I'm MOVING!

Follow me! The *supremely* talented and amazing Tonya has built me THE coolest, and MOST PERFECT site for StampInsanity! So here is what I need those of you who subscribe by RSS feed to do... because the .blogspot.com blog (this one) will meet its demise shortly!

Visit the awesomeness of http://www.stampinsanity.com/ (sans blogspot) and subscribe to the RSS in the upper right corner of the page. That's all. I know - I ask a lot. But you will want to be getting the updates, previews and special SI info forthcoming! Like this IMPORTANT NUGGET:

***The official release date for the first two SIS sets has been pushed back to Wednesday, Sept 9!*** 09-09-09.... that's got to be lucky, or somethin', right?!

I cannot wait to share Morgan and Henry with you! And my smart alecky, ummm, wit. Yeah, wit. I'll go with that family-friendly version. :)

So, do your RSS subscribing, bookmarking, or choose your preferred way to keep up ~ because it's about to get interesting!

THANK YOU, T! You are unequivocally THE greatest human I have ever known! YAFA, chica!

Exciting News!

Hey, y’all! I have some *VERY* exciting news! After a metric butt-ton of planning, praying, working, stressing (rinse and repeat about 224 times… LOL) and finally achieving… I am so excited to release my first line of StampInsanity Stamps! Henry© and Morgan© will be here for your viewing and stamping bliss on September 4th! Be sure to come back to see them in all of their awesomeness ~ especially to see the *amazing* Design Team and their first creations using SI Stamps! In addition to Henry and Morgan, I will be releasing a set called Otherworldly Loves, and this one is just funny. If you are a certified Paranormal Princess like me, you will love this one! Future releases will knock your socks off, too – be sure to come back to see what the hubbub is about! See you on the 4th for all of the release day festivities, and your chance to win goodies!

Until then, savor the StampInsanity!

TTSVC#3 ~ Team Bill or Team Eric…

Welcome back to Twilight Tuesday Sookie/Vampire Challenge! After a break last month, we are raring to go – especially after the last few episodes of True Blood! This month, we are seeking your opinions and your creative genius to demonstrate which “team” you are on… Having mentioned TB, I have to remind you that this is the book series challenge – not the HBO show! SO – does Bill’s cool, calm Southern gentleman demeanor chill your jangled nerves, or does Eric’s magnetic, powerful aura flick your Bic…

*sigh* I am so in love with these two vampires.  Geez.  But while I love Bill from the story (ESPECIALLY the show!!), I am completely infatuated with Eric, er, Alexander Skarsgard!!  Now would be the appropriate time for me to plead Switzerland, but that’s a copout.  *GAH!*  So, yes, I remain Team Bill – and seriously, you can spare me the wet noodle treatment about some of his actions. I can meet you one-for-one with questionable Eric moves!  lol  They are both flawed, beautiful vampires.  So completely different that it is hard to compare and impossible to choose.    Alas, moving on, I have no project.  My computer is all but dead, and I cannot get to my files at the moment.  I am hoping to remedy that soon – let’s cross some fingers and toes, because I have some important stuff on there…  See my next post!!!

TTIC43 ~ A Love Song For Edward & Bella

I love music! I relate just about everything I hear in songs to something. I just love it - I FEEL it! So my challenge is going to draw on that. I challenge you to think about the Saga as a whole, and then to decide in retrospect, what Edward and Bella's song should be. It can be a song about a particular part of their relationship, or their journey as a whole. Be prepared to explain!! This IS a variation of a prior challenge, so I ask that you try and go in a different direction if you participated previously! This will take some thought before project ideas even come into play - I better go start studying my iPod now...
Challenge Portion: Choose a song. Explain why it should be theirs. Share lyrics that are particularly poignant, if you can. Create a project scrapbook layout around this song.
Comment Portion: Do you have a theme song? One that seems to have been written *just* for you? Do tell! You can go as fun or profound as you are comfortable with - it is all good!

Yep, that was me. I wrote this challenge – and I was so excited by it, I wrote it up & passed it on to the Designers MONTHS ago! It was going to be SOOO easy for me, because I love music so. Yeah, a funny thing happened – I cannot find a song to save my mortal soul! ME! Someone who breathes music, cannot seem to come up with an appropriate song. Well, as I am writing, it is Thursday August 13 (last Thursday, as of posting day!) and I am dying here! It occurred to me that you might get a kick out of my creative struggles, so I thought I would share – and yes, that makes you weird. :) Joshing!!!

Anyhoo… here it is in a nutshell. I’m stumped. My choices are too Rock. Too gooey. Too teeny-bopper. Too edgy. Gah! Am I being too picky? Well, duh. This is serious stuff! What I *should* have challenged was a song that represents their relationship or something, because there is a metric butt-TON of great breakup songs, which would ROCK us into the New Moon movie hype. But NO. I had to go romantic. *gag* I. Am. A. Doofus. I’ll be back another day, and hopefully I will have a great Love Song for Edward and Bells. Let’s keep our fingers crossed, shall we? …in the meantime, “I’m not gonna write you a Love Song, ‘Cause you asked for it; ‘Cause you need one, you see…” Sara Bareilles <—She rocks!!

Well, I did it. I found a song – not a perfect one, but a really good one! It is called The Luckiest, by Ben Folds. I figure that we all can agree that being teenagers madly in love eternally is pretty lucky! :) I can envision Edward playing the piano and singing this to Bella. You should be hearing Ben singing now - he's just so soothing. Love him! Anyhoo... onto my project. (I will post the lyrics below!)

Now, given my logistical issues with creating (roughly 85% of my cr – uh, stuff off being lonely in the storage facility and all) I am really happy with this.  I managed to scrounge enough pieces of like colors to make it work.  IMHO, that is.  :)  I *DID* have a snafu with the title bar… I packed away my Cricut cord!  GAH!  So I added that by computer.  Sue me.  It’s kinda fun to have to work outside the box – and improvise.  Working with what I got… my own little Limited Supply Challenge!  LOL   …however… I did just notice that this is incomplete! Holy cow.  I guess that catastrophic and final computer meltdown threw me off (another rant for another day!)…  In the center, I meant to add “A Love Song For Edward and Bella” over the shadowed musical notes I stamped on there.  Save me!   Gawd.

As promised, here are the lyrics ~ I warned you, these are not particularly profound, but they work literally and metaphorically.  I dig it – hope you do too! (Jac~ I am lookin’ at YOU, girlfriend!)

~Beth

I don't get many things right the first time
In fact, I am told that a lot
Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls
Brought me here

And where was I before the day
That I first saw your lovely face?
Now I see it everyday
And I know

That I am
I am
I am
The luckiest

What if I'd been born fifty years before you  (*wink*)
In a house on a street where you lived?
Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike
Would I know?

And in a white sea of eyes
I see one pair that I recognize
And I know
That I am

I am
I am
The luckiest

I love you more than I have ever found a way to say to you
Next door there's an old man who lived to his nineties
And one day passed away in his sleep
And his wife; she stayed for a couple of days
And passed away

I'm sorry, I know that's a strange way to tell you that I know we belong
That I know
That I am

I am
I am
The luckiest

---

Please join in and play along with us! If you do, here are a few guidelines to follow:

For posting to a blog: Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site.

For posting on another gallery, such as Splitcoast Stampers or Flickr: Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site. Please use the appropriate keywords for our challenges; an example is TTIC43 for challenge 43. No number signs (#) or spaces are needed in the keyword. You can also add in more general keywords for Splitcoast/Flickr (such as Twilight, Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge, etc.). Thank you for your help with this!

Comments/Posting your link: Please leave a comment with the link to your challenge piece to tell us that you played along with us! Then we can all visit you and leave lovely comments for you. (We are no longer using Mr. Linky as we were having quite a few spam issues and downtime.) We are big fans of comments around here!  And don’t forget — leaving a comment on this post will get you entered into this month’s blog candy giveaway!

And as always, our Design Team has fantastic projects to display for this week’s challenge - please go and check them out!

Beth ~ Dani ~ Eve ~ Jen ~ Julie ~ Margie ~ Rebecca

with Guest Designers:

Alison ~ Donna ~ Jacquie ~ Erica (subbing for Margie!)

Special Wednesday Challenge ~ Club Scrap Part Deux

As promised, another Special Wednesday Challenge! This is the second half of last week’s Club Scrap sponsored challenge, and we were challenged to make anything but a card – with the theme The Men or Women of Twilight, depending on which kit we were given. I received the Geared Up Flag Book kit, and was totally going to make an album “by Edward” of the cars in his life. Alas, I seem to have lost a piece of the kit along the way, and had to improvise. After some serious scrounging for a piece of (beat up) black 12x12 paper, I was able to use some of the pictures I printed! I figure that being the gearheads they are, and the fact that they are immortal and all… they probably would keep some sort of momento of their cars through the eras… Now, about this PAPER! Wowzers. The texture and depth of color is awesome! It was hard to make myself cover any of it up! (FYI – the paper behind the Volvo and Porsche is not CS) Gorgeous materials. You can see more of their fantastic product line on their website.

We have a few other designers working with CS kits: Please visit Dani ~ Eve ~ Rebecca ~ Alison ~ Erica and show them some TwiLove! Peace Out! :)(:

Happy Twilight Tuesday!

Hello, Twilighters! ‘Memba me? I bet not – I wonder if I even remember how to post! Sheesh. I don’t know about you but this summer has effectively kicked my butt. I am counting down the days until school so I can REST! Funny – I always thought that was what summer VACATION was for… I was SO wrong. Just a quick note explaining my absence – avoiding a long and boring story… the bottom line is that I have had to pack up my WHOLE craft room. OMLV – what a job that was. It is now lonely and safely tucked away in a storage facility. I swear I am positively twitchy with it so far away! SO… in addition to only having super basic tools and extremely limited supplies on hand, I also have no tables to work on! Well, I technically have tables – living room, dining room, etc – but prospective home buyers don’t really need to see my creative process! (ie, MESS) It is a major downer to not be playing regularly, but as time and space permit, I will get some challenges met.

Anyhoo ~ I just wanted to pop in and make sure you remember to bookmark me, subscribe or follow my blog because there is some STRAIGHT UP AWESOME things about to appear here! Seriously. Profoundly cool. With fangs. (…and so much more!)

Also, this week’s TTIC is one of my favorites so far, and I don’t have my toys to play! Erica has issued a GREAT one. Rock on, Erica! I can’t wait to see what people do with your Unlikely challenge! :)

TOMORROW! Tomorrow! (I will spare you the ‘love ya, tomorrow’) Ah-hem… as I was saying, tomorrow is a Special Wednesday Challenge, in which I AM participating. I know, I just totally made your day, didn’t I? *sigh* It’s a gift. You will totally want to see this. Very different for me. And on that note – see you tomorrow!

Fresh From the Greeting Farm ~ It’s a Mini Edward!

Bonus time!  Check out this super cute stamp from the Greeting Farm!  Mix in an extra color challenge from Margie, and this is what I came up with! Wicked cute, I’d say!  Look closely, and you will see he shimmers, ‘cuz really, what the heck good is a Cullen if he doesn’t SPARKLE! :)  Other cool touch… check out my current technique brain-child, tye-dying with markers.   Ok – surely someone somewhere has done this, but I haven’t seen it yet, so THERE!  Hee hee.  Forgive me – I am punchy from staying up to try and force Blogger to accept this post.  (I lost.)

Since I am completely discombobulated this morning, let’s go back and review the challenge, shall we?  *sigh*  :)

The creative portion of the challenge is to make a piece using the classic Twilight color scheme of red, black, and silver, and you must use a stamp from The Greeting Farm to play along.

For the comment portion of the challenge:

So many of us turn to these classic colors for Twilight projects, which are clearly inspired by the covers of the books.  However, we’d like to know if you have other favorite colors to use for Twilight projects.  Do you have any other interesting colors that you like to use? Leave a comment here and tell us about it!

Have a Twilicious day, Twilighters!  Did you see Harry Potter yet?  Squeeee… :D  *Ahem*  On to the fine print….

Alison ~ Beth ~ Jen ~ Julie ~ Tonya ~ Margie

Please join in and play along with us and leave a comment with your link!

If you do, here are a few guidelines to follow:

For posting to a blog: Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site.

For posting on another gallery, such as Splitcoast Stampers or Flickr: Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site. Please use the appropriate keywords for our challenges; an example is TTICTGFC for The Greeting Farm Challenge. No number signs (#) or spaces are needed in the keyword. You can also add in more general keywords for Splitcoast/Flickr (such as Twilight, Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge, etc.). Thank you for your help with this!

Comments/Posting your link: Please leave a comment with the link to your challenge piece to tell us that you played along with us! Then we can all visit you and leave lovely comments for you. We are big fans of comments around here! And don’t forget — leaving a comment on this post will get you entered into this month’s blog candy giveaway! We also have a weekly blog candy prizethis week, and a comment here will get you entered for that as well.  (We are no longer using Mr. Linky as we were having trouble with spam and frequent downtime.)

TTIC38 ~ Bella & Edward’s Honeymoon

This week's challenge was issued by Dani, and we will focus on the honeymoon scene from Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. If you have not read this book beware, there will be spoilers!

I’m nothing if not thorough.
Edward Cullen, Breaking Dawn, Chapter 5, p.78

He didn’t ask what I was thinking, which was out of character for him.
I guessed that meant that he was just as nervous as I suddenly was.
Bella Cullen, Breaking Dawn, Chapter 5, p.79

Breaking Dawn has so many wonderful scenes and one of my favorites is the honeymoon that Edward took Bella on after they were married. What a romantic time for them. Alone on a tropical island… sigh. This is the stuff that dreams are made of.

The Challenges:
Craft – Make something that you feel represents Bella and Edward’s honeymoon.

Comment – Tell us about your honeymoon (no personal details please!). Did you go somewhere or see something special? Or did you just hide out from the world and enjoy being with your new spouse?
If you haven’t been on a honeymoon, that is ok! What is your dream honeymoon?

Well… Welcome Back, blog hoppers! I decided to try my admittedly non-technical hands at digital scrapbooking. Wow – these last few hours have made me appreciate your talents, Digiscrappers! And how. Yikes, yikes and … EGADS! I am almost embarrassed to put this up, but I figure I can look back in a few months and see how far I have (hopefully) come in my digiscrap projects! It’s a noble goal. Here goes…

*sigh* I TOLD you! You know – it has potential! Someone did an admirable job of PhotoShopping this picture together, and the background works. But darned if I could figure out how to embellish it! Sheesh! Now that I have WOWed you, here is lame attempt number two! Repeat same concerns from above! Hopefully, faithful readers, I will have my old fashioned paper and supplies back in a place where I can unpack and actually USE them!

Moving on, I had a wonderful honeymoon in Jamaica. In fact, last summer we returned to the same Sandals resort for our 10 year anniversary. It was lovely. I haven’t told my Hub yet, but I am pretty sure I will retire there… He can come if he wants to. :)

******

Please join in and play along with us! If you do, here are a few guidelines to follow:

For posting to a blog: Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site.

For posting on another gallery, such as Splitcoast Stampers or Flickr: Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site. Please use the appropriate keywords for our challenges; an example is TTIC38 for challenge 38. No number signs (#) or spaces are needed in the keyword. You can also add in more general keywords for Splitcoast/Flickr (such as Twilight, Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge, etc.). Thank you for your help with this!

Comments/Posting your link: Please leave a comment with the link to your challenge piece to tell us that you played along with us! Then we can all visit you and leave lovely comments for you. (We are no longer using Mr. Linky as we were having quite a few spam issues and downtime.) We are big fans of comments around here! And don’t forget — leaving a comment on this post will get you entered into this month’s blog candy giveaway!

And as always, our Design Team has fantastic projects to display for this week’s challenge - please go and check them out!

Dani ~ Eve ~ Jen ~ Julie ~ Rebecca

with Guest Designers:

Alison ~ Donna ~ Jacquie

TTIC36 ~ What Says Twilight to You?

This week’s challenge comes from Julie with the excitement of the Artful Inkables release:

So many things say “Twilight” to the multitudes of Twilight fans. What images do you think of when you think about the Twilight books and movies? For some, Twilight means an apple, for some, the chess piece on the cover of Breaking Dawn, and for others, Bella’s truck conjures it up. Many fans love to express their Twilight love by choosing a “team” to root for, and others have favorite quotes from the book that are near and dear to them. Please create a piece that expresses what comes to mind when YOU think of the Twilight saga.
For the comment portion of the challenge: Many people often say that reading the Twilight saga has been life-changing. Please share how the saga has changed your own life or made you view life in a different way.

It’s no secret that I am firmly Team Jacob.  I chose to showcase the wolf and my devout puppy love.  I hope that you enjoy your blog hopping and the exciting stamp release from Artful Inkables!

Remember: Each comment you leave on a TTIC challenge is an entry into this month’s Blog Candy Give Away!!!

Please join in and play along with us! If you do, here are a few guidelines to follow:

For posting to a blog: Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site.

For posting on another gallery, such as Splitcoast Stampers or Flickr: Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site. Please use the appropriate keywords for our challenges; an example is TTIC36 for challenge 36. No number signs (#) or spaces are needed in the keyword. You can also add in more general keywords for Splitcoast/Flickr (such as Twilight, Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge, etc.). Thank you for your help with this!

Comments/Posting your link: Please leave a comment with the link to your challenge piece to tell us that you played along with us! Then we can all visit you and leave lovely comments for you. (We are no longer using Mr. Linky as we were having quite a few spam issues and downtime.) We are big fans of comments around here! And don’t forget — leaving a comment on this post will get you entered into this month’s blog candy giveaway!

And as always, our Design Team has fantastic projects to display for this week’s challenge - please go and check them out!

Dani ~ Eve ~ Jen ~ Julie ~ Margie ~ Rebecca ~ Tonya

with Guest Designers:

Alison ~ Donna ~ Jacquie

TTIC35 ~ Renesmee (Breaking Dawn Spoilers!)

Sorry I am late, Twilighters!  Technical difficulties – technically, I left my camera locked in my gym bag… at the gym.  Before you ask, I was taking pictures of my son and his mad tennis skillz… nothing creepy!  :)  sheesh.   Now, on with the show…

This week we have our challenge issued by one of our current Guest Design Teamers, Jacquie!    ***BUT, since we are headed into Breaking Dawn territory, just a fair warning to stop here if you have not read BD yet!***   Here’s what she offers:

Today's challenge is taken from Breaking Dawn, we learn that Bella is pregnant and she makes it through the birth and we meet her and Edward's baby, Renesmee. She is amazingly talented, gorgeous and immediately becomes the focus of ALL the main characters in an individual way.
Renesmee is half vampire/ half human, she has the gift of being able to transmit her thoughts through her touch. She grows fast and as we find out later in the book she will stop growing at 15 and she is immortal. We learn that Jacob has imprinted on her also. She shimmers in the sun, has her mothers brown eyes, Charlies curly hair, likes blood over food, she learns at an amazingly fast pace and easily wins over anyone that comes near her. I love how she is so charismatic, I love her character!

"She's like nothing else in the world," he told me... Bella Swan Breaking Dawn pg. 428
"The stranger-child in Rosalie's arms had to be weeks, if not months, old...Her shiny bronze-colored hair fell in ringlets past her shoulders. Her chocolate brown eyes examined me with an interest that was not at all childlike: it was adult, aware and intelligent"....Bella Swan Breaking Dawn pg. 438

Challenge Portion: There are so many options for this challenge, you can focus on the relationship between Renesmee and Bella, Edward, Jacob, Charlie,  Rosaliee, Aro. You can think of her powers, or just her looks. Anything goes!!
Comment Portion: She has so much power over everyone right away, is there anything or anyone that has pulled you in so swiftly, a friend, a spouse? Do you know a sweet little girl like Nessie without the being half vampire of course . Tell us a little about it!

Well, I gotta tell ya… I had trouble with Renesmee – the storyline, not the cute little girl Jacquie so eloquently described.  How can you not love THAT little girl!  However, I am going to go ahead and let you know that MY SON is just such a child.  Yep – especially when he was a baby… before he could even smile, you could see the joy in his face.  I used to say he “smiled with his eyes”, because he totally did!  People gravitated to him and he charmed them.  When he was just learning to talk, among his first words were the different makes and models of cars,  (Momma was NOT first, btw!)  He was basically our dancing bear – everyone wanted to hear him tell what cars were going by or being pointed out.  His great fun was walking up and down parking lots pointing to vehicle logos to learn what the cars were.  (He’s still a car fiend today, in fact!)  Keep in mind, he was less than 2 at the time!  SO, yes, I know such a child.  :)  On that note, this is what I created, and boy, did I go Old School with this one! I envision her newborn picture in the center, with maybe her birth info, or love notes from her new family in the flowers above.  Or even closeups of fingers and toes – the possibilities are endless.  But since she is NOT your average baby, I thought she should have  VIBRANT birth page fitting her personality.

Remember: Each comment you leave on a TTIC challenge is an entry into this month’s Blog Candy Give Away!!!

Please join in and play along with us! If you do, here are a few guidelines to follow:

For posting to a blog: Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site.

For posting on another gallery, such as Splitcoast Stampers or Flickr: Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site. Please use the appropriate keywords for our challenges; an example is TTIC35 for challenge 35. No number signs (#) or spaces are needed in the keyword. You can also add in more general keywords for Splitcoast/Flickr (such as Twilight, Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge, etc.). Thank you for your help with this!

Comments/Posting your link: Please leave a comment with the link to your challenge piece to tell us that you played along with us! Then we can all visit you and leave lovely comments for you. (We are no longer using Mr. Linky as we were having quite a few spam issues and downtime.) We are big fans of comments around here! And don’t forget — leaving a comment on this post will get you entered into this month’s blog candy giveaway!

And as always, our Design Team has fantastic projects to display for this week’s challenge - please go and check them out!

Dani ~ Eve ~ Jen ~ Julie ~ Margie ~ Rebecca ~ Tonya

with Guest Designers:

Alison ~ Donna ~ Jacquie

TTSVC#3 ~ Sookie Stackhouse

Welcome to Twilight Tuesday’s Sookie Vampire Challenge (TTSVC) #3!

This month we are drawing our inspiration from our favorite mindreading cocktail waitress, Merlotte's own Sookie Stackhouse!
Craft Portion: Create a project that embodies the uniqueness that is Sookie. Embrace her character, and show some Sookie-love!
Comment Portion: What is it about Sookie that is so captivating? Why do you suppose she was so anxious to meet a vampire? Or, how do you think her life would differ if she never met Bill that night, or if she hadn't saved him from the Rattrays? hmmm.... Choose question one or take on them all - this is sure to be a FUN challenge!

First of all – DID YOU SEE TRUE BLOOD LAST NIGHT?! Oh, stinkin’ WOW! It was SO worth the wait! *doing the happy dance* Those are some serious vampires right there! Awesome… I SO love that show! Any Team Bill out there? I mean, real Team Bill-ers… like who have to defend him to the Team Eric minions? LOL Can I just say, nanner nanner… Bill is the MAN!

Moving on to the business at hand, I really enjoy Sookie. I love her gift/curse (the whole mindreading thing) and I love how she deals with it. She snaps a smile on her face and does her best with it. She doesn't whine or hide herself away. She grins and bears it. Which is what led me to make this little matchbook card:

‘Cuz that’s what Sookie does ~ she grins and bears it. Can you imagine having to hear everyone’s thoughts ALL the time? Eww. It would be handy for about 1% of the time. Or maybe more if you are a mom. :) That’s is what I love about her. Her Gran raised her right. She is a pure heart with a strong moral compass, who jumps headlong onto the vampire world – which is not so much of the same persuasion! And she stays true to herself. Sookie is just a great character which makes these books so enjoyable.

Margie * Jacquie

(Don’t forget, you can subscribe to the Challenge Post’s comments for others who join in!)

Please join in and play along with us! If you do, here are a few guidelines to follow:

For posting to a blog: Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Sookie Vampire Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site.

For posting on another gallery, such as Splitcoast Stampers: Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Sookie Vampire Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site. Please use the appropriate keywords for our challenges; this week’s keyword is TTSVC3. No number signs (#) or spaces are needed in the keyword. You can also add in more general keywords for Splitcoast (such as Twilight, Twilight Tuesday Sookie Vampire Challenge, etc.). Thank you for your help with this!

Look What I Got! I’ve been RAK’ed!

No, not “racked”! Specifically, you know, b‘cuz I am a chick, and all ~ No, I was RAK’ed with a Random Act of Kindness from a fellow Twihard! I got a postcard of Volterra – FROM VOLTERRA! Is that frickin’ COOL BEANS, or what?! Ok, ok – here it is…

OH-SO-COOL, indeed. I’m keeping my note on the back to myself, ‘cause I’m selfish like that, but she does say that the views are awesome and she found some tulips painted red and white, a la the NM book cover! COOL. NESS. I would love to see that! *wink, wink, nudge, nudge* LOL Sounds like Volterra is really embracing their place in the series!! Thank you, TIA! Made my day!! Now it’s time to RAK someone… Who will YOU RAK today??? Do tell…

Yes, it IS photographed on a (clean!) pillowcase – what’s your point? LOL

If you are looking for TTIC#34, scroll down, or click HERE!

TTIC34 ~ Celebrate Summer!

This week Jen brings us this FUN challenge!  Read on:

One of the enigmatic things about Twilight is that every book aside from Breaking Dawn revolves around the school year. Twilight ends with Prom and New Mo on picks back up as school starts again, likewise with Eclipse. I always wonder what Edward and Bella did with their summer vacations, especially that summer between Twilight and New Moon and as summer is creeping upon us rather rapidly with the summer solstice is just under two weeks away on June 21st I thought it would be fun to celebrate summer this week!

Now on to the challenges!

Creative Challenge: Your creative challenge this week is to go all out and celebrate summer! You can create a Twilight themed summer piece or you can celebrate your own summer plans or a fantastic summer that has passed.

Those of you participating on the other side of the world from those of us in the US/Canada are just wrapping up your summer… your task is similar to above, celebrate something wonderful you did this summer or focus on Bella and Edward’s possible summer adventures.

Comment Challenge: Do you have a favorite summer adventure of your own? I want to hear about it! It could be from your childhood or currently. Do you have any exciting things planned for THIS summer? I’d love to hear about those too!!

Well, this week, I FINALLY (sorry, Dani!) got to do Dani’s awesome Sketch Challenge!  And I went *gasp* cute!  You know – I love summer and all of the extra time with The Boy, day trips, bug bites, bike rides, pool time – phew!  I’m getting worn out already and school has been out for one day!  Since I have oodles of boy summer experiences past and future,  I focused on the Cullen girls.  My card shows my fantasy day, a full-on SPA DAY,  lived out through Rosalie and Alice. 

Remember: Each comment you leave on a TTIC challenge is an entry into this month’s Blog Candy Give Away!!!

Please join in and play along with us! If you do, here are a few guidelines to follow:

For posting to a blog: Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site.

For posting on another gallery, such as Splitcoast Stampers or Flickr: Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site. Please use the appropriate keywords for our challenges; an example is TTIC34 for challenge 34. No number signs (#) or spaces are needed in the keyword. You can also add in more general keywords for Splitcoast/Flickr (such as Twilight, Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge, etc.). Thank you for your help with this!

Comments/Posting your link: Please leave a comment with the link to your challenge piece to tell us that you played along with us! Then we can all visit you and leave lovely comments for you. (We are no longer using Mr. Linky as we were having quite a few spam issues and downtime.) We are big fans of comments around here! And don’t forget — leaving a comment on this post will get you entered into this month’s blog candy giveaway!

And as always, our Design Team has fantastic projects to display for this week’s challenge - please go and check them out!

Beth ~ Dani ~ Eve ~ Jen ~ Julie ~ Margie ~ Rebecca ~ Tonya

with Guest Designers:

Alison ~ Donna ~ Jacquie

A TTIC Vacation Day…

By the grace of our fearless leader, Tonya, we’ve been allowed a vacation day.  And none too soon – I am learning very quickly (and mercilessly, I’ll add!) that the last couple of weeks of primary school is CRAZAY-ZAY!!!!  Holy cow.   So I thought I would steer you to a post I did a few months ago where I narrated and revisited some of my earlier challenges.  Rest assured, we will be back on our Twilight horses next Tuesday and raring to go!

Also – have you checked out Tonya’s brand new store???  It’s amazing and to celebrate her Grand Opening she is offering a special discount!  Go look quick!  Discounts don’t last forever! Go share the love and support *T* and all of her incredible hard work!

See you next week, Twilighters!  Oh, and just because I love y’all… and this seemed to be the highlight of my post last week :D…

TTIC33 ~ Favorite New Moon Quote

I love quotes that capture a moment - just a sentence or two that stick out and remain in your memory forever. My challenge is to choose one from New Moon (that is a challenge in and of itself ~ choosing just one) that sticks with you. One of my favorite quotes in the whole series is from Jake, of course, and since I have used it already, I will 'challenge' myself to find another. But as Challenge Mistress, I will wield my considerable power and share it anyway - even if it is a little long.

Jacob was simply a perpetually happy person, and he carried that happiness with him like an aura, sharing it with whoever was near him. Like an earthbound sun, whenever someone was within his gravitational pull, Jacob warmed them. It was natural, a part of who he was. No wonder I was so eager to see him.

~Bella Swan, New Moon, Chapter 6, p.145

Craft Portion: Create a project that captures the moment and complements the quote you've chosen.
Comment Portion: Explain why your quote is memorable to you and what about it 'grabbed' you initially.

Well, hey – that was easier said than done. Mainly because I seem to have loaned out NM to someone (WHO?) because it is not on my bookshelf. Gah. HOWEVER, given the spirit of the challenge, I remember something Jake said that obviously stuck with me. It is later in the story, ****SPOILERS –if you have not read New Moon yet, STOP HERE!!*** after he and Bella have had some heated disagreements about werewolves and vampires, and the situation they are in because of them. He tells her: “I’ll always be your friend. No matter what you love.” I love that sentiment for a couple of reasons. First, it proves that he is willing to make the effort (and we know how monumental that effort is for him) to accept Edward and Bella’s relationship, in the name of their friendship. He is a true friend no matter how much he wants to be more, or how much he detests the existence of Edward, let alone the fact that he is a mortal enemy of Jake’s tribe. Jake is something special. Secondly, he gets his wiseass dig in there with the “what” in place of “who”… That’s my Jacob.

Now join in and play along with us! Here are a few things that will make it easier for you:

For posting to a blog:

Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on TwilightTuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site.

For posting on another gallery, such as Splitcoast Stampers:

Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site. Please use the appropriate keywords for our challenges; this week’s keyword is TTIC33. You can also add in more general keywords for SCS (such as Twilight, Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge, etc.).

Comments:

Please insert your name and a link to your project in our comments below to tell us that you played along with us! Then we can all visit you and leave lovely comments.

Now go and check out our Twilight Tuesday Design Team creations:

Dani ~ Eve ~ Jen ~ Julie ~ Margie ~ Rebecca ~ Tonya

TTIC32 ~ The Great Northwest

This week Eve has us pondering the beauty that is the Great Northwest…

Challenge for Tuesday is The Great Northwest. If you have ever lived there you know what I mean. Maybe if you have only visited there you know what I mean. Maybe if you only heard about the filming of the movie you know what I mean. It is beautiful there. There is a reason for it's beauty....all the rain!
So from the space needle to the forests. From the rain to the trees. From the lush green beauty of it all to the Olympic Peninsula. There are so many reasons to LOVE the great Northwest. Edward's family chooses to live there. Bella feels she has to live there, and hated visiting as a child. Don't forget the trips to Seattle, the coast, and into the forest. Have fun with this one!
Comment portion: If you could visit anywhere in the Northwest - where would it be and why?

Well, that’s easy – I’d go to La Push to visit Jake and the boys, then I would hang out in the woods behind the Cullen’s to sneak a peek! Seriously, though, I have always wanted to visit Vancouver and the mountains of British Columbia, Canada. It seems like an awesome city! A little farther north than Forks, but same idea. Heck, if you are from the East Coast, like I am, in my mind it’s the same thing. (Don’t hurt me BC’ians!)

For my craft, I am recycling again. I had a plan and blew it. I’m going to go ahead and blame it on the ants that popped up out of NOWHERE, since they forced me to bleach my entire kitchen or risk certain insanity and probable institutionalization… Yeah – that took all day. Good times. The colors that always make me feel like the woods are in these two projects. I love the deep greens and browns – I’m from Maine, we spend a good part of the year living those colors! This first card is a favorite – I LOVE to play with my brayer. I don’t know why I don’t use it more often. (Oh yeah – NO TIME!) The second one is one of my favorite cards that Tonya ever sent me. And it is kinda funny because she was so shocked to learn that I was Team Jake! LOL I believe I actually stunned her for a minute. Ahh, memories…

Now join in and play along with us! Here are a few things that will make it easier for you:

For posting to a blog:

Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on TwilightTuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site.

For posting on another gallery, such as Splitcoast Stampers:

Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site. Please use the appropriate keywords for our challenges; this week’s keyword is TTIC32. You can also add in more general keywords for SCS (such as Twilight, Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge, etc.).

Comments:

Please insert your name and a link to your project in our comments below to tell us that you played along with us! Then we can all visit you and leave lovely comments.

Now go and check out our Twilight Tuesday Design Team creations:

Dani ~ Eve ~ Jen ~ Margie ~ Rebecca ~ Tonya

TTSVC2 ~ Fangtasia

Another day, another great vampire book challenge! I hope you have read Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire series – if not, why?! At the very least, you must be watching (well, right now, waiting for) True Blood! Just a few more weeks now until TB returns, but in the mean time, we will celebrate another awesome vamp series with the Sookie Vamp challenge #2:

Welcome to Twilight Tuesday Sookie Vampire Challenge (TTSVC) #2!
This month we are drawing our inspiration from Fangtasia, Eric's vampire bar in Shreveport.
Craft Portion: Create a project that screams "Fangtasia,"!
Comment Portion: Would you go there? What would you expect to see there? Let your imagination run wild! This is Fangtasia we are talking about here!

I am all over this one! Mainly because I would flippin’ LOVE to go there! Especially if Alex Skarsgard really was Eric and he really was there! *sigh* Yeah, I would totally be there. We’ve discussed SHSVVs, haven’t we? Smokin’ Hawt Swedish Viking Vampires? I am, of course, drawing a lot of inspiration from the HBO series – I LOVE LOVE LOVE that show! – and I have to say that I envisioned Fangtasia to be exactly like Alan Ball and Co did for HBO! I love the way the vamps move – and those “go-go” dancing vamps were awesome! I’d be completely enthralled by them… and let’s face it. Vamps are just hot. I’d love to vamp watch with an appletini, and if I was really lucky – hang out with Pam for a bit. Cause you KNOW I love Pam. Yep – I totally do. She’s cool. Anyway, here is my ‘poster’ – you know, the kind that show up by the thousands on campus around Thursday afternoon??? lol I had a terrible time photographing this! I found a wicked awesome graphic online, since I could not figure out the font to save my soul… and I printed it on acetate. It looks ridiculously cool in real life (modest much?) … if you look really (and I DO mean really) closely there are pictures of Pam and Eric ghosted in the background. I made a charm with the address on it – because how can you go to the hottest vamp bar in town if you don’t have the address?? And we all know that vamp Life Begins After Dark… I want to go to Fangtasia. Like, Now!

Please join in and play along with us! If you do, here are a few guidelines to follow:

For posting to a blog: Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Sookie Vampire Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site.

For posting on another gallery, such as Splitcoast Stampers: Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Sookie Vampire Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site. Please use the appropriate keywords for our challenges; this week’s keyword is TTSVC2. No number signs (#) or spaces are needed in the keyword. You can also add in more general keywords for Splitcoast (such as Twilight, Twilight Tuesday Sookie Vampire Challenge, etc.). Thank you for your help with this!

TTIC31 ~ Graduation!

Ready or not! This week, Rebecca throws us headlong into graduation season! In her words:

One of my most favorite scenes in the movie occurs when Edward is showing his home to Bella for the first time. As they go up the stairs, they pass a huge frame full of graduation caps.

Bella asks "Graduation caps?" and Edward replies "Private joke. We matriculate a lot".

Craft portion: Create a project suitable to give as a graduation gift!

Comment portion: Reminisce about your graduation ... or an upcoming graduation for someone in your life.

I love this time of year! Graduation was so exciting – felt so monumental! Which, of course, it was… I remember vividly being outside the auditorium saying good byes – and knowing that I wouldn’t see many of these people ever again. Promising to stay in touch, but knowing it probably wouldn’t last beyond the summer or first weeks of the college semesters. It was all a very surreal experience for me. And crystal clear in my mind!

For my craft, I initially made a grad cap card, a la the scene Rebecca described… I also loved that scene. In fact, I had a cap-tion (ouch) on it that said, “We matriculate a lot.” That was just so funny to me! So, instead, this is a card I like to use for graduations – in the grad’s school colors, of course! I like it because it is encouraging, hopeful and positive. All the things a grad needs to face the new chapters in their lives.

Don’t forget to visit the other amazing DT submissions, and browse TwilightTuesday for Blog Candy and so much more!

Dani ~ Eve ~ Jen ~ Julie ~ Margie ~ Rebecca

Now join in and play along with us! Here are a few things that will make it easier for you:

For posting to a blog:

Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on TwilightTuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site.

For posting on another gallery, such as SplitCoastStampers:

Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on TwilightTuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site. Please use the appropriate keywords for our challenges; this week’s keyword is TTIC31. You can also add in more general keywords for SCS (such as Twilight, Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge, etc.).

TTIC30 ~ The Ballet Studio Scene

We got this week’s doozy from delightful, degroovy Dani (channeling a little Deee-Lite… yes, I am ancient!) Groove is in the He~aart!

Today’s challenge is all about The Ballet Studio Scene from Twilight.

I thought this room would be visually dramatic for my little film. That’s why I picked this place to meet you. It’s perfect, isn’t it?

-James

Twilight, Chapter 22, p.449

Sigh. There is just something about James…

Anyways, I have always found this an interesting scene. I am not sure if I like the book version better than the movie version though.

I am also not sure if I agree with Edward’s decision to keep Bella from changing into a vampire.

Craft Portion: Create a project that shows your favorite part(s) of the Ballet Studio Scene.

Comment Portion: How do you feel about this scene from Twilight. Was it not scary enough? Do you think Edward made the right decision to keep Bella from turning?

First, my project: Yep, this one jumped right over creepy and landed in downright sinister! But, let me explain… One of the major insults in this scene that James chose was to destroy Bella. End her life, devastate Edward, and so on. The added insult being that this studio was part of her pure, innocent childhood. Little girls dance – it’s what we do. (7 years, here!) James gets to crush a part of her childhood in addition to all the other damage he intends to inflict on Bella and the Cullens. SO… with that in mind, I made a cute, yes CUTE card, and then proceeded to ‘ruin’ it as best I could… by smearing Jet Black and Timber Brown StazOn onto an acrylic sheet and tying it up with a bloodied ribbon. (I think it’s definitely the ribbon that bumps us beyond “creepy”.) But this is not a warm and fuzzy scene. It is a scene of terror, destruction and will to survive. Nothin’ pretty about that! :)

Moving right along - I, for one, LOVED the studio scene in the book. The whole James chase was spot on, in my opinion. I was so completely on edge from the time they ran from the baseball game, I could not turn the pages fast enough! I knew going into the theater that day that given the relatively ‘short’ running time that a lot of the drama overall would have to be abbreviated. It just is what it is. I was, however, definitely concerned that this was one of the major scenes that I realllly didn’t want to get messed up on the big screen. I was pretty happy with the outcome – and I think that Cam Gigandet was a phenomenal James, and in this scene he absolutely stole it. That scene performed badly could’ve been really campy! In short – I generally always choose the book over the movie, and this is no different, but I really was satisfied with the studio scene.

Did Eddie make the right choice? I think so. One of Edward’s stellar qualities is that he wants her to experience as much of her human life as possible before she is turned. I think that him tasting her blood (his greatest desire and ultimately, greatest fear) in order to suck the poison from her body is a monumental character point for him. He earned some serious respect from me by doing that. I like that he has the conviction to maintain this decision. Phew… all this Edward praising is making me a little woozy… better stop before it gets worse. :) Don’t forget to visit the other amazing DT submissions, and browse TwilightTuesday for Blog Candy and so much more!

Dani ~ Eve ~ Jen ~ Julie ~ Margie ~ Rebecca ~ Tonya

Now join in and play along with us! Here are a few things that will make it easier for you:

For posting to a blog:

Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on TwilightTuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site.

For posting on another gallery, such as SplitCoastStampers:

Please indicate that you are playing along with the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on Twilighttuesday.com and please provide a link back to our site. Please use the appropriate keywords for our challenges; this week’s keyword is TTIC30. You can also add in more general keywords for SCS (such as Twilight, Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge, etc.).

TTIC29 and a half… BFF’s

As I said in my last post, I have the greatest BFF in the history of history. Allow me to explain: My BFF is the kindest, most generous and genuine person I know. Her heart is ALWAYS in the right place and if she has a “tragic flaw”, it is that she cares too much, and places people above herself too often. She NEVER has a second’s hesitation to help out in any way she can when needed, and will agonize if her loved ones are in trouble and she cannot help. She is without fail a beacon of truth and decency. And if the truth isn’t sunshine and roses, well, she will still give it to you – but she’ll feel awful about it! She never acts without completely considering everyone involved. EVER. Her goal is always the greater good, and her actions are guided by her pure heart and her innate sense of grace. (Got your hankies out yet?!) She is beyond brilliant. And, she is THE perfect BFF ever born of this earth. Are we getting that?? I am so blessed to have her. I can honestly say she saved my sanity more than once with her selflessness. She has been my rock FAR too many times to count, and when she says that our military move (the same military that brought us together, mind you, in San Antonio!) that separated us broke her heart – well, that was completely mutual. So much so that we actively consider moving back to Texas! (My DH is a gem, too, btw!) I cannot think of a more perfect situation than to be near enough to hug and pound daquiris with my BFF! And stamp, of course. ;) She tells me I am a groovy BF, but she is heads and tails above me. She has it down to a science, and I am just trying to keep up. She makes sure I am fair and kind to myself when I would really rather not be – and makes me take credit when I prod cool things to occur. (No easy feat, let me. Tell. You.) Remember that post on the author’s blog? I never would’ve shared that, (‘cuz I’m shy and stuff… LOL) but she cleverly played her cards so that I had to! And I ended up getting some of the coolest compliments from that project! Thank you, T! In short – she rocks. Kicks Ass. Rules. Blesses me with her very existence. A few more fun facts: She used to make an analogy to Fried Green Tomatoes, a movie which I never saw, but she says that we are they. She is my dream BFF. She loves Turtles. The candy, not the critters. And roses. (Hence my project!). She has the most amazing frickin’ skin, too. Brat! :) I say that in the kindest way – since I have the complexion of a 15 year old… LOL She’s a great mom. She’s an awesome “leader” for us free-spirited arty types over at TwilightTuesday – keeping us focused and motivated. You would be dumbfounded, seriously, to learn exactly how much time and energy she puts into making that challenge site phenomenon what it is. All for the love of Twilight and the sense of community she gets in return. Hardly puts food on the table – just fills up her heart! SO, by extension, she is a BFF-by-association to all of you TwilightTuesday-ers. I can say with all certainty that she feels that way, too. :) Hop over and give her some love – she’s amazing!

So, back to the TTIC… you can clearly see why I love Jake. Well, can’t you? I appreciate a true friend. He ranks up there with my BFF. Bella sucks, but again… all together now… “that’s for another post”. Plus, Jake is a smartass, and I cannot resist a smartass. No chance of that. ***My BFF is most certainly not a smartass – she is way too classy for such depravity.***

Real quick – I embossed with SU’s Fifth Avenue Florals (the embossing folder), cut it out and then I used YoYo Yellow (SERIOUSLY! when was the last time you used that for ANYthing?!), and watercoloured lowlights onto it, then bleached highlights. Pretend that there isn’t a big ol’ bleach spot where the idiot artist dipped her brush into the wrong clear liquid… Cool effect. I’ll call it Bleachercolouring. :)