Spooky Family Portrait Card

BEST time of year for card making!

It is almost (almost but not quite) Halloween and I am trying to rein in my natural instinct to get my Halloween on. I don't want to be THAT person- actually if I was, I would be in a huge and lovely group so I am almost certainly wrong.

The spooky possibilities!

Anyway, I am trying to see other sides to Autumn as well as JUST Halloween so I am making myself create a card this time that is Autumn and earthy but nothing to do with monsters or anything monstrous.

I am becoming a bit scared of the little guy with the wings to be honest.

This is a personal journey and one that is supposed to teach me to see that there are lots of things going on in this, the greatest season of all, blah, blah, blah. Ah who am I kidding! I am totally making a Halloween card and I will square it with my zen consciousness later on!

It doesn't have to SAY Halloween to be a Halloween card! Experiment!

I  never played with dolls as a child because I always always creeped out by them. So the Paper Dolls collections have been a real revelation for me; a license to creep!
So let's get on anyway and see what I did to make this card.....

I do apologise for the appalling lighting problems - all that shiny paper on the dolls! That's my story and i am sticking to it.

You will need
-a 5"x 7" card blank
-white watercolour cardstock
-white 300 gsm cardstock
-4" sq. masking paper
-distress spray stains: crushed olive, black soot, weathered wood, hickory smoke
-iced spruce distress oxide spray
-distress archival ink: hickory smoke
-distress markers in a few favourite colours
-any Ideology paper dolls
-3" round die to cut the moon
-Mr Bones stamp set 
-dimensional foam squares
-your usual card making needs

Before we begin, a huge shout out to my friend Stacy for the inspiration for the background! I love her work and you can check it out here on her awesome blog. I am sure that you will love it too!

Start by cutting the watercolour cardstock just a bit smaller than the size of the card and cut a round shape from the masking paper

My 'masking paper' is just a post it note and I spritzed it with water to get it to stay put. You actually want the colour to bleed slightly so it doesn't need to seal perfectly.

Use the crushed olive spray to make some marks on the paper

I am working in my Splat Box - this is a really great investment.

Add the other colours of spray stain, drying off in between until you have a motley and creepy sky

I am totally keeping this green post it note when I am finished!

Dry this and then it is time for the big reveal!

As you can see, the not-quite-perfect-seal of the masking paper works well - all part of my cunning plan!

Now spritz the moon with plain water and allow the wicking of ink to occur...

Magic! Well, the magic of science of course!

I flicked a couple of spots of distress oxide spray over the moon too to increase the shadows

It doesn't take much to achieve an incredible effect.

Time for some branches! I am using the ones from the Mr Bones stamp set but where Stacy used black ink, I am going for a smokey grey so that they fade into the background a bit....

The stamp platform means that you can repeat the print and get some nice crispness.

I wasn't 100% happy with the depth of colour so I inked the edges softly with black soot distress ink

This step is optional so I haven't put the ink into the requirements list.

Okay, we need bats next!

I LOVE this bat die set - it is going to be one of those ones brought out year after year!

Consider getting some white 300 gsm card and colouring it with various spray stains. It really is like money in the bank when it comes to die cutting. I have made mine with hickory smoke and black soot. An A4 piece of card in each colour lasts ages and is really inspiring to plan with.

One of my favourite things to do with card!

Cut some bat shapes from the different coloured card and the different sized bat dies...

I adore this die!

Next I chose a few paper dolls. It is not important to get them from the same set. What is important is to make sure that they look great together and that the scale is right.

Mix and match until you get a family group that works well.

I tinted the paper dolls with some distress markers (my camera isn't all that interested in showing you apparently).

Trust me the colour is subtle, but it is there!

I glued the older boy and the two girls down first

These dolls will form the background.

Then the little boy and the dog were put on with dimensional foam squares

Even has its own spooky shadow thanks to my appalling lighting

We are almost there! I have to sew everything though so out came the sewing machine next

I love the way this frames the work. I may shade it a bit though. That is the beauty of using white thread, you can ink it and make it blend a little into the background.

Now the bat's turn...

When you put the bats on, only glue the bodies allowing the wings to 'fly'.

I glue the card onto the blank at this point. I like to put design tape around the edges of the card. This makes a really neat border.

Roll the edges over to make them look a bit more distressed.

The design  tape is the same colouring as the paper dolls (sepia) and this ties everything together. The background is more cooler colours and this element makes the card look more connected.

And finally (well almost finally) we need the card to say something

These label letters are great for making any word that you want. 

Just as I was finishing, I wondered what the little boy would look like with wings....

Some cards are never finished!

But finally (yes really this time), I realised that I had done everything necessary.

Finished and ready for Halloween!

And before you go - I have changed one of may page sections to a card inspiration gallery and it might be worth a look. Let me know what you think!
Hugs
Debbie
xx

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge- Starry Night

********************UPDATE**************************

I am sooo loving this.....I made the designer spotlight again :-) It never gets old either. You can read all about it here. Do have a look and think about joining in the fun!

Starry Night and NOT Christmas or Halloween (I have put myself on a ban for this make at least!).

Challenge time again at Simon Says Stamp and this time Starry Night is the order of the day! I really wanted to avoid the elephant in the room with this one which is the steadily looming Christmas season.

I love to get the TH sayings and words and then just move them around until they say things to me.

I have gone instead for friendship and unlikely pairings (some of the best friends that I have are not people who are obvious matches). I also wanted to use  older dies and mix them with new. I love the Crazy Cats and Crazy Dogs and this was also a good time to test them without the stamps.

The trick of the eye here is that both of these are actually facing forward (as fits with the stamps) but when you just cut them as a silhouette, you can fool yourself into thinking that you are looking at them from the back! Cool huh!

I began with a blank card base (as you do) and cut some card stock to match the size of it. I also cut a slightly smaller piece. This smaller one needed to become the night sky so Oxide time!

Nothing makes a backgrounds like Oxides!

I started with some lighter blue and grey (antique linen and broken china). Then went back in with darker (faded jeans and black soot).

Allow the lighter colours that you use first to remain visible.

I inked the edges with pure black soot (Distress Ink) to close the sky in and give it a frame.

This step gives a great frame to your work.

Adding drops of water from the Distress Sprayer and then blotting with paper towel adds more texture.

I splattered the background with white acrylic paint and a toothbrush too (you can see that in the next steps).

Just testing....

I did want the dog and cat buddies to stand out so I tested the background to make sure that it wasn't too dark where they were to sit. And I added in a highlight with a white gel pen at this point to give more definition.

On the larger one, I inked it with Oxide in faded jeans,stormy sky and black soot and splashed and sprayed it a bit with water. 

When you apply the ink, don't be too worried about the blender marks. They will disappear when you spray with water and then dab with a paper towel.

Then I finished that bit with some toothbrush sprays of white acrylic paint.

A toothbrush must be one of the cheapest and most used items in your kit.

While this dried, I cut two black silhouettes - one dog and one cat.
and then painted them with a DecoArt Americana product called Glamour Dust Ultra Fine Glitter Paint in black ice.....

Love this product for giving the finest glittery effect!

Time for stars! I love the Sizzix Swirling Stars die and I found a lovely 3D Sizzix die from last year' Christmas haul too. 

I wasn't sure which large star to use so i made the two - look out for the larger one in the Christmas makes!

I adore sanded things (sanded and stitched appears in everything!). So I sanded some gold Kraft core card stock and then cut the stars from it. I only needed part of the big swirl one because I was actually after individual stars.

I am afraid that the camera has not done the colour justice at all!

The next step was to glue the two layers of background together and stitch them on my sewing machine, going twice round and not being too neat.

There is a nebulous quality to the background.

Then I curled up the edges of the smaller panel here and there to increase the distressed effect. You can make this easier by spritzing them with water and waiting a while. Curl and they will dry in place.

In real life, the glitter makes the cat and dog stand out nicely.

The dog and cat went on next and I stuck them down with some foam tape to give some dimension.

Adore that star!

Next up the large gold focus star. More dimension! Then some words. I love the Label Letters which always rescue me when I cannot find the right word.

Always look at your dies from two perspectives - the positive and the negative space. My stars are positive but  I might just as well have cut the stars out of the background and matted it against silver or gold.

And then showers of stars! A wax pencil (like the ones used in a nail salon) is a great way to pick up tiny components.

Sometimes a concept just happens!

I stuck the stars on individually where they would do most good.

But I wasn't finished yet - a bow really finished the card off and I was lucky enough to have a honey coloured twine in my stash.

Finally, I added a twine bow to the side and stuck a few leftover stars onto it.

Well that's it! I had to call time before I spent the whole week adding stuff!

Ready to go in!

Finished and ready to send in!

I do like the bow with stars on!

Thank you so much for dropping by! I hope that this inspired you a bit and maybe you would like to join in the challenge too! You can do that here.



Hugs
Debbie
xx

Frilly and Funkie October Challenge- Haunted Halloween

**********************UPDATE************************
Guess what peeps - I won! I cannot believe it and it really made my Monday. You can see all the action here.

My debut make for the Frilly and Funkie. October challenge There is the usual amount of things going on- I am not sure that I am capable of making a simple card!

Well I find myself drawn to another card making challenge (well okay, I am addicted to them now) and to be honest, it is a wonderful way to focus my makes and really test myself - the whole point of a challenge after all!

I had some card stock left over from another project that I had painted with acrylic paints. Perfect for the Skeleton!

This time it is for Frilly and Funkie and the theme is Haunted Halloween. Now how could I possibly resist that!

Highlighting the bats with some white Gel pen and then only adhering the middles gives some extra dimension.

I started this make with a C5 white card blank and a piece of 250gsm card the same size.  To this I added some Tim Holtz Halloween Design tape for the edge.

Purple, bone and black just works!

I am not much of a purple user but this time, it suited the theme perfectly. I inked some pieces of card with Distress Oxide Ink         (seedless preserves, dusty concord, hickory smoke and black soot).

I sew on almost all of my cards - it is a nod to my day job!

These pieces were layered and sewn (one trimmed to make it slightly smaller.).

The card that I used for the skeleton had been painted and treated with a weathered wood crackle medium (DecoArt). This we perfect for giving him a cracked and old look!

Then came the die cuts. Tangled Twigs (Sizzix) was perfect for the background onto some TH black kraft core paper and then sanded (of course!).

Adore layers and dimension!

Before I adhered the twiggy panel on, I stamped an owl and moon from the Stampers Anonymous Mr Bones onto a piece of oxided card and die cut it with a circle die.

I have been waiting for the perfect chance to use that owl stamp!

It was time for skeleton man to come out of the grave and go exploring. He is from the Sizzix too and comes from the Ghoulish die set.

For me, it is all about that shadow!

I made a shadow for him by keeping the negative piece that I cut him from and using it as a stencil with some Black Soot Distress Ink and a Blender Brush. He has some bat companions too! They come from the same die set.

The tombstones are so easy to make - don't forget to check out the link!

A tombstone was a must. I have a full tutorial for those here and the black grass was just card offcuts snipped with a lovely sharp pair of Tonic scissors.

When I first started using the quote chips, I didn't think of sanding them -Duh! I sand everything!!

All that was left to do then was to sand a quote chip and add some spookiness with another message using TH Label Letters.

Well fingers crossed that this one will meet with favour! Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope that you are a bit inspired to enter a challenge yourself!
Hugs
Debbie
xx