Baby...it's cold outside

Ok, I lied - it is not cold outside at all, much rather the opposite but that generally tempts me to create cards or layouts with a winter-y kind of theme...go figure.

You probably all are well aware of my obsession with {{ Mr Kody }} from {{ Some Odd Girl }} and during the Mega Sale last weekend, I added {{ him }} to my "Kodylection" and naturally had to play straight away.

** click on images to enlarge **

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Papermill; Bazzill ** Papers: Upsy Daisy Designs - #SYLA011 See You Later Alligator, #SYLA012 Alphabet Soup ** Stamps: Some Odd Girl; Stampin' Up ** Other: Cosmic Shimmer; ProMarkers; Uniball Signo Pens; Adhesive Rhinestones; Pearls

I am entering the card into the following challenges:
2 Sketches 4 You - Laura's Sketch #54
Cupcake Craft Challenges - #95 One For The Boys 

Don't forget the DT Call for {{ Some Odd Girl }} - I would love to see you apply for this wicked gig: super images to work with and such a fun team of crafty chicks to have laughs with. The call runs through to July 16th, but I think you should get your app in as soon as possible - see the full deets {{ HERE }}

2S4Y - Kazan's Sketch #54

Another week and another fun sketch over at {{ 2 Sketches 4 You }}. They have always been my favourite challenge blog for cards and no one will ever take their place. You wanna know why? Every single member of the 2S4Y team makes you feel special, you feel that you are part of their card-making family and they will ALWAYS leave comments for all participants. That's how much they value their readers.

I am always upset when I take the time and effort to submit a card for a challenge and get NOT ONE comment from the according DT who think they are so uber-important they need not acknowledge that it is us, the readers who actually created their position for them in the first instance. Yeah, I could shame them by giving their name, but that would just get them more exposure...I just needed to get that off my chest

Much rather, I would like to tell you how WICKED 2 Sketches 4 You are and that you really REALLY should participate in their challenges. Not only are the sketches always super sweet - the prizes the Card of the Week can nab are out of this world.

Now, I am not playing for the prizes ever, I just play because I enjoy being part of the 2S4Y family, so without further ado - here is my entry for this week's sketch. I flipped the sketch 90 degrees to the left

And for my card, I used the incredibly popular FREE digi stamp from {{ Some Odd Girl }}, called Hang 10 Kody. In only six days, the fella was downloaded a stunning 369 times....wowee! If you want to get your hands on Kody, you can download him {{ Here }}. Don't delay because he will not be surfing on that wave for long!

** click on any of the images to enlarge **

Ingredients:
Acrylic Card:  Shortcuts ** Papers: Sultane; 3ndypapir; My Minds Eye; My Little Showbox ** Stamps: Some Odd Girl ** Stickers: Making Memories ** Tools: Borderpunch - Fiskars; ProMarkers; Uniball Signo Pens


Don't forget to mark 12 June 2010 (15:00 - 19:00hrs GMT) to your diaries
Europe: add one hour
US:  EST 10:00 - 14:00hrs

You will miss out if you are not there.....trust me - this once I really know what I am talking about :)

May 2010 - A Summary... and more

THE GOOD

Favourite Gadget:
Of course that has to be my new super dooper {{ zoom lens }}. Why? Well look at the pictures {{ here }} - they can show it better than words can say

Most Played Song:
I am actually not even ashamed to admit that I am going back in time here and am totally re-living the hey days of the {{ Backstreet Boys }} - my daily fix of {{ We've Got It Going On }} is a good-mood fix

Most Enjoyed TV Show:

Still, there is no patch on the original {{ Wallander }}. I will be devastated when this series comes to an end.

Most Used/Abused Beverage:
I had really gone off booze this month and stuck to water

Favourite Food:
Boring - baked potato rocked my world

THE BAD

Again, nothing really happend which would warrant a mention under bad - life is good :)

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

Now onto some craft matters - usually I would not mix posts but June is chocka-block full with scheduled posts already, so I have the get creative *wink*

Here is my entry for the recent {{ Simon Says Stamp}} and {{ Passion for Promarkers }} challenges. 

SSS are looking for any type of Father's Day card and PFP want to see something on the theme of book, for which I tore a pag out of a very old book to use as backing paper :)

You probably recognise the digi stamp as one of my much used and much loved from {{ Some Odd Girl }}, the adorable {{ Mushes Set}}

** click on images to enlarge **

Ingredients:

Cardstock - Papermill * Papers - My Minds Eye; 3ndypapir * Stickers - Jenni Bowlin; Making Memories * Stamp - Some Odd Girl * Tools - ProMarkers; Journaling pens

Don't forget - there are BRAND new releases available at {{ Some Odd Girl }}, with a HOT HOT HOT new {{ Freebie }} waiting for you to take home (it has been downloaded a total of 185 since yesterday already!!). Join us tomorrow in a brand new {{ Challenge }} and sign up for the newsletter to get the skinny and the smokin' upcoming images.

And REMEMBER, REMEMBER the 12th of June ;)))

Challenges & London Weekend

*** Picture heavy post ***

Before I bore you with the excitement of the last weekend, let me get the cards I created for a few challenges out of the way...

First of is my entry for the recent {{ 2 Sketches 4 You}} Challenge. Here is Laura's sketch, which is so gorgeous that I will undoubtedly use it over and over again.

And this is the card I created from it - for an upcoming birthday of a guitar-nut :)

** click on any image to enlarge **

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Papermill * Papers: 3ndypapir * Digi-Stamp: Some Odd Girl {{ Guitar Kody }} * Stickers: Jenni Bowlin, October Afternoon * Pens: ProMarkers, Uniball Signo

And then I discovered the {{ 365 cards }} challenge blog, simply because it was a recommended blog through my Google Reader. Based on the subscriptions you have had in the past, Google Reader makes suggestions as to what else may be of interest to me - and yesterday, I stumbled across the above blog - I can see myself taking part over there a lot!

This is the sketch for {{ day #77 }},which is absolutely adorable and versatile.

And here is my take on the sketch. Again a card for an upcoming birthday.

** Click on images to enlarge **

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Papermill * Papers: Upsy Daisy Designs {{ #UDD0040. Right On Track }} * Digi-Stamp: Some Odd Girl {{ Owlie }} * Stickers: Jenni Bowlin * Pens: ProMarkers; Uniball Signo * Other: Pearls; Button; Bling

Mr P and I spent the last weekend in London, visiting his folks and taking some time out to explore London. Not that we haven't done that before when we lived there, but that was like ten years ago...so it was about time.
Of course the end had to be spoiled by me getting a migraine again (they are far too frequent lately, for my liking...) and we had to leave a day earlier than expected...but we are going back again soon.

First off, we went to the {{ Imperial War Museum }} - I was amazed by the sheer amount of relics that are on display, by how much you are allowed to actually touch the exhibits and by the fact that the entry to the museum is FREE! Mr P's nephew became tired after three hours though and we decided to call it a day (and to come back to see the rest very soon).

** click on any of the following images to enlarge **

Entry to the Imperial War Museum

Myself, Mr P's sister and nephew

The inside of the {{ Jagdpanther }}(one of Mr P's favourites) - scary just HOW small the room inside a tank is. Now imagine you are sitting in there, having to keep an eye on the enemy whilst going through rough terrain...ugh

I had to chuckle when I saw the name of this {{ Sherman tank }}...

And then there was my favourite, the {{ Lancaster }}. Ever since I saw it flying during an airshow in 2004, I have been in awe of this incredible piece of machinery.

In the section, where they had all the old signs, cartons, propaganda posters, clothes, etc on display I had another right old chuckle, but only after I said to myself "how typical...that is all we are good for?!?" when I cast my eyes on this sign

But it was followed by this one, which made me feel much better...boys can apparently only be trusted to do SIMPLE things during the war. whilst us girls are trusted with the USEFUL ones...he he.

It was funny to watch that every single adult who went along these signs had the same reaction as I did...the blokes giggled first but us ladies had the last laugh :)

Then it was time to get outside and enjoy a bit of the attractions along the Thames. We wanted to do more, but spent so much time inside the museum, that we only managed the {{ Tower Bridge }} before heading back to Mr P's folks' place for the night.

Myself, Mr P

One thing I really loved and another reason why I need to get back to London soon, is the {{ Elephant Parade }}. Over 250 elephant sculptures are placed in London and we only saw something like 30 odd of them. I did not have my own camera with me, otherwise you would have had Ellie-Overload right now. As it stands, I can show you two of my favourites we saw opposite the {{ Tower of London }}.

I have already downloaded the map on where to find the rest of them...and naturally our next visit will be planned around the Ellies :)

eMOTions and 2S4Y

Remember when I did win {{ this }} blog candy from my ever so talented friend {{ nat }}?
Well I have been busy using her delightful paper line including overlays and can show you one of the projects I finished so far (check back tomorrow, when there will be another "Natified" creation on display).

Mr P is a die-hard Marvel Comic fan and next to Spiderman, the Incredible Hulk is one of his faves. So for his 40th birthday early last month, all of us showered him in comic-inspired T-Shirts. I so love this one, which he got from his mom, which has the Hulk Body printed but no head - so it looks that whoever is wearing the shirt, is the Hulk...so fun and soooooo up Mr P's street :)

Of course he had to play-act the famous Hulk saying "Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry".

The {{ eMOTions }} line was prefect for this layout, what with the wonderful green/yellow/blue hues...I had a blast! It was fun creating a background on the tan coloured cardstock with my {{ cosmic shimmers }} to match the colours in the paper. Isn't the {{ Bulz }} stamp from {{ Some Odd Girl }} a perfect addition to the page as well? All in all, I think I *heart* this layout a lot!

** click on image to enlarge **

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Papermill; Rusty Pickle
Papers, Overlays: eMOTions by Nat Kalbach
Stamp: Some Odd Girl
Stickers: Jenni Bowlin; Making Memories; October Afternoon
Other: ProMarkers; Decorative Tape; Adhesive Pearls; Uniball Signo Pens

But there is more - oh yes! {{ Some Odd Girl }} is the sponsor over at my old haunt {{ 2 Sketches 4 You }} this week and I adore what the DT created with Kristy'sdigi stamps. Of course I wanted to play as well and here is my card, using Mae's Bouquet, which was the April Freebie - see what beauties you miss, when you don't check out the Freebies?? But fear not, there are a few other {{ Mae's}} which are equally gorgeous. Why not play along as the winner will get a $15.00 gift certificate to the store....

** click on image to enlarge **

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Papermill
Papers, Upsy Daisy Designs; My Minds Eye
Stamp: Some Odd Girl
Other: ProMarkers; Embroidery Floss; Adhesive Pearls;

Whoaaaaaaaaa....

....I am in love - utterly and irrevocably in L-O-V-E

with my new 55/200 lens - just look at the difference and you will understand.
Sitting on the couch in our front room, zooming all out of the balcony window to the house opposite the other side of the street.

This is what my old and trusted 18/55 does:

And this is what my new best friend does:

How can I NOT be in love?!?? The possibilities - being able to take pictures of wildlife (and I am not talking of Mr P in the shower here) from a distance that won't disturb the animals was something I always wanted to do. But so far I just did not  have the money to spend around £300.00 ($457.00) on a new Nikon lens. Even the refurbished ones are around £139.00 ($212.00) - again, money I do not have lying around.

So, when I went into town and saw a used Tamron for the grand price of £39.00 ($59.00) - well, it was a no brainer, really. As I took my camera and checked the compatibility with the Tamron, I knew that it would work and the lens still has a six month guarantee. Not that I expect it to break, because quite frankly - if it works ok now, why wouldn't it in six months time? This is the first time I bought a used/refurbished technical item - something I never considered before. This wee lens may have changed my mind in that aspect.

Despite being snapping away like a mad woman, I still had some time to create a card for the recent {{ 2 Sketches 4 You }} challenge. It is also to be entered into the {{ Simon Says Challenge }} for "Things with wings". Ok, so you may say "but pigs don't fly..."well, uhm HE-LLOOOOOHOOOO, look at this cute stamp from {{ Some Odd Girl }} and you will learn different. With us, pigs ARE things with wings...

** Click on image to enlarge **

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Papermill
Papers: My Minds Eye
Stamp: Some Odd Girl
Stickers: Making Memories
Other: Embroidery Floss; Beaded String; Self-adhesive Ribbon; ProMarkers; Cosmic Shimmer

And I also managed to create two more pages for my {{ Rock Album }} and here is another first: I have started to take the pictures of these layouts in MANUAL mode...I know, I know...I kinda hyperventilates thinking about it but it has been a long time coming. Now I am learning about aperture, focus and all that jazz and it is really amazing to see the difference now when you shoot in manual mode compared to auto mode. I saw a difference in colours that I never thought possible. I was even cocky enough to do my focus in manual mode, which meant that after four years I found out that my lense has not just one but TWO rings I can twist...well bugger me!

So here are layout pictures in manual mode (as was the one above of the Flyin' Pig card but the window pictures at the beginning of this post were taken in auto mode)

This page shows a newspaper article and yes, that is me in the picture....my mum used to run the City Cinema in Hamburg and having a Teenage Daughter meant she was quite up to date with what the Youth wanted to see/hear. When AC/DC brought out the movie {{ Let there be Rock }}, mum was the only one who saw the money the movie would make. The article states that the 17 year old daughter of the cinema manager was looking forward to the movie as she is such an AC/DC fan and they asked me if I would wear my Angus outfit...of course I could not resist ;)

** Click on image to enlarge **

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Bazill
Papers: Making Memories 
Stickers: Pink Paislee; Rusty Pickle; Jenni Bowlin 
Other: Flat backed pearls; Cosmic Shimmer

And this one shows two members of {{ King Kurt }} and myself after their 1986 show in Hamburg. I saw them twice and loved both gigs, even though I nearly did not get home after the first gig. The bus driver was initially refusing to take me on, as I was caked in flour and coloured water....which was their gimmick all those years ago. All of a sudden they would throw flour all over the audience, followed with water. I tried to dodge it as best I could but I still looked like I stood next to a cake factory when it exploded...

** Click on image to enlarge ** 

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Bazill 
Papers: Scribble Scrabble; Teresa Collins 
Stickers: Jenni Bowlin 
Other: Flat backed pearls; Flowers

Busy..busy..Be-freakin'-USY

Actually, busy doesn't even begin to describe the last couple of days - ugh, I didn't even get the time to work on my March 2010 Summary yet. Well, I guess I still have 20 more days to get it done before April is due...gnaaaaaah.

Aaaaaanyways - this is going to be a sort of picture heavy post as I have scrapped quite a bit but didn't get the time to blog all about it so far. Better get started now then, hu?

First off, is my take on the recent {{ 2 Sketches 4 You }} challenge. That {{ Robot }} stole my heart and I simply cannot stop using him *swoon*

** click on images to enlarge **

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Bazzill
Papers: My Mind's Eye
Stickers: October Afternoon; Making Memories
Stamp: Robo Heart - Some Odd Girl
Tools: Border Punch - Martha Stewart; Promarkers

Then there is the latest challenge at {{ I Love Promarkers }} where the only requirement was to showcase animal/s. What better way than to do that with my friend {{ Owlie }}. He was ho{o}vering on my desk for well over a month now, waiting to be used...eh voila!

** click on images to enlarge **

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Bazzill
Papers: My Mind's Eye
Stickers: Making Memories
Stamp: Owlie - Some Odd Girl
Tools: Border Punch - Fiskars, EK Success; Circle Punch - Woodware; Promarkers


And then I just created a layout for the sheer heck of it - because I am loving monster images a lot right now. Getting {{ Bulz }} and previous Freebie Spike to work together, was just a given for this cute picture of my nephew and niece. They look like wee monsters, don't they?
I also used the contents of the {{ March Mega Muse }} - I still have so much left from that gorgeous Kit...

** click on images to enlarge **

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Bazzill
Papers: My Mind's Eye; Scribble Scrabble
Stickers: Rusty Pickle; October Afternoon
Stamps: Bulz, Spike - Some Odd Girl


Speaking of the {{ ScrapMuse }} Kit - the April Mega Muse is now up {{ here }}. A must have for those who love {{ Cosmo Cricket }} and {{ Sassafras Lass }} - I reserved my Kit allright and cannot wait for it to hit my doorstep!



Okay, so that's it for now but I will be back shortly with a re-cap of Mr P's 40th birthday

2S4Y - Kazan's Sketch #49

I am lil' poorly, so you will only get a short post today - I have been battling with a migraine since yesterday and have not been out of bed for 24 hours. This morning I thought I was better but half an hour on the computer and I am back to being ill....bleck

So here, just a quick look at the card I made for Kazan's recent sketch and the {{ 2S4Y challenge 49 }}

The image is of course from {{ Some Odd Girl }} and the wood paper? Well, it's not paper but self-adhesive drawer lining....

Some Odd Girl meets 2S4Y #48 (Laura)

This week, Laura's sketch over at {{ 2S4U }} had me sprinting into my craft room and get busy. I know I say it all the time but the simplicity of the sketches Laura and Kazan provide is so inspiring.

Using the papers from the recent {{ Mega Muse }} Kit and one of the brand new images from {{ Some Odd Girl }}, I came up with this card. As you can see, I flipped the sketch to the side - because somehow it just did not flow for me, when I kept it upright.

** click on images to enlarge **

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Papermill; Bazzill
Papers: My Minds Eye
Stamps: Some Odd Girl (Squirellie Heart); Papermania (To Someone Special)
Tools: small circle punch; Uniball Signo pen - black and white; Promarkers - various colours; Making Memories - Edge distresser
Other: Walnut Ink - Sticky Fingers

You can still grab yourself a Mega Muse Kit --- {{ Here }}
Get the Digi Stamps --- {{ Here }}

Some Odd Girl meets 2S4Y #47 (Laura)

I was so excited to have found some time early this week to play along to the latest sketch over at {{ 2 Sketches 4 You }}. And a welcome addition was that I could play again with one of my brand new digi stamps from {{ Some Odd Girl }} and practice on my Promarker colouring technique. 

Laura's sketch - as usual - is a joy to work with. I love the simplicity which allows for so much room of your own interpretation. So, here is what I came up with - as it is still pretty cold here in the UK I still cannot get the winter images away from my desk :)

**click on image to enlarge**

Ingredients:

Cardstock: Papermill; Bazzill

Papers: Upsy Daisy Designs - #VO014. Fashionista, Strip off from See You Later Alligator line, #MT2-014. Nolan

Stamp:  Some Odd Girl - Snow Kitty

Tools: Border Punch - Martha Stewart; Promarkers - various colours; Cosmic Shimmer - silver; Pens - Uniball signo in black and white

By the way - March 23, 2010 will see some FAN-TA-BU-LOUS new spring releases at Some Odd Girl and on March 25, 2010 (which is my birthday...in case you wanted to send me presents...*wink*) {{ Kristy }} and her fabulous {{ Design Team }} will showcase some of the new releases on their brand new challenge blog. Make sure you bookmark the date for the occasion as you will be able to win some goodies from the store

Ch-ch-ch-challenges

I can't believe that it has been such a long time since I played along to some of the wicked weekly challenges, that are posted online on a regular basis.

Yeah, of course I don't fail to join the {{ Gutter Girlz }} on the 15th of each month but I used to be a regular participator on {{ Cuttlebug Challenges }}, {{ Caardvarks }} and {{ 2 Sketches 4 You }}. What the heck has happened??

Guess life got in the way and with my day to day job becoming more demanding, the little spare time left was just spent with my other half rather than crafting (ya, silly - I know...*giggles*). But hopefully this will all change now while I have adjusted to my new free-time-schedule.

So, this week I dug out some more of my digi stamps from {{ Some Odd Girl }} and  created a card to enter into the recent {{ 2S4Y }} challenge.

** click on any image to view it larger **

Ingredients:

Cardstock: Bazzill; Stampin' Up; Papermill; Frances Meyer

Papers: American Crafts; Teresa Collins

Stamps: Some Odd Girl - Hippity Bunny; EK Success Rolling Alpha Stamp

Other: Pearls - Papercellar; Embroidery Floss; Ink; Glitter Glue

Tools: Border Punch - Woodware

 
But I didn't stop there - oh no. By sheer accident I came across the wonderful {{ I Love Promarkers }} challenge blog and decided that I really need to get more practice with the Promarkers I own.

First off I downloaded the {{ March Freebie }} from {{ Some Odd Girl }} - his name is Spike and I love him dearly. He looks so sheepish, I just figured him at having done something wrong...so, this card pretty much says it all:

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Bazzill; Frances Meyer
Papers: Collage Press
Stamps: Some Odd Girl - Spike; my StampBOX - Summer Alpha
Promarkers: Lilac, Amethyst, Ivory, Dusky Pink, Warm Grey 2, Cool Grey 5


I think I am getting the hang of these markers now, and when creating this card I learned to NOT use heavily textured cardstock, as it really buggers up the even colouring of larger areas...

MME - Blog Challenge #6, 2S4Y - Sketch #41

I don't know what it is but at the moment I struggle with being motivated about every day life. When I am at work I can't wait for the weekend. But when the weekend is there I can't wait for work to start again. Vicious cycle - everything bores me....Lyndon is convinced I am having some form of midlife crisis, as I am forever looking to get to gigs of those bands from way back when both those bands and I were much younger *sniggers*.

But at least yesterday I managed to drag myself out of the pool of self-pity and created two projects for some challenges.

The first one is a card for the recent {2s4u} challenge from Kazan. I flipped the sketch 90 degrees to the left and this is what I came up with (click on image if you wish to see it bigger)

Not too bad considering that Mojo was absent and probably pouting someplace :)

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Papermill
Die Cut: My Mind's Eye
Chipboard: Rusty Pickle
Other: Flowers - Fancy Pants; Bling - Kaisercraft; Cosmic Shimmer; Button; Ribbon; Brads; Twine; Stickers - Pink Paislee

And then there is one of my favourite monthly challenges now --- the My Mind's Eye Blog Challenges. For a start it gets me in the habit to actually use my extensive collection of everything MME and an added bonus is that the winner of the challenge will get not one, not two but everything of THREE collections of her/his choice. That is incentive enough for me :)

So, here is the wonderful sketch DT Member Anam created for the {recent challenge}

And this is what I came up with - as you can see LOADS of hand cutting, which I find incredibly therapeutic. If I am in a bad mood and need to calm down, just give me a pair of scissors and a piece of purdy paper. Works a treat every time. The flowers and branches were cut form two sheets of the 8 x 8 Bloom & Groom cardstock collection, which is an {exclusive} to the UK. I adore those papers, especially the embossed surface ones *swoon* (click on image if you wish to see it bigger)

Ingredients:
Everything is My Minds Eye, apart from the creme cardstock (Stampin' Up), the sewing stamp (Sassafras Lass) and the date sticker (Making Memories)

So, now I have gotten the creative push, I may even snap out of superboredom :), but until then I reminisce in the good old days, when I used to go to Rock Gigs every two weeks or so.