Pink Cat Studios image for Henrys' memorial tree

Hello my lovely blogging pals,
I have something to share with you all.
Another sad story and how you can help out.

I recently found out from Ila's blog that
Sarah Anderson’s little 3 year old son Henry
passed away from a virus he fell ill with last week.

Lorie Ames has organized
a way to donate for a memorial for Henry.
Henry loved his local zoo and visited it
almost every day in the summer.
As a memorial, trees will be planted there in his honor.

Melissa at
Pink Cat Studio
has created a digital stamp to help
raise funds for a tree for Henry.
All proceeds from the sale of the digi stamp,
minus Paypal costs, will go towards the tree.
If you would like to donate towards the tree,
please visit Pink Cat Studios
to purchase the digi image.

Another way to donate to the memorial
is to print out a form and mail in your donation directly,
click here to get the form.

**Please write on the form that the donation is for Sarah Anderson’s son Henry. Once all of the money is collected, a tree and location will be selected. If you have questions about the form please contact Lorie Ames. Lorie will be in contact with Sarah along this memorial journey to ensure that her wishes are followed.To contact Lorie, please visit her blog.

If you don’t know Sarah and would like to
learn more about her, please visit her blog here.

*****************************

Oops, I digied again.
This is my third successful digi project and
I just have to mention that 2 of the 3 times
were Pink Cat Studios charity events,
so props to them for being so kind and caring.
I put it straight to use this time
and have made a card for my friends daughter
who will be turning 2 this Wednesday.


I've used the aforementioned PCS digi
and coloured with Prismacolor Pencils and
added a ring of stickles around the image,
I also peiced the heads and stuck them on foam mounts.
The papers are My Minds Eye and bazzill cardstock.
The blue buttons are shell & I've ran hemp through them
the big button is unknown stash material,
as is the organza ribbon.
The border punch is by Fiskars.


I've used the sketch from
Sketch Saturday
and that's it!!!
I don't have any other challenges to enter this in :(

I hope you are having a wonderful day,
take care,
Stephanne

Stamp Something for Jaimie and help spread the love!!

Hi there folks, I hope you've had a wonderful weekend.
After my Waffle-O-Thon I put you through yesterday,
I thought I'd just get right to it today.
Most of you have heard about the card drive that is
taking place for a young lady whose mother was senselessly
murdered at random by several idiot teenagers,
and young Jaimie was beaten and left for dead.
Oh man, that is horrible enough to type.
My heart goes out to her, as I'm sure yours does too,
and some really noble ladies have organized a card drive
to help spread the love and showers this poor thing
with warm thoughts and well wishes.
You can find out more about Jaimie here
and you can go to visit the Spread the Love Blog Hop here.
Additionally, you can find out details about how to
play along with this weeks Stamp Something project,
which is a recipe to help us
get motivated to Spread the Love here


This is a Doraline stamp by Motivet,
she's coloured in Prismacolour pencils,
the papers are Basic Grey and cardstock is Bazzill,
I've followed along with the Stamp Something recipe:
1 ribbon, 2 papers, and 3 embellishments,
for my ribbon I've chosen this felt flower strand,
which means I get to enter this over at Dutch Dare,
whose challenge is to use felt on your creation,
and my 3 embellishments were hemp, a charm
and those cute Fiskars hearts that my friend Sue sent me,
thank you Sue!!
And the punch is from the always amazing Martha Stewart.


The sentiment is also from Motivet.
Lastly, but certainly not leastly, lol, leastly....
I've utilized the sketch from Create4fun,
which is lovely, you must go take a looksie!!

Even if you don't have time to make something right now,
I am sure you could send Jaimie something, perhaps something
you've created in the past, or hang on to the thought
and make her something in the future,
something that will help brighten this girls day,
even if only for a moment.

Thanks for looking folks!!
Stephanne

DT-MDUC -Shell's sketch meets up with a few of my other favourite challenges

Hello to you, my dear bloggie buddies.
It's that time again, another
Magnolia Down Under Challenge is upon us.
May I just take some time to say WOW wOw WoW!!!
Our previous challenge was distressing and
you ladies did such an incredible job!!
Some of the entries were from seasoned distressing pros
and others were taken out of their comfort zone,
it was amazing, each and every project was a WOW!!!
Maybe I just love distressing a little too much??
No, that's not it, all of our participants do gorgeous work!!
Thanks to all of you
who are joining in with our challenges
and helping us break our previous entrant records
challenge after challenge!!!
Remember, you can combine us with any other challenge
that you'd like and we don't mind if you enter several times.


Well, now that I've got that out there,
let's get to the matter at hand;
this fortnights Magnolia Down Under Challenge!!
A sketch by the mega-talented Shell Barnard, yay!!!


I am in need of a thank you card
for my aunt and uncle, as they let me stay
at their house while on my California sleepover.
What a crazy experience, after that,
nothing seems like too hard a task.
In extending me their hospitalities, they set up a
sleeping area and fresh towels along with a "Snuggie"
just in case I needed a little comfort.
Have you seen those things,
the blanket/robe fleece contraption?
Geez, what WON'T people try to sell these days?
Anyway, I opted out on the Snuggie and got a Poptart instead.
Poptart is their sweet little kitty that decided
she wanted to sleep in my womb area, for lack of a better term,
I sleep in the "Fetal Position" so Poptart helped herself
to the ultra warm and comfy Stephanie Sleep Spot,
I have no idea what to call the area, the nook that forms
when you bring your knees and head toward your torso????
Anyhoooo, she was a very comfy addition to the accomodations,
no Snuggie for me, I'll take the Poptart, lol!!
And maybe even a Ginseng too!!
Ginseng is their older kitty who came out and gave me
lots of love as well, I lub kitties, that I do!!
They apparently don't mind me either :)
Sooooo, long story short, this is a thank you card
for my aunt and uncle and cousin and kitties,
and why it makes sense to me
is because of the aforementioned happenings.
Of course, you could use any Tilda at any time
and it's still gonna look cute,
but this project was deliberate,
this is the right Tilda for the occasion.


I've used Tilda with Cat,
she's coloured in distress inks and got a little MS glitter,
she's cut out and placed alongside making memories DP,
the other DP is by K & Co.
I've used gorgeous tea roses with a touch of Stickles,
and these most fabulous shell buttons
(been to the ends of the earth looking for them!!!)
with hemp run through them.
Most everything is distressed in brushed corduroy
after I abused my cardstock with scissors and sandpaper.
The sentiment stamped is "merci" by stampabilities,
and the scallop is courtesy of Fiskars shears.

A little side-angle action for ya,
complete with thumb at no extra charge, haha.
I've made this with a slue of challenges in mind.
Firstly, The Pink Elephant is hosting a colour challenge,
brown, yellow, neutral + 1, I chose pink.
Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential's
lsat challenge was to use words to convey your message,
so I chose this lovely script from
the making memories Autumn Harvest collection
and stamped in merci multiple times,
I am too late to enter it over there,
but had the challenge in mind when I made this.
I could, however, enter it for their current challenge,
which happens to be "Repeatedly Useful."
Naaa, I would feel like a cheat!!
No worries, I made something else, see devil tilda, lol.
So, that lovely merci allows me to take part over at
PaperPlay Challenges whose challenge is to
use language other than english on your project.
At Pile It On they're hosting a Thank You challenge,
and so is the same at Simon Says Challenges,
and just in case it is a curiousity of yours,
merci is the french equivalent to our thank you.

Still with me??? Sorry, this is getting lengthy.
So, on that note, I hope you all have a fabulous weekend
and get oodles of crafty time!!

Take Care,
Stephanne

Tilda is having a devilish time this Christmas!!

Hello blogger buddies.
I hope you all have managed to get some crafty time
in this week, as it is wrapping up quickly!!
I've put together this Christmas card for a friend
with a couple of ideas in mind.


Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential
has asked us to make a project with words
as the focal point, to show how they enhance a project.
My creation didn't end up centered around words,
but without them, the card makes no sense.
Santa's list shows where I was coming from in selecting
the gorgeous Devil Tilda to adorn this card.
Clearly, her name belongs on the Naughty side of the list.
Roses on Paper set a Christmas card challenge,
I've incorporated the current Midnight Madness sketch,
it's a rather loose interpretation but I really wanted to play
and envisioned my scoll coming out a little more wavy, but...
I've turned the sketch on its side, go see it,
you will love its potential with that
layer of ruffly goodness to use,
I want to try another card with that sketch, it's a goodie.


I've used Devil Tilda,
she's been coloured in watercolour pencils,
her wings were doused in Stickles.
I made a little scroll/list thing
and distressed it in brushed corduroy,
the cardstock is Bazzill and the DP is Basic Grey.
The present is a Penny Black image that I
stole the present off of and gave it to Tilda,
things aren't looking good for her this year,
as she is acting a bit devilish, so I thought
I would give her a little something for her troubles...
Gorgeous Mina flower there, I am almost out: TRAGEDY!!!
The little roses are Prima and I've used an
EK Success fern punch for the branches,
everything amounst the bloomage got layered with Stickles.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend!!
Stephanne

An award/quiz thing, some news and a show of gratitude

I usually shy away from these sorts of posts because I don't want to seem boisterious amounst a sea of talented crafters. Sometimes I feel like the little people, the newbies, folks like me get overlooked when I know, I KNOW, how much heart and soul we all pour into our creations, the last thing I want to do is have a Nanee-nanee-booboo Look at me!! Look at me!!! moment. On the other hand, I have allowed myself to appear ungrateful in what I thought was a shot at modesty, so here we are, a fine medium, I think. I hope.


Well, to start off, I have been sent an award from my dear boss lady Kellie,you know, that fiery red-headed, Magnolia-lovin' waffler from Down-Under and so as to stay on the ball, I am tending to it right away!!



However, this award comes with contingencies and this is what they are:
Answer the question with only 1 word and then
Pass it on to 5 others, so without further ado,

1. Where is your cell phone? hatephones.

2. Hair? yes.

3. Mother? yes.

4. Father? yes.

5. Favorite food? pastries.

6. Dream last night? maybe.

7. Favorite drink? coca.

8. Your dream/goal? vagabond.

9. What room are you in? livingarea.

10. Hobby? collecting.

11. Fear? fake-blood. you rock me like the real thing and if it were the real thing,
it would scare me more.--Sifl & Ollie

12. Where do you want to be 6 years? NorCal.

13. Where were you last night? slaving.

14. Something you aren’t? slimshady.

15. Muffins? YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

16. Wish list item? patience.

17. Where did you grow up? SoCal.

18. Last thing you did? red-paint-disaster.

19. What are you wearing? crooked-smile.

20. Your TV? bunnies.

21. Your pets? stinky gatos.

22. Friends? few.

23. Your life? hectic.

24. Your mood? restless.

25. Missing someone? always.

26. Vehicle? american-muscle.

27. Something you’re not wearing? tuxedo.

28. Favorite store? no.

29. Favorite color? gweeeeeeen.

30. When was the last time you laughed? .....?

31. Last time you cried? 5 minutes ago.

32. Best friend? make-believe.

33. One place you go over and over? crapper.

34. Facebook? ugh.

35. Favorite place to eat? free.


Phew, those hyphens really make a difference, hahaha.
Now, I must pass this onto 5 others and they are......

Claire at Crafty Bits by Hope Jacare
Julia at Indiana Julia and her Temple of Crafting
Sue at Sue's Rubber Stamping Adventure
Tracey at Handmade with Love
TropicLuv at Cards in Paradise,
I got that pumpkin bread recipe up hun!!

Now ladies, don't worry about getting to this, if you can, then go ahead, but if not, no worries :) I could possibly be the worst blog award reciever out there, so no worries if a monosyllabic quiz doesn't strike you as top-priority. I certainly won't take it personally, after all, worst passer outer right here!!



*************GOOD NEWS*************

The adoption papers have been processed & finalized & it is now official: I am a bonafide Adopted Aussie!!!Kellie has invited me to stay on as a permanent Design Team member atMagnolia Down Under ChallengesandMagnolia Down Under, the shop!! Hot diggity dog!! Thanks Boss Lady!!


*************MORE GOOD NEWS**********

There must have been something in the water that week
because a couple of my last Magnolia creations have gone and
won me some awards!!

My DT-MDU Edwin the Chef was SPOTLIGHTED at
Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential

Pilgrim Tilda, the Thanksgiving card I made for my great aunt
won the challenge over at Stampin' For The Weekend, it was a wonderful sketch and I can barely wait to play with that WOJ stamp!! It will be my first :) Pilgrim Tilda got placed in the Top over atThe Pink Elephant and she has also been displayed on the 7 Kids College Fund store blog. How cool is that??! Tab is a sweetie, and I have noticed that she gets her Maggies in before other U.S. shops do, hint hint...


On a sadder note, my great aunt passed away this past Tuesday,
so it is a little weird to have this card I made for her getting
such rave reviews, however, I did take it with me when I flew out
to California to see her for the last time and I brought the card
along and gave it to her. She used to make porcelain dolls and
that is one of the reasons why I like Tilda so much, she reminds me
of the little baby dolls my great aunt used to make, sniffle sniffle.
Rest In Peace, Aunt Jamie.



It's been a great pleasure to have something, or somethings upbeat happen in such sad times, so thanks to all of you that have come by and visited and left me such nice thoughts. Thank you soooo sooooo much. And Kellie, thank you!! I've been walking on air since I got your email, I am so glad you've chosen me to be your Adopted Aussie, it must be my blonde hair...No. No, it is the Wizard of Oz thing!! Kidding, but I sure do love working with ya and our random chats and analogies, ha!! Thanks for listening to me, or reading along with my melancholy days, it means a lot to me.

A very yummy Christmas Card

Hello dear bloggers,
I hope you've had a most terrific Halloween weekend!!
I had the pleasure of recieving an amazing package
from a blogger buddy recently
with an AMAZING Halloween card
and a couple of hAnglar & stAnglar stamps,
it was the best pick-me-up a gal could ask for!!
Thank you dear!!
So, of course, my brain has been at work
thinking of these stamps above all others,
so here we are, what turned out to be a Christmas card,
soooo not the plan, but hey,
the end result is a good one.


I used the most gorgeous sketch over at
Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge.
I've been a no-show over there lately (hangs head),
no worries, I have been a no-show everywhere.
And along the same notion, I'll also be entering this at
Simon Says Challenges who'd like to see
All That Sparkles.
At A Spoon Full of Sugar
the theme is Kitchen/Cooking,
I think these cuties work just perfectly for that!!


The papers are Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses, smoochie smooch, lol.
I have used Martha Stewart glitter around my image,
also, I've glazed my dishware,
the poinsettia is Prima, pearls are K & Co.,
and you can see the MS doiley punch came out to play,
pins, beads and ribbon are from my stash.


Woot!! Sideview!! I'm just excited to get some natural light!!
I retook the pictures and am reposting, hooray!!

Well, I hope everyone is doing great,
have a wonderful crafty week!!
Stephanne

Halloween Highlights

Hi everybody, I hope you all had a fabulous Halloween!!

Here's a picture of the kids ready to go out for tricks and treats,
they are supposed to be Bride of Chucky, a witch and a tiger:





Here's a shot from the pumpiekin patch, love that trash can!!!



And here's what happened once we got home:



And here is my gorgeous Stinky sleeping in my spider fabric:



Have a great rest of the night to you party animals out there!!
Lub,
Stephanne

My very first Penny Black stamp Halloween project

Hi everyone!!
I know Halloween is only a few days away,
and here I am, barely even touching
the crafts I thought I'd make for this occasion.
Let me just say that there will be Halloween items
being produced by me even after the day passes,
so yee be warned!!


I've made this little treat bag for a friend,
now that it's done, I need to scurry off to the post office
so that perhaps it will arrive in her mailbox
just in the knick of time!!
I will be adding this to the line-up in some challenges:
Stampin' For The Weekend is hosting a Haunting Good Time Challenge.
Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential wanted to see treat bags.
Penny Black Saturday Challenge is Halloween!!
PaperTake Weekly is hosting a Spots'n'Stripes challenge.
Stamp Something would like to see Halloween Somethings.


This is the first Penny Black stamp I ever bought.
I found it at my local scrapbook store
in the clearance bin for $3.
I thought, well, for $3 it doesn't matter if
I don't end up liking it very much,
so I took it home and stamped it and wowie!!
A nay-sayer turned addict right then and there!!
The stamp is called Mice Treats,
I've coloured with watercolour pencils,
the papers are Pink Paislee and the punch is Martha Stewart.
The bag is something I put together,
just some scoring, folding, cutting and double-sided tape.
On pirate kitty's dagger I've added some pewter Perfect Pearls.
The back of the bag is stamped with a
Whipper Snapper image and I went inside of the words
with Gold Lame Smooch and added a little distress ink
and white sakura gel pen in the candycorn.
I've punched a hole on either side of the bag
and ran a few ribbons through it for a handle.
They are taped to the inside of the bag!!!
I am just trying to emphasize how easy these things can
come together for people who shy away from altered items.


Happy Halloween to you all out there,
I hope you and your fam have a great time,
and for those who don't celebrate,
maybe just a fun party or a costume for fun???
Come on Aussie's, do it, you'll have a ball!!
Take Care,
Stephanne

Chef Edwin shares the pumpkin bread recipe

Hi friends,
there were a couple of people interested in the recipe
that Edwin was using to make his muffins,


so I've taken a picture of the recipe portion
of the isle card for ya,
if you click on the picture,
you'll get a better look at the ingredients.
When I make the recipe, I leave out the nutmeg,
as it seems I am the only one
here in my house that likes the flavour,
so enjoy!!!


Just to be clear,
the recipe calls for 28 ounces of pumpkin puree,
you can make this yourself if you'd like,
but suspiciously enough,
most canned pumpkin comes in 28 ounce portions.
When you pick up your puree,
the recipe comes out much yummier if you
avoid the "pumpkin pie" mix and go with just pumpkin.

Take Care!!
Stephanne

DT MDU meets DT MDUC with this peachy project

Hello Everyone,
firstly, so you can better understand why
I have been a no-show in Blogland lately,
my great-aunt, who, for all intensive purposes
is like a grandma to me, is halfway to heaven
and I flew out to California to say my goodbyes.
Might be a while 'til my head's on straight,
so bare with me.
I flew out on Saturday and came back on Sunday
and I get airsick, so uhhhh, my head is still spinning.


Dear Kellie, proprietor of Magnolia Down Under,
sends us these fun kits to create with
and sets us challenges based off of our DT stamp,
well ain't I a lucky gal? I got Peachy Tilda!!
This stamp sings to me, really!!!
If you listen closely, maybe you can hear too.
Or not...
Maybe I should get this checked out, lol.
Well, the desire to multi-task is fierce,
so I took the opportunity to combine my DT project
with another fantastic, Winnell-rific project,
and it is for Magnolia Down Under Challenges,
whose fortnightly challenge is an easy favourite,
DISTRESSING!!!
I've used the sketch at TPE
and want to enter this over at
Cute card thursday
as they want sweets on our creation
and what could be sweeter than a peach??
Must be georgia peaches, lol.


I've used Peachy Tilda, find her and others from
the Yummy collection here
and the designer paper is also from Magnolia,
which can be found here.
Tilda is coloured in distress inks
with lots of white Sakura gel pen for highlights,
the lace has a brown ribbon ran through it
and the flower and stamen are Prima,
the jewel is a stopper by Jolee's
and the beads and pins are from my stash,
carstock is bazzill and the punch is by Martha Stewart.
I've ruffled and sanded the papers and
used Ranger tea dye ink to distress them even more.
The pictures are a little dull,
the sun hasn't been coming out a lot lately.

Thanks for coming by and visiting my project
and please do swing by
Magnolia Down Under Challenge
because this fortnights prize is delectable!!


Something for de-stressing, that's for certain,
and we don't mind if you combine challenges.
You won't want to miss it,
the work from the design team is exceptional!!

Take Care,
Thank you for your kind words,
and please know I will be catching up with you all
very very soon :)
Stephanne

DT MDU Edwin's cooking up something delicious!!

Hi folks,
I hope you've had a wonderful week so far.
I've been trying to do a couple hundred things at once,
that's usually when I accomplish the least, oddly.
Nevertheless, I have a project to share with you.
When Kellie first launched her new shop,
Magnolia Down Under
she asked the Design Team to make something
with the kitchen from the Yummy release
and due to extended shipping time
I sorta missed her request due to lack of stamp, lol.
But I figured, later is better than NEVER
and have put something together with this adorable stamp,
you can find it here in Kellies shop.


I got permission from my mom after
many years of keeping it Top Secret that
I could share my great granny's pumpkin bread recipe
with the rest of the world,
so first and foremost, my friend Cindy,
my accomplise in all things Halloween,
long time buddy and friend asked me recently
about the legendary pumpkin muffin recipe,
and I ignored her!!
With good reason, of course,
because I wanted to make something special
to go along with the recipe
and finally, after lots of deliberation,
the fog lifted from my brain (only briefly)
and this scene put itself together!!


So now you know the why of it,
let's talk about the how.
I saw that Magnolia-licious Highlitess
gave an easle card template to play with,
and even better for me, the challenge is monthly,
so I have a better chance at actually making the cutoff...


I've used the sketch from this weeks
create4fun challenge,
I also wanted to play with
Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential
whose challenge is to make a scene.
My scene is Edwin sitting down on the job, literally!!


I've used Chef Edwin, Kitchen and sentiment from
MDU, you can find them here
papers are also Magnolia and you can find them here.
I've coloured with distress inks,
the buttons in the image are done in pewter perfect pearls,
the flowers are from recollections, as are the pearls,
and the stamen is from prima,
the pumpkins are from Magnolia's Spooky collection.
I've used a Fiskars paper punch and the gingham is from my stash.

Phew!! Long post!!
Can't go yet, I want to remind you guys about
our challenge this month on the store blog,
make something with an image from the new yummy collection
and post it on our challenge to be in
for a chance to win a
$10 voucher to MDU with free shipping!!

Have a great week!!
Stephanne

Pilgrim Tilda

Hi there lovely blogger buddies,
I hope your Sunday finds you well.
I was tickled to see Magnolia's So Spooky collection,
as I LIVE for this time of year,
autumn is my favorite season and
Halloween my favorite occasion,
and having recently admitted that I am in love
with Magnolia (who isn't?), I bought a few images to play with.
This one is called Witch Tilda with Pumpkins
and when I saw it, I thought, of course, how precious,
but another thought, how versatile!!
She could work for Halloween cards as well as Thanksgiving.


She was as fun to put together as I imagined.
I preordered at 7 Kids and got my order a week or so back
& have been dreaming about playing with this, especially.
I've used K & Company papers,
distress inks to colour, layered up to 3 times,
Pewter Perfect Pearls in some spots,
all flowers are Prima and the ribbon is from my stash.
I wrote the sentiment and added in a few peiced parts
of 2 different stamps, the Witch Tilda with Pumpkins
and the pumpkin accesory stamp.
I also used the big pumpkin behind my main bloom.



I've made this card with several challenges in mind:
Roses On Paper wanted to see fall colours of
Orange, Brown & Green combined w/ a sketch from another Blog.
Stampin' For The Weekend has just the sketch I needed.

The Pink Elephant would like to see our Fall creations,
PaperPlay Challenges would like to see us use
our favorite embellishments, mine are ribbon, flowers and 3D-ing,
that's an embellishment, right?
Here's a side view for ya,
so you can see why I think it is an embellishment, lol!!


Welp, thanks for coming and visiting my project,
I hope you've gotten some crafty time this weekend as well!!
Take Care,
Stephanne

Get your Magnolia Sneaky Peek on!!

Have you seen the latest Magnolia releases?
So Jolly and Under The Mistletoe
are just as precious as you'd imagine.
Bank accounts beware, you are going to be emptied!!!


Kellie has given us a sneaky peak at these gems,
head on over to Magnolia Down Under
and take a looksie at the new line.
Make sure you have a spare half an hour to drool over them
and a tissue to wipe up the drool puddles.
Kellie's an enabler, she's got me thinking where
I can pinch money from to get my mitts on some of these stamps,
and you, my friend, you're not getting away
without the added temptation!!
Head on over to Magnolia Down Under and
indulge your senses in the sneaky peak to end all sneakpeaks!!
She plans on starting pre-orders this coming Monday,
so keep your notebook and pen handy so you can
jot down the names of your MUST-HAVES,
lol, ALL OF THEM, hahahaha!!

Penny Black Trick or Treat!!

Hi Blogger Buddies!!
'Tis the season for spooky projects and cards.
I have been enraptured with the projects and cards
I've seen whilst hopping along blogland lately.
Time to get my crafty knife out and catch up
with all of you and finish up my Halloween cards.


My head is full of ideas and thoughts
but getting them out has become overwhelming!!
But in an attempt to get my a** in gear,
I will be joining in with a few challenges.
Penny Black Saturday Challenge
wants to see buttons and bows
PaperTake Weekly wants to see
creations from The Dark Side, muahahahahaaaa!!!
Cute Card Thursday is hosting a SpookFest challenge
At Charisma Cardz, they are hosting
a distressing challenge, thank you ladies!!!


I've used a Penny Black image called Trick Or Treat,
Basic Grey Eerie DP and Bazzill cardstock,
coloured with watercolours and distressed in
Peeled Paint after ripping and sanding :)
I've peiced the image up to 3 times and added
a little hemp rope to the kitties treat bag.
The buttons and ribbon are from my stash.

Thanks for dropping in,
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!
Stephanne

MDU Store Yummy Challenge

Hello to you!!
The girls over at Magnolia Down Under
have been thinking of ways to have
some fun with the new Magnolia collection,
and have come up with the idea of a store challenge.
That way, we can USE the fabby stuff that Kellie
sent us in our DT kits, and also
showcase these adorable images to you all,
and hopefully, we'll be seeing you join in with us.
My "assignment" was to create something with "Peachy Tilda"
and this is what I came up with:


For my card, I've used, well, Peachy Tilda,
haha, find her here
and some really yummy papers,
blueberry dots and peaches, find them here
as well as my best friend, bazzill craft cardstock,
I "framed" Tilda with a Martha Stewart punch,
Tilda is coloured in distress inks and her basket, arms and peaches
are layered up to 3 times, I also reworked her basket a bit.
There are some roses from Mina along with Primas
that have been Glimmer Misted and Stickled,
gold organza and gold ribbon make the bow along with corsage pins
and the branches are done with my EK Success fern punch.



Now, here's what you need to know:
*Gotta use a Yummy stamp to play in the yummy challenge
*link back to the challenge in your blog post
*leave a direct link to mr. linky, not your overall blog
*do so by midnight November 13th, (that's roughly 9 a.m. U.S.)
to be in for a chance to win the prize,
$10 voucher to Kellies Magnolia store,
shipping included!!
May I suggest the paper, it is divine!!!
It even smells good, lol.
I know, what am I doing sniffing paper, lol!!


I hope that you can find some inspiration
to use those Yummy stamps
and you'll come back and share your creations with us,
not to mention, be in for the chance at a prize!!

Take Care and enjoy your weekend!!!
Stephanne


P.S. As most of us are aware, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Kellie is raising funds by selling Pink Ribbon Wrist Bands in her shop, all proceeds benefitting Cancer Council.
Be smart, Feel your boobies!!!

My NOT-Halloween Halloween Card

Hello everyone,
I hope you had a craft-packed weekend.
I finished this card up last night, at long last,
and am ready to blog it.
Unfortunately, Kansas went and skipped a season on us,
and has been Winterized by Mother Nature,
so, gone is my great natural lighting.


I made this card for a new challenge blog
Saturday Spotlight with Hidden Potential
and of course I missed the deadline,
but the challenge was to make a Halloween card
WITHOUT the use of a Halloween image.
So I decided on Butterfly Tilda because, well,
she is dressed as a butterly for Halloween,
that was my thought for choosing her.
I took the challenge a step further and used
NO HALLOWEEN PRODUCTS AT ALL!!!!
I hope that you still get a Halloween feel
even though there are no pumpkins or spiderwebs.


All DP is Basic Grey, cardstock is bazzill,
the flowers are from my Mina candy,
with the big one on the bottom being a Prima,
they've been coloured with watercolours to give them
a lovely orange blossom look and then glimmer misted.
The little branches are from my EK Success fern punch.
Tilda has been layered up to 4 times,
her wings are Basic Grey dp, as is her bodice.
She's coloured in distress inks,
her background looks WAY better IRL,
but it is stamped on Gina K stock,
as is the image, and yes, my hand is sore from peicing...
((OMG, THANK YOU SUE!!!
I don't know how I will ever go down in quality now))
distressed from the center on outward in dusty concord
and then glimmer misted in simply khaki,
it sort of mutes the purple to give a lovely vintage look.
The sentiment is computer-generated
and distressed in dusty concord.
Now I am 100% out of ink, eek!!
Distressing around the cards layers is done with
sandpaper and then inked in Frayed Burlap.
The ribbon and the grommets are from my stash.


I have used the wonderful sketch at Basic Grey
I, of course, flipped it.


and I will also be entering this into the
Simon Says Halloween Challenge,
have you seen their store lately??
Full of delicious Halloween goodies!!

Well, thanks for stopping by!!
Hope you are having a wonderful Monday....
Yeah, sure, wonderful Monday, haha...
Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends
and Happy Columbus Day to all of my U.S. peeps!!
Stephanne

Be our guest, be our guest, designer that is!!

Yup we are looking for a guest for 3 months for the
Magnolia Down Under *Store*
and entering has never been easier….

•Add our logo to your sidebar, (can be found in Kellie's sidebar).

•We would like you to prepare a blog post for us showcasing your favourite handmade creations. It, or they, can be from last year, last month, last week or yesterday. Doesn’t have to have a Magnolia, but would be a bonus. And leave a link back to this guest design team call post so that others know where to apply.
That’s it! It’s open to everyone WORLDWIDE. If you need more details please feel free to contact Kellie with any questions you may have kelliewinnell@yahoo.com.au

What you get from joining our creative team…
•Your work will get showcased on our blog.
•You’ll receive a DT kit personally prepared for you with lots of Magnolialicious bits and bobs to keep you happy while creating with us

Whats expected from you?
•To post on your blog about any advertising needed for the store.
•To participate in any challenges held for the store.
•2-4 cards/projects per month with links to store and or blog.

This call is till Saturday 17th October MIDNIGHT.
The winner will be contacted and the announcement will be made on
Monday the 19th of October 2009.

Please click HERE to be taken to
Kellies blog to pick up the blinky and add to Mr. Linky.

We are looking forward to seeing your favourite works, you know, the projects that you make that you want to keep for yourself, that you step back and admire, we want to see those!! Remember, this is an open Guest DT call, anyone can check this out, not just Aussies!! So if you are a passionate Magnolia fan and feel like you might enjoy the chance to play with some free goodies as well as being showcased on our store blog, then please head over to Kellie's blog and drop us a linky.

DT - MDUC, Trick or Treat!!

Hello lovely blogger buddies.
It's that time again,
another Magnolia Down Under Challenge.
May I just say WOW right off the bat.
The entries from the Buttons Challenge were incredible!!
I truly enjoyed visiting everyones creations
and we had a bumper amount of entries last fortnight also,
so it's safe to say you ladies enjoy buttons,
beautiful work everyone!!
This fortnight, I think you will be most pleased
to see that we are hosting a Halloween Challenge.
And for one lucky lady, there is a fabulous
Alota Stamp up for grabs
from our sponsor Bloomin' Pages.
Would love to win that myself, lol!!
Now, if you don't have any Magnolia stamps
that are tailored for Halloween,
DON'T WORRY!!!
You can just use a spooky colour scheme,
maybe adapt an image by adding a hat and broom,
incorporate other product lines in with a Magnolia image,
take a Tilda with basket (if you have one) and add candy,
there are lots of ways to play
even if you don't have the Halloween stamps.


I've been working on a little spooky house,
and wanted our dear Tilda to be the hostess.
The house is from Hobby Lobby,
I mixed a light gray colour of acrylic paint
and applied it to the entire house.
I then added a medium layer of
Ranger Crackle Paint in Picket Fence
to the house and added layers of
gray scalloped cardstock distressed in
weathered wood to the roof.


The door is chipboard that I drew on with Black Soot
and then distressed in frayed burplap and added a layer
of Modge Podge over the top along with a
knob made from pewter Perfect Pearls.
I sorta ran a sheet of stickers through the knob, oops!!
The very stickers that I used to make Tilda's door hanging,
which are from a set called Pumpkins by Jolee's.
The broom is a sticker from Recollections.


I have painted the border of the house a lovely puke green
and added a layer of Modge Podge which I added
crumpled dry leaves to the top.
The pumpkin patch sign is a button
and the little pumpkins I made by
painting wooden beads, adding curled green bead wire
and leaf ribbon to the inside, adhering with
Aleene's Tacky glue inside the bead.


Little Tilda with Spider has been coloured in distress inks,
she's layered up to 4 times,
her bootiful dress is Martha Stewart Holiday Collection '09,
and her smock is bazzill cardstock
with tea dye and sakura gel pen accents.
I've done the inside of the house as well
but will be bringing that to you in a seperate post,
this is already quite long.

Thanks for stopping by,
and please DO go by the
Magnolia Down Under Challenge
to see what the other ladies have crafted up
for your viewing pleasure
and feast your eyes on that Alota stamp,
it's a cutie!!

Take Care and Happy Crafting,
Stephanne

Pretty pink madness!!

Hi there, how is everybody doing?
I am back from work, so I can pretty up this post a bit.
Okay, A LOT!!
I'm short on thank you cards as of late,
so here we are with yet another one,
Thanks a bunch!!


I had to put this picture in here
because my camera let me take it with clarity.
I let the kids take over the camera I use to blog with
a year or so ago, and my son tweaked it somehow
where it wouldn't focus, couldn't!!
Well, I don't know how he untweaked it,
but would you look at that, nice, not blurry pic!!
Too bad there's no natural light to be had lately.
Oh well, can't have it all...


I've used Tilda with bunch of flowers
and I've coloured her in distress inks,
the DP is K & Company and cardstock is Bazzill.
The lace is by The Paper Studio
and I ripped the pearl off of a sticky row of pearls,
I distressed in frayed burlap.
I've had a go at making a handmade flower
a la Michele Roos wonderful tutorial
on Just Magnolia's Monthly Challenge,
which is officially to make handmade flowers.
I think they had to broaden the playing field
and ask us to use handmade flowers instead of
Micheles flowers specifically because no one
can make them as amazingly as she does.
Go look at her blog, you will be in awe!!
So I used the general concept,
numerous sizes of flower shapes,
distressed and pinched inward and curled petals.
My interpretation is a loose one,
I look forward to trying to MIRROR it!!


I needed an amazing sketch to complete the thought process,
and I went with Midnight Madness Sketch 21.
I felt like I was being untrue not playing along last week,
so here I am, trying to make up for it...



Thanks for stopping by,
Have a lovely week!!
Stephanne

Christmas bunny card

Hi there everyone,
hope the day finds you well.
I have made a Christmas card,
big woop, eh?
Some of you ladies are nearly done
and here I am with one card, haha.


I've made this card with a Lili of the Valley stamp,
coloured with Distress Inks and I've added
DecoArt Snow Writer to the snow and
Polar White FlowerSoft to the hat.
The papers are Basic Grey and Little Yellow Bicycle,
the snowflakes are Jolee's (I want to buy a punch soon!!)
and the poinsettias are Prima,
the jewels are K & Company.


I've made this card with a few challenges in mind.
Firstly, I used the sketch from
Lily of the Valley,
minus the sentiment, just didn't seem to fit
my card so I left it off, and I flipped it...
A Spoon Full of Sugar
would like to see Christmas Creations,
think I might be too late for the cutoff there.
Creative Inspirations is hosting a
Christmas in October challenge,
Simon Says create with red and green,
Pile It On wants to see 3D work on our cards,
as in, NOT FLAT, so I have snow and flowersoft,
snowflakes, poinsettias and gems,
Stampavie and More
set the challenge of ANIMALS,
and I think that will do it, haha.

Thanks for coming by and taking a looksie!!
Cocoa weather in Kansas today,
nice and cripsy cold.
I rather like that, woohoo, sweater weather!!
Take Care,
Stephanne