Pumpkin Parade Matchbook Fun Fold Card and Treat Box by Diane Mason

Hello, and welcome back for Watercolor Weekend! 

Spooky season is here, and Halloween crafting is in full swing with a delightful duo of watercolor projects featuring Art Impressions Sets 6112 – Pumpkin Parade, 6111 – Spooktacular Set, 5604 – Halloween Journal Die Set, and 5805 – Mini Journal Box Dies. This matchbook fun fold card and coordinating treat box are sure to bring a smile to the recipient!

Pirate Fox Matchbook Fun Fold Card:

We all love the adorable little Art Impressions matchbook designs that Bonnie has created for us, but for this card, I decided to take things up a notch and create a larger matchbook-style card using the newly released 6112 – Pumpkin Parade Set. The trick-or-treating critters from this set are absolutely adorable!

Lately, I’ve noticed a lot of online designers making matchbook cards. So of course, I had to try making one too! My card was inspired by Patti Dolan’s (#pspapercrafts) YouTube tutorial. There were many other tutorials to choose from, but I liked hers the best. She even has a link at the end of her tutorial to download a project sheet that includes all the steps and measurements.

This sweet little pirate fox was so much fun to paint. It wouldn’t be Halloween without a splash of orange, purple, and black! I stamped the fox image onto Canson XL watercolor paper inked with Ranger Pebble Beach Archival Ink.

Here is a list of colors I used for this card:

Fox:

• 947 (head, ears, hands, feet, and tail)
• 990 (white fur on face)
• 856 and 837 (bandana and sash)
• N25 (pirate hat, eye patch, pants, and shirt stripes)
• 565 (jacket)

Pumpkin Wagon:

• 993, 933, and 925 (pumpkin), 177 (stem)
• 977 and 969 (cart and wheels)
• N25 (handle)

Background and Foreground:

• 565 (background), shimmery gold and white dots (Gansai Tambi Starry Colors)
• 565/969 mix, and 565 (foreground)

Once I had my little pirate fox done, I painted the background in a watery mix of 565. When dry, I added starry-like dots with shimmery gold and white paint from the Gansai Tambi Starry Colors palette. For the foreground I mixed 565 and 969 and brushed under the cart and fox. I added a little more 565 to darken the shadow of the cart and fox. For texture, I added a few tiny dots of the 565/969 mix. I painted the teeth white using our friend, Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White. To refine some of the details, I used a brown or black TwinTone marker.

To construct the card, I followed the instructions from the tutorial. The spiderweb background paper is from 5849 – Halloween S2 Paper Pack. I die-cut and matted the image using nested arches dies and mounted it to the card front with foam tape. I used a tiny attacher stapler to staple the bottom flap of the matchbook (making sure the front flap didn’t get stapled). I faced the back of the staples to front, which then is covered with the patterned paper strip.

For the inside of the card, I stamped the sentiment from 5934 – Spooky Crew Set in purple (636) onto white cardstock. The Trick or Treat and Happy Halloween embellishments were die-cut from orange and black cardstock using dies from 5604 – Halloween Journal Die Set. I inlayed the orange and black interior pieces for added interest.

This sweet little matchbook fun fold card is strikingly cute (sorry, I just couldn’t resist - lol!

Halloween Treat Box:

Who doesn’t love a little sweet Halloween treat? Treat boxes are made easy using the 5805 – Mini Journal Box Dies (of course, it also makes a nice box to store mini journals in too!) For the image on top of the treat box, I inked the trick-or-treating pumpkin mouse from (6112) in Ranger Pebble Beach Archival Ink and stamped on to watercolor paper. The “Trick or Treat” sentiment was inked with Versafine Onyx Black Ink.

Here is a list of colors I used for this treat box:

Mouse:

• N57 (head, tail, hands and feet)
• N57 and a touch of 856 (interior of ear, and cheeks)
• 992 (pants)
• 526 (shirt sleeve)
• 993, 933, and 925 (pumpkin costume, hat, and pumpkin pail)
• 173, 177 (collar and stem)

Pumpkin Treat Cart:

• 993, 933, and 925 (pumpkin)
• 947 (cart handle)
• N25 (wheels), 177 (wheel caps)

Candy:

• 025, 993, 933, 925, and 565 (candy corn)
• 173, 177, 933, 925, 636, and 565 (wrapped candy twist)
• 526,173, and 177 (blue and green gummy worm)
• 856, 933 (red and orange gummy worm)

Shadow under mouse and treat cart:

• 969/565 watery mix

To refine some of the details, I used a brown or black TwinTone marker.

I die-cut the box from dot embossed orange cardstock using 5604 – Halloween Journal Die and assembled the box. I cut the watercolor image to fit the top of the box and adhered with double sided tape. I also painted another candy corn and wrapped candy twist, die-cut and attached to the flap of the box. I added a hook and loop fastener (5967) to the flap to keep the lid closed.

For the box interior, I created my own patterned paper by randomly stamping the candy stamps (993, 933, 173, 526, and 636). The sentiments from (6112 and 5934) were inked with 636. I cut the patterned paper into two pieces to line the interior lid and bottom of the box.

    

BOO! There is a spooky-cute pop-up surprise inside, along with a treat! The delightful pop-up ghost is such a cute surprise feature. The ghost image and pop-up die is from (6111). The ghost is quick and simple to paint. I inked the ghost and flag with Versafine Onyx Black Ink and stamped onto Canson XL Mix Media Paper. I used this because it’s thinner and easier to fold the pop-up. 

I used 565 for the shading on the ghost and 856 for the cheeks. The flag was painted with 933, 925 and the stick with 947. I attached the flag with glue to the ghost’s hand and folded the ghost and applied adhesive to the head portion only. I lined up the fold with the crease of the lid. To allow the ghost to pop-up when the box is opened; I attached a mini glue dot to the underside of the bottom edge of the ghost, placed the candy in the box, folded up the ghost, and shut the lid. The glue dot attached to the candy, and when opened – the ghost pops up! How fun is that?

When the candy is gone, a sweet sentiment remains for the recipient!

That’s all for now—thanks so much for stopping by for Watercolor Weekend! I hope you enjoyed today’s Halloween projects. I can’t wait to see what you make!

Until next time, Happy Halloween and Happy Painting!