Fun and Mental Changes

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...

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... 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 ...

* 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???

Wow... I gotta be honest, this seems a little soon for me to be doing ANYTHING Christmas. I'm not even through all the uber-fun Halloween stuff yet!!! But I designed a scrapbook layout for today's button challenge over at The Town Scrapper (Ontario, Canada) featuring Victoria Case's Made With Love Lola. Click HERE to view what all the designers made for this challenge and to upload your own button-featuring creation!!! You have until Thursday at 9 p.m. to upload your project. Now for a little shout out! Yesterday I had the pleasure of hanging out with the Betties (plural for Betty)! These women ROCK!!! They are a hoot to be around and are BEYOND HELPFUL!!! Betty Barb was kind enough to help with the finishing touches on my project donating her valuable Zots. "Thank you Betties! Any time you want to help with my projects, I promise, you won't have to twist my arm!!!" And it was a load of fun enjoying the pizza muffins with them. We decided that the best part o...

Today is Showcase Monday over at The Town Scrapper and here's my featured project! I just LOVE this Kraftin Kimmie Charlotte stamp and have used it on MANY occasions, but this one is just cuter than the rest.... and I can't put my finger on it! HA! (that's my little pun for this morning's post! ;) Anyway, head over and check out what the rest of The Town Scrapper's design team has to offer... you won't be sorry.... the showcase today is great! :) Oh... and the title for this post is referring to the lovely ladies who were with me last night while I was coloring this oh-so-adorable Charlotte. You ladies ROCK and I'm so lucky to get to hang out with you! :)

Wow.... so HOW many times can I use this image??? HAHAHAHAHAHA! I can't help it! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this Victoria Case Magical Sophie stamp !!! But, I promise, this is the last time you'll see her this season. I've got WAY too many new and oh-so-cute stamps and goodies coming and I'll have to use ALL of them this Halloween.... you know how it is. So I did this card for The Town Scrapper (which, BTW, is where I got this cute little gem). Today starts the sketch challenge for the week over there. If you'd like to participate, click on the link above. Of all types of challenges, sketch challenges are my favorite. And this particular sketch is super fun just because of all the design elements that are so perfectly placed. Check back in tomorrow... I will be announcing the winner of the October 31st Cricut Cartridge. There's still time to enter, here's THE LINK for the details. Good luck everyone! :)

Today is our Monday Showcase at The Town Scrapper and I decided to use up the paper that I worked with yesterday for my project today. Is it me, or does Martha Stewart ROCK Halloween??? This paper is from this year's Halloween paper pack... love it! Anyway, Phebe at The Town Scrapper (Ontario, Canada) carries The Greeting Farm stamps, among others, and that's what I chose to feature in today's showcase. This is TGF's Ebony. Isn't she perfect? How she can be all smiles in the middle of a graveyard is beyond me.... HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Anyway, if you'd like to get your hands on her, you can reach Phebe at 519-882-0623 or by email at info@townscrapper.com. So while I was making this I discovered that I used up all of my red flowers last Christmas. Funny enough, I didn't have my Copics yet, so normally that would cause a problem. NOT this time! I'm SO diggin those red veiny flowers!!! Copics are the best! Don't forget about the challenge that started yesterda...

Well... I was going to have a REALLY great project to feature today for The Town Scrapper's Showcase Monday, but unfortunately it's stuck in my camera and my computer does not want to recognize it! YIKES! So today we are going to revisit a previous creation that you've all seen here at Fun And Mental Changes featuring the C.C. Designs Coffee Kiki La Rue. She is one of my all-time favorite stamps (seems like I have a lot of those lately) and you can find her at The Town Scrapper (Ontario, Canada), just contact Phebe at info@townscrapper.com . Be sure to check out today's Monday Showcase for more gorgeous projects.... and I'll bet some of them are originals... hahahahahaha! And don't forget about this week's challenge project over at The Town Scrapper... click HERE for the deets! :)

This Copic coloring has become quite an obsession as of late. Actually, even COLLECTING the markers has become an obsession! I know I'm not the first and I certainly am not the last, so in the spirit of sharing, I thought I would include a little color list to truly enable an epidemic for the rest of you..... mwahahahahahahaha! Anyhow, I colored this TOO CUTE Swiss Pixies Ladybug Nora by C.C. Designs for the weekly showcase at The Town Scrapper (Ontario, Canada). She really did turn out great which inspired me to share how I colored her. Now I usually use different color combinations for blonde hair, but after the way she turned out, I think I'm going to start using this new color combo exclusively... I LOVE IT! And speaking of The Town Scrapper, don't forget about the "Stitch" challenge going on this week! Click HERE for challenge info. And here's my final project for today's Monday Showcase over at The Town Scrapper . This layout is a prime example of ...

Ok, now for a little break from our Hannah Montana Cricut cartridge extravaganza! Although, if you'd like to enter to win a BRAND NEW HANNAH MONTANA CRICUT cartridge, head over to the give-away announcement post HERE . So, over at The Town Scrapper, we're having a paper stitching challenge this week. Now you all know that I've been working on my paper stitching, and I've got to say that I think I'm getting better. The image I used for today's sample is Magical Sophie by Victoria Case. She's a big favorite of mine with Halloween right around the corner. EEEEE.... HALLOWEEN IS ALMOST HERE!!! A-hem! Where was I? .... the challenge is for any kind of stitching, faux stitching or real. I've just been working on paper sewing for a little while so ANY opportunity to stitch on paper... I'm all over it! My poor sewing machine doesn't know what fabric is, it's only seen it once! HAHAHAHAHAHA! So let's see what you create! The STITCH Challenge runs ...

The hiatus we were on over at The Town Scrapper is finally OVER!!! Whew! Did we miss you guys!!! Check out the AWESOME creations that our design team made while we were away HERE ! Be sure to participate in our weekly challenge and score your own images from The Town Scrapper by contacting Phebe at info@townscrapper.com or give her a call in Canada at 519-882-0623. The picture above was created by me (blog manager and design team member over at The Town Scrapper) before we all went on hiatus. And while it was featured on The Town Scrapper back in July, I never got a chance to post it to my blog. So here you go! Another Victoria Case stamp that is available at The Town Scrapper. She's called Sophie With Daffodil. Isn't she perfect to adorn these gorgeous flowers. This pic is going to be one I visit again when winter rolls in.... it just makes me feel so warm and fuzzy! hahahahahahahaha! I'm so glad the hiatus is over... I missed you all a ton!

Welp, I've been in the new place two weeks and I've JUST NOW got my craft space put back together.... I actually have a whole room this time... WOO HOO!!! Although I'm not going to lie, I LOVED my craft closet . In fact, I loved it so much, I set up all of my shelving on one wall exactly as it was set up in my closet previously. NICE! And just in the nick of time too! I was achin to "get my craft on". HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! So the gem pictured here is a CC Designs stamp called Coffee Kiki La Rue. I have loved this stamp since it was released and FINALLY got one and I can already tell that it will be getting used A LOT! I also bumped into a great deal at Big Lots and picked up a set of clear flourish stamps... the whole set was $2 and look how beautifully they turned out (top pic; click to enlarge). I also picked up the papers featured here at Big Lots too. The paper ended up being WAY thicker than I expected for the price. The paper is a 24-sheet pack of Pressed Petal...

The card pictured here is the result of a HUGE error! I started this card as a feature for the Stitch Challenge that ended up being cancelled over at The Town Scrapper because of our summer hiatus. But, while attempting to sew some stitches on the dress of this sweet little Sophie With Bear by Victoria Case, I accidentally sewed her legs right off.... good thing the challenge got cancelled... no telling who else could have been hurt! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! When I began this little sewing adventure, I didn't take into account that because the image is so small that the small stitches would actually act as perforations to inevitably sever this poor girls legs completely off. So after about a half an hour of rolling on the floor laughing, I FINALLY pulled myself together enough to figure out how I was going to fix this project. I KNEW I could salvage this; so I nixed stitching her dress (although you can still see SOME of the tiny stitching I did on her bodice) and turned this into a cam...

WOW, WOW, WOW! This little Ebony stamp from The Greeting Farm is SOOOOO up my alley! Really, she colored herself folks since this little chickie looks like me... SUPER easy! HAHAHAHAHAHA! She's bad to the bone, isn't she? Anyway, be sure to head over to The Town Scrapper to check out today's awesomely wonderful Monday Showcase. The design team did a FANTASTIC job! When you get over there, be sure to click on the "Store Info" tab to send Phebe an email asking about the incredible specials that she's running this month... tell her FitterTwit sent you! ;) Happy Monday!! :)

Ok, so this little gem took on a life of its own while I was coloring this cute little Victoria Case stamp called Magical Sophie. Now maybe it was the name of the stamp, or maybe it was the colors that I chose while coloring her, but this card ended up being one of the coolest Halloween cards I've ever made. Now you all know how much I adore Halloween (don't you?), so isn't this image PERFECT for me!?! I had a blast coloring her too! Although I'm decided that I need to find the perfect paper for Copic coloring. I've been using Gina K, but with the amount of ink that I "lay down", I'm finding that the Gina K paper isn't holding all the ink that I use. I'm starting to get some pooling... which you can kind of see on this card here. I was just told about some Xpress-It paper (out of AU) that is supposed to work a lot better, but unfortunately, its not here in the US yet! DANG IT!!! I need to get my hands on some GOOD paper to use with my Copics. T...

There is just something about the Asian culture and it's themes that just soothes my soul. From Feng Shui and Eastern medicinal remedies to the imagery and even the music, there's just something about it that speaks to me. So when I saw this little Geisha Anya from The Greeting Farm stamps, I just HAD to have her. I've colored her a couple of different ways, but the green/purple/red color combination as GOT to be my favorite. And stamps like this can be used to make cards to be given for just about ANY occasion. My next use for this little gem of a stamp is to swap out the flower in her hair for a snowflake and color her all in blue for a "snow geisha"... that one is going to ROCK!!! So a quick shout out to The Town Scrapper: Geisha Anya you see here is featured in today's Showcase Monday (check it out HERE ). And, in the same post, The Town Scrapper is announcing some pretty incredible specials. You'll want to head over and check them out.... not to ment...

Ok, so if you know ANYTHING else about me, you should know that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Kraftin Kimmie Stamps! This upcoming week, The Town Scrapper is giving away the OH-SO-CUTE stamp that Tara Godfrey used in the card that is pictured here; here's how to win: Create a NEW creation using red and white color combination. Write a blog post on your blog featuring your creation. Be sure to mention The Town Scrapper's challenge and post a link back to The Town Scrapper within your blog. Then head back over to The Town Scrapper ( CLICK HERE ) to upload a link back to your blog post using the "Inlinkz" located at the bottom of the Friday Challenge post. It's that easy and you too can be the proud owner of this Kraftin Kimmie image called Emelia! :) Good Luck Everyone!

So, I've owned my sewing machine for better than 10 years, unused. I take that back, I used it once, realized that I wasn't immediately good at it and then stuck it in storage never to think of it again. Prior to getting my sewing machine as a Christmas present I was convinced that I wanted to make my own clothes. I envisioned the pride and joy of shopping for new and trendy patterns and then constructing the perfect outfit to show off to all my jealous friends.... that vision disappeared the minute I plugged in my new sewing machine. I mean COME ON, all of the sales people (INCLUDING that overly perky chick on HSN) said that the machine would basically run itself. LIARS! Not only do you have to run it, but a person could lose a solid inch on the length of a sleeve with a line of stitching that isn't perfectly straight. Enter paper crafting.... the thing that brought my sewing machine out of the deep, dark recesses of my closet after more than 10 years. Sewing on cards did...

This was my first pop out card! I'm so thrilled with how this turned out. I also love that I did a "girly" father's day card! It's not like anything I've seen before and still cool enough to give to Dad. The stamped image is the new Thursday stamp from The Greeting Farm. I used my Hannah Montana Cricut cartridge to cut out the words. The patterned paper for both the inside and outside of the card was from the Rusty Pickle's Pirate Princess... I love those papers! In fact, the flourishes you see on the front of the card (see below) are actually one of the Pirate Princess papers.... that is the beauty of pattered paper! To see even more fun designs, check out The Town Scrapper's Showcase Monday HERE . Happy Monday everyone and I'll see you back here in a little while to announce the winner of my Pink Gunmetal FLASH give away!!!