Trick or Treating with Tiddly Inks and Simply Betty Stamps!

Ok, I couldn't resist one more blog hop before the big day is finally here; how could I not join in, when Simply Betty Stamps and Tiddly Inks have joined forces?
If you'd like to join in, create a Halloween projevt and share either a trick or a treat with us all. You can see all the details HERE and HERE



Now, I wouldn't presume to call any of my projects "treats", so I have a trick for you. I've recently become enamoured with paper piecing with digi papers, and there's a WONDERFUL way to make it look better, simply re-size the paper right down before printing so that it's only slightly bigger than your image. This means that, when you're paper piecing clothes, the patterns in the paper aren't too big to look right as patterned clothes. In this project, Spiderella's dress is paper-pieced with the same paper as the background, but at only 25% of the original size. I have to say, I love this technique, and I haven't seen it anywhere else, so I don't have to try and remember where I found out about it and credit them, I did it playing in PSP :D Woohoo, credits to me! :P
And, since it's a hop, I thought I'd have a giveaway, just leave a comment on this post and at the end of the hop I'll put all the names in a hat and draw a winner to get a free paper set from my shop. You don't need to be a follower; as long as I can find you from your comment, then you're in :D

And, of course, of course, I've had a few different challenges in mind when creating this card, so here they are:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - On the 11th day of Halloween my Ghoul love gave to me... 11 Bats a Flying! (include bats in your project)
Stamp with Fun - followed Mona's sketch
C.R.A.F.T. Challenges - monotone
Top Tip Tuesday - my tip/trick is above, and the challenge is Anything Goes
Incy Wincy - pearls and lace
Paperplay Challenges - A Haunting We Will Go
Theme Thursday - blue
Meljen's Designs - use 2 images. The lady and the gravestone are one image, the moon and the tree are another
Crafty Catz - Halloween
Daring Cardmakers - Trick or treat
Crazy 4 Challenges - Halloween
Ellephantastic Challenges - Halloween
Creative Inspirations - Halloween

Card recipe - Spiderella image by Simply Betty Stamps, tree and moon by Tiddly Inks, bats by StampInsanity, papers by Crafty Chaos Designs.

WINNER! I've entered the numbers into the random thingy, and he chose number 8, which means Mary J is the winner! Congrats Mary, I'll be getting in touch very shortly to let you know :D

The phrase is "trick OR treat", right?

So it can't be all treats, sometimes you just have to accept that a trick will be in order :P
So, with that in mind, I created this card using the glorious SkullFlame from Tellen's Place, I'm loving all their creepy dark images, go check out the shop. And of course we have another challenge at the Tellen's Place blog! The challenge for you this week is to make something either dark and creepy, OR Halloween-related, OR both! And I have to say, the other DT Divas have completely ROCKED this challenge, you ahould really go check out their work.
Here are the challenges that I'm entering with this card:
Fairy Moon Crafts - sketch + Halloween
Totally Stampalicious - purple green black
Simon Says Stamp and Show - spooky
A Crafty Little Place - spooky
Timeless Flourishes - anything goes but no buttons or bows
For Fun Challenges - Halloween with no orange
Crafty Creations - Halloween or Autumn
Wild Flower Wednesday - Halloween
Lil Red Wagon - Halloween
Dutch Dare Challenges - Halloween OR black purple orange and green
Rainbow Lady's Challenge - spooky and scary
Shirley's 2 Girls Twisted Thursday - trick or treat

It's nearly time!!!!

I seem to be a bit all over the place today, so many things to do, and then I had to make an unscheduled trip to the bank because my card was declined in a shop this morning ('cos I love getting hideously embarrassed in front of strangers) So, I got James to take me to the bank where apparently they couldn't check my card because of some technicality with what type of card it is. They issued it, my account is with them, but because it's a Chip & Sign instead of a Chip & Pin, my card has a different bank name on it. (I don't have a pin number because I have trouble reading the LCD displays used at cashpoints and checkouts.) Anywho, much palaver and phone calls later, my card's fine, they don't know why it was declined but if I have any more problems, report it as damaged and order a replacement. It wouldn't have mattered so much, but they cancelled James's the other day, because his replacement card seemed to have got lost in the post, so they're sending out another replacement for him, and mine is the only one either of us have just now. And of course, today was the day that we were having coal delivered, so we had to rush back for that too. Fun and games all round :P
Anyway, so we're on to the 10th day of Simply Betty's 12 Days of Halloween challenge, and oh I can't wait! I was working on a card with Spiderella yesterday but it just wasn't working for me, I tried lots of different sketches and lots of different colour combos, but nothing felt right. And then before I fell asleep last night I thought "I can use Rio from the Evereyday range and make her into a modern Miss Muffett!" So that's what I've been doing today, in betwen running around trying to get my card sorted.
These are the challenges I combined for this:
Simply Betty - On the 10th day of Halloween my Ghoul love gave to me... 10 Creepy Spiders, spinning their webs just for me!
Sisterhood of Crafters - followed the sketch
Delightful Challenges - circles
Our Creative Corner - celery, pumpkin, razzleberry and espresso. I really like the effect of using a very dark brown instead of black, thanks for the impetus :D
Card recipe:
Image is Rio by Simply Betty Stamps, and if you want her in digi format, you only have a few days left as the digis in this set will retire at the end of the month and thereafter will only be available in rubber. The papers are from Eye of Newt set by Crafty Chaos Designs, the spiders and the rolled-up newspaper with which she's about to squish them into oblivion were both found online.

Spookalicious!

It's Thursday again, and that means it's time for another groovily insane challenge over at Stamp Insanity! :D This week we'd like to see your best, grooviest, spookaliciousiest Halloween projects. My project uses the luscious digi Hilda from the Devil Dolls set, and the sentiment and bats come from the Halloween Henry set, all available at StampInsanity The papers are from Regal Rampage by Crafty Chaos Designs
Here are the other challenges that I'm entering this piece into:
StampsRUs - followed the sketch
Ooh La La Creations - scary stuff
Corrosice Challenges - Halloween or orange and black
Stamptacular Sunday - orange, bright green, dark purple and black or white
Kaboodle Doodles - let's go tbatty
Dutch Dare - Halloween or black purple orange and green
Some Odd Girl - orange green and purple
Crafty Emma's Store Challenges - buttons and bows
Allsorts - spots and stripes

A birthday card I can actually use!

Yay, I made a birthday card that isn't necessarily for a teenage girl, which means I can actually use it :P The gorgeous fairy silhouette is by Stitchy Bear Stamps and I created the papers in PSP. I've entered it into a few challenges that need to be sparkly, and I'm not altogether sure it's obvious where the sparkly bits are, so here's the list. The gems in the corners, the sparkly ribbon, around the main image, around the circles, the swirls at the edge of the fairy wings and the stars in the middle.
These are the challenges I made it for:
One Stitch At A Time - any celebration
Crazy Challenges - lots of shapes. I have squares, circles, rectangles, hearts and stars
Lexi's Creations - birthdays
Anything Goes Cgallenge - black and white
Craft Your Passion - sparkle glitter or bling
Papertake Weekly - sparkle
ABC Challenge - G is for glitter
Southern Girls - glitter
Craft Your Days Away - at least one circle, 2 bps and 3 ribbons
Totally Gorjuss - sparkle
Sweet Stop Sketches - sketch amd sparkle
Karber Monthly Challenge - fantasy

Love potion No.9!

Label on the top:



Label on the side:


This is a bath jelly I made (tons of recipes online, but you basically need gelatin, liquid or meltable soap, water, food colouring and smellies). The labels use Devina by Simply Betty Stamps and paper from the Regal Rampage set at Crafty Chaos Designs
These are the challenges I mde it for:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 9 - Today you will have to make a Love Potion, a Trinket Box, or Bag and Label it Love Potion #9
Totally Papercrafts - stick a number on it
Totally Stampalicious - purple green black
Tuesday Taggers - Halloween using deep purple (I don't think you can tell, but the jelly itself is a beautiful deep purple colour. And although it doesn't say Halloween on it anywhere, I thought the combination of purple and green, devil woman and magic potions would make it suitable Halloween-esque)
Digital Tuesday Challenge - use a non-craft item in your project. As well as the ingredients in the jelly, the jar itself is an old coffee jar
Stamp Something - use a digi
C.R.A.F.T. - spooky
Really Reasonable Ribbon - ribbon + Halloween
Crafty sentiments - anything but a card
Magical Monday - Halloween
Karber weekly Challenge - love (It is a love potion after all)
Simon Says Stamp and Show - spooky
Creative Inspirations - spooky
Sweet Stampin' Challenges - anything but a card
By the Cute and Girly - spooky

Smeared and smudged!

Well, it's Monday again, and that means it's time for another Macabre Monday challenge over at the Haunted Design House blog! This week we're sponsored by Smeared Ink, and in honour of this we're asking you to create something "Smeared and Smudged" Get inky and distressed and grunged-up all over :D
My piece uses one of the fabulous Marionette digi stamps from Smeared Ink, and the fancy corners around the sentiment come from their Glam Accessories set.
I have to admit that I don't usually do much of what I call accent distressing. I can do all-over grunge, as in the backgrounds on this, but I love the look of edge distressing, and this is the first time that I'm quite pleased with my own attempts. I think it may be because I did it in three layers (I'm talking about the bit around the image) First I stamped the frame that you can see, and then I smudged it all so you couldn't see the individual lines. Then I added a smudgly blue wash around the edges, and then I redid the frame, but this time left it un-smudged. What do you think?
Stamping Bacation Build A Sketch - I love this idea; they give you the sizes and shapes, and you create your own sketch out of them :)
2 Sisters Challenges - anything goes
Crafty Catz - black white and one other (blue in my case)
Crafty Purple Frog - anything goes
Make It Crafty - distressing
Tuesday Throwdown - anything goes
I Did It Creations - surprise me
Sentimental Sunday - distressing
Stamping Vacation Start Here - frame of any shape except round or square
Etsy Inspired Challenge - be inspired by an item from StilettoHeights I based my creation on an amalgam of the following ites in the shop: In This Dress I wear, And So She Waits, and Dancers and Showgirls

JEANETTE IS FAB!!!! And she runs several challenges for cards and scrapbooking, so please stop entering cards in the scrapbooking challenges :P

Was that a suprise? :P

Just a quickie . . .

I fancied doing something non-dark tonight, so I browsed the challenges, and this is what I came up with. The image is by Sassy Studio Designs
These are the challenges I made it for:
Sketchy Colours - followed the sketch
Die Cut Dreams - orange and hot pink
Getting Crafty with Ann - milestone birthday
I Did It Creations - card for a girl
Party Time Tuesdays - Anything Goes Birthday
My Partner in Crafting Crime - Shine on you crazy diamond
Crafty Ann's Challenge - ribbon, gems, and at least one embellishment made of paper or card
Tellen's Place - buttons (I'm on the DT here, just entering for fun)

An appeal on behalf of the undead

Please people, I know it's all fun and excitement in the run-up to Halloween, but remember that there are literally hundreds of zombies in rescue shelters all across the country, just waiting for someone to take them home and give them the love and attention they deserve. Please take a moment away from witches and pumpkins and look deep in your heart to see if, just maybe, there's room in your life for one of these low-maintenance creatures. A few scraps of flesh once or twice a day will be enough to feed your new best friend. Contrary to populat belief, zombies don't only eat brains. Although they do enjoy them as an occasional treat, so if you get irritated by door-to-door salesmen, feel free to lure one inside and feed him to your pet. The average salesman can keep a zombie fed for several weeks. Food and a small enclosed garden to stumble around in is all your zombie will need, and in return, you'll get a loyal companion for the forseeable future.

The image above is the beautiful Morticia by Simply Betty Stamps, and the nasty zombification work is all my own. The largest bp is from Broken Dreams by Crafty Chaos Designs, and the purple strip at the front is one I made specifically for this card.
Here are the challenges I'm entering:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 8, zombies or cauldrons
Stamping Vacation Sketch Therapy - followed the sketch
Lil Red Wagon - hearts
Stampin' B - Halloween with no black or orange
Colour Create - purple aqua white with optional swirls
Stamp Something - use a digi
Crazy 4 Challenges - Halloween
2 Sisters Challenges - anything goes
Tuesday Throwdown - anything goes
Crafty Purple Frog - Anything Goes (This is a brand new challenge blog; go check it out!)

For a 16th birthday

Ok, I don't know any 15 year olds, so this isn't going to be much use, but I love it! I gathered together a few challenges earlier and it led to me making a whole new paper set which I'm really pleased with :D The image is of course by Kenny K (I think his distinctive style is instantly recognisable to anyone who's entered challenges over the last several months ;) And the papers are by me, they're a set called Regal Rampage, and I'll put them in the Crafty Chaos Designs shop tomorrow morning, I'll be heading to bed after I've done my post.
Here are the challenges I made this for:
Totally Stampalicious - CASE one of the DT. I chose THIS FAB CARD by Cindy Haffner. I used similar papers, placed the image in the same way, used a pleated ribbon across the bottom, stiched around the image and put pearls in the corners.
Kenny K's Krafty Girlz - followed the sketch
Pollycraft - purple green and one other (black in my case)
Sweet Stampin' - ribbons
Stamping Vacation Start Here - frame of any shape except circle or square
Lexi's Creations - birthdays (Happy Birthday to the blog!)
Pear Tree Designs - anything goes
Party Time Tuesdays - anything goes birthday
Meljen's Designs - anything goes
Getting Crafty with Ann - milestone birthday

Thanks for looking :D

Barb loves Pepsi!!!!

Lol, Barb over at Stamp It Crazy has challenged us to make a Halloween Coke or Pepsi card! I was very much stumped at first, and then today I came up with this digital ATC, hope it makes you smile. The Pepsi can is from the web and the gravestone is a Stamp It Crazy digi.

Skellington card

I think I must have mis-read one of yesterday's challenges; I thought it was to use skeletons, but I was supposed to use Jack Skellington. So, here's my second take, the images are all by PinkBassist3, and they're avaialable on DeviantArt.
Here are the challenges this one was made for:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 7, use Jack Skellington
Sketchy Colours - followed the sketch
Crafty Cardmakers - use a freebie, all images were free
Crazy Challenges - Halloween
Anything Goes - black and white
Paper Playtime - pumpkins or spiderwebs
A Spoon Full of Sugar - Boo! (Halloween)
Crazy Amigos - black and white
Creative Inspirations - spooky
Fab n Funky - Things the go bump in the night (Halloween)
Stampin' Royalty - ribbons
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Halloween
Your Next Stamp - nicely negative (white image on black bg)

Bring your knees in tight!

This is what I've been working on today, and now of course, I can't stop singing the Time Warp :P The main image is Christian Vamp by Simply Betty, available in digi format until Oct 31st only; after that he'll only be available in rubber (Oooer missus :P) and the dancing skeletons are public domain pieces arranged by me. Well, me and Christian since he's trying to organise a talent show for Halloween night, but sadly he has his work cut out as these skeletons seem to lack even rudimentary coordination skills :P
Here are the challenges I made it for:
Simply Betty Challenges 12 Days of Halloween - Day 7, dancing skeletons
Stamp Scrap and Doodle - followed the sketch
Sentimental Sundays - black and white + one, and a sentiment
My Time to Craft - Ghosties & Ghoulies and Long Legged Beasties (I hope dancing skeletons and a vampire choreographer count)
Raise the Bar - hobby sport or interest
Crafty Catz - inspired by a song or nursery rhyme
Daring Cardmakers - welcome to the dance

It's time for the winner!

And it's Que Bella, comment No. 20 :D Thanks so much to everyone, and Que Bella, I'll be in touch to see what you'd like as your prize :D

Lurid and Lovesick!

Woohoo, it's Monday again, which means it's time for another fab Macabre Monday challenge over at the Haunted Design House blog. And this week, we're challengeing you to create something that epitomises the phrase "A Lil Lurid and Lovesick" We're sponsored by Tickled Pink, who have lots of fabulous goodies in store, go check it out.



My creation uses the wonderful Vamp Lilith from the new Lil Haunts line at Tickled Pink, isn't she glorious? The sentiment is computer-generated, and I'm sure that I saw something very similar to this a few weeks agao, but I can't remember where and can't find it to give credits.
Here are the challenges that I made it for:
Tickled Pink Monthly - sketch
The Pixie Cottage - sketch and/or stitching. I chose the stitching option this week.
Corrosive Challenges - get rid of the white
One Stitch At A Time - embellish it
Totally Gorjuss - pink
Lil Lolita Boutique - skulls
My Partner in Crafting Crime - shine on
Delicious Sketches - metal mania
Sisterhood of Crafters - shine sparkle or glitter
Our Creative Corner - at least 3 different embellishments (skulls, hearts, brads, frame)
Speedy the Cat's Friends' Challenges - stitching
Sunday Postcard - scary fairies
Inspiration Avenue - pink
Pear Tree Designs - free for all
Papertake Weekly - 3 of a kind
(skulls)
Theme Thursday - pink
And I have a giveaway post up at the minute, winner will be anounced and contacted tomorrow (Tuesday 19th) so if you leave a comment on the post before then, you're in with a chance :) CLICK HERE FOR THE GIVEAWAY POST

Pumpkin crazy!

This is what I've made tonight, for a couple of challenges. The image is Pumpkin London by Simply Betty, available as a digi until Oct 31st, so if you want her, grab her now :) And the papers are from the Halloween Howlers set at Crafty Chaos Designs
Here are the challenges I'm entering:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 6, Jack-O-Lanterns
Gaby Abby Challenges - sketch
The Shabby Tea Room - photo inspiration and pumpkins
Wildflower Wednesday - black orange green
Stampin' For the Weekend - Halloween or Fall
Stamp Something - Halloween
Something Completely Different - orange and black
Colour Q - black, pumpkin, orange, grape
Thanks for looking :)

A Halloween party giveaway!

Woohooo, it's party time! Vanessa over at A Fanciful Twist has organised a blog party for people to celebrate Halloween, whoot, whoot! I'm going to keep the text on my post pretty short, as I know there are lots of other blogs to go and enjoy. I made a couple of cards to celebrate and share with you all, and if you leave a comment here, you have a chance to win three free items of your own choosing from my shop, Crafty Chaos Designs. You don't need to be a follower, or do anything other than leave me a comment, on Tuesday 19th Oct I'll sprinkle a small amount of fairy dust over the names, and wherever the sparkles land, will be the winner. Have fun, go hop, and ENJOY this wonderful time of year! :D

So, on to my creations

This first one uses images from DezinaWorld (the lady and the wings come separately). I wanted to go for the feel of an old theatre card, what do you think?
This one is being entered into the following challenges:

Order of the opus Gluei - 1 circle, one semi-circle and three triangles
Three Muses - vintage
City Crafter - take flight
S2G Twisted Thursday - 1.Halloween Theme
2.Black and white
3.Sketch (see below)
(4.Dash of color is optional)



And this second card uses two images from Stamp It Crazy and the Zombie Catwalk papers from Crafty Chaos Designs. I'm entering this one in to the following challenges:
Friday Sketchers - sketch 124
Sentimental Sundays - Tag, you're it!
Dutch Dare - tagalicious
One Stitch At A Time - use a digi image
Timeless Flourishes - ink and edge distressing
Really Reasonable Ribbon - Halloween and ribbon
Meljen's Designs - tags
Fairy Fun Fridays - Tickets or tags
Sweet Stampin' - ribbon

And both cards are suitable for the following challenges, so just take your pick ;)
Moving Along with the Times - Halloween
Stampin' Royalty - spooky kooky Halloween
Make It Crafty - distressing
I Did It Creations - spooky
Lexi's Creations - spooky
Karber's Weekly Challenge - Halloween
Creative Cottage - Halloween
Crafts and Me - Halloween
Fussy and Fancy - Halloween
Easy Craft Projects - Halloween
Bee Crafty - Halloween
One Stop Crafts - Halloween
2 Sisters - Halloween

Wow, I think my link button needs a break! Thanks for looking :D
ETA: The giveaway is now over, thank you so much to all of you! The winner is Que Bella :D

Just a quick one . . .

I realised today that time was about to run out for the current Catch the Bug challenge, which I wanted to enter, so I made this one for just a couple of challenges. The image is The Gentle One by Bugaboo stamps, and the papers are Mint Choc Chip Muddle by Crafty Chaos Designs
And here are the challenges I made it for:
Catch the Bug - magic themed. And there's also a fab fun hop to go along with this week's challenge :D
Creative Belli - sketch, pumpkins and old stash (mine is the pumpkins, which I got for last Halloween and never used)
Kaboodle Doodles - colours of Fall/Autumn. Muted greens, browns and just a splash of orange is how it looks here at the moment)
Tuesday Taggers - more than two legs
Irish Teddy - fruit or veg. And I just realised I don't even know which category pumpkins fall into)

Trick or Treat with Tellen's Place!

Image is Mummy by Tellen's Place, papers are Shades of Halloween by Crafty Chaos Designs

Woohoo, I got accepted on to the DT at Tellen's Place Challenge Blog, which means I get to work with some fabulously dark and creepy images, hurrah! Now, Tellen's Place is a bi-weekly challenge blog, but since we have so much to show you at the moment, we've gone weekly for a while. Yay! So you can win twice as often! :D
The theme this week is "Trick or Treat", and I got to use the new Mummy image, lol, so fab to colour this one in, no worrying about whether the shoes will co=ordinate with the dress and the bow in her hair, or anything like that :P You can buy this and all the other TP stamps, at the Tellen's Place shop, and Terry's currently running a Buy One Get One Free offer! Double whoot! AND there's a free image on the challenge blog too! Terry regularly gives away free images, become a follower of over there so that you don't miss out :)
Here are the other challenges that I'm entering with this piece:
Quirky Crafts - sketch
Incy Wincy - faux it up - the stitching)
Daisy Doodles - manly with a Fall connection
Ooh La La Creations - nothing floral
Cupcake Craft Challenge - scary creatures
Paper Playtime - orange (I'm in the UK, so don't count me for the draw, I'm just entering for fun)
Karber Weekly Challenges - Halloween
Paper Cutz - anything goes
Fashionista Friday - Ho;iday
Craftalicious - anything goes
Fairy Fun Fridays - tickets or tags
Thanks for looking :)

Live free and die cut!

Woohoo, it's Thursday again, and that means it's time for a new challenge over at the StampInsanity blog. Thanks so much to everyone who joined in last week, it was lovely to see all of your fab creations :) Our theme this week is "Live Free and Die-Cut", whih makes me smile. We want you to come up with creative ways to use your die cutter or die cuts. And I thought, why not use fab matting shapes to shape your backing paper, instead of (or as well as) framing the main image? So that's what I did :P The image and sentiment for my piece are both by StampInsanity and the papers are Spooky Fun by Crafty Chaos Designs.
Here are the other challenges that I'm entering:
Friday Sketchers - sketch 126
Freshly Brewed Challenge - purple and black
Moving Along with the Times - Halloween
Fussy and Fancy - Halloween
By the Cute and Girly - spooky
Thanks for looking :)

Spiderella and her ghostly minions

The image here is the digi version of Spiderella by Simply Betty, available in digi for only a limited time, so snap them up while they're available. The bg paper is from Zombie Catwalk by Crafty Chaos Designs, and her dress is paper pieced with another paper from the set. These are the challenges I made it for:
Simply Betty 5th Day of Halloween - ghosts
Really Reasonable Ribbon - include a ribbon and make something Autumn-inspired. Mine isn't in traditional Fall or Autumn colours, but it does celebrate Halloween, which is my favourite part of the season.
Crafts and Me - Halloween
Creative Cottage - Halloween
Lil Red Wagon - something old, something new. The digi image is brand new for me (I bought it this morning) and the ribbon is very old, so I don't even remember when/where I got it.
Penny's Challenges - "So long as it flies!"
Simon Says Stamp - 3 types of embellishment (felt ghosts, gems in the corner and the ribbon), 2 patterned papers (one as a bg, one used on her dress) and 1 image (Spiderella comes with the gravestone, it isn't a seperate image)
Stampin' Royalty - Spooky Kooky Halloween
Karber Weekly Challenge - Halloween
I Did It Creations - spooky
Pile It On - Things in threes (I've got three circles, three gems and three words in the sentiment)
Corrosive Challenges - followed the sketch
Cute Daisy May - paper piece (I did her dress)
Fussy and Fancy - Halloween
Easy Craft Projects - Halloween
Stamp Scrap and Doodle Saturadys - Halloween or Fall
Bee Crafty - Halloween or Fall
Wee Memories - Halloween

Please note: For some reason, when entering my projects with linking widgets that don't use thumbnails, it's put (2nd entry) after my name. I don't know how or why, please just ignore it :)

Simply Sinister!

The Macabre Monday challenge at Haunted Design House is Simply Sinister this week, and we want to see your creations that are clean and simple, but, as always, in a dark and sinister way. We're sponsored by the wonderful Simply Betty, and I've used one of her digis for my piece, and very little else :P The image is called Morticia, I think she's fab, and she's availabe at the Simply Betty store. Lol, I really thought I'd have no trouble at all with this challenge - take a fab image, add it to a muted bg and don't stick in anything else. And then the internal dialogue started . . . no patterned papers???? . . .what about some swirly flourishy corner bits??? . . .then surely some bling, or ribbon, or lace, or something . . .lET ME ADD IN SOME FANCY BITS!!!!!!!!! No, no, no, and NO!
I have to admit, I love the way it looks now, but it was sooooo hard to restrain myself as I was creating it, I guess I'm just not a "clean and simple" kind of gal :P
These are the other challenges that I used while creating my piece:
Sketch Saturday - sketch 124
Theme Thursday - red and black
One Stitch at a Time - use a digi stamp
Paper Cutz - red black and white
Totally Gorjuss - not square
Create 4 Fun - use a digi

Thanks for looking, now off you go to create your own Simply Sinister piece :D
It's amusing me greatly that people are calling this a Halloween card . . .I made it for Valentine's Day! :P I'm guessing there's not usually much of a crossover with the two holidays ;)

The ravening beasties . . .

I made this piece today for the following challenges:
Simply Betty 4th Day of Halloween - incorporate ravens and this quote from Vincent:

His voice was soft and very slow As he quoted The Raven from Edgar Allen Poe: “and my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor shall be lifted? Nevermore!"

Something Completely Different: purple and green
What If Wednesday - sketch 0610
4x4 Friday - Poe

Recipe: The image is Day of the Dead Timothy by Simply Betty (remember to snap up your digis while they're available, before they're turned into rubber-only format), the papers are by Crafty Chaos Designs, Gothic Bruise and Bittersweet sets, the small ravens are by DezinaWorld and the bigger raven in the corner started as public domain line art, altered by yours truly. Everything else was done by me in PSP.

Boo to you!

I've been rushing to get this finished in time for a couple of challenges, so a very short post. The image is Alice Chains by Kenny K, here are the challenges it's for:
Kenny K Krafty Girlz - bling it on. Ack, I missed the deadline for this, never mind.
Sketchy Colours - sketch
Stamping Royalty - chocolate, saffron, turquoise and deep purple
Shirley's 2 Girls - Scary and use the word "Boo!"
Speedy the Cat's Friends' Challenge - use stripes ( in my frame around the edge)
Sweet Stampin - Diamonds are a girl's best friend (bling)
Elliephantastic Challenges - anything goes
Create 4 Fun - use a digi stamp in your project

A Halloween Hanging

Here's a piece I made today, using an image from Stamp It Crazy and paper from Crafty Chaos Designs. This is for the following challenges:
Stamp It Crazy - Anything Halloween but a card
Crafting Life's Pieces - sketch #30
There She Goes - orange purple green
Peachy Keen Stamps - October inspiration, anything but a card
For Fun Challenges - use something you bought and didn't use. Although most things here are new or created by me, I've had the frame since about February
Simon Says Stamp - Halloween
Aud Sentiments - any Halloween sentiment
Meljen's Designs - Halloweeny
Gaby Abby Challenges - orange purple black
Crafty Ann's Challenge - use a digi image and your favourite colouring medium. Mine is my pc, I coloured this (and most everything I do now) on my pc
Fussy and Fancy - Halloween

New DT!

I got accepted to be on the DT for StampInsanity, wooohooooo! There are a whole bunch of new Groovy Gurlz debuting their creations today, AND we're showcasing a fabulous new release set called Devil Dolls, so pop along to the challenge blog to see all the details, or pop along to the shop to get your sticky mitts on the fab new images, or pop along to the DT blogs to leave some love and see all the details of how they made their beautiful creations, and what supplies they used.
Juanita
Blackdragon/Lynx
Sugar
Jane
Margie (DTC)
Kapree
Wendy
Dawn
Jacquie
Alison
Susan (that's me, you don't need to click :P)
Erica
Rosalien
Chelsea
Jules
Don't worry, I won't be posting the full list on every post (it's on my sidebar for future reference) but we're all just so excited about introducing ourselves and the new Devil Dolls stamps on this first week :P

My card uses the Devil Doll Lilith, from StampInsanity, isn't she beautiful? I LOVE those teeny little fangs :D And the papers are from the Halloween Bride set at Crafty Chaos Designs
So, what's the challenge?
Well the challenge is to "Trick or Treat" your project, so you can go naughty or nice, delightfully dark or commendably cute.
I'm also entering my card into the following challenges:
One Stitch At A Time - spooky
Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge - sketch 76
The Crafty Pad - spooky
I Did It Creations - spooky
Theme Thursday - dark/gothic
Pollycraft - anything goes
Lexi's Creations - spooky
And please don't forget that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This horrible disease has affected so many women worldwide, and StampInsanity have a digi stamp set inspired by the thousands of beautiful, strong women who fight this disease every day, in particular Katie, Beth's amazing cousin, who is battling through. Proceeds from the sale of the Katie for a Cure stamp set will go towards breast cancer research, so please consider doing what you can. Thanks for reading :)

Birthday card

Here's what I've made today, a birthday card using Willow from Tickled Pink Stamps and papers from the Bittersweet and Shades of Halloween sets at Crafty Chaos Designs.
And these are the challenges I made it for:
Please note - a few of them ask for bling or sparkles, I've used a glitter frame for the image and two glittery corner flourishes, click on the pic to enlarge it and see the sparkles)
Lil Lolita Boutique - purple orange and black
Creative Inspirations - birthday
Fab n Funky - use a digi image
Creative Cottage - bling it on
Mami Doodles - girl's birthday with sparkle
Speedy the Cat's Friends' Challenge - buttons and bows
Sketchy Colours - sketch #41
Party Time Tuesdays - anything goes birthday
Digital Tuesday - ribbons/ buttons/bling
A Spoon Full of Sugar - sparkle and shine
Paper Playtime - ribbons buttons and/or bling
Stamp Something Challenge - celebrate
Gingerloft Challenges - glitter or bling
Crafty Calendar - Autumn birthdays
Incy Wincy Designs - glitter or sparkles
Fairy Fun Fridays - ricrac
Papertake Weekly are celebrating their THIRD birthday (huge congratulations ladies!) and the challenge this week is to choose any one of their challenges from the past three years and use that. So, lol, I decided to combine a few of them :P
1st Oct 2007 - swirls or flourishes, 30 Dec 2007 - Bit o' bling, 3rd March 2008 - square cards, 31st March 2008 - making waves (the ricrac), 14th April 2008 - all that glitters14th July 2008 - teenage kicks, 11th August 2008 - button it, 19th January 2009 - Shape up (use at least three shapes, I used hearts, circles and rectangles), 2nd Feb 2009 - hearts and flowers, 23rd June 2009 - delightful downloads (the image), 7th July 2009 - my favourite things (purple is a favourite colour, digi images and papers are my favourite crafting stash, and damask is currently my favourite pattern (hence the background paper)(Oops, I forgot that I changed my mind about which backing paper I would use, and ditched the damask one. Even your favourite things sometimes just aren't quite right :P), 3rd November 2008 - simply sparkling, 10th Nov 2009 - digi sparkle , 2nd March 2010 - buttons bows brads or bling (I used all 4), 30th March 2010 - fill your boots time (anything goes, lol, sorry, couldn't resist :P), 18th May 2010 - say it with flowers, 24 Aug 2010 - 3-2-1 (3 heart-shaped buttons, 2 dps and 1 piece of ricrac, OR 3 colours, 2 bows and 1 image)
LOL, have I mentioned that I get a kick out of combining challenges? :P

Mirror, mirror

This piece uses Gossmere from Tiddly Inks and the papers are Broken Dreams by Crafty Chaos Designs
Here are the challenges I made it for:
Tiddly Inks - diamond glaze or crackle accent. I don't have either of those products, but I spent time creating a broken mirror digitally, in the hopes that that would count. It's a crackle glaze effect without the crackle glaze :P
Create 4 Fun - followed the sketch
Stamptacular Sunday - at least five layers
Cowgirl Challenge - anything goes
Ooh La La Creations - nothing floral
Pollycraft - anything goes
The Craft Den Anything Goes Challenge - going round in circles
Karber Weekly Challenge - digital
Penny's Challenges - circles
Wildflower Patch Wednesday - glass effect. We have the mirror and the frame made from glass-effect beads
Some Odd Girl - Monochromatic
Paper Cutz Challenge - 3 patterned papers

Dancing in the snow

This card uses papers from my Velvet Descent set, available at Crafty Chaos Designs, and an image from Stitchy Bear's The Rehearsal set, available at Stitchy Bear Stamps
And here are the challenges that I made it for:
The Burtonesque Dolls - Edward Scissorhands sketch
Paper Cutz - 3 different papers
Delightful Sketches - purple black and green
Gingerloft Challenge - glitter and bling

Dastardly Delicious Digis!

It's Monday again, and that means it's time for a new Macabre Monday challenge at Haunted Design House. This week we're sponsored by the lovely Teri from Delicious Doodles, and the challenge is to use a digi as your main focus, but, as always, we want to see your dark and creepy creations with a twist of the macabre!
My piece uses the beautiful Cloaked Lady by Delicious Doodles, and I imagined her looking back at the "normal" side of her life before heading out to follow the call of the dark things in the forest.



And these are the other challenges that I made this piece for:
Fashionista Friday If The Shoe Fits - use orange in your creation
Irish Teddy - purple and orange
Sew Many Challenges - anything goes
ColourQ Challenge 52 is to use this sketch and your favourite ColourQ colour combination of the past year.

You are a star!

Here's one I did today, using and image from Bugaboo and a paper from the Decadent Grunge set at Crafty Chaos Designs
Here are the challenges I made it for:
Karber Weekly Challenge - hobbies or leisure
Stamping Vacation Fountain of Youth - use a musical instrument
Order of the Opus Gluei - sketch
Catch the Bug - anything goes
Thanks for looking!

We have a winner!

And it's Craftdee Donna! See how I got that bit in early, so you can all see from your dashboard whether or not it's you? :P
Last Saturday, I was involved in a Practical Magic blog party, and I promised to give one lucky commenter their choice of three free products from my store. There were 54 comments, and I allowed Mr Random to pick a number (because, really, I wasn't going to put my hand into that bubbling steaming spitting cauldron :P)

Congratulations Donna, I'll be getting in touch, just let me know which products you'd like :D

It's not even digital! :o

I actually did something 3D today, lol, it's been a while. I bought a pack of cheap cork coasters and this is what I turned them into. The image is by Simply Betty and the papers are from my Spooky Fun set (I darkened it slightly by putting a semi=transparent layer of grey over the top before printing)
These are the challenges I'm entering:
Simply Betty's 12 Days of Halloween. You don't want to miss this one, but you'll have to be quick! Which is why my coasters only have a very thin coat of varnish at the moment, they weill be getting some more, but I didn't have time to wait for each coat to dry ;) Here's the challenge: On the First Day of Halloween My Ghould love gave to me... One smiling Skellington Head! Use skeletons on your project. Um, I haven't got any whole skeletons on mine, but lots of skulls :P
Simply Betty Challenges - Week 3 for the challenge and this time it's to make something Halloween, but not a card
Lots to Do - Alter it
Bee Crafty - Fluffy/Furry Friends. Well I'm pretty certain that Chloe thinks she's being friendly; I'm just not absolutely sure that the cat agrees :P
Crafty Ann's Challenge - anything but a card
Daisy Doodles - Critter Mad. Does "Mad Critter" count? :P
Wildflower Wednesday - Glass efect. I really couldn't get a good photo of the varnish looking glossy, but here it is looking shiny at least :)