Smeared Ink Monthly challenge

It's time to get smudgy again!!

Here is the newest addition to my Smeared Ink

altered board book. It's a bit on the simple side,

but I didn't want anything to compete with this incredible image.

It's called, X-Ray Monocle Raven and it's available in the Smeared Ink shop.

I painted the background black, added some stripes with Wilted Violet distress paint.

I am loving that shade of purple, and how well it shows up against the black.

Lastly, I added a rib cage stencil with silver embossing paste and splattered

some copper Perfect Pearls spray for more contrast and interest.

Here it is in the actual children's board book.

I am so happy with how this book is turning out.

Now I am always on the hunt for kid's board books at thrift stores

and yard sales. So fun and super sturdy to alter.

Be sure to check out the awesome inspiration this month at Smudgy Antics!!  

Gettin' smudgy

It's time for the newest installment in my 

Smeared Ink board book.  

For this page I have used one of the newer images called,

'East'.

She's pretty amazing. I saw her as a Wizard of Oz witch,

so I kept her skin tone very green. And then it only seemed 

logical to give her red hair and dress her in purple and black.

Standard witch color palette.   

I received some glow in the dark embossing powder for my bday.

Thanks, Dani. How the hell did I not own this stuff before now?!

It is AWESOME!!! 

I used a fabulous red rubber skull pile image for 

the background which is nearly invisible in the daylight.

But once those lights go out, it's full on skullsville, man.

I also learned the hard and messy way that once you gesso your

substrate, heat emboss an image, and add metallic Gelatos, you can't rub 

the surface with a baby wipe or you'll remove all of the Gelato. Not the case

if your substrate is not gessoed or sealed. The pages of this book are kind of glossy

to begin with, so either way I was going to lose my Gelatos on this technique.  

I added some Crackle Accents to a witch tag, and then went over it with

Hickory Smoke distress ink to show off some of those cracks. 

I am really loving the direction this book is going.

It's going to be awesome once it's all done.

Be sure to check out the killer Ink-tober Sale going on at Smeared Ink.

And please stop by the Smudgy Antics blog to check out the incredible

eye candy created by my fellow DT sistahs.

  

October 1, 2015: And the race is on!

Today is October first. The day I anticipate every year, yet I am 

never quite ready for it to begin. This year is no different, except I 

was smart enough to know I wasn't going to be able to participate in 

the usual October festivities like The Countdown to Halloween,

or the 31 Days of Halloween. I knew I didn't even want to try this year.

Last year the stress almost killed me...

Today being the first, is the start of the new challenge at Smudgy Antics.

The theme is always Anything Goes as long as you use a Smeared Ink image.

No other rules apply. 

I am working on my repurposed children's board book.

These are wonderful substrates for a multitude of mediums

and techniques. Not to mention, they are stupid cheap at thriftstores

and yard sales.

I decided to go in an unusual direction for me by using pretty much

only black, white, and silver for this layout. The dp set the stage being

gray and white. The vintage images lent themselves to a muted palette as well.

I used the Anatomy 101 Ribs by cutting them right down the middle. 

I used black soot distress ink and made it blend into the dp better.

Then I highlighted the ribs with a white Posca paint pen. 

I really like how this turned out.

How can you not love these guys?

They are only two of the fifteen bat images available in the

A Little Bit Batty set. It was hard to choose just two. 

Here's the other side of the rib cage, along with a TH rub-on.

The red, black, and  white splatter really sets these images off quite nicely.

Bat 1 from the A Little Bit Batty set, some more rub-ons,

and a small medical ephemera.

This made me giggle a bit. I used the Profile Head from the 

Gross Anatomy set, and matched it with a card meant for tasty

Halloween treats. I like it better used this way. 

That's it for me today.

Be sure to stop by the Smudgy Antics challenge blog and check

out all of the other inspiring projects to whet your October appetite. 

Smudgy Antics and stained digits

I am having such a good time playing along with the shenanigans over at 

Smudgy Antics  

that I have decided to work on a recycled children's board book. 

I plan to fill it with neat-o images from Smeared Ink and some 

of my very own handy work via inks and pastes and such. 

I envision a good time will be had by all in attendance. 

  

WARNING:

Very photo heavy post ahead.

Here is the book I used to begin my smeared and smudged journey.

Fifty cents at the local thrift store. Nothing beats recycling.

First and foremost, gesso is essential to a good base for your sprays and inks.

I guess white acrylic paint will do in a pinch, but gesso is a great investment

at minimal cost. I painted two coats of gesso onto the pages I was working with. 

I just received the black embossing paste and the new bat stencil.

Both are perfect for this layout. 

When I opened the paste the lid came off like this.

Kinda cool, huh?

I used the black paste with the bat stencil, waiting impatiently for it to dry

I opted for the heat gun. Not sure if it was the heat gun or if that is the way 

the paste actually dries, but it reminded me of liquid applique in the way it

seems sponge-y. Still after a week, it still is a bit sponge-y in the thicker

parts. No big deal, just unexpected.

After the bats were dry (ish), I painted over my mistakes with more gesso.

I even went over the edges of the bats a little to give a blended effect. 

I finally activated all of my Lindy's sprays. I had 8 new ones awaiting

just the right project to be used upon. I am loving these vivid sprays.

Vivid colors, and gorgeous interference shine and sparkle.

These are from the Halloween set.  

I was finally pleased with this version of the background. 

I spritzed some water to blend the colors a bit more, and

I added some TH distress stains in white and black speckles 

to give a more cohesive feel between colors. I also edged the pages 

with black acrylic paint on my finger. Gave a looser feel than

using a paint brush, I think.  

I colored up some Halloween images from Smeared Ink

and made a Halloween spread  in my board book.

This contortionist kitty is actually Wolf Girl

from the Hallocuties line at Smeared Ink. 

She is so cute, and rather schmexy, too!

Added a Halloween embellie that I fancied up with Crackle Accents.  

For the second page, I used Pet Bats, also from the 

Hallocuties set.

I used more new goodies like the TH Halloween words thinlit dies.

So cool! I added another crackled bit for more interest. I went pretty

simple on this layout to allow the eye to see that gorgeous background,

and those super cute and timely images from Smeared Ink. 

   

Here is the blog roll so you don't miss a single, awesome,
Smeared Ink project!

BLOG ROLL

BLACKDRAGON

SHELL

ELENOR

LEIGH

FIONA

GDT   CREEPY GLOWBUGG - me!

We're baaaaack!!!

Just like a persistent rash, 

Smudgy Antics and the DT are back to inspire and titillate.

The Smeared Ink shop is also having it's grand re-opening today.

I'm GDTing for the next few months, so prepare to see some

awesome schtuffs using Smeared Ink images exclusively.

The Candy Corn Monster is one of my very favorite

Smeared Ink images. He is so fun to color. I think I like

this color scheme the best so far.

After coloring this confectionery catastrophe with Copics,

I fussy cut him out, and mounted him onto some random dp,

and a bit of my new Graphic 45 Rare Oddities paper. I love this stuff!

I am pretty much already in full blown Halloween mode, so I hope

you like the color scheme, as it probably won't change much for the

next few weeks or months, actually.

     

 I am the last stop on the hop, but if you missed anyone here

is the blog roll for your hopping pleasure.

BLOG ROLL

BLACKDRAGON

SHELL

ELENOR

LEIGH

FIONA

REBECCA

GDT   CREEPY GLOWBUGG - me!

Wednesday's child is full of ...

... poisonous gas and pirouettes. 

I never did care for that whole "Wednesday's child is full of woe" deal.
Since I was born on a Wednesday, I hated to think that my fate was sealed,
and I was doomed to walk the earth full of woe for all of my days, based solely
on the day of the week I was born. And yet, maybe I am rather woeful...
Whatevah!

I've kind of been on a corrugated cardboard kick lately, and I had a piece

already distressed and cut to the perfect ATC size lying around....

So I made an ornament or a hanging of sorts.

I used some new pearlized crackle paste, and some of my favorite mica flake medium.

I also added good ol' Stickles to the perimeter to match her glittery ensemble.

I like the contrast between all of the textures on this piece.

  Such a fun image!

I used the strange, yet delicate 'Ballerina' image from the 'Toxic Ballerinas' set.

She just adds more glittery texture and bizarre contrast to the entire piece.


Thanks for stopping by!
If you're in the mood for daily inspiration using Smeared Ink images,
be sure to check out the eye candy at Smudgy Antics.  

Check out my Smudgy Antics!

Creepy Glowbugg here to share my project for the current

Anything Goes (as long as you use a Smeared Ink image)
Smudgy Antics challenge.

I have finally decided to make some Creepmas/Hexmas cards.

I am using the wicked cool Dark Holidaze Entryway from Smeared Ink.

This is the digital version, but a rubber one also exists in a set of Holidaze rubber.

I even broke out with my new TH Bowties die for this card.

Way easier than trying to tie my own bows, even with the Bow Easy.

Yeah, I still have a hard time doing it right even after watching

countless videos. I've been having a Schleprock week, so it's just

par for the course at this point.  

Be sure to enter your Anything Goes (with Smeared Ink image) project here.

Check out my Smudgy Antics

So have you heard? Smudgy Antics is back!!!
We have a daily dose of DT inspiration for our new
Anything Goes challenge.  Pretty cool, right?

It's nice to keep the momentum going each week, throughout
the entire month of the challenge. The brilliant inspiration just never stops!

Even though I masquerade as Creepy Glowbugg, I do enjoy the

festivities of Creepmas. Especially the gift giving (and receiving).

Every year I find I am at a loss for gift tags. I don't know if maybe there

are gift tag eating rodents in the garage who dine exclusively on my

handmade tags and nothing else, but every year I have to make more tags. 

Way more tags than I have ever used in one holiday season.

I'm not really  a fan of the adhesive ones, although I usually end up using
them anyway with my constant shortage of homemade tags.

This year I have used Brass, the Steampunk Reindeer for a set of tags.

Please feel free to overlook my poor frantage application. I was hoping 

for a snowy effect, but it just kinda looks messy to me. Practice makes perfect,

but those big chunks just fly right off the paper before I can get them melted.

I even cheat and use some VersaMark to get it to stick. 

Whatever...   

He is just too stinkin' cute, and perfect for weirdos and norms, alike!

I ran across some new punches I forgot I bought at TJ Maxx. They were 

perfect for this project. I like the peek-a-boo effect they give the tags.

And you just can't go wrong with Stickles (in Platinum and Xmas Red)

for that festive feel.  

And then I had to make some homemade specimen jar tags.
Friends and family expect nothing less from me anymore.

I put this guy together using my favorite little weird bear from the 

Candy is Dandy rubber set, the empty specimen jar digi,  

and the jar label digi. Fussy cut them out, and punched a hole

at the top.

Stamped a simple, "to: and from:" on the backs,
added some baker's twine, and viola!
I'm ready to start wrapping some gifts!
These would even be cute as ornaments on a tree,
or strung together like garland with a different specimen
in each jar. Hmmm.... I really like that idea.

Be sure to stop by the Smudgy Antics blog everyday
for a fabulous gift of inspiration. And if you're feeling creative,
add your Anything Goes (using a Smeared Ink rubber or digi image)
creation here.