Blog Candy Winner!!!

The time has finally arrived to randomly pick one winning entry from a total of 171 comments!  I'm feeling sad that there can be only one winner, but I'm already working on goodies for another blog candy. ;)

I actually figured out the random.org process, printed out all of the comments and numbered them, and so without further ado....

The winner is:

Cynthia Schelzig,Cynnie said...

This is a generous offer of some delish candy.....mmmmm my fingers are watering just looking at it!!

October 14, 2010 12:33 PM

Cynnie, please send me your mailing address and I will get your goodies in the post for you!!  Congratulations!

Hmmmm, I guess I wouldn't have had to print out all 26 pages of comments for this one - I'm pretty sure I could have reliably counted up to 10 in the comment fields, LOL!  Next time I'll know to do the random number generating first. :)

Have a great Friday everyone!

Gingersnap Creations Color Challenge GC76

It's time for another color challenge over at Gingersnap Creations, and today it's the colors of fall: Eggplant, Avocado & Pumpkin.  I just love this rich color combo, and the DT have some beautiful projects posted for inspiration. For my card, I started out with a base of clear-embossed leaf images (from Tim Holtz), colored over with Distress Inks in Dusty Concord, Spiced Marmalade, Crushed Olive, and Peeled Paint. Next I layered on some die cut leaves made with Tim's Tattered Leaves Alterations die.  The focal image is from Cornish Heritage Farms (miss them!), surrounded by a Tattered Angels frame that has been colored with Distress Inks. The sentiment for the little tag hanging off the seam binding is from Papertrey Ink.

I hope you'll have a chance to play along - you can link up your creations over at Gingersnap Creations.  And just a teensy reminder.... today is the last day to leave a comment for my blog candy (please leave a comment before midnight EDT). Click Here to go to the blog candy post. Thanks to everyone who has already commented - I'm finding some gorgeous blogs and hearing about some great products that are new to me! :)

More Halloween Pages

Working away on my 24 Hallowe'en pages - good thing I love Hallowe'en, or I'd have given up long ago, LOL!  I had totally lost my mojo, but quickly got it back after being inspired by a tutorial on Gingersnap Creations by our October muse, Kris Dickinson.  I have long admired Kris's work, and her tutorial got me going again.  The page above uses a gothic Marie image from Itkupilli and stamps from Tim Holtz, Stampin' Up, and... hmmmm...... not sure where that chandelier is from. ;)

Next up is a vintage cutie page, with a fun Ouija board stamp from Oxford Impressions.  The letters are from some ancient 8x8 Tim Holtz paper.

A little card that is more "autumn" than Hallowe'en, although I did add a little Hallowe'en greeting to the picture.  The leaves were made with Tim's new Tattered Leaves die - love it.  BTW, the vintage images above and below can be found at Clearly Vintage.

For something a little different.... these fortune teller images are all from Heartwarming Vintage.  The Haunted and Halloween stamps are from Oxford Impressions.

This last piece was completely and totally inspired by - CASEd, really - from a piece done by Lynn Stevens for The Artistic Stamper blog, and you can see her original piece by clicking HERE.  You can also go be inspired by her fabulous blog Trash to Treasure Art.  Here is my version - not nearly as beautiful as hers.  Thanks for the inspiration, Lynn!!! (Hope you are feeling better, too :) )

Stamps are from Oxford Impressions, Red Lead, and Inkadinkado.
Happy Monday!

Compendium of Curiosities Week 18

Finally got to play along over at Linda's Compendium of Curiosities Challenge again, which for this week is to use Dabber Resist.  I made a tag using Tim's new snowflake stamps (looooove them!), and Distress inks in Chipped Sapphire, Faded Denim, and Broken China. The glitzy swirls were made using American Crafts glitter paper, and of course the medallion uses Tim's rosette die.  The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.  I also added a little Diamond Stickles here and there for extra frosty shimmer, along with some Platinum Stickles on the rosette.

A different angle, showing more shimmer:

Have a great rest-of-the weekend, friends.  And if you haven't already, you can enter my blog candy draw by clicking HERE and leaving a comment. ;)

Arches with Gingersnap Creations

The new challenge over at Gingersnap Creations today is "Arches."  Since our overall themes this month are spooky and gothic, I decided to keep the party going with a bit of a spooky gothic arch triptych.  The lovely lady is from Vintage Stamper Freebees, and the stamped images are from Tim Holtz and Oxford Impressions.  My background is a bunch of Glimmer Mists, sprayed onto my craft mat and smooshed onto white cardstock, then distressed with Distress Inks.  A few trims, some bling, and some vintage text words finish it off.

I hope you'll have time to join us over at Gingersnap Creations.  Any kind of arch goes.... so let your creativity fly!

Tag Tuesday Orange + Black

The Tag Tuesday challenge at Kard Krazy for the next *two* weeks (Louise is apparently going to be partying so hard she will not have time for tags next week, LOL!) is Orange and Black.  So fun, cuz you can go Halloween, or *not* Halloween, as Louise did with her gorgeous birdie tag.  I of course chose to go the former route, since I still have a bazillion Halloween 6x6's to make for my swap, and I thought a tag on a page would be nice.

This tag uses a Red Lead stamp of a classic vintage Halloween postcard, which I colored with Copics and shabbied up with Distress Inks.  A chipboard button, some ribbon, some vintage text (my fave things), and a glittery swirl in place of a string - all fun, all done.  (P.S.... I just went to the Red Lead store and can't find this stamp at the moment.... it may be out of stock. Send them an email if you "need" this stamp - ya never know...)

Hope you are enjoying the fall weather wherever you are. :)

P.P.S.  If you haven't already, you can comment for a chance at my blog candy by clicking HERE!

Another Halloween Page

Just a very quick post today.  I have family in town and probably won't get crafting this weekend, but I thought I'd share another little 6x6 Halloween page I'm doing for a swap.  Image is from Clearly Vintage.

If you'd like to take a peek at my blog candy, you can comment on THIS post.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

My First-Ever Blog Candy!

THIS BLOG CANDY IS NOW CLOSED.  Click HERE for the winner. :)

Okay all of you lovelies, I have finally gotten my act together and have put together a little package of crafty goodness as a great big thank you to all of my wonderful followers and visitors who give me encouragement each and every day!  I've won some lovely blog candy along the way, so it's high time I return the favor. ;)

So... to have a chance of winning, please leave a comment on this post.  Simple as that.  If you'd like a little prompt, I would love to hear about what your favorite crafting item is at the moment... a favorite stamp, a tool, paper line, chipboard, ink, mist, inspirational site... whatever - I'd love to know.  That's what it's all about - learning from each other. International entries are welcomed - I will ship anywhere.

Now, if you'd like to become a follower (or already are!), I will put your name in a second time. However, following is not necessary - you'll still get one chance at winning just for commenting.  Please leave *another* comment if you are already a follower or if you become a follower, so that I don't mess up the count, LOL!

And... if you'd like another chance.... give my blog candy a little mention on your own blog (sidebar is cool).  And of course, let me know, with a link, in another comment.  I am going to try that Random.org thingy, so I want a clear accounting of entries!

Please leave your comments on THIS post by midnight EST (USA) on October 27, 2010.  I will randomly pick a winner the following day.  Please be sure I have a way of contacting you . :)

So, what's in the package? Stamps, ribbons, ephemera... yummy stuff.  Some of it for fall and Christmas, some just general yum.  A listing:

*Santa Collage stamp by Rubber Stampede
*Angel Stamp (CI - 154) by Crafty Individuals
*The Little Paper Shop topiary set and truck single clear stamps
*Two teensy stamps by Serendipity (one image is of buttons, one is of a stack of postcards)
*Dear Santa and Damask stamps from Hampton Arts
*Rayon seam binding (over 20 yards!) in luscious colors for autumn and Christmas
*Alterable "stuff"... a 7Gypsies accordian kit, a teensy composition book, some library pockets and cards, some tags in little bags
*Vintage paper ephemera - pages from French and German readers, poetry, study questions, storybook pages, and a three-page spread from a vintage German atlas
*A little assortment of inspirational crafty goodies that I am compiling as I go... fave stuff, like buttons, shimmery tulle and frosty fuzzy trim, some posies, little bits of fabric and vintage trim - you get the idea :)

Here are some close-ups.  I hope there's something you like.  Good luck! :)

Tag Tuesday Moon Dreams

The latest Tag Tuesday challenge over at Louise's Kard Krazy blog is to use a Moon on our tags.  Since I had lots of Halloween stuff on my desk already, I immediately thought of this sweet little image, which definitely does *not* have to be a Halloween image, even though it is part of a set called Trick or Treat by Oxford Impressions. (Actually, there are a few more very versatile stamps in that set, but I digress....).  I called my tag "Moon Dreams" as a play on moonbeams, because this particular moon looks so delighted to have this wee one for company.

For the tag, I spritzed the background with Glimmer Mists, delightfully named "Moonlight," "Blue Skies," and "Dragonfly."  I did some masking, too, but that got completely covered up, LOL!  Next came some stars heat embossed in silver. I tore some strips of vintage sheet music, applied some blue and silver metallic rub-on, and layered them with some puffy "clouds" that I made from the baby wipes I used to dab the Glimmers.  I stamped the little girl with her happy moon, colored them with Copics, and popped them up on top. The little border is from Pink Paislee's Parisian Anthology, and the letters are Cosmo Cricket.

Check out Louise's beautiful creation, as well as all the fab tags filling up Mr. Linky over at Kard Krazy.  This is a fun challenge, that can be taken in the Halloween direction or not, depending on your preferences.  Hope you'll have time to play. :)

Tomorrow I am going to post my very first ever, and long overdue, BLOG CANDY!!! Stay tuned..... :)

Play Date Cafe Challenge 50

So, the trickiest thing about the Play Date Cafe Challenge for me this week was photographing my project!  This week the DT challenges us to use a color palette of Green, White, and Melon.  (The melon part was the second trickiest thing... I finally went to the craft store and purchased some cardstock called "Watermelon" to be sure I had the color right, LOL!)  We can use any theme, but it just so happens that the entire team created projects for the holidays, and the sponsor this week, Elusive Images, is donating some gorgeous holiday stamps as prizes.  That totally put me in the holiday spirit!

I've had this idea rattling around in my head for a while - to take vellum, stamp on it, color it on the back, and make a candle surround.  So that's what I did, finally, with this holiday-themed challenge.  I stamped the angel image (from Crafty Individuals) in black on vellum, flipped it over, and colored the image with Copics.  I used very bright colors of melon, green, yellow, and sienna, so that they could shine through the vellum.  I did this twice (for the front and back).  For the sides, I simply took two vellum panels and ran them through a Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder.  Here's a better view of the side:

And here's a close-up of the image in brighter light.  The middle angel's dress is colored green, but with the votive burning behind it, it's a bit hard to tell. The music border is from a Hero Arts stamp.

The overall size of the piece is a 5" cube.  I wanted to be able to put my large 3-wick pine scented candle inside.  Unfortunately, the light from said candle was so bright it wrecked havoc with my photos!  I switched it out for a smaller votive, and that worked better.  Whew - photography is definitely not my forte!

There's still time to play along over at the Cafe (until midnight tonight).  Check out the beautiful prizes up for grabs this week, as well as a design team call. ;)

Haunted - Gingersnap Creations Creative Connection

Hello friends!  It's Friday and the beginning of a beautiful weekend. :) Today I am participating in a Gingersnap Creations Creative Connection (GCCC).  The idea is to first create a piece of art using a particular theme as inspiration - and this month's theme is "Haunted." Then, once you've posted your piece to your blog, mention my post and the Creative Connection post on Gingersnap Creations.  Whoever is inspired by the post on your blog should similarly link to both your blog and to GCCC.  We all "craft it forward" so to speak, and see how far we can get this connection to go.  Sound like fun?

I heard about this month’s "GCCC" - Haunted - from Aisling of Aisling's Hobby Blog.  Her piece is delightfully spooky and has a theme similar to mine.... that's all I'm sayin', you'll have to go check it out. :)

For my piece, I created a 6x6 stamped collage inspired by my very favorite poem to read around Hallowe'en. All (but one) of the stamps are from Oxford Impressions; the "Raven" ATC stamp with the quotes from the poem is from Red Lead.

For the background I used the glimmered distress technique from Technique Junkies.  I then built the collage with stamps, some directly on the background and some on separate cardstock and cut out.  The "lace" is stamped on vellum and embossed.  I popped up the tombstone and the little raven just a bit for dimension.  This page is part of a 24-page (!!!) Hallowe'en swap I am participating in locally.  Since everyone's tastes and styles are different in the group (very fun, BTW... since I love all kinds of styles and can't settle on just one, LOL!) I decided to do a set of spooky/scary/macabre and a set of vintage shabby chic not-so-dark pages.  So next up is one of the latter: 

The adorable Hallowe'en postcard is from Clearly Vintage, and the batty stamp is from Cat's Life Press.  The background is the same as the one above (glimmered distress), plus I embossed it with a Cuttlebug pumpkin folder.

For both pages, I left about a half-inch area on the side free of embellishments (the right side for the first one, the left side for this one) so that they can be bound in book form - I will paste the two sides together, forming one page.  I am writing this here as a way of cementing this idea in my head so that I don't forget to do it for the next ones, ROFL!!! 

Hope you've got fun plans for the weekend.  We're all about the sport, of course, and hopefully some more fall decorating as well.  Have a beautiful one! 

Pumpkins at Tag Tuesday

Thought I'd be a bit different today and start with the close-up, LOL! Louise's new challenge over at Kard Krazy is tags with Pumpkins, so I thought I'd start with the star of the show.  And here is the whole tag....

Fall is my favorite time of the year, so I already had a bunch of fall-themed, orange-y goodness sitting around on my work table. My pumpkin is cut freehand from grungeboard, painted orange, then glittered with Martha Stewart's glitter.  The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Friendship Jar Fall Fillers. The frame around the dancing couple is from 7Gypsies, and the polka dot background is from Glitz.  The rest of the tag uses stamps from Crafty Secrets' new Halloween set, Costume Cuties.  I colored the couple with Copics and the moon was stamped on a piece of scrap that I had already colored with distress inks.  The dotty background is stamped on a page from a vintage German reader.  The bat is one of those double-sided stickers from Martha, with some black glitter on top.  Lastly, the seam binding is from Zipperstop.  Whew, sounds way more complicated than it actually was, LOL!

There are some great tags in the Linky over at Kard Krazy.... if you need some fall inspiration, check out Louise's tag and all the others, and maybe have a go! :)

Sending Hugs... and a Little Peek

Hello friends! Posting a little card I made for a blogger friend who's going through some health troubles (but is on the mend, thank goodness!).  The image and sentiment are from Crafty Individuals, and the paper is all from Crate Paper's Restoration line. (I will be sobbing when I've used this up. Seriously. But I'm not hoarding it. Seriously.)

And, I have a little sneaky peeky of my first article in Craft Stamper magazine... Yippeeee!  Can't show you the entire thing, of course, but it's the November issue if you get a chance to see.

I'm off to take a walk on this beautiful, sunny, COOL autumn day.  Hope your day is crafty and fun!