It's Good to be the Queen...

I saw the King's Speech.

If you have not seen this movie yet, RUN, don't walk, to your nearest theater and see it.

Those of you who are oohing and aahing over Colin Firth right now, please squelch - no one else can hear what I'm saying!! Try to focus!! Everytime I try to start talking about this movie, someone FAINTS over this man. I need you to hang on. Try thinking about bacon or something.

Anyway, I loved the movie nine ways to Sunday. Since I have an ancestral, hair-stands-up-on-the-back-of-my-neck-quick-reach-for-your-musket-and-get-your-revolution-on reaction to royalty, I adored the Australian irreverence for the crown most especially at the beginning of the story. I loved the humanity of the royal family, and I loved seeing a tiny pretend queen Elizabeth.

I thought one of the saddest moments in the movie was when the newly-kinged man's daughters curtsied and called him your Royal Highness - the look on his face (stop drooling) alone was Academy Award worthy.

I'm not sure I've ever seen human frailty done better, really, or seen a more vivid picture of the prison that the royal family lives in. It's different from just the fame prison because you can't escape your DNA. You're just stuck there learning to curtsy at age 2 and hoping some other brother or sister gets picked.

I'm fairly certain that I would have been kicked out quicker than old David was - because I'm nearly positive that curtsying thing would have been a deal breaker in my toddlerhood. I have no idea what they're feeding those kids over there, but it's definitely short on SASS.

And although the movie is such a beautiful ode to courage and friendship, I left with three words on my mind... God Bless America.

I prefer my royalty with a little more....

SASS

There's a creature that knows it's good to be the queen!

I was so excited that this movie, today's Free for All Friday challenge, and my new Antidepresstamps Royalty stamp set all converged today, to send all of you off into the weekend feeling Queenly.

I stamped the crown from this set in Poppy Parade on a circle I cut with my 3" circle die. Then I stamped it again in Versamark, clear embossed it, and then sponged Summer Sun ink all over it.

Then I added some Recollections silver bling that Beate got me hooked on.

The card base is Poppy Parade, and all the patterned paper is from the In Color Paper Patterns Pack. Bringing in the blingy floofy fun are pom pom trim and a trinket crown. The greeting is also from the Royalty set.

I'm hoping for a quiet, crafty weekend, with of course deferential service to Queen Maddie Bat. My sweet friend Jimmye Sue of Texana Designs is having a trunk show tomorrow at Scrapology - you should come! She's doing make & takes and showing off her latest designs from 12-5.

What are you doing? Whatever you're doing, I hope it's fun!

Loveyameanitbye

Come On Baby Light My Fire...

Well thank goodness Jim Morrison got pardoned this week. I'm very happy that our government is hard at work pardoning dead musicians. That sort of keeps them out of our hair while we craft and get through the holidays.

I adored The Doors. I loved Jim's spooky boomy voice and some of his creepier lyrics. I also love all musicians - Elvis, Buddy Holly, John Lennon and Jim Morrison - about whose deaths conspiracy theories abound. There's just nothing like walking down the street behind someone whom you firmly believe is Elvis. Or who really IS Elvis.

Chew on THAT. Mm hmm.

Well anyway, since old Jim was on my mind this week, I could not resist a fiery craft for my stamping class yesterday.

I got the idea from this great project on Splitcoaststampers. Brilliant. Literally :)

I decided to make my little set with the matchbox die to hold just one candle. The box base is Crumb Cake, and the sleeve is Deck the Halls DSP. The crown is from Artistic Etchings, and I used silver tinsel trim around the box, and a little rhinestone.
I made my votives by stamping the medallion from Artistic Etchings in Cherry Cobbler on white tissue paper. Then I sandwiched the tissue between sheets of copy paper before punching out a circle - 1.25" or 1 3/8" is fine. Then you punch a hole in the center of this tissue circle with a 1/16" circle punch. Slip that down over the wick, and heat the top of the candle with your heat gun until the tissue has been soaked by the wax. Do not hold the candle while you heat it - that little aluminum cup gets hot!

Then run some sticky strip around the side and add some of that fabby silver vintage glass glitter. Squish it into the tape with your finger.

Very fun, quick little holiday goodie for someone on your list.

Then, I had more 3D fun this weekend with a creation for Project Reanimate, which I have been neglecting.

To see what amazing household object I have reanimated with the help of my ADORABLE little Juniper Elf from the Starving Artistamps holiday release - head on over to this post for all the deets!

What are you cooking up for little gifties? You don't want to be unprepared if Elvis pops over for S'mores, you know.

The Advent of SUPER PAPER CRAFTY PROJECTS!

I've always loved advent calendars because of all the suspense of opening teeny doors every day until Christmas. They were the perfect combination of mystery and surprise, and they were so elaborate and fun when I was a kid.

Despite that life long love, I've never really found one that I wanted to make until now. And ACK! I had so much fun making this. You should have heard all the giggling and snorting going on in here during this project!

Beate sent me a link to the lady that invented this amazing advent calendar tutorial, and I couldn't wait to make it. I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to use too, since I just got my uber fabulous Doodle Factory 'Tis the Season stamps and was dying to ink them up. I feel like stamping the little elf from this set on all that I survey!!

So without further ado - TA DA!!!!!!!!!!!!! The coolest Advent calendar ever!

Here's the basic creation before I added stamped images. It's 24 Real Red matchboxes, in alternating directions, with Candy Cane DSP accents and brads for drawer pulls. SQUEEE!!!

Here's a view of the top, stamped with 'Tis the Season on a Top Note die cut. And here are the four sides, aft er my stamped images were added.
It's just the picture that's wonky below, not the box :)
OKAY SERIOUSLY LOOK AT THAT ELF!!! :D

The Stampin' Up!/Sizzix Matchbox die got a workout, because the calendar takes 24 little matchboxes for the drawers. The Doodle Factory images are colored with Copics and I added Dazzling Diamonds Glitter. The greetings from this set are layered onto the little tag shapes that got punched out when I cut the matchboxes. I used my white gel pen on all the little drawers.

Once you have the drawers assembled, it really goes pretty fast. Cutting the matchboxes and assembling them is the most time consuming part, but it's not hard. It will take a full package of cardstock though - 24 sheets - plus your DSP for accents.

But I'm not sure I've ever had more fun making a 3D project in my life. I just love it! :)

Whaddaya think?

Lazy Stamping - can you dig it?

I'm a lazy stamper. So what? Maybe you're a lazy stamper and you appreciate that in a blogger. Maybe you're NOT lazy, but you want to be so that you can have more time for vampire movies or something.

Regardless of which category you fall into, I think you'll enjoy my lazy technique today. I used it to color my adorable little creature on this card - and it's so quick and easy you'll just start coloring everything that isn't moving!Stamps: Doodle Factory Creatures II Ink: Memento Paper: Basic Grey, Crumb Cake,

Accessories: Tim Holtz die, SU Label Punch, Webster's Pages trim.

I did not invent this technique, but I sure enjoy the heck out of it! I call it Copic palette blending, and it involves... well, you'll just have to watch the video!

Ingredients required? An image stamped with Memento ink, two Copic markers, a non-porous surface and some serious laziness. So enjoy!

If you don't see a video player above this sentence, click here to view.

I hope you're having a cool, lazy weekend!

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If de Lights Goes Out...

Ack. Just typing that makes me all teary.

*Deep breath*

Marilyn Monroe said, "If you can make a girl laugh, you can make her do anything."

That's certainly true for me.

And Ginger Miluk makes me laugh.

I don't know how I got lucky enough to live in the age of electronic miracles that can connect people (and their irreverent and opinionated ginger cats :)) halfway around the world, but I sure am glad I did.

If de lights go out, I sure will miss my Ginger Miluk. So much. You make me laugh, sweet friend.

I made you a card.

Stamps: Backlit Blooms, Starving Artistamps Ink: Crumb Cake Paper: Crumb Cake, Newsprint
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Prismacolor Premier .005, MFT Striped ribbon, Corner Chomper

I used this sketch, and a little ginger and white.

xo

Marmosets

So yesterday I went to Fort Worth for Stampin' Up! Regionals! It was amazingly amazing as per usual. I learned SO many fantastic tips I can't wait to share with you! That's what I love most about stamping events - the simple little tricks that keep the wonder in our hobby.

I'm headed to CKC San Marcos next weekend with DarthSunshine and my friends at Technique Tuesday and I can't WAIT!

It's a very stampy month.

Now, the drive up, although I left at 5 AM, was uneventful. I saw a beautiful sunrise, went to my fave non-Austin Starbucks in Temple and was fairly alone on the road.

The way BACK, however - another story.

I get out of Ft. Worth and hit the I-35 corridor with an assortment of long haul truckers (one of whom was eating a bowl of soup), drug dealers, serial killers, and people playing video games. And yet, it was safe and orderly.

UNTIL I HIT AUSTIN.

I forget, when I leave town for the day, how completely bizarrely Austinites drive. It's quite terrifying to strangers, and sometimes even residents.

I hit the city limits, and all the sudden people drive like ... well, imagine this.

Take a one eyed marmoset. Liquor him all up with moonshine. Shave his butt. Sit him in a big bucket of habanero extract. Put him behind the wheel.

That's kind of how we roll in A-town.

Disturbing.

Don't believe me? Well... you have two choices. Come here and see the one eyed hot butted drunk marmoset behavior for yourself or.. TALK TO THE TAIL! :)

Stamps: Starving Artistamps Here Kitty Kitty 3, Here Kitty Kitty sentiments
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie Ink: Basic Black Accessories: White Pencil, Webster's Pages Trim

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America...

Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears...
Backlit Blooms, Prismacolor Pencils

Oh Hai

Oh hai.

I've been battling kitty hurricane brain this week.

The symptoms of hurricane brain are as follows:

• Extreme howling
• Eating like pigs
• Randomly eating things like whole feathers, after running under the bed with said feather so that we can't extract feather prior to it being eaten
• Trying to kill one's little kitteh self by jumping up and hitting one's furry face on the blinds and then walking around with one eye closed like a cat pirate for two days
• Shooting off like a rocket from a complete sleeping state and bouncing around the house like a ping pong ball
• Hurdling your sister while she's running around in the throes of hurricane brain
• Jumping from the floor into an open cabinet full of glassware silently while your owner isn't looking so that when she turns around and sees you she screams and drops a coffee cup
• Screamsqueaking at the window when you know we can't open it because we're getting 5 inches of rain an hour.
• Screamsqueaking all night during the worst part of the storm and then collapsing, like on my card below, the second your servant's alarm goes off for work
  

This card was for the Starving Artistamps sketch this month, which, if you wanna play, might win you some stuff! Like, for example, the new Backlit Blooms - I LOVE these and just got my paws on them today, so stay tuned for pretties. they are gorgeous. I'll be using my Blended Pencil technique for SURE. I think I love the sentiments even more - they're big and bold and have a great font.

The background paper is Basic Grey's Basics White collection, which I adore!! Then I used my new Technique Tuesday Main Street alphabet and my Fiskar's Stamp Press together and I'm in LOVE! I'll be doing a tutorial on this later this month so you can see why.

The bad hurricane brained kitteh is from Here Kitty Kitty 1

The daisy is one of the Stampin' Up! Paper Daisies, colored with Copics, and accented with SU! Rhinestones.

The ribbon is from My Favorite Things, which came in my September VIP kit with that fabby notepaper die.

It's almost the weekend already! What the heck? These short weeks are strange...


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Vanity is NOT a deadly sin...

It's just a lovely, frosty pink piece of furniture. :)Or here, anyway.

I had so much fun making this card. I used this amazing DMC thread for the phone cord that has wire in the center of it. I wrapped it around a little stick to make the coil. Remember when phone cords had that fabric on them instead of plastic? That's exactly what this looks like. And yes, I make an entire card around that phone cord!

The vanity is Doodle Factory Boudoir, that I colored with Copic markers. The wallpaper is SU! Sending Love DSP. The "paneling" is Very Vanilla cardstock, painted with SU! shimmer paint.

The mirror is colored with a silver gel pen.

Doesn't it just make you feel pretty? :)

It's almost Labor Day! Are you doing something super fun this weekend? I am looking forward to extreme napping. If they had napping contests like those hotdog eating contests I would definitely be a contender!

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Cat-nanigans, Continued...

I think the heat is getting to the creatures.

I came home the other day and filmed Splotchy for you so you could see what I mean...

(if you don't see a video player above, click here...)

See? Complete insanity.

Having a pet means constant waves of destruction, punctuated by napping. The other day, my sister and I went on an early walk. She returned home to the sound of one of the igniters on her gas stove clicking, the burner on, and a singed Great Pyrenees, who apparently was attempting to make her own breakfast while we were out and about. Her whiskers and a good deal of her furz were crispy. I wonder if she was surprised or annoyed or super excited that she figured out fire... Scary thought, no?

Never underestimate what these creatures are plotting. Never. Be grateful for those days when the furniture is the only casualty.

Stamps: Starving Artistamps Here Kitty Kitty I, Sentiments Here Kitty Kitty,
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black Paper: October Afternoon Seaside, Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake, X-press It Copic Blender Card
Accessories: Copics (E25, E50, E55, G82, G99, R27, Y23, Y28, T1, T3, T5), ovals Sizzix die, Big Shot, Corner Chomper

Happy Friday!!

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Cat Mail

Maddie Bat got mail today! I keep telling her she has fans far and wide, but she didn't believe me until I went to the mailbox and found THIS sweet card! LOOK - it even has a PORTRAIT of little Maddie on it! And some lovely stickers. It's 100% handmade, and I do believe that little Autumn Cameron, the artist, is a budding papercrafter!!!
At least, that's what Maddie says!! Thanks Autumn! You are a lovely, lovely girl, and little Maddie would purr and chirp at you if you were here. She is very humbled by your gift of your artwork, and believe me - she's hard to humble!!

I had just been playing with a new Starving Artistamps release when I got Autumn's card - and what do you know - it's full of kittehs! This little guy is from Here Kitty Kitty 1.

Stamps: Starving Artistamps Here Kitty Kitty 1 Ink: White Craft Ink
Paper: Stampin' Up! Newsprint, Basic Black, Whisper White Accessories: Copics, Corner Chomper

I love that he's checking out the mewspaper. Heh heh. What's mew with you?


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Color Revolution

While I freely admit that most of my organizational tools, like my desk, my inkpad holders, my bookshelves, my paper crates - are really just fancy cat lounging devices - every now and then I am allowed to use them for their original purpose.

So this long holiday weekend I took the time to reorganize all my Stampin' Up! ink so that the current colors were closest to me on my desk.

I love the way they all look in order in their little color families. If there's one thing I really love about my way too small, not properly organized studio - it's all the color. It just makes me happy to look around and see a billion different colors of paper and marker and ribbon and ink. With an animal sleeping on them :).

My fave challenges are color challenges because they allow you the most freedom a challenge can give. So today's card is for the Color Throwdown - which has a mind boggling array of prizes today for some lucky stamper. Here are the colors for today's challenge.I tried to focus on winning with my little piggy, who has FAITH!! :)
I bought this luxurious wool felt at The Stitch Lab not too long ago, and it was PERFECTION with my My Favorite Things grass die. It's a fuzzy card. :) Love.

My sister in law gave me a set of fun blingy buttons a few months ago and this green one was perfect for my hopeful pig. The clouds are an MFT die, and the pig is Starving Artistamps.

Here's the link to the challenge - why don't you play along?

I hope your long weekend and short work week means you're having fun this week!

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If A Bear Giggles in the Forest...

Do bears giggle?

WELL I HOPE SO!!

Nina Aslund thinks they do anyway, and she is releasing her new Antidepresstamps line in our blog hop today! Ha - it makes me laugh every time I see it. Stamps ARE antidepressants.

If you want to start at the beginning of the hop, click here. One of the hoppers has a full set of Nina's images to give away to one of you, so you won't want to skip any!

This release at Starving Artistamps includes the Gigglebears, Birds and Bees. I worked with the birds and bees and I'm UBER stoked about having a honeycomb background stamp! I've only been waiting forever for an image like this. I <3 honey. And bees. As long as they play nice.

My first bee is crazy nice - he is giggling! I colored him and a strip of the honeycomb background with Copics. I glittered my happy bee's wings with Stickles™. For my next card, I used one of the birdies, and I made up my own species color, which apparently is a cross between a parakeet and a robin. :) I paired it with an October Afternoon Report Card and the new Stampin' Up! newsprint DSP. The ribbon is silk May Arts.
I have more fun projects with these images coming up, but now, it's time to get on with the hop! The next stop is Jenn!

Here's the full hop list in case you missed any.

Starving Artistamps
Irene (Our Doodle Factory Artist)
Nina
Donna
Juliana
Me (You are here)
Jenn
Dawn
Laura
Lori
Eva
Tracey

Leave some comment love and maybe you will win! And if you want to use my discount code (savetenLF) for 10% off other purchases at Starving Artistamps, you better hurry - it's expiring in a few weeks!

Have a hoppy day!


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Father's Day

Okay, so I'm a little late. Just a day, though! That's not too bad. Yesterday got away from me. You'll see why later in the post.

So, one day, I'm hopping along the bunny trail that is my Google Reader content, and I see this incredible little owl. He literally stopped my heart. He looks like a barn owl.

I have a story, too long to tell tonight, about a little barn owl that was hit by a crane truck that I rescued in Corpus Christi. I named him Hootie. He lost his wing from the accident, but he went to live at Wayne's World in Sinton, TX, and when I called and asked about him, they told me he ate 37 mice and was doing fine. I think you're having an okay day if you are nomming 37 mice after you got hit by a truck.

Anyway, I love owls. If you don't love owls, there's a good chance you're completely crazy. Or there's a possibility you are a mouse.

So I had to have this one. And I thought he'd be perfect for a Father's Day card, with all his wise seriousness.

Stamps: Hope Grows (Gina K), Sentimental Journey (SU) Ink: Memento, Ranger
Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun, KI, Whisper White, Basic Grey
Accessories: Copics, Holtz die, Big Shot, Corner Chomper, Nestabilities

My friend Dana came to see me and brought me this fantabulous Tim Holtz Regal Crest die and I LOVE it! I shaded gently with copics to make the little banner look 3D.

I colored the owl with Copics and then rubbed various distress inks on the background.

My own dad is incredibly wise, although he has never eaten any mice, and taught me everything I know about card games, cursing, the danger of unprotected left turns, parallel parking, parallax, antipasto and the scientific method. So Happy Father's Day, wise Bob. :)

Now this weekend, I was working on some samples for the new Starving Artistamps release - and I'm so excited about this!! My dear friend and fellow DT member Nina is the creator of the Antidepresstamps line and you will GIGGLE, I promise. :) The hop is this Wednesday, the 23rd.
Come on back now, you hear?


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Well, There are Creatures, and Then There Are...

CREATURES!!!

The only way I can describe why I love the Doodle Factory so much is that there is a really wacky sadness in all the creatures. It reminds me of all the great stories of my childhood - with the occasional misfit monster who is sweet and lovable, but just wrong, and rejected by his little world.

Of course, those always have happy endings, thank goodness - they find an equally misfit monster love interest and usually ride off into the sunset with their talking donkey.

Whew. I feel better now, so I better introduce you to my little friends!! They are Irene's latest creations and they are the second set of creatures. The first set was the first Doodle Factory set I ever bought. They are SO fun to color. After I made this card, I got all the way to Photoshop before I realized it wasn't blue! How do you like my yellow and green misfits??

Stamps: Doodle Factory Creatures II Paper: Kraft, dictionary page Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copics, Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon, dimensionals

They're not misfits, they're special :).

The next card is inspired by the last two episodes of LOST. OMG what is happening on that show??? Are they in hell, are they not in hell? Who's the bad guy? Who's the good guy? Where's Vincent? ARGH.

This little guy looks like he knows. Stamps: Doodle Factory Creatures II Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Kraft, Basic Grey DSP Accessories: Rhinestones, Sizzix ovals die, Copics

Are there any LOSTIES out there? Please say yes!

If you wanna meet all the new creatures, hop on over to Tracey's blog and maybe you can win the whole, wacky, slightly sad and totally snuggly set!!

Where has this week gone? Wait - where did March go?

Loveyameanitbye.


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Even Zebras and Giraffes Need Bubble Baths!

But NEVER cats - I repeat - no cat bathing.
(This message brought to you by Madagascar Bat and Splotchy Paprika)

But giraffes and zebras love a good bubble bath - just look!Stamps: Doodle Factory Boudoir, Doodle Factory Animals, Sentiments - Classic Decor
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black Paper: Basic Black, and Basic Grey Marrakech collection
Accessories: White gel pen, Pentel gold gel pen, Copics, dimensionals, circle punches

Now you might be thinking this is an odd couple, but love is love, my people. And these two just clicked! :)

This card is the result of a colossal I Love Lucy moment when I got this Boudoir Doodle Factory stamp set.

I had all the stamps arranged in front of me to work on my designs for the set, and I had the bed stamp upside down.

Yes, that's a bed.
But when I saw it, I pictured this...
Which might explain why I spent all that time in D-Hall.

This card is part of this week's 2S4Y sketch - sponsored by Starving Artistamps. You better hurry if you want that blog candy! :)

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What's it Gonna Be?

I hesitate to say this for fear no one will ever want to sign up as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator with me after I tell you...

But TWO of my downline are pregnant! It must have happened at one of my stamp camps because they just inexplicably became simultaneously pregnant! Seriously! It was prior to the Occasions Mini though, so I think you're all safe!

So a big congrats to Neelam and Emily on their little bundles!

I made this card for this week's Color Throwdown, which called for pink, blue and kraft. I instantly thought of Neelam, whose baby will be a surprise when he/she is born. I love that. Like WHEEEEE - here I am, your little surprise boy/girl. How fun is that?

So when he or she is revealed, I expect it to be just this dramatic! :)
Stamps: Starving Artistamps Oh Baby Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black Paper: Kraft, Whisper White
Accessories: SU! Brads, oval punch, Petals a Plenty Embossing folder, Big Shot, Copics

If you do want a baby, feel free to join my little Understand Blue Group!!! Password is "understandblue". It's an awesome, pretty fertile bunch of gals!! Heheh.

Also, I created some new pet sympathy cards if you want to see em.

Hope you're having a great week!

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Welcome to the Arctic!

BRRRRR..... Welcome to the icy blog hop celebrating the release of the newest Doodle Factory set - Arctic!

It could not be more appropriate for our Austin weather. I about gave myself hypothermia attempting a walk on Saturday morning!

To celebrate the release of this set, of course there is a major ONE DAY ONLY stamp giveaway, so be sure and visit each of the stops for your chance to win!

Now if you came here directly, you need to start the hop by going HERE, so you don't miss your free stamps. Don't worry - I'll still be here...

For my first card with this set, I had to throw in a bit of warmth, because you're about halfway through the hop and your feet are probably cold. First, I took the mountains and stamped them twice - because of the way Irene designed them, you can make a whole scene by stamping them repetitively. Then, using Copics, I colored them an icy blue and make the sky a nice night blue. Then I stamped three igloos, and colored them to show you all the lights are on inside. Doesn't that look homey? The light even spills out onto the snow. Then two little twitterpated penguins have snuck out for some snuggles in the moonlight.. :) Adorable!

Next, I took up the topic of patience. When you're surrounded by glaciers, you have a more expansive sense of time, right? So this little seal has to just chill out and wait for the opportunity to catch the colorful little fish under the ice. There's glitter on the surface, but of course you can't see it in this picture :-/ The images are colored with Copics. Oh, and all the greetings are from this same set -they come all together on one unmounted sheet.
Next, a Christ-moose greeting! I used the Stampin' Up! flocked paper - sorry my blog doesn't have the Feel-O-Vision app - and colored and cut out my moose to put him on top of the ribbon. The white panel is one of the little love notes from the upcoming Occasions Mini.
Finally, speaking of the Occasions Mini, the funky Sweet Pea paper cried out for my little skier! I colored him to match the paper and added some stitched felt buttons on a love not. Freezy does it people - the free stamps are coming!! :)

Finally - a little Eskimo couple, with rosy cheeks and quite a bit of enthusiasm for the cold!!

I used my new scallop border punch for the edges, Sweet Pea designer paper, and Copics for the little nose-rubbing cuties!Now, for the next stop in the hop, please visit the lovely and talented owner of Starving Artistamps herself - Tracey Berkey!

If you got distracted by the shiny penguins, here are all the stops on the hop in order!

Hop Kickoff - the Gallery
Juliana Swanson
Donna Duquette
Lori Tecler
Me - You are Here!
Tracey Berkey
Jenn McMillan
Eva Andren
Nina Aaslund
Dawn Mercedes


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Rejoice!

A few things today. First, if you are not watching LOST, you should be. It's the most complicated, deep, interesting show I've ever seen. It has a reference to nearly every book I've ever read, and I've read a lot of books. It has philosophers, authors, artists, theology - pretty much everything you could possibly imagine. It's a challenge. You can't say that about much TV.

Sadly, the last season begins soon. In preparation for that, over the lull between seasons, I've been re-watching the entire show to prep for the last one. Without giving LOST newbies too much context, on a later show, there's a very important baby, being carried by a very important woman, wrapped in a deep blue blanket. It's a very striking and symbolic scene. As I've said before, blue is an essential part of the Christian story of Mary, who sometimes is depicted wearing a light blue, but mostly a deep, jewel blue.

"The older, classic and more representative color is dark blue," according to the Rev. Johann Roten, S.M, director of the Marian Library-International Marian Research Institute at the University of Dayton. "Mary's dark blue mantle, from about 500 A.D., is of Byzantine origin and is the color of an empress."

Maybe that's why Christmas will always be a blue holiday for me.. the sky with that star, Mary and baby in blue, the nice wintery blue that everyone understands in December. That's what I worked with for this card.

Stamps: Doodle Factory O Holy Night, Sentiments Christmas Nativity, Paper: Stampin' Up! Whisper White and Basic Black,
Ink: Stampin' Up! White Craft Ink, Memento Tuxedo Black Ink,
Accessories: Copic Markers, Acetate, Big Shot, Circle Die, Corner Rounder Punch, mini glue dots

Rejoice. :)

I know it's hard to tell, but this is a true snowglobe card a la Libby Hickson. I folded acetate in half and ran it through the Big Shot with my circle die, positioning the fold just a bit inside the circle so that it made a little folded card for me - same with the white. I covered up the glue dot holding the cardstock and the acetate together with the black base of the snowglobe, which is just a 1 x 3.5" strip, corner rounded.

Baby Jesus lives outside the snowglobe, popped up on top of the acetate with dimensionals.

I know it's Thanksgiving week, but for lots of reasons, I couldn't resist a blue nativity card. :)

What is up for your weekend? I'm doing another fair Saturday and then I really need some sleep before Thanksgiving...

Have you signed up for the UBlue Cyber Club? Attended one of my Webinars?? Come on - get your geek on! :)

Want to see my other blog?

Did you lose some time?

You know - you were driving down the road, you saw a bright light, and when you looked down at your Iphone you realized you lost 12 minutes? Well what happened during that 12 minutes, do you think? I've invited David Duchovny over to do a podcast about it - I haven't heard from him yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I do.
In the meantime, how about the Starving Artistamps New Release Blog Hop???

There's a small chance that you may have been probed by the creatures from...

Doodle Factory Final Frontier!
(insert creepy alien music)

In order to find out which creature probed you, you will need to visit all the stops on our hop. Oh, and also because someone is giving away a complete unmounted set of the new release for blog candy.

We are keeping the blog candy open for one day only (the aliens have to go back to their planets) so your chances of winning are even better! (blog hop ends October 21st, 11am PST). If you just can't wait to get your hands on the new Final Frontier set don't worry you can order it starting now and if you are our lucky winner we will let you substitute
another set of equal value instead!

If you have arrived here all by yourself and are just finding out about the blog hop please start at the beginning:

START HERE:

Juliana Swanson

Tracey Berkey

Donna Duquette

Sandra MacLean

Lori Tecler

Lydia Fiedler You are here :)

Andrea Cloutier

Dawn Mercedes

Jenn McMillan

Irene Silva

Now if I've learned anything about aliens, I've learned that they love to do tricks, like juggling. It distracts you while they prep you for study in their cold, white operating rooms. This little guy, Dash, juggles moons, so I guess this image isn't to scale, heh heh. The beautiful background and moons are Noveau Chic DSP from Stampin' Up! I thought it looked very spacey.

Stamps: Doodle Factory Final Frontier Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black Paper: Noveau Chic & Whisper White (SU),
Accessories: Copics, Dimensionals, rubon

Next, I thought I should show you where they come from so that you don't think they're all barbaric. Look at this fabby little city they live in! It looks all neat and organized and safe, yes? When they bring you there you should not be scared. It looks like everything you need will be there. I'm thinking the alien Starbucks will have some cool stuff. This card is cool - I bought a pad of Strathmore Watercolor Postcards - so the back of this is totally a postcard. How fun is that?Stamps: Doodle Factory Final Frontier Ink: India Ink Black, Soft Suede, Cool Caribbean, Pacific Point Blue, YoYo Yellow, Night of Navy Paper: Strathmore Watercolor Postcard Accessories: Aqua Painter, White Gel Pen,

Okay, now if you've ever wondered how aliens have babies, well DUH - they have girl aliens!!! Here's one. Who wouldn't want to have little alien babies with HER? I used some retired Stampin' Up! Fancy Fibers on the tag that EXACTLY matched my new Basic Grey Indian Summer DSP. This card is 4x4.

stamps: Doodle Factory Final Frontier Ink: India Black Paper: Basic Grey Indian Summer, Kraft, Whisper White
Accessories: Large tag punch, Fancy Fibers, Copics, Stampin' Up! Rubon

NOW - to my fave thing about many Doodle Factory sets - Irene gives you a large and small version of the characters. That makes it super easy for me to show you how much aliens miss each other when they're off probing humans like you.
Here's what the card looks like on the inside.

Stamps: Doodle Factory Final Frontier Ink: Memento Black Paper: Stampin' Up! Kaleidoscope DSP & Whisper White
Accessories: Pink Pirouette Ribbon, Mini Glue Dots, Circle Punch

Look - I don't know how many other ways I can tell you they are coming, but they are coming. Wait - actually - they are already here!!

Stamps: Doodle Factory Final Frontier Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Old Olive Paper: Whisper White, Pacific Point Blue, Old Olive Accessories: Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, White Gel Pen, Corner Rounder Punch, Oval Punch

And finally, just because I don't want you to have any hard feelings, I do want you to know that the aliens DO come in peace. Here's proof!!! I love the paper that I stamped the globe on - it's Graphic 45 Communique, that my amazing friend at PaperGrace sent me. I stamped the earth and then just colored the continents with copics, and lifted color with my colorless blender pen. Cool, eh?

Stamps: Doodle Factory Final Frontier Paper: Night of Navy, Graphic 45 Communique Ink: Memento Basic Black
Accessories: Self Adhesive Rhinestones, White Gel Pen, Copics, Stampin Up! brads.

Well, here endeth your probe... I don't advise telling anyone about this...

Thanks for stopping by the blog hop! Your next stop - Andrea's Blog!

Have you signed up for the UBlue Cyber Club? Attended one of my Webinars?? Come on - get your geek on! :)

Want to see my other blog?