21st Century Pillow Book

It's a big day today! Not only is it Bombshell's Hump Day Hop (which is now one of my favorite days of the month!), but it is day 4 of Simply Betty Stamps Jude and the Rockers preview! You are in for a big treat with both stamp companies, so I really hope you'll visit all parties involved! Let's start with the hop. For this month's Bombshell Stamps hop, I decided to go with a theme that is close to my heart. Pirates. Here's the challenge: Aaaarrrggg!!!! In honor of the latest Pirates of the Caribbean flick, and the start of Summer (cruises and such...work with me here, folks) I decided what better theme than pirates! More like the phrase "Shiver me timbers!" Now, I am thinking pirates...but what do YOU think of when you hear that phrase? I used my beloved pirate from Pirate's Life , plus some of the smaller (yet still awesome!) stamps from the Hula Girl set. I love creating backgrounds with those little stamps. I was inspired by my June Sk...

There is a new challenge over at The Burtonesque Dolls today plus, it’s Day 3 of the Jude and the Rockers by Simply Betty Stamps . Let’s start with The Dolls! Tweedle Dee Tweedle Dum. I’m seeing doubles! Make a project using twins! As I mentioned last week, we were throwing a Very Merry Un-Birthday Tea Party for my kidlings. It was on Saturday. Rhiannon just so happened to get a beautiful (Disney) Belle dress, and matching Bell doll! She was (is) so excited! I just knew I had to use that for today’s project. My little girl and her twin… I can’t even tell you how much she loves this doll and her dress. Doesn’t she look adorable? You can click on any of my photos to see them bigger, My journaling basically says when she got her dress and her “twin,” and how excited she is about it. The kidlings helped me with this page too. Which is always fun, of course! :) On to today’s preview. Say hello to Brittany! Isn’t she cute? Her hair is so spunky, and I love her outfit...

Get ready for a rockin’ week with the Simply Betty Stamps team! Sunday through Friday we will be bringing you sneak peeks of the newest SBS line, Jude and the Rockers. Today, we will be starting with Jude. Isn’t he handsome? He is modeled after Betty’s son Jude, of course! I colored him in with my watercolor markers, and almost had a “My dog ate my homework” story. For some reason, she decided my digis looked tasty and grabbed my sheet. Luckily, Phoenix saw her and called me just as she was about to mangle poor Jude. He got a little crinkled, but I thought it worked out ok, since I was going for a distressed look anyway! He looks like he’s having so much fun with his guitar!   The rad little sentiment is from SBS DT’er Cheri. You can find this and a whole lot more by visiting her bloggy HERE . Remember, all week long there will be a new Rocker to check out. I will be participating again on Tuesday. These cool stamps will be available for purchase starting on...

It’s no secret that I think Nicole Maki is a Goddess when it comes to her creativity. She’s amazing. So it’s no surprise that when I saw her “ Clean and Simple Card Set ,” I was inspired.  So I decided to give it a go with one of the Chicks from Smeared Ink’s Chicks Dig Guns set, along with some of the splatters from the Inky Dreams set (also Smeared Ink). Truth be told, I think the size of my card is too big. But my smaller cards are too small. I will probably cut this one down (just a little off the top) so that the chick fits better. But boy! What a mess she’s made! I hope she has some Clorox hidden somewhere… I stamped her with StazOn and added no color or shading. I stamped the splatter with Scarlet from Color Box then embossed it with Ranger’s red powder for some sheen and dimension. Yum. I also added a bit of a shadow underneath the chick with my grey watercolor marker. But that’s about it. Fast, simple…and a bit gruesome. Here you can see the embossing. ...

It’s been a quiet week for me in bloggyland. I have been super busy prepping for my kidling’s “Very Merry Un-Birthday Tea Party” that is happening on Saturday. Plus, getting ready for the many, many new releases that I will get to share with you over the next few months. Start saving your dough…’cause you’re going to be needing it for these releases! But I digress. Today I am thrilled to announce that along with the latest StampInsanity Challenge , We have a couple new Groovy Gurlz! Sammi and my darling friend Kelli ! I am so excited to have you not only as a Groovy Gurl, but on Ward 2 with me! Welcome! And for those of you keeping track…this is the third design Team that Kelli and I are on. Yes. We plan on taking over the world. ;) So this week’s challenge is great! And a few of us took a different spin on it then what most would have expected, I think. The challenge is Stars & Stripes. You’re probably thinking patriotic, right? Well, as you probably know, I prefer the road...

It’s Father’s Day. I’m usually pretty sad today, as my Dad has been gone for 10 years now…and my Father in Law is now gone as well…but my husband Gene and I are working on fixing up some things around the house, so I’m doing much better this year than I expected. I made him a card using some Bombshell Stamps , and I made it to coincide with this month’s Pin-Up challenge : Animal Print.   I just got the Speed Shop set in the mail last week, so I was really excited to start using it. And I just had to include one of my favorite Bombshells… Bombshell Angel ! I drew in the zebra print on her outfit, and used some zebra print paper in the background. I love how the car turned out. I used a lot of shades of blue to color it in, and I am really happy with how it turned out. Don’t these two images work great together? My husband loved the card. Which makes me happy. What do you think??? Reminder: you still have some time to sign up for this month’s Hump Day Hop! Stop by t...

I know you have been waiting for today…waiting to see the last of the Burton Weenies from Simply Betty Stamps , and waiting for your chance to buy them! Well, that day has finally come! Today, not only will you get to meet Pipper (my personal fave of the bunch), but you can purchase and start to color up this funky group for yourself! Here is Pipper! Isn’t she freakin’ awesome? I love her hair…her outfit…her attitude. And, since today is Friday (my Smeared Ink day), I have also used several Smeared Ink stamps on the card to finish it off. Before I get into them though, let’s take a closer look at Pipper. I love her cupcake barrette. Can you see it? You can click on any of my photos to see them bigger, Once again, I broke out my watercolor markers and used some of the brightest colors in my box (but next time I think she’ll be in purple and black).  I love the bright cheery colors with her sour look. I used 3 sentiments from Smeared Ink’s Lil Grumpies set, a splatt...

I’m not talking about motorcycles here! It’s time for the latest sneak peek of Simply Betty Stamps’ Burton Weenies collection! Say hello to Harley… This chick’s got some spunk! She looks like the snarkiest of the bunch, in my opinion. I colored Harley with my watercolor markers (her piercings were done with a metallic pen). I gave my card a collage feel. I wanted it to be a little wacky and all over the place. I think it’s pretty cool! Don’tcha just love her outfit? And her hair is really cool…although, yellow and orange are probably the only 2 colors I haven’t had myself. The “whatever” is from Smeared Ink . Here you can see her metallic piercings a bit better. You can click on any of my photos to get a bigger view. Coloring tip: I used a pale blue where the white stripes are (for a shadow) to give the white some dimension. You can also use grey in the same manner. I really enjoyed using the various doo-dads on this card. If I had a wee bit more time…I probably wo...

Hello! Not only is it time for another fabulous sneak peek at Simply Betty Stamps’ Burton Weenies, but it’s also time for another Desert Islands Crafters Challenge ! Today we meet Raven, and I paired her up with Sunday’s peek, JackJack. But before we get to my card, here’s the latest itinerary. Jo's Desert Island Itinerary 1. Lace 2. Decorative pins 3. Something metal 4. 3 different stamps 5. 3 different papers 6. Distressing 7. Handmade embellishment 8. Something "found" ie: not a specific craft item 9. A bird 10. A sticker/stickers As always, to play along with this challenge you need to use at least 3 things from the itinerary. This time around, I used 5. Numbers 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8. Here’s my creation. I have to say, I love how this card came out. It’s grungy, wild, and yet very sweet. And I am proud of myself because it was the first time I merged 2 images together. And I didn’t even have to ask for help! Go me! :) ...

Are you loving the Burton Weenie release from Simply Betty Stamps as much as me? I know I will be using these images all the time! Today we are showing off Ellenore. And in addition to this preview, we Burtonesque Dolls have a new challenge for you! Put Me in a Burton Film! Which means take your image, any image and put that image in any Burton film... think Alice, Mrs. Lovette, Lidia, PeeWee Herman, Jack Skellington... the sky's the limit! Just... PUT ME IN A BURTON MOVIE! I decided to make Elenore a wicked Alice. She is holding a voodoo doll, but I gave it ears to make it look like a bunny. Here's my card. I have to say, one of the best thing about these new digis is that I am so inspired to color them in many different ways. I love using super bright color combinations on them, but I know they will look just as rad in dark, gothic colors. See the bunny ears? I also wrote in "Curiouser & Curiouser." Also from Alice in Wonderland, of course! I used a few p...

Welcome to Day 2 of release week with The Burtonesque Dolls ! Today we are showing off Belladonna…who looks a bit… wicked….what do you think? Isn’t she cool? I want her outfit! I broke out the watercolor markers once again, and colored her up with burgundy, blue and grey. It looked to me as if she could be holding something, so I drew in a cane. If you click on any of my photos, you can see them bigger. I just love her hair… All of the Burton Weenies will be available for purchase at Simply Betty Stamps starting this Friday! And we will have a new Burton Weenie to share with you everyday, all week long! The “Wicked” is from Smeared Ink . ‘Cause she just looks devious! I used the negative from a Martha Stewart punch for the blue cracked edge. I kept it a bit simple…I wanted you to really focus in on Belladonna and the Wicked. Wait. Is that blood on the sentiment??? Oh dear. Something wicked this way comes…Run!!!!!!! But be sure to come back again tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Greetings! This is going to be a super exciting week in bloggy land! Especially if you are a Simply Betty and a Burtonesque Doll fan! This week, starting today Simply Betty and her DT’s will be sharing the latest (and one of my new favorite!) collections. The Burton-Weenies! Trust me…you are going to LOVE this release!!! Today, we are starting with JackJack. Who reminds me quite a bit of Davy Havoc from AFI. How cool is he??? He (and the rest of this collection) are a blast to color! I used the 4th Deconstructed Sketch for this card…not realizing that by the time I posted this blog, the 5th challenge would be up. But whatever. It was a great sketch and I think my finished card is cool. Here’s the sketch: And here is a close up of JackJack. I love his barrettes! I mimicked them with my 2 yellow paper clips (thinks to The Dolls for your suggestions!).   I am really happy with how my coloring came out. It looks a bit better in person ( why oh why do my purples never photo...

This is going to be a super quick post today. Why? Because my girl Kelli and her family came up for a visit! We are going to be off to the zoo in a few minutes, so I hafta run! But here is my Smeared Ink offering for the day. Lots of Smeared Ink goodness on this card! I used one of the very pretty hearts and senti from the Heart Wings set, and a bunch of splatters from Inky Dreams I used opal like colors for the wings…and a Color Box petal point for the background. I think it’s a pretty softer side of Smeared Ink. Thanks for stopping by! Have an inspiring day!