Hello Little Lady...

Hey there crafty peeps! 

I was blog hopping over the weekend and came across this challenge blog called (Pin)spirational Challenges, created by Deanne Clarke-Saunders. It is a relatively new challenge blog, and Deanne has a call out for card-makers and scrapbookers alike to help her get started, in case anyone is interested. 

If you are familiar with Pinterest, then you will connect with it right away. A cool thing about her site is that she offers free Digi images to compliment each challenge so that you can use it for inspiration. How nice is that? So hop on over and take a look yourself, you just might be looking for an opportunity like this. 

I took advantage of this free little Digi image so I could participate in her very first challenge, but I got side-tracked over the holiday weekend and completely forgot about it. When I looked to see when the challenge closed I had less than an hour to complete a card. Now, this gal doesn't like to rush her artistic skills so needless to say I opted out of the challenge. I did make a card though using the image, and will likely hunt around to see if it qualifies at another challenge somewhere else in blog-land. Hopefully I will have the time to grab another free Digi and play along on challenge #2. 

The challenge that I missed was to design a card/layout by taking your inspiration from a photo of these adorable and yummy looking ladybug cookies. I downloaded this image from a link the site provided that directed me to a blog called Little Scraps of Heaven Designs. The Digi image was simply called 

"Little Lady Bug".

I printed this little cutie on Neenah card-stock, and then coloured her with my Copic markers. I don't usually use sketches because I prefer to design my own, but on this particular occasion I decided to use one. 

I followed a sketch that I found over on "I Need a Sketch" in group 30. I thought it to be a perfect sketch that kept within the circle theme of a round little ladybug. I cut all the circles out with my SB small standard circle dies, and pulled the colours from the image. I know that is backwards, but I can be backwards at times too. I embossed some of them using my CB dots embossing folder. 

I did a little experiment this time with my Black Viva Decor Pearl Pen and used it to give the black spots and antennae some depth. I think it turned out pretty good actually. Then I pop dotted the image up to further enhance the dimension.

The border is from EK Success and the flower/ladybug embellies I had kicking around forever. See, you just never know when you will use something, so never ever throw things like that away.

To finish everything off, I decided to combine peel and stick letters with a computer printed sentiment to create a little hello card for one of the girlie girls in my life. Ooh, I wonder who it will be???

The ribbon ties it all up (no pun intended) into a neat little package! 

So there you have it, the card I didn't make in time for a challenge. Oh well, I still enjoyed making it for my stash. 


Just a tidbit more...I found a couple of challenges that my little lady bug can enter:


Simon Says Stamp! Challenge Blog - April Showers brings Spring Flowers (well one flower and a cute little ladybug) :)
and
Just Keep Creating Challenge Blog - Anything Goes


Thanks for stopping by :)S

Pink Paper Paradise is having a giveaway...

Hey there crafty peeps, Michelle over at the Pink Paper Paradise is having a great giveaway. It is in celebration of her new Facebook Page. I just found out about it, but it's almost over.

 The contest closes tomorrow April 10th, 2012 at 8:30 p.m. (Brisbane, Australia time, that is), but you still have time to participate. The easy peazy steps you need to follow are listed below so get crack-in peeps!

Look at the stash you can win!

One lucky winner will receive a 12"x12" Celebrations Designer Series Paper Pack and a 2 pack Hostess "Happiest Birthday Wishes" stamp set all from Stampin' Up!

This giveaway is open worldwide.

To enter this giveaway you will need to do one or more of the following:

1. "Like" the Pink Paper Paradise Facebook Page.

2. Become a follower of the Pink Paper Paradise Blog.

3. Become a follower of the Make It Monday linky party blog

4. Place the photo of this give away in your sidebar with a link back to the Pink Paper Paradise Blog or do a post on your blog promoting this giveaway.

You will receive an entry for each of the steps that you complete. So, if you like the facebook page that is one entry, if you also follow or are already a follower of Pink Paper Paradise's blog then that's two entries,  and if you follow or are already a follower of the Make It Monday blog then that is three entries. 

Finally if you promote this giveaway on your blog then that is four entries.

Oh, and make sure that you also leave a comment on Pink Paper Paradise blog indicating all the steps you've taken. 

 Of course, it will be a randomly chosen winner, but one never knows when lady luck will appear.

 There isn't a lot of time left to enter so get on it! 

Good luck to everyone.

Just in time for Easter...

Well hello there and a very happy Thursday to all you crafty peeps.

I know I have been MIA, but so much has been happening in my personal life that I just needed a little bit of time to regroup. Did ya miss me??? LOL

I have some really cool news to share with you though. Shortly after my last post to you I learned that some amazing people over at that awesome paper-crafty social network affectionately known as, The Outlawz invited me to join their very talented Design Team, permanently. 

Yup, you heard me right, lil' o me. 

You probably know that I recently had the opportunity to get my feet wet by guest designing on their site for the month of March. 

I wasn't sure if I was ready for a position like that, but if you know me personally then you know that I live by the motto, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Boy oh boy, am I happy that I did because now I have the confidence to take it to the next level. 

Thank you Colleen, Anne and Sandi for encouraging me, and for believing in me, I promise I won't let you down!

SOO-WEET....is all I can say! I'm dancin' on the ceiling.

So as of today, I am now an official design team member on the group challenge called, Twisted Thursdays. I will be posting a card or a project, but more likely a card, every Thursday so stay tuned. 

The Twisted Thursday Challenge Group is where you create cards, layouts and other creations using your favourite medium or combination thereof, in an "Anything Goes" kind of design. The "twisted" part is making the card using the theme of each week, and in this case it's an Easter card. There are monthly prizes to be won, and you can even boost your chance to win by making a card using the theme of the week. It sounds easy peasey to me, what do you think? 

So what are you waiting for, come on over and join us.  Enter your card/project into a challenge that suits your fancy, we have one for each day of the week. You can win prizes from some fantastic sponsors each month, so pop on over and take a look. Even if you weren't to win you most certainly will make friends along the way.

Click to join The Outlawz Challenges

So without further ado, this is the card I made for this weeks "Easter" themed challenge. 

I used a Stamping Bella image by Mo Manning called 

Row of Eggs with Bunny. I used Memento Ink on Neenah card-stock, and coloured it up using my Copic Markers. The DP I used is from DCWV Citrus collection. I did a little embossing on the lower half using a SB embossing folder, added some stickles to the stripes up above, and finished it all off with an EK Success border punch.

I also added stickles, and some glossy accents on the eggs, ladybug, and butterfly. I tried something a little different this time with the little flowers. After I coloured them I made little cardstock flowers and glued them on top. I was trying to get a little bit more definition, but I'm not sure if I accomplished that. Either way I'm happy with the finished product. 

I hope you pop over to the site and play along with us this week. Thanks again for taking the time out of your busy day to leave me much appreciated comments, and for simply stopping by :)S