new challenges! and new DOLLIES! and yummy prizes! and FREEBIES!

okay folks, most of you have probably caught wind of all this news today, so i'm TOTALLY late jumping on the bandwagon, but lots of business to take care of!

first of all, we announced our next Design Dollies for the July through December term, and we can't wait to put them to work! ;) seriously, we hope they'll be having FUN during their term. it was a TOUGH decision. SO many applicants, so much talent, and ENTHUSIASM! we are quite sure you're all going to LOVE the new team, and July will be here soon! for the big announcement, CLICK HERE! congrats to the newbs! we hope you love your six months in the Dollhouse! :D

second, Some Odd Girl launched its new release on Tuesday, and i showed you the new images already, and a card i made using my favie of the batch... well Tuesday, being the first of the month, also brought us a brand new FREEBIE! meet "Hang Ten Kody"!

isn't he FABBY?! the boy's got style and grace, and those waves look totally GNARLY! :)
CLICK HIM to go to the download - he'll only be available for the month of June! oh, and be sure to check out the rest of the new releases while you're there - SUPAH HOT!

speaking of HOT... it was flippin' YUCKY out there today. we have been getting our first real taste of the New Jersey SOUP, which totally puts me in the mood for ICE CREAM! that brings me to my next piece of news. :) SOME ODD GIRL CHALLENGE DAY! it was a fabulous sketch from our guru, Kristy (owner and artist for Some Odd Girl, co-founding Dollie, and totally nifty PAL!):

(if you click it, you'll see that those are little birds perched atop balloons, but when i see it, i think of fat little tadpoles with their tongues sticking out, catching butterflies in their mouths or something - yeah, a little random...)

anyway, we Odd Girls WENT TO TOWN with this sketch, and the sampes are YUMMEH! go here to see what everyone did with it, and play along to win THIS:


it's "Hula Kaylee"! do you LOVE HER?! i certainly do, and i have her printed and ready for colouring... but she's a limited edition digi, and ONLY available as a prize right now, so you have to play to win! you'll also get to choose your fave digi from the Some Odd Girl shop, and lemme tell ya, there are TONS to choose from!

OH! so here's my card for this sketchy challenge:

i love "Waffle"! he's fun to colour, and he's so easy to customize, 'cuz, well, there are TONS of ice cream flavours, so you can just pick your summery papers and use just about any colour that's in 'em! i may opt to add some jimmies next time! ;)

i played along with the challenges at Crafty Cardmakers (to use your most and least fave colours - my fave being orange, and my LEAST being PURPLE - UGH!)
and at Kaboodle - 3 papers (purple stripes, purple embossed dots, orange dots), 2 embellies (BG ribbon doilies and gems), 1 image (the adorable "Waffle"!)
and Papertake - FUN, FUN, FUN! personally, i loves me the summer ice cream outings - friends and i often make a big date of it, where we'll take over the ice cream shop by occupying some 20-30 of their seats for hours!

annnnnnnd, the next thing i have to share is for our new SKETCH CHALLENGE at Design Dollies, which went up today. i have no trouble with card sketches, but sometimes i struggle with the scrapbook pages, which i was initially hoping to do. HOWEVER, i had this brilliant idea to make a book using a technique i learned from a workshop i took at the Philly Museum of Art (where my handmade book was on exhibit for two months last year!). first, here's the sketch:

and my big ol' project - a birthday book, so i can FINALLY put all my friends' and family members' birthdays in one central location, never to be forgotten again! i am tired of sending late birthday cards! (this little baby was PERFECT for using up loads of scraps!)

the little clipboard insert in the front pocket is what i'll be writing everyone's birthdays on, before i give them a permanent home in THE BOOK... and those are just examples of a couple of pages... i do think i will use this technique for future crafty ideas, too. such a SIMPLE project!

so check out THE CHALLENGE, and play along by entering this one, or by attempting the Dollies' TRIFECTA! Kristy's got a hot new prize up for grabs for June!

i got the hairs did today, as i have to look presentable for a weddin' this weekend, as well as the job hunt - prospective employers may not like the blue a whole lot. ;) and i will be heading up to Newark to hop a plane to Buffalo tomorrow night, so i MAY be around in the a.m., but if i don't catch up with all of you, have a fabby weekend!

ISSUES! (or, if you will, entire SUBSCRIPTIONS!)

so i was having LOADS of problems with the Design Dollies DT forum, and then i started having problems with Blogger, and as a result, i'm WAY behind for today. i WILL be back later (possibly QUITE late tonight) with a brand new Some Odd Girl challenge, as well as a Design Dollies challenge, and a post CHOCK FULL O'IMAGES! :) stay tuned!

oh, and we're ALMOST ready to announce the results of the Dollie Call!

a LAYOUT! with veggies and stuff! oh, and some cards, too!

HAD to do this challenge (how awesome that both Pile It On and Penny's offered the same challenge, to celebrate National Fruits and Veggies Month!) - not only do we eat a LUDICROUS amount of veggies in this household (and, surprisingly, even back in The Son's younger days), but i had these PERFECT photos from summer 1994 that were BEGGING to be scrapped.

so here's my VEGGIE-themed layout for the aforementioned challenges:




the pop-tab from The Son's Red Bull Cola was the perfect ribbon slide (it was the PERFECT red to match the paper!), and i KNEW i'd bought those cute Paperchase stickers for a reason!

wow, these photos are from, like, FOREVER ago. The Son threatened to burn the scrapbook, but i promised never to show his girlfriends. that will change if there's ever a fiancee or a wife! :D

next up, a card for the Heart 2 Heart Challenge (my first time playing along - thanks to my new pallies Nicole and Heather!) - using this sketch:


the reclining fae and the sentiment are from the CTMH Flower Fairy set i'd been DYING to get my hands on, plus flowers stamped from the Happiness set (in CTMH Juniper ink), and the velvet ribbon from their Cranberry Collection. OH! and the Irresistibles - i was SO excited to find some at CKC, i HAD to pick 'em up, even though Mom T and i have an order due in this week and there's a pack in there for me. ;)
here's m'card!


and a close-up - click to enlarge, 'cuz this is a FABULOUS stamp!


the red is a little less RED in person, and the ink is slightly less blue and a bit more green, but i am fighting with my camera today!

then we have this card, with which i'm not terribly happy... i should have gone with my gut instinct to leave it WITHOUT a sentiment, but ya live and learn, right? this one's for the Black, White and one other challenge at Allsorts:


next - for Charisma's challenge (circles) and Colour Create (soft green and light aqua), as well as CAS-tastic's challenge (a touch of green):




(K & Company make my fave brads of all time, and i'm getting TONS of mileage from my new Cosmo Cricket "De-Lovely" mini deck!)

so yeah, i've been busy. mostly trying to keep my mind off stuff, but also determined to use up some supplies. i'm reserving our booth today for the craft fair on the 19th, so i hope i'll have enough stuff to sell, and at least make enough $$$ to pay for the space, and maybe come up ahead.

i'll be back soon though - 'cuz i'm not finished! LOL

BRAND NEW SOME ODD GIRL!

YAY! it's new release day at Some Odd Girl, and we Odd Girls have a bunch of summery goodness to share with you!

be prepared - Some Odd Girl is going to be releasing new images EVERY TWO WEEKS for the whole summer! this first batch is particularly yummy... check out the new Kaylees, new Maes, new Kodys, and new Confections!

here's today's SUPAH-FUN release:


YUMMO! so happy and perfect for those summer projects, so GO SEE FOR YOURSELF, and add your faves to your shopping cart or your wish list!

there's also a new FREEBIE arriving later today, so hurry up and grab Cherry Sprinkles before he's GONE, BABY, GONE!

so to celebrate today's big news, i've put together a little somethin'-somethin' - just looking at him makes me hungry!
this is "Waffle" - how PERFECT is he for summer greetings and cute summer outing pages?!


i've made this happy little card for the following challenges:
Cupcake Craft Challenges - "Summer Delights"
Inspirational Card Sketches - #68 (i flipped it):


and i have a bazillion other things to show and tell, but it's going to have to wait until this afternoon. BUSY DAY!

go to SomeOddGirl.com to see all the new yummy images, don't forget to play along with our 3 Patterned Papers challenge at the Some Odd Girl blog!

Lynnette (my Nerdy Headmistress) has BIRTHDAY candy!

okay, how cool that she's also a gemini, but to be born the day before me? that's awesome! i knew i totally DUG this girl for more than just her great taste (after all, she did "hire" me!)! :)

check out Lynnette's BIRTHDAY BLOG CANDY:


a whole yummalicious Candy Shoppe Designs kit - is it not unbelievably GORGEOUS?! well go over there, follow her (trust me, it's worth the visit!), and post her candy for your chance to win. she'll be announcing a winner on June 8th (or sometime thereabouts, depending how great her birthday celebrations turn out!)...

OH, and tell her that her favorite pupil, Leah, sent you! ;)