MESH IT! Smeared & Smudged January Member Blog Hop

It's that time again! Time for the Smeared and Smudged member blog hop. Our theme this month is MESH IT! We asked our members to interpret this however they'd like...they could use mesh, mesh images together, have a mesh texture...etc. The more imagination THE BETTER!

Well, I have to give a little bit of a story with my project. I have never used mesh before, nor did I have any lying around my house. As most of you know, I'm a pretty busy gal and end up waiting until the last minute to get things done - mainly because I don't have time to think about it until the deadline hits me. Typical artist, right? On my lunch break today I decided to go look for some mesh. My first attempt - Michael's. WRONG! They don't carry mesh. By the time I figured it out my lunch break was over (you know I can't go to Michael's without walking through the entire store and drooling over all the stuff I can't afford to buy- that takes time). So - on my way back to work I spot a Wal-Mart. I thought "what the heck, I'll be late and surely I'll find some mesh". Well - I found some mesh - in the form of a sink strainer. You know, the thing that catches all the nasty stuff that you don't want washing down your drain when you're cleaning your dishes....yea, that thing. So I bought it. LOL....and my mesh adventure begins! After I got home from work I made dinner for my little one and as we sat eating our freshly baked frozen pizza I worked at removing the mesh from the metal frame. This is a tricky process. The little metal wires close to the edge fall out - I think I might have ingested some before I realized it was falling apart over my pizza - let's hope not! After a while of struggling with the frame I decided I was just going to force it out - and now I have a big boo-boo. The metal frame sliced right through a couple layers of skin....a little deeper than a paper cut. Now I'm pissed, right? The only thing I can think to do now is put on my 'Ove Glove' for protection and just rip the thing apart! IT WORKED! Yay me! LOL. (I hope you're all amused :) Sorry for rambling, but I'm getting tired...

OK, that's it...enough story time. The rest of my project consists of a raw wood frame, some flat black spray paint, some versamark, UTEE, skull beads, the dreaded mesh, some cool paper out of a magazine, a rubber stamp from Urban Decay (Smeared Ink) and my digi stamp Gear Heart (Smeared Ink - Inner Workings set). I colored my frame with the flat black spray paint and set it aside to dry. I colored my digi with my prismacolor markers and added some glossy accents for highlights. I cut this awesome background image from a print magazine and stamped the words "Love You" in versamark....used UTEE clear to make it shiny. After my frame dried I used the same process except with the Urban Decay image to create some awesome texture. I think the gloss texture on the flat black really stands out. LOVE IT! I placed my background in my frame with the mesh and filled it with my skull beads. Then the final touch was gluing the heart onto the outside of the frame...Here you go, hope you like it!!

And here are the rest of the bloggers bringing you some wonderful projects today! Be sure to leave them some love!

JANUARY SMEARED & SMUDGED
MEMBER BLOG HOP
BLOG ROLL

Tori<----that's me!
Black Dragon
Fiona
Monique
Jane
Celina
Sara
Kristy
Heather
Kapree
Helen
Alison
Sugar
Dianne
Lisa
Sharon
Pam
Ike
MaryKay

Challenges I will enter with this:
HDH #115 Macabre Monday - Metal Mania
Cup Cake Craft - Something New (the mesh is new and first time ever using it)

Stamp and Create - Anything Goes
Truly Madly Crafty - Anything Goes

Stamps R Us - Anything Goes

DelightfulSketches - Pink Black & Silver

Digi Doodle Shop Challenges - Embossing (my frame texture is embossed and the words "Love You")

Little Miss Muffet Challenges - Something New (the mesh is new and first time ever using it)

Pixie Dust Studio - Put Your Heart Into It

Crafty Creations Challenges - Something New (the mesh is new and first time ever using it)