Charisma does CHRIMBO!

it's CHRISTMAS at Charisma this week!
we Charisma Gals have been trying to put a dent in our Christmas crafting (as you all know it tends to be overwhelming), and this week we decided to invite you to join us for this challenge....

check out our fabby sponsor:

i used one of the images from DigiStamp Boutique (it happens to be a FREEBIE, so if you like it, just CLICK HERE to grab any of the freebies for yourself!) and created my very first Christmas card for 2010:

care to play along? need that little kick in the pants to get started on your holiday crafting? CLICK HERE and play along with us! you have until next Wednesday to enter! OH! and you should drop by and see who our NEWEST Charisma Gals are!

QUICK, like a bunny! Some Odd Girl meets a coupla challenges

okay, getting my stuff together and printing out directions for The Thing tonight (cross your fingers and hope i sell enough cards to buy myself the new storage/workspace thingy from Ikea that i've been eyeballing - thanks, Holmes!), but i was crafting into the wee hours and here are the fruits of my labour...

first, this one, using a past Some Odd Girl FREEBIE (maybe you'll see Bedtime Mae again someday!):


and an angled shot, for maximum BLING effect:


(can't tell you how much i LOVE LOVE LOVE those Sassafras alphas, and the yummy Cosmo Cricket PIXIE-LICIOUS paper!)

i used the sketch at Cute Card Thursday:

and opted to max out the bling for Crazy4Challenges #56 (bling, of course!)

and my second card, using the OH-SO-VERSATILE and frackin' cute Sunny Rays (also from Some Odd Girl, natch!):


most of you know i don't do Clean and Simple very well, but when i found this sentiment amongst my stash goodies, i knew just what i wanted to do!

i made this one for Allsorts week 71 - plain and simple
and i used the sketch at Papertake Weekly (the main panel is a bit smaller, but it did the trick!):


that's gonna do it for today! tomorrow brings a new Charisma challenge, and hopefully some shopping for me! :D

Dollie love, with a cherry on top!

Design Dollies' COLOR CHALLENGE - the last one for September! and here's me, crafting madly for both the party i'm attending tomorrow evening (a hostess party - i'm supposed to be unloading my thank you and congrats cards, and maybe some others too if i'm lucky!) and a craft fair in december that will be here far too quickly.

so this week's colours:
Lavender, Tan and Navy


yeah, looks like a toughie, right? but seriously, our Dollies KICKED BUTT on this, and i couldn't be more proud of them! CLICK HERE to see what they did, and prepare to be wowed!

here is my humble little card using these colours (and a piece of BANANA SKIN PAPER - sounds gross, but as long as i don't have to smell it or eat it, i'm happy!):

(i swear, the lined paper and ribbon match, and they're a lovely lavender colour, but they don't photograph well, no matter how hard i try!)

SOOOO, for this one, i used Kazan's sketch #62 (turned sideways) from 2 Sketches 4 You

next, a very big thank you to the lovely REE and the fabby CARLYANN for bestowing upon me the following sweet treat:


GIRLIES, you are both just too sweet, and i am honoured and thrilled to have made your lists! *big squeezes*

so this is the stuff that goes along with the award...

1. Thank the person who gave you the award.
2. Put the Award on your blog.
3. List 3 things you like about yourself.
4. Post a picture you love.

5. Pass this award on to 5 other people.

1. CHECK!
2. CHECK!
3. three things i like about myself: my sense of humour (sometimes cheeky, sometimes a bit dry, occasionally sarcastic, but always on the lighter side!), my love for COLOUR, especially ORANGE (i seldom keep a neutral dress code, hence i often stand out in a crowd - okay so maybe it's not always the clothes...), the fact that i'm a grammar nazi with an extensive, robust vocabulary (many words of which i even invented myself!)

4. a picture i love:

(because little red hens can be SUPER sweet and cuddly - i know this from experience!)
5. 5 people to whom i send this award:
Diana - she's clever, she's crafty, and she's SO gonna have coffee with me someday!
Pinky - she's, well, PINKY! a girl with mad craftin' skillz, and who shares my flair for colour!
Robin - she's "Odd" like me, a Canadian import like me, and she kicks monochromatic butt!
Jan - she persevered, and dude, she makes killer cards! (plus she makes me totally lullz!)
Metal_Minish - mad crafty dude, and i just wanna go shopping with him! (plus he can MIST like there's no tomorrow!)

RIGHT!
there ya be!

some productivity - how about some MOJO please?!

i said i was working on making a bunch of stuff, right?
well for some reason, this card had me STUCK for the better part of yesterday. i just didn't know where to go with it after i had die-cut and stamped my sentiment. i had to keep walking away from the table, wandering around the house, doing other random things, checking email, eating stuff, running errands and i kept coming back to try to make this card work for me.

in the end, i won, but it took some doing!


it was the flower that brought it all together. it was flowerless OVERNIGHT until i realized that this is just what it needed this morning.

voila. done. FINALLY!
i used the sketch at Card Patterns:


and the 'Distressed' challenge at ABC

and i didn't bother trying to create anything else today, because the mojo CLEARLY was just NOT THERE! maybe tonight when i get back from the gym and the blood's flowin' and the brain's all stimulated and stuff. :)

if not, well i'll catch you on monday. enjoy the weekend, chickens! xo

holy WOW giveaway!

found THIS GIRL through a friend (hi, Andrea-Dollie!), and couldn't help but jump on her bandwagon. ya gotta check it out. it's CRAZINESS!

i could SO rock those adhesives and cuttin' tools! whoa.

Tiny Love at Some Odd Girl - monochromatic!

***second post of the day - scroll down a smidgen for the Charisma challenge!***

so you've seen The Tinies, right?

are you in love?

yeah, i thought so. they're the cutest things to grace this here intarwebs since, well, EVER, and you can say you saw 'em here first! :D

today we bring you a brand spankin' new Some Odd Girl challenge, and we Odd Girls have been crafting up a storm with these little sweeties...

you wanna play along? maybe even win some of The Tinies, or some Loyalty Points so you can cash 'em in for freebies?

well... we wanna see your bestest
MONOCHROMATIC CREATIONS!

not too difficult, right? check out what the Odd Girls have done HERE, and feast your eyes on Daisy Tia in all her GREEN glory:

isn't she the cutest little patootie?!

here's my card (the rest of it!)-

i merged Daisy Tia with the "Wonky House on Hill" digi from my sweet Zoe's store, Make it Crafty, and minimal embellies because, well, the card didn't really need it, right?

in case you HAVEN'T met The Tinies, here's the whole ridiculously cute lot of 'em:

SO. all you need to do to play along and possibly WIN some fabby images from Some Odd Girl (including these darlings!) is create a MONOCHROMATIC project (card, scrappy page, altered item, ornament, whatever!), play along with us HERE and link up by Wednesday, October 6th at midnight EST. you don't have to use a Some Odd Girl image, but if you do, you get a bonus entry in the draw (there's even a FREEBIE available for you HERE, and a HUGE 99 cent sale going on HERE)! your projects must be NEWLY CREATED, and you must link back to the Some Odd Girl challenge blog. piece of cake!

ANYTHING GOES at Charisma this week!

i've been having LOTS of fun with the Charisma Gals and today is no exception! it's an EASY challenge for you all, crafty friends! ANYTHING GOES! we just want you to CREATE!

i used an image from one of our fabby sponsors, deciding to keep plugging away at the birthday cards (even though our Some Odd Girl challenge for Operation Write Home has wrapped up)

my card:

and to show the dimension...

wanna know what you can WIN?!

Prize One -
Prize 1 - 5 digis of your choice from

(the adorable Gerry giraffe and gifties images i've used are from
Prairie Fairy and you can find them HERE!)

Prize Two -
a $10 voucher for some fabby stamps from

both companies have a WONDERFUL selection of goodies, so you'll have NO trouble choosing your prizes! CLICK HERE to play along with us between now and NEXT WEDNESDAY and you could be a Charisma winner!

this card was inspired by the challenges at:
Creative Inspirations - using two or more stamped images (Gerry and the presents are two separate stamps)
Pollycraft - Cute and Cuddly!
Stamp, Scrap and Doodle - Birthday! (for Operation Write Home!)
Stampin' for the Weekend - TAG IT!

not used to combining so many challenges, but i scoured for the PERFECT combination and these TOTALLY worked for me! thanks to ALL of these blogs for the ideas! they really helped my card come together.

200 followers candy!

yeah, i'm goin' for it! feelin' lucky, feelin' excited about a lot of things, and feelin' grateful for my friends here in the Blogosphere!

i'm posting this at 10:55 pm on Saturday, August 28th, aiming for 200 followers, and if/when i get there, i'm going to give away a bunch of goodies.

you can comment here if you like, especially if you're a NEW follower, but i'm going to be watching for future comments too, to weed out the candy-hunters. :D

the first treat - a Cosmo Cricket 6x6 Mini Deck (Early Bird)
the second treat - a K & Company mat stack (Citronella)
the third treat - Cosmo Cricket Blackboard mini album (Kate's Album - scalloped)
the fourth treat - Pink Paisley press ons (Pop Fashion Accents, black)

no need to post on your blog or anything (although it might help me get there faster!) - all you have to do is claim to like me!

Makin' it Crafty! wanna win stuff? make something - ANYTHING!

wellllllll, we were happy to see some people jumping in head first with our very FIRST Make it Crafty challenge, and you'll have to visit the Make it Crafty BLOG to see who made out like bandits with the first giveaways!

but today, challenge number two is officially underway! this is our first FUN challenge - we'll be doing one technique challenge and one 'just for fun' challenge per month. hopefully we'll start to see people coming out of the woodwork to play along, and believe me when i say that there is MUCH to be learned from the Make it Crafty designers! i am SO excited to be a part of this team!

so last time we created a scene... TODAY, we are opening it up to absolutely ANYTHING you'd like to do! just CREATE! stamp or don't stamp. colour or don't colour. layer or don't layer. embellish or don't embellish. bling it up or... well you get the idea. ;) and it doesn't even have to be a card!

i stamped, i coloured, i inked, i layered, i embellished, and i combined the GORGEOUS Butterfly Swing digi (Make it Crafty) with a slightly altered version of Head in the Clouds Kaylee (Some Odd Girl)...

click to enlarge!

i took some white Petaloo flowers (Make it Crafty) and halved them for accents, inking the smaller flowers with my Dewdrops.
the patterned paper is from the Pixie-licious line from Cosmo Cricket.
and i couldn't tell you who makes the ribbon, the teeny purple bling or the sentiment sticker - they were cheap and they're from my stash. :) it's quite likely they were dollar store or dollar spot items - just sayin'.

this Butterfly Swing is TOTALLY versatile! i figured out what size i wanted for my card, then i tinkered with Kaylee in MS Word until i found the right fit. had i used a rubber stamp instead of a digi, i'd have measured and fit the swing to match my image, so you can ABSOLUTELY use this lovely little "fixture" (as i'm calling it) with any of your sitting/leaning stamps. (hello, Magnolia!) TWO BUCKS! that's it!

so that's it. just MAKE SOMETHING, and Make it Crafty! our next challenge isn't until October 13th, so you have PLENTY of time to play with us!

come and see what all the Crafty Gals have done HERE... you'll be BLOWN AWAY, i promise! and don't forget to visit our Learning Community for tips, techniques, tutes and lots of friendly conversation among similarly passionate crafters! :D

oh, and as an added bonus, there's a little somethin'-somethin' you can grab HERE if you're up for a little halloween craftin' that's OUT OF THE ORDINARY! enjoy!

Marjolaine

i'm totally into this line.
i was lucky enough to sample some advance stash, and i think i need the whole stack when it's finally released...

it's SO versatile, and i just love the BLUES... not quite navy, not royal, but a very happy medium.

so i'm building my inventory, and decided this particular piece of pretty paper needed some fussy-cutting.


all BasicGrey except the twine and the alphas (and the gelly roll pen!).
i'm working on something extra special with this line and i HOPE it turns out the way i've imagined because it might start a whole new direction for me! :)

this card is for:
Crafty Calendar Challenge - BLUE with flowers
BasicGrey Challenge #29 - Tara's sketch:


and i have, oh, about six other cards in the works, so i'm going to ATTEMPT to post them soon!

drop by TOMORROW for the next Make it Crafty challenge!

Some Odd Girl's HUGE release - Meet THE TINIES!

they're HERE! and i'm in love!

MEET THE TINIES!

Get 'em all NOW at SomeOddGirl.com!

And don't forget, you still have time to enter BOTH our current challenges:

OPERATION WRITE HOME BIRTHDAY CHALLENGE (special rules apply!)
Some Odd Girl's MULTIPLE IMAGES (3 or more) CHALLENGE

Both of these challenges close at MIDNIGHT EST tomorrow - Wednesday, September 22nd!

Dollies love COLOR, and i LOVE PegasusMaiden!

heya, chickens!
it's late, and i spent most of the day sleeping in an effort to kick a migraine (i succeeded!), so now i'm wide awake and playing catch up!

first things first... it's Color Challenge day for the Design Dollies!
the challenge this week?
black, burgundy and yellow... wasn't sure where i wanted to take this one, but BasicGrey's "Sugared" and "Origins" helped me out. here's my sample:


with a SERIOUSLY yummy piece of trim, courtesy of the lovely Lauren (still playing with my parting gifts -thanks, doll!). check it out:


(i added the little strand of pearls)

so CLICK HERE FOR THE CHALLENGE!

and i was TOTALLY inspired by THIS:

which is from the Etsy Inspired Challenge #106 (i WANT that piece from PegasusMaiden!)

and i'm playing along with...
Stamptacular Sunday - they want to see a GRID PATTERN on your project
The Secret Crafter - Anything Goes!

back tomorrow as i'm off to work on some more pretties (using BasicGrey's MARJOLAINE) - the girl who had invited me to her hostess party last month (where i was going to sell a slew of cards) had to reschedule for the 29th, so i'm gettin' geared up!
ciao!

Some Odd Girl and Operation Write Home BONUS CHALLENGE!

i'm here, getting my fellas off to school (hubbin started back today and The Son goes back monday), preparing for my new job to start october 1st, taking little day trips and trying to squeeze every last drop out of summer before it's gone for another year, i'm also reeling from all the excitement going on with the crafty stuff!

today, something BIG is going on at Some Odd Girl! we have teamed up with Operation Write Home for a special challenge, and you can WIN STUFF while supporting the troops - is that not awesome? (yes, it is - rhetorical question, people!) :)

we're encouraging you to send cards to the Operation Write Home rep nearest you so they can get loads of them boxed up and shipped to the troops, because they love sending handmade cards to their loved ones, and their loved ones CERTAINLY love receiving them! GO HERE to get the scoop on Operation Write Home and then GO HERE to see what we're doing in conjunction with them.

since their biggest card need is BIRTHDAYS, our Oddest Girl, Kristy, has whipped up something extra-special for the occasion, and, well, just take a look:




is Birthday Tia not the cutest little thing you ever did see? (another rhetorical one there, folks - no need to answer!) we hope she'll be a big hit when the recipients of these OWH cards open their mail!

you want to send a Birthday Tia card to the troops? GO HERE!
oh, and do you wanna win some of THESE?


it's CUTE OVERLOAD at Some Odd Girl! these Tinies are being released on September 21st, but YOU could win 4 of your faves from this series by playing along! this is a much shorter challenge, so be sure to read all the deets HERE, and let's get some boxes of LOVE in the mail for Operation Write Home! remember, absolutely NO GLITTER! (it's a safety hazard for our troops!)

playing along with the challenges at:
C.R.A.F.T. - colored pencils! (right up my alley - i ONLY use Prismacolor pencils!)
Papertake - photo inspiration (loved the blend of colours!)

Pile It On - they're co-sponsoring the OWH challenge!
Stamp Something - stripes and spots (stripes on the journaling tag, spots on the tag and the party hat, etc)

and before i mosey along, a quick reminder that MY CANDY is still running, and i have updated the list of treats - help spread the word and you could win it all! :)

we Charisma Gals have a SKETCH challenge for you!

NEW Charisma challenge today! and oohhh, not only is it a fun one, but it comes with a bunch of prizes! you're SO going to want to get in on this one!

here's the sketch:

and i had fun using one of the sweet AI Factory images for my card:

isn't she adorable?! LOVE her! the sentiment translates to:
CONCENTRATION - MEDITATION - PEACE/TRANQUILITY

and the prizes we have up for grabs for this week's sketch challenge...

Prize #1

they've donated a $10 credit to spend in their shop (where you can buy my yoga girl, Ella!)

Prize #2

donated by our very own CARLY!

and Prize #3
$15 in digis from a surprise sponsor!
OOOHHH! $15 goes a long way in the digiworld!

wanna win? well the sketch was lots of fun to work with, so i'm sure you'll have no trouble figuring something out! :D play along at the CHARISMA CARDZ BLOG by next WEDNESDAY, September 22nd, for your chance to win any of the yummy prizes above! happy craftin'!

Odd as ever - new Some Odd Girl challenge with sneaks!

second post for the day! scroll down for my Charisma challenge!

here we are - already at Stash Challenge #7! that means we've had 13 challenges at Some Odd Girl already, and it's been 26 weeks since we kicked off with Stash Challenge #1! i can't believe how quickly this year has flown by!

well you're here to see what the challenge is all about, so i'll just throw it out there for ya. :)

MULTIPLE IMAGES! at least 3 or more, with a bonus entry if they're all DIFFERENT images...

i have been itchin' to get together with a good friend (or nine) for coffee, so this card practically made itself in my head... i used Coffee Mae, Coffee Kaylee (plus the table - it's included with both digis), and i added a little mini Mocha to the table ('cuz there's always room for one more, right?!)...


close-up:


this card was SO much fun to make, and to COLOUR!

wanna play along? CLICK HERE for the challenge, and if you play with us, you could win 2 free digis from SomeOddGirl.com (we also post favourites, who will receive Loyalty Points for the store)... we also have a BIG CONTEST going on right now, and there are SALES all over the store - a 99 cent bin, plus loads of summer images discounted!

playing along with the challenges at:
Stamp Something - they wanna see something CUTE (and that's one adorable little cuppa!)
Our Creative Corner - "ABCs and 123s" - use letters or numbers on your project
Cute Card Thursday - their theme is "play on words"

and there that is!
lots to do - getting all my paperwork filled out for my new job, and hopefully i won't run into any snags! happy thursday, chickens! :D

and now for something completely CHARISMATIC!

do you know what today is?

it's challenge day at Charisma, and ooohhhh, we have a FUN one for you this week! lots of players with last week's "Inspired by a Song" challenge - so much wonderful eye candy!

today, something different! no, really. SOMETHING DIFFERENT! that's the theme - we want you to try something different - something you're not used to doing or have never tried, or add something that might make you step outside your comfort zone... remember, DIFFERENT IS GOOD! (i pride myself on it!)

i played with a technique i just learned, and i see myself using this a LOT because i absolutely LOVE the effect!

first of all, my card:
(click to enlarge any of the photos!)


close-up:


a little closer:


my technique?
altering magazine pages (in this case, from National Geographic) - i can't tell you what i used yet (it's a secret!), but here's what the papers looked like before i made my background and flower:


i also tried a masking technique with the stars by sprinkling the tiny punched stars (from my border) on my card and sponging over them with white Staz-On, then removing the stars (and tracing the black lines, then adhering some lighter coloured stars afterwards) - i was playing around, no clue what i was really doing, but i liked that it added a smoky, bubbly haze where the bubbles might be rising into the air. i know, i know, totally random. :)

finally, i stamped on acrylic, punched a hole, and attached my sentiment to my flower by twisting wire. another first for me!

i had a TON of fun making this one, and hopefully it will inspire you to try something (anything) new for your project! play along by CLICKING HERE, and you could win a 3 month subscription to SCRAPBOOK NEWS AND REVIEW MAGAZINE! (i happen to love them!)

join me and the rest of the Charisma Gals with your "DIFFERENT" creation, and good luck!

OH! and submitting this one for the following:
Paper Sundaes - their challenge is Mixed Mediums (ink, mist, marker, gel pen)
The ABC Challenge - C is for Charms (i fashioned my own with the acrylic tag, but the little turquoise star is a metal charm as well)

YOU can Make it Crafty, too! WIN STUFF by creating a scene!

WOO HOO! today kicks off our VERY FIRST CHALLENGE at Make it Crafty! we will have two challenges per month, on the second and fourth wednesdays, and today we are letting the horses out of the gate with a TECHNIQUE CHALLENGE!

if you're already a member of our Learning Community, you probably already know about the fabulous tutorials and techniques we share... if not, do join us! we are all about creating and learning together, offering constructive feedback and suggestions and encouraging one another to try new things, or sharpen our skills! there is a new group designed specifically for this technique challenge, so if you're interested, check it out and SHARE!

and if you've been enjoying the wonderful blurbs our Zoe posts on our Crafts Blog (where you'll find us, her design team, our challenges, and hopefully TONS of inspiration!), you might have checked out the brilliant (and quite hilarious) tutorial she just shared. it's a great look at digital images merged to create a scene, and she has a guest speaker, too!

in addition to Zoe's video tutorial, our gal Sandy has broken down the steps in her own version of creating a scene... check that out by CLICKING HERE! Sandy did an AMAZING job with this technique and has shared a great tutorial as well!

so it would seem appropriate that our first technique challenge would be...

CREATING A SCENE!

for my card, i combined the beautiful Fairy Tree House digital stamp from the Make it Crafty store with a little dude from the Mushes set from SomeOddGirl.com, as well as a soon-to-be-released Tiny Tia image (you'll be seeing more of these!). the Make it Crafty houses and landscapes go WONDERFULLY with so many of the character images you're probably already using, and i'm LOVING the pairing of Make it Crafty and Some Odd Girl!

CLICK TO ENLARGE! :)

a little closer... check out the detail in that house!

and a little closer still...

i didn't get quite as techy as the rest of the gals, because i'm rather ol' skool and i love fussy-cutting my images, so i cut out Mush and Tia, as well as one of the little mushrooms from the Fairy Tree House and popped them up for interest. THIS is my favourite way to create a scene! Prismacolor pencils are my weapon of choice, so everything's coloured up with those.

you can use any stamps with your chosen technique to create a scene for your project. you do not have to make a card, as long as your project follows the challenge! and you do not have to use a Make it Crafty image to participate! everyone is welcome to play along, and, well, when you get a load of the PRIZES up for grabs, you're going to WANT TO PLAY ALONG! :D

Prize One:
Zoe's Pick
Winner will receive a choice of 3 digital stamps plus a winner's badge
An additional top 2 will each receive 1 digi stamp of their choice plus a 'top' badge

Prize Two:
Encouragement Award
To be eligible for the encouragement award the participant must be a member of the 'Create a Scene' group in the learning center and have requested assistance in learning the technique.
Winner will receive a choice of 3 digital stamps plus a special 'I learnt it' badge

care to join us?
drop by the Make it Crafty blog and see the rest of the scenes, and PLAY ALONG! you have until Tuesday, September 21st to get in on this one (i'm still trying to figure out the time zones, so i'll get back to you on that one, or you can just check the InLinkz feature for the countdown!). GOOD LUCK, but most of all, HAPPY CRAFTIN'!

win COPICS and CSN goodies, plus new digis from SOME ODD GIRL!

first of all, if you haven't grabbed the September FREEBIE at Some Odd Girl, why the hold up, ethel? "Bussie" is too cute, whether you've got school-aged children, or have a teacher friend, or are working on scrapping old photos from your own childhood. TOO CUTE, i tell you!
grab "Bussie" HERE!

second, you should really check out SomeOddGirl.com, because it's been reinvented, and it's HOPPIN' over there! seriously, TONS of stuff going on! in addition to all the fabby new releases Kristy keeps throwing at us, right now there is a huge 99 cent sale, plus loads of the summer images are ON SALE, too, like THIS ONE!

but there's BIGGER news - as it that stuff wasn't enough! HA!

we have a contest, and there are some seriously FABBY things to be won!

NAME THE MONKEE!

CLICK on the blinkie to get the details at SomeOddGirl.com - if YOU are the clever crafter to suggest the name we choose for this little dude, you will win...

a $40 gift certificate to CSN stores (to use on ANYTHING you like - and believe me, they've got it all!)

a set of 8 Copic Ciao markers from iCopic!

the FULL SET of new MONKEE digis - there are 5, and they're SO stinkin' cute!

we've already gotten a bunch of great suggestions, what have you got to lose? remember, we are Some ODD Girl, and we like cute and quirky, so keep that in mind when you're thinking of names for this little cutie. :)

you have until October 17th to submit your ideas, but you MUST follow the rules in order to be eligible! there's a lot of yum up for grabs here - GOOD LUCK!

the Design Dollies welcome you to SEPTEMBER!

okay, so it's been September for a few days already, but today kicks off my COLOR CHALLENGES for the month at Design Dollies, so it's like September 1st to me! :)

our combo today is yummeh:
GREEN, GREY and WHITE


any shades of green and grey will do!

i tinkered with the soon-to-be-released "Marjolaine" papers from BasicGrey (THANK YOU, YourScrapbookStash!) - i LOVE this line, and while this is just a teeny sneak of it, you will see several more soon, because i just can't leave them alone!

the greens are both from this line (i absolutely LOVE this shade of green!) - that hot trim on top? that's from my visit to Lauren's pad - she gave me a sampling from a HUGE bag of gorgeous vintage trims and i busted them out recently to play. now i can't bring myself to put them away, so you'll likely see more snips on future projects!

wanna play along? i haven't taken a pic of the prize pack yet, but it's a big one! CLICK HERE to see what the rest of the Dollies have done with this (pretties around every corner!) and play with us! be sure to read the post completely - we've had some players over the months who haven't quite met the requirements and we hate to disqualify based on a simple technicality! some rules are NOT meant to be broken, espesh when we're giving things away, usually out of our own pockets. ya know?

was that harsh?

charm them (like you charm me)

The Son's first day of school, back in 1998! all of these photos are sitting in a box, not organized, not sorted, all in the packs they come in when you get your prints developed at, say, WalMart. :)

when i saw the sketch challenge at Imaginisce, and noticed that they're having a "back to school" challenge in the Simon Says Stamp PCP group, i KNEW which papers i wanted to use, and i hoped like crazy they'd work with the colours in these photos.

SO! without further ado, The Son's first day (and do click 'em to enlarge!)



(that's my kid wavin', in the red and grey stripey trucks shirt - i HATE trying to get a good close-up of a photo!)

let's see...
Imaginisce wants to see at least 75% their products on your creation... the cardstock, all the patterned papers, the flowers, the sticker embellishment, the apple stamp, the banner (cut from another piece of cardstock), the button brads - all Imaginisce!

the alphas (Thickers), the images on the panels (Sassafras), the mats (The Paper Company), the twine, the pen and adhesives from my stash... those are the only things NOT Imaginisce on this page. patting myself on the back here for working primarily with ONE manufacturer (though different lines - B-Day Bash, Twitterpated, Teacher's Pet and Apple Cider), as that's not something i do, like, EVER!

oh, and here's the sketch:

(thanks Aida, loved working with this sketch!)

GO VISIT THE SIMON SAYS STAMP GROUP ON PCP! if you're not already a member, you really should join! the challenges are always fabulous, and there's lots of inspiration from the group members (crafty bunch, they are!)... and the PRIZES! yummeh! well, you know how generous Simon Says Stamp is when it comes to giving prizes away, right? yeah, this is no exception!

for the record, The Son is a SENIOR this year, and will be off to college this time next year. that's just nutso! yikes!

did you happen to grab the NEW FREEBIE at Some Odd Girl? oh my, you need to check it out! PERFECT for back to school!

i will be back tomorrow to kick off a new month of COLOR CHALLENGES at Design Dollies!