Color Dare #164 ~ Nevermore: Eggplant, Pear, Sunset, Black, Slate & Whisper

This week over at Color My Heart the color dare is to use the colors in the Nevermore paper pack. The colors and papers are beautiful and very versatile beyond a Halloween theme!

This layout was inspired by a layout made by Holly Veslenak. I just loved all the detail and the use of Nevermore Assortments. There is plenty of room for photos. I'm waiting for Halloween photos of my grandkids to add to the layout. So in the meantime, any of the images you see overlapping a photo mat were left loose on that end so a photo can be slipped under it.  I also added a touch of green to the sparkles with my Leaf Green ShinHan marker. Just gently swirl the marker tip over the sparkle and viola you have a colored sparkle!

All products are Close To My Heart: (click for image)

--Nevermore paper pack

--Nevermore Assortment

--White Daisy cardstock

--Silver Sequins

--Clear Sparkles

--ShinHan marker-Leaf Green

Let's go shopping!

I'd love to be your consultant.

Now it's your turn to create something with this color dare. If you don't have the exact colors just use something close. Click here to see what the other Design Team members have to inspire you. While there, check out the sidebar for details on how to join us! It's easy and FUN!

This color dare will be open until Thursday at 9:00pm CDT. 

Happy Creating!
Michelle

Use Your Stash ~ Tool Time

Welcome to the Use Your Stash Blog Hop! This month we are featuring the use of some of those tools that you have tucked away gathering dust. You know the ones! They are the ones you used to use often but then for some reason they got tucked away and forgotten. We hope to inspire you to dust them off and give them another try!

This is a blog hop so you just keep clicking the links to continue from blog to blog. If you came from The blog of Shirley Ross,  you're on the right track!

My scoreboard was gathering set aside and I would often move it to get to something else. This time I decided I needed to use it instead of move it! Because of the way I decided to use the score board, I also needed to dust off some other tools: sanding block, piercing/embossing tool. Oh....and I also dusted off my watercolor pencils, too! Wow...that's a lot of dusting!

I stamped the cute little images from the new Little Monsters stamp set. I gave them some color with the water color pencils then smoothed out the pencil with a paintbrush and some water. That allows you to not just smooth out the pencil lines but also kind of move the color around and create dark and light areas for depth.

Next I used the score board and the embossing end of the piercing/embossing tool. I scored lines around the image layer to create a kind of frame effect. To make the lines stand out more, I gently folded the paper on the score lines and rubbed the sanding block  of the folded edge to scuff it up a bit. For a finishing touch I used some dark sequins from the Silver Sequins assortment.

All products are Close To My Heart: (click for image)
--Score Board
--Piercing/Embossing Tool
--Sanding Kit
--Little Monsters stamp set
--Nevermore paper kit
--White Cards and Envelopes Value Pack
--Cardstock: White Daisy
--Water Color Pencils
--Paintbrush set
--Silver Sequins Assortment

Let's Go Shopping!

I'd love to be your consultant!

Next up is the blog of Jen Armstrong. Check out what ideas she has to inspire you!

Happy Crafting!

Michelle