Don't Go In The Woods and Haunted Couture Cards

Hello again everyone, and welcome back!  I'm in a bit of a Halloween mood, and The Robin's Nest is offering their Halloween collection for 20% off this month.  We have also paired up with a wonderful company, Connie Crystal, this month.   They have the most beautiful crystal products around.   I love making Halloween themed projects, and I could not be more pleased to share my cards with you today.  I have three cards today, so grab a cuppa, sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Supplies Used:

The Robin's Nest:  Black Trees Glitter Cardstock
                               Purple Glitter Crackle Cardstock
                               Spiderweb Glitter Cardstock
                               Orange Glitter Crackle Cardstock
                               Halloween Glitter Stripe Cardstock
                               Boo Words Glitter Cardstock
                               Ghost Camo Glitter Cardstock
                               Pumpkin Heads Cardstock
                               Witch Accessories Glitter Cardstock
                               Haunted House Cardstock
                               Black Classic Glitter Cardstock
                               Almost Black Classic Glitter Cardstock
                               Bats Chipboard
                               Little Friends - Dress-up - Dracula Costume
                               Mascarade Diamond Dew Drops
                               Classified Mini Dew Drops
                               Halloween Dew Drops
Connie Crystal Beads
Specialty Stamping Paper
Copic Markers: Y38, Y35, Y06, YG23, V04, V17, 0-Blender
Tuxedo Black Memento ink pad
French Lilac Palette Hybrid ink pad, Black India Ink pad (Stewart Superior)
Chipboard mini dress form (Maya Road)
Rubber Stamps:  Haunted Couture, Haunted Dress (Lockhart Stamp Co.)
Dies:  Spider Web (Quickutz); Ribbon Label, Fancy Tags, Scallop Circle, Lacey Circle (Spellbinders); Graveyard (Tim Holtz)
Martha Stewart spider web edge punch
EK Success tiny spider punch
Pumpkin Smooch (Colorbox)
Popcorn chalk ink (Colorbox)
Pitt Big Brush Artist Pens: White, Black (Faber-Castell)
3mm and 4mm googlie eyes (Hobby Lobby)
Silver eye pins
Jump rings

Directions for Don't Go In the Woods:

Cut Almost Black Classic Glitter Cardstock to 6" x 12", to make a 6" square top folded card.  I decided to put the fold at the top so it could act as an easel and stand for display.

Trim Black Trees Glitter Cardstock slightly smaller than card front, edge with Black Soot distress ink, and adhere, as shown.  (Tip:  Pick a section of the trees you like for the front.)

Adhere Purple Glitter Crackle Cardstock to chipboard and die cut with the graveyard die.  Edge chipboard piece with a black marker.  Choose the direction of your light source and add white chalk ink to the tombstones to look like moonlight shining on them.  (Unfortunately, it is very subtle in the picture, but much more effective in person).

Adhere to bottom of card with a strip of foam tape for dimension.

Cut out two spider webs from Spiderweb Glitter Cardstock and two ghosts from the Ghost Camo Glitter Cardstock.  Adhere to card front, as shown.  I used pop dots under the ghosts to give them some dimension.

Cut out small raven from Haunted House Cardstock and place on top of one of the tomb stones.  Add 3D crystal lacquer for strength and to help it stand out against the dark background.

Choose three small bats from the Bats Chipboard package, two black and one purple.  Color the black bats with a light coat of pumpkin Smooch.  Adhere purple and orange diamond dew drops to each bat.

Cut out small "B" "O" "O" letters from the Boo Words Glitter Cardstock.  I chose these because they look like eyeballs to me.  I cut them out individually because I wanted to place the letters "O" upside down, and place all the letters closer together to look like they are hiding in the trees.  I used two black dew drops and two silver dew drops from the Classified Mini Dew Drops to make eyeballs.  I needed mini black dew drops for the letter "B", but did not have any. So I placed them onto a piece of double sided tape and inked them with my black permanent ink pen.

I found it easier to adhere the letters to my card first.  Then, you can either add 3mm and 4mm googlie eyes, if you have them, or a white pen to finish off the eyeballs.  I thought the googlie eyes were a lot of fun and always make me smile.  I even added one to my raven.  I think he even looks scared now!

And what wooded cemetery doesn't have it's very own vampire?  Of course, this calls for the addition of Little Friends - Dress-up - Dracula Costume.  So, stay out of the woods at night, or you might run into a few of these critters.

My next card is more along the lines of Halloween costumes and the whole idea of dressing up.  I remember having so much fun as a kid, but alas, I was very tall, and the ready made costumes were always too short on me.  I had to learn to sew so that I could make my own.

Directions for Haunted Couture:

Cut Pumpkin Heads Cardstock to 6" x 9", fold in half to make card 6" x 4-1/2".  (Note:  I am using the reverse side of the pumpkin heads for the outside, but the inside is directional, so make sure your pumpkins are upright.)

Stamp Haunted Couture dress onto specialty stamping paper, color with Copic Markers.

Fussy cut the dress, a witch's hat and broom from Witch Accessories Glitter Cardstock, and ink a mini dress form with French Lilac.  Be sure to ink the edges for a finished look.  Set aside.

To make the spider web doily, I die cut Lacey Circles from Purple Glitter Crackle Cardstock, and a smaller scallop circle from Orange Glitter Crackle Cardstock.  Then I cut the web from Black Classic Glitter Cardstock, layering one on top of the other and trimming the web, as shown.

Cut fancy tag from Boo Words Glitter Cardstock, placing die between words.  Edge with a bit of Spiced Marmalade distress ink.  Stamp Haunt Couture phrase in the center with Black India Ink.  I used my trusty stamp positioner for this.


Adhere doily and fancy tag to card front, as shown.

To make the dress form longer, cut it in half and adhere to the back of the dress, as shown.  I added a small piece of foam tape between the cut dress form to make up the difference.

Adhere dress form, witch's hat and broom to center of doily.  Add yellow and orange mini dew drops, and two purple diamond dew drops to the fancy tag, as shown in finished card photo.

I have one last thing to share.  Since we are partnering with Connie Crystal Beads this month, I wanted to show off a card using their gorgeous crystals.  This card needs to be a bit more substantial to support the Connie Crystal Beads.  These beads are so nice and shiny, and have a very nice, heavy weight to them, unlike plastic beads.  I have some more ideas for using them, but that will have to wait for another time.  Now, I want to show you a real simple, but very cool, way to use them on this last Halloween card.

Directions for "BOO" card:

Cut  Black Trees Glitter Cardstock to 5" x 6".  Layer onto a pre-folded 5" x 6-1/2" black card.

Punch two spider web borders from  Black Classic Glitter Cardstock and adhere to top and bottom.

Adhere Orange Glitter Crackle Cardstock to a piece of chipboard and cut out using the "Boo" die.  Ink chipboard edges with black pen to finish it off.

Thread three Connie Crystal Beads  onto an eyepin and make a loop at the open end.  Attach a crystal drop to the bottom loop with a jump ring, and attach the entire bead piece to the chipboard, as shown.

Adhere "Boo" chipboard to card front.  Punch tiny spider from Black Classic Glitter Cardstock and add to web beneath the letter "B".

And there you have it!  I really love my Halloween cards, and I hope you like them too.  Please be sure to visit the online store for the sale papers, as well as the other wonderful Robin's Nest products.  And don't forget to take a moment to check out Connie Crystal Beads to see all of their beautiful crystal beads.

Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope I didn't take up too much of your time with my long post, and I hope you will come back to the Robin's Nest blog to check out the rest of the team's creations, too.

Have a very happy, creative week!

Barbara

Birds and Bees Coaster Tiles Wall Hanging

Hello Paperclay® fans, and welcome back.  It is so hard to believe that the Summer is almost over and Fall is just around the corner.  It is plenty hot here, so it still feels like Summer to me.  And there are plenty of bees buzzing around, so I wanted to do something cool (no pun intended) with the honeycomb pieces I showed you how to make in my last post.  If you missed it, you can click here to see it.  This project is so easy to make, "even a caveman can do it".

Supplies Used:

Creative Paperclay® modeling material
Delight™ air dry modeling compound
Three 4"x 4" square coaster tiles
Six 4" x 4" squares print paper (Close To My Heart-Buzz and Bumble)
Push Molds (Mod Podge)(Premo)
Flexible plastic texture sheets - Music Background, Honeycomb (Carolee's Creations)
Distress ink (Wild Honey, Black Soot, Vintage Photo, Tarnished Brass, Brushed Pewter, Antiqued Bronze)
Acrylic Paints (Folkart Yellow Ochre)(Ceramcoat Charcoal)
Twinkling H20's (Mandarin Citrine, Golden Monarch, Ginger Peach, Mystic Blue, Iridescent Blue, Key Lime, Golden Jade, Rose Petal, Jasmine, Wild Plum)
Cropadile
3/8" gold metallic eyelets (8)
4 large jump rings, 2 small jump rings (Tim Holtz)
Decorative hanger (Melissa Frances)

Directions:

Make a 4" x 4" template from a scrap of printer paper, fold in half, and punch a hole through both halves near the edge, as shown.

Use this to mark placement of your holes for hanging your three coasters together, as shown in photo.

Cover each coaster, front and back, with the CTMH print papers, reversing the patterns, as shown.  (TIP:  Re-punch your holes each time you add the paper so you can find them easily.)  Now is a good time to distress ink the coaster edges.

Add eyelets to each hole, not only for strength, but to also finish off the holes.

Paint the honeycomb pieces first with Charcoal paint, then hit the tops with Yellow Ochre.

For the music background, spread a very thin layer of Paperclay® over the texture plate, the same as done for the honeycomb.  Allow it to dry before removing from the plate.

I was going for an old parchment paper look, so I added a very watered-down wash of Yellow Ochre, dabbing with a paper towel to get the color variations desired.  

Hit the high spots (the music notes) with Charcoal.

Next, I had made quite a few embellishment pieces using the Delight™ modeling material and various push molds.  Delight™ dries more flexible, even when it is a bit thick, so I used it for my embellishments in case I needed the flexibility.  So I laid out my three coasters, arranging my tiny pieces to see how I want to place them.  Nothing is glued down at this time.  

Color the various pieces to your liking.  I had a blast coloring these, and my inky fingers were a testament to that fun.  I colored the pieces using not only the acrylic paints, but also the distress stains and Twinkling H20s.  If my colors were too bright to my liking, I added a light coat of Vintage Photo distress stain.  That always tones down the brightness of colors.  And if you look carefully, you can see that the bird on the branch is so delicate and it broke apart into three pieces.  I am still going to use it and I am going to show you later on.

Now the fun of seeing your piece come to  life begins.  Adhere your Delight™ pieces in a pleasing arrangement, as shown on each of the three tiles below.

Add your jump rings through each of the eyelets, as shown below.  The larger jump rings go through the eyelets, then a smaller jump ring is used to join them.

Here are some close-up views of the pieces.  Don't you just love this little bird nest?

My cute little bumble bee.

And how about the rusty look on this key?

I was going for a bit of a rusty wrought iron look on these flourishes.

And remember the broken branches on this piece?  Normally, this would be my little secret, but I really wanted to show you to never give up because so many things in our art work can be "fixed" or "covered up".

Here is an example of where I layered one piece on top of another.  I love how the tiny pink flowers add to the piece.  I used them as fillers to bring all three coasters together.

These flowers and leaves were a bit too bright for me, so this is an example where a light coat of the Vintage Photo distress stain toned down the brightness.

Whew, I know this is a long post, but I have to admit, I had a blast making this piece.  I absolutely love working in mixed media, and Creative Paperclay® and Delight™ are certainly going on my list of mixed media to use for my altered art.   So, what will you make with it?  Well, you have a chance to show us.  

We are having a Halloween blog link up on 5 October.  What better way to showcase your work and share it with the world!!!  And you never know, you could win one of the prize giveaways.  So go ahead, give it a try.  Create something with Creative Paperclay® products and link up to the blog to enter to win!  

I am so glad you stopped by today, and I hope you enjoyed my project.  Please check out the Creative Paperclay® online store, and visit the blog for more inspiration.

Have a wonderful week, and play with some clay for the link up!

Barbara

Proud as a Peacock Center Step Card

Hey there, Sin City Stamps fans!  Barbara here with some more fun ways to use your Sin City Stamps.  Another month has passed and it is already September.  Hope everyone had a wonderful, fun, and safe Labor Day holiday.  I want to share a center step card with you today, and show you how to make your cards sparkle.  I have shown these on my blog before, but if you missed it, I linked to a template I found online, so proper credit can be given to that person.   What I love about these cards is that they can stand alone, like a framed piece of artwork, and displayed proudly by their recipient.

Here is my finished card.

Supplies Used:

Sin City Stamps:  Wildlife Plate
Eggshell CS (Stamping Bella)
Copic Markers:  BG72, YG23, V17, Y38
Big Scalloped Circles SM die (Spellbinders)
Tuxedo Black ink (Memento)
Distress Inks (Salty Ocean, Evergreen Bough)
Aqua CD (DCWV)
Diamond, Lime Green Stickles (Ranger)
Peacock Feathers Black/Cream (Paper Studio)
Aqua graph print paper (Paper Studio)
Aqua Glitter CS (Recollections)
Multi Tags Scallop punch (McGill)
Center Step Card Template

Directions:

Trim aqua CS to 5-1/2" x 8-1/2".  Follow Center Step Card Template to make your score and cut lines. Your scored card should look like this from the front.

 A view of the card from the side.

Stamp peacock image from Wildlife Plate twice onto eggshell CS with Tuxedo Black ink.

Color images with Copic markers.

Fussy cut full peacock image and just the body of the second image.

Gently shape both pieces and adhere peackock body over full peacock image.

Add Diamond Stickles to the tail feathers and a light coat of 3D crystal lacquer to the body to give it some shine.

Die cut aqua glitter cs with 4th size scallop circle die.  Use pop dots to adhere peacock to scallop  circle.

Trim a 3/4" strip from peacock feathers black/cream paper.  Color strip with salty ocean and evergreen bough distress ink colors.

Cut strip into three pieces:  2 pieces at 3" x 3/4", 1 piece at 5-1/4" x 3/4".  Adhere to card front, as shown.

Stamp peacock feather onto graph printed paper with salty ocean and evergreen bough distress inks, as shown.  Trim to 3" x 3-1/4".

Adhere to card, as shown.

Stamp Proud as a Peacock with evergreen bough and single feather with salty ocean onto a scrap of aqua CS.  Cut each image out with tag shape punch.

Edge each tag with the distress inks.  Punch a hole in the top of both tags and attach together with a single eyelet, offsetting the smaller feather-stamped tag.

Add Lime Green Stickles to each "eye" of the peacock feathers on both the printed paper and the tag.

Color a piece of eggshell seam binding with both distress ink colors and spritz with water.  You can use your heat gun to speed up drying time.

Run seam binding through the tag eyelet, around the card front, and back through the eyelet, bringing both ends to the front.  Tie is a pretty bow.

Adhere aqua glitter scallop circle with peacock image to card front, as shown in photo of finished card above.

Voila!  You now have the sparkliest peacock and feathers around.  I wish the camera could pick up the sparkle, but trust me, it is beautiful in person.

I hope you enjoyed my card project today and that I have inspired you to make something sparkly with Sin City Stamps.  Check out the newest releases on the Sin City Stamps store, and keep checking back on the SCS Blog to see what the rest of the DT is creating.

Thanks so much for stopping by, have a wonderful weekend, and make some time for stamping!

Barbara