Feel like some creepy Halloween cardmaking and crafting?
The Halloween-themed October My Greeting Box had two spooky cards plus a bonus haunted house treatbox craft to make! As it’s already the third week in October I decided to get on and make all three before Halloween arrived.
The first design is the Trick or Treat Door Card.
I decided to use my trusty craft knife to cut out the opening door shape in the purple background. Then all I needed to do was cut out the actual door, panels, and step from the black card.
The black on black gave subtle 3D look to the door. The handle was a tiny snippet of orange.
Now for some stamping and colouring fun!
The acrylic stamps with this card had a bunch of cute monsters which would be peeking out from behind the door.
Can you see the unfinished Frankenstein’s monster? I realised pretty fast that fineliners weren’t any good for colouring in, so I switched to my trusty felt tips.
As well as the little characters, there was also a bowl of candy and little pumpkin buckets.
After cutting out my monsters, I traced the door space on a piece of orange card, and arranged the monsters so they were all peeking out. It took quite a bit of fiddling to place them so they were just the right amount of visible.
Of course I couldn’t cover up too much of those adorable little guys!
Finally the purple door piece was stuck over the whole thing with sticky pads. I also used them to attach the candy dish and the little pumpkin baskets to the step.
These sticky pads are really useful for making layers stand slightly proud, giving a picture some depth.
I did add one thing to the card that wasn’t on the instructions.
One of the acrylic stamps reads ‘Trick or Treat’ and I thought it would be a fun addition to the inside of the card. The card itself is black, so one of the regular inkpads wouldn’t work so well.
Fortunately, the monster-themed April box contained a silver inkpad, which would be perfect!
It worked!
On to the next card.
The Happy Haunting Card. This design used the circle templates included in the box.
I used the templates to cut out the various coloured circles.
(I also managed to skip a step and initially forgot to cut out purple ones too. Ooops.)
Then two of the cute monster characters were stamped, coloured, and cut out, along with a candy bag, lollipop, and pumpkin.
Cutting out these little shapes is quite fiddly, and I ended up using my craft knife for the smaller pieces.
Then they were stuck on to the circles, and I realised I needed to cut out two purple circles too, for the pumpkins and the Happy Haunting sentiment.
I made another mistake. I misread the correct size for the orange circle, but fortunately there was room for me to trace round a smaller template without having to redo my monster.
Always read the instructions carefully, folks.
I used the picture on the front of the instructions as a guide to placing the circles on the card.
I also decided to use my favourite sticky pads again for the circles. It wasn’t in the instructions, but there’s nothing wrong with adding a little bit more creativity!
Oh, and I used the silver ink again. I thought it might add a little extra something to the sentiment. What do you think?
Now finally, the treatbox!
My Greeting Box usually gives you three card designs, but this time we’ve got a little haunted house to make that opens up into a box for goodies.
The first thing to do was to make the roof tiles.
Cutting out those little pieces of black card took a while. I did measure them as instructed, but they ended up being slightly less than perfect. This doesn’t really matter though, because a slightly haphazard look has a better spook factor.
I did get slightly confused with sticking them down. I didn’t follow the instructions correctly on the first go, so one side isn’t quite right.
See? The ones on the left aren’t properly layered.
Ultimately I don’t think it matters, especially once the ribbon is on. I managed to get it right the second time. I’ll know better when I’m making the second house!
More tiny cutting out for the windows and doors. They’re the same on each side, so two doors and four windows total.
Sticking those tiny squares was a fiddly job. I was also very grateful for the thin nozzle of the glue bottle provided!
I also decided to get a bit creative with the doors.
Back in the May box there was a little bottle of this stuff called Glossy Accents. This is a kind of gel that dries to a sheen and is slightly raised. I thought it might be interesting to add this to the door panels.
Once the doors and windows were completed, the sides of the house shapes were decorated.
The candy shapes in orange ink looked really good against the card, and then the black Trick or Treat to finish.
Then the two halves of the house shape needed to be stuck together. I could have used the PVA or double sided tape, but instead I wanted them to be extra secure.
Yes, I got out my glue gun! I love it.
Doesn’t this look like an owl?
Completing the house was easy. The scored lines were folded, and then in was just a matter of tucking them all in and sticking down the flaps..
I used my glue gun for this part too, especially because it dries fast. I didn’t have to worry about the pieces coming unstuck after a little while.
Then the little slits at the top were tied together with the lovely Halloween ribbon.
Looks pretty good, huh?
There are folding templates for two houses, so I might try to change up the design a little bit for the second one.
I know it’s technically supposed to be for putting sweets in, but I think I’m going to use it for a Halloween decoration instead. It’s far too nice to risk it getting torn by eager little hands looking for treats!
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These designs were such fun to make!
I did make a couple of mistakes, which has happened before, but fortunately there was no actual disaster. The instructions themselves are perfectly clear as always, any mistakes are always entirely my responsibility.
The designs themselves look terrific. I especially like the door card, which is charming.
Including a little haunted house treatbox was inspired, especially as it can be used for actual treats, or simply incorporated into your Halloween decor.
There’s plenty of inspiration here for spooky creativity.
Happy Halloween!
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My Greeting Box is a monthly package of card making supplies delivered straight to your door. Keep an eye out on our website and social media for sneak peeks about the theme and card designs! Every month you will get three card designs to recreate and materials to make even more cards!
All this for only £22 a month! And that’s not all… use the code FIRST25 at checkout for a 25% off your first box!
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