no embellies this week at CHARISMA!

seriously folks, i'm hosting, so i get to call the shots. ;)

NO EMBELLIES! images and sentiments and papers are fine, border punches are okay too, layers and paper piecing are acceptable, and pop dots are welcome. but none of that funny stuff!

CLICK HERE to go to this week's CHARISMA CHALLENGE! and feast yer peepers on the gorgeousness that our design team have made to inspire you...

i decided to play around with one of the gorgeous Make it Crafty images, Whimsical Log, because Make it Crafty is one of our fabby sponsors for this challenge! WOOT! three digis to one lucky winner! we're also sponsored by Pizzazz Aplenty, who rock and roll with the embellies (how appropriate for this challenge, no?)... i figure our participants will be jonesin' to play with some pretties for their next projects, so maybe these awesome prizes will come in handy! :D

here's m'card (coloured all in Prismacolor pencils - i was particularly pleased
with how this one came out, and i even gave Tilda's dress a couple of pleats!):

click the pic to ZOOM!

those papers? yeah, YUM. the new Hopscotch line from BasicGrey. LOVE the colours in this one, and lots of cute, busy patterns. fab!

played along this week at...
BasicGrey Challenges - their theme is FLOWER POWER - i think the flower in Tilda's hair looks quite nice with the flowers behind her, though i have NO CLUE whether they're the same kind!
Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Saturdays - they're looking for PUNCHES on your projects
and Pile It On - they have the punchy thing goin' on there, too! (i haven't played there in AGES!)

so....
things are always up and down here.
i was accepted for a juried craft fair coming up at the end of March. woot! got plenty of time to work my magic for some cute stuff, and hopefully it will kick spring off nicely.
the job is going WONDERFULLY, and it looks like i'm being STRONGLY considered for the promotion i want. i should know within a few weeks if it's going to happen.

BUT.
Miss O is not doing so well. she's still herself, mostly. a sleepier, lazier version of herself who just happens to struggle a bit with her breathing. we took her to the vet on Monday and it turns out she's in Congestive Heart Failure. we couldn't even SEE her heart on the x-ray - it's completely surrounded by fluid. strangely, she acts pretty normal, and while she breathes heavily, she doesn't seem uncomfortable or in pain. so who knows how long she might go on like this, but ultimately, she could depart this world anytime. i'm enjoying as much time with her as possible right now. i love that little cat. she's the sweetest, most loyal little animal i've known and i feel so lucky to have been chosen as her person for the last 16 years. <3 i'm gearing up for my goodbye, but my heart is already breaking.