Winner(s), winner(s)

So, it's early spring time and sun has

been seen again in these Northern parts of Earth.

Time to do some spring cleaning
(=dig in to my box of scraps)
and enjoy the bright colors

See? Bright indeed, lol.

Stamp is from Blank Page Muse,

colored with Copics.

And now of we go to a fun winning part:

Sadly Paula has not contacted us yet,

so here'e a shout out PAULAAAAAA!

Your entry number 95 

has won 

this awesome skeleton stamp from CT member Anne

So Paula, please contact

us : dreamindarknessblog (at) gmail dot com

and tell where to send this great stamp.

AND we have full 20 entries for this year

and that means we have a NEW winner

and that's is

*

*

*

Sari K, entry number 10

this totally dark, cool and beautiful

Art Journal spread

and she has won this cool die

Sari K. please contact us:

dreamindarknessblog (at) gmail dot com

to get your die.

New Year, no New Resolutions

No new resolutions - Asylum Anne is waaaay too busy to stop and think about making any.  The last couple of months have seen her with a paintbrush in her hand every free moment.  The house has been painted.  The Guest Bedroom has had all the non-guesty stuff removed, then painted.  The craft room looks like this:

Somewhere under all those Essential Supplies is that empty 1 square foot of space she usually creArts on.  Somewhere...
Actually, she's setting up a new, bigger brighter Studio.  That's been a mission, shifting 4 knitting machines, 3 sewing machines, some of their stash (all were in the Guest room), then bringing shelves, drawers and heaps from the Old Craft Room in.  And more painting - recycling some old kitchen joinery to be the new work station.

She decided an old 3-drawer filing cabinet would be a good surface to solder, butane torch etc on, and asked Fire Safety Officer & DH about something to protect the wall behind it.  That got sorted in 10 minutes.  He's being marvellous, probably because she's freed up the largest wardrobe in the house so he can have TWO for his clothes again!!!  It's set up close to the French doors for ventilation, and the fire extinguisher is a couple of paces away beside the Felting Room (ok, most people would call it a bathroom, but no-one around here is "most" people):

So that's why there has been no creArting Down Under.  Thanks so much to Granne (Sari) for keeping the blog going.
Bring on the New Year, with more of all that was good in 2019.

Hear, hear Asylum Anne here's hoping 2020 brings the good parts of 2019 along then times infinity of the good!

Long time no see, DT Kim here, I know I know....thank you so much Granne and Asylum Anne for caring and carrying on this wonderful dreamy corner of the internet called Dream in Darkness!

Dream on all you dreamers! Let's make 2020 ROCK!

Mermaid and Dream and weency flower rubber stamps by Blank Page Muse

So what are you dreaming up for 2020? Make sure to come back and link up with our linky off to the side there>>>>>>>

1 October

Evil Froggie is in charge!!!
He showed Asylum Anne his concept drawing for her new Studio-Asylum:

Personally we think he just browsed her stamp collection, and found it in her Blank Page Muse collection.  And his "selfie" references Worth1000.com

We haven't seen the builders for 3.5 days, but the frogs are ecstatic - they think they're getting a custom Convention centre!!!

Meanwhile Anne's been "enhancing EF's sketch - ATC size - and bringing the Rocky Horror Show - "Open the door Janet, Dammit" into the 23rd millennium "Beam her up Scottie"!

From a slightly different angle, you may get a better sense of the people being 3-D "dolls" from Silver Crow Creations

And now it's Eyes Right to see what has been shared by others, or to link your own offbeat creation.

When rubber balloons haven't been invented...

In Jane Austen's day, there were no balloons, so what could one fly?  Plenty of skulls around... so let's take our protest of over a week of frosts to the skies with one - we're freezing to death after all!

All stamps are from Blank Page Muse.  I sprinkled embossing powders over Andy Skinner's Lava Paste for both the clouds (Peppered chantilly enamel) and frosts (Fractured Ice)  for some subtle colouring, before heating it up.  And because it's such a colourful "balloon, here's what it looks like in rubber:

We are sooo close to rewarding one of you with some goodies - 2 more dark and weird show'n tell on the column to the right......>

Belated Birthday Poe!

Life is full of intentions... good and bad.  So Poe's birthday was celebrated in January, and I started... but missing the blog hop deadline, it morphed into Other Innuendo

in her diaphanous mesh dress, and over-stated headdress.
And some digi beasties got in on the act, all dressed in their shiniest Lindy's warpaint

Whilst a Raven (at last! a Poe reference!), heat-embossed, clatters his shiny beak, and speaks that immortal line...

 And of course, the Cautionary note spelled out to Poe by the raven and actress...

Background includes Stencil Girl Tribal Leaves,  stamps from Carabelle which I can't find on thier web site, but got from here,  Andy Skinner's Birds and Bones, Blank Page Muse, digi stamp  Bizarre Beasties from Leigh SB Designs.  The two trees are Cheery Lynn dies, now known as My Makers Movement.

Hopefully your feathers have been ruffled thoroughly, and set you down another dark art path - do share!  We have Treats LOL

Bridge-Building and the December 2018 Winner!

Welcome back to one and all! Today we have an awesome journal layout from Asylum Anne.
Please read to the bottom and find our December Winner, too!


Three years ago, I broke a tooth so thoroughly it had to be crowned.  A few months ago, it fell out, got cemented back in and told 1-2 years before something more would have to be done.In that no-work season between Christmas and New Year, I left a message on my dentist's phone... guess what?  Yep.  I got seen the first day they re-opened.  He cemented it back as a temporary measure only, and once "The Lab" opens, moulds, extractions and design of a bridge will get under way.   For those of you who shiver and quake at the mere though of going, I bet your mouth resembles the Kaisercraft candelabra below (split to provide upper & lower teeth.)

Isn't that a great dentist's challenge? And of course, You Can Trust Me... I'm a Dentist.  So there's the story within the story.  See you all at The Murder House!

Much as I love my dentist, there are times when "building a bridge" just doesn't fix life:

There are so many ways for the bridge to "fail".

The page started with Stencil Girl subliminal skulls, incorporated stamps from Blank Page Muse, Mad Rat, Andy Skinner and various die cuts.


I can thoroughly empathize with Anne and I do dread a dental appointment, how about you?

Our fantabulous WINNER for December 2018 is...

ready PLAYER 1----- Tina with your wicked straw topper! Please email be your snail mail info so some happy mail can start the journey! Email dreamindarknessblog@gmail.com

Don't forget, we are waiting with bated breath to give the 20th dark sharing above, some goodies.

Happy Fellow

Totally felt like coloring something

- it's been a while since last time.

Life tends to take over your hobby time.

We had had lots of snow and it keeps coming

and coming and coming.

But, anyways, this happy chap was a perfect

little thing to color and made an ATC.

Mr. Skelly stamp is designed by Rick St Dennis and sold by wonderful red rubber store (and more) Blank Page Muse.

Do link up your wicked, cool, artsy makes, altered thinkys and other art you have created. After our hungry froggy gets 20 links, this cool stamp will be heading somewhere in the world. 

July 1 or Where did June go!!

Welcome to the latest New Month.  Congratulations to Granne for holding the fort while Kim tosses scorpions out of her suitcases, and Asylum Anne  ... sought asylum in work, and *shock* *horror!* OTHER crafts!!!

Well, Anne is back, and taking liberties yet again with a stamp company's blog challenge theme, "Let's Go To The Beach" over at Blank Page Muse.  Since it's midwinter for her, the idea of a beach might be a darn sight safer than trying to sail off the beach.  Don't Emerald Creek/Seth Apter's Baked Textures do Cthulhu proud! No wonder Anne is scrambling for a beach, any beach. He has her vessel firmly in his grip, and is dragging it down under the waves.

Already people have fallen and been trapped by seaweed and tentacles

The highly-textured flotsam is tyvek painted, pleated and heated.

All stamps from Blank Page Muse (formerly Sin City Stamps).

Steampunk Octopus frame from Creative Embellishments.

Tiny people from Silver Crow Creations.

Well thank you Anne for your kind words and WOW what a

fabulous beach piece you have created for our inspiration.

I felt like coloring and grabbed a big stamp

for that, and Inktense pens.

Bold sentiment is from Katzelkraft, stamped on vellum.


HelloHello

I am still cleaning up those scorpions...Asylum Anne denies anything to do with that... the dynamic duo above has certainly raised the bar super high! So (again) I am ducking out and hope to be back later with a treat to share...I try I really do!

But for this month how about some stamps for a treat for you??
Well you gotta play along to be in it to win it!

Link up whatever suits you this month you have a short 30-ish days to get your arty groove going, let's go! We do ask, please minimize the cute, however, a teeny bit o' pink may be tolerated in special circumstances!!

The prize this month to one fabulous arty soul...

A set of our newest at Blank Page Muse, stamps for the backside of your art coins!

A crazy hybrid Bird-Man

A gentle-winged-man

The only catch is you have to link up a new arty project below...

An InLinkz Link-up

And Poe did write...

Not just about the Darling Lenore and that pesky raven, but about hot air balloon trips, pirate treasure, death and being buried alive...  and Creative Jumpstart 2018 has Birgit Koopsen making a little (accordian) book. Cover:

Stamps used:
Our cover Man, Ode to Poe - a digi from Leigh SB Designs
digi skull by Rick St Denis for Blank Page Muse
 "Dead Men...", top-hatted "raven", opened skull, flying skeleman, crackle (heat-embossed) are all Blank Page Muse
Wizard bookshelf (parts used twice) and Airshow, are from ButterSide Down
Background text from Seth Apter
Rabbit is Alpha Stamps.  Why?  Why not!  There would be plenty living in the graveyards - food for ravens perhaps?  The tags are from them as well.
And what with the last page, and the back cover, we know what Poe REALLY died of!

​

An InLinkz Link-up

Yesterday...

Was Poe's birthday, but the blog hop is taking 5 days to celebrate.  He was a writer, but as computers didn't exist in those days, he almost certainly had a pencil case! Asylum Anne found it:

  Or something similar for quills and quill-trimming equipment.

His wee notebook is full of cartoon sketches of ideas he doesn't want to forget - for me, it arrived with the poseable doll hanging around in these photos - from Silver Crow Creations

The detailing on the outer lid of the tin owes itself to a Joe Rotella recipe in Creative Jumpstart 2018, with random bits of sweat/patina heat-embossed on the edges.  The bird - originally white, and the chippies brownish, were treated with Viva's patina, and paints.

Don't you love his dancing pose?  I guess Poe kept notes anywhere there was a blank space to write on.  On the back of his tin, heat-embossed stamps from Smeared Ink reproduced his inky memos.

On the inside, Smeared Ink, Blank Page Muse, Carmens Veranda all provided aide-memoires

And as you can see, it was a well-used pencil tin!  Emerald Creek embossing powder again - a chunky one, Burnt Copper Leaves - providing the grubby patina man can only get on a tv remote these days.

An InLinkz Link-up