Theme week at Designed to Color - show us LEAVES and win a digital issue of the mag!

ahoy-hoy, chickens!  hope you're all well-rested from the weekend and ready to kick the week off with a bang, because we are LOADING UP on excitement, fun and inspiration at Designed to Color! 

it's THEME WEEK, and we're starting the lineup with a "LEAVES" theme...  that means we want to see your projects that feature colored leaves (remember the theme is the focus, and we focus on colored images since that's just what we do!).  you don't have to make something NEW for the occasion, we just want to see what our friends do and we're sure to be inspired by you, too!

i'm kicking off with a card i made a while ago featuring a retired Some Odd Girl digi (Mae as Alice Pose) - she used to be sitting on a big mushroom, but now she sits on Make it Crafty's "Park Bench for Two".  check it out:

 

but here's a closeup, because the photo isn't the best...  she looks like she was meant to sit on this bench, doesn't she?  i love the versatility of the Make it Crafty elements!

SO.  you could win a digital issue of Designed to Color just by showing us your leaves!  play along - you have ONE WEEK to join us and link up - but we'll be doing this all again tomorrow with a new theme, so keep watching!  :D

Charisma challenge - show us those WINGED THINGS!

blah!  Blogger! 
i'm late with this post, as our Charisma challenge went live on Thursday morning, but here we are, and there's still plenty of time for you to play along!

we're looking for Things with Wings at Charisma this week, and guess what?  there's an open DT call!  we're looking for a couple of passionate crafters to join our little team!  :) 

send an email to charismachallenges@live.co.uk and tell us a bit about yourself, include your blog address and tell us why you'd like to be a Charisma Gal - we're looking forward to hearing from you!

as for the challenge.....

here are my WINGED THINGS!

 

and a close up of my Wryn:

 

coloured with my beloved Prismas, natch.  and it's funny, because i didn't realize until just now that her little baubles kinda look like candy corn.  well happy fall, folks, and here's to a fabulous forthcoming Hallowe'en!  :)

so.  Ambrosia papers from BasicGrey, some Recollections flowers and other things from my lovely friend Zulma's stash, and a bit of cheapie Forever in Time bling, shimmery ricrac and Bob is (not) my uncle!  ;)

wanna know what you can win if you play along with our challenge at Charisma?  check it out...

 

 

OR...  a $10 voucher to spend at

 

not a bad deal, right?  join us!  CLICK HERE to go to the challenge, and GOOD LUCK!  :)

 

still celebrating at Designed to Color with a recipe challenge with FAB prizes!

WOOT!  it's time for a scavenger hunt of sorts...  there's a fabby prize or two to win, so pay attention!  :D

have i mentioned that i LOVE coloring?  i never used to, until Some Odd Girl happened, and then i just dove in - no turning back!  :)  this little miss has something very special in store for you, along with the Color Crew!  ready for some fun?

the Color Crew at Designed to Color has mixed up a happy batch of YUM for you - we're combining ingredients and making a group recipe for you to use on a crafty little project.  we have put together a little hop/hunt for you, and you'll need to visit all of our blogs to get your ingredients.  once you have them all, you'll whip them up into something fabulous and share at the Designed to Color blog.  but there's a catch!

not EVERY Color Crew member is participating in the hunt with an ingredient, but you'll have to visit everyone, or you might miss something!  :)  we like a challenge, and we didn't want to just hand everything over.  heh.

here's the Color Crew - you don't have to visit them in order, but you will want to end up at the Designed to Color blog once you've cooked up something tasty with our ingredients!

Carisa
Jen
Leah  (you are here!)
Lisa
Lori
Lou Mac
Lizzie
Taylor

the cooks and bakers among us have hidden our ingredients somewhere in our posts, and when you've created something using all of them, you'll need to LIST THE INGREDIENTS so we can easily see that you've found them and followed the recipe.  link up and have fun!  can't wait to see what yum you manage to cook up!

 

and i've whipped up something just for the occasion...  this card features Angel Gwen (a new clear stamp set from Some Odd Girl!), and i've incorporated ALL of the recipe ingredients into my card.  oh!  you're still reading?  well guess what?  you've found another ingredient here - add "something doodled" to your list, and be sure to include that in your concoction!  :)  here's Gwen, colored up with Copics (not my usual medium), with some doodly stitches, corners, and snowflakes:

 

 and here's a close-up of my blingy chipboard, with some doodly snowflakes tied on with twine:

(click 'em to enlarge!)  Gwen, the banner and the sentiment are all part of the new set at Some Odd Girl, and i just love the versatility!

so keep hunting, leave us some love along the way, and we hope you're inspired to create using our recipe!  all of the deets are on the Designed to Color blog, so be sure to link up, list your ingredients, and HAVE FUN!  :D 

p.s. - i HATE the new Blogger so far (i know lots of you are loving it).  i've hated the new Yahoo mail, the new Google, the new Facebook Timeline, and just about everything they "fix" that ain't broke.  meh.

Monochromatic coloring at Designed to Color - CONTEST #5!

so you caught wind of the fact that there's a MAJOR celebration going on at Designed to Color, right? we are throwing confetti and cutting the cake because we have more than 1000 likes on Facebook, and for a new outfit, that's kind of unheard of! the response has been phenomenal, and we couldn't be more pleased. Carisa, you have come a LONG way in a very short time, and your Color Crew is very proud of you! :) i am totally honored (and always humbled) to be a part of this amazing team.

we have a few FANTASTIC giveaways that are going on right now, so you're going to want to PAY ATTENTION! :)

first of all, there's THIS ONE... follow a few simple steps to get in on the action, and you could win a $20 gift certificate to spend at Paper Makeup Stamps!

next, we have THIS ONE... create something for a celebration, and you'll be eligible to win one of three new and utterly adorbs CLING STAMPS from Stampendous!

then, we have a THIRD CONTEST... lots of ways to enter this one, and you could win a MYSTERY PRIZE from Lil' Inker Designs! they have loads of cute clear stamps and matching dies!

FOURTH CONTEST... a super mysterious MYSTERY BOX, courtesy of Designed to Color! follow the steps to enter, and we promise you will LOVE the goodies that arrive at your doorstep if you're our lucky winner!

and now, we are bringing a FIFTH CONTEST! this time, i'm challenging you to try a technique i've absolutely fallen in love with, and i think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the results when you try it, too! up for grabs is yet ANOTHER mystery prize package (i call it a pack of happy!), and here's what you have to do...

pick an image, any detailed image, and grab all of your markers, colored pencils or paints that are from the SAME color family. use those, and nothing BUT those, to color your image, but you cannot use the greys or browns ('cuz, well, those have been done before, and most of us have rocked that style plenty of times already). choose your greens, purples, reds, pinks, blues, yellows, whatever, and color your image all nice-nice. you might come up with something like this:

(clear stamp is Gifty Gwen from Some Odd Girl)

or maybe this:

(digi is Unicorn Mae from Some Odd Girl)

i've busted out my Prismacolor pencils and used only the pinks for Gwen and the blues for Mae - nothing else! SO much fun to limit yourself and not much thinking involved - just varying shades that are SO easy to blend and layer!

if you choose to finish a project using your monochrome colored image, great! show us what you've got! but it's not necessary for this contest - this one's all about the coloring. share 'em with us HERE, and be sure to submit before the deadline (September 26th), and you might win a pack of happy! :)

so there are PLENTY of reasons to celebrate with us, folks! play along, good luck, and happy coloring! (and if you're not a subscriber, you'll want to check out our FREE PREVIEW of our current issue - there's some GREAT stuff in there... check out Page 9!)

we also have our September sketch challenge going on, and our December/January call for submissions, so stop reading my blog, and off you go! ;)

WOOT! get in on the Designed to Color action and WIN STUFF!

we are CELEBRATING at Designed To Color, and we want to share the love!

STAMPENDOUS has sponsored us for some fantastic little holiday giveaway action, and since we have just reached 1000 likes (on Facebook - click here to join us!), it was definitely time for a giveaway!

for this little giveaway, you must create something NEW that represents a celebration of some kind! wedding... baby... milestone birthday... retirement... new home... whatever! as long as your project has a COLORED IMAGE on it, you might win one of THESE pretties:

Hayride Kids

Forest Santa

Tree Trim Kids

my "celebration" is in honor of a fabby little 14-year-old (for whose party i created invitations!)... here's my card, featuring Balloon Kaylee from Some Odd Girl:

CLICK HERE to go to the celebration, and create something for your chance to win those fun holiday stamps from Stampendous! you have until next Saturday, September 22nd at midnight EST to play along! and thank you for LIKING US! as one of The Color Crew, i am having a fantastic time learning and growing and sharing with all of you (and the rest of the Crew!). if you haven't already subscribed, CLICK HERE to check out your options, and we are looking for submissions for our December/January issue, so CLICK HERE for deets! :D

stuff, and stuff. what's going on in Leah's life?

okay, so things are NUTSO here, but most of it is GOOD stuff! i'm getting promoted, my marriage seems to be improving (in many ways, thank goomie!), the weather is cooling off, i'm healthier and more FIT than i've probably EVER been (having lost a total of 23 pounds so far!), my hubbin leased himself an art studio and gets to move HIS crafties into a designated space soon (which means there's more space freed up for mine!), and we are in the early stages of REALLY house hunting. it's something we've wanted for a long time, but he's a real foot-dragger, and i think he's finally getting the bug. making some appointments this week to see what we can see, and my fingers are crossed because there are a couple of REALLY nice houses that interest me and are totally within our price range. LET'S GO SHOPPING! ;)

so, with all of that going on, summer coming to a close and hubbin being back to work (he's a teacher), we've been busy literally every night, and i have totally slacked on updating my PERSONAL blog (but at least i'm on top of my DT assignments!).

i'm throwing it out there today to let you know the following things...

1 - new Charisma challenge! we're "Seeing Double" this week, and you have until Wednesday night to play along. need inspiration? wondering what the whole double thing can entail? well CLICK HERE to see what the Charisma Galz have done, 'cuz there are load of great examples! here's what i made for the occasion:

we're being sponsored by Crafty Ribbons and Digi Doodle Shop - get in on the action,
and you could win a FABBY ribbon pack, or $10 to spend on happy little digis!

2 - there's a new Some Odd Girl challenge! it's a sketch, it's fabulous, the Odd Girls have rocked it and will totally inspire you, and the prizes are, as always, DELISH. click here to see for yourself! yeah, do something with the sketch. you know you wanna! (be sure to use a Some Odd Girl stamp!)

3 - we're releasing new CLEAR STAMPS tomorrow at SomeOddGirl.com! you've probably seen sneaks of them, if you were following along with the CHA updates in July. they're freaking fabulous, and you're going to want to go to the Some Odd Girl blog tomorrow at 9 am (EST) to see the first of the reveals! oh. my. goomie.

so. yeah. see ya soon, chickens. i'm missing you all, but trust me, there's good stuff going on here!