Only scary in a thunderstorm

What could be more ordinary than a duck paddling in the pond that is Asylum Anne's studio extension.  Steampunked with this great stamp from Chocolate Baroque.
Over the years and throughout the year, Tafta Fibre Forum hold week-long retreats at various places in Australia, and I've been wanting to go for 20+ years.  Got to one in Lismore a few years back, this September-October  it was off to Geelong for 5 days with Jen Crossley.  One of the Tafta traditions is for people to donate a piece of art 15cm x 15cm, and the other attendees to buy for $15.  The funds raised provide scholarships for others to attend these forums.  This is my offering:

What was scary was the builder taking part of the house roof off to blend in the Studio roof on the last fine day before a forecast of thundery squally rainy week!  As you know, a duck looks pretty relaxed on the water, no-one can see the feet paddling away at a great rate.  But a flash of lightning reveals the sweat dripping off this duck!

The heat-embossed stencil over the multi-colour painted background is from Artist Cellar.  The embossing powders are from both Seth Apter and Andy Skinner's ranges.  The sizzix die cut multiple cogs from a range of fabrics.  Note panne velvet curls under itself.
As for the sweat, that is 6+ layers of embossing powder - Seth's Antique beeswax is translucent, and builds up as though you were doing encaustic waxing.

You know we're always encouraging you to share your dark, offbeat makes with all our Dear Readers - just look right!

Happy Birthday Dad

As you may recall, I had some skulls readied for projects a while back.  I also had umpteen diecuts hanging round the desk, so it was time to put them together.  I painted the entire boxed canvas yellow, then stencilled the Sunburst over it with gel medium, which will dry clear.  Several washes including black, quinacridone gold, dioxazine purple... then wiped them off the stencilled areas to reveal the yellow rays.

Multiple cereal boxes were cut with Seth Apter's Take Flight die, glued together, then heat embossed with Stampendous' chunky metallic seasonings.  Some was dabbed on to the skull and heated on as well.
Down the bottom, more layers of paint and washes, understamping and overstamping, including use of Strumpet stencil's  Fetus.

4 sets of Sizzix Feathered Wings  were handy, so I layered two of each to make 2 sets of wings.  This set had Paper Artsy Infusions (which I first came across in July's trip to Australia) sprinkled over, spritzed with water.  The edges were tipped with gold Lumiere paint. The largest cross of the die set was cut out of a sheet of craft foam (it also shows the embossing component easily) painted, and strips of bling added.  The top of it had to be snipped to fit under the skull, and a jewel popped under the bottom to keep it raised off the surface.

On my (now late) father's birthday, and as we head into Christmas, a time of celebrating a special new birth, I also remember the children that did not live long enough to have their birth recognised.

Your darkness can be shared here.  And come back on New Year's Day and we will see what Santa brought us to creArte with.

Harvest

It's Autumn here, though we've had a couple of summer cyclones pass through this last fortnight.  So between rains, I'm out harvesting ahead of winter.
In a jar, place 2 dragon teeth, a piece of tyvek coral, and a sprig of tansy.  Drizzle in some acacia tree sap.

Add human bones, 2 witches captured at full moon, a sprig of rosemary, a sprig of wormwood and a string of micro-gourds.

Cap the jar, and shake for 5 minutes every New Moon.

Set Pantrygoyl over it to guard contents from black cats who might be looking for their witches.  The crown makes him feel important, and ensures his reliability to the task.

Plus he (unusually) has a fine head of moss-hair, which better not blow away!
The 'goyle is made from Polymer clay by a friend of mine, Elli Jenks (also of Rubber Bandit stamps and Brightsea Village fame)
His crown, Sizzix Twisted Edge die, heat embossed after curving into shape.
The skellie and witches from Silver Crow Creations.

Your weird dark and creepy makes deserve a wider audience too, so add them here for us to shiver over!  Even though E.Frog is very busy splashing in many many deep puddles, he knows when you're creating!

December Jingle Hells and New Year Resolutions

Well!!!  All the hellish things that CAN happen, DID happen, so they went into my diary, which I hope I can still find in 11 months' time to remind me what NOT to do next Christmas...  I wonder if any of these resonate with you too...

My book pages are from Sizzix  Day of the Dead Sugar skull book die:

I covered the outside (front is right, back is left in all photos) with fibre paste, then Lindy's Moonshadows.  I liked that too much to do more, apart from a bit of blood on the teeth, and filling the eye sockets with Seth Apter's Splatter die - look at all the speech bubbles that have dropped out - too many conversations about what to do, what to get... 

Turn the page, and it's all about the menu - peoples' allergies, splatter die illustrating someone's leaky gut (ugh TMI ) The stress of making sure everyone's dietary fads are met!!!

Whilst here in Middle Earth, it's summer.  And summer means BBQs morning, noon and night, so where are those mammoth steaks?  Pictograph & mammoth stamps from Third Stone stamps were heat embossed on the right, and hints of them rushing around on the left.

One thing I DO remember from Christmas Past, is that every kids toy needs batteries.  But these days, a packet of AAs just doesn't do it 😰  You have to have square ones, rectangular ones, small round flat ones, large round flat ones, ones that slide in one way only, ones that burst in to flame while in use, ones that won't come out if you put them in wrongly... Last year Santa swapped Rudolph's 9-lived ever-red-y nose for a Li-ion battery-powered GPS.

Guess what?

Yep, absolute disaster!!!  And Seth's got a stencil for that too!!!

From battery-powered toys, to other favourite choices by those who do not live fulltime with Little Darlings:

Washi tape holds flaps over the eye sockets, more Christmas wrapping paper as the base, and I'm starting to use Grumbacher's 531 transparentizer with some paints to make layers of background.  And more of Seth's stamps texturizing.  The idea of layers of paint, stencils, stamps creating intricate backgrounds is something he teaches in his Card Play DVD.  Though I've done too few layers on these pages - Christmas rush!

Maybe some fond rellie will think we need an SPCA Rescue pet - a feral Wharf cat perhaps.  Or a sword fighter outfit.  Some other weapons to break a little girl's leg. musical toys that play LOUD...

On this spread you can see the difference between straight paint round the edge, and paint with 531 glazing medium added (green - the stencil was blue, and done before the glaze)

And who do buys these sooo-inappropriate toys?  The Grannies, the uncles, and... The Aunties!

They have to be invited, but oh my!  Opiniated, insist their view the only view, won't see your migraines coming on or that you're worn down to the bone...

Van Dyk Brown is not particularly transparent, but with 531 added it comes up rather a nice sepia - as if those Aunties belonged in a misty time gone by (with flowersoft lavendar in their smellers).  In reality, it's The Clash Of The Umbrellas

More of Seth's stamps, and the Aunties fighting with their umbrellas are Sizzix La Catrina die.

Pages, pages... how to become a book?  I'm playing with running a thread round each one, then plaiting them... it's a WIP, as there are more horrors to diarise.

Stamp credits next page: Oasispalms,  nevermore from Silver Crow Creations, more stamps & stencils from Seth (Story, star, "what will happen", Now is the time).  Outer spread below, Barbed wire with crow from Things to Alter, skull dies Sizzix 

And why do we do it all, put ourselves through such agony?  Look back to "The Reason For The Season", groan at today's madness, and wonder if we've missed the plot.

Merry Creepmas and  Highly Creative New Year to everyone.

But wait... you've all been so busy doing the Christmas-Hannukah thing, you've not been creating darkly - there's still a few hours for the post-celebration depression to be creArted out of your system and entered here for a chance to win some Grumbacher goodies.  And come back tomorrow to see who's helping us kick off 2017 big time!!!