Help for a Very Special Lady

I know many of you out there in the crafting blog world know of Karen (Krafty Karen).  She has been going through a really rough time in the past few years, and could use a little help.  If you go here to Wendy's blog, you can read about Karen's ordeal.

As a way to help raise money for some medical proceedures, Karen has been selling some card kits on the Paper Craft Kits (or Paper Creator for the UK) stores.  These kits are absolutely adorable, and only $1.50 (£1.00 for the UK).  They are digital, and come with papers, instructions and the images already colored.  All you would need to do is print them out, cut them and fold.  Of course, you can always add your own touches with embellishments and glitter!

If you're interested in taking a look at the kits, here is the USA store and here is the UK store.

One of the things I love most about this crafting community is how caring everone is, and how everyone bands together when times get tough.  Hugs for everyone!

Come to the Dark Side...

We have cookies.  =D I've always loved that quote.  Ok, now that I have your attention...

Are you a fan of Simply Betty Stamps?  You should be!  Betty has *fabulous* images in different styles.  Yes, most of what you see from her on my blog are the ones that are both creepy and cute (skulls *everywhere*!!)...'cause those are my favorite...but she also does really sweet images (like Jude and his crew) and some really fun ones (like the recent Christmas release). I promise!  You should go check her out.

You know what else you should do?  (LOL, sorry I'm being so bossy today...)  You should join the new Simply Betty Stamps group at Paper Craft Planet!  Why, you ask?  Well, besides being a group of AWESOME and funny girls, you could get a free image!  That's right...when the group reaches 500 members, Betty will give THIS image as a freebie!

Squee!!  Is she not adorable?!?  Look at her cute little kitty...and her fun little doll..and all the pretty pretty skulls...  LOL 

Ok, so I hope you join the group!  We're going to have a blast, and I'd love to see you there...

Thanks for stopping by, and we'll see you soon!

CDAC Progressive Challenge

Crafter's Digital Art Center (or CDAC) is having a progressive challenge!  What's the grand prize?  A fabulous set of 12 Copic markers!  How cool is that?  When I heard about this, I definitely wanted to join in.  Here's what you do:

Go to CDAC here and join up (if you're not already a member).  CDAC is a fabulous place with so much to learn and such a great community...you definitely won't be disappointed with your membership!

After signing in, join the Progressive Freebie Challenge here, then follow the directions. There are some GORGEOUS images for this first section of the challenge, and you only have until 8/31/11 to get the first images free, so hurry up!  Don't worry, though...if you miss the first deadline, you can still buy the images for $1 to play along!

So, here's my first card for the kick off challenge.  I used this adorable image by Whoopsi Daisy. Isn't she CUTE?!?

Paper is from Kaiser Craft's Magic Happens collection.  Flowers are from a blog candy I won a few months ago.  Gems are from Recollections.  The image was colored with Copics, then highlighted with Stickles on her belt and flower in her hair. Sentiment was printed using Word and the background paper for the sentiment is from FreeDigitalScrapbooking.com.

Well, there's my first one!  I printed out the images forever ago, and meant to have the cards done weeks ago.  Now...time's almost up and I've FINALLY completed my first one. LOL Hopefully I'll have time to put together a couple more before the next session starts! =D

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you will join in the fun!

Happy Birthday!

Man, there are a lot of birthdays coming up!  It seems like everyone I talk to has a birthday or a family member/friend with a birthday in the next few weeks.  That makes this week's Happileigh Scrappin' challenge just perfect.  This week was Happi Sister Chris's turn to pick the challenge, and she wants to see birthday projects, in honor of her son's upcoming birthday.

I used the adorable Sea Turtle, which you can find here.  I copied and pasted him twice, and changed the angles on all three turtles for some variety, and colored them with Copics.  The sentiment is my own, printed out using Word.  All papers were edged with light blue chalk ink.  The colored bubbles and seaweed are stickers I found at Target.

Now it's time to head on over to the Happileigh Scrappin Challenge Blog to see the projects from the rest of the Happi Sisters.  Remember, you do not need to use a Happileigh Scrappin' image to enter....but we'd love it if you did!  =D  If you don't have any Happileigh Scrappin' images, you can visit the shop here.  As always, it's buy three get one free!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and we'll be seeing you soon!

Back to School!

Gosh! Sorry I haven't been on much...life has just been so crazy busy!  I guess it's just summertime.  Friday I went all day to our state fair with my mom and a couple of her friends....

Then today Wy and I spent all day at Vallyfair, a local amusement park:

Not a lot of time for crafting...but I did fit in a little bit! Wanna see....?  =D

It's that time of year again...all the kiddies are headed back to school.  In honor of that occurrence, Tiddly Inks challenged us to create a bookmark.  Now, I've never created a bookmark before, so I was kind of excited.  I've been seeing a lot of corner bookmarks around Blogland in the past few months, and I've always wanted to try making one.  So, I decided to find a fun tutorial and try it out.  (The tutorial I found is here on Split Coast Stampers.)

And here's a close-up of just the bookmark:

I used the adorable Schoolgirl and Extras, colored with Copics, Spica markers and STICKLES!  =D  The sentiment on the side of the book says "Never judge a book by its cover."  I think that's good advice for everyone, but especially the kids.  Sometimes at a young age it's too easy to go along with the group and make snap judgments about other people...I thought this would be a nice little reminder to give everyone a chance.  =D

Well, I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.  (Trust me, the skirt looks much better IRL. LOL)  I'm really excited that I tried this, and I can't wait to make another one.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by!  We'll see you soon!

Spring is Here!

Or at least it is in the Southern Hemisphere....so that's the new Digistamps 4 Joy challenge for this fortnight!  If you live in the Northern Hemisphere like me...you're just heading into the end of Summer.  But you can remember Spring, right?  It was that one day a couple of months ago?  (Or at least it only felt one day long! lol)  One little twist, though...we want to see at least one handmade flower on your project!

Aaaanyway....here's my card for the new challenge!

I love the image I got to play with this week: Butterfly Belle. I just think she's so gorgeous!  I love all of the flowers in her hair.  I colored the image with Copics, then colored the flowers in her hair with Souffle pens.  I colored the butterfly with Glaze pens, then cut the image out.  (Let me tell you...fussy-cutting that hair took a few minutes! LOL)  The paper behind the image is from Stampin' Up. The green background is from DCWV's Ciao Bella Hello Beautiful stack.  The tag is from Dana's Inspirations.  The sentiment I printed in the center of the tag.  The flowers were made by quilling.  This was my first solo attempt at quilling...and I loved it!  (I had only done it once before...one flower on one card in a class.)  The butterflies were made from a couple of different punches.  Unfortunately I couldn't tell you where the punches were from.  (In my first ever crop, before I had very many tools, a very nice lady saw how much I loved her punches and let me go crazy punching out a ton of butterflies.  I've held on to them ever since, and have FINALLY used some!)  I decorated the butterflies with Copic markers (for the brown bodies) and stickles.

Well that's it for my card!  Sorry my post was so long!  I just now realized how much I was typing. LOL  Why don't you head over to the Digistamps 4 Joy Challenge Blog to check out the projects by the rest of the DT?  They are some *fabulous* creations, let me tell you!!  Remember, you do not need to use a Digistamps 4 Joy image to play along, but if you do......you could win the DT's Choice Award (and a $6 voucher to the store)!!  How cool is that?  TWO chances to win!

Hope y'all come play along with us!  Talk to you soon!

Happy Halloween! Wait...What Month Is It?

If you know me, you know that I loooove Halloween.  For me it's never too early to start getting ready.  My friends and I are already planning our costumes. =D  Every Halloween and Christmas I like to make little treats for my coworkers.  (There's only 6 of them in my department, so it doesn't take too long. LOL)  I decided to get a head start this year, and now I'm finished with the Halloween ones!  They're just waiting to be filled with candy.  (Mmmm...Halloween candy is the BEST!)

I used a Sizzix box die and my Big Shot (looove it, thanks ma!).  It took a few tries before I figured out the correct way to fold and glue them shut.  I also had a little bit of a paper issue (didn't realize I had to cut one part twice, and I ran out of one of my papers) but figured out a way to make it work, as Tim Gunn would say.  =D  All of the images are from Simply Betty Stamps and were colored with Copics and Glaze pens, then cut out with my craft knife.  I added embellishments from the Basic Grey Eerie collection and gems from Archiver's.  Then I lined all of the fronts with Stickles.

Here's a close up of all six.

Thanks for stopping by to take a look! We'll be seeing you soon.  =D

Challenges:

Simply Betty Challenges: Treat Containers

Simply Betty Challenges: Anything Halloween

Papertake Weekly: Dies to Die For

My Time to Craft: Here Come the Girls (all but the fifth box)

Incy Wincy Designs: Anything but a Card

Aly's Sunday Challenge: Halloween

Crafty Sentiments: No Sentiment (all but the second box)

Mmmm...Halloween Candy....

The lovely Linda B is giving away some FABULOUS candy!!  Take a look:

Nom nom nom!  =D  Looks delicious.  Why don't you head over to her blog to take a peek at the list and maybe sign up to win?  Good luck!  ; )



Monday, Monday (La Laaaa, La La Laaaa)

LOL  I don't know if any of you know that song...but it's been stuck in my head for hours.  Just thought I would like to share.  Aaand, if you do know that song.....it's time for it to be stuck in YOUR head.  You're welcome. =D

Well, you know what Mondays mean....a Happileigh Scrappin' Challenge!  Woot!  This week was Happi Sister Mandy's turn to choose the challenge, and she wants to see some Girly Girls.  That's right...anything goes as long as you have a girl on the project.

I used Leigh's adorable Tea Party set, which is one of my favorite Happileigh Scrappin' images.  (It has everything!  Pretty hats, bows, teapots, flowers...) It was colored with Copics and Glaze pens, and edged with chalk ink.  The sentiment is from TLC Creations.

Now, remember...you do not need to use a Happileigh Scrappin' image to play along, but we would love it if you did! Just in case, here's a link to the Girly Girl section of Leigh's store.  =D As always, it's buy three images and get one free.  Such a great deal!

Why don't you head on over to the Happileigh Scrappin' Challenge Blog to see the rest of the Happi Sister's projects?  They are fabulous, so you wouldn't want to miss them...  =D

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you playing along!

P.S. I'm also entering this in the Corrosive Challenges: Girly.