A Little Something Different for CDAC Progressive Challenge Part 3

 When we got the images to use for the 3rd segment of the CDAC Progressive Challenge, I knew immediately that I wanted to use this cute smoking duck by Nicecrane Designs, and that I wanted to do something other than a card for a change, so I made this neat little notecard box.

I got the paper from Websters Pages via a Groupon of all things! It was a total steal and I just love the vintage look. It worked out perfectly with the duck's coat and boots.

Inside added a touch of decoration to avoid having a blank lid, and filled the other side with a bunch of pretty stamped cards for jotting down phone numbers, to do lists, stuff you need to pick up at the store, or whatever ideas come to you.

Here you can see the three different card designs. I wanted them to be pretty enough to give away in case you need to give a friend or business contact your contacts.

I'm so pleased with this little project, I think I'm going to have to make a few more for gifts.

SCREEEEEEEEE! Sliding in at the last minute at CDAC!

Sometimes it really disturbs me how getting sick turned me from Ms. Shocks the World With How Much She Gets Done, and into Ms. Careening in at the Last Minute. I still hold out hope that I will be able to split the difference and end up as Ms. On Time, but until then, here's my 2-hours-before-deadline  entry into the Crafters' Digital Art Center Progressive Challenge Part 2.

Yay for Yorkies!

Remember these sweet sighthounds from Digi My World?

Well, Digi My World has sponsored For Fun Challenges this week, which is pretty cool of them (thank you thank you thank you), but what's even cooler is the stamp I chose from the ones they so generously gave our design team to work with. Yep, it's a yorkie!

 Plus he's got that foo foo show hairdo *and* he's in a purse. I always hoped Revco, the prissier of my dogs, would take to being a purse dog, but he said no. That's probably a good thing, actually, since my crumby (crummy? Not sure how that's spelled. Why don't we go with crumbling, since it's doing that, too.) spine probably wouldn't like me lugging around 12 pounds of dog slung over my shoulder. Still, I think it would have been neat since he enjoys being taken along everywhere I go. I think he'd like to relate to humans on eye level (or nearly so), too. I think he'd find it far more dignified.

Things I love about this card: the yorkie (of course! I don't have any other yorkie stamps so it was about time!), the phone peeking out of the center pocket, the resin flowers and tiny metal key in the center of the upper flower. What I don't like: the colors! I think this was the most difficult challenge I've done yet, because I really dislike all 3 of these colors unless they are tempered by the presence of a color I really love. On the other hand, this makes me really curious to see the entries in our challenge this week. I'm looking forward to seeing projects in these 3 colors that can really dazzle me.

Speaking of challenges, I'm entering this card into the current challenge at Creative Inspirations.

Puppy break! Puppy break! Puppy break!

I love this pic because normally both ears are "button" style a.k.a. kind of floppy (some call them "bat ears"), so I love that the left ear is sticking straight up. Her huge, bulgy eyes give the impression that she just heard something surprising, too.

See you at For Fun Challenges!

Challenge-o-rama!

This week I got the itch to make some challenge cards, so here we go!

 This one I made using an image by Phindy, one of my favorite digi stamp artists. I pop dotted the sweet dog and kitty image to give the card some extra dimension. I wish my kitties and dogs were this hooked on each other, but for now, they deserve credit for being curious and indifferent to each other all at the same time, which is a lot better than things could be. Not infreuently, one of the cats will attempt to give a dog a friendly headbutt (so far, always dodged) or one of the dogs will do a play bow or one of those excited canine tap dances for one of the cats, but the cats always seem to find this terrifying (or just stupid) and disdainfully escape as soon as there's an opening. So, until their overtures of friendship become synchronized, I'd better be happy with the fact that they can share the couch without incident.
I am entering this card in the Phindy's Challenge (Stripes Somewhere) and the Really Reasonable Ribbons "I Got You Babe" challenge (aww...luv luv luv!)
Speaking of Really Reasonable Ribbons, I just recently signed up for their really cool monthly ribbon club. Not only do you get lots of cool ribbons, you get them for under $10 a month, delivered.

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Next, we have a super cute kitty I picked up at Whimsy Stamps the other day. It comes with 5 other cute animal quotes, and 5 out of 6 are embellished with cute little animal illustrations. Go take a look!

So...this one is being entered in the Whimsy Stamps Green Challenge, using mostly green. I slipped in some orange since I didn't think a green cat would look natural. :)

 This card features a digi stamp from A Day for Daisies, which is a company that's fairly new to me. I really love their squirrels and other cute little animals, like this snowy squirrel I used for their black, white, and just a drop of red Christmas challenge. I'm really pleased with how this one turned out. I might have to make more for the holidays. :)

 Now we move on to something a bit different...rubber stamps instead of digis! Here's one of my favorite, very distinctive companies. You can always recognize stamps by Outlines because of the incredible detail they always include. The current challenge not only requires one of their stamps, but also a photograph incorporated into a card. This one I made specifically for Darcy, who was here just a little over a week ago, to let her know that Toulouse and the rest of us miss her lots already.

 I adore greyhounds and for some reason they are not easy to find in stamp form, so I was psyched to find this little guy by Digi My World. Next on my wishlist is there Chinese Crested Dog set. If you're not sure which type I'm talking about, they are those adorable little dogs who resemble Andy Warhol. Anyway, their challenge this week is anything goes as long as it's a Digi My World image. Not a problem!

Now for one of my favorite kinds of challenge...the sketch kind! This little polar bear is a digi stamp from Stamp Fairy. I love these little polar bears especially (though I've got some of their bunnies and other little guys, too, in my ever growing collection.)

Wish me luck! I've got a couple more challlenges I'm hoping to complete this weekend provided today's nasty migrane doesn't invite its friends over. Thanks for taking a look at my cards this week!

Fussy Cutting with Di's Digi Downloads

 It's time for another For Fun Challenge! The theme? Kids at play. I know. Kids. Not my forte' but luckily Di's Digi Downloads has some super cute images of kids and animals being adorable together. :)

 So, here's my card sample. I used one of my favorite paper lines, DeLovely! Those colors just jump off the page with vibrant pinks and greens that really work for any season. In spring, it's the color of new growth. In summer, bright pool toys and beach towels. In fall, it reminds me of brand new book covers and back to school clothes (yeah, I know. I'm in my 30's and yet you never seem to forget that back-to-school excited feeling. The OCD in me just eats up that delicious brand-new school year clean feeling that makes autumn feel so fresh, like anything can happen. You have a whole new chance to start over. Moving on, these colors also remind me of ultra-bright Christmas lights that are so very red, they glow pink and so very green, they glow a bit bluish.

I colored several copies of the image I used, then cut out the dog, flowers, butterfly, teddybear, and bow, layering over the original copy of the stamp with pop dots. I took this photo at an angle so you can see the dimension more clearly. The brads were from my stash. I was lucky to find ones that matched so nicely.

I'm entering this card in the Stitchybear Use-any-digi challenge. Wish me luck!

Kitty Break! Kitty Break! Okay, it's more of a finale than a break this time since Toulouse is winding up this week's post. And yes, he is our Mega Scratcher. He doesn't seem to know that his claws retract so he has a habit of accidentallly causing bleeding in his overenthusiasm. He doesn't mean it though. He just wants to play.

So, stop by For Fun Challenges and play along with the "Kids at Play" challenge and win some fabulous digi stamps of your own. She has a slew of stamps too choose from. I dare you to visit her store without falling for at least one. :)

Revisiting Xmas with Michelle Perkett Studio

 For Fun Challenges is having another winter holiday challenge! I'm loving designing for these challenges because they help me get a head start on the somewhat daunting task of making enough xmas cards for my always growing mailing list. I'm a letter writer year-round, and have been pen pal-ing since I was a kid, so I never have a problem using up my cards, but add to that the large number of online friends and others who I use the holidays as an excuse to touch base with via postal mail once a year and it's a wonder I haven't been crushed beneath a xmas card avalanche yet!

I chose Peppermint the Bear as my digistamp for this challenge. I just love how he's sitting with his back paws in the air, since Revco (pictured below) sits just the same way. He didn't require a ton of coloring--just a bit of shading and some festive red touches, both done in copics. The blue parts (aside from shading) are actually blue flocking I adhered using a Creative Memories glue pen. I usually enjoy adding a ton of color to my stamped images, so I was surprised at how much I loved working with this one. I can't wait to see what Michelle comes up with next. I definitely hope to see more animals and more wintry digis. We'll just have to keep an eye on her shop. In the mean time, why not make a card for our challenge this week at For Fun Challenges? That way, you can win some free digis to get you started!

Revco, keeping an eye on the neighbors. Note the sitting position--butt down, back legs up, just like Peppermint! :)

CDAC Progressive Freebie Challenge...Project #1

cdacpc1--CDAC Progressive Freebie Challenge for August. My favorite part of this image was using liquid pearls to make the teeny tiny stamen on bleeding hearts. http://priscillastyles.ning.com/
Thanks to Sandi Sample's Digital Stamps for the teapot digital stamp.