Are you smarter than a 2nd Grader?...........

............hmmmmm..............good question, well if we're talking about my dd, and I'm having a bad day..........possibly 'No'! (heehee) But I can make cards better than a......a.......oh I don't know, but I can make cards OK! So here's today's offering............



Isn't she a sweetie? There are at least two reasons for making this card, maybe more if I can get my act together and hunt down some challenges to enter this into. The first goes like this.........remember the Good Luck card I made the other day to mark the occasion of my youngest starting Kindergarten? Well, I showed it to my eldest and was rewarded with the phrase we all love to hear......."Where's my card.....I want one!" So the (one sided)(on my part) conversation went something like this.........

"But you don't need a card, you're a big girl"......."It's not your very first day of school"........"You don't need any Good Luck to find your way around"........"You're in 2nd Grade"..........................."OK, I'll make you a card!"..........Get the picture?


So here's the deets. I used the 'schoolgirl' digi image from The Lollipop Shop, created by of course, Ms Lori Boyd, and I'll be getting into that more in a moment. I paper pieced her dress, sweater and hair bow, and I coloured with the usual, Prisma's and a touch of Copics. I finally used the 'numeric' tape I've been holding onto for so long I can't remember who makes it (Making Memories I think) and my new Fiskars punch.......now I know it's not quite straight......don't be 'hatin'.....it was after midnight when I created this! DP's are from Queen Martha and I do like the DIY chalkboard I threw together, after I decided I really needed one on there. Did I mention it was after midnight when this decision was made! Not a good idea, but after hunting down a chipboard frame, a scrap of black cardstock, a white pen and another scrap of woodgrain effect DP.......hey presto.......a chalkboard!


So, onto my second reason for making this card. Today marks the official launch of the brand new By Lori Designs 'Lollipop Shop', where you can now get a hold of all your super sweet digi images, created by Lori Boyd. "Oh Happy Day!" As I have been fortunate enough recently, to be included in the company of her sparkling, new, talented Design Team, we're all going to celebrate the occasion by having a little fun. It's time to get hopping for your chance to win a nice little fix of sweet treats! If you hop on over to The Lollipop Shop you'll find the full instructions, but basically, you need to start at the store, then visit each of the DT's blogs (in no particular order) and leave a comment in order to qualify. You have until midnight on Saturday and the winner of the sweet stash of digi's will be announced around 10am on Sunday.


Just in case you've arrived here....... mid hop.......so to speak, thanks for visiting and don't forget to leave a comment. Here's a list of the other gals you need to visit:


Lori B
Andrea G
Arielle G
Hannah B
Jane B
Linda L
Sheri G
Sherryann
Tanja H
Vera R

So........what ya waitin for?

Enjoy!


PS. I may be back later after I've scouted for challenges.

--------------------------------------------------
OK, time has passed, I've scoured 'blogland' and this little baby will be entered into the following challenges:
Die Cut Dreams Challenge Blog - #65 Digital - Sweet Little Girl

Daisy Doodles Creative Challenges - #17 Keep It Simple - 1 digi image plus 1 embellishment

Critter Sketch Challenge Blog - #31 School

Karber Weekly Challenge - Challenge 5 - Card for a Girl


Fingers crossed!

More exciting news........

...........no more surely? Yep.......did ya see my new awesomely cute badge over there on the right? Ta daaaaa! I'm going to be keeping some very cool, very talented company from now on, with the other ladies of the brand spanking new 'by Lori designs' DT, headed up of course by the super talented Lori Boyd, creator of the Lollipops, Sugar Sticks and Puddle Jumpers.

Now I had a pretty busy weekend, so I don't have anything to show you right now, but make sure you stop by 'The Lollipop Shop' tomorrow, for a cool little blog hop to celebrate the launch of the 'by Lori designs' digi shop and DT, and who knows, there may be some seriously cool goodies up for grabs!

Til then.........

My 'girl' lollipop........

........'you make my heart go giddy up'..........anyone singing along yet?

Well, my DD, my youngest, my 'baby' is starting Kindergarten (sniff!), so things are going to be a little different in our house. Oh, what shall I do with this extra time? My hubby is probably hoping I will clean (LOL), but let's not be too drastic here! I read a quote once, which I have kind of adopted as my own, "Housework is not harmful to your health...........but why take the risk?" Personally, aside from the emotional tug of missing my little shadow, I am secretly looking forward to.........oh, I don't know...........using the bathroom without an audience whilst having to uphold my end of the conversation!

Anyhow, shall I get to the point here......please do! I made a card, of course, to wish her a very happy, mega exciting first day. Here she is..........Ella Lollipop...........

Gotta love da Lollipop's, created of course by the talented Lori Boyd (I may have mentioned that before!). You can find a fair few of the Lollipop's in rubbah over at Stamping Bella, which leads me nicely into my next topic...........challenges.

For Bellarific Friday this week over at Bloggabella, the theme is 'back to school'..........worked out nicely! I'll also be entering this into the following:

Creative Card Crew - Back to school

The Pink Elephant - #83 Back to school

Meljens Designs - #24 Back 2 school

Do ya see a trend here?

Now for the 'deets'. I coloured with my Prisma's and Gamsol, DP's are from Martha Stewart, the notepaper, which I attacked with an EK Success punch, is from Jenni Bowlin and the school bus is a We R Memory Keepers stamp (from their awesome 'Show and Tell' line). The chipboard letters, which I covered with DP, are from my stash and I hand drew the smoke shaped sentiment.

I think we've covered everything..........except, I forgot to mention the other day, the blog candy that is up for grabs until 4th October, over on the OSAAT challenge blog. If you click on the sweet, chocolaty link in my sidebar at the right, you'll find all the details.

Big hugs, and plenty of Kleenex go out to all the Mommies (and Daddies), waving off their kidlets this week.!

Another Birthday in da house..........

Well, I'm a little slack blogging today, but I thought I'd better post while it is still officially 7th September (here in Canada at least!). That means that a few thousand miles across the pond, my nephew celebrated his 5th Birthday today..............Happy 'B' Day! This is the card, I hope, is making it's way across that pond to find him. Meet 'Megabot'............

So, I obviously didn't have to worry too much about picking my DP's first, in order to match up to my colouring...........shades of grey sort of works with anything! Funny enough though, as soon as I chose this image, I knew which papers I wanted to use. I believe they are October Afternoon's Nightlight collection. I've used them a few times now for various projects and still have a few scraps left over. Nothing like getting your monies worth!

Now, there isn't too much excitement in the range of colours needed to produce a robot......as mentioned previously, grey pretty much does it.........so I decided to layer him up a little, to create some interest. Here's a closer look..........

I coloured with all the grey shades of Copic's and Prisma's I could find, along with my Gamsol of course. I also added a little Glossy Accents to the monitor on his chest. All in all, I think he's pretty cute! You can find the image, and a few versions on a theme, which are drawn by the talented Christy Croll, over at Tiddly Inks.

Last but not least, of course, there are challenges involved, so here's what this baby will be heading into:

Meljens Designs challenge #23 - Stripes..........to use them somewhere on your card.

Incy Winsy Designs challenge #58 - Celebrate............anything you feel the need to!

Crafty Cardmakers challenge #29 - Clean and Simple...........no flowers, frills and general 'frou frou' (not sure if that's a word.......think I made it up!).

That's all for now.

OSAAT Challenge Blog..............

...........so it's Sunday, and that means a new challenge over at the One Stitch At A Time challenge blog. The awesome sponsor this week is.......wait for it........

.........Sew Many Cards, who create some very cute digi's.......my kids love em! This challenge also means my first card creation in my role as a DT member. The theme is the '3 B's'.........Blooms, Butterflies and Bling, and as we have such a great sponsor this week, I used one of their images. Here is Oliver...........

I coloured solely with Prisma's and Gamsol, and the script DP is from Jillibean Soup, with a small glimpse of Bo Bunny's Double Dot card stock. I used a handmade paper behind, to create that soft, fuzzy look, and the butterflies are stamped then cut out, and have a little touch of Stickles on there.

If you'd like to check out the other DT creations, or join in the challenge.....there are goodies up for grabs....... then hop on over and take a look.

Have a great weekend.

Bewitched...........

Well, I made a Halloween card.....which will probably sit in my closet forevah!!!!! I don't think I have ever, and probably will never, send a card to someone for Halloween. Maybe it's just the 'Brit' in me? So why did I make it........for a challenge of course......and an excuse to colour Mo Mannings Bella and Bronte in 'Trick or Treat'. Here they are........

I love Bronte's costume.....ingenious!

So originally, I made this for the 'Halloween Hoots' challenge over at the Digital Pencil Too challenge blog. That was until I got home from work last night, checked the post and realised Mr Linky had already retired for the evening! Oh dear....most unlike me to be late for something!!

Oh well, never fear, there are a few other challenges this will be heading into........

Crazy 4 Challenges #52 - Use lattice in some form.....I used star shaped brads and black embroidery floss to create mine.

Crafty Cardmakers - Glitter and Sparkle..........I used black glitter on Bella's cloak (which I am not really happy with, but.....you live and learn!), and also white around the moon.

Cupcake Craft Challenges - Let's get Digital......obviously!

So, I coloured with Prisma's and Gamsol, DP's are from Basic Grey's Eerie line and that's about it.

Just a quick reminder, as I don't think it was mentioned on the OSAAT challenge blog last week...........as well as the usual Sunday challenge, there is a Saturday 'sneak peak' contest starting this week, with goodies up for grabs.

Enjoy.

The cat's out of the bag..........

.........literally! I've been a little busy the last couple of days, working on a card for my new DT duties, so I can't show you that yet.....you'll have to wait til Sunday for the new challenge at OSAAT. However, I did manage to get a little something finished in plenty of time for Bellarific Friday, over at Stamping Bella. The theme this week was to include any of our 4 legged (or otherwise!) friends. Hence the title of this post........here is one uncooperative cat.......

I dug into my craft paper and did a little paper piecing on the paper bag, therefore I'll also be entering this into the challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp challenge blog, which is of course.......paper piecing.

The last challenge this will be heading into is #127 over at Cute Card Thursday - Dieing for a punch! No dies, punches, die cutting/embossing machines allowed, which means........NO NESTIES!! Aaaaaargh! My card was feeling a little naked I have to say, but, I guess it's good to 'detox' occasionally! Oh, before anyone asks.....no I did not use a corner rounding punch.......just good old fashioned scissors...... (or scrapbooking 90's style, if you prefer!).

I coloured what little there was with Prisma's and Gamsol and DP's are from Basic Grey Max and Whiskers line......what else?