Saturday, August 28, 2010

Oh, Alice - CHAPTER 28: Child of the Pure Unclouded Brow...

CHAPTER 28: (taken from "Child of the Pure Unclouded Brow: preface to "Through the Looking Glass"


Child of the pure unclouded brow
And dreaming eyes of wonder!
Though time be fleet, and I and thou
Are half a life asunder,
Thy loving smile will surely hail
The love-gift of a fairy-tale.

I have not seen thy sunny face,
Nor heard thy silver laughter;
No thought of me shall find a place
In thy young life's hereafter -
Enough that now thou wilt not fail
To listen to my fairy-tale.


Hello everyone! We are celebrating the wonder of childhood today here at Oh, Alice and are thrilled to announce this week's sponsor, Paper Pretties Stamps! Are you all familiar with Paper Pretties? If you're new to them, check out their darling images! If it's been a while, Paper Pretties is PROUD to announce that they're under NEW ownership and is pleased to offer you faster, cheaper shipping, WAY more reliable service, and lots of new items in the store. We are thrilled to congratulate Heather Lee-Reppen on her new endeavor and are honored to have her sponsorship this week!

Also, today is my final day at the head table of this tea party - I'd just like to say a big thank you to all of the wonderful DT, and especially to the Mad Hatter for inviting me to join them!  It's been great, ladies - {hugs!!}

Anyway, on to why you really came - my card!  So... with it being a 'little girl' theme, of course I drew inspiration from my littles, as well as the whimsicality (it's a word now) of Wonderland...and living candy.
I picked up the happy puffy candy at Wal-Mart - I had a serious case of the giggles when I saw it.  Pretty sure anyone within a 20 foot raius is now convinced I'm nuts.  (LOL!)  Other than my candy, bling and Heidi, everything came out of the scrap bags... I pieced Heidi's dress, and there is Glossy Accents on her wings & boots.

It's been fun, Oh Alice girlies - thanks so much for having me this month!
Laters,
Steph

Friday, August 27, 2010

PWCO Kit Friday!

Hey all!  It's my last PWCO PaperCard Kit Friday - and boy, am I going to miss this kit!  These Echo Park papers are just so darn cute - and what a better way to get a healthy sampling before you splurge & buy the whole line?  (LOL)

Anyway, here's what this last week has brought us:
Laters,
Steph!

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Bombshell + Gauche Alchemy = One Hot Hop!

Hello dah-links!

GA & Bombshell have teamed up this month for a major-mojo-lifting super-hot hop!  The theme this month is 'Some Like It Hot' - and that obviously fits both companies to a 'G'!  (Yup, no typo there... think, 'String'.... Bwahaha!)

So what'd I come up with?  This:
This will be heading to my shoe-fiend best friend for her 25th birthday.  I used Bombshell's 'Girl's Ruin' set; I'm not thrilled with how nylons turned out... but it was 3am and I was NOT starting over!  (LOL)  The shoe is covered in Fruit Punch & Black Diamond Stickles.  And pulling double-duty here, there are a few bits & bobs from Gauche Alchemy's Pink Parts & Black Out colour kits.

You can carry on the rest of the hop by following the links!

Kas
Gauche Alchemy
Kelli
AnitaMarie
Maggi
Katie
Cheryl
Angel
Erika
Kathi
Pam
Meredith
Merdrey Chew
Yvonne
Steph
Carmen
Alaine
Alison


Laters,
Steph!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Emily Here!

Morning, folks! 

My daughter, Emily (5.5), is going to borrow my blog this morning; here's what she's got to say:
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Hey all!

I want to show you that I've made my very own card.  As you can see, I have made something for the Paper Makeup Stamps - Makeup for the Weekend Challenge #39! 

My dancing fairy is so pretty, and you would love to see her!  I used Marissa Fairy because I thought my papa would like it - I made this card for him, because I love him so much & I really miss him!  For my four embellishments, I used four stars.  I love my card and I think that my grandpa will love it!

Thanks for looking at my card; have a good day!
Emily

Paper Makeup Stamps - Makeup for the Weekend #39!

Hey all!

Wow, I somehow lucked out & won last week's M4TW challenge - thanks, PMS! 

This week, the challenge was to use embellies in multiples of four; I went with rhinestones (gee, shocker~lol)!I used Sprinkles & Cherries, and had pink & orange stuck in my head, so I just ran with it. The cherry image & word are both covered in Glossy Accents & there is a thick coating of Stickles on the cupcake frosting. I don't consider either of those 'embellishments', but what do I know? (lol)




If you're interested, you can play along at the PMS Blog here!  <--click!
Laters!
Steph

PS - Emily has entered this challenge, too - make sure you scroll around & check it out, too!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Oh, Alice - CHAPTER 27: Prizes for Dodo...

CHAPTER 27: Prizes for Dodo...


"This question the Dodo could not answer without a great deal of thought, and it sat for a long time with one finger pressed upon its forehead (the position in which you usually see Shakespeare, in the pictures of him), while the rest waited in silence. At last the Dodo said, `EVERYBODY has won, and all must have prizes.'
`But who is to give the prizes?' quite a chorus of voices asked.
`Why, SHE, of course,' said the Dodo, pointing to Alice with one finger; and the whole party at once crowded round her, calling out in a confused way, `Prizes! Prizes!'
Alice had no idea what to do, and in despair she put her hand in her pocket, and pulled out a box of comfits, (luckily the salt water had not got into it), and handed them round as prizes. There was exactly one a-piece all round. `But she must have a prize herself, you know,' said the Mouse.
`Of course,' the Dodo replied very gravely. `What else have you got in your pocket?' he went on, turning to Alice..."

Hello all!

We are so excited about today's inspiration piece, which just so happens to feature Alice and the lovable Dodo she encounters along her adventures in Wonderland. We'll even spare Dodo the croquet game today...less headache! ;)

The Mad Hatter herself is VERY fond of Tarina Tarantino jewelry and is lucky enough to own a VERY fun ring that she scored while in Disneyworld last time. Check out the fabulous Queen Alice ring HERE.

For today's challenge, we are all gaga over this beautiful piece:

(OMG - typically, the only jewellery I wear/care about is a necklace hubs bought me for my 21st birthday, and my wedding rings.    But this - wow!  Look at all the teal & hot pink!!)
Your mission today is to create SPARKLY FABULOUSNESS (yes, include some BLING, please!) as inspired by the above photo.

I totally ran with the colours on this one - and here's the end result:
You can't tell in the photo, but the image is covered in Glossy Accents; that's the same image that's on Tarina's necklace.  I picked up this sheet of Alice images on Ebay through Victorine Originals - love it!
Laters!
Steph

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

PMS - Makeup for the Weekend #38!

Yeah, so I'm a little late joining this party... but here's my first entry to a PMS Makeup for the Weekend challenge!

The challenge was to use Kraft, Lime Green & Turquoise... but I used Teal, because that's all I've got!  =)
I went with Birthday Lauren; it's the first time I've inked her up & she was awesome to colour!  I added Stickles to her wings.  The sentiment is one of a kind - in the spring, I had a set of clear stamps made using mine & Emily's handwriting, as well as some of Emily's artwork.  I think this will be a regular occurrence, especially because it's an adorable way to preserve your little's handwriting!

Hope you like it!
Laters,
Steph!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

PWCO Ultimate Summer Challenge - Animal Edition!

The challenge has begun over at the PWCO Blog! Here's my uber-sparkly sample based on PWCO's Sunday Sketch #46, designed by Bella!


I cut the base using the largest die in the Nesties Labels 1 set, then I attached a layer of Doodlebug Designs 'Cuppy Cake' paper cut with the second largest die. I also used Nesties Classic Ovals (small) & Classic Scalloped Ovals (small), using the out-of-the-box technique for the Zoie the Zebra panel. Zoie was stamped in VersaMark & heat embossed using sparkly black ep. The background was coloured with Copics. I sprayed a piece of white lace trim with Black Magic Glimmer Mist, adhered a $ store bling swirl (which I coloured with Copics to match), and I punched a couple of hearts. Then, I went crazy with the Stickles!
(All the while, one line in particular from Beck's 'Loser' was running through my head... 'get crazy with the cheese whiz'... but in this case, I opted for sparkles instead!)

Oh, and Zoie's panel is also popped up; yay for dimension!
Hopefully you're playing along with us over at PWCO - there's a $100 g/c up for grabs if your team wins!
Laters,
Steph!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Oh, Alice - CHAPTER 26: Sizin' up a Sketch...

CHAPTER 26: Sizin' up a Sketch...

"The Caterpillar was the first to speak.
`What size do you want to be?' it asked.
`Oh, I'm not particular as to size,' Alice hastily replied; `only one doesn't like changing so often, you know.'
`I DON'T know,' said the Caterpillar.
Alice said nothing: she had never been so much contradicted in her life before, and she felt that she was losing her temper.
`Are you content now?' said the Caterpillar.
`Well, I should like to be a LITTLE larger, sir, if you wouldn't mind,' said Alice: `three inches is such a wretched height to be.'
`It is a very good height indeed!' said the Caterpillar angrily, rearing itself upright as it spoke (it was exactly three inches high).
`But I'm not used to it!' pleaded poor Alice in a piteous tone. And she thought of herself, `I wish the creatures wouldn't be so easily offended!'
`You'll get used to it in time,' said the Caterpillar; and it put the hookah into its mouth and began smoking again..."

Hello! Welcome, welcome!

We are sizing up a GREAT sketch by JEN and the main panel just HAPPENS to be THREE. INCHES. TALL. :) Now, of course you don't have to stick to this if your image won't fit, but we didn't want to anger Mr. Caterpillar by saying that three inches wasn't a respectable height, so here's the sketch:



And.... here's what I came up with:
Totally inspired by Amy Young's adventures in cropping & blowing up Lil Lolitas from the digi release, I made darn sure that Lilith's panel let her sit at exactly 3 inches tall!  I also went ahead & flipped Lilith so she could be looking at the computer generated sentiment.  The polka dot paper is from the stationery section at Michael's; the cardstock is SU; the flowers are KaiserCraft, as are the  larger gems; the smaller gems & pearls are nail gems, and the button & ribbon are from my stash.   Lilith is coloured with Copics.

This is probably the most layer-y card I've ever made - and I really love how it turned out!  What do you think?  Don't forget to head on over to the Oh, Alice Blog & check out what the rest of the DT created!

See you on Monday with the start of PWCO's Ultimate Summer Challenge!
Laters,
Steph!

Friday, August 13, 2010

Bombshell Stamps - New Sets!

Bombshell Stamps has released 4 new sets - and they're 15% off right now!  (No coupon needed!)

You can see them here:

Butterfly Dreams

All My Heart

Sacred Heart Art

Banner Sayings

Laters,
Steph!

PWCO Kit Friday!

Hey all!

It's (really) a PWCO PaperCard Kit Friday!  Here's what I did this time:


I was totally entranced with the pinwheel patterned paper in this collection & decided to try my hand at making my own!  Definitely a fun card - not sure what I'm going to use it for yet...but I'm thinking maybe some sort of 'you blow me away' type sentiment!  (LOL!)

See ya back in the morning with another Oh, Alice challenge!
Laters,
Steph!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

PWCO Kit Friday -

on a Wednesday!

I (obviously) missed last Friday's PWCO PaperCard Kit post, as Canada Post apparently decided I shop too much & sent my package back to Pegs.... So... I'm making up for it today!  (Thanks Jenny, btw, for saving my butt & covering for me!)

Anyway.... here's what you came for:


For all the deets, check out the PaperWorks Co Blog!

Laters,
Steph!

PS - Love Gauche Alchemy?  They've got a new Acme Subscription Kit out; not only do these kits come with FREE SHIPPING to the US & Canada, AND a 10% discount on all other GA products you buy during your sub, if you sign on for the 12 month sub, you also get an extra $5 of product in your kits every month!   You can pick up your 6 Month Sub HERE or your 12 Month Sub HERE!

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

PWCO Ultimate Summer Challenge - Animal Edition!

Wanna meet new friends? Challenge your skills? Share your work? Most of all WIN SOME PRIZES?!?




Paperworks Co is gearing up to host a fun new challenge!



Welcome to our first annual Ultimate Summer Challenge! – ANIMAL Edition



What is it?



Make sure you have some crafty friends – this contest is designed for you to work in groups of 4!! Starting on August 15th- 18th, we will be throwing out daily challenges for your team to play! – that is, each person in the team will be doing one challenge. As this is an animal edition, make sure you have your PWCO and RAM Animal stamps handy! (if you dont own any PWCO stamps, dont worry, we’ll have you covered)



This is a contest, so of course there will be some competition.. and MAJOR PRIZES!



What kind of PRIZES:



GRAND PRIZE: $100 Gift Cert from PWCO (to be shared by the entire team)

SECOND PRIZE: each member from the winning team will get an Animal Bundle (4 characters with matching sentiment set) of their choice.

THIRD PRIZE: each member from the winning team will get 2 animal stamps of their choice.

BONUS PRIZE: EVERYONE who joins this challenge will receive a 15% discount for the upcoming RAM collection in Sept - you dont want to miss out, it’s OH SO CUTE!



How to start:



- Form a team of four, make up a team name, and delegate a team captain – team captain will act as the liason between the team and PWCO.

- Submit your application by emailing our Coordinator: Jenny@paperworksco.com, subject title: PWCO CHALLENGE TEAM SUBMISSION with the following info:

- Team Name

- members’ name, email, and blog addies

Once you are approved, your team will be posted on our blog



- If you want to play along, but do not have a team of 4, email our Coordinator: Jenny@paperworksco.com, and she will assign you to a team.



Deadline for sign ups is Aug 12th. – official teams will be list on the PWCO blog on August 13th





How are you going to be graded:



- the DT along with 2 guest Judges will cast their votes on their favorite projects from each category.

- After we collected our favorites, we will set it up for public voting.



And just because we are nice, we’ll even let you know what kinda challenges we have in store (in no particular order):



- Technique Challenge

- Sketch challenge

- Inspiration

- Color combo challenge



So thats it for now! If you’re interested join us for a week of FUN FUN FUN….. be sure to sign up if you haven't already - AND HURRY!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Hey all!

Just wanted to post some more recent photos of the littles... If you're here looking for my Oh, Alice post, just scroll down a bit!  =)

She's Crafty - of course, Big Sis helped her write her name first!
(And I believe those are blueberry stains on her little outfit, from breakfast...)
Blondie + Paint = Hours of Fun!  (This was piece # 3; you can see the other two on the floor behind Lily.  Obviously, laundry was sadly neglected!  LOL!)
Blondie + The Camera = Full Memory Card!  (lol)

I don't know who ate all the raspberries, mumma... but it wasn't me!

 Don't know who was nibbling all the rhubarb, either...

Question of the Day:  What the heck am I supposed to do with a full garden row of 'salad mix' lettuce?!  I'm a city girl, folks - The Farmer (aka, my hunny) was supposed to plant a reasonable amount of lettuce... well, if I make salads every day with what's out there, we're all going to grow fluffy tails & floppy ears by the time it's done!  And apparently it can't be frozen... so what the heck do I do with it all?!

Laters,
Steph!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Oh, Alice - I'm a guest at the Tea Party!

Holy man - I typed this up at 8 this morning & have been having 'technical difficulties' ever since!  My laptop's been having hissy fits all day!
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If you've been here before, you'll gather from the last post that I'm Oh, Alice's August Guest Designer - and I am SO excited! 

If this is your first time visiting me, then hello & welcome - glad you came!

Now.... better late than never, right?  Between Jess's computer issues & my inability to keep track of days, I guess this will have to do!

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CHAPTER 25: White Rabbit, White Gloves, White Wonderland...


"After a time she heard a little pattering of feet in the distance, and she hastily dried her eyes to see what was coming.It was the White Rabbit returning, splendidly dressed, with a pair of white kid gloves in one hand and a large fan in the other: he came trotting along in a great hurry, muttering to himself as he came, `Oh! the Duchess, the Duchess! Oh! won't she be savage if I've kept her waiting!'


Alice felt so desperate that she was ready to ask help of any one; so, when the Rabbit came near her, she began, in a low, timid voice, `If you please, sir--' The Rabbit started violently, dropped the white kid gloves and the fan, and skurried away into the darkness as hard as he could go..."


~Alices Adventures in Wonderland, Chapter 2

Hello dolls!

We are back in the WHITE heat of August with another fabulous challenge for you today! This week at Oh, Alice we are trying to BEAT that heat, and you know, they say you shouldn't wear dark colors this time of year to keep cool!

In the spirit of that, along with our WHITE Rabbit and his WHITE kid gloves, guess what our challenge is for you today?

That's RIGHT. WHITE WONDERLAND. And we're not talkin' about Christmas! Your mission today, should you choose to accept it is to create (WITH the exception of your main image panel) an ALL WHITE card or project!
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Well, here's what I came up with:

I used Lil Lolita '50's Lillith' - I think she's my absolute fave of the Lil Lolita line.  I already had a white base with a cutout (Nesties Labels 9) sitting in my stash, so I used it; I sprayed it with Marshmallow & Cherry Blossom Glimmer Mists, then backed the opening with some iridescent white paper from my scrap bag.  I made a crumply flower from tissue paper & a brad, and sprayed it with GM, too.  Then I added a bit of lace & some pearls, and that was that.  (For the record, the pearls really are white, not ivory like they appear....)

I hope to see you play along this week!

Laters,
Steph!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

OOOPS!

If you've popped over looking for my Oh, Alice post - I'm sorry!  I tend to loose track of days and had no idea it was Saturday today - so I'll have my very fist OA Guest Designer card up a little later on Sunday!

Apologies!
Steph

Ever wonder what a thousand sheets of paper look like?

Well.... it looks like this!


WOW!  Amy over at A Thousand Sheets of Paper is having a HUGE candy giveaway right now - definitely stop in & check it out!!

Laters,
Steph

Friday, August 6, 2010

Sonnet Designs Candy!


My sweet, sweet friend Janet over at Sonnet Designs is offering up some candy while she's away on vacation...

Go check it out & leave her some love while you're there! =)


Laters,

Steph!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Bombshell, GA & PWCO News!

Just thought I'd post some crafty goings-on y'all might be interested in!

- Bombshell Stamps is currently holding a DT call for the next 6 Monthly Pin-Ups! You can check the info here: Bombshell Stamps DT Call! This call is open until August 14, 2010 - 12:00AM PST. Good Luck!

- Gauche Alchemy has begun their new Subscription Kit service! If you'd love to have a package of yummy GA goodies delievered automatically every month, this is the sub for you! Check the deets here: GA Kits Subs Are Here! and you can pick yours up here: 6 Month Sub or 12 Month Sub!

- PWCO has announced the Ultimate Summer Challenge - Animal Edition! You can either scroll down to my previous post, or visit the PWCO Blog for deets... I really hope to see you play along, especially since there's a $100 gift certificate to the PWCO Store being offered as a grand prize! (And with the Blowout Sale that's on until the product is gone, you could be in for a major stash increase!)

There ya have it, folks - Hope to see you trying out, subbing up & playing along soon!

Laters,
Steph!

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Big Excitement at PWCO!

Wanna meet new friends? Challenge your skills? Share your work? Most of all WIN SOME PRIZES?!?

Paperworks Co is gearing up to host a fun new challenge!

Welcome to our first annual Ultimate Summer Challenge! – ANIMAL Edition

What is it?

Make sure you have some crafty friends – this contest is designed for you to work in groups of 4!! Starting on August 15th- 18th, we will be throwing out daily challenges for your team to play! – that is, each person in the team will be doing one challenge. As this is an animal edition, make sure you have your PWCO and RAM Animal stamps handy! (if you dont own any PWCO stamps, dont worry, we’ll have you covered)

This is a contest, so of course there will be some competition.. and MAJOR PRIZES!

What kind of PRIZES:

GRAND PRIZE: $100 Gift Cert from PWCO (to be shared by the entire team)
SECOND PRIZE: each member from the winning team will get an Animal Bundle (4 characters with matching sentiment set) of their choice.
THIRD PRIZE: each member from the winning team will get 2 animal stamps of their choice.
BONUS PRIZE: EVERYONE who joins this challenge will receive a 15% discount for the upcoming RAM collection in Sept - you dont want to miss out, it’s OH SO CUTE!

How to start:

- Form a team of four, make up a team name, and delegate a team captain – team captain will act as the liason between the team and PWCO.
- Submit your application by emailing our Coordinator: Jenny@paperworksco.com, subject title: PWCO CHALLENGE TEAM SUBMISSION with the following info:
- Team Name
- members’ name, email, and blog addies
Once you are approved, your team will be posted on our blog

- If you want to play along, but do not have a team of 4, email our Coordinator: Jenny@paperworksco.com, and she will assign you to a team.

Deadline for sign ups is Aug 12th. – official teams will be list on the PWCO blog on August 13th


How are you going to be graded:

- the DT along with 2 guest Judges will cast their votes on their favorite projects from each category.
- After we collected our favorites, we will set it up for public voting.

And just because we are nice, we’ll even let you know what kinda challenges we have in store (in no particular order):

- Technique Challenge
- Sketch challenge
- Inspiration
- Color combo challenge

So thats it for now! If you’re interested join us for a week of FUN FUN FUN….. be sure to sign up!