A Very Tricky Halloween

Hello, Friends!  Do you like to decorate your home for Halloween?  I do!  Banners make every day feel like a party is about to happen, and they so much fun to make.  Today I have a really fun banner made with Authentique's fiendishly fabulous Tricky collection.  I love the wonderful colors, patterns and images of this fall collection!  Making this banner was so much fun that I kept right on playing until I had a sparkly, spook-tacular shaker card and a too cute to spook card folio made as well.

No tricks here...just all treats on this vibrant banner.  Using dies to layer up these fabulous papers helped this Tricky banner come together very quickly.

The base of the banner is cut from black cardstock using a stitched banner die. (All supplies are linked below.) Each pennant follows this same simple recipe:

• Die cut the largest banner from black cardstock
• Die cut the next layer from Tricky patterned papers
• Add a die cut black doily.
• Fill the center of the doily with either a designer paper circle or a die cut/fussy cut image from the Tricky collection
• Add die cut stars and Halloween images.
• Attach to 1.5" black check ribbon using hinge clips
• Add bows and flowers

These purple witch legs crack me up.  They really steal the show when fussy cut and layered with foam dimensionals.

I used a circle die to cut out the bats and pumpkin images from the cut apart page. 

To make this black cat pop, I die cut it twice: once from black cardstock then again from patterned paper.  When you glue the two layers together, offset them slightly to provide a drop shadow.  Then layer on with foam tape.

Fussy cutting this creepy spider web takes just a second, and it looks suitably spooky in the center of the black doily.  On the last pennant, I added a die cut bat with foam tape.  

You can easily make this "no sew" banner in an afternoon or less, and it will add so much fun to your Halloween decor.

Tricky Halloween Cards

Since I was having such a good time playing with Tricky and all the "stuff" was already out on my desk, I decided to make a couple of Halloween cards using the horizontal images from the cut apart page.

Shaker cards are taking center stage in the paper crafting world right now.  And you can see why!  A good shaker card is like a party on paper!  This 7" x 5" shaker easel card takes things to the next level.  

Making an easel card is quick and easy:

• Cut a 7" x 10" rectangle from 12x12 black cardstock
• Place this on your scoring tool with the long side against the rail. 
• Score at 5" and again at 7.5"
• Burnish the score lines and fold to create a 5" x 7" top fold card. The card front will have a horizontal fold.  The bottom half of this fold is where you will attach the finished card cover.
• Cut a second 5" x 7" rectangle from black cardstock.  This will become the card "cover".  
• Decorate and then glue the BOTTOM half of the decorated card cover to the bottom half of the prepared card base.
   
• Create the "stopper" for the easel card by cutting the sentiment from the top of the Tricky paper.  Mat on deep purple cardstock and weave it between your fingers to add dimension.  Glue both ends and the middle as seen here.  I found these cute stickers in my stash and added them for extra fun.

Here's a peek at the inside of the card.   The sentiments were created on my computer and added to the card base.  But you could easily stamp a Halloween sentiment if you had one.

Tricky Card Folio

This card is super quick to make.  Just create a 5" x 7" card base from black cardstock, layer it with the dotty paper.  Add a horizontal strip from the diagonal stripes.  Stitch the 4" x 6" image to black cardstock using messy stitching.  

This is a great "grown-up" Halloween card.  I created rosettes with a strip die, layered up some flowers, a black cat novelty button, ribbon and string to make a card folio that's pretty enough to use as home decor.

Inside, I've added a couple of pockets, sentiments, die cuts and some fun treats.

The 3.25" x 4.25' accordion style folio is the perfect place to preserve all your fun Halloween photos.  It's held shut with a fancy paper clip embellie.  Chocolate, tea and a honey stick make this the perfect Halloween card for a friend or co-worker.

To make the folio, I joined strips of 3.25" wide cardstock with 1/4" Scor-Tape.  Then I scored every 4.25" and folded.  I decorated this accordion style folio with leftover scraps of designer paper.  This is such an easy way to use up scraps, clean your work surface and make something pretty all at the same time.

I hope I've shared some "Tricky" Halloween treats today that will inspire you to get out your scissors, glue and paper pretties and get your craft on!

Thanks for joining me!

Cheerio,

kathy

Supply List: Authentique Tricky Collection, Black Cardstock, Deep Purple Cardstock

• Cutting Dies:
• My Favorite Things: Stitched Banners, Stitched Stars, Gift Card Pocket (retired), Numbers (retired).  Dizzy Doily (retired)
• Sizzix/Tim Holtz: Rosette Die, Mini Rosette Die, Hocus Pocus Bigz Die
• Ribbon: Bold Black and White Plaid, Purple Hemp, Tangerine Chevron Ribbon, 1.5" Black Gingham, Tangerine with Gold Shimmer Satin Ribbon
• From my stash: 1/4" Scor-tape, Sequins and buttons, Clear Acetate Cardstock, Foam tape, Tim Holtz/Idea-Ology Hinge Clips

A Fall Pedestal Frame with the Bountiful Collection

Welcome Fall! Autumn is my favorite season, and I cannot wait to share this fabulous Fall decor item with you. This project has been rattling in my brain for quite awhile, and I finally got to put it all together and share with you.

To start with this piece of home decor, I started with an unfinished, pedestal, floating frame. I took all of the pieces apart, and spray painted the wood with Krylon spray paint in Antique Brass. Once the pieces were dry, I was able to put it all back together. To make sure that you can still close the top, you may need to lightly sand down the sections that slide together.  

Each piece of paper is measured perfectly to fit each of the sides. Since the wood was painted first, I inked all of the edges with some brown ink. This way any seams or edges fade away. Remember to ink any of your embellishments or stickers as well. 

Before the lid was replaced, and the top section glued down, I added in a piece of the Spectrum Collection (Wood Connection) right in front of the back piece of glass. 

This created some color contrast between the paper and the acorns.

The acorns are some fabulously metallic embellishments that I found in the Fall Decor aisles of Hobby Lobby. I was looking for some real acorns, but then found these metallic acorns and couldn't resist. 

Once the acorns were filled into the frame, I glued the top pieces down to make sure that nothing would ever fall out. 

 

Then I added a glittery bow, with one last metallic acorn wired into the ribbon.

The front was still a little plain, so I pulled one of the Details Stickers from the Bountiful Collection and placed it on the same piece of Spectrum Cardstock in Mustard Seed. This was then attached to the glass front with Dodz Adhesives in Mini. 

The front of the frame is decorated with Bountiful Five. The sides and top are decorated with Bountiful One. 

To add a little more detail, I added the hinges from the Details sticker sheet. Inking up the edges made each sticker look like it really belonged. I also suggest that if you are going to place them over the edge of your project, bend each sticker backwards before putting it on the item. This will help to secure the corner better.

I loved creating this piece, and can see myself creating a few more for each season! I imagine filling them with all sorts of fun, seasonal embellishments.

Authentique Supplies Used: Bountiful Collection (Details stickers sheet, Bountiful One, Bountiful Five), Spectrum Cardstock (Mustard Seed)

Other Supplies: Krylon spray Paint (Antique Brass), Sierra Pacific Crafts pedestal frame, glitter ribbon & acorns (Hobby Lobby), Art Glitter Glue, wire