Good evening, geeklings! I'm getting ready to settle my still-slightly-under-the-weather self in for a Doctor Who double header (I've got two weeks of episodes to catch up on, thanks to iTunes), and it seems fitting that tonight's geeky roundup includes a couple of Doctor Who items.

Enjoy! I'm off to watch the Ponds, Daleks, and some Weeping Angels in Manhattan!

 

From the top left:

• I'm filing this one in the "well, that was inevitable" category. Firebox has a product page up for a Sonic Screwdriver toothbrush, though at the time of this post it wasn't available for purchase just yet.
• Amanda Visell has crafted the most amazing vintage-style wood Star Wars figures I've ever seen. Boba Fett is pictured above, and I encourage you to click through to her site to see more of them!
• Her Universe has recently added Doctor Who to the list of geeky brands on their licensing list. This "Fish Fingers and Custard" top is one of several new offerings in their lineup. And if you don't get the reference, get thee to Netflix and start streaming Doctor Who, pronto!
• Ooooooooooooooh! Check out these Toy Story inspired alien cake pops at Cupcakes Take the Cake.
• This super fun Batgirl themed party was featured on Amy Atlas' blog.
• Kody Koala posted a custom-made Hungry Hungry Koopas game on his blog, putting a decidedly Mario spin on the classic kids' game.
• This Lego Star Wars clock (with interchangeable minifigs!) is one of many geeky DIY crafts over at Instructables.
• Yes, it's Pokemon. Again. Bit Rebels featured a series of geeky gaming jewelry charms including characters from several well-known franchises. 
• It's a purse! It's Legos! It's both! And it's fully functional and for sale at Agabag's Etsy shop.

MTFBWY!

star wars celebration vi | day 4

By Day 4 (also known as the last day) of Star Wars Celebration VI, I was very nearly photographed out. Sunday was by far the smallest photo day for me, but there were still lots of great costumes around, so I've got plenty to share. And, in case you missed them, here are links to my Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 photo posts.

Sunday started off just like every other day- in line waiting for the floor to open.

Just like every other day, too, there were some great costumes to photograph while waiting. Check out the scottish Stormtrooper (complete with kilt!) and the vintage Princess Leia action figure. The hands! Look at the hands!!

I was happy to spot some familiar faces helmets on the way in to the main hall. The Scout Trooper with his Ewok was back in action, though he said that the rest of the family was still sleeping back in the hotel room. :)

Throughout the con there was a lot of swag to be had at some of the vendor booths, but at no time during the week had I ever seen a giveaway line like this one! Cartamundi gave out an exclusive lenticular playing card each day of the show, and if you had collected the previous three earlier in the week you got two cards to complete the royal flush on the last day. During the previous three days the line had been pretty mild, but on this morning it wrapped all the way across four or five aisles of the floor. Luckily it moved pretty quickly and I was able to get both my cards and my brother's, since he'd had to leave to fly home early Sunday morning.

citrus twist november guest designer

A little over a month ago I was introduced to a relatively new kit club, Citrus Twist, when Tina Walker posted her guest design layouts for them on her blog. I've been admiring their colorful, well-put-together kits in the weeks since then, and I was quite excited when Trina emailed me this afternoon to let me know that I've been selected as their November guest designer! She also let slip a couple of products that are going to be in that kit, and I may or may not have started rubbing my hands together in absolute glee.

Citrus Twist has just started peeking their October kit (not the one I'll be working with for them), and it already looks amazing! I spy Pink Paislee Portfolio die cuts (you know how much I love this line, right?), Amy Tangerine's Ready. Set. Go. roller date stamp (my date stamp obsession has already been well documented), and a set of exclusive Citrus Twist stamps in that mix, and the peeks have just started!

 

Citrus Twist is also coming out with their own December Daily kit, and the photo below shows just a few of the items that will be included. Get a load of that flair, washi, and those yummy enamel dots!

One more thing that has me excited about this club? They're coming out with a Project Life kit starting in October. The kit will coordinate with but not overlap the main kit, so it will be perfect for Project Lifers, cardmakers, or anyone who just wants to add on bit more to their main kit.

I'm excited to see their new offerings rolling out this month and look forward to working with them in November!

friday favorites | september 28, 2012

I'm back as promised with today's Friday Favorites! I've found myself unexpectedly at home this weekend, so I might just try one or two of these ideas myself sometime over the next couple of days. I was originally scheduled to do my checkout scuba dives tomorrow and Sunday to finish my certification, but my allergies are acting up and sinus pressure + scuba diving = a big no-no, so it's going to have to be rescheduled for a later date.

In this mix you'll find a couple of inspiring mini albums, gold leafed honey bears, and an idea for washi tape that's just plain fun, so let's get started!

 

From the top left:

• I love this fun summer mini album, found at Pebbles' blog.
• Adrienne Alvis shows of a fun use for washi tape on this stunning layout. She layered the tape over white cardstock and then cut it into pennants!
• Learn how to back the negative space in your die cuts with twine at The Twinery.
• This is one of those projects that just looks silly fun, and perfect for fall! Elsie Larson shows how to use gold leafing to dress up honey bear jars at A Beautiful Mess.
• How awesome is this embossed and watercolored doily? Check out the tutorial at Crafts By Ready, Set, Love.
• Check out this "mini" mini album made with journaling cards at October Afternoon.
• Keisha Campbell has been organizing her small scrapping supplies and show several examples of her reworked storage spaces.
• Hey Gorgeous has posted a tutorial showing how to make a fun ombre chandelier using paint swatches. This would be a perfect use for some of those patterned paper scraps, too.
• Citrus Twist shares a fun paper-cutting technique for adding a little flair to your herringbone and chevron print papers.

TTFN!

crafty steals guest

Happy Friday, everyone! I'll be back later tonight with Friday Favorites, but right now I have a pair of layouts to share with you! Crafty Steals (if you've not heard of them, they run daily closeout deals on scrapbooking products) asked me to be their guest designer this month and sent me a selection of items from My Mind's Eye's Lime Twist collection to work with. This collection also happens to be their Steal of the Day today, and you can hop on over to their site for a great deal on a variety pack of patterned paper, die cuts, stickers, transparencies, and other accessories from this fun, colorful collection.

My Mind's Eye's mega collections like Lime Twist always include a great diversity of color palettes, and I was able to take items from the same line and make two very different layouts with them.

My first layout is a girly birthday page using photos from my niece's second birthday party. I love MME's die cut papers, and even though my usual scrapping style doesn't accommodate full-size sheets I was still able to use part of this paper on my page by adding a wide strip of it across the top.

I finished off the page with my usual pile of paper layers under the photos and then added several of the sticker elements in to break up the straight lines, using dimensional adhesive under them to add a bit of depth.

My second layout (documenting this year's Father's Day lunch) went straight to the boyish side of Lime Twist's spectrum, using lots of blues, greens, and oranges. There are lots of layers here, too, including the big orange die cut frame and a small piece from one of the larger die cut papers that was in the kit. That orange frame is a reminder that you don't always have to use an element for its intended purpose- I definitely didn't frame anything with mine, but it worked quite well as a layer under the photos.

It's been a while since I've worked with just My Mind's Eye products on a layout, and I'd forgotten how easy their collections make it to quickly put together pages that coordinate without being completely matchy-matchy. Crafty Steals has My Mind's Eye deals fairly regularly (along with products from a variety of other manufacturers), so you might want to sign up for their email list and keep an eye out for them in the future- I know I am!

pecan pie

The Lily Bee design team has been celebrating fall all week with the new Autumn Spice collection, and today I'm sharing a layout that was up on their blog a few days ago.

Fall is hard for me (I'm not a fan of cooler weather, crisp air, or any of the things that fall lovers rave about during the season), so I tend to focus on a few things that I really do love about this time of year to help ease myself into the loss of my beloved summer months. Colorful leaves and pumpkin scented fragrances from Bath and Body Works are two of my favorite things about the season, along with cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Or, more to the point, Thanksgiving dessert in the form of pecan pie (I use Pioneer Woman's recipe).

Since we were home for Thanksgiving last year, cooking dinner was a laid-back event, and we made sure to take plenty of photos of the food prep process. When it came time to scrap them and decide on ways to embellish the page, I decided to pull up a pie chart cutting file that I downloaded for my Silhouette a few months ago and put it to use.

I also used a few of Lily Bee's Mixed Cardstock Stickers (the pennant variety) as tiny "pie slices" sticking out from the side of one of my photos.

I know I can't be the only person out there who gets a teensy bit depressed when fall rolls around- any other perpetual summer lovers out there who can commiserate with me?

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Supplies (click on images for product links):

InLinkz.com

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we were the only ones

Yesterday was sketch day over at Pretty Little Studio. I'm really, really excited to be working with PLS's sketch designer, Keri Babbitt, again- she and I were on the Sweet Peach Crop Shop design team together last year, and her sketches are just awesome.

 

I had no trouble getting right down to making a layout with this sketch! As soon as I saw the large circle element behind the photos, I knew I wanted to stitch some big, messy circles back there and bling them up a bit. Okay, so wood veneer isn't bling, but you get my drift...

I'm currently thankful that I printed approximately eight and a half billion photos from our Aruba trip, because I'm still not tired of scrapping them over a year and a half later. Though it's high time to go on another epic adventure, methinks!

And, yes, my photo block is crooked! Yikes. I didn't even realize it until I photographed the layout, and by then the adhesive was waaaay too stuck to undo it without completely shredding the layers underneath. I think it happened because I stuck it all together while sitting down- everything looked straight then, but I think if I'd been standing I would have caught it.

So I'm not going to call it crooked, I'll just call it artsy. :) And next time I'll stand up while sticking my photos down.

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Supplies (click on images for product links):

InLinkz.com

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