Haunted House Halloween Shaker Card

Hi there Crafty Friends!

I'm back today with a colourful Halloween card for you using these fab chipboard pieces, embossing powder and Distress Oxides.

Let's Get Started!

Here are the chipboard pieces you will need - Haunted House Oval and Halloween Word Set.

I chose to use the "Haunted" word to go with my haunted house but "wicked" and "frightful" would also fit on a 5.5 inch wide card front.

Making a cool background using Distress Oxide sprays is really easy and this technique gives you two backgrounds for the price of one!

Cut two pieces of identically sized cardstock, then spray one of them with Distress Oxide Sprays of your choice - I used Mustard Seed, Abandoned Coral and Seedless Preserves - and a quick spritz or two of water.  Then press the second piece of cardstock on top of the other, and smooth them out with your fingers, before peeling them apart.  You should have two similar backgrounds but they will not be exactly the same!  Choose your favourite of the two, and carry on.

At this point I wanted to chose the cardstock for my card base, and I went with this Plum Punch cardstock from Gina K which looks nice against the Seedless Preserves.  I'm making quite a large card here, which takes one full piece of cardstock folded in half to make a 5.5 x 8.5 inch card. What can I say - I like big cards and I cannot lie!  I cut my Oxide background down to 5.25 x 8.25 inches, just enough to leave a small border around the outside.

Next, as we are making a shaker card, cut a piece of acetate to fit behind the Haunted House chippie.  You can use a circle die for this or you can just draw around the Haunted House shape and cut it out with scissors.  This is an oval shape not a circle, so it's just as easy to do it by hand with scissors than use a circle die and then have to cut it to an oval anyway.  But I like options so I'm giving you two :)

At this point, I gathered all my pieces together ready for heat embossing.  I also added some Tim Holtz die cut bats but they missed out on the above photo opportunity.  I used this shiny but not too shiny Black Glint embossing powder by Wow on the house and bats, and this chunky Rocky Road embossing powder by Emerald Creek on the Haunted word chippie.

Time to make the shaker!  Carefully glue the House chippie to the acetate around the oval shape and several places on the house shape, the moon, the bat, the little trees etc, making sure not to overdo the glue as you don't want it showing on the front!

Then take some foam tape and use it to edge around the entire oval shape making sure not to leave any spaces where your shaker materials could escape!  I am using black foam tape here so that it blends in better but you could use white and just paint the edges before you stick it on the card.  My tape is 0.5 inch wide so I cut it in thin strips the same thickness as the oval shape and then added thicker parts at the bottom where the house is.  I used two layers of foam tape one on top of the other, as it can be helpful to give whatever you put inside your shaker, more room to move about.  Also important is to use an anti-static tool on all the foam edges to make sure that the shaker materials don't stick to it or you won't get anything to shake!

Time to assemble the card!  I distressed the edges of both the card base and the background and inked them with Black Soot Archival ink.  Then adhere the Oxide background to the card base.

Decide where on your card you want to place your Haunted House and make sure you have it centred.  I used a T-Ruler and an acrylic block to mark where I wanted to put it, and then put the little bundle of sequins and stars in the middle of where the Haunted House would be stuck.  I peeled off the backing tape and lined up the house with the blocks I had placed on the card to ensure it was centred and level, and stuck it down.  It can be helpful just to place something like an acrylic block on top just to hold it down for a few minutes.

Then I adhered the Haunted word chippie and three additional little die cut bats to the card and it was complete!

...Or was it?

There was one more step I wanted to add, and that was some yellow Nuvo drops to the centre of the moon which would otherwise be clear.  It's perfectly fine to leave it clear but I really wanted that yellow moon.  You could also add colour behind the house windows with Nuvo drops or coloured paper (more options!) but I wanted the colour of the Oxides to show through. And now the card was complete!

Hope you enjoyed this Halloween card tutorial!

Till next time,

Elle
Empire Of The Cat



PROJECT RECIPE for Haunted House Halloween Shaker Card:

GSL Cuts Haunted House Oval - Model D12K, Halloween Word Set D81F
Wow Embossing ink, Black Glint embossing powder
Emerald Creek - Rocky Road embossing powder
Heat gun for melting embossing powder
Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive, Nuvo Drops - Dandelion Yellow
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Sprays - Mustard Seed, Abandoned Coral, Seedless Preserves, Distress Archival in Black Soot,
Tim Holtz Bat Crazy Sizzix dies
Gina K - Plum Punch Cardstock
From Stash:  scrap of acetate, double sided tape, black foam tape, green sequins, silver stars, black stars

open if you dare

October is finally upon us; for a lot of people, that means a Halloween crafting frenzy. I am joining in the fun today, sharing a fancy fold Halloween Card.
I love making these types of cards, they are so fun to open and discover all that lies inside, and the design allows for many opportunities to incorporate all sorts of holiday ephemera.
Let's get started.

To create the card base, you will need a square piece of paper. For this card, I have used a 12x12 sheet of black cardstock. The piece is folded into quadrants and then, using a bone folder, I ensure the creases are sharp. Next, open the sheet to a flat position and fold the entire square in half, diagonally. Use the bone folder to ensure a crisp diagonal fold and then flatten the sheet once more. The card base is ready to be adorned.

Using some of my favorite decorative papers, I cut a 6x6 square panel that will be attached to the card cover. I build my scene on this paper and set it aside. It is important to note that I set this aside and always attach the cover panel last. This allows me to attach fasteners through the card base that can be concealed. I also find that creating the cover panel first, allows me to set the tone and theme that can then carry throughout the interior. Since the cover is not attached, I can refer back to the design without having to open and close the card multiple times. Most importantly, as many of you know, I love making the cover dimensional, when the panel is secured in place the open card does not lay flat. It is much easier creating the interior when it is flat, thus not crushing the cover design.

The focal point on the cover of my card is one of the houses from the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts haunted houses set paired with "frightful" from the Halloween word set. The haunted houses set come with three different designs, I paint both sides of the house I am using with black soot paint. Once dry, I coat the front side with Deco Art one step crackle and allow it to work its magic. Once the crackled finish is completely dry; to accentuate the crackle and dull some of the shine, I rub distress crayon in fired brick and gathered twigs over the surface and into the cracks. 

I color a piece of vellum with fossilized amber distress oxide, spritz with water and allow to dry. I use this vellum to fill the window openings. From the back side, pieces sized to cover the entire openings are adhered with collage medium around the window opening edges. 

I carefully remove the word "frightful" from the Halloween word set. This set contains five Halloween words, each in a different font. "Frightful" is an extremely delicate font, use extra caution when removing this from the surround. Once I have removed the word, I use use twisted citron distress oxide ink to add color to the chipboard. I add the ink in layers, allowing to dry in between each coat to give the word a wonderful intensity of color. I then coat the colored word with glossy accents, to add stability and shine. I set the coated word aside to dry completely.

While the glossy accents is drying, I am able to work on the background. Using a die, I cut random patterns of stars from the top of the square. I color a 6x6 square of mixed media heavy stock with layers of twisted citron distress oxide, distress ink, and distress spray stain. When I achieve the desired look, this piece is layered beneath the decorative paper. The beautiful layers of twisted citron show through the star die cut openings. I adhere the haunted house piece to the background with distress collage medium and set weights on it until the collage medium is dry, to keep it flat.

The two bats from the black creepy critters set are added to the starry sky, in addition to a die cut crescent moon face. Once the cover design is complete, The fully dried frightful word is adhered to the house front with collage medium. As I mentioned before, the completed cover piece is set aside while I work on the card interior.

The fancy fold card interiors can be as simple or complex as you desire. Keeping with the Halloween theme, I used some colored Ideaology paper dolls, masquerade die cuts, quote chips, halloween remnant rubs, clippings stickers, and incorporated the remaining pieces from the black creepy critters set among the panels. There are no limits to designing the fancy fold interior.

One thing to note is that when attaching pieces to the triangular folding panels, only attach a piece that spans both panels onto one of the triangles. This way, when the card is folded closed, the extended pieces will not impede the process and can remain flat. If necessary, you can always test out the design with removable tape to be sure everything functions properly before doing the final gluing. The pictures above show how the paper dolls are only attached on one of the triangular panels. The picture on the right shows how the children were only attached on the base triangle for the quadrant while the gentleman was only attached to the upper triangle.

Here are some pictures of the inside panels.

These cards can become a bit thick when you add a lot of layers inside. I like to wrap the base with a coordinating ribbon that can be tied together to keep the card closed (for mailing or storage.) I attach this ribbon to the card base cardstock before I add the cover and back panels. The ribbon is completely concealed, except for the lengths to be tied together.

  I hope that you have a wonderful October, filled with creativity.

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I truly appreciate it.

~Ann


Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts used:
Black Creepy Critters Set
Halloween Word Set
Haunted Houses Set

wicked ways

I always enjoy working on Halloween projects throughout the fall, and today, I am excited to share my latest piece, "wicked ways." This piece uses a Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts filigree front shrine as its base. I love the size of this shrine, its generous interior provides the perfect opportunity for me to create a spooky scene. I have opted to use the WICKED word from the halloween word set in lieu of the filigree piece that comes with the shrine. I plan to use the beautifully detailed filigree piece for a future project.

I first paint all of the shrine pieces that I will be using with black paint. I do not add water, and try to use a light hand when applying the paint, ensuring that all edges are covered. This piece has a few edges that are exposed when it is assembled, and if you are not planning to cover the outside with paper, it is essential to paint the exposed edges the same color so the appearance will be seamless.
When the paint has dried, I select a paper for the interior of the shrine. I want the scene that I am creating to have a spooky quality, and find an old piece of decorative paper from my stash that will be perfect to achieve this. Since the paper is 12x12, and I want to be sure to include the area with the full moon, I lay the front piece of the shrine on top of the page to determine the area that I will need to cut out. The interior (back) panel is 4-3/4" x 5- 3/4". I also cut two adjacent strips (on either side of the main panel) to use on each interior side. These papers are inked around the edges and adhered to their respective pieces with collage medium. Once the papers are secured, I assemble the shrine box with more collage medium. I use clamps to make sure that everything stays in place as the glue dries.

Setting the shrine box aside, I work on the word Wicked that will adorn the top of my shrine. This piece is from the Halloween word set. I have other ideas for the remaining words from this set and really like how each word is cut from a different font. Knowing that there is a possibility that some sections of the word might extend beyond the top of the shrine, I paint both the front and back of the word with black paint. When the paint has dried, I coat the front side with VersaMark embossing ink and sprinkle with dragons egg embossing powder. This is then heat set. I consider adding another layer of embossing, but really like the texture that I have achieved with only a single application. I love the subtle metallic finish and the color works perfectly with my scheme. In order to keep the subtleness, but also ensure that the title is noticed, I use a silver metallic paint pen around the exterior edge of the letters. This will help the word pop without having to raise it off of the front panel. When the silver edge has completely dried, I attach the word piece to the shrine using collage medium.

Now it is time to set the scene inside the shrine. I spritz the cauldron piece from the GSLC be witched shape set lightly with water on both sides. I then gently bend the shape to create a 3-d effect. I allow the piece to dry in this altered shape. After it has dried, I coat the outside of the cauldron with embossing ink, then a layer of hammered metal embossing powder. Using a heat gun I melt the powder to a wonderful finish. The embossed piece is allowed to cool. I cut a piece of foam to raise the cauldron away from the back panel and use collage medium to attach the foam in place along the back.

A die cut witch figure is inked then covered in black soot glitter. To achieve the look of moonlight shining off her silhouetted figure, I die cut a second witch from silver cardstock and offset the two pieces. She stirs her magic potion with a "wooden" stick.

The interior base of the shrine is covered with moss; a few bones and a skull add to the spooky effect. Within the cauldron, pearls (colored with alcohol inks) create the perfect bubbly potion. Die cut bats are suspended with wire or attached to the interior of the shrine, enjoying the witch's cackling chant.

For the exterior of the shrine, I wanted it to remain simple. Black cardstock skeleton leaf die cuts are adhered to the side and fold-over to the back. An ephemera "poster" for the Witches Dance is the main attraction.

 
 
I hope that you have enjoyed this wicked piece, I look forward to sharing more of my Halloween projects over the next few weeks.  Feel free to leave a comment, I always enjoy hearing your thoughts or answering questions.

Thank you so much for stopping by,
 I hope that you have a creative day!
~Ann
      

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts used:

filigree front shrine

halloween word set

be witched shape set