Charisma wants you to MATCH 'EM UP!

hey there folks! i can't believe it's already THURSDAY! that means the week is FLYING by for me, and i'm another week closer to the craft fair (and no nearer to being ready, natch!), and we're one week closer to CHRISTMAS, and daylight savings is upon us here... yikes! can you believe this weekend is HALLOWE'EN?! crazy.

well being that it's THURSDAY, it also means it's CHARISMA CHALLENGE DAY! i was on "DT holiday" last week as i was down at the shorehouse with my english penpal (we two merrily crafted for days on end!), but the entries for our Vintage Challenge were unbelievably gorgeous! it's always so nice to see how differently everyone approaches the vintage style, and i think it's safe to say that NO stone was left unturned for this one! thanks for playing along!

hope you'll be just as enthusiastic about this week's challenge - not only is it super fun (and great for the upcoming holidays!), but we have a brand new SPONSOR!

SO first, the challenge?

MATCH 'EM UP!
we want to see you create two things that go together... like a journal and bookmark, ornament and candle, tag and gift bag, etc....

i went for the card and envelope combination... i know you've seen me use this image before from Stamp Camp, but i love it, so... :p

(click pic to enlarge!)

you can go SO many different routes with this challenge, so let's see what magic you'll work!

OH, and you wanna know what you could win this time around? well....

Lili of the Valley is our first sponsor - check out their website HERE!
One lucky winner will receive a £10 voucher to spend in the store.


and a second prize from:
the DigiStamp Boutique is giving away 10 digis of the winner's choice!
take a look at their huge range of images HERE!

so come on over and visit the Charisma Gals by clicking RIGHT HERE, and you can see the rest of the team's stunning creations. join us by next WEDNESDAY for your chance to win, and HAVE FUN! :)

Makin' it SKETCHY at Make it Crafty!

okay gang, back again with another SUPAH FUN Make it Crafty challenge!

it's SO much fun being on Zoe's design team - she keeps us hoppin', she's wonderfully encouraging and she is TRULY an inspiration! so much so, that even when i struggle with something, like this round's challenge, for example, she cheers me on and believes in me and always has lovely things to say. SO! thank you, Zoe dearest, for being our fantastic team LEADER! it's been a pleasure so far! :D

now then (is that the worst oxymoron EVAH?!)... let's see what kind of projects THIS will inspire you to create:

didja read the FINE PRINT?! that's right, not only are we playing with a SKETCH this time, but we wanna see you do it up all vintage-like! :) you don't have to use stuff from the Make it Crafty store (although we'd love to see 'em if you've got 'em!), but we totally encourage you to join in the fun at the Learning Center for feedback and idea-sharing and an all-around fabby time!

okay, so there's the challenge - do what you have to do in order to make it work for you! you have until Tuesday, November 9th to play along, and of COURSE there's something yummy up for grabs! have you SEEN the fun new stuff in the Make it Crafty store?! GO CHECK IT OUT! there's even a new FREEBIE! oh, but the challenge, RIGHT...

here's my card (click to enlarge!):

i used the "Crooked Picket Fence" digi, which may be my favourite of Zoe's images in the Make it Crafty store (swoon!), as well as one of my absolute FAVOURITE Some Odd Girl images, "Windy Mae", who happens to be quite new!

coloured the images up with my Prismacolor pencils, fussycut Mae and her leaves, played around with some vintage sheet music and a dictionary page (courtesy of the uber-talented and supah sweet LAUREN), some Glimmer Mist and Radiant Rains, Distress Inks, Prima leaves and Recollections flowers, Prima and BasicGrey pearls, and added a little branchy goodness from the floral section at A.C. Moore (super cheap!) as my scallopy border. used my brayer and inked the inside of my Cuttlebug swiss dots folder before running some ivory cardstock through it (loved the effect, and you can be sure you'll be seeing more of this in the future as i went a little emboss-happy!)... and i WISH i could have gotten a better shot, but it's been a dreary, cloudy day and the photography thing just wasn't going my way.

at any rate, here's the close-up:

SO SO much you can do with this! CLICK HERE to see what the rest of the Make it Crafty gals have done with this challenge, and play along with us! not only is Zoe generous with her praise, but she's also generous with her prizes! :D

kinda finished this up at the last minute, so for the extra little push, i decided to play with The Pink Elephant (their current challenge was a big help and set me off in the right direction!),and the Digital Tuesday Challenge, who was looking for a non-crafty item... i'm quite sure that little branchy isn't going to fit in an envelope, so it DEFINITELY wasn't made for paper crafters! :)

all righty then! halloween parade downtown tonight, and i'm WORKING! looking forward to doing something fun, outside of the office, with my colleagues, and i just hope we don't get rained out!

Dollies color love! and some festive funstuffs...

okay, today is DOLLIES DAY! well, as far as i'm concerned, EVERY day is Dollies Day, but today brings the very last Color Challenge for october, and i rather enjoyed this combo...

i want you to show me something
BLACK, WHITE and PURPLE!
(some of you may already know that purple and i have a love/hate relationship - mostly i hate it, until i use it and end up loving it!)

my card:


the inside reads "congratulations are in order!"
and i loved up my new purple Maya Mist all good-like. that stuff's fabby, indeed! awesome coverage, a fair bit of shimmer, and a little goes a long way! a birdie cut with Nesties, a little corner sticker accent from American Crafts (i'm a HUGE fan of their Remarks stickers!), an Ippity stamp, and bob's yer unkie!

play along with us HERE, and be sure to ogle the rest of our Dollies' WONDERFUL creations!

i also decided to whip up some last-minute hallowe'en cards, as i've had these cute images for a while and thought it was high time they got some love, too...

this one's for the House Mouse & Friends challenge - never played there before but when i dug these little dudes out, i couldn't resist!
Paper Cutz is looking for Hallowe'en with stars, circles, diamonds or crescents (i have three of these covered!)


and a close-up of Mister Mouse, because i was quite pleased with this "halo" kinda colouring effect i tried out:


Crazy4Challenges also wants to see Hallowe'en themed stuff
and it's Hallowe'en at the Corrosive Challenge blog too (HI, JANET!), so i made another:


and the close-up, 'cuz that whole dotty thing is all new to me, too!


yes, i'm still rather enamoured with my Prismacolor pencils, although i will say that Copics are intriguing me SLIGHTLY.... ;)

i'm working on more stuff too, so i'll be back!

a little FUN, for the GUY

ahem.
i am NOTHING if not a little silly.
i'd been wanting to use one of the Mushes from Some Odd Girl for a punny card, and i know it's been done before, but my Dad hasn't gotten one of these cards from anybody, so thank you to The Stamp Man for challenging me and giving me an excuse to let me Pappy know i'm thinking about him!

The Stamp Man is looking for male projects this round... here's my submission:


i absolutely LOVE colouring these little dudes.
and i seriously hope my Dad gets the pun!

Blue Moon prize up for grabs, but HURRY!

there's still time to get in on the October challenge at Envious - we Nerdy Girls have turned up the heat with some fabby inspiration (well, they have, and i just had some fun with it)...

create anything you like inspired by THIS:


a scrapbook page, a card, an altered thingamajig, a journal page, a collage or WHATEV!

you have until October 31st to play along, and you might win THIS scrummy prize from our wonderful sponsor, Blue Moon Scrapbooking!


is that not HOT?! Sass and BasicGrey and American Crafts and K & Company and Making Memories and MMMM, i wish i could win it all myself!

check out what the rest of the Nerdy Girls have done and play along by CLICKING HERE! create something NEW and be sure to link us up on your blog, and maybe a box of SCRUMMY will be on its way to you soon! :D

Make it RUBBER, please!

Make it Crafty is doing it all in RUBBAH! seriously, truly exciting to be on this little journey with my terribly sweet friend and fellow crafty fiend Zoe, the owner of Make it Crafty, and while she's released a slew of fantastic digital images i've been enjoying (did you SEE the Zombie freebie i used on THIS CARD?), now anyone who prefers their stampin' with RUBBAH can get in on the Make it Crafty action, too!

we're kicking off with a couple of fabby little festive pieces... CLICK HERE to see!

it's not a Crafting Crime...

wait, YES IT IS!

the challenge this round at My Partner in Crafting Crime (HI ROBIN AND JENNY!) is called "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" or something to that effect. hee hee...

i happen to LURRRRVE these fabric thickers, as they take stickles WONDERFULLY, and i couldn't help but bling up my card a little with a fun colour scheme...

so, for this yummy blingy challenge, here's what i made (click to enlarge for maximum bling effect!):


and those fun snowflakes are clear stamps i won from Imaginisce (thanks, Lori!) - i stamped 'em in blue and added the stickles and bling to them, too:


i'm finally putting a bit of a dent in my christmas crafting - not sure i'll be ready for the craft fair, but i've been working hard, and i HOPE to be posting furiously now that i'm back and badder than evah! ;)

now i'm off for some Phillies action and a scrummy Olive Garden dinnah with my hot hubbin (who i missed terribly whilst i was away, but i promise i had TONS of fun with my english penpal!).

FLOWERY fun!

okay, so didja get the brand new Some Odd Girl newsletter delivered to your inbox last night? wellllll, i had the pleasure of providing the article, which was all about stretching your scraps and making fabby creations despite not having much stuff with which to play. my focus? FLOWERS! they're such an EASY way to embellish, and with a couple of punches, or even just a sharpie and some scissors, you can make great cards on a budget.

Some Odd Girl just released a whole whack of fun SENTIMENTS (just a dollar each!), and i definitely need to build up my birthday card stash for the craft fair, so when i saw the fabby ABC Challenge this week - FLOWERS! - i knew exactly what i wanted to do!

here's my card: (click to enlarge!)


a close-up on the flowers:


and here are the very basic supplies i used to make this card:


scissors, a black sharpie, four different punches - although i ended up drawing some of my own flowers too so i'd have more sizes - and a very small handful of coordinating scraps. for my scraps, i was super thrifty! one was a paint swatch from WalMart (they have AWESOME colours!), one was pinched from a notecard someone sent me, two came from packaging of kitchen stuffs, and the other four were from four different manufacturers. oh, and plain white cardstock and my trusty adhesives.

punched, cut, then doodled a TON of flowers and decided i needed a scallopy border:


layered 'em all up 'til i loved them, printed and cut/coloured THIS SENTIMENT:


and assembled!
totally easy peasy, and looks like a pretty lush card if i do say so myself!
i have a tendency to bust out the punches when i have lots of little pieces, and since i buy coloured cardstock for my bases, i often end up with narrow strips left over, which are PERFECT for borders (punched or doodled - your choice)! a simple way to embellish, or to just load up the flowers as your focus for a card.

and that's all she wrote!

new Design Dollies stuff, and Some Odd Girl's new challenge!

hey there folks!
still on vacation, entertaining my dear friend who's visiting me from England. she leaves tomorrow, which makes me very sad, but we've had a WONDERFUL time, and i wish our little stay could last longer!

new Design Dollies COLOR CHALLENGE for this week:
green and silver!
CLICK HERE to see what our fabby dolls have done (and they're not even Christmasy!)...

new Design Dollies ELEMENTS CHALLENGE this week:
HEARTS - lots of 'em!
CLICK HERE for the challenge
here's MY humble contribution:

played along with the Anything Goes challenge at Craftalicious (where i've followed the lovely Carlyann)

and the Design Dollies SKETCH CHALLENGE is up for this week
CLICK HERE for that one, and feel free to combine any or all of these three for more chances to win! the TRIFECTA could be your calling, folks!

annnnnnnd, TODAY brings you our brand new challenge at Some Odd Girl! you rocked the fabric challenge, and we announced some lucky winners for that one, so hopefully you'll enjoy this fabby (and possibly festive!) color combo:

CLICK HERE to see what the Odd Girls have done with this one, and get in on the action! you could win some yum from the store (images or sentiments, your choice!) or some loyalty points to go toward your next purchase!

FOLDING.... laundry? ugh, NO! FOLDING AT CHARISMA!

heya gang!
can't tell you how much i HATE laundry, and having to fold and put stuff away (the part where it's in the machines is just fine), but i can tell you how much i LOVED making this card, once i figured out what the heck i wanted to do with it!

there are TONS of fabulous tutorials and templates all over the intarwebs for creating cards with multiple folds. i've seen a quajillion of 'em. i've seen people make 'em. i've oohed and ahhed and wondered how on EARTH i could compete with that...

and Joanne decided to throw this one out there - i think her intention was to challenge ME, specifically. :)

we want to see MULTI-FOLDS at Charisma this week!

yep. more than just a crease in the middle of your paper, turning your paper into a card. the sky is TOTALLY the limit with this, and we have a couple of fabby sponsors...

The Cutting Cafe is giving one winner THREE digi sets of their choice, as well as the "You're in My Thoughts" set (it's HUGE)!
and Donna's Den will be sending Patchwork Polly to one lucky winner! sadly, their shop is now closed, but they offered to sponsor one last Charisma challenge and we're thrilled they did!

so. a Multi-Fold project, right?
how's this?


(gonna try taking a better pic if i can get home while it's still light out!)
you didn't think i'd do something, um, EXPECTED, did you? 'cuz that's SO not my style. but i knew i wanted to make a halloweenie card (although this turned out to be an anytime card), and when i pulled out these Sassafras Lass monsters, the idea for the arms just about knocked me over! see his little hands? those were really his; i just severed them from his body in order to give him some truly impressive limbs. ;)

do you remember making those little paper foldy chain things back in elementary school? (it may have actually been KINDERGARTEN for me!) well, they're back in. no, not in, like, a trendy way, but because i used the technique and made this card, and now you'll see it poppin' up everywhere. ;) of course i'm kidding, but it's a pretty handy technique, and SUCH an easy way to make a little 3-d embellie or customize an existing one. :D

so that's ONE way of approaching our Multi-Fold challenge at Charisma! click here to visit me and the rest of the Charisma Gals and to see what wonders they've created (breathtakingly gorgeous, i'll have you know!)... play along by next wednesday and maybe you'll be the winnah of one of those fabby prizes i mentioned above! either way, HAVE FUN! :D

decided to play along at Papertake Weekly for their "3 of a Kind" challenge (this post is scheduled, so i'll link to that one when i come home from another awesome work day!) :D

DISTRESSING at Make it Crafty!

morning! welcome to another technique challenge wednesday at Make it Crafty!

for those of you unfamiliar with what we do at Make it Crafty, our technique challenges are designed to assist you and encourage you to step outside your comfort zone. we share tutorials, tips and tricks, plus ideas and feedback so we can grow as a crafting community. in addition to the LEARNING, in which we all take a great deal of pride at Make it Crafty, there are also PRIZES! so here's the scoop...

today brings a brand new TECHNIQUE challenge (we do these on the second wednesday of every month), and i LOVED playing with Mag's DISTRESSING TECHNIQUE for our October assignments! you don't need all of the supplies outlined in the tutorial, because many substitutes will work just as well (and produce slightly different results, which is always fun!), and you can use whatever distressing technique you like...

i was looking for an excuse to bust out my watercolour paper, dug out my Distress Inks and played around with the very fun FREEBIE at Make it Crafty, layered in front of Zoe's Crooked Picket Fence, which made a nice backdrop so that my little zombie friend wasn't just floating...
(click to enlarge for lots of YUMMY detail!)


here's a closeup:


Halloween Zombie and the rest of the scene - all coloured with my Prismacaolor pencils (*swoon*)... i used Barn Door, Wild Honey and Old Paper Distress Inks on watercolour paper for the background (with a splash of Smooch Spray Ink in Cherry Ice), Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Inks, a rubon from BasicGrey's delish Eerie line, an epoxy sticker that i BELIEVE is from Making Memories, alphas from Sassafras Lass and raffia and a bone button from my stash. LOADS of fussycutting using my trusty TONICS, and the background lookd like it BELONGED behind that fence, doesn't it? :) roughed up the edges using my Distressing Tool and voila!

OH, and here's the inside... 'cuz i couldn't just leave it be.


so now you HAVE to check out the tutorial Mag shared with us, because it's a quick, EASY technique which yields such fabby results!

wanna know what one lucky crafter will win?

BOTH of which i've used in this project, and both of which i absolutely LOVE!

and there may be some other surprises in store too!
play along with this challenge over the next two weeks and show us whatcha got! :D CLICK HERE to get to the challenge and to see what the rest of the Make it Crafty gals did with DISTRESSING!

also, if you're looking for feedback on a project, or are curious to see what others are doing, drop by and visit us in the Learning Center! we'd love to have you in the group, sharing your wisdom and expertise!

my first time playing along with the Sir Stampalot Challenge - they want autumnal colours
the Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - they're looking for distressing
Cupcake Crafts wants Scary Creatures (i think this qualifies - hee hee!)
and finally, sketch #63 at 2 Sketches 4 You:

THE NERDY GIRLS ARE BACK!

and we're back with a vengeance, baby! AWWWWW YEEEAAAHHH.....

so we Nerdy Girls have a new challenge for you, and i've been waiting to share this one for a while! our October challenge pays homage to the nerds and geeks of the world, and, well, i'm all over that. :)

we are sponsored by BlueMoon Scrapbooking, who are giving away a fabby gorgeous bunch of goodness (see bottom of this post!)...

here's our inspiration for your crafting enjoyment... do with it what you will - just create ANYTHING that is inspired by this:

how much do you LURRRRRRVE those yummy colours? and i WANT that peacock shirt! well, i may not be uber-chic chick, but i do love all things NERDY, including, well.... (click to enlarge!)
NERDS!


a close-up of The Question (because i jumped at the chance, when our Headmistress, Lynnette, asked if i'd like to be a Nerdy Girl for NVS)


and the response:


it was a no-brainer!

i used the packaging from the candies that my BFF happened to buy for me the day i was working on my challenge, and i found these adorable Thumbs-Up paper clips on clearance at Wallyworld...




i used some fun masks, but wasn't happy with the way everything blended, so i outlined with a white gel pen and was MUCH happier with the result... i also thought the Scrabble tiles illustrated my nerdy word love (not sure if you've ever picked up on that, dear readers - i'm a bit of a grammar/language nazi).

anywho, there's our October challenge! and you could win....


SO, if you wanna win, come and play! but you MUST drop by whether you're inspired or not, because you HAVE to check out the amazing work by my fellow Nerdy Girls. they're just incredible, and i'm SO happy and honoured to be designing with them! GOOD LUCK! you have until October 31st to play. :)

DIGI DAY challenge - a recipe!

hey gang! back again, 'cuz i had a play with one of the challenges at PaperCraft Planet's SOME ODD GIRL DIGI DAY!

thanks for the awesome challenge, Tanya (she's one of our Odd Girls, and she rocks!)!

Tanya wanted to see...
-paint
-stitching
-something shiny

i used the October FREEBIE at SomeOddGirl.com and whipped up (two hours later) this little card:


stitching is around the edges of the yellow panel and on the candy corms (!), paint is on the chipboard button, and the shiny thing is this hot BasicGrey transparency (from their Eerie collection, which is just wonderful!):


playing along over at:
The Treehouse - they want "spooky colors" - CHECK!
and Stamptacular Sunday's "Layer it On" challenge - 5 layers include the card base, the yellow panel, the lined panel, the transparency, then the elements on top (does that work?)

my first halloweenie card! i have a bunch of others to make now, so off i go... but join us before tomorrow at 6 pm EST for this challenge at PaperCraft Planet - visit the Some Odd Girl group and there might be a little somethin' in it for ya! :D

Some Odd Girl's DIGI DAY! freebies and contests!

WOOOOOOOOOOT!
it's arrived, and i'm THRILLED to be a part of this fabby Digi Day for Some Odd Girl!

CLICK HERE and join us at PaperCraft Planet - we have a sale going on, some fabby little challenges, and maybe even a little extra (wink, wink) that you'll want to take advantage of...

you wanna, right?

come and play!

the challenges and games have already kicked off - we'll be hanging out until 3 pm EST today, but the fun doesn't end until tomorrow at 6.

see you there, RIGHT?!

OH, and there's still time to get in on our MONKEE CONTEST! name him and win fabby stuff!

hmmm, FABRIC? how ODD!

i know, i know. corny. but hey, i'm just an Orange, so what would you expect?

anyway, we're doing it up with FABRIC for this challenge at Some Odd Girl, and OH MY GOOMIE, you might be able to grab some of the NEW RELEASES if you're our winner! or if you are chosen as a fave, you'll get LOYALTY POINTS, which can be used toward future Some Odd Girl purchases! yeah, we just wanna keep spreadin' the love around.

SO! for our FABRIC CHALLENGE, i decided to colour up 50s Kaylee, who was a limited edition freebie and is now available in the store! here she is (SWOON):


i just LOVE her perfectly wavy hair! and how ya like dem pantyhose? :)

i cut a couple of strips of stripey goodness from my K & Co. swatch book:


to do some simple flowers layered with red Imaginisce flowers and vintagey brads for the centers:


50s Kaylee is a part of THIS huge release from Some Odd Girl:


do you want them? like, ALL OF THEM?! i just keep adding more to my cart and colouring them up - i hope i'll find time to make cards using them! i coloured up a Windy Mae and started on a Rawr Tobie tonight, so perhaps they'll be making appearances soon. :)

IN THE MEANTIME, play along at the Some Odd Girl blog, and you can be Odd like us! :D

there will also be some ridiculously wonderful news to share, but i have to keep mum for now... let me just say how PROUD i am of my Kristy-Holmes-Lovie-Dollie for making such HUGE waves in the crafty community! CONGRATULATIONS, my sweet!

i decided to play along with the BLOOMIN' MARVELOUS challenge at Creative Card Crew - it's not often i make my own flowers, but i'm TOTALLY doing this again because i have some FABBY fabric swatches to play with!

Charisma wants to see FALL COLOURS!

yeah, this is definitely a fave of mine, because fall colours almost ALWAYS include ORANGE! so we wanna see what you can make with those GORGEOUS warm fall colours... like this!


how about a close up for the distressed blingy yum?


thinkin' the clean and simple approach worked well for this image - which happens to be from one of our sponsors, Pink Cat Studio! we are also giving away a gift certificate for Simon Says Stamp, who, quite frankly, rock my socks.

wanna play along with the Charisma Gals? show us what you can do with FALL COLOURS, and be sure to upload your entries by next WEDNESDAY, and you might be one of the lucky winnahz! :D

i used Sketch #84 at Card Patterns (which will probably be revisited numerous times for my holiday cards - LOVED this one!):


i'm playing along with the Something to Celebrate challenge at Stamp Something (because i welcome the cool fall weather with open arms - i HATE New Jersey summers!)

and Ribbons, Buttons and Bling at Digital Tuesday challenges - this was the PERFECT challenge to inspire me for this card!

and in Leah news, my job is AWESOME. i love the company and i feel SO lucky to have been chosen for their team. it's amazing, the morale is high, and nobody leaves because there is no REASON to leave. yeah, it's THAT GOOD!

Some Odd Girl LOVES Halloween and Fall!

wanna see HOW MUCH?!
'cuz seriously, we're celebrating, and it's been one heck of a party so far!

it all starts with THESE GUYS:


HOW CUTE ARE THEY?! so many favourites in this release, i can't decide which ones i love best...

they're all available TODAY at SomeOddGirl.com so you can grab all you need for your happy halloween and fall creations. GET 'EM! :)

and in case you didn't get the newsletter, or haven't visited the website yet since October kicked off, there's a little FREEBIE waiting for you.... right HERE! (get him too - he's adorable, and he's in demand, and he's only available for a limited time!)

enjoy! and come and visit us for the next challenge this thursday!