Primarily Purple...and a little stamp altering!

Good morning folks! There's a brand new challenge today on the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Blog. Our fantabulous hostess this week is the one and only Andrea Murdock!!! Andrea's challenge is called "Primarily Purple"....um, guess that one is pretty self-explanatory!

(Fair warning....this is a LONG post today!! So if you plan to stick around until the very end, you may wish to get comfy with a cup of your favourite bevy. Not only do I have my Kraftin' Kimmie card to share, but I also have some pics of the Halloween costumes that my mom and I have been busy sewing!)

Now, when I first saw Andrea's challenge topic I knew I would have to do a little paper shopping as I really didn't have much purple in my paper collection. Lucky for me, some of the Krafty Gals met up in early September at Scrappin' Great Deals to work on preparations for Krafty Day...we also managed to squeeze in a little retail therapy! lol I found this awesome paper from Graphic 45...it's from the "Halloween in Wonderland" collection. I'm quite fond of Alice in Wonderland, and I absolutely loved Johnny Depp's portrayal of the Mad Hatter...he's one of my favourite actors! Well, as soon as I saw this paper, the wheels started turning. I thought to myself that I knew of a particular Kraftin' Kimmie stamp that featured a gent just perfect for this paper...well, he would need a little "tweaking" first. :)

Soooo, I soon set to work on transforming"Chester" into my Mad Hatter. When I inked him up, I used a wipe to remove the ink from his hair. I stamped him onto Neenah smooth paper, and then started drawing him a new "do" a la Mad Hatter-style with my Copic multiliner. I drew in the little tag tucked into the band around his top hat, a few hat pins (the gems were coated in Stardust Stickles) and the iris around his eye. (gotta love the vivid green of those Mad Hatter eyes!!) Oh, and have you ever wondered what the 10/6 meant on the Hatter's tag? Curious and curiouser I was :)....so I googled it, and found out that it denotes the price of 10 shillings and a sixpence. Huh. Learn something new every day.




I also wanted to attempt to re-create the amazing make-up job that Johnny Depp sported in the movie, so I pulled out the DVD case for a bit of inspiration. I was a little annoyed with myself at one point...I wanted to add in some eyelashes, so I pulled out my white gel pen. Now, I'm not sure why I went ahead with this, because as I sat with pen in hand I questioned whether it was a good idea. (I actually do no like my white gel pen...I am NEVER happy with the results when I try to use it.) But, proceed I did and then immediately regretted it. The nib on the pen is way to thick...I really need something with an ultra-fine tip. Well, his eyelashes were now concealing a lot of that eye-makeup I had spent a while on, but I was certainly not about to start over after all that work! I also added a little Sakura glitter pen....should have probably left that out too, lol. Lesson learned??? Not everything is going to work out perfectly, but sometimes you just have to "go with the flow"...never be afraid to experiment!! (Alice says to believe in impossible things, right?? So go ahead, and try something new...sometimes it may be successful, and other times you can chalk it up to a learning experience. However, you never know what the outcome may be unless you try!) I also experimented a bit with some hat pins for the first time...I thought they were quite fitting for the Mad Hatter (I was inspired by my very talented friend Maria who has used some gorgeous hat pins on her cards. She was also kind enough to give me some advice on where to go shopping for them!). After printing out my Alice-inspired sentiment..."Never lose your "muchness"!... I used my oval Spellbinders for cutting and matting.

Copics: Skin: E0000, E000, E00, E11, RV000, RV21, RV23, RV95 Hair: Suit and Hat: V000, V01, V12, V15, V09, C5, RV000 Vest: RV000, RV34, C1, C3

Ok...so admittedly, "Chester" is not a bang-on replication of the Mad Hatter, but I think he's passable. lol Sometimes it's kind of fun to stretch the possibilities of your stamps. :)

You must go visit the Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps Challenge Blog...the Krafty Girls and Krafty Guests have made some incredible purple creations to help get you inspired! Make sure to take note of Andrea's awesome card this week, because that's the stamp you could win if you play along with our "Primarily Purple" challenge...just make sure to use a Kraftin' Kimmie Stamp on your project and you'll be eligible to win!! (you can link up your project at the Challenge Blog)

Well, one more day until Halloween...I've been super busy sewing up costumes these past couple of weeks. Interested in seeing some pics?? Today I'll show you the costumes my wonderful mom and I made for my son Nathan and his three friends. I had hoped to have some of Ainsleigh in her costume to share as well, but we will have to snap some pictures of her tomorrow...I'll post them later in the week.

Some of you might remember that I shared on a past post how my 17 year old son decided that he and his friends should be the Teletubbies for Halloween. LOL...my mom and I actually had quite a bit of fun making their costumes. The boys look ridiculous...but I think it's so fun!! Although, I told Nathan that he really should shave because Tinky Winky did NOT have facial hair, lol. He refused. :) We had to get a little creative for some of their costume...I cut their "antennae" out of thick upholstery foam to make sure they would stand up. We had such a riot when the boys all came over to put their costumes on...they totally got into character! We even put on Teletubbies videos from Youtube because they actually wanted to learn the dance...kinda creepy, but oh so funny!

From left to right we have Dipsy (Trevor), Po (Nathan M....not my Nathan), LaLa (Nick) and Tinky Winky (my Nathan...what a proud moment. haha)

Here's their attempt at being "cute" and innocent...right. lol

And this is just classic Nathan...total goof.

Oh, and the boys won by a landslide for favourite costumes at school. I'm sure it's the highlight of their high school years, lol. Do you think they know that these pictures will definitely be making appearances at all their weddings??? mwahahaha (poor future wives)

I hope you all have a wonderful Saturday, and a very safe Halloween tomorrow! Thanks so much for stopping by today.

Blessings,

Melanie

Stamps: Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps "Chester"

Ink: Memento, Copics, Distress Inks (Black Soot, Antique Linen, Bundled Sage)

Paper: Neenah, Bazzill, Graphic 45 "Halloween in Wonderland"

Embellishments: Ribbon, hat pins, beads, Stardust Stickles

Tools: Spellbinders Ovals