Spooky Cute Halloween Card!

Well, it’s August and even though the heat is still unbearable, I can’t help but feel Halloween just waiting around the corner. I’ve been itching to create a Halloween card ever since the temperature temporarily dropped into the 60s in the early mornings a few weeks ago. My fall switch was flipped and I’m sorry but I just can’t go back to summer vibes. So, to scratch that itch, I flipped through my Halloween stamps and dies. The Haunted House dies from Spellbinders grabbed my attention and I immediately knew I wanted to make a shaker card. So….keep reading to find out what happens in this story. (Or just watch the video linked below 😉)

I started with my background for my shaker and grabbed some Altenew Fresh Dye inks to create a spooky fun sky. My background panel was cut from Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80lb cardstock to fit just inside the frame for my shaker card which we will chat about later. The colors I used are linked below in order of use from top to bottom.

Using a blending brush, I applied the ink colors, making sure to overlap each new color with the previous. I didn’t take too much care to create a smooth blend because I wanted an uneven look and the ink dried back quite a bit. Once I was done ink blending, I splattered the panel with Altenew Titanium White Gouache.

Next I grabbed some cardstock scraps to cut my Haunted House die cuts. I thought ahead and decided I should apply Stick-It adhesive sheets to the backs of those scraps. Most of these die cuts are fairly small and I didn’t want to try glueing those down to acetate and ruining my shaker window. In hindsight, it wasn’t that beneficial for the yellow pieces I used to create the glow in the windows. I ended up applying a piece of black cardstock to the back of the house to give the window pieces something to stick to. I could have used glue at that point and saved myself the absolute insanity of trying to remove the backing sheet from those tiny pieces. You live. You learn. You realize you maybe need a stronger prescription lens.

I ink blended onto the die cuts for the haunted house, windows, moon and ghosts. My bats were cut from a shiny black cardstock scrap. I don’t even know where it came from. That’s how long I’ve had it. The Altenew Fresh Dye ink colors I used to ink blend are listed below.

For my shaker frames, I used the second largest Stitched Rectangle Frame from Lawn Fawn. I cut eight frames from Concord & 9th black cardstock. I glued seven of those frames together using Art Glitter glue. The eighth frame would be the topper for my shaker element. I applied double-sided tape to that last frame and then adhered my clear acetate shaker window. Then I set that to the side because let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

My shaker bits are the Hocus Pocus Confetti Embellishment Mix from Trinity Stamps. It’s a really fun mix of circles and stars which I thought paired really well with the card. I dumped maybe a third of the baggie in and then adhered my shaker window frame over the top with liquid glue.

I assembled my spooky scene onto the acetate window. The die cuts had that adhesive backing so I just had to peel and stick. Easy peasy….except for those dang windows. I cut that out of the video because it took five business days to painstakingly remove the backing from those tiny little pieces. Don’t even ask me about the eyes on the ghosts. All I had to do was glue a piece of black cardstock to the back of the ghosts but no. I die cut those ghosts out of the black shiny cardstock and saved the tiny little eye holes. What a lunatic right?!?! I should have left the footage of me trying to get the adhesive backing off those because yes…..I did it again. BUT I didn’t give up because I’m no quitter and I got those things into the eye holes. I was overjoyed to find that you can hardly even see them on my card. Sigh…

My BOO sentiment is from the Boo Dies from Whimsy Stamps. I cut it from a yellow cardstock scrap and then used Autumn Blaze Fresh Dye ink to blend onto the top to make an ombre effect. You might be wondering why in the world I have a Happy Birthday sentiment on this card. Well, one of my sons has a birthday during spooky season and he LOVES Halloween just like his mama. So this card is going to him. That sentiment comes from the Spellbinders Mini Everyday Sentiments hot foil set. I already had a ton of sentiment strips prepped in various foil colors so I chose one in silver. I highly recommend purchasing sentiment sets like that because you can create a bunch of strips ahead of time and just grab what you need as you’re creating.

My card base is 5 1/2 by 4 1/4 inch A2 size top-folding card. It looked a little boring when I placed the shaker element on so before I adhered it down, I decided to use some black splatter. I pulled out my Altenew Carbon Black Gouache, added a bit of water and splattered that onto the top left and bottom right of my card base. I did the same for the inside panel. Then I just adhered the shaker window to my card base with double-sided tape and liquid glue. The liquid glue gave me a little wiggle time to get it centered correctly.

My inside panel I kept pretty simple because the adhesive backing on those tiny die cuts really put me through it. I stamped Happy Halloween from my Pretty Pink Posh Trick or Treat Friends stamp set. Then I adhered my extra ghost and some black bats with liquid glue to finish it off.

That’s all folks! Isn’t it cute? Check out my video to see my process and a little bit of the madness. Thanks for stopping by today! Now go get crafty!

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Supplies Used: