Trick or Treating with Tiddly Inks & Simply Betty Stamps

Tiddly Inks has teamed up with Simply Betty Stamps for a spooktacular blog hop! Get all the details here and join the hop to win some fabulous prizes!

There's a small twist to the hop to share a "trick"--a favorite technique that you used on the card--or a "treat" which is simply sharing a project.

I chose "Rio", a digital stamp from Simply Betty who will be retired as a digi this Halloween (how appropriate!) and turned into rubber. I've always admired her super cool spider web skirt!

I colored her hair and face, and when I got to her lips, the color bled outside of the lines! With Copics, reds are the hardest to remove with the colorless blender. I thought I'd give it a shot, but the more I tried, the worse things got. Rio looked as if she'd eaten some strawberry jam and smeared her mouth!
She was already trimmed out--which took me forever!-- and it seemed like a waste to toss her just because of her mouth. So I decided to do a face transplant.

I colored another face, being extra careful to color in her lips without smearing, and trimmed it out. Then I adhered it over the original image and managed to salvage Rio and use her on my card.

Here's my finished card with Rio's surgically repaired face.

I found some patterned paper from My Mind's Eye with a spidery background that was perfect with Rio.

I also used Tim Holtz's new embossing folder and tied some seam binding that I dyed with Spiced Marmalade + Rusty Hinge distress inks.




Thanks for visiting today! Hope you all have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Stamps: Simply Betty "Rio" digital image
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Basic Grey
Paper: My Mind's Eye
Ink: Memento; Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade, Rusty Hinge distress inks
Other: Copics, Nestabilities, Sizzix, seam binding, gems, pop dots

More snowmen

Hi all! Thanks to those of you who hopped with us on the Caring Hearts Blog Hop. There was so much inspiration along the way, and tons of wonderful ideas for holiday cards.

Remember that you have until Wednesday, October 27th to comment here as well as all the blogs on the hop to be eligible for some great prizes from great sponsors!

Just sharing a few more snowmen cards using Jane's Snowman and Bird. I kept it simple this time so I didn't have to use my sewing machine. The Nestabilities Label shape was embossed with a "snow" embossing folder, and I even flipped the snowman so he's facing to the left. Gotta love that about digis!

And here's another share of a true story. Sad, but true.

I opened up a new Crate Paper kit and was going through the papers, checking out the designs. The kit included two sheets of stickers--one of them a sheet of border trims.

I looked at the trimming. Cute designs, but why did they put French words on them? I took some French in high school and remembered that "mon" means "my". But what is "mous"? Hmmm........

I stared at it for a good minute or so.....wondering.....pondering.....

AND THEN I TURNED IT 180°.

Ohhhhhh...it says  SNOW!!
Hope you're all having a great week so far. Thanks for stopping by!

Caring Hearts Blog Hop

I found out through Alice's blog that our Flickr friend Vera was hosting a Caring Hearts Card Drive and coordinated today's blog hop. Caring Hearts will collect holiday cards to send to elders living in a nursing home, care home, or other assisted living facility. I couldn't pass up the chance to be a part of such a great cause.

There are awesome prizes for participants and commenters, too, so make sure you visit all the blogs on the hop to be eligible. You have until Wednesday, October 27th at midnight (CST) to leave your comments, with winners to be announced on Vera's blog on Friday, the 29th.

If you came here from Corry's blog, then you're on the right track. In case you get lost during the hop, the list of participants can be found on Vera's blog.

Here's my card using one of Jane's newest digis--Snowman and Bird--which is on sale over at Squigglefly. Although you can't see it, I added a bit of gloss on the bird and the snowman's carrot nose. And lots of Liquid Pearls for snow.

To participate in, or for more information about the Caring Hearts Card Drive, which will accept cards until November 15, visit Vera's blog post here.

Your next stop on the hop is Dawn's fabulous blog. Thanks for hopping along with us, and thank you, Vera, for coordinating this "feel good" event!

Stamps: Jane Beljo for Squigglefly, Hero Arts sentiment
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Stampin Up
Paper: Crate Paper
Ink: Peeled Paint, Tumbled Glass distress inks; Versafine Onyx Black
Other: Copics, Nestabilities, Liquid Pearls, Sakura Aqua Lip, ribbon, pop dots

And the winners are...

Happy Friday! I couldn't wait to announce the winners of my giveaways! Thanks to all of you who stopped by and left a comment. You're all so sweet!

The first winner, according to random.org, is Lin. Congrats, Lin! You've won the Sweet November stamps, Basic Grey paper pad, and Doodlebug brads.

And the runner up winner of my hand dyed ribbons and Basic Grey paper pad is Kelly Rasmussen. Hope you both have fun with your goodies! Please email me so I can send them out to you this weekend.

I'll be having more giveaways so don't be disappointed if you didn't win this time. Lots of paper, lots of stamps, just waiting for good homes.

♥ ♥ ♥

Thanks to my friend Alice, I'll be participating in the Caring Hearts blog hop tomorrow, to send some holiday cheer to those living in nursing homes or assisted living facilities. It should be a fun weekend for a great cause!
Happy weekend, everyone!

Grumpy Georgia

How often do you see an image with a grumpy face? When I first saw Amy's Grumpy Georgia, I knew I had to get her! Life isn't always a "bowl of cherries", and I love that Georgia has that little smirk on her face....she's such a cutie!

While I was breezing through Ben Franklin Crafts, I saw a bin of Studio g stamps. The new clear sets are only $1.25 and now come with a bit of bling--what a bargain! This stamp set caught my eye and I knew it was meant to be used with a grumpy gal.

Here's my finished easel card. I cut apart the "dear" from the "Santa", which is great when you're using clear stamps. And I just realized that this is my first Christmas card for 2010. Hmm...who can I send this to?

Stamps: Sweet November, Studio g
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Stampin Up
Paper: Crate Paper, Fancy Pants
Other: Copics, Nestabilities, EK Success ledger punch, Sharpie white poster paint pen, buttons



Thanks for stopping by today! Stay tuned tomorrow when I'll announce the winners of my giveaway!

Goody goodie bags

Hi there! Hope your week is going well...

Just a quick share of some cute Halloween goodie bags from Elle's Studio for Jessica Sprague. The set includes 5 different designs and all you have to do is print them out, cut them, and fold them up.

My kind of digi project.

I attached The Greeting Farm's Hallo Witch digi to the outside of one bag, and another of Sweet November's Halloween babies on another. Easy peasy, no?

Do you get the feeling that Halloween is quickly becoming my favorite "holiday"?

And remember, there's still time to enter my trick or treat giveaway here.

Good luck!

Got ribbon?

Heads up! I decided to have a runner up prize for my giveaway--another pack of Basic Grey's Ambrosia papers (yes, I have a stockpile!) plus 3 yards each of 5 ribbons dyed in "Halloween" colors!

Dyeing ribbon can be so addictive (right, Kiara?) and it's fun to try different color combinations and customize the perfect color for your card or project.

Distress inks used: Fired Brick/Walnut Stain, Orange Marmalade/Rusty Hinge,
Bundled Sage, Dusty Concord, Black Soot 

I put on some gloves and dyed these in about 30 minutes. I usually let them air dry but I was a bit impatient, so I used my heat gun. I made sure to stay about 8" away and continuously move the heat tool so it wouldn't burn the ribbon.

If you've already commented here, then you also have a chance to win my ribbons, and if you haven't, then......go!

A "no tricks" giveaway!

Note: Giveaways are closed; winners have been chosen. Thanks for playing, and good luck next time!

Hi all! When I helped the fabulous Amy Young preview her Sweet November Halloween babies a few months ago, she generously gave me a set of the cuties and I'd like to share a couple of them with you.

I put together a little trick or treat giveaway which includes:

• a 6x6" paper pad of Basic Grey's Ambrosia papers (because I think they look Halloweenish) 
• 1 Sweet November Hero stamp 
• 1 Sweet November Kitty stamp
• 1 pack of Doodlebug Designs Halloween brads

And I'll even add some sweet treats, too! Simply leave me a comment and I will choose a random winner on Friday, October 22nd. I realize it's not enough time to make this year's Halloween cards, but you'll be early for next year! 

Sneaking in one more ATC using Tiddly Inks' Batty image. Since I printed out six of the same digis on one sheet, I made 6 ATCs. 


I added Christy's decorative crescent moon which makes this a little bigger than your typical ATC and I'm entering it in Tiddly Inks' Challenge #25--Anything Halloween.


Thanks for visiting today! Hope you're all off to a good weekend!

Stamps: Tiddly Inks, Hero Arts (bats), Lawn Fawn (alphabet)
Ink: Memento; Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot distress ink
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
Other: Copics, Sharpie white poster paint pen

Tiddly Inks Challenge #24 -- ATCs

The latest challenge at Tiddly Inks is to create an ATC, or Artist Trading Card. I couldn't resist joining the challenge--I love making ATCs! I wanted to use one of Christy's cute Halloween digis and decided on Batty with her pet bat on a leash.

I used two different distress inks for the background--Pumice Stone and Black Soot--and did some water splotching and added some white dots. I colored one of the images and left the other "as is" for a different look. The finished size for each is 2.5 by 3.5".

You have a few more days to join the challenge over at Tiddly Inks. ATCs are fun and making them can be quite addictive. Plus, it's a good way to use your scraps!

Stamps: Tiddly Inks digital stamp, Hero Arts (bats), Studio g alphabet stamps
Ink: Pumice Stone, Black Soot distress inks; Papertrey Ink Fresh Snow
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill
Other: Copics, Sharpie white poster paint pen

TD05 -- Fall Theme Challenge

It's time for another challenge from Tiffany Doodles! This month, Tiffany selected "Fall" as the theme for the challenge.

I used Fall Critters, a set of 4 adorable images on sale here. I decided to make a set of thank you notecards and simply printed the digis, colored them, and added a few more punched leaves. The sentiment is one of my favorites from Impress. I also tied each of them with some hand dyed crinkled ribbon to match.

Remember, you don't have to use a Tiffany Doodles image to enter the challenges. Tiffany has a variety of freebies for you to grab here. There's also a fall digi sale going on at Tiffany Doodles. Buy 3 digis, and get a free digi of your choice!

We hope you'll join us at Tiffany Doodles this month for your chance to win up to 7 digis of your choice. And please visit the rest of the design team to see their fabulous fall creations.

• Tiffany Doodles
• Tiffany Richards
• Cammy Wall
• Deirdre Horgan
• Donna Mikasa -- you are here!
• Julie Masse
• Kathy Racoosin
• Kim Schofield
• Lindsay Amrhein
• Peet Roeven
• Ruby McGuire
• Shannon Neparko
• Vanessa Menhorn
• Virginia Lu

Stamps: Tiffany Doodles Fall Critters digital stamp set, Impress sentiment

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Hero Arts, Stampin Up

Other: Copics, Nestabilities, Punch Bunch leaf punch, hand dyed seam binding, pop dots

***

And here's the full reveal of one of Tiffany's newest digis--Fall Chipmunk! You can buy this digi today, at 11:00 AM EST from Tiffany Doodles. 

I've never seen a real chipmunk here in Hawaii, so I Googled "chipmunk" and added some stripes on her body. I also added some gloss to the acorn and her ribbon, too. 

Thanks for joining me today! Hope you can play along with Tiffany Doodles' Fall Challenge!

Tiffany Doodles sneaky peek!

Is your week zooming by as quickly as mine? I can't believe it's Wednesday! Just a quick post to share a sneaky peek from Tiffany Doodles. Tomorrow is the 7th which means it's challenge day and this month will be a "theme" challenge. Can you guess what it is from the peek?

Is that a cupcake? A muffin? Hmmm....See you tomorrow for the full card and challenge reveal! Hope you'll play along with us, too!

Chicken Poop and flowers

Isn't that a catchy blog post title? I was the lucky random winner on Ivy's blog and Chicken Poop was the prize! No, it's not fertilizer.....it's lip balm! A very good lip balm!

Ivy sent me this adorable card, along with the Poop, and a box chock full of goodies! She could have easily slipped the Poop into an envelope, but she's such a generous friend. I love her bright, colorful cards and I ADORE her two little boys!

And remember this adorable little lunch box from Alice that I received for my birthday?

Lookie at what was inside the box--tons of floral goodness! I think I may never have to buy another flower for the rest of my crafting life!

See the crocheted ones in the bottom right corner? Handmade by the lovely Alice herself.

Ah, such wonderful friends!

Thanks so much for visiting today! I've been super busy working out at the gym (-13.5 pounds so far!) that I've neglected my blog and crafting, too!

I plan to catch up visiting blogs this weekend and stay tuned for a post with a "local" flavor--and a giveaway, too! Have an awesome weekend!