Black and White Horror Show

Here it is the day before Halloween and I was finally able to

complete my project for the final Haunted Design House theme,

and the October 12 Tags of 2015, for Tim Holtz.

Now, I pre-ordered this awesome die set back in August. Pretty much the

very second I saw it. I mean, c'mon! It's a Zombie! 

And I loves me some undead corpses. 

BTW. I ordered this die set from The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

They are offering this die, and many others at half the price of

most every other retailer I have seen. They have the best every day 

prices for all of your funkie and junkie makes. Just so ya know.   

Zombies are my all time favorite monsters. 

After The Creature and Frankenstein's Monster, mind you. 

I am a bit of a purist, so the classic monsters do come first. 

But I have loved Zombies since I saw "Night of the Living Dead".

Well, actually my love really started with "TarMan", from "Return of the Living Dead".

He was the coolest, and still is the coolest on screen Zombie ever.

And then it seemed only fitting to really familiarize myself with the 

original "Night of the Living Dead". And that is where I got my inspiration

for this tag.   

My usual Zombie color of choice is green, but I wanted to make

this guy really stand out without the use of bright colors.

I thought an old black and white, silver screen zombie was fitting. 

I began by die cutting various shades of gray and black card stock.

I inked the edges using Black Soot and Hickory Smoke distress inks

to give some shading on all of the pieces.     

After adhering the designer paper to a tag, I speckled it with silver, black 

and white distress stains. I also sanded the edges of the tag, too.

Then, I added the number 31 enameled tag after giving it some Brushed Pewter

and black distress paints. I even got to use my TH distress hammer on the brads.

I love the aged effect on this tag.

I tried to keep this guy as dimensional as I could.

So cool to have dimension like this. The key really is to use a wet glue,

as opposed to a tape runner or other dry adhesive.  

I added some stained seam binding and silver tinsel twine

to keep in the black and white theme.

I also used one of my coveted "Zombie" charms.

I have a few different design charms, but felt this one worked the best.

And I still have another one of these in my stash.         

As cool as everything on this tag was turning out, I felt he needed something 

else to make him really creepy. Drippy goo! No real zombie would be seen

shambling along with a clean mouth and chin! I added some black goo to his

mouth and covered it in Glossy Accents to really make it look awful.

Something really disturbing about that dark black drool coming out of him.

I love it!! 

 I am so happy with how this tag tuned out.

I am thinking of making a canvas out of him in the 

very near future. I'll be pumping out Halloween projects

until Thanksgiving (and beyond) so stay tuned.

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

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2015 October

Crafty Catz - Tag It

Frilly and Funkie - Something Wicked

Little Red Wagon - Ghosts, Goblins, other Halloween Creatures

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - Anything Goes

Die Cutting Divas - Happy Halloween

Use Your Stuff - Die cuts and punches

  

   

My very first tag for TH

I have finally mustered up the courage to enter the

12 Tags of 2015, by Tim Holtz.

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:

12 Tags of 2015 - August

Clear it Out challenge - Anything goes stash/theme

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes

Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes mixed media only

Smudgy Antics - Anything Goes

A real oddball spring

It's the middle of April and it's 90 degrees out today.

Very odd. And pretty scary considering we're in the fourth

year of a drought here in California. Fire season is gonna suck.

And it's already begun two months early. Yikes.

Since odd seems to be the word of the day, I thought 

I'd color up this pretty little Oddball Art Stamps fairy

and play along with the current challenge at Oddball Art Stamp Co.,

Spring. 

I get tired of making cards all of the time, and since I have

quite a collection of tags I use to mop up my leftover distress inks,

I thought a tag was a good idea.

This is 'Sweet Sai'. Isn't she a cutie?

And, as is my usual M.O. I have colored her with

unconventional skin tones and hair color. Fairies are 

magical creatures, and should be colored accordingly. 

I sprayed a small clothespin with Dylusions spray in Cherry Pie to match

my project. The clothespin already had the hole in it, so it was super

simple to add that dragonfly charm. I stamped out a fairy sentiment 

from Kraftin' Kimmie. I am a big fan of the Kraftin Kimmie sentiments.

When I hear the word spring, I think of flowers.

And I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I have a shit ton of old

flowers in my stash. I layered up five flowers of varying oldness

and even added an equally dated leaf. I like how it turned out,

and am glad to have used a few of my ancient fleurs.  

I used a diamond patterned stencil and some crackle paste to

add some texture and interest to the tag. I think my crackle is old

as it didn't real crackle much. I ended up rubbing some of it off with my

fingers to give it an aged appearance. I also dusted the diamonds with 

Stickles for a nice sparkle. I dug even deeper into my stash and found some

chipboard glittered flourishes and dew drops. Nice touches.

  I had fun making this tag. Gave me a chance to use

up some stash and make something pretty with it.

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

Oddball Art Stamp Co. - Spring     

613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes/Diamonds  

Corrosive Challenges - Floral Fantasy 

Mixed Media World - Use bright colors

Left of Center - Tag or ATC (mine's a tag) 

4 Crafty Chicks - Fairies

Creative Knockouts - Texture

Hearts and Love at Dilly Beans

I had taken a bit of a break with Dilly Beans, but I'm back!

I had almost forgotten how much fun it is to create with 

Megan's wonderfully quirky images. They lend themselves to

so many occasions, color schemes, and level of crafter. 

The theme for the start of this (now) bi-weekly challenge is

LOVE AND HEARTS.

Now, you know I don't go in the for the really lovey-dovey schtuff,

so I created a sweet tag using #579 Frankie and his Bride.

I thought it depicted true love, no matter the state of decay.

How sweet. Makes my black heart tremble, ever so slightly.  

Ahhh, the sweet couple!

I colored them up with Copics, and embellished their eyes with

Glossy Accents. I used my tiny attacher to attach the eyeball ribbon to

the side of the tag. I am so glad I have that handy attacher/stapler.  

I stamped a sentiment from Paper Make-up Stamps, 

and a cling eyeball stamp from parts unknown.  

I also used my Goosebumps for the first time. It gives a cool,

almost toad-like texture to the project. Nice! I'll be using it

again very soon! Me likey. 

Lastly, I ran some neat, purple ribbon through the tag.

I can't believe I've never used it before, it's so nice to

work with.

That's it for me today.

If you want to see more Dilly Bean creations, please drop by

the challenge blog here. And did you know that Dilly Beans has

a face book page? Check it out here. 

Keep it creepy!

Just a quickie or two

Since getting our new puppy, I have found it hard to locate

my mojo. I need to keep checking on him to make sure he isn't

getting into trouble or peeing in the house. He's pretty much potty trained, but

he still tries to eat everything he comes in contact with! 

That's another post, for another day... 

I have made a few things that haven't been posted yet, like

this cool, Steampunk-ish tag. This was so much fun to make! 

Got this great stamp from Pink Flamingo on Etsy.

It's called, "Otto's Sweet Ride", by  Brian Kesinger.

I added a few TH stamps and some random cling stamps. Then, I felt

the need for TH washi tape. Finished it off with the metal wings,

colored with alcohol inks, and the compass brad in the middle. 

I should totally do this more often. I really like the style of it. 

Whatever that style is.

I was also in the mood to alter something. I used this cardboard tray that 

our neighbor used to give us holiday cookies. 

Hope she wasn't expecting it to be returned to her.    

The first step was to get rid of this festive holiday brightness.

Only seemed like black gesso would do the trick. I love that it covers in

pretty much one coat. 

See? Looking better already! 

And now the decorating has begun!

I raided my collage scraps stash and came up with some cool bits.

I applied them with matte medium, and then used another coat to seal everything.

Here's a cute Nosferatu image from the interwebs, along with some die cuts and TH rub-ons.

I also added the nautical star brad for fun and a punch of color. 

Here's the matching version of The Creature from the Black Lagoon,

along with another rub-on and another Pink Flamingo stamp, stamped

onto an old dictionary page.

I have decided to use this to hold all the digis I currently am trying to color,

or want to color in the very near future. I always print out my new digis

right after I buy them, so I don't forget I have them. Lucky for me, my

husband's work printer uses the same inks as my home printer. I'm almost

guaranteed to never run out!

Thanks for stopping by!

Keep it Creepy!!!   

A little "Cute-mas" tag

So, how did you like the 13 Days of Creepmas hop?

There were so many delightfully dark and funny images to work with,

that the EDT had a blast making Creepmas cards and tags and such!

Unfortunately, not everyone appreciates said cards and tags 

(no accounting for taste with some folks),

so it is necessary to make some "Cute-mas" projects as well 

to appease the masses (and Grandma).

Today I used Dilly Beans, #516 Snowmen Framed for this cute tag.

The challenge this week is to use non-traditional Christmas colors.

Drop by the Dilly Beans challenge blog and check out all the gorgeous eye candy from the DT, and maybe even play along and win some free images!!

Ribbons at Dilly Beans

It's Friday! Which means it's a new challenge at

Dilly Beans Challenge blog.

This week's challenge is to use

ribbons!

Yay! Girly schtuff!!

Some of my fellow DT sistahs think it's funny to see me

create girly and pretty and cute schtuff. 

Someone has to show these chicks how to do it!!

LOL! That's gonna get me on some one's hex list.

I used the fabulous Seahorse #423.

Isn't she gorgeous?! I just adore Megan's style of seahorses.

I think it's the eye that really draws me in, but that mane is just fabulous! 

I received some art grab bags from Megan a week or so ago,

and I was so inspired by her tags that I had to make one!

This thing kind of got away from me a few times, but I managed to

wrangle it in and add a ribbon or two.

I used sequins, rhinestones, white gel pen, tiny die cut scallop shells,

 MS branches for seaweed, and some fibers.

I have a hard time with the whole "less is more" concept.

Drop by the challenge blog and take in the eye candy for this week.

Play along, and maybe win some free images of your very own!