Happy Halloween!

It's Halloween! It's Halloween!

The moon is full and bright

And we shall see what can't be seen

On any other night.

Skeletons and ghosts and ghouls,

Grinning goblins fighting duels,

Werewolves rising from their tombs,

Witches on their magic brooms.

In masks and gown we haunt the street

And knock on doors for trick or treat.

Tonight we are the king and queen,

For oh tonight it's Halloween!

-- Jack Prelutsky

OWH - Sketch #144

Here is this week's card for sketch #144 from Operation Write Home.  I used the acetate and tissue technique that I learned back in February to create the focal point for the card.  The embellishment is Stampin' Up's brushed bronze button that I adhered using mini glue dots.

Technique #9 - Double Slider Card

Hi Everyone! This is the last technique for this year, the double slider card.  The instructions are fairly involved so I'm just going to link directly to them. Click here. Hope you had a great time following along.  I'll be posting my slider card swap before Thanksgiving.

OWH - Sketch #143

This week's sketch from Operation Write Home turned out to be really tough. I thought a I had a great idea to modify the strips of paper using a framelits die but then I had a creative block.  I cut all sorts of paper and ribbon but nothing looked right. Just when I was about to give up I remembered that I had a bunch of butterflies left over from the kissing technique swap that I never used. I added a piece of whisper white cardstock to the corner to neutralize the graphic newsprint in the background and adhered the butterfly using stampin dimensionals.

Glitter Window Swap

Here is this month's glitter window technique swap. I started with Stampin' Up's Labels Collection framelits to create the window and then adhered clear packing tape to the back of the Holiday Thyme DSP. I sprinkled glitter onto the tape  and spread it out with my finger until the tape was no longer tacky.  I stamped the tree from the Flakey Friends set and cut it out using the same size framelit as the window, I just repositioned the framelit and cut it a second time to make  the image narrower.  I finished the card by attaching the DSP to the cherry cobbler cardstock using stampin dimensionals.  I would definitely recommend staying with a chunky glitter.  The fine glitter I used looks nice close up but I'm not sure if it will keep the window from sticking to the inside of an envelope.

OWH - Sketch #142

Here is this week's card for Sketch #142 from Operation Write Home. I used the tissue paper newsprint from yesterday's tag and layered it underneath two colors from the Stampin' Up's earth elements cardstock. I stamped the Autumn Splendor leaf using black StazOn and colored it in with coordinating markers and blender pens.

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2012 (October)

Here is this month's tag for October. Once again I used all Stampin' Up! products with a little help from my Silhouette. I started with Ghostly Greetings designer series paper and distressed the edges. I then copied Newsprint DSP onto tissue paper and adhered it with mono multi liquid glue. Next I sponged on pumpkin pie and lucky limeaid inks. I embossed both the spider and the text with black and hologram highlights embossing powders. The tags are from the It's A Date stamp set and the speckles in the background were created using the Wonderfully Worn stamp set.

OWH - Sketch #141 + Bonus

Yesterday was World Card Making Day and I was so happy to see two new sketches from Operation Write Home.  Once again I used scraps.  The textured/crumpled kraft paper came as packing material and the labrador retriever was cut out of basic black cardstock using my silhouette.

Repurposed Halloween Tins

I've had these tins laying around for a few weeks and wanted to repurpose them for my niece and nephew.  My plan is to stuff them full of candy corn and send them along with coordinating Halloween cards.  I also used repositionable tape to adhere the cardstock so they could repurpose them again.

Technique #8 - Glitter Window

This month's technique is perfect for winter or Christmas and all you need is clear packing tape and glitter. As an alternative you could probably use a piece of acetate and crystal effects but the tape works perfectly. I would recommend that you use a piece of scrap paper and press the glitter down firmly onto the tape just to make sure that it's all sticking. The instructions are included below.

OWH - Sketch #140

Here's my take on this week's Operation Write Home sketch.  I used mostly scraps from my Halloween cards and kept the sentiment fairly simple since the newsprint background was so busy.

One Sheet Wonder Halloween Bag

All the credit for this bag goes to Kelly Gettelfinger and her One Sheet Wonder Bag video on YouTube.  I chose to keep the bag rectangular shaped but if you watch the video there is another optional shape. ...and yes, this is the last of the mummies.

Kissing Technique Swap

Here is this month's card swap.  I used the kissing technique on the circles behind the mummy and coordinated the inks on the circles with the paper in the background.  

OWH - Sketch #139

Operation Write Home (OWH) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that supports our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to troops to write home on as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them. OWH also hosts weekly card challenges, card drives, tutorials and sketches. I used sketch #139 to continue my Googly Ghouls Halloween theme with lots of texture added from embossing folders and textured cardstock.

Googly Ghouls - Halloween Card 2

Here is the second Halloween card using the mummy from the Googly Ghouls stamp set. The circles in the background were made using the kissing technique featured earlier in the month.

Googly Ghouls - Halloween Card 1

Here's the first in a series of cards that I made using the mummy from the Googly Ghouls stamp set.  I used mostly scraps and added texture to the pumpkin cardstock using a texture plate; different from an embossing folder.  If you're interested in getting more texture out of your texture plate you should watch this video for a great tip.

Googly Ghouls Stamp Set

This mummy is from the 2012-2013 Holiday Catalog.  He was sooo cute that I went ahead and mass produced him for my upcoming card swap. You can purchase him along with his friends in a kit available through Stampin' Up! Click here to view. Stay tuned for my card swap and a few other Halloween treats using this little guy.

One Sheet Wow - Halloween Box

I made this box using one sheet of Ghostly Greetings Designer Series Paper (retired).  This would be great for holding lots of sweet treats.  I got the idea from fellow demonstrator Rebekah Harwood.  You can watch her YouTube video here.  If you're interested in seeing the current Halloween themed DSP click here.

What's On Your Desk? Challenge!

This card was made using scraps from my desk.  I started with the negative space left over from a circle that I had cut for a previous project and a butterfly whose wings were cut off on the right side.  I added some scraps of paper and a paper flower that I thought was too mangled to use until now.  If you'd like to participate in the challenge go over to Kristina Werner's blog.

**Bonus Tag** - 12 Tags of 2012

Although I loved the original tag I made for September, I really wanted to try the foil technique. So, I went searching through the garage and found some foil tape.  This turned out to be really awesome stuff.  I didn't have any alcohol ink so I used black StazOn which I managed to spread over the foil before it dried. I also had a leftover silhouette image from August's tag that I really wanted to use but I was having a hard time seeing the image when I placed it directly on the foil.  To solve the problem I chose a piece of burlap ribbon to contrast the hard industrial look of the foil.  Once again all the paper and embellishments are from Stampin' Up!.  The foil and burlap ribbon are not.

Technique #7 - Kissing

This month we used the kissing technique to create a two-toned pattern on the butterflies using two inks and two stamps. The technique works best when you use a fairly solid stamp and a complimentary background stamp to create the pattern.  Instructions are at the bottom of the post.  (Please note: the sentiment is not from Stampin' Up!)