Ink to Paper :: August Release :: Day Four

Hello!  Who's ready for All Hallow's Eve?!  Ok, definitely not me yet, but we do have some Halloween tricks and treats in today's Ink to Paper release preview and I'm pretty excited about them.


I've got a new set called Ghosts & Ghoulies which has, in case you couldn't guess, a ghost theme.  There are 2 basic ghost shapes and those shapes come in 2 different sizes.  There's an outline stamp and small individual stamps you can use to create a ton of different facial expressions on your ghosts.  Each of the expression-making stamps comes in sizes to fit the large and small ghosts.  There are a lot of fun possibilities here, and there's also an add-on mini set, Ghosts & Ghoulies: Sentiments, which features a few extra phrases to accompany the ghosts.


The first of my 3 G&G projects is a set of shaker tags.  Halloween is a fun time for packaging so they were in order using one of the large ghost dies from the Ghosts & Ghoulies collection.  Either ghost shape will work and all you need are some acetate sheets and 3-D foam dots, plus the filling.  I chose black sequins to shake around in my tags; what will you choose?


I used the largest tag in the Essential Tag set, cutting 2 for each tag.  I cut the top tag from patterned paper and the bottom from white.  After die cutting a ghost out of the top tags, I cut another tag from a sheet of acetate and adhered it to the top tag.


3-D foam adhesive will give you the lift you need between the tags for the fill to move around and shake.  Then I put them together and added a word bubble die cut (also found in Ghosts & Ghoulies) with a black embossed sentiment.  They weren't difficult at all and they're so cute!

Supplies:
Stamps: Ghosts & Ghoulies, Ghosts & Ghoulies Sentiments
Ink: True Black, WaterMark
Paper: Orange Zest, Limeade Ice, White, Limeade Ice Bitty Big
Dies: Ghosts & Ghoulies, Essential Tags
Other: black embossing powder, acetate sheet, 3-D foam dots, sequins, ribbon, twine


My next project is a fun take on a family Christmas card.  There are people who celebrate Halloween the way some celebrate the December holiday, complete with greeting cards.  I thought this was a cute idea, using the smaller ghosts as children and giving each ghoulish die cut a happy face.  It just needed a frame and a great Happy Halloween sentiment for the complete look.


With so many facial expressions that the ghosts can have, including sad, scared, surprised, and even happy, as they are here, they reminded me of a sweet little family.  You can use the bows to indicate whether the ghosts are male or female; a bow on top of the head can mean a girl; position it under the mouth like a bowtie for boys.


After I arranged the ghosts in the black oval frame, I decided to use the Happy Halloween die from the new To Die For Sentiments: Halloween dies.  (We're introducing that set today, as well, so you'll see my card for that when you scroll down.)  I knew I wanted to include 'from all of us' in some form on the card so I turned to the Twinkling Trees stamp set which has this phrase in it, and it fits perfectly on a Diagonal Banner die!


If you go all out for Halloween, you might decide to try this card idea, too!

Supplies:
Stamps: Ghosts & Ghoulies, Twinkling Trees
Ink: Limeade Ice, Pale Peony, Lilac Grace, True Black
Paper: True Black, White, Orange Zest Bitty Big, gold glitter
Dies: Ghosts & Ghoulies, To Die For Sentiments: Halloween, Geometrix: Oval, Diagonal Banners


Background stamping is a tried and true method to add interest to projects.  Here, I've created a pattern with the smaller ghost stamps.  With it being Halloween, black embossing seemed fun and, offering a hint of shine to the already dark Royal Velvet panel, it's almost like a specialty paper.  The white ghosts and word bubbles stand out in contrast to the dark background, too.


After using the Geometrix dies for my DT Tips post last week I've gotten a little obsessed with them.  I was playing around with some leftover thin outline frames and put them altogether by happy accident, deciding that they looked really cool that way, so I used the trio on this card in Tropical Teal.  They set up a nice frame for my trio of ghosts and look nice with the deep purple and black background.


My shaker tags didn't utilize the ghostly facial expressions and the last card featured happy ghosts so I really wanted to make some ghoulies that were frightening!  Tip: Try rotating the stamps--the ovals express different reactions and work for the mouth and eyes.  The gaping curved stamps can look happy or scared depending on which way they are flipped.  Those same elements in the small size make pretty good eyes, too, for the larger ghosts.  Definitely play around with them and have fun!


Also, some of the smaller words from Ghosts & Ghoulies: Sentiments will fit inside the smaller word bubble; turn it upside down to suit your placement.

Supplies:
Stamps: Ghosts & Ghoulies, Ghosts & Ghoulies Sentiments
Ink: Orange Zest, Limeade Ice, True Black, WaterMark
Paper: Royal Velvet, Limeade Ice, White, Lilac Grace Bitty Big
Dies: Ghosts & Ghoulies, Geometrix: Oval, Geometrix: Hexagon, Geometrix: Rectangle
Other: black embossing powder

I'll be using this set a lot leading up to Halloween and I think it's a really fun way to get the kids involved, too.  They'll love creating funny and scary ghosties; my kids can't wait to play with my set (but they had to wait until my release projects were finished before I even let them touch it!!).


Let's move on to our other sets making their debut today--To Die For Sentiments: Halloween and the  Caught In My Web stamp and die collection.  Both of these will likely become staples in your Halloween papercrafting stash.  Everyone needs a great spiderweb at this time of year and Caught In My Web is large enough to fill nearly the entire front of an A2 card; it's a single stamp that has a coordinating die.  TDFS: Halloween offers a trio of word dies (BOO!, trick or treat, and Happy Halloween) that everyone can use.


I started by die cutting the web from silver glitter paper.  It rests on a panel of Ripe Avocado stamped with the Loosely Woven pattern.  Together, they remind me of a cobweb on a window screen.  In thinking how I would decorate the rest of the card, the BOO! went perfectly with a little ghost from G&G and a Lilac Grace word bubble.


I popped the BOO! up on 3-D foam dots for dimension and I also propped the ghost and word bubble up on them, too, though only at their tops so it looks like they're coming out of the web.  There are lots of fun ideas for the web--try using just a portion of the die cut and/or stamp if you don't want to fill your card with the entire image.

Supplies:
Stamps: Ghosts & Ghoulies, Loosely Woven
Ink: True Black
Paper: Ripe Avocado, Lilac Grace, True Black, White, silver glitter
Dies: Caught In My Web, To Die For Sentiments: Halloween, Ghosts & Ghoulies

That's a wrap on Day 4!  Join us for the last day tomorrow when we have a few more Halloween treats (no tricks!) for ya.  Are you getting excited for the 15th?!  I am!

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