Haunted Design House

Greetings all, & welcome :) I'm totally psyched to have been chosen as a guest designer for today over at 365 Cards !! This entire week is Reader Appreciation Week , so be sure to join in the fun for prize opportunities and to gawk at all of the wonderful cards the Design Team & Guest Designers have created :) What is the technique toda y? SPONGING! Those that know me or my work will be the first to tell you that this is a technique that I use on probably 90% of my cards... and 100% on my Halloween cards :) Sponging tends to create depth, and REALLY finishes off certain images wonderfully. The entire background of this Halloween Flourish Tree card was created with sponging. Yep, I started with a completely white cardstock panel for this baby :) I also used regular hydra sponges , as well as manicurist pads ... the sponge creates a stippled texture, while the pad creates much softer blending. I created a reverse-mask for the moon first. Start with the lightest ...

You knew this one was comin', right? He's freakin' cute, Yo! :) As soon as I saw this little dude in the new TAC catalogue, I wanted to give him a spider yo-yo... that's just how I roll :) I saw the Mojo Monday #94 sketch and really liked it, so I started grabbing trims and halloweenie cardstocks and started layering. No patterned paper! Stamps: Victorian Elements , Spunky Sprite Boys , Happy Haunting , Punk Princess (retired) Paper: Basic Black & Olive cardstocks, Premium White, Bazzill Mono-Yellow Oranges , Mulberry Meadow cardstock (purpl e - retired) Ink: Burnt Umber & Noir Palettes , Moonlight White Brilliance , VersaMark Other: Pop dots, Prismacolors w/ mineral oil, foam tape, distresser, misc. trims, Creative Cafe button, orange blingy It kinda looks a little busy, but I really wanted to use my new brocade stamp on a creepy card :) I stamped the boy on the white panel and then colored it in with a black marker... this gives a great shadow aro...

Haa haa! I received several replies from FB & Twitter after my status update last night :) So, here is the little bit o' cuteness I was talkin' about: Boo Sprite Girl { squeal } Isn't she abso-freakin-lutely adorable? I LOVE LOVE LOVE this new set from TAC. So versatile... I mean, we all know I can spook-up just about anything... but come on, isn't the image cute? Stamps : Spunky Sprite Girls , Glitter G oblins (might be back in September) , Punk Princess (retired) Paper : Bazzill Mono-Oranges, Basic Black & Olive cardstocks, & Premium White cardstock Ink : Noir Palette , VersaMark Other : pop dots , black lace, distresser , Prismacolors w/ mineral oil, grey Tombow marker I missed a spot on her hand, but I'll fix it later... just a quick swipe with the blending stump! The woven background is a leftover from my Pape r Wings design team project, so that should peak a little interest, there { insert evil smiley w/ raised eyebrow & horns her...

Tonight I've got the last of my Art Shares! Well, I had an additional one, but I had made one similar and had posted it before HERE ... it was for Suzanne . She has a couple of boys and lives in Florida, so I thought it was totally her :) Hope you like it, Suzanne!! I made these Halloweenie Boo Birdhouses for Bren . She is my downline from Wichita and she said to just surprise her with something... muhuhuwahh ahh ahh ahh aaaaaaahhhh! `:) What was she getting herself into?! I LOVE THESE ... and I almost wanted to start another project and keep these for myself. But, no no no... I was good and gave them away :) Me... good... ha ha ha... no comments from the peanut gallery... {cough... CINDY ... cough} Anyway, I had these envisioned stuck in a plant centerpiece... mossy and dark. Or, if you want to go the fun route, in a big bowl of candy corn :) I'm sorry to say that there isn't ANY product from TAC on this project... that's a first in a LONG time for me! But ...

... where does the time go?! Christmas cards one post... Hallloween the next :) For those of you who don't know, I am the Halloween Queen . My house always has a bit of Halloweenie-ness goin' on, decor wise... I've got quite the collection workin'. So, from time-to-time, I'll throw a little card creepiness out year-round... that's just how I roll ;) Remember when I said I wanted to color that little owl from the Bird Cage set with minereal oil & Prismacolors... well, here he is! He turned out pretty wicked-cool if I may say. Stamps: Bird Cage , Fresh Air Favorites ( retiring!!! grab this now! ) , Glitter Goblins Paper: Bazzill Mono-Oranges , Bazzill Mono-Greens , Natural cs , White UltraSmooth cs , and misc. dark brown cs Ink: VersaMark , Burnt Umber Palette Other: Antique Copper Hardware , Crystal Laquer , Prismacolors & mineral oil blending, foam tape I love distressing paper for extra Halloweenie-ness... no pristine princess in this house {w...

OMG! Is this little guy not the CUTEST thing ever?! I just wanted to eat him up! This is Baby Ira, my great-nephew, and he is my little flying monkey (get it... Wizard of Oz... witch... flying monkey...)! Don't you LOVE the partial banana on his head and the outtie belly-button?! He doesn't look very happy when I'm holding him because he just woke up (that is my story and I'm sticking to it!) . He's almost 9 months ( I think ... bad Bad Aunt Barbi!!) and is such a happy, lovey, cay-yootie pa-tootie ! We didn't have many trick-or-treaters again this year... it's getting less and less all the time. But you should have seen the sweet little bumble bee, Minnie Mouse, and cowboy that received the extra-special stuff!! OMG... too cute! (of course Baby Ira got one too, duh). Laurie brought over her little McD's french fry box, Garrett (OMG! cuteness!)... I didn't get a picture of him, but hopefully Laurie will forward one along (ahem, hint hint). Hope your...

Ok, we all know I have the flair for creepiness... so if you don't dig that, please avert your eyes!! Since I only have tonight and maybe tomorrow (if I have time!!) to get my final Halloweenieness out of my system, I thought I'd go out with bang... or 'thud', or an AAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCKKKK... or however you roll :) The only TAC about this Skull Poem card is the olive & sage cardstocks. I just couldn't resist using my Glimmer Mists again (which you CAN'T see in this photo... dang it!). The skull is from Artful Illusions and the cemetery is from Cow Town. The poem, I think, was a Battle Axe stamp (not sure, got it at a convention!). In case you can't read it, it says: "When the deep purple falls over the sleepy walls, And stars begin to flicker in the sky, Through the mist of a memory you wander back to me, Breathing my name with a sigh. --Mitchell Parish" No, I'm sure Mr. Parish did not intend for his poem to become part of some creepy H...