Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Sparkling Spider and Web Halloween Card

One day my Mom was telling me about her encounter with a spider in the house.  She is extremely afraid of spiders, but her story telling made me laugh.  I was thinking about this incident and decided to make a Halloween card that featured a spider in honor of my Mom (I promise I won't send this card to her).  Although I wanted the Halloween card to feature a spider, I did not want it to be a scary spider card.  Therefore, I selected some bright and cheery Halloween paper and ribbon.  I used the Halloween paper as a base for my color scheme and created a relatively simple spider and web Halloween card with a little bit of sparkle.

I'd like to share a couple of things before I show you my card.  How would you like to be the little bug looking out from under the refrigerator at this sight?

Picture of my two cats crouched down looking under the refrigerator at a bug

To me this would be a terrifying sight!

I also have news to share.  I'm whooping out loud and so excited because I sold my first card at my Etsy shop!  Pretty exciting since I opened my shop last month and I'm just now starting to get organized to market myself and my handcrafted items (I haven't done much to date).  And wouldn't you know it; my first sale was in Europe.  I have never personally shipped anything to Europe so this sale was a trial by fire on all fronts.  Learning the ropes of completing a sale on Etsy, getting paid through PayPal, and shipping to Europe.  Well, I got it shipped off and even included a little extra thank you item for being my first sale.  Looking forward to hearing back from my customer once the items are received.  

Just had to share my excitement with you!  Now, let's start talking about my cheerful spider Halloween card.


The Making of a Sparkling Spider and Web Halloween Card


Card Statistics
  • Final Card Size: 5.5" tall x 4.25" wide
  • Image Size: 2 " in diameter
  • Tools: paper cutter, scissors, ruler, paint brush, Martha Stewart spider web edge punch, Martha Stewart spider punch, circle cutter, Marvy scalloped circle punch, Martha Stewart scoring board, stamps (spider and spider web), sponge pieces
  • Materials: cardstock, cover stock, Halloween themed scrapbook paper, ribbon, adhesive, spray sealer, gel pens (black and white), ink pads, glimmer paints
  • You can purchase this card from my Etsy shop: Sparkling Spider and Web Halloween Card


Card Front

Picture of the front of the Halloween card

I started this card by cutting and scoring white cardstock for a card base.  The cardstock is scored at the top so that it opens from the bottom.  Next, I cut a piece of the Halloween scrapbook paper to cover the entire front of the card base.  Before affixing the paper to the base card, I embellished it.  I glued ribbon across the top of a cheddar yellow cardstock that had its lower edge punched with spider webs.  The ribbon had about 0.5" tails at each end that I wrapped around the back of the paper panel when affixing the ribbon embellished punched cardstock in place.  Once the Halloween paper panel was adorned, I affixed it to the front of the card base.  I added a bow to the center of the ribbon.

The image is actually two separate images that have been stamped to create one image.  I started by sponging a white cardstock 2" circle with inks to create the background.  Once the background ink was dry, I painted on some shimmering paints to add sparkle.  After the shimmer paint dried, I stamped on the web and then stamped on the spider.  The spider was given some extra dimension with black and white gel pens.  This image was then matted on a 2.5" scalloped circle made from the cheddar yellow cardstock.  I affixed the matted image in place with silicone glue to pop the image from the surface of the card and add a little dimension.


Angle View of Card Front to Show Dimension

Picture of card set at an angle to show dimension on the front of the card

From the picture above you can see the dimension created on the image panel by the silicone glue pop up.  It was difficult to capture a picture of the shimmering background.  It is quite evident when moving the card in the light.


Card Inside

Picture of the inside of the Halloween card
 
For the inside of the card I printed "Happy Halloween" using an interesting and fun font.  The sentiment was printed directly on the card base in green ink to match the green background of the Halloween paper.  I affixed a strip of the Halloween paper to the top of a strip of cheddar yellow cardstock with spider webs punched along its lower edge.  This embellishment was glued to the bottom of the inside card base.  A spider punched from black cardstock was gussied up using a white gel pen and then affixed to the spider web strip with silicone glue so that it popped up from the surface of the card.

My logo is printed on the back of the card.

I also made an envelope from heavy cardstock.  I recreated the background of the card image in the lower left hand corner using sponged ink and shimmer paints.  A spider web and spider were stamped on the background when it had dried.  Sealer is sprayed lightly over the image to protect it during its journey through the mail system.


Final Card and Envelope Combo

Picture of the Halloween card and its coordinating envelope
 
I think I did okay making this card more cheerful than scary.  The bright colors helped.

This card and envelope ensemble can be purchased from my Etsy Shop: Sparkling Spider and Web Halloween Card.

Tidbit of wisdom from the experience: Even stamped spiders on "cheerful" cards can creep you out if you let them.


Card Recipe Specifics

Thank you for visiting and I hope you come back soon!











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1 comment:

  1. EEEKKKK a spider card! This does look like a friendly spider and is very cute and colorful for Halloween. As far as the bug, I would NOT want to be looking at your cat right about now ... lol.

    ReplyDelete

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