The Thing Monsters Have Nightmares About... (LTC #125)

Whedonverse Swap

The Chosen One (LTC #125)

     I loved Buffy The Vampire Slayer. It was truly a guilty pleasure show for me. Joss Whedon is a ridiculously talented creator. I had this image lying in wait for a Whedonverse swap to pop up. A big thank you to Aiphid who lists the best swaps! I made the paper for this swap and then just couldn't resist putting the card in the little wood like paper bags I had laying around. I wasn't sure when they would ever come in handy, but sometimes all the elements just happen to be laying around and it was perfect for this. I carved a nice wooden stake for the outside of the bags and really enjoyed the end result. I wanted a quote for the back of the card because there were so many ridiculously awful and good lines in the show. This is not the one I chose but it seems fitting to add it to the blog simply for its beauty...

 Passion…it lies in all of us. Sleeping, waiting, and though unwanted, unbidden, it will stir, open its jaws, and howl. It speaks to us, guides us… passion rules us all. And we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments; the joy of love, the clarity of hatred, and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion, maybe we’d truly know some kind of peace. But we would be hollow. Empty rooms, shuttered and dank… without passion, we’d truly be dead.

Angelus

And how about a few more just for fun...

Don’t be ridiculous. Martha Stewart isn’t a demon. She’s a witch. Nobody could do that much decoupage without calling on the powers of darkness.
Anya
The hardest thing in this world is to live in it. Be brave. Live.
Buffy
[On humans] I guess I just realized how amazingly screwed up they all are. I mean, really, really screwed up, in a monumental fashion. And they have no purpose that unites them so they just drift around, blundering through life until they die… which they… they know is coming, yet every single one of them is surprised when it happens to them. They’re incapable of thinking about what they want beyond the moment. They kill each other, which is clearly insane. And yet, here’s the thing – when it’s something that really matters, they fight. I mean, they’re lame morons for fighting, but they do. They never… never quit. So I guess I will keep fighting too.
Anya

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (LTC #124)

Paint Chip Inspired Swap 

龙'血 Dragon's Blood (LTC #124)

     I used this carve for the Paint Chip Inspired swap. I had carved this image simply to see if I could. The moment I saw it I fell in love. I tried a number of times to make it into a card but never could quite find something I liked. Then my lovely friend The Dye Sue listed the paint chip inspired swap. So I went to Home Depot and Lowe's to peruse names. Low and behold there was a paint chip called Dargon's Blood by Bejamin Moore & Co. I immediately knew I would attempt to make this card again! After many hours and lots of advice I managed to put a card together that I truly love. I used the red paint chip as a layer on the card and sprayed it with a fine glittery mist before I painted over the entire thing with mod podge. Before I carved the Chinese characters for Dragon's Blood I had a huge void in the upper left corner. I had originally ordered a wax stamp press to add a wax dragon to the card. Once it arrived it looked truly terrible when I added it. However after spending money on something like that solely for use on a card I had to find a way to use it. Voila, the card gets delivered in a wax sealed bag! I LOVE this card. It came together better than I imagined after only half a million failures!

A Simple Girl From Simple Means....(LTC # 123)

Mod Swap

10 Cent Pistol (LTC # 123)

I love Aiphid's Mod swaps. They give me a chance to just carve and play with an image I've been dying to do. This time I picked The Black Keys as my subject. They are an Indie rock group with a hint of blues and soul. I carved an image of a concert poster of theirs that I love (I'm a pool hall chick myself), named it after one of their popular songs and am including the lyrics to one of their songs that the poster reminds me of.

                                                       "Girl Is On My Mind"

Girl is on my mind,
Girl is on my mind,
Try to ignore it,
I try to unwind,
But she is on my mind,

Eyes are in my eyes,
Eyes are in my eyes,
Where I've been,
How time flies,
When she is in my eyes,

See her standin' there,
See her standin' there,
She's gentle now and she,
Takes great care,
See her standin' there,

Hold me close to you,
Hold me close to you,
Not one thing that I,
Would not do if you,
Would hold me close to you, alright,
Yeah!

Girl is on my mind,
She is on my mind,
Try to ignore it,
Try to unwind,
But she is on my mind,
Ooh-ooh~ooh,
Ooh~yeah,
Ooh~ooh~ooh-ooh-ooh,
Ooh~ooh~oh~yeah~ooh.

This card took me two days. One to carve and the other full day to put together. I loved this image so much that I really wanted to do it right. I started off laying out all of the supplies I planned on using. Then I narrowed down the base paper from 4 different papers and started layering on 5 layers of distress inks to the paper to give it the smoky pool hall feel I was after. Then I stamped it, inked the edges of the base and pulled out some copic markers and distress markers. I used the distress for her dress, the couch, and the blue jeans. I wanted the blue jeans to have a washed out feel and the only was to do that was with the distress markers. I then added some brighter accents with colic markers, including making the beer bottles green to give it an authentic bar feel. As the final steps got closer I held the colored version up against six different background papers. I settled on a plain maroon one with no designs. Although my patterned papers are always fun to work with I really didn't want to draw attention away from the carve on this one. To finish, I glued the cards to the background paper and layered on the Mod Podge. Thank you Aiphid for another swap that allowed me to produce a card that screams Seattle Bound.

Supplies laid out....

Base papers to choose from...

Base paper winner

Base paper layered with 5 distress inks...

Background paper choices...

Finally time to stamp...

The pile waiting for colors....

My hand is killing me...

And I still have to do the backs...

Voila! A Mini Black Keys Poster!!!!

Time for Bed!!!!!!!!

                                                        Ten Cent Pistol Live!

In the Shadows...(LTC #121)

Bloodless Halloween Swap

Chat Noir (LTC #121)

     As much as I love carving the macabre this image and card was just fun. Perfect for this swap and a nice welcome to the Halloween season. There's nothing quite so spooky as a black cat and it's shadow in a room with the jumping light of a fire. Happy candy and ghost season! Thanks for hosting this swap Mary!

Paint the Town Red (LTC #119)

PinUp Babes Swap

Mamma, Mia! (LTC # 119)

       When I was a child I used to love sitting in the bathroom watching my mother get ready for a night on the town. I thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world and I couldn't wait to wear that same shade of red lipstick. Now the world has come full circle and my son loves to sit on the side of the tub and watch me get ready (fully dressed) for date nights. 

      There's something that's very sexy about a confident woman standing in front of a mirror doing her make-up, getting ready to.....paint the town red!

Something Wicked This Way Comes (LTC #118)

Halloween 2014 Swap

Lurking (LTC #118)

Made for the Halloween 2014 swap. I struggled and struggled and struggled with this card. I'm not sure I like the outcome as much as the original artwork. It's by a man named John Kenn Mortenson. He is a father of twins and full time children's show television director. In his spare time he likes to draw monster pictures on post-its. It's a very cool collection of images. http://johnkenn.blogspot.com

Ave Maria & The Corpse (LTC #117)

Movie Monsters Swap

She's alive, Alive! (LTC #117)

I had been holding onto this image for awhile just waiting for the right moment to carve it. I saw this swap and finally had a reason. The Bride of Frankenstein was a "Grand Collaboration" so while Miss C was here I asked her to help me put it together. Tada~ She's ALIVE!

Made with special Guest Star....Miss C.

The acting is SOOOO terrifyingly bad...lol