Getting Spooked with Dreamweaver Stencils

Not into witches at all, but this made me...errr... laugh....  :o

"What intenseness of desire

In her upward eye of fire."

                                         ----------------William Wordsworth

Hi, Friends.......

I am here today with a ghostly Halloween card.  Since I am pretty tame when it comes to Halloween, this is about as spooky as you will see coming from me.  Ha.

I was super-inspired by the Smeared and Smudged 31 Days of Halloween extravaganza that Dreamweaver Stencils is participating in over at their Dream it Up! blog.  Did I mention they are having *daily* giveaways, too??  Yowza!!  Dreamweaver also is sponsoring a Happy Hallowthanksmas challenge this month, so I just had to unearth my autumn and Halloween DW stencils to see what I could make.

WARNING: If you are a stencil expert and especially if you are visiting here from Dreamweaver, you are going to be aghast at my terrible technique with this lovely stencil. I tend toward messy procedures with embossing powder and lack the amazing finesse I see on the Dream it Up! blog. Just giving you a heads-up, so don't say I didn't warn you!!! Eeeek!

For this card, I started with Coredinations rusty brown cardstock and my DW Fall Borders stencil. This particular stencil has two parts and they are probably supposed to be used separately, but I wasn't thinking about that and Versamarked all over the whole thing onto my cardstock.  

I did a sloppy job of it since I was only holding the stencil down with my fingers and my Versamark pad was very juicy!!!  Result:  oozing under the stencil.  (sigh)  Oh, well!  Out came my trusty copper embossing powder which I poured all over my gooped up cardstock and zapped it with my heat gun.  Yep, gooped up was right.  But it sort of had a cool look, too....all molten and coppery.

I wondered what it would look like if I Versamarked over the copper (gently this time) and added a different color of embossing powder.  So I replaced the stencil and holding it down with my fingers again, I put more of the Versamark on....not as sloppily as the first time.  Then I dusted it with black metallic embossing powder this time. After zapping it again, I got this shadowy effect which I really love!!!  
(That horrible screaming sound you hear is the lovely Lynell from Dreamweaver going into a hysterical fit over my awful technique!!! ARRRRGGGHHH!!!)

Next I took my Black Soot Distress Ink mini and inked all over the cardstock in haphazard fashion to enhance the shadowy look, wiping off the excess ink from the embossed portions with a baby wipe.  Funny thing......I had originally intended this to be merely an autumn card, but the specter of a Halloween card was rising from the darkness.  Yikes!!  I knew it needed a ghost.  Yes, a ghost coming from the gal who only does cutesy Halloween things!!  Eeek!!

I grabbed my Kiwi Lane Designs little ghost template from the Tiny Holiday Accessories set and cut out a vellum ghost.  The vellum spook was a little bit too white for these colors, so I sponged Antique Linen Distress Ink over the back of the vellum that would be next to the cardstock.  I like the pale beige a lot better.  

As you probably know, inks don't dry on vellum very fast.  Being the impatient crafter that I am Only having a limited amount of time for crafting, I went ahead and placed the moist ghost on the background.  It reacted with the black ink in a most ghoulish manner.....but perfect for this card.  I think the slight mottling makes the ghost look even more translucent and spooky.  I used a Sakura Glaze gel pen for the eyes.  Eeeek!!....even trying to do simple eyes free-hand gives me the willies!!    =:o

I finished off the card with a "fence" made from my Spellbinders Lace Doily Accents die set.  Don't you think this black DCWV paper makes a nice ornate iron fence border?  What I love about the fence is how it transformed a 2-D card into what looks like a 3-D scene.  I can see this ghost drifting down a path between the pumpkins on the left and the arbor on the right behind the fence.  What do you think?

Thanks for bearing with me during my lengthy description.  Even though this card changed directions on me a time or two, I really had fun making it and sharing the process with you.  I love how it turned out.

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Ding Ding Ding:  New Follower Introduction Time!!!!!
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Brenda "Disney Girl" of Disney Girl Crafts and other fun things!  is follower #63.  Hooray!!!!  Brenda has a lifelong love of all things Disney and her blog is like going to Disneyland!!  You will definitely have a smile on your face after seeing her adorable and fun projects!!!  She also is on the DT for Scrapbook Blessings Club 
where she saw one of my projects.  Thanks so much, Brenda, for becoming a follower!!  I appreciate your support and encouragement!  This ginormous smile is all yours:

 :)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Thank you to everyone for visiting and commenting. I hope your day is beautiful, even if the weather outside is blustery like it is here!  

<3

Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Dreamweaver Stencils Happy Hallowthankmas October Challenge

2.  Hiding in my Craft Room #170 - Embossing 

3.  The Paper Girls Challenge #66 - Anything Goes 

4.  All Sorts Challenge Week 281 - Embossing 

5.  Vandicrafts Artistry Challenge #13 - Fashion Your Own Background 

6.  Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Anything Goes