Thursday, August 20, 2015

Fuzzy stuff with teeth

I am super late for the current challenge at Haunted Design House.
We're looking for fur, feathers, teeth, and claws
Pretty simple prompt.

I decided to work in my small Dylusions journal. 
I still haven't worked up the courage to do anything with the larger
journal. This one is much less intimidating.
I began by using Dylusions inks on the background. 
Followed by some TH stencils, rub-ons, and stamps.  
This made the perfect laboratory feeling background for these

I used the cage image and added a title onto it in Gimp.
I thought I was being clever here. 

Isn't this frog just perfection?
I used some red foil embossing powder to give some sparkle to the
infectious waste stamps. The Dylusions sucks up the Versamark, so you have to 
work fast to get the embossing powder to stick. Still got a nice effect without the
actual dimension of the embossed powder.

I have some strange stamps that I rarely get to use.
Sometimes they're so strange they're hard to work into a project.
This stamp is perfect for this page.
That is a money paw in a jar, in case you were wondering.   

This little guy has probably had too much lithium already.
And probably some toxic radiation, too.

The original Pet Shop images comes with a zombie dude,
but I dropped my black pen right on his face and couldn't save him.
I did however have this awesome Vincent Price stamp that covered
quite nicely. I colored him to look as though the toxic glow was
emanating from the toxic guinea pig.   

Can't have a laboratory without a monkey head wet specimen.
I am not a fan of wet specimens. At all. But I do like me some 
taxidermy and skeletal remains. Just not wet ones.


Saturday, August 8, 2015

Remembering Lily


Today we are remembering Lily Chilvers,
a truly beautiful artist and soul taken from us much too soon.
To honour Lily, we are sharing projects we have made in her memory
using the wonderful, whimsical and wacky art she shared with us all.

I was lucky enough to have learned of the quirky images from The Octopode Factory
nearly five or six years ago. I remember being shocked to learn that Lily was merely a
teenager then. Such talent and unique style at such a young age.
I was also fortunate to serve alongside her mother Mandy, on a design team
and then it became quite clear where Lily got her talent, and her
 creatively cultivated upbringing.
Lily's untimely passing has left quite a void in many lives, but she also leaves
behind a legacy of art, style, and beauty. She will be missed greatly.


I had grandiose plans to create a fitting farewell, but a summer head cold
has left me operating at half speed. I did manage a lovely journal page though.

I used the Poe set for this journal page(s).
These are some of my favorite images of Lily's.
Along with her Addams family line, and her Alice in Wonderland line.
Who am I kidding? All of her images are fantastically odd and fun.

This is my favorite journal page ever.
I love how this came out, and I absolutely adore these images. 

I got some sushi grass while at the Daiso Japan store in San Francisco.
It is perfect for this project. I found out quite by accident that if
you run your fingernail along the blades they curl like curling ribbon.
Gives a nice dimensional touch.

I can't help but think that wherever Lily is, this is what her world
may look like. If it doesn't, it should.

These images are available at The Octopode Factory
if you're interested in creating something fun and beautiful.
Lily's spirit will live on in our art, and in our hearts. 

Shine on, Lily. Shine on.


If you'd like to join this hop from the very beginning, and see what
everyone has created in Lily's honor, and hear what she meant to so many
people, below is the hop order. 

Thanks for stopping by today.  

Blog Hop List

Gloria Palmer-Steiger - you are here

Friday, August 7, 2015

Sweet Sundae Sprite

My name is Gloria, and I have a Sprite addiction.
Well, specifically, Aurora Wings Sprites. Can you blame me?
Each one is cuter than the next. After over 50 (60+?) Sprites,
Mitzi still manages to create new, and adorable versions for
our coloring, and crafting pleasure. She's pretty cool like that.

Today marks the release of the newest addition to the Sprite family,

How freaking adorable is this?
Pretty freaking adorable, if I do say so myself.
I have never colored ice cream or syrups before, so this gave
me quite a challenge. It took me hours to finally get it colored.
Most of that time was spent stressing over color choices, and 
figuring out how to color whipped cream.
As you can see, I caved and covered my whipped cream dollops with
Rock Candy Distress dry glitter. Apparently you can only use
that colorless blender so much to remove inks before you end
up with mud.

What better way to celebrate than with ice cream, right?

Such a fun, and super sweet image to work with.
Be sure to drop by the Aurora Wings Showcase blog
to check out all of the stunning and diverse DT samples
of this new image. 


Tuesday, August 4, 2015

My very first tag for TH

I have finally mustered up the courage to enter the
I have seen so many brilliant entries for this challenge over
the past few years, and I felt as though I didn't have the talent,
or the necessary supplies to play along. Mainly the talent part.
Over the years I have acquired more TH inventory, and maybe a smidgen
more self confidence in my own abilities. 

The current tag for August is to use your die cuts in a mixed media
project. Something I rarely consider when creating mixed media is to
incorporate my die cuts. Why? I have no idea. But this particular tag
and technique really sparked my interest and mojo.

I began with two manila tags, per Tim's instruction.
One tag for the die cuts, and one with designer paper with words.
  
I layered the tags, gessoed, and sealed them, and then
the real fun started. I added Peeled Paint, Seedless Preserves, 
and Spiced Marmalade distress inks directly from the pad to the
tag in a random fashion. Then I sealed those colors and blended them 
at the same time with more matte medium. Very cool effect.  

It was at this point that I became so engrossed in this project
that I forgot to take any more step by step photos. 
I was having THAT much fun. 
I fussy cut a Found Relative lady, but since I was going for a 
Halloween/Haunted feel, I gave her a skeleton head. 
Ahhh, that's more like it. 

I added some ephemera stash of my own, but was still
unhappy with how my die cuts were showing up. I decided to add 
some distress ink in black soot with an aqua painter to the inside
of the die cuts for more contrast. Much better.
I really love how the colors came out all muddy and moody
after adding some black soot distress paint with my finger.

I attached the vial label with one of my favorite TH tools,
the tiny attacher. Such an indispensable tool!!
I scuffed the label up a bit with a nail file, and then started
splattering copper metallic and black soot paints for a speckled
effect. I love the speckled effect on nearly everything. 

Lastly, I wrapped a skull and crossbones to a metal tag
using some black wire. I used some rub-ons on the tag
before adding the charm for added interest. 
Again, I never think to use wire as a way of attaching stuff 
to my projects. So clever, and it adds so much interest to your project.  

A little warped, but here it is, my very first
tag project for the 12 Tags of 2015.
I enjoyed the challenge and the techniques immensely.  
I'm sure I'll be back next month. I'm thinking how cool an 
entire book of these tags would be to create and show off
to all my friends. Or maybe just to use in my art journal.
The possibilities are endless.    

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


Saturday, August 1, 2015

Showing Some Stampotique Love

I have been blessed with wonderful people in my life.
As I have gotten older, I have become more selective on
who I keep in my life, and more diligent on whom I kick
to the curb. Do you enlighten or enrich my life in any way?
Do I feel good about myself when I'm with you? Do I respect
the way you live your life, and how you treat the people in it?
If I answer "No", to any of those questions, out ya go!
No regrets, only lessons.

One of the most incredible people I know is a spunky chick, we'll
call, "Kenzie". I have always admired this lady for how she treats the 
people in her life. She is always thinking of others, and making
you feel like she loves you the best of all her friends. And she's good
at it, too. I always thought I was her special lady, 
until I met all of the others... 

Anyhoo, this chick has had some ailments and medical issues in the past,
at least we thought they were in the past. She never let how poorly she was feeling 
keep her from anything she wanted, or felt she had to do. 
But, back in June of last year, shit got real.

My Super Friend, Wonder Mom, Schmexy Lady, had had an aneurysm.  
Let's be clear though, she had the aneurysm, but waited an entire week to 
go to the hospital for emergency, life saving surgery! And she was only
37 years old at the time. Again, she was a wonder. A medical wonder once
she regained consciousness from her coma. Seriously, she had medical
staff peeking in on her just to see the wonder girl. 
I always knew she was bad ass. Just sayin'.

So, it's been over a year, and her recovery is not over yet, 
but this lady has grabbed  the bull by the horns and showed it how
to really live. She climbed a big volcano in Hawaii all by herself to
celebrate her "Aneur-versary". Yeah, did I mention she's pretty
bad ass? I admire her tenacity, her drive, and her heart.
I love this lady's guts. A lot.

In case you were wondering about the egg pictures, Kenzie always brings
me fresh eggs from her chickens, and they always have faces on them.

She rocks. 

So I made her something to hang on her wall to remember me
among all of her other conquests...

I really wanted to play along in the Stampotique Designer challenge,
to use "attachers" on your project. I knew I wanted to make a mash up
of a Kira critter with Torrente bat wings, so that was the easy part. 
I began with a 4" x 4" gray canvas panel from Mike's. It was 70% off,
so I grabbed a couple. I stenciled some black modeling paste onto
it with the TH Gothic stencil. I used Wisteria and Black Ice Silks
for the background color. I'm still learning how to use these gorgeous
paints. I also used my gel medium for the first time by using it to glue the
black May Arts webbed ribbon down on the bottom. Next time, I'll be sure 
to paint over it so it doesn't show as much. Still learning...     

I made sure his wings were movable. I usually don't make
cool, interactive projects like shaker cards or moving parts,
but this was super simple, and fun. 

I used teeny tiny Tim Holtz brad fasteners to hold the wings onto 
I chopped off his arms and shortened his feet, too. Sorry. But hey,
I did grant him the gift of flight in exchange for his appendages.

I grunged up a TH "'Salvaged" word band, and attached it to eyelets with
more TH doo-hickeys and jump rings. And, I finally managed to part with my 
very first button that my friend, Lynne sent me months/years ago. 
Thanks, Lynne! 

I also used my TH word dies for the first time, too! I cut it out a few times
with black card stock, which I glued together, and then a purple one on top.
I used some UTEE to give it a nice, glossy finish. 
I thought "Authentic" was a good word to describe my dear friend.

And now, Kenzie is really into brain themed schtuff. Go figure. 
I have had this brain charm for months and finally 
figured out just where it belongs.

Oh, and for some fun texture I used my Goosebumps spray, but I didn't
clean out the nozzle the last time I used it (which you MUST do), so
I improvised and spread it out with fingers. It gives a good bat wing texture.   


Thanks for sticking with me through this long winded post.
I had to gush about my friend who inspired this piece.
I hope she loves it.

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