A Little Steamy Blog Hop

Hello, all! Let's have some fun today with Smeared and Smudged' Monthly Blog Hop!

Welcome to the Blog Hop organized by Smeared and Smudged Blog! The theme this month is A Little Steamy. Use images, pieces, or parts that embrace the steampunk genre.

Here is the A Little Steamy Blog Hop - Blog Roll:

Terra

Tori

Jane

Kristy

Sugar

Sara

Laura

Celina

Joyce

Steph

Helen

Heather

Abbie Kay

Black Dragon

Dianne

Monique

Sharon

Fiona

Ike

Lady Brayton

Susan

 

Here is what I created for the hop:

 

A Little Steamy Card. I created this card last night, rather quickly (because to tell the truth, I was out of the house all day and had forgotten about the hop). But I love everything Steampunk, and have loads of products to choose from in my stash. So I looked through all my stamps and realized I had never used this one by Simply Betty Stamps. I colored her with Copics and set her on an inked piece of paper from the DCWV Tattered Time stack. The inks are Distress Inks in Seedless Preserves and Dusty Concord. The flowers are all from Recollections and the title was printed from my computer.

 

I hope you will join us in all the steamy fun!

(All posts should be up by 9:00 am Pacific Time)

~*~Scraps of Darkness August Reveal~*~

Hello, all! It's reveal day for August at Scraps of Darkness! This month's kit is called Envy and as you can see from the photo of the main kit below, there are two reasons for this: one, most of the papers are green (Green with Envy); and two, everyone is going to be envious of you if you have this kit! Lol! Full of Kaisercraft papers in gorgeous damasks and leaf patterns and lush greens, this kit is perfect for romantic, elegant, outdoorsy, and heritage pages! This kit sparked my creativity and I finished four pages in 2 days!

Scraps of Darkness August Kit - Envy.

Scraps of Darkness August Sketch by suepup (Charlotte).

Pa Layout. This is my page based on the August Scraps of Darkness Sketch. The photo is of my grandfather, who I called Pa. He was a soldier in WWII. I really loved the greens of this kit and some of the darker ones reminded me of the old Army green uniforms soldiers wore a long time ago. I wanted to create a page of my grandpa to go into my heritage album. I used some fern leaves from the kit, one Prima Parfait Collection flower in Wintergreen (colored with Lindy's Stamp Gang Mist in Ponderosa Pine Olive), Petaloo Canterbury Flowers in Lime, and some flourished made by me with Liquid Pearls in Bisque and some acrylic. I also used some Peeled Paint Crackle Paint and Distress Ink in Crushed Olive. I used one of Pink Paislee Mistables - Cut Tags colored with DI in Crushed Olive and some Versa Magic Ink in Hint of Pesto over some white foam Thickers alphas. (For the Heritage, Monochrome (Bottle Green), Paints and Mists, and Technique Challenges over at scrapbook.com).

Bad Girl Layout. This is our newest addition to our family, Princess Charlotte Augustine aka Lottie. She looks so sweet; like an angel in her sleep.... but she is such a Bad Girl! Lol. If she isn't chewing on something, she is running around terrorizing our other dog, Attila. I decided to scrap this photo showing her in her sweetest form and make the colors reflect that but wanted to add a contradictory title. I used plenty of flowers from the kit, along with some bling and flower stems also from the kit. I fussy cut some of the papers and made it as frilly and girly as I could. (For the Colour, Scrap Your Pet, and Lyrics Challenges at scrapbook.com).

Sketch from Sketchy Thursdays - Sketch 8.4.

Pout Layout. These are my two lovely daughters goofing off while we were waiting at a restaurant. I used the sketch from August 4th for this page and I wanted to go darker for this one. I used water distressing on the edges of the black paper and splattered it with Lindy's Stamp Gang Mist in Ghouly Gargoyle White and Witch's Potion Purple  along with some white and purple acrylic paint. I added some silver liquid pearls and some half circles of paper from a previous Scraps of Darkness kit. I added some Pink Paislee Mistables Fuzzy Vinyl Stickers misted with the same purple mist. The title letters are vinyl Thickers. (For the Monochrome {Plum} Challenge at scrapbook.com). 

Angel Layout. This is a photo of my niece, Tawney, when she was first born. I wanted to scrap her photo with a lot of delicate colors but still have some steampunk accents in here without losing the femininity of it all. I colored the chipboard and metal pieces with Pearl Adirondack paint then covered them with Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals. The frame and figure are stamps from Tiddly Inks. (For the  Escape Kitty Family & friends Challenge and my every own Steampunk Challenge at scrapbook.com).

Angel Close Up. Here is a close up of the flower cluster and Steampunker stamp from Tiddly Inks. I colored her with my Copic markers. The gears and clock are colored with Pearl Adirondack paint and Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals.  

Saturday Steampunk 4-2-2011

Hello, all! I have a few pages to share with you today! Starting off with a steampunky page that will be an example at my Steampunk Challenge at scrapbook.com. Then I have a few more to share that are based on sketches (a couple of which did not make deadline since I've caring for my son, who caught strep throat). So here we go:

April Showers layout. This is a page I created as an example for my Steampunk Challenge. The topic this month is April Showers. The flowers in the claw foot tub are photos of the roses I have in my front garden. I used basic textured green cardstock for the base and distressed the edges and stained them with Distress Stain in Vintage Photo. The floral paper is from Tim Holtz's Lost and Found paper pack. The pipes, tub, and shower head are all images from Internet. The title is made up of two styles of Thickers. 

April Showers Close Up 1. I used some rhinestones and Glossy Accents on the flowers and out of the shower to simulate water. I also used various stamps with Vintage Photo and Forest Moss Distress Inks. 

April Showers Close Up 2. Here  close up of the shower head and the water droplets coming from it.

Sketch #093 from Twisted Sketches from 3-24-2011. The twist was "swirl," any way.

Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas 2008. Tag #10.

Maria layout. I completed this page using the Twisted Sketches Sketch #093 and for the Grungey Monday Challenge at Studio L3. This page was inspired by Tim Holtz's 2008 #10 Tag. I used a Tattered Angels Glimmer Screen as a mask, Fired Brick, Vintage Photo, and Aged Mahogany Distress Inks, Grungeboard flourishes, Prima Symphony Flowers, Lindy's Stamp Gang Gold Embossing Power, Forever Red Perfect Pearl Mist, Thickers, and a page from my DCWV Immortal Love stack (music paper).

The Color Room Palette #51.

Color Riot layout. This is not my typical style but I thought all the paint splatters were fitting. These are all photos of the colors of our house when we first bought it. All but a few were painted over. I used the sketch from The Color Room that went with the palette and used plenty of paint and Distress Inks in Worn Lipstick, Spiced Marmalade, Broken China, and Fired Brick. I wet distressed all the paper squares and circle.

Pages in Time Blog Thursday Sketch 3-24- 2011.

Playground layout. This was based on the Pages in Time Blog Thursday Sketch for 3-24-2011. I used Echo Park papers and stickers for this. The photos are of my son playing at the park's playground. I am loving Echo Park papers more and more! I inked the edges of the papers with Distress Inks in Peeled Paint, Faded Jeans, and Spiced Marmalade. 

Saturday Steampunk

Hello, all! And welcome to another Saturday Steampunk! I have a project to share with you that I have been planning to do for a while but haven't had the chance to complete until recently. I had planned to make this around Valentine's Day but here we are more than a month later! Lol! I'm also sharing a layout I did for a couple of challenges below.

Steampunk Heart Ornament. This started off as a paper mache heart; which you can find at most craft stores. I cut slits in the heart where I wanted gears to come out. I covered the entire heart in Bronze UTEE and heated it until I got this hammered metal look. I used hot glue to set the gears in place in the slits (Gears are from Tim Holtz and 7 Gypsies). Then I add some ribbon roses I made and assorted Prima flowers in aquas and oranges, plus some more gears. I cut out a butterfly from some Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante (which is what inspired the color scheme) paper and glued it onto the flowers.

Friendship layout. This layout was created to enter in the Scrap Your Faves Challenge (Lift of Kaye222's Cute As A Button) and the Cosmo Cricket Challenge at scrapbook.com. The Cosmo Cricket papers I used are all from the Halfway Cafe Collection. I used my Cricut Expression to cute the circles, frame, and background, the title is Thickers Glitter Rainboots and the flowers are Prima. And of course, I added Stickles in Turquoise.

Correction: I was notified that the above layout was not allowed into the Cosmo Cricket Challenge because it was not 90% Cosmo Cricket products. Oh, Well! 

Saturday Steampunk 3-19-2011

Hello, all! Here we are on another Steampunk Saturday! I am a huge Nathan Fillion fan. I watch Castle every Monday and I loved Firefly. Wish the networks would bring it back! The Science Network is actually airing reruns of it, so at least that is a start! Lol! Then Nathan Fillion was featured on this week's Entertainment Weekly cover and I was inspired to do a page about that awesome, amazing show. I watched a couple of episodes to get inspired and noticed the connection of steampunk to the show. The aesthetic of the show is a cross between old westerns and space travel. So here is my page dedicated to one of my favorite television shows of all time! Firefly!

Firefly layout. I found this photo on the Internet and I loved the panoramic look to it so I used it for this page. The papers are from the Tim Holtz Lost and Found paper stack. I used my Cricut Expression and the Indie Art cartridge to cut out the gears. I misted the background with Lindy's Stamp Gang Burnt Umber Moon Shadow Mist. The stars are stamped on with a star stamp and Adirondack Heirloom Gold paint dabber. The dots are Heirloom Gold and Pearl paint.

I also made some gears using a mold I made and UTEE in platinum and bronze. Here is a link to my tutorial on how to make your own embellishments with UTEE: http://scrapsofdarkness.com/TutorialUTEEembel.html.

Saturday Steampunk 3-5-2011

Hello, all! Here we are on another Steampunk Saturday. I gave you a peek at this page a couple of weeks ago; only that small glimpse because it had been a submission for the SNR staffer call but now that I know I was not chosen for a position at SNR, I am able to share it with you. I was a bit disappointed about not getting selected but there will be many other calls in the future and part of the fun is trying out! So here is my page in its entirety!

Queen of Randomness layout. I scrapped one of my favorite current photos of myself and used the lovely Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante papers! I also used some awesome Dusty Attic chipboard clocks, feathers, Prima flowers, 7 Gypsies gears, and my Dymo!

Saturday Steampunk 2-26-2011

Hello, all! Here I am, ready to share some steampunk-y goodness with you all finally! It seems I've been missing these for some time. If it's not one thing, it's another. So there is a challenge posted at Scraps of Darkness and Scrapbook.com called the DarkLoveStory Challenge. The challenge is to scrap a tragic love story, such as the ones of Cleopatra and Marc Anthony or Romeo and Juliet. Now I normally would have gone the traditional route with the theme but I then I got this idea....One of my favorite movies is one that was released on the Internet, kind of short, but really good, and a musical! This movie is Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog!

{spoiler alert}

This is a story of Dr. Horrible: he wants to be a super villain and be accepted into the Evil League of Evil. He created trans-matter rays, ice rays and the like but always gets thwarted by his nemesis, Captain Hammer. Captain Hammer is a hero but not the most decent of guys, since he doesn't like the poor and unfortunate all that much. Then comes in Penny, a beautiful do-gooder that Dr. Horrible (as Billy Buddy) meets at the laundromat and falls in love with. He loves her but doesn't have the guts to talk to her until the day that she asks him to sign a petition to save a building to use as a homeless shelter. They become friends after that. One day during one of Dr. Horrible's heists, Penny falls into danger and Captain Hammer saves her life. They begin dating and cause Dr. Horrible complete and utter emotional anguish. After countless failures in evil, the Evil League of Evil sends Dr. Horrible a letter, saying that the only way he'll be accepted now is through murder. The heartbroken Dr. chooses Captain Hammer as his target and during a speech, freezes Captain Hammer and is almost to the point to victory when the freeze ray malfunctions and sets Captain Hammer free. Captain Hammer takes the death ray Dr. Horrible was about to use on him and prepares to kill Dr. Horrible. The death ray explodes sending shrapnel out across the room and killing Penny. Everyone believes Dr. Horrible killed Penny and so he is accepted into the Evil League of Evil and becomes a super villain. Now that Dr. Horrible got what he thought he wanted but lost what he really wanted, the love of his life, will he be happy? I don't think so.

Here is my layout in tribute of this tragic love story:

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog layout. For this page, I used my February Scraps of Darkness kit and an image I got from the Internet that I cut out. The screws are brads that I dipped in bronze UTEE and the large black gears are from the transparency that comes with the Tim Holtz masks. I inked the papers and over the gear masks in the background with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, used some 7 Gypsies Paddington stamps,  and added some Tim Holtz gears.

I hope you enjoyed my telling of the story and I hope you'll find this movie and give it a chance!



Saturday Steampunk 2-19-2011

Hello, all. I am still fighting this terrible flu so this post will be quick. This is just a sneak peek of a layout I completed for the Scrapbook New and Review Magazine Staffer call. I hate to be a tease but as soon as I know one way or the other about their decision, I'll post the entire thing. Hope all of you are having a wonderful and illness free weekend!

Saturday Steampunk 2-12-2011

Hello, all! Boy, has this been a busy month! I've got loads of Valentine's Day and Scraps of Darkness projects to finish up. The 15th is regularly reveal day for SOD and even though the reveal for this month was early, some of the DT decided to reveal their projects on the 15th anyway. So I've been working on that and projects for sharing here next week. What this comes down to though, is that I do not have a Steampunk project to share with you today. I had this really great idea for a steampunk card incorporating the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge for this week (#31) but between projects I am working on, homework, and a very cluttered garage (which I've been meaning to clean for a long while now), I've had no time to work on it. But I do have something steampunky to share with you all; an image that I found on the internet that is perfect for my Steampunk theme here and for Valentine's Day coming up in a couple of days. So here is my Valentine to you all!

You Make My Heart Pump and My Gears Turn!

Such a cool steampunk valentine! The artist's name is R. Sandberg at DeviantArt.

Saturday Steampunk 2-5-2011

Hello, all! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekends despite the awful weather everyone seems to be experiencing. Today is my first Steampunk Saturday and I can tell you I am really nervous about sharing this page with you all. The reason is that it was way out of my comfort zone to create this page because it's pink. That's right, no dark colors here! I don't like pink all that much. I admire it when others use it and sometimes I find items that I like that are pink. Pink flowers are good, and so are piggies, lol! But I don't use it too much in my scrapping, especially not in my steampunk pages. But I wanted to create a page for my steampunk challenge that incorporated love and Valentine's day and all that. The Compendium of Curiosities Challenge (which I have been remiss in participating in lately) for this week is altered metal with paint and I thought, well that would be perfect to do for this layout because the gears I so love to use could be painted to match the page. So here it is with a few close-ups.

A Love Like No Other layout. Here it is! My very first try at a girly steampunk page! Let's start with the patterned background paper: When I saw this Script Polka Dot paper from Echo Park, the first thing I thought of was the the hot air balloon would go perfectly in a steampunk layout! I used MS Punch Around the Paper punches with hearts to keep in the love theme. The title letters are from Echo Park's Be Mine collection as well. A couple of pink polka dot flowers from Prima rounds it out nicely. The photo is of my very spoiled dog cuddling up to my eldest daughter. He's such a clown! I swear he posed for this!

Close-up #1. The heart and the wings are grungeboard painted using a Pearl Adirondack Paint Dabber and a hot pink stamp pad that I had in my stash. I added Star Dust Stickles on top of the pink of the heart.

Close-up #2. Here is a close-up of the 7Gypsies gears that I painted with Pearl Adirondack paint.

Close-up #3. This is a cute little cupid image I found online. He's from a vintage add for mouthwash! Totally cute!

My Attempt at Blog Organization

Hello, all! I have been neglecting my blog for a while now. When I first started blogging, I made a new entry at least 2 or 3 times a week, if not more. Now I don't post for more than a week! I thought it would be a good idea if I motivated myself by setting guidelines for posting and this is how I am going to do it: So that I post my pages and such on a more timely basis, I will have designated days when I will post.

Monochromatic Mondays - I love creating monochromatic pages! They are fun and for me, it makes it easy to combine a whole mess of papers and embellishments from different companies and lines. The Monochrome Challenge over at scrapbook.com is one of my favorites and was the inspiration for this day. Be sure to check the Monochrome Challenge over at sb.com, hosted by GentlewoodFarms (Pat). Every Monday I will share a Monochromatic page (or project) that I have created. I'll post the colors for the month with my first page of the month. Feel free to leave a link to your own monochromatic pages by leaving a link in a comment here any time! I would love to see what you've created!

Tea Time Tuesday - Some of you all ready know this, but I love anything and everything to do with Alice in Wonderland! My house has decor that reminds me of the story and my scraproom has a Wonderland theme! So I decided that I would set aside a day for my Wonderland-y projects or interesting things I discover about Alice along the way. Feel free to leave a link to your own Wonderland-y pages or projects by leaving a link in a comment here any time! I would love to see what you've created!

Whatever Wednesday - This day will be a sort of catch-all for me. There will be no rhyme or reason to the things I share on this day. Sketches, challenges, cards, projects;  it could be anything!

Thursday and Friday - These days will be my unofficial days off from blogging (unless I have something I just have to share, lol!) so that I can concentrate on school work. Blah, I hate homework!

Saturday Steampunk - Saturday will be my Steampunk day! I love the Steampunk style in everything from clothing and jewelry to scrapbooking and altered art. So I picked Saturday to share any Steampunk inspired pages and projects that I've created. I may throw in anything interesting I find that is Steampunk related! Again, feel free to leave a link to your own Steampunk pages or projects by leaving a link in a comment here any time! I would love to see what you've created!

Sunday - Will be another day off to spend with my family.


So all this starts tomorrow, February 1st, in my attempt to organize myself a bit online. I hope you'll stop by and visit, at least from time to time!