Haunted Design House

This month, it was my turn to teach a make-n-take for the Gardner Stamp Club that meets at the library. Patti wanted to do the Fold Over Treat Envelope that is in the back of the TAC catty [though she doesn't remember saying that... silly Patti!], so I chose to do a Christmas version. It's a wonderful little project that I'll be sharing with you in another post , but I needed the back-story for this post. [can I get any wordier?... like you care about the back-story...] Anyhoo, the treat envie only uses the top portion of a lunch sack, so I had a ton of these 'bag butts' left over and they really wanted to become something wonderful. [wouldn't you want to if you were referred to as a butt?] ... I digress... Here's how I created my Boo Tri-fold Bag Card : I lightly stippled Burnt Umber Palette ink around all of the edges and distressed the edges of the cardstock & DP (except for the inside piece, which I fixed on another one that I made!). I also st...

I actually completed a little scrappin' yesterday!! I'm definitely NOT a speed scrapper! It takes me forever to finish a page [just ask Cindy or Laurie!]. I'm working on a 8.5x5.5 Halloween album. I'm one that includes blurry pictures in her albums... that adds an extra creepy touch to things, I think. Here's what I've finished so far [Oh! And I'm not showing the completed page 2 because I don't like it... I'm just showing a small element from it instead!]. Sorry about the reflection off of the page protectors... it's such a pain to get the pages in & out, that I just scanned those little buggers!! Cover: Page 1: Page 2 (sort of): ink on GrungeBoard Page 3: Page 4: Page 5: Page 6: I LOVE the cover, and my two favorite pages so far are # 5 & #6. I used TAC 's So Splattered & Spring Dream , and the potion bottle stamp is one from my friend, Laurie... I can't remember the name of the manufacturer. And there are a TON of diff...

Halloweenie time again! I had soooooooo much fun creating the Leggy Witch card , that I tried another brayer / sponging project. This creepy little landscape uses only two different stamp sets, but several ink colors!! I used a torn edge of paper to create the horizon line. I taped down that paper & then a punched circle over the moon to mask. I brayered Reflection Blue , then Prussian Blue , and finally Violette to create the sky. I removed the masks and brayered Chartrueuse over the grass area. I went back and sponged Landscape for more depth. I then used the reverse of the circle punched paper and sponged Sunflower & Raw Siena for the moon. Using Landscape , Jardin Moss , Noir , and Violette inks, I stamped various images from Fresh Air Favorites at bottom and around right edge to create foliage. I used Graphite Black Brilliance and stamped a tree from Love and Laughter closest to the moon and then stamped another one, without re-inking, next to it. I stamped a thir...

I haven't had much time lately, so here are three quickies ;) All of them have been created with retired TAC stamps and paper, but I've got to use them sometime!! There's really not a lot of stamping (that's why they were done so quick!), but I've been told that not EVERYTHING you make has to take forever to get the sentiment across... "if I made it, it matters" kind of thinking... you know, from the heart & NOT Hallmark! Hocus Kitty , Gimme Candy , and Hangin' Spideys supplies: Stamps: Hocus Pocus, Boo Bash, (can't remember which set 'gimme' came from) Paper: Simply Spooky, Bazzill Mono Purples, misc. black & white CS Ink: Noir, Landscape, & Orangerie Palettes, Brilliance Moonlight White Bling: Orange Peel Stickles Other: distresser, pop dots, & hydra sponge Here's something new: I've started the Random Mail Stamp Challenge ! Look at my sidebar for details & to see who has accepted the challenge so far....

I abso-freakin'-lutely love this card!!! I've had the idea for the card for awhile and I finally just did it! I had a blast making it last night and could hardly wait for my work day to get over with today so I could share it. I used a couple of Michelle Zindorf's sponging and brayer techniques. She is amazing... a true artist! The card front you see started out as being my 'sketch' piece to go off of and make templates, etc., but once I got started, I just kept going! So now I have to try to reproduce this again... yikes! I started out with White UltraSmooth 80# cardstock base. I hand sketched the moon & witch leg w/ a light lead pencil so I could figure out where to stamp the tree. Using the Coluzzle , I cut out a large circle from another piece of cardstock to use as my mask. First, I placed the negative over my base and started sponging the moon with Sunflower and then Raw Sienna at the edges. I removed the mask and lightly sponged more Sunflower around...

Tonight was the first night of the new round of Stamp Club! I think everyone really enjoyed themselves... it's a nice time to catch up w/ family happenings, see new pictures of babies (my favorite!), and get a little stamping time in, too! Julie, one of the gals in the club, was a winner of TAC's Toodle Loo package giveaway (yeay!) and she brought the CUTEST little chipboard book/album she made... freakin' adorable. Yes, I'm an idiot and didn't think to take a picture, so hopefully she'll send me one (hint, hint). I DID manage to take a photo of one of the projects the ladies did tonight... the Brewin' Dark Angel card that I had posted earlier! I switched up the colors this time, and I really like it! I love seeing how different each one is even though all the cards use the same elements. The photo really doesn't capture the great coloring everyone did! Hopefully I'll be motivated to create something tomorrow night... I hope so! In closing, I t...

Here's the cool little something I was talking about last time. It is pretty cutesy for me, but I still like it :) I haven't decided what to do with it yet... here are the options: #1. element on a scrapbook page #2. cover to a mini-book , maybe bound with the BIA or ribbons (my favorite) #3. door hanger (just add eyelet & ribbon with some Scrapper's Floss for good measure) #4. make part of the flap to a notecard hol der (I almost did this) #5. element on card front (I think it's a bit heavy, but maybe not) #6. tag for a Halloweenie goodie bag #7. ornament for those that have Halloweenie tree s #8. perfect for one of those "I've been boo'd" neighborhood serial-treat-dropping-ding-dong-ditching deals ... ...endless possibilities here, people! The base is a medium-weight 4" round coaster (I have at least 80 of these puppies!), covered with some Bazzill cardstock (TAC's Mulberry Meadow), sponged and edged. I hand sketched and cut out t...

No, you have not come upon a monster truck show, I just wanted to say that. Anyway , how about another grown-up creepy card? I REALLY dig this one. I had a page left over from a Woodrowe Album Kit , and it is sized perfectly for a card front! I love the Woodrowe & Willoughby papers so much (my new favorites), that I HAD to make a Halloweenie card with one of them, right? And I used another image from Fresh Air Favorites ... love that versatility!! Creepy Willough card supplies: Stamps: Fresh Air Favorites, Boo! & Happy Heart GWP's Paper: Woodrowe Album Kit, Bazzill Mono Yellow-Greens, Mulberry Meadow c.s. (retired) Ink: Noir & Burnt Umber Palettes Bling: Copper eyelet, Scrapper's Floss Other: edge distresser, paper piercer, foam tape, hydra sponge I made up a very cool little something, and I'm debating whether or not to use it for my Paper Wings DT assignment, or show it here... I do have until the 21st for my homework... hmmm... we'll have to s...

I think I got a little of it back late last night. From the first moment I saw the Fresh Air Favorites stamp set, I knew I had to have it for Halloween... yes, I know *freak* . There are a couple of images in there that really look like you could creep-them-out with just the right color palette: Stamps: Fresh Air Favorites, Boo! GWP, From the Heart GWP Paper: DCWV purple, Bazzill Mono Yellow-Greens, black & white c.s. Ink: Noir Palette, Moonlight White Brilliance Other: edge distresser, paper piercer, pop dots, sanding block I really like this one. It's almost got a creepy-elegance to it?! The second photo is more true-to-life colors. What do you think?

Ok. A little warning here. My mojo is missing and I don't know where it could be. I shut myself in my studio last night and this is all I could muster. Also, the lighting stinks right now because it is rainy, so the photos look yellow from my dining room light. Ick. It is supposed to be one of those illusion-type-things where the smaller individual stamps aren't supposed to be the focus, but the overall picture is what you're after . Does that make sense? I had these scrap pieces of Bazzill Monochromatics and had already cut out these cool scallop cards with my Nestibilities, and decided to put them together. Stamps: Running Stitches (eyebrows & forehead), Mini Occasions (cat/eyes, pumpkins), All Season Swirls (hat/nose), Boo Bash (sentiment/teeth), So Splattered Paper: Bazzill Monochromatics (Violets & Yellow-Oranges), black cardstock Ink: Noir Palette, Brilliance Moonlight White Other: Nestibilities, Fantastix (for shading), pop dot, foam tape, hydra sponge...