Some Odd Girl and Leah news!

1. the new Some Odd Girl challenge is LIVE, and it's so much PUN! :D

yeah, our challenge this time around is "PUNNY"... we want to see your projects with some kind of PUN as your sentiment... i used one of my fave little pairs from the brand new release (they came out TUESDAY!):


and here's my card with Toasted and Toastie:


i wish i'd taken another shot of this card (for dimension and stuff!), but you'll have to take my word for it when i tell you it's much cuter in person! the little Toasted dude is poppin' up out of Toastie, and i had lots of fun trying to add texture to my bread. :D

CLICK HERE to see what the rest of our Odd Girls have done for this challenge (our goal is to inspire, folks!), and to play along! you don't have to use Some Odd Girl images for our challenges, and you can make whatever you want. BUT if you use our images (and there's a freebie for you HERE!), you get a second entry into the challenge when we draw our winner... the prize for this round - two Some Odd Girl images of your choice from the shop!

so there that is. :)

2. in other Orange news, we TRIED to go to Washington, DC today. okay, well we GOT there, but we were unable to find parking, so we didn't get to enjoy our scheduled tour of the capital building, which was disappointing. HOWEVER, when leaving Washington and heading for Baltimore for a stroll around Inner Harbour and dinner at a scrummy Irish pub, i got a CALL! so i not only have a job info session tomorrow (with my second choice), but now i also have an INTERVIEW (with testing and all) next thursday with my first choice! very excited, a little nervous, and totally optimistic about all of this!

3. i haven't heard from my Dollie-hop winners yet, and if i don't get addresses before monday, i may have to re-draw! i hope it doesn't come down to that, but i'm hoping to get some emails SOON! :) check out the TRIFECTA ingredients for this week, and play along with our new challenges at Design Dollies - the prizes are pretty scrummeh this month! (and i have a fabby sponsor for August!)

hope you're all doing wonderfully!

CONGRATS, and thanks for hoppin' with the Dollies!

well folks, we LOVED all the fabby responses to our Dollie-Hop on the weekend, but all good things must come to an end, or so they say.

first of all, the answer to my little quizzie question: a wooden paint stir-stick! so YAY, a few of you had it right! i had hubbin snap the stick in pieces, i covered them with white gesso (and tried to mimic a woodgrain texture), and i distressed with some Ranger ink. i WISH i could say that it was just paper or styrofoam, that i successfully altered to resemble wood, but nope.

sooooo..... i put the names of everyone who guessed into the proverbial hat and drew a winner for my blog candy, and if YARA would please drop me a line at spazzicassi@yahoo.ca, i will happily send some goodies her way!

but Yara's not the ONLY one who gets a little congratumalations!
i would also like to send a little surprise to those who decided to make something ORANGE in my honour! :)

maryjane, please send me your mailing address, and Karen, i already have yours! THANK YOU BOTH so much - i loved the little orange ribbon flower (so, SO up my alley, and something i love to make, too!), and the happy sun card and recipe page were creatively fab! thanks for showing me the ORANGE LOVE, ladies!

i am also ready to BURST, because lots of exciting things are going on for me right now! i was supposed to have an interview this morning which turned out to be a total dud (the directions i was given to the office were AWFUL, and the phone number i was given - in case i had any questions - was DISCONNECTED!), but i got a call from another company and i have an info-session to attend this FRIDAY... i didn't want to work for that first company (but thought i could always use the interview to brush up on my skills), but this second one? poifect! :D i had the preliminary phone interview today, so i hope things go well friday!

and there's more, too, but i can't tell you about that just yet. :D life, while difficult, stressful, and often seemingly unbearable, can be pretty amazing.

now i'm going to watch Whip It with my BFF and then we're going for burritos.
happy tuesday, folks! OH, and check DESIGN DOLLIES for the rest of the winners' names from our blog hop, and to get in on the LAST Elements Challenge for this month, with our HOT HOT HOT sponsor, Scrap Attack Scrapbooking! :D

new DESIGN DOLLIES challenge for ya!

COLOR CHALLENGE TIME at Design Dollies!

it's the last one for July, and, therefore, your last shot at this prize pack:


so ya gotta be in it to win it... and THIS week's colours are:

blue and yellow, with the option of black and/or white. so blue and yellow MUST be present in your project, and you can add as much or as little black, white, or both as you like.

my page documents my trip to Baltimore a month ago...
i don't think i've ever had so much FUN with a layout before... i don't have photos, because we high-tailed it outta this place, but the story is that we went to Baltimore, hubbin had planned to take me to a coffeehouse when we first arrived, then we'd do the ship/sub tours and stuff... well he had printed directions to this place called Bluebird Coffee, and was all excited as it's was described online as free-trade, organic coffee, and he thought i'd really like it. we arrived at the destination to find a huge mostly abandoned warehouse, with the exception of a few wholesalers in the building. we wandered around the inside of the building, thinking that maybe this place was hyped up because of its unique setting, but no such luck. they PACKAGE the coffee there for sale, and the Bluebird guy wasn't even around, as one of the other vendors informed us. when we were on our way back to the car, we stumbled onto this giant pile of junk - boxes and boxes of stuff that some of the vendors were tossing out (inside the building was a textile place, a printing press, a hot sauce place, plus a couple of others). i saw TRIMS peeking out of the one box, and hubbin totally encouraged me to GRAB THE WHOLE BOX (and sort through later!)... if you'd have seen these trims, you've have gone for it, too! TOTALLY hot. i'll have to take a pic of the stuff i salvaged. anywho, here's my page:

i scrapped the directions he'd printed to get us there (which were accurate, but very WRONG!), and that black fringey stuff is part of one of my consolation prizes. i promise to share the whole stash soon! "stamped" with bubble wrap and a toilet paper roll and gesso, doodled with my white gel pen, and tied fabby little ribbon strips (courtesy of KIMMY!) into a funky transparency for a little extra niftiness. :) whatcha think? is it too busy?

wanna play along? CLICK HERE to see what our gorgeous Karen and Nicole have done with the challenge, and to get in on the action!

i'll be back TOMORROW to announce the name (names?) of who's gettin' the goodies from our BLOG HOP! thank you all for the sweet comments, and for hopping, and for CREATING in honour of our big event!

it's a DOLLIE-HOP! loads of blog candy for you to win!

WE'RE DOLLIE-HOPPIN'!
(and since you're HERE, then that means you are, too, right?!)

we haven't had a BLOG HOP since Design Dollies' inception last OCTOBER (can you believe it's been nearly a YEAR already?), so we discussed, we decided, and we're makin' it happen, and HOOOO, boyo, it's a good one!

okay folks, read carefully! :D

didja see our fabulous BANNER at the top of the Design Dollies blog? well, each doll pictured was carefully selected to represent each Dollie at his or her finest… lots of unique personalities are shown in our banner, and SOME of our Design Dollies would like to know if you can guess which one represents them! if you guess correctly, you might be REWARDED... ;) you can also click on each of the Dollies' photos in the right sidebar on our blog to get a little insight into our personalities (which MAY be helpful for those Dollies asking you to guess their DOLL. there's a little something special at each stop along our Dollie-hop, so you REALLY should leave a comment for each of the Dollies (it could totally be worth your while!)... other Dollies may ask for something different, so be sure to READ! :D

if you're visiting me via our darling Metal_Minish's blog, Nerd Scrap, then you're on the right track (and likely wiping up lots of drool)! if not, you can get your little party started... at the Dollhouse! (you'll be back here soon, hopefully!)

since you're HERE, i'd like to share a little something special i created JUST for today's event. :) we all wanted to do something that really shows our true COLOURS, so here ya go:

i'm not going to ask you to try to identify my Doll in the banner, because i think that's a pretty easy one. BUT i will ask that you leave me a comment and GUESS what i used for my wooden pieces on my page. you don't have to get it right, but you do have to guess! :) OH, and a bonus entry for anyone who creates a brand spankin' new ORANGE project - be it a tag or an ATC or a handmade embellie, it's all good! (just for this "challenge" though - no combining!) post it on your blog and leave the URL for that post in your comment (with your guess!) and you'll get two entries for a YUMMY batch of candy...

(some kraft, coredinations, sei, k & company, little yellow bicycle, mulberry paper, lotsa
buttons, primas, felt flowers and clips, ribbons and trims, journaling tags, some bling and more!)

OUR BLOG HOP ENDS AT 10:00 PM EST on SUNDAY, JULY 25th, so be sure to leave ALL of your comments and link up any projects before then! (some of the Dollies have extended their deadlines, but the OFFICIAL end time is 10 pm)

now that you've checked ME out, your next stop is Chiqui's "Snapshots" blog - off you go! (hope you're sitting down - that girl will ROCK YOUR SOCKS OFF!) and remember to LEAVE A COMMENT! (you must must must do this at every stop along the hop if you want to be eligible for our goodies!) after your last stop, BACK TO THE DOLLHOUSE to leave us a comment letting us know you've completed the hop!

a wedding card, and BIG STUFF GOING DOWN TOMORROW!

first of all, you NEED to visit me tomorrow morning, and you NEED to visit the Design Dollies blog (bright and early) - we've got fun stuff going on and you should check it out!

second, CARLYANN's gettin' hitched! and in honour of her forthcoming nuptials, i decided to make her a little happy card in congratumalations. :)

here's my card, using a lovely CC Designs image sent to me by the lovely REE, and a BamPop! frame sent to me by my Holmes-Dollie:





entering this card for the "GINGHAM" challenge at BasicGrey - i used the cupid paper from Two Scoops and a handful of Opalines
CPS sketch #176 (turned on its side)


and the Charisma Cardz challenge for Carlyann's weddin'!

off to mail it today, in fact!

WHOA, check out all the new YUM from Maya Road!

GO HERE and see all the sneaks on their blog! lemme tell ya, these guys are doin' it up right in my book. the trims are gorgeous, they have awesome new alterable canvas flowers, canvas AND velvet pleated trim (MMMMM!), they've mini-sized the large organza flower trims, they've introduced a super funky new binder (with pages and chipboard of the same shape!) and i think i'm in love, folks!




well done, Maya Road! you get my two thumbs up! (go see for yourself, and bring a paper towel or a mop to take care of all the drool!)

back soon with a crafty project - i'm just about to take photos!

NEW Design Dollies color challenge - my first MINI!

so i'd never tried my hand at a mini-album before. i've altered some journals and tins and boxes and such, but a mini? nope. i have been accumulating these little chipboard albums for a while, and i finally decided it was TIME.

this week's Color Challenge at Design Dollies is one of my FAVORITE color combos to date. i had no clue what i wanted to do with it, but i was all geared up for a scrapbook page. WELL! when i dug out the photos, i came across a whole SET that i thought went well with the colors, so that set the wheels in motion.

here's this week's combo:
BROWN, TEAL, CREAM and a POP OF RED (just a smidgen!)


and i went to town. here's my entire mini album from my trip to Mexico:
(ya gotta click to enlarge, 'cuz these photos look like poo on here!)












whatcha think? i was pleased for my first attempt! there are definitely things i'd do differently, were i to start this project over, but i'll call this a learning experience.

PLAY WITH THE DOLLIES! you MUST check out what the other Dollies have done with this one - STUNNING creations from our talented darlings! here's where you'll find this challenge, and here's the prize:


lots of funky stuff in here - i tried to pick out some stuff that will coordinate well, and give you lots of variety, so hopefully someone will be happy to win it!

and there that is! i'm off to the shore with hubbin and The Son - have a fabby monday!

i was inspired...

Some Odd Girl images will do that to ya. ;)

i decided to have another play this afternoon with "Ice Cream Cone" because i plan to send someone a little hello across the miles. found myself a couple of challenges that TOTALLY worked for what i had in mind, and came up with this little dude:


i have to say that my Odd Sistah, Kimmy, has this knack for doodlin' little borders, and i wanted to add a border here without matting the paper. dots are our friends!

this card is for the SUMMERY challenge over at My Partner in Crafting Crime
this week's sketch at Twisted Sketches:

(the twist is to use METAL, which is the little studs in my top corner embellie)
and last, but not least, it's PINK week at Charisma Cardz, so i opted for the cotton candy flavoured ice cream. ;) (my FAVE!)

that be it! i'll still be back tomorrow. i've had my corn on a stick, i'm about to have a salad and watch a flick with the hubbin, and i think i'm calling it an early night!

a Some Odd Girl sponsored challenge, plus GO FOLLOW THESE CHICKADEES!

okay folks, i'll be around tomorrow with a brand new Design Dollies Color Challenge, so make sure you have your submissions in TONIGHT by midnight EST, whether you're playing along with the current Color Challenge or attempting the Trifecta or any combo this week. (if you can manage the Trifecta, you'll get entered for all THREE prize packs this month, and we have a fabby sponsor!)

but i wanted to fill you in on a couple of quick things TODAY...

first, SOME ODD GIRL is sponsoring Crazy 4 Challenges this week, and they want to see BUTTONS on your creations!

(isn't "Ice Cream Cone" adorable, and perfect for these hot summer days?! there are TONS of "cool" confections in the Some Odd Girl store!)

GO HERE to check it out, and play along with the challenge! (feel free to grab the Some Odd Girl freebie to get a taste of what you could win!) this one runs until FRIDAY, July 23rd, so there's plenty of time to play!

and second, Robin and Jenny at My Partner in Crafting Crime are still looking for followers! they gave away some candy when they reached 100, and they're already well on their way to 200, so drop by, say hi, and tell 'em i sent you! (i'll fight you for the prize!) :) i'm keeping their logo up in my sidebar in an effort to give 'em an added little push (and so my little plug for them won't get buried in a bazillion other posts!). go!

and i'll see ya tomorrow! right now, i'm getting ready to head to the carnival for some Mexican street corn. MMMMMM.

the Odd Girls are challenging you!

Stash Challenge #5 is revealed today, and i LOVED playing with this combo!

i wanna see SPOTS, STRIPES, and a BIG TITLE!

you don't have to use Some Odd Girl images, but you get an extra entry if you do! (and, well, the freebie makes it easy for you!) the prize? two images of your choice from SomeOddGirl.com!

here's my card, using the FABBY, brand spankin' new Mae Yay, from the most recent batch:

is she not adorable? i can't possibly gush enough about Some Odd Girl images. they're the MOST fun to colour, they print beautifully, and there is so much variety in the store, there's no reason to go anywhere else for digis. ;)

SO check out what the rest of our brilliantly Odd Girls have done with this challenge, play along with us HERE, and do it by Wednesday, July 28th at midnight EST for your chance to win!

i used the sketch over at Sketch Saturdays (turned on its side):

and i went for BOLD AND BRIGHT for the Pollycraft Mondays challenge this week. :)

today also brings you our latest SKETCH CHALLENGE at Design Dollies, and there are a couple of GORGEOUS creations for you to ogle! go see what Kristy and Dana and Ange have done with the sketch, and play along for another awesome prize package! if you're feeling brave, you have until SUNDAY NIGHT at midnight EST to combine all three of this week's challenges into one nifty TRIFECTA for chances at all THREE prize packs for the month! WOOT!

WOOT to new Dollies challenges and new SOME ODD GIRL release!

yeah. it's a new week, and the god-awful wedding about which i've been babbling for the last few weeks has come and gone. OVER. and i'm totally relieved. it was awesome spending time with my Dad and we have some great pics (and i swear, i'm becoming more and more his baby girl as the years go by), which i will share later... but i'd be hard-pressed to find a couple LESS destined for happiness than the bride and groom, and the whole event was just a disaster. not to mention all that worrying i did for NOTHING! i could have shown up wearing a black leather mini dress and stilettos and everything would have been hunky-dory.

ANYWHO!
on to better things! today is NEW RELEASE DAY at Some Odd Girl! check out the brand new batch:


SERIOUSLY. my gal, Holmes (Kristy) is just destined for greatness, is she not? (if you're going to CHA in Chicago, watch for her, as she's got goodies!) i love this new release, and i can't wait to show off the Odd Girls' projects on thursday, when our next challenge goes live! for now, here's a little sneaky of my project...


are you excited?! :) you still have until TOMORROW at midnight, EST to play along with our SHAPED CARD CHALLENGE, for a chance to win the stunning Hula Kaylee, plus one free digi of your choice! and we'll throw a new task your way on thursday, so sit tight! :)

AND the search for the next Odd Girls continues, but there's not much time! the Design Team call ends July 16th - you wanna be ODD like us? :) GO HERE for the details!

in the meantime... we also have two new challenges up at Design Dollies! yesterday, my new Color Challenge went live, with this tasty little palette:

BLACK, PALE PINK and RED... i promise it's not as hard as it looks! i suggested that our Dollies try to think of the pale pink as WHITE, and maybe that would make it easier (and hopefully they'd be less inclined to think of a valentine's theme for this one!). trust me, they nailed it!
here's what i did:


that ribbon flower is something i saw mentioned on a blog a little while ago - all you need is WIRE RIBBON, and instead of cutting the length from your spool, start pulling one of the wires so that the ribbon gathers on one edge. the effect is similar to threading a piece of regular ribbon or fabric and pulling it taut, then tying it off. but no stitching involved! (that's totally up my alley)

made this card for the following other challenges:
Quixotic Challenges - Pretty Pearls (oops, guess i waited too long to post and i missed the deadline!)
CPS Sketch #175 (reversed it):


check out what the Dollies have done with this color combo HERE! and if you're feeling brave, go ahead and combine it with today's ELEMENTS CHALLENGE (like our Karen did!), for chances at BOTH of the prize packs. did you see the prize for the Elements Challenges this month? it's sponsored by the wonderful Scrap Attack Scrapbooking!

TOTALLY HOT! but ya gotta be IN IT to WIN IT! play along with any of the Elements Challenges this month for your chance to win!

Scrap Attack is also offering a DISCOUNT to anyone who plays along with the Design Dollies for the month of July, so if you haven't been to their store, what are you waiting for? enter coupon code: dollies at checkout for 25% off MSRP!

SOME ODD GIRL digi day at SNR!

woo hoo! Digi Day #2 in the Some Odd Girl group at SNR - go check it out! some sneaks, some freebies, digis to be won, and exclusive specials for our members!

there's a sketch challenge, brought to you by our Odd Girl Kimmy... what can you do with THIS?


i used the brand new freebie at SomeOddGirl.com, dug out some scraps, and made this card:


is Tiny Tia not the sweetest little thing EVER?
entering this card for the challenges at:
Sweet Sketch Wednesday
Creative Card Crew (they want die cuts on your projects!)

and THEN, Robin wants to see PRIMARY COLOURS on your projects!
i knew exactly which image i wanted to use for this one....


i think this "rainbow" image is just SO versatile, and i loved colouring it up for this one!
playing along for the Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab World - i LOVED the image Cath chose for this one, and i saw the floral shapes with the scallopy edges and ran with that theme here

the "Get Into Shape" challenge at Fab N Funky
used the sketch at Sketch and Stamp
the colour inspiration at Delightful Sketches

and you should come and play with the Odd Girls at the SNR group today! i'm away for the weekend, but there are games and much fun to be had!

(edited to add - i linked up to the challenges on SUNDAY, because i had scheduled this post and couldn't get to a computer until just now - hope that's okay for the challenges where i'm playing along!)

there are BIG things happening at Blue Moon Scrapbooking!

6 huge prize packages up for grabs! lots of fun challenges! GO THERE!
all the fun is already underway, and runs through July 31st, so jump in!

NEW Envious challenge posted - it's HOT!

okay folks... for our June collage prompt, we had some GORGEOUS submissions, and one very lucky winner (woo hoo to one of our very own Design Dollies, NICOLE!) - this month, more yummies up for grabs, and an unbelievably BEAUTIFUL collage for your consideration.... i give you our next Envious prompt:


i hemmed and hawed about this for quite a while, until i finally found the photo to inspire my page... AND i even went traditional with a LAYOUT, rather than an art journal page! here's my 3rd assignment for Envious: (click to enlarge!)









couple of things to say about this page... first of all, it's from our big dinner on our wedding day, back in 2005. i can't believe our 5th anniversary is already approaching!

so. i was mostly inspired by the softness and colours, but i love the little swirly bits, and thought i'd try to capture that with some covered chipboard from BG. it was the first time i've covered chipboard (usually i alter with paints and inks and stamps and such), and while i LOVE the overall result, holy whoa, i think i'll stick with more basic shapes next time! it's NOT the same as fussy-cutting, lemme tell ya! (that one large fern shape took FOREVER to sand!)

anywho. some gesso covering a beige text print paper, some pink and blue shimmer over it (Glimmer Mist and Shimmerz), then another light layer of watered down gesso blended with a paper towel (it picked up some of the blue spritz and made for a really pretty paint effect). i totally got messy with this one, and it turned out JUST the way i'd hoped! :) (how often does THAT happen, right?) oh, and i'm totally loving the 7 Gypsies paper tape. YUMMEH!

wanna play along? why not go check out what my fellow Nerdy Girls have done with this assignment? amazing inspiration for your viewing pleasure RIGHT HERE... you have until the end of the month to play!

OH.MY.GOOMIE candy. it's kinda RIDICULOUS!

it's Jodi's birthday, and holy HECK, she's been bitten by the generosity bug, because she's got some of the tastiest candy EVER.

i trust you'll go check it out. i could show you pictures, but i'd rather you be SURPRISED... it's. just. WOW.

GO HERE TO ENTER, and be sure to wish this lovely crafty lady a very happy birthday! :) candy closes 7/31.

RUN!

FOLLOW THEM!

there's going to be a lovely mystery prize when they reach 100 followers, so if you haven't signed up yet, DO!

GO HERE FOR DEETS!

there are two supah nifty crafty chicks who host this new blog - i've gotten to know Robin a bit through the challenge blogs i host (with my awesome Dollies, and with the Odd Girls!), and she's just lovely. i've only been following Jenny's blog for a short while, but i love her clean style, and the cards on her blog are fabby!

so.
yeah.
follow them. they have challenges, and they're swell.

***EDITED TO ADD - they've reached 100, and the candy's been drawn, but they'll give away MORE candy when they hit 200!***

the DOLLIES have picked some new colours....

and they're SCRUMMEH! i seriously LOVED this colour combo.

here's the new challenge (with a whole new prize pack for July, but i have yet to photograph that!)....

ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN and WHITE (or ivory)
i KNEW our Dollies would go to town with it, and i had some fun putting mine together, and actually LOVED the BasicGrey rubon! (me and rubons... well we don't have a great relationship)

but ya GOTTA go see what the rest of the Dolls have done with this one. seriously fantastic work - we have been SO fortunate to have such a passionate, clever bunch of crafters on our team! CLICK HERE TO SEE! and enter by SUNDAY at midnight EST to win yummy stuff!

entering this one for:
Etsy Inspired #95 - the shop is Kimmieprout, and i fell in love with THESE! the dimensional dottiness is mostly what inspired my card, and the fabulously funky retro feel of the buttons is mimicked in the BG ovals paper from this Offbeat stack. i'm in LOVE with Kimmieprout's shop!

and for Crazy 4 Challenges #44 - this week they're looking for 2 or more RIBBONS - hopefully TRIMS count!

and that will do it for today... back tomorrow! even though the Elements Challenges aren't hosted by yours truly, we have a special announcement tomorrow and i can't wait to share it with you all!

HUGE 4th OF JULY SALE AT SOME ODD GIRL!

30% off EVERYTHING, folks!

EVERYTHING!

go to SomeOddGirl.com and SAVE!

except the freebie, which is, well, free. that would make it 100% off. new releases are included in this sale, PLUS you still earn loyalty points with each digi bought! don't know about the loyalty program? you accumulate points for every image purchased, and then you redeem them for free images! seriously - how awesome is that?

and if you haven't already met Tiny Tia, you really just need to go on over and say hi. :)

now i'm off to colour some images. we have some exciting things coming up, and i need to create something fabby!