Have a Dinomite Halloween

Halloween is right around the corner, so I thought I'd better share the Halloween cards I made this year. For today's post I have three cards made with the Dinomite Halloween set from Ellen Hutson.

For this group of cards I used the same basic layout with three different color combinations. I used alcohol markers to color the images, die cut them, and then adhered them to panels of white card stock (the dinos are popped up with foam tape). I scribbled a light gray marker to ground the dinosaurs, stamped a sentiment at the bottom of each panel and adhered the panels to layers of black card stock.

I selected coordinating green card bases and stamped a few bats and spiderwebs directly on the card bases and focal panels. I tied black-and-white baker's twine around each card base and attached the panels over the twine. I finished each card front with a few silver sequins.

Inside the cards I added white card stock stamped with "Happy Halloween" and a few more bats.

In my next post I'll share my second batch of Halloween cards -- a few clean and simple designs if you're still looking for quick and easy card ideas. Thanks for stopping by!

The Magic Is in You

Whenever I see a craft supply -- stamp set, dies, washi tape, etc. -- with mushrooms, I'm drawn to it. I don't know what it is, but they're always so darn cute. So when I saw The Magic Is in You layering stencils and die from Pinkfresh Studio, I couldn't pass them by.

The stencil set comes with five layering stencils, and you use one ink color with each stencil. I don't buy a lot of layering stencils, but I like that these are small (all the images fit on a quarter sheet of card stock) and not overly detailed. Here is my first try with the stencils:

The coordinating die cuts out all the pieces -- even the little yellow dots and stars -- at one time. Unfortunately with this first try, I didn't have the stencils lined up exactly right, and those little bits are so tiny that they didn't die cut properly. But that's ok; I really wanted the main focal images. I'll try to be more accurate next time, but I also figure that if I ever want to include those little accents on a card I could just stencil them directly onto the card base.

Here is the completed card I made with the die-cut pieces. I die cut a stitched frame to coordinate with the mushroom tops and adhered that to a light-colored card base. Then I added the greenery pieces and attached the mushrooms with foam tape. (I had one piece of foliage left over, so I used that inside the card.) I stamped a sentiment in dark brown ink and finished the card with a few brown pearls.

Thanks for stopping by!

Lil' Squatch

Today's card is one I made ages ago -- maybe a couple of years ago, I'm not even sure. I love the card, but I never shared it because the photo isn't great and has a lot of shadows. But then I thought that it kind of looks like the sun is streaming through trees, which fits with the theme of the card. At any rate, here is the card:

I made this card to send to a friend's father, who was having health problems at the time. It's not your typical get-well card, I know, but I think if I were in that situation, I would like a card that made me smile. And this little sasquatch and punny greeting definitely do that.

The main products I used on this card were the Wood Grain Planks die (Memory Box) for the background and the Lil' Squatch stamp and die sets (Ellen Hutson) for the focal images. I used colored pencils and Gamsol to color the images. I added the sentiment on a white banner and kept the embellishments simple -- just a bit of hemp twine and a small red brad in the upper left corner. 

Thanks for stopping by -- and may the forest be with you!

Gel print cards

Happy World Card-Making Day! I made a few cards today myself, but I'll be sharing them another day. The cards in today's post are ones I made last weekend, using some gel press prints from my stash.

I started with an autumn card because I wanted to use these watercolor leaves. I created the leaves a few months ago during the 2023 Fodder Challenge, but I hadn't decided what to do with them yet. I love how they look on this card, and I think the colors work really well with the gel print. I attached the leaves to the card with foam tape and added a small twine bow to the green leaf. I stamped a sentiment directly on the gel print and finished the card with several metallic sequins.

The next cards feature pieces of the same gel print. The first card has a pink watercolor leaf as the focal point, and since the leaf had black details, I used that as the accent color and added a black card stock layer, a black sentiment, and several black enamel dots. For the second card I die cut a circular "hey" sentiment out of gold and white card stock (two white, one gold) and layered them together. I love how the sentiment looks with the pattern in the gel print. I also added a layer of gold card stock behind the gel print and finished the card with a few sequins.

The last two cards are two-for-one birthday cards. I die cut the Birthday Message Cover Plate (Hero Arts) out of black card stock and glued it over a gel print. I adhered the panel to a card base and added  sequins for a little sparkle. Then I used the letters from the cover plate and glued them to another gel print for a second card. (Tip: Cut the cover plate with a piece of scratch card stock to use as a template for gluing the letters.) Of course, I had to add a few sequins for the finishing touch.

Thanks for stopping by!

Harvest Silhouettes

Our temperature dropped about forty degrees this week, so I think we are finally into autumn. Thank goodness! The beginning of this week was entirely too warm for early October (although I may change my opinion in a few months when we're in the throes of winter). So it seems fitting to share two more fall cards, this time made with the Harvest Silhouettes stamp set from Gina K Designs.

I love the look of an ink blended sunset, so that's what I wanted to try for my first card. I started by stamping the mountains and ground at the bottom of a white panel. I stamped the mountains again on masking paper, cut it out, and adhered it over the mountains on the panel. I blended five colors for the sunset: peach, pinkish red, lavender, medium blue, and just a tiny bit of dark blue along the top edge. I used dark brown ink to stamp the flowers and sentiment, then added a few gold sequins, and adhered the panel to a card base.

For a different look with the same stamp set, I used the three leaf images to create a simple stamping card. I stamped each leaf with a different color (they are the same colors I used in the first card; it's funny how different they look when stamped compared to blending) and then used a splatter stamp from my stash to fill in some of the empty spaces. I left one small area clear for a simple "happy fall" sentiment (from a different Gina K Designs set) and added three gold sequins. The card still felt like it needed something, so I finished it off with a length of hemp twine wrapped around the card front and tied in a bow near the card fold.

Thanks for stopping by!