GDT at Crafty Friends

Morning all. Anyone else contemplating putting the heating back on? It's definitely not warm here, we even had sleet last night! In the middle of June!?!? I only hope the weather improves for next weekend as it is the wedding of two dear friends of mine. We have seven more days, so there is a chance.

Onto today's post. Another card. This time as GDT for Crafty Friends Challenge blog. The third challenge after a little re-vamp.

Favourite colour combination. 

I have a few that I use but I think red and black/grey has to be on top of the list therefore those are the colours I went for here. Rick St Dennis is sponsoring the challenge this week and I chose to use the image Les Miz. I tried to show the spirit of the musical/play - I had to resort to youtube as I haven't seen it myself although the future recipient has and has declared it as one of her favourites.

Isn't she a beauty!
Coloured with Promarkers before cutting out with a "die-sire" die. Some red and black gems and roses added after attaching to one of the mats.

Some embossed and sanded, red cored, black core-dinations matted onto red glitter card. The two mat panels of DP are from the DCWV "The Immortal Love" paper stack. Red distress ink applied after distressing the panels. The sentiments are computer generated and matted onto more red glitter card after slight decoration with a "die'sire" edge cutting die.

The only trouble I have with red is taking a good picture, even with good lighting, the colours get distorted slightly.
The regular DT over at Crafty Friends have made some absolutely stunning projects as well and are really well worth a good look. In addition, there's a little extra there. but you'll have to visit to find out what it is. hehehe.

I'd like to enter this card into the challenges at
Left of Centre - Embossing/ LOC
Digi Haven - Anything Goes

GDT Spot at Quirky Crafts

Ooops my blog should have been updated the other day, but one thing and another......
Anyway............
Following an entry into the challenge over at Quirky Crafts Challenge blog the other week, I was asked to be GDT this week. The regular DT have made some spectacular projects and are screaming out to be admired, so please go look.
The challenge was to make a project with more than one fold. There were images supplied by The Cutting Cafe and I chose the Ahoy Matey collection to work with. It was an ideal set to use for my grandson's upcoming birthday next month. So a card was born...
More than one fold.....a box card that stands up on it's own using the dimension of the box when popped open but can be sent through the post in an ordinary envelope.

The images were manipulated by me on the pc to create the pic at the back and the ship coloured with promarkers before masking off and stamping a load of skull images to add more interest and break up the sea of white. The DP used is from "My minds' Eye" halloween papers of last year. The "Ahoy Matey" disc on the front is also from the image collection. Just cut out with dies, matted up and fixed on.
A simple card for a seven year old.
Thanks girls for asking me to join in at Quirky Crafts

Smilin' Joe Skull

Just for fun, in amongst all the b'day cards, fathers' day card, wedding card. All for celebrations this month.
I made an ATC. I finally coincided with the ATC challenge over at Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge Blog. The theme over there this week is

Headstones and Graveyards 

and they have an awesome sponsor as well - Smeared Ink.
Well, having so many stamps that fit in with this theme - I had to have a play. Didn't I?

I used one of the stamps from The Holy City set from Smeared Ink as my background stamp. (This is now available only in rubber. Follow my link to see more info on joining the club to get yours.) Added a bit of colour with promarkers.
The gravestone is a die cut with some of the embossed bits picked out with gel pen.
The fabulous skully image is Smilin Joe Skull with Roses and is just one of the new range of skull images from Rick St Dennis. I have featured in the recent past other fabulous skully images from the pen of our Rick that are now only available from Smeared Ink Rubber club. So even more reason to click on these links.

I digress
My ATC

I added some tiny white rose buds to the mix as well after a touch of caramel promarker to the edges. Well, when white roses are "past their best" they do start going brown. The text is from an Indigo Blu rubber sentiments collection. I just cut it up a bit to fit on the grave stone.

I would like to enter my ATC into the challenge at
Wicked Wednesday ATCs - Headstones and Graveyards
Left of Centre - Anything LOC

Gone all Flowery with Delicious Doodles

Ooops my bad. I forgot to get this post organised and posted yesterday. Mind you my son and daughter have been hogging the pc for a while. No real excuse I know because I could have booted them but job hunting for them comes first.

A few hours respite and my pc back under my guidance and I can get on with updating my blog.

Delicious Doodles challenge kicked off the weekend yesterday as usual for a Friday. Team A's turn to make a project to (hopefully) inspire others.

The theme this week is Flower Frames

and a beautiful FREEBIE is supplied
Teri has so many beautiful flowers on/in frames in the Pansy and Butterfly Frame.

A gift box instead of an ordinary card, so many birthdays coming up and so many cards already made, I needed something to put the little gifts into.

All made from an A3 sheet of card.
The image, coloured with promarkers, was adhered to the front with the butterfly cut out again and decoupaged up slightly. Some gems, ribbon and flowers. I hope the recipient enjoys the contents as well.

The other girls on the team have gone all out with their gorgeous inspirational pieces.
Now it's your turn to inspire us. Just come along to the challenge blog and link in your flowery framed projects. Don't forget that fabulous freebie!!!

I'd like to enter this into the challenge at
C.R.A.F.T. challenges - Anything but a card

2013 Skull-a-bration Day

I can hardly believe a whole year has passed since the massive bloghop of 2012 celebrating the beauty of the cranium. This little (???) party has been organised by the gals over at Smeared Ink/Smeared & Smudged forum and is only a small part of the world wide tribute to that bony shell that contains our brain. For more info on the world wide event, the Skull-A-Day Blog and for the Smeared & Smudged participation, follow the links.

If you are following the hop order then you will have arrived, and still be reeling, from the amazing Bombshell Girls creations. If you have arrived here just on the off chance, then may I suggest that you start up at Terra's blog and see the whole wonderful array from start to finish? If you're just lost - well the whole blog hop order is there on the left hand side bar of my blog.

I have two projects to show today.
The first features just one of the images that are to be only available through the Smeared Ink Rubber Club for June. This project was created using a digital version. As a member of the DT, I was lucky enough to be able to use this as a preview. The set is called MORTE and created using the fabulous artistry of Rick St Dennis who has now joined the Smeared Ink's awesome collection of artists. You really need to check this collection out!!

If you are a lover of Rick's fabulous work and can't wait for the rubber set then why not head on over to his Etsy shop and have a look at the selection of Skull images there.

An altered cigar box.

different aspects here of the entire box, showing the dimension of the decoupaged front and the stencilled sides and back (Andy Skinner). The image was coloured with promarkers on both top and front. Because of the limitations of the light available here in Scotland, I scanned the image before attaching to give a better idea of the colour. That's distress ink you see colouring the white card base.

The paper covering and lining the box was purchased from Crafty Chaos, who sadly are no longer trading. The "wrought iron" on the corners are from a Sheena Douglas set of rubber stamps.

The second project is an altered key cabinet

This is lined with papers from the same Crafty Chaos papers. The whole box was washed with acrylic paint before the addition of gold metallic rubbing wax on the edges. Various rubber stamped images from Smeared Ink's Quoth The Raven, Lost Coast and Tim Holtz were then adhered. The side edges covered with a copper coloured ribbon and punched paper using MS drippy goo. The hooks that came with this salvaged piece need to be replaced. The white plastic covered ones really do not "go".

Thank you all for taking the time to visit my little corner of bloggy world and hope you enjoy the rest of the amazing projects. Again, if you get lost, the left hand side bar here contains all the blog addresses of the other artists that have dedicated their time and join with me in this Skull-a-bration blog hop.

Both my projects fit the bill of the challenge at Craft My Life - a re-launch of the challenge blog where anything but a card is the norm
They also fit the challenge at Created with Love - Anything Goes. Who doesn't just love their noggin?
The challenge over at Simon Says Stamp is to use the letter S in projects, well I have loads of SKULLS here so would like to enter into this challenge as well.
The Hobby House challenges have an Anything Goes challenge this month as their first ever challenge

Hangman

It's the second week of the challenge over at Haunted Design House. The challenge that requests that you use knots or a noose somewhere in your project.
I felt I had to have a real hard double think when I saw the image I was going to use being used by another of the minions and so wonderfully. I then remembered a Graphic 45 rubber set I have in my collection. Rummage, rummage yayyyy.
An ATC as I was still putting together one of my projects for tomorrow's massive Skull-a-bration bloghop. More of that later.....

My ATC

The ladies are that stamp I was searching for. Then there is the bird and tree branch from the De Stempelwinkel Dark Boundaries set and after masking off the ladies a TH compilation ATC stamp.The words were computer generated and stuck on. The noose.... well I couldn't find my string so had to raid the shed and this is the only twine I could find. I will, no doubt, change the green for another colour. This'll have to do for now.
Your turn to get those knots brushed up on and come show us your knotty work over at Haunted Design House.

Texture with Smudgy Antics

Today marks the start of the next two week challenge over at Smudgy Antics. This challenge is all about

TEXTURE

We would like to see those textural pieces that everyone loves to touch and feel. As well as look at. We would prefer the non-cute of course..... this is Smudgy Antics after all. There are so many main stream blogs that cater for the cute and we like to be different.

I made a canvas. It is 8"square and was able to pick up a few for very few pennies the other day, lucky me.

All bedecked in green and gold with a touch of brown and purple.
The main image and text are from the Smeared Ink Nymphs Set. They are available in digi here although this is from the rubber set that I am lucky to own. The bg to the tree Nymph is the bark stamp from the Urban Decay rubber stamp set that was featured last month in the rubber club. Still some available just make enquiries here at the Smeared Ink website.
The canvas was first covered with a thin layer of gesso and the stamped image of the bark on paper was added. I did try to get the image to stamp the texture on the canvas but with no luck. I did however get the fabby stippled effect. The whole canvas was then washed with layers of decoart blue/green, gold and transparent yellow acrylic paints. The "butterflies" are created using grunge paste and an Andy Skinner mask. Plenty of old gold rubbing wax all over before attaching our gal and the embellishments. Some twisted wire for the antenna under some pearls, all held together with sepia accents. Some die cut leaves and some golden skeleton leaves. Then comes our leading lady, stamped onto cream card and coloured with promarkers.

I hope you all have a chance to come and show us your TEXTURE over at Smudgy Antics and visit the other DT blogs that make up the Smeared Ink DT team.

It's Skull-a-bration day tomorrow and there is a massive blog hop scheduled. The list is over on my LHS side bar. Loads of skully gorgeousness and inspiration, as if you need it. Please come and support us that love our craniums.