Smeared Ink Monthly Blog Hop

Behold! 

My Altered project for the Monthly DT hop for

Smeared Ink.

My husband always asks me, "Why are you saving this?".

And I always tell him, "I'll know when the time is right."

After ruining my original DT project in the eleventh hour, I remembered that

I had saved this box that was perfect for altering.

The little box is an insert that fits inside of the larger box, but I didn't get

quite that far.

After a coat of black gesso, and a coat of metallic black acrylic paint,

this little box was starting to take shape.

I chose to use the Circus Procession set for this project.

I played around with this finger die cut from TH. I used some Distress Paints,

which I overheated, to create the corroded look. 

Had to add the diver. So vintage and fun.

I used the pinwheel image with a brad in the center of the cool spiral.

I also added the verbiage from the set using Gimp.  

I used my favorite crackle effect on the scroll and wave that are also

included in this awesome digi set.

That's it for me, for now.

I do plan to finish the box, but I haven't been to sleep yet, 

so I'll have to save the rest for another time.

Please join us for the hop.

Here is blogroll for your hopping convenience.  

Black Dragon

Shell

Kapree

Shoni

Creepy Glowbugg

Lisa

Elenor

Rebecca

  

That new rubber smell....

Today is the blog hop for 

Smeared Ink's new rubber stamp release!!

Let me tell you, these new stamp sets are pretty awesome!! 

They are available exclusively, as the June featured sets through the 

Smeared Ink Rubber Club. 

They will only be released in rubber.

(Click the link above to find out all the details of this exclusive

rubber club.)

My first project features the seahorses from The Abyss set.

I colored them with Copics, fussy cut them out, and adhered them to the

insides of the painted coffin box with gloss medium.

For the lid of the coffin box, I frosted it entirely with modeling paste, and

added some shells and shell fragments. Then it was painted with black gesso. 

After it dried, I added layers of acrylic color to highlight the textures 

of the modeling paste and the shells. Lastly, I added some

Inka Gold Metallic Rub in green/yellow to make it really shine

and pop. 

The entire box received the same treatment.

I'd like to enter this box in the following challenge(s):

Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes

Redd's Creative Spirit - Anything Altered Goes

Remember: If you like these images, they are only available through the

rubber club at Smeared Ink. 

My next project features an awesome image from the other

featured set for June called, "Winged Things".

She is gorgeous! Love those lips!

I am really happy with how this card came together. 

I used some KaiserCraft 13th Hour paper for the background,

and there is even a drippy goo edge on the bottom of the image,

to mimic what is dripping off of her wings. But it looks as if it's

hiding from the camera right now. Hmmm....  

I used the Spellbinders Heraldry set, finally. I've had that thing for at least a year or longer.

The winged shield looks perfect backing the Winged Things sentiment. 

Just one more look...

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

A Step in the Dark - Anything Goes/ Add purple

Crafting for All Seasons - Things with Wings

Left of Center - Anything Goes/Girly

If you'd like to see more inspirational samples made with these new sets,

check out our talented DT and the entire hop, using the blogroll below.   

Black Dragon

Shell

Kapree

Shoni

Creepy Glowbugg

Lisa

Elenor

Rebecca

Butterflies! No, really....

Welcome, to my project for the new challenge at 

Aurora Wings.

The new challenge theme chosen by fellow DT member, Sandra, is

Butterflies!!!

Contrary to my initial feeling of, "Ummm....", I am super happy with how

this card turned out. I found some scraps of old dp that I loved, and

used that as my color palette for the image. Super vibrant, but I love it.

This Aurora Wings image is called, 

Poppy Fairy-Butterfly Ears Elf.

I am not a huge butterfly crafter. I love butterflies, but I just don't

have a lot of butterfly themed products. I do have 2 Martha Stewart

butterfly punches, though. And that's pretty much all I used besides some

kraft card stock, a cut up Vaudeville Frame die cut from Memory Box,

 and the Curved Rectangles from Spellbinders.

And some Stickles. All butterflies should have Stickles.

Please stop by the Aurora Wings Challenge blog and 

take a look at all of the incredible inspiration pieces

the DT has created for this theme.  

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

Dream Valley Challenges - Things with Wings 

Digi Galore - Kraft

Craftitude - Use a die

A Little Bit Crafty - Flower Power

Simon Monday Challenge - Botanical Bliss

Mother's Day blahs

Had a case of the blahs for the past few weeks.

A little too early for PMS, and I wish our new puppy

liked me more than my husband, but not enough to be so irritable.

And weepy. Uncontrolled, unannounced, and untimely, tears.

Fuck. Mother's Day is coming.

This will be the second Mother's Day without my mom.

It's just been a little over a year since she passed away.

Time flies. And we all get older. Fuck.

I still have two awesome Mother-in-Laws, and an incredibly

vibrant Grandma to appreciate this holiday. So stop yer cryin"!

Since I am such a fan of these adorable little guys, 

and as are most ladies, a fan of flowers, it seemed only fitting

to use at least one of Aurora Wings' Flower Sprites on a Mother's Day card.

Grandma has probably ten (or more) thriving, and flowering orchids at her house.

She has the gift of a really green thumb. She and Grandpa ran their own floral

business in Escalon, CA way back in the day. Total no-brainer to use the fabulous

Orchid Sprite from Aurora Wings. Grandma loved the card!! 

Another of my favorite artists, Torico of Birdie Brown drew up this cutie.

Unfortunately she no longer sells her images as digis, but she currently 

designs for My Favorite Things.  

I tried a new way of shading/coloring. I was trying to achieve a

vintage, tea stained feel by using browns to shade. I like it.

 Kept the layout pretty simple, too. I couldn't get too involved in too

much more than that anyway. My MIL loved it. She always loves my

cards no matter what they look like. She is a wonderful woman.

Hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day. 

I did.

I got a Daenerys Targaryen action figure.

She is the Mother of Dragons, after all.

   

Let's smear some ink!

Here is my Smeared Ink project for the week.

I am only a few pages short of completing my very first art journal (thanks, Suzie!),

and I thought this would make a neat page.

I used the digital versions of the empty specimen jar, specimen label,

and the elephant from the Circus Procession set. 

I turned them into png images using Gimp, meaning I made the 

backgrounds transparent so that I could layer them into one complete image.

I covered the jar with Glossy Accents, but apparently the medium wasn't

completely dry, which I learned after putting a heavy object on top

of it to make it lay flat. When I pulled up the object, part of the elephant

was stuck to the bottom. I added more accents to the ruined spots and

let it dry overnight. 

I used the same process for this little bear, and even

used the no-lines coloring technique on him as well.

I was hoping it would make him look more realistic.

 No Glossy Accents on this one. I didn't want to take a

chance on ruining this one once it was colored.

Same technique here as well, using the Death Cab Hearse #1 image, 

and some of my favorite medium, Crackle Accents from Inkssentials.

I made the background using Dylusions Spray Inks, and a couple of 

Tim Holtz stencils, and a stamp. I used the water spritz technique to remove some color,

and I drew on a little spider web, and attached teeny, punched spiders all over. 

That's it for me.

I have three Mother's day cards to make today.

Not feelin' it, but that's not their fault. I miss my Mom worse

this year than I did last year. Been plagued by random tears yesterday

and today. Weird how the subconscious works....  

Anima Sola at Aurora Wings

"Anima Sola" means "Lonely Soul", a Christian notion in some traditions, 

often depicted as a chained female figure with arms outstretched 

skyward with salvation in sight, with flames all around her.  

The original image was painted for one of the monthly themes 

at the Enchanted Visions Project (a fantasy artists group, 

where participating members paint to a pre-set theme).  

Mitzi stylized her image with poppies to hint at the flames, 

and gave the woman a look a little more despairing 

than a lot of 'Anima Sola' images out there.  

So her take was a bit more like a "Lost Soul".

This is a new image available today over at

Aurora Wings. Isn't she lovely? 

Aurora Wings is having a huge party over on their

facebook page to celebrate over 1000 members!
It's truly a testament to Mitzi's jaw dropping talent and generosity, that

she has become so popular, so quickly in the digi world and crafting community.
She is a doll to work with, and a super sweet lady. Big hugs to Mitzi.

Please stop by today and join in on the fun contests and and super

generous giveaways. It is so fun to create with Mitzi's art.
Once you try one of her digis, it'll be hard not to start an entire collection. 

Don't say I didn't warn you!!

Aurora Wings facebook page

Aurora Wings digi shop

Aurora Wings Etsy shop

Aurora Wings Challenge blog

Aurora Wings Showcase blog

   

Working in the lab, late one night...

When the current Mad Scientist challenge at HDH was announced, 

I had so many ideas of how to illustrate this theme.

But then I realized I was running out of time, and

maybe I should think on a less grand scale.

So, I decided to scale way back , and create some

teeny tiny monsters for my mad scientist laboratory.

"Say hello, to my leedle friends!!!"

Little #13 is my favorite of the bunch. He'll probably stay in my

personal collection, while some of the others will be listed in my Etsy shop. 

I sculpted #13 out of polymer clay and then adorned him with various

acrylic paints. I placed him under a mini glass cloche from TH.

I have also included some hummingbird feathers and some cat nail casings

in their own jars. I love these tiny jars. Just wish the mouths were larger to 

accommodate my creatures. 

How cute is this one?
I had to add something to the bottle to help keep #57

cozy, so I used some Shaved Ice from Stampendous. 

#002 is an "Eye Worm".  Yup, just one eye on this little guy. 

I dropped some copper sparkle mica powder in the bottom to give the

idea of some fancy schmancy soil for the worm.

Here is a Dragon-type embryo head thing. He's cute, but strangely, never

grew appendages. Hence the display cloche. I used a TH pin-thing to hold

the specimen tag inside the cloche.

Some of the weird schtuff I have saved for just such an occasion as this. 

The "Terrier Teeth" are all Charlie's puppy teeth. Probably like 7 or 8 of them.

They were too oddly shaped to fit in a smaller bottle, so the larger one will have to do.

That's it for me today.

Make sure to stop by the HDH blog and check out the other awesome

inspiration pieces by our extremely talented design team.

Keep it creepy!!!