Fun and Mental Changes

It just keeps getting better... and funner! Head over to The Burtonesque Dolls and check out what the design team did with this upcoming week's challenge!!! So fun! Although my card DEFINITELY sticks out.... all crazy... hahahahahahahaha! But that is so up my alley, well, you know! :) Anyway, the challenge is to create a project using the tea party scene from Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland. I bought a brand new digi JUST for this challenge. I had it in my head to do a crazy Mad Hatter (cuz we're all a little mad here) and I gotta tell you, I could NOT find a crazier Mad Hatter than the one I used for this card!!! You can find, in my opinion, the PERFECT Mad Hatter at The Octopode Factory . I also purchased the AWESOME creepy flamingo and Tweedle Dee and Dum!!! LOVE IT! Anyway, I hope you all have as much fun with this challenge as I did.... I laughed the entire time I made this card!

Ok, so after receiving multiple emails on how I made this album and the stuff I used, I thought it would be a great project to feature for the Paper Vineyard's new design team since Paper Vineyard is where I got everything... well, almost. First off, the album was made using The Cinch. This binder is the EASIEST binder system I've ever used! Check out the video HERE . Also, all the papers and embellishments were gotten at Paper Vineyard. The flowers and pearls are just miscellaneous that I picked up while browsing and the buttons are from the Graphic 45 Staples collection. The mini clothes pin are one of MANY colors that were newly stocked at PV (check out the red ones for upcoming Christmas projects). All the stamps came from my own personal stock, but check Paper Vineyard's stamp collections often as there are rumors of certain stamps that may or may not be featured here coming to PV. Oh and the papers are also Graphic 45 from their Steampunk Debutante line... the last ...

Ok gang! This is my second post for the day, but I thought it was important to get this one started as soon as possible!!! For the upcoming Christmas season, I'm giving away THREE Disney Cricut cartridges. These cartridges were not donated to this blog, I purchased all of these cartridges to give away. My followers are THE BEST and I wanted to give away something really nice for the holiday season. This is only open to those who appear on this blog's follower list, so if you're not one of my beloved followers, please become one (and I'm almost to 400 woo hoo!!!). All you have to do to enter to win these super fun Disney cartridges is share this give away with others. You can post it on your blog, shout it out on Facebook and Twitter, post the announcement in a message community or do all of the above. Then, leave a comment on this post letting me know where you shared and an email address to contact you. This will be open until December 11th and I will post the winne...

Whoa!!! What a couple of days I've had! First of all, Thanksgiving went without a hitch and executed perfectly with the help of the home-made-like pies (from Costco)... I mean, after all, it's tradition right? I mean the Costco pies of course!!! So I scarfed the yummy turkey dinner and headed out promptly at 3 p.m. to stand in line over at Michaels only to find that there wasn't a line... well, why the heck not? Then I checked out their black Friday ads (that actually began on Thursday) and discovered that EVERYTHING cool and worth waiting in a line for was marked "EXCLUDED" in ultra fine print on their Black Friday ad! And the "great deal" they had for Cricut cartridges were easily $15-$20 higher than what you can get them for everyday on Ebay. Finally, when they DID open their door at 4:30 p.m. the Ott Light they advertised (one of the VERY FEW items that was actually a great Black Friday deal) wasn't even in stock.... bait and switch much? Oh, t...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!!! I'm gonna be MIA for a couple of days. I'd LOVE to tell you that it's so I can spend time with my family... but I see them all the time!!! No, I'm gonna be MIA because I'm up right now making last minute preparations for Thanksgiving dinner and then Black Friday starts later TODAY at some of the stores I'm gonna loot and then the kamikaze shopping will continue into Friday finishing off at about noon and then I have to be at work at 2 p.m. SICK I TELL YOU, I'm sick! But I gotta do it! So needless to say, going two days without sleep is going to mean that even if I COULD post here, I may not be coherent enough for the post to make sense. Come to think of it.... that might be a mighty FINE post... and funny too. Ok , so pop back in over the next two days. It might be worth a good laugh! * BONUS: Hey! Did you guys check out the Google banner today? If you click on the different images, a recipe card pops up and you can print...

Ok folks... it is here! This is my first-ever design project for The Burtonesque Dolls ! Wow! What a fun design project it was too! This week's challenge over at The Burtonesque Dolls is to create an original project following Cheri's AWESOME sketch (click on the link for deets)! Yah, this one was a fun one. I took this opportunity to play around with the different stitch options available on my sewing machine... boy, did I really open her up!!! hahahahahaha! You can't really see because of the stitching, but I found the perfect Tim Holtz paper with the words "Cat" and "Girl", spicing it all up with the key and lock and I couldn't help but devote this one to Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland. I felt the "period" image ( Tickled Pink Stamps , 20's Evie) was the PERFECT image for this and I LOVED trying to age everything with the monochromatic Copic coloring. Yah, this one is definitely a favorite and it's only my first one! And ...

Ok ... so my favorite flavor is.... ROSE! hahahahahaha ! That REALLY makes me laugh! But it's true. Last weekend, at my sister's bridal shower, we drank three awesome wines at the wine shop where we threw the shower. Among them was the most amazing wine called Villa M Rosso . It smelled of roses and then when I inhaled on the first sip I TASTED the roses!!! But this was not my first "taste" of this oh-so-decadent flower. My first taste of rose was in the form of gelato . My husband and I were shopping at our local Whole Foods (you KNOW how I love that place) and walked past the gelato case. Now I LOVES me the gelato but have a tendency to shy away from the typical flavors (i.e. chocolate and lemon) and I RUN from artificially flavored gelatos , so Whole Foods is my only source for my beloved dessert that I rarely indulge when I find the same ol ', same ol '. NOT THIS TIME!!! Super sonic high five is a- comin !!! White Rose Gelato ??? Yep, they were serving...

WOW, WOW, WOW!!! I just got a design team spot over at The Burtonesque Dolls ! I cannot believe that I got picked! I've stalked The Burtonesque Dolls for quite some time never guessing that I would have the honor and privilege of designing with these masters of the paper crafting macabre!!! The Burtonesque Dolls is the place to go for Halloween all year long... how could I NOT want to be part of this team!?! Add to that, the "fun" that IS Tim Burton, well you can kind of guess why this is really so exciting!!! Wish me luck gang! I am aiming to bring my designing up to the level of this incredible new team!!! They are amazing and I'm ready to learn, grow, share and break out my mad ninja goth skillz! First on the docket, though, is this week's challenge... it's probably better to pace myself anyway! I don't know if you all remember the Crazy Halloween challenge that I ran in October, but for those of you who do, and were interested in the Tickled Pink Sta...

OMG... isn't this one CUTE!?! And I gotta say, it TOTALLY matched the outfit that I wore to my sister's bridal shower! That really is just so fun to do! You can do it too!!! Just use discount code "FITTERTWIT" over at OC Nail Art and receive a free image disc with a $30 purchase on top of free shipping!!! Be sure to choose your free image disc at checkout! :) So for this Konadicure, I used my Nail Aid Pink Growth as a base, 2 coats of OPI's Decades of Shades, Konad image plates M57, M61 and M69 using China Glaze's GR8 from their OMG line, one coat of Northern Lights sparkly topcoat and then one final coat of Seche Vite. AWESOME!!! Click on the pic to enlarge. That is all today gang! Happy Sunday!

And the winner of the new C.C. Designs Coffee Kiki La Rue is...... Leslie from WI!!!! She said.... "I would love to give a shout out to my nephew who is in the Air Force and my father who was in the Army for 25 years. Also, thank you to ALL the men and women who serve and give us our freedom!" Congratulations Leslie, please email me at FitterTwit@yahoo.com to claim your prize. Thank you to everyone who left a comment and shared your families and your heart with me on Veterans Day. What a special day it was with my own family and you all just added to it! Leslie, you are going to LOVE this stamp... if you share what you make with it, I'll give it a special feature here at Fun And Mental Changes!!! Welp, that's it for tonight! But stay tuned... there's more give aways comin down the road!!!

So, I was looking for SOMETHING to give to my sister for her bridal shower coming up this weekend, and you know how it is when you just can't seem to find the perfect thing... especially for the girl who has everything. Well, what about a mini album so she can compile her shower photos? BRILLIANT if I do say so myself! And she DOES love to create... it's the artist in us both. Yep, mini album it is! So a few days ago I was stalking the sites (as I sometimes do) and ran across this little gem at The Greeting Farm: I don't know who created this masterpiece, but the postmarks and the monochromatic "aged" look was PERFECT for my sister... and I happen to have the PERFECT set of stamps from 7 Gypsies that featured Italian images and postmarks! YAY! Knowing that Italian is right up her alley, I was all over it!!! I bound 4 pages and matted the pages with complimentary papers from Graphic 45 and 7 Gypsies (you KNOW how I love them) and left it at that. I might throw in...

Welp gang.... The Town Scrapper had PERFECT timing!!! I just received the coveted Coffee Kiki La Rue in the mail yesterday (along with some other AWESOME goodies) and as promised... I'm giving it away. You all know that I already own this gem and use it OFTEN! Can you think of ANY occasion where coffee doesn't work? hahahahhahaha! Anyway, in honor of this very special holiday and the service men in my own family, I get the pleasure of giving away this WONDERFUL stamp. Thanks Phebe and all the folks over at The Town Scrapper for donating this oh-so-great prize to give away on my blog. Thank you to our Veterans and all the men and women who are serving now. How to win: all you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post giving a shout out to service men and women you know. This give away will only be open to my Blogger followers.... cuz their pretty special too!!! I will leave this open until Saturday announcing the winner Saturday night. Random.org will be picking the wi...

Ok gang... just a quick post today letting you know that I will be teaching a Copic class at Paper Vineyard in Chandler, AZ, on December 12th. You will receive all materials to make the cutiepie pictured (except for the items listed below) and that even includes the stamp to take home with you for future creations! The list of items to bring to class with you are: Copic Markers Scissors Paper Trimmer Adhesive Sukura Gelly Roll Pens (optional) I will also be demoing the Bow Easy for making quick work of GORGEOUS bows, like the one featured here. The class starts at 1 p.m. Reserve your spot by calling 480-656-2058. I look forward to seeing you there! * Copic markers I used to make this card: Dress - G40, R20, R29, R89, YG63, YG97 Boots/Basket - E42, E44, E49 Hair - E2, E8, E39 Skin - E50, E51, E53, R20 Misc. - W0, W3, W5 *** Stamp Set included with this class:  Kraftin Kimmie, Yvette

So my final project at The Town Scrapper is a two-parter for today's Showcase Monday. And Wow... what a project it is! It managed to morph at least 3 different times while putting it together. I am a MESS when trying to create in the afternoon. Catch me at 8 a.m. and Imma craftin fool, catch me at midnight and you'll find the same thing.... but 1 p.m. I crash! So I mentioned what a mess I am mid-day as one of the "three things about me" that I needed to add for the blog award I received the other day. Brace yourself.... this was the project I worked on Saturday at 1 p.m. Now I wonder why that made the list? HAHAHAHAHAHA! My project features one of three images from The Greeting Farm's Miss Anya collection and started out just being an embellishment on the outside of a pocket that I was going to add to a card that was going to hold a gift certificate. Whew! The sentiment was originally, "Relax". THEN I realized that the pocket was a bit too large to h...

Ok... I lovingly call this, "The Neighbor's Tree"! HA! I love this image. This card is an entry for the design team spot over at The Burtonesque Dolls (there's still time to enter gang) and it features Simply Betty's Tristan from the Punky Teens Christmas line. I actually had a few people watching me create this with cackles of laughter.... I knew I was gonna have to post this one. So I used my sewing machine to do a ROUGH sew-job (I've been doing that A LOT as of late) and added some photo corners just to break up the black and white. I used some puffy paint to make the snow dimensional and my Cricut to cut the snowflake. I then added some Sakura metallic pen accents and this one was ready to go! I'm also working on a shaker Christmas ornament featuring this little guy... stay tuned for that one!!! Please keep your fingers crossed for me... the design team will be announced a week from Tue sday!!! Alright folks.... pictured is the EVIL Martha Stewart c...

So this past week I've been honored with receiving a couple of blog awards!!! Can you believe it? How awesome is THAT?!? I got them from some seriously cool bloggers ... bloggers I stalk!!! I'm just so psyched and would like to extend a huge thank you to Debra of Twisted Monkey Scraps and to Meredith of Meredith Scraps . I first met Debra when she won my October cartridge give-away and discovered she had a ROCKIN blog, so I began stalking her instantly. Meredith I discovered while perusing other's blogger friends and began stalking only to find out that she found me the same way! Don't you just LOVE blog-land?!? So anyway, be sure to check out my stalkers.... they are the BEST!!! Now, for this blog award I have to list three things about me that are different from others. I don't know how different these are, but here goes.... Inspiration for me flies out the window mid afternoon (HELLO... needing a siesta in America!). I have a hard time embellishing projects t...

Ok... WOW! That was harder than I expected! Not doing the "No Embellishment" creation for The Town Scrapper's weekly challenge (pictured above)... this one sort of made itself cuz the image rocks... no, I'm talking about posting my final, farewell blog post for The Town Scrapper . HUH! I teared a little while writing that post. Those incredible ladies have given me SO MUCH in the six months that I've designed with them and been their blog manager! So I hope you all head over there and show them some love. Oh, and while you're there, enter the "No Embellishment" challenge. The winner will receive the image that I featured in this project. It's a Victoria Case Design called Big Dreams Evan.... one of my favorite Victoria Case stamps!!! So, on to new and exciting adventures. I'M IN HOT PURSUIT! I have recently been doing Copic marker instruction and am about to embark on teaching Cricut and Gypsy classes! AND......I am also going after a really ...

Ok, so sometime last year I shared my top ten favorite kitchen gadgets. I AM gadget girl after all! So I thought it would be fun, with all the crafting I've done this year, to touch on my favorite must-have scrap-room gadgets too! So here we go. First up... Of course it's my Cricut! Before I had a scrapbook room, I had my Cricut thanx to my sister's VERY GENEROUS Christmas gift. As a matter of a fact, my Cricut IS THE REASON I have a scrapbook room! Coming in number two then would be my Gypsy! My "design anywhere and cut when I get home" buddy that I lovingly named Charlie. As a companion to the Cricut, this really is my must have. It saves me from having to lug all my cartridges to crops and I LOVE the compact on-the-go-ness of it and the ability to create so many things with the special features that are only found on the Gypsy. I love Charlie. Number three is my cuttlebug. I think for many scrappers, this just about rounds up the top three. I use my cuttlebug f...

** The following blog post is the insane rantings of an Alice In Wonderland freak. This post may not be suitable for all audiences.... * I can usually get inspired by a trip to my local craft store, but today I've got a story of being overtaken and molested by it. I was going through the clearance aisle of my local Joann's craft store when I spied the mother of all punches. In fact, this is BY FAR THE COOLEST punch I've ever seen!!! Now WHY was this punch being given away at the mere price tag of $3.00 (ok, and there were TWO THERE...that's NUTS)? HOW did I manage to be in the right place at the right time to snag this hidden gem? And WHY had I never seen this punch before? I gotta be honest, I not only would have paid full price for this beauty, I would have probably paid double on steal-bay... that's how great this punch is. There HAD to be a catch here.... did this punch not work? At $3, who cares! I took it and RAN to the checkout. Well, you can tell by the abov...

* This is my THIRD post for the day (YIKES), please scroll down to catch my design team project for The Town Scrapper and the winner of the Crazy Halloween Challenge!!! * Ok, I'm teaching another Copic Palooza over at the Paper Vineyard! This class will feature the uber-cute Kraftin Kimmie Stamp Lillith for "Girlz Rule"! Check her out! CLASS: Sunday, November 21st @ 2 p.m. COST: $30, price includes materials to make the project INCLUDING the Kraftin Kimmie Lillith stamp to take home with you for future creations! TOOLS TO BRING: your Copic Markers, sharp scissors, adhesive, paper trimmer, pop dots and an attitude! LOL! CONTACT: 480-656-2058 to reserve your spot Below is the original design with little Lillith standing out on the card... well, that was until I found the crown ribbon!!! Suddenly I wanted that to stand out instead... I wonder why? hahahahahaha! Isn't it just great? Have a great one gang!

* This is my second post of the day, please scroll down to see the winner of the Crazy Halloween Challenge! * So, it's November 1st and I just can't seem to let go of the Halloween holiday. It went too fast!!! So for today's Showcase Monday over at The Town Scrapper (click HERE for store information), I featured this monochromatic Halloween Birgitta by C. C. Designs. I love this little witch!!! But while I'm having issues letting go, the other designers over at The Town Scrapper showed some awesome projects, non of which are Halloween themed! hahahahahaha! Check them out: http://adayinthelifetoo.blogspot.com/ http://stamperextraordinaire.blogspot.com/ So along with the "Second Halloween" I proposed yesterday.... what do you all say if we started dressing up in costumes for Thanksgiving? Wouldn't that be a cool new tradition???

CONGRATULATIONS SIMPLYDV9 !!! You are the winner of the Tickled Pink stamp collection! Please contact me at FitterTwit@yahoo.com with your contact information!!! Thank you to everyone who participated! It was so much fun seeing everyone's Crazy Halloween creations!!! Stay tuned, because I've got more blog fun coming up later today! :)