Haunted Design House

Just a few more weeks and the Minions will be back!  Until then, here is a little sumpin' sumpin' from the Mistress: All of the stamps used here are/were from The Angel Company.  I cut up a large collage stamp that had a vintage chick on it with a totally f'd up face... the border and the sentiment was pretty cool, so viola!  I even did a little heat embossing on this baby. I paper-pieced the chair fabric for a little POP o' color... regal purple... mmmmmmm... this makes me think of True Blood's former King of Mississippi, Russell Edgington for some reason.   (image borrowed from Google Images) Though Russell was not a looker (helloooooo Eric... I miss you), he definitely had that royal air about him.  Not to mention his style of furnishings: (image borrowed from Google Images) Anyway... back to the grind... I need to work on my class samples, but I'm probably just going to veg in front of the tv.  Gotta work at the Evil Job tomorrow... dam...

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...

There is an extremely long post over on my "normal" blog about my trip to CHA if you want to check it out HERE

(image "borrowed" from Google Images) Hey all!  I apologize for being MIA for so long, but between family stuff, classes, my "real" job & CHA, I haven't had a chance to do anything.  So, if any of you that were to receive a prize and/or Master of the Macabre goodie pack and haven't received it, will you PLEASE email me at barbi007@kc.rr.com ?  In the email, please list your name, email address, mailing address & which HDH challenge or MM month you won.  I misplaced my list that I had started, and I know a couple of you are about to string me up >:) (image "borrowed" from Google Images) As soon as work slows down, I am hoping to get caught up.  Also, be looking for a little blog candy in the near future as well! I want to give a HUGE shout-out to the Macabre Minions for doing an absolutely fabulous job with their weekly inspiration pieces, and for keeping up with the challenges and announcements.  Thank you SO much, ladies... y...

For those of you new to Haunted Design House, I'd like to let you know about my "normal" blog:  Foster Design House Most of my creepiness is here at HDH, but if you need a shot of nice & normal, you can head over that way :)  In fact, today I posted some lovely mythical creature cards... they might be up your alley... in a not-so-creepy way ;)

Thanks so much to everyone for their wonderful birthday wishes!  And even though I commented on the Minions blogs, I want to thank them here, too... you guys are awesome!  Not just because of the fantabulousness that has been retrieved from my mailbox as of late (which IS pretty effing awesome by the way), but for all the inspiration you guys give me and to all of our readers here at HDH! So here is my warm-fuzzy moment: You are the dank to my dungeon, the ooze to my swamp, and the screams to my banshees :) Love ya' ghouls! And now, back to our regularly scheduled post: After seeing what the Macabre Minions created for this week's challenge, I don't know if I should even post my puny little card... wasn't Creepy Glowbugg's mask effing awesome?! And what about Lynx's skully goodness?  I'd like to put in my request for my very own glow-in-the-dark eyeball please :) Thanks. Well. Here it is. My no-layer card! Yep... that's right. Only the kraft car...

Just wanted to let everyone know that I've cleaned up the sidebar a bit and created some handy pages that can be accessed by the tabs under the blog header: Halloween/Goth stamp companies :  this tab has been there for awhile now.  And if you know of some that need to be added, please email me (see sidebar for link). HDH badges :  here you can find badges for Gruesome Twosomes, Master of the Macabre, as well as one plain ol' "I love Macabre Mondays".  Grab 'em if you need 'em. Creepy Cool blogs :  I really need to update this list!  Again, if you know of some AWESOME Halloween blogs, let me know! Our Sponsors :  this is a new one!  The sponsors kept getting pushed down the way, so I felt they needed a page all to themselves!  Thanks for helping out with some of the prizes!  If you would like to sponsor an upcoming challenge, please contact me :) Dt's, stores & other cool stuff :  these are all of the other badges and links f...

Yes, that would be me.  Thanks for asking.  :)   I'm in need of some free & EASY digital video editing software.  I've been shooting a couple of tutorials with our digital camcorder, but they are waaaaaaaaaaaaay too long.  In fact, they would be just about right if I could just change the speed to fast-forward the whole time :)  It's not like I'm talking throughout the thing... although I would also need to add some text to the video to explain schtuff. I just downloaded the Windows MovieMaker, but evidently my video card is total sheeee-ite (according to the little pop up window) and so the program won't run.  You would think that since I'm married to a compu-nerd that I would have some stellar system... evidently not.  Wienie.  Sooooooo... any ideas?

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.

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

Tim posted an article that lists the 10 Best Haunted House Attractions ... maybe one of these is near you?  :)  And if you've been to any of these, let us know if it they are worth visiting!

Ok my little pretties, until I get my Delicious Doodles card made up tonight, please hop on over to my "normal" blog for a couple delightfully eerie-elegant projects :)

Ok.  I am totally jealous of those who live in Florida... well, at least for the month of October :)  The Seminole Casino Coconut Creek is having a ton of events, my favorite being held on October 16th:   A meet & greet with a couple of the True Blood cast members!  The main focus for me would be Joe Manganiellio who plays "Alcide" ... yum!   SCCC will also be having a pumpkin carving contest , costume contests , AND... are you ready for this... a meet & greet with Linda Blair !  Yep, the horror flick queen herself.  Check out dates & more events below (click on photo to enlarge): Seminole Casino Coconut Creek is hosting a prize giveaway on Haunted Design House!   Though it's not Halloweenie, these little babies will come in handy... SCCC is providing three car charger USB drives ! Pretty sweet, right?  So, wanna know how you can possibly get your mitts on one of these?  All you have to do is become an HDH f...

Well, kids... this didn't turn out NEARLY elegant or evil enough, but I'm posting it anyway :)  I've been busy planning & designing samples for some upcoming classes I'll be teaching at The Scrapbook Page in Shawnee, Kansas !  Yep, if you are in the Kansas City area, be sure to sign up for my October 11th Eerie Elegant card class & October 19th Halloween Waterfall Mini-Album class .  The Scrapbook Page's newsletter should be coming out soon so you can get more details... and I'll be posting a couple of pics here in the next week or so :) Anyway, back to today's bit o' Halloweenieness :)  Super simple and no frills. Stamps:   Spiders are Seen Paper:   Penelope, white UltraSmooth & black cardstocks Ink:   VersaMark , Moonlight white Brilliance Other:   black embossing powder , Silver Stickles , black ribbon , sequin , Scor-Bug , foam tape After heat embossing the image & sentiment, I sponged white ink around them.  A little ...

... so sorry I haven't been commenting and everything lately.  My reader is soooooo full, I will never get caught up, so I'm gonna just have to clear it out and start over to avoid being overwhelmed.   (Image "stolen" from Google Images) So, please don't think I haven't been visiting... I HAVE... it's just been on down low :)  I hope to be back on track soon!!

Joy.  I finished my HDH049 Macabre Monday card last night... and NOT without difficulty, I might add.  I will suggest to you that if you want to cover Grunge Paper with patterned paper, do it PRIOR to die-cutting it :)  Yes, I thought it would be easy to just glue it on after... notsomuch. The plan was to Glimmer Mist the GB so that the grey wouldn't show on the edges... but the mist would probably cause issues with the patterned paper, so THAT'S why I tried it.  I had heated the GB after misting because I am too impatient to wait for it to dry on it's own... it changed shape and shrunk in one direction.  Yeah... totally eff'd up... JUST so you know.  :)  So I just ripped the paper off, sprayed & inked the back and used it anyway... paperless.  Worked out ok, me thinks. Stamps:   skull (Artful Illusions), web (Inkadinkado) Paper:  GrungePaper (Tim Holtz), black & premium white cardstocks (TAC) Ink:   Tuxedo Memento , M...

.introduce you to The Sisterhood of the Sinister ... Haunted Design House's very own Macabre Minions ! {trumpets sounding: doot doot doot doooooot} wait a sec... ... ... {maybe it should be shrieking screams instead?} ':) At any rate, here they are! Lynx {Sultana of the Sinister & Macabre Mistress} I'm also known as Blackdragon because I ALWAYS wear black and adore dragons.  I love darker art, but not the gorey stuff.  I have a warped sense of humour, and love to have inky fingers.  I am known to have an artistic flair and create detailed scenic pieces that tell a story. I am one busy mum of three hailing from the UK.  When I've got a free moment between the kids & oldies, I am busy creating work for the five other design teams of which I am part and I am hoping to open an Etsy shop very soon!  I was very proud when Barb made me one of the two Macabre Mistresses, along with the wonderful Oz. The Oz {Sovereign Monarch of Mayhem &...

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 HDH047 . 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 Twoso me (my top two favorite creations) from all the players. At ...

Since I have been sucking (in a bad way) at posting, and keeping up on schtuff... should I enlist the help of you good ( or evil ) readers?  I guess it would be KINDA like a design team, but since I don't own some awesome stamp store, compensation would be a whole separate poll question :) (HDH design team picture stolen from Google images) See, when I first started this little ol' blog, I thought I would be surfing the net, finding all kinds of random creepy and weird stuff to post... photos, links, whatever.  How much of THAT has gone on here? Exactly... notsomuch .  Busy busy... which is good in some ways & NOT in others :) Sooooooooo, what should we do?  I am definitely keeping Macabre Mondays going, but right now I don't know very far in advance as to what the challenge will be. { to be read as:   drum up something the night before or night of posting :) } procrastinate much? I need to bite the bullet and figure stuff out a minimum of a month...

Kenny K's Krafty Girlz challenge blog is having a DT call through Saturday, June 26th!  These are some cute digi's, I must say.  And if you go to his greeting card shop , you'll see a bunch of fabulous little goth girls, which I am hoping will be released as digi images in the future {crossing fingers}! So, this post is my bid for a DT spot :)  We're supposed to choose one of our best creations, colored images are a must, and post it.  What is difficult, is that what I think is my best and what someone else thinks is my best are probably totally different :)   Plus, Copic coloring looks very different from colored pencil rendering, so which do you choose?  So, I'm posting more than one... will that totally disqualify me?  :)   Click on the photos to see them up close and personal! What do you think... which is your favorite?