Plethora of Prickley Pear

Today I'm sharing with you some of the cards that I created throughout this month for the Prickley Pear Design Team. I've really enjoyed finding different looks for these stamps and am very excited to give you a little peek of what I've been up to.

Below you'll find four different cards that used Prickley Pear stamps and decorative papers from a Rockstar paper pack. I loved matching the papers to the stamps and making them interesting and fun!

For this first one, I used some copper mesh as my background. I embossed the "Guitar With Wings ATC" stamp onto decorative paper using copper powder, and then went in with my white gel pen to add details. I also framed the mesh with the same decorative paper, then used folded mesh, brown raffia, and my white gel pen to add accents on the card.




This next picture is a little off in the coloring, but you can get the idea. The card is actually a rosey pink without the yellow tinge to it. I stamped the "Skull and Crossbones" stams onto white cardstock and colored with my prismas; then I covered the whole thing with clear mini microbeads. My wodrs were also stamped on white, and a pink jewel brad was added as an accent. After layering my deco paper onto my card, some shiny pink thread was added behind my main image and everything was attached together. I know pink is odd for this stamp, but who says girly girls can't be bad?




I think this card is my favorite out of the four. I used a black card base, and believe it or not, the decorative paper came out of a shipping box. It was the stuff they had to pad the box. Awesome paper, and very textural! The flower image came off of the "Fabulous and Funky" half sheet. I stamped it in black and then used my white gel pen to add accents. I ripped some black paper and a long strip of the packing paper, then used it to wrap and tie a knot. Finally I added in eyelets and a black brad, and stamped the word "Live" by using a saying from the "Motorcycle and Pinup Girl" half sheet.




Finally, I used blacks, grays, and white to make this card. The stamped guitar image also came from the "Fabulous and Funky" half sheet, and was stamped and embossed in silver on gray cardstock. I used black watercolor to add some darker shadows to it. I layered torn paper, decorative paper, and some striped tied ribbon, then added cut out stars and eyelets to finish it off.



I hope you enjoy seeing these fun cards, and stay tuned in the next few days for some more cards and projects. I actually have a few spare days for stamping fun, and I plan on using them!

And don't forget, today is the last day to enter the sketch challenges over on the Smeared and Smudged Ning Group to win the fabulous "Retro Cowgirl" set from Bombshell Stamps. Hurry over to get your sketch on! And Happy New Years Eve!

December Bombshell Hump Day Hop

Welcome to the December Bombshell Hump Day Hop! Starting now, rather than hopping weekly, the Bombshells are bringing you a monthly hop dedicated to showcasing wicked projects and cards featuring Bombshell's awesome stamps!

To start the new year off right, I made a card featuring images from the "Love and Luck" and "Striped By Me" sets. It's very simple. In fact, if you visit Smeared and Smudged regularly you probably know that I like stuff. Lots and lots of stuff on my projects! But I wanted to bring a simple, stripped down vibe to this card to emphasize the beginning of a brand new year.


*click pics for larger views*


I colored the birds and banner in bright colors to illustrate a bright and beautiful future, and used the luck and fate banner to symbolize a fortunate year. The metal brads and medallion are tacking down the vibrant decorative paper over the crumpled vellum; covering the "old" and symbolizing a solid, clean start.

I know, lots of info on such a simple card, but I'd like for you to know the thinking behind it. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this and that you hop to the other participants blogs as well. Don't forget, for every comment you make, you have the chance to win the prize from Bombshell! Happy Hopping!!

Mary G.

Ms. December - Erika

Kathi

Nicole

Kas

Gabby

Miss Magoo

Katie

Oh! The Horror! Smeared and Smudged Challenge

Every month on the Smeared and Smudged Network, a challenge is posted in the Oh! The Horror group. The challenge is to use a vintage or current horror movie as inspiration for a project. You can use the movie, movie poster, characters, or anything having to do with the movie as your inspiration.

This month, the movie showcased was called "Scream and Scream Again", starring Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, and Peter Cushing. Here is the picture:



For my card, I used the movie poster as literal inspiration and this is what I came up with:

*click for larger view

I used several different sets from Bombshell Stamps to build my card, along with vellum, glitter, and paint pens. The sayings on the card say "Bad Girl Till Death" and "Hot As Acid". I think it's a fun little card!

If you're interested in participating in any of the challenges, or just networking with other Smeared and Smudged stampers, visit us on the Smeared and Smudged Ning Group. We'd love to welcome you!

Winter Watcher Mini Journal

Today I'd like to share a mini journal that features the Winter Watcher stamp image from Sweet Pea Rubber Stamps. I used the same techniques as before to gut an old hardcover book, and trimmed it to the size I wanted. Then following the same steps in my Flaming Hot Decorative Paper Tutorial, I added a painted background in black, purples, and gray, with some black glitter accents. The image coloring was done with prismas, watercolor crayons, and paint pens, and I finished the book off with some crystal brads, torn paper and frayed ribbon.



I'll be touching up the inside of this journal with some paint before adding into my etsy shop at the beginning of January. if you're in love with this or any of the other journals I've made, be sure to check out my shop soon because I'll be offering some beautiful and interesting hardback journals!

I hope you all enjoyed your holidays this month and were able to share some heartfelt, handmade items with those you love!!!!I'll be relaxing for a few more days, then welcoming in a whole new year of exquisite and fun art. I really look forward to you all joining Smeared and Smudged in 2010!

Home Crafted Holidays Dream Journal

Hello everyone, and thanks for visiting Smeared and Smudged today! I'd like to welcome those of you who are joining me from the Domestic Witch's Home Crafted Holidays, and also welcome back all of my followers and old and new friends. I'm looking forward to sharing my project with you!

This time of year is all about giving, renewal, and enjoyment of life. In the dead of winter, it's hard to believe that Winter Solstice is the strongest time for nature during the year. Everything slumbers and prepares for the chance to grow stronger and more vibrant in the spring; it's a wonderful time!

I thought for my home-crafted gift idea I'd share with you a dream journal that the recipient can use to strengthen and prepare themselves. It can be stored bedside and used as a literal dream book to record dream details each morning, or it can be adapted and used to record dreams and aspirations for the coming year.

To start off, you will need an old hardcover book and a blank text block. If you know how to make text blocks, wonderful! If not, you can find them online from book making stores. I purchased mine from Hollander's.

Cut the old text block out of your cover as shown below. Then place your new text block inside the cover and trim the cover down to fit nicely over your new blank journal. Set your text block aside.

Pick a nice 12 x 12 decorative paper that you want to use to cover your journal. Place your open cover over the paper, and trim leaving 1/2 inch around each edge. Cover the whole back of your paper with glue, and set your cover on top of it face down. Fold the edges of the paper over onto the inside of the cover. Make sure you use strong glue, like bookbinders glue.

The inside of your cover will look like this.

The outside will look like this (with your decorative designed paper on the outside).

Now comes the fun part where you get to add in your own artistic embellishment. If you're not artistic, you can add pre-made stickers, a nice jewel, a flat flower, or anything you'd like on the cover using a strong glue like e600 and be done with the decorating. I LOVE to add my own artistic flair to my projects, so I'll take you step by step through what I did. The most important thing to remember is this is a dream book, so just go with the flow of your creativity! Don't plan too much.

First, I dry brushed some white paint onto the cover.

Then I used paint and gel pens to add some swirls and dots to one side of the front cover. Remember, don't think too much, just let it happen!

I chose the rubber stamp images that I wanted to use, and stamped them with versamark ink directly onto the cover, then poured black embossing powder over them. You could stamp them with just black ink, but you'll see why I embossed them in a minute.

After stamping all my images and covering with powder, I used my heat gun to melt and set the powder.

Then I stamped my word "dream" all over just using black stazon ink.

Now you'll see why I embossed my images. Using my white gel pen, I colored in my wings and the whites of the eyes. Since I embossed, the white did not cover the outline.

On the top of my journal, I used heat and stick embossing powder to add antique silver pearl ex, and clear mini micro beads. Then I punched holes directly into the cover and added jeweled brads.

I also took a flesh colored prismacolor and added a little bit of color to my faces.

I decided I wanted a little more depth, so I used a black prismacolor and blender to add shadows to my images. Here you can see the top two are shadowed and the bottom image is not.

After all my shading, this is the cover I ended up with.

I punched another small hole directly into the bottom corner of the cover and added a star charm with a brad. The brads are visible on the inside of the cover, but they won't be seen when we're done.

To finish off the outside, I wrapped blue and black ribbon and fiber around the spine part, tied it, and frayed the ends.

So now is when you flip your cover back to the inside. Cut two pieces of contrasting paper decorative paper to fit just inside the edged of the cover.

Using your strong bookbinders glue, cover them completely and then place inside.

Your inside cover will now look like this with your own paper. This is what will hide all those brads that we stuck through the cover.

Finally, add glue to your text block and glue it to the cover. If you get text blocks from Hollander's, they have an excellent instruction book that you can get telling you how to glue in a text block, and I highly recommend it! If not you can also find instructions online. You just want to make sure your cover and spine are flush with the block, which is why I lift my side up and then glue.

After gluing in both sides of the text block, you are done! Just place your book under a very heavy object overnight so the glue can set, and then you're ready for wrapping!

Like I said before, you can decorate your journal any way you like, and it makes an excellent gift that almost anyone can enjoy. It's also a great way to keep unwanted hardcover books out of landfills, and the covers can be trimmed to any size. If you're a mixed media artist, you can use the old pages for other projects, and if you're not you can recycle the old book's pages.

So, I hope you enjoyed my journal project and that you give it a try. It's a wonderful gift to give, a great way to express yourself, and just plain fun to make! I'd love to hear what you think about it, so feel free to leave a comment, and visit Smeared and Smudged again soon.
Happy Home Crafted Holidays!

*NEW* Smeared and Smudged Monthly Sketch Challenge

Do you love challenges? Are you interested in winning some awesome prizes from rockin' stamp companies? Join the new monthly sketch challenge group on the Smeared and Smudged Ning Group,
and show us what you've got!

Smeared and Smudged will be hosting a card and scrapbook sketch each month, and boasting some pretty wicked prizes from varying sponsors!

DECEMBER'S SPONSOR IS:

BOMBSHELL STAMPS Vintage Art With Attitude! Click the pic above to visit Bombshell's website where you can view products, read newsletters, and participate in their awesome forum!

Visit Smeared and Smudged on Ning this month and submit your take on the sketches for your chance to win the Retro Cowgirl set from Bomshell!



Join others who love using vintage, gothic, alternative, and out-of-the-norm stamp images and techniques in their art, and just enjoy networking with other stampers. We'd love to welcome you!

Vintage Girdle Today Journal

The project that I am sharing today is another gutted book that I converted to a journal. I'm loving these text blocks from Hollander's so you'll probably see quite a few little journals and note pads coming from me over the next few weeks. Plus, they make great gifts!

Anyhoo, with this journal I cut the cover down to the size I needed and then painted with a grey and blue crackle finish. I stamped a harlequin background stamp in midnight green down one edge, and then whitewashed the whole thing.

I used the same midnight colored paint and white on the back of the awesome girdle transparency image from Prickley Pear, and then adhered that to the front of the book. Using the same techniques as my mermaid journal, I added in my "I Will" list to both the front and back cover using paint pens.


*click pics for larger views*


"I will listen to good music. I will relax. I will be less critical of others around me. I will take action. I will reminisce. I will be satisfied. I will "be", not "do". I will be honest. I will recycle. I will be a friend. I will be creative. I will be free. I will smile, anyway. I will be like a breath of fresh air. I will rest my weary bones. I will be me."

Then I painted some chipboard letters with the midnight color, added sketchy outlines and jewels, and adhered to the bottom of the transparency. After adding a black outline, some shading with chalk, and some whymsical flowers, I finished off the book with some black yarn and then attached my text block to the inside.



I thought it would be cool to have a journal that reminds me of the things I would like to do and the person I would like to be every day. Plus it sports a rockin' image! I hope you enjoy it, let me know what you think and I'll see you next time.

Prickley Pear Sketch Challenge- Star Ornament

Today I'm sharing with you a star ornament that was made using the sketch from Prickley Pear's December Sketch Challenge. The challenge starts today over on the Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps Blog, so be sure to head over there to see all the beautiful designs the DT have come up with, and to enter your own project to win a fabulous prize package worth over $60!





When I saw the sketch I thought immediately of making an ornament that could double as a package topper/card. I started off by cutting two larger stars from blue cardstock and sewing them together with silver thread. I left a little bit of space to add some plastic bag stuffing, then finished sewing it shut. The smaller white star was made by embossing white cardstock with snowflakes, then cutting that out and adhering only the middle.

Then I layered an embossed and glittered "Tis The Season" saying from PP, a blue circle with jeweled center, and a glittery feather. Finally, I added a ribbon hanger to the top. This ornament would be a perfect gift in itself, or as a topper for a package. Just add a sentiment to the back and it becomes a heartfelt card.

So I hope you enjoy my project. Be sure to visit the Prickley Pear Blog to see the fabo sketch, and to check out the other awesome projects!

Mermaid "Do" Altered Journal

Hi everyone! Wow, two posts in a row, that hasn't happened in a few weeks, but a few posts ago I showed you a fabulous mermaid stamp from Prickley Pear. I promised a project, and I'm here to show it to you!

If you remember, I also told you about some blank text blocks from Hollander's. Well, I used one of those to alter a calendar book that I found at Goodwill. I gutted the calendar and kept only the cover. The cover was really pretty because it had this embossed flower pattern on it (which is still visible on the back). I decided to give it a paint treatment with greens, blues, and gold to mimic an ocean, and I love the way it turned out!

Then I stamped the beautiful mermaid stamp from Prickley Pear onto some transparency sheet and colored it from the back with paint. I added some huge cartoon eyes and some bling on her crown. Then I finished the journal off with some fish from Itkupilli, torn painted paper, ribbon, tacks, and paint pens.

My first saying says "I will express myself wholly & completely in all that I...

*Click for larger pics*

The flap opens on the right side to reveal my second "saying". It says "You have more to see and more to... the two sayings meet at the end with the word "DO"




This little pocket was inside of the original book, so I painted it up and added it back in after I glued in my text block.


I hope you enjoy what I did...I would love to hear your opinions! I'm planning on making some variations of this journal for my two oldest daughters for gifts. Can't wait to do it again!

Christmas Angel- Bombshell Hump Day Hop

Welcome back to Smeared and Smudged for a December Bombshell Hump Day Hop. It's been a few weeks since I've participated in the hop, and I missed it! But I chose the right week to join in again, as this is Ms. December's Challenge Week. Give a warm, Bombshell Welcome to Ms. December, Erika T!

So now on to this week's theme...have you been naughty, or nice this year? Ms. December posed this question to us and challenged us to make a project that portrays our answer. Of course, when I heard this, I had every intention of making something naughty. We all know I like to be naughty! But like always, I started stamping and another idea popped into my head.

Yesterday me and my family spent the day decorating our Christmas tree, so ornamnets were coming out the ying yang. And looking at the tree today, I thought it would be fabulous to add a little Bombshell love to it. My project for today turned out to be a very NICE Christmas Angel ornament, using the Bombshell Angel stamp set. (I guess this will have to represent one of my daughters!)



The picture's kinda horrible, but you can see she was super simple to make by just cutting and coloring, then backing with chipboard. I made her skirt from some extra-wide gold ribbon, and the wings came in a RAK from Kathi (thank you Kathi!). I finished her off with a pipe-cleaner halo, some microbeads on her flower, and a hook in the back. She makes an excellent addition to our tree!

So now, hop over to see if the other girls have made naughty or nice projects, and be sure to leave comments for an entry to win the prize this month! If you wanna check out the December Challenge, you'll find it HERE. Have fun hopping!

Ms. December
Angela
Katie
Alyssa
Sarah
Kathi
Kas
Gabby