TRUE BLOOD is BACK!

I LOVE the HBO series TRUE BLOOD 
and was thrilled to see a challenge commemorating it's return over at 
HAUNTED DESIGN HOUSE.


So I made just a little something utilizing what I happened to have on hand, which is a funerary urn stamp. I tried to turn it into a crystal urn to hold "Talbot" bloody remains.

I also wrote a small poem to go with it, spoken in the voice of Russell Edgington.
The middle stanza is paraphrased from William Shakespeare's MacBeth....I did give that credit on the bottom.

So this is a 4 X 4 (or fat page or chunky page) with a pocket.

Card stock, ink and word window punch by STAMPIN' UP, Embossing folder by CUDDLEBUG, Funerary urn stamp by STAMPFRANCISCO, Corner stamp by BOMBSHELL stamps. Red EP by SPARKLE and SPRINKLE. Holographic EP by STAMPENDOUS. Thin Black pen by FABER- CASTELL. German Scrap by ARTCHIX STUDIOS. Poem by ME!

The Poem says:

True Death

My TRUE love, Talbot

Entombed in Crystal

Silent sobs catch in

my dry breath.

*Our yesterdays have lit

the way to dusty death.

Signifying nothing.

Sayeth MacBeth.*

I will mourn you

with a vengence

until the day of m

my own TRUE death.

S. Guzy ©6/2012

*paraphrased from MacBeth; V,v

entered in:

Haunted Design House ...True Blood

Hiding in my Craft Room ...Red, Kraft, & White

Smudgy Antics ...anything goes

Catch the bug ...anything goes
Secret crafter ...anything goes

and NOW for something completely DIFFERENT...

HA!!! I'm done basically done with Halloween, but I will say Happy Day of the DEAD!

It felt really good to make something NOT Halloween related last night. here it is:


an ATC. It was a challenge to create ANYTHING using a part or all of a "master board" made by Helga from ARTchix Studios, on her blog. I used 2 circles from one side of the board, and  the word "Happy" that was in hand drawn Pennants on the other half of the master board, which said altogether "Happy B day" I cut each letter out individually and glued them to the man, after inking. (see below)  I already have a plan for the main image on the other side. The embossed man on the thin dark gray card stock was rec'd as a RAK. I glued that to chipboard.  I glued down the compass circle, then used my Ripe Persimmon distress ink, all around the edges and on the man, and of course as I was using it DTP, it got elsewhere which was fine with me.  I then added some of the Seedless Preserves distress ink on the man.  I then buffed the whole thing with a dry paper towel. The other circle was cut in half. the blue half I glued to the upper right side, kind of like a cloud. I trimmed off some of the floral side and glued that to the umbrella. I put the word "Dance" on it, then furiously looked through the few book pages I had handy for the words "Rain" and "Shine". They were not to be found. I made my own with a very fine point Faber-Castell micro tip pen.
when all were glued down I used the Gathered Twigs distress ink, on  a bit of paper towel and smear it on the words, and then I used a dry paper towel to quickly rub some off. I added a bit of light blue German scrap to the top and bottom to match the "Happy" pennant pieces and cloud.

(a note to some arty friends: you were right  :) I LOVE these Limited edition distress inks, glad you talked me into them!)

I give you "Rain or Shine"

DAY 7- 31 Days of Halloween, Countdown to halloween, Real witches of Halloween

Welcome to Day 7 of the 31 DAYS OF HALLOWEEN, as well as day 7 of the COUNTDOWN TO HALLOWEEN, and Day 7 of THE REAL WITCHES OF HALLOWEEN

Today's contribution is the very beginning of what will be a continuous work in progress.
I purchased a hard cover blank journal (Farber-Castell) to make into my first Book of Shadows.
I have only worked on the very beginning--the back of the front cover.

 Image from the internet,

"Susan" stamped with Headline Alphabet stamps by STAMPIN' UP,

"ForestIsis" stamped with Collage Alphabet by STAMPIN' UP,

Roses stamp, part of Dead Necessities set by BOMBSHELL STAMPS,

Burgundy marker by STAMPIN' UP,

Black Tuxedo ink by MEMENTO, Silver Pigment ink by RANGER,

Sterling Silver embossing powder by STAMPIN' UP, 

a Mix of Clear UTEE with Apple red EP from SPARKLE n SPRINKLE

3 views at different angles, and or settings

 

I found this image on the internet, it is called the Pumpkin Witch

 Upper roses stamped in silver pigment ink, used my UTEE mix and embossed it, then filled in the open spots with the burgundy marker, really a stunning effect!

 3 views, different angles and settings of the Upper Roses

 3 views, different angles and settings of Lower Roses

 Initially I had stamped the "F" here for "Forestisis, and since I double stamped all letters to make them darker, this one was messed up, so I moved over and started again, successfully this time. but I had this double image "f" to cover up, and I HAD planned on putting roses in the corner. what to do, what to do??

I kept stamping the "F" over and over all over a largish area in black same as the boo-boo. then I stamped the roses on top of that in the silver ink and embossed it with sterling silver EP.

there were still some blank spots, so I also used the burgundy marker to fill in here. This mistake quickly became a cool outcome!

entered in:
Paper take weekly ...anything goes

I'd also like to share a very special card with you all.

As you may have heard by now Betty of SIMPLY BETTY STAMPS, has had some sad news. Her 17 yo son was DXed with throat cancer. You will see a button up at the top of my side bar, where you can make a donation, and you will receive the "Zander" digi image once you make a donation. There is also all of the information, and the address to send cards.

Card stock by STAMPIN' UP

Digi by SIMPLY BETTY STAMPS

DIGI Word art/Sentiment by TLC CREATIONS

gear punch used by STAMPIN' UP, used mirror card stock from my stash, and coffee cup outer sleeve for the punches

printed paper-unknown (I think the label is actually under the section on this card, LOL)

Ribbon from my stash

images colored with PRISMACOLOR pencils and Blending pencil.

On the inside there is a sentiment about "believe"(also by TLC CREATIONS) and then of course I wrote a personal note.

entered in:

Paper take weekly..anything goes

Personally, I can not think of a worse time of year to be so sick and know that you are going to be sick for a while...all the holidays and all coming. Can you imagine being 17 and getting this diagnosis? can you imagine being the mother to a 17 yo  getting this diagnosis?  I hope you will help Betty and her son, the family has limited insurance and funds. Everything any one of you send them is greatly appreciated by Betty, her family and MOSTLY by her son.  Additionally  the more you shop with SIMPLY BETTY STAMPS the more you are helping this family. Please click the button up there on my side bar and give whatever you can!

I know my post was a bit longer today, but I hope you found it worth the time. Thanks for visiting :)

Please see the list of other Wicked bloggers for the 31 Days of Halloween

<<<<<------------------------------------------------

Also Please click the buttons for The Countdown to Halloween and The Real Witches of Halloween

Tuesday treats, tips and Tales

Hello, here I am late on Tuesday, but at least I am here :)


First The treat(s) some for your eyes, and then a freebie image for you, for up coming Halloween.

These 2 arches are for a swap on ALTERED PAGES Yahoo group. ALTERED PAGES is listed in "my favorite places to empty my wallet" below on my sidebar. They sell Collage Sheets, Rubber stamps and other doo-dads. We needed to use an image off the "Beauty in Purple" Collage Sheet.
The template for this  Gothic Arch was supplied by a member of the group, it is higher and wider  then the Gothic Arches I usually make, but since I may make them into a book, I thought it be best to use the template that hopefully the other members decided to use.

 Above: "Divine Pageantry" (I do not know why it scanned crooked,ugh)

Ok, I used the same papers on both arches are three are mulberry papers--red, bright pink(less fibrous than the red) and royal blue with gold paint streaked on it in both directions. All from my stash.

On this arch, I used an ATC background from DEZINAWORLD (they are one my sidebar-I Love June's stuff) it is from a Halloween ATC sheet. I used Diamond glaze by JUDIKINS over the Celtic Cross on it. I cut it off the sheet I printed on White card stock with regular paper snips, but I did it in a slightly wavy fashion.

I chose the "Communion Gal" from the "Beauty in Purple" sheet, basically some of her flowers were a bit purplish. I chose to decorate all her flowers with FLOWER SOFT, and then I used Stickles by RANGER on her veil. The German Scrap around the edge is Royal Purple (not blue as it looks in the scan) by COLLAGE STUFF (also under "My fav places to empty my wallet") The word REJOICE is from another collage sheet by ALTERED PAGES, printed on parchment paper, but I ran my Cat eye Fluid chalk ink in Wisteria by COLORBOK over it.

Below: "Spirit of Love" (this one scanned straight-yea!)

I chose the "lying-down beauty" from the "Beauty in Purple" collage sheet, and she is definitely tinted purple. All the little printed out words are also from an ALTERED PAGES collage sheet. The Ouija Board tinted slightly purple is off a Halloween Collage Sheet from DEZINAWORLD.

I Used purple micro beads, and purple/lavendar mixture of other beads underneath the micro beads. I used a FABER-CASTELL Micro point marker, and the purple BIC Mark it. The German Scrap wing is from ARTCHIX STUDIOS (also in my fav spendy spots) It is silver, I colored it with the purple BIC Mark It, and then sanded it slightly

The phrases on it say:

"Cherish your soul, your memories, your family"

"Time to explore a Mystere journey"

"Imagine love after life after love"

and for another swap:

The theme is "In the Garden"  This is my take on that theme. All 3 horizontal ATCs use 7 Gypies' paper, the vertical ATC uses a random piece of garden type paper I add, it shows upward growing branches with faint script writing as a background. All the "Flower girls" are from a collage sheet by ARTCHIX STUDIOS, all the cut out phrases, words and definition are also from a collage sheet by ARTCHIX STUDIOS. The Red and Copper German scrap is from COLLAGE STUFF and the black German Scrap is from ALPHA STAMPS (also in my fav spendy list) The flourish stamp is by STAMPIN' UP and the embossing powder is Pirate Gold by STAMPENDOUS.  I am not sure which one I am going to keep for myself.

Here is a FREE treat for you:

This image was taken in a very old cemetery on Tilghman Island in Maryland slightly off-shore from St. Michael's.

We thought these initials were apropos, the inscription below the initials was worn smooth, we couldn't make anything out. It is a very small marker, approx. 14-15" across, and I would say about 12-13" above the ground. We think perhaps it is a grave of an infant or child, as there were MANY of them in this cemetery. {please credit me with the photo if you use it in your art. (©Susan Guzy 10-28-2008)}

No Tale today, as I am working on one for the Gypsy Dreams Blog Hop...

Button above on my side bar (9/10)

more OWH challenge inspired cards

and continuing :)

This one is Challenge # 2 with Sheila


To make a fishbowl on your card (I photographed this particular cards 5-6 pics at a time 4 times before I could get a "non-blurry" picture. I have to figure out what the issue is, as I have tried multiple settings)

 All card stock is STAMPIN' UP(Yo-Yo Yellow and Elegant Eggplant), patterned paper is actually part of a package, I used an EK SUCCESS 3" circle punch to make my fish bowl, floated above card on foam tape, 2 misc. buttons, yellow, orange, & green baker's twine, CAT'S EYE fluid chalk ink to make the look of the glass, and the filled water, big brush markers by FABER-CASTELL, Digi image and sentiment by STUDIO 313

 Challenge #4 with Carol

what freedom means to me, us something patriotic

 Real Red card stock by STAMPIN' UP, shimmery patterned paper-unknown, Star Burst brad by KAREN FOSTER, Plastic swords, extra star cut from paper on foam tape, Digi Image-unknown (if anyone knows please let me know)  ink-CAT'S EYE fluid chalk ink

 "Remember...Our Freedom was Fought for"

Challenge #8 with Melanie

Photo inspiration...here's the photo, be inspired by it or even use it.

I used the photo, first I took it down to Black & White, printed out, and then I printed out the color version. I cut out certain pieces of the photo, especially the flag from the color photo, and used foam tape to place them on top of the black and white photo.

 White and Brilliant Blue card stock by STAMPIN' UP, red pattern paper was rec'd as a RAK, and light blue textured pattern paper I can't remember the manufacturer, I used the Large Deckled Rectangle Nestabilities by SPELLBINDERS, Small Tag Punch by STAMPIN' UP,Sentiment Stamp by AUTUMN LEAVES,Ink - Tuxedo Black by MEMENTO, Misc. star eyelets and red baker's twine