there's lots of excitement around the Humble Pie kitchen - we'll have updates over the next little while, but in the meantime, come and play!
this week's challenge is all about the FLOWERS! are ya flippin' TIRED of this cold, icky, windy mess lately? i'm not a fan! so a little sunshine is in order, dontchathink?
here's my flowery card, using the Maggie in Love stamp we're giving away as a prize this week!
(isn't this stamp ADORABLE? it's a Humble Pie exclusive!)
the challenge is to use at LEAST 5 flowers on your project - they can be primas, die-cuts, stamps, whatever, but 5 is the minimum! annnnnnnd, if you play along, you REALLY ought to leave your email address with your comment, because we have a little surprise for all participants! that's all i can say. :)
come on over and join us! check out what our two fabulous new guest Bakers are up to, and see what's on sale at The Town Scrapper - Phebe's got a GREAT buy one, get one half off sale going on right now!
i can't believe how QUICKLY January has flown by! now we're about to move into February, however, and that's usually the month that drags by. i have a couple of fun things planned, so hopefully they'll help keep things chirping along nicely. :)
today, the Design Dollies bring you the FINAL Sketch Challenge for the month! our Sketchy girl, Kristy-Holmes-Dollie is a wiz when it comes to these sketches, and i love turning them into cards and layouts (!)... more circle elements in this one, and when i was going through photos trying to find one to use, this one jumped out at me, and the layout practically assembled itself. :)
(click to enlarge!)
the story behind the pic: went to a friend's house for a barbecue in celebration of her nuptials. much fun, people eating, drinking, playing volleyball, being generally joyous. my son was 4 at the time. i was sitting beside the garage watching him play, and he came over to give me a little smooch, and the hostess caught it on camera! i didn't even know she was watching, or that she'd taken the pic. a week later, a card showed up in my mailbox, with this photo inside, and on the back, she'd written "isn't this just the cutest picture?" - well yours truly got QUITE weepy at that!
i hadn't seen this photo in YEARS, and i have to admit, creating this layout got me a little weepy again! look, you can even see that i'm puckering up for the kiss!
here's the sketch for you to interpret as you will.... remember, we MUST see the sketch in your projects, but you're free to flip it, rotate, reverse, shift, to make it work.
i had fun with it! lots of Shimmerz Spritz on this, some blue Making Memories acrylic paint, Crackle Accents on the chipboard letters, and yes, another appearance from my new best friend, the Dymo Label Buddy! :)
come and play along with this challenge HERE, and if you like, combine it with this week's COLORS CHALLENGE and/or ELEMENTS CHALLENGE for a chance to win all three of the yummy January prize packages! you have until SUNDAY at midnight if you're combining, or next WEDNESDAY at midnight if you're taking on the sketch. HAVE FUN!
and i thought i'd throw it on down anyway, 'cuz i LOVED playing with this one and i'm impatient!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY at Design Dollies! it's not my birthday, but today is a friend's birthday and i'm going to celebrate at the open mic and bring her some brownies!
also, GO SEE MEG'S CANDY! it's unique, and totally fabulous! :D
i've got a ton of stuff going on this week, so i must mosey, but i'll be back soon enough... and hey, visit often, because my hit counter started over at zero, and i feel SO unpopular! ;)
couldn't decide what i wanted to do between three choices, so i ended up doing all of them. one you can't see until tomorrow, as it's for the next ELEMENTS CHALLENGE at Design Dollies, and one of them i'm tweaking. but i'll show you THIS ONE! :)
not sure how i'll translate the "woof" greeting yet, but i'll have a little fun with it. :)
this card is for the ANIMALS CHALLENGE at BasicGrey Challenges (oh, how i do LURRRRVE the Junebug line, which i bought at The Town Scrapper)! tossed on a little strip of Sass that i thought looked FAB with the BG, and voila!
entering this one for the scrummy PATTERNED PAPER challenge over at Practical Scrappers, too! (thanks to my sweetpea, KIM, for the reminder!)
i also used the Sketch Challenge #48 at CardPatterns... i hemmed and hawed over it for a bit, but once i eliminated the source of my frustration (a negative scalloped circle where the red dotty one now lives), i had loads of fun with it! here's the sketch:
there ya be! and now, i must away, in search of more of that caffeinated goodness that is Joe. <3
MONOCHROMATIC BLUES, that is! another weekly Color Challenge has wrapped up at Design Dollies - i LOVED the turquoise and lime projects that were hurled at us. such a FABULOUS combination, and clearly it inspired a lot of you!
today, however, we're singin' the BLUES.... here's the challenge, and this is what i did with it.
honestly, is this image not ADORABLE? a few weeks ago, i won her in Amy's blog candy, and i just fell in LOVE with her! she's another fabulous fairy in Amy's Sweet November collection. Amy, thank you again!! :)
so, check out what the Dollies have done HERE, and play along for this prize:
this is the last week to play along with the January challenges, so get your entries in before we unveil the brand new prize packs and brand new challenges! :)
gotta hurry, 'cuz hubbin and i are playing a gig tonight for a cd release party (we're track #1 on the compilation), and i MUST get prettified and drink my hot tea!
i used some fun rubons that i nabbed from Mandy at Limelight and a few scraps of paper i had in my stash (the kraft is even a leftover piece, and the card opens sideways).
here's the sketch:
decided to stick to the sketch and go fairly simple, as most of my stuff has been rather, um, BUSY lately. :) a nice change for today.
and i HAD to do something with this when i saw the challenge.
i discovered The Creative Type tonight whilst checking out LiveJournal. i perused the site a little, and LOVED the concept - the challenges and prompts are TYPOGRAPHY-based. not only do i love my Dymo Label Buddy, but i have a ton of alphas and vintage papers and fun script pages and stamps that should help me through the challenges quite nicely. (Lauren, you may want to check it out - seems right up your alley!)
tonight, i opted for a sheet of yummy Prima Paintables with florals and lots of text on it (although it's hard to see, except for the small torn strips on the side, as i covered the page with gesso and glimmer misted the bajeebus out of it), and used up lots of leftover random alphas, plus some from the Basic Grey EERIE collection (the word HEAL).
here's what i came up with (and i IMPLORE you to click the images for a much better peek):
oh, i can tell you right now, you'll be seeing MUCH more gesso in future creations here - it was my first time playing with it, and i can't believe i waited so long! it's FABULOUS.
right. so i'm seriously going to bed at 4 am. wonder how yoga will go in 6 hours...
(p.s. - looking at it now, the colours are a little off in the photo - the greys in the paper and photo blend much better, one is no cooler or warmer than the other. weird!)
well, it's quite simple, actually. i've been a coffee drinker for a number of years, but to be honest, i never brewed my own; i bought the scrummy gourmet kind when i went to cute little coffeehouses to hang out with my chickens.
but since moving to NJ, i have discovered something wonderful: WAWA. they have THE BEST dark roast coffee, and nobody can compete, as far as i'm concerned. i was never a big fan of Tim Horton's coffee when i lived in Canada, i've never actually ENJOYED Starbucks (although Seattle's Best is pretty nifty), and Dunkin' Donuts and 7-11 frequently BURN their coffee, or just can't quite get it down pat.
WaWa, however, has NEVER given me a bad cup o'joe. for that, WaWa, i salute you!
this here layout (is it a layout if it doesn't include photos?) is for the challenge at Paper Play - they called for handwriting on your projects. i've never been embarrassed to hand write sentiments - i blame the year and a half of drafting i took in college, where it always had to be PERFECT. it's not perfect now, but it'll do, pig. :)
and Die Cut Dreams has a RECYCLE IT challenge, so i decided to make good use of my coffee snugs (appropriate, no?). i use these things quite often when i'm creating, as i just LURRRRVE the corrugated or dotty textures and that shabby look. the logos i used come from discarded coffee cups.
side note: when i make my own coffee, i ONLY buy from Trader Joe's. i've tried several different kinds from TJ's, but my favourite is their new "Joe" brand, which is wonderfully cheap (!!!) and plenty tasty!
happily, my migraine disappeared this afternoon, once i was able to stomach a piece of toast and a cup o'Joe (the Joe brand). it was a fabulous workday, i got TONS accomplished, and while hubbin and i didn't get to Jo-Ann tonight because The Son's plans went a little wonky, we still had a nice night to ourselves and went out for tacos. life is good.
goodness me, i'm glad it's friday. i'm hoping i can rest when i've wrapped up my workweek - this migraine's kickin' my butt, HARD.
allow me to share with you my card for the new Humble Pie challenge! our theme this week - LOVE! use RED, WHITE and PINK in your project, and toss some hearts on it!
for example:
i love the Humble Pie Sweeties, and this image is Flower Maggie - she's so much fun to colour, and i think she works great for "thoughtful" cards! she's a Humble Pie exclusive, available ONLY at The Town Scrapper!
Phebe also carries Spellbinders products (i've used the nestabilities ovals on my card), Provocraft stuff (i've used the Cuttlebug music embossing folder and Cuttlebug hearts dies), plus tons of fabulous trims and buttons and embellies for your craftin' projects... she's ALSO having a huge sale right now, so drop by for a visit, and take advantage of the buy one, get one 50% off deal! EVERYTHING is on sale!
our LOVE challenge is running until next THURSDAY, January 28th at midnight EST, so play along for your chance to win THIS Humble Pie exclusive Maggie in Love stamp: (card courtesy of our wonderful Baker, Shelly!
a little quickie to share... i made this over the weekend for the January crop in my Cafe Mom group.
the challenge was ALL SCRAPS except the base paper, and using this sketch:
i flipped it on its side and made this layout:
(that's me with The Son back in 1994!) still can't believe i'm getting all into this scrapbookin' thing!
okay! we're a little behind this week, but the TRIFECTA is ready!
the new ELEMENTS CHALLENGE has been posted (and the deadline extended to make up for the lost time)... the theme? YOUR FAVORITE THINGS. 'a la Sound of Music! use lines from the song to represent things on your project, or SHOW US your faves! what we don't want to see is your fave crafting supplies (that's just too easy!).
so, for example, three of my favorite things... POPCORN, CATS, and the COLOR ORANGE: (this is a project i did last year, but illustrates well what we're going for here, folks)
SHOW US YOUR FAVES! (or use specific lines from the song, as a couple of our Dollies have done, and that will work too!)
annnnd, today brings you another yummy sketch from my Holmes-girl, Kristy. here's the challenge, and here's this week's awesome sketch:
and here's my LAYOUT! (yes, another, and i had a TON of fun making this one!)
it's so STRANGE digging through these old photos and finding these odd little memories of my son when he was wee.
tomorrow, i'll be back with a brand new Humble Pie challenge - you have until tonight at midnight EST to play along with this week's BLING BLING Challenge - with another fabulous prize! :)
the one that says "yns is the place to be"? well that's because the Your Next Stamp blog hop has begun today, and there are tons of yummy items on sale at the store, and they have HEAPS of fun going on!
since the themes of the new Fhiona and Fhinn stamp sets are vacation and music, they've asked their followers (and players on the blog hop) to let the blogosphere know about their favourite vacation spots or their favourite bands...
i am a musician, so music is a HUGE part of my life. it's hard to pick just one favourite, but i think the band i FIRST fell in love with, and the band that has always earned its way into my cd player over the years - they should get top billing here.
yeah, so it's these guys:
(depeche mode - SWOON)
i've been a die-hard modehead since i was 9 years old (i swear - my uncle was listening to the BEST radio station, and i got hooked early!), and while i don't like a LOT of their newer stuff quite as much, they still make my heart swell when i hear them or when i remember their concerts i've attended.
oh, to meet Martin Gore. egads, can that man write a song.
in hopping about the blogosphere, i came across this girl, whose blog name i thought was cute and curious enough that i had to swing by for a visit.
but my visit wasn't brief. i have been going through pages and pages of utter GORGEOUSNESS, as this girl has an unmatched love for all things vintage, antique, and just stunning.
egads, MORE photographs inspiring me to do more stuff with 'em. i made ONE card all weekend.
this one was for a "use your scraps" challenge in my Cafe Mom group (although it wasn't a crop challenge). we were to use scraps of paper and punch like it was goin' outta style.
this is Rainy Day Fhiona, from Your Next Stamp. i paper pieced the front of the brollie, and her hairband, coat and boots. Fhiona just reminds me so much of the Powerpuff Girls (love them!). i went out for hallowe'en as Buttercup one year. :) i seem to have a thing for hanging onto my negatives when i punch or use my cuttlebug. i'm on a mission to use up all those negatives!
we were also challenged (this time for the crop) to do a ROUND layout, using only 3 colours. this is another first for me! i'm no stranger to the colour restrictions, natch, but a scrapbook page that's ROUND?! INSANITY, i tell you!
and yet, i'm totally enthralled with this one. it's very me, and representative of a very important time in my life.
i was working on one more for the crop last night, and at 10:40 i checked the challenge post, only to realize that i'd already missed the deadline. that was probably a blessing in disguise, as i'd been struggling with a title for too long, and i'd have been up for another three hours trying to put it together. instead, i hit the hay. :) i'll post that one today (assuming i am able to GET a title for it!) - the new Design Dollies Elements Challenge will be posting today, so i'll be back to share the deets!
not only has January been a fabulous month for Design Dollies, with all the yummy challenges and prizes and the new Design Team and such, but my lovely Kristy-Dollie has launched her own website, Some Odd Girl, and she has the most ADORABLE digi stamps, and a HUGE SALE!
annnnnd, my Cafe Mom group is wrapping up our monthly crop tonight, for which i was able to get some craftin' done this weekend (and this morning!)...
first, the new COLOR CHALLENGE at Design Dollies - i was VERY excited to post this one (and had my project done a couple of weeks ago, so i've been anxious to share!). the color combo is TURQUOISE, WHITE, and LIME GREEN:
COME AND PLAY! and seriously, check out what the rest of the Design Dollies have done with these colours. YUM. you have until SUNDAY at midnight EST to enter for this one, and projects must be NEW for this challenge!
'kay, some stuff to share, 'cuz i did say i'd been busy, right? for my Cafe Mom group...
this one's for a doodle challenge on black - had to use 3 stamped images (i went with {ippity} stamps for this one!)
this was a mosaic challenge - any theme, any style, any number of photos:
i have another, but i'm really not happy with it. it was a loosely-interpreted scraplift, and i can't see to get the image to save, so you'll just have to trust me when i say that it turned out icky.
i am SO relieved the workweek is almost over! 5:00 can't come quickly enough today, folks!
but life is good, so i won't complain. last night, The Son and i attended a concert in Philadelphia - any of you familiar with the Violent Femmes? well i've been a fan for as long as i can remember, and i scored some free tickets to see Gordon Gano and The Ryans (Gordon Gano was the lead singer and frontman for VF). SO awesome! one of the perks of working at home is the ability to check my personal email frequently, and find out about things like ticket onsales or giveaways. GO ME!
i'm in the process of trying to get the videos up on YouTube (i've never uploaded video there before, and holy HECK it takes forever - can anyone offer any tips?), and then i have a bunch of photos to edit, so while i'm waiting, i am trying to catch up with my blogging here!
OOH, GOT TWO DONE! check 'em out!
(sorry for the fuzzy bits - i was being bumped by someone walking behind me!)
okay, so you all know about the excitement of Some Odd Girl, my Dollie Kristy's brand new website? the CUTEST digi stamps evah! go buy her stuff! and download an ADORABLE freebie! check him out: GO GET HIM!
and YESTERDAY, we posted the brand new Sketch Challenge at Design Dollies - i wasn't scheduled to do this one, but had an idea for it, so i created this simple card:
here's the sketch:
i flipped it 90 to the right and it was a super easy one - so i am SURE you can come up with something great!
you want this prize:
RIGHT? :D
well you can now combine ANY of our challenges this week, and submit your project by this SUNDAY at midnight EST, or you can just do the sketch challenge and have it uploaded to Mr. Linky by next WEDNESDAY at midnight EST. either way, COME AND PLAY!
and TODAY, being Friday, bring you a brand new Humble Pie Challenge! this week, our theme is BLING, baby! check it out, ogle over the Bakers' sensationally sweet creations, and play along! we'll be announcing the prize for this challenge on Monday!
right. i'm stoked. it was a great night last night, it's Crop Weekend in my Cafe Mom group, i yanked out the photos and have loads of scrappy ideas swirling around in my head, and tomorrow i'll be craftin' with my MIL all day! like i said, LIFE IS GOOD! have a great weekend, folks!
