Fabulous? Oh, yeah!

Here's what I created last night - I do make myself chortle sometimes :P The image is by Dilly Beans, everything else is by me.

These are the challenges I'd like to enter -
Dilly Beans - New Year
Just Inspirational - New Year
Digitally Sweet - "Anything goes" AND "Focus on the sentiment"

Done and dusted

Here's my latest make for the Left of Center challenge, which is Black Christmas/Creepmas. For the record, I don't actually hate Christmas, I quite enjoy it, but it's quite low-key in my house and the major fuss that everyone online seems to make sets my teeth on edge a little. So, here's my reaction :P

Santa Claus is WHAT?!!??!!!

This has me giggling like a loon :P It's my second entry for the Left of Center Black Christmas/Creepmas challenge.

Ho, Ho, Ruddy Ho!

I just got this fabulous image by Dilly Beans and I've had enormous fun practising my colouring on her. This is what I made for the challenges at -

Left of Center - Black Christmas / Creepmas
Dilly Beans - winter holidays
Open-Minded Crafting Fun - unusual Christmas (unusal colours, non-Christmas image and un-traditional sentiment.

Out of all the skulls in the world, I chose you!

Here's what I made today, using images and paper from Delicious Darkness, where you can currently snap up many amazingly creeptastic images with 50% off. But hurry, as the offer will end when the shop closes (although you will still be able to purchase many of the stamps at Smeared Ink). I made this for the final challenge at the Deliciously Dark challenges blog, where the theme is anything goes, with a Creepy Crimbo twist.

Certified!

I've made something this evening that I'd like to dedicate to several of my fellow dark-side crafters, but it's left me with a small dilemma, as I'm not sure whether or not to go and leave comments saying "Hey, come and look at my blog, I made something for you" I don't want anyone to feel pressured into visiting, but there are some people that I would like to see this piece, as I think they'll get a kick out of it. Decisions, decisions. I have at least made sure that no-one of a normal disposition will have it inflicted on them, but the phrase "gore whore" pleases me greatly. I'm entering it into the current Dark Themed challenge at the Left of Center blog as the wonderful people there have an appreciation for non-normal creativity - thank you VERY much for encouraging my darker pieces :)

Wicked angel

Here's what I made last night for several challenges.

Left of Center - dark themed
  Take a Word - angels
Just Inspirational - anything with wings

Jolly Santa!

Here's what I've made this evening, for the challenges at the Digitally Sweet Challenges and the Just Inspirational Challenges blogs. The quote is from George Carlin, and the paper and boot are both from Tiny Turtle Designs.

The challenge at the DSC blog is Focus On The Sentiment, and the challenge at JIC is One For The Boys.

Every great dream

Here's what I created today, for the challenges at Quirky Crafts and Just Inspirational. The quote is by Harriet Tubman, about whom I knew nothing until I found this quote. She's well worth looking up.

The Just Inspirational challenge is Anything with Wings, and the Quirky challenge is a colour palette and/or a shaker card.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

The current challenge at Open-Minded Crafting Fun in Unusual Christmas, and I had fun creating this piece. However, I do understand that not everyone has the same perspective I do on what is / isn't acceptable. So, if you don't want to see an alternative Xmas card with scantily-clad women, or to explain to children why they're on a card marked Ho! Ho! Ho!, I thought you shouldn't have to. There's no nudity, no exposed body parts that you couldn't see at a celebrity party or pop video, but, you have the choice whether to see it or not. It makes me chuckle, but I never claimed to be normal.

It's playtime!

Ack, "face your fears" they said. "It'll be fun" they said. "What could go wrong?" they said. Well, frankly, THIS is what you end up with when you give a twisted mind free rein and tell it to focus on its fears :P Now I'm going to have to watch something like Despicable Me 2 or the Lego movie before I go to bed. Just in case it isn't glaringly obvious, the fears I faced in this horrific creation are dolls heads, creepy-ass kids with evil staring eyes, and getting stuck in some macabre TV realm. Face Your Fears at the Left of Center challenge blog.

Quote by Terry Pratchett

Here's what I made today, for the Focus on the Sentiment challenge at the Digitally Sweet Challenges blog, and the Swirls and Twirls challenge at the Three Muses blog. The quote is by the marvelluos Terry Pratchett, from a book called Digger which I haven't read yet, but I found the quote online.

He's behind you!

I've been giggling away to myself while making this today. The scared little girly is by Bella Caribena at Tiny Turtle Designs and the evil snowman is by Krissy's Scraps at Exquisite Scraps. The sentiment won't seem particularly Christmassy to any non-UKers, but over here it's a traditional part of many pantomimes, when the audience chorus "He / She / It's behind you!" to the hapless hero/heroine.

I'd like to enter it into the Let It Snow challenge at the Order of the Opus Gluei blog, and the Anything Goes challenge at the Digitally Sweet Challenges blog.

Sometimes I have to remind myself . . .

Here's what I created today for the Grateful challenge at the Open-Minded Crafting Fun blog and the Anything Goes challenge at the Digitally Sweet Challenges blog.

Emily at 2

This is my second creation for the Babies challenge at the Left of Center blog, and I'm hoping little Emily here is still young enough to count as a baby. I've been having fun playing with the Hotel Hell kits from Mischief Circus and indulging, once again, my darker side. I'm not going to inflict this piece on any of the current Anything Goes challenges as I figure it's a little too macabre, but if anyone knows of any challenges that celebrate the darker side of art and will accept digital-only, stamp-free entries, please let me know.

Rock and rule!

Bwahahahaha! Did you think that a darkside baby-themed creation would be impoossible? Think again, and allow me to present my Rock and Rule perversion. It's for the challenge at the Left of Center blog, and the theme is Babies. I worried that the link-up at Left of Center might end up over-run by relatively sweet baby cards for this challenge, so I decided to throw in a healthy dose of goth to redress the balance :P And the pun in the post title makes me ridiculously happy - puns, evil babies and bloodstains; my work here is done :D

Gremlins need stories, too!

The current challenge at the Left of Center blog is Gremlins, and I've had fun indulging my darker muse.

And in the opposite corner

Here's what I created today for the latest challenge at the Digitally Sweet blog. The challenge, sponsored by Bugaboo, is Opposites, and there are many, many opposites in this piece, so I may have to list them. Black vs white, circles vs squares, , coloured centre vs un-coloured bg, CAS centre vs busy bg, zombies vs cute, death (zombie) vs life (baby), jagged edge on the "ribbon" piece across the bottom vs scalloped edges on the centre circles and green vs magenta (opposites on an RGB colour wheel) in the centre. Sometimes I worry about my obsessive tendencies :P The digi stamp is by Bugaboo and everything else was created by me.

Reflection with Opus Gluei

The current challenge over at the Opus Gluei blog is "Reflection" and as always it's open to your own interpretation, but it's definitely worth taking a look at the Design Team creations because they're wonderful. I really spent a while pondering this one and then starting but not finishing bits that I wasn't happy with. Here's what I did finish, using a quote from Nelson Mandela which not only uses the word "reflect" but also bears reflection. ;)

Do you believe?

This is my second entry for the Fairy Photo Inspiration challenge at the Digitally Sweet Challenges blog. I'm so pleased to have found somewhere that will accept my digital creations, and I knew I'd be back with another one for this challenge in more appropriate olours. The fairy is by Outlaw by Design, the elements are from Tiny Turtle Designs and the bg is by me.

Going where the mojo takes me

Please note: I WOULD like to be included for the prize draw for this challenge - usually I opt out of the prize draws because I don't use stamps or traditional crafting items, but I do love digital collage sheets, so please include me for this one.

This is what I've created for the current challenge at the Digitally Sweet blog, and I have a bit of explaining to do. The challenge is a photo inspiration challenge, and the photo is in shades of purple and turquoise blue, with fairies and swirls and I love all of those things, so it seemed like a no-brainer for me to play along. But when I started looking through my fairies, this one kept calling out to me. She absolutely refused to be colour-changed into a purple fairy, and insisted on staying this shade of orangey-red. Which isn't a colour I particularly like. And then I realised that I was going to make the background for her in the same colour as well. At the very beginning, I planned on making this a birthday creation and using polka dots as well, so that I could enter two other challenges, but she wasn't having any of that either. So, after I completely gave up on my original ideas and allowed her to lead me where she wanted to go, I ended up with this piece, which I'm really quite pleased with.

Insanity vs. Genius

I created this piece of absurd nonsense tonight, for the current challenges at Open-Minded Crafting Fun and Quoth the Raven blogs. The first challenge is All Kinds of Fowl, and the second is a Poe-themed colour challenge. The quote around the edge is by Poe, from the short story Eleonora, and I've used the colours purple, green, orange and black.

Bwahahahaha!

The new challenge at the Left of Center blog is Polka Dots, and I've had fun putting together this cute-but-evil creation. She's trying so hard to be wicked, but she just makes me smile.

Late for the party

I made this today, for the current challenge at the Left of Center blog, which is fireworks or celebration. I was completely inspired by this marvellous card on Ike's blog this morning. Puns and skulls - who could resist?
Again, please don't include me in the draw for prizes as they would be wasted on me - I'm entering purely for fun.

Deep in earth

The current challenge at the Take A Word blog is Think Pink. I've used a dark grungy shade and created this piece. The couplet was written by Edgar Allen Poe after his wife died, and I love the absolute melancholy it evokes.

Oopsie!

I've kept myself amused this evening by creating this for the current challenge at the Left of Center blog. The theme is fireworks and I went a little crazy, cramming in as many as I could. :P

Since I've only just added this bit to my header, I'll say it on each post for a while as well - I'm just entering for fun, please don't include me in any prize draws. :)

Lenore and the raven

Here's what I created today, for the challenges at Opus Gluei and Open-Minded Crafting Fun.
The Opus Gluei challenge is Treat Yourself, and I took that as an instruction to buy this blue-haired beauty. She wasn't on sale, and I didn't need her for anything, so I hadn't allowed myself to buy her when I first spotted her a couple of weeks ago, but I LOVE her blue hair. She;s by Alehandra Vanhek and is available at Pics For Design.
The Open-Minded Crafting Fun challenge is All Kinds of Fowl, but they expanded it to include any type of bird, so I swooped into Raven mode and allowed myself to be inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven. That's where the quote around the edge comes from, and Lenore is the name of the "the rare and radiant maiden" in the poem.

The Black Cat

I'm just entering for fun, please don't include my entry for the prize draw. :) I've been creating a piece for the Quoth the Raven blog challenge today. It's a colour scheme challenge, and I used purple (sky), orange (flames),green (lawn) and black (everything else). This is based on the Poe short story The Black Cat, during which the narrator firstly gouges out one of his cat's eyes (and frankly, I was on the side of the cat from that point on), then gets irritated that the cat no longer likes him and kills it by hanging it from a tree in the garden. That night, the whole house mysteriously burns down. Despite it being a short story, there is far more to the tale than I have gone into here, and the narrator also murders his wife, but I've covered the elements that I've used in this image.

For anyone interested, I started with a public domain photo of a house burning after the Kupaianaha eruption of 1990. The original ca be seen here, so you can see how much I changed it. I tried to include a copy of the image here for easy comparison, but it keeps coming up huge, so I'm afraid a link will have to do. Kalapana burning gardens jpeg

Admiring the floor

Here's what I made today, for the Freestyle challenge at the Three Muses blog. Maybe I've fallen, but I like the view from down here :P

Take fright

Here's what I came up with for the current challenge over at the Three Muses blog. The challenge is "Take fright" and I think I subconsciously had "take flight" in my mind as well.

Tempus Moriendi

Here's my entry for the Left of Center challenge, which is vintage Halloween, and the Open-Minded Crafting challenge, which is Halloween or dressing up. It's been a long time since I entered any blog challenges, so bear with me if I make a mess of things, ok?

Just testing

I decided to have a look at my blog again - yay two days of just trying to remove the old bg :P I've also deleted a lot of blogs from my reading list - apologies if you're someone I actually want to follow, but no doubt you'll get added back in again soon. I'm incredibly late for this, but the last challenge over at the Haunted Design House http://haunteddesignhouse.blogspot.co.uk/ is all about wood, and here's what I created. Huge apologies to the other Minions who have had to put up with my less-than-stellar work ethic on more than one occasion.