Sing, Sing a Song @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Brenda's turn to choose the challenge and she's telling us to "Sing, Sing a Song" which means that she wants to see projects inspired by our favourite song.

Well, dang. I must say this was a bit of a poser for me. I love music. That is to say I love listening to music. I am not musically inclined in the slightest. Long has this graphic graced my About Me Pinterest page...

I'm also a bit picky about my music.  I actually vet songs before I'll add them to one of my Spotify lists....."How much do I like this song, do I love it?  Will I love it in two weeks?  Is it really worthy of being added to my Playlist?  Hmmmm...."  Kinda crazy, I know, but there it is.

So when Brenda asked us to make a project based on our favourite song....well....I was all like, which favourite?  See, I've got my Favourite Right Now song, Blood In the Cut by K. Flay (....and my 12 year old daughter has also decided she really likes this song and delights in putting it on and turning it up - loud.  Which, doesn't sound like a big deal unless you know the song, and know the first two lines of the song...The boy I love's got another girl/He might be f*@king her right now.  When it would come up in rotation when we were together I used to have a very timely coughing fit at the beginning on the song but I was distracted once and forgot....and the rest is history.  *sigh*)  Got my favourite older song, Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks; favourite rap song, No Sleep Till Brooklyn by The Beastie Boys; my favourite covers, The Sound of Silence by Disturbed or anything by that group of musical geniuses, Walk Off the Earth.

And I've also got favourites for certain situations.  My favourite for listening with my daughter in the van (especially on the way to a ball game), Me Too by Meghan Trainor; favourite to listen to to annoy my middlest, No by Meghan Trainor (and it's his level of annoyance, and the fact that the first notes of this song can make him roll his eyes so hard that I think he ends up looking at his own brain, that makes this a very listened to song around here); favourite off my oldest's Playlist that I always make him put on if we're riding together, Truck Got Stuck by Corb Lund; favourite to hear when I'm walking the dog coz that beat is just perfect, Fireproof by Coleman Hell (though I have to be careful when it comes on as it just wouldn't do to have stains of me singing Did you know, you and me/Must be fireproof with all these flames between our sheets travel on the wind and reach the ears of our Mennonite neighbours as I'm sure they'd be no more farm-fresh eggs available for us to buy ever again); favourite to sing at the top of my lungs, Walking in Memphis by Marc Cohn......which reminds me that I've gotta mention, Leonard Cohen, who was maybe not a stellar singer, but the songs he wrote, just the beauty of his combination of words.....is completely brilliant.   

So, as you can see, I was a bit flummoxed.  (And yes, definitely overthinking it.)  I hummed and hawed a bit....then I thought - "Oh!  How 'bout a Christmas song!"....and then it kinda started all over again.  Let's see....there's Jack Johnson, Barenaked Ladies, Straight No Chaser and Lydia Liza & Josiah Lemanski's altered versions of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Jingle Bells, The 12 Days of Christmas and Baby It's Cold Outside (respectively) that are so very clever; I Won't Be Home For Christmas by blink-182 that makes me snicker; Children Go Where I Send Thee by Mary Chapin Carpenter; Twisted Sister singing Oh Come All Ye Faithful in basically the same way as We're Not Gonna Take It and the Christmas version of Hallelujah by a woman who used to be on my ball team that will give you chills.  (If only she could have played ball as well as she could sing, poor thing.  To be fair, I can sing just about as well as she could play ball.)  All favourites of mine too.

That's a whole lot of explaining just to tell you that, in the end, I decided to go with this favourite....Have a Holly Jolly Christmas.  I mean, it's such a fun, happy song.  Such an innocent and pure song, certainly from a time where a singer wouldn't even dream of singing words that would make a mom panic slightly when driving a group of girls to a ball game and hearing her daughter say, "You've got to hear this song I really like."

And here's my card.....

 
Digi is from Melonheadz Illustrating.  Nikki obviously wanted to be inclusive, going with holiday instead of Christmas, and that is a-okay with me.

Well, that was a long post, wasn't it?  If you stuck with it this far, give yourself a pat on the back.  And when you've done that why not get inspired by your favourite song(s) and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up? And, while you're there, be sure to check out the wonderful projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

ABC Christmas:  N is for new & O is for old - old papers & digi, new stitched die and metal snowflakes
Addicted to Stamps:  make your mark
Christmas at Sweet Stampin':  anything Christmas goes
Pink Gem:  Christmas in July
The Sisterhood of Crafters:  boys to men
Winter Wonderland:  use a digi
Star Stampz:  Christmas in July

So...I Did a Different Thing... - Fab Friday @ Tiddly Inks

So...I decided to try sumthin' different.  I probably saw it in passing somewhere...a challenge blog or on Pinterest or somewhere...when I saw it I really didn't pay it much mind (obviously, or I'd know where I saw it, right?).  Well, see for yourself....

See, I coloured on patterned paper, more specifically patterned word paper, and I's likes it, I've gotta say.  Won't be the last time you see this from me, that's for sure.

I used Light My Life and cropped it a bit.  I always find that fun, cropping digis.  It's like you get a whole new stamp.  I also used a Dymo label maker that I bought....oh probably five years ago, AND I HADN'T EVEN OPENED IT before this card.  Yep, I'm definitely past the point of needing to buy any craft supplies beyond the basics.  But I doubt that's gonna keep me from doing it!

I tell ya, my friends, I'm definitely the odd man out on the Tiddly Inks DT.  Really, go check out the other Fabby Friday makes.  They are all beautiful works of feminine gorgeousness, so soft and pretty, or bold and striking, lots of sweet embellishments etc......and then there's me, no embellishments, couldn't get more masculine unless I rubbed grease on it and dipped it in beer, all straight lines and dark colours.  Nothing wrong with some variety, I suppose, just makes me feel like this sometimes....

(Bet you can't guess which one is "me"....)

Do make sure you go check out the other fabulous Fabby Friday makes the rest of the DT has come up with.  (And be sure to say hi to our new Teamies!)  You can see 'em all right here.

Also for:

Addicted To Stamps:  anything goes
Fab 'n' Funky:  use patterned paper
Watercooler Wednesday:  masculine
Come And Get It:  2 or more designer papers
Pile It On:  primary colours + something that begins with S - sea
Crafty Sentiments:  clean & simple or fussy & fancy
Creative Fingers:  anything goes
Fussy & Fancy:  anything goes
Crafting With Friends:  anything goes
Colour Crazy:  anything goes

Christmas In July @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's my turn to choose the challenge and I'm going with "Christmas in July" which means I just want to see Christmas projects.

This is what I did.....

I do like how this turned out.  Digi is from Skapar Kallarn, and the words are dies from Paper Smooches.  Wouldn't it be neat of snowflakes were red and green.....or any colours really?  Hmmm.....except when it started to melt and the colours all blended together to form a goopy brown, then not so pretty, of course.  Still, living in the country, and travelling gravel roads a lot, that's pretty much what melting snow looks like to me anyways.  Don't know if I'd handle having my whole lawn look like that though.  Okay, let's stick with white.

So, why not get those Christmas project starting and head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up? And, while you're there, be sure to check out the wonderful projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

Come And Get It:  2 or more patterned papers
Sweet Stampin':  Christmas In July
Aud Sentiments:  Christmas in July + sentiment
Cut It Up:  Christmas in July
Always Fun Challenges:  paper piecing
Christmas Card Challenges:  inspirational photo
Cardz 4 Guyz:  Christmas in July
Deep Ocean:  Christmas in July
The Holly & the Ivy:  anything Christmas goes
Unicorn Challenge:  Christmas in July
{PIN}spirational:  inspirational photo
ABC Christmas:  O is for Old - Patterned paper is a few years old, new to me digi
Christmas At Sweet Stampin':  anything Christmas goes
Watercooler Wednesdays:  anything masculine goes
Paper Smooches:  anything goes

Thanks Bunches! @ Little Red Wagon

This week at

it's Heather's turn to choose the challenge and she saying, "Thanks Bunches!" which means that she wants to see those thank you projects.

Now that I'm typing up the post I remembered that I was planning on making a card with a bunch of flowers on it, you know, for the "bunches" part....but it turns out I forgot about that. Oh well, no biggie as I found a digi I thought was just awesome and I used it instead.

So, here's my make.....

Bwahahahahahahahahaha, isn't that dog just super?  Makes me snicker every time I look at him.  He's from Bugaboo Stamps.  I know he's maybe not a first choice for a thank you card but I think I made him work.  The sentiment inside reads, "YOU'RE PAWSOME".  See, and it all makes sense.

So why not be thankful and then head on over to Little Red Wagon and link up? And, while you're there, be sure to check out the wonderful projects the other Girlfriends have created.

Also for:

Crafty Gals:  do it for the dudes
Crafty Friends:  man/boy
Simon Says:  use plaid
Freshly Made Sketches:  sketch

Independence @ Tiddly Inks

This month at

we're going to make you put on your thinking caps....the challenge is "Independence" which is pretty much open to your interpretation. Just make sure you use a Tiddly Inks image, of course!

This is what I did....

I thought a new home certainly would fit the independence theme, especially if it was a first home.  I used the My Home digi....it's a steal at $1.00!  And not only does it have this image, it includes four sentiments too.  If that's not a deal then I don't know what is!

I also gave a new-to-me technique I've been wanting to have a go at for awhile a try.  It's the "die cut your sentiment out of your image and then die cut it a couple more times out of cardstock and then layer them all together and fit 'em back into the die cut spots so it looks like your sentiment is actually a part of the image" technique.  Bet there's a more succinct name for it but I'm not sure what it is.  Tried a quick Google search but couldn't find anything promising....and you'll have to forgive me for being too tired/lazy/uncaring to try harder.  'Sides, you all know what I mean, right?

Sidebar.....Hey, Google, what's with coming back with all the Pinterest results all the time now?  If I wanted to search Pinterest, I'd go to Pinterest and search there.  I don't need my Search Engine taking me to another Search Engine (of sorts).  It's like Google's now me as I was at the end of the last paragraph.  And seeing as Google is not a 42 year old with three kids, four jobs, always 25 seconds away from just nodding off due to extreme tiredness and lack of sleep, I think it can do better.  Amirite?

So, why not show us what independence means to you, and join us for the challenge?  And be sure to  check out the fabulousness the DT has come up with.

Also for:

Crafty Cardmakers:  tic tac toe - stitching, digi, buttons
Sweet Stampers:  dies or punches
Inkspirational:  rural (Notice there's no neighbouring houses right next door.  :-) )
Deep Ocean:  lots of layers