Brand New Poe Portrait Digi

This is y brand new POE portrait digi and I am VERY proud of him-every once in awhile something just clicks and I really like the way he came out-I processed the original through CS5 so it would have a bitmap feel but still maintain the pen lines and a crisp graphic look-I like him with and without the lettering so I am selling BOTH versions as a set.

He's a great ATC or card graphic I think and with pop art colouring he could be really a smash

Here is MIRANDA's Andy Warhol Inspired version:



HOW COOL is that???


2 versions of poe for $5.00

Available here via PAYPAL or on ETSY

Faux Finishes at SNS

It's time for the 2nd SMEARED INK DESIGN TEAM THROW DOWN : Congrads to HAUNTED DESIGN HOUSE for their win on the first go round...we are sending them all violets courtesy of the Adriana Lecouvreur Florist, "ECCO LA LUCE"...

The winner of the previous match gets to select the theme for this one and they have picked FAUX FINISHES...

My team and I have accordingly produced a collection of projects which all feature faux finishes as well as a collection of new digis which I did for this weeks throw down.

MIRANDA - the Netherlands



Faux distressed metals and rust offset by faux blood set the tone for our collection BONEYARD.

Miranda used two of my new skull digis CANDLESKULL and WHA' HAPPRENED and a couple of the supporting digis from the collection THIGH BONE and BONEYARD SIGN (which comes blank for your personalization).

I love the heavy texture MIRANDA achieved on her projects.

MONIQUE - the Netherlands



We all did at least one Tag project as well as additional projects-here is Monique's tag featuring distressed Metal and;



Monique's Fabulous poison bottle complete with handy serving spoon and 4 sides of details-truly a wonderful creation-It was a decorated bottle that won Monique a spot on my EDT-I think you can see why.

RICK - WESTEDGE USA

Another of our design requirements this week besides Faux Finishes and my new digi collection was to include one or more digi or stamp from SMEARED INK-I used the flying Raven from the Holy City Collection and one of the Death Cabs - I believe there are 4-mine are digis-my team mates used rubber and/or digis-be sure to check out SMEARED INKS vast collection of unique designs.

Miranda used this IMAGE and Monique this IMAGE, Falling Dead Dancer.



My Graveyard Tag on a Faux Marble background created with a sea sponge and DECO ART Americana Paints using a bit of gel medium to keep the paint open so I could use a large fluffy brush to dry brush and soften the marble effect-I finished with a brush on matte sealer.



My Raven Tag and finally;



Another tag using a different marble technique - this one mostly dry brushing and blending.

I also did a collection of Faux Verdegris (Oxidized Copper Patina) shadow boxes with peek-a-boo vignettes.



The copper patina is accomplished by basecoating the item with COPPER PENNY by DECOART a wonderful line of metallic acrylics that have a true metal look (not pearl) then wet into wet sponging I used several colours including Dark Patina, SEA BREEZE and PISTACHIO MINT--at the end you work drier in order to get the true oxidized metal look and feel.

The important thing is to always allow a bit of the coppery shine to show through.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing our projects-here is a gallery collection to close:

DANTE for HDH

Haunted Design House has been having some fun challenges-well. fun for me since they appeal to my interests so this week its about Dante's Inferno---the wonderful allegorical epic poem encompassing Inferno as well as Purgatorio and Paradiso not the video game.

I decided to do something that was reminiscent of a book but only let you peek ay what was to come-I did a devil to greet you and used artwork from Dore' for the background inside the shadow box behind the devil.



The digis were coloured with promarkers and printed on Neenah White.

The box with its plastic window was a pain since its coated card stock and wants to NOT hold paint-I sponged on a metallic Patina using a fine sea sponge fro texture and Americana Metallics by DECO ART-a paint company I have a long history with from my decorative painting days.

Their liquid acrylics are top notch especially their metallic-they have a true metal look not pearl and come in a wide range of colour choices-I got mine at HOBBY LOBBY where they are less than 2.00 for a 2.5 oz bottle-great price-metallic a few cents more.

They clean up with water and when fully dry re waterproof like any acrylic but I do suggest a spray finisher sealer and DECO ART makes several.

I mounted the fussy cut devil and the background using foam tape-I made a hinge for the devil digi so he would stand quite a distance from the background and peek out the window.



I added some self adhesive rivets on the box top which I also painted in with the sponged patina and when dry I added lots of sparkly rhinestones in colours of fire and the patina-sadly very hard to photograph so you only get a vague hint o how spectacular the stones are.






OH I forgot to say the colours I used were NEW PENNY (Copper), DARK ESPRESSO (aged bronze) and DARK PATINA (dark green metallic).

Thanks to all the minions at HDH for this challenge-this particular image will NOT be available for sale since I accidentally coloured the original before scanning it but I will have some other interesting DANTE inspired images coming up soon.

Be sure to visit http://haunteddesignhouse.blogspot.com/ for their challenges every other Monday (with extra inspiration pieces on the Monday in between)>

I woul like to enter this project in the Haunted Design House Dante Challenge.

Did you know?

You can use your digis and jpegs for more than just cards and other paper craft projects?

One of the hottest trends is edible, printable cake prints and toppers.

You need a scanned image-hi rez and good colour from there you can order one to 1,000 edible copies online-you can also buy a home set up for about the same price as a cricut or similar cutting device that comes with products and ink so you are ready to go into business.

An 8 x 10 that you make yourself costs less than 5.00usd while bakeries charge up to 30.00usd for a similar service (on top of the cake price).

Printable products can be found online and companies that sell printers, edible inks and edible print media are becoming common.

Custom topped mini cakes that serve about 4 people run about 35.00 up at boutique bakeries and custom topped cup and tea cakes about 7.50 each...home bakers trim about 33% off these prices-many also buy plain white cakes from wholesale warehouses (like Costco) and add simple decorating and printed toppers.

If home baking is prohibited for sale in your area check out renting a commercial kitchen or space in a restaurant kitchen-you can also make a deal to supply local bakeries who do not want to invest in the printing, colouring etc that it takes to do really custom toppers.

Another way to use your digis and pay for your crafting habit!

Alli the Fashion Diva

Here are some assorted new designs my EDT has been working on

Alison - USA // Alli the fashion Diva



Natalia - Canada



Mother of Dragons

Monique - Netherlands



Gloria - USA



Nataliya - Canada



The Barbarian

Nataliya - Canada





Lucretzia Borgia

Helen - Scotland



Watch for more coming soon - these images are now available in my ETSY shoppe!

Il Pirata

or the pirate (feminine)...

My recent pirate couple has been a hit especially the lady privateer but I wanted something a bit more lush so I came up with this little lady...



Now there is more to the story-I had been kidding with Nataliya about her version of the first pirate lady which I found a big VEGASY.

I maintain that only at the Treasure Island Casino would someone find a pirate in pink boots and green leather...I don't think it's a BAD thing I just think it's a "costumey" thing (nothing wrong with that eh?).

So in Honor of Nataliya we now have the PIRATE NATJA and once again it was a fun event which I tried to keep secret...but alas...

The ladies didn't actually know what instructions were given to the other EDT members but the basic instruction for most of the team was NO GREEN.

Monique - Netherlands



Helen - Scotland



I guess when you take green away from people RED is the next choice?

Helen had so much fun she also did this version-which one do you like better? I think they're both great!



Here's a version from SUZI - Scotland also no green but this one in pastels...



Lady B - USA



another red skirt...

I let Gloria use green but asked for a "pulp Novel" colour scheme-she says she thinks it's more "Calypso"



And last but certainly NOT least poor Aletha Jane got the booby prize-she could do natural colours for the skin hair and eyes but the rest HAD to be green (I am sometimes a cruel IMP).



Aletha says she selected MOSS and OLIVE as her main greens and I actually like it a whole lot!
Certain sense of Irish Panache'.

She also did another version which is pretty swell:



You can get Pirate Natja HERE or use the buy it now button below:

Kismet - FATE

I often think that FATE is the most important part of our lives-it has often felt like FATE has dictated many major moves in my life including my career in Digital stamps-I was fated to meet my friend DEE so I could do digis since it was an offhanded suggestion from her that led me here...

I have designed the musical Kismet a couple times-its a beautiful show that is based on music by BORADIN including Stranger in Paradise, Baubles bangles and Beads and my favorite-AND THIS IS MY BELOVED you can hear the original cast sing it HERE.

I have of late been doing more lovely ladies in sumptuous costumes and here is Lahlume the favorite of the Wazir representing KISMET as done by several of my EDT ladies-I assigned the hair colour the rest was up to them...

SUZI McKenzie - Scotland



NATALIYA Simpson - Canada



ALISON Heikkilla - USA



HELEN Cullem - Scotland



In the coming Months this is how you will be seeing my new image rolled out with various versions by my Talented EDT spread over TWO blogs-the more upbeat, cute and pretty images on SPARKLE AND GLITTER and the darker edgier images on AIRLESS CHAMBERS-both blogs will be getting new looks and will also feature how to's, tutorials and product reviews and information as well as invitational GDT spots by talented fans, contests, quizzes and who knows what so don't miss a moment-our intention is to have something new every 3 days on one of our three blogs (including mine).

Remember there is a tab above where you can find out where I m sponsoring every month so you can get in on challenges where my images are prizes and there are hand links to the other blogs and my ETSY shop and Facebook pages so make this the start of your visit.

I hope you enjoy the changes we are making-its all KISMET!

ALETHA JANE Williams - USA

Easter Bucket by Monique

A fun and easy project , nice to make together with the kids. All digi's used are Rick St. Dennis MFA you can find them in his Etsy.

(NOTE: many of these designs are from the digi sheet LITTLE BITS O SPRING which is no longer published-also some of the designs were in the shop but may have been retired since this post was written)



I printed the digi's coloured them and cut them out, glued the bunnies to the bucket.



I used my Cricut to cut out paper flowers and a heart, but you can use any die cut machine, or punches for this (or even hand cut). I glued the flowers to wooden sticks (that I painted green first), and added some green ribbon for leaves.

Stick them into floral foam and cover with the yellow Easter decoration straw.