Halloween Mini Art Journal Page for Topflight Stamps

Hello Fans of Topflight Stamps, I am here today with a Halloween, mini art journal page. This week the design team is all about Halloween eerie fun! 
**some of these links are affiliate, I receive a small percentage from the company at no cost to you. This helps me deliver free content!

I love the spooky fun of this PaperArtsy stamp set (ZA16) & wanted a simple but fun page. 

Starting with a patterned paper & using inks on a stencil to stamp the back ground. Just ink up, spritz with a bit of water & push the stencil down using a paper towel. You can usually get quite a few prints this way. 

Next I stamped & embossed the spider web using this perfect web like color- Seth's Etched Platinum. It is silvery but has specks of black in it. Very dynamic.

I re-stamped the web on card stock, cut out & colored the little spider house. Too cute. Love those bottle characters too. A branch was stamped to anchor the spider web, while it is not available there are lots of other options, like the stamps by Sara Naumann, ESN37.

The funky cat was stamped on canvas & adhered with tape and staples. I bit of distressing was done with Cinnamon Swirl ink. A quote was added from Tim Holtz Curiosities. Make sure you check the images & links over on Topflight Stamps! 

Supplies: 

• PaperArtsy ZA16 stamps, ESN4 
• & ESN37
  
• Seth Apter Embossing Etched Platinum
• Prism Inks In Red Brick & Cinnamon Swirl
  
• Embossing Ink
• Hunkydory Markers
  

Simple Art Card Background

Happy Mix Media Monday!! I am here for Topflight Stamps with a very quick & simple background. This card was all about fall but then it may have gotten a bit of a Halloween look to it. 

This is one of my "the100dayproject" mini art journal pages. I used PaperArtsy stamps on it, along with some ephemera. The background page in my book was a Gel Print & had Halloween type colors. 

Bubble bubble, toil & trouble here is the cauldron recipe!! Start with a piece of white card stock, then add in a few pinches of Infusions. I used Emerald Isle & Lemoncello.

Add a spritz of water which activates the powder. Add water until you are happy with the color blend.

If there is too much water just take a piece of paper & lay it on top to transfer. Now I have a nice bonus background which can be used for journaling or on a tag. 

Once that was dry, some color was added using Prism Ink in Fire Coral.The leaves were stamped in the background with Archival Ink. Washi Tape was added at the bottom, along with a pumpkin brad for fun. The funky cool cat was stamped on the background & a copy cutout. That's it boom, a quick mini art card, ATC or Gift card. Thanks so much for joining me now go get inky!!!

Supplies:

Infusions

Stamps by PaperArtsy- Eclectica ESCO5, ZA16. 

Washi Tape Art by Marlene

Ephemera by Tim Holtz

*Affiliate- some of these companies have given me product to use, play & experiment with. The ideas are my own but I tend to work with companies whose products I like so enjoy the inspiration. 

**some of these links are affiliate, I receive a small percentage from the company at no cost to you. This may help me continue to bring you techniques & more inspiration.

Textured Crow Art Journal Page

Hello Inky Fans, today I have a spooky, textured, crow, art journal page for my Topflight Stamps blog post. This week we are getting our Halloween on. I hope you hop over & see pictures of all the products that were used on this page. If you use my code KARENBEARSE you will save 12% off your order.

Now on to the project! The stamp I used is incredibly detailed & was best showcased, simply inked. So I decided to have the background be more colorful to highlight the image. I did want it to be somewhat spooky looking however & adding the cheesecloth really did the trick! The bonus is you can use a background page you have already made & simply add to it to get the same effect.

Start with a mix media page in an art journal. Add a layer or 2 of acrylic stenciling, and paint the edges of the page. Next decoupage cheese cloth over most of the page. Create wrinkles as you go. Add metallic paint by scuffing over the raised areas. This adds to the texture. 

I used the Gothic Crow by Crafty Individuals. The image is stunning & stamps like a dream. With so much detail using a fine ink like Memento in black & Archival in grey was the way to go. I stamped the base & cross using Watering Can, then marked off the areas with post it notes so the Tuxedo Black would only ink the raven. 

Time to fussy cut the image & adhered it to the page. I used Cosmic Shimmer Quick Grab Glue for the 1st time & it did a really good job of working on the uneven background, holding my stamped image down very securely. 

I cannot stop using the die cuts by Art by Marlene- the images add a bit of whimsy yet go surprisingly well. I added a few stars & the sliver of the moon. 

Love the the dead fish at the bottom! To give the page a finished look it was embossed around the edges using Eileen Hull's Molten Dimension in my favorite color Aqua Splash. This Emerald Creek emboss is unique & has chunky bits of white in it. 

Finally the crow was outlined with purple paint & the gravestone with a silver paint marker. A quote was the final touch. Thanks for joining me in playing with a bit of Halloween fun. 

Don't forget if you add my code KarenBearse you will receive 12% off your order...restrictions may apply.

Supplies:

Gothic Crow by Crafty Individuals
Paint by PaperArtsy
Die Cuts by Art by Marlene
Eileen Hull Embossing Powder by Emerald Creek 
Variety of Stencils 
Embossing Ink by Prism
Cosmic Shimmer Glue

*Affiliate- some of these companies have given me product to use, play & experiment with. The ideas are my own but I tend to work with companies whose products I like so enjoy the inspiration. 

**some of these links are affiliate, I receive a small percentage from the company at no cost to you. This may help me continue to bring you techniques & more inspiration.

Let's Decorate the Inside of My As the Crow Flies Wrap Journal

Hello Blogland, today I am back to decorate the inside of my spooky wrap journal from last week! I love making these books but I am less fabulous at working on the inside. DCWV gave the Eileen Hull Inspiration Team a paper stack to play with. I scored the Spooky & Sparkly stack. I thought today I would come up with some simple formulas to create pages. This makes it easy as I work through my book to add tags, flips & pockets.

 Here is a hodge podge of items I made to include in my book. It is kinda hard to just take one photo to show all the fun. There is a flip through video of my book too, below so you get to see all the nummyness! Working from one paper line can make the job easier as it limits the "now where did I put that...favorite sticker" syndrome.

Here is a photo and link to make the outside of my As the Crow Flies Wrap Journal. 

First up on the day I started creating this project, a fine fall day in October, it was 82 degrees out. This makes it a little tough to get in the Halloween mood. The obvious solution was to crank up the AC, put a Halloween t-shirt & cardigan on & have Nightmare Before Christmas movie & a few episodes of Supernatural on to set the tone!

I made a video flip through so you can see all the fun elements in this book. Plus I have the written tutorial with some of the highlights & supplies for making this spooky book.You can find this 12x12 paper stack at Joann Fabrics.

I started by cutting my paper stack. The great thing about this paper pad is there are 2 pieces of each paper plus a sticker sheet. I have 1 booklet to show you today with the idea of adding to it. I cut paper in 2 sizes- 6.5" x 4.5" & 8.5" x 4.5. I cut the height 4.5" as I wanted to be able to use elastics & slide the booklets in & out. If I was adding them in permanently I could have made the books a little taller.  Beware of the pattern when cutting so your bats are flying right! 

I have been working on batch creating to save time. The idea is instead of creating one item you work in batches to save time. I also wanted to add in distressed ruled paper so I cut some of that. This is one of my favorite techniques, cause the paper ends up all crunchy. I distressed the paper with Eileen's Colorbox Blends in Ebony & mixed up some water colors on my craft mat with the Blends & water. Did you know that Bay & Wildberry make a very pretty purple? 

Next up was to add some stamping. Basically stamped a little something at the top & bottom or 2 corner sides. I can always add titles as I go. 

Time for tags! Using the Blends to distress the edges of some tags, plus some more stamping. These tags can be used for photos, journaling or ephemera. Maybe a favorite candy wrapper!

Let's add foil. The paper stack by DCWV has silver foil touches that go fabulously with the paper line. I decided to add some more foil using Therm*O*Web & various techniques to make that happen. So many options!! Using one of Eileen's latest thinlet dies- Journal Card, Flower & Leaves to cut double sided adhesive. The purple tape you see holds the die in place during cutting without tearing the paper for easy removal.

Remove one side of the backing & place foil shiny side up. Simple burnish with a bone folder or your finger. Lift foil off & you are left with a shiny, happy, embellishment sticker that can be placed where ever you need to add some wow. In this case I added some to my pockets & tags. 

The second way to add foil is using Peel n'Stick Transfer sheets. For this you need a heat laminator. I die cut the word wander & added a new foil called Glittering Green which is so cool as it has the look of sequins kind of embedded in it. Sandwich the die cut with the foil color side up between a piece of parchment sheet & run it through the laminator. 

The 3rd way was making a side tuck spot using Deco Foil Clear Toner Sheets. Here is a Therm*O*Web video showing the sheets & how to use the heat laminator. 

Finally using the Transfer Gel I edged a card with it & added red foil. This is also a great way to add some stencil work. Simply apply the gel, let dry clear & use the same sandwich as above to set the foil on your project. 

This book definitely required lots of pockets, tags & tucks. I cut some tags with Eileen's die & paper from the stack using the Credit Card, Sleeve & Tag die then added tabs using her other dies. See my video above for more info on the individual die pieces used. 

Here is an example of the Credit card sleeve at work on the left side. The right side has a simple pocket. The spider & crow are stickers from the paper stack. 

Who says Halloween can't have flowers? I cut them using the Flower & Leaves dies out of one dark, & one light foiled paper & sandwiched them with a brad. The flower was used as a tab to lift the pocket card. I added some washi at the top to make the card flip. This book was so much fun to make & is now ready to go as I take photos this Halloween season. As the book has room for 4 signatures I can add more to it. Please head over to Eileen Hull's Blog to see what the rest of the Inspiration team is up to this week!! 

Supplies:

•  Eileen Hull dies by Sizzix- Credit Card Sleeve & Tags/ Journal Card, Flower & Leaves/ Journaling Words/ Bookmark-Tag & Pocket/ Bookplate, Hinges & Label/ Wrap Journal
• Clearsnap Color Blends
• Tim Holtz dies by Sizzix- Stacked Labels, Movers & Shapers: Mini Cat & Raven
• DCWV (Die Cuts With A View) Spooky & Sparkly Set
• Therm*O*Web- DecoFoil- Designer Toner Sheets, Peeln'Stick Toner Sheets, Transfer Gel, Foil Transfer Sheets. Purple Tape
• Stamps by Recollections, Inkadinkado, Stampers Anonymous.
• Tim Holtz- Ephemera & Charms

As The Crow Flies Wrap Journal with Eileen Hull

Hello Eileen Hull & Spooky journal fans of all ages! I am here today with a Caw-tastic journal using Eileen's Wrap Journal die. This book can be used for Halloween, for your favorite creepy movie quotes, for fall lists or even as a Games of Thrones journal. The best part? There is room for 4 signatures, so you can use it for all of the above!!

Here is my finished cover, I plan on making booklets for the inside. Thanks to DCWV for sending me this wonderful paper pad called "Spooky & Sparkly"  I had all the paper needed to create my spook-tacular project. If you want to see how I used this paper on the inside of my book you see it here.

You can find this paper pack at Joannes & other online stores. Some of the double-sided paper have wonderful foiled images & you also get a sheet of pocket cards as well as a sticker page. That is a lot to work with!

I started by cutting a piece of mat board out with the wrap journal die & a mover/shaper die in the open space. That is how I got the cool, crow to die cut right out of my book.  Here I had to option of adhering my paper first & die cutting the whole thing or die cutting them separately as I went along. 

Next step was to use a stencil & texture paste on the flap portion. I like the paste as it dries very quickly. Once the paste was dry I spritzed it with Dylusions spray in Slate Grey. This will help the image to pop once I add the color. 

Using Distress Crayons to hit the high points & rubbing with my finger was the next step.

One of the challenges of the wrap die is it just a bit longer then 12" so a great way to cover the book it to cut the paper individually. I also like using different papers on the front from the back... this makes covering the book easy. I simply measure, cut & distress the book.
 

For the spine I used my favorite technique covering it with embossing powder. Seth Apter's Rocky Road from Emerald Creek provided the perfect texture. I added a bit of Hammered metal to add some silver to the mix. The bonus of using embossing is it helps protect the spine by making it stronger. 

My closure was created by adding a door knob to the spine. An elastic was hooked through an eyelet on the flap & that wraps around the door knob on the spine to close the book. Of course I needed to add charms!! 

For the hidden cover of the book I added some Tim Holtz Halloween pieces and the owl sticker from the paper pack. Here you can see that I covered the inside spines in black paint & embossed stamped spiderwebs with Fallen Snow. The skull paper is silver foiled and really detailed. Thanks for joining me today! I hope you take the time to see the other great projects the Inspiration team has made this month!

Supplies:
Eileen Hull Wrap Journal die by Sizzix
Tim Holtz raven mover/shaper die by Sizzix
Spooky & Sparkly 12x12 stack by DCWV
Dylusions Spray in Slate Grey
Distress Crayons- Antique Bronze, Fossilized amber, Squeezed Lemonade, & Wilted Violet
Opaque Texture Paste, Glossy Accents by Ranger
Tim Holtz Halloween ephemera & charms

My Favorite Book Halloween Page

Hello Topflight Stamps fans, it is Thursday so it is time for my blog post! Today I am playing with My Favorite Book & I have made a Halloween page. 

Halloween circa 2006

This is a photo from 11 years ago! How time really flies. We always love going out Trick or Treating & dress up as a family. I wanted to put a larger photo on this page so I cut it to fit across 2 pages. I left a slight gap in the middle so the pages will close properly.  This photo was edited using the Rhonna Designs app on my phone.  

My memory journal page started as a wipe up page in my book so it was almost ready to go. All I had to do was add some stencil with paste to create the perfect background. The Katzelkraft stamp set has the just the right amount of spooky! You can find it here.

 Pumpkin Head

I love being able to recycle & I thought the Tim Holtz packaging was pretty cool with the spider web & distressed look. It made for a great tag. All I had to do was add washi to cover up the words, Distress Oxide some paper & heat emboss it. The spider charm was just painted with copper so it would show up more.

 It's French!

Love this title! As a French Canadian this is the perfect title for my page. These stamps are really crisp & detailed. I used Memento in Tuxedo Black, really love this font. This year I am going as Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas- even though my kids are older we still dress up. I hope you have a spooky fun Halloween with lots of nummy candy & most importantly some wonderful memories! Until next time...BOO!

Spooky Halloween Fun on a Tag

Today I am playing with Topflight Stamps, making a spooky Halloween Tag. I love this holiday it is my 2nd favorite. I also love making tags so perfect combo. 

Spooky Tag Fun!

Here is my cool tag using Katzelkraft stamps. I also recently bought the Tim Holtz Stamp Platform, mainly for kitting for my classes. However I played with it for the 1st time on this tag & realized even mix media artist need this!! I will show you how the Stamp Platform saved my tag. I am also entering this tag in the Craft Stamper Magazine challenge site, this months challenge can be found here if you want to play along. 

First off here is the stamp set Halloween I got to play with. You can buy this from Topflight as well as Tim's platform. More on that as we play!

 Let's Distress a Tag. 

 Starting with tag spritzed lightly with water, spray your colors on the tag. I was worried that these colors would make mud together because of the purple so I did a test first on a piece of paper. Where the purple & yellow mixed it was muddy but a nice espresso color so I went with it. 

Opps Craft Fail...

After adding some washi tape I heat embossed the haunted house. My idea was to add some alcohol ink to darken it some & doodle. As I started working on it I realized a lot of the cool detail that makes the stamp special was being lost as the emboss is too thick for it to show. So I flipped the tag over & started again. I can always add a piece of pattern card stock on this side to hide my boo boo. 

Stamp Platform Time

At this point I pulled out this handy dandy device. You can find it here at Topflight Stamps. Rather then me try & explain how it works how about I let Tim show you in this video you can find here. 

Just like in the video, opened the tool & placed my tag using the magnets. Next step is to position the stamp on the tag & bring the top acrylic piece down & push so the stamp adheres to the acrylic. 

After opening the tool lid & inking my stamp I brought the lid down and pressed as if it was a normal acrylic block, just like in the video. After lifting the lid I realized that my stamp was resisted by the washi tape as it has a slick finish & bold image. Normally this would be a problem that potentially would cause me to start over. Not with the Platform however! I simply removed the washi tape. See the blank spot where the washi was on right side pic above?

 I simply brought the lid down again & re-stamped. The image is crisp & much darker. YAY!!!! Total craft save! It is hard to tell in the above pic how well this 3x stamped image worked but you can sure see it below.

Now let's add to this tag! Using the eye & bat stamps with some heat emboss helped the images to pop. I really wanted the bat to show up so why not yellow, this is art after all not real life. Who says a bright yellow bat could not be living on my imaginary tag? Inking in some details using paint & gel pens also really bought this tag to life.  

Time to add my stamped, distressed & pop dotted title. Love the details on this title! Finished this tag with ribbons & some charms. Thanks so much for joining me today & please head over to the Topflight Blog & leave me a comment, it would be much appreciated! I hope you have some time to play today!