Karen's Muse and Musings

On the Dark Side

If you scare easily maybe you should close this window — quick! But, if you are like me and enjoy a good old scary movie or ghost story, then go ahead and look at what I've done today.

This is my entry for this week's Gothic Arches theme — Orange and Black. Before I made the arch, I did this ATC, and it scares even me!

 

Look closely behind and to the left of the girl's head. Do you see that face? Another one of my dictionary pages turned ghostly.

The image of the little girl is from PaperWhimsy.

You're Invited!

Layers of Color will soon introduce 9 new clear sheet stamp sets — over 70 designs! To celebrate, they are throwing a Release Party on November 14-15, and I thought I would spread the word. Here's what Laura has to say about it:

We’re throwing a huge party and you’re invited!

November 14th – 15th, 2009

Layers of Color

is celebrating their

*Autumn 2009 stamp release*

and revealing 9 new fabulous clear stamp sets

totaling over 70 original  art stamps!

Everyone who joins us will get FREE DIGIS party favors!

With a drawing and contest offering $250 in PRIZES,

blog hopping with Faith Perspective,

a unique challenge from Stamping Sisters in Christ,

mingling with over

one dozen talented stamp artists,

including Layers of Color Design Team

you won’t want to miss this fun event!

Another Halloween Banner

I had so much fun creating banners for Aileen's Halloween Banner Swap that I decided to do more. Here's one I made for a friend. Notice the ghostly faces at the top of each just like I did before. (For details, click here.) I cut the letters out with scissors after I printed them on cardstock. The font is called LD Cottage, and I love the Gothic look of it. The cool charms and ribbons are from Paula's Kit Club.

 

I Won, I Won, I Won, I Won!

I won a major award! Do you know that movie "A Christmas Story"? If so, you'll remember that line in the movie. Well, I didn't win a leg lamp — thank goodness — but I did win Alys, one of Joanne Huffman's beautiful handcrafted art dolls. Here is the beautiful Alys.

According to Joanne, Alys knows that there are truths that transcend facts and can be found in art and fiction. She is a very wise woman.

Joanne has recently reopened her web site. It is filled with wonderful things for sale like other art dolls, unique polymer clay buttons, journals, collage sheets and lots more. You should definitely check it out by clicking here.

E-eerie

I'm participating in a Halloween banner swap. We each chose a letter from the word Halloween, and that letter is the focal point of our  banner. After swapping, we will each have a set of banners that we can tie together to spell out the word. I think it will make a fun display for the holiday. As you can see, my letter is E. The second E, to be specific, not that it matters much.

As I planned my banner, I knew I wanted it to have a Gothic feel, so I started by choosing an appropriate font for my letter E. My plan was to collage text, photos, and tissue to use for the background, but as I was looking through old encyclopedias for text, I realized how spooky some of the old images were. I'm sure most of the people pictured there were perfectly nice people, but in this context, they definitely could look mysterious, even eerie. I chose a page with an illustration of some historic figure for each banner. Then I brushed Golden's Titanium White over them to make the image fainter, more ghostly. Next, I sprayed the pages with Color Mists. When dry, I stamped on them and used Distress Inks on the edges, added the E, charms, trims and ribbons. The cool charms and ribbons are from Paula's Kit Club. None of my banners are exactly the same, so here are a few more examples. Notice the ghostly figure at the top left of each. Here's to short dead dudes!

The next one may be the scariest just because of the illustration. It's a 17th century dentist practicing his "art" on some unfortunate soul. Yikes!

Time to Clean Up!

I give up! I can't stand it in my studio any longer. Yesterday I began the process of cleaning and organizing. And not just picking up and putting away either. I need to dig into drawers, files, and piles on the floor and get rid of some of this stuff I've accumulated. Honestly, I almost want to throw everything away and start over. Do you ever feel this way?

I recommend ...

a new blog by an incredibly talented woman who just happens to be my sister, Laurie. Click on her name to go there, and you will see diverse art forms such as linoleum block printing, bookmaking (the legal kind!), watercolors, portraiture — and get to read about the process too. If you leave a comment, tell her you found her through her big sister.

I made this house for a swap with my Oh My Gothic group. Last year, we traded arches, but this year we're doing houses. This one is for Cat. Here's the reverse side.

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

Years ago I read Harlan Ellison's short story with this title, and although the story has faded a bit from my memory, I'll never forget the title. From what I remember, the human body had evolved into a blob with a functioning brain but no limbs ... or mouths! I felt a little mouth-less a few days ago. My cellphone died a quick and merciful death, followed closely by the demise of my modem. I was cut off from the world! Yes, it's true, I had contact with nearby family and friends, but what about my online friends? How could I survive not knowing what they were up to? Or, how could they survive not knowing what I was up to? What did we do before this world of instant communication? Yes, it has its pitfalls. Sometimes, I wish I could escape the ring of an ever-present phone. But ... when I don't have that phone, I'm nervous about driving without it. What if my car breaks down? What if I have a wreck? Thankfully, the cellphone and the modem have been replaced. Once again, I have a mouth, and I can even scream ... if I need to.

(Yikes! I've been cleaning house all day, sat down at the computer for the few available minutes I have before starting dinner, and my husband calls. "I'm on my way home. Didn't get to eat lunch. Fix me something." Hmmm ... maybe I need to rethink this need for a cellphone.)

Summer Respite

I'm back home after a week at the beach. Since I haven't blogged in over a week, I have a lot to share. I made an ATC for this week's Layers of Color Challenge — Summer Respite. Since I've been home, I've been playing catch up with mail, e-mail, bills, the garden, housework, the list goes on and on. I think I now need another respite!

The quote is paraphrased from Henry James. In a letter to Edith Wharton, he wrote, "Summer afternoon — summer afternoon, to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." I stumbled across these words in my latest copy of Victoria magazine today, and I thought they were perfect for the theme.

My stepdaughter, Dana, is having a baby boy in September. Her baby shower is this Saturday, so I had to get busy and finish up a little outfit I was making. (I'm always trying to get my kids to read my blog, but they never do, so I feel fairly safe that I'm not spoiling the surprise for Dana. I hope this won't be the one time she decides to check it out!)

Here's the little cap that goes with the romper. I need to shop for a little applique to place on the cap.

And here's the card to go with the gift. I used a Keepsake Embossing board to make it.

Last, I have a couple of photos from our vacation to share. The shot of the birds was taken while Warren and I were having lunch at Boss Oyster in Apalachicola.

Here's a really cool photo. I found this tree in Apalachicola that had all these old dead vines wrapped around the trunk. I love the colors and think it will make a great background for some art.