Skull-duggery with HDH

Hi everyone.
I hope you all know by now that the Haunted Design House started it's two week challenge last week. If not, why not? This fortnight's challenge is really easy as well - no excuse not to play..............

Skullduggery

Now, who doesn't have at least one skull stamp, digital image, or embellishment? Every good dark crafter should have a stash of cranial goodies for a challenge such as this. And maybe if we sweeten the pot you'll wanna play along with us. The Masterful Mistress is offering up a random prize pack to the chosen Gruesome Twosomes for this challenge.

Have I got your attention now?

Being week two, I get to show a little offering of mine. Yes - a little offering - in the form of an ATC.

Sweet and delicate, eh? ...... and simple ...........and quick to make.

An ATC sized piece of pearlised cardstock. Stamped with stazon using a Paper Artsy text stamp. Some paper clay corners and frame, dusted with black pan pastel. The Skully embellie was brown before that too was given a lick with the same black and given a swipe over with a baby wipe to expose the raised areas. All set with cheap hairspray. When dry, assembled as seen.

So as you see, hours and hours are not needed to create a piece for us to come and ogle.
Come on boys and girls - use those heads and show us in the dungeon how much you love those craniums.
See you soon..........

Left of Centre and a Little Extra

Morning all
Anyone that is into the darker and alternative side of crafting should of heard of, by now, the challenge blog called Left Of Centre. The style welcomed there is always non-cute and "just as it says on the box". This month also marks their first anniversary and a massive month long challenge with loads of sponsors. You really need to check it all out!
(copied and pasted from yesterday - so shoot me!)

Maureen asked me to make another piece for the challenge as GDT as well apart from the Delicious Doodles team. "Of course!" says me. "Why not".

I had a lot of fun with this and kind of went to town with this wall hanging featuring Glinda, The Good Witch from Rick St Dennis. She was coloured with promarkers with a touch here and there of metallic copper pen.

She is on an 8" x 8" piece of thickish chipboard. Painted first with copper acrylic, then Decoart weathered wood then black. Some stencilling with purple radiant rains paint, and some copper pan pastels, (Creative expressions and Andy Skinner stencils) as well as some heat embossing in gold of a few stamped words. The word "Believe" is from a Visible Image stamp "Create with Your Soul". I just blanked off the other words when inking. "Magical" is from a random Christmas stamp in my stash.
The hearts are pleated paper. I have tried to find the blog where I got the idea from but can't, sorry. If anyone knows, please let me know so that I can give proper credit. Basically a folded piece of paper shaped and pleated and assembled like a rosette.

fold here

 Some bits of broken jewellery and a couple of little mirrors to hide the centre.
A piece of purple satin ribbon with a little cat charm finishes the picture.

Is there anyone that wants to take this off my hands? Head on over to Left of Centre to see the criteria you will have to meet if you feel you can give this a loving home.

I'd like to enter this wall hanging into the challenge at
Oddball Art Stamps - Anything Goes
Brown Sugar Challenges - Anything Goes
Stamping For the Weekend - Anything Goes

Delicious Darkness with Left of Centre

Morning all
Anyone that is into the darker and alternative side of crafting should of heard of, by now, the challenge blog called Left Of Centre. The style welcomed there is always non-cute and "just as it says on the box". This month also marks their first anniversary and a massive month long challenge with loads of sponsors. You really need to check it all out!
One of the many sponsors is none other than Delicious Doodles and the sister Delicious Darkness  for whom I have the honour of representing today. One of Teri's newest images is "Let me out" and if you look back to Monday you will see I've used this image in yet another way.
Today I made a little collection of three ATCs. Each showing different pyramage techniques. The image lends itself so well for the first two because of the mesh grid already in the picture. They can also be made from the same prints as they are made from the off-cuts of the other.

The third is slightly more time consuming but seemed fitting as I was in a bit of a twisted mind set at the time.

Each layer cut by measuring increments of 5deg up from the sides of each copy of the image. This naturally makes each layer smaller. Just a case of lining each piece up with the image below.

That's it from me today folks. Get on over to the Left of Centre blog for more surprises, eye candy and the challenges.

Head on back tomorrow when I'll have a little surprise for you all **wink, wink**

Delicious Doodles Is Black and ????

B(l)ack again. It's Delicious Doodles Day in the Cubbyhole and as part of Team A who are hosting this week's challenge I have my DT piece to share with you all today. The challenge is

"Black Plus One Other Colour"

Now what an excuse I had here for going to my dark side yet again, but I had a card to make and took this opportunity to get it done. I also wanted to have a go at the technique "Caught In Crystal" having seen many spectacular examples on the web in recent years. Sourcing the main raw material has eluded me - until the other day - on sale in Asda for about £3. YESSSSSS!!! not the silly money they are asking on sites such as Amazon and Ebay. I'm talking about "Pledge Multi surface wax" formally known as "Klear". I already had the acetate, tissue paper and re-inkers. There are many tutorials for this technique out there so I won't bore you with loads of links. It is so easy and makes a statement on what could be a simple and plain project.
This is my first attempt and it worked so well I used it, no faffing about with practice sessions.

 The image is, of course, from Delicious Doodles " Love in a Mist". Printed onto printer friendly acetate and using broken china, faded jeans and a touch of antique linen distress re-inkers. White tissue paper and a sprinkle of holographic glitter completes the picture. cut out with a nestie.
This was mounted onto a single 6"x 6" piece of DP from the docrafts Madame Payraud collection that had been given a dusting with more distress ink - this time using black soot. The brads to make sure every thing stayed together.
The all mounted onto black card that was given a face lift with a stencilled application of grunge paste mixed with blue ink and some of the detail picked out with blue perfect pearls.

"I love you" inked onto 3 of the 4 squares cut from the scraps left over from the main image "waste".

There we have it folks. Your turn now to get those thinking caps on and creative juices flowing. If you need any more inspiration please pop over to the blogs of my fellow teamies and our amazing GDT members this month. All the links are on the Delicious Doodles challenge blog as is the link where you can come tell us what you have made. 

I'd like to enter my card into the challenge at
Outlawz - Twisted Thursday - Add Texture
Everybody Art - Non-Cute card

It's Monday and That Means It's Macabre

It's time to play a game, week 2, over at the dungeon of Haunted Design House. This fortnight is all about A Game / Inspired by the SAW franchise.

Who doesn't have some random game pieces floating around in their craft stash? A domino, or a chess piece? Kept for sole reason that you may find a use for it someday?

Well, today is that day! Dig into your incomplete jigsaw puzzles, 

and your long forgotten chess sets. This is their chance to shine!  

Now just to be clear, you do not have to use the SAW film franchise, 

but if you'd like to go that route, we'd love to see that kind of art as well. 

The other Minions have woven their magic and devised some awesome artwork, you really need to check them out!

Me? Just a tag

If any of you have not heard - the main antagonist in the films is the character "Jigsaw" hence my play on this. Using an image called "Let Me Out" from Delicious Doodles/ Delicious Darkness (the brain child and pen of Teri, who just happens to be a fellow Minion). Also my Drippy goo punch and a chess pawn as a charm on some chain with some treasured skully ribbon as a tie.

The entire tag coated with clear rock candy to show how cracked up Jigsaw was.

A simple tag really when boiled down to a few words and my son's fingerprint hardly shows. He just HAD to pick it up whilst drying to look.

YOUR turn now to get those projects made and linked in so that we can come and admire how far outside the box you can think/create.

A Couple of Tags

Last night was "Craft Club Night" and making a tag was the project of the day. We had a few laughs as always and I had to wait until I got home to add the final touch to mine. I did not take my cropodile and accessories and felt this was what I wanted to finish the hat off. So in through the door and get to it ..........

Using papers from a CD (kindly supplied by this week's lead member, Pam) a couple of stamps from De Stempelwinkel, TH diecuts, plenty of distress inks, a scrap of ribbon and those rivets that I had to wait for, the tag was born. We all had similar papers but each tag was so different. A great night Pam, Thank you.

Next up a tag using a resist technique.

Loads of different colours loaded onto a tag. Images from the "Free your Imagination" set from Visible image stamped on with versamark and heat embossed with clear EP. Followed by lashings of broken china DI. The sentiment from the same set stamped in white and heat set.

Then out with some stencils. The one used here is the Andy Skinner Baroque sheet with black soot DI. Some feathers set into a bead attached with a few links of chain and some feathery fibres as a tie.








I am entering these tags into the challenge at
Left of Centre - First Anniversary month long birthday Bash - Anything Goes

The bottom tag I'd like to enter into the challenge at
Visible Image - Use your favourite VI stamp

Left Of Centre Birthday Hop with Delicious Doodles

My second post of today is because the challenge blog "Left Of Centre" is now one year old and has decided to mark the occasion with a ginormous Birthday Hop. If you've never heard of this fabulous group - why not? Left of Centre tends towards the "darker side" - alternative - and never cute. Just my kind of thing - as if you'd not guessed that by now. They have some amazing sponsors lined up and for full deets you'll have to go and look for yourself HERE.
I did mention that today I'm having a Delicious Doodles day and it's with this hat on that I am GDT on the birthday bash as Delicious Doodles is just one of the amazing sponsors.
I made a birthday card - well it seemed apt as the first day of a birthday bash.

I have used a number of images all available from the Shop

There's Creepy Gargoyle perched over

the Gothic Church window (also printed onto acetate for the windows)

with The Watcher behind the window

All coloured with distress inks

The corners sport the Gargoyle Corner set

Excuse the intended pun with the CAW (cor) These are letters made using a mould and paper clay then coloured with more distress inks

 Close up of the computer generated front sentiment

 Yes the inside is decorated as well

The Gargoyle Frame surrounds the inside computer generated sentiment

Delicious Doodles Day - First the Challenge

Yep - today in the Cubbyhole is the turn of Delicious Doodles to be featured.
First up is my piece made for the ANYTHING BUT A CARD challenge that starts today.
I altered a note book. One of those cheap and cheerful, bought for a pound, spiral bound notebooks. Maybe I should have thought about this and taken a "before" piccy, but I didn't. Oh well..........
This the "after" though.....

featuring the Delicious Doodles images "Steampunk Mermaid" and "Steampunk Heart"

Coloured using graph-it pens

The "NOTES" using a stencil and distress ink

The side

back

and inside did not go unadorned

here you can see the spiral binding 

I used the technique for faux leather as per Sheena Douglass. 

Three different embossing folders for the different areas.

Satin ribbon to tie it all together.

Job done

I'd like to enter this altered notebook into the challenge at
Crafty Ribbons - Anything Goes - with ribbon

More Die Cuts - With a Diifference

No posts for ages then two in as many days - and more tomorrow - but you'll have to wait for that.
Little story behind this. I belong to a local craft group and each week try to expand our crafting knowledge by each member "teaching" their particular skill to the others. To be honest - there are some weeks when we all make a lot of noise and very little crafting is done - but we have fun!!!! What to do on "MY" week?
Some thing I've only dabbled in but it's fun and each project grows until the eye says "Stop!"
A mixed media canvas using diecuts, bits of broken jewellery, scraps of lace, the netting from some oranges, some scrunched up foil from a Christmas chocolate santa (I keep the weirdest things), coiled wire and a charm. All of this was applied to a canvas board 18x13cm using heavy gel medium and painted with white gesso.

 Looks a bit uninteresting without colour?

Using panpastels and luminarte radiant rains paints the transformation is complete.

Then I had to make a frame, didn't I?
None available in my stash of the right size. So I made one from a very sturdy cardboard box.
The back - I forgot to take a pick before applying the black gesso. (Just to prove)

lots of black gesso allowed to dry before decorating.

 The cog mask is from Creative Expressions

The cogs and flourish stamps are from Indigo Blu

 The flowers are made with more of the corrugated card. Thin strips wound up into a tight spiral and painted with luminarte radiant rains with a pearl centre. 

 Butterfly from stash

Metal corners from stash

and the final picture fully framed

I'd like to enter this into the challenges at
Left Of Centre - Use die Cuts
Craft My Life - Anything goes but no Cards
Frilly and Funky - Stencils and Texture
Pan Pastel / Premium Art Brands - Frame It

Children Of The Night with HDH

Hi all, it's been a while since this little cubbyhole saw some activity hasn't it. Mr Mojo went on an extended holiday and left a Fibro flareup to keep me company. NOT a good companion! Anyway.....
I do have a project here to share with you today.
It's week 2 of the Haunted Design House challenge

Children Of The Night

and it's sponsored by another of the Minions - our uber talented Ike who has her shop here. Also her very own challenge blog - Ike'sworld Challenges.
The tag I made uses an image of hers that appears to have been discontinued. Sorry Ike, I should have checked.

 This is the Sphinx Moth

Coloured with distress inks, fussy cut the body out and adhered to the main image then partly coated with crackle accents.

The tag itself is a spellbinders gravestone diecut. Painted with black acrylic, then a layer of decoart "weathered wood" then grey acrylic. The RIP added using a stencil and more paint.

The candlestick is a TH die and got the same treatment. This time using copper as a top coat on the base and a red/offwhite colour combo for the candles. Then there's the spider's web - another diecut with just a touch of white glitter.

A bit of black seam binding. and done.

Now your turn to get those derrières over to play at Haunted Design House as well. 

I'd like to enter this tag into the challenge at

Left Of Centre - Use diecuts

Simon Says - Tag It