Smeared & Smudged - Steampunk Santa

Yes, Christmas has come and gone, but it's still December so I took on the Freaky Freebie Challenge, rolled up my sleeves, got out some ink and paper and got busy with this free digi (for a couple more days) from Smeared Ink. 

In keeping with his steampunkishness I went for the look of metal and leather.  Santa's sleigh was painted with tarnished bronze paint, the runners and watch parts were painted with silver paint.  I added some "leather" (i.e. brown Copics) goggles, reins and bag of goodies.  A bit of silver Distress Stain around the edges and snowflakes with a silver pen finished it off.

And on an entirely different note here's an ATC for a book page swap.  The background is from a cookbook (the recipient likes to cook). 

Thinking maybe I need to make a canvas like this for my kitchen!  Think my tots will get the hint?  ;)

Wicked Wednesday Challenge Accepted

Supposed to working on that December Daily, remember?  Instead I made this for the Wicked Wednesday Happy Holidays challenge.

Were you feeling this way at some point recently?

Happy Boxing Day!

We don't celebrate Boxing Day here in the U.S. but I like the idea of it.  Don't we all need a bit of a respite after the pre-Christmas frenzy?

I started my December Daily mini album but still have some work to do on it.  Perhaps I'll challenge myself to complete before (this) December (had to add the 'this' as I still haven't completed last year's!) comes to an end.

In the mean time, bear with me as I share a few more ATCs.  Since my beloved camera has bit the dust these are cell phone pictures....ugh...but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Inspired by a blog post somewhere I randomly created  several ATC backgrounds.  Since I had just finished a batch of non-traditional colored Valentines, hearts were on my mind.  This one is still in my stash as I'm not sure I want to part with it.

 This is for a creepy Christmas swap at the Haunted House Designs blog.  :)

 I love this stamp (as you can attest if you peruse my blog a a bit).  One was for a swap and the other I just made while I was at it.  I was planning on keeping it but it was nabbed by somebody over at ATCsForAll.

 The following four ATCs are for the non-traditional Valentine colors swap.

 I had SO much fun making these for an HD/HP Whimsical Landscapes swap.  The background is acrylics that I just dabbed on.  Made me feel so artsy.  ;)

 Ha-ha!  I traded this one with a cat-lover.  This sentiment stamp was given to me by a friend and has sat in my stash unused for years.

That's it for today.  Wishing you all the best.  Time to get inky...

It's been a while!

I realized this morning that it's been a while since I've posted.  Time for a confession.  AGAIN, the December Daily sits waiting for some love and attention; I have been jotting down notes each day though.  Ahhhh...good intentions.  My camera has died.  I love that camera and it's perfect for taking pics of my little creations.  I've resorted to my phone camera now and am not thrilled with the quality.  That's my excuse for slackin' on the DD.  ;)

Here are some ATCs I've completed in the mean time...

These were for an Abstract Faces swap.  I've never done abstract stuff - this was a stretch but I enjoyed it once I got started.

Little houses swap:

 

Glitter Swap:

 

Mixed Media Swap:

 Add a Snowman:

 

Altered Text - Purple:

 

Alcohol Ink (love the houses die - have to use that more often!):

And finally, Steampunk Christmas:

This afternoon, I solemnly swear, I will get some photos printed and get them into my December Daily album.  There!  I said it!

Cheers.  :)

This is the year!

Every year in early November I start seeing people getting prepped to complete their December Daily scrapbooks.   And also every year I get all enthused and jump in with gusto.  However, only once have I actually completed one of these little gems by the end of December.  I don't know what happens exactly.  I just lose my momentum.

 Not this year, baby!  Yesterday I spent the whole day in the studio dinking around with stamps, ink, pretty paper, etc.   

Look at that yummy stack all ready to go!   I have my pages all made and waiting for photos and a few added embellishments.  When it's all put together the plan is to bind it with my Bind-It-All.  Sweet!

I also made some ATCs since I was all inky anyway.  The first two have been spoken for.  The last one I'm adding to the SDC One Layer Challenge.

Ta-ta for now...

SDC #127

Well, it's a little early for a little elf to have lost her Christmas spirit, but this sweet Noelle seems to have misplaced it.  I made two ATCs for the SDC Christmas card challenge this week.  I should be in the kitchen whipping up some culinary deliciousness for Thanksgiving, but I've still got some time so I turned to my inks, paints, stamps, etc. instead.  :)

Elf on Strike ATC

 Media: Gesso, absorbent ground, dye inks, acrylic paint (metallic), Dylusions spray inks, Stickles, Copics, Dye ink, tissue paper

Stampotique stamps: Noelle, Bla bla bla

Off to the kitchen now.  Happy Thanksgiving!

More ATCs

I can almost smell roasted turkey, pumpkin pie, and dressing - just a few more days until Thanksgiving.  Mmm-mmm...I love me some pumpkin pie!  I've been plugging away at my ATCs for swaps in preparation for the Christmas prep which will most certainly carve into my time in my creative zone.  Here's the latest ATC installment:

This first ATC was for a brown and it's associations (masculinity, importance, stability) swap.

Media: Washi tape, ribbon, brads, random paper, image downloaded from internet, Distress ink, dye ink

The next two were for a 'Paint' swap.  "Ha-ha!  Clever me, I'll use paint chips - something different!" I said to myself.  I'm not sure my vision manifested itself as I had planned but here there are.

Media: Paint chip, bakers twine, die cut cardstock, dye ink

Media: Paint chip, Copics, dye ink, pen, ribbon, punched cardstock

  My final offerings are ATCs I made for a Green swap.

Media: Book page, cardstock, brad, magazine clippings, Distress ink, Distress stain

Media: Distress inks, Distress stains, watercolor pencil, Copics, pen

Media: Die-cut cardstock, metallic tape, alcohol ink, acrylics

Ta da!  More coming soon...

Coffee anyone?

Greetings!

The sun isn't up yet, but here I am perched in front of the screen with a hot cuppa joe in my hand,  Mmm..mmmm...love my coffee.  I saw a coffee-themed swap over at ATCsforAll and jumped on board.  Some amazing creations posted there.  These little lovelies are my contribution,,,

Media: Distress Inks, pencil, pen,

Media: Dye ink, Distress Inks, Copics, pencil

Media: Coffee sleeve, book page, dye ink, Distress ink, charcoal pencil, pen

Media: Pen, dye ink, Copics, Distress ink

Time for a refill.  Have a splendid day!

Snowy Friend ATC

Greetings!  We don't have any snow here in Seattle, but I bet it's coming down somewhere.  Here is my little tribute to playing in the snow in the form of an ATC. 

The background started as white snowflakes on white cardstock then I rubbed on some Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.  When I glued on the snowflakes some of the adhesive oozed out so the inking looked a little funky.  Gesso to the rescue.  It not only soaked up some of the background ink but when I added more over the top it helped pool some of the ink around the snowflakes.  Happy accident.

This view shows the glimmer mist that I sprayed over the whole thing.  Nice, subtle sparkliness.

I'm adding this to the SDC Gesso challenge gallery and the Wicked Wednesday Anything Goes challenge.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Wicked Wednesday - Add A Feather

Psst...I added three feathers. 

I made a bunch of backgrounds the other day using shaving cream and Dylusions spray inks (try it!).  I used one of them for this ATC.  Other stuff I used: Copics, Stickles, dye inks, acrylic paint, Pitt pen

Cheers!

Jack & Sally

Greetings!

We had a fabulous Halloween yesterday with pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating, funky dinner items - wish I had taken a picture.  Imagine eating "Salt-sprinkled Slug" for dinner.  It was actually a long calzone that had a green-tinged egg wash over it.  The salt-sprinkled bit came from the 'oops' of  some of the filling oozing  out during baking. It looked pretty disgusting but tasted great and definitely added to the Ewww factor.

One of my fave movies is Nightmare Before Christmas.  I recently joined a swap requiring me to HAND-DRAW (WTH???) Jack and Sally.  I don't draw...I stamp and color stuff in.  But I thought it would be good to step outside my comfort zone.  Have to say...I'm pretty happy with this and am going to be hard-pressed to send it on its merry way.  This started out as a white piece of cardstock. 

UPDATE:  I thought I was done for the day, but The Muse had other plans.  Here is the whole Jack & Sally set.  I will miss them...

Thanks for stopping by and Happy November!

Life on Hold

No, not really anything dramatic, but I'm still focusing on my ATC's.  :)  Without further ado, here's my latest batch...

These three sets were for a pink-themed swap.  

ATC Titles: Let it Snow!, Bla Bla Bla, The  Butterfly

Title: Le Fleur

Title: Pink

Witch Shoes? was for a Halloween-themed swap using the colors Purple, Green & Orange.

Title: Witch Shoes?

These next three were outside the box for me.  The swap theme was Postage Stamp People.  I've never tried anything like this before but these ended up being a lot of fun to make.

Title: She Had a Taste for Adventure

Title: Verdi Was Hungry

 This one has silver tape around the edges but the lighting was goofy.

Title: We Could Have Danced All Night (I had this song stuck in my head all day after making this.)

My last offering for today is an ATC I made for a colored book page themed swap.  The criteria was to select a word/words and then surround them with the color green.  The page I chose was from an old Frog & Toad childrens' book.

Title: The Meadow

Thanks for stopping by today.