Day of the Dead Skull - Day 11

Getting it in under the wire this morning! This Day of the Dead skull is from a clear stamp set from Inkadinkado, stamped on glossy card stock and colored with Tim Holtz Distress markers and some Marvy markers, too I think. The swirly stamp behind him is a Stampers Anonymous wood mounted stamp. Patterened paper finishes off the top and bottom.

I hope you are enjoying the 31 days this year! I'm at the end if you are going through the list in order - so your work here is done.... for today! Unless you are like me and hop around or start at various points on the list and work your way around in a different order – I do that to make sure I see everyone since I can't get to all the posts every day - there just aren't enough hours in the day, unfortunately! I must say everyone is SO very creative and seems to be having such fun with the projects! I know that I am!

"I've Been Framed!" says Skeletor - Day 10

Here's day 10's Halloween Card. These stamps are from a Halloween set I got at the last convention and are from Invoke Arts. I really like her sets. I forget how I came up with the idea of having the skeleton peek out of the picture frame but I do recall being happily surprised that he fit into it just right! There are several patterned papers on this one – you can see I was true to my word about making myself start using all those yummy papers I tend to accumulate. The word "terrifying" is from one of the papers, actually, and it's a shiny silver, though that doesn't come through in the scan very well. The stripes at the top are actually a piece of decorative tape – something new I'm starting to collect and love using on my card creations. Tim Holtz has some neat ones but I'm finding more and more by other companies now, too.

Eddie the Vampire goes Trick or Treating - Day 9

This little vampire hopes he gets a lot of candy to sink his teeth into! He is a bargain $1 stamp I found a Michael's, the tag is decorated with a cool background stamp I got at Impression Obsession at the last convention - they have a neat system where you use them with a rounded acrylic block with a handle - it works SO much better than the old wood mount background stamps. So much so that I tore off some of my old background stamps and remounted them on the foam backing. The little bats are a Hero Arts stamp I've had for ages also.

Creepy Candelabra - Day 8

Wow, my scanner sure didn't want to cooperate tonight! Maybe there's a ghost in it? Finally got it working - not sure how, just turning it off and on a few times and finally it worked. It was fine for the last several days so I have no idea what was up. This image is a clear stamp from one of my Inkadinkado stamp sets on tan card stock. Again using the white Tim Holtz Distress marker for the white bits and colored Distress markers  for the other bits. A bit of stippling around the edges and layers of two different patterned papers onto the orange card stock. Oh, yeah, the spider and spider web are an old Hero Arts stamp set - I use that little spider a LOT at Halloween!

Please go and enjoy all the other Halloween bloggers and their wonderfully wicked artwork! And my thanks for all of you who persevere and make down to the bottom of this list (if you are going in order from the top) and leave a comment here.... it's MUCH appreciated!

Jack O'Lantern Card (Day 7)

Here's a cute little offering. I just got this new Fiscars corner punch and was finding ways to use it. And more patterned paper. The small strip, though it looks like  ribbon is a slim strip of paper. The jack o'lantern image was stamped on glossy card stock and colored by stippling orange stamp ink and then cutting out with deckle scissors. Simple yet cute.

Terror from the Big Screen (Day 6)

Sometimes I like to go monochromatic. This one, despite being mostly digital took quite a long time to create. Finding all the images and sizing them and cropping them in Photoshop took a bit of time. The stamp in the background is a favorite Tim Holtz spider web that I love because it's such a great size for cards. Sorry I'm a tiny bit late this morning -- woke up with a headache and didn't realize the time! I hope everyone is having as much fun as I am with the 31 Days - everyone is doing such interesting and fun work!!!!

The Witching Hour (Day 5)

Here's today's offering. The corner decorations are A Stamp in the Hand stamps (a set of two, a left and right) the silver background on purple was spray paint using a stencil. Artist Michelle Ward used to do a lot with that on her blog that I used to follow – I always meant to give it a try, now I finally have – and I loved the results! The hands on the "clock" are embellishments (I think they are Tim Holtz ones) and they are attached using a brad so they can move. The scrolly stamp is one of Sharon's (an unmounted and I'm not sure from what company). I hand wrote the words on it. That's all folks!

Spider Venom! Day 4

This has to be very quick and I'm getting this in just under the wire! I didn't get home last night til about 1:30 a.m.! It was fun and fine until I had to get up this morning! But Here's today entry..... one of my fave color combos: purple and green. This sports a lot of those papers I was talking about and a tag (I LOVE to do tags) and a really cute tiny brad attaching it - I got those at Hobby Lobby. Oh, and really neat-o Tim Holtz patterned tape at the very bottom of the tag. This one is so busy you might miss it!

Skeleton Warrior and his Diabolical Steed (Day 3)

Everyone is doing SUCH neat stuff for the 31 Days... I wish there were more hours in the day to take it all in! I am going to try to alternate and catch about half each day if I can do that. And I will miss tomorrow most likely since I will be at work from 8 a.m. through midnight (yes you read that right) NBC is coming to film where I work as part of the presidential debates and I have to stay and help because my boss is off the next 2 days. It should be fun but I will be exhausted!

I am working ahead, so no fear, I will have a posting at the very least. This is so much fun. Thanks for all the wonderful comments so far and to everyone who is stopping by to visit.

For today we have a fun skeleton warrior on his wonderful skeleton horse. This is from Lost Coast stamps and I just love this stamp. It's colored with the wonderful white Tim Holtz Distress marker - I just love how it goes on even on dark colored card stock and it shows up just GREAT! (the other Distress markers don't work quite like the white one) It has a nice patina and is a whole different look than what you can get with a gel pen.

The background is a neat paper from a Halloween pad - I got quite a few with coupons this year - you will be seeing quite a lot of scrapbooking paper in my projects this month - I'm forcing myself to actually USE my lovely papers and not hoard them.... they are too pretty not to be using up! Oh and the circles are some cool new stamps I found that are from a Claudine Helmuth set I found at Archiver's - foam stamps on a thin, clear plastic backing so you can see where you are stamping with them! They also have clear rubber stamps that coordinate that sort of outline the foam stamps but I didn't get those, I kind of like the look of these without that added outline. It is a neat concept the way they are backed though, nice to be able to see where exactly you are stamping. I used Chalk pad inks for those – I love my Chalk pads!

Be sure to get around and see as many other blogs as you can - there's so much awesome stuff out there to see!

Day 2 – Road Trip Down Creepy Lane.....

Day two of the 31 Days of Halloween... off to a great start everyone! (check out the blog roll to the right to see all the other participants and their gorgeous, creepy and creative artworks!) Here is my 2nd entry.... it was such fun to put together! A lot of these stamps are Sharon's and I'm not entirely sure of all the stamp companies they are from. If you have a specific question, Sharon or I can check on that for you. It was done in all black india ink on glossy Kromacote card and then colored with markers (mostly my new Tim Holtz Distress markers - I love 'em!) and stippled with dye inks, mostly Marvy pads I think. And a big THANK YOU if you stuck it out and got through the list to get down to me! (assuming you began at the top & worked down). There's a LOT of people playing this year!

31 Days of Halloween – Day 1

Here's my post for day 1 of the 31 Days of Halloween. The stamp in this one is from Picture Show (one of my favorite stamp companies when we go to the shows). You can thank Sharon for twisting my arm and getting me to sign up this year. That, and the fact that we worked very hard at her house for days getting ready for this! At least I have a head start. I will try to comment on everyone else's work just as much as I can. I know this will be super fun!

The Golden Mean

The Golden Mean by dieverdog featuring gold butterfly jewelry

Banish the Rain

Banish the Rain by dieverdog featuring donna karan dresses

Freedom at a Price

Freedom at a Price by dieverdog on polyvore.com

1960s Style

1960s Style by dieverdog on polyvore.com

Modern Starburst Wall Sconce (2), $75
Danish Modern Lounge Chair
Stone Hill Collectibles - Fab 60s Rockabilly Dress Full or Wiggle..., $13

Delila

Delila by dieverdog featuring corset tops

RED Valentino pleated skirt, £414
Handbag
Dannijo cuff bangle, $320
Mango beaded earrings, £28
Abstract Wall Art with Clock - Clocks - Home Accents - Home Decor |..., $199
Prima - Papers and Paintables, $1.19

New York Zen

New York Zen by dieverdog featuring plus size dresses

Plus size dress, $170
Rock shoes, £21
Laurafallulah daisy jewelry, £8.50
Z Gallerie - Snow Lotus -Natural Set of 3, $1,000
decorating walls, do-it-yourself decoration stickers, wall stickers,..., $38
Sandblasted Manzanita Centerpiece Branches, 18 inches : Blooms and...

Steampunk at Home

Steampunk at Home by dieverdog featuring a pleated a line skirt

Goth top, $43
NW3 pleated a line skirt, £79
Skinny leg jeans, $31
modern antique baroque living roomlounge chairs
Z Gallerie - Peacock Feathers - Set of 12, $23
Vintage Eiffel Tower Wall Art, $99
Antique Brass Romeo 5 Light Crystal Chandelier, £87
1STDIBS.COM - Antiques on Old Plank Road - Exquisite Petite Vintage...

Making Cards for Friends

I've been making cards for several friends - a get well card for Jonathan, a retirement card for a friend at work and a thank you card for my aunt Paula. I also recently did a birthday card for my friend, Sharon.

The Mesh Challenge!

This was done for the "Mesh Challenge" for the Smeared and Smudged blog hop challenge. I have to admit I didn't end up having a lot of time to create this because of a freelance job I had to focus on - but I knew what mesh I wanted to use (amazingly I found it amidst all my stash) and just knew it would make a great Egyptian theme. I have no idea what other people will be creating with mesh - but it will make for a lot of unique things I imagine! I defaulted to my comfort zone of card-making since that's what I do more of than anything else.

This was great to get me back blogging - I had no idea I'd been away from it for so long - I just couldn't believe it when I saw the last date on my post! I haven't been away from creating that long - just blogging! (you can see some of my other things on my flickr site if you are so inclined). Thanks for dropping by!

Here's the blog roll for the hop!

JANUARY SMEARED & SMUDGED
MEMBER BLOG HOP
BLOG ROLL

Tori
Black Dragon
Fiona
Monique
Jane
Celina
Sara
Kristy
Heather
Kapree
Helen
Alison
Sugar
Dianne
Lisa
Sharon
Pam
Ike
MaryKay