Not just for Halloween

Hello everyone, I have a card to share today using this month's Halloween stamps, but I wanted to show how the stamps could be used in a very different way.

I have created a clean and simple graduation card using one of the book images and the starburst on a diamond die cut to represent a mortar board. I added a tassel underneath from the Baroque Eggs stamp set. I coloured the images with pencils. I coloured the centres of the starburst image with a gold Wink of Stella pen for a bit of sparkle. I added a flourish in the corners of the card from the Butterfly Daisy Collage stamp set, and finally stamped a sentiment from the Loving Sentiments stamp set onto a small tag.

The simple black and white colour scheme makes this card suitable for both male and female recipients, and could be adapted to add particular University colours. Thanks for stopping by, xx

Out of the smoke

Hello everyone, I have a spooky card to share with you today, showcasing some of the fabulous new Halloween stamps from Chocolate Baroque. As always, I have been mixing and matching new stamps with old, to hopefully give you some inspiration on how to stretch your stamps a bit.

I started my card by using a background from my stash. It is a leafy background using a technique taught to me by my very dear friend Elaine during a crafty get together several years ago. I love this technique, because it uses leaves from my garden, and because it reminds me of my friend at the same time. Essentially, you add spots of colur to your base card, and then stipple around the outside of a leaf using a brush. Move the leaf slightly, twisting the angle just a little bit, and keep repeating this manoeuvre until you have filled the original empty leaf shape. Keep making these leaf patterns all over the background until you have covered the card. You may need to use more than one leaf, as the leaves deteriorate with use!

I wanted the 'witch' to seem as if she was appearing out of the smoke, so I did not decoupage the image onto the background, I stamped the face straight onto the card. I used the Lady in Hat cling mounted stamp, but masked off the top of her hat before I inked up the image. I then stamped the brim and the pumpkins onto some spare card. Once I had the main image placed on my background, I added the book and the bats underneath the face. I stamped a border of cobwebs using a stamp from the Halloween Edges stamp set, and added a few spiders.

I coloured the images with Aquarelle pencils, adding the pumpkins and extra brim to the image, before drawing the rest of the witch's hat and colouring that the same way. Finally, I coloured a small tag with Distress Ink, and added a sentiment. I matted the background onto a black card base.

I had a lot of fun creating this card, you can really let your imagination run riot with these super stamps. I hope that you will pop over to the Design Team blog throughout September to see what the Design Team have created with them. I will be back with more spooky designs to show you soon. Thanks for stopping by, xx