Crazy?! Who you callin' crazy?!

Busy, busy, busy!!

I've got way too many Hallowe'en irons in the fire today!

Must stay focused.... but the shiny objects are so pretty....

We're sponsored by Time for Tea Designs over at WW ATC today.

Such sweet artwork, and great images to work with.  

Our theme is "Crazy for Daisies". 

Perfect theme for the end of summer, dontcha think? 

Check out the eye candy at WW, and maybe even get inspired to play along!

Gloomsville, man! Gloomsville.

The calendar tells me it's September, but the weather

says, "It's still summer!" It's supposed to be over 100 degrees today,

which means it's a good day to watch paint dry. 

I'm working on some new projects for my Etsy shop. 

Think Haunted Houses.  

Speaking of Haunted (Design) Houses, it's the 

beginning of the second week for our,

"Hallowe'en in your face!" 

challenge sponsored by The Octopode Factory.

I made a new addition to my Hallowe'en themed, paper bag book.

This is the cover. I still need to add all of the ribbons to the

binding side, but I'll wait until the book is complete first.

I have a bunch of charms. I rarely remember to use them though.

This time I used three in one shot. I popped some Firefly Stickles into the

eyes of the skeleton key for a nice, eerie glow. I love the newer neon Stickles! 

I made a little scene of sorts using the new Gloomsville spider and web,

along with the Terrence and the door from The Octopode Factory.

I'm finally starting to get the hang of using Gimp.

One of the cool things about these paper bag books is that they have

pockets for inserts. I made this one using the tab punch from Stampin' Up

and a spider brad with a purple rhinestone on it. Oh, and some fancy

coordinating ribbons, too. It just kind of screams, "Pull me!", doesn't it?

Not quite sure what I will be doing on the insert, but it looks pretty 

cool so far. 

A quick shot of the spider webbing I extended out from the

original image, using a Stardust Gellyroll pen. I just eyeballed it.

I wanted it to look like the spider had webbed over the door.

I don't think Terrence gets many visitors....

Stop by HDH and see what the Minions have made for this

fun and easy challenge. We are offering a $10 gift cert to 

The Octopode Factory to one lucky winner!!!

And I totally forgot to post this on Saturday, but the current challenge

over at Wicked Wednesday ATC is to celebrate our 

100th challenge!

We have multiple sponsors as well. Lots of goodies to be won if you play 

along and help us celebrate this milestone.

Don't these guys look like they're having a party?

Or maybe they're crashing one?

This is another of my favorite images from

Rick St. Dennis. I'm not sure it's available anymore,

but he has a TON of awesome images to choose from!!   

Hallowe'en is on it's way!!

I'm running a bit behind, but for a good cause.

Cause I was busy getting ready for the best holiday ever,

HALLOWE'EN!!!

It's no big secret that I bleed orange and black,

or that I was born into a family who relished the season.

It's in my DNA to be an Autumn People.

So first up, is my guest DT make for the Hallowe'en release at Simply B Stamps  

and for the layers challenge at Simply Steampunk challenges.

I have used the new "Jude Spook" image available here.

After a ridiculous amount of time, I got the boa trim to stay

behind the cool bat brad. Sometimes I spend way too much time on 

the teeniest of things. But I like how it looks, and that makes all of the

cussing and fussing worth it.  

I am stuck in a coloring rut of sorts. I just can't seem to color anything

in a Hallowe'en scheme, without the use of yellow greens, violets, and

yellow reds. Those colors just scream, "Happy Hallowe'en!" to me.  

I hope you'll stop by the Simply Steampunk blog to see the other

marvelous samples using the new images from Simply B Stamps,

and maybe make a layered project as well. 

Next up, is my make for the current challenge at Dilly Beans.

The new theme is buttons.

See what I mean about the color scheme?

I just can't help myself. It's a sickness.... 

I have a TON of buttons that I rarely ever use, so I tried to get as many

as possible on here. I managed to use six buttons. Not bad. 

 I have used the #406 "Worried Skellie" image.

I took some liberties with his eyes and the heart on his

shirt. I replaced them all with buttons in keeping with the theme. 

I also went to town with the white gel pen, too. Still getting the hang of it.

I hope you'll drop by the Dilly Beans Designer's challenge to see

all of the other wonderful samples and maybe even play along

using your Dilly Beans images and some buttons.  

Keep it creepy!!!

A big milestone for WW

Today marks the 100th challenge for 

Wicked Wednesday ATC challenge! 

Congrats to Jenn, who works so hard to get great

sponsors, and to come up with fun challenge themes

every week, for the last 100 weeks.

I am so happy to be a part of this little ATC making family!!

Rick St. Dennis is sponsoring us with images, and I used one of my 

very favorites called, "Gimme candy!"

I tried my hand at fussy cutting and then popping the head and punkin 

up on foam pads. The bold outline kind of throws off the intended

effect, but it's still pretty cool.

I added, "Happy 100" using a Tim Holtz - Once Upon a Time die,

and some ATC corners from a TH die as well. 

Stop by the WW blog to see all of our celebratory makes,

and find out who all of our wonderful sponsors are for this 

week's 100th challenge celebration!!! 

DT Throwdown: Old and Grey

It's time again for the monthly, DT Throwdown challenge!!

What is a "throwdown challenge", you may ask?

Well, Smeared Ink has put out a challenge to all Design Teams

to make up a team of three, and compete (for bragging rights and a cool badge)

against other DTs by creating something magical (or not) from the monthly prompt.

The one main rule besides following the theme is to use a stamped image somewhere

on their project. Seems simple enough, doesn't it? If nothing else, it's loads of

fun and a great way to step out of your creative comfort zone.

Stop by the new Throwdown blog and vote for your favorite team's projects,

and maybe even get inspired to play along with us all next month. 

This month's theme was chosen by last month's winners,

Quoth the Raven.

They have decided to go "Old and Grey" for the new challenge.    

Here is what I came up with for the theme.

After much brainstorming and deliberation, I kept coming back to coffins.

I bought a bunch of paper mache coffin boxes last year on clearance,

thinking I could use them to send my little Halloween sculptures out in them

this year. I made a few using decoupage and Halloween napkins, but 

I wanted to try some new techniques this time around.

I love this little fat coffin shape!

I got out the modeling paste and covered the entire box and lid. 

I used a metal wings embellishment behind a cool polyclay

skull gifted to me from my buddy, Kristy. I painted the entire coffin

and embellishments in gray, and then proceeded to dry brush the 

lighter shades onto the rock-like texture.    

Quite happy with the outcome.

Inside the box, I have adhered a little Vampire from RSD.

What's a coffin without it's Vampire?

The inside of the lid got some special attention as well.

I added a cute skull stamp, and then some sparkly curly q's

for more interest. 

Ta-dah!

I tried some crackle paste on this coffin.

Similar results as the modeling paste, but with some real cracks.

Nice. 

I was lucky enough to win last month's Stampotique giveaway,

and this is one of the awesome new stamps I received.

It's called, "Lovelyarethesound".  

Lastly, I added a metal skull brad and a rhinestone to bling things up a bit.

That's it for my DT Throwdown entry.

Please drop by the HDH blog and check out what the rest of my teamies made for 

the Throwdown.

Then, please stop by the new Throwdown blog to vote for your favorite

team's projects. Voting begins today, and ends Friday. 

Nailed It!!

So since I have a hand in the planning of

upcoming HDH challenges, one might think

I would have a jump start of sorts on the current

challenges. Nope. Never happens. I have weeks to plan 

for my projects, but always wait until the eleventh hour to 

get started. I work better under pressure. Or not.

The current challenge at HDH is Nailed It!!

After a quick trip the thrift store for "dense dolly heads",

I came up with this......  

I have always been a sucker for an old school mohawk.

After dismembering the dolly, I nailed 22 nails into said dolly's head

to resemble a mohawk.  

Then, I painted the head with black gesso, which is amazing!!!

The coverage is awesome!!! One coat and I was ready to paint!

Lastly, I dry brushed some bronze metallic paint to hit all of the 

highlights. Then I added a touch of rust to the nails for effect.

 I decided to stop here, and save this cool dude for a future

project, as opposed to adding it onto a sub par base that I 

am unhappy with in the end. Quit while you're ahead, Glo.

Thanks for stopping by!

Keep it Creepy!!  

Simply Steampunk Hallowe'en

Today I have the honor of being a part of the new release

over at Simply Steampunk/Simply Betty Stamps.

I was asked to guest DT for Betty's new line of

Hallowe'en Steampunk images, drawn by the uber talented,

Abigail Larson.

I was given Rio Gone Batty to work with.

Isn't she gorgeous?!

I felt she deserved a place in my Hallowe'en themed

paper bag scrapbook.  

I added Rio to a scientific diagram of a bat using Gimp.

Then I colored her up in my favorite color scheme, using 

Copics in violet, yellow red, and yellow greens. Oh, and blue violet

for her skin. I added some distress inks on the bat background and 

some distressing with a sanding block and scissors. 

I added one of my hoarded (it's okay, I know I'm a hoarder) Hallowe'en stickers.

I even went so far as to cut out the samples on the packaging for even more

hoardable embellishments. It's a sickness.... 

Lastly, I layered some MS punched fence and other various Halloweenie

type embellishments on top for a nice complete scene. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Keep it creepy!!

And remember: 

Only 68 more days until Hallowe'en!!!