Breast Cancer Awareness Blog Hop

 




*Please scroll up one post for the All Things Royal Blog Hop*

*Please scroll up two posts for the Ghoultide Blog Hop or click *

Good morning New, Old, and Soon to be Followers and Friends, and welcome to a super exciting weekend here at Scrapping, Card Making, and Living with Fibro!  I have not one, not two, but three hops for you this weekend!  The first hop is the Breast Cancer Awareness Hop.  This is a very important hop for all of us ladies out there as I'm sure almost every single one of you have been affected by this disease in one way or another.  My personal story is that my mother got it twice and had to have a mastectomy twice as well, along with chemo when it wasn't quite as advanced as it is today.  She is a SURVIVOR!  I am so lucky to still have my mommy with me, but it was certainly scary at the time.  Her mother, my Granny, also had breast cancer and had to have a single mastectomy.  She also survived breast cancer, but later died from another form of cancer.  As you can see, this disease hits too close to home for me.  So thank you all for joining us today and for following along.  We have a great lineup in store for you with prizes and inspiration along the way.

If you have arrived here from my girl (and owner of one of my awesome DT's and also a sponsor here today) Jillian, then you are in the right spot!  If you just happened upon my blog today and would like to start at the very beginning with the lovely lady who started it all Denise from Vintage Heartfelt Designs (I'm a former DT member there), then you should do that!  Starting at the beginning will ensure that you are "in" for all the prizes along the way and let me tell you, there are lots!  To be eligible for a chance to win the "big" blog candy that Denise is giving away on her blog, you must leave a comment on each blog and become a follower of each blog and mention that in the comment you leave.  If you are already a follower of that blog, mention that as well.  Denise will be giving away her own candy, we also have three amazing sponsors for this hop and there will be candy on some of the individual blogs along the way.  You definitely don't want to miss out!

Alright, enough of my rambling... Here is my project for this 1 day hop.

Thanks so much for stopping by and be sure to leave a comment (you must also be/become a follower) to win some blog candy from me!  I will be combining comments from each of the hops this weekend to give away some goodies.  I haven't quite decided if I will do one or three giveaways, so be sure to comment on each post to better your chances of winning!  If you are the winner, you will get a surprise package of scrappin' goodies!

For my creation I used this adorable digi stamp, which is currently free from Sew Many Challenges!  Be sure and check out their site to get your copy of this cutie.  The background cardstock was made by using my "Have Faith" stamp collection available for purchase at A Jillian Vance Design (Store).  They are one of the sponsors in this awesome hop!  Be sure and swing by to thank them and leave a comment.  I am also on their Design Team, which can be found here.

Here is a list of our awesome sponsors:

Our first sponsor is Jillian Vance who's favorite color is pin and who will be offering a set of her stamps. The link for Jillian is http://www.ajillianvancedesign.com/

Our second sponsor is Micelle from Cloud 9. She is offering a $20.00 GC to use on her sight. The link for Michelle is www.designsoncloud9.com

Our third sponsor is  Jennifer Restivo a member of the VHD design team, will be offering a $10.00 GC to amazon.com or oh my crafts.

www.craftycardgallery.blogspot.com

Hope you like my card!

Front of card.  Used digi stamp, flower brad, embossed AJVD background stamps and a ribbon from my stash.  Pink cardstock on green striped cardstock from my stash.  All with inked edges.

Colored with Copics, outlined with Black Zig

Closeup of the background.  I used a bunch of AJVD stamps and embossing glue/powder.  Then added a ribbon with my ATG gun and punched a hole through the ribbon to add my two flowers (one is Prisma, the other is a different company), then I added a flower-shaped green brad to match the green background of the whole card.

Closeup of some of the words.

Now you're off to another very favorite lady of mine Gill of Creations by Gill M.  She actually created the lovely button for this hop!  Please head over there and show her some love as I'm sure she will have something beautiful in store for us today.

Don't forget to scroll up for my other hops and enter to win my 500 follower giveaway at the sticky post on the top of my screen!

XO ~ Amy Jo

P.S.  If you get lost, the entire lineup can be found at Vintage Heartfelt Designs

Freaky Friday with A Jillian Vance Design

Good morning everyone and welcome to the final Freaky Friday with A Jillian Vance Design.  Please head over to our DT blog to check out the other awesome projects!

For my project today, I decided to make a layout!  I know.... can you believe it? LOL ;0)  Granted, I only used two pictures from Halloween 2 years ago, but hey, at least I got them scrapped!

I let the paper and stamps do most of the work for me.  I used K&Co. Tim Coffey Halloween  12x12 paper (last years awesome pack) and Spooky, Eye on Halloween, and Witchy Poo stamp sets available to purchase at Jillian's Store.

I apologize for the quality of the pics.  I need a better editing software, better lighting and a better camera!  Aaak!  The colors are not nearly as vibrant as they are in person.  They are sooooo much bolder than how they showed up here so I apologize for the sub-par photos.  Will work on getting better!  Also, had to take a bunch so you can see all the little hidden stamped areas.  Be on the lookout for bats, cats, spiders, words, and little cracks in the tombstones (those were made with stamps!)  Aside from the photos not being the best, I still hope you enjoy my layout and will become a follower of our blog here.  We have some great things in store for the month of October and we would love it if you would participate in our challenge today.  So go on... don't be shy! ;)

Entire layout.  Includes two pics from Halloween 2009.  The rest is all paper and stamps!

 Don't you just love that witch!  I added the "This is how I roll" below it (they are separate stamps, but in the same set).  I crinkled he moon and inked it and drew around the bats, which I stamped in a navy color rather than black.

 Look in the tree for the bats and the spider!  The cat in front is one of my favorite AJVD stamps.  The little fissures in the tombstones are made by part of the eyeball set from "Eye on Halloween".  

 The raven/crow is not a stamp, but I thought it would be cool to add a spider hanging down from his mouth. :0)  Also, check out that other creepy spider!  Eek! ;)

 More closeups.  Love the Halloween stamp at the bottom.

 This is a better closeup of the actual picture.  This is from my friend's haunted house that they put on every year.  She makes the best props ever!  Thought it went well with the tombstone paper so I fussy cut the tombstones so they would hold the picture in without adhesive.  If you notice behind the main dude, there is a skeleton army.  Also not more spider stamps.  Those just creep me out, but I like 'em! ;0)

 Kitty!  And more fissures...

 Eye on Halloween Set

Spooky Set

Witchy Poo Set

Hope you like my layout!  I had some fun with it for sure. :0)  Be sure to head over to our DT blog to check out the rest of the awesome projects and don't forget... starting tomorrow, it will be Hop Mania over here on my blog!!!  Not one, not two, but THREE  hops!  Phew that's a  lot of work!  And a lot of fun.  Oh yeah, and  a lot of prizes ;) so be sure to come on back!

XO ~ Amy Jo

Join me!

Good afternoon Ladies!

I have a silly non-craft related request for ya today.  I would sooooo love it if you would join this fun new site with me!  The more people I get to join, the more points I get for a goody bag!  You can turn around and do the same thing!  It's a girly site about fashion, men, you know... girl stuff! Let me know if you do it. ;0)

http://www.sheckys.com/invite/amyjrockstar

Thanks!
Amy Jo

Monster Monday with A Jillian Vance Design - Post 2/2

Hi everyone!  Please scroll down a post for some very important updates!  For today's Monster Monday post at A Jillian Vance Design - Design Team Blog I have created a super cute, very fun little monster card.  Sorry the pics are in large file format.  I couldn't figure out how to add a resizer to this particular computer and am too lazy to go get my other laptop from the other room and upload all the pics to it, so if this causes anyone any major problems with the post loading too slowly, please let me know and I will fix it as soon as I can!

First I'm going to show you the pics and the deets will be posted below.  :0)

 Not to toot my own horn, but isn't he adorable?

 Closeup of the top of his head and the spiders with Stickled bottoms.

 Perfect stamp from A Jillian Vance Design.  This set is called Spooky

Inside of card

Ok so onto the details for this super fun to make card.  I actually have the file loaded on my Gypsy and would be happy to share it if anyone wants it.  Just leave me a comment and I'll have my hubby help me figure out how to get it to you!  I had to use the weld feature to put a circle over his belly so it would cut out without me having to do it by hand.  You can leave the circle in and cover it with a different paper if you choose to do that, but I wanted to add a little depth to the card (as usual). ;)  For the monster I repeated the cut twice, once on black cardstock and once with the patterned paper so he would be a little thicker and sturdier.  Scored him with my Martha Stewart Score Board.

Details:

• Cardstock - black from Recollections
• Patterned Paper - Cloud 9 Designs Seasonal 12x12 paper pack.  This was last year's and I've been using it for mostly all of my Halloween projects so far this year!  It's perfect!
• Spiders - I added red Stickles to them to make some quasi-hourglasses on them.  Yes, I know black widows have them on the underside, but how can you show that? LOL
• Embellishments - Googly eyes from Michael's, faux stitching around almost everything and doodling for his little hands and feet with my black Zig pen (can't live without these), oh and I drew in his mouth with the other end of that same Zig pen
• Adhesives - pop dots, ATG gun, and Zig 2-way glue pen (love this thing!), Joann's craft glue
• Stamps & Ink - Stamps are from A Jillian Vance Design - Spooky set (as mentioned above with link) and ink is white pigment ink from???  I'm too tired to go check.  Sorry!  I then outlined the stamp with a white Gelly roller because I just love how it makes it stand out more than the ink alone and it's really super quick to do that.

I hope you enjoyed my card as much as I did and please remember, EVERYTHING I DO IS FOR SALE!  :0)  Soon, I will have my Etsy store up and running, but if you are interested in any  of my projects, please just ask!  Thanks for joining me today and be sure to head over to AJVD to check out the other Monster Monday projects!  Don't forget to enter our challenge too!

XO ~Amy Jo

Upcoming Hops & News - Post one of 2 today

Hi Fabby Friends!

First off I'd like to say a great big thank you to all of my new followers!  I'm quickly getting to my goal and trust me, the prize is gonna be fun!  Don't forget to enter!  It's the top sticky post on my blog.  I have almost 500 followers so each and every one of you should take the time to leave a comment so you have a chance to win!  What have you got to lose?  Well, if you don't do it, plenty! ;0)  Don't forget to send your friend or put my button on your blog for extra entries.

Next up I would like to mention I will be participating in several blog hops this coming weekend of October 1st and 2nd.  One is for Breast Cancer.  Please stop by to see my creation for this and enter to win some goodies.  I know there will be some great prizes up for grabs along the way and I just may include a lil' somthin' somthin' myself! ;0)

The second one I'm in is an awesome Fall/Halloween hop.  In case you all haven't figured it out by now... Halloween is my favorite holiday!  I love everything about it!

And the third one I'm in is the All Things Royal blog hop!  Whew!  Think I overbooked a little!  Not to mention, I will be at a wedding on the 1st and I have other plans on the 2nd so OMG!!!

FCCB is nearing it's 2000 follower mark!  I am so honored to be coordinating this amazing team!  Get over there and sign up to be a follower!  We will be doing a special post and giveaway once we hit our mark (I will be personally sponsoring a gift certificate to my Memory-Works Store - site will be up soon!!!).  We are only about 60-70 followers away so hurry up so you don't miss out on the fun!  What's FCCB you ask?  Well, it's only one of the most popular challenge blogs on the Internet!  FCCB stands for Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog and we do different things every single day of the week!  Here's a run-down for ya:

• Challenge Me Mondays - We create a challenge for everyone to participate in and have the chance to be on the top 5 (you receive a blog blinky if you get on the top 5) and a random participant will win the sponsored blog candy of the week.  You are required to stick to the theme and use at least one Cricut cut on your project.  At this time, we are not accepting cuts from other machines, but that may change in the near future. ;)
• Quick Tip Tuesday - We have one of our DT gals post an awesome tip/trick that they have learned.
• Wednesday's Winners - This is the day we post the winning projects and also the random winner for the blog candy.
• Thursday Tutorial's - We post a tutorial that we have scoured the Internet for to keep you updated on the latest and greatest paper crafting techniques.  Sometimes these are made by our gals on the DT and other times we pick a blog that has a great tutorial and we feature that tutorial!
• Fantabulous Friday - This is where we show off a different Cricut cartridge every week and show the cuts it includes and some projects created with that cartridge.  It's a great way to keep you on the up and up of all the amazing cartridges that are out there!
• Scrappin' Saturdays - This is where we post some projects (in addition to the exceptional projects our DT gals come up with on Mondays) to go along with our theme and get you really inspired and get those creative juices flowing.
• Spotlight Sunday - For this post we feature sponsors, awesomely talented bloggers/designers, and our amazing Design Team (at the beginning of new terms).  Great way to see what's out there in bloggy land.

Now please note, we are having a DT CALL for the Winter term at FCCB.  If you would like to apply to be on our team please click here.

A Jillian Vance Design - Design Team blog has some super fun things coming up for October!  As a lucky DT member, I got the privilege of trying out a bunch of their amazing stamps.  I'm sure you've been noticing my posts this past month of September.  Well, we are continuing through the month of October and will be showcasing many of the stamp sets that can be found here.  Not only do they sell one-of-a-kind stamps of high quality, but they also sell Tim Holtz ink pads and other products, acrylic blocks, baker's twine, charms (Jilly Charms - named after Jillian herself), and just lots of other cool stuff.  Plus we will be having challenges where you will be getting discounts and some freebies.  Please go check out our design team blog here.  Now, this is different from the store site so be sure to hit them both up.  On the DT blog you will find links to Jillian's site, her mom and coordinator, Bunny's site, and all the other gals on our awesome DT.  Please do take some time to check it all out.  Right now they are doing an AMAZING team up with Vera Bradley (!!!) to benefit Breast Cancer research by selling this super cool Ink Pink Collection.  This is what you will get (plus a limited Vera Bradley Zip Case)...

So please, please come by and support my Design Teams and thank you all for the continued support of my blog.  I love reading each and every one of your comments.  They brighten my days more than you can possibly imagine so please continue to talk to me!  Also, I would like to say a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to all of the wonderful people I have won blog candy from... now and in the past.  I was hoping I would be able to keep up and list everything I've won, plus the sites I have won from on my blog, but I just haven't been able to do it yet.  I apologize to my wonderful bloggy friends who have been so incredibly generous with their blog candy.  I hope to someday go back through it and post on Wednesdays as I had intended.  

In other news, I will  be opening up my official Memory-Works online store IN OCTOBER!!!  You guys are going to love it!  I will have discounts, giveaways, all sorts of fun stuff for the gals who give it a shot.  I'm sure a lot of you haven't heard of it, but it's a scrapbook/paper crafter's mecca!  I carry lines such as My Mind's Eye, Bo Bunny, Tim Holtz, and so many others.  We sell kits, and papers, and embellishments and everything your little heart would need to continue to grow your scrap stash. The prices are awesome!  Honestly right up there with the big stores such as Michael's and Joann's.  No kidding!  And the shipping isn't bad at all.  They are a very fair company.  Can't wait to show it off to you guys!

Well, that's the news for today.  Thank you all for tuning in and please come back a little later for my Monster Monday post with A Jillian Vance Design - Design Team Blog. :0)

XO ~ Amy Jo

Thankful Thursday with A Jillian Vance Design!

Hello my Sweet Friends,

Today I have a project that I have been working on for a wedding for a friend of mine.  She placed an order for 150 leaves for her "Wishing Tree" to be put up at their wedding so this is post one of two.  Post two (after Oct. 1st) will be of the entire project, including the tree and all.

First of all, let's focus on the thank you card I made for the order she (they) placed.  This is featured today over at A Jillian Vance Design Design Team (AJVD) blog.  I'm bummed that I haven't seen more of you over there!  Please head over and participate in our September Blast challenge.  It's super easy.  Now onto the card...

 This is my easel card.  The "E" stands for their combined last name.  For this project I used the stamp sets "Autumn Leaves" and "Swirly Monograms" available to purchase here.  The leaves on the upper part of the card are stamped, and the "E" is also stamped with embossing ink, then embossed with some gold powder.  I just love the way it turned out!

 For the big leaf, I used one of the leaves that I created for the "wishing tree".  I thought it would be nice for them to have this card that ties in with all the leaves that people are going to write wishes or blessings on.  (see completed project below).  I also used a MS punch/stamp set for the leaves on the base.  You ink your paper, then punch 'em out. Very fun set.  I then used some flowers I had from my Memory ~ Works store.  If you are interested in purchasing them, contact me.  They are fall colored and glittery.  I used a Bo Bunny brad for the centers of the flowers.  My paper is Bazzil cardstock and the green paper is from the Cloud 9 Designs - Seasonal 12x12 pack.  I just love that pack and have been using it for all of my holiday creations lately!  The small leaves were cut from that pack as well.  Of course I inked my edges, using Stampin' Up boxed set of fall colors and also one of my Colorbox Cat's Eye pads, which you can also purchase from me! :0)

 I am soooo happy with this "E".  I wanted it to look elegant and it  does!  These are two separate stamps from the Swirly Monograms set from AJVD.  So loving that set!

 This is a closeup of the stamped border leaves.  Don't they look awesome on this paper?  It looks like they are a part of it and not actually stamped on there, which I love!  They are from the Autumn Harvest set from AJVD.  

So, there you have the Thank You card portion of this project.  Below are the actual 150 leaves, plus a basket I loaned them for the wedding and the card in the center.  My sweet Hubs stayed up and helped me in the middle of the night to get these all done in time.  (He put the ribbons on). :0)  It's not everyday a DH will actually sit side by side and craft with his wife!  I'm a lucky gal. :0)

 And here you have it... 150 leaves with ribbons to hang from a "tree"!!! I will post pics of the tree after the wedding.  I'm so lucky, I actually get to be the one asking people to put their blessings on the leaves and I get to explain that I made them!  Great for marketing, eh?  My sweet friend actually asked me to do that and to get pictures because she wants me to get some more jobs off of this.  Wish me luck!

 We inked all  the edges of each and every leaf before punching the holes and adding either 10" or 12" of ribbon.  We wanted to vary the length so they would hang from the tree a little more naturally.

 There were actually about 5 different colors of leaves used to match their Autumn wedding colors.

Ta Da!!!  Finished project with a thank you on top. :0)

Thanks everyone for coming by to check out my creations for today.  Please come back soon as I will have a new post by Monday at the very latest.  Hoping to have some more for you tomorrow to be honest, but you know how that goes... all depends on my illness and if I'm productive or not.  I have been sleeping for days on and off.  Today was the first day I actually got to make a card and it will be up for next week's AJVD projects so stay tuned!

XO ~ Amy Jo

Butterfly Award

*This is post 1 of 2 today.  Please scroll down for my Witchy Wednesday post.*

Hi Everyone!  Wow, I have received another awesome blog award from my sweet new friend Eva at Eva's Scraps N' Cards.  Thank you so much, Eva!  I am so honored to be one of your "coolest" blogs.  That makes me so very happy. :0)

Along with this award there are some very simple tasks I must take care of.  I get to pass this award along to 10 awesome bloggers (of course I have to let them know that I have picked them). ;0)  I needed to post the person's link who gave it to me (see above).  And finally, there are some questions to be answered.  So for the ladies I pick, please follow the above directions after posting the award on your blog.

Questions & Answers:

1.  Name your favorite color:  Well that one's easy, Pink!
2.  Name your favorite song.  It changes constantly.  One that has always been on my list though is Journey's Don't Stop Believin'.  Love that song!
3.  Name your favorite dessert.  Turtle cheesecake.  - Pretty much anything with caramel is golden to me (no pun intended)! :0p
4.  What "wizzes" you off at the moment.  Right now it's bullies.  I'm watching a show about it and remembering my school days and it's getting me all riled up!  I was tormented ruthlessly when I was a kid.  Funny thing though is when I grew up, most of the boys that used to constantly hurt my feelings ended up asking me for dates! LOL
5.  Your favorite pet.  I don't have favorites amongst my pets, but I do favor English Bulldogs more than any dog.  I used to have two of them and bred them for a while and raised the cutest lil pups!
6.  Black or white?  Black
7.  Your biggest fear.  Hmm.  Probably having this illness forever.  I don't know if I can handle all this pain every day for the rest of my life.  It's been long enough darn it! :p
8.  Best feature.  Okay, physically, my eyes.  Personality wise, my positivity and empathetic nature.
9.  Everyday attitude.  POSITIVITY
10.  What is perfection?  For me, it is lying in the bed with my husband and our three dogs 1st.  2nd is being in Maine.
11.  Guilty pleasure.  Shopping, German chocolate cake ice cream, and more shopping.
12.  When you are upset you... go into my craft room.  It always puts me in a better mood. :0)  If I'm not feeling good enough to get out of bed, I write.  Writing always helps me out of a bad mood.

Whew!  Those were some tough questions!  Now I get to pick my blogs.  Please ladies, don't get upset if I don't have you listed here.  I love each and every blog that I subscribe to and love each and every one of my followers.  There are some that I just can't live without and here are just a few of them.

1.  Amy @ Love to Crop
2. Jenny @ Jenny's Scrapbooking Haven
3.  Glenda @ Glenda's Cards
4.  Jamie @ JME Creations
5.  Jenny @ Earthy Scrap
6.  Kate @ Small Bits of Paper
7.  Carissa @ Happily Ever Paper Crafter
8.  Sabrina @ Scrappin with Sabrina
9.  Tanya @ Nonna's Craft Corner
10.  Lisa @ My Lil' Bits

Ok, well there are about 100 more blogs I want to pass this out to, but I won't bend the rules (this time) ;).  Thanks again to Eva.  Please be sure to stop by her blog and the other gals I have listed here as some of my faves.  Trust me, it's worth the time to visit.  I have learned so many things from all of them.  It's great to have such awesome inspiration out there, isn't it?

Thanks for checking in today and don't forget to scroll down for the Witchy Wednesday post for A Jillian Vance Design.

XO ~ Amy Jo

Witchy Wednesday over at Jillian Vance

Hi Sweeties,

It's time for another awesome Witchy Wednesday over at the A Jillian Vance Design Team blog.  You simply must go check it out and please let them know I sent ya.  We need some new followers over there and trust me, there's some cool stuff on this blog.  Oh, did I mention... you can enter our challenge with a chance to win some goodies!!!  It's an easy challenge so get over there!

For my card I used the "Witchy Poo" set and the "Spooky" set.  Both of these awesome sets are available to purchase here.

 Front of card:  Green paper from stash, "Double Double" paper and witch hat paper from Cloud 9 Design - Seasonal, Martha Stewart drippy goo (not sure of the real name) punch, fussy cut frog from the Cloud 9 Design paper pack & added a Glossy Accented, pop-dotted cat to the tab. Black cardstock is from my stash.

 Inked all my edges with Colorbox - Blackbird, stamped the witch, embossed her, added some black glitter and a bit of Glossy Accents to her dress and put her on a green background, Used my epiphany tag punch to punch out the "double double" from the Cloud 9 Designs paper and pop dotted it.  Stamped the cute broom and fussy cut rather than stamping directly on the paper cause I wasn't sure where I wanted to put it.

 Closeup of the Frog tag with kitty stamp

 My ink didn't work so well on my web stamp so I had to go over it with a gelly roller, then stamped the awesome spider with Staz-on Jet Black ink.  Love the way he turned out!

 Closeup of the witchy poo ;)

 Little better closeup

Just a lil inside tag. :0)  My ink was some crummy stuff I had sitting around so I just outlined the word to make it stand out more.

And there you have it!  My post for today.  Please check back tomorrow for my next Jillian Vance post.  

Have a Craftabulous day and thanks so much for stoppin' by my blog.  I'm always happy to see you. :0)

XO ~ Amy Jo

Monster Monday @ A Jillian Vance Design - DT Blog

Well hello everyone!  Sorry this is a bit late in posting, but at least it's up now!  Please head over to www.ajillianvancedesign.blogspot.com and check out the awesome work from our team and please be sure to participate in the challenge!  The challenge is to create any fall project. If you have Jillian's stamps, please do use them. If you don't have them, use whatever you do have and check out the great sets she has for sale.  You will want them all... trust me! :0)

I used Mini Monsters for my little monster and used the multi-part eyeball stamp from Jillian's store (this will take you right to the stamps called Eye On Halloween)   :0)  I also used one of the cute little phrases from that same set.  Now, I apologize, but I could not get the eye to look how I wanted with the patterned paper I chose, but eye ;) assure you, it is an eyeball! LOL I also used my awesome Epiphany punch to make it like an epoxy rounded bubble sticker.  You can buy the punches and the accessories at the Jillian's store too!  How cool is that?  You will see me using my punches often.  They are awesome!!!  So I stamped the eyeball round image in black on green paper (next time will use white... duh.), then I stamped the iris in red.  Next, I added the little veins with black ink, but it looked funky on green paper so I ended up painting on top of the bubble sticker with a layer of white and outlined parts of the eye that I wanted to stand out with my black zig pin.  To make it "hairy"  I added some of this amazing fringe ribbon I purchased at a decor store in Maine. :0)  Hope you all enjoy and can get the gist of what I was trying to accomplish.  Will make a better example of that eyeball soon because it is super cool when you do it right.

Now on to the pics and closeups...

I crinkled the background paper and used papers from the Cloud 9 Design Seasonal Set.  Love that set!  This is a one eyed monster with a spider hanging from his eye.  Sorry it's hard to tell what I was trying to go for here.  See the closeups for more detail. :0)

 Isn't this stamp perfect?  Love how crisp it came out!  Used StazOn Ink.  I just seem to have better luck with it even though it's harder to clean off.  Used the same fringey ribbon as on the eye.  The border ribbon is from my local scrapbooking store.

Crinkled and inked the background paper and added a cute little (inked) Halloween star.

Sorry, this is a yucky picture, but depicts the eyeball a little better, I also used a stamp from that set to have a spider hanging from my monster's eye. :0)  The paint and marker got a little muddled, but he's supposed to be imperfect.  Note the "hairy eyelashes" above his eye.

Well, there's my creation for today.  Hope you enjoyed it, even though it wasn't perfect.  Please, please head over to our blog to see all of the awesome creations that the other uber talented gals have made www.ajillianvancedesign.blogspot.com.  Don't forget to enter your own project for a chance to be entered to win some goodies!

XO ~ Amy Jo

I'm Back!!! Upadates...

Hello my wonderful friends,

I am back from my vacation to Maine.  It was FANTASTIC!  The hubs got to several new states for the first time and experience lobster "the real way". :0)  I have so many things to share with you all, but first off, I'm way behind in my design work for my awesome teams, so I will be working on that and posting here for you to check out some super fun projects.  In the meantime, please, please head over to www.ajillianvancedesign.blogspot.com to check out what the ladies have posted so far.  I will be adding to it and will let you know when I do, but we have some challenges for you to enter!  Get over there and check out this awesome blog!  We only have 16 followers and really need some more so please stop by, follow, and tell them "Amy Jo" sent you!  I really want to see all my friends there!  This blog is amazing.  We are having a September Blast with new things posted almost daily and we want you to participate!  You have to check out our new stamps.  Once you see the projects I am working on, I know you won't want to miss out on some of the goodies we have for sale on the main site at www.ajillianvancedesign.com.  Seriously, some of the best stamps I've ever owned.  I adore them and use them most above all others!  Thanks everyone, for taking some time to check out our blog and become a follower and I'll see you by the end of the night with at least one or two more posts!  Please come back and see what I make today.  So stoked to get back in the craft room!  Oh, and btw, I got 5 new cartridges while I was gone!!! Most of them are for the Imagine and I am just so excited to try them out!  More to come...

XO ~ Amy Jo

Giveaway at LOTV's Ideas to Inspire!!!

Hi Friends,

Just wanted to share a very sweet giveaway with you over at LOTV's Ideas to Inspire.  Hop on over to enter to win one or two of their cute stamps.  This is one that will be given away.



Good luck!

XO ~ Amy Jo