Simply Betty Halloween AND Emo Challenge

All month long, the Simply Betty Stamps blog is celebrating the relaunch of their challenges and the fabulous new release of Burton-Weenies stamps! WooHoo! Talk about some "'tude!", these teens have it in spades. I'm seriously in love with THEM ALL! So of course, instead of doing my DT work or a Father's Day card for DH from the cats, I HAD to sneak in a card for the Halloween Challenge. The challenge is to do anything Halloween. No problem here, that's for sure! I used Mummy Lola from the Emo Halloween stamps that I don't seem to see on the site anymore. Anyway, I colored Lola with copics and cut her out. In my Halloween stash I came upon this fab Pink Paislee paper that literally did all the work for me. I distressed it lightly with my Distrezz-it-All and inked the edges with black soot. Then, besides Lola, all I added were some lightening stickers from the Eerie collection by Basic Grey and a rub on sentiment and jack-o-lantern from Creative Imaginations.

Then I popped Lola with dimensionals and called it done! I'm also entering it in the current month long Emo challenge at Simply Betty Stamps. Do you believe Simply Betty Stamps is one year old? And it all started with the Emos. I was also going to enter it in Fabrizio's Mummy or Quilling Challenge but I missed it. Bummer! But if you love Halloween, Making Halloween Cards is a new challenge blog dedicated to that holiday and there's a new challenge that started TODAY!

Bah!Humbug! "Whateva" (Teen Card Challenge) and Stampotique CAS Challenge

When I saw this week's "Whateva!" teen card challenge at Bah! Humbug! I knew immediately that I'd be using one of the quirky Christmas stamps by Torrente/Penney for Stampotique. These stamps really have some " 'tude!" Then seeing the Stampotique Designers Challenge was a CAS card (seriously, do you believe two posts in this style in one week?) I figured combining the challenges made some sense. Meet "O Joy". Doesn't he look absolutely thrilled? LOL Tell me you haven't seen that look on plenty of teen faces. He's stamped and colored with Copics with the computer generated sentiment printed around him. He's cut and matted with Nesties Deckled Mega Rectangles and the card front itself is embossed with a 5x7 Cuttlebug snowflake folder. All that was added was an MS icicle punched border embossed with a Cuttlebug border folder. Pretty fit for a teen and CAS enough? Hope so. I'm also entering this is Ujjwal's Simple and Embossed challenge on Yvonne's Do More With Less Blog and Christmas Cards All Year 'Round June Challenge.

Tiddly Inks Simplify, One Layer Card

Oh what a challenge from the Tiddly Inkers today! Simplify and make a one layer card. What? Eiyiyi! As you know clean and simple is hard enough for me, but ONE LAYER!? Fortunately I'd been blog hopping and came across a beautiful card that StampinAngelJenn had made for her hubby's birthday HERE. The sentiment just spoke to me so I "borrowed" it and used Love Hurts to create a one layer card. Jenn informed me that the sentiment is actually part of the gorgeous image she used by Michelle Perkett Studio. I sized and colored each heart individually on my Pagemaker Pro computer program, added the computer generated sentiment and used my Cuttlebug border to emboss above and below.

I also made some quick note cards using one of Christy's Colored Art images. Her beautiful Flower Blooms is perfect for any occasion and would make a lovely card gift set in the blink of an eye. The image has a soft yellow background so I sized it to fit the inside of a Nesties Classic Scalloped rectangle and I embossed the frame (instead of cut it) using my Grand Caliber. This would work with your Cuttlebug or Big Shot as well. I'm also entering this card in the Less is More One Layer Frame it Challenge.

Simply print your image and tape your Nestie to the card front using removeable tape.

Turn your card cut side up on the base plate, but instead of using the cutting plate, use the embossing mat and plate as your sandwich and run it through your machine.

Here's how it looks on the inside after I punched tiny holes and threaded Peapod twine from The Twinery through to dress up the front. Easy peasy! Christy has loads of fabulous colored images in the Colored Art Section of the SHOP that makes cardmaking a breeze! Christy also has a fabulous Freebie Template and tut on her blog HERE. There is some exciting news about the new shop with new features and for less than a day, today, there's a special freebie printable notecard set available when you register for the new shop so hurry! Be sure to visit Christy's Blog to find out the deets and exciting new coming attractions. Now check out the rest of the Tiddly Inkers inspirational one layer cards and we hope you decide to simplify with us this week.

BBTB2 Freshly Picked Gnomes Challenge

Happy Monday! It's time for another BBTB2 challenge and this week our dear and fabuously talented DT sister Theresa chose any gnome from the Freshly Picked cartridge. I fortunately do have Freshly Picked, but if you don't, you must drop by BBTB2 to see the creative ways my sisters came up with gnomes from other carts. Super fun! I made a gatefold card by welding the flipped shadows of the gnomes to the shadow of the gazebo. Amazingly, the whole card is made using Freshly Picked! WooHoo!

There are quite a few layers to these gnomes, and I find that one of the easiest ways to deal with that is to cut some of the layers in plain white card stock and color them with my Copics. Besides the areas that will show, I also color around the edges of where the layers will be placed (especially if I'm gonna pop them) so you don't have glaring white edges when you view the card from the side. It doesn't have to be neat or anything, or solid. Color just a quarter inch or so in. I considered trying to draw a mouth on the Juliet (I've got Gnomeo and Juliet on the brain, here) but decided against it. Heck, Tilda gets along fine with no mouth. Just think how popular she is. And anyway, Juliet doesn't look like she's missed too many meals...so...

I didn't do a whole lot of popping on this one, quite frankly because I was still working on it this morning. Nothing like waking up at 4:30 AM on Monday knowing you have a DT project to finish! But yesterday was gorgeous (for the first time in weeks), and when DH asked if I wanted to go out for a late lunch at one of the wineries I just couldn't refuse. And after...well...

I only cut the gazebo in one layer because popping the inside makes it difficult to close and at some point I'll add a sentiment. I did emboss it with the Distressed Stripes Cuttlebug folder, though and did a bit of doodling. The vines and flowers wiere also cut in shite and colored with Copics and I added yellow adhesive pearl centers. so what do you think? Maybe cute for an anniversary card? Inside it could say "Just like Gnomeo and Juliet". They don't die in that movie, do they? Well, it's another gorgeous day and I'm off to walk. Don't want to end up looking like Juliet... Catch ya later.

Macabre Monday Kuriously Korroded with Kenny K

This week's Macabre Monday Challenge calls for a card that is "kuriously korroded" as in sanded, torn or otherwise distressed, sponsored my the fabulous Kenny K. The Minions cackled when I chose my Kenny K image, which is Mae Western, but I couldn't help it, it was RODEO Weekend here in Livermore. How could I not? And while she's hardly macabre, I do think she has a bit of a nasty streak, don't you? Korroded it is. The denim paper is torn, the C'oredinations is embossed with Tim Holtz Woodgrain and sanded and chewed with my Distrezz-It-All and there's quite a bit of inking going on. Mae is colored with Copics and fussy cut and she's sittin' on one gigantic spur, cut with the Old West Cartridge on my Circut. So is that fab barbed wire.

So here's where the nasty somes in. She's been ridin' that cowboy HARD! See that blood on the spur? And a bit on the barbed wire, too. Did that cowboy try to escape?..Nah... Too much pleasure in this pain...Oh, that was LAST week...my bad! LOL

A little rope action inside and the sentiments were computer generated and cut and matted with Nesties Labels Seventeen. YeeHaw! Now get along and see what the rest of the Minions have in store for you and be sure to play along for a chance to win some Kenny K's! (try to make you're a little darker than mine, though. I was almost drummed out of the corps. ;) I'm also entering this in the Simon Says Stamp and Show which is Distressed or Torn Edges and the Gingersnap Creations Denim Rust and Dust challenge.

My Final Show

Well the final show at Northbrook has been a great success and now its time to think about getting ready for New Designers at the end of the month. For those of you who didn't manage to get to the show, here are some pictures. All designs copywrite Lynn Openshaw 2011. I will be pleased to receive comments and enquiries.

Fabulous Inky Friday at Tiddly Inks!

I hope you all know that we post TWICE a week at the Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog. Our regular challenge is every Tuesday with at least half the DT participating, Christy previews new images on her Blog, and often there's a freebie or two. Then on Fabulous Inky Fridays, we announce the winner of the previous week's challenge, the rest of the DT showcases their Tiddlies (not necessarily following the challenge), and we also feature fabulous creations found around blogland by our loyal friends and followers. If YOU are chosen, you may grab a badge to display proudly on your blog. WooHoo! This week's challenge is Going Goth and I couldn't resist coloring up the adorable new Lilli Lolita. Precious with a capital "P", eh? And she's just one of THREE new images in the STORE this week.

I colored Lilli up using all the Cool Gray Copics I owned and added just a few teeny pops of red. Although you'll ever catch me with gray hair (ahem, unless it's the day before my salon appt), I think it turned out pretty darn cute. She's peeking out the skull face from one of the Toasting Properly Papers that I've cut out with my craft knife.

I printed my made up (obviously) sentiment directly onto a smaller version of the skull cut out and drew some shadows and features with my Copics. The bone "rays" of "skullshine" were cut with my Cuttlebug and trimmed from the Beware Skull and Crossbone set. They are layered and popped on Nesties Classic Inverted Scallop Circles. I also did a little distressing with my Zutter Distress-It-All (great for getting out those pent up frustrations, LOL) The little metal hearts are by Colorbok from J's. Can you tell I'm missing my BFF?