It's Behind Me, Isn't It?

Happy Saturday and welcome back everyone!

I hope you've all been able to watch Tim's awesome Facebook Live today and enjoyed all the wonderful new Halloween seasonal stamps and layering stencils that he's shared, together with the amazing samples from so many talented talented designers! (If you missed the live, then you can catch up with the replay HERE).

I've been really fortunate to be able to play with the new sets and today, I'm sharing a card using the fun Snarky Cat Halloween set (CMS407) and also sneaking in one other stamps from the Sketch Manor set, (CMS408).

So please say hello to this little scaredy cat, and a couple of his friends and hope you love the piece I created.

As some of you know, I do love a larger card and recently I've been asked quite a few times how to create larger cards, so within this tutorial, I'm going to also share how you can create larger sized cards by just using some clever matting and layering that will add a frame around the main image.

So, let's get started and to begin with I cut a panel of Mixed Media Heavystock card, 12.5 x 16cm.

1. Stamp the image of the cat onto the card panel with Black Soot Archival Ink. Stamp a second image onto a post it note to create a mask, cut around the outline of the cat and then place the mask over the stamped image on your panel. Using a blending tool, ink the entire surface of the card with a combination of Antique Linen and Old Paper Distress Ink.

2. To create the moon, cut a circle from either a post it note or some copy paper ~ I use a die to do this and the circle is approx 7cm in diameter. Place the circle onto the centre of the card panel and with both the cat and moon mask in place, use the blending tool to ink over the card surface with Hickory Smoke Distress Ink. Remove the masks and spritz the card surface with a light mist of water to blend the inks. Heat dry the card and if you need to add more ink or water, just keep repeating the process until you're happy.

3. Place the mask of the scaredy cat back over the stamped image and using a brush, add some splatters of Pumice Stone, Frayed Burlap and Old Paper Distress Inks. I love how the inks create such a cool effect over the moon surface, it almost looks like little craters. Heat dry once more before inking around the edges of the panel with Black Soot Distress Ink.

4. With the mask of the cat still in place, take the branch stamp from the Sketch Manor set and ink with Black Soot Archival Ink. Stamp the image onto the card panel, stamping it over the top of the masked image to appear as if the cat is sitting on the branch. Don't worry if there are any gaps between the branch and the cat, just fill this in with your pens and pencils to create shading underneath him.

5. Stamp a second branch coming in from the top left corner. Taking the little spider web stamp from the Snarky Cat Halloween set, once again ink with Black Soot Archival Ink and stamp the web onto the panel to appear as if it's hanging from branch to branch. If you need to add any lines, just use a black fine line pen to fill in.

6. Stamp a few more webs around the edges of the card, avoiding using the hanging spider part of the stamp ~ you only want the web.

7. Stamp the bat in the bottom left hand corner.

8. Remove the mask on the cat and I used Distress Marker pens to watercolour the stamped image. To add some more depth of colour and create some shading, I finished the image with Polychromos Pencils.

9. Add some highlights to the branches and webs using a white fine line pen.

10. Cut a strip of black card and using clear embossing ink, stamp the sentiment "It's Behind me, Isn't It?" onto the card strip. Sprinkle white embossing powder over the top and tap away the excess before heat embossing. Cut an inverted 'v' into one end of the strip and then wrap some cotton thread around the opposite side. Hang an idea-ology spider from the end of the thread.

11. To complete the panel I added some small silver die cut stars that I had leftover from a previous project. I cut these from Silver Metallic Kraft Stash using the Falling Stars Thinlits die, and adhered them to the artwork using Matte Collage Medium. To add a little more glisten, I added a small gold Metallic Droplet to the centres of the larger stars.

12. Now to create those layers and all the borders to make this a slightly larger card, and to begin with I machine stitched a border in black cotton thread around the panel.

13. Matt the artwork onto some Blackout Kraft Stash, followed by silver metallic cardstock, each time leaving a narrow border around the outside of the previous layer.

14. Cut a piece of black card, 14.5 x 18cm and machine stitch around the edge with burlap coloured thread. Mount the matted artwork onto the panel.

15. For the final layers, I used corrugated card, painted with Black Soot Distress Paint and then matted this onto a white card blank, that I edged to create a decorative border using a spider web Tim Holtz Design Tape that I had leftover from a previous year. Mount the layered artwork onto the card blank using foam pads to create dimension.

16. Finally, I added some Mummy Cloth, dyed with a combination of Pumice Stone Distress Spray and Peeled Paint and after cutting small sections of the cloth, I tucked them underneath the raised artwork panel and I also added a small Tim Holtz Remnant Rub number, (this was from my Halloween Stash) in the top right hand corner.

I hope you've enjoyed how this card was created and you'll be inspired by some of the ideas, tips and techniques. As always, if you make anything using my cards and projects as your inspiration, please let me know by tagging me on social media or leaving a comment here and I will pop by to take a look because I love to see your creations!

Thank you Tim, Paula, Mario, Ted and all at Stampers Anonymous for letting me have some fun with these stamps and thank you for stopping by today ~ now, it's time to get your hands on the new stamp sets,  have some fun and most of all enjoy!

See you soon...Emma x

Recipe for project:

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous: Snarky Cat Halloween, Sketch Manor
Tim Holtz/Sizzix: Falling Star Thinlits Die
Distress Paint: Black Soot

Distress Inks: Antique Linen, Old Paper, Pumice Stone, Frayed Burlap, Black Soot, Hickory Smoke
Distress Marker Set

Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Wicked Adornments, Halloween Trimmings, Metallic Droplet, Halloween Design Tape
Distress Spray Stain: Pumice Stone, Peeled Paint

Mediums: Matte Collage Medium, Black Soot Archival Ink, Polychromos Pencils, Sakura White Gel Pen

Surfaces: Mixed Media Heavystock, Blackout Kraft Stash, Metallic Kraft Stash, Black Card

Glass Media Mat

Big Shot

Heat Gun

corrugated card from my own stash