What would October be without a haunted house or two? Especially if you are my friend Kacia who absolutely loves Halloween more than anyone I know, maybe even more than myself, and that is saying something!


So when she got married to the love of her life, who also happens to be just as obsessed with Halloween, in October at the famous Stanley Hotel (you know, the one that inspired Stephen King's The Shining), I had to make a wedding card that was as unique as Kacia!


What better way to celebrate a wonderful day of love at a haunted hotel than by giving her a haunted house wedding card?  And that is exactly what I set out to create.  I also knew it needed to have skeleton flamingos because Kacia loves flamingos (and has some skeletal ones for her yard).  


I turned a regular haunted house cut from Silhouette into a card.  I then painstakingly created the layers for each layer of roof and siding.  I wanted this card to have texture and dimension--just like a real haunted house.  I also added a lot of elements that weren't included in the haunted house cut, like the skeleton flamingos, tombstones, bats, pumpkins and a witch.

Once I had all the elements cut out, I used various Distress Inks to add more dimension and give everything that old and worn look.  To create the spiderweb in the front window, I used Glossy Accents to glue down black thread that I wove together.


On the smaller elements, I added details by hand, like the grin on the jack-o-lantern with a black marker, the bones on the skeleton flamingoes with white gesso and the eye of the cat and the flames of the candles in the upper windows with paint.

I also added wire legs to the skeleton flamingoes and used wire to pop two bats up above the roof of the haunted house.  I grunged up the tombstones with grey and brown Distress Inks to give the look of age and mold.


When putting down the siding on the house I purposefully roughed up the bottom edge to add dimension, just like the slats of siding on a real house.  On the bottom of the house and a section near the top, I added Flower Soft in burgundy for a realistic, autumn leaf look to the "crevices."

To add a little bling, I added iridescent gems to the center of the bats, gently bending their wings up for more dimension.  I also added some yellow-orange gem eyes to the owl above the door.


And of course there had to be a witch in this haunted house, so I added a witch silhouette to a second floor window.  The doors also got black gem knobs.  The shutters were even given slats by dragging a crease tool over them.


Because the card isn't a normal size, I had to create my own envelope for it.  I created a lace up envelope using eyelets and twine.  To protect the card from any rough pieces of the back of the eyelets, I cut out a piece of vellum to overlay on top of the card.


And because I love Harry Potter and I think of Halloween when I think of that lovely wizarding world, I  added a banner with the quote, "I open at the close..."  It's a bit of a play on words, since wedding cards are opened after all the festivities and the honeymoon are over.


Products Used
The Paper Studio: Cardstock - black, white | American Crafts: Cardstock - ash, concrete, smoke | Bazzill: Cardstock - pansy, beeswax, butterfly, intense orange | Tim Holtz: Distress Ink - spiced marmalade, mowed lawn, dusty concord, ground espresso, pumice stone, hickory smoke; Distress Paint: mustard seed, mowed lawn | Ranger Ink: Glossy Accents (as adhesive) | Silhouette America: Sketch Pens - black | Heidi Swapp: Color Shine - mustard | Prima: Art Basics - gesso white | Flower Soft: Ultra Fine - Burgundy | Recollections Gems - spring mix | Elements: Crystal Stickers - smoke | Other: Thread - black 

I hope you enjoyed seeing all the little details of this card!


Happy Crafting!
Adrienne