Hello!

I was going through the projects that I have ready to share with you and realized that I have a couple of Halloween cards that need some visibility before the month is over.

The card was one of the projects for the September meeting of the SASS Stamp Club.  The focal point stamp is an a la carte stamp featured in the Holiday Mini Catalog called Haunted Forest.  When I think about holidays, Halloween is not one that I get too excited about; however, when I saw this stamp I liked the whimsical aspect of the image and the design possibilities.

(click on card to see larger image)

We begin with a double mat of Cajun Craze and Tangerine Tango.  The Cajun Craze cardstock was embossed in the Square Lattice Textured Impressions embossing folder in the Big Shot (and the edges sponged with Cajun Craze ink) before it was adhered to the Tangerine Tango cardstock mat (the edges sponged with Cajun Craze ink).  A piece of Early Espresso 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon was placed just above the bottom edge of the Cajun Craze cardstock and adhered on the back of the Tangerine Tango cardstock.  The Paper Piercing Tool was used to make three holes near the right edge of the ribbon and gold brads were inserted through the ribbon and the mats.  Then the mats were adhered to the Early Espresso card front.

The focal point image was stamped with Versamark on Very Vanilla cardstock, covered with Black embossing powder and embossed with the Heat Tool.  Color was added to the image using sponges and Night of Navy ink for the sky, Old Olive ink for the ground, and Soft Suede ink.  The lower left corner of the image was stamped again on Tangerine Tango cardstock and heat embossed with Black embossing powder.  The pumpkin was cut out with Paper Snips and adhered over the pumpkin on the image stamped on the Very Vanilla cardstock using a Stampin' Dimensional.  The Very Vanilla cardstock was adhered to a piece of Old Olive cardstock (the edges sponged with Old Olive ink) and the image adhered to the embossed Cajun Craze cardstock using Stampin' Dimensionals.

(click on card to see larger image)

The inside sentiment area of the card was lined with a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock (the edges sponged with Early Espresso ink).  The stamped images on the liner come from the Wicked Cool stamp set.  The spider web image was stamped four times in the lower left corner of the liner using Early Espresso ink and the Spooky image was stamped over the spider webs using Cajun Craze ink.  The Halloween message was stamped near the upper center of the cardstock using Cajun Craze ink.

(click on envelope to see larger image)

The process used to decorate the lower left corner of the card liner was repeated for the lower left front corner of the Medium Very Vanilla Envelope.

I'm really glad that Stampin' Up! offers a la carte stamps like the Haunted Forest image.  They are just perfect for those that want to focus on a single event or idea without having to purchase an entire stamp set.  You can find more of these types of stamps in the 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog on pages 18-20 and in the Holiday Mini Catalog on page 43.  They range in price from $4.95 to $9.95.  You can peruse the catalogs by clicking on the catalog images on the left sidebar of my blog page OR you can vist my on-line store front by clicking on the Order Stampin' Up! Online button and then the Shop Now button near the lower right corner of my Stampin' Up! web page.

Stamps:  Haunted Forest, Wicked Cool; Inks:  Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Night of Navy, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Versamark; Cardstock:  Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango, Very Vanilla; Embellishments:  Early Espresso 1/4" Grosgrain ribbon, Gold Brads; Adhesives:  SNAIL, Stampin' Dimensionals; Tools:  Paper Cutter/Scorer, Paper Snips, Bone Folder, Sponge, Heat Tool, Basic Black embossing powder, Embossing Buddy, Paper Piercing Tool, Mat Pack, Big Shot w/Standard Cutting Plates, Multi-Purpose Platform, Square Lattice Textured Impressions embossing folder; Other:  Medium Very Vanilla Envelope