Stamp Something...for Jaimie

I've gotten to know Erin Bailey's kindness in a number of ways. First, when she started a card crusade for little Paige, who was in a horrible boating accident and had part of her arm amputated. Secondly, when I won the challenge on Stamp Something (a delicious Copics package was sent by Erin shortly thereafter). Now, Erin has reached out to some of us in the blogging community to help another little girl, Jaimie, who lost her mother during a random break-in of their home. Jaimie was badly hurt and even when she manages to heal, she and her father will have to deal with not having her mom around.

Erin and Denise are organizing a blog hop starting Monday, November 2nd and I would love it if you could join in and help make cards to send to Jaimie. I'll be a part of this amazing blog hop to show "some love" to a little girl across the way. We make cards for challenges; let's make a card to make a difference in a little girl's life.
You can read more about Jaimie's story here. I want to help make a difference and will be offering up a fantastic prize for those joining the blog hop which will run November 2nd to November 9th. To start, leave me a comment on what you'd like to see in this prize (let's be reasonable though) - might as well make a wish list! Maybe you'd like to see K & Company die cuts, a gift certificate from your favorite online store...you can even send an e-mail to me to keep it private (terryoulboub@yahoo.com). :p

Let's really rally together and show love to a little girl and make a difference in her life. Stay tuned for this super cool blog hop!

Fall Colors and Punches

Is it fall yet? You can smell it in the air, right? Or is that a neighbor burning their food again? *just kidding* I know you're supposed to smell crisp and clean air when autumn approaches but our weather here is a little cuckoo, so I guess that will come around sooner or later.
I combined this card into two challenges:

The Digi Kitty - autumn colors - red, gold, brown, yellow and orange
Practical Scrappers - punches

Digi Kitty is a new place for me. I found some fun images and some great designs by a sweet design team. You should check them out. Practical Scrappers is famous for having you use the tools you already have so that your hubby gets to hold onto his pennies. ;p You'll love all the beautiful LOs from the DT - they are fabulous!

So, I colored my image using the colors on the paper and in the challenge. My son had drawn leaves around Ally's feet, so I punched up a bunch and laid them there and fluttered some about the card so it looks like they are falling from a virtual tree. How cute is that?

I Made Top 5 at Crafty Catz!

Happy Monday!

I'm sipping my coffee, going through the blogger reading list to see what inspirational blogs/challenges are in store for me today and find that I've made Top 5 over at Crafty Catz!

Sunday, 25 October 2009

Top 5

Evening sorry this is a wee tad late I was away for the weekend.

Anyway this weeks TOP 5 are:-

1. Hazel at http://craftyhazelnut.blogspot.com/

2. Victoria at http://bluejellytoo.blogspot.com/

3. Liz at http://lizscreativecorner.blogspot.com/

4. Maria at http://joyfulstamper.blogspot.com/

5. Terry at http://challengersdelight.blogspot.com/

Please copy and upload our TOP 5 banner to your blog! Well Done everyone!

I want you to know that the DT is diligent in their tasks at looking at all submissions and commenting on what you've created. They're always kind and encouraging words, which helps. Doesn't it warm your heart when someone stops by your blog to say something nice? And when they are consistently doing this when you submit, you know they are sincere. Why not take a moment and check out their blogs - they are quite a creative group - you are bound to be inspired!

• Suzie
• Carol
• Dianne
• Kirsty

I am thrilled that my buttons and brads card was picked. Their challenge was perfect for the card because I didn't know what to add to make it stand out (the snowflakes weren't enough). So for those new to crafting, don't skip those challenges - you just never know.

Thank you Crafty Catz Design Team for your encouragement and constant comments - I really do appreciate them!

This was a humdinger...

I think there are certain stamps that I am intimidated by because I have such trouble with coloring and staying within the lines. I decided to try Magnolia today. Good grief, I had to re-check the package she came in to make sure it was Magnolia. *sigh* There are so many stamps out there and sometimes one does get confused...well, just me.
Anyway, the challenge was not the sketch itself. The challenge was coloring and not being nervous. Silly me. Isn't the sketch a beauty? I was so proud of it. Of course, I won't act as if it came to me all at once. The DT over at Just Magnolia are fabulous, which is probably why I felt so intimidated. I mean, they're just so darn good - I didn't dare mess up. Well, I did - don't look too close...remember, I'm still in the first stages of coloring with Copics, not an artist; just a crafter. :D

Now that I've whined about it, I do hope you like what I've done. I'm just a "wee" bit proud. :D

Three is a Magic Number

With Fall here in the midst some states actually see this season in progress. Living in California, the trees are still full and green. The weather is a little wacko but...whatever.

I am putting my little card in three challenges:

365 Cards, Day 238: Use twine
Kraftin' Kimmie - Challenge #3 - shades of autumn (brown, rust, green or yellow)
The Sweet Shop - Sketch 27

I followed the sketch because sketches really keep me in line (HAHA!). It's a great sketch from The Sweet Shop and the design team did a wonderful job of posting some cool samples by which to get inspired. Stop by and check them out.
I tried to keep with the colors of Kraftin' Kimmie's challenge, even punching out leaves of the colors to add to that "fall" feeling. The DT there had a fun time making some really cute cards with those fun images - you should see what she has over there - it's so neat!

Twine...something we don't often see but at 365 Days, you will just rock when you see what Vicky did - it is totally awesome. I wasn't as creative, so I just braided mine and added with the sketch. The leaves do make it kind of cute though, huh? On the inside of the card, I put an ear of corn...yum yum...
Hope your weekend is filled with wondrous pleasure! Happy Crafting!

Blue, Silver & White, Some Brads/Buttons with a sketch

Today finds me with three challenges on one card - hooray! :) This time, I started with an idea that didn't work and had to improvise. Without an image to focus on (my snowman had red in it instead of blue so that wasn't going to work), I had to come up with something else.

The good thing is I had a sketch from Friday Sketchers #75. I admit this should have been easy with the samples from the DT - really creative pieces! But I was also entering this card into If the Shoe Fits challenge which is blue, white and silver. The only silver I had was origami paper and this sheet was so thin, it just sort of flapped about instead of lying down. I had cut a tree with my Cricut, envisioning this snowy beautiful silvery card....well, that didn't quite make it with the sketch. So I used MS snowflake punch and that solved that mystery. Luckily for me, Crafty Catz's challenge this week was to use buttons or brads or both. My card needed something else, so I used both (in the appropriate colors) and added stickles to bring it out a little - it looked a little tired. ;p
Don't forget to check over to Tellen's Place for the RAK blog candy drawing for those followers. Later today, I will announce that winner and put up pics of the blog candy for the follwers that promote my new blog on their blog, which will be drawn 10/31/09.

Happy Crafting Friday!

Simple Birthday Wishes

I'll be honest with you - this card did NOT turn out the way I had imagined. When I saw the sketch on The Fresh Batch, I thought, ooh, I can do another sketch and this one rocks! The DT made such wonderful samples, I wanted to do the same. Too bad it became something else!

First, if you check out the lovely beauties the DT made, you'll see some are like gift cards; you can pull out the insert. Well, I thought I'd do the 365 Cards: Day 236, which is Paisely. Amy had a beautiful card on display to get you in the Paisley mood.
So I found use for this really bright paper in my DCWV spring pack. Sometimes, don't you just want to ask the designers of the paper - what were you thinking - what the heck is this doing here? Sometimes you get papers that make you think they messed up and kept it in there anyway just knowing YOU could make SOMETHING with it. Well, I did think that...but then, there it sat all spring. But today, I wanted to use it and had a good idea.

But...the insert didn't come to be since I FORGOT about it and glued down a small piece to make the card. All of my coordinating papers seem too busy for the paisley top. The image I colored didn't work and so I had to do what worked best: Keep it simple.

Go check out the blogs and have fun with the challenges! Have some fun!

Fun, Spooky Fun

Stamp with Fun is a new challenge that I browsed as I was hopping earlier today. Challenge 29 for them is with the Halloween theme.
I have run out of ideas for Halloween - brain overload due to my doing so many Halloween themed challenges...but I dragged out Tilda and colored her awkwardly. One of these days I am going to get really good at this - you'll see. :-D Anyway, she was holding this chalkboard with a math problem on it and that's not something kids are doing while trick or treating, so I thought she could be carrying a skeleton. How cool is that? I thought of her carrying the cat but then it looked like she was choking him so I settled on the skull and didn't have to use the little slit I cut on her arm to place it - just popped him up there - he sort of looks like he's trying to get away.
Anyway, why not go check out some more BOO-tiful cards...the DT really did a bang up job inspiring others.

Announcing...a NEW Blog: Tellen's Place

Well, I've been laid off for approximately 10 months now and though I am applying to jobs daily, my skill set in the current job market is just not matching up. I started blogging in August and though I've been paper crafting since 1998, I've always been entrepreneurial. My stint at art and wine festivals, even a booth at the local mercantile were great experiences. I took a break but here I am back with scrapping.

I created Crafter's Delight for beginners who are new to paper crafts. I created Challenger's Delight to showcase challenges in an effort to improve my own crafting. I created Stampin' Up to promote my Stampin' Up! business. And now....

**Drum roll please**Introducing....

Tellen's Place

This blog has been created to showcase T & M Designs, a digital stamp company with artwork by my son. I've used some of his art in my challenges and received good feedback. After some research, I decided to join the ranks of the many digital darlings to help provide a variety of characters/images for the paper craft community to enjoy. "Digi" is the new wave of the paper crafting world and I want to help make it fun in the blogging world.

Currently, we are under construction but set to debut on Sunday, October 19, 2009. We will have challenges and blog candy that feature supplies and a free digital image from T & M Designs in a kit to create a paper craft project. The best part of our challenges will be that YOU, the participant, will vote on the winning project (from the Top 5 chosen by our design team). Yes, we will be looking for members to design crafts from these digital images (more on that later).

Here's a sneak peak at one of his images. I hope to see you there as a follower at Tellen's Place! We are going to have a LOT of fun!

Winter/Christmas

La-La Land Crafts has released their new Christmas stamps - a total of 12 - we were all trying to figure it out at the blog hop (heehee). These new stamps are the cutest, most adorable...you just have to get over there and check them out - you will LOVE them! La-La Land Challenge #8 is Winter or anything Christmas.
So I grabbed my La-La stamp and colored her traditional holiday style - isn't she just too cute for words? I followed a sketch from a past challenge and added my own two cents and came up with this. Now, La-La had her hands open as if she is welcoming, holding something - something needed to show something, right? So, she is holding garland - to put on one of the trees! How cute is that? The snowflakes are plastic little cheapies from Wal-mart (wink). I added glam to them so they wouldn't look so gaudy. The ribbon was $1 at the big boys craft store and the sentiment was a rub-on. Not bad eh?

Tangerine, Turquoise, Chocolate, Buttons & Stitches

This time, I purposely tried to make a card to fit more than one challenge. This card fits:

Cupcake Challenge: Buttons and Stitching
Pollycraft Monday: Tangerine, Turquoise and Chocolate

If you go to each blog and check out what the design team members have sent as samples, you will be so inspired. These are really talented individuals who use different methods to add uniqueness to their projects. How cool is that?
My card is sort of simple because that's me. I try to gussy things up and it then looks like a mess sometimes (those are cards I usually toss in the plastic file). This card has faux stitching because me and the sewing machine haven't quite come together with paper, let alone fabric these days. The blue yarn - not really yarn and I forget what textile it is called, but it is frizzy and adds texture to the card. The MS lace punch is handy even on brown cardstock, isn't it? The K&Company embellishment with the butterfly is just so cute, I think. I added the butterfly button to go along with the embellishment and the big brown one goes along with the challenge. The sentiment - how true is that? ;p

I Won! Scrap-a-Daisy!

You know, I have always stated that my reason for getting involved in challenges is to help me improve my craft, which it has been. If you've been watching since I started this blog in August, you can tell, I've stepped my game up a bit. *smile* I am surrounded by so many artistic people that I can't even begin to name the ones who've helped me because I'd forget someone and I'd feel bad, so its best not to. But I do follow blogs because of the content, the exceptional quality of the projects made on those blogs. These are ones I've come across and went, oooh...ahhh.

Okay, onto my winnings!!I was chosen by the random number generator. I'm not a fan of using this technique for card challenges because it doesn't test the truth of your ability. However, in this format, all we had to do was become a follower and leave a comment. How easy is that? Here's my comment:

"Tanisha said your art was incredible and she wasn't kidding! WOW! I really like the way you design your craft - it is so doggone cute! I need to follow just to get inspired! I envy you making cards all day on WCMD!!! I love it when someone is as addicted to this craft as I am. :D Happy Crafting!"

Tanisha started following my blog so I had to follow hers (Life's Simple Pleasures) - she is a really great crafter, you should check out her projects! One day, she mentioned a few friends and described their art and suggested we check them out, so of course I had to go see. She was not exaggerating. Leslie of Scrap-a-Daisy is AMAZING!
See, I wasn't saying that stuff just to get the candy. I love to look at the work others do and I like to comment because many have come to my blog and commented, encouraging me with my crafts and I can't tell you how wonderful it makes you feel!

Thanks Leslie for making my day!! Thanks Tanisha for mentioning her on your blog. I'd like to send you something -- to "pay it forward" so to speak.

Admiration for a fellow crafter

I've been checking out this blog for awhile and finally decided to follow it because I didn't want to miss anything. ;p

I am really inspired by Maria's blog. She has awesome tutorials that are easy to follow and her cards are exceptional! When you have a chance, check out Stampin Inspirations by Maria. She really puts a lot of effort into making these artistic beauties. I have been able to make one of the tutorials and tried to do the flap card and failed miserably. But, I'm not giving up.

Here are a few cards I tried that impressed me so much because of their elegance. My cards look nothing as beautiful as Maria's but with the right "stuff", I'll get there.

The flap on these cards is vellum and then overlaid with a designer pattern (not all). These I did as a "trial" so that I can do the really cool ones to give to two special people from my insurance company that inspired me with my SU business!
This weekend, Maria further impressed me with her "have you ever looked back in time and wished..." where she listed things she would do differently if she could. I really liked that because she shared something about herself besides her artistic abilities. It's great because it helps you get to know a person better. It's like those who take the time to comment on your work on your blog; so nice and encouraging!

I just thought I'd share that with you. There are others who have touched me that way and I hope as you blog hop, you get to find new crafter friends that inspire and touch you too!

Snowmen and Snowflakes

The funny thing about challenges is that you never know what season you're doing! You could be posting a Halloween or autumn project one day and the next, you're in the snow singing, "Baby it's cold outside..." :D

That's the fun in challenges. It's nice to join in for the blog candy but it should also be something you do because you enjoy being challenged! Crafty Catz has a challenge you'll love because it's taking you to snow country - snowmen and snowflakes! If you are unsure how to begin, just check out the DT's samples - they are fantastic! Here's my entry:
I have to tell you a secret about this card. I actually made it last year for the troops but kept it back because I actually liked it (blue is my favorite color) and I was going to send to someone but forgot. Well, it's getting late and I'm like...one more challenge...I go in my stash and see this card. The paper was snowflaked out already - how cool is that? I had layered a large snowflake and popped it up with the foam dot and that was it. So I thought...hmmm... let's add a few snowmen, use that cute punch from my fav lady (MS), add some ribbon, some glam and brrrrr...there you have it - a recycled card with a new twist. :p How delightful is that?

Halloween Is Coming...

I am trying to make myself stay on the Halloween track so that I can send good tidings to family and friends. I'm also entering this card in the challenge at A Spoon Full of Sugar blog. All you have to do is make a card for Halloween and I know we're all doing that, so have at it and enjoy!
I made this card for the heck of it, keeping with the simple design for new crafters. This is a matter of purchasing the right pack of patterned paper (this group was double sided - how cool is that?) and embellishments. It cuts down on what you have to purchase. I found the ribbon at a local craft store for $1 and the foam pop ups make the card stand up.

Keep it simple and make it handmade (almost a copy from Food Network's Sandra Lee - Semi-Homemade). :p

Just Five

Good Thursday morning to you!

I have a very simple and easy project. The folks at 365 Cards' challenge, Day 222 is really good for the new beginner to crafting. All you have to do is use five things on your card. For example, I copied the five things the designer did on her beautiful card because I forgot it could be ANY five things just as long as it is ONLY five things. *Duh...* But Amy's card was so darn cute, I guess it just stayed on my mind!
I did the simple shapes (square, oval and circle), used three different pieces of patterned paper, ribbon and stamped a sentiment. That was it! How cute is that?

Pigeonholed

What an interesting challenge It's All About Me has this week!

I fell in love with this blog because the subject matter is one that I often do not have time for and neglect. So, I made my first scrapbook layout...all about me. It was so much fun because you had to find one of the DT's LO and scraplift. Fun, fun, fun...! Well, this time, you think about your feelings...have you ever been pigeon-holed? How well do people think they know you? Do you feel catergorized? Labeled? Misunderstood?

Exactly! So, I found some tidbits in my stash that reflect who I really am...the cupcake isn't mmm good - it's the "sweet" me that I don't want people to know exists. The lady with the peace sign on her shirt is me--born when "peace" was popular, as were those shirts and bell bottoms (don't forget hip huggers). The dresses - that's what I love - CLOTHES...among other things. The tag shows a little girl hiding holding her doll - that's me. I thought the pocket was cute with the clock on the front with "forgotten memories" and ME trying to climb out and be seen. I journaled a little bit, crumpled the paper and ink distressed it. It was quite nice.
One thing...I was supposed to follow a sketch. *doh!* After I'd glued 3/4 of it down, I thought, wasn't there a sketch to this? Yeah...the mind has a way of reacting slowly...and lately...

I encourage you to think about yourself and do something for you for a change! You might like it! I certainly did! :p Now how groovy was that?

La-La Land Crafts

Guess what - La-La Land Crafts is having this fabulous blog hop to celebrate the new release of a certain number of new Christmas stamps . Part of the sneak peek is for you to comment on each blog starting with La-La Land Crafts and ending there with the number of new stamps you think will be released October 14th.
The blog candy is especially DELICIOUS! Of course, for me, the specialty is the new stamps because I am so crazy about these images! I have a few that I am saving for some really cool challenges so you can imagine how stoked I'd be if I won!! Woohoo! I'd have to share because we need more La-La in our crafting! :-p
So take a peek at the new Christmas Dress Rosie. How cute is she? Can you imagine all the fun making creations with this cute little doll? It makes me want to go to Cranberry Hill and get more stamps!! Hmmm...maybe I can talk darling hubby into an EARLY birthday gift? What do you think? :p

Flying High...

I love butterflies. They twitter along never bothering anyone, just adding beauty to the world. So I took up Crafty Catz challenge this week which is butterflies, big ones, small ones, whatever you like - just butterflies.
For the beginner crafter, this challenge is something you could easily do. I did not have a butterfly punch and I was too lazy to work my Cricut to make the butterfly on one of the cartridges come to life. So I took this image from some clip art because it was all pretty and pink. I had butterfly paper and just added a little this and that to make it all flutter about. The 3D element really helps it to stand out. The floral ribbon was to wide to make a bow, so I just glued it to a strip of pink paper, added some lines --- and there you have it. Happy Tuesday!

Clean and Simple

Today is one of those days where menopause is wreaking havoc all over me mentally. I'm so grateful for Clean and Simple because the challenge is clean (not so simple because I had to figure out how to make scallops and I'm not real sure these came out as rounded as I'd wanted even though I traced around a circle template - oh well). I like this card because it is me - clean and simple. Granted, I like to get all gussied up but mentally, it's been one of those days.
I found some new interesting paper that is "relaxed". It has a soft feel to it though it was already embossed. A nice little shortcut for me - heehee. It comes in a little packet with other coordinating colors - how groovy is that? I did the little knot, turned it over and thought, oh, cool - just plain green; oh for the clean and simple days....

Homefront

Well, I made Homefront - it's nice to know that you have something someone else can use and are appreciative. This is what they wrote:

"Thursday, October 1, 2009

Thankful Thursday October 1

For those keeping an eye on such things...we're up to 2,561 cardmakers who have sent in cards!!

7087 cards arrived this week....many many thanks to all of you!

10. Terry O, Sunnyvale CA, your cards are lovely - what a great selection, thank you!"

I won't be able to make the Christmas card deadline like I did last year. We just moved and I'm all pooped. Being laid off has its drawbacks but I do get to tap into my creativity while looking for work (and getting turned down). *sigh* "Good things come to those who wait." :)