Flamingo Rose Travel Journal

It's new release day for Sandra Caldwell and I'm showcasing the fabulous #1675 Flamingo Rose.  Isn't she gorgeous?  She just screamed TROPICAL VACATION to me so I decided to add her to the cover of a travel journal I picked up at Michaels.  I used Spellbinder's squares to cut vinyl in what I hoped to look like a Polaroid pic to frame her.  I thought the vinyl would stick to the textured vinyl cover a bit better that card stock, but I ended up having to add Scoretape to the edges to really get it to stick.  Then I framed the frame with washi tape, added additional washi tape sentiments and a beachy sticker to the bottom.

Here's a closeup of #1675 Flamingo Rose.  I've colored her with Copics and then fussy cut her.  I added a piece of acetate to the frame before sticking her to the corner which not only protects the image, but left no need to use adhesive behind her.  My first thought was to make a shaker, but the cover is quite stiff and bends at the spine so I was afraid the added dimension might be a problem, especially when using the attached elastic that keeps the book closed.  I still love the way it turned out.  Be sure to check out the rest of the fun new stamps being showcased by my teamies in the Sandra Caldwell Stamp fans FB Group.

I'm entering this in the DL.Art July Linky challenge, the DL.Art Thankful Thursday Summer Fun Challenge, Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #61 AG, Crafty Calendar July AG, TTRCD Week of July 4th AG, Jo's Scrap Shack FFC#196, the Outlawz Monday Greetings Vacation challenge, Creative Fingers #134 AG, Craft Rocket AG, 2 Crafty Critter Crazies #4 July AG w/Animal and Simon Says Stamp Summer Sunshine. 

New Delicious Darkness Challenge #1!

I'm very excited to announce that the very first Challenge at The Delicious Darkness Challenge Blog is now LIVE and I am on the team!!!  Our first theme is ATG, (as long as it's DARK or alternative) and you needn't even use a Delicious Darkness stamp. It runs from the 13th of every month to the 10th of the next so there's plenty of time to play.  I've created a wall hanging which started out as a fairly simple project but just grew and grew.  And so did this post, so grab a cuppa, you're gonna be here awhile.

This inspiration came first from one of Teri's newer stamps, Disturbia, with it's giant pile of creepy characters.  A good portion of the DD team also resides in the dungeon with me at HDH (imagine that!) so this reminded me of them.  xx I printed this stamp 5 times so I could fussy cut the crew and add the dimension I so love. (Better pic of that later.) Fortunately, there was minimal coloring to do, just my usual fave combo of WG! and G21 for Zombie flesh, some more warm grays for shadowing, and a couple of other greens for the lovely snakes slithering about.  After distressing the edges, I chose one of the digi papers from the Beastly Paper Pack (a total "must have").

When I saw this sentiment from Ginger's House I couldn't believe the luck! We're a tight knit bunch and this really fit the bill.  Cut and matted with Spellbinders Labels One and inked with Distress.  OOOH, notice the google eye?  They're splattered throughout.

However, the hanging was a bit lob sided now with that large sentiment, so I looked to the papers of balance it out a bit.  Ah yes, Teri's Pentagram did quite nicely.

This weekend, I went to the Scrapbook Expo in Santa Clara hoping to score, among other things, some more of the Melissa Frances hangers I so love.  However, much to my dismay, they no longer make them in black.  Bummer!  Not that I can't paint the, but...  Anyway, I bought a number of them and tried a few and this, a new style for me, looked the coolest.  However, it needed something to darken it up a bit (besides a bit of Distress Ink).  So on with the Ram's Skully (also from the DP).  WooHoo!

But, of course, I just could leave it flat.  Printed 5 times and fussy cut, here's the dimensional shot.  By the end of this project my hand was in spasms!

And finally, the dimensional shot of my bunch of crazies.  I considered naming them but didn't want to cause any more chaos. (But I'm the one middle left with her mouth open, big surprise.)  Thanks for hanging in there with my longer than long post, but, as you can tell, I really, really, REALLY love this project.

So, if you haven't visited the new Delicious Darkness Challenge Blog, you're in for a treat.  Go meet the team and check out the fabby makes and by all means, come play along.

I'll be adding it to the following dark themed blogs:  Left of Center ATG, PYG August ATG Challenge, A Step in the Dark ATG.  And the mainstream Oldie but Goodie Black and White Plus One (Green and my oldies are the google eye's that are so old, some of them have turned a bit cloudy.), All Crafts Anything but a Card Aug/Sept, and Anything But a Card Repeating Motifs. 

Day 2 Prompt: Hearts

Tuesday's prompt for the Kickstart your Art Challenge is hearts.  Yea!  Another easy one.  I wanted to do a bit more with the background (HA!  none too difficult since I did NOTHING yesterday) so I took a produce bag (grapefruit) and used it as a stencil and pounced Distress ink in Barn Door and Black soot over my page and then removed the mask and did some blending around the edges.  Wanted to use some stamps this time and printed out Smeared Ink's Holding heart from the Bloody Valentine set, colored it with Copics, fussy cut it and said "Now what?"  My original thought was just this stamps with the sentiment "Love is fragile, handle with care", but I'd printed it too small for what I'd envisioned.

I poked around until I came across my Dependable Dotty set by Dyan Reavely and the "Always" caught my eye.  "Love is fragile, ALWAYS handle with care".  Cool!  It even sort of looked like a bandage on her head to me (until I realized it's a bird, what's up with that?)  Poor Dotty now looks like she has "MAN HANDS" but she's offering her heart which is FULL of love, and trusting that it will be cared for and cherished forever.

The wings I've added are from the Cuttlebug Emboss Plus Vintage Collage set and I've stickled them for some bling.  Dotty's heart, black tipped French mani, (I'm sooo gonna do that when I get a chance) as well as her lips, eye and boots are coated with Glossy Accents.  One side says "I'm still all aflutter".

 The other, "your love gives me wings".  Top corner now reads "Always and Forever".  She's in it for the long haul.

Sorry for this ultra long post.  Got a bit carried away with this one.  So my point?  When you find your ONE, never ever let him go.  Offer yourself fully and completely and as long as you both remember to love, respect and cherish each other, your life will be filled with joy and there will be nothing you can't do...together. 

I'm also adding this to the Mini Spotlight Challenge with Diana Fernandez at Anything but a Card.

Final HDH Challenge of the Year Samhain Sunset Week 2

I know, I know, it's tough to think we Minions won't be WOWing you with creepiness throughout the last months of the year, but let's face it, Halloween takes the piss out of us.  We need a few months of torture, gloominess and bad weather to recharge our warped little minds.  Not that we'll be going completely dark.  It's just our last Challenge.  I'm sure there will be a few little surprises here and there so check in periodically. 

Our final challenge is Samhain (pronounced Sow-en) Sunset.  Read about the history of Samhain HERE.

We're looking for the colors of a beautiful fall sunset.
Think purples, reds, oranges, and yellows.

Use them as you wish, just keep it within our guidelines.

We are sponsored by the incredibly talented Mitzi Sato-Wiuff, of

Aurora Wings.

She has offered up a very generous prize of $15 worth of digis (digis ONLY)

to each of our GTs this challenge.

Mitzi has beautiful artwork available in her store. She has digis,

ACEOs, original artwork, and more in her shop. Stop by and check it out.

 

I've chosen the gorgeous Sugar Skull Day of the Dead Catrina.  I certainly wish I could have included her in the Dia del los Muertos Blog Hop but she will definitely find a place on my ofrenda (altar) as I've put her on a cigar box which honors my Grandfather ('s nasty habit).  Because I use crap card stock to print on and not the fab and expensive super blendable stuff,  I printed her twice on white and twice on yellow and then colored. I thought it would suck up too much of my Copics and wanted a saturated background and roses so I did some fussy cutting, paper piecing and popping to get the final result.  The rest of the minions (except Glo of course, who HAS to be different ;D) also chose this image so be sure to pop by HDH to see the beautiful and fabulously different takes.  Scroll down and see more of Mitzi's gorgeous designs in team A's offerings as well.

I'm also entering this in the Anything But a Card Fall into Fall Challenge (it's an altered cigar Box in case you didn't want to plough through my lengthy post), 613 Avenue Create ATG, Hiding in my Craftroom Fall Colors, Simon Says Wednesday ATG, Left of Center using the LOC theme, Ladybug Crafts Autumn Colors, and Scribbles Designs Shades of Orange.

Dilly Beans Autumn Colors

Oh how I love the Fall!  the nip in the air, the leaves turning colors, it's my favorite season.  This week our Dilly Beans challenge is to use Fall colors.  The inspiration for my project came from a tag included in my Anthropologie catalog (yea! recycling!)  and the sentiment got me thinking.  I cut a slot in the tag, mounted it on corrugated card stock, popped it so there would be room for the dime (a penny was too big, this is an EXPENSIVE tag, LOL) and foam sandwich to fit and added the sweet little Dilly Beans Heart Owl.  I know I just used him, but he's a FAVE!

So it's a spinner tag!  (Directions are on SplitcoastStampers.)  WooHoo!  (That's what HE said)  there he goes.  He's colored with  Copics and has lidded google eyes (Darice in the child's crafts section of J's).  I've tied it up with a little twine.

Wish I could have done a video so you could see how he spins.  The pretty leafy corners were a freebie from Dilly Beans but are unfortunately no longer available.

Still going...   "woohoo" was cut on my Cuttlebug using the discontinued Typewriter Alphabet dies.
My DT sisters have outdone themselves this week with fabulously beautiful creations so be sure and stop the by Challenge Blog to ooooh and ahhhhh.  We're excited to see your projects as well.  Just be sure to include a stamp, be it rubber, clear, or digi.

I'm also entering this in the 4 Crafty Chicks Beauty of Leaves Challenge, Kraft Outlet Lavish Layers, Charisma Cardz Things with Wings, DLArt Thankful Thursday, Halloween, Fall Colors,and/or Owls, Digi Stamps 4 Joy Leaves, the Recycle, Re-purpose and Reinvent Sept Challenge, the Smudger Reduce, Re-Use RecycleChallenge, and the Anything But a Card Texture Challenge.

The Altered Alice Week 3, Chapter 19: Lovely Garden, Bright Flowers

"...she tried the little golden key in the lock, and to her great delight it fitted! Alice opened the door and found that it led into a small passage, not much larger than a rat-hole: she knelt down and looked along the passage into the loveliest garden you ever saw. How she longed to get out of that dark hall, and wander about among those beds of bright flowers and those cool fountains, but she could not even get her head though the doorway; `and even if my head would go through,' thought poor Alice, `it would be of very little use without my shoulders."-- Chapter 1, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Our challenge this month at The Altered Alice is garden or flowers.  My project is a Wonderland garden telescoping box using empty recycled ribbon and tape spools for the base.  Grab a cuppa (tea would be fitting) 'cause this is a LONG one!

Our sponsor this month is the fabulous Stamping Boutique. Tracey Malnoski is the owner and illustrator, and she has previously designed stamps for Unity, InStyle, Squigglefly, and The Digi Shack. Her Stamping Boutique has it all: digital images, red rubber stamps, and themes that include fairytale, whimsy, sentimental, and candy.  We are showcasing her wonderful Alice in Wonderland line. Please visit her Store and Challenge Blog.

Enter your Flower/Garden creations by Friday, Sept 28 for a chance to win 3 images of your choice.  Multiple entries are allowed, but to count as a separate entry, each must be on its own blog post. All entries are welcome, but projects that feature Wonderland will have two chances at the drawing instead of one.

The top of my creation has Alice peeking through the keyhole into the beautiful garden beyond.  I've replace the key featured on the stamp with a chopboard one that was wet embossed with Pirate Gold embossing powder.  Use the Hitch Fastener to slide open the door.

Next Alice has entered the garden.  See, she has already plucked flowers for her hair.  The images were colored with Copics and the layered tops and images were cut with Nesties.

Deeper into the garden she goes.  The day is warm and wonderful, the sky covered with fluffy white clouds.

Looks like she's happened upon the Mad Hatter's tea party.  See his hat?  I printed the images several times to allow for the dimension (which unfortunately doesn't show too well in the pic).  The mushroom tops, teacup, grass and hat are all fussy cut and popped.  Prima flowers and adhesive beads complete the scene.

Here you can see Alice's complete journey.  The layers are held together with brads through the lovely flowers.

                         And there are loads of flowers in Wonderland.

In fact they're hiding everywhere.  So I hope you have enjoyed this little journey and are inspired to create a project of your own.  My DT sisters have gorgeous examples of the Wonderland garden, thanks to The Stamping Boutique, so please visit The Altered Alice and be sure to scroll all the way down to Week 1 so you don't miss a thing.

 

I'm also entering this in the Smudger Reduce, Reuse, Recyle Challenge, the Recyle, Re-Purpose and Re-Invent Anything Goes Challenge, the Challenge Up Your Life Fantasy Challenge, Inspire me Fridays Anything Goes, Delightful Challenges Anything But a Card, and the Anything But a Card Texture Challenge.