Wish You Were Here....

I realize that I'm a little late to be jumping on the

Alice in Wonderland band wagon, but I really couldn't help myself.

I have quite a few AIW stamps, but they are the vintage drawings, and not very 'cute' or fun to color.

But, when I saw this Ching-chou Kuik image at Sweet Pea Stamps, I had to have it!

It proved to be a bit of a challenge to color, in that it was difficult to stay in a color scheme that went well with a particular paper.

Hence, the black and white color scheme.

I did manage to color some ghost leaves with Copics and Stickles to add a bit of color besides the image.

I tried to use this cool technique that I saw on a few blogs, where they color the background with dots (pointillism), instead of solid color.

I decided to make the outer edges trail into spirals to sorta mimic the spirals in her hair. I like the way it turned out.  

How 'bout you?

Beastly Butterflies...really?

Do you see a butterfly?

Well, this is as good as it gets for me and butterflies.

I fashioned this one out of "Mummy " ribbon and a girly skull brad, just so I could 

participate in this week's Haunted Design House challenge: Beastly Butterflies.

    

Here is the rest of the card.

I  just got this Goth girl image from Sugar Nellie, and couldn't wait to ink her up

and force her to comply with whatever random challenge I felt an itch to participate in.

She is really cute and I managed to finagle a butterfly-like thing, onto the project,

so that qualifies for the butterfly theme.

 

I also got to use my new MS iron fence corner punch.

I also have the edge punch that goes with it, but I need more practice getting everything to align properly.

I also added some Doodlebug sugar glitter to hide some bleeding from the black Copic. Actually, it was the colorless blender pen which is pretty juicy, and led to unwanted bleeding (I'm NOT going there).

The Original Corpse Bride

Here is my card for the latest challenge over at the Burtonesque Dolls.

The challenge was "Corpse Bride", and my immediate reaction was to pull this stamp out.

I bought this image a while back from Stamp it Crazy, and intended to use it for a friend's bridal shower. However, I opted against it because sometimes my sense of humor is not funny to the masses, or the insecure, or the easily offended.

Unfortunately, my friend's fiance (now husband), fits a few of those examples, so 

I decided to make a 'nice' wedding card instead.

Boring.

     

But, the idea and the theme is perfect for the challenge!

I have had this Frankenstein stamp for ages and never seem to use it enough.

Plus, I decided to use as much of the creepy ribbon as I can before every card on these challenges has it on them!

I previously divulged my source for the ribbon, and when I went to order some last week, the company was completely OUT!

Me thinks there is a conspiracy afoot!

Hallow's Eve Exotique

I'm back with another of my Sweet Pea images.

This one is called,"Exotic Halloween".

 

This image was a lot of fun to color, but I'm pretty sure it took me over an hour

to color the entire image.

I did take "thinkin'" breaks, to plan how I wanted this to turn out.

These images can be so intimidating!

I always have the Sweet Pea website up while I am coloring, so I can have

a reference to color by. Sometimes I can't figure out what something is supposed to be when it is just black and white.

When I colored this one, I had to refer to Angela's blog (In My Quiet Time), to see how

she mastered this beauty.

I managed to get this charm on, even though I'm not sure

this was the best way to get it on the card.

Sometimes I am so determined to get an element to work, that the integrity of 

the card is in question.

Basically, I have screwed up quite a few cards by demanding that something 

is going to work, when it was never going to in the first place.

Thanks to everyone for their sweet comments on my coloring skills.

I am constantly trying to improve without paying the money or attending the

classes to get Copic certified.

I have found Youtube to be a wonderful and free teacher.

Don't Forget!

Don't forget this month's Hogs & Sketches challenge! You have until midnight on May 29 to submit your entry. Besides the normal prizes we award, this month all the eligible participants will win a special digital design, that won't be offered anywhere else. So are ya gonna play with us, or are ya chicken??

Burtonesque Dolls Challenge #3 - Cranium and a Posy

The Burtonesque Dolls have challenged me

to make an item using a black flower and a skull.

I was going to pass on this challenge since fleurs are not really

my normal mode of embellishment, but I happened upon this bag of

silk flowers I had stashed from last Halloween's order from Oriental Trading Company.

I was not impressed with these flowers at first, but once I deconstructed one, and added 

a cool skully brad, Viola!

 

I am really on a roll with these Sweet Peas!

I'm working on the "Cheshire Cat Illusion" image, and can't wait to

finish it up!     

Hey there, Sweet Pea

Okay, I am coming clean.

I have been covetous of Sweet Pea images for quite a while now,

and finally caved in a few months ago and purchased some of these gorgeous ladies.

I have seen Traci, over at Wicked Pixie and Angela, at In My Quiet Time, bring these images to life with their stunning coloring and artistic skills, and I had to try my hand as well.

Mt first attempts were futile. My coloring really wasn't up to par for these images.

But, with a bit of practice and close-up viewing of other's coloring, I think I've got it!

This is "Purple Woods", by Ching-chou Kuik.

I went for the whole monochromatic color scheme which happens to be the challenges over at Kaboodle blog, and Copic Creations this week.

I think she turned out quite nice.

I used mainly the Violet family of Copics, and added some Primas, and some

Stardust Stickles.

Pricks R Us

Somehow, I think the title pretty much sums it up.

Uber-cute porcupine image paired with a

cute matching sentiment, all brought to you from Hambo Stamps.

I colored him in with the Copics, added a couple of Primas, and

viola!

Cute card!

Think I'll use the title as my sentiment next time.

I've got a ton of qualifying recipients.

I shall call her, ...Astrid.

This weeks challenge over at The Burtonesque Dolls was to

create a something with a female who is likely to be cast in a movie

by Timmay himself. 

   

I won this batty little 'B', at Barb's Haunted Design House.

She had a "Teen Angst" challenge, and this honey was the prize.

Isn't she a funky little number? She is just one of the great

bits of rubber available over at Stampitcrazy.

 

So, I colored her in with Copics, mounted her on some oval

Spellbinders, added a couple Sizzlits scrolls and blinged 'em up a bit.

I mounted everything on that cool wallpaper I have and viola (said like the instrument, not the French term - I'm funny.) cute card! 

Dino in a Sandbox

How cute is this guy?!

Must be the beady little eyes. I'm a sucker for beady eyes.

I got him, the sun image, the sandcastle, and the "Hugs Sand Kisses" sentiment 

all from Hambo of course!

 

I used Copics to color everything in, and then I used a Sakura glaze pen to give the Dino some shiny texture and I put some on his shovel too.

Then I added Stickles to the sandbox sand and the sandcastle to make it sparkle. 

Stamp It Crazy prize swag

Barb, over at Stamp It Crazy really knows how to spoil a girl.

I won this swag from the 'Skull and a Sentiment' challenge,

a few weeks ago on the Stampitcrazy challenge blog.

Check out these cool charms!

And these neat-o buttons!

Plus, there was some cool ribbon, a leaf shaped mini-scrapbook,

stickers, flowers, foam stamp, pumpkin confetti, memo pad, and the two stamps Barb used to make her challenge card!

Talk about some booty!!! 

She has a new challenge every week and she always offers up some great goodies to the challenge winner. And sometimes she hooks up everybody just for playing!

Oh, and did I mention that she has a great selection of Gothic and creepy stamps.Plus she has stuff for the norms too!  

Oh no, there goes Tokyo.....

With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound

He pulls the spitting high tension wires down

Godzilla!

Helpless people on subway trains

scream bug eyed as he looks in on them

Godzilla!

He picks up a bus and throws it back down

as he wades through the buildings towards the center of town

Godzilla!

Oh no, they say he's got to go

Go go Godzilla!

Oh no, there goes Tokyo

Go go Godzilla!

How cool is this card?! I am very pleased with how it came out.

Not too far off from what I had originally envisioned.

I have had the cityscape stamp for quite a while and never quite knew

how to incorporate it into one of my projects. I won the stamp (and others) from

the Hambo Hogs and Sketches challenge.

Once I saw the 'monster' image from Hambo I just knew I wanted to create a

scene using the cityscape and then the sentiment was just a fluke all together.

I think it's the perfect sentiment for this card.

 

I added my own smoke and then backed the whole thing up with this cool

flame paper.

I really like how vivid the colors came out.

In retrospect, I should have used some Asian inspired papers to give it

a touch of Tokyo, but no matter.

 

Looooooooooooong card!

I needed a wide angle lense to catch the whole thing!

                                                           

Mutha's Day

Mother's day last year, sucked out loud.

I have never had a close relationship with my Mother.

I guess you could say we have been estranged as of 2008.

I had a bit of a falling out with my Father back then, and since then my mother and I have not kept in touch.

So, out of hurt and anger, I didn't send her a card last year for Mother's day.

Big mistake!

I was a mess the entire day. I was wracked with guilt for not sending a stupid card.

Then, in the winter of 2009, my Mother phoned me (after not speaking for almost 2 years) to let me know she was diagnosed with breast cancer and I should go get checked.

How you doin?!

So, this year I made not one, but seven Mother's day cards.

I am always taking pictures of fleurs and bugs and stuff in my yard, so I decided to

make my little masterpieces the focal point of my Mother's Day cards this year.

I had seven cards to make so this was a stress free way to get that task accomplished without the usual resentments.

I found it best just to let the fleur be the star and use subtle papers and embellishments, so as not to make the card too busy.

 

This Mother's Day is all about me and my son.

Looking forward to hanging out with him and having a great day.

Love your Mother if she'll let you, and if not, love yourself. 

The Bruise Brothers

Here is my latest creation using another one of my Torrente images.

This card is for the fabulously gruesome, "Ode to the Bruise" Macabre Monday challenge at Haunted Design House,

and the first challenge from The Burtonesque Dolls, to use stripes.

  

Barb at HDH, challenged us to use 'bruise colors' like,

black, purple, yellow, and teal(?).

Done, done, and done!

I really wasn't feeling the teal until I happened upon this perfect shade of

putrification.

I shredded up the ends a bit to keep it creepy.

I used some striped vintage paper I found at a yard sale years ago. It came in a huge roll and I also got a roll of the most wickedly delicious red, flocked, whore house-type/boudoir, haunted mansion, wallpaper. Can't wait to use that!

Anyhoo, the striped paper is really old, but it is so cool and it also has a really neat texture to it.

I'm pretty sure it's not acid free, but then again neither am I. 

Macabre Monday #36 - Music Mayhem

I had so much fun with the latest challenge from HDH's Macabre Monday.

My first thought was to make a "Living Dead Girl" card, but someone beat me to it.

So, I decided to dig around in my "vault of the obscure", also known as my brain,

and I came up with this little gem from Alice Cooper.

I give you, "COLD ETHYL"....

Alice Cooper has been my all-time favorite artist since I was a wee lass back in the 80's (late 70's), and I thought his songs may be original enough to make a cool card.

I had a ton of weird and dark songs to choose from (Billion Dollar Babies, I love the Dead, Welcome to my Nightmare, to name a few), but I settled on "Cold Ethyl".

I like the look of 'Karin' with her ice blue skin tone.  

I drew an ice cube for her to stand on, giving her a real ice queen look.

I'll spare you the rest of the lyrics, but I will say that I neither condemn, nor condone necrophilia.

Raevyn

This is a Gerbera Daisy.

I am pretending to take a picture of it

to trick my cat into sitting still for her photo to be taken.

This is Raevyn.

She is the sweetest kitty-girl ever!

But, if she even thinks you are trying to take her 

picture, she's gone!

Maybe she thinks the camera wil steal her soul or something.

 

Uh oh,

she's on to me.

Waiting for the Sun

Spring has been something of a tease so far this season.

The sun will be out and the day will heat up, only to be followed by days of rain and gloom.

So, making the best out of the rain,

I decided to be a nature photog in my own backyard.

This little snail was determined to get inside of that iris.

 

Another gorgeous iris.

Mother Nature is amazing!