'The Bride of Usher' - A Dark & Twisty Halloween Card

Howzit Stamping Friends!

October is a few days away and you all know what that means...it's Halloween Time!!  To get you in the spooky spirit here's a Blockheads design team project for you to check out!

I used Blockheads Paper Arts exclusive rubber stamp called Goth Girl from the Di's Characters collection as the focal point of my dark and twisty art card as well as the Script 'Backgrounds for All Occassions' stamp for the background and accent stamping.  I had a spooktacular time designing this one and the Goth Girl image is actually quite versatile coz I was able to turn her into a scary Bride by making most of her hair look like a wedding veil which was just perfect for the theme I had in mind for this project!

Supplies 

Ink pads:  Brilliance Lightning Black, Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Inks Black Soot,  
Copic markers:  E000, E41, W1, W5 and Black 110,  
Prismacolor pencils:  Cream, Chartreuse,  Crimson Lake, Black Cherry and Black,
Spellbinders dies:  Fleur De Lis Square, Fancy Tag #2,
Sizzix Architectural Accent #1 die,  
Tim Holtz Alterations/Sizzix Tattered Banners, Flourishes and Tattered Florals dies,  
Judikins Diamond Glaze, Neenah Solar White cardstock, Black cardstock, Dark Plum cardstock, Martha Stewart Elegant Witch Mat Pad, Sizzix self-adhesive Metals,
Dark Plum Silk Flowers, Black sheer ribbon, Red Heart eyelet, Eyelet tools, Hole Punch, Gold Brads, Metallic Gold Paint Pen, EK Success Gold Writer pigment pen,
Paper Trimmer, Scoreboard, Inssentials Ink Blending Tool and Foam pads,
Glue dots, Double-sided tape, Permanent Adhesive tape and Xyron Permanent Adhesive.

I started out by stamping the Goth Girl image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto a sheet of Neenah Solar White cardstock that is perfect for Copics and the brand new super cool and much more affordable Marvy Le Plume Permanent markers - stay tuned for more news and tutorials featuring these new alcohol based markers coz you don't want to miss checking them out!   I cut out the 'portrait painting' oval slightly smaller than the center oval of the ornate Spellbinders Tag die and coloured the image with a combination of Copics and Prismacolor pencils, edged it with a metallic gold paint pen as well as some gold details to the design and finished with a coat of Judikins Diamond Glaze.

I die cut an ornate tarnished gold frame for the 'portrait painting' out of a sheet of Sizzix self-adhesive Metals paper and the Spellbinders Fancy Tag #2 die and adhered the 'portrait painting' to the center with permanent adhesive tape.

I die cut a Fleur De Lis square panel from black cardstock and two Architectural Accent corners from dark plum cardstock.  The Accent corners were slightly too big so I trimmed them down to fit and I love the new design coz now they look more menacing with all the sharp pointy edges!  Before I trimmed them though I ran both corners through my Xyron to add adhesive and adhered them to the left and right corners of the black Fleur De Lis panel.

I adhered the gold frame to the center of the Fleur De Lis panel and attached a single heart eyelet in the center of the heart shaped cut out.  The blood red heart gives the card just that extra touch of eeriness don't you think! 

I then cut a square panel slightly larger than the Fleur De Lis panel (based on the size of the diamond shape and not the square) and stamped the Script background stamp all over the panel with Brilliance Lightning Black pigment ink.  The effect is stunning coz the metallic gold turns black depending on the angle its viewed at.

I used a sheet of text cardstock from the Martha Stewart Elegant Witch mat pad and die cut the tattered banner, flourishes and a small tattered floral piece.  The text is an excerpt from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe and couldn't have been more perfect for my theme!  The text cardstock was originally a bright cream colour and I added a touch of Chartreuse green to all the die cuts with a Prismacolor pencil to pick up on the Bride's skin tones and I also toned them down by distressing them with Black Soot Distress Ink.

I adhered the Fleur De Lis panel to the dark plum panel with double-sided tape and die cut another Fleur De Lis square from black cardstock and cut it up to make the ornate scrolled corner pieces.  I stamped the Script background onto them with Lightning Black Brilliance ink and edged the 2 short sides with a metallic gold paint pen and adhered them to the corners of the dark plum panel with permanent adhesive tape.   I then made a black folded card and mounted the dark plum panel to it with permanent adhesive tape.

I die cut two more small floral pieces from black cardstock and distressed all of the tattered florals by crumpling them up and also added touches of Lightning Black Brilliance ink to just the black ones. 
I dismantled three dark plum silk flowers and added the tattered florals to the centers and finished them with gold brads and adhered them to the card with glue dots.  I toned down the brightness of the gold brads with an EK Success gold Writer pigment pen so now they've got a more burnished gold finish to them.  I finished off my eerie art card with a black sheer ribbon bow attached to the left corner with a glue dot.

I've got another House of Usher inspired creation to share within the next day or two so stay tuned...
If you dare!

Thanks for visiting with me today!  Now pop on over to Karen's blog for some gorgeous carnival inspired ATCs!  She's been creating with the stamps I used for my Carnival Bizarre project!

Happy Stamping!

THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN

I design for Blockheads Paper Arts * Third Coast Rubber Stamps * About Art Accents

"Congratulations" Christening Art Card - Combining Stamping and Dry Embossing With Digital Design!

Howzit Stampers!

I want to share this very special Congratulations art card I made for my Nephew and Godson's Christening with you today!  I was inspired by my recent W.O.W art cards I've been playing with for the last few weeks and combined some elements from them with digital design to create this elegant card my Sissypoo, Paula, will treasure forever.

Supplies:  'Congratulations' sentiment stamp from Blockheads Paper Arts exclusive Verses Full Sheet collection, Versafine Onyx Black ink pad, White cardstock:  two with different texture styles and one smooth style, Vintage Sage/Blue heavy weight Paper and matching Striped Patterned Paper, Silk Flourish design ribbon, Script Cuttlebug embossing folder, Quickutz Lace Squares dies, Double sided tape, Permanent Adhesive Tape, Glue Dots,  Xyron permanent adhesive,  Scoreboard, Paper Trimmer and Self Adhesive Pearl embellishments.

I started out designing the focal point of my card with Photoshop which includes a photo of my cutiepie Nephew and printed out the design onto white textured cardstock and cut it out.  I ran it through my Xyron to add permanent adhesive and adhered a piece of Striped patterned paper to the back.  I then cut another panel from smooth white cardstock the same size and adhered more of the Striped patterned paper to it.  I put those to one side while I made my card base.

 For the card I started out with a sheet of textured white cardstock, scored it to form a gate fold and embossed the front panels with the Script Cuttlebug embossing folder.  I ran a sheet of Vintage Sage/Blue paper through my Xryon to add permanent adhesive and cut out a panel to fit the inside of the card.  I embossed the panel with the Script embossing folder and adhered it to the inside of the card.  I then stamped the 'Congratulations' sentiment onto smooth white cardstock with Versafine Onyx Black ink, cut out the Lace Square with a Quickutz die and adhered it to the inside of the card with double-sided tape.

 Next I printed out the large flourish design onto a sheet of white cardstock cut a bit larger than I needed and embossed it with the Script embossing folder.  The panel I needed was larger than the embossing folder so I just moved the embossing folder over, lined it up and repeated the design.  I added permanent adhesive to it with my Xyron and adhered it to the back of the card and then trimmed away the excess cardstock.  I then cut a length of silk ribbon and wrapped it around the entire card, starting from the inside Gate fold flap and finishing on the outside flap adding permanent adhesive tape to the ribbon as I went.

Next I ran a sheet of the Vintage Sage/Blue cardstock through my Xyron and adhered more of the Striped patterned paper to it before cutting out the Lace Square mat with a Quickutz die.  I adhered the Lace mat to my main design panel and also added the other square panel I made to the back of the Lace mat with double-sided tape just to make it stronger and to neaten things up when viewed from the other side.  I then adhered the assembled panel to the left flap with double-sided tape.

Inside the card I wrote that my Nephew is a treasured gift to our family and I continued the 'gift' theme by adding another piece of ribbon vertically to the right flap so that the finished card looks like a ribbon wrapped gift!  The ribbon lines up perfectly with the left flap's edge for a seamless look when the card is closed.  I also decorated the right flap with a monogram design I created.  I layered it onto a smaller Lace Square die cut and adhered it to the card with glue dots.

I then embellished the front of the card with 4 small self-adhesive pearls in all 4 corners and completed my art card with a matching envelope!

Thanks for stopping by today and checking out my Christening card!  Stay tuned coz I've got some Blockheads Halloween themes coming up!

Happy Stamping!

THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN

I design for Blockheads Paper Arts * Third Coast Rubber Stamps * About Art Accents

Trick or Treat DominoART ATCs - A Third Coast Creative Coterie DT Project

Howzit Stampers!

Halloween is coming and I've been scaring up a storm in my studio!  I'm thrilled to share these double trouble DominoART ATCs with you today!  I designed these for Third Coast Rubber Stamps as a proud member of their Third Coast Creative Coterie design team.  We have our own Blog now so go check out all the spooktacular eye candy :0)

SUPPLIES

All the stamps I used are available from Third Coast Rubber Stamps

Free Parking AP-479-P

Spider Web AP-522

Broomstick Dog Ap-523

Cat from the Scary Hairy Girl Duo VB-321-P

Happy Bat sm VB-041-EE

Tree of Dread sm VB-054-C

Boo S. Postal Service WS-146-D

Sizzix Bigz Die Trick or Treat 
Standard Double 6 White Dominoes

Black glitter cardstock
Green Glitter Jelly Roll Pen
DCWV Old World Mat Stack Decorative Cardstock

Strathmore Bristol Vellum Surface ATC blanks
White Prismacolor pencil

Versafine Onyx Black ink pad

Ancient Page Coal Black and Mandarin ink pads

ColorBox Fluid Chalks:  Wisteria, Lavender, Prussian Blue, Yellow Ochre

Sharpie Markers:  Orange, Leg Warmer Orange, Banana Clip Yellow, Stingray, Valley Girl Violet, Slate Grey, Brown, Coconut, Argyle Green, Jellie Pink

Sharpie Black Paint Pen - Oil Based Medium Point

Metallic Copper and Silver Paint Pens - Extra Fine Points

Judikins Diamond Glaze

Recollections Brads:  Black Fleur De Lis, Black Glitter Flourish, Tiny White Buttons

Micro Pop Dots, Glue Dots

Permanent Adhesive Tape
Heat It Embossing Tool

I started with the ATCs first and stained them with various inks using a combination of the DTP method (direct to paper) and applying the ink with a scrunched up piece of paper towel.  The Purple one is a combination of ColorBox Fluid Chalks:  Prussian Blue, Wisteria and Lavender.

The Yellow one is a combination of ColorBox Fluid Chalks:  Wisteria and Yellow Ochre with Ancient Page Mandarin.

I stamped all the images with Versafine Onyx Black ink and coloured in some of the images with a Black Sharpie coz I just wanted silhouettes instead of details for the backgrounds.  You can see I started colouring in the Happy Bats on the Yellow one above and coloured the broomstick handles on the Purple one.  I then added glitter details to both with a green glitter Jelly Roll pen.

Die cut the large Sizzix Trick or Treat saying from black glitter cardstock and adhere them to the ATCs with micro pop dots.  If you don't have these micro dots you NEED them, I don't know how I managed without them!!

Now for the dominoes.  I used 2 standard double 6, brand new straight out of the tin, dominoes for this project and coloured them using my signature Sharpie Domino Queen technique!  Check out all my Sharpie Tutorials here on my blog and also on my website, Velvet Paw Creations, for more info on how to do my technique.  I'm still in the middle of re-designing my entire website so some links aren't ready yet but you'll find those tutorials here on my blog too!

Stamp just the Moon portion of the Free Parking rubber stamp onto both dominoes with Ancient Page Coal Black dye ink.  Then stamp the Cat on one domino and the dog on the other and heat set the ink with an embossing tool, I'm a huge fan of the Heat It embossing tool.

Colour both dominoes with Sharpie markers, most of them are from the newest Limited Edition set called 80's Glam.  I used Orange, Leg Warmer Orange, Banana Clip Yellow, Jellie Pink and Argyle Green on the cat and Stingray and Valley Girl Violet on the sky and touched up some of the stamped image with a Black sharpie.

I used Orange, Leg Warmer Orange and Slate Grey on the sky.  Stingray, Valley Girl Violet and Argyle Green on the Witch Hat.  Brown, Coconut and Jellie Pink on the dog.  I coloured the sides of the both dominoes with a Black Sharpie oil-based paint pen and added silver metallic touches to both with an extra-fine point paint pen.  I then sealed both dominoes with a coat of Judikins Diamond Glaze.  I embellished the dominoes with a decorative brad at this point so that they would adhere to the dominoes as the glaze dried.  I used the Fleur De Lis on the dog and the Flourish on the cat.  Both are brads and I just cut off the brad arms.

While the dominoes dried I stamped the Boo Postal Service stamp on to a piece of DCWV patterned mat stock with Versafine Onyx Black ink and cut it out with scissors.  I then coloured the circle behind the ghost with the green glitter Jelly Roll pen and the ghost with a white Prismacolor pencil and attached it to the ATC with permanent adhesive tape.

I then adhered the dominoes to the ATCs with permanent glue dots.  I finished off the Trick ATC with 3 tiny white button brads on the left hand side. 

I hope you enjoyed checking out my DominoART ATCs and if you want to see more spooktacular DominoART eye candy then stop by my DominoART Blog for 31 Days of Halloween for a scary good time!  The fun starts Oct 1st of course  ;0)

Happy Stamping!

THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN

I design for Blockheads Paper Arts * Third Coast Rubber Stamps * About Art Accents

Hard Storage Binders Sale Event for Your Cling Mounted Rubber Stamps!!

Howzit Stampers!

I've got an awesome sale to tell you about that's going on right now for those hard storage binders that are perfect for storing cling mounted rubber stamps in!  I've just ordered some of the clear 1.5" no ring binders with the view sleeve for my stamps at $1.25 from $5.18 - now that's a deal!  I decided I could live without the rings for that price!  Click on the photo to go straight to the website, then click Closeout/Overstock Sale from the Shop Now menu!
Enjoy!

THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN

I design for Blockheads Paper Arts * Third Coast Rubber Stamps * About Art Accents

W.O.W Finale! Part 4 of my Blockheads Design Team Series!

Howzit Stampers!

I'm back today with the finale of my W.O.W series of Art Cards!  This is Part 4 of my creative adventures into exploring White on White Embossed and Die Cut Layering.
This layering technique really is so much fun and the results are truly WOW!
I really do love that the acronym for White on White is W.O.W coz that's exactly what the recipient of one of these cards would say ;0)

I've been playing with creating dramatic effects by layering different shades of embossed and die cut white cardstock.  I absolutely love how the combined textures and the play with shadows gives the cards a richness that's filled with luxurious drama!
   

This is a Blockheads Design Team series of tutorials and I've been featuring sentiments/sayings and words from their exclusive Verses Full Sheet set of stamps which is available unmounted or on cling cushion.  If you missed Part 1 - 3 then you can see them all here!
Just click on each photo to go to the tutorial.

WOW Part 1 - 'Congratulations'

WOW Part 2 - 'DREAM'

WOW Part 3 - 'A Real Friend'

 On to the finale...

Supplies:  Square white folded card, White cardstock in various shades of white, Blockhead Paper Arts' Verses Full Sheet stamp set, Versafine Onyx Black ink, T!m Holtz Alterations Bingo design from the Bingo/Patchwork Texture Fades set, Cuttlebug Floral embossing folder and Plaid design from the Winter Wonderland embossing folder set,  Spellbinders Fleur De Lis Square die, Leaves die set, Ornate Label die, Daisy lace trim, Butterfly and Self-adhesive pearls embellishments, white sheer ribbon, glue dots and pop dots, double-sided tape, Crafter's Pick The Ultimate glue and permanent adhesive tape.

Start by embossing the front of a 5" x 5" square folded card with the Plaid design by Cuttlebug.

Emboss the Daisy floral design into a piece of white cardstock that's a creamier shade of white when compared to the folded card then cut out the embossed panel with a Spellbinders Fleur De Lis square die.

Based on the dry run of my layout I knew I wanted to place the Fleur De Lis panel off center so I cut away part of the edge so that I could extend the design and make the square appear more like a rectangle.  Adhere the panel to the card with pop dots.

Adhere a piece of white sheer ribbon to the card with permanent adhesive.  Then die cut and emboss some of the Spellbinders Leaves out of white cardstock the same shade as the folded card so they will stand out against the Daisy panel and adhere the large one to the card with pop dots.  Overlay the leaf with another one and adhere it in place with a glue dot.  The second leaf is just the upper portion of the same design that I had left over in my scrapbox.  See, this is why stampers/artists shouldn't throw anything away, coz you just never know when you need that 'something' for a project... statement made for the benefit of any husbands who just might be reading this and I can think of one in particular ;0) 

Stamp the 'Happy Birthday' sentiment with Versafine Onyx Black ink onto white cardstock the same shade as the folded card and use a Spellbinders ornate label die to cut it out.

Adhere the ornate label off center with pop dots and tuck in the cut off Fleur De Lis piece under the label and adhere it in place with a couple of dabs of glue.

Make a bow from the sheer ribbon and attach it to the right hand side with a glue dot.

Adhere a strip of daisy lace trim to the top edge of the card with Crafter's Pick The Ultimate glue.

Tuck in some Bingo number pieces (more left overs) behind the ornate label and adhere them in place with glue dots and pop dots.  Also tuck in another Spellbinders leaf too.  I added the numbers to my design because I thought the sentiment inside the card could read "Gorgeous at any age!'.  This card is definitely meant for the lady who is young at heart or proud of her age and who wouldn't try to kill you if you included it on the front of her card!  It's a risky design move so make sure you know what you're doing ;0)

Adhere the butterfly with The Ultimate glue to the right hand side of the card and add some self-adhesive pearls.

Finish off the card with a large pearl adhered to the upper left side and embellish the ornate label with two tiny pearls too.

Thanks for joining me on my creative adventure!  I hope you enjoyed seeing all my W.O.W art cards.  I'd love to know if you've given this technique a whirl so please leave me a comment with a link to your blog projects so I can see what you've all been up to!  Don't forget you can also share your projects on Blockheads Facebook page too!

Check back again soon coz I've got a Christening card I made for my nephew and godson to show you that incorporates a bit of WOW-ness with colour mixed in ;0)

Happy Stamping!

 

THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN

I design for Blockheads Paper Arts * Third Coast Rubber Stamps * About Art Accents