Humble Pie NEEDS YOU!

Humble Pie Stamps Design Team Call!

We are a Canadian stamp company with a brand new line of stamps, and a brand new challenge blog (still being developed - scheduled to go live on World Cardmaking Day - October 3, 2009)! We are looking for Senior Design Team members who have a passion for paper crafts, and stamps (both digital and rubber)! Your colouring of stamped images should be your strength - whether it's with Copics, or watercolour, or any other medium. Previous Design Team experience is not necessary, but would be an asset. We welcome international applicants. You should have an active blog (post at least 3 times per week).

We will be taking submissions from now until October 10, 2009. So if you are ready to become a part of a brand new stamping and challenge blog adventure, and can follow the guidelines below, we want to hear from you.
As a senior member of our DT, you will be asked to:

* Create 4 projects a month using Humble Pie stamps, by participating in our weekly blog challenges. You may be asked to work with digital images.

* Participate in Blog Hops, to promote release of new stamps, approximately every 2-3 months.

* On a weekly basis, help promote/advertise Humble Pie Stamps and The Town Scrapper (on your personal blog and to any message boards where appropriate).

* Provide quality scans/photographs of all projects as well as posting any related tips/tricks

* Have an active blog presence on your personal blog

* Commit to a 6-month term beginning October 12, 2009


To apply, please send the following information to KIM, DT Coordinator, by email:
(love_10s @ hotmail *dot* com)

* Link to your online gallery and blog

* Provide full contact information - name, phone number, email address, and location

* Submit a short paragraph or two of why you want to be one of our designers

* List your current DT/designer/site commitment(s)

* Include a link to your blog post, and digital copies of the two projects being used for this submission

* Create 2 projects that showcase your style and abilities. One should be a card with a coloured, stamped image. The other can be anything you want, but should also include a coloured, stamped image.
* Post these two projects on your personal blog, and describe them in detail. Add any tips or tricks that you have used in the creation of your projects. (brownie points for using Humble Pie images! ;)

As a Senior Design Team member for Humble Pie Stamps, you will receive:

· 25% discount off the regular price of anything purchased from The Town Scrapper

· 50% off one item per month

· One free Humble Pie rubber stamp per month

· The experience of working with one of the best stamp companies in the world! ;)



We look forward to seeing your beautiful creations. Good luck!!

got your Mojo?

it's time for another Cafe Mojo challenge! The Mavens want to see you get out that needle and thread, and show us whatcha got! HAND STITCHING is the technique for this one, and let me tell you, i DEFINITELY find this one challenging! i have never been a skilled "seamstress". but i digress. here's what i did for this one:



the butterfly "pattern" comes from a clothing tag that i absolutely LOVED, and i think i may just keep it for future tags like this (but next time i'll use a proper floss, instead of plain ol' thread!). i think the card looks a little plain, but i couldn't find a patterned paper to place behind the tag that wouldn't just steal the spotlight. know what i mean, vern? play along with us and submit your project by October 10th for a chance to win something SWEET! :)

GAW-JESS? GORJUSS?

well, the image certainly is, no matter how you say it! i absolutely love this Gorjuss Girl, and she was perfect for this card (that virtually created itself in my head while i slept last night). :)

here she be:



this card follows this sketch:



for challenge #12 at Sunday Sketch & Stamp.

it also works for challenge #26 at Stamptacular Sunday, which calls for a tag on your project. i do love me some tags!

i had some fun with the next one, too... although i don't have a big scallop circle cutter, so i had to improvise and make "petals" using a smaller circle punch and adhering them all around the outside. does it look even to you?



the close-up ('cuz i love my fussycutting, and i thought the branch and fern were cute for this card!):



this card follows sketch #34 at The Fresh Batch:



ANNNND i played along with another Basic Grey Challenge, which was EMBOSSING. see those little tiny red flocky dots all the way around the circle? yep, an embossing pen, and a tiny bit of sprinkle, and voila! the Basic Grey papers i used were from the Marrakech and Lily Kate lines - who knew they'd work together? (or do they? maybe i'm just imagining it...)

anywho... BUSY week for me. i made another card, which shall remain a mystery for a few weeks! yeah, i know, i want to post it too, but that's not the way we play the game, my chickens! :D

so. come back on THURSDAY for our big Design Dollies announcement!

THEN. come back on SATURDAY for some fabulous Humble Pie Stamps news! :)

OH, and don't forget to enter my blog candy HERE! i have a secret stash of yum for one lucky winner! :D

cards for the troops

a friend in my Cafe Mom group (well it's not my group, but i'm one of the administrators there) is doing a card drive for the troops. her son has been deployed and she wants to send a bunch of cards for our heroes to be able to send mail back home to their loved ones. i'm sending out some 25 cards, including these that i made on saturday before i had to get ready for our gig:





i'd love to show you what else i worked on this weekend, but i CAN'T! they're surprises! :D

i did get ahead with some Design Dollies challenges, and we're RARIN' TO GO! can't wait for our launch this thursday, and you REALLY should be following, so you'll have a shot at some YUMMY candy!

and i got to play with my first HUMBLE PIE image and i can't wait to show you! they are absolutely ADORABLE, and i'm so excited to be a Humble Pie Baker! :D

i has the MOJO!!!!

i just wish i could play and play and play alllllll day!
got a couple of things done for my Cafe Mom group, which is always a lot of fun. in addition to having monthly crops (with challenges and prizes galore!), we have random challenges throughout the month to take us from one crop to the next, without losing our MOJO!

first, however, i did this one for two challenges - the Pollycraft challenge (use black and white and one other colour), and for the sketch at Papertake Weekly...

GRR.
what the heck is THIS business all about? blogger hates me today!


here's the sketch:


and these are for the Cafe Mom challenges (both used sketches):





not sure what i think of the second one - i followed the sketch closely, but i think my paper choice was rather, uh, POOR.

it may be friday, but....

i HAD to do the new Sketchy Thursdays challenge. Diana told me it was a good one, and she wasn't kiddin'!

straight to the point this time, because i don't have a lot of time before the fellas get home from the football game at the school!

the card:



the close-up:



and the sketch:




i can't tell you how much FUN i had making this! as soon as i saw the sketch yesterday, i knew what stamp i wanted to use, and what i had to do with it. i only wish my camera would work properly - it doesn't want to focus for ANYTHING, even on the Macro setting. ANNOYING! ah well.

so, in just SIX days (OMG OMG OMG!) we shall be launching the Design Dollies challenge blog, and we can't wait for you crafty folks to play along! there will be a YUMMY treat when we launch, so START FOLLOWING NOW! you won't want to miss out!

annnnnnnnd, we will be kicking things off at Humble Pie Stamps (have you SEEN the awesome rubbah?!), so stay tuned for more information on that as well! in the meantime, DO drop by The Town Scrapper blog to get an idea of the goodies that we'll be playing with - and place an order, because Phebe's got some FAB sales going on! we'll ALL be eating Humble Pie soon!

OCTOBER 1st, PEOPLE! it's gonna be a doozie! :D

ebay.

holy wowzas. i am SO ebaying a bunch of my stuff. my style has evolved SO much in the last two years, that i just can't see myself using a lot of these things anymore.

so maybe i'll post here first, to see who wants 'em at a nice discount, and i'll ebay what's left.

good gravy, i need to CLEAN HOUSE! and, well, make way for NEW stuff. hee hee.

well yay - problem solved!

i can see followers now! which means YOU CAN FOLLOW! follow me here, and come on over to Design Dollies to follow there too, and you'll see what's up our sleeves for our big launch on October 1st!

and since you've already had a little glimpse, i thought i'd show you my little creation. we decided we needed our own personal "dollies" to represent us on the header. i have been obsessing over the idea of actual jointed paper dolls for a while, and jumped at the opportunity. here's Dollie Me:



if you've never made one of these before, i HIGHLY recommend it! my hat, body and limbs come mostly from National Geographic mags, with hands/gloves from a Trader Joe's bag, a little extra lace on the cuffs, plus the flowers and a couple of strands of pearls from my stash. the roller skates were totally separate but fit PERFECTLY! i couldn't resist. and the head... well that's me. hee hee. my face is a little washed out, so my Dollie, Kristy (aka Holmes) fixed me up all good-like so it looks better on the blog. thanks, shoog!

yep, so, still busy, but clearly not too busy to post in my blog(s). :D

when it rains, it pours!

it's a good thing i LOVE the rain!

big news for me today, as everything has been confirmed and i can spill the beans! in addition to launching the Design Dollies challenge blog on October 1st (aren't you following yet?! what are you waiting for?!)... i have been invited by the very sweet KIM, of Kim's Kreative Korner to join the Design Team for Humble Pie Stamps! what an absolute honour! and a fun bunch of canadian gals, to boot! WOOT!

i have some work to do, as i will be sharing the task of Blog Manager with the sweet and very talented Tricia - we have a week to build this blog up, and make it something FABULOUS!

there are a few things that i could say about all of this, but the first thing that comes to mind is "HOLY WOWZA, my wish list has just grown exponentially!"

let's celebrate! :D

oh, and we have a show this saturday night (you know i'm in a band, right?), and last night's rehearsal went WONDERFULLY, despite my migraine that lasted throughout the whole day. crazy south jersey weather can't make up its mind. MEH.

now, back to work. and emails. LOTS and LOTS of emails! ciao, chickens!

oh, happy happy mail day!

so much lovely happy news today!
first, a package that was addressed incorrectly from England arrived! my fab penpal's sister knits, BEAUTIFULLY, and had offered to make me a teddy. well she apologized for taking so long (!!!), and threw in a little something extra as well. BEHOLD, the wonderful artistry of Denise:





aren't they GORGEOUS?! the armwarmers are so UNBELIEVABLY ME!! i love them! and quite frankly, i believe that if it's art, there's no time limit. and it's always worth waiting for! she did a wonderful job, and i'm just so happy the package arrived, as her ditzy sister (love her!) gave her the wrong address. i live on Michael Rd, not HAONTON Rd! in Hammonton, NJ. silly, silly girl!

THEN, i got a little envelope from Australia, and i could only think of ONE person who might have sent it...
this is what arrived:



THANK YOU, KAREN! :) you shouldn't have! Karen won my blog candy last month, and she thanked me with a fabulous card and goodies! SO SWEET!

and i also received an order i placed with Endless Memories, a little store i found through a google search. the service was wonderful and the shipping was SUPER speedy! Sandra has great prices, so drop by her shop to see for yourself!

annnnnnd, there's another little something in the works, but i won't say anything until it's all finalized. just a quick little shout-out to my new Canadian friend - HI KIM! :)

happy hump day, everyone! now if i could kick this pesky migraine that's been lingering since monday.....

hmmm. that's curious.

would anyone have any idea as to why i am not able to view my followers here, or the followers on Design Dollies?! i've always seen the images, up until last night. now i can't see your gorgeous faces!

i'm feeling sketchy!

and it's not even thursday..... :)

Diana and Heidi have some fabby things going on over at Sketchy Thursdays, and there are still a couple of days for you to play along with the current sketch! i stared at this thing for WAY too long before i finally figured out what i wanted to do with it. thank you, Basic Grey!

here's my card:



the sketch:


is the sketch not utterly fabulous? yes, i thought you'd agree!


before i head back to work, i'd like to remind you to have a little clicky on the top blinkie on my sidebar, or on the sticky header at the top of my blog... we've got many surprises in store for you! :D

Follow us!

Design Dollies will launch soon, and is now open to followers! check us out now, so you can get the scoop as soon as the party kicks off! :D

we're looking forward to seeing you there, and we have some exciting stuff in store for you!

i stamped with fun

and THEN SOME. had a GREAT time yesterday, with my dollie, Adina, and i'm only sorry that it had to come to an end! we made lots of stuff, including some stuff we can't show you yet! :D if you scroll down to the bottom of my blog, you'll see a little something, and all i can say is that you can start getting excited, because we plan to keep you BUSY! :)

now then, of the things i made yesterday, i can only show you two. the first one is for the Whiff of Joy challenge #48. Adina INSISTED i play with this image, and try my hand at this challenge, and to be honest, it was ROUGH! all those layers, and working with that image for this particular sketch... well i like how it turned out overall, but i wonder how many MORE cards i could have made in the time it take to make this one! hee hee.



i just love the Willow i used on this card - thanks, A! here's the sketch i followed:



the next one i can post here is for the challenge at Stamp With Fun.

the card:



for this sketch:



et voila!

finishing up with the green

so this wraps up a busy cardmaking week of "green-themed" cards. i have done so much recycling of materials and weird stuff, and i'm looking forward to just a regular day of craftin' tomorrow! honestly, i'm not a wasteful cardmaker. i hang onto all of my scraps, no matter how small, and i'll use up the tiniest strips for trims, or mounts, or i'll chop 'em up with punches and dies. at the end of a full cardmaking day, i might have enough trash to fill a coffee mug.

so i've tried to put together a nice series of cards for my hubbin to bring to the cafe downtown, and hopefully they'll sell at "Green Day".

these two bring my total to 11. i had hoped for 12, but i'm all kinds of achy tonight, and was working in slow-mo. so this one is for two challenges - C.R.A.F.T. challenge #17, to use pink and brown, and for Friday Sketchers, the following sketch:



more coffee snugs on here, the scalloped trim is from a box of CHOCOLATE MINT WATER (!!!) that my hubbin bought, plus i used up the last of the brown packaging from the wedding favour. the corrugated flower is my favourite, and i punched MANY of these with my scraps. i plan to use 'em up this weekend. :)



the next one isn't for any challenge in particular. but i liked the pink and brown one enough that i wanted to make another that was similar, and simpler.



and now, off to brusha-brusha, and get myself ready for bed. i have a visitor coming in the morning! :D

oh yeah, it's friday all right.

and i'm FEELIN' the burn! gettin' my craft on this weekend! it started last night with a few more "green" cards:


(recycled paper, reused ribbon and box from wedding favour, image from art museum brochure when we went to the exhibit last year)


(recycled paper, cardboard from coffee snug, paint swatch)


(image from a sheet of postage stamps, paint swatch and recycled paper, plus the silver/foil is piece of a lid from a takeout order)

i feel like that last one needs a charm or something hanging from the hemp, but that really isn't the point of making green cards, right?

and i jumped into something today that is very new to me... SCRAPPIN'. it's a scrapbook page of sorts - more like an art journal for myself - but i don't think i've ever stuck my mug on anything before, so it qualifies, right?! RIGHT?! :)

okay, so the September crop is underway in my CafeMom group (i can't believe it's been a month already!), and while i was a smidgen intimidated by this challenge, i had to go for it. it's a letter to the self - taking an old pic (the top one's about 15 years old) and a new pic (yesterday!), and writing to encourage the old self. kind of an "if i knew then what i know now" type of deal, with words of wisdom to perhaps get the old self through some difficult times. and we had to use PAINT. mmmm, paint. so here's my first true attempt at a scrappy page, using real photos and everything!







here's what the journalling says (OMG, JOURNALLING!)...

DEAR K,

PEACE. you will find it eventually. it will be beautiful! and you'll finally be comfortable with the person you are.

LISTEN when people tell you that you are a good person, a good friend, and a good mother.

LAUGH when it hurts so much, and all you really want to do is CRY.

CREATE. when you finally find an outlet, it will bring relief and make you feel good about yourself. it will feel incredible! INDULGE it!

LIVE. it's called LIFE for a reason. don't just sit there, go out and enjoy it!

LOVE, K.



this is page one in an art/scrap journal to myself. i heart Sheer Delights.

tonight, all by my lonesome, and i plan to get supah-crafteh. and tomorrow, my fab dollie, Adina will be joining me for a full day of it! we have lots of challenges on which we must get cracking, because, well, there's big news!

i'm bringin' Mojo back!

okay, so i SHOULD have posted this on sunday, but i've totally flaked!

we have a new challenge up at Cafe Mojo!

now that september is off to a frantic start, how has it changed your daily routine? are you a teacher, who's now overwhelmed with lesson plans and grades and disciplinary action? or are you a stay-at-home-mom who's happy to have some quiet time again? do you find yourself running around like a chicken with your head cut off, trying to get the kids to school in time, get yourself to work in time, get to meetings and appointments and get the kids to their respective clubs, and you hardly have time for yourself anymore?

well that's the challenge!

we want to see a project that represents your daily routine, and you will be entered to win a funky prize!

PLAY HERE! we don't have a single entry yet, so the odds are in your favour! ;)

my daily routine has lightened considerably now that school's back in session. no more interruptions from a hubbin or son wanting my opinion on something, or needing a hand in the kitchen, or wanting me to check this or that online. no, i can do my job in PEACE, sip my coffee quietly, and just enjoy my day. and it's nice to have the kitchen counter to myself so i am free to grind my beans and brew my cuppa joe. hence, my card:



(you've seen that coffee cup before, haven't you?)

HEY! are you reading this?!

GO HERE!

win this!



(Heidi told me to)

that hostess set is TOO flippin' cute.
(ends 9/30)

two more under my belt!

i am well on my way to having these "green" cards finished before saturday morning. monday night was a complete write-off - i went to the gym for my awesome yoga class, and did a half-hour run on the treadmill afterwards, and i think i'm STILL feeling rather like jello! my legs got a great workout though, and i am doing a decent job sticking to a routine, or at least getting to the gym three times a week.

anywho, enough of this babble! that's not why you're here, right? CARDS!

okay, so two more "green" cards done. like i said, you may recognize some of the same elements popping up throughout the week, so i hope you're not too bored. :)

here's the first card:



you can't see the glimmer mists i sprayed over the base and the coffee cup, but it looks fab, i promise!

it follows this sketch:



over at Card Patterns. it uses recycled paper, a cardboard sleeve for coffee and hemp. plain and simple, right? the stickers, well they're RECYCLABLE. :)

and the next card covers a few different challenges...

first there's this sketch:



from Card Positioning Systems.

then for the Basic Grey inspiration challenge:



and for the Papertake Weekly Challenge, to "fake it".

and also for the Inky Impressions challenge, to use stitching (real or faux) on a project. i certainly have never covered this many challenges with one card, and such a SIMPLE card at that! anyway, it's very plain, but here it is:



the sketch is obvious. the inspiration is the colours, mostly, and the stitching, as the photo has that country-esque feel where there are lots of handmade window treatments and such. and the faking it is also the faux stitching.

that's about it for now - i'm working on putting some stuff together for a "girlfriends" swap right now, and i have lots of cutting to do! but work beckons. i shall be back later! :) happy hump day, chickens!

to kick off the week PROPERLY

i started this one last night but hubbin insisted i come to bed. EARLY day today, with he and my son both heading off to start their school year. it's quiet in here though, and i'm loving it. :)

anywho... this follows my "green" theme, and that's probably what you'll be seeing for the rest of the week - i used recyclable paper, paint swatches and the patterned paper was the lining of an envelope in which a wedding invitation arrived. i still have a bunch of that paper left, and i love the colours, so you'll probably recognize it in future cards this week.

right. i'm babbling. this is for The Fresh Batch - this week's sketch challenge:



and here ya go:



that makes four "green" cards so far. i'm a third of the way there!

third post's a charm?

well i COULD have posted each card separately, but i got caught up in the craftin', and ended up making two more "green" cards. one is for a challenge, while the other just begged to be made for fun. the "tea" card uses recycled paper, a piece of a cereal box (the piece that opens) and an image from a Trader Joe's bag, and the yellow card uses recycled paper and PAINT SWATCHES from wallyland. i figure most people toss them, so i might as well give a nice big handful of those babies a good home.

okay, so, the "tea" card:





and the yellow (green) card is for the challenge at Sunday Sketch & Stamp, following this sketch:



zee creation...



for the record, i am aware that the brads and photo turns aren't exactly "recyclable", but i didn't think it would be entirely feasible for me to make a bunch of greenish stuff without having to go out and buy more, which would mean a trip to the store, hence using gas, and bad for the environment. dig? :)

i'm on a mishun.

the cafe downtown has already agreed to start carrying my cards, so i'm building up my inventory for appropriate ones to put in a box and haul over. HOWEVER, this saturday is "Green Day" - they're doing a big push for the environment in our revitalized downtown core. my "mishun" is to create at least 10 to 12 cards that are all made of recycled or organic materials. i need to have these done by friday (ideally thursday night), so that means the hubbin will be supporting my hobby a little more than usual. ;)

i used a sketch:



for this week's challenge at Stamptacular Sunday... it's my first time playing over there, and i thought the sketch was a nice CAS (clean and simple) one to use for a series. i may go even simpler for the rest of the batch though, so i can mass-produce (never been one of my fortes).

oh, almost forgot. the card!



the base is recycled paper, the background cardstock and patterned papers are from a wedding favour box and invitation, and i used hemp for the paper flower centers. the picture is slightly blurry because my camera is being a spoiled brat. there you have it.

how many posts in one day are too many? shall i shoot for three? four?

the Sophisticats Simon Says Oriental something

i think this is, perhaps, the first time i've tried to incorporate two challenges into one card - never too late to jump on the bandwagon, right? :)

okay, so this week's challenge over at Simon Says Challenge requires an oriental something-or-other. i happen to have this gorgeous set from Non-Sequitur that fit perfectly... i had also decided i was going to do the challenge at SophistiCat, and thought the launch challenge (go see! go play!) would work well with the oriental theme.

et voici:



before you go on to hop around the blogosphere, do drop by Amy's blog to check out her amazing candy! (ends 9/30)

and congratulations to Samantha for her recent engagement, and also for her first blogaversary! she has blogaversary candy up for grabs, too, so drop by and say hello! (candy closes 9/30)