Crazy 4 Challenges #9

Happy Halloween!!!

It's time for another super fun challenge at Crazy 4 Challenges!

This week, our October hostess Vicki asked us to share Halloween creations of course!!

Well, I don't think it is any secret that I LOVE Halloween so I jump at any excuse to make something in that theme!

I decided to use this super cute Pink Cat Studios image. I think the frogs hanging on for dear life is hilarious!

I colored the image with Prismas and added highlights and polka dots with a fine paint pen. It is a pretty straightforward card. I obviously went with a polka dot theme throughout. lol

I made the sentiment using Teen font. Pink Cat Studios has tons of free digi sentiments to go with their digi images, but sadly, there were no Halloween ones.

Be sure to stop by C4C to see what the other super talented designers did this week. You won't be disappointed!!

Hope you all have a FABULOUSLY SPOOKY HALLOWEEN!

Lots of News!!!

First off, I must let you all know that my dear friend, Lori Boyd, has some INCREDIBLE new stamps out. I have been begging for ages to try to get some of her adorable drawings made into stamps. Actually, I think I asked her in one of our first email conversations! I fell in love with her sweet people and FINALLY it is a reality! Today, they were released. I spent all morning checking to see if they were out yet, then got too busy at work to check...but when I came home.....YAY!! They were available for me to start shopping. I am so excited for her. If you want to check our her SUPER sweet Lollipops----> click here

Now for my big news!!

A few weeks ago, I decided to share some Halloween digis for all of you. I thought maybe a few people would like them and maybe use them in their creations. I have been truly overwhelmed by the response they have gotten. I never imagined so many people leaving wonderful comments, following my blog and sharing creations using them. I thought they were cute, but never imagined they would be so well received. I had decided that I would maybe make some more in the future. Then, about a week ago, I was contacted by a lady asking me to contact her daughter who owned Squigglefly

I was so busy, I didn't have a chance to do so. Then, Ashley (the owner) contacted me a few days ago and asked if I would be interested in creating digis to sell at Squigglefly!!! I was shocked, stunned, amazed....well, you get the picture!! lol I am so honored that I was asked to do this. I first worried that I wouldn't have the time to dedicate to this. Lately, I find I have VERY little time for creating. But I asked for details and really had a good long think about it. I decided on Wednesday that I would love to give this a try and see if people would really like my drawings. I have some digis coming out on November 1st and I am very excited.

I still can't believe this is happening. I never thought that playing around on the computer for a couple of hours would end up being so rewarding!!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a creatively wonderful weekend!

Using my digis for what they were intended!

Okay, so I finally got around to doing the project that I made my round Halloween digis for!

I came across a site where someone had made small treat holders out of cardstock that looked like coffins.

Of course, I can't find them now to give credit, but I am sure if you did a search, you would come up with instructions. I just winged mine. I think that the tut I saw had an small holder inside that held the candy bar, but I just put a glue dot on the back of each one and stuck the candy to it. lol!! I am all about easy.

I also think that they used a small velcro dot to hold theirs closed, I preferred tying it shut with a small ribbon. I thought it added more interest. To make the coffins, I just cut 8.5" x 2.75" strips of gray cardstock and used my kewl tool (a textured sponge on stick type tool) to add speckles of black ink. I scored them at 4", 4.25"  and 4.5" and and folded. While flat, I cut the top corners off and then cut from the bottom fold up to the corners created on each side. I hope that makes sense. I really just eyeballed the shape and cut. Once cut, I inked the edges with black ink to add dimension. Added a Kit Kat bar to each one. Punched holes at the top and tied bows on each one to close.

I then resized my digis to 1.5" on the largest side. Notice that bat's circle is much smaller because his wings extend beyond it. I cut them out with the #2 (#1 is smallest) Petite Circle Nestie and cut out black scallops with the coordinating size of scalloped Nestie. I colored random parts of the digis with Copics and then added Stickles for interest (floor under cat, lines on bat wings, spider's eyelids, bubbles in cauldron, facial features of pumpkin, band on witch's hat).

I thought they came out quite cute and will be a nice little gift for me to hand out to my co-workers!

On a personal note: I am not sick today. It was wonderful to wake up feeling normal again. But, sadly, Shanyn is VERY sick. I stayed home with her today because I was not comfortable leaving her. She is feeling much better now though, so I think she will be well enough to go back to school tomorrow.

Have a great week!! Thanks for stopping by!

The Pink Elephant Challenge #38

WooHoo!! It is Monday morning and the ONLY good thing about Mondays is another challenge at The Pink Elephant! We have another fun challenge for you this week.
It's a recipe challenge and we are asking you to use  
black, hardware and distressing

So much fun!! Wish my card looked better though :(

It was a very overcast day and I ran out of time to get a decent photo. I promise I will take another one asap and put it up here and over at TPE. This picture makes this card look horrible!!

So, I will just apologize in advance. lol

**this is a better photo I took while the sun was shining...now it doesn't look like a dark and dreary card**

The bottom band of purple is run through my corrugator so it is textured. My metal hardware was some stuff I pulled out that hasn't seen the light of day in AGES. I got out a dogtag, ballchain and a clipiola. Talk about blasts from the past! I also used brads, but I use brads all the time, so I wanted to use something different...

On a personal note...

We are sick here in the Willis household. I just hope I can muster up the strength to go to work today.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to drop by TPE and see what the other fabulous designers did this week!

Have a creatively wonderful day!

Crazy 4 Challenges #8

It's time again for another fun challenge at Crazy 4 Challenges and I LOVED this one!!

Our hostess, with the mostest, Vicki challenged us to use 3 different geometric shapes for our creation this week. I decided to go with a triangle, circle and rectangle. The circle is only half a circle, but I hope it counts! lol I had two rectangles too...the card and the image.

I made this card for my nephew who will be 2 on the the 30th. Inside, I put "YOU" cut out of the plaid paper and another little Changito monkey, but my camera battery died, so you have to take my word for it! lol

Be sure to stop by C4C and see what my fabulous fellow dt created!

Have a creatively wonderful weekend!

Happy Halloween

Here's a little ATC I just made from some scraps that were sitting on my desk and the outer border of one of the free Halloween digis I offered last week. Scroll down if you would like to see (snag?) them!

I used images from one of my favorite Artistic Outpost plates. I just adore this little witch from Vintage Halloween! She is just so sweet and sometimes, I don't want scary Halloween cards....this is when I reach for this plate of stamps. I made the distressed/crackly background by stamping the tree from the set randomly around the witch multiple times between inkings. I thought it looked kind of cool. I then inked the edges and stamped "hello punkin" in the same ink. I loosely colored the girl with Prismas to just add a hint of color. Finally, I cut out the border from one of my digis and just added it on the corner. The bats are just confetti.

Materials: PAPER-Colormates cardstock (WorldWin Papers) STAMPS-Vintage Halloween (Artistic Outpost), Halloween Digi (Robin's Artful Musings) INK-Spiced Marmalade & Milled Lavendar Distress Inks (Ranger), Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko) OTHER-Prismacolor Pencils/Gamsol, Confetti Bats

The Pink Elephant Challenge #37

Yay!! I am back and able to play along with The Pink Elephant!

This week we have an awesome sketch by Lori!!

I really loved the sketch and couldn't wait to try it!

I just turned the sketch because it seemed to work better with this image from Stamping Bella.

I used a glitter matstack from DCWV. I added Stickles to her jewelry, sash, scarf and brads. I also used Glossy Accents on her purse, shoes and glasses. Image is colored with Prismas and Gamsol.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Be sure to drop by TPE and check out what the other fabulous designers created this week!

Crazy 4 Challenges #7

I'm baaaaaaack....with a brand new challenge from Crazy4Challenges.

I had to miss doing the last two because of my lack of internet, but I am happy to back among my fellow crazies. lol

This month, our hostess with the mostest is Vicki and it is a sketch challenge.
I just loooooooove sketches!!!

My interpretation is very literal this time...

see I CAN follow a sketch. lol I know it is a simple card, but I think it would be a great card to use as an invitation or any card you need to make a lot of.

I used one of my digis that I shared on Wednesday. I simply printed it on a pale lavender cardstock and colored the hat band with Copics. Super simple, but I love it!

We hope you visit us at C4C, check out the other designers' fabulous creations and maybe join in on the fun!!

Have a great weekend and be sure to stop in on Monday to see my TPE card!

Halloween Digis

Okay, this is the last post today, I promise.

I just had to share one last thing with you before I end my day....

One day, I was playing around with PSP while I was on the phone with my friend Lori. I needed some round Halloween stamps for an upcoming project I need to do. I found some from a couple of places, but couldn't justify the cost just for one little project. So, I tried my hand at making my own. These were just going to be for me, but Lori insisted that I share them and possibly start doing some digis in the future as well.

Please keep in mind that I have never drawn on the computer and I did these with a mouse, not a tablet (mine is old and not compatible with XP). But, they are free, so you can't complain. lol!!

You should be able to click on these and get the larger file, but if you have any problems, just leave me a comment with a way to contact you and I will send them to you.

The only rules I have for using these images are:

1. please don't share with others, direct them here to get them for themselves

2. these images are 100% mine...I didn't use clipart, I drew them, so give me credit for the image if you use them in anything

3. if you do take them, please leave me a comment and let me know

4. please share anything you make with them, I would LOVE to see!

Finally...

this isn't a rule, but would be appreciated...

5. spread the word about these free digis...if I get a good response, I may be encouraged to make more for you all to use!

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a creatively wonderful rest of your week!

Come back Saturday for my Crazy4Challenges card...it may use one of these digis!

Pumpkin Carving 2009

Okay, here is another thing I did during my internetless fun....

At work, we are trying to do different fundraisers to try to build up our scholarship fund. The CEO thought it would be really fun if all of us decorated a pumpkin and then have the members vote on their favorite by placing money in the dish next to it. This week is credit union week, so there are lots of other fun things going on too. But, this pumpkin thing wasn't high on my list of fun! lol

First, I will tell you that I HATE carving pumpkins. John does them with the girls while I watch. The thought of touching pumpkin guts turns my stomach. So, my sweet dh did the gutting for me and got it all prepped. lol I drew the house and just carved the doors, windows and moon. I sprayed it with glossy sealer, so it was really hard to get a good picture of it. I added a foam ghost to the door, bats flying on wires and a witch flying past the moon in the distance. I glued the pumpkin to a piece of cardboard and then glued spanish moss down. Added some homemade and premade gravestones and a stone walkway. I thought it came out really cute!

Here it is lit up. It is a TERRIBLE picture, but you can see the witch better and see that it does look nice all lit up.

There are 12 really amazing pumpkins at work for members to vote on. I was amazed at the creativity and I think we will raise tons of money this week!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Sarah Kay

Miss me?!?! Well, I wasn't goine because I wanted to be. I had the lovely honor of being internetless for almost 2 weeks. Hughesnet just decided I didn't deserve to get my emails and shortly after, decided that I didn't need internet either. I was sooooooo lost and frustrated!

I couldn't participate in challenges and I couldn't do dt work because I had no way of uploading it. I did make a couple of fun cards though. I am so in love with Sarah Kay images, but don't really have the extra money to be buying any right now. Then, my SIL mentioned that she loved Sarah Kay and wondered if I ever used those images to make cards. I decided I had to use one to make a birthday card for her. I went searching for Sarah Kay stamps and was thrilled to discover a site that has 11 coloring pages that you can print! I just resized the image and used it on a card. If you do a search, I am sure you will be able to find these images yourself.

So, first, is my SIL Natalie's bday card. She received it today so I am safe to share it now.

I scanned this one because it was overcast here and I had to get it into the mail for her. I colored her with Prismacolor Pencils and gamsol. I added some glitter to the flowers and to Raggedy Ann's apron.

The next one was just a fun card because I was having a blast coloring these images!

I punched flowers and placed them along the vines on the fence for some dimension. I thought this was such a sweet image and it looks like the girl is thinking about someone special, so I added the sentiment. Again colored with Prismas and Gamsol.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I have a couple more posts to share with you, so stay tuned!

Happy 2nd Birthday Artistic Outpost!

WooHoo!! My beloved Artistic Outpost is celebrating their 2nd birthday this month!

In celebration of this happy event, they are issuing a super fun challenge for everyone. To enter, you simply need to use Artistic Outpost stamps to make a birthday or fall themed card following this sketch:

 You have until October 23rd to create something and add a link to the Artistic Outpost Blog

to be eligible for the prize. The winner will be randomly drawn from all participants and be announced on the AO blog on October 31st. What is the prize, you ask? It is a $25 gift certificate to Artistic Outpost!!! How cool is that?!? Remember, you MUST use Artistic Outpost stamps ONLY to be eligible. 

*note-AO designers are not eligible for the prize*