12 Days of Creepmas 2013- Day 1: Toxic Tree Topper

Hello everyone! So glad to have you visit my blog today and join me as I kick off the 12 Days of Creepmas 2013 festivities! Today is the first day of 12 Days of Creepmas hosted by the Smeared and Smudged Forum. Just in case you don't know what this is all about, I'll give you a quick run-down.

12 Days of Creepmas started a few years back as a way for us Halloween lovers to extend the creepy season a bit, and what better way than to combine it with another of our fave holidays: Christmas! This is definitely not going to be your typical Christmas themed project share, so be prepared to see some projects that really push the envelope and present Christmas in a creative, quirky, and dare I say, sometimes morbid way. Consider this your forewarning and please be respectful when leaving comments; there is a time and place for traditional Christmas but this hop is not it, and we hope you enjoy what we have to offer.

We've challenged our Jolly Bloggers to create stamped projects that really fit with a Creepmas theme, and they will be posting these project every other day up until Dec 23 and they must have their posts up by 9 a.m. PST. If they complete all 12 days of projects, each Jolly Blogger will be entered into the grand prize drawing at the end of the hop. The winner will receive a $100 digi shopping spree from Smeared Ink!

But wait, as a hopper you also have the chance to win! If you complete all 12 days of hopping by commenting on each and every blog, you will be entered into the grand prize drawing as well. In order to qualify, you must leave a comment on EACH participating blog every scheduled day.Your comment should be about the project or something related (ie-no "Here's my comment for today" or "I'm here!"...these types of comments won't count!) and cannot be a copy/paste comment. Your comments also must be posted before the next project, so if you are commenting on today's projects, you will need to comment before 9 a.m. PST on Dec 3.

Here are the dates for this year's hop:

Sunday December 1st

Tuesday December 3rd (Smeared Ink Day)

Thursday December 5th

Saturday December 7th (Smeared Ink Day)

Monday December 9th

Wednesday December 11th

Friday December 13th (Smeared Ink Day)

Sunday December 15th

Tuesday December 17th (Smeared Ink Day)

Thursday December 19th

Saturday December 21st

Monday December 23rd (Smeared Ink Day)

Now, you may be asking yourself what a Smeared Ink day is...these are the days we have challenged our Jolly Bloggers to use only Smeared Ink stamps. If they do, they will be entered to win an extra prize from us. As a hopper, you will also get the opportunity to win something on Smeared Ink days, so be sure to come to this blog to find out all the details on each of those days (and also to see my projects pretty please!)

I think that about covers it. You will always be able to find the blog roll in my sidebar, and just for good measure I will also put it at the end of this post. Now I'm going to move on to my first project.

On the first day of Creepmas my true love gave to me....

A Toxic Topper To Place Upon My Tree

*click pics to view larger

I decided to make a tree topper that features one of our newest digi sets, Toxic Ballerinas, as well as our 12 Days of Creepmas digi set. You can find both of these in our Smeared Ink shop. I started by sizing and printing the 12 Days images, then cutting, sealing, and distressing the edges of them with scissors. I did the same with some plain watercolor paper that I spray painted silver. I made my topper layers by alternating these with silver screen and metal mesh.

My Ballerina Top was printed normally and reversed lots of times, fussy cut and layered. (If you'd like to see a great way to do this, visit the S&S Forum Mixed Media University, Ike has posted a wonderful tutorial all about Fussy Cuts and Layering). I believe there are a total of 14 layers on the skirt, front and back, and 4 layers on each side of her body and face, plus a few side layers on the skirt. 

Here are some other views with different lighting, just for fun.

I hope you like her, I'll be adding her to the top of my Creepmas tree and I'll show you the tree at the end of the hop.

Now it's time for you to visit the rest of the Jolly Bloggers to see what they have in store for you for Day 1. Hope you enjoy hopping, and I'll see you back here on Dec 3. Have a great day!

Terra
Julia
Emily
Black Dragon
Teri
Wiola
Wendy
Lisa
Kelli
Donna
Violent Kittie
Kristy
Vicky
The Nanny
Tuts and Comments
Airless Chambers
Glittery Katie
Shell
Titbelsoeur
Kat
Lady Brayton
Alison