What's on My Kitchen Counter

TOFF#49 at The Octopode Factory Challenge blog is all about Friends (you should stop by the blog and see the great creations). My original plan was to make a crowd scene using every Octopode individual I had, but that didn't work out. I then decided to go with a quote that symbolizes true friendship to me. The first time I saw this quote, I thought that "mind" was suppose to be "mine" - but it isn't, and that one word makes all the difference. I have some great friends who can take my jumbled up thoughts and help make sense of them; those kind of friends are super cherished right now. My MIL passed away Saturday. It was a blessing that she didn't have to suffer in severe pain long, and she was at home surrounded by her family which is just exactly what she wanted. Nonie was a wonderful Mother and friend - she was so loved. What a testimony to how unselfish love can impact lives. Pop is doing great at the Rehab Facility and should be going home soo...

The current (ends by tomorrow) challenge at The Amazing Octopode Factory (TOFF#48) is Animals . My only Octopode Animal image is the little Sheep from Bo Peep so guess what animal I chose! These sheep have had a really bad hair day - poor little things! I combined them with the Octopode Fence which I printed out on the recycled backing from some K&Co accents. I distressed the backing with an emery board because it was slick and I wanted my printer ink to stick to it. I colored by sheep bodies with Copics and popped them up around the fence. There has been a lot of sheep counting for my family these days - we either can't go to sleep or we crash and can barely wake up. Pop seems to be doing a bit better - they let him out of ICU yesterday. Hopefully it will be onto rehab today. My cardstock is all SU! You can enter the challenge with any animal from any company but you will have to do it today or super early in the morning because I was running late on this one. T...

Can You Digi It?'s new challenge is Love of Country and the inspiration pictures are awesome (some cool flags and some yummy looking patriotic desserts). I decided to capture our love of tea and coffee which is a deep and historical love (especially of tea) for most countries. I used the wonderful stacking tea cups from LilyPink Designs which you can find in the store here . These cups are so fun to color! I colored them with Copics and added a touch of Tim Holtz tea stain Distress Ink; I did one layer of the cups popped up for extra depth. My other additions include some The Twinery twine (also available at the store - check out the Patriotic pack , some stars made with a Creative Memories punch (I popped them up a bit too), and some pieces of a Starbucks cup cozy. I put the other pieces of the cozy inside. I have started saving those little cozies or protectors or whatever they are called because they are so versitile. All my papers are SU!, and I typed the sentiment which ...

HDH133 is "Hot As Hell In Here!!" - these Haunted Design House Challenges get my Mojo flowing! I patterned this card after a sign on I-65 North towards Birmingham, Alabama. I have passed by it on my way to Birmingham 1,000 times, and it always makes me smile. Watch this amazing YouTube video and you can experience it too. I totally love this video!!!! I used some clipart pictures and typed in my sentiment. I distressed my bg panel and burned my main panel with a candle - that was an experience. I kept praying my DH did not walk in because I think he is close to damanding I get an OSHA certification before I attempt additional creativity (I also cut myself making breakfast this morning). I coated my devil with some Glossy Accents, and I used some of the Blood Red Stickles on the flames and the Devil's eyes. IRL this looks amazing. Another 5:00 AM card! Hope you all have a special day - don't forget to watch that YouTube Video I linked here - it is sooooo g...

This week's Queen for the Day at Splitcoast Stampers is MaryR917. What a lovely gallery! I had a few minutes this morning so I cased this card . Can you believe I attempted this at 5:00 in the morning? Seems to be the only time I can find these days. Mary's card was so inspirational, that I as able to finish my card quick and get to work by 7:00. The dp is from 7gypsies Conservatory stack and the cs is from SU! My main panel is the frame from ODBD's Eternity set and the verse is from ODBD's Anchor set. I did this card for a dear friend to give to her pastor. I love the bird nests in the new SU! Catalog so I tried to make one. It wasn't that hard, and I think the next time it will be easier. Hugz!

This week's Octopode Factory Challenge (TOFF#46) is to make a card inspired by the colors Red, White, and Blue. I had been looking for a reason to order this Snow White Octopode, so I used this challenge as my excuse. My papers are SU and DCWV Mariposa, and I used A SB die to cut out my shaped easel panels. Buttons and some MS branches work as my "door stop" for the easel panel. Fun challenge - you have a few more days if you want to participate too. Hugz to all!

I found a new challenge that I love: the Dude Time Doodles Challenge . This week they have a image that they want you to use to create a great guy card and it is Moe from the Three Stooges. The image is free if you enter the challenge, and if you win you get a guest spot in the challenges. Isn't this the most hysterical image? All the desigers use the funniest sentiments so I wanted to use something really great. I searched for Moe quotes from old movies and found this one. It is special to me because we have a large catfish pond in our back yard. I try to show my DH all my cards, but he isn't too interested in most of them; when I showed him this card, he perked up. He loves it. The Dude Time images are so great for making masculine cards. Thanks to Tammy and Kevin for pointing me to the challenge and the Dude Time company with their awesome creations. I used an image from The Graphics Fairy for my bg (I distressed it up a bit). I cut out some die cuts using vario...

This card is for the Haunted Design House Challenge HDH132 . The challenge is to take a cute little image and make it over into something dark and scary looking. Ok, I love horror and scary stuff, but this was a super challenge for me for some reason. I finally ended up taking my new digi lamp image from Can You Digi It? (designed by Dana's Digital Cafe)and made it look scary. At least I hope I made it look scary with my dark colors, use of blood red Stickles, and my sponging with black and brown. I added a scary sentiment too. I haven't completed the inside yet, but I am leaning toward a Bible Verse about Christ being the light. I think that would make this sort of scary looking card into something really inspirational. Anyway, I tried hard to do this challenge since it was so challenging for me. It was also sooo fun. It reminds me of something that would be in Dark Shadows - I am so looking forward to that movie. What could be cooler than Johnny and Dark Shadows. I lo...

The newest Can You Digi It? challenge is called Painted Memories. Check out the inspiration photo - it is a very personal one for our Design Team Members, April, as her Father painted it. The thumbnail we got to to see was closely cropped so I thought it was a wooden sign, but it turns out the sign was painted on bricks. Oh well, it inspired me and that is what challenges are all about right? I used two digi sets available in the store by Lilypink Designs - you can find them here . I love both the Topiary and Truckin' sets as you get sooooo many images in each. I used one of the signs in the Truckin' set and sponged a little Tim Holtz Linen Distress Ink on the edges. I colored the topiaries with a Copic marker and some Linen Distress Ink. I think next time I do the topiaries, I am going to do smaller and smaller layers of the balls so they look even more dimensional. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder and the Martha Stewart Iron Gate punch on some kraft paper from Ho...

The Octopode Factory Friday Challenge (TOFF#44 ) is Pink. I haven't had a chance to use my fun Mad Hatter Octopode so I pulled him out and dressed him up in Rose Colored Glasses. I made the bg paper by sponging all my SU! Pink ink pad colors all over the paper, using an old SU! glasses stamp with Stazon Black, and then filling in the glasses with SU! Dazzling Details. I put 3 coats of Glossy Accents on the Mad Hatter's glasses after I colored them with Copic Markers. This card was for the Delicious Doodles Challenge #18 which is a Bingo challenge where you select a line and use all the elements from that line on your card. I chose the line requiring Punches (I used the McGill branch punch), flowers, and a Delicious Doodle image. I just discovered Delicious Doodles yesterday, and I have to tell you that they are wonderful! The artwork is wonderful, and the images are so easy to pop up and add texture. Christmas Card #1 down - only 99 more to go - LOL! Hugz to all!

I am pretty sure you are wondering why this post is entitled College Memories but the card is of a wolf howling at the moon. I went to the University of New Mexico and our mascot is a Lobo (a type of wolf). I always think of my college days when I see a wolf - strange but true. This week's mission at the Haunted Design House is to Case one of the very talented design team members (HDH131). When I saw that was the theme of the week, I was hoping they were going to go easy on us - they had other ideas! All the work was really detailed and very artistic - art gallery kind of stuff - not just level 10 - but level 11+. Since the rules actually suggested you could copy everything, I thought I might purchase Teri's Black Pearl digi (from her Digi Store Delicious Doodles Shop ) and attempt to case her card; however, once I got into her digi store, I saw this wolf image and I had to have it. I popped up a couple of the snowy branches and the wolf since Teri did that on her card, an...