QUOTH THE RAVEN ENTRY AT SMEARED AND SMUDGED DT THROWDOWN.

Ah Beloveds ! The sisters of darkness at SMEARED & SMUDGED FORUM hath set forth a Challenge to all who toil in Design Teams for other Masters and Mistresses. They doth challenge us to bring forth our most accomplished creations that hath been subjected to transformation, so that they doth appear to be that which they are not. The Challenge hath been dubbed "Leather and/or Lace". Forsooth - such a cunning theme was laid down by the Victors of the third such Challenge -  the fair Minions of the Haunted Design House.
Fi !!! How they doth strive to test us, yet the Minions of The Master hath risen to such heights and hath produced fineries that doth astound the eye.
Feast thine eyes thusly............................i dont do straight and Shell....
and my offering..... many thanks to Ike for the eloquent wording.

 I used real leather to cover a MDF heart shape..... its abour 12'' high by 11'' at the widest part. I coloured one of IKE'S Poe digis in sepia shades and mounted it in a faux rusted chained frame. I made flowers out of leather and added pearls to the centres.

 I faux rusted metal flowers and added more pearls. I stamped an angel image from DE-STEMPELWINKEL onto shrink plastic to make the centre piece for the ornate faux rusted cross.

 There is duchess lace, a lace panel and metallic trim.... a zipper, chains, dangly pearls, and a lace up bodice type thing.... and an old faux rusted key. Please come and check out all the entries on the forum.... and vote for your favourite team makes.

Thanks for looking BDx
FAB'N'FUNKY.....FEEL THE LOVE
FRILLY AND FUNKIE ,,,,, UPCYCLE (nearly everything on this piece is salvaged)
CREATIVE CARD CREW.... HANDMADE FLOWERS (I made the large flowers from leather)
CRAFTY BOOTS.... RECYCLE (as above)
HOUSE OF GILLI ...LACE AND PEARLS

SMUDGY ANTICS and MACABRE MONDAY

This fortnight at SMUDGY ANTICS, we want to see who has the GUTS and the BLOODY SPARKLE-TUDE to play along with our challenge.  Our hearts will beat outside of our chests with pride, glistening in the light of the glittering sun.  In case you haven't guessed the theme yet...or haven't looked at the title of the post (DUH) the theme this fortnight is 

GLITTER AND GORE.

The choice is NOT OPTIONAL.  YOU MUST USE BOTH GLITTER AND GORE in this challenge or your project will not qualify for a prize.  If you don't own any gory or scary stamps, Smeared Ink has plenty of digis in their shop that fit the bill.  If you are super strapped for cash, you may use any stamp, even a cute one, as long as you add both glitter and gore.  I have seen some amazingly gory Magnolia projects out there in blogland so there is no excuse NOT to play.

We can't wait to see what you guys and gals make!

Remember to use a stamped image (real or digi) 
  Only the best will win so get your mojos on the ready and get creative. 

As i dont usually do either Glitter or Gore... this was a hard challenge for me. The quirky love card above is what i came up with. The heart is a rubber stamp from SMEARED INK, stamped 6x, colouredith promarkers and fussy cut.... dipped in my melting pot. Very thing else is from my stash apart from the glitter card i had to borrow off my girls. I hope you'll be able to join us this fortnight.


Next up we have MACABRE MONDAY.... its the second week .
Our  Macabre Monday challenge is :

Skeletal Remains

We are not actually goading you into doing a Burke and Hare on us! What you can do is get down to the nitty gritty with anything relating to skeletal remains e.g. skulls, skeletons and bones etThis fortnight we are lucky enough to be sponsored by 

The Octopode Factory.

 I used 3x OCTOPODE images on these cards...... and i think have very different results.
I coloured all the images with promarkers..... and the background on the bottom card.
Hope you'll join us at HDH..... this time round.

Thanks for visiting BDx

I'd like to enter the following challenges
ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS     FOR A LADY ( top one)
CHEERFUL STAMP PAD GOTHIC CUTIES (bottom two cards)
MAKE IT MONDAY ANYTHING GOES LINKY PARTY
COLOUR ME CREATIVE ALL ABOUT RED (top and bottom cards)
LEFT OF CENTER CHALLENGE LOC OR BLING IT UP ( top card is both)

SMEARED AND SMUDGED APRIL BLOG HOP and QUOTH THE RAVEN

Its time for another members blog hop over at Smeared and Smudged and this month we are getting dirty......Well dirty vintage actually..... grungy, distressed...well worn!The full blog roll is below.... its well worth taking a look at every single blog as all these lasses are amazingly talented and bound to inspire you.
My offering today is also my design team piece for QUOTH THE RAVEN where we have a great challenge for you that started last week but because of my internet issues i havent been able to do much recently.

Blog Roll

Shell

Black Dragon

Kapree

Madeleine Bouquet

Susan

Hazel

Shoni

Kay

Monique

Wendy

Anna

Fiona

I'll warn you now.... lots of photos...... lots and lots! My piece is a hand made book.... bound in leather.... with a stamped and guilded butterfly on the front.

                                                      Poe.... with a dimensional raven.........

                                          ...........the raven is in cut-out, with various bits and bobs,
                                         and sealed inside aceatate.

                                        ..............Embossed pages, tags, ribbons.......

                                       ............ stamping...cut and paste victorian decoupage,

                                            .............. pockets....flaps..... heat embossing....

                                          ..............pages edges with gold gilding pen....

                                                                  ............ loads of ink.....

                                                        ...............loads of roses...........

                                            ..... scarlet fabric inside the front and back covers...

Thanks for visiting...enjoy the hop and hope you'll join us at QUOTH THE RAVEN this month. BDx

I'd like to enter the following challenges...
LEFT OF CENTRE      LOC OR RIBBON AND BOWS

SMEARED INK PREVIEW

Smeared ink have 3 brand new digi stamp collections being released on Friday..... i had the pleasure of working with all three.... lucky me!

 Image coloured with promarkers , decoupaged butterflies, die cuts coloured with promarkers to match my image.

I like to enter this in the challenges at
I LOVE PROMARKERS..................... SPRING
7 KIDS COLLEGE FUND ... THINGS WITH WINGS
MY CRAFT SPOT....STRING AND THINGS
LACY SUNSHINE ...LAYER IT UP

I'D LIKE TO ENTER THIS IN THE CHALLENGES AT
RHEDD AND ROSIES....... VINTAGE /SHABBY CHIC
LEJ DESIGNS ...VINTAGE OR RETRO
PINSPIRATIONAL.... PHOTO INSPIRATION
SONG BIRD....OH WHAT A CIRCUS

Coloured with promarkers, back ground is old designer papers from my stash. 

I'D LIKE TO ENTER THIS IN CHALLENGES AT
7 KIDS COLLAGE FUND........THINGS WITH WINGS
CREATIVE CREATIONS ..... THINGS WITH THE LETTER 'B'
PAPER PLAY TIME..... USE A BEE
OPUS GLUEI...... GO WHERE YOU HAVENT GONE BEFORE

Painted acrylics onto canvas, tore out the images that i printed onto tissue paper
and used bees wax..... doing a large area with bees wax is totally new to me.... i made a bit of a mess but manage to
finally get it to look ok.
Thanks for visiting BDx

SMUDGY ANTICS NEW CHALLENGE

A fortnight has passed and it is time for another challenge with Smudgy Antics.

  We want to see you ladies and gents make a COLOURFUL project WITHOUT using coloured pencils or markers of any kind.  That's right!
 NO COLOURED PENCILS OR MARKERS OF ANY KIND ALLOWED.
Are you stumped?  It really isn't that hard once you start thinking outside of the box and
 are willing to give different techniques a try.

You can paint with acrylics, oils, water colours, inks, or even perfect pearls.  
If you are not into the painting thing, you can give pastels or paper piecing a try.  Heck, you can even use your own blood, but I don't really recommend that unless you're doing a small project like an ATC, an inchie, or a twinchie :D

This is a 5 1/2 inch by 11'' canvas. I used acrylic paints.

The main image is a digital image from SMEARED INK 
printed onto tissue and adhered to the canvas after the first layer
of paint had dried. I then used URBAN DECAY RUBBER STAMPS again from
SMEARED INK but only available if you join the RUBBER CLUB and randomly stamped in paint over my background.... i highlighted bits when it had all dried with cream acrylic paint.
The numbers and words were done with stencils.
Hope you'll give this challenge ago this fortnight.... it was a lot of messy fun!

Thanks for visiting BDx
I'd like to enter my canvas into the following challenges.....
MY TIME TO CRAFT...GOTHIC
LEFT OF CENTRE ....LOC OR PUNCH IT OUT
MAKE IT MONDAY...ANYTHING GOES LINKY PARTY

QUOTH THE RAVEN and DESIGN TEAM THROWDOWN at SMEARED AND SMUDGED

Ah Beloveds ! The sisters of darkness at SMEARED & SMUDGED FORUM hath set forth a Challenge to all who toil in Design Teams for other Masters and Mistresses. They doth challenge us to bring forth our most accomplished creations that hath been subjected to transformation, so that they doth appear to be that which they are not. The Challenge hath been dubbed "FAUX FINISHES". Forsooth - such a cunning theme was laid down by the Victors of the first such Challenge -  the fair Minions of the Haunted Design House.
Fi !!! How they doth strive to test us, yet the Minions of The Master hath risen to such heights and hath produced fineries that doth astound the eye.
Lest ye hath a hankering to enter such a quest, thou shalt compete in teams of 3 under the title of thy masters' realm and having submitted thy creations thou shalt be judged by thy Peers and votes cast, whereupon the next victors shalt chose a theme of their liking for the next Challenge, and receive the accolades of the vanquished. Thou shalt then receive a fine Banner to display within thy Realm.

Good luck and fortune to other adversaries :-)

Feast thine eyes thusly............................Thanks to Ike for the wonderful wording... my project is an altered kiddies board book, made into a shrine to POE.

                                                Above is it closed............... below its open.

I have so many FAUX FINISHES on this....... FAUX brickwork, FAUX render,FAUX plaster,FAUX stonework, FAUX moss,FAUX copper patina, FAUX rusty metalwork...... its all just a complete FAKE really but the cross is real wood.... lolly sticks!

Close up....hope you can see the Ghostly Poe in the plaster, in the photo above and below.
Stamp is from SMEARED INK- QUOTH THE RAVEN.

Years of decay have left the brickwork exposed, its been patched up but that too has fallen into
dis-repair. The metal plate is tanished and over grown. The once beautiful portrait of the master
has rusted and the image flawed.

Holes were rodents now make their homes.

Cracks appearing and rust on the ironwork....below you can see the stones of the arch are crunbling,
the decay is evident..... this shrine to the master  needs to be loved and cherished.

                         Well that it my reminder to come and join us at QUOTH THE RAVEN..... where you can view the other two FAUX FINISH project that make up our teams entry......

                                                and join in  our challenge  which is  ANYTHING POES. 

Come and visit the SMEARED AND SMUDGED FORUM..... vote on the DESIGN TEAM THROWDOWN.... maybe you belong to a designteam that would like to take part in this fun challenge.... all the rules are there to be seen....and very simple.

Voting Starts: Thursday March 28 at 12:01 am

Voting Ends: Friday March 29 at midnight (email your team's theme choice before this date JIK you are the winners!)

Winner Announced: Saturday March 30 by noon

New Challenge Posted: Sunday March 31 by noon

Thanks for visitng BDx

I'd like to enter the following challenges...

SUGAR CREEK HOLLOW..... ALTER SOMETHING

MY TIME TO CRAFT...  GOTHIC

CRAFTY EMBELLIES...ANYTHING GOES

SO ARTFUL ...SHADES OF BROWN, ECRU AND CREAM

LEFT OF CENTRE ....LOC OR PUNCH IT OUT

MAKE IT MONDAY...ANYTHING GOES LINKY PARTY

DELICIOUS DOODLES and DE-STEMPELWINKEL

We have a new challenge for you starting today at DELICIOUS DOODLES .... FAIRIES.

I have used Teri's lovely STEAMPUNK FAIRY....printed out 3x and decoupaged.... coloured with promarkers in rusty colours to compliment my Faux rust background,created using paint, pva and sand.... and real rusty washers. The is a die cut cog on this ATC to thats has a metal sheen. We hope you'll join in our challenge.... hope to see your faireis soon.

Well its supposed to be spring but its so cold with snow forecast, that  my ATC for
DE-STAMPELWINKEL is a bit of a micky -taker..... all the stamps i used can of cause be brought at DE-STEMPELWINKEL, although if like me you are in the UK the 'stampscape' background stamp will have to be purchased from the UK distributor..... De-stampelwinkel will direct you there. I stamped in two shades of green...coloured with very watery inks...added grass detail at the front with pencils and my spring is stamped in black for impact. What do you think of my SPRING then?....its just a bit of Friday fun :)

I'd like to enter the following challenges....
4 CRAFTY CHICKS....CIRCLES ....the washers on the top ATC and the sun on the bottomATC.
HAPPY CAMPERS...ADD DIMENSION the top ATC is decoupaged
MOVING ALONG WITH THE TIMES...DECOUPAGE as above
WICKED WEDNESDAY ATC'S ....SPRING FEVER...bottom ATC
EVERYBODY ART CHALLENGE ...SPRING as above
PAPER MINUTES ...REAL METAL real metal washers on the top ATC
TOP TIP TUESDAY ...MAKE A FUNNY CREATION the spring ATC :)
ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS.... METAL the top ATC
CUPCAKE CHALLENGE....... MYTHICAL CREATURES the top ATC
SIMON SAYS STAMP....WATER the bottom ATC
FASHIONABLE STAMPING CHALLENGE...SPRING IS IN THE AIR the bottom ATC
OPUS GLUEI .... SPRING HAS SPRUNGas above
STAMPING SENSATIONS...THE GREAT OUT DOORS as above
KREATIVEINKAUF CHALLENGE....SPRING as above.
Thanks for visiting BDx

MACABRE MONDAY

HDH MACABRE MONDAY
"DANTE  DIVINE COMEDY"


Well This week It's Menace Of The Monstrous Mark with this fortnights challenge,he managed to slip the chains long enough to set the theme.

I'm sure most of you know at least the rough gist of the story, Dante battling through the different levels of hell..... very heavy reading i have tried...i failed!
You are to take inspiration from the 9x circles..... if you dont know what these are check out Marks very informative post at HDH.

I was a bit lost with this....but ended up making 2 atcs.... LIMBO(circle 1) and HERESY(circle 6).
Both ATC'S are a mix of digi images and rubber stamps.
Coloured with promarkers and ink...matted onto black cardstock.
We minions hope you'll join us this fortnight.
I'd like to enter the following challenges...
CHALLENGES FOR EVERYBODY .....ANYTHING GOES.
FUN WITH ATCS....GOTHIC.
MAKE IT MONDAY...ANYTHING GOES LINKY PARTY
LEFT OF CENTRE ANYTHING GOES,check blog for details.
Thanks for visiting BDx

De- Stemeplwinkel DT

After leaving my dark comfort zone with yesterdays members blog hop i thought that before i returned to the darkeness i call home i'd make a simple card using nothing but white and silver card, ribbon,gems dies and an embossing folder. This is the sort of thing i usually only make for family and rarely blog......
 De-stempelwinkel has a children plate of real rubber and this image, i think is simply beautiful. This little girl is called Femke.

Stamped in dove grey and shaded with a drawing pencil.... thats it..... so simple..... now i'm getting the train to take me back to the darkside..... were i am more comfortable and at home.

I'd like to enter the following challenges..... just because i can!
PENNY'S PAPER CRAFTY CHALLENGE RIBBONS AND DIE CUTS
USE IT TUESDAYS HOARDED SUPPKIES/DIECUTS...... ribbon, gems and dies..... i rarely use any of them.
CARD MANIA LOTS OF LAYERS
SONGBIRD CHALLENGE MAMA I LOVE YOU/MOTHERS DAY this is the type of card i always made for my beloved nan.
JOANNA SHEEN CHALLENGE MUMS THE WORD. ...as above.... for my nan.
STAMPTACULAR SUNDAY TO DIE FOR
HAPPY CAMPERS FLUTTERBY BUTTERFLY
ADDICTED TO CAS.... WINGS
4CRAFTYCHICKS..... CAS
Thanks for visiting BDx

SMEARED AND SMUDGED MARCH MEMBERS BLOG HOP.

It's that time again! Time for the Smeared and Smudged member blog hop. The theme this time around is......END OF THE RAINBOW!!

Now, if you know anything about our members, cute rainbows are not what you will see today! So be prepared!  
So who do ya think will do quirky, cute and even some pink.....?
This is the blog roll...... you really do need to visit all of these super talented folk.... be inspired and amazed..... i wonder what they have at the end of their rainbows?

Blog Roll

Tori
Vee

Black Dragon
Jane
Anna
Kapree
Madeleine Bouquet
Susan S.
Jo Hood


Yeah its me.... i let the side down.... i am so far out of my comfort zone with this i need to get a train to take me back.... apparently i might be on the same train as Vee.... wonder what shes done?

 I am altering a huge(....yes for me its huge...)board book....its about 11inch square..... i did the cover and first two pages about 8mth ago.... but now want to get it finished for a very dear friend who loves Alice and Poe..... and i want her to know how special she is to me.

''LOVE IS WORTH MORE THAN THE CROCK OF GOLD AT THE END OF THE RAINBOW'' ...so at the end of my rainbow is a golden crock filled with love....something far more precious than gold or money.

 The images come from various places for this double page spread... including OCTOPODE. I've used promarkers to colour all the images... I've used paint, ink, sprays, stencils, stamps, rub-ons....and MORE.
I didnt have a rainbow image so drew this one with clouds. This old dragon has gone all soppy and mushy this time..... I hope you all have great fun visiting all the blogs on the list..... i'm now waiting for my train back to my comfort zone!!!!

I'd like to enter the following challenges....
AUD SENTIMENTS CHALLENGE FOR A GIRL
I LOVE PROMARKERS CHALLENGE RIBBONS AND BOWS.... on my rainbow page i drew ribbons and bows at the end of the rainbow and the words 'true love' are done in drawn ribbon.
CRAFTROOM CHALLENGE... FROM ME TO YOU, GIVE A GIFT.
TWISTED TUESDAYS....SPRING LIKE/PLUS USE GREEN OR RECYCLE.... i've used green and the book is an old one of my lasses i'm altering.

Thanks for visiting me. BDx

NEW CHALLENGE AT SMUDGY ANTICS and WEEK #2 at HDH MACABRE MONDAY

A fortnight has passed and it is time for another challenge with 
SMUDGY ANTICS.

The theme for this two week period of creativity is
ANYTHING BUT A CARD.
You can't get much easier than that!  Just make anything other than a card and remember to include a stamped image (real or digi) and follow the rules posted in the left sidebar which includes being a follower of the Smudgy Antics Blog.  The more creative, the better.  We love it when you guys and gals think outside of the box.  Get your mojo in gear and get ready to get inky.
My project also covers.......
 HDH Macabre Monday

Drop Dead Gorgeous 
Think corpses, zombies, grave digging or even our old favourites, vampires! 

....It's the second week here in the dungeon.

Surely you can think of someone or something that is considered 

undead and gorgeous in the eyes of the beholder.

I altered a box of wooden kiddies bricks.

The box front with Poe.....

...lift the lid and you have 12x  wooden blocks..... thats an awful lot of
sides! 72 to be exact....thats a lot of  stamping, cutting, sticking, inking and TIME!

This image is DROP DEAD GORGEOUS.

All the images are from SMEARED INK.

Coloured with promarkers and ink.
I used the faux air brush technique that was featured in this months craft stamper magazine...
although i do this technique a lot i had no idea it had a name!

Each of the 6x sides of the cube have a different image and i have tried to give each a different prodominent
colour..... although all the dark areas in the corners make it rather confusing.

The box is edged with gold leafing  pen, and all the cubes are covered withgood old sticky backed plastic to make them durable. The image on the box front is covered too.
I do hope you'll have time to join in with one or both challenges...why not combine them as i have?

I'd like to enter the following challenges.....
CRAFT STAMPER MAGAZINE BLOG CHALLENGE... FAUX AIR BRUSH TECHNIQUE
MAKE IT MONDAY ALWAYS ANYTHING GOES LINKY PARTY
SARAH HURLEY CHALLENGE RECYCLE
SASSY STUDIOS CHALLENGE RECYCLE
NUT CRAFTS CHALLENGE SOMETHING BEGINING WITH 'B' ....bricks,box.
SIMON SAYS STAMP AND SHOW...CHIC TO BE SHABBY.... vintage images, lots of brown/black/grey ink, very shabby!
CRAFTY EMBELIES  WINGS
Thanks for stopping by. BD x