That's Life: Welcome to the STAMPtember Blog Party...

Hello friends...

Hope you've all had a great weekend and welcome to my first post of today ~ if you check back in around one hour, then you will see my latest Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge post!

But before then, I'm just stopping by to wish all of my Simon Says Stamp family a very happy 10th birthday and share a card that I've created to welcome you all to the STAMPtember Blog Party...

You can see the full STAMPtember release HERE and also if you want to join the party and take a look at all the amazing projects from some amazingly, talented designers, then just head over to the Simon Says Stamp blog, where you'll find a list of everyone who's taking part in the party celebrations.

Also, because we're having a party, I have a special gift for YOU and all you have to do is use the code BLKNK45 to claim a FREE SSS Intense Black Ink pad with any purchase. Valid now until 3rd September at 11:59pm EDT.

So, let's get this party started and here's how I created my card...

1. I began by creating a landscape style card blank from black card to measure, 18 x 15cm.

2. I then cut a panel of corrugated card, slightly smaller in size than the card blank and painted the surface with Black Soot Distress Paint. Once dry, I used my fingertips to apply Old Silver Alchemy Wax to accentuate the corrugated grooves in the card.

3. Cut a panel of black card, 11 x 14cm. Ink up the web stamp from the Tim Holtz Life of the Party stamp set using Versamark Ink Pad and stamp the webs across the top of the card panel. I applied clear embossing powder over the top and tap away the excess before heat embossing.

4. I then applied Antique Linen, Pumice Stone and Iced Spruce Oxide Inks to my glass mat, spritzed them lightly with water before dragging my card through the inks, picking up the colour to create the night sky background. The embossed area will resist the ink, and allow the webs to just shimmer.

5. Machine stitch a border around the outside and matt the layers onto black card, followed by gold metallic card before mounting the panels using foam pads onto a final layer of black card.

6. I mounted the matted layers over the top of the corrugated card covered card blank, placing it in the centre of the card blank and overlapping the top opening edge.

7. Ink up a second piece of black card, 13 x 3cm, using the same Oxide Inks as before and matt onto silver metallic kraft stash, followed by a layer of black card, each time leaving a border around the outside.

8. To create the enamelled wording, I used the Trick or Treat die and die cut just the lettering, not the shadow from card. I then pounced the Versarmark Ink pad over the top and sprinkled with Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder before heat embossing until molten. I repeated the process of inking and powder three times to create an enamelled look to the lettering but on the third layer, I also added a sprinkle of black embossing powder. I then adhered the lettering onto my border strip and attached two small hex fasteners to either side.

9. I mounted the panel across the bottom section of the background card layer using foam pads.

10. For the circle, I used Tim Holtz's Steampunk Parts die and cut the large circular part and the smaller inner circle from chipboard. I then inked the entire surface of the larger circle with the Versamark Ink pad and applied Bone Embossing Powder over the top. After heating the powder to melt it, I attached this die cut to my panel, adding some Hex Fasteners to look as if it was bolted onto the card front. The smaller inner layer is embossed in exactly the same way but using gold embossing powder. I then attached the inner circle onto the Steampunk Part.

11. After stamping and watercoloring the stamped images from the My Zombie Boo stamp set, I cut them with the matching dies and then attached the Zombie Rescue image in the centre of my embossed circle.

12. I then attached some Zombie hands and the skull to the banner section, together with some Mummy Cloth that was dyed with Frayed Burlap and Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain.

13. To complete the card, I added some die cut bats, cut using the Bat Crazy die and some drops of Banana Split Glow In The Dark Nuvo Drops.

I hope you enjoyed the creative process behind this card and all that's left for me to say for this post is...HAPPY BIRTHDAY Simon Says Stamp ~ here's to many more crafty years to come!