Halloween Greetings!!

The air is cold even in the full sun and all the trees are on fire with the colors of Fall.  In mere days children will be happily dressed as their favorite characters, animals or something ghoulish and scary!!  I love Autumn & I love Halloween :)  That's what makes this season of paper crafting so much fun!! Today I have a see through shaker card to share!  And the great digi collection that I used to make it was provided by this week's PIP CHALLENGE sponsor Digital Delights and you can win a gift certificate of $5 to use in their store!

"Boiling in the Pot" is the perfect set to use for a fun shaker card.  I put a branch through the crystal ball and added different stars, sequins and beads.  I also made the back of the shaker clear so that I could put the adorable witch peeking through it with her frog.  (I like to think she's giving him a bubble bath ~ the other possibilities are too gruesome!)
A small detail that made a BIG difference was the addition of Sharpie Black to the edge of the dimensional tape.  This helps the tape to disappear!  Next time I will color the back of the card stock with it too so the white edge doesn't show through the window on the inside of the card...

 
A little fussy cutting; some washi and I have a really cute card to share!  Now it's your turn!  Set free those creative juices and create something out of paper to enter in the PIP Challenge ~ Anything goes #1842 ~ You could win  a mini shopping spree & you'll have a lot of fun along the way. Stop by Digital Delights and check out some of their seasonal (& oh so affordable!) fun.                                            

I also considered using the Halloween Greetings" tag inside the crystal ball, but I couldn't pass up using the cute witch!!

Did I mention you can choose colored or plain? Super fast images for any project !!  Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a creative & wonderful day :)

Splish Splash!

Well it's about that time of year again!!  Time for April showers!! AND time for another inspiration card for PIP Challenges!!

This week's challenge is #1812 and sponsored by DIGITAL DELIGHTS. Not only have they generously supplied our PIP Challenge team with digis, but they are offering a prize of $5 of in store shopping to our lucky winner!!

                    I am ... well, delighted!!  with my stamp choice, Splish Splash Susie   I have to admit ~ I've already used her 4 times!!!  She is so seasonally perfect and so perfectly delightful!!  Right now Splish Splash Susie is only $1.50, so you can see how the prize money can go a long way ;)

The 2 cards I have featured today are both printed on Watercolor paper.  I heat set the printer ink with marginal success. 


My first step was to spritz the whole thing with water and then watched in horror at the printer
ink began to spiderweb!!(Orange umbrella one!!) I let it dry and then was VERY CAREFUL as I colored, trying not to saturate the lines and also avoid the black bleeding into the colors. You can see in the close ups that I was maybe a little too careful to stay away from the lines!!


  The image with the blue umbrella, I printed about 1/3 smaller and did not spritz!!  I had a lot less trouble coloring it without the bleed.

To make a short story long, I used a splotchy technique to color the background and more carefully colored in the subject!  A few layers, jewels, some great sentiments (a nod to UNITY STAMP CO) and I suddenly have a couple of bright, cheerful cards perfect for this time of year!! I should note that the white streaks and smeared highlights are made with a white Uni-ball Signo pen and the texture on the blue umbrella is a result of Prima Oil Pastel in combo with Zig watercolor marker.





Good luck!  I am excited to see what you come up with :)  Have a great week & get those pinkies inky!!!!