Halloween Fun '26

Hi friends!  I thought I should get the last of this year's Halloween crafty creations posted before the day comes and goes.  These are the final two panels in a four-panel accordion "book".  I might continue on with it later and make an infinity book of sorts, but that remains to be seen.

These panels are ink blended with mostly Distress Oxides, plus stamping, die cutting, a little of this, a little of that.

The dies on this panel are all older from my stash, but still plenty fun.  Googly eyes on the spider, stamped sprinkles, stenciled dots floating around.  When it's make believe you can do whatever you want.

The next panel features this cute kitty cat from Spellbinders Bewitched set.  With a few changes, such as leaving the hat off, you can use the cat for all-year cheer and I plan to do just that.

Pictured below is the expanded view as displayed on one of my stamp room tables.  It will serve as Halloween decor in one of the front rooms.  I have to love that it's easy to store.

I'll leave you with a wish for a wonderful day in whichever way you choose to spend it.  Thank you so much for spending part of today with me!

Halloween Play -- Art Journal Pages and a Card

Hello and welcome!

So... I've been thinking about art journaling for quite a while.  I watched a few videos... then more... and more.  I came to realize how it can be anything you want, any style, any techniques, any supplies you want to lay down on paper.  Make your own mixed media background, make a designer paper background, use stamps, dies, ephemera, lace, ribbon, doodads, whatever.  Make it simple or complex.  Just be you.

I have some new-to-me ghosties -- Simon Hurley's Boo Crew for Spellbinders --  loved them last year, picked up on sale this year.  They live in a scary looking world, but they're dapper and friendly guys.  A little goofy.  I love them!

Since I'm new to the art journaling concept and don't currently have a journal I thought I would test the waters by improvising with an accordion fold.  It's only four pages with a front and back cover.  Each page is 4" x 6", and the art is done on 3 3/4" x 5 3/4" hot press watercolor sheets.

As for the backgrounds on these two pages, I followed Vicki Papaioannou's advice to just start doing something -- anything -- and keep doing it until you realize you actually like it.  My words, not hers, but that's the general idea.

I knew I was going with a Halloween theme so I did my best with torn paper and ivory acrylic paint which I dried with a heat tool and was pleased with how the paint crackled in a few spots.  I stenciled random areas with a Fibers stencil in gray ink.  Rather creepy looking fibers, don't you think?  Stamped some Halloween-y images, then stenciled the stars in Lime Green stencil butter.  Finished the background by sponging black around the edges.  Glued the backgrounds in place and then added the dimensional elements.

That's it in a nutshell but, honestly, it really didn't take long and I have to say it was more fun than I've had with this craft in a long time.  It felt like freedom.

After the journal pages were done it was quick work to create a card using many of the same supplies.  The ghosts and Jack-o-lantern bucket and the die cut sentiment on the card are part of the Boo Crew set.  The Rustic Fence is by Cottage Cutz.

I'll be sharing in two challenges:

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge, September.  Anything goes Halloween with mood board for inspiration.
NBUS Challenge #90.  My never before used schtuff is the Spellbinders Boo Crew and Cottage Cutz Rustic Fence.

 

Well, that was fun!  I hope to see you again real soon.  Thanks for your visit today!

Whimsical Houses for Three Occasions

Greetings friends!  I haven't had this much fun playing house in a long time!

In June I bought the entire Whimsical Village Collection by Vicki Papaioannou for Spellbinders.  They went straight to my use-next basket and here we are at the end of August and I'm just now getting around to them.  I LOVE them!  For each card I brought in a little something extra from the toy box.  See under each picture for noteworthy mentions.

***  FALL  ***

Spellbinders Whimsical Houses, Village Companions (clouds & dog), Whimsical Wishes sentiment
Poppystamps Stitched Landscapes, Cottage Cutz Fall Barrel (sunflowers)

***  HALLOWEEN  ***

SB Whimsical Village, PS Stitched Landscape & Stitched Cloudline
Cheery Lynn (long since out of business) Happy Halloween
Ghost sequins
(The Happy Halloween and the cloudy background were both spare parts --hooray for spare parts!

***  CHRISTMAS  ***

SB Whimsical Houses, Whimsical Wishes, Whimsical Skies 3D embossing folder + white ink
Memory Box Slender Pine Trees, Poppystamps Stitched Landscapes

Total Christmas cards in the box:  23

I had way too much fun playing with this collection and getting three more cards done for the upcoming busy cardmaking season.  I meant for the first card to be for Thanksgiving, but as soon as I glued down the sunflowers I realized they would not be in bloom in late November.  Oh, well, a fall card is good, too!

Challenges:

NBUS Challenge #89.  Everything from the Whimsical Village Collection is never before used schtuff.
Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge.  Anything goes or be inspired by the mood board.
Peace on Earth Challenge #118.  Anything goes or be inspired by the mood board.

 

Thank you!  Happy crafting!  

Double D Challenge: Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet, Give me Something Good to Eat

 

It's Double D Challenge time again, friends!  Diane is hosting and she has come up with a fun idea:

Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat."  Let the words inspire you.  A few examples:

Trick or treat

Something that smells, whether an animal sniffing around, something stinky, or something that smells good

Something with feet or feet related

Something good to eat 

There are SO MANY possibilities for fun with this theme!  Have a look at our inspiration board and a prize for a random winner.  We'll have creative winners, as always, too.

 

So, you see, it does not have to be Halloween unless you want to go that way.  Here's my offering:

Can you believe I made such a simple card?  I know!  It just felt right.  Well, I had this Poppystamps Witches Shoe which doesn't get to play very often, so I prettied it up with purple and acid green, added the flower sequin for fun, and now it's ready for the Halloween ball.  A few star sequins, some web ribbon, orange gingham... I embossed the black card base with SU's Subtle 3D embossing folder (retired), but it shows better in real life.

The Double D Team has a nice variety of samples for this challenge, so have a look.  I can't wait to see yours!

Have an amazing day!

Stamps:  Stampendous Spooky Wishes  Paper:  Black cardstock base, Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White110 lb for shoe, scrap gingham designer paper  Ink:  SU Elegant Eggplant, Kiwi Kiss, Versamark for sentiment  Coloring:  Ink blending with brushes, black Copic for shoe buckle  Other:  Poppystamps Witches Shoe, SU Subtle 3D embossing folder (retired), Offray web ribbon, sequins, WOE opaque bright white embossing powder

Halloween Birds

Hello again and happy Wednesday!  I've made another fun card with Simon Says Stamp Ocean Horizon today.  This time I've paired it with SSS Birdies who look a little nervous to find themselves out on Halloween night.  The sentiment, ghost, and stamped bats joined in from elsewhere in my stash.

Nothing but make believe here, and a whole lot smiles in the process.  I used a different method this time for the background.  I blended the inks first, and then cut.  Just experimenting.  There are endless things you can do with this background die.  Use all or part of it, flip it upside down for a sunrise, make a funky rainbow, color it any which way.  Not selling, just saying.  Today I blended green at the lower edge to suggest land rather than ocean.

I'll be playing along here:

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge -- Year 'round Halloween.  Anything Halloween goes, but inspiration board is provided.

Darnell's NBUS Challenge #78 -- My SSS Birdies are 'never before used schtuff'.

 

Thanks for visiting!  Have a happy day!

Stamps:  Stampin' Up Halloween Backgrounds (bats)  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White 80 & 110 lb, black cardstock  Ink:  Stampin' Up Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive, Memento Tuxedo Black  Dies:  Simon Says Stamp Birdies and Ocean Horizon, Memory Box Ghosts in the Forest, Impression Obsession Happy Halloween

Beware of Dog

I'll take treats, please!  I knew I had just the right stamp for the Penny Black Saturday Challenge where the current optional theme is "cute or spooky".  I look at this dog and I just want to hug him because I think he's so cute and approachable!

I stamped on a big hand cut flag and watercolored with Stampin' Up inks.  Most of the stars are those which popped out of dies when cut.  I save little things like that in a small container, knowing they'll come in handy someday.  All the stars are sparkled up with Black Diamond Stickles.  To brighten the night sky I also added yellow homemade resin dots -- 1/8" punched circles with dimensional crystal glaze on top.

Because it's a Halloween card I'll also be sharing at Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge.  They're always "anything goes", but do provide a fabulous inspiration board as well.  One more challenge inspired the making of this card -- Love Those Pretty Papers.  Their optional theme this month is "Halloween colors/papers".  These old, but still cute, papers go way back to when I was scrapbooking... probably 20 years ago.  

Penny Black Saturday Challenge -- Cute or Spooky
Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge -- optional inspiration board
Love those Pretty Papers -- Halloween colors/papers

 

That's all, friends!  This was a fun interlude and now I'm off to see what kind of trouble I can get into.  Enjoy your day!

Stamps:  Penny Black Beware of Dog, PB Haunted Halloween (sentiment)  Paper:  Fabriano Artistico Extra White 140 lb hot press watercolor, black cardstock base, very old halloween patterned paper  Ink:  Ranger Archival Jet Black, various Stampin' Up for watercolor  Coloring:  Watercolor with SU inks  Other:  Misc. stars including Sizzix Primitive Stars, Black Diamond Stickles, JudiKins Dimensional Crystal glaze, 1/8" hole punch

Double D Challenge: To Spook or Not to Spook

 

Hello, and welcome to another Double D Challenge!  I like the title and theme of Diane's challenge this time around -- To Spook or not to Spook.  Make a Halloween card, or a pink card for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, or combine the two by making a pink Halloween card.  Cute!

Pictured below is the inspiration board and a prize for a random winner.  The DD team votes on creative winners as well.  See the challenge blog for more details.

 

I made a straight up Halloween card in order to use my never-been-used Spooky Ghost & Crow die set by Cottage Cutz.  Those dang sales at The Scrapping Cottage... I try to resist, but I do enjoy these dies.  I combined with other dies from my stash to craft the rest of the card.

I cut in white and colored with inks and brushes.  The frame is glitter cardstock and I added Orange Peel Stickles glitter to the star on the crow's hat.

In the photo below I mostly wanted to capture the semi-gloss on the crow's beak.  I painted it with clear top coat nail polish to make it look more beak-ish.  A person can add more coats after the first is dry to achieve different levels of gloss without it turning too glossy.  Just a fun thing for small parts.  Try different colors or maybe glitter or chrome polish.  I've got a few bottles left over from the old days.  I'm more of a file and buff kinda gal with all the gardening and dog cuddling I do.

I can't wait to see what you all share in the Double D gallery!  The team has a fabulous variety of inspiration for you, so be sure to head over and visit.  Thank you so much!

Dies:  Cottage Cutz Spooky Ghost & Crow, Memory Box Oval Master Frame and Boo Posh Script, Cheery Lynn Spider Net  Paper:  Neenah 110 lb white, glitter cardstock for frame, woodgrain white for card base, SU Tangerine Tango and Going Gray  Ink:  Various mostly SU for coloring except Distress Black Soot for crow  Other:  Stickles Orange Peel glitter glue, clear top coat nail polish for crow's beak

A Spooky Night in Lavinia Land

Hi, friends!  For today's crafty offering I had another go with my Lavinia stamps, thanks to inspiration from the Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge.  I saw the board and figured I could possibly do something similar.  I need the practice and I do love a silhouette scene.

Lots of ink blending and repeat stamping and masking for the rolling hills.  I tend to lay on the ink rather heavily.  Hooray for reinkers.  All the inks (except the black) are Stampin' Up.  I have so many SU inks from the old days, still going strong.  The bats are vintage Stampin' Up, and the sentiment is nearly as vintage Whipper Snapper.

When I sat down to type today I saw that The Sisterhood of Crafters has a new challenge up with the theme "Make a Scene" so I'll be sending my card over there, too.

And since the never-before-used baskets are bottomless, I'll also share at Darnell's NBUS Challenge #53.  In this case it's the Lavinia Large Owl that's representing.

 

Thanks for your time today, and happy crafting to you! 

Stamps:  Lavinia Large Owl, Tree Branch, Willow, Skeleton Tree Scene, SU Halloween Backgrounds (2004), Whipper Snapper Spooky Expressions  Paper:  X-Press It Blending Card, black card base  Ink:  Various Stampin' Up plus Distress Black Soot

Meet The Boos

Hi all!  I suddenly felt like making a Halloween card due to inspiration from the Two Old Bats year 'round Halloween challenge.  I know!  This is what happens when I'm stamping on a whim.  I'll have flowers later this week.  It's all good fun!

This card was a quick make with a stamp from the previous century and a paper pad from last year.

With this being the month of hearts and love the Two Old Bats have an inspiration board full of it.  I thought it was clever how they put it together.

Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge

Thanks, Two Old Bats!

That's all folks!  Have a happy day and I'll see you later!

Stamps:  DJ Inkers The Boos  Paper:  Neenah Classic Crest Super Smooth Solar White 110 lb, DCWV Happy Halloween mat stack  Ink:  Memento Teal Zeal, Copics for coloring  Other:  Rhinestones, corner rounder punch for sentiment tag, Tutti Stitched Nesting Hearts, dimensional foam dots