HDH074 Demons and Angels

This week at Haunted Design House

we have a Demons and Angels challenge

for Macabre Monday. 



Oddly enough, our very own

Masterful Mistress of the Macabre Barb, is a rep for 

The Angel Company.

Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer huh?

Anyhoo, Barb was being more awesome than usual and gave

each of the Minions some TAC goodies to use for our challenge projects.

The Angel Company papers and ribbons are high quality and the

colors of the "Winchester" line are some of my very favorites.

I love the texture on the card stock. It shows up really well with the

distress inks. 

The snarky, two part sentiment is also from TAC's

"Laugh Lines" stamp set. 

My "destash" for the project, - rhinestone brads. 

I also finally got to use "Linda" from Stampotique.

I won a challenge of theirs last year and she was the stamp I

chose for my win.

Man, I wish I could find a handbag like Linda's.

I'll probably have to make my own... 

Happy Birthday Handsome

My husband finally caught up with me this week

and turned 40!

He refused any kind of party or fan fare, other than

making tamales. Must be getting old. No party?! 

I made him a really cute card though.

I used "Scott" from

Simply Betty Stamps "Sweet Gothic World Kids" line.

He immediately reminded me of my husband back when he

was a teenager. Must have been the goatee. Plus, my husband has

a skeleton tattoo on his arm like the image does.

The pinata originally had a "Happy Birthday" sentiment on it,

but I totally mucked it up so bad while coloring it that I had to 

cover it with something! I had this chipboard sticker and it fit 

pretty well. I also "destashed" and used some metal embellishments

for the Happy Birthday sentiment. 

He liked the card, but he loved his plain cheesecake and 

12 pack of Blue Moon Seasonal Sampler. 

 

SBS Challenge #4 - Bling it On!

This week SBC has a very special challenge for you as it's for a very special young lady.

Back during our 12 days of Christmas challenges, SBS offered a

special prize, which was to be a Custom digi image drawn by our very own Betty.

A special young crafter named Emmy won! Her digi is now ready,

and the DT have all used her image this week for our Bling It On Challenge.

So this week, since Emmy LOVES glitter
(let's be honest, who doesn't?? )
we're challenging you to

Bling It On!!

How cool to have a digi image made of/for you!

Emmy is so lucky!!

I used Stickles on her skirt and her sweet fairy wings.

I added a glittered fleur and a rhinestone brad for more sparkle.

I also got to use some "destash" by using this cool

prismatic paper I picked up a while back.

So, the challenge is easy enough.

Who doesn't have glitter or something sparkly?

Drop by the Simply Betty Challenges blog and play along!

Tardy for the Party - part deux

**This is my second catch up post for the day**

**Scroll down for my final Oh Alice! DT project.**

HDH073: Smudgetastic  

This week's Macabre Monday challenge is to color your image(s) with

pencils, charcoal, pastels, chalks, etc., giving a smudged appearance.

I have never thrown away a card I was working on simply because it

was not salvageable. Today, I threw away two cards.

Geesh! Who'd have thought that a smeared or smudged card

would be so hard to create?!

I threw in the towel and just made a cute little card with minimal smudges.

The awesome bat image was drawn by our newest addition to

the dungeon, Andrea! This chick is so talented in so many mediums.

She is quite an inspiration and a fount of new blood for our little gathering here.

The entire DT got to play with some of Andrea's killer

digital images.  There were so many to choose from that I went

totally retro and used an image that she sent to me eons ago! 

I LOVE this little guy!

I also used a Tiddly Inks freebie image for the smudged portion

of my card. I went over it with a Versamark pen and then clear 

embossed it to make it stand out after all of my distressing. I also 

used a circle Spellbinder and embossed it with swirls from my

Cuttlebug folder. Then I added some metallic  purple pigment ink

and heat embossed it with an iridescent powder. 

Note to self: Emboss with folder afterIcutting the image with a Spellbinder. 

Otherwise, you end up flattening your embossing when you

run it through the Sizzix. Duh!

Drop by the Haunted Design House blog and and show

me how easy this challenge was for you!     

Tardy for the Party

Man, this weekend really got away from me!

It was the weekend before my husband's 40th birthday, and we were

getting all of our celebrating done early.

Did you know that it is impossible to make tamales without drinking tequila? 

Anyhoo....

It is with great sadness that I post my final DT card for the

Oh Alice! blog.

After almost a year of providing AIW fans with awesome inspiration

to create their very own Wonderland, Jessica is jumping

back down the rabbit hole to focus on future endeavours

and to try some new things too.

I am going to refocus on my Etsy shoppe and some other crafts that

I have been dying to try my hand at, but mainly just gonna scale

back to give myself more room to grow creatively.

This will be the final OA! challenge in it's current form, because the

insanely talented Lynne Philips has taken the reins and will be the

new Mad Hatter at her revamped Altered Alice blog! 

The challenges will still follow the same chapter format theme,

but now they will run monthly as opposed to a weekly challenge.  

Looks like someone has more time to play doesn't it?

The final challenge was a "goodbye" or a "hello" card, but I was feeling more

"thankful" than anything and made a thank you card instead.

I am so thankful to Jessica for inviting me to be a part of this

tremendouslytalented group of ladies.

I am thankful for the weekly challenges that took me out 

of my normal rut and kept the wonder and whimsy in my crafting.  

I used a great image of Disney's Alice and paired it with some

beautiful papers and stickers from Nikki Silvis Scrapbooker.

Thank you Oh Alice! 

I'll be stalking Lynne's Altered Alice blog

and may even find the time to play along!! 

You should too!

  

Simply Betty Sketch Challenge

This week's challenge at Simply Betty is a killer sketch from

that crazy talented cat lady, Cheri/Graphicat.

I decided to use "Devil Rio" on this one.

I didn't ever get a chance to use this image at Hallowe'en,

but thought she'd make a really cute Valentine's Day/love card.

I've been having really good luck with my coloring when I use this

combo and I figured why mess with a good thing?

I do think I am getting, "pinked out" though.

These poison tickets are the only tickets I own. They are part of a 

really cool digital sheet I have with apothecary labels that I got on

Etsy a long time ago. I colored the wording in with coordinating Copics. 

I really like how these green gems pop. I went over the already

green gems with my FYG2 Copic to give them a nice fluorescent glow.

I am quite pleased with this card and I have Cheri to thank for

creating such a great sketch to inspire me.

Drop by Simply Betty Challenges and join in on the fun.

This week's winner will get some cool papers and chipboard bits

from the "Crazy Love" collection by Bo Bunny.

Some people's kids....

I'd like to start off this post by saying how much I love my son.

He is 11 going on 25, and every bit the spoiled, only child
his mother was/is. 

He can't help how he was raised and who his genetic make-up
comes from, but he has a good heart and the comedic wit that makes me proud.

That being said,

Betty, from Simply Betty Stamps has a daughter named, Rio.

Rio is going to be turning 13 in a few weeks and is far from what you
might think a 13 year old is like these days.
This young lady has requested of her mother to take any monies used for
any birthday gifts/plans/celebrations for her,and to donate them
to the children of St. Jude's Children's Hospital. 

Doesn't that just tug at your heart? What an awesome kid!!

So, Betty has a special, limited edition Rio Birthday image , that her
daughter has no idea about. Betty is offering this digi image for $3
and will sell it only untilFebruary 8th, Rio's birthday.
All the proceeds from the sale of the image will go to St. Jude's on Rio's behalf. 

This is where you come in. Betty would like it if everyone who

purchases this image would be so sweet and kind to Rio and

make her a card with this image and send it to her 

by her birthday on the 8th of February. 

 Betty plans to pack all of the cards and tons of candy into their mailbox,
and then after her b.day dinner they'll walk to the cluster boxes
and let Rio open the mailbox to find an explosion of b.day greetings and cheer.
This kid will die!

She is very appreciative of the little things, so this is gonna blow her mind!
Send all cards and Birthday wishes to:
Rio
C/O Betty Roberts
PO BOX 132314
Big Bear Lake, CA  92315

Please purchase this image and help make a child's selfless wish come true.
Ahhh, it just warms your cockles, don't it?

Rio in Love

I am actually starting to get into the whole Valentine thing.

Maybe it has something to do with the fabulous images from

Simply Betty Stamps.

Or maybe it's the awesome digital papers from

Crafty Chaos Designs.

Either way, I made a really cute card using bits from both places.

Rio is one of the Valentine Emos over at Simply Betty Stamps.

LOVE the tongue hangin' out!

Notice that skully background paper? It is just one of six cool designs

in a digi set called, "Skullentine", from Crafty Chaos Designs.

I got a little fancy and broke out with the fleurs and then I added

heart eyelets to the centers and then added a rhinestone to the center of the eyelet.

Fancy.

I am not a "lacey" kinda gal and as a result I don't have much lace

lying around to use on my cards. I did see a technique on a friend's

blog where she used her lace punch on some card stock and

then crumpled it up giving the impression of ruffled lace.

I think it worked.  

Nothing special with the coloring. Same ol' same ol'.

I used Copics and I tried to match that funky green heart color to the

actual color that comes in the box of those Conversation Hearts.

I think I came pretty close.

Thanks for dropping by. I'll be back with more coolness tomorrow. 

 

HDH072 Hell Hath No Fury...

...like a woman scorned.

Who didn't know?

This is a late submission for this week's

Macabre Monday challenge.

Basically, it's to represent a bad ass chick on a rampage.

This is a bit mild (and pink) for me, but hey, I've been sick!

This is 'Cheyenne'. 

I entered the Kenny K, "Name that Krash Kitten" contest a while back

and this is the image that Kenny chose to go with the name I submitted.

As a prize I won this image and two others. You'll be seeing them pretty soon. 

This started out as a Valentine's Day card, but once the challenge went out

and then I found this killer "sentiment" to go with my cowgirl, it was on!

(Sorry for the blurry pic - still getting the hang of the new camera.) 

I am rather proud of the coloring on this one. It's in some colors I rarely use,

but I have found that I have the right combo for a nice blended effect.

I got to use some "destash"  which would be the black and white snakeskin ribbon,

and the pink snakeskin paper. I added some bling and some embossed paper, and then

popped some Sizzix corners on for fun.

Drop by the Haunted Design House blog 

to see what the other ladies have cooked up for your enjoyment.

Maybe even play along if you're feeling inspired. 

While I was out sick I was still being creative, but in ways that the snot

wouldn't run outta my face everytime I had to look down!

I made some cute earrings for my Etsy shoppe.

Cute coffin hearts for Valentine's Day.

Glitter and glass beads added to make 'em purdy.

And who doesn't love a coffin cupcake?

So cute, why not get two?

I made a bunch of coffin themed earrings and listed them in

my Etsy shoppe (link is in the sidebar) today.

I am open to custom orders and am willing to put anything on a coffin.

Anything.

Keep it creepy!

Chapter 46: Queen Alice

"Hush-a-by lady, in Alice's lap!

Till the feast's ready, we've time for a nap.

When the feast's over, we'll go to the ball -

Red Queen, and White Queen, and Alice, and all!"

~ "Queen Alice", Through The Looking-Glass

We here at Oh Alice, hereby cordially invite you to meet Iracebeth the Red Queen of Crims and Mirana the White Queen. Iracebeth and Mirana are sisters who couldn't be more different: while the White Queen is kind and gentle and is loved by everyone, the Red Queen's answer to everything is "Off with their heads!"

To honor our Royal Highnesses, we challenge you to choose which Royal Court you would want to have rule over you, the Red Queen's or the White Queen's???

So the challenge this week, if you should choose to accept it, is to create a card/project that is either mostly white or mostly red.

This week's Oh, Alice challenge is being sponsored by

 Baby Bud Designs!

I am working with "Josh".

He is such a cutie.

Some may even call him a "heart breaker".

Lots of fun working with the adorable image provided by Baby Bud Designs.

Drop by their site and check out their digital images.

Short post for me today.

I'm losing the fight against this heinous cold I've been given.

Must stagger away now... 

SBC Challenge #2 "Make it a Classic"

Today's challenge at Simply Betty Challenges is to create a Valentine's Day card

using black and white and silver (optional), with either

pink or red as an accent color.

You can't use both, but rather one or the other.

We can all thank the creative genius who is Eulanda for this little challenge.

Thank you Eulanda!

I decided to work with "Sally" from

SBS's Sweet Gothic World Kids line. 

I really like the whole black and white color scheme with a touch of pink for

a nice pop of color. It was a bit hard to limit my use of the pink accent color.

I couldn't resist using pink for her eyes, but was worried she'd look like an albino rat

when I was all done. I think it looks pretty cool.

I just had to use a Glow Skull for the fleur center since I made

this one with a heart for an eye special just for Valentine's Day.

Please join us this week for our "Classic" challenge, and if you are the lucky

winner you will win a gorgeous "Be Mine" paper pack from Echo Park.  

 

I do believe in Faeries!

This is "Ebony". 



I saw this fabulous image on my blog buddy, Tracey's blog and knew

that Ebony belonged in my digi collection. Then, once I was at Deb's Creations  and

I saw the other three "Emerald Faeries", I was hooked! 

I just love the artist's style. They remind of the faeries from the book of the same name.

I  used the Spellbinders fancy labels and some rhinestones for a little bling.

All of the DP is from Nikki Silvis along with those awesome corduroy brads.

The solid card stock is from my stash in keeping with my goal of de-stashing. 

HDH071 Bizarre Birthday

I've been nursing an extremely melodramatic eleven year old with a common cold,

and haven't had much time to create this weekend, so I just kinda tossed this card together

in between naps and vapor rub applications .

This week's Macabre Monday challenge is,

"Bizarre Birthday".  

I guess it depends on what you consider bizarre.

Then again, a zombie celebrating a birthday does seem a bit bizarre.

As soon as I achieve zombie status, I am throwing away my calendar and tossing

out my watch!

I found this image online somewhere a long time ago and fell in love and immediately

envisioned a really cool birthday card. Taa-daahh!

It was cool coloring a black and white image with my Copics to give it a subtle colored effect.

I left off any glittery bits and baubles and used some old stash items instead, like the brightly colored eyelets and the spiral clips. I am actually trying to stick to a goal this year of using my older stash items and tools.

Now I need to find that Stamp-a-ma-jig thingy, and my paper crimper.  

Chapter 45: Remembering Holiday Dreams

`Oh, I've had such a curious dream!' said Alice, and she told her sister, as well as she could remember them, all these strange Adventures of hers that you have just been reading about; and when she had finished, her sister kissed her, and said, `It WAS a curious dream, dear, certainly: but now run in to your tea; it's getting late.' So Alice got up and ran off, thinking while she ran, as well she might, what a wonderful dream it had been.

-- Chapter 12, Alice in Wonderland

So the challenge this week, should you choose to accept it, is to share something that helps you capture your holiday memories, like a layout, mini-album or picture holder of some kind, OR to use an icy blue color scheme!

Our generous sponsor, Nikki Sivils, is offering a huge prize to help you capture those memories! One randomly drawn winner will receive a 6x6 inch pad, 12x12 inch designer paper, and burlap covered buttons from the Happy Holly-Days Collection!

 If you aren't familiar with Nikki's products you really should check them out. She has some gorgeous lines of paper with coordinating, high quality, embellishments to match.

And if that's not enough, she has the cutest and funniest packaging I have ever seen.

For instance, her "Cool Cord Brads", say, "Brads. No relation to Steves", or her

burlap buttons say, "Burlap! Excuse me.", on the back of the packaging. Very witty.

For today's challenge I went with the blue color scheme using the

"Something for Everyone" line of papers and embellishments from Nikki.

This is probably one of the most beautifully coordinated cards I have ever made,

thanks to Nikki's loverly line of paper and embellishments .

I finally got to use my new Spesch Designer Stamps "Alice" digi.

She is one of the cutest Alice's I have seen.

Tracey also has an adorable Mad Hatter image that I am planning to use very soon! 

I have this really cool Alice postmark and a burlap covered button from Nikki Silvis

fit perfectly right in the middle! I just added some ivory ribbon and I this card was fini!

I really enjoyed working with Nikki's products and found that the card came together 

fairly easily with all the coordinating goodies on hand. If you'd like to try out some

of these awesome products for free, you should enter this week's challenge at Oh Alice! and

maybe you'll be the big winner of some very generous Nikki Silvis prize swag.

SBS Challenge #1 and a blog hop

Following Eulanda in every hop is almost too much pressure for me.

She is such a brilliant artist with the cards and she's a pretty awesome human too! 

Well here we are a New Year and a whole new set of Challenges! Today we are having one big shindig! We are combining our first Challenge for 2011, and a blog hop for a chance to win 2 Valentine Emos! Whoop whoop!

What's the challenge? The challenge is Two is Better than One... use two images to create a love card, or it could be a Besties card the possibilities are endless with two images!

Upload your creation to the inlinkz below by Monday at 10pm PST one lucky person will be the winner of 2 Digi Valentine Emos!

I went a little outside of the box on this one and used 

the Miller and the Christian images on this card. 

I ended up with only the two fellas colored up, and no girls in sight.

I decided to make it work, and I knew just the dude to give it to! 

 

Oh Miller, you are my favorite Emo boy ever! But, I was so perplexed by your brows(?),

that I had to make them into sunglasses, which is what I thought they were to begin with.

I think it kinda works. 

I also used a great quote from Plato.

I had to come up with something somewhat Emo for my sentiment.

My son, who is 11, gave me the Emo thumbs up on this one.

I do remember what it was like to be a morose and brooding teen full

of angst and frustration at the world.

Remember it?! Hell, I am still livin' that crap!

Anyhoo,

All the Valentine Emos are now available in the store in digi form, the Pre-orders for rubber is also now available just remember that they will start shipping Feb. 1st.

Hop along leave all the DT gals some lovin' and you will get a chance to win 2 Digi Valentine Emo's of your choice! WHoop whooop!

Next up is more creative brilliance from the loverly,

 Jennifer.



Valentine Emo Preview - London

I am actually having a lot of fun creating Valentine cards

for these great new images from Simply Betty Stamps.

Today's preview is of a new favorite of mine, London.

I fell for her when she came out as a jack-o-lantern for Hallowe'en,

and now she is quite adorable as a girl in love for Valentine's Day.

Or maybe she is more of a heart breaker with all of those

cards and goodies she is trying to keep a hold of there.

I don't usually reach for my BV Copics when I think of using purple, but went with it

this time and am quite pleased with how subtle the overall card is as compared to my usual

hot pink and violet color schemes as of late.

I took some ribbing for my recent admittance of not liking the color red very much.

Most assumed I'd like it since it's the color of blood, but I am more of a putrescence kinda 

gal, and go for the greener shades of decomposition as opposed to the scarlet hues of good, old fashioned, bloodletting.

I'm not a huge fan of blue either, especially baby blue. Hell, I abhor all pastel shades, or

"baby colors", except lavender I guess. There, now it's all out in the open.

I feel better now. I'll be expecting your comments on that as well.

One of my goals for the coming year is to start using more

of my hoarded paper crafting supplies.

I used some chip board pieces on this card, that I painted, and glittered, and embossed. 

I like the dimension the chipboard gives the card, and wonder to myself why I haven't used this stuff before.

There is one more Valentine Emo preview before the big release

on Friday the 7th. Drop by the SBS blogs and check out the 

awesome creations from my fellow DT members.