Mother's Little Helper

Hey Girlfriend - April SFYTT

Wow -- can you believe it's already April?  Time marched right on over March, didn't it?  Well, the good news is that with the beginning of a new month, Jen's delivered a new Sketch For You To Try!  And this month, the SFYTT Sisters are fortunate to be sponsored by Unity Stamp Company.  I'm sure you're familiar with Unity - they make some of the hippest stamps in the industry, and have partnered with several of my favorite patterned paper companies to create coordinating images.  Very cool stuff!  Know what's also cool?  If you participate in this month's SFYTT sketch challenge, you'll be eligible for a drawing to win a few of Unity's Itty Bittys.

Thanks, Unity!  So, are you ready to take a look at this month's sketch?

And here's what I made, using a Cosmo Cricket Itty Bitty from Unity called "Hey Girlfriend":

Isn't that fun?  A simple but bold silhouette makes a statement against all those funky patterns, don't you think?  All of the patterned paper I used today are digipapers from Creativity by Crystal.  My buddy Shannan steered me to Crystal's site and I was instantly smitten.  Each of these patterns is from Crystal's Spring/Summer 2011 line.  The multi-colored papers are from the Pretty Posies Patterned Paper pack (say that five times, fast).  See that delicious and oh-so-trendy aqua woodgrain paper?  That's from her Woodgrain pack, which features 12 colors and 24 papers; a must have for the season and a bargain at only $4!¹   I added a little visual interest to the horizontal strips via the Pinking Border CutUps from The Cat's Pajamas.

Head on over to Jen's blog for the sketch and samples from both Jen and this month's SFYTT Guest Designer, the awesome JEN SHULTS.  And of course, you'll want to stop my my SFYTT Sisters' blogs for their take on today's sketch and more Unity goodness:

Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles (stay tuned for Susan’s card. She has been busy with a family emergency), and our newest SFYTT Sister,

Terri Moore!  Be sure to give her a warm welcome. :)

My homegirls/fellow Cat Pack-ers Leigh O'Brien and Amy Rohl have 'retired' as SFYTT Sisters, but will be playing along with us often.  Love you girls!

Okie dokie folks.  I have a mountain of laundry to climb and miles to go before I sleep.  I will definitely be back tomorrow with that MFT Teaser I promised for yesterday.  I encountered a little snafu with Typepad that prevented me from posting on time, but it's been resolved.  Can you believe they expected me to keep my credit card info updated?  (My old one was good through 4/11) The nerve... ;)  That reminds me, my license also expires this month... Ugh!  I hate getting a new license picture taken.  And my weight still says what I weighed when I got married, almost 18 years ago.  Should I change it to reflect reality, or should I let it remain aspirational?  Give me your thoughts.

Later, friends.  Thanks for stopping by!

Footnote:

1. I'm not sponsored or in any way affiliated with Creativity by Crystal, I'm just a big fan of her papers.  Speaking of big fan, did you ever see the movie, BIG FAN, starring  Patton Oswalt?  It's definitely worth watching.

 

How'd you like to meet him in a dark alley?

Strawberry Flavored JiFFy!

Greetings and salutations, precious people!  How are you this fine morning?  I'm in a great mood because I just found out the BEST news!  More on that in a second.  First, I've got to set the scene for this month's Just For Fun (a.k.a. JiFFy) challenge that I do on a {mostly} monthly basis with my JiFFy girlfriends.  We took the last couple of months off, but now we're back and ready to play. 

This month, my worlds are colliding -- y'all know how I feel about that.  My sweet JiFFy Gals have been infilitrated by the notorious Carolyn/Cammie King.  Now, Cammie and I have been rumored to have made a little mischief together in our pasts.  People have ALLEGEDLY witnessed us engaging each other in practical jokes, cards of questionable taste, and very loud show-tune singing in public places.  Of course, I deny all culpability.  Any lewd or lacivious conduct that I am accused of in Cammie's company is 100% her fault.  That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Fortunately, there isn't too much wiggle room for mayhem in the JiFFy challenge: one of us selects an image, and before that image is revealed to the group, another one of us mails out some patterned paper to everyone.  The patterned paper has to be used to make a card with the selected image; sometimes they go well together, and sometimes they're a ... challenging fit, but it's always JUST FOR FUN! 

This month, Miss Julie selected the image -- Sweetest Day, a Jillibean Itty Bitty by Unity Stamp Co. Speaking of Jules -- she's the subject of the fabulous news I just heard! 

 

Guess who was just announced as one of Papercraft Magazines' newest GO-TO GIRLS?!  Yep, that pretty blonde chickadee, Julie Campbell herself!  Congratulations, Jules!!!  I'm so thrilled and excited for you!

Back to today's challenge... I was the paper picker.  I'm pretty sure the other gals hold their breath each time I come through the paper rotation, on account of my well-documented love of colors like YoYo Yellow (RIP) and Glorious Green.  I took it pretty easy on 'em this month, though.  I chose Madison Plaid from Echo Park's Little Girl collection; it makes my preppy heart go bang-bang-bang!

Here's what I came up...

Just like the sentiment says, it's pretty sweet, don't you think?  Can you see the glittery seeds on the strawberry?  The photo isn't the greatest because it's a cloudy & rainy day here in Claremore, America. I used yesterday's Splitcoast sketch challenge (#326) as my layout.

I'm going to let you go as I'm anxious to visit my JiFFy Gals and Cammie to see what they've done with this month's combo.  I'm also hoping that us JiFFy Girls will be a good influence on Cammie, and that maybe she'll take our virtuous examples to heart and mend her wicked ways.  Having her play with us this month is actually a form of ministry, you know...

Please stop by my buddies' blogs and leave a little love:

• Michele Boyer
• Julie Campbell
• SWEET Lori Craig
• Alli Miles, and our special guest
• Carolyn King

I'll be back a little later today with another post.  In the meantime, I've got to go comb out my wings...