That's What Friends Are For

Time for a fabulous Oz blog hop with the design team members of Lost Coast Designs!  Yep, we have left Kansas and reality a bit to visit the folks of Oz!  I like to call this "That's What Friends are For" because we know how important this trio of new friends was to Dorothy when she landed in that strange and wonderful land!  I created a acrylic mixed media piece with the yellow brick road leading to the Emerald City far away to the right of the canvas.  And congregating and making their way to it are Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion.  

 

These awesome stamps can be found along with some more amazing Oz stamps at Lost Coast Designs here.

I used the Wizard of Oz set 2 that has the witch and the flying monkey and a border, too!

I hope you will visit all the teams blogs as they have some marvelous makes waiting for you!  For now I am going to join my friends and play among the flowers until we get sleepy and take a nap :)

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to visit all of our groups and pages for lots of info and chances to win lovely prizes!

 

Now I am one who needs direct steps to work with so here is step ONE:  Go to HERE to drop off your entries.

You have until midnight PST on March 19th to enter your Oz creations in the inlinkz collection below.  Prize is a $15 spending spree to LCD/CV.  How to play and rules included in the Portal post.

Step Two:  Visit us below and hop through our blogs :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Step THREE:  Check out all the fun and info at our links!

 Lost Coast Portal to Creativity

Lost Coast Designs

Carmen's Veranda

   Like our Facebook pages and enter our challenges there :)

here

and 

here!

Brand New Fun! Join us and like us!

Entering The Artistic Stamper "Spring Time" 
and
Art Journal Journey "If you go into the woods"

Boris Wants to Party!

Carmen's Veranda is stock full of the most unique and amazing rubber stamps!  This is Boris Karloff and next to Alfred he is my fav!  Our challenge theme is "Let's Party" at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity this month and Boris wants to play and party!  He even got dolled up in his hats and some glitter to shine for the night.

  Menacing eyes for sure!  But what fun to play with!  The Nuance powders had to come out and play of course cause it's a party!  Misc. Words wanted a peek at the party along with the Horizontal Party Hats.  I think there is fun to be had by all!

Join us in the fun and enter the challenge (remember it must be rubber stamped any company but double your chances if you use Lost Coast Designs or Carmen's Veranda!) at the Portal and check out the Portal to Creativity for all up to date info and a little inspiration :)

 Lost Coast Portal to Creativity

Lost Coast Designs

Carmen's Veranda

   Like our Facebook pages and enter our challenges there :)

here

and 

here!

Why So Sad?

My daughter is doing some digital work for her portfolio and has created some collage sheets for me with images from the British Library released recently as copyright free.  This sad looking girl caught my eye and her story seems like it should be known but somehow maybe not.  The secrets she holds may be too terrible for us to know about.  So my mind went to the Moulin Rouge murder story of Sherlock Holmes, my absolute favorite stories ever neck and neck with Mr. Poe of course!  

.An old worn wallet covered with papers, inks, and paint hold her.

Chains and a pendant with the words "Some gates should remain closed forever" with a key

 

 

I added some texture and paint and some red tears.  I think her story is just too sad for us to know and it should remain that way.

Look for these collage sheets at my daughter's Zibbet store, she will be adding more soon and a small art journal project to get anyone wanting to begin an art journal heading in the right direction.

I am entering this at Things to Alter for February "Anything Goes but Cute"  

Forever Love at Lost Coast Designs

I fell in love with the Manga Girls the minute I saw them!  It came time to get a project made for our Valentine's event and I looked at "Goth Girl with Rose" and decided although no hearts were on her, she looked so happy she must be in love!  So she became my project.  

I colored her with Spectrum Noir markers and fussy cut before placing her on a piece of white cardstock sprinkled with Nuance powders and sprayed with water.  I limited the amount of running of the colors and left some dotted areas which is another awesome way you can use these powders which are available at Lost Coast Designs also.  The lock, key, and heart are paper clay pieces painted with a wet brush rubbed across the top of Gelatos.  One of my most used stamp sets from Lost Coast Designs is the "Mis. Words"!  I have used them on soooo many makes and still have tons of ideas sparked from the words in this set.  The sentiment, of course, is from this set stamped on the leftover red Nuance powder I mixed as a watercolor and dipped the edges of the white cardstock in before attaching to the hearts backing. I just poured it onto a scrap of paper and let it move about some and when it dried I had a lovely shade of light red. Lastly, a grab at some ribbon and yarn for the tag loop and she was ready to declare her undying love!

Hope you are following the fabulous ladies on the design team who are presenting projects for each day of this event!  You will be inspired; they always inspire me :)  

Happy Valentine's Day! 

 Lost Coast Portal to Creativity

Lost Coast Designs

Carmen's Veranda

February Challenge "Pocket Letters" HERE

   Like our Facebook pages and enter our challenges there :)

here

and 

here!

Frida and Her Thoughts on Love

I am so interested in Frida Kayol, her art, her life, it is really quiet unique.  For our Valentine's Event at Lost Coast Designs, I made an ATC with the stamp "Frida Sitting" from Carmen's Veranda Stamps. I added paper, some text from a really old French book (I didn't have any Spanish old books) and some ribbon that seemed to be "her" colors.

Frida may seem odd for Valentine's Day but she had a long standing romance in her life that was both her joy and downfall according to her.  The quote is from Frida probably to this man in her life and how deep must that love have run for her to say this?  

I do hope you are visiting the Portal to see my teamies lovely makes and leaving them some love :)

Lost Coast Designs

Carmen's Veranda 

Like us on Facebook HERE 

and HERE

Lost Coast Portal to Creativity

February Challenge is HERE theme "Pocket Letters"

 

Stitchy Bear and Dream in Darkness

Thanks to StitchyBear for sponsoring our challenge at Dream in Darkness this month!  I got the fabulous "Steampunk Profile" and had started using Nuance powders for the hair when life got in the way work was halted.  To express that life turmoil I looked at steampunk with new eyes and it seemed like all the cogs and wheels expressed the pain, stress, and junk we deal with everyday more days being worse than others.  So I went mixed media with it adding some metal bits and bobs with some jewelry pieces and added a different spin by using some Grumbacher paints sent to me to test out so I only know them as Mix 1, 2, and 3.  I used the blue tri-colored textured paint with a touch of gold from the same line.  I stamped some sentiments that represent things that stress us by Viva Las Vegas Stamps and the bottom sentiment seemed to say it all :)

Please visit us this month and leave us your odd make, dark make, your weirdness supreme! for us to visit your blog and be inspired by YOU!  Also let's keep Evil Froggy happy, thanks for all the entries in January...whew!  we were really, really scared of what that frog was going to do to us!  See ya this month to leave you some love :)

Meet My "Lizard Dog"

Yep, I have a lizard dog now!  I have actually four dogs, a cat, and a lizard in my house but now we have added the amazing "Lizard Dog" to the bunch.  I think this is the neatest stamp ever!  Talk about a super hero....Lizard Dog...can swim, fetch, roll over, climb walls..the list goes on and on!  And you can own one to if you hop over to Lost Coast Designs and have a look at the new releases there!  These Cracked Critters will make you smile :)  I have a double whammy in January with a daughter's birthday right after Christmas so a "Happy Everything" from the "Party Words" set seemed to fit nicely.  With it being so bleak I thought we could use some beachy colors to brighten us up a bit!

Remember our monthly challenge is "Clean and Simple" the emphasis being on simple so no excuses for not entering and starting the new year out with stamp cash to go buy yourself a lizard dog or the whole cracked critter set!  Also, Lost Coast Designs has the new Nuance powders for sale and they are soooo yummy!  We are all playing with them now and loving them!  

 Lost Coast Portal to Creativity

Lost Coast Designs

Carmen's Veranda

CAS January Challenge HERE

   Like our Facebook Page we have challenges there, too!

here

and 

here!

Some New Goodies From Lost Coast Designs!

You have to go check out Lost Coast Designs new stamps!  I am in love!  Of course each stamp I get becomes my favorite but they are fabulous.  This little canvas is called "Big Deal, You Can Sit in a Tree" because little mini "Lizard Dog" is fairly put out with all the friends with wings and even the cat...the CAT! can sit in the tree!  You might remember a sneak peek at "Party Cat"?  These all come in the "Mini Cracked Critters Set One" stamp and are so much fun to color up and put them anywhere you can imagine!  I also used the "Grunge Tree" for my background doing a lot of manipulation of the stamp to get what I wanted.  And that is a wonderful thing about rubber stamps, you can manipulate them to work on your projects. 

I used Promarkers for coloring I love the bright colors and Inktense blocks and Distress inks for the sky and grass.  I stamped the birds on the background then stamped on white cardstock to color and fussy cute and attached.  I did outline with a Pitt Big Brush marker to give them so pop and lots of white gel pen doodles.

Hope you do have a look at these and the other new releases you won't be disappointed!  And always check out the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity for our monthly challenges, special events, and our Design Team inspiration.  Also keep our Facebook pages in mind as new challenges that you can enter there are posted.  All this means cash to spend at the store!  

Lost Coast Designs and Carmen's Veranda!

Like our Facebook Page we have challenges there, too!

here

and 

here!

Some love for Edgar Allan Poe

                                                
The Blog Hop is sponsored by Lost Coast Designs & Carmen's Veranda and hosted by the lovely Leigh of DominoArt fame and Design Team Leader at Lost Coast Designs!  We have a fabulous Poe stamp & lots of crow & raven themed stamps to choose from so stop by and check them out! One blogger will be randomly selected to win a $10 gift certificate to spend at LCD 
 http://www.lost-coast-designs.com/ 
 http://www.carmensveranda.com/

I am an avid Poe fan thanks to Ike and I have some makes to share with you for the fabulous blog hop, hope you enjoy.  All stamps and digis links will be following in a later post because I am at the hospital with my dad and blogger on a tablet is all so difficult!  Here are some old school with some new.

 A little scene from the movie 'The Raven" poor Poe's end to save his last love of his life.

Nevermore is stamped on here I swear!

 Poe image by Rick St. Dennis

 The Master's on stage with images by Ike's Art "Poe's Death Bed"  and releases from the British Library (this and the first scene maybe my all time favs)

 Can't do embroidery but had to make this one.

Sneaking this one NO stamping but shhhh :)

Poe by Rick St. Dennis at his Zibbet super awesome store! And elements from Mischief Circus and "31" by VivalasvegaStamps.

 A pocket full of Poesies Poe image from Rick St. Dennis

 Nevermore stamp by VivalasvegaStamps and Poe by Rick St. Dennis

Will stop here so you  can hop and see all the lovelies they have waiting for you!

An InLinkz Link-up

WORDPRESS CODE

New Stamps Release from Lost Coast Designs!

I have been having the longest extended Christmas prezzie time playing with the new Lost Coast Designs' stamps!  This is "Mucha with Pillows" on a canvas and I call it "Mucha Reflects".  The awesome "Doodle Circles" teamed with the "Mis Words" (so many words!!) show what Mucha might be thinking at any given time.  She is on a gelatos background of watercolor paper attached to cardboard, my favorite crafting source!  The stars and word "believe" are Heidi Swapp dies.  

 

You will be seeing lots of new stamps and can find them HERE 

at Lost Coast Designs Rubber Stamps.

Also, join us at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity for all the information on our monthly challenge blog where you can win some spending money at the store!  And don't forget to like our Facebook pages and enter our challenges there, more money, more money! Hope you enjoy these stamps as much as I do and will be for a long time to come!

Lost Coast Portal to Creativity

Lost Coast Designs and Carmen's Veranda!

Like our Facebook Page we have challenges there, too!

here

and 

here!

January Anything Goes Poe!

I started the new year off with a shared win with the awesome Susan Renshaw at Quoth the Raven, Nevermore Challenge for December!  My poor humble offering paled in the light of Susan's awesome, super make but I was allowed to share the win of which I am grateful to the amazing Ike , of Ike's Art and Susan!  This month I kinda went in reverse for the new year a bit.  I was moving my crafting spot and decided to deconstruct some past projects as they were piling up fast!  One was an altered book for Quoth the Raven and had some actual dictionary pages from the old dictionary I used to make the book and I carefully removed them treasuring them too much to cover them up or throw them away.  Then a wonderful surprise from another win at Quoth the Raven, an altered puzzle piece by Black Dragon had inspired me so much and I found a huge puzzle piece during the move so this was what resulted!

The clay crow and background piece of page paper came from the altered book torn apart but now for a good purpose!  The dear man himself is a Rick St. Dennis image, Poe 2 and he was found cut out, uncolored and I left him that way.  However, all things I make concerning his face seem to humiliate him so much as did the tassel found on a box I had "altered" long before knowing what altering meant :) The tag is stamped with an awesome stamp from VivalasvegaStamps! and then edged with a Dylusions spider web border stamp. I sprayed it with gold shimmer spray from Lindy's Stamp Gang.  The odd thing sticking out is an egg carton rose/flower edged in black and some gold shimner spray also.  It looses its effect from this view but then maybe it comes from one of the Master's works? Hmmm, I will never tell, nor will he, even though that tassel is annoying him beyond even his words!  A little moon from a half used sticker kit and the backing is some gold and black patterned paper run through the embossing machine and edged with black soot Distress Ink.  So that altered book and little box of 20 something years live on now in this new piece until the time comes for it to give up its parts for a new beginning!  

Still lots of time to enter at Quoth the Raven and it is "Anything Goes" this month so don't delay go enter your make and get to put that awesome badge on your blog and win something fabulous!

Entering at Quoth the Raven January
Forever Dark 2 Anything Goes with an optional twist of steampunk 

New Challenge at Lost Coast Designs "Clean and Simple"

Three letters that strike fear in my heart....CAS!  I am not one for embellishing cards by no means but an effective CAS is not as easy as people who do it well make it seem.  So I went for a different approach and I needed a notebook to keep by my side to write everything down!  Those who know me know that I can't remember 15 seconds ago so this idea came into being.  I love the image, a new release at Lost Coast Designs with another new one for the background.  Linda intended for "Franco Face" to be used in zentangle art (another dreaded word for me!) but when I saw her it seemed like those spaces needed thoughts or words in them and I just happened to have the new "Mis. Words" set to put them there!  The hair or brain as I think of it is done with Inktense blocks and gelatos on top for shimmer and the face is so beautiful as stamped I just added some eye shadow and lipstick and some sparkle to that.  The background stamp  "Spay Webbing" stamped with gold gelatos and stamped randomly.  The little lines make me think of the brain synapses (is that what they are called?) or sparks our brain functions send out!  Hers are golden!

Hope you are having a fabulous 2016 so far and start it off right by following us at the Lost Coast Portal to Creativity where our monthly challenge can be found as well as all our special events!  Then of course go check out out Facebook pages for more challenges and fun!  Now it is your turn to teach me more about CAS; I can't wait to visit your blog and have a look at your entries!  Till then get all inky and stamp up a storm! 

Lost Coast Portal to Creativity

Lost Coast Designs

Carmen's Veranda

CAS January Challenge HERE (if it takes you to December click on the challenge on the right :)

   Like our Facebook Page we have challenges there, too!

here

and 

here!

and Nuance Powders by Magenta available at Lost Coast Designs!

There was a little Mushy House....and the end for poor Poe!

Another fab sponsor of our challenge blog, Dream in Darkness, this month is A & T Digital Designs!  We got to work with 2 designs and I loved the little "Mushy House" and all the secrets it could hold!  I went all digital with this one....wanting to imply some of those hidden secrets with the fire image of a lady from Mischief Circus Holliewood Studios "Fire 1 " kit and  wee little fellow from the new releases from the British Library that are being released and copyright free.  The quote is from a digital sheet of quotes my daughter made by Aristotle and sells in her Zibbet shop on the side bar and her Etsy store NoelBees.

This melancholy fellow must be jolly indeed and dapper too by the way he dresses but he also has a dark side as another secret revealed....He killed Edgar Allan Poe!  Look in the upstairs window! It is my new stamp "Edgar Allan Poe" (teddy bear series) from Butterside Down Stamps.  The background is also from Mischief Circus the "Happy UnBirthday" kit.   Loved working with this image and have a dual sided project planned with it later this month.  Hope you will visit  A & T Digital Designs and have a look and drop by Dream in Darkness with some odd, quirky, weird, and yes, dark makes for us to look at this month and visit your blog to leave some love!  Stay tuned for some Lost Coast Designs cool stuff and the next Mushy House make...til then get inky and above all have fun!