Haunted Design House

Just a quick note to wish everyone a wonderful Winter Holiday weekend!  And even though I didn't keep it creepy this week, just know that I still haven't put away ANY of my Halloween decor :) Does that make up for it?!! More My Mind's Eye paper and a Simply Betty Stamp image. Merry Creepmas to all!!

Warned ya' yesterday... just sayin'.  Today's bit of non-creepiness: But at least she has attitude, right?  Another image from SBS's Sweet Gothic Kids.  And Echo Park paper maybe?

Since this week is bound to be super busy with Holiday merriment, I'm scheduling a couple of posts ahead... OMG... can you believe it... it sounds like I'm kinda organized. Don't let me fool you ;) Anyhoo, just to warn you:  this week's posts won't be very creepy.  Sorry, I've scraped the last of my never-before-posted cards out of the crypt, and they're on the cute side. GASP!  OH THE HORROR! (or the lack there of) This one is from quite awhile back... when I was on the DT for Simply Betty Stamps.  Actually, all of them this week are from then :)  Enjoy! A little saucy, no?  ;) The image is from one of the Sweet Gothic Kids lines.  I do like the big eyes... very fun to color.  And I can't remember which paper this is... maybe My Mind's Eye from a year or two ago? See... not very organized at all :)

Fellow SBS DT member, Suzi , has organized a fun blog hop to round out the year! All you have to do to join in, is create a  post on your blog entitled 'My Top Ten Cards of 2010'.  Then link that post to Suzi's post , using the inlinkz tool at the bottom of her post... please visit that post to see details about prizes along the hop!     Sooooooooo, here are my faves for the year: Images by:  Simply Betty Stamps (vampire), The Angel Company (foliage & sentiment) Images by:  Kenny K (girl), The Angel Company (sentiment & background) Image by Stamp It Crazy Image by Delicious Doodles Images by:  Simply Betty Stamps (vampires), Stampers Anonymous (sentiment) Images by:  Tiddly Inks (house & fairy), Viva Las Vegas Stamps (sentiment) Images by:  Stamp It Crazy (fairy), Stampers Anonymous (tree), The Angel Company (foliage & sentiment) Images by:  Simply Betty Stamps (boy), unknown sentiment   Image by:...

My last Winter holiday card for you this year... and actually it isn't really THAT holiday-ish... me thinks I could send this anytime.  And let me say that every time I use Stickles or glitter, I can't get the color balance & lighting right, so once again we have photos of the sucky variety :) Nice sentiment, right?  Yeah.  I like it, too :)  It's from Stamp Insanity .  I'm picturing the adorable little Octopode Factory Angel yelling at the Christmas tree... like a few bulbs are out or something :)  Yes... yes... I like to make up little stories for my cards.  And that's just one of the MANY reasons why y'all come back to HDH all the time, right?! I hope you and yours have a very Happy Winter holiday, and a joyful & prosperous New Year! ~Barb

Ok, maybe it's not Bob... maybe his name is Cletus and he is from hillbilly country... or, it could be Justin and he lives in the 90210... whatever storyline you wanna work worth, man.  :) Jennifer, one of my fellow Simply Betty Stamps DT gals has her own fun digi for sale. You can find out more info by visiting Jennifer's blog , and you can purchase this Christmas Zombie at Jennifer's Etsy store ! I do believe my buddy & Macabre Minion, Creepy Glowbugg , has worked up a little sumpin' sumpin' with Bob, too.  You should probably go check to make sure :) AND I might have just ONE more card to share before Christmas gets here...  you just never know :)

Just thought I'd throw out a few little factoids and folklore today... just for fun... Today at 5:38pm CST marks the Winter Solstice and the official start of Winter.  Which means that today is the shortest day of the year... well, in the Northern Hemisphere anyway.  Wikipedia has more info than you'll want to know about it. {photo found HERE } The Winter Solstice is a time for rest... I am SO into that :) Let's just say that Google is my friend. {photo & info found HERE } The Winter Solstice marks the battle between The Holly King & The Oak King... with The Holly King of course winning while The Oak King withdraws & rests until the next battle... where upon the table is turned. HERE are some interesting tidbits on the transformation of Santa Claus from folklore.

And I mean quick!  I'm thinking this should have been my holiday card this year... sooooooo easy to mass-produce, clean, simple and with just the right touch o' creepy-cuteness. The Jack ornie was a freebie from Tiddly Inks on PCP (thanks, Christy!) and the sentiment is from a retired set of TAC's.  And of course, the infamous Scor-Bug... I just LOVE that thing.  Jack was colored with Copics and popped up on foam tape. I'll probably have a few more cards to share before the end of the year, so stay tuned :)

HDH Macabre Monday Rules: 1 . Create a dark and macabre SOMETHING (card, scrap page, altered item, whatever) that follows the specific Macabre Monday challenge given. Cutesy is fine, but creepy is better :) 2. You have until the following Sunday night @ 5pm central time to post your creation and please leave a direct-link back here. 3. If you upload to any online galleries (TACPCC, S&S, PCP, SCS, etc.) , please tag the title using HDH069 . 4. Weekly giveaways! Some weeks will be loaded with loot, others not-so-much ... but the thrill is in the win, right?! Some prizes shall be by random drawing, others hand picked... and I'm not telling you ahead of time :) 5. We'll be selecting a weekly Gruesome Twoso me (our top two favorite creations) from all the players. At the end of every month these will be compiled and a Master of Macabre will be selected and will receive a little giftie from me... this could be stamp sets, handmade items, papers, halloweenie embellishme...

Over at Simply Betty Challenges , there is an AWESOME challenge going on... ONLY UNTIL Dec. 11th at 11:00PM PST!  Now... many of us wait until the 25th for Santa Claus to come to town... but today SANDY CLAWS is coming instead! Or well he has actually arrived! All you have to do is create your version of Sandy Claws on your projects! You will win two very special digis... these digis are going to be exclusive to the DT, a few winners, and as a free set in the future with your purchase at SBS! You do not have to purchase a new SBS image, just get those creative gears turning and create your Sandy Claws project with any SBS image! Be sure to check out all the details at the Simply Betty Challenges blog!! The DT was fortunate enough to be able to work with this fabulous new image created by our very own Cheri !  I will apologize for the icky photos... they were taken late at night under the OTT light... ugh. Isn't he awesome?!  Not what I did with it, I mean the ...

Have you totally just had a heart attack from seeing a post with an HDH068 challenge card done by me?!  I know!  Cah-raaa-zy.  And the crazier part is that I'll be back in a day or two with a SECOND one... yeah... I know... un-effing believable.  :) Since the winter holidays are JUST around the corner, how apropos is this?!  I seriously fell in LOVE with this little snowman... it's a bit warped and twisted... sooooooo up my alley :) I should probably do my 8-item breakdown that was part of the challenge: 1:  card base, 2:  blue-grey panel, 3:  sentiment, 4:  webby trim, 5:  snowman, 6:  straight ribbon, 7:  separate bow, 8:  snowflake gem How do you like how grungy this guy is?  It kinda looks like he was made from that snow along the street that has all of the dirt & grime thrown over it, no?  All misshapen and a little sad.  That's why I thought the sentiment was particularly fitting :)   Digi...

Now let's get on to Day #2! What is Christmas without the Grinch!? Why it's just not Christmas at all! So today we are challenging you to create the best Grinch-mas project you can think of! For this one you can use any image, doesn't have to be an SBS image, but remember it always help sway the judges when choosing a winner! Wink wink! Today's Prize: Any 2 SBS rubber stamps winner's choice! Remember you have until Nov. 29th at 11:00 pm PST to upload your creations to the SBS Challenge blog .  And check to see what some of the DT has in store for you! And here is my last minute entry :) This would be Punky Teen Christmas Tristan ... I really like him and this is the first chance I've had to color him up!  I paired him with a little Echo Park Everybody Loves Christmas paper.  This is the Scallop Stripe one... you can see a bit of the stripe on the left, and I used the other side of it for the background. The skullies are from a Bombshell stamp s...

Welcome to the 12 Days of Christmas... with the Simply Betty Twist!  These 12 days are going to be a bit different!  For starters, one winner will be chosen on the next challenge, the prize will be given out right away!  Woop woop! Enter all challenges for a chance to win a Guest DT Spot for January 2011!  That one person will be chosen by popular votes and as mentioned as long as all challenges have been entered by this person! Well, what do you say we get this Christmas party started?!  Using any Simply Betty Stamps Halloween image, create a Christmas card... anything goes, but it must be a SBS Halloween image !  Not too hard eh?  For today's prize one lucky winner will receive a choice of any 2 Digi stamps! You will have until Saturday November 27th at 11:00 PM PST to upload your card for voting consideration.  Upload your card on the SBS Challenge blog ... and while you are there, be sure to check out the rest of the DT's car...

I just HAD to share about the class I'm teaching on November 30th at The Scrapbook Page in Shawnee, Kansas :)  Please pop over to my other blog for additional photos and info... thanks! FosterDesignHouse.blogspot.com

Yeay!  It's here!  SBS Release Day Hop ... if you have arrived here from Angela's blog , then you are on the right track... if not, head over to the SBS blog for all of the hop details!  Let me just say this:  there are SEVERAL fab prizes to win!!! Rio really knows how to trim a tree... skullies & pink bling... what could be more festive?!   And just look at her eyes... they turned out pretty cool, if I may say so myself :)  Ah, the beauty of Copic coloring... you can change your eye color to match your sweater EVERY time :) Digi/Rubber Stamp:   Rio Trimming the Tree Sentiment stamp:   Merry Words (retired TAC) Paper:  Sophie (retired BG); Black, Mimi & Caboodle white cs (TAC) Other:   Copic markers, pink Stardust glitter pen, VersaFine Onyx ink, misc. ribbon & pink rhinestones Now on to the rest of the Simply Betty Stamps Christmas Emos Blog Hop ! Your next stop is Catherine's blog !  Happy hopping!

How did you like yesterday's preview?  Well, on to Day Two: Elfin' Miller is in da-house!  I swear I giggle every single time I see him :)  VERY simple card, but I just couldn't foof it up.  Me thinks I need some red/black embellies.  Believe it or not, I just don't have any!  A room full of papercrafting schtuff & I couldn't find something that worked with this... CRAZY.  Time for a room re-org!!! Please note:   Elfin' Miller does NOT come holding the pair of tidy whities ...  THAT little gem was added by me :) And soooooooooo totally perfect for this image, dontcha think?  And in case you can't see the sentiment, the front says: WTH... I was good all year & all I got were these tidy whities?! The inside reads: Don't EVEN tell me what's in my stocking.  I really wanted a wittier sentiment, but I just totally blanked.  The possibilities really are endless...  chestnuts roasting jingle bells snowballs...

**Note:   Please scroll down to the next post for the latest HDH Macabre Monday challenge! Yes, it is that time again!  Time for a couple of days of teasers before SBS releases their Christmas Emos :)  Friday the 5th will be here before you know it, and you'll be able to purchase some of these babies for yourself.  Until then, how's about a lil' taste?  Just look at the scowl on Christian's face?!  Typical teenage attitude... but it's not like he was asked to shovel the driveway or somethin'.  :)  I love him... so much fun to color... and I even kept to the traditional Christmas colors... proud of me? Ok, I'll admit it... I just LOVE the skull-as-pom-pom on his hat :) Digi:  Bah Humbug Christian ( Simply Betty ) Rubber Stamps:  Merry Words (retired TAC) Paper:   Merry Wishes (retired TAC), Bazzill & PTI cardstocks, Caboodles white cs (TAC) Other:   Copic markers, VersaFine Onyx ink & pop dots Be sure to c...