Raven Halloween Card

I missed the sun. It's so nice to look out the window of my atelier and see the sun shining. The past four days have been chilly, rainy and uninspiring. During this time I did manage to complete my Raven card. While I love my Cricut and Sizzix machines, I don't always want to do die cut cards. I was looking for something different and came across this stamp. Although I don't use stamps often I just had to have this one.

I had originally stamped the Raven onto white card stock but didn't like the result so I decided to use a transparency instead. I liked the result but the image was dark and hard to see until I backed it with a lighter paper. When stamping an image onto a transparency it is important to use a permanent ink (Staz On works well), push down hard on the stamp so you get a clear image, and lift the stamp from the film in one motion (this will give you a crisp image). Set the image aside to dry and avoid touching the image while the ink is wet (to avoid smearing). Once the image is dry, the film can be trimmed with a paper trimmer.

Directions for Raven Card:

Raven stamp available at Michaels
Black Staz-On ink
Transparency film-available at office supply stores
Recollections Ravenswood Manor paper stack- purple and black print card stock
K&Company Kelly Panacci Halloween Paper stack- green skull print card stock
Grey card stock
Recollections Halloween print ribbon
Jolee's Boutique White Pumpkin Repeats
Washi tape- black and white print
Recollections Halloween self adhesive crystals- orange and fold
Small Bats- I used Sizzix Sizlets Bats and the Sizzix Big Kick machine
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Raven mist
Zots medium dots
Foam dots


1.  Fold a piece of grey card stock in half to make a half-fold card. Lightly spray the card with Raven glimmer mist and set aside to dry.

2.  Stamp the Raven image on to transparency film using the black Staz-On ink. Put a lot of pressure on the stamp so that you will get a clear image. Lift the stamp from the film quickly so the image doesn't blur. Set aside to dry (about an hour). When the image is completely dry, use a paper trimmer to cut the film approximately 4 1/4 inches wide by 5 1/2 inches high.

3.  Cut a piece of dark purple dotted card stock approximately 1/4 inch larger on all sides than the dimensions of the Raven image. Center the image on the card stock leaving a 1/4 inch border on all sides. Apply a small Zot to each corner of the transparency film and attach the image to the card stock. Be careful glue will show through the transparency. I had experimented with several glues before deciding to use Zots.

4.  Cut a piece of black print card stock approximately 1/4 inch larger on all sides than the purple dotted card stock. Use foam dots to attach the purple card stock to the black card stock.  Cut a piece of the green skull card stock approximately 1/4 inch larger on all sides than the black print card stock. Glue the black print card stock to the green skull card stock.

5.  Cut a piece of Halloween ribbon and glue it to the upper left corner of the image so that Happy Halloween is visible. Attach a small white pumpkin to the lower right edge of the purple card stock. Attach the Raven to the card, using foam dots, approximately one inch from the top of the card. 

6.  Cut a piece of black and white Washi tape the width of the card. Apply the Washi tape approximately 1/4 inch from the top of the card. Repeat and apply the tape at the bottom of the card.  Apply three gold and orange crystals evenly spaced on the tape borders.

7.  Apply two small bats to the upper right edge of the card. Place one bat at an angle and glue it to the top corner of the transparency film; apply the second bat slightly above the first. The second bat should be flying off the edge of the card.

I used black card stock, the Sizzlets bat die and the Sizzix machine to cut the bats, but any die cut or purchased small bats will work.

Hello Kitty Waits for the Great Pumpkin

I just love Hello Kitty and try to think of ways to incorporate her into my projects. We all know the story of Linus waiting in the the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin to arrive. I decided to use that theme and replace Linus with Hello Kitty. I could envision dear, sweet Kitty dressed in her Halloween costume waiting in the pumpkin patch for the Great Pumpkin to arrive.

Waiting for the Great Pumpkin to arrive.

Directions for Hello Kitty Halloween Card:

Grey, dark purple, orange, white and black card stock
Cricut Hello Kitty Greetings cartridge
K&Company Tim Coffey Halloween Bone and Bats Layered Accents; Tim Coffey Halloween Pumpkin Grand Adhesions
Halloween Print Ribbon
K&Company Tim Coffey Halloween Specialty Paper-Black with orange, yellow, purple and green dots


1.  Using the Cricut and the Hello Kitty Greetings cartridge cut Hello Kitty (HK18) at 3 1/2 inches out of black card stock. Press the Hello Kitty Black Cat (HK18) and White Fur/Bow?Nose keys to cut Kitty's face. Press the same keys plus Shift to cut her bow out of orange card stock. Assemble Kitty. Add orange glitter glue to Kitty's bow and paw pads. Let dry.

2.  Cut a piece of black and green, purple and orange card stock approximately 4 inches wide by 5 3/4 inches high.  Place Hello Kitty so that she is centered on the card and approximately 3/4 inches from the bottom of the card. Glue in place. Attach two medium size pumpkins in front of Kitty's feet, leave enough room the sit a small pumpkin between the two medium ones. The smaller pumpkin should sit on top of the the larger pumpkins.

3.  Cut a piece of dark purple card stock approximately 1/4 larger (on all sides) than the black dotted card stock. Glue the black dotted card stock on top of the dark purple card stock. Attach a bat with the moon and larger flying bat to the top corners of the black dotted card stock.

4.  Fold an 8 1/2 by 11 inch piece of grey card stock in half to make a half-fold card. Cut a piece of black dotted Halloween ribbon the length of the card plus 1/2 inch. Center the ribbon on the card and tuck 1/4 inch of ribbon under the top and bottom of the card. Glue in place. Tie a small bow and glue to the bottom of the card over the ribbon.

Franken Diva

For days those of us who live on the East Coast have been warned of the impending arrival of Hurricane Sandy. My family made the necessary emergency preparations for the arrival of Sandy. We are not near any water sources and our house sits on a hill so we are expecting a lot of rain, high winds and possible power outages. Fortunately we are not in an area where we are forced to evacuate and can wait the storm out at home. While I am waiting out the storm, I decided to head off to my Atelier to work on some projects. While I still have power (although the lights flickered while I am typing this) I fired up the Cricut and cut the necessary shapes. My drafting table faces the window and every time I look up from my work I can see the trees swaying wildly in the wind and rain furiously, pounding on my window.

Just in time for Halloween, Cricut released the Frightful Affair cartridge. The images on this cartridge are a little more sophisticated than the cutesy Halloween cartridge that they previously released. I like both types of cartridges and like have a variety of images. My favorite image on this cartridge is the Bride of Frankenstein. She is not the same old Bride of Frankenstein that one encounters every where but a "Bride" with attitude.  I was looking for a background for my Hello Kitty Halloween project and had the purple paper laying on my desk. The color didn't work for Hello Kitty but it would be perfect for the "Bride". I viewed her as a bit of a diva and decided to work from there.

 Here's the finished card. Oh, did I mention that I love bats and that they are a must for my Halloween cards?



Directions for Franken Diva Halloween Card:

Black, cream, light grey and yellow card stock
K&Company Kelly Panacci Halloween paper- purple with black dots and black with black glitter design
Cricut A Frightful Affair cartridge
Martha Stewart Iron Fence border punch
Stickles glitter glue-Ice Stickles
Recollections self adhesive pearls, Halloween crystals, small clear crystal
Black ribbon with silver spider web design
Sizzix die cutting machine
Sizzix bat die


1.  Fold an 8 1/2 by 11 inch piece of light grey card stock in half to make a card.

2.  Cut a piece of black card stock with black glitter design approximately 7 3/4 inches high by by 4 3/4 inches wide. Cut the purple dotted card stock approximately 6 3/4 inches high by 4 1/2 inches wide. Glue the purple dot card stock on top of the black card stock leaving a border of approximately 1/4 on all sides.

3.  Cut nine bats using the Sizzix machine and bat die. If you don't have the Sizzix bat die, you can substitute any bats (Cricut, etc.) You want the bats to be fairly small with long wings and small bodies.

4.  Cut a small round circle out of yellow card stock. I used a circle template just because I had one available, but you can use any small circle shaped object as a template.

5.  Use the Martha Stewart Iron Fence border punch to punch a fence out of black card stock. Trim the fence to fit the purple and black dotted card stock. Glue the fence to the bottom edge of the purple and black dotted card stock.

6.  Using the Cricut Frightful Affair cartridge cut the "Bride" 's dress out of black card stock at 5 1/2 inches. Press the shift and "Bride" key.  Next cut the "Bride" out of light cream card stock by pressing the "Bride" key.  Assemble the "Bride". Use a fine tip red marker to draw in her mouth.

7.  Center the "Bride" on the purple and black dotted card stock and glue her in place slightly above the bottom edge of the fence. Use Ice Stickles to fill in the white streak in the "Bride" 's hair. Add a small self adhesive pearl to the bolt on the side of her head. Apply 3 small pearls to her wrist to make a bracelet. Apply one small clear crystal to her ring finger and apply a golden Halloween crystal to the neckline of her dress.

8.  Apply 2 small and 2 medium purple Halloween crystals to the fence posts.

9.  Glue the yellow circle to the top right corner of the purple and black dotted card stock to make a moon.

10.  Gently fold the bat's wings upward to give them the illusion of flight. Glue 2 bats on the moon and glue the rest of the bats randomly around the top of the card.

11.  Center the black and black glittered card stock base on the light grey card stock and glue it in place.

12.  Tie a small bow out of the black ribbon and glue it to the bottom of the card.

Portrait de Les Squelettes

I wanted to do one more card for Halloween but didn't want to do witches, haunted houses or pumpkins. I wanted something different! I had purchased some cute K & Company skeleton stickers and wanted to use them. The skulls peering over tombstones or looking out of the windows of a haunted mansion just wasn't what I was looking for. I had just finished reading the Picture of Dorian Gray and was putting the book back on the shelf when the idea popped into my head. What about skeleton portraits? I could frame the skulls and then cover the entire card in spider webbing.

Here's the finished result. It's hard to see the spider webbing because I used a thin layer to cover the card.




Directions for Portrait de Les Squelettes:

Cricut Happy Hauntings cartridge
K & Company Tim Coffey Halloween Bone and Bats Layered Accents
Black, lime green and white card stock
K & Company Kelly Panacci Halloween Paper
Spider Webbing

1. Using the Happy Hauntings cartridge cut Frame 3 twice, once at 3 3/4 inches and the second time at 3 inches out of black card stock. Press the Phrase, Frame 3 and the Shift keys and cut the word CREEPY at 2 1/2 inches out of black card stock. Cut Frame 7 at 3 3/4 inches out of black card stock.

2. Place the lime green card stock on the Cricut mat and load into the machine. Press the Phrase and Frame 3 keys and cut the word CREEPY at 2 1/2 inches. Glue the green word over the black word base.

3. Print a Halloween greeting on the inside of the card using white card stock and a card program. Choose the half fold card option. Fold the card in half and crease.

4. Cut a piece of purple and black dot card stock from the Halloween paper to fit the front of the card. Glue in place.

5. Position the frames so the smaller frame is centered on the purple card stock approximately 4 inches from the bottom of the card. Place the larger frames below the small frame (the square frame to the right and the oval frame to the left). Glue the frames in place. Place a large skull in the center each of the 3 3/4 inch frames and a small skull in the center of the 3 inch frame.

6. Glue the word CREEPY above the smaller frame. Place a bat to the left of the word.

7. Tear off a small piece of spider webbing a pull it apart until it starts to form web strands. Cover the front of the card with the webbing a glue the loose ends under the front edges of the card.

Waiting For The Great Pumpkin

This weekend is devoted to Halloween-both decorating and working on projects. While I was out buying supplies for my up coming projects I came across a Linus and a pumpkin sticker set. I just couldn't resist it. The story of Linus waiting in the pumpkin patch for the arrival of the Great Pumpkin is one of my perennial favorites.







Directions for the Great Pumpkin card:

K & Company Kelly Panacci Halloween paper- yellow print card stock
EK Success-Peanuts Linus Halloween dimensional sticker set
K & Company Tim Coffey Halloween Grand Adhesions-pumpkins
Medium purple ribbon
Foam Dots
White card stock


1. Print a Halloween greeting on the inside of an 8 1/2 inch by 11 inch piece of white card stock. Print the card using a greeting card program and the half-fold card option. Fold the card in half.

2. Cut the yellow print card stock 7 inches high by 4 1/2 inches wide.

3. Position Linus and the pumpkin 1 1/4 inches from the bottom of the card stock. Center the image and press in place. Position two of the smaller pumpkins from the Tim Coffey set to the right and left sides of Linus and his pumpkin. Press into place.

4. Center the Halloween sticker from the Linus set approximately 1 7/8 inches above Linus' head. Then center Happy above Halloween. Position the smaller bats to the left and right of Happy and the larger bat above Linus' head and slightly to the right.

5. Attach foam dots to the back of the yellow print card stock and place it 1 1/4 inches from the bottom of the card and 1/2 inch from the fold of the card. Press into place.

6. Cut a piece of purple ribbon 5 3/4 inches. Place the ribbon slightly below the yellow print card stock. The left end of the ribbon should touch the fold of the card. Glue the ribbon in place. Tuck the remaining ribbon under the right edge of the card and glue to secure. Cut a piece of purple ribbon and tie a small bow. Center the bow over the ribbon and glue in place.

Bewitching Halloween Card

I found some cute dimensional stickers and coordinating paper by K & Company on sale at Michaels. Dimensional stickers are easy to work with and can be a real time saver. Since this card has very little die cutting it can be completed very quickly. Unfortunately the witch did not photograph well so it's hard to see her face.




Halloween Witch Card Directions:

Black, grey and dark purple card stock
Cricut Happy Hauntings cartridge
Martha Stewart paper punches- Bat and Pumpkin Border
Paper Crimper (I used Fiskers)
K & Company Tim Coffey Halloween Paper and Witch Dimensional Stickers
Glimmer Mist Raven Mist by Tattered Angels
Halloween Dotted Ribbon
Black Cat sticker
Recollections Adhesive Rhinestones
Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Nine
Foam dots

1. Fold an 8 1/2 by 11 inch piece of grey card stock in half and crease.

2. Cut a label using the Spellbinders large label and the orange swirl Halloween paper. I used my Sizzix to cut the label. Center the witch sticker on the label and press into place. Place the black cat sticker next to the witch and press in place.

3. Cut a piece of black card stock 4 1/4 inches long by 4 1/2 inches wide and run it through the crimper. Spray the crimped card stock lightly with Glimmer Mist. Let it dry and spray it again.

4. Attach the orange label to the crimped card stock using foam dots.

5. Punch pumpkins using the Pumpkin Border punch and the orange swirl card stock. Cut the border to fit the sides of the crimped card stock and glue in place. The bottom of the pumpkins should touch the black card stock.

6. Attach the golden rhinestones in each corner of the black card stock.

7. Set the Cricut size dial to 1 inch. Using the Happy Hauntings cartridge and the dark purple card stock cut the phrase Happy Halloween. Glue it to the top of the card.

8. Punch 2 bats with the Bat paper punch and glue them on each side of the Halloween greeting.

9. Cut a piece of dotted Halloween ribbon and glue it to the bottom of the card. Make a bow and glue it to the ribbon.

Owl Witch Card

I love owls! I was inspired by the Hero Arts line of owl stamps. Owls as ghosts and witches-how cool!

To make the owl witch card stamp the image onto white card stock and color with color pencils. Use glitter glue for accents on the owl. Glue googly eyes over the owl's eyes.

Cut a circle out of yellow card stock. Adhere the owl to a yellow circle using foam dots. Glue a die cut bat in the upper left part of the moon.

Cut a patterned piece of card stock and glue it to the card. Glue a green piece of card stock to the bottom portion of the card. Cut ribbon and glue it over the point where the two card stocks meet. Glue a bow on top of the ribbon. Glue the moon on top of the patterned card stock.

Embellish with paper flowers. Stamp Happy Halloween on the green card stock.