Poisoned Apple Exhibit Halloween Blog Hop

 As previously mentioned, there has been a Monster Blog Hop - WITH PRIZES kindly donated by our sponsor Gecko Galz - organised by Cathy Frailey.

We have a wonderful digital prize package up for grabs, courtesy of Gecko Galz ! You'll receive: Face To Face Jewel It Collage Set, Steam Punk Collage Set, Picture Perfect ATC Set, Clockwork Christmas ATC Set, and Spellbound Digital Stamp Set (which has 25 images!).

To have a chance of winning, leave a comment on this post, along with your email address or social media contact (IG, FB, etc) from now through Monday, 2 Nov. One lucky winner will be picked randomly from all comments left from all of the artist's participating! The winner will be contacted via email or social media so it's important you leave your address/social media contact info! Good luck and enjoy the hop

Please hop along to all my fellow bloggers - remember you'll need to leave comments to be in on the prize giving

It's Oddly Appealing

Creatif Edges  https://youtu.be/Wx0ies8nkpY

InkStained Roni

Chaitali Dekhtawala https://youtu.be/HfUOozfCdN

LouiseThompson

moniquesprettydarkart

https://youtu.be/No-S4haEbSo

ZoeB

Rituparna

AngelB

SavvyHandmade

MonicaLongard (MonDo Creations)

I went large with my project - My Haunted House

I had to wait for a day that wasn't raining in Scotland and it turned out to be a really bright sunny day - hence the brolley for shade 

Front/RHS

This is the LHS. Can you spot the 2 black cats? and the ravens?

Even had some ghosts in my Haunted house

need at least 1 spider!

Some daring visitor has been here

Mwahahaha

top roof detail

Lots of paint and mediums, different washes, antiquing creams went into creating this. changing it from a plain wooden kit into something a bit creepier.

Inside didn't get left out

WIP

All floors and walls were covered with Halloween papers from various collections gathered over the years. Some skully lights hung so that when lit and in the dim light it will look like floating skulls are coming to get you. Of course there are spider webs every where.

Thank you so much for journeying with me through my project for this awesome hop.

Don't forget to visit my hop fellows for a chance to see some really fantastic projects. 

 

Hallowe'en Tag Swap

 Good evening.

I am currently working on some "C" word stuff - presents for my family so most of my crafting time has been taken up by these but I did take time out to join in a swap. A Hallowe'en Tag Swap organised by "Artful Days" DT member, Jane Austin over in Facebook group.

My swap partner has now received her tag from me so I fell I can share on my blog now.

Starting with a plain grey board tag, I glued on some of the purple tissue paper that some of my Artful Days goodies arrived in. Never throw much away here lol

Dry brushed with acrylic paint when dry in shades of turquoise, titan buff and orange.

One of Andy Skinner's transfers from the "Curiosities" set applied (Creative Expressions). These are great when there is too much texture to stamp onto.

The MDF film strips and circle were given a touch of gilding flakes for added interest and colour.

The little coffin was handmade from greyboard waste from the back of a paper stack. Several layers cut to shape and glued together. Then painted with black and raw umber was wiped back before completely dry. The gold decoration is just a marker pen. 

Thanks for looking

Two Steampunk ATC

 Back again!

I have been busy with a "monster project" that will be revealed at the end of October when Hallowe'en is on most people's minds. Part of a blog hop that has been organised by Cathy Frailey over on Facebook.  I'm happy to say my project is now finished. I just have to take pics.

In the meantime, I thought I'd join in a couple of challenges. 

The first challenge is that of a new challenge blog Steampunk Challenge Blog.

I've done the two in a Steampunk style.

Both grey board ATCs were first covered in Prima papers before adding my embellishments

From the "Time Traveller" pad. I used the waste from the top of the paper for the "travel" , mounted on a scrap of thin grey board after distressing the edges them ran a finger with silver paint round it. The Scrapinec hotair balloon was coloured silver then mounted on some scraps of silver card. using my trusty knife, some of the card was removed to reveal the paper under it. The remaining spaces were filled with liquid glass and some silver watch parts embedded in. The basket was more grey board painted brown, stuck on and the aperture filled with more liquid glass. When set, mounted on the ATC.

My second ATC 

With the picture of a Steam Pump in Detail on the paper, I went for more conventional embellishments. After heat embossing, in silver, an image of a machine onto the paper base, I added some wooden cogs and threaded pistons after adding a bit heat embossed detail. Some silver chain added the final touch (applied with matt gel medium).

There we have it guys, my second post in under a month. Aren't I doing well with my efforts of bringing my blog back to life?! LOL. It's not that I haven't been making - just can't show yet as I said at the beginning of this post.

I'd like to enter my 2 ATCs into the challenge at

Steampunk Challenge - At least 2 ATCs including something silver

Resurrection

 BOO!!

Ok Ok Ok. Yes it's me, Croms, again. After a long while away from here and just doing bits and bobs in the crafting field, I've decided to resurrect my blog again.

So much has happened in the last months!! Not only world wide with the awful pandemic that has swept through all our lives affecting everyone to some degree. From lock downs when we've been isolated in our homes to those unfortunate people that actually contracted the virus and the many very brave people that helped to relieve their suffering. There have also been a vast number of people that have worked on throughout from home (myself included) and in their workplaces (eg shops), trying to keep the countries' infrastructure going. I don't think there is one person that hasn't been affected in some way. 2020 will certainly have it's place in infamous history. I have been made a Nana once more, now boasting four gorgeous Grandchildren. Josh was born in July to my beautiful daughter and his big sister Emily is besotted - so far! 

It's mainly because of the impending Grandson that the majority of my crafting was focused on the  "pretty"  and "normal" - a far cry from the styles I tend to be drawn to. I made a memory book of course for my daughter to store her memories of Josh' first months.  There have been handmade birthday pressies for close friends.

There have been a number of gifts made for our heroes of the pandemic - I was a part of just one Facebook group that contributed over a thousand thank you gifts for just some of the people that selflessly put themselves on the "frontline". 

So I have been kept busy in many ways.

Now it's time to get back to my roots in crafting and have some Real Me Time.

A few years ago, I was lucky to be on a few design teams that truly fired my passion for "The Dark Side". One of these was Smeared & Smudged.  After the closure of the Ning forum and the move to Facebook the group petered out. The trend was that fewer and fewer crafters were being drawn to the alternative genre and, sadly, the same old familiar faces started to disappear as well for various reasons. Now, out of the blue, Terra - one of the owners of Smeared and Smudged - has resurrected the old group. YAYYY!!!!! If you're interested please feel free to visit. SMEARED AND SMUDGED - THE RESURRECTION.

It's started with a little challenge - Make a piece using a stamped image with the theme "Resurrection". What else!!

So here, after all my waffling, is my contribution...

My trusty old camera seems to have died so have had to resort to using the camera on my tablet. 

The base unit on my piece is made from a coffin shaped MDF box from stash and a resin face. Covered with fabrics coated with powertex and varnished with pigments.

The Cross element is more MDF from stash. This was given a bit of Andy Skinner/Creative Expressions lava and strata pastes treatment. Then painted and washed with media paints

The stamped image is from Smeared Ink (Smeared & Smudged stamp company) set called "Fringe". Love this set!! A total of 6 images stamped, fussy cut and bits layered up to be a 3-D element coated with clear embossing powder. (I do have my UltraThick somewhere but it's in one of my "safe places" that is squirreled away)  Some homemade barbed wire to support the image emerging from the coffin.

So - my first, in a long while, visit to my roots of the Alternative. Just getting in practice again for the Halloween hop being organised. More news on this in the near future - Promise!!!

Lacy Box

Hello again folks
I'm on a bit of a roll this month with getting some of these hoarded boxes actually decorated. Some of them have been sitting on the shelf for a year or more!
Time to use up some of my bits of lace as well. The sides and top of this box have been decorated with lace and flowers that have been in my stash for many years.
Time to use some of that stash hoarded so carefully, never seeing the light of day, even through two house moves.

A single sheet of lace to cover the top before adding all the other bits

The top was just some narrow lace in my stash with some flat backed pearls glued all the way round

All the bits glued on, for the lace I used matt medium so that there would be no shiny bits from glue seepage that anything else added would find it harder to adhere to. The embellishments were adhered using heavy gel medium for that 3-D property. When all was dry - a good coat of white gesso.

The fun has only just begun

Now for the paint

I used Prima Art Alchemy paints here for a change. I felt a bit more sheen appropriate for the lacey look. Metallic "Dark Velvet", "Black Berry" Opal Magic "Violet-Gold" and Sparks "Unicorn's Hair" all played their part.

Of course the inside was not left untouched. Those that know me know that the inside deserves some love as well.

More Prima paper from the "Timeless Memories" paper pad. I have stroked these pads for so long!!

Thanks for looking

Another Box - Kind o' Industrial

Hello again peeps
I have another box for you today. I have so many bits of MDF left over from an old DT position (company no longer trading) and I really oght to get them used up. What better way than to decorate a few boxes needing a face lift from their original, boring, basic unfinished wood look?
This one starts off using the scraps of the embossed card stock from my previous posted box, plus a few other plain scraps. There are "straps" of yet more card scraps; shaped with scissors and holes punched, rivets are little gems. A bit of stencilling with decoart crackle paste and Andy Skinner's "snakes web" stencil. Then a layer of burnt sienna paint, then dry brushing raw umber all over.

the MDF bits were given a touch of texture paste in places before being painted silver then given a coat of crackle glaze and then antiquing cream in patina green, raw umber and red oxide. The creams then wiped back.

Some micro beads then in a few places for "that" look you get when pipes haven't been touched in years.

The sides were all given a stippled gesso finish before painting in the same burnt sienna paint, then dry brushing with raw umber.

Yet again - I never leave the inside unadorned - more prima paper - this time the ledger paper stack.

A bit of wax round the edges to make sure the paint doesn't stick when closed. before putting the hinges and clasp back on.

July DT Project for A Inky Mess

Hi guys and gals.
I hope you are all dealing with your weather ok and not letting heat stroke take a hold. There are advantages to living in Scotland - among many other things - we seem to be getting 10deg C cooler than even England, so I would hate to live further south at this time. It's just comfortable here as far as I'm concerned.
My AInkyMess DT project this month comes in the form of a 14cm (across the parallel lines) by 9cm deep, hexagonal box.

The whole box was first covered with a dry exbossed card stock. Then painted silver after which I painted black Decoart antiquing cream. Wiped back slightly with damp kitchen towel. Then protected with satin varnish.
The "retaining bands" are more card, some small flat backed beads form the rivets, then all painted with burnt umber and quin. gold after some texture sand paste on some places before more black antiquing cream and wiped back before adding to the box.
The top was were the real fun lay.  Lots of TH cogs and a key - rusted up, some dry wall tape painted to look rusty, some rusty wire coils -  of which one is as a "barbed wire" (as inspired by my gorgeous friend Fiona Randall) and the other just a twisted wire. There are a couple of wooden laser cuts from my local craft shop (McOyster papercrafts in Cupar) that were given a rusty finish to match on there as well. A larger rusted home made coil of wire then that cute little light bulb from Artful Days.

Of course, I always finish off my boxes inside as well.
The paper I chose to use here is from the Prima "Timeless Memories" paper pad. Just the right kind of "worn" look for me.

I hope to see you all over at the AInkyMess challenge this month with your mixed media project.
Thanks for looking

I'd like to enter my box into the challenge
A Vintage Journey - Precious Metal