Heinously Haunted Houses

The Macabre Monday challenge at HDH this week is Heinously Haunted Houses.
We want you to create a dark, Gothic, or Halloween-based art piece that features a haunted house as the focus. It IS the Haunted Design House blog after all :) The more decrepit, deteriorating or disturbing... the better!
I created this 4x4 using elements by CJ's Dreams, Creations by Rain, Heartbeat Creations and Tootypup.


These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Order of the Opus Gluei - something wicked this way comes
Come and Get It Challenges - anything goes
Crafting When We Can - Halloween and/or anything but a card
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
Crafty Sentiments - no designer paper
Rainbow Lady - spooks and witches
Paperplay Challenges - Halloween or witches
Do You Stack Up - Halloween
The Stamp Man Challenges - night-time
Crafts 4 Eternity - magical or mystical
Crafty Catz - spooky Halloween
4x4 Friday - Halloween
Fashionista Friday at If The Shoe Fits - Halloween or Fall
Making Halloween Cards - haunted houses and/or stripes
Gloomy Art - Halloween
Just Some Lines - Halloween
Simon Says Stamp and Show - houses
The Secret Crafter - spooky or whimsical

With A Flourish!

It's time for a new challenge at Corrosive, and this fortnight we want to see projects with flourishes somewhere on them. It doesn't matter what type, how many or where they are, just make sure we can see at least one flourish somewhere on your creation and you're good to go :)
My creation this week uses an image by Karen's Doodles, who are one of our sponsors for the month, and papers by Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Deconstructed Sketches - sketch 25
Creative Inspirations - black orange purple
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
Scrappy Frogs - something that flies
Come And Get It Challenges - Halloween
Shopping Our Stash - Halloween
Do You Stack Up - Halloween
Kaboodle Doodles - Halloween

12 Bats a Flying!

Well ok, there are more than 12 bats in this piece, but I've used a clock and the Roman numerals for 12 to make sure I qualify :) The female image is by Simply Betty, the Happy Halloween image is by Stampin' Up, the bat paper is by Crafty Chaos Design and I created the clock myself. The text is from The Fall Of The House Of Usher.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:

Sweet Stop Sketches - sketch 132 or 77. It doesn't look like I've followed the sketch, but that's because I turned it on its side, like this
Simply Betty Stamps 12 Days of Halloween - Day 12, twelve bats a-flying
Pollycraft Challenges - spooky goings on
Scrapbook Sisters - anything goes
My Mum's Craft Shop - spooky
Crafting For All Seasons - Halloween
Gloomy Art - Halloween
Charisma Cardz - anything goes
Paperplay Challenges - Halloween or witches
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Halloween

A non-Halloween card!

Here's what I did using the wonderful Dominatrix digi by Smeared Ink. Here's a close-up so you can see the sparkly gold glitter.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Smudgy Antics - leather and lace
Triplicate Trials Tuesday - sketch, plus hot pink, black and gold, plus modern chic theme.
Crazy Challenges - scary ladies
Order of the Opus Gluei - something wicked this way comes (I guess it depends on your definition of "wicked" ;)
There's Magic in the Air with Paper Cupcakes - pink and black
Lollipop Crafts - at least three embellishments
Creative Belli Challenge - 1 2 3 4 recipe (1 image, 2 circles, 3 brads and 4 of te larger gems)
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
Fussy and Fancy - black, border punch, bling
Totally Papercrafts - glitter
Crafty Purple Frog - sparkle
Crafty Sentiments - no designer paper

Day 9!

Here's my creation for Day 9 of the 12 Days of Halloween, using Witchy Wednesday by Simply Betty Stamps and papers from the Regal Rampage set at Crafty Chaos Designs. I've also included a new sentiment from the set called Natural Hair Colours, in which you get the choice of eight different hair colours. I've included Blue, Green. Pink, Purple, Turquoise, Violet, Teal and Magenta, and the colour name letters are all "hollow" so that you can colour them in to match whatever outrageous colour you've given your image.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Sweet Sketch wednesday - sketch 125
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 9, nine ghosts a-booing (or nine ghosts looking shocked at Wednesday's bare-faced lie about her natural hair colour :P)
Scrappy Frogs - something that flies
The Crafty Pad - Halloween
Going Grey with Scrap Creations - going digi
Scrabook Sisters Card Challenge - anything goes
Divas by Design - spooky or Halloween
Crafting For All Seasons - Halloween
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Halloween
Stampavie and More - Halloween
Cardmad Fairy's Digi Day Challenge - spots and stripes
Southern Girls Challenge - stripes and spots
Totally Papercrafts - lots of layers
Fashionista Friday at If The Shoe Fits - Halloween
Making Halloween Cards - stripes and/or haunted houses
Allsorts Challenges - Halloween
Just Some Lines - Halloween

Two (or four) of the 12 Days

Here are two pieces I made for the 12 Days of Halloween at Simply Betty.
This first one is an ATC using a freebie Betty gave away on the Simply Betty Stamps PCP group, and papers from the Poison Punch set at Crafty Chaos Designs.



These are the challenges I'd like to enter with this one:
Crazy Challenges - scary lady plus sketch
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 10, Ten ghouls a-groaning. I hadn't realised before, but ghouls are essentially what we think of as zombies. George A. Romero - Night of the Living Dead - called the creatures in the film ghouls, although they became the prototype for our modern zombies. So, in this piece, I have 1 zombie ghoul and I've included the number ten in the sentiment. It also makes me smile that I could enter this one into days 7 (seven pumpkins) and 4 (four skulls) as well, although I have already entered both of those.
ATC Challenges - anything goes or vintage (I'll try to do a vintage one next)
Gingerloft Challenges - Halloween or Fall
The Crafty Pad - Halloween
My Time Made Easy Pretty Palettes - Pretty Palette 32, black, orange, purple, green
Creative Stamp Friends - Halloween
Going Grey with Scrap Creations - going digi
StempelSonne - Halloween
TimbroScrapMania - Halloween
Delightful Sketches - purple orange green black
Aud Sentiments - make us laugh
Paper-Crafting Journey - use a digi


And this second creation uses five Steampunk images, all from Simply Betty Stamps and a graveyard scene I created around them.



These are the challenges I'd like to enter with this one:
Simply Betty 12 Days 0f Halloween - Day 5, five scary spooks
Take A Word - black and white
Hooked On Crafts - something spooky
Crafty Boots - Halloween
Art With No Boundaries - Halloween
Pollycraft Challenges - spooky goings on
Magical Monday Challenges - Halloween
Simon Says Stamp and Show - just one colour
Simply Create - shades of black
The Stamp Man - Night Time
Gingersnap Creations Challenges - 124, black and grey
Crafty Sentiments - no designer paper
Little Miss Muffet - clouds

Blame it on the "BOO"gie!

I had fun creating this piece for the new challenge at Ruby's Rainbow, which is "metal". The digi was a freebie by Nana Vic, given out at CDAC.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Forever Night Freaky Friday - sketch
Pan Pastel UK - glitter and glitz
Lollipop Crafts - at least three embellishments
Paper Minutes - skeletons
Glitter Geeks - recipe challenge. I've used Turquoise and Grey, Ribbon, Sentiment, Charm, Swirls, Gems and Glitter
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 4, four skeletons
Shopping Our Stash - Halloween or Fall-inspired
Stampin' For The Weekend - spooky
Crafts and Me - blue

Goblin wishes!

I found this image at DeviantArt, created by RenoNevada. All I've done is cut out some of the goblins (because I wanted there to be 6 on this card) and change the colour from black and white to this muted grey-green tone. The backing paper is from Crafty Chaos Designs, from the Song of Sycorax set. This was originally going to be my card for the new challenge at Beyond The Burtonesque Dolls, but we've decided to make that one a fortnightly challenge, so you still have a week to enter our Guillermod del Toro challenge, and if you're really on the ball, you may have an inkling of what our next challenge will be. Although, lol, it's pretty tangential, I wouldn't count on getting the theme right from my card :P
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 6, six goblins gobbling
Card Patterns - sketch 138
Simon Says Stamp and Show - just one colour
Hiding In My Craft Room - make a #10 size card, 9 1/4" X 4"
Our Creative Corner - faces
Shopping Our Stash - Halloween
Kaboodle Doodles - Halloween
Gingerloft Challenges - Halloween
For Fun Challenges - Halloween without using black orange or purple

Halloween ATC

Here's what I did today, using Voodoo Doll #1 by Dilly Beans.
These are the challenges I made it for:
Wicked Wednesday ATC - Halloween
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 8, eight monsters shrieking. Just one monster on mine obviously, but I created the background by repeating the number 8.
For Fun Challenges - Halloween without black orange and purple
Allsorts Challenge - Halloween
Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Halloween
Die Cut Dreams - use at least one metal charm

Pumpkinhead

Yay, it's time for another Macabre Monday challenge at the Haunted Design House! This week it's all about pumpkins, and/or the film Pumpkinhead. I've used the chant from the film as my focal point, and included a freebie pumpkin from Birds Cards, and I created the spiderweb pattern and the graveyard scene at the bottom.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Paper Minutes - sketch
Sentimental Sunday - Halloween
Simon Says Stamp - be inspired by a nursery rhyme or fairy tale. Hmmm, I'm not really sure if this counts. The children in the film all chant the above poem like a nursery rhyme, but it was obviously written for the film and isn't a real one.
Just Some Lines - Halloween
Allsorts - Halloween
One Stop Crafts - no designer paper
Sweet Stampin - Halloween
2 Sisters Challenge - pumpkin patch

Lots of orange, and some black and purple

I've got two projects to show you today.
First up is this piece, using stamps by Smeared Ink and Stampin' Up, and nothing else. No colouring, no papers, no embellishemnts. I love this so much that I think I may make some coasters out of it :)


These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Pink Ink Sketches - sketch #8
Smudgy Antics - Skull tims
Art with No Boundaries - Halloween
Hooked On Crafts - something spooky
Three Muses - circles and squares
Riley & Company - orange and black
Divas by Design - something spooky
Paperplay - use black
Dare to Be Sassy Thursday - spooky scary and creepy
Raise the Bar - orange and black
One Stop Crafts - no designer paper
Picture Perfect Creations - Fall or Halloween
Inky Impressions - Halloween
Order of the Opus Gluei - Halloween


And my second piece uses a stamp by Simply Betty and papers by Crafty Chaos Designs.


These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Sweet Sketch Wednesday - sketch 124
Crafty Boots - Halloween
Totally Stampalicious - purple, orange and black
My Time To Craft - punches or dies
Stampavie and More - Halloween
Freshly Brewed Designs - pumpkins
Jelly Park Friends - use an image that is wearing a costume
Fussy and Fancy - black, border punch and bling
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 7, seven pumpkins glowing
My Sheri Crafts - pumpkins
Papertake Weekly - spooky hues
Crop Stop - Halloween
Stempelsonnen Challenges - Halloween
Gingerloft Challenges - Halloween or Fall
Paper Sundaes - black and sparkle from a recipe list

What part of "crazy cat lady" is meant to be an insult?

Here's what I've done today. The girl and the cat are both by Simply Betty Stamps, and the paper and sentiment are both from Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 3, three black cats
Deconstructed Sketches - sketch 24
The Crafty Pad - monochrome
Stamptacular Sunday - anything goes
Crafty Cardmakers - cute with a dark twist
Take A Word - childhood
Papertake Weekly - spooky hues
Some Odd Girl - colour your image in black and white
Paperplay Challenges - use black
Simply Create - shades of black

Hand over the sweets!

Yay, it's time for a new challenge at StampInsanity, and this week you could win the entire Devil Dolls digi set! I LOVE this set, and I've used two of the Devil Dolls to create my project this week. So, what do you have to do to be in with a chance of winning? Think Trick or Treat, or Tricked-Out Treats, or send Beth some chocolate. (I'm not entirely sure that that last part is official, but I'm pretty sure it will work :P)
I made an ATC, scored it down the middle attached some mesh ribbon underneath and turned it into a treat-holder for Halloween.You can't tell from the photos, but when you hold it at the top, the sweets hang underneath in a black netted ribbon.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 2, two trick or treaters
Cutie Sunday - Halloween
Irish Teddy - Halloween in orange, black and purple
Fresh Brewed Designs - orange black purple
Stamp with Sarah Kay - Halloween
Fun with ATCs - Halloween
Repeat Impressions DCC1012 Designer’s Choice Challenge - Halloween or Fall
The Pixie Cottage - sweet as candy
My Mum's Craft Shop - food and drink
Crafting For All Seasons - Halloween and/or purple, lime green, orange and black
Wicked Wednesday Weekly ATC Challenge - Halloween
Papertake Weekly - Halloween colours
Totally Stampalicious - purple orange and black
Stamp with Fun - create a gift
Pollycraft - girls, girls, girls
The Crazy Challenge - Halloween
Creative Stamp Friends - Halloween
Picture Perfect Creations - Fall or Halloween
Crafty Boots Challenge - Autumn and/or Halloween
My Craft Spot - 3D Halloween
Crafts 4 Eternity - purple and orange
The Stamp Man - circles
Alphabet Challenges - S is for Soon Be Halloween
One Stop Crafts - Halloween
Drunken Stampers - Halloween
Challenge Up Your Life - Halloween
Craft Your Days Away - Halloween colours

Don't turn out the light!

I made a bookmark today, using Draco the Ghost Gent from Simply Betty. Here are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Simply Betty 12 Days of Halloween - Day 1, an owl in a rotten oak tree
Stamptacular Sunday - anything goes
Quirky Crafts - something spooky
The Crafty Pad - monochromatic
Hooked On Crafts - something spooky
Simon Says Stamp and Show - stripes
Art Impressions - make a tag or a bookmark
Simply Create - shades of black
Forever Night - black and creepy
Desert Island Crafters - I used items 2, 6, 7, 8, 9(only half of this one), and 10. They are: Simply Betty image, not square, stripes, shades of grey, bats and spiders (this is the half one, I meant to put some bat confetti on the back side, but forgot before I took the photo. The font is Batfont though :P) and the undead.
My Time to Craft - punches or dies (I used a tiny postage stamp punch to create the holes to thread the ribbon and lace through. Big mistake, as the lace kept getting caught on all the teeny scallops around the edge. You live and learn :P)

Guillermo del Toro 4x4

Yay, it's time for our third challenge at Beyond the Burtonesque Dolls, and this week we'd like you to create something inspired by the works of Guillermo del Toro. I've used a still from Pan's Labyrinth, which has the scariest freakiest man-monster imaginable and made a simple 4x4, then framed it. And you should really check out what the other DT members have done, there are some wonderful inspiration pieces over there.

Here are the challenges I'd like to enter:
4x4 Friday - boo
Forever Night - black and creepy
Creative Sketches - crumb cake, soft suede. cajun craze, black
Gingersnap Creations Chestnut Challenge - horror stories
Hooked on Crafts - something spooky
Bling It On - no patterned papers
Allways Something Creative - brown, orange, distressing
ABC Challenge - B for Boo
Lothian Crafts Online - anything goes

Two projects to share today

Well, it's Monday, and that of course means that it's time for a new Macabre Monday challenge at the Haunted Design House blog, but today I also have another challenge to tell you about, at Paper Creations Ink. I'm hoping to cross-contaminate and get you all to visit both sites by combining my posts.
First up, we have my Macabre Monday offering. Our challenge this week is "Lurid and Looming Landscapes" abd we want to see some kind of landscape featured in your creation. Something dark and desolate and deathly. Or some misty and macabre moorland. Or a putrifying, peestilence-ridden panorama. You get the idea :)



I've used elements from so many different people in my creation today, but credit should go to creations by rain, medi, tootypup, blazter, and The Urban Fairy.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter with this piece:
Scrappy Frogs - something that flies
I Did It Creations - animals
Quirky Crafts - spooky
My Time Made Easy - white, black, bright blue
Shopping Our Stash - spooky
The Paper Shelter - animals
Bling It On - no patterned papers
Collage Obsession - alter egos (I like to think that the black and white horses are both representations of the same animal)

And my second creation for today is to highlight Paper Creations Ink, where I'm a GDT and the challenge is Halloween. We're sponsored by Delicious Doodles, and I've used Spooky Haunted House and Grim Reaper in my piece, as well as paper from the Symphony of Grey set at Crafty Chaos Designs.

These are the challenges I'd like to enter with this piece:
Sparkles Forum Challenges - Halloween
Dream Valley Challenges - Halloween
Here Come The Boys - Halloween
Delicious Doodles - Halloween but NO orange
Card Makin' Mamas - Halloween
Phindy's Place - Halloween
The Poodle's Parlour - spooky Halloween
Making Halloween Cards - haunted house
Simply Create - shades of black
Forever Night - black and creepy
Simon Says Stamp - Halloween or goth
The Pixie Cottage - sketch + dark and spooky
Creative Card Crew - spooky fun
Clear It Out Challenges - Halloween
Everybody Art - Halloween
Scrap Creations Challenges - Halloween
Gingerloft Challenges - Halloween or Fall
One Stop Crafts - Halloween
Drunken Stampers - Halloween
Challenge Up Your Life - Halloween
Pattie's Creations - Halloween
Alphabet Challenges - S for Soon Be Halloween
The Queen's Royal Digi Challenge - Halloween

Things that fly at Corrosive

Yay, it's time for another fun challenge at the Corrosive blog! This week we want to see things that fly. Witches on broomsticks, birds, bats, fairies, butterflies, helicopters, whatever you've got, if it can take to the skies, you're in :)
I've made an ATC using a cute owl from one of our sponsors, Doodle Pantry, and paper-pieced his wings and tummy with papers from the Poison Punch set at Crafty Chaos Designs, and the backing paper is from the Poison Candy set. (And you can now download your purchases immediately after purchase, Woohoo!)
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Crafty Sentiments - sketch
Everybody Art - Halloween
Cupcake Craft Challenges - Halloween
Stamps & Fun = Creativity - Halloween
Victorine Originals - Halloween
Art with No Boundaries - October or Halloween
Top Tip Tuesday - use designer paper
Papertake Weekly - use 3 different shapes (rectangle, square, semi-oval)
Just Us Girls - orange green purple black
Craft Your Days Away - Halloween colours
Stampin' B's Design Team - birds
Dare To Be Sassy Thursdays - use black orange purple and green
Cupcake Inspirations - I was inspired by the colours in the photo, the spiderwebs and the creatures (although I've used a different creature)
Cutie Sundays - Halloween
Doodle Pantry Digital Challenge - use a DP image

The (bird) tables have turned!

I seem to be constantly trying to catch up recently, so here's a piece I finished today for a few challenges. The papers are from the Elizabeth Forgets set at Crafty Chaos Designs, the image is from the Heebie Jeebie set at Smeared Ink, and the bird silhouettes are brushes by flordelys_stock.
Please note that I used the sketch from the Tuesday Trio Challenge, but forgot about the other requirements so I'm not entering there, just giving credit for the sketch.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
1. Smudgy Antics - black birds
2. Smeared & Smudged GDT Challenge - use a colour palette of reds, greens and neutrals
3. Crafty Cardmakers - anything goes
4. Paper and Such Online - be inspired the Country Autumn colour palette at Design Seeds
5. Take A Word - blackbird
6. Crafty Boots - zoo or animal-themed
7. Charisma Cards - stitches
8. Glitter Geeks - Two's company. I have 2 papers, 2 birds, 2 types of creature, 2 different patterns (spots and stripes) and two long strips of paper
9. Digi Days Challenge - spots and stripes
10. Stampin' B's Design Team - birds

One new and one re-do

I've done a couple of paper projects and boy have they reminded me why I love digi work :P I had to print both several times, once because I cut something I shouldn't have (second card), once because I stuck the ribbon on wonkily (first card), once because a cat sat on them and creased things (both), once because the printer had a bit of scrap card inside it that messed up the printing (both). And then I had to take lots of photos and try to find one of each that isn't absolutely dreadful :P
So, enough of my whinging, lol, here they are. I've used two images from the CDAC Progressive Freebie Challenge - the first is Dragonlets and Me by Delicious Doodles (you may have seen the digital version of this, posted before I understood the rules) and the second, although it doesn't look like I've used an image, uses the beautiful Mandala image by Daisy Doodles, in two different sizes, to create the background. The text on the second one is from The Moon by Shelley.
Challenges for each are below the images.


I used the sketch from Fetch-a-Sketch for this one, but I already entered the digital version of my card over there and this one only has minor differences.
CDAC Progressive Freebie Challenge - Halloween or mystical (dragons are mystical)
Sentimental Sundays - anything goes
Ribbon Carousel - sparkle and bling. As well as the gems, which you can see, the dragon wings have a slight coating of glitter, which you can't. And the gems are actually a pale lilac colour and very sparkly.
Scrapbook Sisters Card Challenge - anything goes
Digital Tuesday - Fall Colours
Crafty Purple Frog - thank you
C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - 1 ribbon, 2 shapes (oval and square) and glitter (on the spiny parts of the dragon wings)
Easy Craft Projects - Autumn or Thank You
Stampin' For the Weekend - Fall colours
Bling It On - no patterned papers


Please note that this was designed digitally and then the whole thing was printed straight onto cardstock, So although it looks like it has layers, it doesn't.

CDAC Progressive Freebie Challenge - Halloween or mystical (I hope the poem makes it mystical)
Skrappekammeret - sketch
Die Cut Dreams - use a poem (please note that you need a digi image for this challenge, and I made my background with a mandala image)
Crafts and Me - orange
Crazy Amigos - one layer card with no embellishments
Crafty Cardmakers - anything goes
Creative Inspiration - single layer card
Glitter Geeks - Two's Company (I've done the whole thing in only two colours and I've also used two sizes of the same stamp)
Wags n Whiskers - Fall colours
Lothian Crafts Online - anything goes

Shop is up with instant downloads!

ETA Everything went smoothly and it's all back up and running and now you can download your products immediatelt after payment!
We're switching things around in the shop today, and (hopefully) sorting out instant downloads, so there may be a few hours when either the site is down, OR the site still appears online but I won't get any emails. Please bear with us during any downtime, it won't be for long!

Cute and Cuddly at Ruby's Rainbow!

It's time for another new challenge at Ruby's Rainbow, and this fortnight we want to see your Cute and Cuddly projects. Now, regular visitors here may be aware that I sometimes have a slightly skewed vision of what counts as cute, but I think everyone has to agree that this little monster deinitely is, right? There's just no doubt about it, he's absolutelt adorable! He's from the Monster Mash set at Squiggle Stamps.
Here are the challenges I'd like to enter:

Some Odd Girl - sketch
Sparkles Forum Challenges - Halloween
Everybody Art - Halloween
Cupcake Craft Challenges - Halloween
Stamps & Fun = Creativity - Halloween
KB Cutie Monday - food or beverages (I'm hoping the lollipops count)
Fussy and Fancy Challenges - Halloween
C.R.A.F.T. Challenges - bright colours
The Play Date Cafe - Slime Green, Frightful Fuschia,
Putrid Purple, Black as Night (see pic on the right)
Sweet Stampin' - stitching
Drunken Stampers - Halloween
Challenge Up Your Life - Halloween

It's real, it's real!

Ok, I messed up in the post below, as I entered a challenge that doesn't accept digital creations. :( So I've spent the evening making an ATC. The papers are by Crafty Chaos Designs, and the image is by Designed 2 Delight, and it's one of the freebies available at the Progressive Challenge at CDAC.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Sweet Sunday Sketches - sketch 138
CDAC Progressive Challenge 4 - Halloween or mystical using one of the free images
Sparkles Forum Challenge - Halloween
Quirky Crafts - spooky or Halloween
Cutie Sunday - Halloween
Cupcake Craft Challenges - Halloween
Stamps & Fun = Creativity - Halloween
Hooked on Crafts - anything but a card
Victorine Originals - Halloween
Crafting For All Seasons - Fall flowers or pumpkins

Thank you, with dragons!

I've just joined in the CDAC Progressive Freebie Challenge, and this is one of this month's beautiful freebies, Dragonlets and Me by Delicious Doodles.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Fetch-A-Sketch - sketch
One Stitch At A Time - anything goes
CDAC Progressive Challenge - Halloween or mystical using one of the freebie images (I'm hoping the dragons make it count as mystical)
Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge - no designer paper
Squiggle Stamps - Thanks
Do You Stack Up - brown
Crafts and Me - use a digi
Little Red Wagon - thanks
Flutterby Wednesday - use a fairy butterfly or angel
Lollipop Crafts - critters
Incy Wincy Designs - being thankful
Picture Perfect Creations - wisteria, crumb cake, espresso
Totally Stampalicious - Thanksgiving or Thank you card

Terry Gilliam!

For our second challenge at Beyond the Burtonesque Dolls, we'd like you to be inspired by Terry Gilliam. There are so many of his wonderful creations to be inspired by, you'll be spoiled for choice. I immediately thought of The Fisher King, which I haven't seen for several years, but which I did watch many many times. I just love that film! So, my creation portrays the Red Dragon that chases Parry, and a quote that Parry says to Jack, and of course, some golden orbs, because it made me giggle (If you've seen the film, you'll know why, and if you haven't, go watch it :P) My dragon is by Outlaw by Design (I recoloured it and added the flames), and the paper is from Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Card Positioning Systems - sketch 239
Quirky Crafts - black gold and glitter
Sentimental Sundays - anything goes
Pile It On - just because
Simon Says Stamp and Show - things with wings
Crafty Boots - zoo or animal themed
My Mum's Craft Shop - all creatures great and small
Crafty Emma's Store Challenge - seeing red (literally and figuratively in my case)
Totally Papercrafts - animals

Gods and Monsters!

This week's Macabre Monday challenge at the Haunted Design House blog is "Gods and Monsters" You are to create a dark, Gothic, or Halloween-based art piece
that uses, includes or is inspired by a God and/or a Monster. I did a little bit of research and decided to portray Echidna. She was a figure in Greek mythology and became known as the Mother of Monsters, because nearly all the famous monsters in Greek mythology are her offspring. After she and her partner, Typhon, attacked Zeus in Olympia, Zeus sealed Typhon underneathe Mount Etna but allowed Echidna and her offspring to remain free, as a challenge to future heroes. Neat, huh?
Echidna herself was half-woman, half-serpent, but many of her children were either part-lion or part-dog, hence the heraldry-type image in the corner. Her choldren include Ladon, Cerberus, the Nemean Lion, the Gorgon, the Chimera, the Sphynx, the Hydra and Orthros.
I've used Medusa's Daughter by Delicious Doodles as my image and the backing paper is from the Poison Punch set at Crafty Chaos Designs.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
The Pixie Cottage - sketch 90
One Stitch At A Time - anything goes
Paper Sundaes - your favourite colour combo. Mine is purple and green, I love them together.
Crafts and Me - use a digi
Mami Doodles - Mother Nature. Echidna is definitely a mother and with all the various creatures in her family, plus the fact that she was the offspring of Gaia (the Earth spirit) I think she counts.
Delicious Doodles - tales of the unexpected. I'm hoping that thinking of a serpent-monster as a mother-figure is unexpected enough.
Lothian Crafts Online - anything goes
Just Tracy's Crafts - anything goes

Kitties, kitties everywhere, and one of them's bright green!

Here's a fun card I was inspired to make today by the wonderful freebie set that Ike is giving out HERE. The papers are from the Shades of Halloween set at Crafty Chaos Designs.
Here are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Smeared & Smudged Very Sketchy - October card sketch
Victorine Originals - Halloween
Crafty Boots - zoo or animal-themed
Come and Get It Challenges - Halloween
Tuesday Throwdown - Halloween
Crazy Amigos - animals
Clear It Out Tuesday - Halloween (the image is brand new but I've had the papers since last year)
Lollipop Crafts - Halloween
Stamp with Fun - Halloween
Fussy and Fancy - Fall or Halloween
Totally Papercrafts - animals
Making Halloween Cards - stripes and/or a haunted house
Meljen's Designs - Halloween
C.R.A.F.T. Challenges - bright colours
Little Miss Muffett - animals or monsters
Crafts and Me - use a digi
Repeat Impressions DCC928 Designer’s Choice Challenge - animals
Little Darlings Challenge - Fall or Halloween
2 Sisters Challenge - Halloween
Drunken Stampers - Halloween
Challenge Up Your Life - Halloween
Lothian Crafts Online - anything goes
The Queen's Royal Digi Challenge - Halloween
Creative Craft World - Halloween

Killer Pumpkin Apocalypse!

Here's a silly pumpkin card I made today. The scientist guy is from Smeared Ink and the pumpkin is a freebie from Birds Cards.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Repeat Impressions - Sketch O511
Sentimental Sundays - sewing or stitching
Pile It On - make it fun (well, it makes me laugh :P)
Gingerloft - orange
Scrappy Frogs - fruit
Freshly Brewed Designs - pumpkins
Crafts and Me - use a digi
Crafting 4 All Seasons - fall flowers or pumpkins
Craft Your Passion - anything goes with ribbon
Crafty Cardmakers - anything goes
Paper Creations Inks - black and/or orange
Smudgy Antics - pivk a pumpkin or two
The Stamp Man - circles

From the Xander Zone Blog Hop and Auction

Welcome to the Xander Zone!! You are in for quite a trip through todays Blog Hop and Auction. Our dear friend Betty Roberts, owner of Simply Betty Stamps has just found out this week that her 17 year old son Christian has Stage 1 Throat Cancer. He will be having surgery next week and many months of Therapy to follow. (To read more from Betty on what’s going on please go HERE)

Betty’s DT and the Crafty Sprouts DT along with a few friends have come together today for the From the Xander Zone Blog Hop and Auction! If you are stumbling into this hop please head to Crafty Sprouts to catch the beginning of the hop!

If you hopped here from Pam then you are right on track!

As you hop along today you will see cards created with Xander, the first in a new series to be released called “From the Xander Zone”. He is available with a donation to Betty’s family. Christian will be undergoing Surgery next week to remove his tonsils and then the thrice weekly Therapy will begin on the tumor. His therapy could last for many months.

There is also a contest running through October 16^th and Christian will pick a random winner who will receive the whole collection! The details on the contest are at the SBS blog.

As you hop today you will also see many cards and projects up for Auction. In order to make a bid on an item leave a comment on that person’s blog with your offer AND your name and email address. Please remember that it might not be you who gets the winning bid, so check back if you really want it!

At the end of the Hop (Tuesday night October 11^th at 9pm EST the auction will come to a close. Winners will be sent a paypal invoice and the Winners will be announced on the Simply Betty Stamps blog. Please note that we are asking for timely payment, with 48 hours of the announcement on Tuesday morning or the runner up will be chosen. This is for the simple fact that Betty’s family needs this money as quickly as possible for all of these unexpected and out-of-pocket needs.

I've made a card featuring two of the Xander Zone characters, Xander and Cece. Cece is originally holding a lollipop but I covered that with a sign saying "Christian roolz" The papers are from the Secret Forest set at Crafty Chaos Designs.And up for auction today to help raise money for Betty and her family, I'm auctioning off my ENTIRE SHOP CONTENTS!!!!!!! This includes every single item that's in the shop today (6th October) but not anything that isn't actually released yet, sorry. The auction for this is open to international bidders, as no physical items will need to be shipped. You'll get 69 PAPER SETS, plus a few digital stamps and several packs of sentiments to download. Worth a buck or two? I sure hope so! All the money will go straight to Betty and I'll send you a link to download your products as soon as I've heard that you've paid. Please make any bids in USD, to avoid me having to try and convert different currencies to work out which is the highest bid. If two people make the same highest bid, the winner will be the one who posted first. If you'd like to make a bid for this, please leave a comment with your name, email and bid amount. The auction will end Tuesday October 11th at 9pm EST, I'll get in touch with the winning bidder, then Betty will send you a Paypal invoice and as soon as I know that's been paid, I'll make your downloads available. There is NO minimum bid, so, whatever the amount, the highest bid will win the entire shop contents. You can have a look at what's in store, to see what you're bidding for, HERE, or by clicking the badge in my sidebar.

From here please hop over to the last stop on the hop, which is Simply Betty Stamps.

If you get lost along the way, here’s the hop order!

Crafty Sprouts

Cyndi

Kristi

Suzi

Zeni

Wendy

Rebecca

Vicki

Alison

Raven

Lea

Lelia

Sandra

Aeryn

Nicole

Elsa

Cheri

Carley

Linda

Pam

Susan (you're here:P)

Simply Betty Stamps

These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Pollycraft - sketch
Crafts and Me - use a digi
Penny's Challenges - anything goes
Cooking It Up with Katie - Fabulous, Fun and at least one other F word (friendship, in this case)
Divas by Design - buttons
Digital Tuesday - celebrate something (Christian's attitude, and the fact that he'll beat this nasty disease)
Papertake Weekly - anything goes
Make It Monday - linky party
The Crafty Pad - one for the boys
One Stitch At A Time - use a digi
Catch the Bug with Bugaboo Stamps - anything goes
One Stop Crafts - one for the boys
Drunken Stampers - get well or thinking of you
Craft Your Days Away - tag it (you can barely see the hole, beacause I stuck a button over it, but the circle sentiment is on a tag)
Crafts 4 Eternity - anything goes
The Poodle's Parlour - birthdays or buttons or brads
Southern Girls - create a project for boys or men
CRAFT Challenges - bright colours
Pile It On - do it with fun (I hope the fun image counts, even though the card is for a serious reason)
Lothian Crafts Online - anything goes
The ABC Challenge - A is for Anything Goes
Creatalicious - anything goes
Desert Island Craftsers - I've used 1, no white, 5, circles and 9, a tag
Creative Friday - circles


And don't forget to leave a bid if you'd like to help Betty out and get my store contents into the bargain!

Burton and Beyond!

Whee, I've been dying to tell you all about this, but have had to keep quiet. I'm on the Design Team for a new challenge blog, set to take over where The Burtonesque Dolls left off. Beyond the Burtonesque Dolls goes live with its very first challenge today. If you love the work of Tim Burton, and enjoyed the challenges over at The Burtonesque Dolls then you'll like it here. All the forthcoming challenges will have a 'Burtonesque' feel to them, although they may have no direct link to the works of Tim Burton. The whole idea of this blog is to widen the challenges, maybe introduce you to films, books and directors that you've not heard of before. It's all about fun, maybe a little quirky and twisted fun, but still fun.
Our first challenge is to create something that commemorates a favourite Halloween book, film, or memory. Easy-peasy and open to lots of interpretation, so we'd LOVE to see all sorts of creations by you.



I had a REALLY tough time narrowing down my inspiration, but in the end I decided to create a piece inspired by The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. The background text is all taken from the original story, and I hope that the tree, the skulls, and the scheming female standing over the grave capture the feel of the story. The images are Spiderella by Simply Betty, and Bah, Humbug Tree by Delicious Doodles, and I created the rest of it in PSP.
These are the challenges I'd like to enter:
Deconstructing Jen - sketch 21
One Stitch At A Time - use a digi
Paper Creations Ink - black and/or orange
Craft Your Passion - anything goes with ribbon
Irish Teddy's - trees
Pixie Dust Studios - be inspired by a book or film (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving)