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?

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!

New catalogue & a Bonus Top Ten...

This weekend was so much fun!  It was The Angel Company's annual seminar, and I'm exhausted :)  But totally in a good way!  It was great to catch up with everyone and, of course, get the new catalogue :)  check out the new cover:

Pretty, right?!  And wait until you see the inside... fabulous!

Bonus #1:  you can start ordering on Monday... no need to wait until July 1st... ahhh... JOY  :)

Bonus #2:  87 NEW STAMP SETS.  Yes... 87... that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

Bonus #3:  TAC has partnered with Copic and we now carry 7 exclusive Color Caboodles!  These are NOT new Copic colors... they have just customized the Sketch sets with natural blending groups and color families. 

Bonus #4:  Color Caboodles cardstock is available, too!  TAC has taken the guess-work out for you, and created 6-color cardstock packs that match the corresponding Color Caboodle Copic sets!  Sah-weet :)

Bonus #5:  new double-sided exclusive paper collections!  Emma & Maggie.  A glimpse of Maggie is shown on the cover project!

Bonus #6:  we now carry the Scor-Buddy, The Cinch binding system, a huge selection of clear & chipboard mini-albums, and so much more!

Bonus #7:  I have printed catalogues available right now!  Only $4.95 plus shipping, or place a $60 order & get it for free.  But why stop at $60?  Go for $100 and get some of the awesome items above for HALF OFF!


Bonus #8:  Free catalogues to all of my Hostess Club members :)  AND Sign-ups for my next round of Hostess Clubs are going on now!  The new clubs will start up in August, so get a hold of me soon for details!!!  My contact information is at the top of my blog:  FosterDesignHouse.com

Bonus #9:  I have seven card samples in this publication!  Talk about Sah-weet, right?!!  totally stoked about that... and you should see all of the other designers' cards... wonderful!

And finally, Bonus #10:  This lover-ly card I made with one of the new sets:

Stamps:  Art Gave Her Wings

Paper:  kraft & brown cardstocks

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo, Palette Burnt Umber, Walnut Ink spray

Copics:  0, E00, E11, YR23, YR24, E53, E57, BG72, BG78, RV10, RV13, RV14

Whatcha' think?

Card Goulash... aka leftovers :)

Remember my final swap card from earlier this month?  Well, I had this lonesome little stamped panel left over without a base.  Soooooo, since I have been mojo-less as of late, I thought I'd try to create a
card goulash-of-sorts :)

The yellow cardstock strip was also from my previous swap card, the cute little Sprite was a leftover from my Copic coloring class I taught on Sunday (hair isn't great, but oh well), and the black mat was left from the sucky suck suck cards I made last night.  I had some fun with a little edger punch action on the card base (the yellow strip is inside), added the "make a wish" to the panel and popped up the Sprite on foam tape.

Stamps:  Spunky Sprite Girls, Great Greetings, Tiny Tidbits (Hostess Level A)

Paper:  Reece, Cha Cha, black & white ultrasmooth cardstocks

Ink:  Belle Rose, Raw Sienna, & Ballet Blue Palettes, Memento Tuxedo

Other:  EK Success edger punch, foam tape, $1 ribbon from Michael's

Copics:  0, E000, E11, R02, YR23, YR24, E57, BV20, RV10, RV13

What do you think?

Pretty good for leftovers?  :)

Today's post is HERE...

Saturday evening quickie... blog post that is ;)

This weekend and all next week is going to be SLAMMED!  I'm not even going to list all the junk I have to get done.  That being said, it will be very slim pickin's from the ol' blog standpoint... my bad!  Please don't leave me ;(  I will make up for it eventually!

Here's the bit o' papercrafty fun for tonight!  I bought a new edger punch... me likey a lot... it's like a bracket edge.  I put a piece of scarlet cardstock on the inside to show it off a bit. 

The chick's dress is a bit deceiving :)  I had a marker mishap... for some reason one of my Copics dropped a big o' droplet of ink after I was done... I was a bit, ummmm... upset ;)  So I just drew a few more layers of dress in there... can you tell? 

Stamps:  Haute Couture (retired)
Paper:  Bazzill, scarlet & white Ultra Smooth cardstocks
Ink:  Palette Noir
Other:  Copic markers, red Stickles, EK Success edger punch, ribbon trim (HL)

What do you think?

Amberley Mini-book

I went to a really fun crop a couple of weeks ago put on by Crop-N-Doodle-Do, and ACTUALLY accomplished a couple of things!  CNDD's crops are awesome... they have fun giveaways, plenty of space, the food is always great, and they help you unload your stuff from your vehicle to your table! 

The crop fee is a little more than others, but they feed you (with cross your legs good desserts) and even go on an afternoon Sonic run for drinks {LOVE that rabbit pellet ice :)}, so the little extra money is TOTALLY worth it!

Ok, since I'm done pimping out CNDD, how's about having a lookie-see at one of the things I finished there?!  Yep, a mini-book of my babies!  It's really small... to give you an idea, the photos are index size... that, and you can see my fingertips in most of the photos (blech).

The base is from 7-Gypsies... it's a little chipboard matchbook, two-to-a-pack.  The only draw-back about this pre-made base is that you are not able to add much bulk AT ALL! 

Just by me adding a matted photo, a couple of accent cardstock pieces, and a decorative paper background, really pushed past the comfortable closing limits of the matchbook! 

I inked the edges with a Burnt Umber Palette pad... gave it a little more grunge look.  And I used up a ton of itty bitty scraps of Amberley Grace paper & coordinating cardstock!  Yes, this is a true scrap project :)

The pewter bookrings are from Karen Foster Designs, the eyelets are TAC's Pewter Hardware, and all of the pretty ribbon is from several of TAC's ribbon collections.

I finished it off with a sliding cardstock belly band that I embellished with a Bazzil Bitty Bloom, oyster disk, & an aqua half pearl from Michael's.  The title was done with a Signo white gel pen.

What do you think?  
I KNOW... the babies are cute :)

Spring... where are you?

{sigh}

The last couple of days have been sunny and warm, and now today:  blech.  Dreary.  Grey.  And it makes the backyard look EVEN worse than it is (which is pretty bad!).  SO, to help brighten things up in my world, I'm showing this card today :)

I've had the Scor-Bugged stamped panel in my I just might use this one day pile of schtuff, and look... I actually used it :)  I've got a few tags & panels that I had salvaged from a faux pas'd card front.

And just look at this bit of flowery goodness!  I have three boxes of Maya Road stick pins... they are fabulously beautiful!  I can't believe I paid full price... you know I hate doing that... but I'm thinking they're worth it :)  I am loving crocheted, fabric & vintage bits lately... don't ask... I have no idea.

Stamps:  Victorian Elements, Cuddly Critters, Seeds of Blessing
Paper:  Angelee, black & white UltraSmooth cardstocks
Ink:  Noir, Belle Rose, & Toile Pink Palettes
Other:  Crystal Lacquer, Copic markers, Scor-Bug, faux dew drop (Michael's), stick pin (Maya Road), crocheted flower (American Crafts?), paper flowers (Archiver's), Turquoise Stickles, grab bag ribbon (Hobby Lobby)

Once again, the Crystal Lacquer came out to play!  It really adds a nice finish to the ladybug... and I love it for attaching dew drops, too.

What do you think?