It’s Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus!

This post was sponsored by Simon Says Stamp. Thanks, Simon!

Hi friends! I have something unusual to share with you today… I rarely make Halloween cards, because I think my Grammy was the only person from whom I’ve ever received a card for Halloween, and to be honest, I don’t do “spooky” very well. However!! I could not resist the darling little witches in the marvelous new Hocus Pocus set, illustrated by my friend Alberto Gava! He illustrates the most adorable stamp sets, and while I don’t do cutesy very well, I absolutely adored all of the cute little witches, pumpkins, and that precious little kitty! My daughter is going to be a witch for Halloween, so this set is just perfect to make a little card or tag for her, too! Let’s get started with the details.

To start, I stamped several of the images from the Hocus Pocus stamps set onto some Hammermill cardstock using Intense Black ink. I then used OLO markers to add color to the images, creating these orange pumpkins, black kitty, and a witch that looks just like my little girl in her Halloween costume! I die cut the finished images using the coordinating dies (purchase as a bundle HERE). I also stamped the darling greeting using Altenew Obsidian Pigment Ink, embossing it with clear embossing powder before using the coordinating die to cut it out.

One of the reasons that I don’t do “cute” very well is that my imagination doesn’t seem to stretch to creating scenes very easily. To get around this, I like to create a smaller “canvas” upon which I can build my scene, making a less intimidating space to have to fill with images. I placed one of the Simon A2 Stencil Masks over the top of my A2 Hammermill cardstock card front, then used blending brushes to blend Cayenne, Clementine, and Nectar inks from Concord & 9th in a smooth ombré down the front of the card, creating a pretty ombré background that matched the colored pumpkins beautifully! While the Simon A2 Stencil Mask was still in place, I splattered some coordinating metallic watercolors on the background to add extra sparkle to the card.

After removing the mask, I arranged all of the colored and die cut elements on the blended area, adhering them with both liquid and foam adhesive to create extra dimension and interest. I love how the kitty looks like he’s pointing at the sentiment! Finally, I added a few shimmering gems for some more sparkle and texture.

Well, that’s all for today’s project! If you’re like me and find yourself creating with the same style of stamps each time you craft, I encourage you to go take a look at stamp sets that are outside of your typical wheel house. It’s such fun to stretch your creative legs with something new, especially when the results are this cute! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!