Hi, crafty friends. It’s the time of year when all the ghosts come out to play, and as such, I’m sharing a fun Halloween card today, featuring the adorable Cast a Spell image from Purple Onion Designs, illustrated by Pei.
I stamped the image near the bottom center of a panel of X-Press It blending card using Extreme Black ink from MFT, which is a Copic safe hybrid ink. I colored the image and created a spooky silhouette background which fades from black in the distance to green as you get closer to the front of the image.
I masked off the scene and put a moon mask from an old Simon Says Stamp Stamptember collaboration with Tim Holtz into the top right corner, before I went in with Copics and an airbrush to create the sky. I used three colors of blue, trying to make it a bit lighter near the moon and darker further away. I took off the moon mask, masked the sky and airbrushed into the circle opening using E40 for a very pale moon. I then added the detail mask for the moon and airbrushed the openings with T1, which is a very light grey that I also used for the mouse. Once all the coloring was complete, I removed all the masks, added a bit of black glaze pen to their eyes and stamped a sentiment at the bottom using Obsidian ink from Altenew, before trimming the panel down a little and adhering it to a card base I created from Black cardstock from Concord & 9th to finish.
I used quite a few markers for this. The ones after the gap are the ones I used for the airbrushing of the moon and sky.
I colored the image with Copics onto X-Press It blending card and fussy cut it right up against the black lines. From another piece of X-Press It, I die cut the postcard shape using the Postcard combo die set from Mama Elephant. I used Peachy Glow ink from Altenew to ink blend across the panel, giving it a vintage feel. I then went in with a stencil from the mini stencil set 3 from Tim Holtz and added the splatter texture using Classic Kraft ink from Papertrey Ink along with a blending brush. In some areas, I added ink with the blender brush without using the stencil.
I stamped the leaves from the 
Fairly limited color palette for this one.
I colored the image with Copics, opting for the cool grays for the bench. I wasn’t planning on making it this dark originally, but when my C9 made a blob, dark was the only way to go. It still works, and I don’t think you can really see where the blob was. I used the largest die in the A2 Stitched Rectangles STAX 1 set from My Favorite Things to trim the panel down a little, then a large blending brush to add some soft blue to the background. I didn’t add any ink to the brush, I simply used whatever was left from a previous project.
I stamped a sentiment from the Småtekster stamp set from Norsk Stempelblad AS next to the bench using Tide Blue ink from Altenew. I added my colored piece to a panel of Buttercup cardstock from Concord & 9th, which I then adhered to a top fold white card base. I die cut the word hei twice from Green Parakeet cardstock from Papertrey Ink, stacked them and adhered my double die cut next to the boy on the bench before adding a few die cut clouds and some dew drops. Both the cloud dies and dew drops are from Concord & 9th.
I used quite a few colors for this very simple image.
I stamped the 
I used my Mijello Mission Gold watercolors and brushes in varying sizes to color in my scene, cut it down and stamped a sentiment from the 
I adhered the panel to a 5 3/4 x 5 1/2″ top fold card base I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, before finishing off with a few Raindrops from Little Things from Lucy’s Cards.
I stamped the large floral image using Memento Espresso Truffle ink, which sits somewhere between brown and grey, it’s a nice color to use when you don’t want black. I then die cut the image, before I used the coloring stencils and fresh dye inks from Altenew to do the “coloring”. I used the North Shore set for the blues, Sun-kissed Delights for the yellows, Jade Dreams for the greens and Warm Gray for the gray (which I covered up with the green). I didn’t want the centers green, so I started out with grey, which got very flat and dull. I covered it with green, which then made it very dark, and still pretty flat, so in the end, I went over with lots of dots of a white Sharpie paint marker and a black glaze pen. It turned out okay in the end, but if I were to remake this card, I think I’d go in with a couple of greens anyway. Live and learn, I guess.
I created a large card base (5 x 6 1/4″) and ink blended Winter Lake ink onto the bottom for a nice, gradient effect. I used the Stippled Plaid press plate from Pinkfresh Studio to create some subtle interest in the background on a separate piece of paper. I inked up the plate with Icy Water ink, spritzed water on the back and front of the piece of white cardstock, then ran it through my die cutting machine with an embossing mat to create some deep texture. I then adhered this panel in the center of the card base using foam tape.
Behind my die cut floral, I stacked another 3 die cuts from white cardstock and adhered my stack to my card, letting equal amounts hang off the sides on the left and the right. I also die cut the Waterbrush Hello die from Altenew four times from white cardstock. I inked up the top layer with Arctic Mountain ink and adhered it to my flowers.
To finish off the design, I added some ombré glitter drops from Pinkfresh Studio in a visual triangle across the card.
The Blended petals set from Concord & 9th is a very versatile one with a large flower image that you can color up any way you’d like. There are even coordinating stencils that let you add color very easily, which is what I used for my card. As much as I love coloring, stencils make everything go so much faster!
I stamped the image in black ink, let it dry and used the coordinating stencils to color it in using Creamsicle, Sweet Pea, Wildberry, Sprout, Tidepool and Peacock inks, all Concord & 9th colors. I then used the coordinating die to cut out the image, adding a couple of blank die cuts behind it for dimension.
I used the Twist Pattern press plate from Pinkfresh Studio along with some Pistachio Fresh Dye ink from Altenew to create a subtle pattern in the background. I die cut it using the coordinating die and added two more die cuts behind it before adhering it to the front of a top fold card I created from Stamper’s Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink, which is the same white cardstock I used for everything except the sentiment.
Speaking of the sentiment – I used the Sweet Sentiments die set from Altenew. The top layer is from white mirror cardstock from Kort & Godt, the black is black mirror cardstock from Kort & Godt, and then I put three additional die cuts of the shadow die behind for dimension. I finished off the card very simply with Iridescent Dew Drops from Pinkfresh Studio.
It’s kind of weird that I, as an avid colorist, really enjoy using images like this, where all the work is done for you and you just have to cut it apart from the other images on the same sheet. I created a 4 bar card this time, so even though the image itself isn’t THAT big, it still takes center stage on this smaller card. I added a thin strip of copper glitter cardstock above and below the image. It gives more definition and it also works really well with the orange balloons in the image.
I used the Terrazzo press plate from Altenew to create some fun texture in the background. I inked up the press plate with Caribbean Sea ink from My Favorite Things and pressed it onto Caribbean Sea cardstock, also from MFT. I mounted my image on foam tape, added a sticker sentiment that I also popped up and finished off the card with a few faceted pearls. I love these!!
I actually shared this one on the Papiria blog back in December, but I thought I’d share here, as well. I die cut the parts for the florals from Watermelon cardstock and the leaves from Juniper cardstock, both are C9 colors. I ink blended the petals with Watermelon ink and the leaves with Rainforest ink, which is a darker green than the Juniper color. I curled all the petals and leaves back before assembly, and adhered them all to a white card base. I used gold glitter cardstock from Kort & Godt for the centers of the flowers.
I used a die set from Kort & Godt to create my sentiment. I stacked three of each die cut and used liquid glue to adhere the sentiment to the florals, before finishing off the card with Satin Gold sequins from Altenew. Super simple, and I love all the white space!!
I started by stamping the big floral stamp in the Blooming Delight stamp set from Altewew using Altenew Obsidian ink onto watercolor paper (cold pressed Fabriano Artístico), before coloring with Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers. When my coloring was complete, I die cut the flower with the coordinating die and also cut a few extra from white cardstock to build dimension.
I used the Stippled Plaid press plate from Pinkfresh Studio with Pistachio ink from Altenew to create a subtle background. I matted it with some gold shine cardstock from My Favorite Things and adhered my florals pretty much in the center. The flowers stick out on both sides, but I just made a larger envelope to accomodate the larger size.
For the sentiment, I used a konfirmant die set from Papirdesign. I die cut the shadow layer from white cardstock and the word itself from the same gold cardstock that I used previously, with a few white die cuts stacked behind it for dimension. I even stacked a few behind the shadow, so it looks like the shadow floats on top of the flowers. For a sub sentiment, I used a sentiment sticker strip from Kort & Godt that I ink blended with Misty Sage ink from Altenew, before finishing off the card with a few Iridescent Dew Drops from Pinkfresh Studio.
I separated out the baubles from the image and did some copy paste work to create my scene. It’s one of the advantages of using digital stamps, and it makes them super versatile. I drew in a base board at the back with a black Copic multiliner and colored my scene.
I fussy cut around the back bauble and base board and adhered my colored piece onto a piece of patterned paper from ModaScrap that acts as a wall paper for my background. To make it even more obvious that it’s supposed to be a wall, I stamped part of the Window Signs image from Purple Onion Designs using Altenew Obsidian ink onto a scrap piece of X-Press It blending card that I’d colored with one of the neutral colors (E81) I used for my baubles. I then die cut that using the Postage Collage Die set from Waffle Flower and adhered it to my wall, drawing in strings and a nail on the wall for it to hang from.
I stamped a sentiment from the Merry Greetings stamp set from Mama Elephant using Melon Berry ink from Papertrey Ink. It matches really well with the coloring. I adhered my scene to a card base covered with a quarter sheet of Grapefruit cardstock from Concord & 9th to create a matching frame and my card was finished.
Limited Copic color palette for this one. I also used W3, W1 and W0, but I see now that I cut my graphic off too short, so they’re missing here.
Papirmølla 