Monday, September 8, 2008

Paper Garden Projects' Stamp Kit release! (Dancing Skeleton Stick Puppet Theatre)

skeleton puppet theatre front

Ouuu! I'm so excited to share the release of two Paper Garden Projects Cooridinated Stamp Kits with you! I played with The "Happy Halloweenie!" kit and Tracy made some stunning creations with the Best Witches Kit. You can check out her sweet projects here.

I must admit that I never knew kits could be such a blast! It's not hard to rave about this stuff:

The Stamps: (I have met the love of my life- stamp-wise, LOL) Seriously though, these stamps are magic. They have the stampability of rubber and the visibility of acrylic 'cause Cathy has mounted the great red rubber eat cake graphics stamps to perfection. They're on EZ mount & they're registered so you can see through an acrylic block for exact placement. The "Happy Halloweenie!" kit comes with 3 adorable Halloween characters & a cute sentiment (used them all here.) [Now I just need to learn how to mount every stamp I own this way, LOL]

The patterned paper is ultra cute & embossed(!) & there are colours in it to go with anyone's favourites. The textured Bazzil cardstock is wicked & the announcement cream cardstock stamps up scarily nice.

Embellishments too... bling baby! Glittery brads and gems and dewdrops and buttons and 2 kinds of May Arts ribbon even. :O)

So, what did I do with all these treats? I wanted to challenge myself to make 13 projects with the kit. This first project was a scream; I felt like a kid makin' it. It's a card & a puppet theatre. Kids can set it up at the edge of a table or counter top & play with the characters. :O) Of course, they can even help make it (unless you want all of the fun for yourself, heehee.) Here's how-to...


Supplies:

These Supplies all come in the Paper Garden Projects "Happy Halloweenie!" kit:

Stamps:

1) Mr. Bones the Dancing Skeleton 2) Witch Hazel & Blackie Fly 3) Peter Pumpkin 4) "Happy Halloweenie!" sentiment

Cardstock:

--1 piece of Bazzil Parakeet textured cardstock
--White cardstock (7.5 inches by 3 inches) to stamp skeletons on
--Black textured cardstock (8.5 by 2 inches to make the top of the stage)
--Black textured cardstock (3.5 by 7 and 5/8 inches to make scalloped mat)
--Black textured cardstock (5 2/8 inches by 8 and 2/8 inches to make the large mat)
--Black textured cardstock (7.5 inches or more by 3.5 inches to make the inside pocket)
--Dotted strip from the Eat, Drink & be Scary patterned paper (for pocket)
--Pixie Sticks (Striped & dotted) double-sided cardstock pieces: (Striped: 8 and 1/8 by 3 inches; Dotted: 8 and 1/8 by 2 and 1/8 inches )
-- Circles of patterned paper (1 1'4 inch of Yellow textured cardstock, 1 inch of Wicked Whimsy patterned paper & 1 3/8 inch of Eat, Drink & be Scary paper)

Embellishments:

--Sheer dotted Black Swiss ribbon (for the stage curtains)
--Dew Droplets --Sugared brads

Items from your supplies/Paper Garden Projects:

You can download the TEMPLATE for stage top decoration here


Optional Extras:

--Ribbon: The kit comes with enough ribbon, but there's Sheer dotted Black swiss ribbon
available by the yard too.
--Dewdroplets


Instructions:

The Theatre:


Step 1. Fold piece of Parakeet textured cardstock in half & edge with a black marker.

Step 2. Print template for the stage top decoration, trace it in white pencil crayon onto black cardstock, cut and attach it. Embellish if you like with a Sakura Star dust Gelly Roll Pen


Step 3.
Cut pieces of patterned paper & black mat:

Pixie Sticks (Striped & dotted) double-sided cardstock pieces: (Striped: 8 and 1/8 by 3 inches; Dotted: 8 and 1/8 by 2 and 1/8 inches )

Mat them onto a piece of black cardstock (5 2/8 inches by 8 and 2/8 inches)

Step 4. Add it to the blue card on top of the stage top decoration.

Step 5. Add curtains:

Cut 3 pieces of the black dotted ribbon: One 8 2/8 inches long for the top, 2 4 1/2 inches long for the sides. Stick the long piece of ribbon on with three small pieces of Oh so sticky tape (one on either end and one in the middle.) Stick the two sides on with a small piece each (*at the top only, so they flutter) :o)


Pierce the paper to stitch over it to gather the middle


embellish the sides, if you like.



Step 6.
Stamp the skeletons:

Stamp 3 Mr. Bones the Dancing Skeleton images in a row on the White cardstock (7.5 inches by 3 inches.) The great thing about these stamps is that they are on EZ mount and they are even registered(!) so you can see exactly where you are stamping them since you can see through an acrylic block. (I know I mentioned that already, but I'm so excitipated, lol)


Step 7. Colour in some shadows on the skeletons & glitter them with a Sakura Star dust Gelly Roll Pen. Distress with a Colour duster brush & inks. I've used these colours green, orange, aqua to colour & distress. Shadows were added under the Skeletons' feet using a little gray ink on a watercolour brush



Step 8. Scallop the Black textured cardstock (3.5 by 7 and 5/8 inches to make scalloped mat.) Add the sugared brads that come in the kit to the scallops (piercing holes first makes that easy.)



Step 9. Adhere the skeletons image to the black mat & stick onto the "stage" Add lights by drawing lines from the sugared brads onto the white cardstock.




Step 10. Adhere the Dew Droplets with Crystal Lacquer



Step 11. Punch the circles of patterned paper for the sentiment: (1 1'4 inch of Yellow textured cardstock, 1 inch of Wicked Whimsy patterned paper & 1 3/8 inch of Eat, Drink & be Scary paper) Edge them in black marker & adhere them to each other.

Step 12. Emboss the "Happy Halloweenie!" sentiment (White ink & White embossing powder) & cut it out. Layer onto the circles and doodle on it with the Sakura Star dust Gelly Roll Pen.

And now you have a stage & performing skeletons. :o) You can leave it as is or add a pocket & some stick puppets...


The pocket:



Step 1.
Cut & adhere the pocket:

Cut black textured cardstock 7.5 inches or more by 3.5 inches to make the inside pocket)
Score to decorate if you like. Adhere it to the inside of the card at the bottom.
Step 2. Embellish: Add the dotted strip from the Eat, Drink & be Scary patterned paper. Now you have a pocket for stick puppets:




The Puppets:

This is my favourite part because these stamps are so CUTE!


Step 1. Paint some popsicle sticks black (or ink them)



Step 2. Colour & cut out some images (I used markers & glittered them with a Sakura Star dust Gelly Roll Pen)



Step 3. Adhere the puppets to the popsicle sticks:
  • One trick: be sure you place the characters low enough on the stick so that they will fit in the pocket and the card will close (under 4 1/2 inches high in total is ideal.)
  • Use Crystal Lacquer on the backs of the puppets to adhere. Before adhering, give it about 20 seconds to set a little & stick them on. (If you want to make the fronts glossy & sturdy, you can coat them in the Crystal Lacquer. When it dries they'll be all glassy.)



Step 4.
Put the stick puppets in the pocket!


Thanks so much for sharing in the excitement of my first design team; your enthusiasm makes this 10 times the fun! :O)



P.S. Quick links here:


P.P.S. To Return to the 13 Days of Halloweenie INDEX,
Click HERE :O)


32 comments:

Lorraine said...

Hi Mel these are super cool as always you inspire me, well done.

Paula's ponderings said...

Wow!! Fantastic..what an amazing project. I reckon this could be adapted for all occasions, what you think? Really well done!!

L.A. said...

Spookalicious Goodness!

Sarah said...

This kit company has landed on their feet by acquiring you for their DT!

The amount of work you put into your projects is phenomenal, and you show tremendous generosity in sharing all your processes (not to mention those wonderful lists of resources and links).

And I must say your enthusiasm is infectious, I always end up with a big happy grin after reading one of your posts :)

I think I might make one of these puppet theatres with my son next Saturday - we already have it set aside as an "art day" :)

K Hutchinson said...

No bones about it this project is amazing! Sorry I could not help myself! Seriously this is so so fun!

Anonymous said...

Mel!!! I'm so glad we've met!! :) Your work is creative genius and just soooo inspiring!!

LOVE your project :)

Anonymous said...

Very cute!!!

Sue C said...

Fantastic project! Of course, all of your projects are... Just wanted to give you a heads-up, too - my friend Erin put a tutorial on her blog for mounting rubber onto EZ Mount so it's registered. You can find it here:
http://inkysmiles.blogspot.com/2008/08/where-rubber-hits-errr-acrylic-block.html
Thanks for all the inspiration!

Patty Williams said...

How much fun are these! And how cute!

You are amazing!

CreativeMish said...

Your Halloween projects are so fun! Creativity just oozes out of your!

Melanie said...

what an adorable project!!

Annapurna said...

Gosh these are so cool. I want to buy this kit and make Halloween cards even though I have no idea who I would give them to.

You did a super cute job on making the stage and those happy skeletons dancing. Very funny. Wow!

How cool are those stamps with a way to see what you are stamping.

Kim Etherington said...

So cute and fun! What a riot for everyone! You are damn talented missy!!

mE said...

Holy COw!

This is fabulous! Inspiring!! I must dig out my craft supplies from our construction zone and make something like this :) LOVE IT :)

Glad Susan pointed you my direction and you liked my "rubber mounting tutorial!" Yer gonna be a crazy stamp mounting monkey now! :)

Inky Smiles!
Erin

Barb said...

OMG... this is so freakishly fun! Fantastic project that must have taken forever... great job!

Sheila said...

Totally awesome Mel. I love it.

Crystal Ware said...

This is just too awesome. What a fabulous card.

Erum Tasneem said...

oh wow Mel! That is one FUN-tabulous theatre card!
You put your ALL in each and evry card you make Mel!
Its a good thing for the company..they chose the best there is!
hugs!

Allison Rankin said...

So cool...love the dancing skeletons!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on your design team status!! You're so talented I thought it would only be a mater of time. :-) Way to go lady!!!
What a puny group you have collected here. :-) This is splendid indeed. I wish I had grandchildren to play this with... in time.
Thanks for sharing. This is great.
Beth Greco

Deb Neerman said...

AWEsome! FANtastic! INspiring! Gorgemous!!! You totally rocked this kit ... sheer genius!

I want to crawl into your head and soak up some of your creative juices ... ewww, that sounds kinda gross! HEY! How come when you say stuff like this to me, it sounds healthy ... and fun?!?!

~Hugs, Mugs, & all like that kinda stuph!!

Danni said...

This is an amazing project! I can see why Cathy has you designing for her. Awesome job!

Shirley said...

Its just too cute Mel. You never cease to amaze me with your creativity!

kathleenh said...

Mel, you never cease to amaze me! This project is over the top cute, fun, and unique!

Elaine said...

Totally fun and interactive! That is amazing detail and you executed it just right!

Julie S. said...

Heavens -- this is fabulous! These stamps are so cool -- and I love the way the skeleton looks so happy! Great one for Day or the Dead, even. I would love to use him on all sorts of things... (even on birthday cards ;^)* hehehe

Does she sell these stamps without the whole kit? I just want the stamps! You do a great job showing us all the Possibilities... You GO, Girl!

Tonniece said...

AWESOME is too mild a word for this.
You are too much Mel.
Love, Love, Love this project.
Thanks for shareing it with us.

Happy Tuesday

Heather D. ~ Fresh Brewed Designs said...

These are jsut so so so so so so so so should I add another? i think .. SO CUTE!!!!! Love your stuff always! thanks for sharing.. I have several friend i am sharing this with! Just great!!!!

Kathi said...

This project is totally brilliant!

What a great use of stamps to create something great for the kids!

I love those dancing skeletons.

Joani McDonald said...

OMGoodness! I just love this! Halloween is my favorite holiday, and what you've done is so cool!! I so love those images!
Hugs,
Joani

Anonymous said...

This is soooo cute! Wouldn't every kid love to get this card!?

Swedie

Angie Tieman said...

Wowzers! What a fabulous project!! Love those stamps and puppets you made, toooooo clever!