Skullduggery in the dungeon

I've been neglecting my blog for far too long.

I am struggling with my creativity, but I can feel a shift in the atmosphere.

A change is brewing. I can feel it.

My creativity was sparked with the recent challenge at HDH,

Skullduggery.

The Minions are looking for skulls (hence the spelling), rather than the actual 

definition of the word, skulduggery.

I decided to create my very first vertical, toilet paper tube, mini album.

I followed the tutorial found here. 

With skulls being the main theme, it gave me a good opportunity to

use up some of my hoarded skull stash. Like that big, metal skull, for instance.

One of the crossbones broke off of it, and I have been moving it around in my

stash for well over a year (or two). It feels good to finally use it.  

I created my own charms for the dangly bits.

Meaning, I strung them, and added the beads to the TH swivel thing. 

I think it adds a nice touch to the album, while still keeping it masculine.

Side view of the innards.

There are six, flattened, toilet paper tubes in there, 

each with it's own removable tag.

The binding hinge is really the best part of this project.

I'm sure I'll be using it again in future projects.

The video is worth watching for the hinge alone.

Super simple, but so effective. 

Here is a nice shot of the technique I used for all of the dp panels,

and the internal tp tubes. I was trying to give everything a uniform feel, 

without being too, 'matchy matchy'. After edging the panels with vintage photo

Distress ink, I used black and white Dylusions Inks and Perfect Pearls in copper.

I just splattered the inks, as opposed to spraying them. I like the dingy,  

distressed look it gives everything. Plus, a little shimmer never hurt anyone.  

Here are the tubes with their tags. I was able to use up a bunch of scrap paper,

which is always a plus. I am currently trying to figure out how to better organize

my paper scraps, so I can use them up faster. I think I should sort them into

solids and prints, and the Hallowe'en papers should have their very own bin.

  

I used my SU small, oval scallop punch and folded it in half,

and glued it to the top of each tag. Then, I used the SU tab punch, to add the nice

 little tab at the top.  

  

Overall, this was a pretty straight forward project. The tutorial was easy

to follow, I was able to use up six tp tubes, and now I have 

this nifty little (3" x 5") tag book. 

I really enjoy making books from scratch. 

I may have missed my calling as a book binder. 

 I'd like to enter this mini album in the following challenges:

LOC - First Anniversary Challenge

2 Sisters Challenge - #174 black, white, and one color (mine is brown) 

Craftitude Challenges - Anything Goes

Jo's Scrap Shack - Tag, you're it! 

4 Crafty Girls Challenge - #14 Anything Goes 

Paper Crafting Journey - Anything Goes

Quoth the Raven - Tic Tac Poe

 (I went with a left side, diagonal, using metal, 3D, and sparkle) 

The Male Room Challenge - Vintage

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Top Tip Tuesday - Metal

Corrosive Challenges - Show us your Metal!

Thanks for stopping by!

  

Let's Play A Game

Well, after much plotting and planning, cussing and fixing,

Mister Billy is ready for his close up!

The current challenge over at Haunted Design House is

"Let's play a game".

You can choose to go, one of two ways, on this challenge.

I started out thinking I'd use some chess pieces or maybe a domino or two, 

but Billy, from the SAW franchise, won out in the end.

After printing out my reference photos from google,

I began with some white polymer clay, and began sculpting Billy.

I also sculpted a base for him that looks sorta like the subway tiles

in the bathroom in the first film, and it's many sequels. 

Lastly, I made Billy a bow tie, and added black, Fun Fur for his hair. 

Contrary to it's name, Fun Fur is not fun to cut. Just sayin'.

This little doll face will probably end up in my etsy shop.

I'd like to do an entire line of horror themed faces like this.

I see a hockey mask and a burn victim in my future.... 

As a side note: I am a big Cary Elwes fan. Ever since I saw The Princess Bride, I've had

a bit of a crush on him. Then came Men in Tights, which I also loved.

Then, Mister Elwes was cast in SAW as Doctor Lawrence Gordon, 

only to have his role reprised again in 2010 for SAW 3D: The Final Chapter.

So, when this bit of movie magic went up for sale, I had to add it to my

random collection of schtuff. It's even got movie blood on it!

Thanks for dropping by!
Keep it creepy!!  

Aurora Wings challenge blog launch

Welcome newcomers, and old friends!

Today marks the launch of the new, Aurora Wings challenge blog!

Hopefully, you are already familiar with Mitzi's stunning artwork, but

just in case you've been living under a rock, 

here are some links to see just what you've been missing. 

Aurora Wings Etsy shop

Aurora Wings facebook page

Aurora Wings challenge blog

I am still a bit stunned at being asked to join such a  diversely talented

design team. I mean, we have some of the most talented ladies in crafting

on this team. As you peruse the blog, you'll see what I mean.

The first challenge for Aurora Wings is 

Anything Goes!

This theme is a crowd favorite, and you can use any image from any company you wish.

Please be sure to read our rules in the tab marked, "rules" up above, 

to make sure you're eligible for the awesome prizes up for grabs for each challenge. 

Let me just say, Mitzi is one of the most generous artists, 

and offers up the best prizes in blogland. Just sayin'.

So, do ya wanna see what I made for today's special event?

Whoa, right?! Who am I, and what have I done with 

"Creepy Glowbugg"?!

I know this isn't my regular "creepy norm", but it felt good to let

my mainstream creativity flow.

I began my project by coloring this gorgeous image called,

"Princess of the Sea".

I color everything with Copics, and this little lady was no exception.

I mounted her onto an altered Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Square die cut.

I then heat embossed pink and blue Frantage onto the die cut to make it

all fancy.

I used a thrift store frame that I purchased for a dollar,

and gessoed it, and then painted it with various metallic paints.

Lastly, I used some Tim Holtz crackle paint in Picket Fence.

I think the crackle gives the entire frame a "by the sea" feel.

While at the thrift store, I happened upon a huge bag of seashells.

For $5!!! This was a find that no good crafter could walk away from,

so I snatched up the shells before anyone else could "steal me pot o' gold"!  

Having such a large quantity of shells, gave my husband free reign to  

experiment. He cut a couple of the shells in half for me to use on this project.

I almost think I prefer the shells cut in half. They look so much more interesting this way.

I am pretty proud of how the skeleton leaf turned out, after having a complete 

makeover using gesso and periwinkle metallic paint.

You'd never guess it was once bright orange, would you?

Here's a nice shot to show all of the different textures and mediums

I used for this project. I broke out with some burlap and then painted some 

gesso on it to soften it a bit. I used up some old stash with the pearls and jewels,

and even used quite a bit of sea glass, which I seem to have an abundance of, as well. 

Thank you for stopping by today. 

I hope you are inspired to play along with us at 

Aurora Wings, for our Anything Goes challenge.

   

Listen to them....

The current challenge over at HDH this week (for the second week) is,

Children of the Night.

We are being sponsored by my super talented Minion Sistah, 

Ike of Ikes Art, who has her own digi shop and challenge blog.

I used the gorgeous Vaguely Goth image and a sentiment from the interwebs. 

I used a MS Iron Fence border punch on some vintage silver striped wallpaper.

I added some silver snaps to give a bit more interest.

I did a little camouflaging of my lackluster Copic hair coloring,

with some loose glitter application. Meh. I guess it worked.

She sure is sparkly!!

Drop by HDH and see what else we have on display to whet

your creative appetite.