Forever Night Challenge #55

Forever Night Challenge #55 - Use the Color Purple

Hello sweet friends!  I hope everyone (in the US) had a good Turkey Day, yesterday.  My hubby and I just stayed home (as usual) because I'm currently too ill to go anywhere until I can get some of my health issues taken care of.  I'm still waiting to get an approval to even make an appointment for the Mayo clinic in Minnesota, and in the meantime, I'm still having serious bladder issues and can't get in to see a urologist until the 28th, so pretty much miserable over here. :p  I wanted to thank all of you that left such wonderful comments on my last post, and please know that I plan on visiting everyone's blog who left me such kind words.  I'm sorry I haven't been able to get to everyone quite yet, but I want you all to know how much it meant to me to hear from you and to  have your support.  I really love you gals (and guys)!  It really lifts me up to hear from you. :)

Now for some good news...

A long time ago I got accepted as a member of the super fun Forever Night Challenges team, but I was on hiatus as you all know, so I never really took up my term.  The lovely ladies over there decided to give me another chance and join for the upcoming term so I am here today with my first post!!!  You have no idea how good it feels to be part of a DT again and to actually push myself to get out of bed and be creative! :D  I would absolutely LOVE it if everyone would pop over there, tell them Amy Jo sent you, and become a follower.

For those of you who don't know, it's a blog that takes on a bit of the darker side of things. ;)  I really enjoy the challenges they have and I've found some really creative people over there!  Please join in our challenges.  We'd love to have you!

This week we were sponsored by Dilly Beans and I just love the image I got to work with!  At first I was going to start a mini album for all of my colored Dilly Beans images that I've worked on, but when I finished with this project I just had to hang it on my wall instead!  It looks so cute up there against my pink walls!  I still plan on making a mini album, but for now, here's my cute 8x6" picture.

Click to get a better view

For my project I started with a cereal box that I cut down to 8"x6" and covered with paper from Recollections Ravenhead Manor paper stack (purple background).  Then I added a spiderweb patterned paper from DCWV Ghosts & Goblins mat-stack that I inked and border punched along one side with the Martha Stewart (MS) scallops & dots border punch.

I used the "Cori" image from Dilly Beans, as well as on of the sentiments from "artist quotes", both available for purchase at Megan's store.  I just loved the head-shot, but I wanted to do something different so I made her a body from some fussy cut bottles (from that same DCWV mat-stack) that I glued together and then stuck her head on top.  I think it turned out pretty neat and totally "out of the box" for me. ;)  Look closely to see the spider crawling up her.  I colored her with Copics (4 different shades of purple -- even her skin is purple, with green eyes) and a white gelly pen for details.  I also added an earring, which has purple, black, and green!  It's actually an epoxy eyelet charm from Making Memories.  I popped her up off the page with pop dots.  I printed the sentiment on blue cardstock and fussy cut the words out.

Lastly I added two potion bottles from MS (love those!) and how perfect is the tombstone that reads "Mrs. Anita Newbody"??? I was thrilled to find that, cause essentially that's exactly what I did...gave her a new body. :)  The cute tombstone button is from Dress It Up.  As always, I inked all my edges with Colorbox Cat's Eye ink in "Blackbird".

I hope you all enjoyed my project as much as I enjoyed making it!  Please join us this week at Forever Night for our challenge "Use the Color Purple".  I would love to see you there!

In addition, I will be entering this project in the following challenges:

Lady Anne's Challenges ~ Anything Goes (used digi stamps)
Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe Challenge ~ R#99 - Midnight Magic (nighttime theme using stars, moons, beds, etc.)
Pause, Dream, and Enjoy Challenges CH# 47 - Anything Goes
The Octopode Factory - Words

XO ~ Amy Jo

Dilly Beans Friday Challenge - Shades of Pink and Black

Hi Friends,

I am so sorry I haven't been able to do a whole lot of anything this past week.  I have had a migraine since Easter and it is just not letting up!!!

I'm super excited about my 2nd Guest Design post for Dilly Beans Challenge Blog and actually got two cards created late last night!!! Just in time for the challenge. ;)  Our challenge this week is "Shades of Pink & Black".  For this challenge I have used the #352 Heart-Flowers Border, #348 - Amalia's Daisy, #374 Flowers & Love, and #263 Zombie Girl with Bow.  I hope you enjoy my cards and will join us on the Challenge Blog!

Click on any of the links above to go to the Dilly Beans Store!

 Zombie Girl with Bow

3 different digis used here - Amalia with Daisy, Hearts & Flowers Border and Flowers & Love (the words)

For my projects today I used a few different mediums; Copics, colored pencils, Zig pens, Stickles glitter glue,  Creative Memories pens and my white gelly roller .  The first project is made with two different zebra print cardstocks from Recollections.  I used the black/white zebra print for the background to frame Zombie Girl and the pink on pink zebra print for the main part of the card.  It's nice because when it opens, it's a solid pink inside so you don't have to put another layer on the inside of the card if you don't want to!  I used two strips of ribbon from my stash to put behind the framed digi stamp and then added some Making Memories gunmetal brads for a little "rock 'n' roll" bling. ;)  I also added some black rhinestones to polish it off.  For the image itself, I used several shades of pink, along with silver, black, gray tones.  I drew the little spirals with my zig pen and added a little shading to the bow with a silver Creative Memories gelly pen. I added some more eyelashes to her upper lids and added some doodles to the heart hanging down from her.  

For Dilly Beans images I don't like to clutter up the card with lots of embellishments and additions because the images are so great that I don't want anything to detract from them.  That's why these cards seem more simple than some of my other creations.  The images are so much fun to color and for a while I was trying to be so perfect with it, then I decided to just PLAY!!!  That's one thing we should all remember from time to time. ;)  I've decided that my imperfections make it my own, you know?

If you haven't been to see the team's projects yet, OMGoodness you are in for a special treat.  These ladies are so talented and I always get inspiration from their projects. I would also like to say a quick thank you to the teammates who stopped by to say "hi" last week.  I really appreciate it. ;)

For my second project I used a hot pink cardstock from Recollections as the card base and added a polka dotted background from Echo Park.  I inked my edges with Blackbird Cat's Eye ink.  I had colored my Hearts/Flowers border with Copics and my white gelly roller and placed it next, using a Zig 2-way Glue Pen.  Then I decided to use Stickles on the Amalia's Daisy image rather than coloring the flower traditionally.  I used Fruit Punch and Silver Stickles for her flower and used a combo of Copics/Zig Pens for coloring her hair, face and adding polka dots to  her dress.  I decided to pop her up off the border and added the sentiment "Love Grows in my Garden" with pop dots as well.  I'm very pleased with the combination of these digis.  I thought they were perfect together! ;)  Hope you enjoy them as much as I have. :0)

Thank you all so very much for stopping by today!  Since you're here, please leave a comment.  I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks again to the lovely ladies of Dilly Beans for letting me join in on their fun!  Don't forget to check out the challenge and link up your projects too!!!

XO ~ Amy Jo

Challenges I'm entering:

TPE - #143 - Flowers (Card #2)
Use It Tuesday - #29 - Anything Goes - Everything listed in the details (body of the post) is from my stash!
Forever Night - Freaky Friday Wicked Challenge (Card #1)

Hippity Hoppity Easter's On Its Way! - Blog Hop April 7 & 8th

*PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE "ALL SPORTS BLOG HOP"*

*PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR MY GUEST DESIGN POST & CHALLENGE FOR DILLY BEANS*

Happy Easter everybody and welcome to Day 1 of the Hippity Hoppity Blog Hop by Lisa of HoneyBearz Designs!  You should have arrived here from Cindy, but if you just happened upon my blog today be sure to go back and start at the beginning, as this is a 'HOP' after all! ;0)  We are so happy you could join us today!

I'm super egg-cited to show you some of the Easter projects I have been working on.  Everyone that knows me, knows how much I love a great holiday just for the excuse to make some more cards or crafts.  I've been piddling around with digis as you all know and I bought some of the awesome limited digis from Simply Betty Stamps.  For those of you that do not know Betty, she can use all the support she can get right now, as she is struggling with a teenage son diagnosed with and fighting cancer.  OMGosh, can you even imagine?  I know how expensive cancer treatments are and every sale we help her with goes towards her son's treatment.  Ladies, this is a great way to help out a wonderful person with an amazing heart and amazing talent.  I am a HUGE fan of Betty's and I'm sure you will be too!  I ask that you go to her store and check out all of her amazing designs.  A lot of these are limited edition digis and once they're gone, they may not come back!  Get 'em while you can & while you're there, sign up for her newsletter and check out her blog/Facebook Fan Page.  It's the best way to keep up with the sales and knowing what's coming out and going back into the "vault".  I just happened upon there and was soooooooo lucky as the digi I used for today's project was only available for two or three days!!!  I couldn't resist!

I hope you will enjoy this project as much as I did, making it! ;)  I used Zig pens and colored pencils, notice she is holding a chocolate bunny with his ears bitten off! ;)  Click the pic for an enlarged picture.  I also used a white gelly roller for some highlights. :)

For this card I welded two oval shapes together with my Sure Cuts A Lot 2.0 software and used a scalloped oval from Clear Dollar Stamps or Clearly I Stamp.  I used a deep purple cardstock from my stash for the card background and the scallop, along with background paper from Stampin' Up (if you visit Jill, please let her know Amy Jo sent you).  I used pearls from Creative Charms.  They're having a HUGE sale right now!  I inked the papers with my Cat's Eye ink in Dark Brown.

Thanks so much for joining us today, sweet friends and be sure to head over to Shelly Lynn - KC Croppers as she is the next stop on this bunny hop!  If you get lost, I have posted the entire lineup below.

1. Lisa Pontious ~ http://honeybearzdesigns2011.blogspot.com/

2. Kristy - http://scraptasticalkreations.blogspot.com

3. Scrappin Madge - http://www.scrappinmadge.blogspot.com/

4. Ashley - http://theglamoroussideofscrapping.blogspot.com

5. Haidee- http://created2bunique.blogspot.com/

6.Cindy - http://www.cindys-greencricut.blogspot.com/

7. Amy Jo - http://lv2scrapandfibrofacts.blogspot.com - Me

8. Shelly Lynn - http://kccroppers.blogspot.com - Next

9. Liz - http://scrapiliciouslife.blogspot.com

10.Jamie - http://thesassyprincess.blogspot.com

11. Diana - http://daisylovecreations.blogspot.com

Happy Easter & please come back tomorrow for new projects!!!
Amy Jo

Hoppy Easter Card for Challenges

Hi Everyone!  Seems like I've been a little MIA.  I have actually.  My hubby and I have been busy turning our guest room into my very own scrapbooking room!  We have painted the walls an amazing bright pink and the inside of the closet is now black with (soon to be) white furniture inside.  It's coming along nicely and it's wonderful to have a room to go to now that really gets me out of bed and motivated.  I'm going to purchase either a big black shaggy area rug or a zebra print rug for the room next, then I plan on framing some of my favorite fashion scrapbooking paper to make some gorgeous wall art.  Can't wait til it's all setup completely!  I will post some pics for sure!

On to the card... I made this cute little card yesterday for a challenge that required ribbons and pastel, however, by the time I got it all finished up, that challenge was already closed! :( So, I have been searching around and found some other challenges to enter it in and then it is going on to a friend of mine who has ordered a set of Easter cards. BTW, I am now taking Easter orders!

Hoppy Easter Card

Hoppy Easter Closeup

Hoppy Easter Dimensional View

Hoppy Easter Bow Closeup

I am so pleased with the way this turned out!  I  even got to use my Copics for the first time!  My hubby bought me a set for my birthday and I am soooo happy to finally bust them out of the box, but I really need to learn how to blend and how to properly use them so, homework time for me! 

For this card I ended up using four different types of ribbon!  Some came in kits that I have gotten and the cute tulip ribbon came from RRR.  I just love it and thought it was perfect for this card.  I put the green wavy ribbon below it to make it look like grass.  I made a bow at the top so I could qualify for the "Tie a Bow" challenge over at My Craft Spot.  This is the first challenge over there, ever!  Yay!  Fun blog, check it out.  :0)  The complete list of challenges I'm entering is at the bottom of this post.

 

I used a pretty pastel purple cardstock for the card from a stack that came from Joann's as well as the yellow cardstock.  They are having stacks on sale for $2.00 now!  If you shop online, please go through my site for special deals.  http://www.amyjrockstar.com/ I would so appreciate it because I get credit for every sale made through my site and my clients get (sometimes) special benefits as well.  In fact, if you do shop through Joann's through my site, please let me know and I'll come up with a little something special for ya! ;)  The background paper came from my stash.

For the rest of the card:  the bunny is a stamp from Sandylion (same set that I used for my previous butterfly card) that I cut out and colored with my Copics.  The spring is a stamp from We are Memory Keepers: Maple Grove, and the Hoppy Easter is a stamp from Making Memories:  Magnetic Stamp Sayings.  Ink is a standard black from Colorbox.  I also used my black Zig to add some definition and drew on some spots. :0)

The flowers are Prima and the brads are Basic Grey.  I used my ATG gun and superglue for my adhesives and inked all my edges with a gorgeous Studio G eggplant color.  Love those and they're only $1 at Michael's!  That's where I get into my trouble is the dollar section of those stores.  Before you know it, I have 50 things picked out, translating to $50!  So easy to do!

Well, I hope you all have enjoyed my first little Easter card and please leave your comments.  I read each and every one and it really just brightens my day.

Challenges:  My Craft Spot #1 - Tie A Bow (entry 2)

Card Creations by C - #6 - Patterned Ribbon

Delightful Challenges - Flowers

Creative Card Crew - For A Child

AUD Sentiments Challenge Blog - #25- Sentiment/Card for a Child

LOTV Thursday Challenge - #90 - Spring

Hugs!

XO ~ Amy Jo