Dollies new colours, and playing along with some challenges...

hey there folks! enjoy your Mother's Day (for the moms out there)? or just a nice weekend? mine went by far too quickly, but this week is off to a good start... fingers are crossed that The Son will have himself a job by the end of the day (and if not this one, then we'll know for sure about another on Sunday) - he'll be 17 in august, and he NEEDS to start learning about budgeting and finances, and the joy of SAVING! he has an interview this afternoon, and i think if he gets this job, we are going to throw a frackin' PARTY in this house, because it's been a long time coming!

anyway, let's talk craftin', shall we? i was able to get a few things done this weekend, one of which i THOUGHT was for today's Color Challenge (which i scheduled) - alas, i was mistaken, and i at least have NEXT monday's challenge out of the way. :) i'm not very good at keeping ahead of the game, so this is great news for me. ha!

but i did manage to put a little something together this morning for the occasion... today's Color Challenge at Design Dollies is BLACK, YELLOW and TURQUOISE.

i absolutely LOVE these colours together, and was all psyched to play with 'em... but then i waited and got myself all confused! hee hee... anywho, here's what i came up with (i perused a few other challenge blogs this morning to see how else i could be inspired):

couldn't wait to bust out my new Cosmo Cricket Joyride pad, and those alphas are K & Co. yum, which were included in a faboo little (huge) blog candy i won from our May Dollie, VEL, a while back.

wanna win this little prize pack?

play along! do something with this colour combination, and you'll be entered into the draw for May's Color Challenges... this one will end Sunday, May 16th at midnight EST, so there's plenty of time! :)

i also made this card with the following challenges in mind:

Crazy 4 Challenges - "that's what little boys are made of" - there's the piper, of course, plus a frog, a mouse and a couple of bugs, and that's pretty darn boyish to me!
Crafty Creations - "magical" - the stamp just says it all! :)
Crafty Calendar Challenge - "the great outdoors" - 'cuz my little fella is leading a little outdoor parade (and i included the "insect" bonus - my dragonfly)
Fab 'n' Funky Challenge - "funky edge" - my handcut scallopy edge, inspired by my fellow Dollies, Kate and Kristy

that about does it for now - don't forget about our DOLLIE CALL, which runs until May 25th, and we have new challenges up at Envious, The TownScrapper and Some Odd Girl to keep you busy!

my big DEBUT as a Nerdy Girl! NEW CHALLENGE UP AT ENVIOUS!

okay folks, come and play along, and give me a little ego boost, mmmkay? :) this is my first time playing along with the AMAZING Design Team at Envious, and i'll be totally honest - i'm a LEEDLE bit nervous and intimidated, 'cuz those Nerds are SUPAH crafty and creative and talented! i'm SO excited to be on the team (THANK YOU, LYNNETTE!), but i hope i can keep up with all their greatness!

so i can't gush ENOUGH about the concept - create with a collage as your inspiration. it's FABULOUS, and our Headmistress gives us some fabulous imagery to kick our mojo into overdrive! feast your eyes on this month's collage:
HOT, no? i love Blondie! and the '80s seems to be a recurring theme this month (scroll down for deets on the new Some Odd Girl challenge!)...

my project started out with one little scrap of pink and white paper from SEI (that i wasn't crazy about, and has been sitting in my scrap stash for, oh, well over a year)... fussycut it to bits and turned into a frame for my 5"x8" art journal page. found the Frida clipping from a brochure from the art museum, and the rest just kind of FELL onto my paper, i swear. it's like the thing assembled itself - it all just kind of leapt forth from my stash, and each new element i picked up just HAPPENED to be exactly what i was looking for. that NEVER happens! (click to enlarge!)


my title is from Blondie's "The Tide Is High"


houndstooth circle from a KI Memories "Sheer Delights", yellow backgound paper and green handcut scalloped border from BasicGrey, Queen & Co. pink felt, little airplanes (and the book, below) cut from an old greeting card, the red flowers used to be attached to my glasses case


buncha Thickers (the pink backed on black cardstock so they would stand out, and the light blue dotted 'cuz i like to doodle!), my trusty Dymo Label Buddy (with a bit of a My Little Shoebox twist), cupcake is a Unity stamp from the Prismacolor "class" i attended some months back with Lauren (hee hee - yeah, like we LEARNED something from that "class"!)... felt arrow from American Crafts, butterflies made with MS punch *swoon*

SHEESH! i think that's probably the MOST detailed description i've ever given of a project! to be honest, i rarely remember all the elements i use, or who makes the papers, so this is probably just a fluke. ;)

anywho.... we Nerdy Girls at Envious would love to see what you can do using the above collage as your inspiration! you could win this sweet little pack of yum:


and i'd be thrilled to see some of my pallies playing along with the Nerdy Girls! GO HERE FOR THE CHALLENGE, and you have until the end of May to get your projects in, and then the voting will begin for a favourite... so yeah, there's plenty of time, but you don't want to wait, because then you might FORGET! *gasp!* hope i'll be seeing you over there, and, well, have a fantabulatious weekend, chickens! (mine's off to a great start!)

win MAGNOLIA at The TownScrapper!

seriously - YUMMIES!
how about THIS:

Honey Tilda can be YOURS by playing along with this week's PINK AND PURPLE CHALLENGE at The TownScrapper! you could win her if your number is the lucky one drawn! HERE is where you'll find the challenge and the GORGEOUS samples from our Scrapettes! not to mention the second half of our MOTHER-DAUGHTER SPOTLIGHT, featuring Phebe and Catrina Meeder! (go see - they're fab!)

Candy Shoppe Design "21" challenge - sponsored by the Magpie Club

the VERY COOL CHALLENGE at Candy Shoppe Designs ENDS TONIGHT!
and i had to HAD TO HAD TO HAD TO get in on it, because when i saw the challenge, i KNEW what i wanted to do with the number twenty-one.

not much to say, other than to set the scene for you. white water rafting, circa 1998. our group took a break for lunch, and as another group approached on the river (in Ottawa), this is the sight that greeted them (click photos to enlarge for FUN!):


little bit o'dimension for ya:


and, well, something that i HOPE doesn't get me reported on Blogger! *crosses fingers*


SO. you can see why i had to do this challenge, right? it is just an added bonus that the prize is FABBY, and hosted by The Magpie Club, and it would be a sweet thang to win. but mostly i NEEDED to do something special with this photo. there may only be a dozen bums in the photo, but i promise, given the size of our group that day, there had to be 21 or more on display for our fellow rafters. :)

i used Sunny Rays from Some Odd Girl - a sweet little digi stamp that seems to work for just about everything i do these days. isn't he cute?

DOLLIE CALL and new challenges!

yes, lots going on in the world of an Orange Girl!
well let me first mention that YESTERDAY, we posted our Dollie Call! we are looking for our next Dollies for the July-December term, and holy wowza, we're ALREADY getting applications! there are some seriously ENTHUSIASTIC people looking to get craft in the Dollhouse, and it makes us SO happy!

HERE'S THE CALL, and the deadline for applications is Tuesday, May 25th - not much time, so GET ON IT! :)

the May challenges have kicked off over there, and all our April winners have been announced, so drop by and check out the new Color Challenge, or the new Elements Challenge, or the new Sketch Challenge. ANNNND, since it's THURSDAY, that means the TRIFECTA ingredients have all been revealed and you are welcome to play!

we have also said goodbye to our lovely April Guest Dollie, Lizzie, who ROCKED the challenges for her month! we're going to miss her in the Dollhouse, but we KNOW we'll be seeing her all over the blogosphere and some of the crafty groups to which we belong. :)

and we welcome VEL, our May Guest Design Dollie, who's already off to a kickin' start, and you're gonna LOVE what you see from her over the next four weeks!

next, PLEASE come on over to the Envious blog to vote for an April winner! the Alice in Wonderland collage was a HUGE hit, and the projects submitted were INCREDIBLE! COME AND CAST YOUR VOTE (and i'm quite certain there will be much oohing and ahhing whilst you peruse the submissions!). tomorrow, our new challenge will be posted, and i can't WAIT to show you all my first Envious creation! (our May collage is SERIOUSLY hot!)

and today, i have a leedle project to show ya... our new SOME ODD GIRL challenge has been announced, and some winners from our last Stash Challenge! the theme for this challenge, which lasts two weeks (projects due by Wednesday, May 19th at midnight EST), is THE EIGHTIES! oh, SO my era! still in love with the music, the movies, and much of the fashion (though if you don a mullet, i'm afraid you're not invited to tea)... i couldn't resist the urge to quote the theme song (and i can't tell you how much i STILL love Simple Minds) of one of THE best movies from the eighties, The Breakfast Club (rest in peace mister John Hughes)!

here's Sweet Kaylee:



(click 'em to enlarge for deets)

do you DIG her neon green tulle bustle? do you REMEMBER when girls wore crinolines both under AND over their clothes? :) i, uh, still have mine.

okay, so check out what the rest of the Odd Girls have done with this challenge - it might not SOUND like an easy task, but there's LOADS of yummy eighties inspiration to be found HERE, and we hope you'll play along to win two Some Odd Girl digis of your choice!

i'm playing along with the challenge at Moxie Fab World (i LOVED the colours of the bag and they totally dictated the background for this card).

hope the week's going great for all of you - yesterday was Cinco de Mayo and we went out for dinner with my MIL, to celebrate Mother's Day a bit early. apparently hubbin is looking for SLIPPERS for me, because i killed my last pair and am in desperate need. :) tonight, i think i need to get ahead with some of the Dollies challenges, and maybe play along with some of the birthday fun in my Cafe Mom group. CIAO, CHICKENS!