Twig Cover Halloween Card

Picked up the Brass & Bliss Twig Cover Die set at a stamp show I had attended and I wanted to use it for a Halloween card this year. Used three oxide inks to make the spooky sky background. Here is the card:

To begin with I cut a piece of Strathmore Bristol smooth white card stock larger than the Twig Cover die to ink blend my sky on. First I punched out a 1 3/8" circle of scrap white card stock and I used washi tape to keep this circle mask in place for my background moon. Starting at the bottom I ink blended Shaded Lilac oxide ink. Second ink above that I ink blended was Wilted Violet oxide ink and I blended that down into the Lilac ink. The third ink for the top I used was Blueprint Sketch oxide ink, again blending that down into the Violet ink. With the inks covering my white card stock piece I used Black Soot oxide ink and started at the top and added the black ink across the top and then down on each side. Set this aside to dry. 

Die cut the two glittered white ghosts using an old Cuttlebug ghost die. I cut them out of the glittered white card stock and then out of black card stock to put behind my ghosts which gives my ghosts their black eyes and mouth. Used liquid glue to put the two ghost layers together. 

Set these aside to dry. Went back to my ink blended panel and I used a mister to spritz water onto the background piece and let that sit for a minute. Then used a clean paper towel to blot up any extra water on the background. Used the heat tool to dry this panel. Then used a fan brush to splatter white ink onto the background. Let this dry.  Took the circle mask off the moon on the background and lightly went over the white circle spot with a light hand and any Black Soot ink left on the blending brush just to soften the white moon. 

Die cut the Twig Cover die out of black card stock. This die cuts well with one pass in the machine and all the small die cut pieces easily came out of the die. I used the Spellbinders Essential Rectangle die set to cut my ink blended sky panel to the size I would need to go behind the twig die cut piece. I used liquid glue to put the twig cover plate piece onto the inked panel for the card front. Set this aside to dry. Once that was set I cut and scored a piece of black card stock at the top for the card base. Used liquid glue to put the card front onto the card base. 

Used tear n tape to put the ghosts onto the card front. For the "Happy Halloween" I used the Frantic Stamper Retro Label Halloween Sentiments die set and I stamped the stamps with black ink onto scrap white card stock. Used scissors to cut those out. Put them on the card front using tear n tape. Wanted two small pumpkins for the card front so I used two different oval punches and punched out three ovals from scrap pumpkin coloured card stock. Sponged the edges of those and put the three ovals together using liquid glue. Used scrap green card stock and cut the stems using scissors and glued the stems onto the pumpkins:

The Twig Cover die cut the thicker black card stock I used for my card front with one pass through the die cutting machine. This die has a lot of detail and small sections so I was not sure how well it would die cut the thicker card stock. Happy it was so easy as many detailed dies are hard to die cut and then time consuming to try to remove all the small pieces from the die cut piece. Fun die set to use and happy with the dimensional look the twigs give the background for a spooky Halloween card. 

Spider Web Ghost Card

 

For this card I used black card stock for the card base. I used the Spellbinders Essential Arch die set to cut out the card base.  The front of the card I used the Spellbinders Color Block Essential Arch die set and cut out a black arch. I put this on a white arch die cut to give the edges the color block look. 

The spider web background behind the ghost was made using the Spellbinders large 3D embossing folder "Spider Web":

This is a new 3D folder from Spellbinders and it is large and it has two designs to emboss a larger piece of card stock with. If you use the larger card stock and emboss with this folder then you will have two fronts already embossed for cards:

I cut my black card stock to the size I wanted for a card front and embossed this piece only using the bottom half of this embossing folder. Once it was embossed I lightly ran a white ink pad over the embossed design on the card stock and set this aside to dry. For the ghost with flowers on my card I used the Hero Arts die set "Free Spirit":

I die cut the ghost and flowers out of white and used various ink to ink them. Went back to my spider web embossed piece and I used a smaller arch die from the arch die set to cut out my spider web. With this being embossed with a 3D embossing folder the embossed design on the card stock is deep and even with die cutting out the arch die the embossed piece still has a raised design:

The design still gives the card front dimension. The ghost is on the card front using pop dots. Added all the flowers using tear n tape. Added one of the Halloween sentiment stamps I just stamped using the Frantic Stamper Retro Label Halloween Sentiment set and I had stamped that onto white card stock using black ink and cut it out using scissors. Added small orange gems from the stash for some sparkle on the card front. For the ghost eyes and flower centers I also used clear Wink of Stella for a little sparkle..... Happy the die cutting machine did not smash my 3D embossed spider web when I cut out the arch shape as I was not sure if any of the design would still be dimensional...

New Gable Box Die Set

This new gable box is a new release from CatherinePooler.com. The title of this box die on her site is "Happy Feels Box Die".  It is a one piece die set and it cuts out the front and side of the box using a 6x6 piece of card stock. Here is a photo of the die set on a Halloween 6x6 piece of card stock:

You cut out two pieces for your gable box - one for the front and side of the box and one for the back and side of the box. All card stocks I used are from the stash. For my boxes I either used double sided card stock or a thicker printed card stock to make the box sturdy. This first photo shows this gable box die cut out and assembled using liquid glue:

When you cut out this die from your 6x6 card stock piece it leaves very little waste so less card stock scraps to store:

This next box I wanted the top of the box to have different card stock so here is the photo:

and a photo to show the side of this box:

Once the box pieces were die cut I folded it on all scored lines and assembled the box using liquid glue. I used just the top scallop part of this die to cut out a printed card stock for the top of my box:

I cut a piece of printed card stock a little longer and wider than I needed and then taped the die to this printed card stock. Once it was cut out I used the trimmer to trim off the folded scored line the die embosses into the card stock and that left the small strips in the photo above. Used liquid glue and put these pieces on my die cut box piece. With the printed card stocks I used for the boxes being so busy with a Halloween theme I wanted this small scallop piece to be cut out of a not so busy printed card stock. 

In this photo:

For this box I used a pumpkin printed card stock. Cut the top scalloped piece out of dotted card stock in a colour that would compliment the printed box paper. I also used black card stock from Mikes (lighter than their #110 weight card stock) and I cut out a black scallop piece using the scalloped part of the die and I trimmed that to fit along the bottom of the box to add black to the box. I put this black scalloped piece on the front and the back of the box using liquid glue. 

This box is sturdy and easy to assemble - esp if you just use it as it and do not add the two scalloped pieces as I did. I like to use double sided card stocks for boxes/treat holders when I can so when you open the box the inside is a different holiday print and that helps to dress up the box and look more finished. Happy Catherine Pooler is here in Raleigh as I ordered my order and two days later I was making boxes.... Will add more to the box front to dress it up for Halloween as I get closer to that holiday....