A Touch of Darkness at Aurora Wings

This is a very busy Monday for me! I'm so excited about the new Challenge at Aurora Wings with the exciting theme of

  

I've chosen to alter a bottle that originally looked like this.  Fortunately, the wine is yumbo, 'cause I really, really REALLY love the bottle.  However, the writing both back and front has to be scraped off with a razor before altering.
Bummer!

Then I colored the gorgeous dark mermaid, Secret Kiss, with Copics cut her out with a Spellbinders Grand Oval and Mod Podged her to the bottle.  I used the gloss variety, since the bottle was glossy, and kept adding layers until the finish was very smooth.

Didn't quite know how to age the bottle, but tried some Rock Candy Crackle paint.  Seemed like the bottle of paint was too small to paint my whole bottle so I didn't try to cover it all.  Unfortunately, I didn't apply it thick enough to get the large crackle I was going for, and it kind of looked frosty, so I took alcohol inks and ran them down the bottle, diluting them in places with Copic blender.

I used Glossy Accents around the image and sprinkled on mica flakes.  Then set about creating the rest of the scene, ripping cheesecloth and finding shells and other bits and bobs. 

I colored reindeer moss with Distress re-inkers,  added a skull and applied crackle to a tiny bottle and rolled up a message inside.  Found some lichen I'd saved which looked to me like under sea plants as well.

I draped a chain around the neck of the bottle and added a compass.  Finally, I stuffed more moss into the top and glued on a shell stopper that I'd painted, and sprinkled with mica flakes and added the bottom leg bones and foot coming out of the opening in the shell.  (hee hee!)  I don't often do projects like this because I'm way to impatient to wait for things to dry, but I gotta say, after some tense moments, I really love how it came out.  

Now, please visit the Aurora Wings Challenge Blog to see the fabulously dark and gorgeous projects by my DT Sisters and don't forget to scroll down to see the winners from Challenge #6. Also, our September FB Challenge, which runs through September 30th is Anything Goes, so be sure to enter both challenges, if appropriate.  I hope you're inspired to channel your dark side.

I'm adding this to the Punk You Girl What Creeps Under The Sea Challenge,  Left of Center No Designer Paper, 613 Avenue Create ATG, ALBC Distress It, Altered Eclectics September ATG (mixed media), The Mirror Cracked (first challenge, WOOHOO!) ATG Mixed Media, All Crafts Aug/Sept Challenge, and Simon Says Monday Rock the Techniques.

Macabre Monday Insidious Inspiration

This week at Haunted Design House our is challenge Insidious Inspiration, based on this mojo inspiring  photo.  Now I've already done some stuff with poison and potions, so I dug a little deeper.  My piece is my interpretation of a Lacrymatory, or tear bottle which has a rich history dating back to ancient times.

A lachrymatory, or tear bottle has been used for centuries to symbolize love, joy, sorrow and rememberance.  They were used to collect the tears of mourners and were found buried in ancient tombs to show honor and respect.  In Victorian times, when tears were collected, the special stopper (usually cork) allowed for their slow evaporation which then signaled the end of the official mourning period.  In some American Civil War Stories, women were said to have cried into bottles and saved them until their husbands returned from battle.  The collected tears showing how loved and missed they were.  However, tear bottles, or catchers, were historically a mourning tradition and only recently have tears of joy and inspiration been captured.  Often the bottles were beautiful and ornate, and displayed on special trays.  My version is the HDH one, inspired by the pic, with the small skulls representing twin infants and the larger one, their mother with the fab black metal roses on her head, who also died in childbirth.  I'd be thinkin' there'd be mega tears shed for this bunch.  The tray is done with my new Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Squares out of mirri card stock and lined with felt.  I'm planning on adding a jump ring to the back so it can be worn on a chain.  Ya never know when those tears are gonna strike and I'd hate to miss any.  My Minions sisters have fabby interprations of their own, so be sure to visit HDH and check it out.  And a special Birthday Greeting to our Guest Minion, fab friend and Dilly Beans DT sis Jenn.  Luv ya, girly!  And don't forget Wretched Wednesday when Creepy Glo graces us with her presence and announces he winners from last week's challenge.

Macabre Monday Apalling Apothecary

What's in YOUR medicine cabinet? Okay, Margie, you don't have to answer that. LOL but you ladies who take the challenge at Haunted Design House must...do you dare? My nifty little bottle of poison started as a bottle of premium scotch that hubby had to have. LOVE the shape of the bottle and just KNEW it would come in handy.WooHoo! I finally got to use my Tim Holtz Poison Label embossing folder which I tore around and inked with Distress.

The "cobwebs" are a ripped up dryer sheet. That seems to be one of my favorite recyclable items. A few plastic spiders and some interesting looking fibers and I was good to go.

And how about my cool skeleton fingers gripping that bottle? I used a mold meant for making chocolate covered pretzels and filled it with Paperclay (no baking required). After filling each finger, I carefully removed them and molded them around the bottle. Once dry, I painted them with Distress. The bottle is filled with some bile colored liquid and some dish soap so it bubbles. Couldn't really get a pic of that. And I've used some Distress Embossing Powder around the wood cork stopper which looks like some lovely corrosion. The top said Est. 1897 and I thought that was just too cool to cover up. I really enjoyed doing an "altered project" for a change and I hope you enjoy it too. I'm afraid there won't be a BBTB2 post this week. Sorry about that, but not only did I not have the cart, I had a fleeting (I hope) lack of mojo in that arena. Be sure to check out the rest of the Minions take on this challenge HERE (and again on Wednesday for Creepy Glo's submission) and in a few hours stop by BBTB2 and give my sisters there some love. I'm also entering this in the Allsorts Recycle/Alter something challenge, the Shopping Our Stash Vintage, Distressed or Shabby Chic Challenge, and the Quirky Crafts Anything but a Card Challenge.

Macabre Monday Alas, Poor Yorick Challenge

This week for Macabre Monday we want to see SKULLS! How convenient, since I've been wanting to bedazzle the lovely skully bottle of Crystal Head Vodka DH surprised me with.
He certainly knows the way to a girl's heart. LOL The lovely tag is Skull with Roses from The Octopode Factory. It includes the sentiment banner which I filled in with my Printmaster Pro Program.

The tag is tied with a kind of fringy fiber from my stash, the black swirls are from the Prima Say it in Crystals.

An the lovely purple ones are from the M's $1.00 bin WooHoo! Now I know you're gonna wanna play along this week because the prize is a $20.00 gift certificate to her Etsy Store, donated by our very own Creepy Glowbugg. She's got loads of fab cards, card candy, jewelry, and even Christmas ornaments (with a bit of a macabre twist heehee!) and they're beautiful! I know 'cause I got me some. She's also offering a little surprise for a random winner, but you'll have to pop over to Haunted Design House to see how you can WIN and get a little inspiration from the fabulous Minions!