Rick St Dennis' Sparkle and Glitter Progressive Challenge

Today is going to be post heavy - which one to do first?
Rick St Dennis' Sparkle and Glitter month long Progressive challenge came out of the hat first. So...............

The first of the month starts the ball rolling again over at the Sparkle and Glitter blog, some of the EDT will be showing some, hopefully, inspirational projects to whet your appetite.
I  am greedy and have two spots. One today and another on the 15th as part of the 2week reminder.
Without further ado .......... a Crimbo card - probably one of a few I will be making in the coming months if last year was anything to go by. Yes - it's a little different, but what do you expect from me?
Using the image "Holiday Opera" and a computer generated senti. (A bit of plagiarism on the old carol... I don't care)

The image was coloured with a mixture of promarkers and graph'its. A copy on cheap paper printed as well, cut out and used as a mask. The mask used to shield the image from the spritzing of more ink around to soften the stark white of the card. The senti had a similar spritz. A bit of ribbon, some matting and layering and one card done.
Thanks for looking. Hopefully you will come and join in the fun at the progressive challenge.

Deliciously Dark

Delicious Doodles have branched out and are now hosting challenges for those of you that favour the DARK. It's no secret that Teri loves drawing her dark images and has now decided that it's time to have a challenge specifically for them. ........... SO NO CUTE allowed at

Delicious Darkness Challenges.

I am honoured to be amid a team of immensely talented crafters asked to join the team and our first challenge has gone live today. You have nearly a month to get those deliciously dark projects made and linked up at the challenge linky. For more deets - you'll just have to go look for yourselves.
I have made a couple of hanging ornaments suitable for either Hallowe'en or Creepmas using a blank wire snowflake frame.
First up is the image "Skully Pendant"

The image printed 12 times (6 mirror images) Coloured and fussy cut out. Seed beads form the vertebra, then the images stuck front and back. More beads and finished off with a black ribbon bow.
My second one features that gorgeous Raven Skull Pendant image.

Same principle - 12 images stuck either side of the wires then dipped in UTEE. Beads and ribbon to complete.

Now go look again at all the eye candy the rest of the guys came up with, get your thinking caps on and come join us so we can ooooo and arhhhh at yours.

I'd like to enter my onaments into the challenges at
Left of Centre - Anything Goes
A Step in the Dark - Anything Goes
Punkyou Girl - Anything Goes
Anything but a Card - Repeating Motifs

Deja-Vu Doo with HDH

Long time, no see. My crafting mojo has been away on it's hols for a while and not a lot of projects have made it to completion, unfortunately. One project that did get completed is this altered book box. - well I did have 6 originally in my stash to work on. Two more, smaller, to go.
This one is for the challenge that started over at Haunted Design House today.

Deja-Vu Doo

The idea for this theme is to reuse a previous image, technique, paper, etc... that you have used recently, but in a new way.
My images are created using rubber stamps from the Smeared Ink "Nevermore" collection and a technique as described by Sheena Douglass using gesso and acrylic paint. See here for full instructions.

The images of Mr Poe, skull and the heart before attaching to the box. Pan pastels used to add an aged patina to the skull before applying gilding wax to the raised portions. The same gilding wax used for Mr Poe. The heart was given a red blood glistening effect using perfect pearls. The raven was coloured using perfect pearls.

The entire box was painted with black acrylic paint and the heart resides inside

 The outside of the box was then coated with decoart "weathered wood" before a coat of copper acrylic paint that has gold pan pastel added to it. This subtly changed the copper colour to old gold. Some areas were given a helping hand in the ageing process using that age old tool - my fingers. Rubbing some of the paint off when still tacky. 

The images all adhered using silicon glue. Some black pearls glued on. The silver cross was also given an aged look using pan pastels.

The challenge is on for the next two weeks - in what way will you use your stash in a different way?

Come show us over at Haunted Design House. Let's make the best use of our crafty bits and get more mileage out of it by using in a different way. Don't forget to check out the awesome projects made by the other minions for more inspiration.

Thanks for looking, hope to see you soon

They're Coming To take Us Away...........

......... Ha ha, he he
They're coming to take us away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa

 Alien Abduction/Invasion

The funny farm would shake their head if I were to be removed to that place I'm sure.
The thought processes that come out of my head make ME wonder occasionally. Then, when The Haunted Design House challenge of this fortnight was drawing close, I had to engage that part of my brain that spewed out creativity. Hubs, bless his cotton socks, always asks if he can throw "this" out. "This" being an outside light fixture today. Just the thing popped up and out of the grey cell that I have tried to keep alive.
Armed with acrylic paint, glass paint, a couple of rubber stamps - Paper Artsy and Smeared Ink, ink and card, teamed with a few bits of wire, glow in the dark mod-podge and some UTEE, my spaceship came into being. As an added "bonus" I installed some battery operated LED lights inside - a "real" spaceship night light.?

 my Alien

 By day

 in the dark with the internal lights on

top view

The glyphs were handpainted on using Maynov's Glyph Collection (public domain)

The Blog gives a few ideas to help tickle your grey cells into activity as well as some fantastic pieces from my fellow teamies.Get along over there and take a peek ......

then come show us what you came up with.

I'd like to enter my altered light fitting into the challenges at
Anything But a Card - Anything Goes
Craft My Life - Anything But a Card
My Craft Creations - Anything Goes

A Little Bit Eerie

It's "my week" to make a little something for the Haunted Design House challenge. Due to being a bit under the weather it was a tad late. Better late than never?
I made a mixed media canvas. Looking at the works of those mega-multi talented teamies of mine, Donna and Glo, we all read the white on white memo.
I went with an icy cold theme using Rick St Dennis' Jack Frost image.
Coloured with promarkers to begin with.

Then torn out of it's card surroundings and given a liberal coating of Rock Candy Crackle glaze.
While that was drying I added bits of tulle, lace and muslin to a white gesso covered canvas with gel medium.
A few bits of silver wire added under and over the image. Then more torn tulle - as if the image is hiding behind a curtain. Finally a border of ice in the form of some bling.

I hope you come join us with your interpretation of "Eerie Inspiration" and let us feast ourselves on your eye candy.

I'd like to enter this canvas into the challenge at
A Step in the Dark - Dark Fantasy/Anything Goes
Everybody Art - Monochrome
Just Inspirational - Anything but a card

Buttons and Bows with Delicious Doodles

Morning all.
What's this? Two posts in two days? Well it is the start of the new challenge at Delicious Doodles' challenge blog. Being on team A, it's our turn to provide some DT inspiration. I made a card destined to send to a young friend for her birthday.

Using the images Blossom and overlaid with the Butterfly Border

The black card base was topped with a pale blue card that was edged using a graph it pen after stamping a text stamp with blue ink. Some black/white paper cellar flower/butterfly paper topped the blue. Bringing in the pinks on the image - ribbon with hand stitched bows and buttons

All coloured with Graph it pens.

So, what are you waiting for? It's an open invitation to join in - just pop on over to the blog and see the other fabby makes my teamies made - amazing work

I'd like to enter this card into the challenge at
Graph'it Markers Challenge - Blonde hair. 

Catch-up and sorrys all round

Where do I begin?
It's been a month since I last posted here. If it weren't for "No-Luck", I'd have no luck at at all!
Life and all the lemons that it could throw at me this month got in the way and sucked a mega amount of mojo out of me. However I did make a few projects for one of the DT teams I am on. Haunted Design House.
The first - well the challenge has been and gone but I'll show it to you anyway.
For the challenge "Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble" using black green and purple, metal and a flourish.
I actually made two projects. One - a "tree of life (or death?) using purple and green beads on some black wire. Twisted into a flourish for that gnarled tree trunk and embedded into a glass tealight holder with hot glue. A little black crystal skull and a grave stone at the roots.

The second was an altered tin. Using a stamp from Smeared Ink's Morbidly Adorable set.

Coloured with promarkers before embossing with a TH folder. A flourish was stencilled on in purple.

plenty of black distress ink and adhered to a tin before sealing with decoart sealer.

My next piece is for the still current challenge.

"Number of the Beast"

To celebrate the fact we have reached that magic number of followers on the HDH blog. 

An altered "book box"

Top and bottom 

Covered with "faux leather" as per Sheena Douglass. Without the embossing. 

I wanted a "peeled skin look"

The 3 "monster heads" form the feet of the box.

On the top - the number 666 is in the pentagram. This is really just card, coloured with pan pastels then liberally coated with "rock candy". 

Some metal corner embellishments to finish off.

on it's side to look like a book

The "leaves" and where the box closes are coated with gilding wax in antique gold.

 When all was dry, the whole thing was sprayed to seal with crafters' companion's spray and shine

and inside ........ not forgotten

This (with a few goodies from my stash) is just a small prize for the winner of this monumental challenge over at the blog. You really need to check out the rest of the prizes up for grabs.

I'd like to enter my book box into the challenge at

Unstampables - Alter something/mixed media