Halloween here I come!

Now I am not usually into Halloween as I live in Australia.  But this year I will be visiting the United States for Halloween (and Stampin’ Up! OnStage in Salt Lake City) and I have particularly asked for ‘the full Halloween experience’.  I am so excited and thought, perhaps, I needed to start getting into the ‘spirit’ (aww – a terrible pun!) of Halloween.

How do I do this when I didn’t want to purchase any exclusively only Halloween stamp sets as Halloween is certainly not big with my paper-crafting community?  I did order some favourites from the new Stampin’ Up! Christmas Holiday Catalogue like the cat punch and Detailed Gate Thinlits.  I also ordered some Spooky Night Designer Series Paper to make some treat bags.  But I had no owls, gravestones, owls, witches or their hats, so I had to make do.  I converted the hostess stamp set, In the City, to a Halloween scene by stamping the images onto Basic Gray cardstock, fussy cutting and layering behind the gate.

The cat was punched out from one of the images included in the Spooky Night Designer Series Paper. The cat adhered with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

The background was sponge brayered on Glossy White cardstock (the secret to the very smooth colouring) using Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder, Peekaboo Peach and Smoky Slate.

Not into Halloween, check out my post for tomorrow using similar supplies and you will be so surprised!

More Details:

The birds came from the High Tide Stamp Set and I have used these birds on so many projects.  Both the sentiment, birds and the houses are stamped in Basic black Archival Ink – for two reasons, better coverage and as the name suggests the Glossy White Cardstock is very shiny.  I did allow plenty of time for the ink to dry before brayering.  Lacking time or patience, your Heat Tool can speed up the process.

The Thinlits, Detailed Gate by Stampin’ Up!, were adhered using Foam Adhesive Strips for extra dimension.  They were the perfect width for most of the gate details.

This is a large detailed die so care is required when die-cutting.  I used the latest platform (Big Shot Platform #142802) from Stampin’ Up! that now is included in all Stampin’ Up! Big Shots – but can also be purchased separately if you have an older Big Shot.  I fed it through the Big Shot a few times and moved it around the plate to change the pressure points to ensure that I achieved a clean-cut – which I did easily.

Measurements and Supplies:

Time required: 1hr  Experience Required: some card making experience useful.

Whisper White Thick Cardstock Card Base 11″ x 4-1/4″ – this card is slightly larger than a standard size (Australia).  I trimmed the sides of the gate, so the card would be closer to a standard size.  Whisper White Thick Cardstock is required to stop the card from ‘bowing’ from the extra layers.

Glossy White Cardstock layer: 5-1/2″ x 4-1/4″, sponge brayered in Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder, Peekaboo Peach and Smoky Slate.

The Detailed Gate was die cut from a piece of Basic Black cardstock 4-3/4″ x 4-3/8″.

The sentiment, from the Labels of Love Stamp Set, one of my favourites, is stamped on a scrap piece of Whisper White cardstock and then punched out using the Everyday Label Punch.  Trimmed to size (see photo).  The sentiment adhered using Snail Adhesive.

Stampin’ Up! Product List

For further information about the products used in this project, just click on the items below to view in my Online Store.  I would love to be your Demonstrator if you don’t already have one and live in Australia.  All these products can be purchased through my online shop or ordered through me.  Please allow Demonstrator contact when ordering online so I can thank you properly.  Stamp sets used in this project may be available in other mount options (wood-mount, clear-mount or photopolymer). I have listed the option that I used.  If you are shopping online and your order is under $250, please use September Host Code CPDKW9XM.

Need any help with this card or you have any other crafting question, don’t hesitate to contact me.

If you have lots on your wish list, you can join my team of Crafty Paper Bees and receive a minimum of a 20% discount on all your crafting goodies.

Happy Father’s Day for my peeps in Australia.