Happy birthday card from Card Kitchen kit

Here's another sweet card made quickly and easily using the Jillibean Soup "Card Kitchen" kit for July. 

I do like changing the pattern up just a bit, and this one's no exception. I had an odd experience with one of my markers -- the one doing the faux stitching on the word HAPPY -- I thought it was permanent, but it bubbled up. What a mess! So I covered it with Glossy Accents ..and it ran into a fun, one-of-a-kind look. It was sort of a happy accident, don't you think?

 
DeFiaNtLy DiFfeReNt & CreAtiVeLy Yours,

Still time to follow PCI for a chance at a gift card!

For those of you playing along on Paper Craft Island, the winner of the first Immunity Challenge has been announced by the Island's "Jeff Probst," Kimi ... It was close (14-13!), but the winner is:

The Reward Challenge is still open, and you can enter and win too!  For the Reward Challenge, scroll a few posts down to see that Kimi is asking all of PCI's followers to refer friends to come watch and vote on projects. For the follower who refers the most crafters who then follow PCI and comment with their referral source, there's a sweet prize pack.

For you, if you have not yet followed PCI, please travel on over to Paper Craft Island (www.papercraftisland.blogspot.com), follow and leave a comment to say that Ellen-CardMonkey has sent you.  I'm currently in the lead to win the prize pack!  Woot!!  But, leads are tenuous!!  I have an extra incentive: if you follow PCI and tell them *I* sent you, I'll enter you in a drawing for a $25 Michael's gift card.  

The referral contest is open through July 25, 2012 ... and YOUR chance at a $25 Michael's gift card is good, whether or not I win the Most Referrals Prize. My winner will be announced July 26.

...and thank you to all who have already followed PCI and left my name as the referral source!!  xoxoxo

DeFiaNtLy DiFfeReNt & CreAtiVeLy Yours,

PKS Challenge: Herd You Was Mooo-vin'?

I have several friends who find themselves relocating now and in the months ahead. I'm not exactly sure who will get this card, or whether I'll be making more of them (in bulk!). Here is a card I made using the sketch provided in this month's Peachy Keen Challenge Blog (sketch shown at right):



Supplies used:
Peachy Keen Sketch - July 2012 Challenge
Peachy Keen Stamps SV-901 Hillbilly Holler Set 2 by Steve Yarbrough
Paper: Simple Stories Summer Fresh
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Die cut: Spellbinders Shapeabilities Pendants Eyelets (large)
Markers: Copic
Embellishments: Close to My Heart Liquid Glass; ribbon by Michaels; pearls, beads and googly eyes from stash

DeFiaNtLy DiFfeReNt & CreAtiVeLy Yours,

CardMonkey's Summertime Picnic

I couldn't resist showing you a recent picture
 from my family's summertime picnic:

We hope you're enjoying your summer, too!

Let's all FOLLOW "Paper Craft Island"

Oh, how fun -- summer entertainment just for us crafters!! 

First, out here in blogland, why not follow and participate in the super-fun creation called "Paper Craft Island". This adventure has landed a dozen daring crafters on an imaginary island where they will compete a'la the television show "Survivor" with immunity paper craft challenges and weekly challenges that will have US, the followers, voting whose torch to snuff out every-other week.

At the end of the first "Season", the last lucky crafter standing (or sitting at his/her craft table) will win a boatload of donated prizes. For real! 

To beef up the number of voters (e.g., followers) on Paper Craft Island, the game hostess Kimi has enlisted the support of her Mom Pamela, renowned crafter "LoveBug", who has donated a fabulous prize package to the blogger who can drive the most number of followers to the PCI website.

Will you help me win the top recruiter prize?  Please go to Paper Craft Island, "follow", and in your comment, tell them that Ellen - CardMonkey sent you.  I'd be honored if you did.  Oh, and then when you're a follower, you can also drum up PCI followers on your blog or other social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)  and ask them to follow Paper Craft Island using your name ... and perhaps YOU will get to win the prize!

Oooh, I just thought of something ... if YOU become a PCI follower and mention ME as your recruiter, I'll put YOUR name in a hat to win a gift from CardMonkey!!  I'll make this easy -- it will be a $25 gift card to Michael's!  And I don't even have to win the PCI Recruiter prize for YOU to have a chance at winning for mentioning me over on PCI!

Make sense!? 

Okay, now while I've mentioned Michael's let me dive in and mention the other fun summer entertainment ...this one on TV ... for us crafters: "Craft Wars."


Craft Wars airs Tuesdays on TLC (note: new time starts this week: 8pm Eastern/7pm Central). The show is produced in partnership with Michael's; each show pits three crafters against each other and the clock to make theme-based crafts in the hope of winning that week's $10,000 prize.

School house made by Cheryl on Craft Wars, Episode 2

It's a bit camp ... and I still don't get why crafters insist on covering everything in felt and glitter ... and I'm not a Tori Spelling fan ... but what else is there to watch on TV that's aimed at those armed with hot glue guns?

Do you watch it?  Would you join the cast if you could?  I'd join the cast of Paper Craft Island if it wasn't an imaginary island ... I'd love the real thing!  How fun would it be to be marooned on a tropical island with your crafting buddies, I guess as long as we had electricity, bathrooms, bedrooms, the Internet, food and drink. :)

Don't forget:  Head over to Paper Craft Island (click HERE for a link!), follow there and leave a comment saying that I sent you!  By following, you'll get to be one of the voters who pick that week's winner, and whose torch gets snuffed. It should be a fun adventure!  I'll watch over on the PCI blog to see who mentions ELLEN-CardMonkey as her referrer, and will randomly select one winner of MY $25 Michael's gift card. 
DeFiaNtLy DiFfeReNt & CreAtiVeLy Yours,

Wood Shop meets Craft Room

Are you handy in a wood shop, or do you have a hubby or friend who is?  Here are two wood shop items that can make your craft room play a bit more organized.

On the left is an ATG gun holder. It keeps the sticky surface of the tape off of the craft table and bits of paper or glitter that can gunk-up the tape. The cut out for the handle keeps the gun at ready-to-grab position. On the right, is a holder for my hot glue gun and glue sticks. This keeps the inevitable drips contained to a wipe-off tile, and keeps your glue gun safe from your elbow (OUCH ... trust me, that's from experience).

Now true confessions: I purchased both of these off eBay -- it's just easier for me that way because hubby hung up his tools a long time ago, and I ... well, I don't trust myself around fast-moving saw blades. I really like having 10 fingers! 

... especially since I currently only have one leg to stand on. 

Those who've been following know I've been in a cast for the past 6 weeks on my left leg. It was in a hard cast for half of that time, and now is in a "soft cast" that I can remove to shower (YAY!!) and go to therapy (okay!). And to ITCH. I posted a bit ago about my desire to bling the cast. Since the boot seems that it's going to be with me a while longer -- maybe months -- I decided to bling it up. Here it is:

Simple, classy ... and repairable when pearls drop off.  Maybe I'll color the pearls!

DeFiaNtLy DiFfeReNt & CreAtiVeLy Yours,

3-Timed and Swapped too ...

I'm on a roll in working with the stamped images I received in my Facebook swap. I hope I don't bore you with these ... I received 12 images, each from a different person. While I've colored them all, I may just keep some ready to use.

Here is another swapped stamp ... the cute frog came to me from fellow FB member Molly Erin Burkett. (Thanks, Molly!)  I used the "triple time technique" in stacking the stamped images on mat. The top layer is put on an Action Wobble, since the froggie needs to be hopping.

Other supplies used:
Mat papers by Bazzill
Fern, bee, and butterfly stamps by Stampin' Up
Gelly Roll Pens by Sakura
Colored pencil (pink) by Prisma
Green pens by Copic (for frog)
Butterfly embellishment from stash
Sentiment computer-generated



DeFiaNtLy DiFfeReNt & CreAtiVeLy Yours,