Halloween Already???

Yes, I'm a little ahead of the game! I've already started creating Halloween/Fall cards for Send a Smile 4 Kids. While they don't need them as far in advance as Operation Write Home did, I still can't exactly wait until the end of September to make my cards to send in. So here are my two most recent.

Both cards use stamps from 2 different Hampton Art sets, though I don't know the name of either. I picked the sets up at Michael's on sale last fall, and didn't think to note the names from the shelf tags. Neither set was labeled on its packaging.

For my first card, I used Sketch #257 from Operation Write Home:

I used the cross-bones patterned paper from Recollections' "Witch Dust Halloween" collection, layering it on a black mat. I stamped my greeting on a piece of white cardstock, using Versafine Onyx Black ink. Then I inked that piece with Gathered Twigs Distress ink, to tie it in with the rather grungy look of the patterned paper. I also stamped the bat on a die cut circle and inked it with Gathered Twigs, going around the perimeter with Black Soot Distress ink. I die cut a portion of a spiderweb patterned paper from Jillibean Soup's "Owloween Stew" 6x6" pad with a Spellbinders "Standard Circles LG" die, and inked the edge with Black Soot. Then I was ready to assemble my card.

I adhered the patterned paper panel to a piece of kraft cardstock. I glued the "bat" circle behind the matted greeting strip, and then adhered that to the card front. Then I glued the spiderweb circle in place, and added a black brad for the smallest circle in the sketch. I was debating what to do for the three small dots in the sketch, when it occurred to me to stamp a spider hanging down from the greeting in that space. Finally, I matted the card front on more black paper, and adhered that to a white A2 card base.

For my second card, I decided to go a little more "cute." I used Operation Write Home's Sketch #253:

I cut a piece of Strathmore Bristol paper for the main layer. I stamped the pumpkins image in the lower left corner, using Versafine Onyx Black, and heat embossed it with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder. I then colored it with Zig Clean Color markers, using a damp brush to draw the color out to create highlights. I stamped the greeting, from the same stamp set, on another piece of bristol with Versafine, and clear heat embossed that as well. Then I die cut it in a circle with a Spellbinders "Standard Circles SM" die. I die cut a mat from green cardstock with a "Standard Circles LG" die, and glued the greeting to that.

I cut a strip of patterned paper from "Owloween Stew" for the piece behind the greeting. I adhered it on the bristol panel, and placed the greeting, just to see how it looked. For some reason, the greeting circle just didn't look grounded, so I cut a slit above & below the greeting itself, and threaded a narrow strip of purple cardstock through the slits. After matting the bristol panel with more green, I glued the greeting circle in place, and glued the purple strip to the patterned paper. Finally, I matted the main panel with black paper, and matted that with more of the green cardstock, before adhering it to a white A2 card base.

I'm entering both cards in Send a Smile 4 Kids' "Anything Goes 4 Kids" challenge.