Bah! Humbug! Meets Octopode (by accident)

Eiyiyi! I'm NOT keeping up! The days 'til Halloween keep flying by (no Beck, I haven't started yet, LOL some inspiration, eh?) and I'm still trying hard to keep up with my DT stuff as well as my fave challenges around Blogworld. Bah! Humbug! this week is Glitz and Glitter, and Lily at TOFF has a musical theme going. I had totally different ideas for BOTH challenges but realized I wouldn't be able to do them both unless I combined them, so this is the result. Probably not what either of them expected (or you either, considering the challenges) but it is what it is, and I kinda like it. First off I just bought a wad more Octopodes and I was dying to use the sweet new Winter Girl (that I don't see in the shop at the moment, but I'm sure she'll be back soon). Figured she'd be great for a Christmas card. The hitch was I was also dying to do the thing in sepia tones which doesn't really translate to glitter (or Christmas, for that matter) but Winter

Wonderland wanted Christmas with Autumn Colors.

She's colored with Copics and the snow flakes behind her were done in my Printmaster Platinum program by cropping some musical digi paper I just won from the House Across the Bay. The cropping is done with dots and I couldn't exactly see what I was doing but I was going for a sort of rough snowflake shape. The result was pretty funky but I thought it was perfect with my Octopode gal. The images were merged but it didn't really gel until I drew around them with my Memento marker to make them look more like a digi stamp as well.

To glitz it up, I applied Stardust Stickles to the snowflakes and cut a glitter card stock mat with my Nesties Grand labels One. There's also some Rock Candy Distress Stickles on her boots and I printed, colored and cut her hat and scarf a second time and popped them for dimension. To add to the musical theme, I added the note brads and the rub on words to "Let it Snow" from Melissa Frances.

Finally, I popped the frame and added chipboard letters from Prima that I've had forever (and never used). They look just like they were encrusted with ice crystals. Sorry I didn't take a pic of the unopened package ladies, but this qualifies for the ABC Christmas Unused Stash Challenge. So there you have it! A real collaboration while designing. I know it's different, but I had a ball.

The Saturated Canary Challenge #1

Okay, I almost couldn't get any later than this. In fact I would have been too late had I not bopped over to The Saturated Canary Challenge Blog and noticed the deadline for this first sketch (and photo inspiration challenge) ends at midnight! EEEKK!!! I pretty much stink at sketches (no creativity for thinking outside the box with them) but Halloween...NO PROB! I chose the adorable Frankenstein Tambry digi for my project. She's colored with Copics to match the Basic Grey Eerie DP and from there I just pretty much followed the sketch.

Look at that face! Is she precious or what? (Actually, they ALL are and you can see them in the Etsy store HERE, but you'll have to wait 'til tomorrow because Krista took a mini vacay). Go Krista! Edit: She's BAACK!, go shop!

I took a close up of the little dangling charm so that the lovely ladies at Forever Night challenges could see that she's Trick or Treating. She's just a little shy. Love that webby ribbon and the crocheted lace. Thought it looked nice with the crocheted flower on top. So there we go. Friday there will be a new challenge at The Saturated Canary AND Forever Night. WooHoo!

BBTB2 Vulture Challenge

OOps! a little late today. I'm not sleeping well and my schedule is all off. Today my dear friend and DT sis Agnes (Flowerdisco) has chosen the BBTB2 challenge this week which is the vulture from Life's a party. I can't believe it's ANOTHER cart I don't have. Too many too fast, these days. Well, there is another vulture on Zooballoo, but try as I did, I just couldn't make that pitiful little thing work for me so I chose the raven from Oct 31st instead. I thought he would be a good substitute, lovin' tearing apart dead carcasses and all. However, when I read Agnes's intro she was talking about cute...ahhh, well, not so much. But hey, I all but exhausted my cutesy quotient last week with that frog so it is what it is. Sorry Agnes.

Yes, it's a shaped front card done in DS using the raven and moon from Oct 31st, the drippy swirl from Happy Hauntings and the skull from Wall Decor and More. The background paper is from the 6x6 Blackbird (how fitting!) collection from Memory Box which lead me to emboss the moon with the Goochie Script (5x7) embossing folder. (In case you can't see it, there's script on the DP as well.) Shades of Poe, eh?

Lots of layers and the raven is glittered with Doodlebug Sugar coating after running it through my Xyron right side down. The swirl is enhanced with Glossy Accents and adhesive gems. Both the moon and the skull are cut from iridescent card stock but the glimmer doesn't really show up well here. All edges were inked with Distress. My DT sisters have done an amazing job on this challenge so be sure to stop my BBTB2 and have a look. We'd love to see your take as well. Remember, the challenges run for 2 weeks, you may substitue the cut for another similar one, please enter new creations only and link them back to BBTB2. I'm also enter this in the Gingersnap Creations Theme Challenge, Horror Stories.

Someone to Watch Over me

This week our Macabre Monday challenge at Haunted Design House is Gods and Monsters. You can choose from those of Greek Mythology, a classic movie, or some bizarre divination from a tale from long ago. I'm not sure I'd call this lovely gargoyle a monster, but it's gonna have to work for this challenge. The fab image is the very first I fell in love with from our dear Teri at Delicious Doodles HERE. (P.S. if you're not into creepy, there are tons of just plain beautiful digis at Delicious Doodles as well.) I just love gargoyles.

Besides the architectural purpose of diverting rain from the roof away from the side of a building to keep the water from eroding the mortar, non water spitting grotesques, also known as gargoyles, are said to scare off and protect from any evil or harmful spirits. My little guy is gonna sit on my desk and keep me nice and safe. I'm sort of bummed you can't see the embossing here under the sentiment. I used the Tim Holtz Bricked folder from Sizzix because I thought that was fitting.

This was my first attempt at a twisted easel and I used my Nesties Large Octogons to construct the base. The roses are from Recollections. Everything I've used for this card I've had for WELL over 6 months so I'm entering it in the Simply Create challenge and the monochromatic color scheme qualifies it for the 4 Crafty Chicks challenge as well. I'm also entering it in the Sentimental Sundays Anything Goes challenge, and Simon Says Stamp and Show Things with Wings.

This great image requires no coloring and just begs to be decoupaged. He was printed 6 times and I fussy cut up a storm. Just LOVE the way he pops off the page. The Minions truly enjoyed this one so pop by HDH for some inspiration and be sure to visit often this month. Besides Creepy Glowbugg's post on Wednesday with the Gruesome Twosome announcement and such, we're also bringing you all around cool and spooky stuff to make your October the best month EVER!

ADFD Texture Challlenge

I finally got a chance to play again with A Day For Daisies. The current challenge is Gimme Some Texture. I've used the adorable image Pumpkins and Butterflies. My original plan was to use a Cuttlebug folder for texture, but I'd already colored my image and made it fairly large so the folder I had chosen was too small. What to do? At Gingersnap Creations, the Spicy Supply Challenge is crimpers. Oh yeah, I have one of those...somewhere. Found it crammed in a bottom drawer and ran my kraft mat through. LOVE how it looks on kraft. (as a matter of fact, I love this particular kraft which is quite a rich color (for kraft, anyway) and comes in 12x12 sheets in a value pack from J's. I'm thinkin' it's from The Paper Company. The card base is soft suede from Stampin' Up. The combo...YUMMY! Of course my image is colored with Copics and I spent a really long time trying to get a truly saturated color on that pumpkin so I could enter the Copic Creations challenge.

I cut both the image and frame with my Nesties Octagons and popped the mat for dimension. For further texture I added some felt daisies I'd picked up for a buck at J's. I did a bit of coloring on them with my Copics as well, to make them look more Fall like. Then just a gingham ribbon to enter in The Ribbon Carousel Anything Goes Challenge and some adhesive beads and I was done. You've got a bit more time to enter these challenges so why not pop by ADFD, Gingersnap Creations, The Ribbon Carousel and Copic Creations and get inspired by the wonderful work of their fabulous DT's.

TOFF Men

WooHoo! I finally managed an Octopode Factory Friday Challenge. Been missing them the last few weeks. The challenge is MEN. I've been dying to do a pirate card for awhile. First of all, I had the perfect colored treasure map digi from Tiddly Inks, and then there's the TWO (yes, you heard me, not one but TWO) fabby pirate stamps from The Octopode Factory to choose from. There's Captain Hook as well as Captain Jack (oops, I don't see him in the shop at the moment but he does look exactly like Johnny Depp, in the movie...REALLY). Anyway, I chose Captain Hook because he's a bit more masculine and I find the whole "hook" thing kinda cool. LOL

He's colored with Copics in shades of purple and green and I can never figure out why purple just doesn't photograph correctly. I've added an earring, because no self respecting pirate should be without one. The sentiment is computer generated and quite fitting since my pirate is ALWAYS looking for booty and I've added a Wonky Eyed Skull from my sister Minion Creepy Glowbugg's Etsy shop where X marks the spot.

The Captain and sentiment are popped and I've done a ton of distressing with my Distrezz-it-All and Distress Inks. The DT has some fabulous examples (as always) this week AND, if you've been craving some Octopodes RUN, don't walk, to The Octopode Factory IMMEDIATELY because you can get 30% off with the code theprancingpony at checkout until tomorrow morning since Lily is away celebrating her 18th birthday at Disneyland Paris. Lucky girl! I'm also entering this in The Digi Doodles Shop Distressing Challenge, Ruby's Rainbow For the Boys challenge.

Bah! Humbug! Nativity Challenge

This week at Bah! Humbug! they're celebrating the true meaning of Christmas with a Nativity challenge. This became slightly more difficult for me than expected when I realized I have NO Nativity stamps and would have to rely on my Cricut. The Nativity I chose came from the Christmas Village cartridge and the figures are designed to be free standing. I welded the figures in DS, hid the contours of the bases and also welded a small rectangle from George at the base of each figure to hide the slit at the bottom where the base fits in. Of course, no shadows again, so I hid the interior contours of the images, cut it in brushed gold card stock and glued them slightly offset. The Star is from Joys of the Season.

I decided to keep it pretty CAS. I thought just the white and gold looked elegant, but a plain white mat look unfinished and it was too large to emboss with a regular A2 Cuttlebug folder. I decided to use the smallest of my Spellbinders Grand Circles to emboss only (tape your die in place and run it through your machine with the embossing pad and plate so it won't cut through) and then added some holographic peelie stars. I popped the cuts and added an adhesive star to the star cut and a few adhesive rhinestones to the manger. I'm actually quite pleased with how it came out. Look ladies, no camels. LOL Really though, the B!H! DT examples are lovely, as always and welcome back, Ann! Oh, and today is my dear friend Barb's Birthday (and it's her final week as a B!H! Guest Designer) so pop by and sing her the b-day song. I'm also entering this in the Christmas Stampin' All Year Long Resist the Temptation challenge, The Crazy Challenge Monthly Christmas No Red or Green Challenge, The Jingle Belles Peace on Earth challenge, the Sparkles Forum Christmas Songs challenge (Joy to the World), Fab's big Christmas Something Shiny (and/or Snowflakes)Challenge for Oct, CHNC Suitable for a Male Challenge.

Paint it Up With the Tiddly Inkers

This week at the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog we're painting it up. You can use any type of paint, watercolor, acrylic, Distress Ink, just paint it on. I took this opportunity to try a technique I've been seeing all over blogland. It's the faux woodgrain technique using acrylics and plain white glue (like Elmer's). First I painted my tag with acrylic in brown. After it dries, I brushed on a coat of white glue and waited 'til it was just tacky. Over that I painted another coat of acrylic. This time I used a color called Bleached Sand. As it dries, the cool crackle appears like magic. Soo much FUN! (And I didn't even really get my hands dirty...much. LOL) To add some strength to the tag, I backed it with brown card stock. I thought the sweet Lilli Claire Tiddly Did You Hear? was perfect for the rustic background. She's colored with Copics, fussy cut and popped. I colored my metal "friends" sticker with a Bic permanent marker and added some cute flower brads and a ribbon. Please stop by the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog to see the amazing work by the rest of my teamies. and don't miss Christy's Blog where she previews a NEW little Christmas Lilli Claire image and has a fun little freebie to match. I'm also entering this in the Craft Your Days Away Tag It challenge.

BBTB2 Create a Critter Frog Challenge

Finally, eh? This week the BBTB2 challenge was chosen by our DT sister Carri, who picked the frog from Create a Critter. I have Halloween on the brain so I did a themed wall hanging. The witch's hat and cauldron are from Mini Monsters. All shadows were welded in DS and the layers were popped with enough foam that a chipboard base wasn't required.

The frog is embossed with the Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles and the cauldron with Swiss Dots. I cut the cauldron multiple times and trimmed them so I could layer the rim. I also resized the cauldron bottom to create a sort of decoupage effect.

The rosette is done with a Tim Holtz die. Not to self: avoid glittered paper as it doesn't want to crease and has a tendency to tear. I reinforced a few of the folds with tape and copy paper and popped a cute little Sandylion spider on top. the star is actually a charm from Making Memories that I've cut the loop off of.

Open the ribbon and there's a surprise. I've layered the cauldron with the card feature so it opens. The sentiment is from Mini Monsters as well. I know this froggie doesn't look wicked, but I just couldn't resist. This particular sentiment is part of the witch's hat family of cuts. I just trimmed off the hat so it would fit. The entire hanger measures 11 1/2 inches, not counting the ribbon so it's pretty substantial. My teamies at BBTB2 have outdone themselves on this challenge so hop on by and take a peek. As always, the challenges run for 2 weeks. We want to see "new" projects only and please link back to BBTB2 so others can join in the fun.. If you haven't the particular cartridge featured, you may use another similar cut. You know the drill. Can't wait to see what YOU come up with.

Macabre Monday Inner Workings and a Mini Cricut Tut

Morning, my pretties! I'm running a little late today, so If you were expecting my BBTB2 project, be sure to come back. I DO have a Cricut creation, however, so I hope that will do until I get my act together. LOL This week our Macabre Monday challenge is Inner Workings. Create a dark,Gothic, or Halloween based project that is either quite literal (clockwork or guts) or just simply decorate the inside of your project as well as the outside. My first inclination was to find something really EEEEWWWW!!!! on the net, but then I remembered my heart stamp from the Quoth the Raven set from Smeared Ink.

I decided to create a gate fold rib cage card to hold my heart, using my Cricut. There's a bit of a lesson here, so if you're not interested, skip this part. (I'm feeling a bit chatty today, though so here goes.) I sized the skelton torso from the Oct 31st cartridge quite large in DS. In order to make a gate fold, the maximum my torso could be is 6 inches at the widest point because my card stock for the base is only 12 inches wide. The base, which measured 12"x7" (yeah, it's a BIG card!) was scored at 3" and 9" and folded towards the center. The skeleton torso was partially off the mat in DS, but since I only wanted the rib cage, it didn't really matter. Remember when doing this, however, that although the cutting will look complete on your screen, your Cricut will think there's still more to cut (because actually, there is, but you've run out of mat). You will have to delete that little cutting progress screen and unload your mat, but when you go to re cut, the program will be confused. It won't cut. You'll have to not only exit your file, but actually close out and restart DS in order for you to be able to continue. A GIANT PITA, but it was worth it to get the size I needed.

Next problem, there are no shadows on the Oct. 31st cart, so after cutting and trimming my rib cage, I sliced it down the center and used removable tape to secure it to my gate fold and traced around it. Make sure you leave plenty of area at the the folds so your base is stable and cut carefully through both thicknesses. Et voila! a shaped gate fold.

For the inside mat, I hid the contours of the rib cage and cut and trimmed it as previously mentioned. I used Copics and Distress ink for a bit of shading. My heart is also colored with Copics, but looked a bit lonesome without any other organs so I cut the zombie hand (also from October 31st) and positioned it to look like it was ripping it out (or at least squeezing the life out of it :D ) Who says Cricut has to be cutesy? (However, if this doesn't float your boat, come back later today to see a REALLY cute Halloween project for BBTB2. Please ignore that, Minions!) Anyway, the sentiment is computer generated and the front closure thingy was cut with the Cuttlebug Embossing Plus Fanciful Labels folder. Now, after all that for a mediocre project, I hope you still have the strength and inclination to visit HDH to see what the rest of the Minions have been up to, and don't forget Wretched Wednesday when Creepy Glo posts. We love it when you participate too, and it is October, after all. Time to get your creep on. I'm also entering this in the Forever Night Anything Goes challenge.

Celebrating The Mad Hatter with Twinkles

The Hatter shook his head mournfully. `Not I!' he replied. `We quarrelled last March--just before HE went mad, you know--' (pointing with his tea spoon at the March Hare,)
`--it was at the great concert given by the Queen of Hearts, and I had to sing

"Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!"
You know the song, perhaps?'
`I've heard something like it,' said Alice.
`It goes on, you know,' the Hatter continued, `in this way:--
"Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea-tray in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle--"'
-- Chapter 7, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

At The Altered Alice we celebrate Mad Hatter's Day twice a year as the date is taken from the price on his hat - ten schillings and a sixpence or 10/6. That means it is on October 6 here in the United States, and on June 10 in the United Kingdom. But mainly it is just a great reason to party with the Mad Hatter twice a year! Your challenge is to celebrate the Mad Hatter, and as OPTIONS you can use something that twinkles or shines AND/OR you can bring some spookiness into it since we are all having a "Twinkle twinkle little bat" sing-along around our mad tea table!

My project this month is the Hatter's tea cup made from a Sizzix Bigz die run through my Big Shot. Because there were no layering features, I cut the cup several times and added layers of DP from the Graphic 45 Halloween in Wonderland stack and also popped the rims and handle. Instead of using the saucer from the die, I substituted my Oval Nesties to more easily layer that as well. The Hatter Stamp is on the Alice II set from our fabulous sponsor this month, IndigoBlu. I've added a small bat brad and gem to the center of the clock and a black rosette made from a Tim Holtz die and Stickled around the edges for some "twinkle".

Our prize this month is an A5 sized unmounted stamp set from IndigoBlu (a £13 value), or an equivalent amount of A6 stamps. IndigoBlu is a fantastic new British stamp company that makes "Quintessential English Rubber Stamps" right there in England.

In fact IndigoBlu is sponsoring The Altered Alice for October AND November, and the design team will be working with these two fantastic Alice stamp sets, titled appropriately "Alice I" and "Alice II". Most Americans don't know what A5 and A6 mean so I'll just tell you, these sets are huge!
I encourage you to go visit IndigoBlu.com. All stamps are on sale right now with their introductory pricing, but that won't last forever, and the designs are all wonderful! In addition, the Head Honcho Alfie says The Altered Alice readers can take 10% OFF during the challenge; just use coupon code AlteredAlice in the voucher code box at checkout! Thanks Alfie!

On the tea bag tag I've added a glittered bat cut from a large EK Success border punch and another gem for more sparkle.

The frame was cut twice using my Nesties Fleur di Lis Squares from adhesive Fun Foam and stuck together to hold the wire for my purple glittered flying bats. These were also trimmed from the border punch, run through my Xyron and sprinkled with Doodlebug Sugar Coating.

They were backed in black for a shadow effect and WooHoo, more gems! "Twinkle, twinkle" little bats..." Be sure to stop by The Altered Alice for more inspiration from the DT and welcome Retta as a permanent member. She, Tracy and I make up the first week's offerings. We have new ones every week so don't forget to pop in every to The Altered Alice every Sunday. October is a long month with five Sundays, so you'll have no excuse not to join us in our Mad Tea Party celebrating Mad Hatter Day, US style! Enter by Friday, October 28; our randomly drawn winner and the honorable mentions will be announced on the last Sunday, October 30. Just make sure YOUR watch is not two days slow! Go get your "Alice" on!

I also entering this in The Corrosive Challenge Blog Purple Passion challenge, the Forever Night anything Goes Challenge, and the new ABC Anything Goes Challenge where my dear friend, Leah, is a new Design Team member. WooHoo, Leah and the newly relaunched ABC Challenges!

And the Winner IS...

Happy World Card Making Day! Although I certainly will be making cards today (heck, I do EVERY day) I'm not sure I'll have anything to post being the weekend when I'm ALWAYS trying to crank out my DT projects. But I don't want to keep you all in suspense like I usually do. LOL the WINNER of the

$40.00 Gift Certificate to the FABULOUS CUSTOM CROPS is...

Number 56!!!!!! Margie! who wrote...

Congratulations MARGIE! Please email me to arrange for your prize and thank you all who participated in the BBTB2 Blog Hop. We still have two challenges going on at BBTB2. The Time 4 Fun challenge ends tomorrow night and you still have more than a week to go for the Wheelbarrow challenge.