Wicked Wednesday Two-fer

This week's Wicked Wednesday is a two-fer.

The Creepy Cricut Cween, Donna is joining me

for this week's Macabre Monday challenge,
"Pleasure and Pain".
Use something you love and something you hate. 

We have really been pushing the whole "challenge" thing

lately, and this week was no exception!

Apparently, our dear Donna does not enjoy heat embossing (see tiny spider),

but just loves dry embossing (see web). She also confessed to not being

a big fan of the arachnids either, but I don't think that applies to Mr. Stripes.

I am loving every bit of this card!

Now I have been busy within my own self absorbed little world lately,

so when I finally sat down to work on this week's Pleasure and Pain challenge it had

me stumped!

Usually, when I create, I make stuff that I would want to buy.

Like I would be so happy to see metallic brain cabochons

at a craft show.

If I saw this strapping young lad for sale, I would drop the

cash immediately!

And these guys?! Who could resist?

So basically, I LOVE to create creepy, fun schtuff, and kinda

HATE to part with it.

But I have prepared myself mentally, to say goodbye to

all my little babies this weekend for the right price.  

There is still plenty of time left to play along with

this week's Macabre Monday challenge.

Step outside of your box and try something new!!  

HDH092 - Pleasure & Pain

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. Please make sure that your blog post / upload has been made AFTER the challenge date... we wanna see fresh stuff, not those from a few weeks ago!!

3. If you upload to any online galleries (TACPCC, S&S, PCP, SCS, etc.), please tag the title using HDH092.

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 Twosome (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 Barb... this could be stamp sets, handmade items, papers, halloweenie embellishments... you just never know.

Ok, macabre fans... your challenge this week:

Pleasure & Pain

You are to create a dark, Gothic, or Halloween-based art piece 

using something you love and something you hate.

Stamping, digis, a particular color, a style, a technique... no limits!

Now let's see what the Minions have in store for you:

Sultana of the Sinister Lynx:

Love:  rubber stamping

Hate:  mirrored cardstock

Devious Digital Demon-ess Susan:

Love: digital
Hate:  white space


Agent of the Abominable Andrea:

 Love: rubber stamping
Hate:  rubber stamping
{yeah, leave it to Andrea to come up with that one :) }


Creepy Cricut Cween Donna & the 
Cadaverous Concoctor of Chaos Creepy Glowbugg
will be posting a little sumpin' sumpin' on Wednesday, so check back later this week!!

Now it's your turn... pleasure & pain, love & hate... HDH crafty-style :)

Skull Appreciation Day Blog Hop!

It's finally here!  JUST in case you hadn't heard about this through the grave-vine, the awesome Skull-A-Day blog has declared June 4th to be forever-more
Skull Appreciation Day
:)  For the full deets on this, check out THIS POST at S.A.D.

To help spread the word and share a little skulliness (that would be skull happiness) with the masses, Smeared Ink has organized a fabulous blog hop for us creative & crafty types ;)  AND there are a ton of prizes to be won along the way!  For the full details, list of sponsors & prizes, or if you get lost along the way, just pop over to Terra's blog!  Be prepared to see some fan-freakin'-tastic skull action throughout this hop... a myriad of artists and craftsman have created some terrific works!

If you've arrived here from Dianne's blog, you are right on track.

I'll warn you up front... this card is super simple and not nearly as cool as a lot of the other creations you'll see, but it uses my all-time favorite skull rubber stamp from Artful Illusions (in Wichita, Kansas).  Love love L.O.V.E. this stamp:

(click to enlarge for background detail)

It's so large that it doesn't leave much room for anything else on the card ;)  I heat embossed the background with some Inkadinkado stamps, crumpled & distressed it all.  Then I used some Copper Shimmer spray... which is quite delightful, I must say.

I stamped the image, used BG99, BG96 & BG93 Copics to add a little POP to the image before cutting it out and popping it up.

(click to enlarge for background detail)

Told ya'... super simple.  But that's how I'm celebrating S.A.D. today :)  Now, your next stop on this skulltastic ride is JenniLynne's blog!

So... did you do YOUR part to celebrate today?

Fiendishly Fun Friday - Cyanide and Happiness

These guys make me laugh a lot, and I wasn't sure which particular image or comic to show you, but this is one that particularly amused me when I first saw it.



It's by Cyanide and Happiness and you can see more of their quirky humour HERE.

Simply Betty Meets Macabre Monday!

     Today I have a "two birds with one stone" project.

This week's Macabre Monday sponsor is Simply Betty Stamps.

It also happens to be SBS' first year birthday!

I have used the cool Christian image from the older,

Summer Emo line at SBS.  

Okay, I may be pushing it a bit here, but

I have Earthtones for E, and Masculine for M,

and then lastly, Oceanic for O.

Like I said, it's a bit of a stretch.

Happy Birthday Betty!

Chill out, and enjoy the fruits of your labor!!

You deserve it!

There is still plenty of time to play along with this week's

Macabre Monday "E.M.O." challenge.

Simply Betty Stamps has generously sponsored

this challenge and is offering up some rubber to

both of this week's Gruesome Twosomes!   

HDH091 - E.M.O.

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. Please make sure that your blog post / upload has been made AFTER the challenge date... we wanna see fresh stuff, not those from a few weeks ago!!

3. If you upload to any online galleries (TACPCC, S&S, PCP, SCS, etc.), please tag the title using HDH091.

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 Twosome (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 Barb... this could be stamp sets, handmade items, papers, halloweenie embellishments... you just never know.

Ok, macabre fans... your challenge this week:

"E.M.O."

You are to create a dark, Gothic, or Halloween-based art piece 

using items that begin with an 'E', 'M' and an 'O'.

 For example:

E:  Emo image, Edge punch, Embellishments, Embossing, Eggplant, Ephemera, Eight
M:  Material, Medium, Mists, Matts, Metal, Magic, Magenta, Messy, Mesh, Maroon, Mint
O:  Orange, Oval, Old, Ornamental, Octagonal, Oblong, Obsidian (black), Overlay, Organza, Olive

You only have to have one of each of the letters represented in your piece.

This week is sponsored by Simply Betty Stamps!  SBS is all about "the quirk in you"... here's a little info from Betty:

"Hello, my name is Betty.... I can remember buying my very first rubber 
stamp, I thought I will never ever have a collectioin of these suckers 
as they are expensive!  Well... here I am 4500+ and my own designs 
(which I haven't counted yet)!  I love stamping, more than that I love 
fun, quirky and off beat stamps.  It was only natural I'd want to 
venture into do my own designs.  I started this little company about a 
year ago, wanting it to get it off the ground I decided to go with 
artists that knew what they were doing already while I figured out how 
to get my drawings not just my ideas and concepts out there.  So, soon 
you will all see more of Betty than just concepts done by my wonderful 
artists for Simply Betty Stamps.  I look forward to bring my art to 
life... or ink... and look forward to many more years bringing you that 
Simply Betty Image."

A little edgy, a little cute, and a lot of quirk, I think... if creepy-cute is your style, then SBS is right up your alley.  Oh, they have mainstream stuff too, but I know our HDH readers are looking for some Halloweenie goodness, and SBS has it:  can you say "zombies"?  Steampunks, teens, zombies, Emos... there is a bit of everything.

Betty is offering up THREE Emo rubber stamps to each of the Gruesome Twosome this week!!!   Winners will be able to choose from the following EMO lines:  Everyday, Valentines, Back 2 School, and Halloween.  Awesome prize, right?!  Thanks, Betty :)

Now let's see what the Minions have in store for you:

Sultana of the Sinister Lynx:

E:  Emerald green  M:  Masking technique  O:  Obsidian black

Dark and creepy with a touch of cute... LOVE it, Lynx! 

Creepy Cricut Cween Donna:

E:  torn Edges  M:  Metal  O:   Orange
Perfect for the zombie lover!  LOVE the sentiment, and great coloring, Donna!

Cadaverous Concoctor of Chaos Creepy Glowbugg
will be posting on Wednesdays, so check back later this week!!


Devious Digital Demon-ess Susan:

E:  Embossing  M:  Maroon  O:   Overlapping
This seriously made me giggle out loud :)  Great job, Susan!


Agent of the Abominable Andrea:

E:  Emo image  M:  Mummy  O:  Ovals
This one put a smile on my face too!  LOL... Love it, Andrea!

We've got a couple more Minions of the Moment!  Lelia, a fellow SBS DT'er, and Betty herself played along with us this week... thanks, guys!  You can check out Lelia HERE and Betty Boo HERE!  I'll be back (hopefully) later this week with my entry, too, so please check back!

And now it's your turn! Don't you want some free rubbah?!!  You can't win if you don't play!  Wait... did I just quote a commercial?

Fiendishly Fun Friday - Island of the Dolls

Teri, don't read any further, you won't like it :P
Today's FFF post is about La Isla de la Munecas, or the Island of the Dolls. It sounds like it should be full of pretty pink lace and plastic tea sets, doesn't it? Well, it's actually a macabre tourist attraction to the south of Mexico City, festooned with thousands of decomposing and mutilated dolls on display. The area is filled with canals and waterways, and in amongst these is a small uninhabited island. Don Julian Santana moved to this island in the 1950's, hoping to find peace and refuge from the modern world. However, he came to believe that the island was haunted by the ghost of a young girl who had drowned in one of the canals in the 1920's. Reports vary, but the dolls are either for the little girl's ghost to play with, or to ward off other evil spirits that roamed the area and which were scaring the little girl. Either way, the hermit would fish out old dolls he found in the canals and place them in the trees all over the island. Want to know my theory? The dolls are amassing an army of themselves to wreak havoc on the human race. Here's the timeline.
In 1920, the little girl drowned. The island got a reputation for being haunted, and was pretty much abandoned by locals, but the canals would gather discarded dolls form the surrounding areas. So the number of dolls kept growing. . .
In 1950, Don Julian Santana moved on to the island and became convinced he should start collecting and siplaying the dolls. So the number of dolls kept growing. . .
In 1990, the area was declared a site of national heritage, and the canals were cleaned up, meaning there were obviously no more dolls for Don Julian Santana to find. And then locals found out about what a wonderful garden he had cultivated, and started to bring in dolls to swap for fruit and vegetables he's grown. So the number of dolls kept growing. . .
In 2001, Don Julian Santana died in the same canal that had claimed the life of the little girl. And then the place began to attract tourists, who would bring their own dolls. So the number of dolls kept growing. . .
I don't know when this army will be large enough and strong enough to mount its attack, but seriously, people, it's time to start worrying!




Island of the Dolls

SBS 50's Emos Final Preview & Release Day!

It's here!  The Simply Betty Stamps 50's Emos Release  :)  Be sure to pop over to the Simply Betty Stamps blog for details on how to get your mitts on these images!  Now, on to today's preview

50's Emo Betty:

I HAD to ghoul this one up!  Betty is just so happy rolling around on her skully skates... and why shouldn't she be smiling?  Nothing is better than a little brain burger, right?

Yes, our awesome Creepy Glowbugg made some custom GlowBwainz for me :)  Thanks, Glo!  As soon as I saw this image I knew I had to have 50's Betty serving up a little sumpin' sumpin' "off menu" so-to-speak :)

That's it for this week's release!  Don't forget to check out what the rest of the DT has done with this image!  Enjoy!

card recipe:

image:  50's Emo Betty (SBS)

sentiment:  More Bone Appetit (TAC)

paper:  Bazzill & Neenah cardstocks, patterned paper from stash (can't remember)

other:  custom GlowBwainz, Copic markers, EK Success edge punch, misc. ribbon

Macabre Monday HDH090 Necro Neck Wear

As soon as I heard HDH was being sponsored this week

by none other than the uber wicked,

Kustom Kaskets,

I knew exactly what I wanted to create for the challenge.

The "Necro Neck wear" challenge is to create a piece of 

original artwork that may be chosen as a new design for

Kustom Kaskets, and they will also make the winning design

into a pendant for one lucky wiener!!! How cool, right?! 

Earlier this week, I debuted a re purposed piece of religious

sculpture that turned out quite awesome. My dear friend and 

fellow team mate, Andrea, popped my Zombie Buddha into

an ornate frame and I must admit, I would totally rock this piece!!!

       I actually did come up with an original piece of art

to submit for this challenge as well.

I bought this adorable little 3" x 3" canvas and easel

a while back and thought it was the perfect size

for this challenge. I realize it may be a bit large for an

actual pendant, but it did keep my scale in check.

It was nice to work so small.

   

I think he's cool even with all the zombie drool!

You still have time to play if you want to have a chance

to own a custom piece of jewelry designed by YOU!!

Just enter by 10:00 PM CST on Sunday.

SBS 50's Emos Preview Day 5

Here's one for the guys!  Can't you just hear "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey" in the background?!

50's Emo Christian:

Yep.  I went pretty traditional with this one ;)  Although, I did sneak an extra skully in there... I couldn't help it.  LOVE the shoes!  I went a little darker on the skin tone shadow (E13) and me likey!

And was hair THE thing in the 50's?  Me thinks yes.  However, this guy doesn't have that duck-butt-'do... sorry, I keep flashing back to "Grease" :)  And, yes, I had to add the blue streak in his hair... he IS an EMO after all.

Tomorrow is Release Day!  And just wait until you see what I "cooked" up for you >:)

Don't forget to stop by the Simply Betty Stamps blog to see what the rest of the DT has been up to!

card recipe:

image:  50's Emo Christian (SBS)

rubber stamp sentiment:  Sweet Goodies (TAC)

paper:  Little Yellow Bicycle Booville, Bazzill & Neenah cardstocks

other:  Copic Markers, misc. skull trim

SBS 50's Emos Preview Day 4!

I missed the whole first half of the week of previews, but be sure to go to the Simply Betty Stamps blog to check out what you've missed!

Today, we have 50's Lola:

 

Are you diggin' that big boo-font hair?!  It was screamin' to be green, so.  And this Lola image DOES have the rest of her body, but I just wanted to accentuate that hair :)

Release day is Friday, and I whipped up a pretty fun one for you.  It couldn't have been done without Creepy Glowbugg... curious?  Tomorrow I've got a not-so-creepy card that would be perfect for the dude in your life... tune in!

card recipe:

image:  50's Emo Lola (SBS)

paper:  We R Memory Keepers Heebie Jeebies, Bazzill & Neenah cardstocks

other:  Copic markers, Nestabilities, May Arts velvet ribbon, misc. black trim

HDH090 - Necro Neckware

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. Please make sure that your blog post / upload has been made AFTER the challenge date... we wanna see fresh stuff, not those from a few weeks ago!!

3. If you upload to any online galleries (TACPCC, S&S, PCP, SCS, etc.), please tag the title using HDH090.

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 Twosome (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 Barb... this could be stamp sets, handmade items, papers, halloweenie embellishments... you just never know.

Ok, macabre fans... your challenge this week:

"Necro Neckware"

You are to create a dark, Gothic, or Halloween-based art piece that could be turned into a pendant! Everyone is encouraged to play along for fun and Gruesome Twosome status, but their own original artwork is necessary to win the prize. And WHAT A PRIZE IT IS!

This week is sponsored by Kasket Kustoms: Accessories to DIE for!
"The original home of Horror-inspired Hand-Made Artisan Necklaces and Accessories! Each piece is 100% hand-crafted from either resin, wood, glass, metal, clay, acrylic, or a mixture of these.

My necklaces are painstakingly hand crafted by me, and are always sealed to ensure their longevity and beauty. I take pride in every piece i do. I don't look at it as just an accessory, but a true work of art. Please take a moment to check out my website and register: http://www.kasketkustoms.com/ "  She also has an ebay store HERE.

Submit the next Kasket Kustoms necklace design and win a little something from the shop PLUS a necklace of your design! Fan-freakin'-tastic... thanks so much, Kasket Kustoms! :) HERE is a current favorite of mine... although THIS ONE is a close 2nd!

Now let's see what the Minions have in store for you:

Sultana of the Sinister Lynx:

Steampunk skull... LOVE it, Lynx!! And the broaches and charms look great!

Creepy Cricut Cween Donna:

Voodoo doll with an attitude... fabulous, Donna!!

Cadaverous Concoctor of Chaos Creepy Glowbugg

will be posting on Wednesdays, so check back later this week!!


Devious Digital Demon-ess Susan:

Such a cute little skully kitty... all the way down to his red heart :)


Agent of the Abominable Andrea:

Another painting! LOVE all of the zombie dollies, Andrea!

Temptress of Terror Teri:

Bold & distinctive! Beautiful gargoyle piece, Teri!

I want a pendant made of all of these (for me) :) Be sure to pop by The Macabre Minions' blogs for details about these fantastic projects!

And now it's your turn! Don't you want some of that Kasket Kustoms Necro Neckware for yourself?!!

Upcoming Skull Appreciation Day!

The awesomeness known as Skull-A-Day is attempting to get June 4th as an official internationally recognized Skull Appreciation Day!  How cool is this?  I KNOW!  Please go HERE for all of the info.

And the Smeared and Smudged forum group is doing their part by hosting a Skull Appreciation Day blog hop!  Fun fun fun... click HERE for the info on how to join us!

Are you going to do YOUR part?!

It's a Blast from the Past Simply Betty Stamps Release

I won't have anything to show you until Wednesday, but be sure to check out the Simply Betty Stamps blog for previews all week long!

Simply Betty Stamps Scrapbooking DT Call...

Yep!  That right :)  If you have been luvin' the SBS images you've been seeing so much here at HDH, then how about doing a little try-out to get on Betty's new Scrapbooking design team!

Get all of the details for the DT call and other exciting events HERE!!

Fiendishly Fun Friday - A Softer World

Meep, I nearly forgot it was Friday today, and we couldn't leave you without a bit of fiendish fun to start your weekend, so here's A Softer World by Emily Horne and Joey Comeau.
A touch of surreality (?) to go with our Dali challenge :P



Copyright © 2010 by Emily Horne and Joey Comeau