Eek! A Zombie ATC

I'm back with my 2nd Simply Betty zombie ATC, as I had mentioned this morning. This time I'm using the Singing Betty Apocalypse zombie image that was given free for that particular challenge. Even though today is the last day to get entries in, I bet you still have time to request your image. all you actually have to do is color the image and get it uploaded to the proper album. not so hard to do in just a few hours. :)

As before, I still haven't tracked down the mfg. of the paper scraps I found on my desk. will do that soon and try to update the posts. 'eek!' journaling circle and ric rack are from the same Making Memories Vintage Findings kit I used before, pretty purple flower is from Michael's, washi tape is from my stash, and button is vintage.

edited to add - paper is digital offering by Crafty Secrets.

I will have the purple themed blog candy winner later, after the other winners from The Hop to Stop are posted over on The Damsel of Distressed. I want to try to spread the winnings out to as many people as possible. :)

 Enjoy your weekend, and thanks for stopping by!

Challenges:
Crafting with Friends - anything goes
Crafty Catz - anything goes
Pattie's Creations - fall or Halloween image
Simply Create Too - Halloween colors
Stamping Boutique - purple, orange, and black
Wicked Wed ATC - witches, bats, and/or black cats
Star Stampz - Halloween or Harvest
Crafty Gals Corner - witches, ghouls, and goblins
Get Creative - Halloween
Pile it On - funky or freaky
Robyn's Fetish - lots of orange

Beware the Zombie! ATC

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice

Happy Friday to each of you! I hope you have had a wonderful week and have great things planned for the weekend! :)

my week has been CRAZY! between car shopping, another son in a car accident, a sick dog, and life in general, things have sure seemed whacky around here.

we did get another vehicle, so thanks for all of the happy thoughts on that front. here is a photo of Dave and Tyler with our 04 Jeep Grand Cherokee. (taken at Camp) it's in pretty good shape. just needed new tires and a front end alignment, at least so far! a few other small things to do to it, and then we'll feel set for winter.

speaking of which, snow is in the forecast for this weekend. time to bundle up! :)

I have SO MANY craft projects percolating behind the scenes, some of which are holiday gifts. in the mean time, I played along in a quickie challenge over at the Simply Betty Facebook Fan Page. if you requested the free image, you just needed to color it and then add to the group album. I figured I could do that! I'll post another one later today once I get it finished.

I turned it into an ATC. sorry I don't know the paper right off hand. it was a scrap sitting on my desk and just too perfect to pass up! the bat, ric rack, and beware tag come from a Making Memories vintage findings kit. I really hate that they retired that line. they were always so much fun to  play with! :) little flower and button are real vintage and washi tapes are from my stash. the metal accents on the image were highlighted with a silver glitter gel pen.

edited to add - paper is digital offering by Crafty Secrets.

As I mentioned before, I'll be back later today with the other Simply Betty image. I'll also announce then the winner of the purple themed blog candy. :)  see you then!

Challenges:
Wicked Wed ATC - witches, bats, and/or black cats
Dragon's Lair - Halloween
Left of Center - old fashioned horror (can't beat Romero's zombies!)
Aud Sentiments - Halloween
Moving Along with the Times - Halloween
Quoth the Raven - color challenge
Crafting By Designs - Halloween
Dream Valley - Halloween
Our Crafty Corner - getting ready for Halloween
ATC Around the World - Halloween

Hello, Friend! ATC

Coffee of the Day - Vanilla Caramel Hazelnut

Hello, Friend! that is the theme of my post today! :)

I have been trying to do a bit of crafting here and there when I can. thank you once again for all of you leaving such wonderfully kind posts about my yuck-o seizures. they haven't let up any yet, but I am trying to not let them get the best of me. not always easy when it feels as if I'm on a permanent brain freeze along with 10 bajillion volts of electricity running through my body, but hey, we do what we can to get through the day. :)

thank goodness that each day brings oh, so many reasons to be thankful and find joy!

today I am showing a little ATC that I made. I haven't made one of these in a while, so thought it was about time. they are so fun to create! and the neat thing is that they fit right in a Project Life page or the new Pocket Pages so many people are making.

I've used images from the 'Hamlet PigWit Think Spring' digital set by From the Heart. the daffodil and polka dot digital papers are some I found for free online here.  dies are by Spellbinders and Lawn Fawn, linen thread is by SU!, while everything else comes from my stash. lots of distressing here, too. oh yes, our little piggy friend was paper pieced with paper from My Mind's Eye Indie Chic collection.

I'll be back tomorrow with another project to share! :)

Challenges:
Wicked Wed ATC - lilacs or daffodils
From the Heart - sketch #109 with a twist (cute, cute, cute)
Paper Shelter - charming
Crafty Ribbons - animals with ribbons
Inspiration Destination - anything goes
Fan-tastic Tues - square or rect with twist of flowers
TTCRD - anything goes
Top Tip Tues - animals
{pin}spriational - photo inspiration (butterfly & yellow)
Stamp and Create - May flowers (around here our daffodils don't bloom until late April/early May)
Pile it On - cute animal
Digitally Sweet - April Showers Bring May Flowers (digital images & papers)
Kitty Bee - in the garden
Paradise of Stamps - animal

A Very Special ATC

Coffee of the Day - Caramel Vanilla Creme

Today I want to share with you a very special little bear on a very special little ATC.

September 11 is a day of sadness for many of us, but the world lost a shining star this year in the sudden passing of Amanda Reed. I hadn't known her for very long, but what I did know what a most kind and talented lady. You can find her Facebook page here, and if you are so inclined, make a donation to her family here.

The very amazing folks over at Polkadoodles created this adorable digi image to honor Amanda. Alyce has a challenge in her FB Kit and Clowder group for anyone who uses the cutey.

I made an ATC using papers from the Basic Grey Fresh Cut collection. you might remember that this is one of my faves that BG has recently released. LOVE the colors! flower is Prima that I accented with stickles, sentiment sticker is by SRM, and everything else is from my stash. stickles were also used to accent the heart and flower center on the bear.

Challenges:
Wicked Wed ATC - fave color combo (pinks, kraft, and bluish greens)
Crafting From the Heart - anything goes
Eureka - use a floral paper
Stamp and Create - circles or dots
Opus Gluei - ATC
Pile it On - flowers and/or feathers (hey there to my former teamies!)
Craft for the Craic - circles on your project
Crafts 4 Eternity - fave color combo (pinks, kraft, and bluish greens)
Pattie's Creations - dog or cat
Double Click Skittles - animal

Faith, Hope, and Love ATCs

Coffee of the Day - Marzipan

I am so excited about our new challenge over at Crafting with Dragonflies! it's all about ATCs, and you know what fun I have been having lately  making these little cuties! we want to see a set of 3 ATCs for the challenge. sponsors this fortnight are QKR Stampede and Pickled Potpourri Designs. please stop by the challenge blog to see all of the great project created by my teamies. everyone did such a wonderful job! :)

for my ATC's, I used the Apple Blossom digi image by QKR Stampede. flowers on each were colored a different shade, with rock candy stickles added to the centers.  tea tags , vintage buttons, Prima flowers, crochet trim, and doilies were added to each card. words were stamped, punched, and then adhered with foam tape to give more dimension. I really love the shabby/vintage look to these! :)

I think I'll send these out to some of the young women working at Camp. Dave tells me stories of the AMAZING things God is doing out there already this summer. oh, how that makes my heart just sing, sing, sing! :)  but then again, God does pretty amazing stuff EVERY day, doesn't He?!

Don't forget to enter my Nifty at Fifty Birthday Blog Candy! I've been adding little goodies to it almost every day.

Challenges:
TTCRD - anything goes
WAW - anything encouraging goes
Crafting at the Weekend - anything goes
Crafting From the Heart - anything goes
OSAAT - anything goes
Creative Craft Cottage - digi/flowers
Crafitude - flowers/lace
Inky Impressions - anything goes

I Zentangled.... and I'm a Dragonfly! :)

I have a new Design Team to announce to you this evening..... I am a Crafty Dragonfly! you'll have to bear with me as I adjust to the time zone difference between here and the blog location. I'll have to remember to post on my blog Tuesday evenings from here on out.... grins!

anyhow, I know this challenge blog is going to stretch me in ways I might fuss about, but boy will I ever learn some great new techniques! the new challenge at Crafting with Dragonflies this fortnight is Zentangle. Our sponsors are Bugaboo and Eureka.

I admit I had never tried this before. never really cared for the look all that much, but I put those brave boots on and jumped right in! if you've never tired Zentangling before, I think it's pretty important to have a fine point marker. I was using an extra fine point Sharpie, but that wasn't really as fine as I think it should be if you are going to do this very often.

I originally made 2 ATCs, but then was reminded that this challenge was for cards only, so I added the ATCs to card bases. some distressing and doodling on the bases helped keep the focus on the main images.

This ATC and card uses the Bugaboo 'Beauty Butterfly' image. bg for both ATCs was created with the Crafter's Workshop Mini Fish Scales stencil, black gelato, and graphite glimmer mist.  this one was also sprayed with Mr. Huey's white mist. each card was matted with a distressed piece of black cs. the butterfly is popped up on foam tape, mounted over vintage black lace next to a Prima rose. handmade black enamel dots simulate the flight of the butterfly. the same graphite glimmer mist was sprayed on the white card base.

This ATC and card uses the Eureka 'Stained Glass Sun' image. small leaf flourishes, May Arts ribbon, and a Prima flower were added to the ATC. handmade enamel dots and some doodles on the card base finish the card. sentiments on both were created with my label maker.

I do hope you will give this new technique a try. I have SO MUCH respect for those artists who can do this. sadly, I am not one of them. tee hee!

Challenges:
Wicked Wed. ATC - black, white, and one other color (ATCs only - grey/silver is other color)
Outlawz Greeting - monochromatic (cards)
Fan-tastic Tues - anything goes (cards)
TTCRD - anything goes

Fun in the Sun ATC and a bit of news....

Coffee of the Day - Moon Pie (I found just enough for one little cup! oh joy!!!)

some pretty cool things have been happening around my house, well, other than the fact that my guys have all headed off to Camp for the summer and left me by my lonesome.....that is most certainly a bittersweet thing. I miss them like goodness knows what, but boy howdy, is it ever nice to not have dishes pile up in the sink! ;)

anyhow, the other day I saw that Whimsy Stamps was having a challenge in their Facebook group with a theme of 'Just Beachy.' I knew I wanted to play along if I could. well an opportunity presented itself that I just could NOT pass up..... more on that in a moment.

I decided to make an ATC using the cutey Babe at the Beach image by Crissy Armstrong. papers are from the Basic Grey Picadilly collection. I would say this is one of my all time fave collections, but you probably get tired of me saying that. ;) but really, I do love it!

her swimsuit was paper pieced, she is popped up on foam tape, polka dots were added to her sun hat with my white gel pen, & sentiment was created with my label maker (yes, I'm hooked on that thing right now!). sun was created by punching a circle from patterned paper and then die cutting 2 stars using the Lawn Fawn puffy stars die. these were sprayed with yellow daisy glimmer mist before assembling. waves are a die by MFT. flower & button are from my stash.

now for the news, I took a giant leap of faith last week and sent in my application for the Whimsy Stamps Digital DT call-out. boy oh boy, was I ever nervous because there are some AMAZINGLY talented people on that team! I was shocked outta my shoes when I got the news that they accepted me!!! I am now on the Digital team! wooo hooooo! call me tickled PINK! I start in July. happy happy happy dance!

stick with me, I think I'm going to have some blog candy to celebrate all of this great news as well as my upcoming birthday!

Challenges:
Wicked Wed ATC - add a die cut (Lawn Fawn and MFT)
Glitter 'n Sparkle - use a digi
Red Carpet Studio - Vacation
A Little Bit Crafty - Child's Play
Art by Miran - anything goes
Craft for the Craic - something summery or with flowers
Wags 'n Whiskers - color ch: yellow, orange, kraft, and white
Time Out - summer with a twist of flowers
Hambo Hoedown - Here Comes Summer
Just Inspirational - Summer

Memorial Day ATCs

Coffee of the Day - Maple Walnut

Yesterday I was playing around with some ATCs  for Memorial Day. as I have said before, these little cards are really addicting! the small size is a challenge for a palette, but great for using those itty bitty scraps from your paper pads. every piece of paper here is a scrap.

the adorable images come straight from The Doodle Garden. all papers are from the Authentique Pride paper collection. Basic Grey really needs to get on the ball and come up with a patriotic collection of its own. otherwise, I think Authentique has the most beautiful 2 sets around with this one and Glory. I really really hoard the few pieces I have remaining! little flowers are Wild Orchid Crafts and stars are punched from my ever present Starbucks coffee cozies, which were then inked with MFT whipped cream.

first ATC uses 'America the Beautiful' image and wood veneer stars by Studio Calico. some faux stitching and a wooden button tied with twine from a bag of dog food finish the little card. you know how I love to re-purpose as much as I possibly can! :)

next card uses the image 'Patriotic Posies' and a belt loop cut from a pair of old jeans before they hit the trash can. I love using these on projects!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and for your continued support for both myself & my family. it means so very much to all of us! :)

Update ----> today I received a call from the nurse who was there for my biopsies. she said it should be any day now that we hear the results. thought it was very nice of her to call to check up on me!

Challenges:
Wicked Wed ATC - red, white, and blue
613 Avenue Create - anything goes or incorporate 3 shapes: 2 stars & 1 rectangle (2nd ATC)
Ditzie Digi Design - anything goes
Red Carpet Studios - Saving Private Ryan: commemorate Memorial Day
Craft Room Ch - recycle: coffee cozies for stars, twine from dog food bag, and blue jean belt loop
Outlawz Paper a la Mode - flowers (2nd ATC)
Outlawz Greetings - Armed Forces/masculine (1st ATC)
Top Tip Tuesday - here comes summer (for many here in the USA, Memorial Day signals the start of summer)
Digi Stamps 4 Joy - anything goes
Rhedd and Rosie's - texture (2nd ATC)

Another ATC! :)

Coffee of the Day - Maple Walnut (in honor of our local Maple Festival!)

yep, I've done it! I've made another ATC - artist trading card. these little things are pretty addicting! I have no idea whatsoever what I am going to do with them, but they are fun to make! the one this time is for our new challenge over at Pile it On - Ink on Paper Stamping. our sponsor is a new one for me, Rogue Redhead Designs. they were so kind and sent everyone on the DT who is participating this week a set of stamps to use!  isn't that nice!??! One winner will be chosen from all participants to receive a $25 gift certificate to their amazing store! you KNOW you want to play along now! :)

I was sent the fabulous stamp set, 'Nature Notes.' papers used are from the Basic Grey 'Hey You' collection. burlap ribbon is by May Arts, and all inks are SU! everything else is from my craft stash. I did use my SU! ink squirty tool on the sentiment portion, as well as one of the small flourish stamps. the wood grain bg stamp is the perfect size for ATCs! hubby gave it the 'manly' thumbs up....phew. I never know if they will pass muster or not with my guys. ;)

Challenges:
Wicked Wed ATC - quotes & words
Penny's - one for the boys
Paper Shelter - for the boys
Little Claire's - lots of layers
Card and Scrap - add metal (coin charm and brads)
Scrapping 4 Fun - use a stamp or digi
House That Stamps Built - for the guys (also loosely based on sketch)
Art Impressions - anything goes masculine
Just Inspirational - bingo: blue, die, twine, distress, brads
Party Time Tues. - anything goes

My First ATC

Coffee of the Day - Caramel Vanilla Creme

Yesterday on Facebook there was a convo going on about ATCs - Artist Trading Cards, and how much fun they are to make. well I confess that I had never made one before, as the size was a great deterrent to me. Each card has to be 2.5" x 3.5". my shaky tremory hands have a really really hard time working on anything that small. but I decided to give it a go. don't ever let it be said that a challenge was going to stop me from at least trying. ;)

So ta da! don't know if it conforms to all of the proper ATC rules, but then I'm not exactly a conformist anyhow. I think it's pretty dad gum cute, if I do say so myself. so I will! grins!

image is a freebie over at A Day for Daisies, papers are from the Basic Grey Soleil collection, flower is Prima, twine is Webster's Pages, sentiment stamp is MFT, and dies are Spellbinders. the floral rectangle piece has pretty embossing on it that I tried to accent by sponging with white craft ink. flower centers are dotted with distress stickles. used my white gel pen to add a few doodle dots here and there. pretty pink sequins and a distressed ticket finish the card.

have a great weekend! hugs to ya! :)

Challenges:
A Day for Daisies - pretty pastels
Outlawz - sketch (I traded one of the square for a circle)
Wicked Wed ATC - forest/flower fairies
CRAFT - what is the season where you are? Spring
Milk Coffee - welcome spring
Sassy Studios - pretty pastels
Kaboodle Doodles - dreaming of spring
Crafter's Cafe - add some doodling
Hobbybook - spring
Paper Shelter - spring delights
WAW - anything uplifting goes
Pause, Dream, Enjoy - twine it up
TTCRD - anything goes
Created with Love - girly
Crazy Ch - flower frenzy
Catered Crop - spring fever
Feeling Crafty - digi and bling (stickles and sequins)
Ladybug Crafts - anything goes
Craft Garden - pastels
A Creative Romance - spring flowers
Crafty Hands - shabby chic
Get Inky - circles
Craftitude - anything goes or add a brad or eyelet