Can I squeeze one more in?

One last Halloween card for this year:


Using Making Memories paper (- those spider webs are flocked!) and Odd Bird Planet stamps. Stamps I designed actually - the little spider and the trick or treat bag whoop!

Halloween with Flair

These are some Halloween themed cards I made using some papers from Flair Designs and Odd Bird Planet stamps.

And here's that voodoo doll I love so much:


For not the first time this year, I wish we celebrated this day a bit more in Australia - it just sounds like so much fun.


This is a little card or gift card to be more accurate:


So there they are. Might be a little late for cards for this year, but just in time to scrap those cute little costumes!

Back in the land of the living

I'm slowly recovering from an awesome weekend. Paperific was on this weekend, and oh my goodness, what an exciting, exhausting four days!

I worked for Lesley of Little Bits all four days. On Thursday we packed up the shop in the morning, then set up the stand in the afternoon. I met Philippa from Lime Tart there and liked her so much I brought her home to stay a couple of nights.

Friday was the first day of the show, and boy was it busy! We saw no evidence of the so-called economic crisis at all. Here's a pic of the stand in a quiet moment:


Friday night is the night the girls from ArtyOz (a yahoo group I belong to) go out to dinner. We have an expanding core group of us (welcome Sue!), and then we usually have some interstate visitors come along too. This year we had Philippa, Genevieve and her sister Natalie, Julie Van Ooosten, and Elaine and some friends who had a little trouble finding the restaurant. We ate at Medici at Docklands - food was good as always and the company was delightful. Thanks Greta for organising it all and getting this wonderful group of people together in the first place:


Here's a close up of Philippa and I:

On Saturday I dropped Philippa off at the airport, then off to another full-on day at the show. Rachel Greig popped in to do some demonstrating, so now I've met her and I'm one step closer to being famous for knowing a bunch of famous people.


Rachel was fantastic - she demoed with her range of Darkroom Door photochips, and one sweet lady even bought a set of Darkroom Door stamps so that Rachel could autograph them! Rachel asked me to video a little bit of her demonstration, so that should be appearing on her blog soon.

The Sunday was a little quieter, so we got a chance to shop a little more (as if I needed the help!), and then we packed up after another successful show. We were all exhausted, but I had so much fun with the girls on the stand, that I would do it all again tomorrow. I realised when I uploaded the photos I took of the show that I didn't get a group shot, so I'll have to make sure I get one next time. They are happy, enthusiastic, and very knowledgable, and just so much fun, it's an honour to work with them all.

It was fabulous to see some friends (hi Barb!) and meet new ones (hi Bernie!). I can't wait for the next show - I'll be buying myself some of those big fat shoes you can only get at the chemist before then though......my feet are killing me!

Darkroom Door Swap

Rachel Greig of Darkroom Door is running a swap on her blog. We have to make ATCs using her range of Photobooth images. This is what I came up with:


I loved using these images - they are printed on thick cardstock, so they're just ripe for scratching and distressing. Can't wait for the returns - seems like an eternity!

Halloween ATC

I'm in a swap run by the very talented Sarah. The theme was Halloween, and this is my offering:


I used Making Memories embossed paper, a Paperwhimsy image of the girl, on a background of old text. I stamped Heidi Swapp's chandelier in the top left hand corner.

I found an image of a creepy old house and printed it onto acetate to make a transparency. I cut the image to size and warped the edges with a cigarette lighter (used exclusively for this purpose...not for lighting cigarettes at all, honest). It was hard to photograph, but the acetate forms a sort of bubble over the ATC. I held it on with a couple of staples on each side.


I sprayed some gauze with Walnut Ink and stuck it under this word to finish.

I think the word may be French in origin - it means a ghost or spirit. I've been making a guttoral French sound the whole time I worked on these ATCs. My throat hurts - I wonder how the French do it all day. Croissants probably help.

Calendar pages

These are my contribution to a swap hosted by the wonderful Greta Young - long skinny calendars she is going to bind using the Zutter.


I picked September because it's my birthday month. I found some gorgeous Basic Grey patterned paper - an oldie but a goodie, and added some denim from a skirt I picked up at an op shop for a grungey look.


If I owned a sewing machine, I would have stitched the tripe out of them! That's my next major purchase - a sewing machine. I'm going to try to swindle one out of my mum. She owns two. Come to think of it, she's going in for some tests this week and will need general anaesthetic. I might ask her while she's still groggy - I'll have a much better chance then!

Liz at Little Bits

I was fortunate on Sunday to partake of a class at Little Bits with the amazing Liz Aitken. Liz is a very talented artist, and after Sunday I also consider her to be a fabulous teacher. I can't wait for her next class.

We made the most adorable little hinge book using an eclectic blend of embellishments. I haven't quite finished my front cover, but here it is, a work in progress:




and here it is on the inside:



That was before lunch. After lunch we made a gorgeous pendant (the first of many for me, I can tell ya!).



I kept shouting out "My pendant is so darn cute!" I thought a few of the people sitting at the other end of the table were going to throttle me!



ETA a little discovery:
PROBLEM: the leaf dangle was silver and the frame was gold
SOLUTION: sponge the silver metal with Saddle Brown Stazon - it turns the silver to gold! I sponged a little black Stazon onto both pieces to even out the differences.

Gargantuan Collaborative Effort

Last Saturday was the culmination of months of work. Some very good friends came over to my house to bind 31 collaborative books. This was a swap on ArtyOz, an online yahoo group.

Collaborative is the operative word for this project. 31 people contributed pages (that's the largest book I've ever been part of), and quite a number of people helped along the way.

Gail found an image for the cover, Greta worked some Photoshop magic, Lesley from Little Bits supplied the chipboard for the covers, Philippa provided the Tim Holtz charms, and the most amazing team ever assembled came to my house on Saturday to put it all together.

We painted:


We cut:


We burned:


We ate:



Kathy, Debbie, Jo, Gail, Greta, Liz and I worked in shifts from 10am til 10pm and finally, they were done.

This is the final result:



I keep saying - NEVER AGAIN, but in a couple of months, when I'm still carrying this book around, showing anyone who sits still long enough, I won't remember all the hard work, broken nails, sore back and swollen feet. The only memory I'll have is the adventure I've had with my friends, and the wonderful book 31 people from all over the country have made.

Well done everyone - this has been a true collaborative effort!

WCMD grand prize winners

....drum roll....

Here's the list of winners for the grand prizes:


The winner of the $100 OBP shopping spree is:
Ryann Salamon

The winner of the Lime Tart kit is:
Anna Drozd

and the winner of the stamps in the October Special Deal is:
Yukiko

Congratulations everyone, and a huge thanks to everyone who participated. Remember to save the date for next year - the first Saturday in October!

WCMD cupcake challenge winner

Without any further ado, the winner of my cupcake challenge is:

NAOKO!!

This is the card she came up with - isn't it cleverly fabulous? The cupcake was made with the skirt from one of the dancing ladies - I love it!



Congratulations Naoko! Please send me an email with your postal details, and we'll get your prize out ASAP.

Stay tuned for the announcement of the winners of the grand prizes....not long now!

How's it going?

ETA: Challenge is now closed - see here for the winner.

What are you waiting for? Get those craft supplies out and make a card incorporating a cupcake! See this earlier post about my challenge, make a card, and leave a comment there letting me know where to find it.

Here's another little sample to inspire you:

You don't need Odd Bird Planet stamps to participate - any old cupcake will do. I look forward to seeing your work!

Watcha doin' cupcake?

ETA: Challenge is now closed - see here for the winner.

It's time to kick of my challenge for World Card Making Day - at last!

My challenge is for you to create a card using a cupcake of some description. It's that easy! Once you've made your card (you must have made it TODAY especially for the challenge), leave me a comment here at this post, telling me where I can see it. If you don't have a blog, you can upload it to the Odd Bird Planet gallery.

Keep an eye on the Odd Bird Planet forum throughout the night/day - there are a tonne of challenges being posted, and naturally the more times you enter, the more chances you have of winning one of these fantastic prizes:

I'll pick a winner of my challenge to win a pre-selected OBP stamp.

Each participant in any of the Odd Bird Planet challenges will be entered into a grand prize drawing:
o One winner will receive a $100 OBP shopping spree
o One winner will receive one Lime Tart kit
o One winner will receive all of the stamps in the October Special Deal

To kick you off, here's a little sample I whipped up today:



Remember, you have until 7am Monday morning Melbourne time (or midnight Sunday if you live in California) to enter. Now, go forth and create!

What are you up to this Saturday?

It's World Card Making Day, and we're celebrating the day at Odd Bird Planet. Certain design team members will be hosting challenges on their blogs throughout the day. My challenge starts at 11pm Melbourne time (that's 6am California time), but if you don't think you'll be around then, don't worry - everyone will get until 7am Monday (or midnight on the 4th if you're in California) to complete any challenges they wish.

You can enter by posting on your blog and linking back to a comment on the WCMD post on my blog, or post in the Odd Bird Planet gallery. You'll need to register beforehand to post on the Odd Bird Planet gallery.

Prizes:
Each winner of the blog challenge drawings will win a pre-selected OBP stamp.
Each of the blog challenge participants will be entered into a grand prize drawing:
o One winner will receive a $100 OBP shopping spree
o One winner will receive one Lime Tart kit
o One winner will receive all of the stamps in the October Special Deal ·


I think that's everything - if you have any questions, please ask me by leaving a comment on this post. Otherwise, I hope to see you on Saturday!