Right as Rain - Cardmaking and Scrapbooking with Jean Manis

Halloween Cardmaking with Dies I Already Own

Hello! This Halloween card combines Taylored Expressions dies and a spooky tree background stamp. For the buildings, I used Halloween-themed dies, the Ghost Town Border and the Haunted Cutting Plate, creatively cutting them apart rather than using them as intended. The exercise stretched my design skills and encouraged me to revisit supplies in my collection. Often, themed products offer less play value than more versatile ones. For example, the Build-A-House die set I used HERE can be used for a variety of occasions and seasons.

I began my design process by creating a look book of my previous Halloween cards. Having a visual reference gives me a helpful starting point. I search my blog using keywords (for example, “Taylored Expressions Halloween”), then copy each card photo and its URL into a Word document. I include the URL so I can easily refer back to the original post and identify the products I used.

I enjoy the challenge of using what I own and finding new possibilities in supplies already in my collection.

Taylored Expressions Dies: Haunted Cutting Plate, Ghost Town Border, BOO, Little Bits – Ghost

Taylored Expressions Stamps: Bare Trees Background
Taylored Expressions Cardstock: Eggplant, Jelly Donut, Candy Corn, Black Licorice, Poppy Seed, Sweet Potato Pie, Pineapple
My Favorite Things Frame die

Fall Scene Card

Hello! This fall-themed card came together using a variety of die sets from my collection. Most were from Lawn Fawn, along with a fence die from Taylored Expressions. The house, fence, grassy foreground, and falling leaves create a little seasonal vignette that is an ode to fall.

I enjoyed looking through my collection of scene-building dies. They are an important part of my supplies and have great play value. Combining pieces from different sets lets you create new scenes. You do not need to buy anything specifically for the project. I also used the process as a chance to organize my cardstock better and pay attention to which cardstock I enjoy working with most. For me, projects like this are as much about exploring what I already have as they are about making the finished card.

With October here, I’m thinking about creating a mix of Halloween and fall cards.

Lawn Fawn Dies: Build-A-House, Build-A-House Beach Add-On, Build-A-House Spring Add-On, Leafy Tree Backdrop, Stitched Cloud Backdrop; Penny Black 51-657 Wildwood die set (birds); Taylored Expressions Picket Fence Border die; Sunny Studio Stamps Picket Fence Border die set (grass die)

Penny Black | Joyful Fall

Hello! Penny Black’s new Joyful Fall stamp set, released this month, includes four girl images, and I chose one of them for this fall card. It was just the thing for a low-energy, low-bandwidth day. Die cutting often involves lots of decisions and product choices, but with this image, I could sit down, watercolor first, and worry about the card design afterward.

Once the painting was finished, I framed it with a Penny Black die set and added texture with woodgrain cardstock and a stamped knit cable background (now-retired MFT Knitted Sweater background stamp). I stamped the background panel while writing this post. The overall card size is 4 1/2″ square.

Affiliate links are used when available at no extra cost to you.
Penny Black 31-264 Joyful Fall stamp set Scrapbook.com | Simon Says Stamp

Penny Black 52-068 Joyful Fall cutout die Scrapbook.com | Simon Says Stamp
Penny Black 51-816 All in One Hex/Octagon die Scrapbook.com | Simon Says Stamp

Die-cut Autumn Scene

Hello! I created this fall-themed card with a variety of dies from Penny Black and Hello Bluebird. The focal point was cut with the Penny Black 51-275 Winter Lantern die set. The leaves and pumpkins were cut with dies in the Penny Black 51-360 Pumpkins & Leaves and Hello Bluebird Gallery Frame 3 sets. All of the dies, while released years ago, are available on their respective sites. Lanterns feel especially fitting for the autumnal equinox, as we start welcoming the warm glow of candlelight!

I cut the elements from solid cardstock (which gave me a chance to continue organizing my cardstock) and used the Penny Black All-In-One Oval frame to draw the eye to the lanterns.

The “Thinking of You” sentiment (Positivity) has its own coordinating die, which makes placement easy.

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Penny Black | Autumn Boots

Hello! One of my resolutions this year is to craft more seasonally and to watercolor more often. I’m trying to be intentional about both, using the seasons as a reason to reach for stamps and supplies I already own and giving myself more opportunities to practice watercoloring. This fall card brought those two goals together.

Today, I am sharing a fall-themed watercolored card. For this card, I used the Penny Black Autumn Boots stamp (introduced a few years ago). I stamped the image with Archival Watering Can ink and watercolored it with Tombow markers and Distress inks. After the image dried, I used an A2-size die to cut it. Next, I stamped the image onto masking paper, fussy-cut the masking paper, and covered the image with the mask before adding ink for the ground and sky. The detailed design made the masking more challenging than I expected, and the background was only partly successful. To complete the sky, I added ink with my paintbrush.

The process reminded me that I should first watercolor the background before I watercolor the image.

For the sentiment, I used a newer Penny Black stamp set with a coordinating die, which made adding the sentiment stress-free.

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