About a Girl... Having a Birthday

Coffee of the Day - Hazelnut

Happy May Day! I hope your day is filled with beautiful flowers! I so remember celebrating this day when I was a little girl. I loved to make baskets at school and fill them with handpicked flowers to deliver to neighbors. I really hate that we don't celebrate it anymore. I think that is why I enjoy lilacs so much - they were a 'must have' in every May Day basket I ever made. the lilac bush outside my craft room is just beginning to bud. can't wait for the gorgeous flowers and aroma to fill my room! :)

Today is the start of a new 'anything goes' challenge over at the Oddball Art Facebook page. the only requirement is that you use one of Lizzy's adorable Oddball Art stamps on whatever you make. this month the DT were all given the same image to use. stop by so you can see how one image can be used in so many different ways! I hope you will play along as well. :)

As I mentioned, the DT were all given the image, 'Big Eyed Girl 3' for our projects. I felt like she needed a sidewalk, so I painted one in for her to stand on. then as I was walking from the kitchen to the living room, I noticed a pretty blue spot on the floor. (we have all hard wood floors in our house, so blue really stands out!) as I had been watering the hydrangeas that Dave gave me for Easter, one tiny dried blossom had fallen off of the plant as I took it back into the dining room. of course it couldn't go to waste! I quickly sprayed both sides with hair spray to help preserve it, and then knew it would be perfect on this girl!

so then I needed papers. I am one of those who has to have papers before I start my coloring/painting. I had just been to the Basic Grey blog and they were showcasing the Spice Market collection. ta da! so there ya have it. the wacky way I put things together. of course after I painted the sidewalk, I knew in order to make it more realistic, it needed little grass tufts growing through it - just like mine out front!

gorgeous flowers are Prima, enamel dots are some of my homemade ones, fab sentiment sticker is SRM. a piece of clear packaging was used to cut the photo frame that highlights her cutey face. die is from Lawn Fawn.

and the birthday girl? well it's our niece, Ellen. we don't get to see her or her family anywhere near as often as we would like, but I hope this card lets her know just how very much we love her!and she's not really a girl anymore, but the wishes are there for her just the same.  Happy Birthday, Ellen!  :)

Challenges:
Sketchy Colors - sketch
Catch the Bug - color inspiration
Crafty Ribbons - anything goes with ribbons
Delightful Ch - add dimension
Milk Coffee - use bright colors (waving hi to my old teamies!)
Simon Says Stamp - anything goes
Outlawz Twisted Thurs - anything goes with bingo twist: layers, digi, ribbon
Seize the Birthday - anything birthday goes
Hobbybook - add a sentiment
Inky Impressions - anything goes
Paper Shelter - use that ribbon
WAW - anything encouraging goes
Die Cuttin Divas - girly (dies - Spellbinder and Lawn Fawn)
Digi Makeover - for a special lady
Fitztown - lots of layers
Eclectic Ellapu - birthday
Glitter 'n Sparkle - add ribbon
Quirky Crafts - beginning with 's' (sidewalk, sundress, sneakers, socks, sentiment, Spellbinders)
Di's Digi Designs - birthdays

Zombie Easter Bunny

Coffee of the Day - Highland Grog (tastes like pecan praline or butter pecan - yum!!!)

We have a new challenge starting up over at Oddball Art Stamps - create a Spring or Easter themed project. well everyone on the DT had the option of going cute or zombie. go ahead - guess my choice? it wasn't too hard was it? nope, didn't think so. zombie will win over cute any day, especially with Lizzy's fabulous images!!! just wait until you see my card...... I LOVE IT!!! actually so did Dave. he laughed and laughed!

I combined several of Lizzy's images - Zombie Big Eye Girl & Bunny and the matching Zombie Easter Basket. every bunny needs a basket, right? the basket was printed twice, with the 2nd one popped up on foam tape. the eyeballs were covered with crystal effects to give them an even shinier, slimier appearance! the sentiment is one I came up with on my own and then printed out on the computer.

papers are from the Basic Grey Urban Prairie collection, flower is Prima, ribbon is May Arts,  flourish piece is from a Cheery Lynn die, main image was cut with a die from MFT, while senti was cut with a Spellbinders die. buttons, sequins, and faux stitching complete the card. oh yes, our little bunny has a fluffy stickles tail!

to help add to the 'zombie' feel, I first painted the image as usual, then gave the figures & basket a light wash with grey ink to help 'muddy' them a bit. rather than add more healthy tones to her skin, I used greys & tans to highlight. kinda hard for the undead to have pink undertones to their skin! grins!

***and the winner of yesterday's Lots of Love for Lauryn blog candy is #8 - Verna Angerhofer  Please send me your mailing address so I can get this out to you!  (jenscull @ yahoo.com) thank you to everyone who stopped by! :)

Challenges:
Deconstructed Sketch - sketch #146
Fitztown - pick 3: buttons, ribbon (under the flower), flower
Craftin' Desert Divas - color inspiration
Eclectic Ellapu - Easter
One Stitch at a Time - use a digi
Outlawz Greeting - Happy Easter
That Craft Place - anything goes/Easter
My Sheri Crafts - a moment of laughter
Chocolate, Coffee, and Cards - stripes
Delicious Doodles - Easter
Left of Center - anything goes dark
Sister Act - any card goes
East Wind - humor
The Stamping Chef - anything goes
Simon Says Stamp - Happy Easter and/or Sweet Treats with Basic Grey (oh yeah, got that covered no prob!)
TTCRD - anything goes

Miss U

Coffee of the Day - Marzipan

Today at Oddball Art Stamps we are starting a challenge in the Facebook group. unlike the challenge blog where you can use ANY image, on the FB group we are going to require the use of an Oddball Art Stamps image. Our challenge theme will be 'anything goes,' as will all of them on FB. all challenges will run for one month and the prize for winning will be 3 digis from the Oddball Art Etsy store.

so on to my card -
I used 'Big Eye Girl image 2' and paper from the Basic Grey Lucille collection. the designer paper was cut with the new SU! hexagon thinlits die. I am proclaiming right here that as cute as that die is, I do NOT recommend it to anyone. it is a nasty beast to cut with and tore up several sheets of paper before I could get one to produce a fairly decent cut. it took more than a dozen passes through the Big Shot to even cut this one little thin piece of paper, turning it all different directions. even then it was hard to get all of the pieces out. doubt I will ever use it again, which is a real shame. it's been more than 30 days since I received it, so it's too late for a return. :(  not up to the usual standard for SU!

okay, off of my rant. sorry.
deep cleansing breath.....
the piece underneath is stamped with the SU! script and woodgrain bg stamps. ribbon is also SU! and flower is Prima. if you look closely you can see that I popped up some separate hexagons on foam tape over the solid hexagons. lots of dimension irl - quite a few different thicknesses of foam tape. LOVE this image!!!!! sentiment is from the same cutey little MFT stamp set I've been using a lot lately.

be sure to stay updated on the card drive for Linda Payne's grand-daughter. I'll post info as I have it. :)

Challenges:
Craft-Dee Bow - anything goes with a handmade bow
Craftin' Desert Divas - anything goes
Catch the Bug - recipe: at least 4 layers, flower, and ribbon
Cutie Pie - cute with dies and punches (SU!, Spellbinders, and EK Success)
Outlawz Greeting - anything goes
Timbro Scrap Mania - only for girl
Use Your Stuff - die cuts (SU! and Spellbinders)
One Stitch at a Time - anything goes
Quirky Crafts - Spice Girls
Allsorts - use those dies (SU! and Spellbinders)
{pin}spirational - photo inspiration (shapes from turtle's back and colors)
Alphabet Ch - 'd' is for die cuts (SU! and Spellbinders)
Art Impressions - getting girly
Paper Crafting Journey - anything goes
WAW - anything encouraging goes
TTCRD - anything goes

Destination Happiness

Coffee of the Day - Vanilla Biscotti

Well today is another day to share fun news with you! I had mentioned at the start of the year that I really wanted to spend time discovering new artists. Well not only have I found a new one, but I am now on her Challenge Design Team!

Let me introduce you to Lizzy Love and her company, Oddball Art Stamps! her images are absolutely wonderful! I was a fan first, and then crossed my fingers and held my breath when she had a DT call. imagine my excitement when I received the email asking me to join!

Our first challenge is an 'Anything Goes'. Each challenge will run for one month, and participants may enter up to 3 times. The prize for one randomly chosen winner will be 3 digis from the Oddball Art Co. Etsy store. wooo hoooo! and much to my delight, a brand new zombie digi has just appeared in the store! you KNOW how happy that makes me! :) we will also have Top 3 winners!

so now for my card.... I love this Big Eyed Girl image! be sure to check out all of them in the Etsy store. papers are from the new Basic Grey Spice Market collection, flower is Prima, pretty ribbon twine is May Arts, pennant punch is SU!, and die is Spellbinders. glimmer mist was sprayed on the bg patterned paper. the sentiment is also SU! I used my spica black glitter gel pen to add a few accent dots.

I hope you will stop by the Oddball Art challenge blog to say hello to all of the DT, but I also hope you will play along! :)

I have a little hint for you.... if you go to this video by Lizzy on youtube, I bet you will be in for a treat! :)

Challenges:
Deconstructed Sketch - sketch #142
QKR Stampede - anything goes
Sister Act - anything goes
4 Krafty Girlz - anything goes
Aud Sentiments - anything goes with a sentiment
Crafters Cafe - flowers
Hobbybook - make it girly
WAW - anything goes encouraging
Pause, Dream, Enjoy - any sketch
Bearly Mine - one for the girls
Crafts and Me Inspiration - anything goes
Natalie and Amy's - flowers
A Gem of a Challenge - for a special lady