2011 Mutinous Monday #001

That's right folks... it's the first Mutinous Monday from the Macabre Minions!  The Minions need a little R&R and have declared mutiny until 2012, so no challenge this week... but I still wanted to give you a little sumpin' sumpin' to satiate your HDH appetite :)

I even posted on my "normal" blog last night if you want more mainstream :)  Yes... I've been busy.  Anyway, back to a little wickedness...

First up, the last couple of cards from my Halloween card class back in September:

You can't tell, but there is some DELIGHTFULLY sinful, black-velvet crocheted trim from May Arts on the tag... yummy.  And of course, more of that awesome Midnight Dreary line of paper from Moxxie:  Tomb it May Concern & Dead on Arrival.  I rolled a paper rose and finished it off with a dew drop center... LOVE it.

Quite elegant, no?  The top half of this 12x12 paper has a pinkish hue and blended together with the bottom half's greenish hue.  The salmon pink really creates a truly non-traditional Halloween card, but it works!

And here's a favorite of the class:

It would have been 100x better if I would've had my Tim Holtz raven die at the time instead, but this bird worked out ok.  And there's the infamous MS Grass punch... what did I ever do without it?

 

Moxxie's Feelin' Vine paper... LOVE!  I created the fence with the Scor-Pal and a MS Iron Gate edge punch... turned out pretty awesome me thinks.... simple and detailed at the same time.

That's it for today, but the Minions and I will still be posting random bits now and then... they may be fortuitous, frivolous, fanciful or foul, but you'll want to check back often :)  You just never know when I will be in a random-prize-winner-from-the-comments kind of mood for the next couple of months... hmmm...

**One more thing... we are now gladly taking sponsors for the 2012 HDH Macabre Monday challenge calendar!  Just send a note to The Masterful Mistress via email (link located in the sidebar). 

HDH111 - OMG, the Mistress made a *&*^ card!!!

That's right, stalkers... finally!  And it took about 5 minutes including clean-up time.

And it looks like it.  :P

No ribbon, no bling, no foof... just rubber stamps, paper & ink.

Stamps:  Artful Illusions (grass, tombstone), Tim Holtz (bats), Bombshell (barbed wire)

Paper:  Moxxie - Midnight Dreary line

Ink:  Palette Noir, Burnt Sienna & Charcoal

What do you think... too blah?

HDH086 - Alone in the Dark - by Barb

Haven't you LOVED all of the Minions' work this week?!!  And are you loving the Delicious Doodles digi's?!  Fantastic!  And now... a little sumpin' sumpin' from me:

please click to enlarge photos... they look a little better

I used Free Spirit for this one.  LOVE her!  And of course I can't photograph anything red and have it turn out right, so you'll have to trust me when I say this looks waaaaaaaaaaaay better in person.

I used a Tim Holtz embossing folder, MS graveyard & grass punches, and the EK Success bracket punch.  The sentiment is one from Stamp Insanity.

You've only got a little over a day to enter this week's challenge... and it's SUCH an easy one!  Don't you want some deliciously dark digi's from Delicious Doodles?

HDH083 - Magically Witchy, Macabre Mistress style...

I confess, I've had this AWESOME image colored up for a couple of weeks now... thankfully, otherwise I would not have been able to play along this week!  The image is "The Key" from Stitchy Bear Stamps.

As you can see, I had a little fun with my MS grass border punch :)  As well as an EK Success one.  The background paper is from Rusty Pickle's Thriller collection... LOVE IT.  I'm so sad that I only bought one sheet of this.  It had three other 6x6 patterns that you'll see eventually, but this one is my fave.

You'll notice that I added a hat to Stitchy's image... after all, the challenge is "Magically Witchy" :)  I did save it as a jpeg, so if anyone wants it, just email me and I'll send it to you.  Or wait until later tonight and I'll edit this post and add it here.  I slit the hat so that it slid right on her head.  Genius, me thinks.

Well, off to get some work done... and don't forget that you have until Sunday night to enter this week's challenge!!  Who wouldn't want to win some Stitchy Bear Stamps digi-goodness?

**edited to add witch hat jpeg:

yeah... looks kinda rough, but it's all in the coloring, baby ;)

SBS Friday Challenge - Recycle!

I'm here with another challenge for you!  Yes, yes... I know.  I haven't even done MY Macabre Monday challenge card yet, but you guys are sooooooooo much better than me :)

Since I've been a super-slacker DT girl for Simply Betty Stamps lately, I felt it was important to get my butt in gear and do a little creating!  So instead of doing work for my "real job", I decided to play catch-up.

Soooooo, on to this week's challenge over at Simply Betty Stamps Challenge blog:

It is Angela's turn to host this week, and she is challenging you to RECYCLE.
Come on how easy is that..

Don't toss it, Use it.

You can use scrap leftover paper, packing from paper, embellishments, bits and pieces of leftover embellishments or anything craft or non craft related.

It's up to you, just have fun with it and use things in a way you would never even think

to use on your creations.

A perfect night for a stroll in a cemetery, no? 

 

The only "fresh" items I used for this card were the card base, Stickles & ribbon.  Everything else I dug out of my scrap pile!  The Cricut die-cut fence, cemetery & gravestone were leftovers from a class I taught in early October.  The moon-with-ravens die-cut is from a MME sheet from who-knows-when.

I decided to use Elaine from the SBS Victorian Beauties digi line, and the stamped sentiment is from StampInsanity.

 I over-exposed this shot to show all of the layers and die-cuts... this card is so dark, it's hard to see all of the details!

How's this for using scraps... the batty background paper?  That is two separate pieces.  Yep.  I added the wavy ribbon to hide the splice :)  Genius, me thinks!


Now, whenever there is a challenge, there is a prize!
Betty is giving away two rubber stamps:
Lola and London.
 So be sure to go back and link up your project for this challenge on the SBC blog 
using ANY Simply Betty image as part of your creation.

And if you haven't created your HDH Macabre Monday challenge project yet, why not combine these two challenges?!  Don't just link them here or you won't be entered to win!

Are you up for it?!

Little Hop of Horrors & a Spooky Hallow sneak peek!

Welcome to the Little Hop of Horrors Halloween Blog Hop...

If you've arrived here from Nicole's blog, then you are on the right track!  Nicole has assembled quite the not so little gathering of goul-friends for a fiendishly fun hop, with the opportunity to win some awesome loot to boot!  Be sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post for a few details :)

Now, it's not a secret that I AM a Halloween fan (uh, hello.... what's the name of this blog again?).  This time of year is my favorite:  cool autumn air, crunchy Fall leaves, pumpkins, and creepiness... what's not to love?!  Well, to start things off, I've created this no-frills, but frighteningly fun Halloween card using a couple of new digi's from Simply Betty Stamps that will be available starting tomorrow... sorry blood-suckers, not today :)

This is Damien & Spiderella.  I like to imagine Damien is a newly turned vampire whom by chance of fate comes upon Spiderella... a veteran vamp who's been around the block a time or two

(if you know what I'm sayin') :)

She's obviously trying to work her feminine wiles on a somewhat naive newbie vamp... does he fall for it?  Only the Shadow knows...

Digi images:  Damien & Spiderella (SBS)

Rubber stamp:  sentiment (Stamper's Anonymous)

Paper:  white cs (Neenah), Willoughby & black cs (TAC)

Ink:  Raw Sienna, Cognac, French Lilac & Noir Palettes (Stewart Superior)

Other:  Copic markers, Scor-Bug, misc. ribbon & trim

And now, for the goods!  Simply become one of my followers & leave me a comment and I'll giveaway a little sumpin' sumpin' to one lucky commenter :)  I don't know what it will be yet, but it will be something Halloweenie, so it will be worth the extra typing :)

Below is the list of sponsors & their awesome giveaways.  Be sure to get all of the details from Nicole's blog... she is the first & last blog to check and all of these prizes will be drawn from there after the Hop:

 

Simply Betty Stamps:  Set of 5 Halloween Digi’s

Tickled Pink Stamps:  Lil Lolita Halloween Digi’s

Tiddly Inks:  $10 Gift Voucher

Scrappy Moms Stamps:  Haunting we will Go stamp set

My Pink Stamper:  Stamp Set

The Greeting Farm:  2 Halloween Digis

Scrap Hut:  October 31^st Cricut Cartridge (North America Only)

Your next stop on this magic Horror ride, is Betty The Scrap Happy Witch!

AND if you want even more hopping to do tomorrow, start out at the Simply Betty Challenge blog for some more Spooky Hallow Halloweenieness :)  If you've come from Angela's blog and want to continue the Spooky Hallow Hop on October 3rd, your next stop is Cheri!
Happy Haunting!

HDH057 - Horrific Haunts

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 HDH057.
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. I'll be selecting a weekly Gruesome Twosome (my 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 embellishments... you just never know.

Ok, my little pretties... your challenge this week:

Horrific Haunts

It is all about haunted houses this week! Need some inspiration? Think about The Addams Family, The Munsters... or how about some of the real thing? Go HERE for some "real" photographic inspiration.

And check out what the Macabre Minions have in store for your viewing pleasure:

Macabre Mistress Lynx:

Another brilliant work from my Macabre Mistress!  LOVE all of the different images and the subtle color.

Concoctor of Chaos, Creepy Glowbugg:

LOVE this image!  And I'm luvin' the purple moon... {swoon}... and the bit o' glitterfabulousness.

Creepy Cricut Cween Donna:

Awesome luminary!!!  I have no words... must. check. Donna's. blog.

Digital Demon-ess Susan:

Definitely horrifying, no?!  LOVE the bloody hand print and the raven on the doll... creeeeepy :)

Beyond brilliant work from my Macabre Minions!!  Ok... your turn... let's see some horrifying haunts!

New Simply Betty Release - Halloweenie Emos Release Day Blog Hop

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, AND to learn how you can get a couple of the Halloweenie Emos in rubbah!

Now, on to today's bit of Halloweenie-ness!

 This is Lola the Mummy & Christian the Vamp.

 Lola reminds me of what I feel like in the morning before my coffee :)  In person, her hair looks super shiny... can't really tell here.

Christian is a bit cranky.  The sentiment inside this card should read:  "Stop touching me"... kinda like two siblings in the backseat on a road trip, right?

LOVE the moon... turned out pretty dimensional, no?

Ok, so now on to the rest of the Simply Betty Stamps Halloween Emos Blog Hop!

Your next stop is Calie's blog!

New Simply Betty Release - Halloweenie Emos Preview Day 1

**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 Halloween Emos :)  Wednesday the 15th 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 taste?

 This is Franken Millerstein & PumpkinHead London.

The names alone make me smile.

:)

See?

 I'll confess right now.  This is my FAVORITE Emo release yet from SBS... for obvious reasons :)  Creepy cuteness on overload.  Seriously.  I even gave Franken Millerstein a nose-ring... accessorizes nicely with his neck bolts, right?

And PumpkinHead London... LOL... LOVE HER!  Those glowing eyes and that sinister grin... me likey a lot :)

Be sure to check the SBS blog & other DT's blogs for additional peeks!!  On Wednesday, there will be a HUGE blog hop... I can't wait for you to see the rest of the Halloween Emos this week!

HDH052 - Graveyard step card

Freakin' finally, right?  I stayed up late last night finishing this little baby off.  I've seen step cards around for awhile now, and just never tried one out... this HDH052 challenge gave me the perfect reason to do one :)  I mean, sometimes it's tough to get three or more images on one card unless you have just a little bit more room to work with :)

Have I told you lately that I LOVE my MS grass border punch?!  I think that is clear on this little graveyard scene!

I stamped the iron gate on a transparency and then glued it at the bottom & covered it with another grass strip to conceal it.  Works well me thinks!

I'm not sure you can tell, but there are a bunch of little stars in the night sky that I made with a glitter pen.

How do you like the kitty hiding behind the grass?  That would be a "whoopsie-turned-wonderful".  I took a marker to color the white around his whiskers green, so that it would blend a bit.  UGH!  Do NOT do that.  So I covered it all with the bunch of grass... genius me thinks :)

Don't you love the orange bubbly wondermous oozing from the cauldron in the background?!  Me too :)  And the gravestone border punch from MS... love love LOVE.  Love even more when I add a little Stickles to them :)

Stamps:  Skull Gate, Girl w/ Skull, Creepy Tree, Silhouette Cats - PET 32 & 33 (all Stamp It Crazy), 

Delightfully Spooky (TAC sentiment), witch/cauldron silhouette (unknown)

Paper:  Bazzill & Neenah white & TAC black cardstocks

Ink:  StazOn black, Memento Tuxedo, VersaFine Onyx,

Raw Sienna, Orangerie, Noir & Violete Palettes

Other:  MS border punches, orange & Concord Distress Stickles, clear Stardust glitter pen, Copic markers

What do you think?

HDH052 - Stamp It Crazy!

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 HDH052.
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. I'll be selecting a weekly Gruesome Twosome (my 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 embellishments... you just never know.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO HAUNTED DESIGN HOUSE CHALLENGES!

Ok, my little pretties... your challenge this week:

Stamp It Crazy!

You are to create a dark, Gothic, or Halloween page, project or card using a minimum of three stamped images (or digi's). Yep, Barb over at Stamp It Crazy is sponsoring this very important challenge this week... this week marks our 52nd challenge... a whole YEAR has gone by already, can you believe it?!!! You don't HAVE to use images from Stamp It Crazy on your entry this week, but you'll get "bonus" points ;) Be sure to read the blurb at the bottom of this post for all the ways to win free schtuff!

I'll have my challenge card for you later this week, BUT some of the other Macabre Minions have some wonderful eye candy-corn for you today!!! Check it:


Macabre Mistress Lynx:

I'm seein' AT LEAST four different stamped images here... a truly fabulous rubber-stamped scene done only how our awesome Lynx can!


Creepy Cricut Cween Donna:

LOL... LOVE the sentiment... Donna, you clever little witch, you! Wonderful Halloweenie colors & fantastic coloring :)


Digital Demon-ess Susan:

Another fun one by Susan... great sentiment, and don't you love 'em da kitties?! Diggin' the harlot-styled witch in red, too!


Chaotic Creepy Glowbugg:

Oh how I LOVE purple!  Fabulously colored Asian Goth girl with gates, Creepy Glo!

Be sure to go check out the Minions' blogs for more details on these awesome cards. AND if you pay attention and gather up the little snippets that each of the Minions and I leave on our blog posts, you will be entered in a random drawing for a little sumpin' sumpin' from Stamp It Crazy! How? Well, after visiting Lynx, Donna, Susan, & Creepy Glo, email me at: barbi007@kc.rr.com with our random facts about us that we posted. Mine? Well, my Totally Random Fact: my pet name for my hubby is Poot. Now doesn't that make you smile? :)

Bonus! Since it the Anniversary challenge, both of the Gruesome Twosome for the week will get several wondermous rubber stamps from Stamp It Crazy!

Now... are you up for the challenge?!

Simply Betty's Victorian Beauties Release Blog Hop!

Hello everyone, and welcome to Simply Betty's Victorian Beauties Release Blog Hop with my fellow SBS DT members AND The Burtonesque Dolls DT, too!  If you've come by way of the Simply Betty Stamps blog, then you are on the right track :)  If not, please start there to find out a little more about this great new line of digi's!

One important note about this new line of images:  Betty has a goal of 100 sales for this digi release...  and out of those sales she going to give half of the money from the sales to the Ronald McDonald house.  Please be sure to read Betty's story about why this charity is so important on the SBS blog.  And now... on to the hop...

 This is James... isn't he just the most debonair?!  A little haughty, but then most men-of-means were a bit back in the day :)  And of course, being me, I decided that James should be a vampire :)

I am lovin' the layered edger punched cardstock... you can't tell very well, but there is a little Glimmer Mist sprayed over them.

Digi:  James (SBS)

Rubber Stamps (TAC):  Simply Divine, Bone Appetit

Paper:  Bazzill, TAC black & Neenah cardstocks, vintage velvet flocked wallpaper

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo, Glimmer Mist

Other:  EK Success & MS edger punches

Copics:  0, BV0000, BV20, E57, R24, R27, R39, RV14, V93, V95, V99, YR23, YR24

Now, who's the next stop?  None other than Catherine... pop by there and she'll let you know who's next in line!  And be sure to leave the love on all of the hop participants' blogs... you could win two, three, or even all six Victorian Beauties digi's!!

HDH040 - Beautifully Beastly Butterflies... my 1st take...

Ok, so the idea that was floating around in my head for this challenge, didn't actually hit the worksurface as I imagined it.  So I have ANOTHER idea that I can hopefully get done in the next day or two :)

Me thinks I should have NOT used the white ink in the sky... just sayin'.  I must say that I do LOVE the double border punched scene at the bottom.  AND the butterfly came out pretty good, too :)  Definitely a fun one to color.

The butterfly is a $.99 digi created by Angelia from Scrap Your Scraps, who just happens to be a buddy of mine!  You definitely need to check out the original digi... I actually inverted it & cut the antennae & curly-q's off since I didn't want to cut AROUND those little suckers :)

See the clouds?  I actually used a VersaMarker and colored just a portion of a border stamp (left off the vines & foof), as well as to highlight the gravestones and top of the fence.  A little embossing powder & heat gun... and voila... shimmery moonlit clouds & schtuff :)

Digi:  Butterfly (Scrap Your Scraps)

Stamps:  Edge Designs (TAC), So Splattered (retired TAC)

Paper:  Hemingway, black & kraft cardstocks

Ink:  Violete Palette, Moonlight Brilliance

Other:  VersaMarker, Transcendence EP, MS border punches

Copics:  0, V06, V09, V99, BG72, BG78

What do you think?