graveyard skull & PPA5 (#2!)

Are you a fan of Edgar Allan Poe? Do you love baroque gothic motifs this time of year? Then you probably love this stamp set like I do! From the Crypt has the most amazing artwork. Pumpkins and skulls, ravens and spiders and bats, oh my! I paired this gothic beauty with the cast-a-spell designer paper for an erie delight. I started with this layout from the amazing Mary Fish. Using a base of old olive cardstock (4 1/4 x 11") folded at the top, I layered a 4 x 5 1/4" piece of basic black cardstock and dressed it up with 1 1/8 x 5" strips of the DSP. I cut a 3" circle of pumpkin pie & vellum cardstock with my circle nestibilities. Then, using my stamp-a-ma-jig (love it!) I stamped the fantastic skull on the vellum with basic black ink. Layering the vellum over the pumpkin pie dilutes the orange a bit but still gives a much needed punch of color. And the vellum just makes the skull look even more erie... Can we just talk about the artwork on this stamp for a minute? Look close and you will see ghosts rising from the ground, ravens circling, crooked old tree branches--this set is not for the faint of heart. It's perfect for the halloween season! A strip of basic black gets a simple sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes inked up in whisper white craft ink. Finally, three "chrome" studs (jo-ann's) break up the 3 panels and give just the right amount of shine. Oh, and I almost forgot the spiders crawling up the inside...right onto your arm...eeek!


supplies: stamps: From the Crypt, Teeny Tiny Wishes
paper: old olive, basic black, pumpkin pie, vellum cardstock & cast-a-spell DSP
ink: basic black, whisper white craft
extras: circle nestabilities, "chrome" spot stickers (jo-anns)

sneaky pumpkins & PPA5

Oooh, the new holiday mini catalog is fab-u-lous! I can't wait to share it with you on September 1st. Until then, here is a sneak peek at two of the oh-so-fun new stamp sets called Sweet Centers and Pumpkin Patch. For the sweet center, I punched out a 1 3/4" hole, dropped in the plastic sweet treat cup, filled it up with a sweet treat (here I used just the orange reese's pieces) and covered up the back by attaching it to another piece of cardstock. For this treat, I first stamped one of the pumpkin faces from the Pumpkin Patch stamp set on the outside of the treat cup with jet black stazon ink. The Pumpkin Patch stamp set is very versatile because it comes with 3 different pumpkin faces that you can stamp on just about anything. Notice that all 3 of the pumpkin faces here are different? To create my focal pumpkin, I covered up the edge of the sweet treat cup with a 3" circle that I ran through the cuttlebug with the distressted stripes folder and punched another 1 3/4" hole from the center. The pumpkin buddies, also from the Pumpkin Patch stamp set, are stamped in pumpkin pie (of course) on whisper white and hand-cut. The stem, curly vines, and patch of grass are all from the same set, inked up in old olive and stamped right on my whisper white panel. I finished off the bottom of the main panel with a piece of the Cast-a-Spell designer paper (gorgeous) and covered up the edges where the two papers meet with 1/4" old olive grosgrain ribbon. Happy sneak peek!
edited 8/27/09: The Pals Paper Arts team just announced this week's theme challenge with the theme of Halloween so I have entered this card in their challenge. Be sure to check them out--what a talented group of ladies!