Halloween Shaker Card with Sir Skeleton Die Set

Hello, cardmaking friends! It’s Mona Tóth here, and I’m so happy to be back on the Spellbinders blog with another detailed step-by-step tutorial.

Today, I’m creating a playful Halloween shaker card using the adorable Sir Skeleton Die set, a Scrapbook.com exclusive with Simon Hurley’s Halloween Hugs collection. I also mixed in pieces from the Frank Die set, the Wickedly Sweet Die set, and the Spooky Sentiments Press + Foil + Die Set.

I wanted to make this skeleton cute with girly things, like the jack o’ lantern bag, some pink, bling, and a rose gold touch. There are quite a few small die-cut pieces in this project, but we will build everything step by step. Let’s start creating!

DIE CUT THE SIR SKELETON PIECES

1. Select the dies needed to create Sir Skeleton, including the skull, bones, hands, feet, and bow tie.
2. Place the skeleton die parts onto Alabaster ColorWheel Cardstock and Raven ColorWheel Cardstock.
3. Place the bow die onto Tutu ColorWheel Cardstock.

4. Secure the dies with Best Ever Craft Tape.
5. Create the die-cutting sandwich for the Platinum SIX Die Cutting Machine. Place the plates in this order from bottom to top: Platform A, Platform B, Cutting Plate C, cardstock with the dies, and the second Cutting Plate C.

6. Run it through the Die-cut machine.

DIE CUT THE OTHER ELEMENTS

1. Select the dies from the Frank Die set and place them onto Alabaster ColorWheel Cardstock, Tutu ColorWheel Cardstock, Raven ColorWheel Cardstock.
2. Also place some elements onto Matte Metallic cardstock from the Rose Gold Assortment Treasured Cardstock Pack.
3. Place the dies onto the cardstock colors with the cutting edge facing the cardstock.

4. Secure the dies with Best Ever Craft Tape and create the die-cutting sandwich for the Platinum SIX Die Cutting Machine. Place the plates in this order from bottom to top: Platform A, Platform B, Cutting Plate C, cardstocks with the dies, and the second Cutting Plate C.
5. Run it through the Die-cut machine.

6. Select the elements from the Wickedly Sweet Die set and place them onto Matte Metallic cardstock from the Rose Gold Assortment Treasured Cardstock Pack for the bow, and Raven ColorWheel Cardstock for the banner.
7. Also repeat the bow tie die-cutting with Tutu ColorWheel Cardstock

TIP: Here you can see all the small die-cut pieces you will need.

CREATE THE SHAKER CARD FRONT

1. Select the 4.25 x 5.50 in. Scalloped Rim from Make a Wish Arch Labels Etched Dies for an arch-shaped card front.

2. Die-cut two pieces from Brushed Black Cardstock and one from Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock.

3. Use the tombstone die from the Frank die set to create an opening.

TIP: Use the banner below to see where you want to position it.

4. Secure the die with the Best Ever Craft Tape and create the die-cutting sandwich.

5. Remove the die-cut piece to reveal the shaker opening.

ADD THE ACETATE WINDOW

1. Turn the card panel over.
2. Place double-sided adhesive around the opening.

3. Remove the parchment backing paper from the adhesive. With the Reverse Tweezers, the process is easy.
4. Place a piece of clear acetate from Clear Acetate Sheets over the opening and press it down firmly.

BUILD THE SHAKER PART

1. Add White Foam Adhesive Micro Strips around the edge of the acetate window.
2. Make sure the strips meet closely so the shaker pieces cannot escape.

3. Add additional White Foam Adhesive Micro Strips around the outer part of the card front.

4. Remove the parchment paper from the adhesive. Once again, the tweezers help a lot here as well.

5. Place Large White Foam Adhesive Squares onto the card front. Make sure not to leave too large gaps between the adhesives. This will help the card to be sturdier.

6. Fold a longer piece of Best Ever Craft Tape so the sticky side faces outward.

7. Attach the folded tape to the inside of the MISTI door.

8. Place the other black card front inside the MISTI stamping platform. Make sure to position it to the lower right corner.
   TIP: This will become the back of the shaker card. Close the MISTI and the card front will be attached to the MISTI door. This is one of my favorite tricks for aligning shaker cards accurately.

9. Place the black card front with the adhesives inside the MISTI stamping platform.

10. Apply anti-static powder inside the shaker well.

11. Add your chosen sequin mix into the acetate opening.

12. Remove the backing papers from the foam adhesives.
13. Make sure to position the shaker card to the lower right corner of the MISTI as the previous card panel.

14. Close the MISTI door to adhere the two black card fronts together.

15. Press the MISTI firmly but not too strongly.

16. Open the MISTI to reveal the precisely adhered shaker card.

At this point, your card base is almost ready! The colorful sequins look great and create a nice contrast with the black card front.

CREATE THE FOLDED CARD BASE

1. Place the white arch-shaped die-cut on a scoring board.
2. Score a straight line close to the top of the panel with a bone folder. I scored it at one inch.

3. Apply Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue to the narrow section above the scored line.

4. Turn over the black shaker part and attach the white panel on it.

5. Because liquid glue stays movable for a short time, adjust the edges until the front and back panels line up neatly.

HOT FOIL THE SENTIMENTS

1. Turn on the Glimmer Hot Foil System and wait until the ready light turns green.
2. Place the Spooky Sentiments Press + Foil + Die Set onto the heated platform.

3. Press the timer button and wait until the timer light turns solid green.
4. Place the Satin Rose Gold Foil from Glimmer Hot Foil 4 Rolls over the plate with the shiny side facing down.

5. Add Raven cardstock over the foil.

6. Add the Glimmer Spacer Pad and Thin Shim. I also added an extra white cardstock between them for a better result. The correct placing order from the bottom is: Thin Shim, extra white cardstock, and the Spacer Pad on the top.

7. Remove the platform from the base and slowly run it through the Platinum SIX Die Cutting Machine.

8. Carefully peel away the foil to reveal the sentiments.

TIP: The foiling on my panel was not completely smooth, because I ran it through my die-cut machine very fast. If you want a smooth finish, run the glimmer sandwich slowly through your die-cut machine. I decided to keep it, because the distressed finish works beautifully with the Halloween theme and gives the sentiments even more character.

DIE CUT ALL THE SENTIMENTS AT ONCE

One of the best things about Spooky Sentiments Press and Die set is that you can die-cut all the sentiments at the same time.

1. Place the coordinating die over the hot-foiled sentiments.
2. Secure it with Best Ever Craft Tape.

3. Create the die-cutting sandwich for the Platinum SIX Die Cutting Machine. Place the plates in this order from bottom to top: Platform A, Platform B, Cutting Plate C, cardstocks with the dies, and the second Cutting Plate C.

4. Run it through the Die-cut machine.
5. Remove all the individual sentiments and set them aside.

Now you have plenty of beautiful sentiments ready for future Halloween projects as well.

ASSEMBLE THE SKELETON

TIP: Before gluing the skeleton directly onto the card, place a clear acetate sheet over the card front. The acetate allows you to style and glue your die-cuts in a wished shape without getting liquid glue on the finished card.

Fix the acetate with craft tape.

Because Sir Skeleton will be sitting next to the grave, begin building the character from the legs upward. This makes it easier to follow the natural position of the body.

1. Position the legs on the acetate sheet and add liquid glue to them.

2. Attach the hip and spine to the legs.

3. Adhere the ribs.

4. Attach the first arm in two steps. Position it so the hand will be over the shaker window.

5. Add liquid glue to the skull eyes.

6. Attach the black circles to the skull to have “eyes”.

7. Add liquid glue to the top of the spine and place the skull there.

8. Attach first the upper part then the lower part of the second arm.

ADD THE OTHER ELEMENTS

Now that the skeleton is finished, it's time to place the other girly and spooky elements.

1. Add liquid glue to the back of the pink pumpkin.
2. Attach the black back side to the pumpkin.

3. Add liquid glue to the lower part of the ribs.

4. Position the pumpkin so it will be under the skeleton's arm like a purse.

5. Place the handle over the arm to turn the pumpkin into a cute Halloween bag.

6. Turn over the small skull and add liquid glue to it.

7. The small black piece is originally from the large skull’s nose, but it is also matches the small skull. Adhere on the small skull to have a nicely highlighted skull.

8. Add liquid glue to the small metallic piece and place the small skull on it to have a layered skull.

9. Adhere the finished skull to the oval metallic piece which is gonna be the grave sign.

10. Adhere the cute, tiny bow tie to it.

11. Now that the smaller details are ready, remove the craft tape and the acetate.

12. Add White Foam Adhesive Small Squares to the back of the grave sign.

13. Place it over the shaker part.

14. Add small and micro foam squares to the back of the skeleton.

15. Place it to the desired position.

16. Attach White Foam Adhesive Micro Squares to the back of the pink bow tie

17. Place it on the skeleton’s head slightly to one side.

18. Add a tiny amount of liquid glue to the metallic bow tie to glue the parts together.

19. Add micro foam squares to the back of the completed metallic ribbon and the spiders.
20. Add small foam squares to the black banner.

21. Adhere the bow tie to the jack o’ lantern bag.

22. Place the banner under the skeleton.

23. Place the black spiders on the card.

TIP: I put one in the skeleton’s hand, the other one to the shaker part and the third one directly on the card.

24. Add small and micro foam squares to the back of the sentiment.

25. Place it over the banner’s upper part.

26. As a final detail, add some gems to the card from the Gold Mix Color Essentials Gems. Place them in small groups.

The gems bring in one more touch of shine and connect beautifully with the matte rose gold and hot foiled details.

Thank you so much for spending your creative time with me today. I hope this tutorial inspires you to get crafty. For more inspiration and easy-to-follow photography tips for cardmakers, check my Instagram, and lets be online crafty friends. I wish you an amazing crafty day! Mona

Other Supplies

MISTI stamping platform, anti-static powder, sequin mix, scoring board, bone folder