Halloween Postcards

I hosted a Halloween postcard swap this month with the BadBabies. I had a blast creating my cards and from the work I received from all the other players, I think they did too!

So, I am going to walk you through my card.

This is the purchased postcard I began with. It sort of started out a bit creepy. LOL I wanted to turn this run down old house into a honeymoon cottage for my couple. I sanded the entire card to increase that dilapidated look. Notice there is writing that I need to cover up at some point.



I painted a moon with acrylics and stamped the witch. (inkadinkado) The spider on the roof was stamped first in red but he didn't show up as well as I wanted so I overstamped him in black. (BoBunny) Can you see the ghost coming out of the upper right window? He is stamped on peach colored vellum. He is from one of my very first stamp sets. Poor thing is at least 25 years old. (inkadinkado)

Did you see the houseguest peeking out of the front door? I just love him. He is part of a trio of dancers. I masked the door and stamped him in (PSX)

I found my lovers on one of my photo cds. I was originally looking for a bride but when I saw this couple (and she was already tinted orange!), they seemed perfect.

They did need a little cosmetic work though. I used Photoshop Elements 5 for their enhancements. I gave him his lovely snow white complexion. She was much tougher. It seems she has very 'clear' skin LOL Using several layers, I added in her skeletal features....skull, hand and leg bone. Unfortunately, it is easier to see these features on the computer than the printed version but it is obvious that something is amiss. LOL

Mary was here last night helping bind the books and after staring at my card for a few moments finally said....what the heck is wrong with her face, she looks kinda creepy! LOL

And now for the finale. I stamped a wrought iron fence across the bottom (BoBunny) then added the pumpkins on top (Stampin Up and PSX) They are on regular printer paper and colored with pencils.

All the edges were 'distressed' with Tim Holtz Distress Inks (walnut stain and spiced marmalade)

They look happy in their new home, don't they?

Here is the cover of the book. I used a photo of a fence post wrapped in barbed wire that I took last summer (thinking it would make a great background someday).

The web in the lower corner is from a brush set I found online. I listed my favorite brush sites on my last post. :-)

I absolutely hate spiders, they totally creep me out, so I have no idea why on earth I wanted webs and a spider on this book! The spider is one of those cheapy plastic rings you see everywhere (except when you NEED them). I just cut off the 'ring'.

I am mailing out the books on Monday. I sure hope everyone likes them. I know I do!

Apron is done and delivered!

I finished Pam's apron and she received it on Monday so I can share the final product.

Pam is a bookmaker! She makes tons of them!!!! I am in awe of her! :-)

So, I made her a bookmaking apron.

I went with a play on words...

Below is "Japanese Stab". Pretty easy if you know book making basics...or even less if you are like me LOL

And this next one was tougher. Pam says she woke up in the middle of the night with the answer LOL Do you know your bookmaking techniques? Can you guess what it is?

How about "Coptic"? Yeah, it is a stretch LOL

And finally the finished apron. I haven't painted on fabric for years so it was really fun to pull out all the old brushes again. :-)

Playing with Digital

I started with a photo hubby took years ago in Dunsmuir. The flowers against the brick wall.

I added the woman from one of my photo cds.

The text and swirls are both brushes I downloaded online. No longer sure where they came from but my favorite places are

deviantart.com
getbrushes.com
damnedinblack.net

search for photoshop brushes and you will find dozens of sites!

And finally, I used a "scratches" overlay to give an even roughness to the finished project. Again, a free download. I am horrible. I download free sets of overlays and such, keep the one or two that I want and discard the rest. I lose track of where they came from. Here are a couple places I have frequented in the past.

digitalscrapbookplace.com
digiscrapdepot.com

I had fun playing around with layers, opacity and brushes. It was a fun way to relax and lose an hour or two. :-)

A is for Angels

I was reading the latest Somerset Holidays and Celebrations and saw this wonderful idea - the ABC's of Christmas. The example in the magazine was done 3x5 and stored in a box almost like a recipe box. I decided I liked the concept of a book instead with the tabs at the bottom like little footnotes.

I am using 4x6 manilla index dividers and like I said, putting the tabs on the bottom. I will eventually bind all the pages (plus covers) using my Bind-It-All.

So, I have 2 done. Not too bad since I just started yesterday.

A is for Angels

The angel girl came from the Vintage Postcards CD from American Image Gallery. The pair of angels are from the Victorian Images Volume Two, SummertownSun. And the "A" came from Memories of a Lifetime - Alphabets and Ornaments book and CD. Whew! that is a lot of image CDs!

I created the Peace on Earth banner using Photoshop Elements 5 and shaded by hand with pencils.

The swirly stamp in the upper left corner is from BoBunny.

I played with the girl a bit in Photoshop Elements and cut out her background. I hand tinted her wings with Twinkling H2os.

Everything is glued down on the divider that I had 'antiqued' with Distress Inks.


B is for Bells:

Not as much 'stuff' here. The B is again from the Alphabets and Ornaments CD. The bells from the Victorian Images. The bells are actually 3D. I printed the middle and right bells again on cardstock and cut them out, rounded them slightly and adhered them with 2 layers of foam tape. They are higher than the gold button clappers.

I used my crop-a-dile to add the eyelet and real bell to the bottom corner.

I am planning on adding lines from corresponding Christmas carols to the back of each page.

I'm all over the place!

I started painting Pam's apron. I have the top done. Next will come the pockets and finally the bottom. I am using a bookmaking theme since I know she makes tons of them and enjoys the processes.

Meanwhile, in my spare time, I am working on a bowl made from an old vinyl record. I melted it a couple months ago (when it was 110 outside!) I first put it in my husband's car sitting out in the driveway...just to see how bad it would melt....yeah, I was bored. I sat it on a large bowl and it sunk right down in! It wasn't even enough though so I fired up the grill and melted it some more. You have never had fun until you are standing in 100+ temps cooking a record on a grill! LOL

I am now in the decorating process. I am covering it with torn book pages.

Below is the bowl completely covered before I trimmed the edges. Next, I will be antiquing it....haven't done that yet. :-)

Today, the bad baby group decided to create a fatbook for one of our members that is battling a serious illness. She likes French images and postage (as well as lots of other things). I dug out my Oxford Impression Paris set for the woman and Eiffel Tower. The postmarks are from Hero Arts 'Tour De Luxe" set. I thought....what is more "French" then the Moulin Rouge? I hope it lifts her spirits and brings her healing along faster!

Done Wrecking!

I recently finished my wrecked journal swap. I mailed Jo Anne's journal back to her last week.

This one was rougher than the first. I found myself in a serious funk. Tucker's 17th birthday was August 10 and no matter what I did, I just couldn't stop missing him.

But, I am slowly pulling myself up and out of it. I still miss him and probably always will. He was "my baby".

So, one of the final pages I completed in Jo Anne's journal is below. He always was and always will be one of my favorite subjects. :-)

I know I took pictures of other pages I did in her book but heaven only knows what folder I downloaded them into! LOL I will probably stumble across them in a year or 2!

I am now into a new project...an apron swap. I am painting it up specifically for the owner and her likes. I will post pics soon.

I promise to not stay gone so long! :-)

One Done! On to the Next!

I finished Pam's journal last night.....Finally! I am sure she is getting very impatient with me LOL She sent mine and it arrived yesterday so I made myself sit down and finish those last 2 pages before I opened my package.

Below is one of the pages I actually did over a month ago but could never get a decent photo. I really like it. Then again, I love red! The instructions were to 'tear' images out of a magazine. Well, I didn't tear, I cut because I had that woman in my stash and I really wanted to use her. I don't think Pam will mind that I sort of cheated LOL
Here is the last page that I worked on. I found the photo at an antique shop last week. The instructions called for metallic tape but I don't have any and couldn't find any around here so I used masking tape and then 'antiqued' it.
Minnie actually completed the final page. It called for my cat's paw prints and I have been trying to figure out how to do that in a safe manner. It finally came to me....jelly. I dipped her tiny paw into some jelly then onto the page. Well, she wasn't too happy so she struggled and accidentally dipped her other front paw in the jelly and walked on my desk! LOL I took a damp cloth and wiped off her paws (got the majority of it off). She ran away and immediately began cleaning off the tiny bit still stuck to her fur......she was really enjoying her bath! LOL