this card because I wanted to use some of the Crushed Curry ribbon, but I couldn't figure out how to make it work with the black and purple. I settled on this vertical banner of ribbon on the strip of embossed Basic Black card stock. I love the extra punch of color, and I'm pleased with the finished card.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Fang-tastic
Card stock: Lovely Lilac, Whisper White, Green Galore
Ink: Jet Black StazOn pad; Lovely Lilac, Green Galore, Gable Green, Crushed Curry, Blush Blossom markers
Accessories: Basic Black grosgrain ribbon, circles embossing folder (Sizzix), black rhinestones (Jolee's), 2-3/8" scallop circle punch, 2-1/2" circle punch, Dimensionals

(The flash on my camera seemed to wash out the colors of this card a little. Sorry about that.) The focal image of this card was actually one I created last year when I was making Halloween cards. I don't remember why I didn't use it then -- maybe it just didn't turn out the way I imagined it -- but regardless, I had tucked it into the case with the stamps. I decided to put it to use for this year's cards and came up with this simple design.

Supplies (all Stampin; Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Carved & Candlelit, "trick or treat" greeting (Katie & Co.)
Card stock: Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Pumpkin Pie, Peach Parfait, Jet Black StazOn, Soft Suede; Basic Black marker
Accessories: Bat punch, green grosgrain ribbon, corner rounder, Dimensionals

This is probably my least favorite card of the three, but it's starting to grow on me. I stamped the three pumpkins and then was at a bit of a loss. I added the ribbon to create the effect of the pumpkins sitting on grass. Then I stamped the greeting and added the thought bubble with a marker, punched out and adhered the two bats, and doodled a border around the edge of the Whisper White card stock. It feels as if this card is missing something below the ribbon. But I couldn't decide what it needed, and I didn't want to try adding something and risk ruining the whole card. Sometimes I have to remind myself to leave well enough alone.

Thanks for stopping by!