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!