Mahalo!

Smeared & Smudged is hosting a Design Team Throwdown. I'm part of a team that consists of my very creative friends Alison and Katie. We're calling ourselves The AliKats.

The first challenge in the throwdown is called Paint & Spatter. I'm cool with the paint part of it, but not quite as cool with the splatter, but I persevered, stepped outside of my comfort zone, and added a few here, there, and of course, on me.

Here's our banner, designed by Katie, who obviously is seriously talented in so many ways. Heck. She can even crochet!


Since the three of us are Bombshell Girls, we decided to go with a Bombshell Pin-Up for the first challenge AND to zombify, vampirefy, or goth up our Pin-Up.

Last week I received my new Skullduggery stencil by Andy Skinner, which came to me from England! I was itching to use it and knew I had to create something for this challenge, but I was stymied. Just as I was falling asleep, I had a "Eureeka!" moment, jumped out of bed, and sketched the card. I know it sounds insane, but I knew that if I slept on it, the idea would be gone by morning.

Here's my card that features Bombshell's Hawaiian Girl from the eponymous set.

I wanted her to be a sort of undead creature, sort of a cross between a vampire and a siren, so I colored her accordingly with Copic markers which I'll list below. When I was done coloring her, I fussy cut her, then added some Clear Gelly Roll Glaze pen to her guitar, and set her aside.

I grabbed a piece of 140 lb. Strathmore watercolor paper and sponged black StazOn ink over the Skullduggery stencil. Antique Linen Distress Paint was used to color the skull. It was kind of blah, so I smushed some Frayed Burlap Distress ink onto my craft mat, spritzed it with water, and mixed it with the Antique Linen Distress Paint to create a new color, which I used to shade the skull a bit more. I still wasn't thrilled, so I repeated the process, this time using the slightly darker Gathered Twigs Distress Ink. Then I was happy, so I painted on a thick layer of Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle paint over the most of the skull, except for the eye sockets and nose hole. This was put aside to dry and I went and started to make dinner, Chicken Sausage and Peppers, which would need to cook for awhile. When it was simmering merrily away and the dishes were done, I went back upstairs to the craft room and hastened the drying process with a heat gun.

A bit of Pumice Stone Distress ink was sponged over the crackles to add more depth. Sand was created by sponging Pumice Stone, Antique Linen, Old Paper, Frayed Burlap, and Gathered Twigs Distress inks over a a torn piece of cardstock.

The next step was to use removable Scotch Tape to create a mask to serve as the horizon between the sea and the sky.

The sea was created by using a turquoisey Gelato from the Metallic Gelato Set I smooshed the turquoise Gelato onto my craft mat, spritzed it with water, and painted it very carefully around the skull. Multiple layers were used to build color, which was further enhanced by the addition of some sponged Peacock Feathers Distress Ink. Whitecaps and waves were added using the Inksenntials White Gel Pen.

I took the blue Gelato from the same Metallic Gelato Set and drew horizontal lines across the cardstock. A baby wipe was used to blend and spread the Gelato paint. When I was pleased with the coverage, I sponged on some Spun Sugar and Chipped Sapphire Distress inks over it to add more color. I heat set the sea and the sky, then adhered the Hawaiian Girl atop the skull. Looking at this in the warm light of a new day, I think I need to add a small sailboat on the horizon on the right. Sadly, I will be gone most of the day, so I'll get to it later.


Black Soot Distress Ink was sponged over the Chicken Wire Stencil by The Crafter's Workshop onto the Kraft card front. Splatters of Antique Linen Distress Paint were added to fulfill the "splatter" requirement of the challenge, then heat set.

The sentiment was stamped and die cut using Spellbinders Fancy Framed Tags. Gold Metallic RubOn cream by Craf-T Products was rubbed onto the black cardstock to add a bit of glitz. Musical Washi Tape by Queen & Company was added to the card front and the stamped panel was adhered.

I forgot to add that this is a competition! The DT with the most votes, collectively, wins. If you are interested in checking out the competition, or in getting more info, click HERE! You must be a member of the Smeared Ink ning group to participate in the challenges and/or the voting. Join up and vote for your favorite project!!

Thanks for visiting today!

Copic markers used:
Skin:YG91, T0, T1, T3, W00
Hair: YG91, YG93, C4, C6, C7, C8
Skirt: YG93, YG95, YG97, YG99
Top: RV91, RV93, RV95
Lei/Hibiscus: YG93, V91, V93, V95, V99
Guitar: E21, E23

This card shall be entered in the following challenges:
• Design Team Throwdown