Bats, Barbed Wire Branches and Brushstroke Backgrounds By Judi Kauffman for The Queen’s Ink

I’m totally batty over Andy Skinner’s stamps! The new set called Handle With Care includes the bat and branch I used for my cards, along with ‘Fragile Handle With Care’ and a spooky, drippy heart that I’ll be featuring in upcoming projects. (I love Halloween…a holiday that’s all about costumes and candy and card making is right up my alley.)

The cards couldn’t be easier. They incorporate the ‘Brushstroke Backgrounds’ I’ve done many times on this blog:

1. Use a wide, stiff, almost-dry brush to randomly add swooshes of teal and dark gray/purple acrylic paint onto 4” x 5.25” rectangles cut from dark red cardstock. Allow to dry. Option: Start with a 12 x 12 or 8.5 x 11 sheet of cardstock and cut into pieces after painting. One 8.5 x 11 sheet yields four card fronts.

2.  Using black slow-drying (pigment) ink, stamp a bat at an angle on each rectangle, taking advantages of the random paint strokes to help position the bat. Also stamp two or more branches. Heat-emboss using clear detail embossing powder.

3.  Adhere each rectangle to an A2 side- or top-fold card base (ombre or patterned cardstock).

SUPPLIES

• Handle With Care cling foam stamps by Andy Skinner (Stampendous)
• Black pigment ink
• Acrylic blocks for temporarily mounting stamps
• Deep red cardstock
• Patterned cardstock
• Teal and dark gray/purple acrylic paints
• Wide stiff paintbrush
• Double-sided adhesive tape