How I got carried away by the E.A.D. color challenge.

Well, I was supposed to make one card for the E.A.D. Challenge, but between their cute stickers, the new Stampin' Up colors, and a searing headache, once I got started, I just kept going.

 It's rare that I make a card without coloring a stamped image, but I was sucked in by these wee forest animals.

And I felt too ill to do much else today.

Still, it was nice to take solace in doing something productive today.

Anyway, here's the actual challenge card, rendered in the three requisite colors. Check out their site. Not only are their stickers cute, they have free shipping for their small stickers like these. Rock on.

Just One Sparkly Card

I couldn't resist an excuse to make this sparkly dog card for the Outlines Summer-themed challenge. It's been stupidly hot here so I focused on cool swimming pool colors. It's a bit hard to see, but I pop dotted the "dogs rule"" section so it's raised up above all the others. I even colored *and* glittered the layer below it despite it being totally unnecessary. Now that's attention to detail!

Mondo Cuteness from Wee Stamps

This week's For Fun Challenge is a layout instead of a card. So, Julie, if you're reading this, thank you for the photo you enclosed in your Christmas card a couple of years ago. You'll be glad to know that I finally got it scrapped. Check out her adorable menagerie. She's almost as hopeless as I am when it comes to animals:

 Wee Stamps is new to me, so I was really excited to check out their shop. Check out the adorable snow bunny in his cute sled. And they have squirrels, too. Squirrels! It's a little hard to tell in the photo, but I had a blast with the digistamp I used in my layout. The best thing about holiday crafting is the excuse to use glitter to the extreme and I didn't fail to do so. One of my happiest memories is being in elementary school, decorating Christmas projects with fat pearls of white glue, doused in a thick crust of multicolor glitter. The sheer excessive use of my craft supplies was a deep rush of happy, but the best part came a few hours later when I'd cave to the impulse to pop those half-dried beads of glue, luxuriating in the crunch of the dried glitter layer on the outside, breaking away to the smush of the still-liquid glue inside. That feeling will always be Christmas to me. Yum.

Before ending with an Orange Pretty Kitty moment, I want to take one more moment to encourage you to stop by For Fun Challenges  and submit your own layout to the challenge. You could be randomly chosen to win 3 images of your choice from Wee Stamps!

And here he is...your reward for making it through another of my bloggity blah blah blog entries. Don't worry, I know you only put up with me for the cute animal pics. I love this particular photo. Toulouse is easily one of the goofiest cats ever and yet he photographs so well. Not bad for such a dink! :)

A Taste of Summer with MelJen's

 Okay, it's For Fun Challenges time again. Last week's challenge was HUGE! 181 entries kept us busy checking out your cards and visiting your blogs. It's one of the things I love about being on a design team. I get to see so many different blogs each week where I find out about new stamp companies, techniques and gather ideas for new craft projects to work on (though I think by now my idea notebook has enough craft ideas to keep me busy well into 2025.)

So, let's talk about this week's challenge! MelJen's designs is our sponsor this week. I am a long time fan of her digital stamps, and if you take a moment to visit her site, you'll know why. Animals! Adorable happy little animals! How could I possibly resist? She's got dog breeds, kitties, mice, bunnies, even rats. I want every last stamp in her shop.

Now, the big reveal...this week's challenge theme is...watermelon! Yes, that cold, delicious, juicy symbol of all things summery. Some people put salt on it, but between you and me, I'm sure you can agree, they are weirdos. Why add one more step between cutting and eating? I can hardly stand to wait till it's in slices as it is. I'm tempted to just dive in with a spoon the minute I see a flash of red flesh. (Did that sound too zombie-like?)

"Watermelon? Did somebody say there's watermelon around? Gimmie gimmie gimmie!"

Please excuse the interruption. That's Howard. He's a big fan of watermelon. Actually he's a fan of food of pretty much any kind. His physique kind of shows it, though I try to keep it from getting out of control. Male rats have a tendency to turn into big squishy boys, though it's not good to let them get *too* squishy. Anyway, let's get to my card this week:

Could this mousey be any cuter? And he's happily chowing down on watermelon ice cream (yeah, okay, I stretched it a little, but I *would* love some watermelon sorbet and so would most of the mice I know.) I've also entered this card into the challenge at Really Reasonable Ribbon (summer theme). I've been hoarding that gorgeous pink and purple flowered ribbon for quite a while and finally decided that *this* was the card that called for it.

So, join us in our challenge this week. Don't forget to take a look at MelJen's shop at Whimsie Stamps. There are also some really great freebies you can use. You get extra chances to win if you use a stamp by MelJens. With four of her digital stamps as the prize, you don't miss out this week!

Digi My World's Adorable Dogs!

Well, I've found a new digi shop to start sending my money to. Digi My World is this week's sponsor at For Fun Challenges, and while they were totally generous and gave us several of their stamps to create with, I foresee my Paypal  balance depleting now that their stamp shop is in my life. :)

 Here's my card for this week. The theme is "anything goes" so I jumped at the chance to play with some papers that have been calling my name lately. They just feel so summery, yet not sunbaked. I like this particular card layout because it reminds me of wainscotting. Very formal for this delicate Italian Greyhound.

Kitty break--kitty break--kitty break!

 Kitty break--kitty break--kitty break!

Ahem. Back to our regularly scheduled post.

Here are just a few of the stamps I simply must have. Check out all those little dog breeds. I'm in love!

I love all the little extras like the dog in the carrier, the italian greyhound sleeping nose to tail. You can tell the artist knows their dogs!

While you're checking out their site and doing a little shopping, don't miss their Blog Candy! You can win a $15 gift certificate if you follow a few simple steps and get picked in the drawing. And don't forget, there'sa $10 gift certificate at stake at For Fun Challenges. Don't miss your chance to start your Digi My World stamp collection! Get started by picking up their Freebie Friday stamp. It's easy!

Not just cards!

It may be hard to believe, looking at most of my posts, but I actually enjoy a lot of different kinds of crafts, not just card making. So in this post, you will see absolutely no cards. I may need to breathe into a paper bag as I post it, but here it is!

Let's begin with a collage I made for the Big Picture class with Claudine Hellmuth (yes, *the* Claudine Hellmuth. ). I'm actually still working my way through the assignments, running late as usual. Somehow my body knows that it's broken, but my brain still desperately wants to do everything. Thus, I'm perpetually embarassed to be behind on everything, always. Someday I will reign my brain in, but until then, forgive me if it runs wild.

And speaking of running wild, above is my collage of a wolf arguing with the moon, sitting atop a large pile of heads. I like how the wolf is pointing one of his fingers at the hyper-adorned moon I made, as if he's mid-discussion. I gave him tiny leaf wings to indicate that he's a charmed wolf, and I painted the heads to blend into the background because, while I wanted to show that he's eaten all these brains (maybe that's why he waxes so philisophical?) I didn't want the gore to take away from the central image. I have to mention how excited I was to even find disembodied head chipboard pieces at Archivers! I know that the manufactuerer intended them to be painted black and used in silhouettes, but they immediately struck me as something that needed to be used in the creepiest way possible. I hope I have succeeded.

Next, here's my first collage I did for the class mentioned above. It could stand to have a clearer central image, but I still like it. Crabs totally creep me out btw, so I decided I had to add one to the flower arrangement so sap some of the sugar sweetness out, or I was afraid I'd give the viewer a tummyache.

How about a layout now? These are ones I made for the Club Scrap PSL Summer Camp going on right now. And that's Sharkey, the deceptively dangerous hamster. He's a little toasted marshmallow of cuteness who will bite and not let go. Ow! I gave him little white wings in this layout. Luckily he doesn't have them in real life or he might get a taste for human ears or noses. He can be a real cuddlebug when he's in the mood, but when he decides to chomp, he's tenacious!

I am so sick of summer, I can't see straight. I don't like hot weather anyway, so this nasty mess of sweaty brightness and buggy overgrowth is too much. So, I did a few Christmas layouts to remind myself that summer isn't forever. I love these pics of Rev in his capelet. He knows hearing the camera turning on means, "don't move" so he's super easy to photograph.

If you have a moment to spare, please visit my Etsy treasuries I put together last night and this morning. I was on a bit of a kick. Anyone can make one up, if you've got some favorite products and the inclination. Just saying. ;)

Take it to the Office.

Halloween Treats

Black Cats Bring Love