Mr Cardmaker Gets All Shook Up for Halloween and Picket Fence Studios

 I think my Halloween cards are some of the most fun I make all year, and I tend to save them for my crafty friends, because I think many of us feel the same way!

I'm guest designing for Picket Fence Studios this month, and the August release has a really fun stamp set for Halloween called A Spooky Day. There's a wonderfully spooky haunted looking house that I'm REALLY happy to have in my ever growing Halloween collection, as well as lots of other fun images.

I made this--

I first laid out my stamps to decide placement on my kraft cardstock panel, and when I was satisfied I removed them and ink blended white pigment ink and gray shades of Distress Oxide Ink in various places to make a cloudy, misty background. I misted water in places, and added ink spatters to add even more effect and depth.

 I then stamped the moon in many layers of white pigment ink, and then swirled more white around it to diffuse it. I next stamped the house and tree image in black pigment ink, and clear heat embossed it.

I colored the house by painting in shadows with Distress Ink, then came back when dry with a white pencil to draw in highlights. A little purple penciling adds a touch of color here and there.

The clouds were stamped and white heat embossed, and highlighted with some white ink.

The teensy-tiny (I mean, TINY!) leaf stamps actually turned out to be some of the most fun I had with this card. They fit into so many tiny spaces, and I had total control, because they're all separate stamps. Just a smattering of them on the ground, and a handful more tossed into the wind, they're stamped in black pigment ink, and also clear heat embossed to match the look of the house and tree.

I made a sentiment strip, chopped it up, and foam mounted it to my panel. I didn't find I missed any bling here, so I left it alone.

But wait, there's more!

I made this--

Grabbing another panel of kraft cardstock, my next idea was to find a way to make a "neighborhood" of spooky houses. I stamped them at varying heights and cut off the tree on the left side, and I was surprised to see how they really looked pretty different, all in all. 

To color things, I merely ink blended the edges of my panel, and then went back to my favorite white pencil to add some simple detailing and highlights I used a cloud stencil from my stash to create a bit of dark sky between the houses, and added ink spatters and spatters of water mixed with some perfect pearls powder to make some shine.

THEN--

SMEAR! Right at the top of my sky. A big, black, nasty smear. I hate it when that happens.

I thought, and thought about how to fix it--I thinked and I thunk. I finally decided to amputate it. I fussy cut around the images, and somehow thought that a circular span connecting the two houses was a good thing. Why not, right?

So, then, I used my stamping tool to help me curve a sentiment to fit my arc, and that got stamped and heat embossed. I added a companion sentiment in white, but I was still not sure what I was ultimately doing.

I finally was inspired to make it into a semi-frameless shaker card! I added some cloud stenciling to a panel of Halloween paper from my hoard  stash, then piled a variety of sequins and glitter and mica flakes onto it and covered it all in acetate to seal it in by taping it to the back of the panel. this made my frameless shaker. 

All I then had to do is glue my trimmed panel with the houses to the shaker, and add it all to a card base. I added some extra sequins and yet another sentiment to the front, and this thing turned out better than I ever planned!

All this Halloween fun can be yours, too, by visiting the Picket Fence Studios website and seeing (and buying!) all the fun things in the August 2020 release, available NOW!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

All Best--

Richard