Thursday, January 31, 2013

Time for a challenge!

  It is Every Inchie Monday and the Diva's challenge!  Great fun!  Of course mine are not done on Monday.  But they were still fun. 
     My inchie takes so much thought for such a "little guy".  I googled hut images and decided on one to draw, nothing fancy just the basic.  I really wanted to do an inchie with Jabba the Hut from Star Wars.  But never found the time. 
     For the challenge over at Diva's we were to use tangle string #3.  I added just a touch of color to try and help it out some. 
  Got to run now, but I plan on writing more later (this weekend) and telling you about the Blog Cup winner.  See you and thanks for dropping by!


Sunday, January 27, 2013

Card making fun!

      Aside from tangling, card making and scrapbooking are high on my favorites list.  I love working with paper.  Always have.  So when I discovered CardzTV, I was delighted.  It is so much fun watching the videos, checking out everyone's work and just getting inspired.  This week there were two different challenges I worked on.  One was to use only the colors red, black, and white.  That is a combination I love.  On anything.  It just speaks of elegance in my opinion.  My card does have 2 little gold hinges, but I think that is okay.  At least I hope so.
     I used the cuttlebug on the black paper.  Then I mounted one of my favorite tangles done in red, black and white on the front.  The inside has an embossed Happy Birthday sentiment.
      The next challenge was to do any type of card or project, but you needed to use a banner.  Pretty open-ended.  I kept with very simple colors.  I also added some more tangling on the shield.  Satisfies my need to do both crafts.

     I hope everyone has a great week and I am anxious to see all the other entries.  Thanks for dropping by and please leave a comment if you have time!

Dare #42

     I had a lot of fun with this dare by Erin at The Bright Owl.  Every template she does is unique and awesome.  For the first one I sort of kept it simple.  Nothing fancy.  When I saw the star beneath the petals, I had to try auraknot.  Then I decided to try something different.  I glanced over and saw the jar of colorful (and very cheap) pens I use to grade papers with.  Aha!  I decided to tangle with those on the second one.  I still prefer my microns, but it was interesting to try the other and I do like the color.
          Guess it is time to go and use those colorful pens to do what they were intended for - grade some papers!  Have a great week and thank you for stopping by!  Check out the entry for Diva this week.  When I post I plan on letting you know where the Blog Friendship Cup is headed!  It has a new home!  And I have met a new friend! 

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Brown Card

   This is a first for me.  The card challenge.  I have made cards for years, but never posted them.  At the challenge this week at Paper Playtime we were asked to do a card and use the color brown.  One of my favorite colors.  So this past weekend, I pulled out my Christmas goodies and went to work.  I used my two new Cricut cartridges - Heritage and Elegant Edges.  I also got to use my new Cuttlebug and the herringbone embossing plate.  I haven't put a sentiment inside, since I am not sure how I want to use this card yet.  Either way, it was lots of fun and I may be checking out other challenges from this really cool site.  If you enjoy card making, check the site out!

Challenges!

    The Diva asked us this week to tangle on a very special string - the logo for the Moebius Syndrome Foundation.  Her very special little boy deals with this, moebius syndrome, everyday.  The challenges and triumphs, Artoo and his whole family face are amazing.  If you would like to read more about them and see some really cute pictures of Artoo, click on the challenge button on the side.  I kept my tangling simple and use the foundation's color purple to highlight it.  Then I put my initials on it - and realized it was upside down.  Good grief! 

       Now to Every Inchie Monday.  This little inch was a real problem this week.  The word was "stone".  I could not figure out how to make it original and unique.  I tried one with scrapbook paper that had stones on it, but it was rather bland.  I thought about the Rolling Stone's logo.  I could not get inspired, then my brother said what about Stonehenge!  Aha! So here's my very literal take on the word "stone".
      I hope everyone has a wonderful week.  I am enjoying the beautiful weather for now.  Hope it lasts.  I also still have the Blog Friendship Cup.  If you are interested please leave your email address in a comment so I can email you the details.  This is my last plea.  After this week, I am going to send it back to the originator and that is a shame, she wanted it to travel to lots of places.  Ah well . . .

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Sunshine and Flowers!

    Since before Christmas the weather has been gray.  Gloomy, drippy gray.  It can be rather depressing.  I am not an "outdoor" person, but I do enjoy bouts of play with Lakota and fresh air.  Not too mention, I am not at all fond of rainy day recesses at school.  This past week at school was particularly crazy.  Three days we had a 2 hour delay due to flooding and one day we dismissed early due to ice.  Oh good grief!
    So when the sun peeped out Friday and blue skies burst forth - oh my! What a delight!  My mood shot way up.  Then Erin at The Bright Owl sends us a superb template on Saturday.  Flowers!  Yahoo!  I just love the thought of sunshine and flowers!
Aloha
    Hope your week is wonderful and filled with sunshine (or whatever your weather in your part of the world would be best).  Thanks for dropping by and leaving me a comment.  You bring me sunshine!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Another Challenge and More

     First things first.  I still have the Blog Friendship Cup.  If you haven't read about it, check out my previous post on this wonderfully fun cup.  You can read about it from me here.  You can also see my photos - which don't do it justice.  It is not a lot of trouble and so much fun.  Alter the cup, add a tag, pack it with lots of fun things and send it to someone.  If you are interested, please leave a comment with your email so I can contact you and if you would please (if not already) become a follower of my blog.  You can also check out the Diva's experience with the cup and Dianna at Wolf Howlings.  
Join in and experience the fun!!

Inchies Mondays

     Sure, I need another challenge.  I have hundreds of hours of spare time. . . . If I were Pinocchio, my nose would be soooo long after that one.  Truth is I don't need another challenge, but these little inchies I stumbled across are so cute.  I just have to give it a try.  And after all, it is only one little inch of paper a week.  Check out the challenge at Every Inchie Monday.  I am posting the first two.  (Yes, I am already behind an inch, if you must know).  The first word was "star" and I decided to use a tangle for that one.  Then this week the word we had to focus on was "girl".  No tangles for that one, just some paper playing.
Star
Girl


Duo Tangle - Bunzo and Auraknot

     I love bunzo.  I love auraknot.  What more can I say?  But how do you "marry" the two?  Not so easy.  Diva's examples were so beautiful, I didn't know how to step up to the challenge.  I decided to just layer the two tangles back and forth across each other.  I wasn't sure about this at first, but I really think I like it.  Kind of floaty and cool.

Dare #40

     Erin wanted us to do something spectacular.  Uh . . . I think it is pretty, but outstanding?  No, not really.  It's brown.  It has buggy things.  It has a cool star in the center.  It isn't really spectacular.  But here it is anyway - my buggy, brown dare.


     Hope you have a fantastic week.  I am looking forward to a long week-end.  Now if it only could be a dry week-end.  It has been so rainy lately.  We were even on a two hour school delay due to flooding.  Sweet.  Oh and don't forget the cup! 

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Challenge #101 and Dare #39

  Back to school this week!  I could seriously get used to getting up at 10 in the morning forever.  It really beats 6:00!  I am a night owl, and definitely not a morning person.  I doubt I ever will be.  It is hard to get back into the paper grading, lesson planning routine.  I did miss my kids and it is so nice to see them again and hear about their holidays.

    Dare #39

Erin wanted us to dare to do something we never (or rarely ever) do.  I thought I had a wonderful idea.  I finished my zendala, held it up for my brother to see and he stared at it for a few minutes and then said, "I don't want to be rude, but what is so different about this one?"  Well . . . it doesn't look too different to anyone I guess but me.  But I did lots of things differently.  I did not plan the colors.   I dumped the sharpies (which I have never used, I prefer colored pencils) on the table and closed my eyes, grabbed a color, used it and then repeated the process.  Hey, that is different!  I am a planner.  I also forced myself to relax more - sit up straight and breathe.  Less of a death grip on the pen!  I know that is not noticeable, but I do need to really work on how tightly I hold that pen, my hand feels so cramped after drawing and that is not good.  I had loads of fun with this template and dare (but that is not different, I always do).

Challenge # 101

     I love the new tangle B-rad came up with!  It is called Phicops.  It is just a lot of fun!  I made one tile and thought I was finished when the second idea hit me - the Diva and B-rad needed to go dancing!  So I combined phicops and diva dancing, and sent them for a night on the town!  By the way, happy birthday to B-rad!  Hope it was a good one.
Going Dancin'

It was also my blog's birthday on the 8th of Jan.  I can't believe I have had so much fun with this thing!  I have met so many wonderful artists and gained a lot of confidence in my own abilities.  What a pleasure it has been and what a pleasure I am sure it will continue to be.
















Friendship Cup

Speaking of wonderful - I have the Blog Friendship Cup.  I posted about it in my last post (check out the photos).  It came stuffed with awesome goodies and ready for me to enjoy.  I was super excited.  Now . . . I need to send it on it's way.  I must alter the cup in some way, make a tag to attach to it, and fill it with some of my own awesome choices!  Then it goes to one of you.  I really wanted to send it out soon, but no one has said they want it.  Come on!  Please get involved - you won't regret it.  In order to participate you need to leave a comment with your email address so I can contact you, and if you would become a follower of my blog that would be great!  I would love to announce the winner next week when I post my challenge. 

Have a great week and see you soon!