Cloud Challenge!

There's a new challenge at Little Miss Muffet! If I show you my card, do you think you can guess what the challenge is? :D

Got it?? The new challenge is Clouds! Yes, you can make more realistic-looking clouds than mine.

Are you ready for the story of how I messed up on this one? Well, actually, this was a computer error. No, really; it was the computer... For some reason, one of my monsters printed out larger than the other two. I tried again by moving one of the monsters into the same place as the original large monster. Same problem! I had already colored my monster to layer her (sparkly nail polish = girl monster) so I had to improvise. I colored all the edges of the bottom monster black which is why you can see that thick edge in some areas. But look, I did manage something slightly cool on my monster:

I hope you come play along!

Challenges: Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes, The Paper Shelter - Anything Goes, Digistamps4Joy - Double Embellishment, PaperCrafting Journey - Use a Digi, Forever Friends - Anything Goes, Charisma Cardz -  Anything Goes

I Really Want Some Oreos!

Random, right? I've been eating a lot more fruits and veggies after watching Forks Over Knives on Netflix a few weeks ago. (Yes, I realize how people can turn data into just about whatever they want to, but I like having reasons to make myself eat better...) I just had a bowl of tomato soup and really want some Oreos now! I guess it's good I don't have any in the house; I can roll through half a row really quickly...

Anyway, I have a lot to share and don't want to make separate posts for all of it. So here we go!

First, a super big THANK YOU to:

• My former Secret Pal, Shonda! She sent me an awesome Halloween card! (I think I haven't shared the card she sent before this, but I did get it, Shonda!)

• BreAnn! I still haven't found the pics from the cards I sent her... She is a sweetie pie; she sent me a really cute Halloween card and bracelet that I'm almost too "fluffy" to wear. (see Oreo discussion above)  :D

 

 

• Celeste, Yolie, and Gaby! I won a prize during Link Up for Pink; it arrived yesterday!
• Bizzy Becs! I bought some images for the fundraiser for Lyndall and won a goodie bag! Sorry for the poor picture...

Next on the agenda is the new Sketch Challenge on The Outlawz.  I am still battling sinus issues brought on by the low pressure that ran through here last week. As such, I'm not really feeling well. I never seem to be at 100% (sinus issues, year-round allergies) so this really doesn't help... I didn't feel like getting out of bed to much before going to work yesterday. I had to throw my card together quickly before rushing out to work. No coloring this time! Some old K&Co paper and chipboard stickers I got on clearance last year came to my rescue!!

This is the sketch:

I have some bookmarks, too, but I'm going to save them until this weekend. I don't want to bore you to death!

Challenges: The Sisterhood of Crafters - Halloween, Tip Top Tuesday - Trick or Treat, Use it Tuesday - Colors - Orange, Black, or Purple, The Stamping Boutique - Spooky Scary Halloween

FALL Challenge! & a DT Call!

, There's a new challenge at Guylou's Inimitability! Gina has issued us a FALL challenge! This one is a recipe challenge - Fabric, Amber, Lace, and Leaves. If you want to join in the fun, you have until 10 p.m. EST on November 3 to put your project in the Inlinkz at Guylou's Inimitability.

Now, I'm not going to lie - lace and fabric were throwing me for a loop when I was putting this card together. I have some lace I bought recently, but it's black. I'd already picked out the papers, and black wasn't matching. Then I was wondering if I could  claim that lacey fabric would knock out both of those pieces of the challenge. Well, I lucked out and remembered some items in my stash... I used a lace sticker I got from Korea (via eBay) and some muslin that I bought years ago to line the inside of some pillows. And with that, here's my card using Leah Cooks a Turkey:

Apparently I like this card design. (This is almost the same as my Agent Popcorn card that was made  a few hours after this one was...)  Now, if you'd like to help inspire me with your awesomeness so that I might be able to make different styled card, maybe you should enter the DT Call at Guylou's Inimitability! The directions are here.

I hope to see you in the challenge and entered in the DT call! Thanks Paulette for the sentiment!

Challenges: CCEE Stampers - Fall, The Paper Shelter - Harvest, C.R.A.F.T Challenge - Autumn, Art Impressions Stamps - Lace

Agent Popcorn!

There are two more new stamps from Little Miss Muffet Stamps today! Agent Popcorn is the newest Operation: Treehouse girl! You can get her shooting popcorn with a slingshot or eating popcorn...

Umm... Why did this super easy card take me hours to put together?? I colored the image before I went to work then spent HOURS pulling out sheets of paper only to decide that I didn't like the pattern, color, or combo. The other ladies on the team made fabulous cards; I hope they aren't wondering how I made it! :D

Thanks again Joanne B. for sending me the filmstrip and file tab dies PLUS the MFT stamp set that the sentiment above came from!

Challenges: Shelly's Images - Anything Goes

Guess What?

Did you guess yet? Come on, just make some random guess... Okay, I'll tell you. I'm now on the DT for Little Miss Muffet Stamps! I've seriously been stalking visiting Barbara's blog, and she invited me (wha??) to join the team! I'm super excited!

Today, there are two extremely cute new releases for Christmas - a kitten and a puppy. I used Button, the kitten, for my project.

This stamp is adorable! And no, everything isn't as crooked as it looks. I didn't line up the camera right and had to rotate the pic in Picnik so it would look sort of straight. Maybe I'll re-photo this from a better angle when I get up in a few hours. (My mats are all uneven though, as usual!)

Challenges:  4 Crafty Chicks - Marker It Up, Ruby's Rainbow - Cute and Cuddly, I Did It Creations - Animals, Lollipop Crafts - No Sentiment

Another Halloween Card for The Outlawz!

I feel like I'm coming down with something and am about to go take a nap. I hope I'll wake up in about an hour feeling energized and ready to color! If not, I'll have some tea to soothe my throat and something for this headache; I have a couple of projects due this week still...  Ah, it's the weather! I always forget that I have super sinus issues and that quick changes in barometric pressure as fronts move cause issues. For years, I just thought something was wrong with me because I'd get these horrible headaches for what seemed like no reason. I only recently made the connection...


Here's the sketch for this week at The Outlawz:

This is my card for the challenge using another of Sandi's digis:

When I originally colored this pic, I was trying to use some different paper. I really didn't like how it looked, but luckily, I found some other paper and colored over the robe and skin. I like it a LOT more now...

Must retreat to the bed now... :(

Have you backed up your digis lately?

To my fellow digital stampers, this is just a reminder to back up your stamps. It's a lot easier to back up your files than to try to work backwards if something unfortunate happens...

Maybe Not a Secret Anymore...

*I accidentally posted this last year! I hope it's still a surprise...

Ok, so some people in the Secret Pals group weren't receiving stuff in the beginning. SPs were supposed to send at least 5 times, but if you average that over a year, it might take a while to get something. I signed up to send extra cards to someone who needed a pick me up, and got BreAnn! Strangely enough, just a few days before I was given her address, BreAnn and I had just become friends on some of the sites we're both on. We're in a lot of the same groups so I had to really stretch to make it so she wouldn't immediately know that I was the person sending her stuff.  Here are the cards I sent BreAnn:

The inside of the chickie card above...

**Wouldn't you know it's been 3 and a half months since this post went live and I'm just now finding the pics?????

Surprise! Happy Birthday, Guylou!

Guess whose birthday it is? GUYLOU! Now, if you don't know, G is one super sweet, super talented lady! She is seriously one reason why I love to make cards. When I was very new to making cards, she put me on her design team (my first one) and has always been really supportive of me. G, I hope you have an awesome birthday!  ;D

To celebrate this momentous occasion, the Guylou's Inimitability Design Team is having a surprise birthday blog hop! Everyone has a special card for G using one of her images. And there's a prize! If you comment on all of the team members' blogs AND WISH G a HAPPY BIRTHDAY on her blog, you'll be eligible for a RAK that includes a pack of 4 Copic Multiliners, 2 Stardust pens, a black Memento ink pad, and a $5 gift certificate to Guylou's Inimitability! You have until Sunday, October 16 at 11:59 p.m. EST to join in the celebration.

Here's the hop order in case you are like me and just jump from blog to blog without regard:

Brenda

Carmen

Kim

Sara

Tracy

Trina <-- You're HERE!

Gina

**Don't forget that Guylou's Inimitability has a gorgeous angel with a ribbon you can customize for any cause available free until Oct 14! Check the blog for the details!

How about some card kits?

The Sketch DT on The Outlawz is giving away kits to make our cards this month! One winner will get kits to make all of the DT's inspiration cards this month! Since our own Sandi drew the images we're using, the winner gets those, too!

Here is this week's sketch:

And here is my card:

 

Yep, that skull paper is crooked as sin! :D  I tried to hide it a little by adding some pearls... Didn't really work, did it?

I hope to see you around the challenge this week!

To My Secret Pal - #1

I don't know if whoever's reading this has been around since Oct 2010, but I've been sending cards to a "Secret Pal" for the last year. I signed up in the Anything Goes group on PCP last year, and Abby from Scrapbookaholic by Abby and the new Dilo en Español stamps is who I've been sending things to. I didn't want to post any of the cards I made for her just in case she was a super sleuth...

Anyway, when I got Abby's info, I went to her blog and saw that she was planning a blog hop for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Luckily, I knew a little about the holiday from high school Spanish classes. (Google also helped...) To put it very briefly, Dia de los Muertos is a time to honor and celebrate people who have passed, and there are sugar skulls, flowers, and food involved...

 I used a skull stamp from Imaginisce to make two cards.

For the first card, I used paper from DCWV's Rock Star stack. The skull was stamped with Studio G white pigment ink, but I went over the white with a colored pencil because it seemed to be smearing even though I'd stamped the skulls days before I used them. I used the colored pencils to draw on the skull; the blue was supposed to kinda be like tears. One of the peas fonts from KevinandAmanda.com was used to make the sentiment. It means remember. (I called my godbrother who spent some time in Spain for study abroad and had my cousin ask her fiancee which is more right - recuerda or acuerdate. If you think I should've used the other, Sorry!)

For the other card, I made my own background by using the Flower Sketch stamp from Autumn Leaves. I stamped the flowers with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, colored a base with my Copics, then used my colored pencils on top. I just happened to find some odorless mineral spirits in my garage (score!) and was able to finally try to blend my pencils. I used the pencils and mineral spirits for the blue background too.  The skull was stamped just like the other and covered in MS glitter glue in graphite & nephrite.

Hopefully, Abby liked them!

Breast Cancer Awareness (and a Goodie) at Guylou's Inimitability!

You probably already know that I am seriously silly. I am loving all the quirky BCA cards everyone is making - Kitties for Titties, Save the Hooters,  and this cute card by Cely! But since not every situation calls for silly, I made this card using a beautiful new stamp by Guylou and a sentiment from TLC for the new challenge at GI:

Guylou designed this new image in honor of the Breast Cancer Awareness program and for reaching over 250 followers on the Guylou's Inimitability blog. Gabrielle and ribbon is available for FREE between October 7th and 14th at Guylou's Online Store. Please use the code BCA-GABRIELLE at check out to get it FREE!!

If you decide to participate in the challenge (mostly pink  + pink ribbon), Guylou is offering a $5.00 gift certificate from her online store to the randomly-chosen winner. You can enter only one project, but if you use a Guylou's Inimitability digistamp, your project will count for two entries. If you don't have one of her digi stamps and/or your budget is tight; please check her online store where several freebies are available or you can use the digistamp offered above!  You have until 10 p.m. EST on Oct. 20 to enter your projects on the GI blog!

Challenges: Prairie Fairy Fridays - Girly, Jellypark Challenges - Pink & a Ribbon for BCA, Crafts and Me - Use a Digi, Digistamps 4 Joy - Think Pink, Inky Impressions - Breast Cancer Awareness/Monochromatic, Link Up for Pink!!

The Party is Rocking!!

Our party on The Outlawz has started and it is rocking! We have so many prizes and things for you to do this week! All of the challenges started today this week, and all are running through the week... If you aren't a member or haven't already checked out the goings-on, hurry on over!!

The sketch challenge this week is to use this sketch:

My card is made using a digi by fellow DT member Sandi and a stamp I got last year as part of some candy. I've been waiting for Halloween to come back around to use all the stamps and paper I racked up on last year! :D  (**Sandi has a tutorial for making homemade Flower Soft as part of our blog hop!)

As soon as I stuck the bear down, I thought I should have put a green mat around him. BUT, I used Scor-Tape, and that stuff is impossible to get back up!

I can't wait to see you on The Outlawz!!

I Started on World Cardmaking Day...

What's ridiculous is that there is no coloring on this card AND I'd already drawn up the sketch a few days ago, but this card still took me into today, the day after World Cardmaking Day!

I picked up some Me & My Big Ideas breast cancer patterned paper for a project and decided I couldn't just let it rot in my paper collection, especially since I kept reading about Link Up for Pink! I drew the bird in my artist buddy Ernesto Cuevas's style. (I didn't forget after all these years! Yes, the bottom should be longer and pointier...) And I used a great sentiment from TLC Creations.

There really is something to be said about staying positive and believing that something good is coming in the midst of bad things. As some of you know, a young (20 when diagnosed) family member of mine recently underwent treatment for osteosarcoma. She was sad and missed her friends, but she stayed her happy self overall. Thankfully, she's had a couple of clean scans and is back in college!

Someone who may need your help to stay positive during the next few months is Betty from Simply Betty Stamps. If you haven't read her post about her son, it's here. I'm sure something big will pop up for her family in the next few days. We crafters are pretty awesome and like to help each other out in rough times...  :D

This card will be linked to Yolie, Celeste, and Gaby's Link Up for Pink and TLC's weekend mini-blog hop.

**Something that's helping me be positive right now is the fact that The Outlawz 1000 Member Party is less than 24 hours away! We're having challenges, games, and blog hop and more! We have great prizes, too, including one $100 GC to Oozak and another to SCACD!