Last Few Days and a Circus?

Still time to get in on the September fun before the October fun begins!  And here to inspire you is CT Anne with the first of a two-parter that will leave you laughing or screaming or both!  So off to hear her story....

There's a meme regularly does the rounds... "Not My Monkeys, Not My Circus"
So... what sort of circus and monkey are we rejecting?  Clowns can be scary, monkeys just sooo human that they're freaky... Time to break out an 8" x 10" box canvas, break up some toys, break open an ink pad or two, and break into some Graphics 45 circus papers.  A layer of texture (modelling) paste round the edge for the circus tent, of course - a wisp of silver paint dry-brushed along the high parts.

For the scary trapeze artists, one doll was "disconnected" at the waist, painted sparkly silver, and stuck to the top of the box with a wad of Aves Apoxie clay.  Another toy used to swing round a tree branch.  It can still move a bit.  The branch was clayed to the side, and the animal dabbed with texture paste in places before circus-glitter paint furred the body. (Is it actually moulting?)

It was only after I'd finished with wet stuff - paint, glues etc -  that I added the G45 paper to the background area, then Carmen Veranda's Monkey face.   And a scary clown?  Lost Coast Designs have a Clown Puppet just begging to be played with.

Though those thighs are admission tickets - admission to where????  Let's not go there.
There are some wee monkeys that snuck out of the Silver Crow creations website onto the canvas in various postures.
To get your own, take your bank manager to these places:
http://www.lost-coast-designs.com/fantocci.html
http://www.carmensveranda.com/animals.html
http://www.silvercrowcreations.com/Assorted-Package-of-5-Silly-Monkeys_p_12994.html#.VfZ1FBGeDGc

But I'm worried. Halloween is close... if these are NOT my monkeys, and this is NOT my circus....

It's That Time of the Year! Get Ready, We Are!

Guess who is a Wicked Blogger for the event of the year?  Yep, we are!  That is 31 days of makes from the Insane Anne, Grumpy Gargoyle Granne, Weird Wacky Kim, and No Good Nan!  That is a make a day from this demented and deranged group of weirdos!  Don't miss a day because there will be prizes given at random to those who comment!  What day you ask or days?  Bumawahahaha, of course we won't tell you that!  You have to comment everyday and visit the house; we have been messing it up, making awful batches of goo and goop to stink it up, and of course, Evil Froggy has the basement in tip top shape? anyway we are ready for YOU!

 
Join us and the other lovelies that are joining in as Wicked Bloggers and have the best time short of Halloween itself!  Thanks to Smeared Ink for this wonderful time that we are soooo looking forward to!  Remember, don't miss a day!  Insane Anne eats all the prizes not claimed...well, she says she eats them but we think they are in her room which we are not allowed into at all!! 

 Horrid, Gorific, Weird and Wonderful 31 Days of Halloween at Dream in Darkness!

 

Skully Angel?

I had completely finished this skully angel for DominoArt's challenge when I read the theme again and as I realized the theme was "Ghosts"....not anything skully about it!  But he looked so sad and left behind sitting on my work table I decided to let him "shine" here today.  He is a versatile little skull angel stamp from Lost Coast Designs that I use with and without the wings, this time doing both but using both?  I stamped him in embossing ink on my domino and used black embossing powder, then heated him up..not perfect but he is a skull after all.  Then I cut out a canned drink that had a cool design but decided to just emboss his wings on the plain side, well, I really embossed the whole stamp on the plain side so I would know just where to sit the domino.  And add the pull tab from the can for a necklace loop and that was it! 

Dream in Darkness will be playing along with Smeared Ink's 31 Days of  Halloween so get ready for a post a day for 31 straight days!  And for all you playing along make sure you bring those entries here and deposit them with Evil Froggy.  He will be waiting for you and so will we!!!

Under Duress!

Note to remember: The theme is still Anything Goes!  We just played with pirates for fun but you do NOT have to do a pirate make not one little tiny bit!
 
Some of us at Dream in Darkness thought we should make you wait and be surprised by the rubber stamps you are trying to win, but some thought, no, tell them, show them!  So here you go...I would have made you suffer or be surprised LOL just for the record....and Granne, our sweetheart, wanted you to know so you may thank CT Granne for this pic!

 Do not worry, no stamps were harmed in this photograph session!  I inked with Distress Ink and stamped lightly so should be good as new!  If not blame someone other than me :)

Now you know what you are playing for let's get busy and get warmed up for 31 Days of Halloween!  We will take all your practice ones, no need to waste them now is there???

August Winner's Are Here Just a Little Bit Late

Thanks dark lovelies for participating with us last month!  As usual we had a few words and some fits of cursing but we did come up with our winners!

1st Place Winner

#16

An English Lady

Congratulations and fabulous make!

Please email us at dreamindarknessblog@gmail.com for instructions to collect your prize and badge.

2nd Place

#6

Sandie

Congrats and keep those fantastic digital makes coming!

3rd Place

#19 

Julia Vazquez

 Congrats to you, too!  Awesome make!

Please email at the above email for your personalized badge.  And An English Lady you are welcome to be our Guest Creative Team Member for October is you would like so please let us know in your email!

Now on to our Creative Team fav picks of the month!

CT Anne

#8 Nonni aka Crazy Cat Lady - I hope no cat was harmed by all that broken glass! Loved all the crazing, of glass and more, and the sense of depth between layers.

CT Kim

#10 Teresa: Love the bright pop of color fibers against the bold black & white. Fabulous image!

CT Granne

#14 "Poe Key....to unlock your dark side" Loove seeing altered items, fabulous piece of art, truly inspiring.

CT Nan

 #3 Donna: Love the Poe elements and all that lovely blood!  Ooey gooey ready for Halloween!

Nothing would make us frown more than to be able to pick your name as winner for September....we don't smile a lot..it makes us happy!  Remember the Addams Family?  However, much as we conjure and brew we can't pop an entry in for you and we are also still slightly, alright, a whole lot scared of Evil Froggy and would rather YOU click that little blue button!  

 Evil laughter rings throughout the house along with a tiny scream! 

Bwahahahaha! 

A Day Late but Pirates Fault!

It is Talk Like a Pirate Day on the 19th of this month, so of course we decided to take it seriously all month long at Dream in Darkness!  Here is my synopsis of Blackbeard's life of pillaging, having piratey fun, and ultimately his head hanging from the ship of the captain who killed him.  Oh well, fun and consequences!

This all started from the half skull in the middle, a gelatin mold from the dollar store with air dry clay layered in fairly thinly.  Anton the Zombie Pirate by Rick St. Dennis gave it that hearty pirate look i was going for.

 Then as luck would have it we went miniature golfing at a Pirate course so I got some awesome pics of some piratey things to add!

 Mischief Circus' s Enna's Creations Blackbeard's Adventures kit added the fab foggy sea, boat, and wonderful parrot!

We have a fabulous challenge for your dark and creepy makes so please hop over to our challenge blog and enter your creep!

Dream in Darkness Challenge Blog September "Anything Goes"

Trrrrapped, Me Hearrrties!!!

OK, so I just HAD to reprise a character for me mateys in this CT.  After using Finnstamper's mouse stamp, and creeping everyone out with a photo of a real mouse caught in a trap (well, it IS winter here), mouse traps were still on my mind too.
Look at that pose!  SOMEbody sure is in control here!!!

Some hapless thief has been caught in her trap, long ago, and is now little more than a skeleton.  I used an Indian Ink stamp pad to stamp onto fabric, cut 2 pieces, stitched with random-colour cotton round the edges in a herringbone stitch (inserted stuffing before completely closing it up), and coloured it with gelly roll pens, tombows, and whatever else came to hand.

No self-respecting Piratess would be without a map - just as bait, of course!!!
Stamped the map onto paper vellum, daubed the inkpad round the edges, then rolled it up and secured with a cigar label.

Believe it or not, she also has her own songbook - "printed" on tyvek for durability when at sea.  Don't you love the swashbuckling teddybear?  Who would have thought they, too, have a Dark Side! Like the map, it can be rolled up and secured in a cigar band.

Aaaand, Me Harrrties, she has her own Little Black Book!!!!  A Sailor has a girlfriend in every port, why wouldn't a Piratess have a list?  Butter Side Down Stamps must have known, for they have a good collection of scurvy Pirates:

They were all heat embossed, tombow pens for some judicious accents, and inkpad daubers for "atmosphere".  Each individual page was inserted into a black paper as book covers, holes at the top and thread through to hold all the pages in place.

Some more details around the mousetrap:
Tilting the front up, one can see bone, dice, skull.  Inside the wee bottle a wee person.  Part of the bottle was dipped in some left-over resin, then into some river sand.  Shells and part-shells glued round the side edge include some "local" paua shell - NZ's version of abalone.

 From the back, the piratess seems rather translucent. After stamping with Stazon, then colouring her in and fussy-cutting, I then mixed some holographic sparkle glitter into some ice resin and liberally poured it over the image.  When set, trimmed some of the over-pour, and cut the spade and leg so they could be manipulated (gently!)  On the back, stamped some of her crew, before attaching to the trap with glue.  She is also kept upright by part of the trap mechanism.  The trap had been painted with Jacquard Lumiere in several colours.

So here she is, with quite a collection from a stash of old earrings & jewellery spilling out of the chest.

Goodies came from:

Viva Las Vegas Stamps:  Piratess, Map, Rat Pack, bone,  http://www.vlvstamps.com/index.php/catalog/product/view/id/9912/s/piratess-with-treasure-chest-4-x-3-3-4/

Silvercrow Creations  have bottles, tiny people, as well as the music & ship stamps.

Butterside Down index.php?main_page=index&cPath=11 for the Motley cast of characters as well as Blackbear the Pirate, and a sea serpent.

19 September is Speak Like a Pirate Day.

Arrrr Me Harrrrties, Yohoho! Pass that Bottle of Rum! 

Even Evil Froggie can have a swig!

Are You Ready to Walk the Plank with Us for September?

It's September and all of us at Dream in Darkness are finally back in the house safe and sound. No blame is being placed as it seems CT Nan and CT Anne both had some dubious involvement in the whole event!  So without looking back (for too long anyway!) we are heading into September with our Pirate flags flying and with a pirates booty of treasure for the winner of this month!  The theme is still Anything Goes so don't let our obvious enjoyment over our pirate makes sway your from your own dark, creepy, skin crawling makes! 

CT Granne

Oceans Sister from ADFD http://adayfordaisies.com/stamps/mermaids-ocean/oceans-sister
Delicious Doodles pirate, net from Visible Image and ship from CT Anne! 

CT Nan

Using Mischief Circus set Eena's Creations Blackbeard's Adentures and "Zombie Pirate Anton" by Rick St. Dennis.  Check back on Thursday for the deets on this one!

CT Anne

Come back tomorrow for the full story of this pirate treasure!

CT kim
The Watchman

Digital Canvas Elements by Graphics Fairy and Marta Van Eck at Mischief Circus


We are getting geared up for Halloween, well we are always decorated for Halloween here, but the excitement is building up really fast!  So show us your best creep and help inspire us for a looong month of celebration next month.

This month's winner will receive some stamps from Viva Las Vegas Stamps and Rubber Bandit donated generously by CT Anne!  Valued at $15 so don't miss out on this chance! And don't miss the post for the projects above this week and on the 7th the winner of August will be announced!

Be very careful but do link up with Evil Froggy, you should be just fine he has had his fun for the time being it seems.  Of course, who can predict what Evil Froggy will actually do?? Can you? 

An InLinkz Link-up