Ho Ho Poe with Quoth the Raven

This post is brought to you with mixed feelings. I will be moving in the new year sometime and have had to put the majority of my craft room stash into storage. Boo Hoo! So this might well be one of the last posts for a while.
I have taken leave of absence from my other DT positions until I am in a place to start creating again.

In the meantime, as GDT for Quoth the Raven, I have this triptych made with ATC sized stampbord pieces. It features rubber stamps from Smeared Ink "Quoth the Raven" and "Gothic Christmas" on the inside and crafters' companion on the outside. Much use was made of my pan pastels, in fact the only thing that was not was the actual tree, Poe, pressies and Raven stamping.

 The ivy leaves are a Sheena Douglass die cut from black card and given a lick of gilding waxes in silver, empire and renaissance golds.
We'd all love to see your Poe inspired Christmas Projects - so get cracking!

I am entering this into the challenge at
Smudgy Antics - Anything Goes with a touch of Creepmas

Smudgefest - day 1

For the third year running, Smeared and Smudged are hosting a week-long smudgefest - a chance to create quick projects - 24hrs is the maximum and enter into the draw to win a MASSIVE $200 prize from Smeared Ink. The daily challenges, together with more info are being posted on the Smudgy Antics blog so if anyone is looking to enter the normal 2 weekly challenge ( fussy-cut projects) a bit of scrolling will need to be done.
Today's Manic Monday challenge is titled "Bi-Polar" - all about opposites - and a fabulous example has been created by Black Kitten.

My entry features Mr Poe from the Smeared Ink "Quoth the Raven" rubber set as the main image. I also used the raven image from Rick St Dennis for my base paper. The elements on my fatbook page are all taken from the "Tic-Tac-Poe" grid from the challenge at Quoth The Raven challenge blog.

First up - the base paper. The RSD raven image was manipulated in a graphics program so that it, and it's mirror image were tiled before printing. Love the way the raven images form a heart shape like this.
Then the Smeared Ink Mr Poe was stamped on both black and white card, fussy cut out and cut, roughly, in half. The full image then re-constructed using one piece from each colour. The white ink on the black started to go grey, being absorbed into the black I think, so I painted over with acrylic paint and added some texture in the process.

Little flowers were each covered with black and white glitter and attached to Mr Poe's head. Doesn't he look sweet.

Some black and white tulle was stitched together and pleated. The join being covered by stitching on some black satin ribbon. There's another opposite The male EAP has been dressed as a girl, lol.
Some black and white lace and a couple of feathers before our leading character, and that's all the elements of that grid covered.

I am entering this fatbook page into the challenges at
Smudgy Antics Smudgefest - Day One - Bi-Polar
Quoth the Raven - Tic-Tac-Poe
Left Of Centre - LOC anything goes

Quoth The Raven

I hardly know where to start on this post, except to say this little fat page book with ATCs as the main focus is dedicated to, what must be, one of the most well known poem of Mr E.A.Poe.

What was my project going to be for the challenge blog Quoth The Raven?
Choose 3 things from a list.....

RAVEN 

RIBBON

EDGAR ALLAN POE

LACE

SCARLET

METAL

STITCHING

FLOWERS

FEATHERS

SKULLS

CATS

THEN Rick St Dennis came out with these new digis!!  Mr Poe himself and a trio of ravens.
A light bulb came on. That was at some stupid o'clock when I was trying to sleep, always the way with me. A quick note to self, in case I forgot. Fast forward to the next day when I could get all my bits together. Stamps, colouring tools, card etc.
Are you sitting comfy? This post is picture heavy but I think you'll see why eventually.

The only items from the list that are still missing are the stitching and cats. There is room for them when made.

The cover of my little book was made up of a "tiled" image of the plain raven from Rick St Dennis. Available from his blog.

Printed onto white card but yellow, orange and red distress inks brushed on to colour.
This was folded in half and some black ribbon added as the closure.

The quote is taken from one of the other versions of the raven. Edgar is the other digi available in Rick's shop. Promarkers used to colour.

Inside we have 5 pages plus inside covers
Inside front

Candle Poe from Ike'sArt 

page 1

Raven, Poe and Skull with Roses from Rick St Dennis

Page 2

Quoth the Raven rubber from Smeared Ink

Link to digi set there but is available in rubber as part of the "Rubber Club"

Page 3

Free Your Imagination from Visible Image

Page 4

Quoth the Raven rubber from Smeared Ink

Link to digi set there but is available in rubber as part of the "Rubber Club"

Page 5

Writers Plate#20 from Cherry Pie Art Stamps

Inside back cover

A raven from Ike's Art

can't find this one in the shop but there are more to choose from.

I'd like to enter this little book into the challenge over at 

Quoth The Raven - Choose from a list (as above)

Crumble It with Smudgy Antics

Here I sit thinking I have got most of what I need to do almost up-to-date and I realised I didn't blog my make for Smudgy Antics this week. Dddduuuuhhhh me!
So - a few days late.....

CRUMBLE IT.

Here is the definition of crumble (verb):

1. disintegrate, collapse, break up, deteriorate, decay, fall apart, perish, degenerate, decompose, tumble down, go to pieces
2. crush, fragment, crumb, pulverize, pound, grind, powder, granulate, go to wrack and ruin, break down
3. I realize other countries have different terms for the word crumble so I'm adding Crumple and Crinkle to the list as well.

That's the blurb from the blog to help with my description.

This was going to be a fatbook page but it's a bit big @ 6"x 6", it kind of took on a life of it's own and grew.
The crumbled/crinkled part is my BP as you can see. Started off life as a piece of plain red paper. After rolling into a tight ball then smoothing out slightly, the black DI pad was rubbed over. When this was dry, more scrunching and the fired brick added.
Now what to add to this?
I followed the Feb Sketchy in the Smeared and Smudged forum and the Quoth the Raven Tic-Tac-Poe diagonal elements of

Metal, Raven and die-cut. There's a few more as well, Red, flowers and sentiment.
The DP is from the All Hallows Eve stack from BazzillBasics. The stamps used here are all from the Smeared Ink Quoth The Raven stamp set. The rubber was available last month as a member of the Smeared Ink Rubber club, but the digi version is here. The sentiment has been heat embossed in black on red card. The black "smudges" under the senti are black flocking daubed on (both from WOW)- a real touchy feely bit and to keep in with the sketch. The raven just stamped onto white and fussy cut out. The die cuts with matching embossing folder are cut from red card and copper - yes real copper!. The tiny flowers down the side are metal as well. Then - just for fun - a pair of eyes peering out at you from the top corner.

So there's still over a week to get scrunching and crumbling and joining us at Smudgy Antics, what are you waiting for?

I would like to enter this into the challenges at
Smeared and Smudged - Feb sketchy challenge
Quoth the Raven - Tic-Tac-Poe
WOW! embossing challenge - Anything Goes

Haunted Design House are BACK

Yes, the dungeon caretakers at Haunted Design House are back after a seasonal break. What better challenge than a 

Freaker's Free For All 

for you all to get your creep on.?

The format has undergone a slight change in the break. We now run the challenges for TWO weeks. This will hopefully allow for more "drying time" of your projects. I know I've taken pics in the past of projects before the glue's set or the paint's still wet - just to catch a deadline. We will be still posting weekly on the blog - just to show you what we made.
I made a pair of earrings. I used a couple of rugby ball shaped brads as my base. Feet cut off and sanded until smooth. A couple of little raven cabochon in my stash that have been sitting waiting for a home. Filled the empty space with black gems.

The box was hand made - needed to be a certain size to  take the top.
A piece of copper that was embossed using a stamped image from the Smeared Ink, Quoth the Raven set. This is the link to the digi set. I am lucky enough to own the original rubber :D

I heated the copper before adding to the box and then sanded a bit.

Papers from my scrap box covered the box framework and velvet ribbon to cover the sharp edges of the copper on the lid.

Come on into the dungeon and show us your wares. Will a little "Please" work?

I am entering this project into the challenge over at
Quoth The Raven - Anything Poes
Anything but a Card - With Wings

The Gold Bug

Poe's version that is. A short story as opposed to a poem but still well worth a read or two.
Quoth the Raven blog has set this month's quest as representing  what this story says to us. I have been tardy and not completed the many projects pictured in my head for this challenge blog, for this I apologise, as it is run by some good friends and fellow DT members on other challenge blogs. Slap me now or forever keep your peace dears xx  lol.
This piece started life so very different from the finished project. I just couldn't seem to fit in what I wanted to. This ended up being a fat book page instead of the ATC I planned. Oh well! The best laid plans ... etc.
You want to see the picture of course....

Front page

and underneath 

The images of the treasure map and Skull and Crossbones are from Delicious Doodles. The goat is from Reusable art - a site with royalty free images.

The gold bug itself was from google images, printed 6 times and layered up before coating with UTEE.

I am entering this into the challenge at

Quoth The Raven - Quest 12 - The Gold Bug

To Helen

No not to me. Another Helen as named by Edgar A Poe. I have concentrated on his revised version from 1845 from the original in 1831. The Master in Quoth The Raven Challenge blog has laid down the quest that these 14days shall be dedicated to this work.
So, what did emerge from this little corner? An ATC holder. Complete with poem and 4 ATCs depicting the 4 seasons. The eternal cycle of the love lavished.

  

The grecian type corner embellishments are a sizzlets die and each one is cut from the same card as the ATC preceding and following, thus forming the circle. The stamps are from a collection of 4 seasons from Oasis. I felt they had a Grecian feel to them. All coloured with promarkers and chalked backgrounds.The white die cuts are representing before death under the black representing after death.
These 4 ATCs have a home.... made from pearlised white card

The picture was borrowed from Google here.
The little metal charm with added pearls are from stash and seemed fitting with the leaves.

and inside the front cover

again the image from Google with the poem printed out and, after applying some antique linen DI, attached.

There is another image under that. Some heat embossed in copper vine leaves.

The ATC sleeves themselves

I am entering this little collection into the challenge at

Quoth The Raven, Nevermore - "To Helen" quest
Divas By Design - Use a charm - it's on the front of the holder