21st Century Pillow Book

Wow! That’s title is quite a mouthful huh? I cannot believe it is Dec. 31st already. I have to say, I had a lot of wonderful things happen this year (like TTIC and Smeared & Smudged !), but this was a really tough year for me. I am looking forward to 2010. It’s gonna start with a bang (there’s a Blue Moon tonight!), and I really hope that this year is a turning point for my family. I want things to start lookin’ up for us. I have faith that it will. But on to my project! Smeared and Smudged is having it’s first 2 sketch challenges (which are due today…better late then never!). A scrapbook sketch and a card sketch. Here’s the sketch itself: Created by my fellow DT member Kelli, I was totally into this sketch! I loved all the different shapes. Well, for my card, I needed to use the sketch rather loosely. This is because I wanted to use Sweet Pea Stamps’ Winter Watcher stamp. So, out with the oval… then…well, why not just look at it for yourself? I painted the image with Twinkle H2O...

Greetings and Happy Tuesday! TTIC is off this week, so I wanted to bring you my very first card using Sweet Pea Stamps ! They are Ching-Chou Kuik’s amazing artwork and ALL of these stamps are simply beautiful. The stamp I have is called Winter Watcher. And, being that I am a cat lover, this stamp is quite meaningful for me! I kept the card itself simple, because I wanted the image to of course be the focus! And how could it not be??? It’s just gorgeous! I colored it in with my Spectracolor Pencils. And I quite like the end result! Click on any of my photos to see them bigger! I am especially happy with the cat’s eye and the cape. I used a cardstock with a lot of tooth this time, I wanted to give it a lot of texture, but my next version (which I already started) uses a stock that is much smoother. I hope to have it done tonight… Now please head on over to the Sweet Pea Stamps Blog for some magical inspiration! You will be wowed!!!

Hello again! Yes, I’ve been on a bit of a blog hiatus, what with the Holidays and the icky stomach virus that took up residence in my house. Somehow, I was very fortunate and was spared from getting sick, but Nix is still not quite right. Gene and Rhi seem to be just fine now. Thank you for all the well-wishes!!! So, I am pleased to announce that today marks the second Twilight Tuesday Scrapbooking Challenge! I am so excited about giving you these challenges every other Monday (I’ll be rotating with Dani’s awesome Sketch Challenges!). So, without further ado, here’s what you’ll find on the TTIC Blog: Welcome to the second Twilight Tuesday Scrapbooking Challenge! The Holidays are almost over, so maybe you can find some time to play along with us! This week's challenge is about one of the Cullen boys... Jasper has the special ability to control the emotions of the people in a room. He often made Bella relax in Twilight. Who in your life does that for you? Maybe you have a special pl...

So I had every intention of posting today, tomorrow...maybe even Wednesday. Don't know if that'll happen now though. My kids and husband have a stomach virus. I'll probably be joining them shortly. So, have a wonderful Holiday if I don't get to post again.... I'll probably be puking my brains out. Joy to the world! ;}

Greetings! Today I am bring you a card I made for Smeared and Smudged .  One of the many mini groups in S&S is “Oh the Horror!” It’s about… you guessed it, all things horror. So Terra (our fearless leader), gave us a movie poster to draw inspiration from. Here it is… I love the colors in this poster (although, overall,, I think the art is pretty rad!). So, the colors are what I used for my card. Please click on the photos to see them bigger! I used my Spirit of Winter stamp from Stamp Oasis. Isn’t she lovely and mysterious? I used a whole mess of things to color this card in. Watercolor markers, Twinkle H2O’s, chalk, colored pencils. I love mixed media! A close up of the Spirit. Do you see the shimmer from the Twinkle H20’s? I am really happy with this card. I abso love the colors. I have sent this card out to Julie. Hopefully she got it already! ;} That’s it for today… sorry about the short post. I have much to do for Nix’s B-Day tomorrow and the kids’ bas...

Greetings! It’s Tuesday, so it is time for another Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge! Here is what my darling friend Margie (who I actually have met!!!) wrote this week: “It’s time for our last challenge for 2009… We have had a wonderful year here at Twilight Tuesday and we are looking forward to having another fun, crafty and adventurous Twilight-y year with all of you in 2010!” This week’s challenge is “A Twilight Christmas” Create any Twilight themed holiday project. Comment: What is something that you are leaving behind in the old year and what are you looking forward to in the new year??? Cool! So here’s what I created: Please click on the photos to see them bigger! Obviously, the cardinal stamp is the focus. It’s from Inkadinkado and I just love it. Cardinals are one of my fave birds… I embossed him with cherry red powder from Gel-A-Tins, inked the edges in Quicksilver and pop dotted him. I used a clear stamp from Fancy Pants in the background and embossed it with UTEE in...

What a great day! Actually, this is going to be a great week… but more about that another time. Today is the first time I get to introduce you to Twilight Tuesday’s newest Challenge! A scrapbooking challenge! Now, you should probably know by now that scrapbooking holds a special place in my heart, so I am super excited to be bringing you a new scrapbook challenge every other Monday! How awesome is that? Here’s my challenge to you: Welcome to the first Twilight Tuesday Scrapbooking Challenge! I am so excited about these new challenges. Every other Monday, I will be giving you a new topic. This topic will be taken from the pages of the wonderful Twilight Saga, and then I will reinterpret it to fit into our “real” lives! Next, YOU get to make a scrapbook page(s) about the topic! We want to know about you and your life! But, you can of course, make it about the books/movies as well! It’s up to you! We want you to have fun!!! On to the first challenge… The wolf pack is made up of brothers....

  Hey Everybody! How would you like to participate in a great new sketch challenge for a chance to win some fantastic BLOG CANDY? It’s from the totally rad group I’m in, Smeared and Smudged ! THE RULES: Welcome to the first Scrapbook Sketch Challenge on Smeared and Smudged! The rules of the challenge are simple, just use the sketch above as inspiration for a scrapbook layout. When you've completed your project, add a comment to this Smeared and Smudged discussion containing either a picture of your project, or a link to your project on your blog. Be sure to label your post with "December Smeared and Smudged Sketch Challenge" if you are providing a link. Also include your name and email address. At the end of the month, all of the entries for the Scrapbook challenge and Card challenge will be combined, and the winner will be chosen by Random Number Generator at Random.org. You have until the last day of December to enter. Winner will be chosen on January 1, 2009. Y...

Time for another Black Dagger Brotherhood Challenge! This week we are working with Butch O’Neal. The ex-cop human who not only wears killer threads, but…shall we say…runs with vampires as well! Here’s what my Book Buddy Beth wrote on TTIC: Phew! Can you believe we are almost halfway through December? And, oh yes – TGIF! Hopefully you have all found some quiet time somewhere to get in a little reading – and better still, I hope you have gotten your hands on a copy of one of the BDB books! This week, we have the challenge based on book #4, Lover Revealed, which tells the story of Butch O’Neal. Read on: Butch is a man who has lived a hard life. His heart is big, but his head never really lives up to his heart. He’s rough around the edges, and lives his live hard charging, with little regard to his own well-being. And he is always on the fringe – in his family, his job and in life. Then he finds himself coming to the aid of a friend, and his whole universe shifted. His entire destin...

Greetings! Today I have for you my second installment as a Smeared and Smudged Design Team Member. This card is a little bit Winter, a little bit mysterious, and has a little bit of magic in it. I love this owl stamp from Inkadinkado. It’s got so much going on… the owl has a certain quiet power. And the swirling snowflakes remind me of something out of Narnia. Then there’s the sentiment. Also powerful in my world. And quite beautiful. It’s also from Inkadinkado. I used platinum embossing powder for both. See the shine? If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you’ll also see that I used a couple of spritzes of Black Gold Glimmer Mist. In addition, I added a couple of gems from JoAnns, and a tag from Basic Grey. The cardstock is from Prism. Isn’t he majestic? He also reminds me very much of the movie Labyrinth. Which, now I am totally in the mood to watch those 2 flicks!!! So, that’s my card. Quiet, simple, and strong. Pure magic!

Happy Tuesday! It’s time for another Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge !!! This week our latest exciting challenge is brought to us by our Design Team Leader, Margie. Who, without her, I may have never even found out about TTIC! Here’s what she wrote: "I don't know about you guys, but I'm still celebrating the release of New Moon! and my b'day is in a few days! So I'm in the mood to keep on celebrating it all right into the New Year! " Challenge: Create a "Celebrating" project for the vampire-lover in your life! It can be any Holiday - birthday, Christmas, Valentine's, etc. Have a ton of fun with this one and don't hold back! Comment: There's no denying that we all have wish lists, especially with the holiday season on us! Some of our lists are a little more practical than others... Please share with us with what is on your "not-so-practical" wish list??? I decided to make a Birthday card. I have a number of those to do thi...

Hello again Twi-Hards! I have some really exciting news to share with you!  Twilight Tuesday is going to start hosting Scrapbooking Challenges !!! There are a lot of you out there that scrapbook, and don’t really make cards. We don’t want you to feel left out! So now you will have your own challenges! And for you card makers out there, it might be time for you to start scrappin’! These challenges will be based on The Twilight Saga, of course but your layouts do not have to be about Twilight! I’ll be pulling ideas directly from the books or movies, and we want you to relate these challenges to your own life!!! But, if you want to make a Twilight layout, you are totally welcome to do that too! These challenges will be put up every other Monday, rotating with Dani’s amazing Sketch Challenges. Do the challenge as often as you’d like, we would love for you to play along with us! Here are the Twilight Tuesday Scrapbook Challenge Rules: ____________________________________________...

First off, I’d like to mention that I have put up a blog post EVERY DAY THIS WEEK!!!! That is a first for me!!! Amazing! Ok, but the real reason your here is to check out my latest card right??? I came across this stamp the other day… I don’t even think I’ve ever even used it which is sad because it’s so damn cute! I know, I know… I don’t usually do cute… but it’s Christmastime! And really, who wouldn’t want a baby reindeer??? This adorable image is from Hampton Art Stamps, and yeah, it’s supposed to be a puppy dressed up… but in my mind, it really is a baby reindeer! Don’tcha want a Rudolph of your own??? The paper is all from DCWV. I just really liked this combo of colors and patterns. And the embossing powder (from Gel-A-Tins) not only has a bit of sparkle, but it’s CHERRY scented!!! How cool is that? It doesn’t last too long, but I still think it’s pretty rad! The ink is Green Tea from Color Box. Ok, so I’m gonna run… both my babies are taking naps at the SAME TIME (the stars ha...

So it’s December 3rd and I am as of yesterday just starting my Holiday cards. I’m not making cards for everyone though, so the folks that are getting the pre-fabbed ones are already out in the mail… so that’s something right??? Today I thought I’d share with you one style that I came up with yesterday. It features one of my fave holiday stamps. A gorgeous pine tree. I love trees. All trees. I have several tree stamps. I am a tree hugger… it’s true! I have used this stamp (from Inkadinkado) for lots of cards over the past few years… decorating it’s boughs in all different ways. But this time, I used nonconventional colors and Stickles! Yum! It’s a simplistic design, but I thought they came out really pretty. The one thing I struggled with was how to end the ribbon. Do I make a slot in the card and tie it? Do I just cut it at the end of the card? This is what I came up with… I thought these epoxy stickers I had laying around added a sweet and unexpected touch! They are from JoAnns, th...

Hello! I am so excited to share my first card as a Smeared and Smudged Design Team Member! So for this card I created a project that I have been wanting to make for a while. I’ve blogged about the main stamp once before… you can view it HERE . So take a look at what I’ve made this time around… I just love the stamp of the woman digging… so many weird creepy things can be made for her. Yeah, ok… maybe she’s gardening…but I just don’t see her doing such a mundane thing! I really want to do a whole series of cards with her. I’ve got several ideas, but I’m open to more! Got any??? Sorry the photo is a little dark… I was trying to get a shot of the Glimmer Mist. Click on the photo to see it bigger! So, what’s Smeared and Smudged you ask? It’s a alternative, gothic, retro, crazy cool stamping group! There ain’t no cutsey kittens here (not that I don’t love kittens…)! The group has all sorts of awesome categories, like Vamp Kamp, Oh, the Horror!, Perfect Pinups, and Fairy Fantasy. Inte...

Wowie! Did this past week just fly by for you or was it just me??? I had a great Thanksgiving (I think the food this year topped ALL other years!!!), and then the babies and I came down with this nasty cold that we are still fighting… But it’s on the outs so I’m hoping we’ll be back to normal within a day or so. But let’s get to the topic you visited me for shall we??? It’s Twilight Tuesday time! We are finishing up Your New Moon Experience this week. Here’s what I wrote (that’s right… my challenge! Gosh, that never gets old!!!) on TTIC: Happy Tuesday Twilighters! So, have you seen it? How many times??? I know some of you have gone 2 or 3 times already! Now, the most important question… Did you take pictures???? If so, then join us in making a layout of your New Moon Experience! If you didn’t, that’s ok! Scrap your ticket stubs, journal about the evening’s events, etc! Just have fun with it! Even if you haven’t scrapped before, join in! We can’t wait to see what you make and read abo...

Good Monday morning! I have been sick with a gross cold since Friday, so this is going to be a short post, as my head is still in a fog due to lack of medicine (ah, the things we do to nurse our children!). I chose to make a layout using Dani’s Twilight Tuesday Sketch Challenge #2. It worked out perfectly for what I wanted to do… I really love this page. I love how clean the original sketch was, so I didn’t want to disrupt it with a lot of embellishments. Plus, these are some of my absolute fave pictures of Rhiannon, (I must have taken about 25 in this one sitting!) so I really wanted to just focus on them. And her shirt is just so rockin’! Remember to click n the photos to see them bigger! Cardstock is from Prism and American Crafts. “Cherish” stamp is from Heidi Swapp, and it’s embossed in silver. Marker is from EK Success. Some of the other TTIC girls made projects for today too! Donna Rebecca Beth Dani Margie Julie Tonya (check her blog out this afternoon for her proje...

I am SOOOOOO excited!!! I have some awesome news to share! I am on a brand new Design Team! It’s for Smeared and Smudged , which is a place “dedicated to focusing on alternative art styling and unique ways to use rubber stamps. If you enjoy creating art using gothic, alternative, vintage, or out-of-the norm stamp images, you” belong with us!!! If you’ve been on my blog for more than a day, then you probably realized that I’m not your typical crafter…. I like to do weird, creepy, and out of the ordinary. You won’t find too many super cute and sweet things here. Yeah, I do that stuff sometimes, but my heart belongs to the, well… the strange! So I am thrilled to be a part of this up and coming group. I would love it if you visited the Smeared and Smudged Blog , and the Smeared and Smudged ning Group . This is going to be so much fun for me, and I hope that some of you will join this rad group. With this DT, and the TTIC DT, I sure am going to have my hands full (in a good way of cou...

Happy Tuesday! The regular Twilight Tuesday Team is off for Thanksgiving, but if you recall, last Tuesday we mentioned that I had come up with a special New Moon project for you. Here’s what I wrote last week: “Hey Twilighters! The time has come! The wait is over! New Moon is going to be released THIS WEEK!!! I’m betting that a lot of you have big plans; I know I do! But here’s the thing, we at TTIC don’t want to just hear about your experience with the movie, we want to see it!!! So pack up your camera and TAKE PHOTOS of your New Moon experience! Pics while you’re waiting in line, of you and your Twi-friends, and even the afterglow of seeing all your fave Twi-boys! Then, pull out your die cut machines, your snazzy embellishments and make a layout! Journal about your night out! Show us those awesome photos! Scrap your movie tickets! Let’s all get scrappin’!!! This challenge will be due on December 1st , so for those of you that aren’t going to see the flick opening...

I enjoy working on sketch challenges from time to time. Especially when I can’t figure out what to do for a certain project… They can really come in handy! TTIC is doing a review of all of Dani’s wonderful sketches this week (regular TTIC is taking a break for Thanksgiving), so I wanted to share one with you today. I decided to use Sketch Challenge #14. But, I didn’t want to make a card. I have sooooo many layouts that I need to make, so I decided to turn this sketch sideways and make a scrapbook page out of it! Please click on the photo to see it bigger! This photo was taken in October. My family of four decided to visit a couple of local nurseries by us for their Fall Festivals. This is one of my favorite things to do in the Fall! So, here we are, Me and My Pumpkins, enjoying the day. The only thing I don’t like about this photo, is that Gene isn’t in it. Otherwise, I think it’s a really cute page! I liked Dani’s original sketch, but like I said, I have a ton of layouts to make...