Paper Canteen Creations

Saturday, October 2, 2010

31 Days of Halloween at Smeared Ink - Day Two

Good Morning everyone!! I am in the throes of last minute touches on my wares for the craft fair that I am participating in tomorrow so I am just posting now! Eeek! So unlike me! But I'm hoping that once this awesome fair is over I'll be able to play catch up and get back to my regularly "scheduled" postings. (i crack myself up)

Welcome to the biggest, baddest, creepiest Halloween stamping event on the web!
(Or at least we'd like to think so!)

31 Days of Halloween started last year with two like-minded stampers who vowed to make and share one Halloween or Day of The Dead stamped project for each day in October. We had a huge response from others who enjoyed it just as much as we did. So this year, we are going even bigger!

We'd like to invite YOU to join in this year and participate in our 31 Days of Halloween month-long event. We're offering up some cool prizes at the end, and know that you'll have a blast! How can you do this, you ask? Well, there are a couple of ways to participate this year, and below you find all the details.

31 Days Of Halloween Wicked Blog Participant
What You Have To Do: Commit to making and displaying one stamped project on your blog for each day in October. To commit, add your name and blog address in a comment under this post.
The Rules: The project must handmade by you and be posted by 9:00 am Pacific Time every day. The project must be stamped, with either a rubber stamp or digi stamp used somewhere, and must be either Halloween or Day of the Dead themed. The project cannot be ALL digital, such as a digi scrapbook page, but can use digital elements in the overall project. To qualify for the prize drawing at the end of the month, you must post a project EVERY DAY in October. If you miss a day, you will still qualify to receive a survival button, but will not qualify for the prize drawing.
31 Days of Halloween Horrifying Hopper
What You Have To Do:Hop through each of the Wicked Blogs that are participating and leave a comment on each project.
The Rules:You must leave a comment on EACH participating blog every day to qualify for the prize drawing. Your comment should be about the project or something related (ie-no "Here's my comment for today" or "I'm here!"...these types of comments won't count!) If you miss a day or a blog, you will still qualify to receive a survival button, but will not qualify for the prize drawing.
31 Days of Halloween Sinister Lurker
What You Have To Do:If you can't comment every day on every blog , you will still have the chance to win some Lurker prizes! We will be hiding scavenger hunt pictures randomly throughout the month on various participating blogs...if you find one on any given day, you will be put in for that day's freebie drawing. It may be a coupon, a free digi, or a Halloween goodie, who knows!
The Rules: Scavenger Items will be hidden randomly, and are not guaranteed to be available every day. You will have to visit blogs to find them. If you find one, you will email and let us know exactly where it was and your name will go into that scavenger item's drawing. Each person who finds the "hidden" picture will get one entry. Bloggers are able to participate and find scavenger pictures as well, unless it is hidden on their own blog.

So, I know you are now asking yourself "What Prize Drawing is she talking about?" We are offering up a glorious concoction of 31 Days goodies as both participant prizes and to go into the drawing at the end of the month. First, I'll explain the participant prizes.
When you sign up to be a Wicked Blog Participant, you will receive a special blog button to display in your sidebar during the 31 Days. It will have a name list of all the other wicked participants, so you'll have a one-stop hub for all your visitors!
At the end of the month, you will also receive a participant "Survivor" blog button for you to proudly display all the time, showing everyone that you have what it takes to survive this grueling fest!

Horrifying Hoppers and Sinister Lurkers will also have the option of picking up a "Survivor" button at the end of the month, and will be able to grab a general 31 Days button from the S&S blog anytime during the month to let others know about it too.
Scavenger Prizes will be chosen randomly throughout the month and posted that day on the S&S blog.

Now, what you all have been waiting for, the prize drawing! Take a lookie...

Each person who successfully completes the 31 Days as either a Wicked Blog Participant or a Horrifying Hopper will receive one entry toward the prize drawing. If you successfully complete both, you will receive two entries. (Meaning if you are a Wicked Blog Participant and you comment on every blog every day, you have successfully completed both)
We can't wait to share 31 Days of Halloween with you this year, and hope you enjoy it as much as we know we will! If you'd like to be on our Wicked Blog List, sign up below by September 28; all Wicked Blogs Participants will receive a link to grab their button and participant list on Sept 29. Hoppers, Lurkers, and those who just want to check out the fun, start out on the S&S Blog on October 1st! Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

So with all of that said - I'm here with you today to show you my Day Two project for Smeared Ink's 31 Days Of Halloween event!!

I just received my Symbology of Angels set from Smeared Ink and I was DYING to ink it up!! I first chose my papers - black cardstock for the base, followed by two different patterned papers from a Martha Stewart mat pack.

I stamped my angel in Black Momento Ink and colored him with my Copics and Prismacolor markers. I left extra room at the bottom of his panel and wrapped black yarn around the bottom for added texture and dimension. His panel is popped up on 3-D foam adhesive.

My embellishments include a pair of fangs sticker also from Martha Stewart and an acrylic spider added with 3-D foam on top of my main layer to really make it pop. I was thinking of tucking him underneath but my dear friend Kristyn was here with me while I was creating (we're doing the craft fair together tomorrow!) and suggested I put him on top. And that's exactly where he should be! Thanks hunnie!!

I love how dark this is yet I find it SO fun!!

Thank you for popping by today! I hope you have a fabulous day!! Please remember the rules of the 31 days!!! Have fun, leave love and keep on hoppin!!

WICKED BLOG PARTICIPANTS:

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Friday, October 1, 2010

Tiddly Inks Challenge #23 - Crackle or Glaze

Hello Everyone!!

Happy Friday!! Today I'm bringing you a creation based on this weeks awesome Tiddly Inks challenge. We were challenged to use Glaze or Crackle in our projects in anyway.

I recently picked up the GORGEOUS new image Door Of Dreams , Flutterflies (which come in a fantastic set of 3 - all 3 different sizes!!), and Key (it comes with the paper but I only used the Key for this project).

For those of you who do not know, I'm a Journal and Notebook Junkie. I can't explain it...I use one for a bit and then put it away and pick up another and round and round I go! I never use one until it's totally done and then move on. I wish I could but it's not how I am wired.

Anyway - I've had this spiral bound, 5 subject notebook for sometime and it's my "journal" of sorts for now so I wanted to really gorgeous it up!! And I was feeling in a whimsical and romantic mood when I chose my colors.

I started by covering the cover, which has a curvy shape on the right - hence the raspberry paper peeking out from inside, with a pretty light blue slightly patterned paper from SU!. I then added another contrasting "school style" paper as a strip along the bottom. I love any DP that looks like notebook paper, graph paper, ledger paper, etc.

I then started working on my door. I printed it out on PTI white cardstock - the heaviest that I've found in the industry - it's simply the best. I glued the printed stock onto a piece of thin cardboard knowing how heavy the glaze can be. I then set to coloring it with my Copic and Prismacolor markers, gold paint pen and my white gel pen to add some extra distressing on the door frame. I then printed the door again on a piece of blueish/greenish designer paper and paper pieced the door panels for some added dimensional love. I pulled in a bit of the raspberry due to the color of the notebook paper edges so it would match properly. I then coated the entire door in Mod Podge and set it aside to dry.

I worked on my Flutterflies and key using the same markers and coated them with Mod Podge also. I left the Flutterflies with the coating of Mod Podge only and trimmed them out. I coated the Key in Crackle Glaze as well as the door. However, after leaving it overnight, I came to the Key, which had crackled properly and the door which was just heavily glazed. I think it's because I put the Crackle Glaze on the door really heavily with a paint brush so perhaps I disturbed the natural curing process. Oh well! The glaze looks fierce!!

Now that everything had dried, I trimmed all of my images out. I worked on my left hand panel area first. I used another piece of really pretty romantic paper from SU! covered by a gorgeous piece of creamy taupe lace from Gauche Alchemy. I didn't want any adhesive to stick through the lace (as that would annoy me every time I used the book) so I held the lace to the paper and ran it through my sewing machine a few times on using a wavy, zig zag stitch in bright blue thread.

I then attached it to the notebook along with the Flutterflies and Key.

Now..the door. (my favorite!) Using my Exacto knife I cut around the door so that it would open. I had to be very delicate at first to make sure that I didn't damage the glaze or image underneath. But it's really sturdy.

I printed out a fabulous quote by famous sculptor Henry Moore "To be an artist is to believe in life". It jumped out at me and needed to be on the cover of this book. Using MS Word I printed it on more SU! DP and then added it to the back of the door along with a small strip of the same blue background paper to give it a bit of consistency. I added a velcro dot to keep the door closed but easily openable when I need a little pep or boost. =)

I truly love how this came out and I hope you do as well!

Please come play over at the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog!! It's a super fab place to be!!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

31 Days of Halloween over at the Smeared and Smudged Forum!!!! YAHHHHHOOOO!!

Welcome to the biggest, baddest, creepiest Halloween stamping event on the web!
(Or at least we'd like to think so!)

31 Days of Halloween started last year with two like-minded stampers, myself and Kelli, who vowed to make and share one Halloween or Day of The Dead stamped project for each day in October. We had a huge response from others who enjoyed it just as much as we did. So this year, we are going even bigger!

We'd like to invite YOU to join in this year and participate in our 31 Days of Halloween month-long event. We're offering up some cool prizes at the end, and know that you'll have a blast! How can you do this, you ask? Well, there are a couple of ways to participate this year, and below you find all the details.

31 Days Of Halloween Wicked Blog Participant
What You Have To Do: Commit to making and displaying one stamped project on your blog for each day in October. To commit, add your name and blog address in a comment under this post.
The Rules: The project must handmade by you and be posted by 9:00 am Pacific Time every day. The project must be stamped, with either a rubber stamp or digi stamp used somewhere, and must be either Halloween or Day of the Dead themed. The project cannot be ALL digital, such as a digi scrapbook page, but can use digital elements in the overall project. To qualify for the prize drawing at the end of the month, you must post a project EVERY DAY in October. If you miss a day, you will still qualify to receive a survival button, but will not qualify for the prize drawing.
31 Days of Halloween Horrifying Hopper
What You Have To Do:Hop through each of the Wicked Blogs that are participating and leave a comment on each project.
The Rules:You must leave a comment on EACH participating blog every day to qualify for the prize drawing. Your comment should be about the project or something related (ie-no "Here's my comment for today" or "I'm here!"...these types of comments won't count!) If you miss a day or a blog, you will still qualify to receive a survival button, but will not qualify for the prize drawing.
31 Days of Halloween Sinister Lurker
What You Have To Do:If you can't comment every day on every blog , you will still have the chance to win some Lurker prizes! We will be hiding scavenger hunt pictures randomly throughout the month on various participating blogs...if you find one on any given day, you will be put in for that day's freebie drawing. It may be a coupon, a free digi, or a Halloween goodie, who knows!
The Rules: Scavenger Items will be hidden randomly, and are not guaranteed to be available every day. You will have to visit blogs to find them. If you find one, you will email and let us know exactly where it was and your name will go into that scavenger item's drawing. Each person who finds the "hidden" picture will get one entry. Bloggers are able to participate and find scavenger pictures as well, unless it is hidden on their own blog.

So, I know you are now asking yourself "What Prize Drawing is she talking about?" We are offering up a glorious concoction of 31 Days goodies as both participant prizes and to go into the drawing at the end of the month. First, I'll explain the participant prizes.
When you sign up to be a Wicked Blog Participant, you will receive a special blog button to display in your sidebar during the 31 Days. It will have a name list of all the other wicked participants, so you'll have a one-stop hub for all your visitors!
At the end of the month, you will also receive a participant "Survivor" blog button for you to proudly display all the time, showing everyone that you have what it takes to survive this grueling fest!

Horrifying Hoppers and Sinister Lurkers will also have the option of picking up a "Survivor" button at the end of the month, and will be able to grab a general 31 Days button from the S&S blog anytime during the month to let others know about it too.
Scavenger Prizes will be chosen randomly throughout the month and posted that day on the S&S blog.

Now, what you all have been waiting for, the prize drawing! Take a lookie...

WICKED BLOG PARTICIPANTS:

My creation today completely fed my soul as of late. That's a good thing. =)

I started with a 5x5 cardbase using cream cardstock. I just received my "As Death" set. It's stunning, amaizng and very moving. I used the 'she-devil' image stamped in Momento ink. I used my Prismacolor pencils minimally as the image sincerely speaks VOLUMES.

I mounted the main image onto a layer of black and then a layer of spiderweb paper from a K&C Company mat stack. The sentiment seemed obvious to me. It's so different as to my usual uber busy, layer upon layer, with 3-D elements, etc but as I slowly put this together it took on a life of it's own and I had to run with it. I LOVE how this turned out!!

I hope you enjoy and are inspired!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Simply Betty Stamps - On The First Day Of Halloween....

Welcome everyone to our first of 12 days of Simply Betty Stamps Halloween Challenges!!! You should have popped here from the always gorgeous Simply Betty Stamps Challenge blog. If not, here are the deets from there:

"Hello everyone! Welcome to the beginning of our 12 days of Halloween! Woot woot! Now, what can I possibly have up my sleeve to make this a fun and interesting event? Well... let me try to entice you...

You will have just one Day... that's right one full day to complete the day's challenge. The girls and myself will start to vote on the favorites of the day. On the next Day of the 12 days of Halloween the top 12 will be announced, now that doesn't mean that only 12 can enter the next challenge... the next challenge we will once again choose favorites, but this time only 11 will be chosen. That means that someone from the 12 will be eliminated... but again it doesn't mean that you can't participate again because in the next challenge you may bump someone off again. At the end, there will be just one standing! That one person will win the whole SHEBANG!

What is the whole Shebang you ask? Well, each day will have a new prize, you won't win that prize on that day instead it will start to pile... and pile and pile until the prize consists of 12 fabulous prizes all together! How's that for a SHEBANG!

Just to give you a little more umph the prizes will contain Rubber Stamps, Paper Lines, BRAND NEW SPELLBINDERS, Copics, and lots more goodies! I will make sure to upload a picture of each prize each day to inspire you to continue onto the next challenge just a few days later!

So with all that said... let's get started...

On the First Day of Halloween My Ghould love gave to me... One smiling Skellington Head!

Your challenge is to incorporate one or more Skelletons on your cards or project. Pretty Simple eh? Okay here is the hard part... you have until October 2nd

Todays Prize: Three Clear Stamps from the Hebbie Jebbies line by We R Memory Keepers

Now - onto my card!

I chose Lola from the Everyday Emos collection to work with. I went with a palette of greens, blacks and purples.

My card base is PTI white cardstock. I colored Lola with my Copics and Prismacolor markers and my Prismacolor pencils and trimmed her out. Her pet rat sat this one out as I wanted her gesturing to her new "beau". Hence the sentiment that I printed out in MS Word "May I introduce you?".

The DP layers are from a Martha Stewart mat pack and a K&Company mat pack. The skull acrylic overlay is from Martha Stewart (*i think). I used a stretch of green skeleton ribbon as an extra punch of color and texture.

The interior paper is the same mat stack (K&C) and the purple is from The Paper Source. I thought I'd be silly with my interior sentiment. I crack myself up.

I hope you have fun with this challenge!! It has so many possiblities!!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith

Simply Betty Stamps - Challenge #3!!

Before I start - I have to say that this post is one I did a LONG time ago when I was working for another fabulous company. I figured, rather than reinventing the wheel I'd use the post that I made for that company as well as Paper Canteen and just show you how my NEW SBS version came out along the way.

I had ALWAYS wanted to make one of these Photo / Inspiration Boxes but was always too chicken to try it!! Or maybe too lazy to figure it out? Maybe a combo of both? =) In any case I pushed myself to overcome my fear and have found that not only are they RIDICULOUSLY easy (this style anyways) but SO much fun!!

My original one was generic in theme but for Simply Betty I've adapted it to a Halloween version as that is what Challenge #3 is all about!!

Anything Halloween But A Card!

Halloween is here, and since we have already begun seeing cards all over blog land let's create something other than a Halloween card... anything Halloween, just not a card!

Curious about this weeks prize? How about The Moonshine Crew Line (12 papers, 2 sticker sheets). Check it out at SBS - the entire line is so cute!!!

There are quite a bit of steps but it is SO SUPER easy!! And it would make an AMAZINGLY meaningful gift to someone. This one is staying in my possession and will be filled with Halloween pics of my kids and their friends from all of our upcoming holiday celebrations!!!

Ok here we go!!!

Materials Needed:

SBS images - I used the following Fairy Nelly, Dracula Mikey, and Chloe Princess.

4 sheets of solid 12"x12" cardstock (one for the lid and 3 for the box which encompasses all panels)
as many coordinating designer papers that you'd like to use
coordinating embellishments and ribbon and/or photos
bone folder
paper trimmer
adhesive
trimmer with scoring blade or a scoring matte

Box and Interior of Photo / Inspiration Explosion Box

Cardstock Sheet 1 (L1)- 12"x12" - this will be the outside of your box as well as your first layer - score 4" on each side and trim out the 4 corner panels

Cardstock Sheet 2 (L2) - Trim your cardstock down to 11 1/2" x 11 1/2". This will be your second layer in the box - score 4" on each side and trim out the 4 corner panels.

Cardstock Sheet 3 (L3) - Trim your cardstock down to 11"x11". This will be your third and final layer in the box - score 4" on each side and trim out the 4 corner panels.

Fold and score on each scored line.
At this point you will have 3 decorating panels. L3 will fit inside L2. L2 will fit inside L1 which is your final layer the outside of which is the outside of your box.

I chose to decorate my panels first before adhering them together in the center. I think that each can be decorated as it's own separate entity or all tying in together but either way you want to work with one layer at a time.

I also chose to decorate both sides of each panel. That way you have twice the surface area to play with and have fun!!

The panels measure as follows:

L1 - Panels all measure at 4". Depending on how you want to decorate the interior, you could start by going down incrementally by 1/4 " or more depending on the look you want. The same goes for all layers.

L2 - Panels all measure at 3 1/2" x 4".

L3 - Panels all measure at 3" x 4".

Once all panels have been decorated you will now start with L3. Put a strong adhesive on the bottom of the center panel, I used "red liner" tape and press it firmly into the center of L2. Repeat this process when putting L2 and L1 together.

If you pick the box up now you will be able to fold all 4 sides upwards and your box will be formed!! Now all we need is a lid!!

Top of Photo Inspiration / Explosion Box

You should have one last piece of solid 12x12 cardstock left.

Trim this down to 6 1/8" x 6 1/8"

Score 1" on each side
Trim off triangle on corners where score lines meet
Fold lid on score lines
"Pinch" the corners inward
Using adhesive adhere the corners together. Hold overnight with binder or bulldog clips.
Decorate top and sides of lid

You can also decorate the outside of the box as well. If you were to do that I'd do it when the layers were separated on the opposite side of L1.

I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial on Challenge #3!!!
XOXO-

**I had to research how to do this before writing/photographing this tutorial. I found my information HERE. I used this tutorial to come up with my own interpretation and explanation but I used her measurements. I just wanted to give credit where credit was due! =)