First ever Pixie Cottage Challenge!

I am super excited and I'll tell you why - Because it is "Once Upon a Wednesday..."

I recently became the lead designer for the Pixie Cottage Design Team, and we are hosting our first ever Pixie Challenge! Every other Wednesday we will host a challenge, and we want you to play. Prizes and fun and inspiration abound, and because you have a week and a half to get your entry in, there is plenty of time to find your creative magic...

Head over to the Pixie Cottage blog to find out the rest of the details. There are some super cute stamps you could win, as well as a chance to become a guest DT :)

I created the sketch for this challenge, and would love to see what you come up with:

Here is my take on this sketch. I used this little cutie designed by Tricia Moore. Head over to Pixie Cottage to see the rest of the Design Team's work - you won't be disappointed :)

Ingredients
Papers: DCwV
Image: Little Witchy from Pixie Cottage
Embellishments: little bat brads
Colored pencils, copic marker, Zig marker

Thanks a bunch!

Just a quick post! This card used an old sketch from Friends of Flourishes (great sketch, by the way!) and for the Cupcake Craft Challenges, which wanted a project to incorporate the theme, Thanks a bunch! This cheerful little card uses one of my most favorite "thanks" stamps by my favorite illustrator, Mary Engelbreit.

Ingredients
Papers
Image
Ranger distress ink, colored pencils, copic marker

Holly Jolly!

Being a "crafty" person (as in, one who crafts) can be confusing in a seasonal way... I am baking pumpkin pie, watching Halloween cartoons, but making Christmas cards. Many of you know this feeling, where your "real" life is pretty current with the rest of society, but in your head (and in your studio) you are a season or two ahead! I love Halloween, and I feel relief that it is almost here since I have been planning and crafting it since summer! If you are an artisan and sell your pretties, your "seasonal disorder" puts you in a crazy calendar, and a panic sets in when you still have cool projects you want to make, but the actual holiday is looming sooo close... I am also doing my final preparations for the Halloween party hosted by A Fanciful Twist. It is this weekend, so make sure you check it out! I am one of many participants, and it should be a fun, magical day!

So, my house smells nice like pumpkin pie. But after making this card, I feel like getting out some Christmas music...

This card, using the sketch for Mojo Monday's challenge, incorporate the theme of Christmas for the Creative Inspirations challenge. I love these papers! Polkadots make me super happy! I made the inside

Ingredients
Papers: Making Memories, Bo Bunny, DCwV
Image: Peachy Keen stamps
Embellishments: brads, ribbons
colored pencils, copic markers, zig markers, ranger distress ink

Fall into Autumn with Pixie Cottage...

Crisp air, crunching leaves, and caramel apples... fall is here! It is one of my favorite times of year. I have been pulling my Halloween decorations out of the basement (with the hindrance, I mean, help, of the twins) and getting fabulously spooky! I love the colors of fall, too, and look forward to wearing lumpy sweaters and silly seasonal socks! Please tell me I am not the only one who digs wearing silly socks with witches and mummies that play the tune of "Monster Mash"....

In the spirit of all things fall, the Pixie Cottage Design Team has created some darling cards using some of the latest releases. Head over to the Pixie blog to see the other DT members work - you won't be disappointed!

My two cards use images from the fabulously talented Eileen Gutierrez. Her whimsical illustrations were super fun to color! That frog cracked me up the entire time I was coloring him and his pumpkin full of candy :)

Little Mr. Scarecrow is fun because he is perfect for the entire Fall season. I think I might do another card with this little guy, but in blue overalls next time... This is why stamping is so fun! There is so much flexibility with colors, you can get an entire new "look" by changing your palette...

"Harvest" Ingredients
Papers: I cleverly cut the strips off ages ago, and can't remember the maker :( 7 Gypsies? Paper Loft? I wish I knew, because the harlequin is cute and I want more...
Stamps: Pixie Cottage
Embellishments: buttons, teastained fibers
Sketch: Friday Sketchers
colored pencils, Ranger distress ink, colorbox ink


"Trick or Treat" Ingredients
Papers: Cloud 9 design, BoBunny, MyMindsEye, teastained paper (for sentiment)
Stamps: Pixie Cottage, Inkadinkado (sentiment)
colored pencils, Ranger distress ink, colorbox ink

Trick or Treat

Good Wednesday to you! Super happy that Glee is on tonight :) and in honor of my newest favorite show, I have loaded some of the songs to my playlist. So if you are hearing music, no, a choir hasn't infiltrated your house (at least I don't think so...) it is just my little song gadget giving you a bit of Glee! It is at the bottom of my blog, so you can pause, replay, skip... fun! I am singing along right now as I type...

I have a cutie patootie card to share. I made this little Halloween card for several challenges. Spoonful of Sugar wants to see some Halloween, and Stamp Something challenged artists to create a Fall themed card. This little froggie, a fabulous image from Pixie Cottage, is "hoppy" to oblige (sorry - I couldn't help myself!) I used the fab sketch from Stamping 411.

Ingredients
Papers: Cloud 9 design, BoBunny, MyMindsEye, teastained paper (for sentiment)
Stamps: Pixie Cottage, Inkadinkado (sentiment)
colored pencils, Ranger distress ink, colorbox ink

Spooooky Blog Candy :)

The super sweet Tanya has some blog candy up for grabs on her blog :) You should check it out! She is a doll, and her candy is fabulous! Perfect for your Halloween cards and scrapbooks...

Wait a minute Mr. Postman! Etsy Treasury...

For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, you know I just loooove making treasuries on Etsy. It feels like winning the lottery, because it can be tricky to get a slot in time. A treasury is basically a gallery of Etsy items made by an Etsy member, the curator. Sometimes these little treasuries become the front page on Etsy, which is pretty cool :) Anywhoo, treasuries are awesome because they offer a snapshot of fabulous handmade goodies on Etsy, a gallery of the creative talent found in the handmade marketplace.

With my new found love of card making, I decided to create a treasury to showcase some of the amazing card makers that are creating on Etsy. Here is my treasury! I think you may recognize some of these artists - I follow quite a few of their blogs!

The "ghosted" images are the alternates, and I usually rearrange the gallery once or twice so that I can give exposure to as many artists as possible. There is such lovely talent out there... You can click on the picture to be taken to the treasury if you like :)

Good Morning! Today is a busy day for all the card makers out there! Challenges and giveaways, sales and new releases, there is much to do! I can't wait to get the coffee poured and do some blog hopping! What is today, you ask? World Card Making Day!


World Card Making day celebrates creativity and connects fellow card makers. This event recognizes the power of handcrafted goodness, and the empowering nature of creativity.



I am so proud to be the Lead Designer for the new Pixie Cottage Design Team! The Design Team at Pixie Cottage is celebrating this event by offering sneak peeks of the magical world of Pixie Cottage. Join in the fun! And see if you too can find your creative magic...

My card features a little witchy stamp that I actually designed :) I am so nervous using a stamp I created! It was pretty exciting, though, using a stamp that I designed :)

Oooh! And I used a Copic Marker for the first time! Just on her face (I only have 2 :) markers so far) but I am soo addicted to them! I know I am going to want more...

So here she is...

Ingredients
Paper: Crate Paper, Making Memories, Graphic 45, Core'dinations
Image: Pixie Cottage
Colored pencils, Copic Markers, Zig Markers

Sooo, World Card Making Day is tomorrow, and the Designers at Pixie Cottage have cooked a little something up. I can't say a whole lot, but here is a sneak peek... Be sure to stop here tomorrow morning!

I know the entire card making community will be celebrating tomorrow - that is, when they aren't making some fabulous cards! I can't wait to see what you all will be up to tomorrow!

Glee!

Ok, so I have to share a new obsession with you. One word:

GLEE.

It is a new series by Fox, and it is sooo good! Funny, musical, and characters to die for! Now I never hardly ever watch TV. As many of you know, I pretty much watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD, and that series has been over for quite some time. But luckily for me, a mama whose TV is almost perpetually tuned in to PBS or Nick Jr., I found that Fancast lets you watch lots of shows, among them, Glee! Out of curiosity, I watched the first episode on Fancast, and let's just say that I didn't go to bed until well after 2am because I had to watch all the episodes.

Maybe because in my past life as an English teacher who also helped direct the school musical for several years this appeals to me, but I think that just about anyone who went to high school can "get" this show. If you like music, it's all the better :)

Too funny. Apparently for people who get to watch non-cartoon programs live, they can catch Glee on Wednesday nights. Have any of you out there seen this show? I would love to hear from you :) and we can dish it out together!

October is here! Yay! Now I can put my decorations up in earnest and not get funny looks from the neighbors (Last year I put up my ghosts and gravestones in September and you wouldn't believe the looks I got... sheesh!) I can't help it - I love autumn! And the more Halloween decorations up, the better. The boys are at school, so it is a perfect time to go and excavate the basement and see what goodies I forgot I had :) I also need to get it in gear, because on October 17 is the grand gala of Halloween! A Fanciful Twist is hosting a fabulous ghoultide gathering, so be sure to come here on the 17th, and check out Vanessa's site for other parties that day!

In the spooky spirit of Halloween, I finished up a layout using some of my little haunted houses I made and showed here a bit back. I used a large pumpkin orange house, and the medium purple monster haunted house. I added a little ghost to the bigger house. If you like these little houses, I have more of them listed on Etsy. I am planning to make a card with the littlest house :) It is perfect for cards!

I really like the kooky color combination of greens and orange. The harlequin pattern makes me smile, and the polkadot ribbon feels just right :)

Lovely Autumn...

Yay! I have pretty much returned to the land of the living! And just in time, too, because I wanted to get my card in for the challenge at Simon Says Stamp. Using the sketch from Creative Inspirations, I made this autumnal card, complete with machine stitching for Simon's Challenge.

I ended up cutting the image out after I stamped and colored it because I wanted a more weathered background... those curls are no easy task to cutterbee around! But I like how she turned out :)

Ingredients
Papers: BasicGrey, Fancy Pants, BoBunny
Image: Whiff of Joy
Elements: buttons, thread, and crocheted lace
Colored pencils and distress ink

Pixie Cottage News!

I am so excited to announce that I am a DT for Pixie Cottage! Pixie Cottage is the home to a brand new line of stamps from some very talented artists and illustrators. Michelle is the proprietress of this fabulous new venture. I should be getting my DT kit soon, but until then, if you want to see some truly lovely cards made with these darling stamps, check out Jan's blog - her work is to die for!

Congratulations to the other DT members!
Andrea
Pam
Tara
Katie
Renata
Risa
Tammy
Anne
Peggy

Ugh. With a side of Ugh.

I wish I had some fun card to share today, but I have been crippled with the most hideous cold/flu for the last few days and just want to lay on the couch and cease to exist. I hate not checking in here - hopefully this plague shall pass, and I can get back to the land of the living for real. Hope all of my friends in BlogLand are well!

oooky spooky...

I just love playing with Halloween papers and stamps! This is one of my new favorites - a simple little stamp but with a creepy vintage flair to it. Using my teastained tags, I altered these with paper, ink, punches, stamping... I think these would be cute on a Halloween tree, or tied to a little witchy gift :) I must be on a tag kick - loving the patina from coffee and tea on these little tags! I have these and more listed in my Etsy shop. Halloween is fast approaching! Better get your Boo on!