Smeared and Smudged May Member Blog Hop

For those who don't know me, I'm Lady Brayton. 
 Welcome to my blog!

It is time again for the monthly member blog hop with Smeared and Smudged.  The theme this month is "Anything Goes" so as long as a stamped image (real or digi) is used, everything is fair game!  Although I am posting early, the actual hop goes LIVE on Thursday May 16th at 9:00am Pacific time.  

I have made two projects for this hop to represent the two design teams I work with.  Both of my DT groups have given me great friendship and wonderful support when I needed it most so today's projects will be on the brighter side.  Sorry, no gore today. 

I have been working some late hours these days so I may not be able to hop until Friday.  Don't worry, I will leave everyone a bit of love...it just might be a little late so if you do not see a comment from me today, be sure to check your blogs Friday late in the day.

First I will share my Smeared Ink make since Smeared and Smudged is sponsoring this hop.

Smeared Ink Image "Luna" from the "Women of Power" digi set.
Papers: Crafty Chaos Designs (retired store).
I used a version of the card sketch on SS's "Very Sketchy" challenge.
Everything was colored and assembled in Photoshop.
Click on image to enlarge.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next up is my Rick St. Dennis make using his new Moon Goddess digi.
Papers are Crafty Chaos Designs (retired store).
Everything was colored and assembled in Photoshop.
Click on image to enlarge.

The blog list is below for your convenience.

Black Dragon

Laura

Kristy

Kapree

Hazel

Kay

Rick

Monique

Jane

Shell

You are here - Lady Brayton

Fiona

Ike

Cheers!
~ Lady Brayton ~

ALTER A BOX with SMUDGY ANTICS

This is week two of the fortnight challenge with Smudgy Antics.

The challenge this round was to alter a box.

Here is my take on the challenge:

I went to town with Modpodge and papers from Creative Imaginations.  I love this paper line and stocked up on a bunch of these papers when my favorite scrapbook store went out of business.  I've decorated coffins and pretty much everything with this set.  

I started with a wooden box from Michael's, took off the hardware, and painted the edges and the bottom of the box black.  When the paint dried I covered the inside and outside of the box with two different papers.  I used a nail to mark where the hardware needed to go to make reassembly easier. Of course, after sealing and allowing everything to dry, I assembled the box. 

The stamp I used is "Holding Heart" from Smeared Ink's "Bloody Valentine" digital stamp set.  I colored the image in photoshop, printed it several times, fussy cut the images and layered them with silicone glue for dimension.  I used diamond glaze to add a bit of shine and to seal the image to prevent ink run off if it got wet.  I simply adhered the dimensional accent with hot glue.

Head on over to the Smudgy Antics blog for more inspiration from the remainder of the DT.

Thanks for looking!

~Lady Brayton~

Art Will Set Us Free with RSD and Airless Chambers

I'm Lady Brayton aka Lady B.  
I apologize in advance for my super long post.
This is my EDT posting for the Airless Chambers Blog.

Today I'm going to talk about a very serious topic, mental health.

Please be aware that this blog post contains MY OWN PERSONAL OPINIONS.  For any questions, you may contact me personally at ladybrayton(at)yahoo(dot)com.

In the states, May is Mental Health Awareness Month.  It raises awareness of depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and the many other mental health  issues that so many suffer from and attempts to reduce the stigma associated with these illnesses.  The goals are to educate people about the various mental health disorders, identify the symptoms of these disorders, and open up communication surrounding these disorders in hopes of being able to help more people get the treatment they need.  One in four individuals has a mental health issue and less than half of these individuals will seek help.

I feel we need to get rid of the judgement and taboos associated with mental health issues.  I have suffered from depression most of my life as well as horrible anxiety.  I did not seek help until my anxiety became paralyzing.  I didn't want people to think I was weak.  I definitely didn't want mental health issues on my personal health record and I didn't want people thinking I was crazy or that I couldn't control my emotions.

I took a big step and decided to get the help I needed.  I've been doing well for several years now, but recently I hit a rough patch and had to tweak some of my medications.  I reached out to family members, coworkers and my design team members and told them what I was going through. Rather than judgement, I found love, caring, and support. 

 In jest, I told Rick he should draw a pic of a lady in a straight jacket with a paint brush in her mouth.  Within 2 hours he sent me the most awesome image titled "Art will set us Free".  I have made several projects with this lovely lady so far.  Some I will keep private, but I will share a few of my makes.  I find this image to be very empowering.  I want to thank everyone for the support you have given me when I needed it the most.
Click images to enlarge.

My first project uses "Art will set us Free".  This gorgeous lass was colored with copic markers and the colors were tweaked a bit in PSE8. I used the sketch below from the Smeared and Smudged "Very Sketchy" challenge. As you can see, I flipped the sketch.  The papers are from my favorite but retired store, Crafty Chaos Designs. 

My second project shown below uses copic markers, Dylusions Spray Inks, Tattered Angels Stencils, MS spider and Drippy Goo punches, a Cuttlebug embossing folder, a silver metallic paint pen, Distress Inks, DecoArt paints, and stickles on the flowers.  Of course the main image is "Art will set us free" and the flowers are part of Rick's "Skull with Roses" stamp.  I added lots of paint dots and splotches as though the lass was just throwing paint at the walls and making a big therapeutic mess. 

Lastly comes a tag I made.  I started with a manila tag and embossed it with one of my cuttlebug folders.  Next came loads of spray inks.  I colored the  swirls with my copic markers.  The "Art will set us Free" image was colored with copics, fussy cut, popped up with foam dots and for her final touches I added stickles to her hair and dress for shimmer and shine.  The sentiment "Oh, relax!  It may be nothing more than mental illness." was from Viva Las Vegas stamps.  I wanted a fun take on the tag.  The skull with "trouble" is a rub-on from Creative Imaginations.  It doesn't rub so well anymore since it is so old so I glued it to cardstock before attaching it to my tag.  I can't find a white pen that works well so I wrote in the swirls with my white Prisma pencil.  I added sheer ribbon and teal fibers for a tassel.  Sorry it doesn't show in the picture.

There you have it, folks.  One image, three different looks.  Why not go and free yourself by doing some artwork today?  Visit Rick's store to find plenty of goodies to color.  BTW, a little birdie whispered into my ear and told me there are still freebies to be grabbed here and here.  Don't forget to play along with the May AC Freebie Challenge or the May SNG Freebie challenge this month!.  You have until midnight on May 24th Pacific time to play.

I will be entering my projects into the following challenges:

Left of Center: Use a digi image...I used a digi stamp from RSD and my first project also uses digital papers and was composed digitally.

Divas By Design: Anything Goes

Penny's Paper-Crafty: Die-cuts/Punches.  In my middle project I used 2 MS punches around the main image.

The Perfect Sentiment #78: dry embossing, must use sentiment on front.  My tag, the last project, uses the Swirls folder from cuttlebug for dry embossing and it has a sentiment on top of the tag.

Make it Monday: Anything Goes

May Freebies with Rick St. Dennis

It's that time again!  It is the first Saturday of the month and that means it is freebie time at the Airless Chambers blog (Rick's darker blog) as well as the Sparkle and Glitter blog. 

This month we have an exciting twist to our free digi image giveaway.  We are also having a challenge contest!!!

1. Use the SINGING ZOMBIE freebie image to make a project.  You can make an ATC, TAG, Card, Art journal page or anything! Your project MUST use this months freebie.  You may use other images, stamps etc from other source but the center of interest must be this months freebie image. 
2. Make your project FABULOUS!  Every image will be judged for colour, texture, originality, embellishments, design etc. 
3. You have THREE WEEKS to complete one or more projects.  Every project must be entered separately and must be linked back The Airless Chambers Blog. The Deadline is MAY 24, 2013 at midnight Pacific time (USA). Post the project on your blog and then link it to your actual blog post, not just your blog address.  If you do not have a blog, email the project photo as an attachment to rickstdennis@yahoo.com - entries MUST have MAY FREEBIE ENTRY AC in the subject line of the email-other emails not following the rules will be discarded.  REMEMBER, only email your entry if you do not have a blog to post it on and link to Mr. Linky. 
4. There will be THREE winners.  1st place will receive a choice of 3 digis from Rick's Etsy Shoppe, 2nd place will get choice of 2 digis and 3rd place will get a choice of one digi.  There will also be a random image drawn that will get one free digi. All winners will be picked by Rick and his design team and are final-Monetary value of the prize award is zero. Have a wonderful time and we hope to have many entries,
5. Click HERE to receive your freebie.  ENJOY!

Here is what the freebie looks like colored:

Here is a small project I made with the Singing Zombie:

Be sure to hop on over to both Airless Chambers as well as Sparkle and Glitter to pick up your May freebie images.  Both blogs are doing the freebie challenge so be sure to read the details on each blog on how to win more of Rick St. Dennis' fabulous images.  Also, Rick has new images in his Shoppe every day so be sure to check often.  He even has a new "specials" section in his shop where you can find images at great prices.

One more thing.  Be sure to become a follower of all three of Rick's blogs (The third being Rick's Blog) as he often has exclusive images that may only be purchased off of the blog.  These images come at a lesser cost as there are no etsy fees and whatnot.  I would hate for you to miss a deal so please become a regular reader.  

~ Cheers ~

Lady B

WEEK 2 of GLITTER and GORE with SMUDGY ANTICS

The title says it all.  

This is the last week to enter the GLITTER AND GORE challenge over at the SMUDGY ANTICS CHALLENGE BLOG.

It appears that most of blogland is too afraid of GORE to play along so the chances of a win are fantastic!

Pictured below is my take on the challenge.  Sorry about the poor quality of the pics.  Glitter is hard enough to capture, but with a cell phone camera the challenge was even greater.  I must remember to have my camera battery charged on Sundays.  D'oh!

Click images to enlarge.  I'm sure the pics all look pretty much the same, but I posted three in case one happens to be clearer than the others.

I used "Shy Zombie" from Smeared Ink's "Zombie Pinups" digi set.  She is colored with copic markers.  I'm still searching for my favorite zombie greens so if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know what colors to try.  I added Spica glitter pens to the skin and Stickles to the zombie's purple drape.  

I also added the "Anatomical Heart" from Smeared Ink's "Quoth the Raven" rubber set.  You can get this set if you are a member of Smeared Ink's Rubber Club or you can get the set in digi form here.  The heart was stamped with Memento ink and colored with copic markers.  I added glittered nail polish to the heart and the zombie's wounds.

The images are mounted on ripped cardboard which was painted with DecoArt  Metallics paint in red.  I also added some leftover scraps spritzed with Dylusions Spray Inks for contrast.  While the paint was wet I applied some shiny micro beads as well for extra sparkle.  Believe me...under the lights this sucker is super bright!  I had to decrease the saturation of the color in photoshop so as not to induce involuntary vomiting from the neon bright colors.  I suppose if I used my real camera, the brightness wouldn't have been as much as an issue.  Eh...too late now :)

The zombie is on pop dots for extra dimension.  Lastly, I added the sentiment "Zombie girls need love too".

Head over to the Smudgy Antics blog for more inspiration.

Thanks for looking!

~ Lady B ~

Skeletal Remains- HDH165

I've been going through a lot of schtuff lately.  You'll hear more about that in a future blog post when I display a journal page I've been working on.  I'm finally on the mend and starting to find my creativity and motivation again.

I signed-up for an Andy Skinner Workshop, "The Outcasts", last year.  Sadly, due to life circumstances, I've just finally gotten around to trying the techniques.  I gathered my plaster, clay, found objects and paint this weekend and started to play.  Now I'm completely hooked!  I want to turn everything I see into a plaster casting and paint away! 

In celebration of the return of my creativity and the return of my sense of self,  I decided to play along with Haunted Design House this fortnight...of course with hours to spare.  LOL...some things will never change!

The challenge theme this fortnight is "Skeletal Remains".

Here are many pics of my "excavation" piece.  Click images to enlarge.

Enjoy!

 

Thanks for looking!

~ Lady B ~

TIC-TAC-TOE Three in a Row with Smudgy Antics - week 2

Welcome back for week two of the current challenge with Smudgy Antics.

The theme for this fortnight is Tic-Tac-Toe.

You must use three items in a row from the grid below.  

You may go down, across, or diagonally. 

There is only one more week to play!

I used the third row going down using ribbon, paint and cardboard.
Click image to enlarge:

I started with some cardboard from a box and ripped the top to show the corrugated board.  Next I painted the cardboard with DecoArt Americana paint in Lamp Black and Crimson.  I don't know if you can tell by the picture, but I also added red glitter dust paint and silver glitter dust paint, both by DecoArt as well.  Michael's had a big sale Saturday...two for $1.00 so I stocked up!

I added some leftover red ribbon from my stash and stamped three images from Smeared Ink's "Quoth the Raven" rubber set onto Copic X-Press it paper and colored the images with copic markers.  The rubber set can only be bought through Smeared Ink's Rubber Club, but you can also get the digi set here.

After adhering the images to the cardboard with my Copic X-Press it double sided tape (my favorite adhesive at the moment) I added a simple decorative key.  Sorry, I don't remember the brand.  I got it on clearance after Halloween last year.

Be sure to check out the challenge at Smudgy Antics and get some more inspiration from the second half of the Smeared Ink DT.  If you like our challenges, you should check out our Forum as well.  It is free to join and additional challenges as well as swaps can be found there.

Cheers!
~  Lady B  ~

I would like to enter my project into Quoth the Raven.  The challenge this month was to use at least three items from a list posted on their blog.  I used 5: Raven, Poe, Ribbon, Skulls and Scarlet.

Design Team Throwdown #3 with Smeared and Smudged

Somehow I got stuck participating had the lovely opportunity 

to represent Smeared Ink in the third Design Team Throwdown sponsored by the Smeared and Smudged Forum.  The challenge this time around was to make a mini book that had to have at least 5 pages and the book had to be smaller than 4 inches.  Be sure to check out our DT blog as well as the blogs of my mates Tori and Kristy.

Click here to vote.
You do need to be a member of the Smeared and Smudged forum to vote, but it is free to join and only takes a minute or two to sign-up.

I thought this would be super easy, but of course I was wrong.  I really struggled initially, especially since I have never made a mini book other than my first domino book last month.  I'm sure I will make more mini books in the future as I have learned from my mistakes and know what to change in terms of binding and whatnot.

All the stamps used were from Smeared Ink.  

I used some epoxy stickers from Creative Imaginations and I used polymer clay skulls and brains from Creepy Glowbugg Concoctions.

Hmmm...skulls and brains.  What could my mini book topic be?

ZOMBIES of course! 

 I am, after all, the Zombie Queen :)

Be prepared for TONS of pics.  Click images to enlarge.

Above is the cover of my book.  This part was super fun and extremely messy to make.  I used "RIP tombstone" from Smeared Ink's "Build a Graveyard" digi set. The tombstone is attached with an "L" shaped bracket to the back of the book.  The cover of the book is made from cardboard from a recycled box and covered with generic black cardstock.  The freshly dug grave was made with silicone glue, parsley, and sesame seeds.  I sealed it with some spray fixative.  The hand coming out of the grave is made from two epoxy stickers (Creative Imaginations) stuck to a brad that goes through the cover of the book.  One can pull on the hand to open the book.  The zombie was a gift from my DH.  He knows me so well!

I'm opening the book in the pic above.  Are you ready to see what's inside?  I highly suggest you send your kiddies away from the monitor as this is NOT APPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN or closed minded adults for that matter.  LOL.

Pages 1 and 2

Pages 3 and 4

Pages 5 and 6

Pages 7 and 8

Pages 9 and 10

Pages 11 and 12

Pages 13 and 14

The "Anatomical heart" is from the "Candy is Dandy" digi set.

Pages 15 and 16

The End

You may have noticed the story ended a bit abruptly.  I could say I'm leaving the story for you to finish with your own imagination.  The truth is that I wasn't going to have enough pages left and I was too spent to add more pages to my already lengthy mini book.  Also, my printer ran out of ink so I couldn't print off the rest of the images I wanted to use.  LOL.  Shit happens!  

The Zombies are from Smeared Ink's "Zombie Headshot" digi set.  The graveyard on the last page is from the "Holy City" digi set.  This set also comes in rubber for members of Smeared Ink's Rubber Club.  My book measures 3 inches wide and 3.75 inches long.  The inside pages with the pictures are 3" x 3".  All images were colored digitally and printed to size.

Click here to Vote.

I am entering my mini book into the following challenges:

Craft Room Challenge- In the library.  Use or make books.  I made a mini.

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #216. Use items found around the house.  I used parsley and sesame seeds to make the cover of my mini book.

Inky Chicks-use a background stamp.  I used a cemetery background stamp solo and also as a background behind some of my zombies.  See pages 7-10 as well as the last page.

Use it Tuesdays- Use hoarded items.  I used cardboard from my hoard of boxes I've saved for shipping items to make the cover of my mini book as well as some light blue paper that I've had in my stash for over 6 years.  The epoxy stickers (page 8 and15) have been in my stash for at least 4 years. I tried to use some rub-ons, but those were so old they would transfer anymore :/  I did use an old gooey glue stick to adhere my light blue paper to the pages.

Make it Monday- Anything goes.

Sparkle N Sprinkle- Use a digital image.  All my images are digital stamps.

Cheers!

~  Lady Brayton  ~

It's Freebie Saturday with RSD

Since it's the first Saturday of the month, it is FREEBIE SATURDAY with RSD!

Also, there have been lots of changes going on.  Rick now has three blogs and he will be having a freebie on each blog!  Hurry and check the new blogs because the freebies are only available today, Saturday April 6, 2013 and Sunday April 7, 2013.

Here is a sample project made with one of Rick's darker images.  This freebie is on the Airless Chambers blog which is Rick's darker blog.  The other freebies appear on Sparkle and Glitter and on the Rick St. Dennis blog.  

The image is named "Art on the Brain".  I colored it with copic markers and used digi papers from the retired store 
Crafty Chaos Designs.

Thanks for stopping by.  Now go get those freebies!

~ Lady B ~

BTW, Please do not share or pin the freebies as they will only be free for 2 days and then will go into Rick's shop.  Also, as with any digi stamp, please do not share.  Instead, please direct your friends and family to the appropriate blogs so they may grab their own freebie.  Thanks a bunch!

MAKE IT COLOURFUL..... WITHOUT MARKERS OR PENCILS. Week 2.

This is week 2 of the most recent challenge at Smudgy Antics.  
There is only one week left to play along.

  We want to see you ladies and gents make a COLORFUL project WITHOUT using colored pencils  or markers of any kind.  That's right!

 NO COLORED PENCILS OR MARKERS OF ANY KIND ALLOWED.

Are you stumped? 
 It really isn't that hard once you start thinking outside of the box and

 are willing to give different techniques a try.

You can paint with acrylics, oils, water colors, inks, or even perfect pearls.  

Here is a tutorial on painting with Perfect Pearls.  

If you are not into the painting thing, you can give pastels or paper piecing a try.  Heck, you can even use your own blood, but I don't really recommend that unless you're doing a small project like an ATC, an inchie, or a twinchie.


Here is my offering.  I decided to paint with Perfect Pearls.

I started with black card, stamped my image with Versa Mark embossing ink then heat embossed the image.  Next I painted with Perfect Pearls.  Refer to the tutorial link above.  I fussy cut the image, mounted it on white card, and fussy cut again.  For the background I used Dylusions Spray Inks and stencils.  The Goddess sentiment was heat embossed with clear embossing powder before applying the spray inks.  I mounted the background onto white then black card, attached my focal image and some gold cording, decided I didn't like the cording so I covered it with three paper roses from a dear friend.  The rubber stamp set used is "Elementals" from Smeared Ink.  I thought this set was offered in digi form, but I can't seem to find it in the store.  For you rubber lovers, this set may make a comeback in  Smeared Ink's Rubber Club.

Cheers!

~ Lady B ~