BLOG CANDY CLOSED! winner announced soon!

okay gang, it's been long enough, i figured it's time to host my own blog candy...

i'm still pretty new to the blogosphere, and to playing with The Shoe, and i think it's time to not only get the word out, but also to thank those who have been sweet enough to follow me and comment on my posts. i love to hear what you all have to say!

today, for your viewing pleasure, i offer you this:



here's the lowdown...

Stampin' Up! - Background Sampler - set of 4 wooden stamps, new, mounted, in plastic storage case

Provo Craft - Clear Impressions - set of 20 acrylic faces stamps, new in case

Basic Grey - Urban Prairie Rub-ons - 4 sheets, new in package

K & Company - Life's Journey - Embossed Tag Stickers - set of 17, new in package

Anita's - Gemstone Wheel - 12 colours of 2mm round gemstones - new in package

Fiskars/Cloud 9 Design - Double Mat Stack in Cocoa Mint - 48 sheets, new in package

Papermania - Felt Ribbon in Purple Fusion - 4 styles, 1 meter lengths

Recollections - Decorative Felt Borders in Turquoise - 2 styles, 1 yard each

American Crafts - Premium Ribbon, Woven Ricrac in Boutique Rouge - 3 yards

Special Moments - Double-sided Scrapboking tape - 1/2 inch wide, 250 inches


what do i want from you? well one winner will take the loot, but here's the catch: you must participate in at least ONE of our august challenges at If The Shoe Fits... Scrap It! you can do more than one challenge if you like - it will improve your odds of winning, as each entry will get you one chance at my blog candy, PLUS an entry for the monthly draw at The Shoe! we have a yummy prize for one winner, to be drawn September 1st! so there's PLENTY of yum to win! if you're feeling EXTRA crafty, drop by our Ning Forum and join us there, too (we give away prizes for each challenge there, rather than once a month!). again, for each submission to EITHER of our websites, you'll get entered in my candy.

CONFUSED?
here, let's simplify...

The Shoe Blog - each project you submit for our challenges will get you an entry for my candy, and for our monthly draw.

The Shoe NING Forum - each project you submit here gets you a shot at the prize for that specific challenge and an entry for my candy.

of course, you can always just pick one and enter and cross your fingers, but why not improve your odds? :)

and, last but not least, please throw my candy up on your sidebar, and leave me a comment telling me you've done so. leave another comment for each project you submit so i can keep track! (i'm terrible with organization, but i'm a neat crafter!) for every 25 legitimate entries, i will add a little something to the haul!

have fun, and good luck! this candy will close at midnight, EST on Monday, August 31.

The Pixie Cottage DT Call!

good morning, and good MONDAY to all of you!

our picnic themed crop ended in my Cafe Mom group, so now i'm hopping about the blogosphere looking at all the amazing inspiration out there - there's SO MUCH of it! so many new techniques and items i want to try, and fabulous ideas on how to use things i already have.

one of my most favourite dollies directed me to The Pixie Cottage, to show me the gorgeous stuff on the site, and to inform me of their current DESIGN TEAM CALL! well, she was sure right about all the talent and the amazing stamps, and they're TOTALLY up my alley - i love whimsical and i LOVE faeries, and they are a new, fresh and exciting stamp company, so do check them out! i love what i've seen so far, and i'd love to play along with them and help promote all the cute lines they'll have to offer, SOOOOOO, here are three projects i'm submitting for my Design Team application:







i had a very hard time choosing which cards to post, and nearly ended up with all bellas and kettos, but wanted to show a bit of diversity as well. keeping my fingers crossed that Michelle likes what she sees!

if you have time to swing by, you absolutely MUST visit Michelle's Scrapbooking - it's a lovely online store with TONS of amazing lines, with great prices on brand names and everything from ribbon to bling to cardstock to patterned paper to dies to stamps... you name it, she's got it!

okay, back to work for lil' ol' me.

OH, and Miss Ophelia is recovering very well! thank you all for your sweet thoughts for my darling kitty! now i'm just waiting for the biopsy results, and hopefully we can all sleep a bit better! :D

a few more crop projects

having FUN over here! made a couple of cards to play along with the awesome challenges in my Cafe Mom group. i was home most of the day, making sure my sweet Miss Ophelia was recovering well from her TWO surgeries yesterday. not only did she have her cysts and mammary gland removed, but she was also spayed (at 14 years old!). i'm pleased to report she's doing very well, although i've had to put the cone around her neck whenever she's out of our line of vision because she keeps trying to lick at the sutures.

anyway...
the picnic/cookout crop is almost over, and i whipped up some little creations today.

this one is for the relay race - for this lap, we did a "water balloon toss" - so the images or ideas of water balloons (or in my case, water and a balloon) were to be included.





for this challenge, the theme is LEMONADE - rather, we use the phrase "when life gives you lemons..." and we do something creative with that. of course, we've seen "make lemonade", and we had an alcoholic twist on it too, but here's my creation (also based on a sketch provided by the hostess):





and with that, i shall be off to tidy some of my mess in the dining room (only to recreate the scene again tomorrow!). hope you're all enjoying your weekend!

oops, almost forgot!

a couple of things i made for The Shoe!

today's colour combo is red, green and white...



wednesday's card challenge was an "outdoorsy" creation:



last friday, it was a monochromatic PINK colour scheme, so i loaded up the pinks on this one!



(i assure you these were not made VERY recently - i have not been able to do NEARLY as much craftin' as i'd like!)

go play at If The Shoe Fits... Scrap It! to be entered not only in THEIR draw for a prize package this month, but also to enter for my blog candy!

there's also an If The Shoe Fits... Scrap It! NING FORUM, with some fun stuff going on there, and playing along with those challenges gets you a shot at their prizes and my candy too! there's not much time though, so pop on over, make stuff, then come back and link your project in the comments on my blog candy! :D

busy bein'... well... BUSY.

long work week, folks. sorry if i've kept you all (all 16 of you, that is!) in the dark this week. i HAVE managed to find a bit of time to get crafty, but mostly i've been working my patootie off, and getting Miss Ophelia ready for surgery today. let me rephrase that - getting MYSELF ready, mentally, for Miss O's surgery today. we dropped her off at 8 am and i'm waiting to hear back about the x-rays, and whether or not they're going to remove the cyst(s). i'm a little antsy at the moment, and haven't been able to concentrate very well with work stuff this morning. i just wish they'd call...

at any rate, it's crop week in my CafeMom group, and i've put together a few little projects for the challenges. our theme this week is Picnic/Cookout, and all of the challenges are related to food or grilling or picnicky-type activities and such.

so let's see... here's what little me "cooked up" for the "fry-daddy" challenge, which was to have a SUN on your project, to follow the sketch provided, and to incorporate a cooking-related word onto it as well:



we're also playing Scrappy Scrabble, where you combine elements assigned to letters and get points for the letter value when you make words... the words themselves have to somehow be represented by an image or object, or appear directly on the project. my words were WATERMELON (for 15 points):



and BASKET (for 12 points):



we've been having fun with a relay race, too - with lots of different games incorportated into the event! our first lap was the potato sack race, for which i created the little Penny Black mouse card in my previous post... i haven't been able to play any other laps, but hopefully i'll still have time to catch up!

there's also a game of horseshoes going on! for this challenge, anything goes, but the word or an image of horseshoes has to be on the project:





(i'm actually kind of disappointed at the photos of the 'shoes, because i used silvery metallic cardstock and cut these babies out by hand, and you can't remotely see how cool the paper looks)

and what's a picnic without BUGS? or, more specifically, BEES?! this project can be only black, white and yellow, and we were given a sketch to follow. OH, and a bee, or the WORD "bee" must be present. i loves me the Kettos, and this one was perfect (she just needed a little alteration):



last, but certainly not least, CONDIMENTS! mustard, relish, pickles, onions, and HOLD THE KETCHUP! this challenge required three RED things (but not all the same kinds of things - in my case, red paper, red string on the tag, and red... um... "paint"), and some allusion to, or direct reference to KETCHUP! what do you think?



i was quite pleased with this one! we're having a ton of fun with this picnic crop, and what a great way to wrap up the summer! hopefully i can still squeeze a few more challenges into my weekend, as i'll be home tending to my kitty cat tonight and at least all day tomorrow.

and we've made it to another friday, thank goodness! two more weeks left of summer for my boys, and i'll get some peace and quiet in the house again. but now we have some clothes shopping to get out of the way, and a scrummy cheesesteak place to find this weekend (we saw it on the food network!) - can't wait! my stomach is growling just thinking about it! :)

Happy birthday, NIKKI!

THIS GIRL is celebrating a birthday - join me in wishing her all the best today, and be sure to check out her blog candy, too!



(isn't it YUMMEH?!)

ch-ch-ch-ch-CHANGES...

turn and face the strange, INDEED! what a great motto, no?

so we're moving along through the traffic of life, passing some people by and waving through the windows, cutting others off, passing in the left lane, and just trying to get to our destinations. i hope i don't run out of gas before i get there!

new things are around the corner, folks! while i am no longer a member of the design team at If The Shoe Fits... Scrap It!, i am thrilled to have joined the crafty gals at Cafe Mojo! and there may be some other exciting adventures on which i shall be embarking, so i promise to keep you posted.

in the meantime, the rules for my blog candy still stand - there is ONE WEEK remaining to get in on the fun!

i haven't been able to get much done in the way of cardmaking, but in my Cafe Mom group, we are enjoying a week-long crop to celebrate the end of summer. this card is for the Potato Sack Race, which called for something potato-related ("tater") and something following the theme of the potato sack race (the brown/beige paper) :



and these little things were created for one of our August challenges, which called for christmas-themed 3x3s or 4x4s (i did a few extras because they're almost as addictive as ATCs!):







much more clean and simple than most of my recent creations, but that was part of the challenge for me! :)

in critter news, Miss Ophelia is going in for surgery friday morning, so please think happy thoughts for my lovie old lady. and tell me, when you eat your smarties, do you eat the red ones last? (canadians will understand this one)

who's followin' us at The Shoe?

don't worry, i'm watching!
when we hit 100 followers, i'm going to give away a little bit of yum - i shall draw a name from those 100 (courtesy of the randomizer), and that, as they say, will be THAT.

you wanna win stuff, right?

oh, you do? then come and play with us - there are loads of challenges on our Ning Site, and weekly challenges on Our Blog, and playing along on either site means you qualify for the blog candy you see at the top of this page (until 8/31). whatcha waitin' for?

okay, now i'm off to finish one of my challenges for The Shoe, and then i'm going to work on my first challenge as a Design Team Member for Cafe Mojo!

life would be fantastic if my Miss Ophelia had gotten a clean bill of health today at the vet. fingers crossed that the cyst on her mammary gland is benign, although they say 80 per cent of these on cats are malignant. we won't know until i bring her in to have it removed, or at least to have her x-rayed. poor lovie. <3

OOOOHHHHH! happy, happy day!

LOOKIE~! i have been selected to join the awesome design team at Cafe Mojo, beginning in September! my day wasn't going so well until i checked the updates, and now i can barely sit still! YAY!

so you can watch for PLENTY more posts in my blog for the upcoming months - partly because the boys will be returning to school in a couple of weeks (thank GOODNESS), and also because i'm going to be a busy little bee with challenges and blog fun!

today also means something VERY GOOD. I CAN SHOP AGAIN! :)
and whoa, nellie.
i plan to do so.
today ends my crafty spending freeze, and A.C. Moore has sent me coupons PLUS they have a buy one, get one free sale! i could pee my pants, i am that excited!

does anyone want to play along for my blog candy?

Colour challenge at THE SHOE!

okay folks, another chance for you to see what we, the DT, do at If The Shoe Fits... Scrap It!

as it is friday (thank GOODNESS!), we have for you a colour challenge. our colours this week are lime green and fuschia - a very FUN combination, and perfect as i've seen nothing but rain most of this week. here's my card:



this also means you have another chance to win my blog candy... participate in any of our Shoe challenges, OR in any of the challenges on our Shoe Ning forum and you get a shot at the candy, PLUS a shot at whatever is up for grabs for that given challenge. on our blog, each entry gets you a chance for a prize pack from our sponsor, Scrap-A-Doodle-Doo! and on the ning, each challenge has its own prize.

and so begins my weekend. it's been a VERY long week, and i could use some sleep. got the hair done tonight (pics forthcoming), off to the shore tomorrow, and our big show sunday. have a great weekend! :D

where'd her money go? in this blog candy!

seriously, check out THIS BLOG. tell me how awesome it would be to win this candy. i can think of, oh, a dozen websites or places where i'd have no problem racking up $150 worth of goodies. (ends 8/28)

wow, Stephanie, how insanely generous of you!

sleepy!

i am EXHAUSTIFIED. i got a ton of sleep the last couple of nights, but i guess my cardmaking marathon on saturday with my pallie Adina knocked me on my butt a little. i need to find my mojo again, because i've found a TON of fun challenges i want to do, and i'd like to put a dent in The Shoe's september challenges. i don't like to cut it too close to the deadline, and we're undergoing some structural changes, so i need to keep movin'!

anyway, yesterday was the son's sixteenth birthday. there were some struggles throughout the course of the day, but it turned out okay for the most part. the biggest thing on his plate right now is trying to find a job, and he just refuses to take our advice. (because, you know, we've never had to look for jobs and do interviews or anything...) he was, however, rather beaming when i gave him his card at the end of the night, containing two tickets to see Blink 182, Fall Out Boy, Panic at The Disco and Chester French tomorrow. :) too bad he's stuck going with ME! hee hee.

okay. time to get a bit of work done, and hopefully i can pull some items from my stash to start working on challenges when my shift is done. in the meantime, i dare you head on over to Gayle's Blog for a peek at some yummy candy, some of which is exclusive from CHA! that apron would sure be handy when i'm playing with my Glimmer Mists, and OOHH, new colours of Glimmer Mists! TASTY, indeed! check out the goodies:
(closes 8/21)

i want! :)
have a great day, chickens. i'll be baaaaaaaaack!

Black and white YUM at The Shoe!

today we feature the very awesome kits given to us to play with, from our very awesome sponsor, Scrap-A-Doodle-Doo... the kits:



this is the first full kit i've had in my possession (the beach-themed kit was Adina's leftovers!), so i really tried to use up as much of the stuff as i could... here's what i came up with:











as you can see, no little scrap of cardstock went unused! but this gives you a good idea as to how far these little $10.99 custom kits really can go! but drop by If The Shoe Fits... Scrap It! and take a look at what the rest of the Design Team has made!


noo nee noo... i was peeking around the blogosphere this morning and also came across a new site called Creatalicious Challenges. they'll be hosting monthly challenges beginning on the 15th of this month, with some great prizes to be won! sign up, check 'em out, and i'll see you over there!

ya gotta love it for the green!

okay, so you have to go see what this girl is up to!
visit Deanne's blog to follow her recycling adventures until the end of this month... she has posted pictures of the items she plans to incorporate into craft projects, and, quite frankly, some of them are a little wonky! can't wait to see what she does, and for those wishing to play along and show support, she might send you one of her crafty works! :)

tomorrow is going to be a rough one - work's going to be stressful as i have a LOT to do. my son turns 16 and has "planned his own party", which isn't going to turn out to be much of a party.

but it's also the day when we share what we've done with the sponsor kit from the very awesome Scrap-A-Doodle-Doo! they supply the kits, we show what we can do with 'em at If The Shoe Fits... Scrap It! and the store sells the kits online for those wanting to play along with us! join us for other weekly challenges and see what we've done with a funky colour combination, too! you could win some sweet, sweet products from our sponsor! :) hope to see you there!

a good time was had by all

went to an '80s themed crop yesterday with my girlie, Miss Adina, and we had a great time, natch! some of the highlights included: a heated game of '80s Jeopardy, my frantic win at the Rubik's cube challenge, Miss A and i all decked out in our Madonna duds, yummy chinese food for lunch, pop rocks, and, well, THESE...

for the Basic Grey Challenge #1, using this sketch:



this card:



i used their "obscure" paper, which is ridiculously delish. i can't say enough good things about Basic Grey. *drool*

and for my CafeMom group, using this sketch:



the following card (which will be sent to someone in the CM group, as that was part of the challenge - LOVE that little twist!):



i have other stuff to share, but can't show you yet. :p

tomorrow is my son's sixteenth birthday, and i'm kinda feeling, well, on the OLDISH side. yeesh!

it was a late night...

but FRIDAY HAS ARRIVED! :)

FIRST ITEM OF BUSINESS... since it's friday, that means it's challenge day at If The Shoe Fits... Scrap It! i can't decide if i like the colour challenges or the sketch challenges best, but i LOVED this colour combination! here's what the Design Team was given to work with:



and this is what lil' ol' me came up with:



i LOVE the little birds from my Sassafras Lass paper pad, and i had this DCWV paper (both the floral and the gingham) that just coordinated perfectly.

if you'd like to play with these colours, we at The Shoe would love to see what you've got! at the end of the month, all entries for our Shoe challenges go into a draw for some yummy stuff from our fab sponsor, Scrap-A-Doodle-Doo! come and play with us!

okay, so last night, the hubbin headed out to an open mic to promote our new CD, Best Excuses, and to tell people about our upcoming appearance at the Beta Hi-Fi Festival next Sunday in Philly. while he was gone, i took advantage of some ME time, and was able to complete two NON-Shoe-related challenges! i haven't played along in the blogosphere in what seems like FOREVER, and i had some fun.

this week's challenge over at Limelight Papercrafts is to use PAINT on a project, and follow this sketch:



the little frame around the sentiment was chrome but i played with some green acrylic paint so that it would match my card. here's what was born at about 2:30 am:



needless to say, getting up at 8:30 wasn't so easy this morning, but it was worth it!

last, but not least, La-La Land Crafts Blog Candy is up for grabs! visit their blog, and wish them much luck on the upcoming grand opening of their shop - they have AMAZING yummies soon to be available, and i've been drooling over the sneak peeks!

and now i must put in my time at the daily grind, to earn my dollars and cents so that i might spend some of them on crafties, because in TEN DAYS, i'm allowed to shop again. it's been a LONG two months!

it may be thursday, but i've got some monday mojo to share

okay, so i made the card TONIGHT, but it's for Mojo Monday - i just can't get over the fact that i am already participant number 354!

here's sketch #98:



and here's my submission:



one more day of work. it's been a VERY busy week! (hence my lack of blog posts!) picked up my threads for the '80s themed crop i'm attending on saturday, and now i just have to get the scissors and go nuts on it. maybe, just maybe, there will be pictures afterwards.

oh my goomie!

time is FLYING by! this has been an exciting summer so far, and things are moving along nicely for my band, yearlongday - we have been invited to play at a festival in Philadelphia, where we'll be competing with a bunch of other local artists for some unannounced prizes. VERY exciting! we were also notified that our cd, Best Excuses, has been added to the playlist at WRSU, the Rutgers University radio station. WOOT!

i haven't been as crafty as i'd like, and i'm guessing things aren't going to die down at least until after the festival, but our If The Shoe Fits... Scrap It! challenges continue, so here's the card challenge for today:

the sketch -


my card -


and i must say, i was a little saddened to find that one of my followers has abandoned me. i suspect she may have been offended by my last post or something, which i suppose shouldn't come as a big surprise. still, kinda bummed about it!

anyway... join us at The Shoe NING FORUM for loads more fun challenges to keep you busy for the month. we do individual prizes for challenges there, as opposed to the big monthly draw on our Shoe Blog. drop by for a spot of tea, will you? :)

so there's candy HERE, and OH.MY.GOOMIE. 72 copics? seriously? *faints* enter now, because it ends 8/9!

and DO drop by Michelle's Fab Blog for some yummy candy, and be sure to wish her a very happy birthday! :) ends 8/15.

ciao!

let's go to the movies!

i'm all about ATCs, since i made my first one several months ago. i love that they can be so random, without a real message, and can just be about expressing an idea. at our If The Shoe Fits... Scrap It! NING FORUM, we have a plethora of challenges going on at any given time - it's the community that goes hand in hand with our blog, and everyone is welcome to join! we have a lot of fun there, and it's a great way of getting to know people besides just hopping around the blogosphere.

anywho, the challenge is open until august 5th, so if you want to play, there's still time! the theme - "going to the movies"... make an ATC based on a favourite movie. here is my contribution:



i apologize if this offends anyone - i am a big horror film buff and just introduced my son to this series and he's LOVING IT! :) (it may not be my absolute favourite movie, but i'd have had to buy some little things to have the right elements to do Labyrinth)

and, what's a monday morning without some BLOG CANDY?! drop by The Crafty Den to see what yummy candy you can win! i'm drooling! (ends 8/23)

Pink Sunshine also has some TASTY candy, running until 8/4 (HURRY!) - that K & Company paper is delish!