Fright Night for Paper Players #315

Hi Everyone.

It's the fabulous Claire's turn to host our Paper Players challenge this week and she has a theme challenge for us:

 

I have very few Halloween stamps, but I love the one that I have and was thrilled that Claire's challenge gave me a chance to get it out and inked up:-)  The challenge across at AAAcards gave me the idea of using some masking on my card:

 

 

I began cutting a piece of Mask-It to 5 1/2" by 4 1/4" and laying down a circle die so that I could mask off the moon.  I used  my distress inks to create a night sky blending blues, purples and black to get the effect that I wanted.    Once the colors were the way I wanted them, I removed the circle mask and applied the rest of the mask over the area that I had been blending.  Once I had placed the mask of the area that I had just used to create the night sky, that left the area that had been preserved for me to use my yellow distress inks to create the moon.   To finish off the sky, I added flicks of water over the distress inks.

 

Once the sky and moon were the way I wanted them, I inked up my owl stamp and stamped him directly over the moon and sky.  I colored him with Copic markers, but wanted him to have a yellow glow behind his tail - and his eyes :-)   I added some shimmer gel pen to his eyes to make them shimmer and shine. I then made sure all the ink was really dry and inked up my sentiment with versafine black ink and some clear embossing powder.  All that was left to do was to adhere my card to a base and it was ready to put in the post.

 

Here's my card:

 

I hope you will join our challenge this week and play along.  I know the team at AAA would like it if you would join their challenge, too. :-)  If you are looking for some Halloween inspiration, you have to look no further than the cards from our fabulous design team:

 

• Claire
• Joanne
• Leanne
• Laurie
• Nance 
• Sandy
• Linda
• Hannelie
• Colleen

On a personal note:

A couple of my fabulous followers reminded me that I had not shared the name of the bird that appeared on my blog a couple of weeks ago.  Here's another shot of this mystery bird.

HJ was the closest when she said she thought it was a woodpecker.  So, HJ, you win my blog candy for being the closest.  Please can you send me your snail mail address to my email (you can find the link on the side :-) ) and I will send off your blog candy!

So, now that we know he/she is a woodpecker - want to see what the parents look like?  Yeah..... of course you do :-)

Seriously... isn't that one amazing looking bird?  The juveniles blend into the environment really well.  BUT... they are incredibly noisy and make sure the entire woodland/wetland knows that they have arrived to eat.  You can read more about the RedHeaded at this link.  You can also check out some recordings of the sounds that they make, too. 

Redheaded's are in such severe decline that Audubon set up a special recovery program working with various groups across Minnesota.  So, you can imagine how thrilled we were that we managed to keep this breeding pair in our neck of the woods throughout the whole of summer.  We were even more thrilled when we realized that they had managed to bring not one - but at least two - juveniles to full size.  They have migrated now, but the juveniles were just starting to get their red head coloring and darker feathers when we last saw them.  We really hope that they will come back next year and make their home with us again.

I'll be back with another card tomorrow.  In the meantime, warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight - and extra fairy dust for Tinkerbell.

Hugs

Jaydee

Card recipe:

• Stamp:  Fright Night - Fun Stampers Journey
• Inks:  Tumbled Glass, Chipped Sapphire, Seedless Preserves, Black Soot, Mustard Seed - Tim Holtz
• Cardstock:  Neenah Solar White

Comments

[Sarah]

oooh! That owl certainly gives a fright Jaydee - such piercing eyes but a perfect card and great theme too. Love your inky blended BG and superb masking. Thanks so much for playing along with us at AAA Cards this week. Sarah

[linda callahan]

That night sky with the shining moon is fabulous! Gorgeous Halloween card!

[Claire Broadwater]

Jaydee, this Halloween card is amazing!!!!!!! I love the night sky and moon you created. It is so realistic! That owl is perfect for any fright night and his glowing eyes add even more effect! Thank you for making my challenge shine, My Friend! XX

[Leslie Miller]

I love your beautiful owl in the moonlight with the fabulous deep night background you made. The bold sentiment stands out great in black. I've collected a few Halloween stamps over the many years I've been stamping, but there's not much opportunity to use them, tsk tsk. You sound like a woman after my own heart with the birds and woodlands. I'm out feeding and watching the birds everyday. I was lucky enough to retire about a year ago and it's been wonderful! Thank you for sharing your beautiful woodpeckers along with your card.

[sandym]

What a cool card, Jaydee. If the masking and coloring weren't enough, your sponged and splattered background really impresses me. I am not good at all at sponging even though I have those special Tim Holtz inks and blenders. Wish we could get together for a lesson :)

[Dale]

Ooops, forgot to add how I LOVE your card. I am an owl person!

[Dale]

I checked out the woodpecker site. I knew we had woodpeckers out in our trees, but now a sound I always wondered about has been designated to them! Thanks!

[HJ]

Oh my goodness, I couldn't believe it when I saw that I had won the blog candy! It's my lucky Monday!! Thanks so much. Your card is great with the masking and the beautiful night sky. In reading the comments, it is nice to see that a fellow Delawarean, LeAnne, is also a fan of your blog. Thanks again. Have a wonderful day!

[Nancy Baxter]

I have always loved that owl. Something about him is so endearing. You are fortunate to have the red-headed woodpeckers! They are not indigenous here in the Ohio River Valley. In our 25 years in our home, we had a male visit us once, but he scared all my other birds away while he was here. He stayed for the day and we have never seen him again. Maybe he is visiting you!
Hugs to you and Lou! Nancy B

[Colleen]

What a great looing Halloween card. The owl looks like it's staring right through a person. Back ground looks awesome. Great job.
Congratulations HJ on the win.
Have a wonderful day and hopefully a tress free week.

[Colleen Begley]

Awesome job on the masking, Jaydee! Awesome looking night sky too. Perfect Halloween card.

[Nance Leedy]

Jaydee, your night sky is fabulous! Such depth of color and distinct yellow moon. Love this owl stamp too--he's perfect! (Hugs)

[LeAnne]

Awesome spooky card....love that owl! But the woodpeckers steal the show! There were red-headeds spotted in Delaware, just south of here, so I know they're around, but they're not in my wood! Lucky you!

[laurie]

That background is so awesome!SPOOKY! I love it!