Halloween Cards 2023

Happy Sunday! Yesterday I finished (by finished I mean sentiments on the inside and stamped with the CTMH Angel Policy Stamp Set (A1086) on the back) one of my first batches of cards in awhile.

Halloween Cards created with Stencil Pack 1

I saw a post on Facebook where someone mentioned that they did not see many Halloween-themed items from CTMH so far this year. Honestly I do not know if CTMH will be having a Halloween special like Fa-BOO-lous! or Boo Crew or Got Candy? Even though I do not typically create much for Halloween (other than cards for my great-nieces and great-nephew), the comment challenged me to find a way to create my own paper and pull out some older, but still wonderful stamps from my stash. I hope this inspires you too. Let's get started.

cardstock created with Stencil Pack 1

I created this cardstock using a sheet of White Daisy, Blending Brushes, Limeade, Pumpkin, Royal and Acorn Exclusive Inks™ and Stencil Pack 1.

Stencil Pack 1 (Z7040)

Color each quadrant of the star stencil above using a different ink. I used Pumpkin in the upper left, Acorn in the upper right, Royal in the lower left and Limeade in the lower right. Put a lot of ink on your brush to get a deeper color or brush some off onto scrap paper for a lighter color. Change your pressure to adjust the deepness of the color too. Please note since the stars with the diagonal stipes overlay the larger stars, you always want to use a darker color in the lower left and a lighter color in the lower right. Once you have these squares inked, turn the cardstock one-quarter turn and ink the same colors in the same quadrant. Repeat two more times.

When my star cardstock was complete, I used a one-sheet wonder pattern I found (in a private Facebook group) a couple of years ago and cut the stenciled cardstock up (if you use a search engine you will find a variety of one-sheet wonder patterns). The one-sheet wonder pattern is designed to make nine cards and assumes that you have double-sided paper. Since I didn't want to ink both sides of the White Daisy, I supplemented with colored cardstock and was able to create 13 cards:

Halloween Cards 2023

You will find a larger image of my cards here.

Once I had the basic card pattern laid out, I placed stamps on the cards to audition how they would look.

I used two stamp sets that coordinate with images from the Close To My Heart Artiste Collection, Magic Potions (C1509) and Spellbound Cricut Workshop (C1526), so I used my Cricut® Maker to cut labels. I used Cricut® Design Space to add an offset layer, cut in black cardstock, to make the image pop on the card.

Here are a few notes about each card, starting in the top left:

1. I did not want to cover the stenciling too much, so I kept it simple and used a strip of Royal cardstock (dove tail the ends) to ground the stamped image on a Cricut® cut. I inked the edges of the stenciled piece so it would stand out on the card base.
2. I really wanted to use the street lamp and sign so I adjusted the cardstock width a bit. I inked the edges of the stenciled piece. I used Black Ore Paper to create a little pop (compare to card 8 or card 13). You cannot see it in the photo, but I used a Clear Shimmer Brush on the sign, glass in the lamp and on the spider. I stamped on a Cricut® cut.
3. I inked the edges of the stenciled piece. I used the simple tried and true method of using a paper trimmer to mat and layer for the stamped sentiment. I used a Clear Shimmer Brush on the mummy and Black Shimmer Brush on the Bats. I also used Black Ore Paper.
4. I used a stamp from one of the stamp sets on the Limeade cardstock, Black Ore Paper and a Cricut® Cut for the stamped image. I inked the edges of the stenciled piece. 
5. I used stamps on the Limeade cardstock, Black Ore Paper and a Cricut® Cut for the stamped image. I inked the edges of the stenciled piece. 
6. I inked the edges of the stenciled piece. I used a stencil from Slimline Card Front Stencil Pack 2 to add stars to the Acorn cardstock, Black Ore Paper and a Cricut® Cut for the stamped image.
7. I didn't notice this until just now, a bug landed on this card when I was taking the photo; the black dot in the lower middle of the card is not part of the stamping from the Captured Moments (C1423) stamp. Oops! I kept the card very simple with stamping and Black Ore Paper. I inked the edges of the stenciled piece. 
8. I stamped a cobweb and spider on the stenciled cardstock. I also stamped a border, dangling spiders and sentiment on the Pumpkin cardstock. I added Black Shimmer Brush to the spiders. I inked the edges of the stenciled piece. 
9. After stamping the bat and fence, I added Clear Shimmer Brush. I used Black Ore Paper and a Cricut® Cut for the stamped image. I inked the edges of the stenciled piece.
10. This card was kept very simple with inking on the edges of the stenciled piece and stamping.
11. The owl was stampled and fussy cut. The branch was die cut using Thin Cuts from the Home For Christmas Cardmaking Workshop and Acorn cardstock. A Cricut® Cut was used for the stamped sentiment. I inked the edges of the stenciled piece and used Black Ore paper
12. This card was kept very simple with inking on the edges of the stenciled piece and stamping.
13. This card has the most stamping with a Royal web border, cobwebs in Acorn and spiders in Intense Black, more spiders dangling on the stenciled cardstock (with Black Shimmer Brush) and stamping on the bottom panel.

If you have any questions about the cards, please do not hesitate to ask; there is a Contact Form to the right. Unfortunately I do not have any spares of the retired products to sell – I do not travel to craft events to sell products to event attendees, so I do not purchase CTMH products if I have no plans to use them.

Products used to create the Halloween cards:

• My Acrylix™ stamp sets: Angel Policy (Z1086), Captured Moments (C1423), Magic Potions (C1509), Moonlight Scrapbooking Workshop (C1512), Spellbound Cricut Workshop (C1526), Say It in Style (D1283), October Word Puzzle (D1311), Just To Say Cricut Collection - Artfully Sent (D1629)
• Exclusive Inks™: Royal (Z6577), Limeade (Z6575), Acorn (Z6573), Pumpkin (Z6576), Intense Black (Z4189), Canary (Z2843), Whisper ()
• cardstock: White Daisy (1385), Black (X6047), Royal (X6077), Limeade (X6075), Acorn (X6073), Pumpkin (X6076)
• Workshop Kit: Home for Christmas (G1290) - I used the Thin Cuts branch on card 11
• specialty paper: Black Ore (Z3879)
• White Cards & Envelopes Value Pack (X254)
• stencils:
  • Stencil Pack 1 (Z7040) or Stencil Bundle (Z5438)
  • Slimline Card Front Stencil Pack 2 (Z6096) or Slimline Card Front Stencil Bundle (Z5421)
• embellishments: Clear Shimmer Brush (Z3293), Black Shimmer Brush (Z4224)
• tools-ish:
  • Blending Brushes (Z4572)
  • Cricut® / Close To My Heart Artiste collection of images that coordinate with Magic Potions (C1509): Circle (#M39DC7), Label (#M45BO1), Label (#M394FD), Label (#M3A780), Label (#M39295)
  • Cricut® / Close To My Heart Artiste collection of images that coordinate with Spellbound Cricut Workshop (C1526): Label (#M464A8), Label (#M46925)
  • Cricut® Design Space
  • Cricut® Maker

Code to above product name appearance:

• plain text = retired product no longer on my eCommerce site; if you really like a product, look for it at yard sales, on Facebook groups or other places people resale items
• italicized text = retired and only used inside the cards
• text with link = this is a current product available on my eCommerce site
• highlighted text with link = this is a product on my eCommerce site, but since it is on the retiring list and no longer appears in the current catalogs, it is available while supplies last
• Cricut® / Close To My Heart Artiste collection - the images are free to Cricut® Access Subscribers

I hope you are inspired to mix it up a bit and try a renewed (or new to you) technique (stenciling).