Halloween... ready or not!

For some reason I just can't seem to get into the Halloween "swing" this year! So my cards kind of reflect that lack of excitement... but they are finished in time for the grandkids!

Here they are...

Having my heart set on a shaker card...I tried them first. I just got the PTI Superstition Cat set and gave it a go...

This card is unusual for me in that it is almost square at 3.75". It just felt right that way! It is a shaker, with PTI Mighty Oak as the tree and ghosts peeking out from around it. First I cut a mask for the tree, cat, moon and (handmade) ghosts. Then using distress inks, I sponged the background on a 3" white cardstock using distress inks, black soot, wild honey and spiced marmalade. 

Then I sponged the moon with Distress inks, and stamped the Mighty Oak in SU expresso ink. Attaching the white cardstock on the black base with score tape, then worked on the next layer. I cut the window from patterned paper using the MFT Smile die, and then snipped the word out. After attaching a plastic sheet to it, I used foam tape to seal the opening after filling it with shaker materials.  The cat is cut from glitter paper in a smokey color. The trick or treat greeting is a PTI die, and cut from the same paper as the cat.

The card was okay but not exactly what I envisioned... so here's try #2...

Again, I inked a background with Distress inks on white cardstock. Making a stencil for freehand drawn ghosts, I covered them with embossing paste. After they dried I added black punches for their eyes, white gel pen for the "Boooo" and used the Madison Window die with plastic backing added under it to create the window. The patterned paper provides the cover between those 2 layers. 

After lots of foam tape, I filled the shaker with stars and silver sequins, and added the cat, die cut from PTI Superstition set and the greeting.

A closer look...

A closer look, the background colors show better here... Isn't that cat cute? One thing I did learn is that the Distress ink color will bleed into the embossing paste. It gave a scary kind of feeling to the scene, actually feeling like Halloween!

Now to get out of the shaker trend, I loved this one... I inlaid the die cut of the moon, after coloring it with Distress inks. I would have liked to do the tree also, but its impossible with the layout of the die. 

The fence is done freehand, as I don't have one! The ghosts are cut from Vellum, as are the clouds in front of the moon. I also sponged some black soot Distress ink on the clouds before gluing them down. The greeting is done in the smoky glitter, and then cut apart to fit better on the card. This is PTI Classic Kraft paper.

I do love the sentiment inside the card and the stamps, although they didn't photograph too well, 2 regular jack-o-lanterns, and another one with a cat popping out!

And my final send off for Halloween, a very simple- patterned paper with a window that the witch is looking out from the inside of the card.

I stamped the greeting on vellum with Staz-on black ink. It is also from the PTI Superstition set. The witch is from SU Halloween Hoot. Here's another look at the inside...

I have been fascinated with making little candy boxes for the grandkids from my envelope maker. I am using the website that Laura Bassen recommended... it is great! If you are interested, check here .

My next post will hopefully share a couple of the boxes...