Smeared & Smudged Guest Designer Challenge

Just a little heads-up for all of you challenge nuts out there :)  Over at the Smeared and Smudged ning site, I am hosting the

October 2010 Guest Designer Challenge

So, you might want to head on over and play along!  The challenge is to create something

paying homage to one of the Goddesses of Harvest.
You may only use warm, Fall colors and you must also have at least one rubber-stamped image.

This is my offering:

Stamps:  Elementals (Smeared Ink), Falling Leaves (Stamper's Anonymous),

Trendy Greetings (The Angel Company)
Paper:  Karen Foster dp, white cs (Neenah), Bazzill cs
Ink:  Tuxedo Memento, Burnt Sienna Palette
Other:  Copic markers, sheer ribbon (Hobby Lobby), pop dots

I LOVE this Smeared Ink image!  Though she is a Fire Goddess rather than an Earth Goddess, the colors work so well with her that I had to ink her up :)

 

So, are you all up for the challenge?!!

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Simply Betty Sketch Challenge!

Hey all you challenge fans!  Here's one for you:  the Simply Betty Stamps blog is hosting a sketch challenge that will run through July 29th (11:59pm Eastern time).  That's right... about three weeks, so there is PLENTY of time for you to try this baby out:

And guess what the prize is for winning this challenge?  One lucky winner will get to be a Guest Designer for Simply Betty Stamps in August!  Guest Designer means FREE images to play with... helloooo...  TOTALLY worth trying out the sketch, no?!

As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew I wanted to use Max & Li-Li!  Doesn't Max look like he wants to pet Li-Li?  Surely he wouldn't bite... well... maybe.  Since I printed these digi's prior to sizing them properly, I needed to figure out a way to make it work.  Hellooooooo forced perspective :)  You are my friend.  Doesn't it look like Max is standing in the background with Li-Li up front?  Simply by using a trapezoid instead of a rectangle.  Me likey.

Had I kept the rectangle shape, Li-Li would have appeared to be some crazy huge monstrous kitty... not that it would be a BAD thing :)

And did her eyes not come out freakin' awesome?  And what about her texture?  I know!  Copic blending solution, you are my friend, too :)  A scrap of an old washcloth and some solution, and Li-Li is all textured up.

Digi's:  Max & Li-Li (Simply Betty)

Rubber Stamp:  Spunky Sprite Girls (sentiment- TAC)

Paper:  Cougar white cardstock, Winchester cardstocks (TAC)

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo, Palette Burnt Umber

Other:  EK Success & MS border punches, Tim Holtz embossing folder, Scor-bug, Fancy Pants felt border, silver stardust gel pen

Copics:  0, BV20, BV23, E31, E35, E57, E59, V93, V95, V99, YR20, YR23, YR24

Don't forget to pop over to the SBS blog to see what the rest of the SBS Design Team created using the sketch (I can tell you, they are all awesome) and to link up your own creation for a chance to win!

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Marie Antoinette's desk

You may remember an apartment I featured awhile back that belonged to my friend Henry, HERE. Henry is interested in the age of enlightenment and in the arts of the time period; remember his visit to Versailles where he shared some of his pictures of the beautiful woodwork? He was kind enough to put together a post for me about a recent piece he saw that he thought we would all enjoy. Here is a delightful Louis XVI writing table I discovered at the National Gallery of Art. Superstar cabinetmaker Jean Henri Riesener made the table for Marie Antoinette in 1785. The table was at the Tuileries Palace, where the royal couple lived three years until their guillotine visit in 1793. The table is a perfect example of the Louis XVI style. It is symmetrical and rectilinear; and outlined in gilt bronze rope beading. A parquetry trellis pattern covers the tabletop, fenced three-quarters by a gilt bronze gallery.On the table’s sides, gilt bronze bas-relief putti play musical instruments in the clouds, flanked by “grills” of alternating palmettes and fluting. Two-toned parquetry echoing the tabletop edge lends depth to the tapered legs, which terminate in gilt bronze leaf-cast sabots. In a candlelit palace, the elegant table would shimmer in delicate golden outline. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette idealized virtue, simplicity and reason. They associated these ideals with the ancient Romans. In furniture design, Roman motifs like fluting, putti and acanthus leaves symbolized these ideals. The symbolism was ironic in the context of the controversially lavish royal lifestyle. Marie Antoinette’s writing table (Widener Collection 1942.9.407) is on display in Basement Gallery 11 at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

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365 Cards - Day 149 - Try a Technique Tuesday!!

Greetings all, & welcome :) I'm totally psyched to have been chosen as a guest designer for today over at 365 Cards!! This entire week is Reader Appreciation Week, so be sure to join in the fun for prize opportunities and to gawk at all of the wonderful cards the Design Team & Guest Designers have created :)

What is the technique today? SPONGING! Those that know me or my work will be the first to tell you that this is a technique that I use on probably 90% of my cards... and 100% on my Halloween cards :)

Sponging tends to create depth, and REALLY finishes off certain images wonderfully. The entire background of this Halloween Flourish Tree card was created with sponging. Yep, I started with a completely white cardstock panel for this baby :) I also used regular hydra sponges, as well as manicurist pads... the sponge creates a stippled texture, while the pad creates much softer blending.

I created a reverse-mask for the moon first. Start with the lightest yellow, and keep layering color toward the center... then add darker yellows & cognac colors at the outside edge to create a rounded look to the moon.

I then stamped the weedy image along the bottom & the tree. The tree is heat-embossed to give a bit of sheen and nice raised quality. Place a piece of paper to create a horizon line and start blending green & black inks for the ground and blues & purples for the sky. I went back with darker shades of blue & purple ink and created thin lines of clouds to add an eerie touch.

Then I stamped the sentiments & bats** in black, sponged black ink around the edges, distressed them, and matted the panels. Next up, used the Scor-bug for a little texture, swiped a white ink pad around the card base edges, and topped it all off with some sheer grungy-olive ribbon.

**The bats are actually one of the butterflies from the Love & Laughter tree image... I just snipped it apart from the main image... oh how I love cling-rubber stamps... I can manipulate them so easily to fit whatever I need :)

Stamps: Flourish Trees of Hope, Love & Laughter, Edge Designs, Tag Tidbits (happy), retired GWP (Halloween)

Paper: White UltraSmooth, Basic Black, & Penolope Cardstocks

Ink: Raw Sienna, Cognac, Noir, Starry Night, Prussian Blue, Violete, French Lilac, Landscape, & Jardin Moss Palettes

Other: Transcendence Embossing Powder, hydra sponges, manicurist pads (from Sally Beauty Supply), olive sheer ribbon

What do you think?

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