Here Be Monsters

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: A monster, a panda and a dinosaur walk into a card kit… resulting in one of the cuuuuuuutest Paper Anthology Class-in-a-Kit selections ever: Here Be Monsters!

The monster, panda, dinosaur and sentiments are all from Spellbinders' Monster Birthday collection, but since it's a kit, all of the diecutting, stamping and pattern-combining has already been done; you can jump right to the assembling and sending. Each critter is adorably paper pieced and framed in his or her own little scene, with just the right embellishments, including various sizes of Googley eyes.  

This kit includes everything you need to make all three cards as pictured, just add adhesive! Easy to follow, step-by-step instructions are included, as well as a nice big color photograph to guide placement.

♥♥♥

Also new in our Etsy Shop, Cardmakers' Vintage and Found Paper Assortments; mini collections of curated backgrounds, perfectly sized for A2 cards.

The Here Be Monsters Class in a Kit and Cardmakers' Vintage and Found Paper Assortments are both available now in the Paper Anthology Etsy Shop, Paper Anthology Design; where you'll also find other Class in a Kit selections, Holiday Jumpstart kits and Birthday Jumpstarts, too!

not a creature was stirring

it's time for a brand new theme at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ just in time for halloween we present our very own "creature feature". by which we mean, we're breaking out the CRITTERS. anything from a sweet little sheep next to the manger, to a cardinal in a snowy tree, to one of Santa's reindeer... you get the idea, right?  or, if you're in a silly halloween mood (and you're me, lol!) this would be a really good time to make a MONSTA xmas card:

 

monstas cut from some ancient paperchase giftwrap that alas they no longer make; accessory brads: eyelet outlet; labels: dymo; patterned paper: elle's studio, love elsie/american crafts; glossy black cardstock: paper accents; ink: colorbox; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape

this thing is a monster in every sense. it measures 5 x 8" and thanks to the plethora of brads and skinny mats it's pretty heavy too. but it's fairly flat, so i can mail it as a card rather than a first class parcel, so that's something, right? and in actual fact, i rarely worry about cards being too thick or fragile to mail. there will always be room in the gift packages i mail and the gift bags i give out in real life, so the lumpy bumpys will find a happy home!

can't resist a few close-ups of the monstas' awesome accessories, all of which, of course, are eyelet outlet brads. i managed to work in a few styles, including santa hats, elf hats, mittens, antlers, holly and a candy cane, woohoo!

it's "anything goes" at the simon says stamp wednesday challenge blog, so i'm linking up with those fine folks. meanwhile, stephanie has an awesome christmas critter card to show off as well. why not hop over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and check that out, darlings?!

♥happy halloween♥

halloween falling on a monday is kind of a mixed blessing, isn't it? because on the one hand... it's MONDAY. but on the other hand: CANDY!!!!!!!!!!!! ♥♥♥

i confess that in the past, i have not always made halloween cards, but this year, i'm making up for lost time! so when the lovely and talented amy tsuruta sent me a link to a fab challenge featuring monsters i couldn't resist making just one more halloween card. the only catch was, it's a challenge at addicted to CAS. and we all know that whereas i *LOVE* to see cards with a CAS aesthetic, i am pretty hopeless at making such cards. but i was determined to have a go:

patterned paper: KI memories, from the paleolithic era; large chipboard letters: basic grey; small chipboard letters: american crafts; monster brads, spider brads and purple washi: eyelet outlet; glossy black cardstock: ranger; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape

luckily i still had some eyelet outlet monster brads left, which is a considerable advantage in any crafty pursuit; as are mini spider brads and ancient KI memories orange paper. obviously. and yes, i'm still totally addicted to oversized sentiments rendered in chipboard at the moment, so i'm just going with it. arguably, my card could be more CAS... but for me this is downright minimalist (!!!) so again, i'm just going to call it done and be somewhat pleased with my effort.

if you would like to see some cards by people who reallllllly know how to pare down a design to its perfect essentials, be sure to check out addicted to CAS, codeword: monster!

peace on earth, gimme presents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

we're featuring animals and other creatures at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ this fortnight, which means that YES, everybody's favorite monstas* are back!!!

monstas cut from an ancient and now sadly discontinued paperchase "mini mutant" giftwrap; patterned paper: elle's studio, lawn fawn, echo park; label: dymo; tiny santa hat sticker: recollections; white kromekote cardstock: the paper cut; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape, sewing machine

yep, a whole gang of my favorite intergalactic hooligans** have dropped in to help us get ready for a big holiday celebration. fortunately one of the first things they discovered on this planet was the sketch saturday blog, so they knew exactly how to arrange themselves for maximum photogenic benefit. 

miss stephanie also has a gorgeous card to show you. why not hop over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ right now?

*just in case you have NO IDEA what i'm talking about: in autumn 2008 i bought i roll of paperchase giftwrap with these uber-cute alien/monsta creatures on it, and for some reason, i decided i should use one of them on a holiday card. and thus a (surprisingly popular) tradition was born.  

**the lads would like me to assure santa, if he's reading this, that they now understand that reindeer are our friends, and NOT, under any circumstances, a tasty snack. also, they are sorry about the damage to the sleigh. it won't happen again. (some of those chimbleys come up REALLY FAST tho, it must be said.) 

i love you a latte, amy tsuruta!

i enjoy coffee quite a bit, too; and we all know that making cards is my favorite thing, so it's a bit of a puzzle that this is the first time in a couple of years i've gotten my act together to make a card which celebrates all of those things, but at last i've made something for the 2016 fall coffee lovers' blog hop, woohoo!

i'm hoping this is autumnal enough for the seasonal hop... i went with a sort of loose back-to-school theme is somewhat fall(ish) colors, at least partially so i could add the gorgeous eyelet outlet book washi tape which i absolutely love. the fab new coffee cup and coffee bead brads are eyelet outlet, as well, and so is the skinny hearts washi. i've also got a dictionary page with COFFEE actually on it, that i consider a bit of a triumph, lol! and a couple of the tiny sunflowers from a bouquet my aunt found at a garage sale.

vintage dictionary page + sunflowers from my stash; coffee brads and washi tapes: eyelet outlet; cardstock diecuts: october afternoon; patterned paper: american crafts, october afternoon, with scraps of basic grey and doodlebug for paper piecing; pink twine: lawn fawn; ink: ranger archival for stamping, colorbox chalk for edges; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, 3m foam tape

i'm jumping in on the current retro rubber challenge (#48), "all tied up" and for once i know EXACTLY how old my stamps are! mick and keef, the two adorable monstas, were carved for me by my girl gina for a monsta swap we did in 2009 (!!!); the coffee sentiment stamp is from the first set of stamps my friend becca cruger designed for stamplorations (in sept 2015), it's called "literary caffeine-ations" and is still available from that fine company! :)

be sure to check out the fall coffee lovers' blog hop, say "hey" the lovely miss amy and soak up the glorious inspiration in the readers' gallery. oh, did i mention there's a chance at some amazing prizes?! you know, if you like that sorta thing... 

Monster Movie Night!

It's my day on the Eyelet Outlet Blog again, and I'm taking my recently acquired an envelope maker for a spin. The gift-card size is especially cool, because you can make a card and envelope that not only MATCH, but coordinate with the theme of the gift card; which, in this case, is for a movie theater. And who better to act as spokesmodels for movie night than our very own Eyelet Outlet Monster Brads! (Please note: the only thing scary about these guys is how cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute they are; but they think they're terrifying, so be a sport and go along with it for the length of the post, ok? Thanks.)

Double-sided paper is great for envelopes, but in this case, the reverse was plain, so I "lined" the inside of the envelope with Admit One Ticket Washi, which I applied before constructing the envelope. (If you don't have an envelope maker, this website has FREE templates for many different sizes, including giftcard.)

I wrapped another strip around the outside to give two of the adorable... (ahem!) ...I mean ferocious monsters a place to stand. Movie actors need dialog, obviously, for which I used my vintage typewriter; and they're STARS, so I diecut a few from plain cardstock with Glitter Black Washi.

These guys are *ALWAYS* ready for a closeup, lol!

The card coordinates with the envelope, naturally, but also features a few strips of Road Washi Tape, as well as some Popcorn and Ticket Brads.

I find the Purple Monsters are especially adorable... errrrrrr, I mean fierce! 

And very frightening! ♥

I hope you'll be inspired to make your own envelopes, or to decorate pre-made versions with super-fun Eyelet Outlet goodies!

eeeeeeeek! it's my first *OFFICIAL* eyelet outlet project!

so obviously, i'm pretty excited!!! also, i think i MAY just have set a record for using the most different kinds of eyelet outlet shaped brads in one project, woohoo! but then, there are sooooooo many uber-cute sets, it's kind of impossible to just choose one. here's a little peek at my project:

want to see more? hop on over to the eyelet outlet blog, where i'm today's hostess. be sure to scroll around a bit once you're there, though, because the design team is pretty flippin' awesome, if i do say so myself! (which, apparently, i do, lol!) 

meanwhile, i hope you'll take the advice of my two favorite spokesmonstas and, "keep smiling" throughout the rest of your day!

♥♥♥

craving any of the fun brads used in this project? 
click any link to hop on over to the eyelet outlet website, 
where there are even more cool choices!

Super Hero Saying Brads

Monster Brads

Black Dog Brads

Easter Bubble Brads

Selfie/Phone Brads

Chicken Brads

Brown/White Egg Brads

Popcorn/Ticket Brads

Brown Teddy Bear Brads

Cupcake Brads

Spring Bubble Brads

Mixed Round Eyelets

ps: the light bulb icon is hand-drawn, but it was inspired by 

these adorable Light Bulb Brads which i predict you'll love as much as i do! 
♥

outta this world

another stunningly fab title and assignment from shopping our stash this week. the challenge? make a project that is "outta this world" by which we mean, it has an alien on it! what qualifies as an alien? well, anything driving a rocket or spacecraft, i suppose; any characters from scifi telly or movies; most types of monsta ...and david bowie, obviously. not into the idea? ok, then, howsabout something more celestial: sun, moon, stars, planets... ok c'mon there has to be *something* in this paragraph that sounds good to you! i s'pose it goes without saying i went with a space/monsta/alien type dude.

alien based on this pattern by cathy blackstone; texty stars and grungy circle stamps: dina wakley/ranger; star stencil: carabella designs; yellow ink: ranger archival; blue ink: ken oliver's colorburst (in a few colors) + ranger distress inks; pleather, foam (both recolored) and fabric thickers: american crafts; patterned paper: basic grey + a scrap of vintage ledger; long lost googley eyes + tiny yellow gems: michaels; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape, gluedots, sewing machine; watercolor paper: strathmore

does it surprise you that despite having loads of awesome pre-made monstas, including carved stamps by my friend gina and digistamps by my friend jess, i paper-pieced a completely new guy based on something i saw on pinterest?! yeah, me too! it was partially because --after a prolonged and increasingly aggravated search-- i found my container of googley eyes, some of which are quite large. also, i had an idea for a background that was pretty inky and detailed, so i needed a plain-but-substantial alien to inhabit it. and finally, i confess that i pretty much built the whole idea around the sentiment, which i pictured in several different styles of thickers; so again... it needed to be a pretty big card. it's a pretty busy card, too, but i really like it!

there's more outta this world goodness over at SOS... well, there always is, but it's slightly more literal this week, lol! off you go, darlings! ♥

it's not officially xmas card season...

...until you've made the first MONSTA CARD!!!

patterned paper (mostly scraps): american crafts, love elsie, doodlebug, cosmo cricket, my mind's eye, creative imaginations, sei; monsta from paperchase giftwrap backed with a scrap of cardstock and fussy cut; white glossy cardstock: ranger; cloud punches: fiskars; pens: faber castell pitt superfine and extra superfine; ink: colorbox; adhesives: elmers brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine

ok, *now* it's officially xmas card season! it's also time for a brand new prompt at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ and this fortnight it's "not a CREATURE was stirring" for which we'd like to see any type of non-human being in a holiday context. some examples? reindeer, robins, the grinch, penguins, elves, the christmas bunny, polar bears, moose, snow people, yeti, flamingoes... ok, you get the idea, right? surprisingly (or NOT!) i chose a monsta, and in honor of the mindblowingly AMAZING turnout for pink christmas 2014* the color choice was pretty obvious, too! :)

i used sweet sunday sketch #241 to guide my layout, in what is admittedly a bit of a loosey-goosey way (or perhaps "laureny" is the better adjective, lol?) but it's a fine sketch indeed and can easily withstand my hijinks!

my favorite xmas monstas are still the ones from my original roll of paperchase giftwrap and they're admittedly on the dinky side. one of my favorite ways to bring a bunch of small elements together is to make them into a little scene inside a faux polaroid. i save the offcuts of photo paper and glossy white cardstock just for this purpose. you can make them ANY size, of course, but most of mine are pretty close to the actual size of  the actual polaroid photos from my (1960's and 70's) childhood.

and now why not check out miss stephanie's awesome "creature feature" card and start planning your own bid for holiday card domination at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥!

*thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who linked up gorgeous pink cards, told their friends, and generally made this the ♥ BEST ♥ YEAR ♥ EVER ♥ for pink xmas!!! you guys raised more than $500 for the susan g. komen foundation and we could not possibly be more proud or more grateful!!! ♥♥♥

it's beginning to look at lot like...

*MONSTAS*!!! 

which means it must be the last week of october at *JINGLE BELLES* and we're asking for holiday cards which feature a creature. obviously most people will also think, "MONSTAS!!!" like i do; but if you're not quite as traditional, you can go out on a limb with santa, elves, reindeer, polar bears, penguins, cardinals or... well... any living creature you prefer.

(monsta: paperchase giftwrap; patterned paper: love elsie, my mind's eye, susan branch, doodlebug, echo park; glitter white cardstock; dcwv; glossy black cardstock: ranger; tape: martha stewart; labels: dymo; ink: colorbox; pen: sharpie;adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, scotch doublestick tape)

i have five or six favorite monsta jokes, and it's become a point of pride that i find a new way to imagine them each year. i'm pretty happy with this rendition, which is based on the current fetch a sketch, #61:

if you think this card is a little too silly, why not hop over to *JINGLE BELLES* where stephanie has created an awesome card that features the much more traditonal christmas sloth! (yes, i'm totally serious!) (and YES, you really have to see it for yourself!!!) :) :) :)

monsta monday?

turns out, my bff's birthday at the beginning of august was just the spur i needed to turn a large ziploc baggie full of colorful little crocheted bits into not one... not two... but *THREE* awesome amigurumi creations!* so i figure i will string them out over the next couple of weeks, just to add a little variety to the ol' blogstead. ready? ok then... meet tsai:

hellllllllooooo ladies! i am tsai. yes, yes, i know you find me irresistible; afterall, you're only human... or... whatever. in turn i deeply admire you, particularly your excellent taste! 

tsai hails from the land of crochet bakemono, which technically makes him a monster, but he prefers the term "love god". he's made of yarn, felt, and pheromones. tsai's hobbies include being chased by legions of adoring ladies, being caught by legions of adoring ladies, and the films of antonio banderas; who, by the way, has modeled his entire career on tsai. luckily for antonio, tsai's a lover... not a fighter. grrrrrrrrr. ;)

*what can i say? i like the crocheting part a lot more than the sewing-all-the-bits-together part of amigurumi. sad but true; i'm a finish-o-phobic. :0

monstas... they're not JUST for xmas anymore! :)

i know, i know, i'm THE ONLY PERSON in the world who thinks that monstas and christmas go together. well, ok, tim burton does, too. but he tends to make more movies than cards. i make cards, and as you know, i especially like making 'em for the shopping our stash challenge. this week, the brief is to make a funny, sassy, snarky, or in some way LOL-worthy card. for someone who spends as much time being silly as i do, my humorous card repertoire is sadly lacking. i only have about three card jokes, and i rotate them seasonally whilst trying to devise different ways to make them visual. i should think up some new material, but at the moment i am knee-deep in lawyers, real estate agents, and mortgage guys. so not only did i re-use a joke, i re-used a whole entire design, and i am PROUD of the fact! it saved me (non-existent) time AND i think i made this one different enough to be unique. but you tell me:

(monstas cut from (sadly retired) paperchase giftwrap; patterned paper: sassafras, basic grey; foam thickers: american crafts; labels: dymo; ink: colorbox; adhesives: scotch brand gluestick; 3m foam tape; plus one magnetic closure--so that the cupcake stays together-- by basic grey)

the "original" card was made with some gorgeous EAD stickers, last year, for my honorary nephew carlos. this one is for my young neighbor, john. (only the monstas have been changed, to protect the innocent, as jack webb so cleverly never said!) in any case, i always think kids like stuff to be interactive, so i made sure the inside was fun, too:

but wait, there's an inside INSIDE the inside, as well!!! :)

yeah. ok. this may only be funny to me and a six-year-old. and hopefully his mom. but maybe you, too?  in the meantime, why not hop over to SOS where i am POSITIVE that my fellow DT members will make you, in the words of mr. monk, "LOL... out loud!!!" :) :) :)

it's beginning to look a lot like ♥MONSTAS♥!

which, for me, means that it's really starting to feel like the build up to the official holiday card-making season has begun. ok, yeah, granted, i've been making my christmas cards all year long over at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ but this is the first official monsta card of 2012-- made in honor of our "creature feature" prompt that will run for the next fortnight-- so it's quite a special day! for the record, YOU do not have to make a card with a monsta on it! in fact, ANY living creature will qualify, from reindeer to elves to penguins to angels to moose to... well, heck, i s'pose you could even put PEOPLE on there, in a pinch!

but i like monstas. i might have mentioned that before. maybe even a few times. like, for instance, here and here and even waaaaaaaay back here! :)

(monsta cut from a roll of (sadly discontinued) "mini mutant" giftwrap by paperchase; vintage: ledger paper; patterned paper: echo park, love elsie, basic grey, dcwv, bo bunny; glossy black cardstock: ranger; pearls: kaiser; labels: dymo; santa hat: recollections; ink: colorbox; pen: copic multiliner; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine; other: typewriter)

ok, yeah, there's A LOT of color and pattern goin' on here; and, i mean, it's a lot even for ME, which is already a lot, isn't it?! but what can i say? monstas enjoy a lively environment! actually, if you place a monsta in a dull environment, they will immediately want to liven it up, in quite spectacular ways, so really you're better off not fighting it. they also enjoy a tasty christmas tree from time to time, although apparently, the trouble with evergreens being so... ummmmm... GREEN, is that it makes it harder to tell which ones are ripe. occupational hazard.

i'm quite proudly linkin' this little dude up at 52-card-pickup; (hi, patrice!) and i've used this week's rather fab  merry monday sketch, which is #37 and looks a bit like this. actually, it looks EXACTLY like this. go figure:

i hope you'll hop over to ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ to see stephanie's card and link up your own "creature feature" between now and halloween, because i cannot wait to see what you will make! ♥

yet another reason to ♥LOVE♥ february!

because-- having been lucky enough to win the EAD Designs awesome january color challenge*-- not only did i get to GO WILD in the EAD shop, but also, for the entire month, i get to play along with their amazingly talented design team.  see?

so i will be showing a fabulous project each monday as part of the weekly EAD Designs Blog Hop! can i get a ♥WOOHOO♥!!? here's the order of the hop, in which you'll definitely want to participate, since there is a LOVELY PRIZE for one lucky commenter each week!!!

• EAD Designs Blog
• February Guest Designer Lauren B (that's *ME*!)
• Amy T
• Candace
• Jenn
• Jessica
• Judith
• Julie Ranae
• Lauren
• Liz
• Rose 
• Shellye

and now here is my card:

i always think it's a good policy to start any new assignment with a MONSTA CARD! especially when you've got ones as cute as these MONSTER BIRTHDAY stickerz:

just for the record, no, i didn't use the entire sheet of monstas on the front of this card. that would be silly; of course i saved a couple... to put on the INSIDE... and the envelope!!!  :) (in my defense the only other items i used on this 6x6" shaped card are DCWV and kaiser papers, plus my dymo labeller!)

here's something to remember as you hop around and see the DT's gorgeous work... if you find yourself craving a few EAD Designs of your own:

yep--you get free shipping on ALL stickerz and ALL rub-ons... no matter HOW MANY you buy! which is excellent, since there are soooooooooo many fabulous ones, it's VERY hard to choose!!!!

feeling enabled yet???!!?! awesome! then i think my work here is through! now hop on over now and see what the delightful amy t has whipped up for us... because you know it will be worth the trip!!! ♥

*the awesome FEBRUARY color challenge starts thursday, so c'mon back, see my card, and find out how *YOU* can get a shot at the prize this time!!!  :)

go wild on your birthday!

one of the things i tried to do with my pixie kits last year is prove how very flexible they actually are by making a cool "guy card" each month. i think that's a goal well worth continuing in the new year--plus it just so happens i know a lot of fellas who were born in january, lol--thus here is my entry for the LOVE NOTES kit:

the monsta image-- which i've paper-pieced using prints from the kit-- is from a (sadly out of print) set of digi-stamps by jesse edwards called "monstrous". there are more photos on the pixie blog, and details about all the cool stuff in the kit, like the awesome pink paislee wooden alphabet, and the fabulous crate paper "random" chipboard elements i've used, to name just two. GO WILD... and check it out! ♥

birthday cake inspector...

...here on official bizness!

aka my latest "monstapiece" of a birthday card:

("monstrous" digi-stamp by jesse edwards; patterned paper: creative imaginations, my mind's eye, ki, sei; fabric paper: love elsie; black glossy cardstock: ranger; dimensional cupcake sticker: mambi; labels: dymo; ink: stewart superior; white poster paint pen: sharpie; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape; other: staples brand clear inkjet labels--for paper piecing the monsta!)

usually the sentiment/joke is what inspires a monsta card, and this was no exception. monstas realllllllllllllllllly like birthday cake, and are always striving to think up new & plausible ways of gaining access. i can relate, actually; this may be why we get along so well! :)

however, my favorite part of this thing is the torn paper window through which the "inspector" is making his entrance. in retrospect, i'm not completely in love with the zebra paper here. but as you know, i'm never averse to doing more than one version of the same card-- (especially on "guy cards" since they're so much harder, imo!) --so i know i'll get another shot, and i'll show it to you when it's finished! ♥

JB44: not a CREATURE was stirring

i have a confession to make: this week's JINGLE BELLES prompt is one for which i've been waiting all year long! yep, in honor of halloween, we've got a CREATURE FEATURE for you! what we mean is that your card should have a living "creature" of some sort on it: an animal, a bird, a rodent, or whatever takes your fancy.

but to me, of course, there is only ONE WAY to go with this:

MONSTA CARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(a little backstory for those who've only met me through jingle belles: a couple of years ago i bought a roll of paperchase giftwrap in the (now sadly discontinued) "mini mutant" pattern, and for reasons that now elude me, decided the little aliens would be PERFECT for christmas cards! since then i've set a number of different monstas in all kinds of holiday situations: essplainin' to santa... proclaiming pride in their distinctive hue... trying to blend in with the holiday decor... and so forth; i nearly always do the sentiment/joke in dymo labels, i often work in some classic "love elsie" paper. i love ALL of the monstas equally, of course, but if you really pushed me to pick an all-time favorite, the little green guy featured below miiiiiiiight be my favorite!)

here, now, with great excitement and pride i present to you the first xmas MONSTA CARD of 2011:

(monsta cut from paperchase "mini mutant" giftwrap; patterned paper: love elsie, sei, prima, dcwv, old ledger paper; black glossy cardstock: ranger; border sticker: fancy pants; gems: recollections; label: dymo; inks: colorbox; adhesives: uhu gluestick, tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape)

and now i cannot wait to see what *YOU* will do this week! remember, you don't HAVE TO make your creature a monsta-- (though of course you can if you like!!!) --more traditional xmas fare such as reindeer, polar bears, elves, snowpersons, penguins and the like shall be deemed perfectly acceptable as well! :) head on over to JINGLE BELLES for all the details and to link up your fabulous CREATURE creation!!! ♥

SOS16: birds or bugs or beasts (no people)

hello, all! it's tuesday and time for another fabulous challenge at shopping our stash! this week miss carla has asked us to take a walk on the wild side, in a way that's completely inhuman!

well, sorta... :)

ok, ok, what she actually SAID was,

"For this challenge we want to see your birds, bugs or beasts (animals, critters, insects, creepy crawlies, fishes, monsters, etc. Just no people!"

i had intended to use vintage bird images for this one, but whilst re-reading the brief at the very last minute, suddenly the word "monsters" caught my eye and i went off in a COMPLETELY different direction! these cute digis are called "monstrous stamps" by jesse edwards altho i can not currently find them on her website; perhaps they're no longer in print? (sorry!)

i printed them on clear labels; did some old school paper piecing (using only SCRAPS!); and popped them into the ready-made carnival "landscape" on this paper by ta-da creative studios.

(monsta digis (out of print?) by jesse edwards, the green pineapple; patterned paper: ta-da creative studios; sei, basic grey, creative imaginations; white pen: sharpie poster paint; ink: colorbox; font: cry kitty; other: staples brand full page clear inkjet labels, ek success corner rounder)

the result is sort of an odd shape, as well as being quite over the top for a birthday card, but then nephew matthew is going to turn *FOUR* in a couple of weeks, an occasion which obviously needs some seriously crazy celebrating, right?!

pop over to the SOS blog when you get a chance, i guarantee the DT's cards are well worth the trip, plus you can get all the details of where to post your very own card for challenge 16: birds or bugs or beasts (no people)! ♥

speaking of monstas...

...not that we were...but if we had been speaking of monstas, here is one who'd definitely like to have been included in our conversation! :)

this was one of those times when the supplies did so much of the work that it practically felt like cheating: i cut out the monsta...i placed the cupcake sticker on the chipboard speech bubble... (a BRILLIANT idea i stole from this set of mindy teresawa digital stickers!) ... and i trimmed this piece of sassafras paper to fit:

...and that was 99% of the card, really. ok, yeah, i hand-cut some rows of scallops, and ran my sewing machine around all those cool funky clouds, but really just to make it look like i put a little work into this thing. can't let those monstas have *ALL* the fun, now can we?! :)


(~materials~ monsta cut from paperchase giftwrap; sassafras thought bubble and patterned paper + scraps of love elsie, prima, and vintage sheet music; paperchase cupcake sticker; dymo labels; ranger glossy black cardstock; 3m foam tape, tombow monorunner, sewing machine)

tomorrow's post, tonight...

...because i am not exactly sure what the deadline for cardabilities #8 is...and the sketch is a corker, see?

so i wanted to be sure to get my card in under the deadline!

(monstas cut from paperchase giftwrap; patterned paper: dcwv, sassafras, christina cole, basic grey; journaling card adrienne looman for prima; acryllic stars: heidi swapp; velvet rick-rack: basic grey; ink: stewart superior; labels: dymo; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

i've done round cards before, and i've done groups of monstas before; i've even done this sentiment before...but somehow, putting them all together (via said fab sketch!) makes all three concepts look new... and kinda cool! dontcha just ♥love it♥ when that happens?!