I'm Just Going to Hit Publish... Part 3

I really haven't felt like blogging lately. I just want to post things so you can see them without me spending the time to write all about the projects. So...

Here's a lady I drew then transferred to my art journal for painting... Sorry for the glare!

I think I'll tone down the eye makeup next time!

I don't know why I just want to draw faces in my journal. I don't know about that journaling with awesome backgrounds and words only...

I See Spots at Guylou's Inimitability

Thank you, G, for helping me knock down my paper stash a little! Guylou decided that our first challenge of the year at Guylou's Inimitability was going to be I See Dots. Well, I pulled out some of the sheets from Basic Grey's Olivia pad and colored up this super cute new image Matilda and made it work! (Guylou used this image too, and her card is SO cute!!)

If you'd like to play along, you have until 10 pm EST on January 31 to get your project linked up. AND... G is giving away her new house stamp until tomorrow (1/20) night. Stop by the blog to find out how to get it!

Knocking Down that Stash!

Every Halloween card gets me closer to not feeling bad when I go hit up the Halloween clearance soon! This card is for this week's Sketch Challenge at The Outlawz and uses a digi from A Day for Daisies that I colored LAST October, two Heidi Grace rub-ons (the spider and sentiment), some old K&Company paper, a little Recollections bat brad, and a chipboard sticker. All of these things have been in my stash for one or two Halloweens!

Here's the easy sketch for the week if you want to play along:

Thank you Sandi for a simple sketch! I've been too worn out to think hard on some of the recent ones...  I hope to see you over at the Sketch Challenge; we have a prize from Noor Design plus the great site-wide prizes from Oozak, Jackson's Digital Expressions, Paper Temptress, and MORE!!

**Challenges: Craft Your Passion - Witches,  Eureka Stamps - Halloween, Forever Friends - Halloween/Autumn, Lexi's Creations - Halloween

How's Your Weather?

Rainy Day Bear from Guylou's Inimitability. Outfit paper pieced w/my fav Cosmo Cricket's DeLovely then coated with Glossy Accents. Sentiment by Inkadinkado. Cloud brads from Recollections.

 Hey, I'm hosting the new challenge at Guylou's Inimitability and want to see your weather-related projects! The challenge runs until 10 pm EST on October 4. One random winner will win a $10 gift certificate from Guylou's Online Store and will have the option of being a guest designer on an upcoming challenge!

I feel like I should say more since this is MY challenge, but I'm pooped! I have to get up early to go work with a gang of 4 year olds, so...

I can't wait to see what you make for the challenge!

Stamp-a-ma-jig!

I can't tell you how long I've had a Stamp-a-ma-jig; it's been sitting in a drawer in the package for a good minute. Last night, it finally saw ink!

Hmm... Do you know which stamps from The Greeting Farm I used to make a "mini me"? I know you can get two, but do you know the third - the one that I pulled out the Stamp-a-ma-jig for?

This is my card for this week's Sketch Challenge at The Outlawz. For me the sketch was challenging like last week's, but I knew one of my teammates wouldn't have a card. Plus, I didn't want to go two weeks without something to share. So, I scratched my head, pulled a magillion things out, and put them all back over and over until I finally had an idea! I ended up using a TGF mash up with a sentiment from Inkadinkado and a kiss token by Flourishes. Once I had all that, it still looked like it needed something. I lucked out and found some swirl brads that kind of mimic the shapes on the ends of the sentiment.

Alrighty, here is the sketch if you want to play along!

Remember, the 2000 Member Celebration starts on Sunday! We have a blog hop, games, and, of course, challenges lined up with prizes for all of it!! We are even giving away a prize just for telling your peeps about the party! Check it out...

**Challenges: Paper Playtime - AG + Sentiment, Whoopsie Daisy - Swirls

Me? Make a Tag??

It is very rare that I venture out of the card-making zone. It's not that I don't want to, but I really don't know how I can make the things that speak to me that I've seen other people make. One thing I see a lot as I'm out surfing through blogland is the tag. I like tags, but the idea of them is a challenge for me. Well, my lovely teammate Roxann decided that tags would be our challenge this go round at Guylou's Inimitability! No!! :D

How the heck do you photograph these things when they have floppy fibers up top??

I survived and even managed to make a simple tag that works for me.  I used GI's Baby Bear digi and some CTMH Cherry-O papers that had the colors I thought would look nice for a baby tag.

I know a lot of you are good at tag, and I know that some of you are like me and are a bit leery of them. Either way, you should come play along! You might wind up as a GDT and the recipient of some free digis!!Remember, you don't have to use a Guylou's Inimitability digi, but if you do you get an additional entry in the drawing. Plus, G has some freebies floating around if you want to try her digis out! I hope to see you in the challenge. You have until 10 pm EST on June 14 to link up your tag!

Wings, Clouds, and Rainbows!

A new challenge at Little Miss Muffet Challenges is up; we're asking to see your projects with wings, clouds, or rainbows! Sounds easy, right?  Here's my card with the raccoon from the new Create a Critter set:

That Polaroid frame is from Lawn Fawn's Say Cheese set. The inside black line is NOT normally that thick, but you all know I almost always mess up something. Making that line thick all the way around was the only way I could fix my boo boo as I had already masked, inked, and pasted my raccoon...

Oh, I almost forgot! Barbara has designed an awesome new metal die! You can pre-order one now...

Hope to see you in the challenge!

**Challenges: Divas by Design - AG, Stamp-n-Doodle - Get Outside, The Perfect Sentiment - AG w/a stamped sentiment

Thank God for Science!

After three doses of antibiotics, five hours of rolling sweats, three-quarters of a box of tissue, and a decent night's sleep, I am feeling fairly decent today. I'm hoping not to have any antibiotic side effects this holiday weekend to add to my misery, but I'll take them rather than still be feeling crappy two weeks from now... (New followers, I promise I'm not always sick.)

I was able to finish a card this morning. I started it DAYS ago and kept changing paper and stamps and embossing powder and so on... One of my mother's friends asked me to make 9 graduation cards, and as yesterday was the last day of school, I think I need to get on it! This card is for her daughter; I hope it passes for "special"...

It's an easel card with The Greeting Farm's Graduation Anya, some paper from Recollections, ribbon from Colleen, letter dies from Papertrey Ink, Hampton Art's graduation stamps, numbers from Lawn Fawn (little too much space on that 2nd 2), a little Stickles, a few pearls, and a sketch from The Cutie Pie Challenge.

I'm hoping to get some kind of rapid-fire assembly line cranking for the other cards that I need to make. I really just want to go lay back down though.

Challenges: The Cutie Pie Challenge (above), Celebrate the Occasion - Graduation

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!

I Haven't Entered This Many...

I haven't entered this many challenges in a while, but I'm really excited and happy about a project I just finished! I always check the rules to not enter challenges with limits, so if I added your challenge and don't qualify, please forgive me!

Here's my project:

I altered a chalkboard for a friend who was recently named Teacher of the Year. It might not look like it, but it took me forever to finish this project. I'm really slow about crafting and tend to move things around like a million times to figure out where I want things. I guess that's why I like sketch challenges!

Challenges: 4 Crafty Chicks - Anything Goes, Shelley's Images - Tic-tac-toe (Bling/Free/Flowers), Southern Girls - Anything Goes, Digistamps 4 Joy - Anything Goes, Paper Pretties - Sentiment as the Focal Point, Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes, Anything Goes Challenges - Anything Goes (of course!), Clear It Out - Alter Something, Jens Digi Stamps - Let's Hear it for the Girls, Going Grey with Scrap-Creations - It's a Girl Thing

Big thanks to the team at Feline Playful!

If you'd like the details...My cute little teacher is a hybrid - Teacher Anya and Easter Anya from The Greeting Farm. I painted and crackle finished the frame then glittered the cracks.  The stars are chipboard covered in paper from October Afternoon's Schoolhouse pack. The Well Done and A+ banner up top are from KaiserCraft's Class of '87 line.  I wanted to use transfer paper to write her name using a font from a scrapbook lettering book I have, but I didn't have the right kind. I ended up having to free hand it, but I don't think it came out bad.  And because I always have a tip from messing up something... If you use white ink on a chalkboard, you can erase your mistakes with nail polish remover! (Teacher was SO slanted when I first wrote it.) I got the flowers from eBay a long time ago, but I rarely use flowers on my projects. I colored them with Copics and Glimmer Mist then put some Stickles on top. All the rhinestones are from Michaels.

Don't forget the party starts Monday on The Outlawz!

Good and Late!

Here's this week's sketch at The Outlawz Challenges:

This is my card using one of the new Blush Society stamps from The Greeting Farm:

 

Y'all know I don't have any tags, right? I was struggling to figure out what I was going to use in that space until I remembered I recently got the Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Accents set. The paper is MME/Lime Twist's Happy Go Lucky. The letter stamps are from K-I Memories; I ended up putting some Viva Decor Pearl Pen over the stamped letters. Those little rhinestones up top are stickers from Recollections.

Okay, I hope you get to play along over at the Outlawz Challenges! We have great site-wide prizes this month from Oozak, SCACD, Gilli, and Paper Temptress, plus an amazing set of goodies that will be going to one lucky sketch challenge participant!

Challenges: Little Darlings Challenges - #4 Girly, Papercraft Star - Anything Goes

Guylou's Christmas Challenge!

Hey! I am so happy that it's that time of the year when Christmas songs are on the radio. I swear I've heard The Temptations' Silent Night almost every day since Thanksgiving, and I am very happy about it!  In the spirit of the season, the new challenge at Guylou's Inimitability is to make a Christmas card. (I'm sure if you make a Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Epiphany, Islamic New Year, Boxing Day, etc. card, it will be ok too...)  Here's my card for the challenge:

 

I used Guylou's Cowboy Snowman digi stamp, Copic markers, a MS snowflake punch, some Recollections pearls, Celebrate It ribbon, DCWV paper, Colorbox ink, and my pastels to make this card. I hope you like it...

Now, I know you're busy making holiday cards, so make sure to enter at least one of them in the challenge!  You can use any stamp to enter, but in order to win a free GI stamp and a guest DT spot, you'll need to use a Guylou's Inimitability digi stamp.  (There are plenty of ways to get a free one if your money is tight like mine... Click "guylou's" in the tag list if you're interested.) I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Spinning Wheels...

Hopefully, this will only be today's first card. I have so many cards floating in my head, and I'm doing a bad job of making them happen. My friend Hope asked me to make some cards for a bunch of different situations. We used to teach together, and a lot of the cards would be for school-related things. I've already colored some images and picked paper to go with them; however, I was trying to find a sketch or two to use to make sure I like the layout in the end.

I started this card with a sketch but didn't like how it was going. So, I just made it how I wanted. (Why not?) This little guy is Super Tobie from Some Odd Girl. Is he not just the cutest thing with undies outside of his pants? (Sorry the pic is a bit fuzzy. My rechargeable batteries need to be plugged in so I used my phone's camera. I think there's probably some oily finger goo on the lens, but I'm not planning to take the pic again right now. Maybe I'll change it later... Maybe. Nope! Unsharp Mask is my friend! Well, actually I did it too far, but...) Tobie was colored with a combination of Copics and my Staedtler colored pencils. I have some pastels that softened up his background. The paper is from Colorbok, but I couldn't find a name on the package. I got it from Target for a dollar... I used the ribbon loop punch from MS for the little border around Tobie, and the "WOW!" stamp is from Recollections.

One down!!  :)