Whimsy Stamps ~ Let Your Magic Shine

Hey crafty friends, the big day for me has arrived! We've had adorable Trick or Treaters visit last night and my kiddos shared fun evenings with their friends Trick or Treating. So it's been a happy night. It's 'the morning after the night before' for me now and honestly, I'm knackered! It's lovely to sit down with a cuppa and know all the decorating, preparing and celebrating is done! But oh how I look forward to doing it all again next year! We are of course having a final Instagram Hop starting today and we're so excited to bring this fun event to you. I'm sharing my cards here, but of course please note the actual Hop is happening over on Instagram, so I'll link my stop and the first stop for quick reference.

My first card for this hop is a beautiful image full of magic and intrigue called Infinite Wishes and I have absolutely adored this stamp set from the moment I first saw it! This stamp is actually on special right now! So nab it if you love it too. I created an alcohol ink background again for this creation and used the same smooshing technique I did for the card that had my wee trick or treat cutie on. This is in fact the second panel that I smooshed together with that panel and they look different but were actually created at the same time with this smooshing technique. I love the shimmer the pearl alcohol inks add to this, it brings exactly the magical mystical feel I was aiming for. I stamped this gorgeous image in archival black ink so it would stamp well over the alcohol ink. I used my MISTI to stamp several times to get a nice dark impression.

I love the magical sparkles in her hair. I've accentuated these by adding gold glitter pen over the little stars and dots and moons in her hair, to add to the magic of this image. I strategically stamped her face where the more apricot colour pooled and was really pleased with the effect. Her eyes needed a little definition however, so I pulled out my white gelly roll pen and added some white detail to her eyes. I only had a size 8 though, it would have been good to have a slightly finer tip, but I find they don't flow as well, so not perfect, but does deliver the effect I was after. I also used a green glitter pen to add the pupil colour to her eyes too. That really added the right detail to her eyes.

I trimmed the panel with my Tim Holtz Deckle Edge Trimmer and mounted this panel onto a rich purple shimmer cardstock and added lots of gorgeous This Calls For Confetti bling. I used two embellishment sets from This Calls For Confetti for this creation, I used glow-in-the-dark moons and tiny black bats from the Spooky Sparkles Mix and the tiny gorgeously iridescent stars from the Creepy Crawlers Mix. I just love the extra touch of magic these embellishments add to this design. 

For my second Hop creation, I really wanted to use the amazing embellishment set that features Oogie Boogie the character from The Nightmare Before Christmas and I had the perfect stamp set to pair this with! So I made a full front shaker card, added oodles of this absolutely fabulous confetti and closed all the sides of the full front shaker. 

I then added the two diecuts from the Whimsy Stamps Peeking Ghosts Die Set. I cut the ghosts from Gina K Key Lime Cardstock which is already a fantastic bright lime green, but wanted to one up that a little bit, so I then layered Lime Tart Paper Glitz from Picket Fence Studio over the cardstock, smoothing it down carefully to a nice flat finish. The effect is amazing because it has this rather chunky iridescent glitter in it, it gives such a fun finish and was perfect for this make!

I toyed with two design ideas for this make, I initially was going to just add the shaker panel to a card base and make a fun shaker card, but decided in the end to add it to a black paper bag that could have some Halloween treats added to it for some of my nieces and nephews. I think they'll have such fun with the shaker this way, they can rattle the bag up and down and watch the sequins flying around. 

Thank you friends for visiting today and for all your support during my Halloween obsessed three months! I really have loved it and honestly, I still had some creations partially made that I just ran out of time to share, so I'll be ahead for next Halloween, hehe! I've still oodles of ideas in my head, it really has been such fun creating with the Halloweeners and I'm going to miss these amazing ladies. I hope you're able to join in the Hop with us and can check out their stunning creations too, because they truly are incredibly talented! I'll be hanging out over at the hop for the rest of the morning, but I'll be back here again before long. Happy creating and for those in the US and UK, Happy Halloween! Hugs, Wends xoxo

(I use affiliate links where possible and I receive a small commission, which costs you no extra at all, but helps companies I design for to see where their marketing efforts are most effective. I only design for companies whose products I love and buy for myself. My opinions are always my own.)

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