Mother's Little Helper

JiFFy Time!

(ETA: Ugh!  I have had a heck of a time trying to get this posted on various free Wi-Fi today.  Carter and I are in OKC, and the place we're staying doesn't have it's own Wi-Fi.  I tried to hop on a local hotspot from the apartment to no avail.  Then, I parked in a McDonald's parking lot for a half-hour, wrote a bunch of stuff, and the Wi-Fi disappeared without saving my post.  Thanks, Ronald.  I threw up my hands in despair and took Carter to the Lego store as I'd been promising.  Now, in one last attempt, I'm in the parking lot of Java Dave's (a regional coffee bar chain).  For the first time today, I'm showing four full bars of connectivity.  Now let's just hope I can get this posted before my battery dies...)

It's time for another Just For Fun Challenge with my JiFFy girlfriends!  This month, Julie selected the paper (Henna from Basic Grey's Origins line)and sent it out to everyone, and then Alli revealed the image of the month: oh-so-fun 'Charlotte' from Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps.

Here's what I came up with:

  As I've explained before, when I'm working with an image, I kind of talk to it.  As I was chatting with Charlotte, I started thinking of that fabulous old Bette Davis/Joan Crawford movie, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?  Charlotte does seem to have a bit of a facial tick; it wasn't that far of a leap to imagine her as a grown woman lugging around her poor 'babies.'  Thus, the sentiment from River City Rubberworks.  Twisted, yes, but also interesting, no?

I wanted to make her 'babies' a little grubby well-loved, so instead of coloring them with Copics as I did the rest of the image, I used Prismacolors and odorless mineral spirits so they wouldn't be as bright, and I added a few 'dirt' smudges here and there.

 

Please be sure to visit the other JiFFy Gals to see what they've done with Charlotte and Henna.  As talented as these girls are, they don't have to rely on nightmare-inducing tricks like yours truly -- you'll get nothing but treats from

Michele Boyer

Lori Craig

Julie Campbell

Alli Miles, and

Kim Hughes

I wish for you a wonderful weekend with your babies and full connectivity! :)

Back for a JiFFy!

The JiFFy Girls are eeking in the November challenge at the last second, what with this being the final day of November and all.  (I must be rubbing off on them.)  Can you believe the holiday season has officially begun?  And even more exciting: my Christmas cards are in the mail!!! 

Don't hate me.  If you read this blog with any regularity, you know that this sort of early-bird behavior is highly unusual.  In fact, for the past two years, I completely dropped the ball on getting out my Christmas photo of the boys and family newsletter.  We have a large mailing list which makes the whole process exceptionally laborious, and I've spent big chunks of the past two Decembers out of town (2007 at EuroPeds, and then last December in St. Louis while Carter was recovering from surgery).  Prior to this egregious lapse, every year since Sean and I married, I faithfully sent out a holiday newsletter; once the kids were born, it was accompanied by a photo.  I have been plagued with guilt by allowing this tradition to fall off, so this year I decided to make it the first thing I did to prepare for Christmas.  I have to say, it's a HUGE relief to have it done already as it's something I really tend to dread.  (I wonder if this is how organized people feel on a regular basis?  Would one of you let me know?)

Okay.  Enough patting myself on the back...  let's get back to those fabulous JiFFy Girls, shall we?    

I had planned to rejoin our Just For Fun challenge after the New Year, but when I saw the ADORABLE image that Michele had selected -- Snow Day from My Favorite Things' precious new Pure Innocence line -- well, I had to make my comeback a little early!  Once Michele had selected the image (but before she revealed it), Lori sent out the paper: Cinnamon from Cosmo Cricket's Nutmeg line.  Gorgeous!

Because I spent most of the weekend on the aforementioned Christmas cards, and because you KNOW I waited until the last minute to work on my challenge project, I wanted to put something together that was quick and easy but still cute.  I've been seeing so many sweet gift tags on the blogs of late, so I thought I'd try my hand at one:

I used Bonnie Sharp's Scalloped Tag Tutorial to create a tag with a tiny bit of flair at the top.  I colored the image with Copics, and paper pieced her coat and hat. The snow was made sparkly with a light coat of Frosted Lace Stickles. 

Be sure to visit the other JiFFy Girls to see what they came up with -- I know without a doubt they have made this sweet snowy gal shine! 

Michele Boyer   Lori Craig   Julie Campbell   Alli Miles   Kim Hughes

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Snow Day by Pure Innocence from MFT

Paper: Neenah Natural White, Cosmo Cricket 'Cinnamon' from the Nutmeg line

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, ColorBox Old Rose Pigment Brush Pad (for edging)

Accessories: Copic markers, Frosted Lace Stickles, Nestabilities (Large Rectangles and Labels 4), Jody's Foam Boosters, satin ribbon, sponge

The JiFFy Girls have a New Kid on the Block!

... and maybe, just maybe, you'll recognize her.  Does the name Kim Hughes ring a bell?  Yeah, I thought it might!  We are so happy to welcome Kim to our motley crew -- yay, Kim!  We love ya, sweet friend! 

For this month's JiFFy Girls challenge, Michele selected the image.  Before telling everyone what it would be, Lori sent her choice of patterned paper in the mail to everyone ('Beloved' by Pink Paisley).  And Michele's image choice?  'Whimsey Owl' from Whimsey Stamps. 

When I first saw this owl?  I thought it looked like it had been on a bit of a bender.  Admit it: it does bear a slight resemblance to Harry Dean Stanton.  Thus...
the sentiment (from River City Rubber Works).  I figure it can work as a birthday card for one of my girlfriends.  You know they have to be chock full of bad habits to be hanging out with the likes of me (God bless 'em).

I'm anxious to see what the other JiFFy Girls have come up with, aren't you?  Well, let's mosey over and see 'em...

Alli Miles,
Julie Campbell,
Kim Hughes,
Lori Craig, and
Michele Boyer

And if you're still reading, I'm going to do something I rarely do: share with you how do something that might actually come in handy!  Shocking, I know...

So here's the deal.  Michele sent me several images of this owl.  I decided I wanted to airbrush the sky, but how to mask it when I didn't have the stamp?  Well, if you have an extra stamped image, what you can do is cut that image out, attach it to the top of your main image with removable double sided tape, then airbrush or sponge or create your background however you want it.  Waa-laa!

Since I'm pre-posting this on Sunday night, I'm not going to do a Master Cleanse Update until tomorrow (Monday) evening.  I will say that Day 4 has been easy and I have plenty of energy!  More later...

Supplies used:
Stamps: Whimsey Owl by Whimsey Stamps, sentiment by River City Rubberworks
Paper: Summer Sunrise, Kraft (PTI) Neenah Natural White, Pink Paisley 'Beloved' patterned paper
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copic Markers, Nestabilities Label 1, wooden buttons, PTI Summer Sunrise grosgrain ribbon, twine, Jody's Foam Boosters, paper piercer