A New Challenge at The Octopode: Valentine's Day

Hola!  It's finally Friday.  I thought it would never come!  Actually, part of me thinks it arrived too soon, as I didn't even complete a fraction of what I needed to get done this week...and part of me thinks it took its sweet time showing up, as I am hankering to spend some R&R with my family and friends. 

One of the things I DID manage to do this week was create a Valentine's Day card for The Octopode Challenge Blog.  When Lily first introduced this Day of the Dead Bride and Groom, I absolutely knew that I would be using them on a card.  They.  Are.  Fabulous!  You can find them in The Octopode's Etsy Shop along with tons of other wonderful images.

Stop by the challenge blog to see what the DT came up with for Valentine's Day and be sure to join the fun by linking up your own Valentine's Day themed creation.

I'll be back tomorrow with a new challenge from Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps.  Until then, stay crafty!           

The Octopode: Cats and Dogs

I'm back!!!!  This is my second post for today, if you want to see a little something featuring a Tiddly Ink's image, be sure to scroll down and check out my earlier post.

Today is  Friday and that means there's a new challenge at The Octopode Challenge Blog.  This week's theme is Cats and Dogs.  I used the Breakfast at Tiffianys image and included a quote straight from the movie that I printed and cut out.  Did I mention that I *heart* this movie?  It's really quite sad, but I could watch it a hundred times and never tire of it.  

Visit The Octopode's Challenge Blog and see more fabulous cards featuring these wonderful images.  Also, don't forget to hit The Octopode's main blog for Lilly's updates, and last but not least, the shop on Etsy.  

Alrighty!  That's it for now.  I'll be back tomorrow with a new Kraftin' Kimmie card, so do come back!  Until then, stay crafty!

Copics used:

skin - E11, E00, E000, R20

hair - E49, E57, E37, E35, E31

dress - C7, C5, C3

A New Challenge at the Octopode: Friends!

Hey, all!  I'm back today with a card featuring images from one of the funkiest companies on the net...The Octopode.  I LOVE these images!  They are so quirky and original, I just can't get enough of them!  I practically begged Lily to let me join the team so I could play along once in a while.  She was kind enough to oblige me ;D   

Today I'm using images from the Alice in Wonderland set.  Aren't they fun?!  What we have here is Lily's re-imagining of the Cheshire Cat, and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.  If you're interested in checking out these images or Lily's other fantastic designs, visit her shop on Etsy HERE.  While you're there, pick up some images and join the fun by creating a "friend" themed card or project.  There's a monthly prize drawing, which means you could win a gift certificate to spend in the shop!   

While you're flittering about Blogland, stop by The Octopode Challenge Blog and see what the DT is up to.  I guarantee, you will be blown away!  

Ok, I best keep it short tonight ;D  Sleep is sneaking up on me.  Until next time, stay crafty!

The Octopode Design Team Call

Looking to join a design team consisting of the perfect combination of Edginess and Quirk?  Have I got a team for you!  Lily Chilvers, Artist Extroardinaire at The Octopode, is looking to add a couple of card makers to her designers.  Do you think you might be a good fit?  Head to Lily's blog to check out the details.  I would love to see a couple of my blog buddies join our motley crew!  Good luck ;D

A New Challenge at The Octopode: Music!

I'm back today with something a little different...at least, for me.  The challenge this week at The Octopode is Music, so rather than go with literal choices, I decided I would use Frida and give my piece a surreal dream-like twist.  Frida was a fairly surreal artist, so I figured that would give me free reign to do whatever I wanted.  Sort of like cheating...lol.

I started with a flat canvas, something I never play around with.  I can't even begin to explain what I did with the background, but I do know that it wasn't until I added glossy Mod-Podge that the magic happened, therefore, I have concluded that Mod-Podge must be Latin for "magic" ;D 

I added a couple of skull beads to my butterflies.  I asked my husband if he had anything that I might use to file the backs of the beads down in order for them to sit flatter on my canvas.  He promptly headed to the garage and fiddled around in his dusty (because it's hardly ever-used) tool chest, and came back with a Dremmel drill...brand new, never been desecrated, the bits all sealed tightly in their plastic packages.  What has two thumbs and just got themselves a brand new Dremmel?  This girl...hahaha!  It did the trick, too...VROOM...it filed those beads down like a hot knife through butter.

Check out the The Octopode's Challenge Blog and see what awesomeness the DT is up to.  Then head over to Lily's shop on Etsy for a gander at all of her fabulous images.  Love these characters!

Catch ya later...until next time, stay crafty!

A New Challenge at The Octopode and an Announcement

Hey, everybody!  Now for something a little different!  The new challenge at The Octopode is Locks and Keys.  These amazing images are from the imaginative mind of Lily Chilvers, a young and talented artist, with her own idea of what would happen if Whimsy and Edgy decided to hang out together.  If you're not familiar with this company, I urge you to head to Lily's Etsy shop and take a look around.  You will be astounded at the variety of designs available.  Are you looking for hard to find images of Edgar Allen Poe or David Bowie?  Look no further, The Octopode has them!  AND new designs are constantly being added!  

While you're out and about in Blogland, you'll want to head to The Octopode's Challenge blog and see what crazy cool creations the design team has crafted.  These folks are ridiculously talented and clever!  AND I am fortunate to be hanging out them on a fairly regular basis now ;D  I'll be joining The Octopode folks for a couple of challenges each month.  I cannot adequately express how excited I am about this, so I am just going to add a bunch of exclamation points at the end of this sentence for emphasis!!!!!!!!!!  LOL!  Sometimes I crack myself up ;D

Seriously, though, this is an honor and I would be tremendously grateful if you left a comment on the challenge blog, or better yet, played along this week.  If you use an Octopode image, your name will be tossed into the hat for the random drawing that takes place each month.  The winner receives a gift certificate to Lily's shop!  How cool is that?!

Okay, I have actually been crafting up a storm.  I know that's hard to believe since I was MIA last week, but it's true.  I have two more cards to share with you over the weekend and then next week I will have a couple of Dia de los Muertos cards to show you and hopefully a collaborative shrine project that my friend Anne and I will be teaching at our local stamp store, China Phoenix 2.  Also, I'll have one more announcement and my first video tutorial.  Yowza!  I've got a lot do!  I better fly!

Stay crafty ;D 

Guest Designer at The Octopode!

Hey everybody!  I'm back today with something completely different.  I'm guest designer for this week's challenge at The Octopode Factory Challenge Blog and needless to say, I am BEYOND thrilled!  If you're not familiar with these images, I suggest you get familiar immediately by heading to Lily Chilver's blog and taking a long look around.  These designs are the real deal and have everything you are looking for...Lily combines a smidge of whimsy, a dollop of edgy, and a heaping scoop of quirk to come up with some of the most unique designs I have seen in a very long time.  I just love them!  Even my mom has caught Octopode Fever and has her eye on some of these fab digi sets.   

Lily designs these images herself and really blows me away with her imaginative interpretations of popular and not-so-popular characters.  When was the last time you tripped across a set of images devoted to David Bowie or Charlie Chaplin?  I rest my case.  

Today I chose to work with images from the Edgar Allen Poe set.  Just look at that Tell Tale Heart!  It begs to be used in a project!  I combined it with Annabel Lee and Edgar, himself.  The whole set is amazing and I have already starting coloring up some of the other images to use on another card.  Visit Lily's Etsy store to view all of the wonderful designs available.  I can tell that my credit card and I are going to be hanging out there quite often...lol!

This week's challenge at The Octopode Factory Challenge Blog is Spots and Dots, so put your dotty thinking cap on and get cracking on those spotty projects and join the fun.  We can't wait to see what you create!