TTCRD submission call!

hi all!

happy monday!  i know – an oxymoron right?  did you do anything fun this weekend?  we took our trailer and headed to williamsburg.  for those of you not from this area williamsburg was the capital of virginia back in the 1700s. around the 1930s a huge restoration project backed my millions of dollars from john d rockefeller jr was begun to restore the colonial town center the way it was in the 1700s.  some of the buildings are original but most are rebuilt replicas of the originals.  the colonial town is filled with workers dressed in period costume demonstrating the trades people worked at during the 1700s.  i find all of this fascinating as i am absolutely obssessed with old architecture and ways of life.

visiting williamsburg is interesting for me because it is so very different from what i am used to.  i grew up in south louisiana where the french and especially the spanish influence resulted in plantations and buildings steeped in flamboyance and decorative features.  i find the architecture here in the north to be much more utilitarian and sparse.  i also find it frustrating that so much of the town is off limits to see – many of the buildings are private residences and even the ones that are open have only a few rooms on the lower level open for viewing.  the BIGGEST disappointment though was that the few places i REALLY wanted to tour and to show pezza were closed on saturdays WHAT!?!??!  seems like saturday would be the heaviest visited……
here are a few pics for ya:

notice the the clean basic lines of the trim work and lack of any type of crown molding.  buildings in the south tend to have decorative trim and molding in the extreme!

again – very sparse, basic furnishings, no window coverings or rugs.

having hot chocolate during the coffeehouse tour – such a big girl – very well behaved all day.

even the outsides of the building are plain – no porches, balconies, ornate ironwork

trying to learn an old-time game…

our one day pass is good for the rest of the year so i am hoping to go back and see the xmas decor and possibly see the buildings we missed this time around.

before i sign off -

i wanted to post a reminder about our submission calls for Through the Craft Room Door.  we are currently looking for craft content for our holiday issue – due October 10th.  while we focus on papercrafts we are looking for a wide variety of crafts projects and decorating ideas in ALL crafting genres.  in addition, we would like to see submissions for our nov-dec issue as well.  please click on the graphic above to go to the submissions page OR CLICK HERE to submit.

In addition we have the regular features we would like to receive submissions for as well:
1. Tips & Tricks
2. Questions
3. Storage/Organization Tips
4. Craft Room pics
HOLIDAY 2011 Issue —- DUE Oct 10th

• Thanksgiving
• Christmas/Hannakuh/Kwanzaa/etc.
• Hostess Gifts
• Handmade gifts

Nov/Dec —-  DUE Oct 20th, 2011

• Winter Fun/Sports
• Mad about sparkle & ice

here’s a peek at one of the projects in our current issue:

and now i am off to get my day going!

hugs

it’s twisted thursday time at the Outlawz!

hi everyone!

wow i have been AWFUL about blogging on a frequent basis like i used to BUT i have also been busier than usual at home with day to day home life.  crossing my fingers that will improve once pezza is back in preschool again.  you know i have been reading all the back to school posts on facebook and the folks who are so sad to see their kids going back to school and they will miss them…apparently their kids are not completely insane like mine is!  me?  i need the break.  SHE needs the break AND the change of scenery…and hubby and i will pray she keeps her teeth to herself this year.  we have been attending a weekly therapy playgroup this summer that focuses on children learning how to behave with one another.  of course she has been adorable and perfect in there and the therapists think i’m nuts.  *sigh*

now onto my project for the Twisted Thursday challenge over on The Outlawz Challenge site.

This weeks challenge is Anything Goes…with a optional twist.
The twist is to use one of the digi stamps that our very own Anne has drawn just for this challenge.  Thank you Anne!!  You can find these digis on the challenge thread – just click the link above in purple!

If you are new to our challenges, let us give you a quick explanation: We were originally POM which was short for Primsa’s and Other Mediums. Other Mediums can be anything from dye inks, distress inks, chalks, heat embossing, water colored pencils, crayons, etc. Basically anything except for alcohol ink markers such as Copics and Promarkers. Prisma’s can be ANY colored pencil, it doesn’t have to be the Prisma color brand. With the name change to Twisted Thursday, we added a twist to the challenge! You are allowed to have 50 percent alcohol inks on your images!! We are hoping this will make the challenge a little bit easier for you! Have fun! the prizes are fabulous so be sure to enter!

i used Anne’s Corner Leaves image along with my Cricut Thanksgiving cartridge:

i colored the leaves with colored pencils and then cut them out.  the leaves were fun to do – i sort of used them as a study and tried a couple different techniques and several different color combinations.

i have been working in overdrive on projects for the next issue of Through the Craft Room Door – we will be focusing on halloween and fall in general.  i am excited about the projects we will be featuring!  here is a little hint for ya – next time you are in target you will want to pick up a few of these – specifically the clear, orange, green and/or red:

and you may want to get a matching hand towel while you’re at it!  and now i am off to finish things up – the new issue will be hitting inboxes soon so if you are not already a subscriber now is the time!  you can catch this fun issue as well as our bonus holiday issue due out in mid october!

now off to dive into my to-do list!

hugs

TTCRD challenge!

hello all!

i hope your week has been going well!!!  we have been enjoying lots of summertime fun!  i am trying to teach pezza how to swim but unfortunately i waited a bit too long and she has developed a bit of a fear of water.

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have you been checking the new victoria case images on the DT blogs?

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today i have a little peek at something i made for the TTCRD challenge – it turned into a whole magazine project but here is a look at the Glitterbabe image i used:

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM strawberry limeaid……colored with colored pencils of course!

ok quick post as i am very behind!

have a great weekend!

 

can you paper piece?

hi all!

y’all must have been thinking good thoughts for me yesterday because my headache is gone!  yay!  i just do NOT  have time to be incapacitated!  the kittens went in for a doc appt today and all looks well.  oh they are so cute i could just DIE!  the itty one, oliver, just wants me to hold and snuggle him ALL the time.  he falls asleep and gets so relaxed his teeny legs just hang off my hands.  i will put pics at the end!

my card today is for the challenge for Through the Craft Room Door – paper piecing!

i found this stamp at a booth at a scrapbook convention but i can’t remember when where or who   i stamped it twice on pink and twice on polka dot paper and then cut out different portions and layered them.

At the booth they were cutting out every single possible layer which looks really awesome but i don’t have the patience for cutting things out that some folks do.  the pink glittered skittle is perfect for the center and to accent the punched border.

and now it’s time for me to be off to bed – YES this early – remember i get up before 4am!!!

have a terrific weekend!

you won’t want to miss this…

hi all!

i had dreams of a nice post for you today…my day (in fact my whole last week) has SO not gone as planned…BUT i wanted to at least stop in quickly to let you know about TWO things going on

1. Today is the start of a brand new challenge over on Through the Craft Room Door:

You have two weeks to enter any project as long as it has wings!  The prize up for grabs is a $15 gift certificate to Paper Makeup Stamps!

Just head over to Challenge Thread 2 on the TTCRD website and join the fun!

2. Today is day 1 of some sneak peeks at the latest collection, Natural Beauty from Carmen Medlin over at SCACD – just head to Elaine’s incredible blog.  In addition Susana has some blog candy up for grabs – the entire Natural Beauty collection AND my Prisma colored pencil class!  So go check that out on the SCACD blog.  She also got the new Viva Decor Magic Pearl Pens in – these are really neat – an iridescent/interference translucent formula.  I can’t wait until mine arrive!

finally a few more peeks at momma Josephine and her babies:

we think the two grey ones are boys so Pezza has named them Oliver and Berlioze

look at that belly!

the little orange one we think is a girl – we have been referring to her as the ginger baby and i call her gingersnap but Pezza wants her to olivia.  She is the smallest and also the rottenest – yes already.  she is the one also trying to trek off from the *nest* and she is the biggest crybaby EVER.  i can pick up the boys and they just lay there and sleep, she sees us coming and she is screeching and crawling all over the place.  she’s a mess.

and now i am off to work some more before i put Pezza to bed – i am single parenting it this week EEK!!!

hugs