What are Little Boys made of? What ARE little boys made of?

Continuing the LeighSB Designs My Dark Valentine hop...

Let's take a peek into Cupid's Pantry:

Sizzix diecut apothecary bottles cut from beer boxes.  Amazingly, on one of them the picture of a bottle cap is in exactly the right place.  They're a lovely strong cardboard without being too thick for a journal page.
All stamps are from Lost Coast Designs, though you may not recognise some of them - heads cut off,  upside down... look for Norma, Stella and Adrien in the Mini flying ladies set.  The Doll border stamp made many a snail, and random background "texture".  I have found many different ways to use the Steampunk Profile face, from their sister-company, Carmens Veranda.

The whole Journal page, with hint of another page slowly evolving:

Also entered in the Lost Coast Designs Boys Boys Boys challenge.

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

Happy Anti-Valentine's Day from Dream in Darkness!

Happy Non-Valentine's Day!  Sorry to say, some of us here at Dream in Darkness are just not into all the cute Valentine's stuff that is out there even though it quiet lovely!  But as you all beloveds know, there are far places to post sweet Valentine's than anti-Valentines!  So join us in our non-celebration!  Sort of like Opposite Day for the day :)

We are still very much celebrating having Seth Apter as our sponsor again for this month! 

Asylum Anne's offering a Surgeon's Anatomy Lesson
Since it's all about hearts...a Journal page spread.

Alpha Drips, Timeless and Transform stencils from Seth Apter aka The Altered Page
Inkspots and Roundabouts stamp sets also from Seth
Corset dress from Eye Connection
Heart milagro from Carmens Veranda
Calavera Con Flores, Creature Claw, various eyes, from Third Stone Stamps
Vintage Heart Diagram from Mad Rat

Passion's Lure

Always whispering....and waiting...
Crafty Chica's Sugar Skull, thank  you Asylum Anne
Seth Apter's stencils, Robo Ring and Drip Drop Dies
DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics & Metallic Luster, Modeling Paste
Drywall tape, Cardboard

I used a small alpha stamp set and stamped onto the shape left by the Drip Drop diecut.

Cardboard makes a wonderful substrate!

Lots of layers, paint and modeling paste.

...waiting...

No good Nan just plain don't like Valentine's Day cause it makes her sad :(  Then all the lovelies in the house tell her to hush up her caterwalling!  So you will understand her make!

I used a new set of round stamps by  Seth Apter that arrived just in time!  They are called Large Journal Coins and I love them!  Lots of paint (Grumbacher Transparentizer, acrylic paints, modeling paste) and gesso by Liqutex and layers of paste and stamps and paper.

Don't wait too long to play!

We hope to see your weird, odd, unique, or plain dark Valentine's in the entry box!  And the only one here who really does like Valentine's day but only the previously stated types is the Evil Froggy!  So blow him a kiss and get those entries in for one last chance to win from Seth Apter !!

Monster Madness~Blog Party May 28th 2016

Thanks for hopping by today! We are playing along in something a bit new today, the May Monster Madness Blog Party! This party is just getting started and there are a bunch more stops to make!

Come Join the Party!

Grumpoyles - Are they Little Grumpies suffering multiple personality disorder?  Are they Gargoyles pretending to have skills needed for Immigration to allow them in?  It was very late, almost dusk on a sunny Spring evening when this motley assortment made it to the Down Under Asylum.

Incognito?  I don't think so!  But some of them are certainly making free with an ornate candlestick, which is a bit batty.  Maybe they think it is a Christmas Tree, and they are the most fabulous ornaments it could ask for!

Perhaps Immigration needs to check each one.

Toothoyl:

Obviously won't be a drain on our orthodontic budget with these well-honed teeth.  The gargoyle silhouette was over-stamped with a tree bark background from Smeared Ink's Urban Decay set.  A row of gold nuggets (rhinestones) suggest this guy is well set up for any future dental care.

Zomboyl

Clearly this Gargoyl has eaten something that disagrees with him - that half-digested torso trying to get out... or is it reaching for an Asylum Nurse?  At least it arrived with some precious gems in its claws.

Fangoyl

Another wealthy immigrant, a row of precious gem nuggets.  But that spider - is it coming, or going?  Do we need to fumigate?

Punkoyl 

Apparently this fellow dodged the Gargoyle Complex and flew in under his own steam. (steam? Get it?  Steampunk?  Sure?  You really got it now?  A Steampunk Lil Grumpie?  Just born last month?) Clever you are!!!

Spydoyl

Well Well Well!  Is this a spider trying to sneak past our stringent biosecurity?  We had to take a swab and do some DNA testing before this punky character was allowed to stay.

Just as we thought they had all arrived and been processed, another stumped in:  From the Fringe set, you have to wonder about a being that has a woman at its throat (and a pelvis from another stamp co)

So there we have it, an even half-dozen critters.  The Family Portrait (in dusky sunlight):

Lost Coast Designs have an Articulated Skeleton that's been getting a real workout from me the past couple of months - the pelvis on Stumpoyl is part of the set.

Smeared Ink have all the other stamps, I have them in rubber except for the Steampunk Grumpies.  They were mostly stamped, coloured, fussy-cut then glued to gargoyle silhouettes which had been cit from cereal boxes -  they even had their own food for the journey!

The background in all the pictures is the piece of heavy packing paper that has spent some time in the "spray booth" - so many different colours from Lindy's Stamp Gang pile up and create something that will be marvvellous to recycle into different projects.

P.S.  Some would say such a "family" would have their own furbaby.  You'll just have to backtrack to Dargoyle on Carmen's Veranda facebook picture to see that beastie.

It's going to take some serious therapy to help these guys DISintegrate their personalities, so life's going to be pretty scary round here - perfectly normal, in other words!  

BUT..... Halloween 2016 and WATCH OUT!!!!

DT Granne here hopping to the partyyyyyyy!

And I'm bringing a AJ page with me.

Stamps used: Lost Coast Designs: ATC Faces and

Vampire skull by Rick St Dennis.

Looks like he's been BAD, bad boy - and maybe still is...



CT kim last to the party as always!
I have an excuse, realllllly I do...
I was helping Miss Frankie get ready for the Midnight Ball!

Miss Frankie is a fabulous fashionista designed by the ever so talented Ike of Ike's Art

She had to get her green on and no time to waste!

Skelly bat up top is a fabulous Holiday Happy Mail stencil 

received from the wicked Granne. The stencil is made by Panduro Hobby. 

The clockface with hand is a rubber stamp I acquired from a crafty de-stash, unlabeled. 

It might be Third Coast.

Thanks for looking, now off to the Ball!

But wait!!!

Come back and link up your creatively creative Monster Makes with us, 

happy to have you join our party, too!

Our Linky is HERE

Party On!

Heading to Oz

There's a bloghop over at Lost Coast Designs - they're not in Kansas any more. And Asylum Anne is breaking out -  I've never been in Kansas, so I can sympathise... or not!   We are told to Catch the Tornado to the Emerald City.   Well that's a bit of me - public transport can be so handy when travelling out of town!  But none of the DT have offered one for me to ride.  So it is up to me.  It isn't compulsory to use their stamps, and there's no tornado in their catalogue, but I have had one for years from Third Stone Stamps, and one from Silver Crow Creations.  I can also be inventive, and those 2 might be too small.  I slept on it.
Carmens Verandah have a birds nest which I've used before, and what is a tornado but a whirl of debris with a hole in the middle?  Just like a nest really, random twigs etc.  And somewhere in my dreams it would be done as a Stuffie!
Indian ink pad is nice &juicy, onto some brown silk fabric, then stitch running/gathering threads that will get pulled up to create ripples.  When stamping on fabric, I'll use any juicy ink pad - Stazon, dye, or Indian ink  And I've recently managed to get an Indian ink reinker bottle woohoo!!!  Because of the gaps between the woven threads, you'll not end up with such crisp detailing of the image as on paper.  But so long as you're ok with that, then all is well.  Pinking shears give a raggedy cloud-edge all round, so although I've got the basic shape already, there will be a bit more fabric-trimming once I've finished stamping and figured out the final size.

CONGRATZZZZZ Asylum Anne!

Winner at Lost Coast

And some more stamping of the tornado.  Can you imagine a face shrine as part of a tornado?  I could...

Now for the back piece, before it gets stitched to the front and stuffed, with some rebar tie wire inserted to maintain the shape.  I used a straight stitch on the sewing machine all round, relying on the pinking shear cut to minimise future fraying.  Brown netting/lace mesh was layered over the silk to create the pocket holding "Salldorothy".  Salldorothy?  Read on...

  I imagined that all sorts of farm equipment, as well as people would go whirling up, so there's Dorothy, caught in the mesh of farm fencing in the tornado  - except I don't have a Dorothy stamp, so I used Sally - complete with umbrella (well it rains around tornadoes: I've seen episodes of "Stormchasers", so it stands to reason if Dorothy were out, she would have a brolly with her).  And although I don't have enough flying monkeys to prove it, plenty of witches (background stamp) would be out & about to get caught up in it too.

OK, so that's the backside view of the tornado finished with. And it's going to be about 17 cm high (roughly 7") The thing about using silk fabric is that lustre, makes one think of silver linings that clouds have.  But it's a pain if you're trying for a "moody" photograph!

Now the front full view, with the gathering threads serving double & triple duty holding embellishments, and creating texture with French Knots here & there, colour-changed sometimes.

Some closeups for the detail - charms coloured with Pinata alcohol inks, die-cut cogs, pens applying random streaks of colour & lightning etc:

Well where there's a red shoe, can Dorothy be far away?  That's what the Tin Man and Toto are wondering, looking a bit dishevelled and dizzy after the tornado got to them (allow me some poetic licence here - as far as I know, the Tin Man never travelled by tornado, but never let the truth get in the way of a tall tale)

OK, so they're not the traditional-looking characters, but I thought it was just a mis-labelling in the catalogue - Daisy and Robot.  Well, same thing isn't it???

 So now we've got a tornado to take us to Kansas.

Now I'm going to ride it back to see who else is playing the Oz challenge.  ALL ABOARD!!!  http://lostcoastportaltocreativity.blogspot.co.nz/2016/03/dt-blog-hop-were-not-in-kansas-anymore.html

Somewhere though, Evil Froggy is lurking, keen to pounce on your dark, weird creations this month, so show them off here:  http://www.dreamindarkness.blogspot.co.nz/2016/03/march-new-challenge-and-make-it-crafty.html 

The Circus is awol

Well, when they're not creeping us out at the circus, what do the clowns do for a vay-kay-shun?  Why, they head for the swamps... swamps of boiling mud to improve their complexions after a season's makeup.  The monkeys do what monkeys always do - exercise their curiosity bumps investigating the contents of some of the magician's props while he looks on almost as round-eyed as his Ass-istant (who he turned into a donkey for his personal ease of travel)

They toss the Elf-On-a-Shelf out, so he sulks on the fence and sabotages the mailman.  The worst juggler of the season has to practice for hours on end in the swamp, while witches fly above him trying to snitch his balls.

 

By printing the Mushy House out large I could open doors and windows to see who had checked in. 

I started by printing out our sponsor  Anita's Digi Art "Mushy House" on grey cardstock, and again reversed on white paper.  Cut the windows and door to hinge, and cut them completely out of the plain paper, to glue/tape to the insides of the door & windows.  The clown characters are "scraps" from Silver Crow Creations, as are the clowns.  The house was coloured, taped to a 12x12 page  of boiling mud. The spots on the mushroom cap, as well as the whole house, were outlined with glitter glue.  A "scrapbooking page" featuring bark shreds, and another of tree ferns (pongas) were also ripped and layered over the mud page.

The zombie hand from Butter Side Down was stamped on the page and also on a separate piece of blue paper, which was then fussy-cut, the bottom part removed, and layered over the image stamped on the mud, increasing the 3-dimensionality.  The balls it is juggling were drawn free-hand.  The Mail Monster from Third Stone Stamps was stamped on my fave fluoro green card, and fussycut.

The weird "plants" growing on the edge of the swamp are from stamp sets "Ville d'ailleurs: Urbania" and "Rouages auz petits pois" by Carabelle Studio but I bought them from closer to home, Time To Create in Australia - which we kiwis refer to as "West Island".

The witches background stamp is from Carmens Verandah

So, while the clowns are out of town, we can safely sleep at night... I hope! 

Enter this month's challenge HERE

Day 30 of the 31 Days of Halloween - Fortune Teller

Wow, it is hard to believe the days are winding down to the wonderful Halloween holiday!  But we are still enjoying every moment of the 31 Days of Halloween hosted by Smeared Ink!  Go by their blog so you can see the rules and deets of the event.  The blog hop is listed to the right on the side bar full of other Wicked Bloggers doing just like us, posting a new make each day of the month!


CT Nan with the Fortune Teller Pop-Up Card:

This is holds a hosts of stamps by Lost Coast Designs And Carmen's Veranda!  The Fortune teller along with his chicken, the "Skull with Wings, the Sun and the Moon, some crows from "A Murder of Crows, and some fab Henna Hands (Birds).  All popping up to help tell your fortune for you!  I see a fantastic night around your corner...mainly because it is Halloween Eve!

See you back tomorrow for the grand finale of the 31 Days of Halloween!

Day 26 of the 31 Days of Halloween - Alfred Hitchcock Necklace

Happy day 26 of the 31 Days of Halloween hosted by Smeared Ink!  Please check out their blog for all the rules and details of the event.  The roll for the Wicked Bloggers is on the side bar so that you can visit them also!

CT Nan here with a stamp that I absolutely adore from Carmen's Veranda and another fav one from Lost Coast  Designs.  Alfred Hitchcock Standing is one of my all time favorites, ever!  So, it was kinda hard to cut off part of his body to make my pendant.  I added the "Grunge Tree" as a background with a stormy sky made with Distress Inks.

Now, I have stated how easy I thought it would be to solder and have realized it is not easy not one bit for an uncoordinated person such as me!  But some plexi glass and the supplies, I had to give it my best shot and it is not perfect but I love it!  I added some do dads and beads to the chain and am very happy with it.

Come on back tomorrow and have a cup of goo, we have plenty left over from the spa tub ..Buwahahaa!  And keep that blasted Frog happy....enter and enter our challenge again!

Day 6 31 Days of Halloween Got Coffin?

Day 6 of the 31 Days of Halloween hosted by Smeared Ink!  We are being Wicked Bloggers and posting a new make everyday that has a stamped image, rubber or digital.  The blog hop is posted on the side bar so please go visit our fellow bloggers and leave some love!  And please check the link above to find out all the rules and info on this fab event!

 CT Nan is here with her friend and his traveling home!  Morty loved life and doesn't really realize he is dead, yet.  His deliciously appointed coffin is stamped on the front with the "Grunge Tree" from Lost Coast Designs and embossed in gold.  It is also decorated at the top and inside with parts of  the "Large Skeleton Shrine"  from Carmen's Veranda's Stamps.

As I said, he isn't really accepting the whole dead thing and has gotten a few friends or pieces of friends along the way to help him out, notice the hand prying the lid open?

 Yes, his friends that we can see are a snake and that arm from whom?  No idea and not making any guesses!

 And what killed him we might wonder?  His lady love decided to end his wandering ways once and for all!  But the call is still out on whether he is staying put.....

 See you tomorrow!