Halloween Pops Card

Trying to make Halloween cards using products and card stocks in the stash..... until..... I saw the new Halloween Cake Pops Die Set from PrettyPinkPosh.com..... had to have one so I ordered mine from Scrapbook.com and it arrived this week...... cute die set and happy to be able to use more card stock scraps for my card... here is a photo of this die set:

Here is a photo of the card I made:

For the card base I looked through my basket of extra card bases I have made and found a black base so I used that. Layered a piece of pumpkin coloured card stock for the front of the card. For the background piece on the front I used white card stock and I used an embossing folder but did not emboss it.... The embossing folder is "Crackle" from Darice and this is an older embossing folder and I had bought it off Ebay a couple of years ago for a project I was working on. But when I was making this card I decided to use this folder again but this time I did not want to emboss with it but I did want the design..... so I cut a piece of white card stock 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 for the card front. I laid the embossing folder on the work table and opened it up - ran a black ink pad over the raised side of the embossing folder and I laid the white card stock front on the inked side and closed the folder - used my hand to hold it closed and ran a wallpaper seam roller over the closed embossing folder and this transferred the ink to my card stock with the crackle design:

The design transferred to the white card stock and it looks "blotchy" on the white card stock but I think that adds to the Halloween look. I trimmed this piece to the size I needed and put it on the pumpkin coloured card stock piece for the card front. For the pumpkin, ghost, and Frankie I used all scraps for them. I sponged the edges of all of them and I also cut a piece of 110# black card stock to put behind them to make them sturdy. They measure between 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 tall. Pop dots are behind them for dimension on the card.

"Happy Halloween" is an older die from Kat Scrappiness that I have had for awhile. I die cut the shadow background piece for that out of black card stock and used glittered silver card stock for the words. Used liquid glue to put those two layers together and put pop dots behind that to put on the card front. Here is a photo to show the inked background:

The camera did not really capture the sparkle on the glittered silver card stock for the greeting but here is a better photo of that:

Although I really like the Halloween Cake Pops die set I wished the packaging had a photo to show all the icons it makes - I have seen crafters make a cat from this set so before I put it away I will have to use all the dies and make up all the icons to keep with the die set so I will know at a glance what icons this set makes. Happy to be able to use more card stock scraps in the stash and fun die set to assemble!

Spellbinders CRAFTOWEEN..... Yes, please!!

Happy I was able to get a set of the Spellbinders "13 Days of Craftoween" when it was first released.... This is a box filled with Halloween projects ahead having 13 holiday die sets, a clear stamp set, and a bag of holiday coloured sequins....... Here is the box it came in:

Each die set is in a clear envelope. The envelope holds a small folder with a holiday image on it. The image on the front of this folder though does not show the die set inside. Here is one of the dies:

Inside this folder is:

One the left side of the folder is the image the die set cuts out and the right side of this folder is a plastic piece that holds the die pieces on. The die pieces are also printed on the inside of the folder under this plastic piece. Very cute presentation but after you make your 13 days of Halloween and store away your Craftoween set how to know which die set is where?????  

I had some clear envelopes in the stash for other projects and these folders/die sets fit into these envelopes so I am using them for storage. For each die set I took it out of the plastic envelope it comes in and flipped the front of the folder to the back so I can see the photo of the die set image in the front of the envelope and by turning over the envelope I can see the die pieces:

and I did this to all the die sets in this collection:

Fun collection for Halloween and each image is very easy to die cut and assemble as there are not too many dies per image.... lots of projects coming soon I am sure!

Cocoa Greetings Santa Card

Used Spellbinders products for these two cards for Christmas. I made two cards and made changes to Santa's face so they are not the same:

For the Santa mug on the cards I used the Spellbinders Small Die of the Month, July 2025, "Cocoa Greetings":

The packaging for this die set only shows one of the three mugs you can make - a Penquin. But I put together an extra Santa to stash with the die set so in the future it will remind me this die set can also make a Santa:

I also used the Spellbinders Better Press Plate "Snowfall Shimmer" that I hot foiled in the Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foil machine using matte silver foil:

For the sentiment strips on the cards I used the Spellbinders Better Press Plate "Merry Messages" and foiled shiny silver hot foil onto black card stock. Here is the first card I made using the die set as it suggested:

***  The above card was chosen as a Fav of the Week this week on Splitcoast Stampers  ***  :0)

For this Santa I used scrap card stocks to die cut him out. This die set also embosses as it die cuts so you know where to place your die cut pieces. I cut out his red base and I sponged the edges of that. For my Santa I used pop dots behind his beard when I placed the beard on the red base (body piece). For the face, nose, and cheeks I die cut these out or a blush card stock and sponged the edges of the face and added ink over the nose and cheeks pieces using a dauber. Used liquid glue to add the black pieces that the die set cuts out behind the eye openings. I used liquid glue to add the mustache, nose, and cheek pieces to the face. Added liquid glue to the tab and buttons to the front of his coat. I added small black gems to the buttons piece for dimension. 

For the mug handle I die cut a red handle and layered the white piece over it so it looks like a peppermint handle using liquid glue. Set this aside. Die cut the brim of his hat out of glittered white card stock. Die cut the white hat piece and the white swirls on his hat I die cut those from white mirror card stock I had gotten years ago at AC Moore. Layered those together using liquid glue and used tear and tape to add these white pieces to the top of the Santa face. Used pop dots to put the glittered white hat brim on the white hat piece. With that done I used liquid glue and added the handle. 

Cut and scored a white card base at the top. Used the Spellbinders Layering Rectangle die set and I cut a piece of foil red and white stripe card stock in the stash from Hobby Lobby. Put that on the white card base using liquid glue. For the snowflake piece behind Santa I had hot foiled the snowflakes plate earlier and I cut it out to the size I wanted for my two cards using the Layering Rectangle die set. I put foam tape behind this foiled piece and put it on my card front. Then used both pop dots and tear and tape to put Santa on that. 

Hot foiled the Merry Messages Better Press plate using shiny silver foil and I used a piece of black card stock to foil these on. I wanted a black sentiment rather than a red one to break up all the red on the card front with the stripes and all. Used pop dots behind the sentiment strip. I also added a small candy cane to his whipped cream topping that the die set cuts out. 

This second Santa mug card:

After all pieces were die cut I decided to flip Santa's face piece upside down - this put the two little lines the face die cuts into the face for Santa's eyebrows under his eyes now. I also added white eyebrows to his face. For his red hat I used red card stock and the swirls piece is glittered red card stock. I layered those with liquid glue and put this at the top of the face piece and then added the glittered white brim piece to the base of the hat pieces.  

For the red stripes on the background of his card I used striped card stock, again in the stash but from Hobby Lobby and this is plain card stock. For his greeting I used "Merry Christmas".  Easy cards to assemble as I did it in steps - die cut and assembled Santa, did the hot foiling, and cut and scored the card stock base, and then cut the card striped pieces for the fronts of the cards.  Added small red crystals to the front of the cards for some sparkle. 

Christmas Mouse Bag Toppers

Had seen the video by Nichol Spohr on her YouTube channel showing the Lawn Fawn Tiny Gift Box Mouse Add On die set that she used for a bag topper for holiday treat bags. I did not have all the products she used but to start I have the Mouse Add On die set as well as the Lawn Fawn Cute Candy Canes die set. Looking through my stash I had enough to make my own bag toppers. Here is a photo of the toppers:

First I used the bag topper die set from Jaded Blossoms:

This die set has a layering die piece that you can cut out and put on the front of your bag topper. I used pink card stocks for the toppers and I used the Farmhouse Check stamp from HoneyBee Stamps to stamp my background on my layering pieces using a medium pink ink:

I cut out my bag toppers.  One of the bag toppers I die cut out is from a darker pink card stock and the second one is from a light pink card stock. I did not cut out my layering pieces until I stamped my background stamp onto both a light pink card stock and a dark pink card stock. With those stamped in a medium pink ink I laid the layering die on them at a diagonal so that my toppers have a diamond shaped stamped background and die cut those. Used liquid glue and put the stamped layering die pieces onto the front of the die cut bag toppers. I put the light pink stamped layering piece on the darker pink bag topper and the dark pink stamped layering piece on the light pink bag topper. Set these aside.

Using scraps I die cut out the mouse. Here is a photo of the Lawn Fawn die set this mouse is from:

 In this photo you can see I keep a cheat sheet with this die set that I had written down for the colours I use to make my mouse:

The sheet will help me remember what colours I used for my mice. For the face on my mice I gave them black eyes, a pink nose and mouth, and tiny pink cheeks. There is an oval die in the die set for the cheeks but I thought they were too big so I used a small circle punch and punched out my pink cheeks. I sponged the edges of the pink ears and also sponged the cheek pieces. I also sponged the edge of the mice using a dauber and brown ink. I assembled the mice and I added the tails with liquid glue. 

Assembled my candy canes with liquid glue and set those aside. Cut out the bows for the candy canes and I sponged the edges of those with pink ink. Tucked the candy cane into the hands of the mice and used liquid glue for those. Used this holly die for the holly pieces by Elizabeth Craft Designs:

Die cut those and added the red berries to the holly pieces using liquid glue. I also used clear Wink of Stella over the berry pieces for some sparkle. Used liquid glue to put the holly pieces onto the bag toppers. Added foam tape behind the mice for some dimension. 

For the greeting I used the Spellbinders BetterPress Merry Messages plate and I had hot foiled greetings in different colours of foil so I have plenty of these greetings foiled and die cut and ready for projects. I used the "Merry Christmas" greeting and I used foam tape to put those on the front of the bag toppers. The extra greenery pieces on the bag toppers were die cut using a die set from Divinity Designs. 

Here is a photo of the light pink topper:

and the dark pink topper:

This photo shows the stamped background:

and the mice:

Fun way to use a die cut that is meant for something else. Thanks to Nichol for her inspiration for this holiday project! Always happy to find other uses for stash items...... and also happy to be able to use more stash scrap card stocks up!

Swirling Tree Christmas Card

For this card I used the Spellbinders Swirling Foliage Tree hot foil plate. Simple card to put together but still has the sparkle and shine for a holiday card:

Here is a photo of the hot foil plate packaging for this tree:

I hot foiled the tree onto a piece of card stock, cut larger than I would need for my card front. I used brushed gold foil for the tree. For the card base I used a piece of white card stock cut and scored at the top. Used the Spellbinder Precision Frame die set and cut a frame for the card front out of brushed gold mirror card stock. Trimmed the hot foiled tree card front to size and then used liquid glue to put the frame on the tree piece. Set this aside. 

Pulled out a sentiment I had hot foiled last week using the Spellbinders BetterPress plates "Merry Wishes" and this sentiment had been foiled also with the brushed gold card stock. I put the sentiment on the card front using pop dots for dimension. Used the Pear Blossom crafters T square ruler to center the sentiment over the tree. Easy card to put together and still has shine for a holiday card...... This photo shows the shine on the sentiment strip:

Here Comes Santa Claus... Cocoa Mug Cards

***  My Santa Mug Card (red and gray version) was chosen as a FAVS of the Week over on Splitcoast Stampers this week. Thanks to Amy for picking it! ***

Was happy I was able to pick up the new Spellbinders Cocoa Wonderland die set at the stamp show I went to in Duluth, GA last month:

Wanted to make a card using this new die set but I also wanted to use the new Spellbinders BetterPress Plate "Snowfall Shimmer" for the background to my Santa mug. I have used this background plate and hot foiled pieces for projects but for this project I wanted to use it on vellum. Here is a photo of the Snowfall Shimmer BetterPress plate:

For the background to my Santa Mug cards I used regular vellum (not heat resistant) and I used the Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foil machine. I cut the vellum sheet in half and I used matte white foil from Spellbinders to foil the snowflake background on the foil. I had not hot foiled vellum before so I let the plate heat up a little longer than what the timer says on the machine. With my BigShot machine when I hot foil I already use a card stock shim so I get a good foil impression. Since I had not hot foiled vellum before I decided to use a piece of copy paper folded in half and added that to my card stock shim for the sandwich for my BigShot machine. All machines are different but that sandwich worked well for my vellum background pieces. 

Here is the first card I made to show the vellum background:

I die cut all the pieces for my Santa mug using scrap card stocks and with those all cut I sponged the edges of the beard and mustache with a light gray ink. Then I assembled all the pieces and did a dry layout. Decided that I would use a gray cardstock behind the vellum piece and for the card base for that card I used red card stock. I cut and scored the red card stock at the top. Then I used my Spellbinders Precision Layering Basics (frames) die set and I cut out a piece of white card stock for the front of the card. Used a smaller frame die and cut out the gray card stock and the vellum card stock.

With Santa assembled I added pop dots to the back of the mug piece:

Last week I had hot foiled the new holiday die set from Spellbinders - the "Merry Messages" BetterPress plate in different colours - I did the hot foiling as well as hot foiled the waste pieces and here is the pile all foiled and die cut:

With these all foiled I separated them by colour and I keep them in small snack bags from the Dollar Tree. So when I made these Santa mugs I decided to use gold greetings for my cards. 

To assemble these cards I put all the Santa pieces and greeting piece on the hot foiled vellum piece for a dry layout. First I put the greeting at the bottom of the vellum then the Santa mug piece. Above him I put the white whipped topping piece with all the trees glued to that and decided where I wanted the top of the tree with the star to be from the edge. With that decided I used liquid glue and put that piece onto the vellum. Then I removed all the paper from the pop dots behind the mug and I put that on the vellum piece at the bottom edge of the whipped topping piece. Then I moved the greeting piece to the center of the mug and away from the bottom edge of the vellum and I used liquid glue for that. 

With that done I then put liquid glue behind the greeting piece, the mug piece, and the whipped topping piece and put this onto the gray card stock piece that is the same size. Using a toothpick and liquid glue I went around the vellum piece and added glue here and there. Once that was done I used liquid glue and put the gray/vellum piece onto the white frame piece and set this aside. Once that had set up I added the round ornament and the present to the top of the mug piece using foam tape. Added red crystal gems from the stash here and there to add sparkle to the card front. 

Since this Cocoa Wonderland Santa die set has a lot of pieces to die cut I cut out doubles so I could make a second card as well. For this second card I wanted to use light blue card stock behind my hot foiled vellum piece:

For the second Santa card I did not sponge the gray onto the beard and mustache and I changed out a few colours of card stock scraps so each card has a different look. Here are the two cards next to each other to easily see the differences:

First - the Santa card with the gray front on the right - that Santa I made following the photo on the packaging of the die set. I used black card stock for his eyes and his mouth. I also sponged gray ink on the edges of the beard, mustache, and his eyebrows since I knew I wanted to use gray behind my hot foiled vellum piece. For the Santa mug on the blue card on the left, I gave him a pink mouth. 

Second - since I used gold mirror card stock for the star on the tree as well as the top to my ornament I used a greeting that had been foiled with gold foil. If you should want to use a different colour foiled greeting then just use that same colour for the star and ornament topper. First I did want to use a silver foiled greeting but decided to go with the gold so it would match the star and the topper. 

Third - Having not hot foiled vellum before I was not sure how the vellum would foil but I had also used a matte foil and was not sure how the vellum would take that finish of a hot foil. There were no problems with the matte finish at all - but when I laid the layering die on top of the foiled vellum piece to cut out for the card front, I made sure when I put my tape on the frame to keep it in place (while I die cut it) that the tape did not touch the inside of the frame which would be the piece I was cutting for the card front. I did not want to risk peeling off the tape on my hot foiled vellum and maybe lifting my foil - but I do this with all foiled pieces I use so that the tape do not damage my foiled piece. But the tape came right off the vellum and even my waste vellum piece was not damaged by the tape. 

These were easy cards to assemble as I did all the die cutting for both cards at the same time. Then I did all the assembling of those pieces. For the vellum I cut those two pieces and hot foiled them right after each other and they were ready. Did the card bases and white frame pieces for the card fronts together and then cut the vellum pieces and the gray and light blue pieces together. This way I could assemble both cards together so when I was finished I had the two cards ready. Cute die set to assemble. Happy to use more of the stash scraps and even though both cards used the same die set they look different with one Santa sponged with gray and one having a black mouth and the other, pink. Also very happy my first attempt hot foiling vellum went so well and I really like the matte finish of the Spellbinders white foil. Fun holiday cards!