A Vampire You Could Love!

If you are looking for my Black & White Halloween Card click HERE

When I saw this adorable little vampire die I scooped him up SO fast.  While I completely enjoy all of Halloween's traditional trappings -- the blood, goodies, being terrified out of your wits, the neighbor who seemed so normal and suddenly wants to eat your brains, and screaming at the girl to NOT go down the stairs, this little guy was just so cute; he seemed like a reluctant vampire.  He may appear complicated, but he was easy to piece together.  Here he is, Vlad the Vampire:

What I Used to Make my Card:
White Card Base
Additional Orange, Purple, Vanilla, Black, Grey and Red Card
Frantic Stamper Vampire Die, #FRA-DIE-09944
Tutti Designs Stitched Nesting Rectangles, #TUTTI-217
Elizabeth Craft Designs, Words 3, Happy Holidays, #1467
Patterned Paper from American Crafts BOOtiful Nights 6" x 6" pad, {retired, but available in many places, and there is a Digital Pack you can get here}
Red Gems {stash}

The longest part of making this card was cutting all the different colors of paper

Pieces of Vlad

to piece together little Vlad.  I used one full cut of the entire vampire out of vanilla card, then glued all the pieces to that.  I used vanilla Vlad as a template.  I purposely made him vanilla so that the white of his shirt would show up and it turns out I was successful with cutting and piecing  every part of him except his shirt.  I tried quiet a few times to get that little triangle to fit where it belonged but I just couldn't coax it.  Perhaps if I had placed his shirt first, instead of last, it would have worked better.   I ended up coloring the shirt a very light beige and when you look at him, you can tell he has a shirt on and isn't trying to be a gigolo for Halloween.  I was actually nervous about trying to use this die; I was convinced I wasn't going to be able to get it right and poor Vlad would have a crooked suit or the wrong shoes on his feet.  Finally, one day I just went for it and I'm glad I did.  He looks wonderful to me.  

For the card background, I used the stitched rectangle die to give it some interest.  I didn't want to make a scene or do anything to take the spotlight off

His Selfie

of Vlad so I chose the plaid paper and the orange paper.  On the orange paper, I used a light purple card for the Happy Halloween words.  I put the background panels on first, then stuck good ole Vlad at an angle; he looks like he is introducing himself along with the sentiment.  He's a good spokesperson, but those fangs. . .   Anyway, the card was done quicker than I expected and I had to fight off the urge to put some sparkle on it - then I saw his eyes {which were literally holes, the plaid paper was peeking through} and I knew I had the best thing for a wanna-be-spooky vampire.  I adhered the red gems to his eyes and, while they aren't as dark as I would have liked, he's grateful he has eyes.

I hope you find him adorable as well and maybe he can give you a giggle.  This

Another Peek

time of year ushers in the stress of all the upcoming festivities and I know that I can forget just the joy of crafting.  I stress myself out about the cards I make.  My mind goes like this: are they good enough?  ...but that one has bled a bit out of line! ...did I make NanaConnie a nice enough card?  ...what on earth do I do for my mother?  On and on and on.  Then I can't sleep and that's it - everything is a horrible chaos.  So, this year, let's try to find the joy of crafting.  I hope you can find yours.  Fondly, Christi

I am entering my Vampire card in the following challenges:
Scrapy Land - 100th Challenge, Anything Goes w/ a Die Brand they Sell
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Halloween/Spooky
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Halloween/Spooky
Cut it Up - #159, CASE a card & Use Die cuts (The card I CASED is on the Frantic Stamper site; it was the card that inspired me to get the die - see 
below}
Moving Along with the Times - M, #83, Halloween
My Time to Craft - #382, Halloween
The Fairy & The Unicorn -M, Halloween/Use a Mythical Creature
Emerald Creek Dares - All the Things in the Night, #ECOCT2018
Fussy and Fancy - #223, Things with Wings
Crop Stop Linky Party - #44, Anything Goes with Plaid

Cut it Up CASED Card

This is a Design Team Project for Frantic Stamper - if you go to this link and scroll down, you'll see the examples that the DT used for this die