LAST DAY to get this ADORABLE freebie digi!

hey there folks - just a quick post as i have a million and one things to do today... dress shopping (nope, haven't found one yet), and job search... gonna be a long day!

but i wanted to share this card i made using the fabulous JUNE FREEBIE at Some Odd Girl - today is your last day to get Hang Ten Kody! grab him now, and there will be another freebie for you tomorrow!

here he is, all tan and doin' his thang...

isn't he fabulous?! love him!
made this card for the following:
Challenge #97 at Cupcake Craft - a sketch!
a boy card challenge at Charisma Cardz
and a boy card challenge at the Simon Says Stamp group on PCP

i loved the sketch when i saw it, but seriously, i had TROUBLE with it! had to resize a little bit to make it work for this image, but i'm quite happy with the way he turned out, and i know JUST who's going to be receiving this one in the mail!

ANNNNNND, in case you missed it yesterday, it was NEW RELEASE DAY at Some Odd Girl! here's the brand new batch:

YUM! here's a sneakie of my card for the upcoming challenge at the Some Odd Girl challenge blog: (hint - that means you still have until midnight EST tonight to enter the current challenge!)

that's it for now, folks! have a happy hump day, and may the force be with me today - i have quite a challenge ahead of me! xoxoxo

Monday, Schmonday!

yeah, the weekend came and went, and this week, it's nose-to-grindstone for me, because i am determined to find myself a good job! i haven't heard back (with even an acknowledgment!) from the place where i submitted my resume for TWO jobs, and by thursday, i should probably just give up. the recording on their career line indicates that candidates should allow 10 business days to hear back, via email or snail mail. thursday's the day. *sigh*

but let's start the week off with FUN stuff, shall we? :)

first of all, it's Design Dollies COLOR CHALLENGE day! when i came up with this combo, i had the BasicGrey Green at Heart collection in mind, and it did not fail me!
here's the combo:

light green, dark green, kraft and pink.
hot? i loved this one, and our Dollies totally rocked it! seriously, they just took this challenge and flew with it. our team NEVER ceases to amaze!
so here's my card:

i am in LOVE with the Green at Heart paper - there are such GORGEOUS colours in this line, and it's SO easy to pair up with the perfect embellies! how ironic that when i first saw it, i wasn't terribly interested... then i went to a crop at a fabby store, and couldn't resist its charms! ;)
go see what the rest of our Dollies have done with this, and get in on THE CHALLENGE - you have until next SUNDAY, July 4th at midnight EST to play along for this one, and it happens to be the last COLOR CHALLENGE for june! (hint - the prize is YUMMEH!)

i decided to play along with the BIRTHDAY challenge at Paper Sundaes this week. i swear, i need to make more birthday cards anyway, so i welcomed the challenge! :)

NEXT!
a little something for the following challenges:
ABC Challenge - X for Xtra dimension and...
FRIDAY SKETCHERS #108

i have to say, i was rather stumped by this one for a while, and had to rearrange my papers a bazillion times before i finally came up with something i liked!
here's my card, using the fabulous, limited edition, "Hula Kaylee", which is up for grabs if you play along at Some Odd Girl by WEDNESDAY! :)




i usually have some dimension on my cards anyway, but the "Xtra dimension" is given by curling the petals of the flowers up along the border, and adhering the brads by cutting the prongs off and stickin' 'em on with glue dots (they don't lay flush to the paper that way).

PLAY ALONG at SOME ODD GIRL to win Hula Kaylee (is she not adorable?! and did i make the skin look believable, being that she's from Hawaii?), plus one image of your choice from the shop! the challenge is an EASY one! :)

ANNNNND, you still have a couple of days to get in on the collage challenge at Envious - here's the prompt:

TOTALLY hot, and so much you can do with this! (psssst, Lauren! Heidi! Gina! where are you?!) get in on it, and we'll have a brand new challenge for you on July 7th!

and now, back to our regularly scheduled job hunt. ciao, chickens! xo

Some Odd Girl is ALL kinds of summery cute!

have you SEEN all the fabby new Some Odd Girl images? there have been a couple of HUGE new releases for summer, with lots of sweet summery treats and cute swimmin' and sun-bathin' kids and stuff... i am seriously in LURRRRRVE with Kristy's fabby images. they're my favourites to colour, with the perfect line thickness and just the right amount of detail. ever play with a stamp where you're left staring at your image wondering "what the heck IS that, and how am i supposed to COLOUR it?"? hmm? i have several stamps like that, and it drives me batty. but you will never have that problem with the Some Odd Girl digis!

okay, enough gushing/advertising (hee hee!) - yes, i love my Holmes-dollie, and yes, i am having a TON of fun being an Odd Girl, and if you think you've seen too much of the cuteness on my blog because i make so many cards using the Some Odd Girl images, well TOUGH! 'cuz here's another! :)

this one uses the ridiculously adorable "Nana Split" - and it's SO perfect for summer!

when i saw the photo for the Basic Grey inspiration challenge, i knew exactly what i wanted to do! the yummies in the glass? the colours? (but is that ROE? ew!) then i saw a couple of other challenges that totally fit, so i thought i'd play along with those as well.

Crafty Creations is looking for SHINE (my glittery paper and Doodlebug alphas, plus the Opalines)
Delightful Sketches wanted something SUMMERY (happy ice cream!)
Simon Says "you gotta have friends!"

the Basic Grey stuff i used for this card is the stripey paper on the flower and scallops (from Origins - i LOVE that line), the green Opalines, and the micro mini alphas. i need to get those little suckers in EVERY colour, because they are seriously fantastic and perfect for card sentiments!

oh, so you wanna see the card, right? you got it!




i've had this brown glittery paper FOREVER, and it's been my biggest crafty enemy the whole time. NOTHING sticks to it, and it curls and warps if you use a thick adhesive (like my beloved K & Co glue, which has been discontinued). so this time, i placed all of the elements carefully and stapled everything down, crossing my fingers that it would still stick to the card front when i Zigged it up, and lo and behold, it stuck! leah here, doing the happy snoopy dance! so i guess it's all about the planning when i use this stuff. i still have one more piece, and now i'm more determined than ever to use it up! just not so terrified. :D

that's it for now, chickens. i plan to do lots of crafting this week, and i'm on a mean job hunt, so hopefully i'll have time to check in with you folks around the blogosphere and see what you're all up to. :) have a happy sunday!

oh, and something quick to share, especially for my Holmes-slice... hubbin and The Son and i went to Baltimore on friday. when scoping out a place for dinner, i came across this:


and upon closer inspection, saw THIS in the window:


i swear, this could have been OUR store! Trixie and Holmes, doin' it up all cute-like! :D

some odd dollies in the limelight! or something. hee hee.

hey there, chickens!
had a bit of time to squeeeeeeeze a post in, so i'm going to do a smidgen of catching up here!

first of all, the CRAFT FAIR hubbin and i attended on saturday went well, despite it being a kajillion degrees and super sunny. i have a NASTY sunburn, and i swear i slathered the sunscreen on before we left the house... it's not pretty.

i sold a total of 36 cards, and i ended up making a profit on top of what i'd paid for our space. YAY! my goal was to break even, and i nearly doubled it! i made two great contacts; one is for an upcoming craft fair at a local high school (the woman invited me, saying they have absolutely NO paper crafters there, so i may even bring a scrapbook or two), and the other is a woman who has her own jewellery consulting business (with a team of 35 girls), and she wants to special order some themed cards. woot!

of course, i am still unemployed, but at least hubbin's not giving me as much grief for the card stuff right now. :)

SO. there that is. so let's get to the crafty stuff, shall we?

we have new challenges! and actually, the Design Dollies challenges have been underway for a few days, so let's get right to it!

first of all, NEW COLOR CHALLENGE!
let's see what you can do with this one:

grey and yellow? yes, please! i busted out a fabby little BamPop! image (and OOOHHH, he was fun to colour!) and tried to make it all grade school-esque. whatcha think?


here's the prize package you could win, if you're my June winner:

you rikey? CLICK HERE to play along! this one runs until SUNDAY at midnight EST. and then there's only one more color challenge left for the month, so one more chance to win this juicy prize!

next, we have a new Elements Challenge at Design Dollies, hosted by the lovely Adina-Dollie... this time she wants you to tell us what your favourite ice cream flavour is... your project should use the colours that would represent your favourite flavour... her example was neapolitan, so she went all Brown, White and Pink... HERE'S WHERE YOU'LL FIND IT! you have until MONDAY at midnight EST for this one, unless you want to combine any of our challenges, in which case they all wrap up on sunday nights.

and i know i've mentioned this before, but we have an Odd Girl Call going on, and we're looking for some new Design Team members at Some Odd Girl! you, too, can be ODD like me! :D and believe me, i do wear that badge proudly! lots of awesome perks, the most AMAZING team, and you have plenty of time to submit your application! GO HERE for all the deets!

the latest Some Odd Girl challenge is up - it's all about the SHIMMER! you have until next WEDNESDAY at midnight EST to play along for the fabulous Hula Kaylee:

plus one Some Odd Girl image of your choice... maybe you'll choose FLYIN' PIG! i nabbed this little dude AGES ago, and had him all coloured up, but couldn't find the inspiration to use him until i saw the SKETCH CHALLENGE at Limelight... and Mandy asked us to use some STRING in our creations. piece of cake! i doodled away, and here's what i came up with:




that black trim in the center is a yummy piece of adhesive felt sent to me by my Odd Sistah, Kimmy, in a ribbon RAK i won... i've used a ton of stuff from that bag and haven't put a DENT in it! it's chock-full-of-YUMMEH! (thanks, girlie!)

ANNNND, i wanted to give a HUGE shout-out to the very lovely Karen, the squeezable Lauren, and my Holmes-slice, Kristy, for the awesome birthday goodies they sent! LOVE YOU, GIRLIES! i have awesome bloggy friends, indeed! *blows kisses*

now i'm off to pick up The Son from work, but first a quick stop to the dress shop at the corner to see if i can find something to wear in this blasted wedding party i'm in. argh. i can't find a single, elegant (and floor-length) dress with sleeves, so i think i'm going for two pieces instead. that might be a little easier. ciao, bellas! xo

Some Odd Girl challenge - STASH #4 - show me the SHIMMER!

well folks, i just applied for two jobs (both at the same company, one definitely being ideal and the other being pretty darned good too), and my face is turning blue because i'm totally holding my breath! i am absolutely qualified to do either job, so hopefully that will be apparent in my cover letter and resume, not to mention the fabulous letter of recommendation my former employer wrote for me. FINGERS CROSSED! the building is not yet open, so that could mean training would begin off-site, but it could also mean that the position might start up sometime in the next month or two, which would be SO perfect! anyway, don't want to get my hopes up, but really excited about the prospects.... *wishwishwish*

okay!
that out of the way, it's SOME ODD GIRL CHALLENGE TIME!

this time, i want SHIMMER, baby!
by that, i do NOT mean throwing on some gemstones and calling it a day... i want to see MAX bling factor! add some metallic paint, some stickles, some glittery embossing, some foil, whatever!

the prize - two Some Odd Girl images; one being THIS ONE:

and the other being your choice from the store... and HOLY WOW, there are some amazing new images that were just released on tuesday!

so do it! like this:




THAT, my friends, would be Fairy Fly Away Mae - is she not stinkin' FAB?! i lurrrrve her!
(i promise you that is NOT butt showing! it's THIGH!)

so yeah, shimmah!
CLICK HERE for the challenge!

and CLICK HERE to sign up for our newsletter! (bottom right!) you could get exclusive sale or event information, or have your work featured by adding your projects to the Some Odd Girl gallery!

entering this here card for the following:
The Treehouse - using your fave paper crafting tool. mine is my TONIC scissors for fussy-cutting! the journal box was square, so i decided to capitalize on the dots and make it all scallopy instead! and, of course, Mae is fussy cut as well. :)
and Paper Sundaes #22 - using this sketch:

(i think this will be a huge GO-TO sketch for me!)

right. that's it for me, as hubbin is home, i need to get some envelopes for all my craft fair cards, and i will be back TOMORROW! ciao!

Oh. My. ODD! BRAND NEW Some Odd Girl images!

WOO HOO! it's new release day at Some Odd Girl! if you dropped by during our blog hop on saturday, you got a nice little peek at the whole line, but if you're just hearing about this for the first time... CHECK IT OUT!

aren't they FAB?! seriously, i think Kristy has outdone herself with this one... well they're all available NOW! the store's been hoppin' today, and lots of people are scooping these babies up, as there are LOADS of summery cards just begging to be created with them!

see what the Odd Girls have done with them by popping around everyone's blogs or revisiting saturday's Blog Hop... here's the first card i made for this release (click her for maximum bling effect!):

but there are more to come, as we have a new challenge coming this THURSDAY... get in on the current SKETCH CHALLENGE by tomorrow at midnight EST, and you could win THIS little cutie:

i have Hula Kaylee all coloured up and ready for a super summery card, and i can't wait to show you! think i'll pop that on up here tomorrow, as this is enough updating for one day.

so there you have it! brand new Some Odd Girl digis, available NOW!

ENVIOUS and Dollies challenges! GETTIN' BIZZY!

not me, YOU! you should be joining in on these challenges, because they're fun, they're nifty, and gosh darn it, people like 'em! :)

i'm craftin' away with an icky migraine today, trying to pump out the Dad's Day, wedding and birthday cards so i'll have a whole arsenal of these to sell as my cheapies on saturday.

found a VERY local job for which i plan to apply by the end of the week, provided i get my second letter of recommendation. hoping i can track someone down at my last job in Canada, but it's unlikely. hmph.

anywho. CHALLENGES!
FIRST, you need to do the Envious challenge that runs through the end of the month... not only is the collage FABULOUS, but the prize is a secret, though i'm sure it will be horribly scrumptious (as they always are)!

here's the collage:


HOT, right? i love EVERYTHING about this one, and the ideas were going a mile a minute in my poor noggin! so here's what i did with it... another art journal page, telling me to ignore the voices of doubt:






it was my first time trying the packing tape transfer technique, and it came out EXACTLY as i'd hoped, so i'll definitely be playing with tape again! used up lots of rubons and mini alphas and played with the rock candy stickles and stamped a text background then brushed on a light coat of watered down gesso and added some metallic acrylics on top. totally happy with this page - it's not often that the end result looks just like the picture in your head!

go HERE and see what AMAZING creations the rest of the Nerdy Girls have done to inspire you... play along, and you'll be glad you did! :D

annnnnnd, this week's off to a great start for Design Dollies! the first two ingredients in the TRIFECTA recipe have been revealed, and i think most of our participants are waiting for thursday's SKETCH reveal before jumping on the bandwagon! you can choose to do one, two, or all three challenges, separately or combined, for your shot at any of our monthly prizes...

SO. this week's Color Challenge is:
Purple, Orange and White


and my card:




i totally went to town on Chanter Heartsong's hair, but i had LOTS of fun colouring this little miss, and how yummy are those orange Doodlebug alphas? *drool*

so that's ingredient #1 - check out the other Dollies' creations HERE and prepare to be INSPIRATED! :) play along with this challenge by this SUNDAY, June 20th at midnight EST for a chance to win my June prize pack... i took pics of it yesterday and accidentally left some things out, so i have to shoot 'em again! oops.

and the Dollies Elements Challenge has been unveiled, and we think it's SUPER fun, so we can't wait to see what you'll do with it! CLICK HERE to go see all the "Sandy Days Ahead" creations and to play along for another yummy prize!

right. so them's the challenges. another post forthcoming, as it deserves some special attention, and believe me, you're not gonna wanna miss it! :D

Some Odd Girl making another appearance.... and challenges!

mornin', chickens! hope you all had a good weekend! i went to a crop on saturday, so i missed all the fun of the fabby Digi Day for Some Odd Girl, but our hop was a huge success and tons of fun! congrats to the big winner of our entire new release, which comes out TOMORROW, so watch for it!

so i've been busy, still gearing up for the craft fair - it's this SATURDAY, and i'm excited and nervous, to be honest! i hope i'm able to push out a lot of the cards in my stash, and i am still trying to make a bunch of simpler cards for those who prefer a QUIET message. ;)

how about some challenge stuff, then?

this one's for the "Gotcha Cornered" challenge at Our Creative Corner,
"Bugs and Beasties" at Crafty Calendar Challenges,
and "Happy somethings" at Stamp Something:

(this cute little hedgie is also being mailed to Vixykins, for her Grandmother's 90th birthday! NINETY!)

this one, using a fabby Some Odd Girl image - "Rainy Mae", is for
the ABC "Weather" challenge, as well as
the Simon Says Stamp challenge (the recipe is one image, two patterned papers, and three types of embellies):



(i LOVE that Ambrosia paper! paired it up with some Sass in the corners, and a YNS sentiment stamp)

i also made a page for Crop N Chat (my Cafe Mom group - still LOVE that place, and those gals!) - this one was a scraplift:

(click to enlarge for maximum CUTE factor!)



entering this one in the "Color Me Happy" challenge at Scrap Your CRAP - i used my gel pens, Shimmerz paints, and some acrylic paint for the doodles and the flowers - hope that qualifies! :)

i'll be back very soon with the brand new Design Dollies color challenge, and HOPEFULLY with a picture of the prize! ;)

my favie SHOES! for a fabby challenge!

my sweet bloggin' friend, Julie, has an AMAZING challenge going on where she's asked to see your favorite SHOES... you HAVE to go to "These Are a Few of My Favorite Things" to see the ridiculously fabby prizes up for grabs! i'm SO excited for her!

so, to pay homage to my favies, here's my MJ layout:

(i sincerely wish i knew how to make my piccies bigger here, without resizing and distorting - just click to enlarge!)







i still can't believe i picked MJ up on eBay for a whopping $35! she's SO comfy, and SO cute, and SO VERY ME! and she gets noticed, 'cuz she's super hot! :)

play along with Julie's awesome challenge HERE, but hurry! it ends tomorrow (the 14th)! you don't want to miss out on this one!

SOME ODD GIRL blog hop! brand new release, fabby prizes, sneak peek, and a little tip!

Welcome to the FIRST Some Odd Girl Blog Hop! We are happy you've joined us, and we Odd Girls have a ton of goodies to show you! So clickie-clickie all the linkies to wander through our little corner of the blogosphere and check out what we've done with the BRAND NEW images from our June 15th release! (YES, you'll be able to get them all on TUESDAY!) I'm second along the hop, so go on back to the Some Odd Girl Challenge Blog and visit each of our Odd Girls' blogs, to end up at Kristy's place (she's the mastermind behind this whole project!). Ready?!

Some Odd Girl Challenge Blog - START HERE!
Leah - ME! you are here!
Robin
Shelly
Jen
Marcie
Ann
Kimmy
Kristy - LAST STOP!

Leave a comment at each stop along the way, and not only will the Odd Girls lurve you for it, but you could win our WHOLE June 15th release! FEAST YOUR EYES ON THESE CUTIES!

Hop along with us until 2pm EST TOMORROW, Sunday June 13th, and have some fun! We'll have a winner tomorrow night, and if you're the lucky one, and you respond quickly enough, you could be playing with these digis before the rest of the public! HOP HOP!

okay, SO.... i couldn't wait to play with the very ADORABLE "Head in The Clouds Kaylee" - and i'm gonna share a few tips with you! first of all... regardless of whether you're working on a challenge or just playing with an image, you can choose to colour your images first, or do it once you've selected your papers and designed your card. personally, i colour a bunch of stuff, then make my card around the images.

so i started by colouring Kaylee (omg, isn't she cute?!), then i picked a bunch of papers (some are scraps!) that i thought might work for my card:

i didn't end up using the glittery taupe paper for my project...

then i lay everything out the way i plan to assemble it (minus the embellies and sentiment, but ensuring i've left room), and see if i need to make any changes...

so, looking at this, it was OKAY, but definitely missing something. it was missing "POP"! which is why i always have a TON of basic white cardstock on hand; the cheap kind they sell in the office section at Wal-Mart! it doesn't have to be heavy enough for a card base, since it's just going to be used for matting. i matted the background panel, as well as the purple embossed strip, AND i punched the same border in white to go behind the stripes.

THEN, since Kaylee is a fairy and has wings and stuff, i thought she needed a bit of BLING factor. i wanted to keep the bling concentrated on KAYLEE, rather than on the rest of the card, so i busted out a few colours of Stickles:

on their own, these would either be TOO opaque or not quite colourful enough. so what i do, especially for getting into the smaller spaces, is squeeze out a drop of each and bust out a thin paintbrush...

(does this pic make you crave Jelly Belly yummies?)

by mixing the colours up, i can get the right balance, and i don't have to worry about it going out of the lines. not to mention, i don't have to wait FOREVER for it to dry! (i'm impatient, you see) and it brings about results like this:

(which is exactly the effect i was after!)

blinged up a couple of tiny MS butterflies, added my sentiment, decorated the inside to match (LOVE using scraps to tie it all in together!), and here's the end result:

see how the white matting makes everything stand out? i find this is especially good when i use pastels, and i don't want anything TOO bold. it's subtle behind the punched border, but it's just enough to keep it from blending in too much.

and the inside:

oh, and did you know that Dymo makes a ton of awesome tape colours? i have the ol' skool Dymo Label Maker, and i have way too much fun with the darned thing! this pink tape came in a pack with white and baby blue (in addition to the usual black, red and blue). love it!

so i'm squeeeeeeezin' this card in for the CPS sketch #170, as i loved the sketch and it was perfect for my card!!

so there ya go, folks! a fabby Some Odd Girl blog hop, a YUMMY incentive to visit all of our Odd Girls' blogs, and hopefully a couple of little tips to file away for just the right moment. have a fabulous weekend, and as i mentioned yesterday, there's a ton of fun going on in the Some Odd Girl group at SNR, with challenges and prizes going on today between 10 am and 2 pm EST, so sign up (if you haven't already!), play along, and STAY ODD! :)