sketch challenge

Here's my entry for the June sketch challenge over on smeared & smudged. I used a new skull stamp I purchased on my vacation, and used papers and inks from my ctmh stash.

~be happy, create art~

goth girl

Got this Stamp it Crazy stamp from Sarah for winning her challenge on the June blog hop. Colored her with metallic pencils and added bling with a couple gel pens. She came out a little muted so think I'll have to try coloring all of her with markers. Great image, thanks again Sarah!

I'm Back!

We are back from vacation! Had tons of fun and took tons of pictures :) I won't bore you with all of them, but here are a few of my faves. We went to the Cincinnati Museum Center one day, it was totally amazing. The first picture is the Museum, it's HUGE!!!! The second is when we were leaving, I wanted to get the city in the back, that's myn kiddo in the middle and my two adorable nephews. Of course got the boys to pose holding hissing coachroaches :)

Also went to Archivers.... oh my gosh!!! Love that store, wish we had one here. Of course didn't take my camera with me, bummer :( But got some cool new stamps to play with woohoo!! So keep on the lookout for some new art with my new toys :)

~be happy, create art~

just for fun

One of my friends just went to Vegas and she had Elvis walk her down the aisle. I had nothing Elvis so I hunted down these stickers at the local scrapbooking store. The yellow stripes on the paper are actually glittery for that extra Vegas feel, lol. I really need to learn to take better pictures!

black & white ATC swap

My creation for the May ATC swap over on smeared and smudged. All supplies are CTMH. You can't really tell in the pic, but the dragon fly is cut out and the wings are popped off the card slightly, I also poked holes in the little white spots around each wing. Simple but fun :)

Smeared and Smudged Blog Hop - June

Hello Friends! It's time for another blog hop over at Smeared and Smudged. If you love to create art that's out-of-the-norm then smeared and smudged is the place for you. I've included the link to our friendly little group at the end of blog hop list, so check out all these wonderful creations we all want to share with you and then hop on over to our group and sign up to join in on all the fun.

For my contribution to the hop I've used a stamp from the Elementals set, the Earth Goddess. This is from Terra's stamp line Smeared Ink. I stamped in olive and used various shades of green to color her in. The picture really doesn't do this card justice. I also sponged some pick along with the green on the outer edge of the card to help tie in the pick flowers I wanted to add in her hair. I also added some liquid glass to her hair to give it more dimension... again you can't really see that here, but trust me :)

Now start hopping!!

Terra: http://moresmearedink.blogspot.com/

Kelli: http://cajunstampingqueen.blogspot.com/

Steph: http://stephscreativechaos.blogspot.com/ (you are here)

Ladybrayton71 http://ladybrayton71.blogspot.com/

Lisa: http://ldfdesign.blogspot.com/

Jean: http://etsysdarkside.ning.com/

Kathi: http://kathstales.blogspot.com/

Alison : http://alisonsrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/

Sarah: http://sarahscrazycreations.blogspot.com/

Meredith: http://www.papercanteen.com/

Blackdragon: http://lynsblogger.blogspot.com/

Kim: http://offthewallcraftiness.blogspot.com/

Monica: http://www.giddygreetings.com/

Tink: http://tinktime-tink.blogspot.com/

http://smearedandsmudged.ning.com/

be happy ~ create art

new stamps

I've been playing with my new stamps!! I want to increase my rolodex collection so the first one is on a rolodex card. These are the perfect size for creating "little art". Second is a bookmark for a challenge over on Any Stamp Will Do. I just need to figure out how to size it smaller to post it over there... help! Both images are from www.stampotique.com under the Daniel Torrente collection. He's got some fantabulous creepy peeps, you gotta check them out!

~be happy ~ create art

May Sketch Challenge

This was my entry for the May sketch over on smeared and smudged. I used my new stamp from stampotique.com Her name is Glimmering Hope. Started off by coloring her with metallic pencils but didn't really get the effect I wanted so dug up some gel pens to add more pop. Created the skull background with skull stamp from Prickly Pear. Got those crows at convention last February. Can't remember who they are from but the name on them is New Crows Black. Rounghed up the edges with my distressor from CTMH and did some direct to paper smearing with my grey wool ink pad.

~be happy ~create art

Honor our Soldiers

Freedom Is Not Free
I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,and then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
He'd stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?
How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free.

I heard the sound of TAPS one night,
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That TAPS had meant "Amen,
"When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free.
-Kelly Strong

God Bless our Troops!