A Dark and Spooky Card

The first thing that we will do is prepare our paper. We need an A2 base in black cardstock. So, to make the base cut an 8-1/2″ x 11″ piece of cardstock in the middle at the 5-1/2″ mark on the long side. Then take one of those pieces and place on a paper scoring board and score in the middle on the long edge at 4-1/4″. Now, you have a base!

For the other cuts you’ll need:

• Cardstock – Black, cut to 5-1/4″ x 4″
• Cardstock – Yellow, cut to 5-1/2″ x 4-1/4″

Stamp the Budding Tree on a piece of Masking Magic and fussy cut.

Create a palette of gouache with brown, black, blue, white, orange, yellow and rose.

Tape down the black cardstock using purple tape. Mount the Budding Tree stamp and brush with brown gouache and stamp about 2 inches up from the bottom of the panel and a bit off on the left. Let dry and apply mask.

Place the hillside stencil toward the top of the tree with the plastic of the stencil covering the top of the card and keep in place with painter’s tape. Lightly paint everything black all over the mask.

Using a stencil with a straight line, create a horizon line a bit down from the hillside stencil. The section right below the horizon line will be a river, the bit above the line to the hillside stencil will be a black hill in the background.

Using another hillside stencil, rotate it until you like it. The part above this stencil will be the river. Using a variety of blue, white, and black gouache paint across the area between the stencils with a flat brush held upright.

Now, remove the stencils (not the tree mask!). Move the purple tape to the bottom of the card. Find the stencil that matches the one you used at the top of the card and fit it so that it covers the black hill, leaving the top of the card open. Tape the stencil in place with painter’s tape.

Paint the top of the card in various night sky colors – orange, yellow, rose, and black in an arch. Let it dry and then remove the stencil and the tree mask.

Brush black gouache onto the unmounted trees and stamp above the hill toward the right. Brush black ink on the Mini Grass and stamp along the lower bank of the river. Do the same for the Tiny Spider Web, stamping it in the tree and the Tiny Skull, stamping it at the base of the tree. Stamp the Mini Landing Bird in black in the top left of the card. 

Glue the stamped panel to the yellow cardstock and then glue that to the base.

For the envelope, cut a piece of black cardstock to 8 inches by 8 inches. Place the Scor-Envi to the Scor-Pal and follow the instructions on the Scor-Envi.