Stamper's Anonymous Halloween 2021 - Rest In Peace Skull with Moth Study and Flowers Card

Hello all, and welcome to another series of Halloween makes, but this time for Tim Holtz and Stamper's Anonymous. The new stamp release is wonderful and such fun to use for the upcoming season. This card is made with the Rest In Peace and Moth Study Sets. I was going for a Day of the Dead meets tattoo look. I really love how this card came out. Enjoy.

 

Cut a Kraft Heavystock card base to 4 x 9.25 inches when folded. Cut Watercolor Paper with a Deckle Trimmer to 3.75 x 9 inches. Set card base aside for now.

 

Using a large Stamp Platform, place Watercolor Paper inside and fit skull from Rest In Peace in the very center of the paper, and close lid to secure the stamp. Stamp the skull using Antique Linen Distress Ink. Remove the Watercolor and add a sticky note or blank paper and stamp another skull onto this to use for a mask. No need to ink it again, as this stamping will clean the stamp as well. This light stamping on the Watercolor is so you know where it will be for now to help with the rest of the stamping. Important: You need to keep the skull in place on this Platform for more stampings later, so you will need another Platform for the rest of the stamping. Cut out the extra skull for the mask. 

 

 

Ink around the skull on the Watercolor Paper being heavier on the edges, using Antique Linen Distress and an Ink Blending Tool. It's okay if you get it on the edges of the skull as that adds to the aged look. Lightly mist or flick water on the paper. Blot off with a paper towel and let dry.

 

 

Place the skull mask over the skull on the Watercolor. Add the 'Casket Company' and 'Undertaker' stamps to a stamping block, centered, large then small. Ink the stamp with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink, and starting at the top of the Watercolor Paper, stamp the image repeatedly in a column until you run out of paper, lightly stamping. 

 

Place the Watercolor into another Stamp Platform, and add a small moth from Moth Study to top right of the panel so it is hanging off slightly. Secure it by closing the lid and stamp the moth with Black Soot Archival. Since this is Watercolor Paper, I find repeatedly stamping the image gives a nice and crisp look, which makes a Platform essential. Turn the panel upside down and stamp the moth again with Black Soot. Remove the Watercolor, and add a small piece or scrap of Watercolor Paper and stamp the moth again in Black Soot. Remove that and add a clean scrap of paper or sticky note and stamp the moth again without reinking the stamp as this cleans it as well, and this will be a mask. Cut out the Watercolor moth and set it aside for now. Cut out the moth for masking. You are finished with the moth stamp.

 

 

Add the Watercolor card back in this Platform, and secure one of the Floral Outlines stamps to the top right of the card front so that some of the image hangs off and some leaves will be on the top of the skull. Add the moth mask over the moth that the stamp will go over, and stamp the flowers in Vintage Photo Archival, stamping a few times for a nice crisp look. Turn the panel upside down, place the moth mask over the moth as well as the skull mask over the skull. Stamp the flowers repeatedly with the Vintage Photo Archival. Remove the masks and panel and without reinking stamp the flowers onto a sticky note or clean paper to clean and make a mask. Cut around only the bottom part of the flowers and leaves that match the ones on the skull, for a little less work to make this mask. You are finished with the flower stamp. 

 

 Place the Watercolor in the larger Platform with the skull stamp in it. Place the flower mask over the flowers that are on the skull and match it up. Stamp the skull several times in Hickory Smoke Archival for a nice clean look, and on the last stamping, remove the panel and quickly pour Clear Embossing Powder over it, remove excess and heat emboss the skull. Place the panel back inside the Platform, mask the flowers again, ADD the 'identification' stamp below the skull, and this time rub Black Soot Archival over the stamp (for a lighter stamping) and then stamp the skull again. Since the skull is already embossed with Hickory Smoke, the Black Soot over this makes for a nice shadow and 3D look, and since this is Archival (which is permanent) the ink will stay with no further heat embossing. Remove the mask, and now you are finished with the skull stamp. Stamp the 'identification' image again with Black Soot just to make it a little more intense. You are now finished with all the stamping. 

 

 

Using the Silicon Mat on the Glass Mat as a palette, use Distress Crayons and a Detail Water Brush to color in the flowers, leaves, and skull. I found it was easier to start with leaves then flowers to help identify everything as there is lots to see and it can be confusing to make out. I used Wild Honey, Crackling Campfire, Carved Pumpkin, and Mustard Seed Crayons on the flowers, Twisted Citron and Rustic Wilderness on the leaves, and Hickory Smoke, Antique Linen, and Picket Fence on the skull. Apply Salvaged Patina Distress Ink straight from the pad on the mat and color in the two moths on the card front, as well as the loose one cut from Watercolor Paper. 

 

 

Ink the edges of the panel with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and an Ink Blending Tool. Use a white gel pen to add dot to the black spots on the moth's wings (all three). Take Flickering Candle Distress Mica Stain, shake it up, and pour a tiny bit out onto the mat. Pick this up with a detail paint brush and brush this inside the petals of the flowers to highlight them. Do the same to the leaves with Bubbling Cauldron Mica Stain. 

 

 

Using the Layering Stencil with the smallest Harlequin pattern, lay the stencil over the panel where there is an open space on the sides of the panel, and ink over one diamond at a time with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and an Ink Blending Tool. You will probably only have 3 open spots to add the diamond to on each side of the panel. Add a diamond between the eyes on the skull as well. Using the paint brush and Flickering Candle again, paint over each diamond so they shimmer. Shake up the Empty Tomb Mica Stain, and paint it over the body of the moths. Take the extra moth, and fold the wings in, and apply Collage Medium to the back of the body and antenna areas and adhere over the left eye on the skull. Add two sided tape to the back of the panel and adhere to the card base front. Ink the edges of the card with Brushed Corduroy. 

 

Supplies: 

(Paper Trimmer, Deckle Trimmer, Stamp Platforms, Sticky Note or Paper for Masking, Scissors, Ink Blending Tool, Water Mister, Stamping Block, Heat Tool, Glass Mat, Detail Water Brush, Detail Paintbrush, Two Sided Tape) 

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Heavystock: Kraft 

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Paper

-Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set: Rest In Peace, Moth Study, Floral Outlines 

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink: Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, Salvaged Patina 

-Ranger Tim Holtz Archival Ink: Black Soot, Vintage Photo, Hickory Smoke 

-Ranger Embossing Powder: Clear 

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayons: Wild Honey, Crackling Campfire, Carved Pumpkin, Mustard Seed, Twisted Citron, Rustic Wilderness, Hickory Smoke, Antique Linen, Picket Fence 

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Mica Stain: Flickering Candle, Bubbling Cauldron, Empty Tomb

-Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz Layering Stencil: Shifter Multi Harlequin (smallest pattern) 

-Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium: Matte 

-White Gel Pen

 

I'll be showing you lots of Halloween makes for the next several weeks between Stamper's Anonymous and Sizzix, so stay turned.I hope your hands get creatively dirty soon!