I'm a Christmas Kickstart Guest ELF!

My fellow Jingle Belle, Stephanie Severin and I are excited to be Guest Elves for the latest Christmas Kickstart Challenge with our friend and fellow enthusiastic holiday cardmaker, Jo. The theme this time is... Friendship, which seems especially appropriate!

I had a lot of different ideas for the theme, but when I saw this super-cute Doodlebug journal card, I knew it was The One:

I matted the journal card on glossy white, added some fun patterned paper flags, and mounted the whole thing on this fun gingerbread themed patterned paper, which is also (older) Doodlebug Design. I thought it needed one more thing, so I did a bit of machine stitching which always makes things feel "finished" to me!

We'd love for you to join in this month's Christmas Kickstart Challenge #113 A Friend is for Life and Not Just Christmas, so please hop over and see Jo's card and consider linking up one of your own! 

Stamping (Somewhat) Snarkily with the Sisterhood!

I was extremely honored to have been named The Queen of Snark at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers for my Pink Halloween card. And the best part is that I get to be a guest designer with them for the new challenge which is called, "Q is for Quip".

Before I show my card I figured we should agree on a definition of "QUIP". According to Dictionary.com a quip is:

quip [kwip] (noun)

a clever or witty remark or comment. a sharp, sarcastic remark; a cutting jest. 

a quibble. an odd or fantastic action or thing.

So basically it seems like pretty much any snarky sentiment could potentially count as a quip. Which gives us a lot of scope, lol! Mine is more silly than snarky, but it's a stamp my craft bestie Stephanie gave me yeeeeeeears ago and I don't use it nearly enough. Plus... it feels pretty quippy to me!

sinatra image scanned and reduced to fit my A7 card; sheet music, dictionary pages and trading stamps from my stash of vintage goodies; sentiment stamp: drs designs; flourish stamps: fancy pants;  patterned paper: photoplay, basic grey, craft consortium; plain white cardstock: staples; inks for edging: ranger distress; ink for sentiment: gina k amalgam; adhesives: elmers brand tape runner, scotch create gluestick

Since the joke revolves around Sinatra, clearly Frank should be the star of the card. I found the perfect image in one of the Sinatra bios I own, but since it's a very nice book that is definitely not for cutting up, I photocopied it, which also let me reduce it slightly in size. I built a background of dictionary paper and sheet music, added some vintage trading stamps and did a bunch of very subtle stamping of flourishes on top of the collage base. So subtle, in fact, that you can't really see them very distinctly, but it knocked down the bright whiteness of some of the papers and kind of ties everything together. I added the sentiment on nested label shapes and called it a day.

Please head over to the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers and check out the other "Quip" cards... then start planning what you will make for this fun challenge! ♥

inspired by... AUTUMN! ♥

by now i expect everyone knows that one of my all time favorite challenge sites is inspired by which of course is hosted by the lovely laurel seabrook. so you can probably guess how excited i was when that good lady asked if i'd like to guest design with her some week. "just tell me *WHEN*!" i said immediately; turns out, it's today!

so without further ado, here is the inspiration photo:

and here is my card, which is absolutely, completely, totally, 100% UNLIKE what i was planning to do:

(vintage: book paper for leaves (using cuttlebug dies); woven rattan background: the paper co; pumpkin clip art: from t'internet; patterned paper: authentique, scenic route, 7 gypsies; journaling card: basic grey; happy rub-on: my mind's eye; flower stickers: martha stewart; other: denim from an old pair of shorts (xyroned onto index stock); inks: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand glue tape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

you see, i had thought i'd make a "guy card" for my brother-in-law. i figured i'd start with a fabulous antique truck image and then build up from there, working in some of the textures from the photo-- metal, wood, etc. great idea, right? yeah, i thought so too! with ALL THE VINTAGE stuff i have... wouldja believe... i could not find even *ONE* truck photo, drawing, or illustration??! NUTHIN'! so instead i went MEGA-literal with the colors, the pumpkins, and the general fall goodness. i really like how it came out, and it's perfect for my aunt marilyn's birthday in mid-october; but i'm still feeling a bit vexed at bein' thwarted, lol! :) :) :)

so what elements of that gorgeous photo are speaking to you right now? the colors? the textures? the pumpkins?? why not start with one... or all of those... but with the idea in mind that you're willing to follow wherever the inspiration takes you?!

another great place to begin is over at inspired by, where you can see laurel's project and read all the details for linking up your own! ♥