CREEPY

The other day I had a brain inspiration. One that I thought might work especially well for a Halloween card.

Not having used any of my old Stampin' Up! background stamps in quite some time -- years?? -- this is a technique that would require one of them. At least, my brain thought so.

I thought the background stamp that looks like a ragged piece of old gauze would be ideal for this attempt at creepiness.

After rubbing Whisper  White cardstock well with the Embossing Buddy, I carefully stamped the gauze onto the paper with VersaMark ink. It is a little tricky to stamp a large background image, especially one that is mounted on wood. 

The way I did this was to ink up the stamp and set it on my work table inked side facing up. I then placed the cardstock on top of the inked stamp, covered it with a piece of scratch paper, and rubbed over the whole thing with my hands, being sure that I rubbed over each portion of the stamp at least once.

It's not until you add embossing powder that you see if you did a good job of stamping your image. After covering the stamping with black embossing powder, I used the Heat Tool to emboss it. And, I lucked out. I'd done a good job of stamping my background.

The next step was to choose a few Halloween-y colors. I chose Granny Apple Green, Highland Heather and Pumpkin Pie. Using a stamping sponge, I added the colors over the embossing until the entire piece was covered with creepy purple, green and orange. I was careful to make some areas darker, some lighter. Ca-reeeeepy.

My focal point was an old one, a big black pot cooking up a sparkly purple batch of lizard livers. Mr. Frog was in the thick of things, but keeping a close eye on the concoction while the witch stepped away for a moment -- to go to the bathroom?? Or would it be the batroom?? .

I added sparkles to the potion with Wink of Stella. Although the sparkles show up well in real life, they are not so evident in my photo. 

After stamping and coloring the witchy pot, I fussy cut it, using jagged cuts to add to its creepiness. I added my sentiment to a strip of Whisper White cardstock, followed by the cooking pot popped up alongside it. I sponged the edges and dabbed the sponge lightly inside the edges to make it not quite so white.

At this point, I was sort of stumped as to how to proceed. Nothing came to mind very quickly. The strip with the pot and the sentiment was just not enough to complete the card. It definitely needed something else.

But WHAT???

I finally came up with a solution to finish off the strip, and I am very happy with the end result.

Once I had that strip completed to my satisfaction, I mounted it to my card base with Stampin' Dimensionals.

There! Are you properly creeped out?

Yes, this was just a variation on an emboss resist. I don't remember ever having done it over an entire background stamp, so this was experimental for me. I will definitely be doing it again!

Do you create Halloween cards? How many do you strive to make? Do you use papercrafting to make any sort of decorations or Halloween treats? I just got my Paper Pumpkin kit in the mail today, and it is filled with darling skeleton-flavored treat containers to be created. I can't wait to get started on them!

Creepy

Smiles.