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

On the Beach...really?

It's no secret that I'm not a sun worshipper. It only takes one look at my creepy pallor (or my alabaster beauty, depending on your opinion on skin that matches standard white cardstock. :)) to figure that I don't spend a lot of time in the outdoors, so these week's challenge was a bit of a...challenge. We're doing beach themed projects at For Fun Challenges.

The Paper Shelter is this week's sponsor, with the winner receiving the generous prize of a $15 gift certificate from their store. Chosing one of their stamps for the challenge was the easy part. They have the cutest cat and mouse stamps ever!

And, here's my card! Check out how happy that cat is! I even made the sun look flattering by going for my favorite...glitter. Even my friend Jen's husband, Alex, who suffers from glitterphobia would approve of this card because in this case I used self-stick glitter "paper" (it's actually a plastic sheet that's got a generous amount of the sparkly stuff smooshed between the sheet and a thick layer of adhesive. It's really handy for punching or die cutting. It's not the cheapest, but it goes a long way if you're careful to line up your cuts. The papers and glitter fishies are from an SEI kit club selection. I love their stuff! The crab was a wild card item...something that's been sitting on my work counter for quite a while, waiting for the right project to come along. Ahoy! Here it is.

Stop by this week annd play with us!

For Fun Challenge of the Week With Di's Digi Downloads

The challenge this week over at For Fun Challenges (where I'm a superstar. Well, okay, just a member of the design team, but that's kind of the same thing, isn't it?) is to use two different ribbons. I chose an adorable holiday image from our sponsor this week--Di's Digi Downloads, so I used some super sparkly ultra shiny ribbon I've been hoarding in my stash for just such an occasion. Could it *be* more festive? I doubt it! Ha!

Di's Digi Dowloads will be awarding this week's winner 5--count 'em!--5 digital stamps of your choice. Trust me, it's not easy to pick from all the images she has because they're all so adorable! Here are a few of my favorites.

Aww...kitty...butterfly...tiny tiny mouse... smothering...in...cuteness!

Okay, this one is so cute, I had to go purchase it just now. I couldn't go another day without setting my copics to these sleepy little animals.

And a favorite that isn't from the new releases...a classic, I suppose...I just get all fuzzy giggly seeing that adorable little hedgehog begging to be picked up and given a ride in the wheelbarrow with his little pal. Why don't hedgehogs come up to me like that when I'm in the yard? Okay, perhaps it's because they aren't native to the U.S.

Speaking of wee little guys, how about I end this post with a pic of one of my foster hamsters? Those are Scott's hands, by the way. Mine are significantly less hairy. The little fuzzy girl pictured is Jane. She looks like a little toasted marshmallow when she curls up to sleep, she loves treats, running in her wheel (she loves it so much she falls asleep in it sometimes!) and all sorts of little chew toys she can tear apart. She's a bitey girl, so she needs a home that's very understanding and enjoys interacting with her in a more hands-off way--enjoying her reaction to new cage setups, toys, treats, and talking with her, etc. If you think you might be interested in this girl with a few special needs, visit http://www.cpr-nc.org/

I *heart* Bugaboo Stamps.

I'm totally psyched that this week's sponsor over at For Fun Challenges is Bugaboo stamps, since I own an obscene number of their digital stamps and could easily stuff my hard drive full of even more. If you take a sec to visit their shop, you'll see that they have an absolutely obscene number of stamps available to keep you coloring ad infinitum.

First, let's check out my card for this week. The challenge is to use one additional fold beyond the usual single fold card.

 I chose to use two of my favorite images of "Deacon", a recurring Bugaboo character. You'll definitely be seeing more of him on my blog. I am such a digi hog, I have several Deacon stamps I haven't even had time to use yet. I decided to put him in a cemetery since this gothy dreamboat *happy sigh* is presenting us with a sweet long-stemmed skull on the card front. 

On the inside, say hello to a cute little Deacon with wings and a little heart. I left the middle panel blank since I like to write whole letters inside my cards, so I need a lot of space.

If you follow my blog, you've seen a lot of projects using Bugaboo Stamps already. Here are a few examples you may remember. I'm a big fan of their sweet little rottweilers:

And, of course, the Skelekins:

You can win some Bugaboo stamps of your own if you participate in this week's For Fun Challenge, and oh yes, you definitely want some. While you're clicking, don't miss this week's freebie stamp at the Bugaboo store! Be careful...if you're like me, you'll end up picking up a cartful of other stamps before you leave!

My card class homework and something really cool for the animals!

(I'm entering this card in the Clearly iStamp punch/die cut challenge this week. :))

I've been participating in Summer Card Camp 2011 (click the link for more info). Each week we're given a new color palette to work with. This week was not the easiest for me. It's a margarita green with oranges and peaches and bright pink and purple. So...I ran a little fast and loose with it and threw in some blue in an attempt to calm things down a bit. I wasn't sure what the heck I was going to do with these colors until I remembered the new colors of Stampin' Up embossing powder and some SEI paper I recently came into.

OMG! I was actually working with these colors and liking it. I would not have guessed.

Naturally, I had to sidestep peach, since it is my least favorite color by FAR, but orange on the other hand, I can handle!

And when it comes to orange kitties, well, who doesn't love a ginger cat?

Okay, I promised something really cool for the animals and that would be a new digi stamp set from one of my all-time favorite digi artists, Mo's Digital Pencil. She's selling this adorable dog set for just $1 *and* she's giving all the proceeds to Pet Orphans of Southern California. How great is that? Don't forget to check out Mo's other stamps while you're there. She does fabulous work!

And now, for no reason, a gratuitous dog butt:

Revco, caught in a moment of extreme laziness. Why sit on *top* of the couch, when you can just let your back end hang while you watch the neighbors across the street?

Let's Go British with Little Claire

It's challenge time at For Fun again, and this week it's all about using those cute little crochet flower embellishments. Our sponsor this week is our friend from across the pond (the Atlantic ocean is a hell of a pond!) is Little Claire who provided us with these wildly cute images. I chose to use her sweet elephant for my card.

Isn't he just...awwww? :) Be sure to run down to For Fun Challenges to join in their crocheted flower challenge this week.