Made-for-you ATC Mini-Quickie-Giveaway

This month, I jumped back into the Craftster Ongoing ATC Swap! I didn't trade as many cards as I had originally envisioned, but had fun anyway. The way it works is each artist has a list of themes that they would like to receive cards made specifically for, and then they get picked chain-style. So when I declare I'm making an ATC for So-and-So, then I get picked next by Whats-her-face, then Whats-her-face gets picked by The-Ugly-One, etc. etc. It's great fun.

.

 This card was made after the (smart!) theme of "Your Favorite Faux Swear." I thought it was perfect, because we LDS folks have a faux-cuss for every regular cuss, and even for some cusses that aren't really cusses anyway. "SON OF A BISCUIT!" is one of my faves, I had a hard time picking between that one and "What the fetch?!"

This one was made for a "Chipmunks" theme. It's drawing and watercolor, then of course I had to add a wee placard made with my metal punching set!

Now for the quickie giveaway, leave a comment with 2 things: 
1) Your favorite faux swear word or phrase. (If you don't have one, or just cuss normal, make up a faux.)
2) A favorite theme (i.e. birds, the color blue, mushrooms, Harry Potter, etc)

On Friday, I'll use random.org to pick a winner, then I'll use one of the winner's themes to make a custom ATC just for them. The rules: Don't comment any REAL cuss words, and make sure there's a way to contact you (via clicking your username, leaving an e-mail, etc) just in case you win.

I'm also planning a significantly bigger giveaway for the future, so this isn't all! GOOD LUCK, you sons of biscuits! :)

Frog Smile More Album/Journal

My great friend Sarah (Hi Sarah, I know you're reading this!) had a birthday this past week. So I made her a frog and smile themed album/journal/whatever.

It's big enough to paste in 4x6 pictures. Binding bigger books is, I think, way more difficult/fiddly than binding tiny books! I'm pretty glad I have the skill now, though. Handbound books are awesome! And they make good gifts...

I used coptic stitch again (of course!) and bought some color coordinating papers for the inside signatures. I was surprised to see a while ago that Office Depot started carrying a little bit of a la carte scrapbook paper along with a ton of solid and textured cardstocks in a ridiculous number of different colors. Plus, it's within 5 minutes of my house. Bonus!

In other news, big ol' hail woke me from a delightful nap and also pelted the flip out of our cars this afternoon. This is a handful of it! It's the biggest hail that I've ever seen in person, with the biggest pieces about the size of a dime. I'm glad I wasn't out walking when it started raining down like so many tiny meteorites.

I hope you're having a great weekend! AND WHOA! I just noticed that my little blog just reached 300 followers! You guys rock!!!! :)

EDIT: Last night, the photos didn't upload properly, but they should be fixed now! Let me know if they're not showing up for you. Nessa, thanks for commenting last night to tell me what was up! Ten gold stars for you!

Little Altered Boardbook WIP

The other week, I found three little board books at the flea market for 50 cents. I've started to alter this one, and the cover is now finished! First, I peeled off the "story" on the inside, and it was pretty easy to do... it seemed to be covered in a thin sheet of plastic. Once that stuff was off, it was pretty good looking, just plain brown chip board :)

I used acrylic paints to make each inside spread a different color, then accented the edges with an inkpad and chalk pastels. I'll post each page spread as I finish them. I think I'm going to fill the pages with different watercolor paintings and things I'm thankful for.

I drew and watercolored this cockatiel for the front because I needed something to fill up the space after I glued on the "Life is good" things. The cockatiel's crest goes off to the left for that reason... I think it works!

Anyhoo, I'm having a pretty grand week. I hope you are too! Happy Wednesday!