When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers, 'tis near Halloween!!!

So...... Halloween is only 30 days away!!!! It is one of my favorite holidays because we get to dress up and be something we aren't throughout the rest of the year. I LOVE seeing all the creativity with costumes and make up, and of course, the crisp fall air and chilly nights are just awesome for eating warm, delish baked goodies and drinking pumpkin spiced cocoa and snuggling up with a soft fuzzy kitty or a loved one! :)
I always feel so empowered this time of year, I feel more connected to my Goddess and Mother Earth, more than any other time of the year. I've not figured out why, but I think it's just because I'm more in love with the season of this time of year.

Anyhow, I made my first Halloween card of 2012. I have to admit, I was very, very excited when I saw a card on a blog by Heather over at Downstairs Designs. I said to myself that it was the PERFECT inspiration for what I had been wanting to do. all year long I've been seeing posts all over blogger of christmas cards that have "elf feet" made from the top note die. Then, I came across a halloween card with witches feet made from the top note die on Heather's blog. I said to myself "ohhhh that is SO cute! I could totally CASE that and put my own spin on it". For those of you that don't know, to CASE a card means to "copy and slightly edit". So, this I did. I took a LOT of time making the elements for this card and I am just in love with how it turned out! :)

Here is a collaged preview that I created in my photo program...
clickety click the link below to see the whole card put together.

So, since you're here, I guess you liked my preview! I am just super psyched to share this card with you!! first off, I'm a HUGE fan of Wicked! and one of my all time, classic favorite movies is the Wizard of Oz, and being that I'm Pagan and I just love this holiday so much and I'm really big into witchery and spells, this card was just PERFECT for me. I am really pleased with how my card came out compared to Heather's.

So, The original card that I saw and decided to use as my inspiration was created by Heather Klump over HERE at Downstairs Designs.
this is her card:

And, here is MY card!!!

So, basically, the only thing I CASE'd is her overall layout, the witches shoes idea and the 'scalloped border' for the witches skirt. I am pretty sure that I made my card a bit smaller than hers as well, mine is a 4x6 inch card.

 So for the left side of the card: The broom is HAND MADE BY ME. I went outside and asked Mother Nature to point to the perfect stick. One with a "nub" on the end of it, that would make for a wonderful broom handle topper. a stick that was sturdy, but thin enough so that it wouldn't add too much more "chunkiness" to the card. So, I used the stick that I found, and some glossy accents. I put GA on the stick and then did a layer of, what I believe to be hemp twine, and then did another layer of GA and another layer of the twine. I then wrapped some lime green embroidery floss around it and tied it in a knot.
for the top part, I wrapped Halloween themed bakers twine around the top twice and then tied it in a knot next to the broom.

Don't you just LOVE that creepy DSP on the top? I DO!! I am absolutely in LOVE with all DSP by BasicGrey! They just have awesome paper and stamps. :)the circle/dot DSP on the bottom is Bo Bunny. Believe it or not, that is double sided cardstock and the other side has Hawaiian flowers on it! LOL how weird, huh?

For the right side of the card: The witches feet are made by cutting some black cardstock with the top note die. Then, it's cut into quarter pieces and then I used my french curve architect rulers to make the circles. I used one that was about 1 inch for the far left and right side to make the "point" of the shoes and then one that was about 1/2 an inch to make the part where her legs are, then, I inked the edges with some cream colorbox ink so that the shoes had some depth to them and popped off the page rather than just blending in. (I tried to put them on the card without inking them and they just blended in way too much!). Once that was done I cut 2 white cardstock strips to a little less than 1/2 an inch. I distressed the white cardstock with some Gray ink. I didn't want them to be stark white because the elements on the background of the card weren't stark white on the other DSP, I didn't want them to stand out too much.
I ended up using some stripped purple cardstock for some extra detail on the leggings but I really wish I would have used green instead so it stood out more under the purple tulle. Once I had all that done I attached the legs to the shoes on the back and then matched them up on the background paper and adhered them.

For the top and middle part of the card I created a "skirt" look. I used the scalloped border punch on the top and bottom layer of DSP and then I folded a very large piece of light lavender tulle and GENEROUSLY taped it to the back of the 2 layers of DSP. I used a lot of double stick tape and a few lines of my tape runner once it was on there to keep it adhered down really well. Once I had the tulle attached, I used my scissors and cut slits in it all the way across. there are actually 4 layers of tulle there because it was such a light purple and didn't really stand out on the card.

For the bats on the shoes, I stamped them in Gray ink on white cardstock and then painstakingly hand cut each one of them out. I tell you, those things are SO tiny and SO difficult to cut out! LOL once they were cut out I adhered the body only, with glossy accents and then used my plastic rub-on tool to roll the wings and give them some dimension off the page. When I was finished making the card, I put dots of christmas red stickles on their eyes. I love how they sparkle!!

For the top right, I added a cute little sentiment to the top. I typed it up and printed it out in Microsoft Word and then punched it out with my Stampin' Up! decorative label punch. I inked the edges up with lavender colorbox ink. The little green tab is an Around the Block Halloween Tab and says "toil & trouble". I thought that was the perfect addition for the card. :)

And here is the inside of the card. SUPER CUTE, I think!! I know there is a lot going on in there, but I thought it would tie the inside of the card without the outside of the card, perfectly!
The witch's brew and spider web are from inkadinkado mini halloween sets. I stamped the 'witch's brew' with black ink and then did the bubbles of it in pumpkin pie and lavender lace, and then added some colorbox lime to the inside of the rim and the right side of the outside of the rim (like it was bubbling over). I stamped the little witch and the spider from the new Stampin' Up! Googly Ghouls stamp set. I added googly eyes to the witch. SO CUTE!!! The spider web is stamped in colorbox shimmer silver ink. I love how spider webs look after it rains, they are so shiny!! (if they survive!)

Here is the card on it's back from the right side to show the dimension. I love how everything pops off the page!

 and from the left side.

Well, I REALLY hope that you liked my rendition of Heather's Card. I haven't shown it to her yet, but I'll be writing to her to let her know that her card REALLY inspired me!! I hope she doesn't mind me sharing her blog link and her photo here, but then again, I don't see why she would, more traffic leading to her blog!! :) I've been a follower of her's for some time. If you're not, you should be, her work is AMAZING! :)

Keep on Craftin' and please, be kind to one another!!
~Melisa Marie



Supplies used:
Cardstock/Paper: Bazzill (black), Georgia Pacific White Cardstock, BasicGrey Eerie Series--"Reaper" DSP (top layer with cats and skulls) item #eer-1905, Bo Bunny Back-to-Back "Mango Luau Babe" item #12MLB088 (backside of cs-circles).   Embellishments: Halloween Clip, Stampin' Up! 5mm googly eyes, Ranger Stickles-Christmas Red, Stick (from outside!), lavender tulle.  Stamps: Stampin' Up! Googly Ghouls, Stampin' Up! Teeny Tiny Wishes, Inkadinkado Mini's "Haunted House" and "Witches Brew".  Ink Pads: Memento (tuxedo Black), Stampin' Up! Pumpkin Pie and Lavender Lace, Colorbox Cream, Lime, Shimmer Silver.  Ribbon Embellishments: Halloween Themed Baker's Twine, Hemp Twine, Lime embroidery floss.
Tools: Glue Glider Pro (Pink), glue glider pro Perma-Tac adhesive (permanent), scotch double sided tape, MS score board, cricut paper trimmer, Stampin' Up! Scalloped Border Punch, Stampin' Up! Decorative Label Punch, Stampin' Up! Top Note Die, Around the Block Clipper tool, Sizzix Big Kick, Alvin and Co. FC88 French Curve Rulers-8 pc. set.