Haunted Design House

Just a little heads-up for all of you challenge nuts out there :)  Over at the Smeared and Smudged ning site, I am hosting the October 2010 Guest Designer Challenge So, you might want to head on over and play along!  The challenge is to create something paying homage to one of the Goddesses of Harvest . You may only use warm, Fall colors and you must also have at least one rubber-stamped image. This is my offering: Stamps:   Elementals (Smeared Ink), Falling Leaves (Stamper's Anonymous), Trendy Greetings (The Angel Company) Paper:   Karen Foster dp, white cs (Neenah), Bazzill cs Ink:   Tuxedo Memento, Burnt Sienna Palette Other:   Copic markers, sheer ribbon (Hobby Lobby), pop dots I LOVE this Smeared Ink image!  Though she is a Fire Goddess rather than an Earth Goddess, the colors work so well with her that I had to ink her up :)   So, are you all up for the challenge?!!

Hey all you challenge fans!  Here's one for you:  the Simply Betty Stamps blog is hosting a sketch challenge that will run through July 29th (11:59pm Eastern time).  That's right... about three weeks, so there is PLENTY of time for you to try this baby out: And guess what the prize is for winning this challenge?  One lucky winner will get to be a Guest Designer for Simply Betty Stamps in August !   Guest Designer means FREE images to play with... helloooo...  TOTALLY worth trying out the sketch, no?! As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew I wanted to use Max & Li-Li !  Doesn't Max look like he wants to pet Li-Li?  Surely he wouldn't bite... well... maybe.  Since I printed these digi's prior to sizing them properly, I needed to figure out a way to make it work.  Hellooooooo forced perspective :)  You are my friend.  Doesn't it look like Max is standing in the background with Li-Li up front?  Simply by using a tr...

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 ...