How luscious lies the pea within the pod. -Emily Dickinson

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I'd rather have birds than airplanes

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31st Day of the 31Days of Halloween

the actual curse is for your left ear to fall into your right pocket, it may not work now, but the flash card is of a right ear. Third Coast Skeleton head.

I had hoped to spend the day making these, it didn't work out quite as planned. But I found some fun quotes to work with the flash card pictures and have them roughed in.



Now I want to try to do the rest of the deck!

My apologies for the political reference above, I was showing these to a friend and her husband suggested  this one.

Again, thank you so much for peeking in at my blog this month, I know it was hard to go through all the blogs, I tried to visit everyone at least once, and I'm not sure I made it. It was more than I could do to keep up with the daily post, we were on vacation one week, the pastor of our church took a new church call, volunteered for the interim search committee, and the list goes on and on, and I know everyone had "life" to deal with. but I hope it provided a little escape for folks. It did for me! Thanks for your kind comments.

I've decided to continue posting altered vintage flash cards from this series, and I have some from a swap I never posted, so check in once in a while.

Happy Halloween!
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29th Day of the 31 Days of Halloween

This is just a little too sweet, but "meme" is knitting a spiderweb. The quote is from Erma Bombeck. I got the web and spider stickers (Martha Stewart) from Joann's today, 70% off. Retail therapy! The little creepy, crawly, spooky saying is from My Mind's Eye. The spider crawling up "meme's" arm is from Martha Stewart, I wanted to give her a tattoo. I added some white gel pen to her hair to give her a "Bride of Frankenstein" look. The border star squiggly is from Inkadinkado, splatter and swirls and markers from Stampin' UP!    The card is photographed on a decorative folder then processed through several photo apps, Phoster, Pic Grunger and Photo wizard.

The next challenge is to see if I can pull off two more altered flash cards, I'm left with a bus, plane, cabbage, milk, orange (which could pass as a pumpkin) a table, a 1960s living room, and other not so obvious choices... possibilities are endless......but my brain is ....well..... nuff said.

Thank you for taking the time to hop and look and leave such lovely comments. I've really enjoyed the journey!


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28th Day of the 31 Days of Halloween

Le Train

Skull from Third Coast, Bat from Martha Stewart, splatter stamp and assorted markers from Stampin'Up! Phoster photo app. Quote from the movie "The Ghost Train",1941.

Thanks for taking the time to comment on my work. I appreciate all of your kind comments. Enjoy!

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25th Day of the 31Days of Halloween

La robe


This flash card started as just a dress, "la robe". I added her head from Third Coast Rubber Stamps, Arms and legs from Lost Coast and the Happy Halloween Bat from Martha Stewart. Colored with assorted stampin up markers!

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24th Day of the 31 Days of Halloween

Le lit



All things in moderation!
Thanks for visiting!

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23rd Day of Halloween

L' automne



Thanks for your kind comments about my altered flash cards! Enjoy hopping today!

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22nd Day of the 31Days of Halloween

L'arbre



Vintage French/English Flash card, Circle trick or treat - Cat's Life Press, Splatter - Stampin' Up! .005 black marker, assorted Pilot Gel Pens.

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21st Day of the 31 Days of Halloween

Yet another flash card, I can't help myself! "Le chat"! And an awesome poem by Dean Farnell "Creepy" . This is just the first stanza. Yes there are rubber stamps , "let's scare up some fun" and stars from Inkadinkado , splatter from Stampin' Up!

Have a great day!

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20th Day of the 31 Days of Halloween

I was searching for a poem to illustrate " le pere" flash card. And stumbled upon David Elzey at www.fomagram.blogspot.com. He had this awesome limerick, plus a challenge to post your own. His is perfect for my flash card " le pere" , poor "le pere".
Trick or Treat circle stamp from Cat's Life Press, Bats from Inkadinkado, $1 stamps I couldn't pass up at Joann's, and the Stampin' Up! Splatter stamp.
thanks for visiting and for your awesome comments. Enjoy!
http://fomagrams.wordpress.com/2012/10/19/poetry-friday-the-halloween-limerick-challenge/
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19th Day of the 31Days of Halloween

To feel invisible...."se sentir transparent"'.

Actually the word is "le surtout" (coat) but this made me think of "The Invisible Man".




Another altered French English flash card. The corners have been stamped as have the clusters of stars. Inkadinkado from the $1 goodies at Joann's.

Quote from Omar Khayyam

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18th Day of the 31 Days of Halloween

An altered French/English flash card from the 60s! The trees and aviator witch are from Third Coast Rubber Stamps, and the Trick or Treat with pumpkin partial circle is from Cat's Life Press.

Edited with Adobe Photoshop Touch.



I had fun using a bunch of these for iHannahs mail art post card swap. Here's an example from that swap.




Here's the back of the flash card still needing embellishing.



Nature is a haunted house - but Art - is a house that tries to be haunted.
- Emily Dickinson

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16th Day of the 31 Days of Halloween

This started out as a Stampington Paperdoll Template, and as you can see I modified it just a bit. Ok a lot. Her head is from Artgirlz Rubber Stamps Faces, arms and legs from Artgirlz Rubber Stamps Bloom. Her bustier is actually a corner stamp from Inkadinkado. I just "eye balled" her shoulders, hat and skirt. She appears in a journal I am working in, and needs a bit more embellishment.

 

A few more quotes added to the fray.

 

Not so happy with the photo.

But this is a cool mask!

. We are what we pretend to be - so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.

- Kurt Vonnegut

 

Valery is next!

 

Day 31 - I Believe in ALL paths to God.

No matter what religion you are, whether you're a Catholic, whether you're Voo Doo, or whether you're a

Presbyterian, or so and and so on....

We All Pray!

I believe in all paths to God.

The top two photos have had Photoshop Elements Brushes added here and there.

The bottom photos are unedited from the original photo.

A journal page, expressing my belief about religion. I believe in all paths to God. Your path may be different than mine, but it is how we relate to God, and who are we to tell the other they are wrong? We all pray.

I've enjoyed the 31 days of Halloween, it's been all about honoring each other and our gifts. Thank you for viewing and commenting on my posts. Be sure to check out the other Wicked Bloggers they are ALL awesome! May peace be with you.

Terra

Tori

Sara

Christy

Celina

Donna

Susan

Kapree

Lisa

Black Dragon

Lady Brayton

Jane

Alex

Monique

Jennifer

Alison

Sugar

Heather

Dragonfly Jane

Kelli

Dianne

Steph

Ike

Fiona

Kristy

Freddie

Sharon

Mary Ann

Day 14 - "Said the spider to the fly"

It's Smeared Ink Day on the 31 Days of Halloween. I ordered a 'grab bag collection' and I'm loving all the new stamps. I hope you enjoy them, too. I made a "mask" of this character with the little dancing spider on his head, and a mask of the web. Cut them out, of course. Then stamp in your journal. Use the masks as needed to cover the character and/or web, to get some images in the background. I love using masks. I colored in the character with Crimson Red prismacolor pencil and black fine point copic markers, the same with the webs.I took a photo and embellished with PSE paint brushes. It's fun.

Be sure to check out all the fabulous work on the Wicked Blogs listed to the right, you won't be sorry!

Come back tomorrow for Day 15

Relax and Have Some Candy Corn

Journaling with candy corn is fun, I loved cutting out the candy corn images and glueing them to the skeletons. The angel image is a photo I took on vacation in one of the many US Civil War era cemeteries that my husband and I haunt while on the road.

Halloween is almost here

Goblins, Ghosts, Oh the fear!

Pumpkins, black cats and witches brew

and bobbing for apples, too.

 So jump for joy and sound the horn

Relax and have some Candy Corn
(Author unknown)

"Hold on Man! We don't go anywhere with 'scary', 'spooky', 'haunted', or 'forbiddin' in the title.

Probably the wrong quote for Smeared & Smudged 31 Days of Halloween, 'cause everywhere you turn, it's "Scary", "Spooky", "Haunted" and "Forbidden". But that doesn't stop the Wicked Bloggers. Be sure you check out the other links in the blog roll to the right.

Scooby Doo's quote was perfect for this journal page. I painted this page with the acrylic green, and "collage pauged" ( Traci Bautista's gluing medium)the ghostly image. I use whatever I happen to find on sale or have a coupon or I am inspired to try. No real product loyalty here. ( However the Claudine Hellmuth Mixed Medium is especially nice, but pricey for the size.) Mod Pauge works nice, too as well as the assorted brands of gel mediums.

The image came from a vintage text from the books below, we had these when I was at home as a mere child. My folks bought them when my brother was little, in the late 40s. I came along in the early 50s. I ran across a set of these and had to pick up a couple of volumnes.

 

I used some more of those Inkadinkado Mini stamps I picked up at Joann's and my local scrapbook store. Don't you love that little row of tombstones. Add some shading with a graphite pencil and some highlights with a white gel pen. You're set.

 

Here's a few detail photos. I think the 3 and the 1 may be from Stampin'Up collage alphabet / numbers.



Now, the prize pack from my rat friends. They need a name, we had several suggestions yesterday, which were pretty good. The rats are androgynous, so they really don't care if it's a boy's name or a girl's name.

The prize pack includes 3 Men's Clothing Alteration Tags, 3 vintage and naturally aged Bingo cards, 3 tags, 3 special labels, and 3 pairs of Pince-Nez, never before worn by any human. The rats and blood splatter will stay here. Isn't this exciting!

So think of some names, and you can enter more than once.


I found
yesterday's cloaked kitty at http://www.stamplandchicago.com/  #3318-18

I'll bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween.

I have the honor of serving on the Third Coast Rubber Stamps Design Team. Each month we received a stash of "Challenge Stamps". The three nude women in the journal page above is one I recently received. I like it! But I was trying to figure out a way to use in for my 31 Days of Halloween entry and my Third Coast Blog day.

One of my many favorite things to do on the internet is search for quotes. I had searched for Halloween quotes when I first signed up for 31 Days. I remembered seeing "I'll bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween". The perfect quote! I like journaling with quotes and words and using ransome note lettering. I have a stash of letters that I keep in two embroidery floss organizers.

I pick up travel brochures when we travel, studying the brochures carefully for the perfect fonts. I know I prefer the fonts with "serifs" but pick up others that have cool color combos or are the perfect size. I try to keep a stash, so that I can sort through each letter looking for the perfect one that will be appealing with the other letters in the quote and with other art on the page.

Stamp the image on some scraps of designer paper and embossed with fine black embossing power. Apply a wash to your journal page using acrylic paint. Adhere your stamped images and add lettering, and assorted other quotes. I found some other interesting quotes about naked and or nude people from the internet.

"Clothes make the man (or woman). Naked people have little or no influence on society." Mark Twain

Check out all of the art stamps on Third Coast, at the links to the right. Three Nudes is # FA - 201-I .

Thanks for visiting Day 2 of The 31 Days of Halloween! Be sure to click on the next link in the blog roll at the right.

Crazed with the love of the light

Fuel or fodder for your art journaling, that's what your photos are for. Especially the random shots taken on walks with your iPhone. Those are the best.

Just start with a giant sunflower head, peeking over a fence. Snap a few images, edit with your assorted apps, and you're ready to go. I upload to flickr these days, my phone won't let me download to my computer. Some glitch, I guess. But you can by-pass that problem.

Download/upload, whatever the jargon, to flickr. Download to your computer. Edit some more with your Photoshop Elements or photo editing software. Size to your liking and  put multiple sizes on an 8 1/2 by 11 sized layout. Save to a flash drive. Drive to your local Office Max. Get some prints on 12 point paper.

Seems like a lot of steps, but in the long run it saves me the frustration of printing multiple, less than satisfactory, prints on my home printer.

In the meantime, search the Internet for a quote or two that seems to fit the topic of your photo. I decided to search for sunflower and yellow. I was working on this page in Pam Carriker's Journal 365 class. This particular assignment suggested printing or stamping the word of a color repeatedly on your background and then limit your palette to that color ( and it's complement, or analogous colors, and etc.)

But back to our Internet, quote search. One of my favorite things to do. Sometimes, they work, sometimes they don't, sometimes you love 'em but can't use 'em.

And sometimes I don't know what they mean, oh well.

I found these and liked them...and used some of them.

• There is no blue without yellow and without orange.    Vincent Van Gogh
• We've been in a war and a recession. That's why acccent colors with yellow and purple are popular. They're optimistic and flirty and happy colors. David Bromstad
• What ye have been ye still shall be, When we are dust the dust among, O yellow flowers! Austin Dobson
• “Sometimes silence is not golden -- just yellow.”
• “Bring me then the plant that points to those bright Lucidites swirling up from the earth, And life itself exhaling that central breath! Bring me the sunflower crazed with the love of light”
• Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It's what sunflowers do. - Helen Keller, Cancer

After I had selected my color, Yellow Ochre (not okra), I searched for papers from magazines. Just ripped them right out! Fun, but be sure to you use your own copy and not a neighbor's and especially not the library copy.
 
I applied some of my base color, thinned with water, to my journal page and let it dry. Then I stamped the word yellow ochre, all over, using a large sized alphabet set and paint instead of ink.
 

Somewhere in the midst of this process, you paw through your stash of ephemera and other paper goodies and look for "stuff" that fits your color mood. I added the magazine and ad scraps, as well as some quilt design wrapping paper.
 
I love to add cut out letters to my pages and art work, and if you should get a ransom letter in the mail, it isn't from me, honest! I periodically cut up magazines and put the letters in two of those embroidery floss holders, one letter in each slot. It's great then you can browse through your alphabet stash and find fonts, sizes and colors to enhance your art page. Be careful it doesn't spill on the floor!
 

By now you may be crazed by the whole process, but it's all such a fun way to use your photos and languishing art stash!  Don't forget to doodle to your heart's content with your white gel marker and some prisma color pencils!