Design Team Throwdown Challenge #3 at Smeared and Smudged

That's right kids... I'm baaaaack!  I've had to take a hiatus from the awesomeness that IS the

Haunted Design House 

blog, and I must say that I have missed getting my creep on >`:) 

So, to mark the occasion, I decided to go big and, along with a couple of my talented Minions, enter

Smeared and Smudged's

Design Team Throwdown Challenge #3:  Mini Books

It's been awhile since I've done a mini book.  But, mini books were where I started in this huge world of papercrafting, so it was about time I went back to my roots... only a little darker this time, of course :)  Be warned, there are a TON of pictures with this post, but me loves the details... check it:

The front cover is by far my favorite part.. I've used glass & leather as my base covers.  Sometimes it pays to be an Architect:  access to some lovely sample materials :)
Leather flooring is seriously sah-weet!

Ranger's Glossy Accents is my friend!  It is everywhere in this book... works great for metal & glass, like those Making Memories pewter alphas.

I added a grommet to the leather for added strength, which is helpful considering how freakin' heavy the glass is alone.  The glass has an awesome texture to it and beveled edges (bonus!).

I got out my Ranger Melting Pot & UTEE... so much fun!  After stamping (Artful Illusions stamp) into the warm goo, I added some Pearl-Ex for shimmer.

I also added some glass beads & alligator clip that dangle from the D-ring binder.

A couple of Maya Road stick pins & an uber-cool metal skull button finishes out the front cover.  I added some Crackle Accents on the flowers & the skull eye sockets. 

The inside pages were made from wood veneer.  All were stamped in black & heat embossed with superfine clear EP.  I then used Ranger's Picket Fence Distress Stain to low-light areas... it wipes off of the embossed images so they really stand out:

Page One:

Artful Illusions stamp.  Tim Holtz pen nib & tissue tape.  Key, clip & gem sources unknown.

Page Two:

Artful Illusions (headstones, script) & Smeared Ink (crow & window) stamps.  Prima resin square & 7Gypsies tab.  Coffin nail source unknown.

Page Three:

Artful Illusions stamps & Moxxie pumpkin paper.  7Gypsies metal tag.  Brad, clip & bottle cap sources unknown.  Bottle cap filled with Crackle Accents & rubbed with black ink.

Page Four:

Red Lead Paperworks stamp & Fancy Pants rub-on.  Tim Holtz skull & token embellishments.  Clip & chain sources unknown.

Page Five:

Red Lead Paperworks stamp.  Tim Holtz spider & Making Memories clip.  Jewelry rosette source unknown.

Back Cover:

Same leather & glass base as front cover, then I snipped the prongs off of some Karen Foster brads & attached them with Glossy Accents to use as feet to prevent scratches on the glass.

Ta-da!  If you are still with me, thanks... if not, you totally missed out ;)  I had a blast making this... getting inky, messy and finally using some of the awesome embellishments I have been hoarding for so long!

If you could take a look at the work of all of the Design Teams that are participating in this challenge and cast your vote, it would be appreciated... even more so if you vote for the HDH (Haunted Design House) Minions!  Voting is from April 11th at 12:01am thru April 12th at midnight... just go HERE to vote.  You must be a member of the Smeared and Smudged Forum, but it only takes a minute!

What do you think?

Lookie what I found...

A sweet, super simple card that I never posted!  And this is from awhile back:

"Watercolor Plants" & "Love You" stamp sets were from The Angel Company (NLA).

However, I believe Red Rubber Designs may be releasing the sentiment set soon.

Keep your eye out for that one... it is a great set.

The watercolor technique was done by applying Tombow markers directly to the stamp, misting with water, then stamping.  Mist again without applying more marker, and stamp a second time, mist again & stamp a third time.

A little Scor-bugging, inked edges, sheer ribbon and heart-shaped pearl round this out.

What do you think?

Whoops! The winner of the ribbon stash is...

So sorry... I totally forgot to draw a winner for this!!  So without further ado, the winner is...

 

Alison!

Congratulations :)

Please email me your mailing address and I'll get that sent right out!

It's an addiction... and a little Blog Giveaway...

Yep.  I'll admit it.  Right out loud.

I am a ribbon addict.

The scary thing is that I really pared my buying back since I haven't had time to do any personal crafting.  Imagine if I hadn't been teaching classes and was just buying ribbon all willy-nilly like I used to!  Yikes.  Here is a shot of my "loose" ribbon that I decided to re-organize:

I know!  I just kept finding it all over my studio:

(All delightfully double-faced satin)

Oh!  Look... there's another roll rack:

(There are also rolls in that KnollTextiles box)

And clear jars with ribbon on round clothespins and ribbon stuffed in a Ball jar:

 Please ignore the huge joint-filler blob in the background... I really need to sand that down and touch up the paint one of these days ;)

Whoops!  There's my huge jar of fabric trims, lace & fibers:

(sorry for the totally sucky photos, by the way)

I'm telling you, it's a sickness... seriously.  Well, to better use my loose ribbon I thought I would organize it by color & have it in front of my face at my desk.

A few years back I bought these metal hot-air balloon decor items:

I've been hanging my ribbon from them for years, but I finally organized by color

(and left spots for more!):

I still have the roll racks & jars to go through, but for now at least I have this bit o' beautimousness next to my desk:

Ooooooooo... so pretty!  Lover-ly webbed trim & ribbon rose trims are among my faves.

I also need to re-organize all of the embellishments hanging above, but that is for another day.

BUT, to celebrate my re-org, I forced myself to part with a healthy bit of ribbon and am giving it away to one lucky person:

That, my friends, is a 16" diameter by 3" thick (at least!) pile o' ribbon salad!

So, how do you get a chance at this awesomeness? 

Just leave me a comment below telling me how you organize your ribbon.

That's it.

If you want to post this giveaway on your blog, add another comment.

If you want to share on Facebook, even better... add another comment.

I'll leave this open until March 31st at 6pm central time (US)

and will announce the winner sometime before midnight.

Heads-up... I'm going to try to start blogging again on a regular basis... you know, like I used to!

It will still be hit & miss through April, but after that... watch out!  :)

Miss me!

Coffee talk...

How about another card that is perfect for sending to a friend... just because:

Another Art Impressions stamp paired with BoBunny paper & a Paper Smooches sentiment.  Notice a pattern between this and the last post?!  I try to utilize most of a patterned paper sheet... some have three or more distinct sections/stripes that make it sometimes difficult to create the same card over and over again.  This way I can get about six cards from one lonely patterned paper :)

This was a fun image to experiment with different skin tones and hair colors.  And a few of the ladies are the same from the last post... nothing like a work out and then an iced-coffee, right?

What do you think?

Workout warriors...

Sorta.

:)

Check out these dedicated ladies:

Yeah, I feel like that bottom middle one during a work out :)  Which I haven't done in a LONG time, by the way... but IF I were to work out, I'm pretty sure I would be just as excited as her.

Yes, I cut out that image by hand... had to... otherwise you wouldn't see all of the cool paper, right?

The image is by Art Impressions, the sentiment is from Paper Smooches and the paper is an older BoBunny line.

I think I would rather work out alone than with a group...

What do you think?

Girlfriends...

If you haven't figured it out yet, I kinda like Stamping Bella stamps :)

I need to find out who the artist is that does the "Uptown Girl" series, because she is a fave of mine!  All of the girls in the series are super tall & thin with super-skinny legs... sooooooo unlike me ;)  

 The paper is by Three Bugs in a Rug.

LOVE how the ethnic skin & hair came out!  And blondie's dress was kinda fun, too.  Please note the Stickles overload on the boa ;)

And there is the wavy-ribbon trick... which was NOT easy to do with this double-thick grosgrain/twill ribbon!  Turned out pretty cool with the green stripe and all.

What do you think?

Cute kids...

More Copic coloring goodness...
These two cards are from a Copic 102 class last April:

This is a Stamping Bella image illustrated by Mo Manning, "Bronte and Louis".  LOVE it!  Look at that pudgy little dog, Bronte!  She makes me smile :)

I gave Louis a bit of a shocked look on his face, and added Glossy Accents to his eyeballs.

Next up:

Another sweet C.C. Designs image... can't remember the name, though. 

This one really makes me yearn for Spring... as if all the freakin' snow wasn't enough.

What do you think?

Oldies but goodies...

With the plethora of snow days as of late, I decided to schedule a few blog posts.  I know... shocking, right :)  I'm going back to last year's classes I taught at The Scrapbook Page for this, and the foreseeable future posts.  Today is from a Copic 101 class last April, so the Copic coloring is super-simple!

 

First up:

 

This little cutie is a Stamping Bella image... can't remember the name though.  She is so sweet.

 

 

 

Next:

C.C. Designs "Rainy Day Emma" (I think).  I still LOVE the Jillibean umbrella paper!

 

The umbrella, boots & parts of her jacket are coated with Glossy Accents for a super-slick look.

 

And last one for today:

This image is either Stampendous or Hero Arts, with a Paper Smooches sentiment.  The colors really are pretty together, and I think this is a real pick-me-up kind of card.

 

Well that's it for today...

What do you think?

Dude...

I've been needing to build up my "man card" stash as of late, but only have a few spare moments in any given day.  So here is a quickie for the man in your life... 

Well... not THAT kind of quickie ;)

 A few scraps of twill & thin cork held together with a few mini-staples (Tim Holtz) creates the super-simple base for this design.  A little Walnut Stain ink sponged around the card edge grunges it up a bit.

 

 Inside & out I used Paper Smooches' "Word Salad" sentiments.

What I love most?  The new Wood Veneers from Studio Calico... love love LOVE them!

 

 

What do you think?

Helloooooooo!

Have you missed me?  I can NOT believe it's been, what, six months since I checked in with the ol' blog!  Well, I'll try to keep it short and sweet... but you KNOW how long-winded I get ;)  A few updates:

My new business, Foster Technical Services, LLC, is really starting to pick up... I have a few home builders that I steadily work with along with a few remodeling jobs, so all is well on that front!  I also still work at The Scrapbook Page two-to-four days a week... plus teaching the Copic classes there.  Still loving it... it really IS my fun job :)

http://thescrapbookpageonline.com

 

Thor is doing very well, though he is blind now.  You can't tell by looking at him... you just wait until he bumps into something or looks in a different direction than where your voice is coming from!  He's got the ol' grey muzzle now, but is still the CA-YOOTEST little redhead EVER!!  He is very happy, lazy, loves getting treats and REALLY loves his mommy & daddy :)

  

I have been having uncontrollable urges to de-clutter & Spring-clean!  I have a stock-pile of clothes, pillows, blankets & towels that I have washed and bagged up, ready for donating!  Not to mention many other household items, stuffed animals, crafty stuff... etc.  I have no patience for garage sales, so I'm going the donation route!  Poot FINALLY got rid of clothes that were too small for him, and I got rid of clothes that are now too big for me!  I have a deep-seeded wish for a kitchen similar to this:

And perhaps a living room like this:

 Ahhhhh... to dream.  Ok ok... how about a dose of reality:

Uber-good news:  I have lost well over 30 pounds!  I haven't owned a scale in many years, so I can't be sure how much I really got up to, so I calculated it from what I remember weighing a couple of years ago.  Yep... well over 30 pounds!  All from replacing Coke & sweet tea drinks with water!  Oh, and a couple of times a week I eat "Healthy Choice" frozen meals for lunch.  I still sugar my coffee & eat chocolate and all of that, but I have noticed that I have been eating smaller portions in general.  I will say that working at The Page helps with keeping active... just from walking around so much.  Yeay!

But you didn't tune in to talk about fur-babies & weight loss... you wanna see some papercraft action, yes?  I'll admit it... I have been so swamped that I really only create cards for my classes now... how sad is that?  The good news is that they turn out pretty awesome :)  I have so many that I haven't blogged, that I have no shortage of card creativity to show you.  Now to just magically create more hours in the day to do that!

ANYhoo, check out this bit of awesomeness for my upcoming Spring Copic 101 card class in mid-March:

Love love LOVE this new Authentique "Seasons: Summer" line of paper!  And I am NOT a fan of yellow... but along with shades of warm grey & blue-green...

{swoon!}

 

The stamp is from Hero Arts, which is from a clear set with several cute images, and I'm sure you recognize Memory Box clouds when you see them :)

I want to make an entire set of these bad boys!  There is just a slight difference between these two cards, but I can't tell which one I like better... I think maybe the one with the chevron on top.

Clean, simple, yet delightful :)

I've still got to figure out the other three cards for class, but I can tell you right now that this is my fave!

What do you think?

(I've missed you, too!)