My 15 Minutes of Fame & Happy Columbus Day!

When I lived in New England, this weekend was always a crazy caravan of cars (usually bumper to bumper) heading up the highways to view Leaf-Peeping vistas that would take your breath away--provided the Weather Gods had been kind and timely. There are actually up-to-the-minute Leaf Reports to guide folks to the places with the most colorful Kodak moments for their forays. To me, one of the great joys and inspirations wherever I might live is to go and experience autumn scenes with leaves changing color, Halloween displays, cider mills, farm stands, the smell of burning leaves, or walks in the woods or by a body of water. Makes for good fodder when sitting down to create with a cup of mulled cider or hot chocolate by my side.

Winning Sugar Skull News!  

 

The winning entry from the Alpha Stamps Sugar Skull Swap has been posted in their blog! This is Lorelei, Queen Mother Mermaid Crone. Her story can be found in my first blog post, and in this link to the Alpha Stamps blog, where there is also a link called Gallery where you can find all the Sugar Skull Swap entries: http://www.alphastamps.com/blog/?p=13929
 

 

 

 

 

Now, on to my other two Skulls from the Swap. Enter Harlequin:

Harlequin and Columbine...Yes, he was a rascal in always trying to spirit her away from Pierrot, but who wouldn’t for a chance to be with such a creature as she? She lit up his life and he would always employ his trickery to win her love. To see how much Columbine lights up Harlequin’s life, put him under a light source for at least 5 minutes and view in a dark place. A surprise awaits!

 

  The Cameo of "Columbine" glows in the dark after painting it with glow in the dark paint. Note: the "lace" collar isn't really lace--it's a Fence wrought iron Cupcake Holder sold by Alpha stamps! The Rhinestone-looking trim on the Fleur de Lis emblem on his hat is faux rhinestone trim. It's pretty realistic looking without the $ ouch of the real thing.

The next skull is made with a stamp designed by Michael deMeng, who I think is a genius.

Wings of Desire: (this is also the name of the stamp)

 

He saw her everywhere, and nowhere. Her scent tantalized him. He was reduced to skeletal remains. His heart felt like the only organ in his body, pounding with blood and needing to beat with hers again. It flapped against his ribcage in agony trying to escape and fly to her. He did not know how much longer he could endure this exquisite torture, but if it was his destiny he could not escape it. Karma can be a cruel teacher.

 

I enlarged the stamp image to fit the skull size. I used Caran d' Ache Neocolor II art crayons for most of the base colors. They go on like a crayon, yet are smudge-able to a degree, and when you wet them and use a brush or paper towel to blend, you can achieve some neat effects. You can either wet the crayon itself or the color on paper. They may be similar to Gelatos, but I'm not sure because I don't own any of those. I also accented with Lumiere colors from the Exciter Pack. The crown is purple wire with tiny red rose buds accented with Stickles. The second set of fluttering wings is a steel gray metallic type paper. The image that our poor tortured man is obsessed with is from some free images from the very special and talented Laura Carson over at Artfully Musing. If you have not heard of Laura or seen her artwork, do yourself a very pleasant favor and pay her site a visit. Her imagination knows no bounds and her work is phenomenal. She has been a muse and inspiration for me for a long time, and my Mermaid Skull was based on her beautiful collage images. Thank you Laura for all the art you do and share with the creative community!

 

I also want to give a shout-out to the Glitter Tart Caroline Outzs Hay, who is another Alpha Stamps Design Team Artist who dreams up fabulous art, and who helped me with a lot of questions in setting up this blog. She has the generosity of Mother Teresa and the patience of the Dalai Lama. Thanks Caroline, you're the best.

 

Have a wonderful day everyone, and Be Blessed!