21st Century Pillow Book

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!! It's my favorite day of the year and I am so excited to share it with all of you. It's a bit bittersweet....I LOVE the anticipation...building up the excitement, and I always get sad when it's all over of course. Also, my sweet Mother in Law passed on Halloween night 2 years ago. She (along with my Dad, Father in Law, and dog Oliver) will be honored in our annual Day of the Dead Celebration. But no more sadness now! It's Halloweenie!!! As you all know, I have been a Guest DT member with the Dream Team from Dreamweaver Stencils this month. And I have loved every minute of it! This month, the challenge has been Magical and Mysterious. Kinda like me! ;) So here is my last GDT project.... Ok. So I don't like spiders. I used to be terrified of 'em, but I'm trying to play nice and not shreik every time I see them, or kill them, etc. I let them live now, I save their lives (by taking them outside), let them hang out in corners of th...

Hello Horrifying Hoppers! Welcome to the last Wednesday of the month. That means it's time for the Bombshell Stamps Hump Day Hop! This month, I chose the theme "Witching Hour." The witching hour is supposedly the time when witches, ghosts and other supernatural creatures wreak havoc. I say the witching hour can be any hour when you have goblins like mine. Just kidding. My kids are actually really well behaved. But I digress. And after this month, you are probably not surprised. I used Bombshell Angel , and the witch costume from the Halloween Costume digi set for my focal piece. I colored her with alcohol markers. After I cut her out, I glued her to a tag that I had inked with 2 chalk inks (Color Box), and a few smaller stamps. I used the bats from Holiday Accessory , and the scroll from Alter Skulls.   My sentiment is an old image from Basic Grey. I added some tattered yarn for my tassel, and that is it. Below is the full hop list. Please visit everyone, and f...

Really?! Only 2 more days of this super-fabulous month?! I cannot believe it! I will say that it is an exciting day for me though. Today is my Anniversary with my wonderful husband. 9 awesome years of marriage. So today's card is rather appropriate. Dilly Beans has some fun new images...just in time for Halloween! I used Frankie and His Bride . Awww....aren't they cute together? I colored the happy couple with my alcohol markers. I did another quickie care, mostly because I really wanted these two to take center stage. I used some fun chevron paper and a cool button I had, plus my simple doodle border around the card. And now...for your viewing pleasure...... And what a magical day it was.....Happy Anniversary Gene! I love you to the depths of my soul.  And for the rest of you...please be sure to visit the rest of the Wicked Blogger, all listed in my side bar. Thanks for stopping by. Have a fang-tastic day!

Greetings! Welcome to the 28th day of the Smeared & Smudged 31 Days of Halloween. If you are someone that comes to my blog throughout the year, and not just in October, you will know that one of my absolute favorite digi stamp companies is A Day for Daisies . Every image is just magical to me, no matter the subject matter. I had made a piece for the 31 Days that I had posted on the 8th. You can see it HERE if you missed it. I kinda wish I held that piece over until know so that I could enter it into their newest challenge, which is Anything Halloween . But since I really wanted to play along, I just created a new piece. I used Little Striped Dress for this card. But as you can see, I altered the once-plain balloons a bit. Made them fit the theme just a wee bit more. Who wouldn't love to have 'weenie balloons, I ask you?! I colored the image with my alcohol markers. And I kept the card real simple. Didn't want to overdo this one. My sentiment is from Tiddly Ink...

Hello! Welcome to the last Sunday of the month. I have a new piece featuring one of my favorite Rick St. Dennis images that I own. It's called Hexology . I printed it really large (the finished piece is almost 7 inches wide!), so that it would be more of an art piece. All I need now is a frame. But enough chit chat...check out this stunning image. I looooooved coloring this. I used alcohol markers to color the image, and watercolor paints for the background. My husband was watching me color, and he couldn't believe how I kind of brought it to life. I was proud. :) The jar with the eyeballs is a bit washed out in my photos. It's got a bit of a turquoise glow to it, and the eyeballs are cream in color. But the rest of it is fairly true to what it looks like in real life. I really love the detail in this image. I have always said that whatever Rick does with skulls is amazing. You can click on any of my photos to see it bigger. Now I just need a frame! Not sure if...

Hello! So after the nonsense that occurred (or didn't , as it were), hopefully this post will save and post at midnight. I apologize for yesterday. I hadn't had a problem all month, so I never checked to make sure yesterday's post actually went live. Foolish me. But enough of that. Today I have an ATC. I wanted to join in with the newest Wicked Wednesday challenge, which is Cute Halloween. I found a cute kitty that I wanted to use. This guy and his sentiment are both from Inkadinkado. I stamped them in black and added the white highlights with a gel pen. I added some Glitz Stickles around the edge. I love the vintage-y feel of this ATC. How are you feeling about your projecs? I wish I had more time to do the 3D and altered pieces like I had hoped to do. Bottles, caskets, I have a drawer full of fun things that I wanted to play with. But the month is almost up! Ah well. Maybe next year! At least I made some cool paper projects. Please be sure to visit the rest of th...

Greetings and holy cow! Blogger seriously doesn't like me today! I actually had my post pre-posted on Thursday...I was totally ahead of the game! But the gosh darn thing never saved! I am so sorry for posting this late everyone. I was out all day so I never noticed. Thank you for letting me know, Wendy!!! Ok, so it's Friday, so I have a new Dilly Beans project for you. The theme again this week is Halloween...so no excuses for not playing along! ;) Isn't she a cutie? I love her green skin. I colored her with Spectrum Noirs. Her top is washi tape. The green border is actually the negative space from a Martha Stewart punch. I love her punches. I really do. My sentiment is from Tiddly Inks. And how FABULOUS is the paper I found to match her eye?! Totally unplanned! It's from DCWV. Ok....since I am already late, and totally frustrated, I am off! Please be sure to visit the rest of the Wicked Bloggers, listed in my sidebar. Have a creeptastic day!

Greetings! Today is Day 24 of the Smeared & Smudged 31 Days of Halloween. Since it's Thursday, I have a new project to go along with this month's challenge over at the Dream it up! Blog for Dreamweaver Stencils . This month's challenge is Magical and Mysterious, and I am the lucky gal the gets to be their Guest Designer for the month! I am thankful that there are 5 Thursdays this month! You may recall that on the 3rd of the month, I shared a project with bats in a window. Well today, I have the reverse version. You'll see what I mean... This window pane was actually the first one that I did. But I decided to complete the other version first. With this window ( Arched Window ), I had the blue of the aluminum facing in towards the stencil. so that the panes would be raised. Once sanded, the panes became silver (the under color). Next, I stenciled in the Bats  with a Sharpie. I moved them around so that they would fit to my liking. After I cut the window...

Welcome back! It is Day 23 of the Smeared & Smudged 31 Days of Halloween. Today, I have a clean and simple (CAS) card to share. Something that is rather difficult for me to make. But, it's good to challenge yourself! I used the Too Cute to Spook clear stamp set by Tiddly Inks . I colored her up with my Spectrum Noir markers. My daughter wants to be a witch for Halloween, so I think I will give this card to her on the Big Day. I like the little frog peeking out from the brim of her hat. The sentiment is from the same set, and I stenciled the stars on with a Heidi Swapp stencil using Peeled Paint Distress Ink. It was so hard not to add a bajillion stars, and lots of patterned paper. But, I like it like this. So it is now time for you to keep hopping! Please be sure to visit the rest of the Wicked Bloggers, all listed in my sidebar.. Thanks for stopping by. Have an spook-tacular day! *I am entering my card in the Tiddly Inks Creepy Cute Challenge.

Helloooooo Halloween fanatics! Welcome to the 22nd day of the Smeared & Smudged 31 Days of Halloween. Today I am posting my project here and on the Airless Chambers blog for Rick St. Dennis . Behold! The most popular attraction of the Creepy Carnival! I decided to work with the Scary Go Round (great name, right?!) I colored it up with my alcohol markers.  It took me a while to get all of the details right, but I am so happy with the results. Now tell me, would you go on this ride? I would! I didn't want to do too much, so that it wouldn't overtake the image. A Martha Stewart Punch, fun Halloween paper, a tag I made...and this 6x6 Mini Page was done. Hope you like it! Remember to visit all of the Wicked Bloggers, listed in my side bar. Thanks for stopping by. Have a creep-tastic day!

Greetings and salutations! Today is day 21 (yikes!) of the Smeared & Smudged 31 days of Halloween. Today is also Monday,which means it's Muse Monday over at the Bombshell Blog . So I decided to work again with this month's featured set, which is Alter Skulls . This is a new set for me, and I am really having fun with it! I made a charm using the pre-frosted Shrinky Dinks. I stamped the image with Staz-On (as per the recommendation on the package) and then I colored the image with colored pencils. And boy does my hand ache now! Oh well...its's the price we pay for making our art sometimes, right? ;) The holes were punched, and then I got out my embossing gun and shrunk this bad boy. I added two jump rings and threw it on to a ball chain. Though, I would like to make it a proper beaded necklace (perhaps with some chain), when I have some more time. I love how vibrant the colors get after you shrink a piece. Have you worked with Shrinky Dinks before? I love them. S...

Hello there and welcome to Day 20 of the Smeared & Smudged 31 Days of Halloween. The 20th of every month is a new challenge over at Chromatic Craze , which I am proud to be on the DT for. Haven't heard of us? Well, we are fairly new...but we are also a lot of fun, so perhaps you will want to join in with us! Each month, we will give you a 4 color challenge. You've got to use at least 3 of the colors, and you are allowed to use black, white, skin tones, and a small percentage of other colors. Point is, you've got to make the colors we give you the focus. These are the colors for the month. I decided to go with an image from Rick St. Dennis for this challenge, figuring that one of his scenes would be just perfect for it. I used the Ghost Town Church for this tag. You can buy it right now in Rick's brand new Zibbet Shop . I colored the church with Spectrum Noir markers, and painted the background with watercolors. My tag was painted with a fabulous metal...

Hello again! This is the 19th day of the Smeared & Smudged 31 Days of Halloween. Today I have another project that only took a matter of minutes to take. I used the beautiful Leafless Tree  from Dreamweaver Stencils, and creeped it up a bit. This is so simple. Ready? Take any of your fabulous Dreamweaver Stencils (which are metal), and spray the heck out of it with an assortment of colors. I used a couple sprays from Tattered Angels, and Stormy Weather  from Dreamweaver. Be sure to be working on scrap paper or in a spray box, to keep your work area neat. Then, simply flip over the stencil on to glossy paper (mine is from Ranger), and press. Once you've pressed across the entire stencil, simply lift it and let the card dry. I love the swirls of color. And I didn't press (accidentally) in one spot at the bottom, but it was the perfect fit for a tombstone stamp that I have hat came with a tombstone punch (from Martha Stewart), so I inked it up and stuck it there. ...

Hello hello! Are you excited that it's Friday? I am! My husband has been away on business since Monday morning, and I can't wit for him to get home tonight. Since it's Friday, I have a new Dilly Beans project to share with you. The theme again this week is Halloween....because really, we Dilly girls can't get enough of it! This week, I made a tag. I am really stoked because I got to use my colored pencils! Without getting in to too much detail, I have some serious issues with my hands. So using pencils over the past 2 years has been really difficult, although I prefer to use them any day over markers. Not to say I don't love my markers....but there's just something about pencils.... So every once in a while, my hands are ok enough to use the pencils. And it felt so good to use them! This photo is a little washed out, but I hope you can see all of my shading. My background was first painted with acrylic paint, and then I used Dreamweaver Stencil 's ...

Greetings guys and ghouls! Welcome to Day 17 of the Smeared & Smudged 31 Days of Halloween. Today I have another project as the Guest over at Dreamweaver Stencils . Have I mentioned how thrilled I am to have this little guest stint?! The theme for the month is Magical and Mysterious...right up my alley for sure! I started off with one of my favorite stencils... Houndstooth . I have always had a thing for this pattern, so I use it often. I wanted to give my background a weird sky at snset look...hence the pattern I chose. I started by dabbing Mustard Seed Distress Ink, followed by Ripe Persimmon, and last, Seedless Preserves. I applied them all with cosmetic sponges, being sure to blend the colors as the met up with each other. I then went in with the Picasso Tool (which is super rad!) to make the clouds. I used a pale gray acrylic paint to do this. After that dried, I applied the Raven  by using silver and black embossing paste .  I applied the black so that it...

Hello and welcome Day 16! Today's project was made for the Smudgy Antics challenge, which is to use only Smeared Ink images. So I busted out the Creepy Lil Grumpies. Look at these adorable little trick or treaters. I always have so much fun with these guys, whether it's Halloween or not. I colored them with my alcohol markers. I think I enjoyed coloring the ghost the most. Although he isn't bright and colorful, I like using the pale, almost-not-there colors. So hop along, my friends, and visit the rest of the Wicked Bloggers, all listed in my sidebar. Thanks for stopping by. Have a creep-tastic day!

Hey there! It's is the 15th of the month, (Yikes! How can that be already?!) so if you are a regular follower of my blog, you will know that this is one of 2 days in the month that the Desert Islands Crafters Challenge posts our challenges. For these challenges, we give you a 10 item itinerary. To play along, you need to use at least 3 items on the given itinerary on your project. Here's the itinerary for this round...and we are sponsored by Just Some Lines. Here's the itinerary. 1. Witches/Broomsticks 2. Black Cats 3. Cauldrons 4. Use Stripes 5. Sentiment on Front 6. Lots of black 7. Glitter and Sparkle 8. At least 2 ribbons 9. Use Kraft Cardstock/Paper 10. Die Cuts or Punches I used #'s 1, 2, 4, 5, 9, and 10. Isn't this a cute image? I've gotta say, it's cuter than I typically use, but I like it!  I used my Spectrum Noir markers to color this image. My sentiment is from Cosmo Cricket. I kept this pretty clean and simple, ...