Gutter Girlz

Moving Day

2011-01-11T19:57:00.000-08:00

Please feel free to browse old posts, and check us out!! If you like what you see, and you'd like to be part of our NEW venture, please join us at A Year in the Life of an Art Journal!!

Dec Prompt # 47

2010-12-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

It seems strange to be saying so long to this place, and starting on a new journey in a new one. I hope that all of you will join us over at A Year in the Life of an Art Journal! This coming year, we'll be playing with prompts similar to those here in the gutter. MAYBE with a little less of an edge. Still with 100% of the attitude. I'm excited that my Design Team will be following me to this new place. Even those of them that worried they didn't know how to art journal!! This blog will stay up. I want people to be able to re visit past prompts, because lets face it. There just aren't many blogs like this one around. Thanks so much to each of you... if it weren't for YOUR participation, this thing would NEVER have gotten anywhere.
Our final prompt in the Gutter... REMEMBER. YOU are in charge of you. Your art... Your life. Sometimes you just have to play in the gutter. Don't take who YOU are for granted.
Put yourself at the top of your list.
Make the rules up as you go.
Don't leave yourself out of the things you deem important enough to document. In your scrapbooks, in your art journals, in your photography...
THE PROMPT: For Granted
THE SONG: If I Were a Boy by Beyonce
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Page from phone book

From the GIRLZ...
Margarethe
I went for a walk with my mother last week, around a small lake near the city center. It's so beautiful there, especially in the winter time, but I often fail to notice.

It's been great doing all the challenges this year as part of the DT, and although I am sad Gutter Girlz is over, I'm looking forward to seeing you all as part as the Year in the Life of an Art Journal-DT next year!

Becky
When I saw this prompt the first thing that came to my mind was my grandmother. I still had a phone book that had her number in it. She passed away 3 years ago and it is still something that weighs on me each day. This is the beginning of my ART Journal and I couldn't think of a better way to start it than with my Nanny.

See you at A Year in the Life of an Art Journal!! Be sure to subscribe there, and get ready for next year!!

Nov, Prompt #46

2010-11-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

Hello! Welcome to the Gutter! We're getting ready to move over to A Year in the Life of an Art Journal starting in 2011, but until then, we invite you to keep posting links to what you create here!
THE PROMPT: What's Good for the Goose
THE SONG: Live Your Life by Rihanna
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Feathers
The design team is busy working on getting switched to the new blog!! Here's what we've got!!
BECKY
I decided to add this months prompt into my all about me ATC cards.

RACHEL
I created a page for my art journal.

PATTI
This challenge was the perfect challenge to use this photo of my niece. I used a few verses from the song. So fun!!!!!!!

Create YOUR art from OUR prompt, then leave us a comment with a direct LINK to your creation in a comment here.

Can't wait to see what you create!!

Oct, Prompt #45

2010-10-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth!! Things have been headless crazy around here, and I've been weighing what I need to do with the blog, so it's taken me a while to get this posted!!

Here's the plan. For the rest of the year, we're going down to one prompt a month. We'll be posting on the 15th of November and December, and then... January 2011
WE'RE MOVING!!
I'm ready for some change, and I think this is the perfect time. I host an art journal blog that has been a huge success, and I love the prompt format of gutter girlz. I think now is the perfect time for all of us to move over, and get our journals in the gutter!! I know I personally feel like I've worn out the dirty part of my scrapbooks... lol and I love the freedom that art journaling has. ALSO... because I like to push envelopes, I like the idea of blurring the "lines" between scrapbooking and art journaling. It makes some people nervous. :) I hope you'll all join us!! A Year in the Life of an Art Journal. Be sure to subscribe there, and join our facebook group!! (the gutter girlz group on FB will be shutting down.) We'll start a new year of prompts in January with three part prompts like we do here, and with the freedom for you to create as you like!!
This is one of my favorite songs... I wish I had had time to create for this prompt!!
THE PROMPT: That's Rich
THE SONG: You and I by Ingrid Michealson
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Crochet or Knitting
Here are a couple pages from the design team!!
Mararethe
I wanted to make a simple layout that was strong at the same time. I think this layout is just that.

Nikki
As soon as I saw the lyrics to this song I knew what I wanted to do. We visited the Biltmore Estate back in April and it was absolutely breathtaking! It's so hard to imagine that people actually lived in a home that large! So I used a pic of the Biltmore, part of a crocheted doily that was the prompt, and some lyrics from the song...

Becky
Sometimes I just need to add a variety to my crafting and not so much scrapbook pages. When I read this prompt I knew immediately what I wanted to make. I have kept this box for a few years now. It originally contained some flowers. So I altered it with some crackle paint and added a cluster of flowers. I found a crochet one and used the title of the song as my title for the box.

Patti
This was just the perfect song to do this layout about my niece. My sister decided to *kick her out* Yeah whatever but anyway she is a good kid. Does well in school. Has a great part time job. Is heading to college in the Fall. I just want her to know that she can do this on her own.

Can't wait to see what you create!!

Sept. 30th, Prompt #44

2010-09-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

Please welcome our guest designer this month, Lena Schreijenberg! Lena lives in a small village in the South-West of the Netherlands.
"As long as I can remember I am always busy to create things. As a little kid I made drawings, knitted and sewed dolls clothes, made cushions for my room…. Now I’m a qualified seamstress and I have made many clothes for myself and my kids. A few years ago I started painting and my best friend Marit introduced scrapping/art journaling to me. I took part in both of her workshops in art journaling and I loved it!! So I guess my latest work is a bit of a mix of scrapping and art journaling."
VISIT HER BLOG!

Becky brings this prompt and guest designer to us this month! Thanks, Becky!!

THE PROMPT: I am a _____________ (fill in the blank)

THE SONG: I'm a Fighter by Christina Aguleria

PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: fabric
I started with a black piece of cardstock. Ripped pieces of fabric and "glued" them on the page with lots of gesso. When it was dry, I painted the page and dripped some black ink over it
The pic is my dd Carmen and I'm very proud of her. She's 13 years old and she totally stands for everything she believes in and what she likes. It doesn't matter to her what other people think of it/her. That's why I think she's a "Fighter"....

MARGARETHE:
I am... A daughter. A Wife. A Student. A woman. A girl. A reader. A scrapbooker. A friend. An acquaintance. A dreamer. A wisher. A lover. A stranger. A writer. A lover of long showers. A restless sleeper. A cat-owner. A geek.
I am so many things. I have so many roles to play, but do I ever play them "right"?

GLENDA:
I love this song by Christina and it's one I can definitely relate to so I decided to do a page for my art journal. I am a strong person and have only been made stronger by some of the hardships I have had to endure in regards to raising our kids and by going through some tough times with them. I always say what doesn't kill me only makes me stronger!!!

BECKY:
I decided to use this months prompt to start an art journal. I've been receiving daily inspiration emails that I will include in this journal. Because I am a fighter. I am a strong woman.

PATTI:
I did this months prompt on my relationship with my Mom over the years it has gone from bad to worse. Worse because I am not taking her or her significant other's crap!! I used a few verses out of the song for my journaling: After all the fights and the lies Guess you're wanting to haunt me But that won't work anymore No more uh uh, it's over. I attempted a fabric flower it didn't turn out how I wanted it to but just the same.

NIKKI:
As soon as I saw the prompt I knew what I was going to do for this one! I am an individual, without a doubt! I love my tattoos! I have 4 of them...and if others don't like them...well, too bad...LOL! I definitely go by the beat of my own drum. I took some fabric and sewed it on as a skirt highlighting my back tattoo. Then took a vintage string of pearls and used it as an embellishment for the skirt!

CHRISTI:
I loved using fabric for this prompt...I made little yo-yo flowers, applied fabric to my page in strips, and used felt Thickers for my title!

In other news... I've been thinking about the direction I'd like to take this blog... unfortunately, I can't afford the time to search out sponsors, and we don't offer prizes anymore. I think that has affected the responses from all of you... and I'm considering changing things, and possibly consolidating Gutter Girlz into my art journal prompt blog. The prompts there are also twice a month, however they focus on the journal part of art... something people are welcome to do here, but don't often do. I think that sometimes, a lot of our prompts might get a better response if they were in an art journal instead of a scrap page.
IF.
I make any changes, we'll do that at the start of NEXT year. Just a heads up, and a request for your thoughts on making some small changes like the one mentioned.
Can't wait to see what you guys create with this prompt!!

Sept. 15th, Prompt #43

2010-09-15T07:00:00.001-07:00

THE PROMPT: Torturing Myself
THE SONG: Like it Rough by Lady Gaga
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Rope
This one is a tough one!! Thanks to the daring Girls that took it on, and made it THEIRS!!
Becky:
Sometimes I run into a prompt that is hard for me to relate to. I have love on my mind right now so I just couldn't come up with anything that went with the song lyrics or the title. BUT....if you ever run into this problem...DON'T give up on working on the prompt. Instead I used the "rope". I didn't have rope but twine works just as well!

Nikki:
I went with a fun page for this prompt....remembering back to our Outdoor Adventure in Puerto Vallarta and how the first of the 7 zip lines we did was torture! It was scary being up so high and running down that line while being 100 and some feet above the ground! But it was awesome and the next 6 were just plain fun!!!!!

Aug. 30th Prompt #42

2010-08-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hello! Welcome to the Gutter! This prompt is not hosted by any one design team member, and so I thought it would be cool for all of YOU to choose!! We're calling this prompt,
FREE CHOICE! What does that mean for you?
PROMPT:
Choose title or "prompt" to start.
SONG:
Pick a song of your choice that matches your prompt. (or the other way around.)
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE:
Choose something you've never done or used to try on your layout!!
Here's what the girlz created!
GLENDA:
I chose the song "Can't be tamed" by Miley Cyrus and used the lyrics that say "I wanna fly, I wanna drive, I wanna go, I wanna be a part of something I don't know" and did my layout on my love of seeing new places, traveling and having an adventure. I hope to be able to travel more and see new places the older I get. My technique is paint (I painted on my transparency) and my product is transparency.

PATTI:

MARGRETHE:

The song Margrethe used was from Patti's idea to use the song A place in this world, by Taylor Swift and a Map for her product/technique.
I used Studio Calico's Documentary collection, and their map patterned paper has Norway on it, and the part where I live, so I used that as a detail. For a long time I've felt I've been behind where I should be. I was 23 when we got our own place. I was still in school. I hadn't had a proper job. But over the last year, things changed. I'm still in school, but I'm about to start working on my masters dissertation. I've got a part time job. And I'm not scared of turning 25 (in a month). I may not have a cookie-cutter life, but I'm living my life as me.
NIKKI:
I just did this page of my hubby and I recently with the song You make me smile by Uncle Kracker in mind...I love the words to this song! I typed the lyrics in different places on the background paper and then used bits and pieces of scraps to finish it up! :) I actually did one of AJ as well with the same song in mind.

CHRISTI:
The prompt: Baby Love
The song: Everybody by Ingrid Michaelson
The product/technique: Seed beads
I just love these pictures of my two oldest children (taken 10 years ago!) and decided to use them as my inspiration for the prompt. Which is kinda backwards, but that's just how I am. The song "Baby Love" was running through my head the whole time I thought about this page, but since that one's a little outdated, I chose a love-themed song by Ingrid Michaelson instead. The seed beads just seemed the perfect touch.

Take this "prompt" and inspire US this month!! See you on the 15th!
Can't wait to see what you create!!

Aug. 15th Prompt #41

2010-08-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Our prompt this time!
THE PROMPT:
Life and the Dream
THE SONG:
Where the Green Grass Grows by Tim Magraw
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Grass
NIKKI
This was a tough prompt for me....I didn't have anything resembling grass whatsoever, so I decided to paint my grass and some sky and went with more of an art journally feel to this one....It's one of my favorite songs from Tim and I was super excited to see it as the prompt for this month!

SUSAN
I did an art journal page this month. A week ago was my original sobriety date. It's not my sobriety date but it is when I first decided to lay down my shovel & go to AA and try something different. 5 years later I live in California. Have my life and "the" dream intermingled? Yes, but certainly not in the way I had imagined them and that is what my journaling is about. Dream big always but don't be attached to the package the dreams come in and you just might be surprised at how many do come true.

BECKY
for this challenge I wanted to us a picture of my grandmothers house and altered the picture to reflect “where the green grass grows”

RACHEL
We recently moved to the country... and we love it there. I've always loved this song by Tim, and when I remembered I had a photo of the old rocker facing west that was sitting in the yard when we moved in, I had to use it to convey this prompt. We are living our dream... and taking life slowly. Where the green grass grows.

Can't wait to see what you create!!

July 30th, Prompt #40

2010-07-30T09:20:00.000-07:00

This post is brought to you by our DT member, Margrethe!!
Hello! Welcome to the Gutter! This has been one busy month, and it felt SO nice to get in the gutter.

The prompt this time is:
The PROMPT: Memories
The SONG: "No, I don't remember" by Anna Ternheim
The Product/Technique: Overlays/transparencies

Our guest designer this time is Angela!

Hi! I’m Angela. I live on Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. This is actually my first time as a guest designer for a blog. And I’m more than a little excited about it!

I graduated last May with a Bachelor’s in Fashion Merchandising. Recently obtained my license as an Esthetician in Massachusetts. I work retail to pay the bills, and I scrap to save my sanity.

I started scrapbooking about seven years ago in 2003 – when I was 16, in my junior year of high school. Holy.crap. That seems like forever ago. The first thing I made was an album for my Mom for Mother’s Day and her birthday. I dabbled in it here and there throughout the rest of high school and still have that album kicking around somewhere..

I became *serious* about my scrapping in 2006, during my sophomore year of college. Or about as serious as you can be when you live in a room the size of a closet and have no space for storage, let alone to crop. Mini albums are where I started but right now layouts are where most of my pictures end up.

Recently I’ve moved more into the direction of what I like to call paper crafting; scrapbooking seems really lame to other people [especially dudes] when they ask you what your hobbies are. I’ve found a new love for creating canvases and attempting altered art.

My new favorite products are the Ranger Color Washes in the Tim Holtz line of products, Stampotique “artsy fartsy” girl rubber stamps, and deco tapes. I’m finally starting to use my stash of Hambly, love, Elsie, and American Crafts. And my old stand-bys, American Crafts Thickers, Bazzil white cardstock, and Bazzil kraft cardstock, are usually visible on ALL my layouts : ]

I’m always looking for new techniques online through blogs and tutorials, and I love picking the brains of the girls I scrap with at my LSS. Right now I’m *loving* watered down acrylic paints and my color washes, with masks, to alter white cardstock into something new. Paper flowers using circle punches are also a new favorite that keep popping up on my layouts. One thing I’m trying to incorporate more of onto my layouts is my handwriting.

You can find my ramblings and my layouts at http://angelaspangela.wordpress.com

My Layout:

This song was one I had never heard, but upon reading the lyrics all I could think of was my most recent ex-boyfriend.

I altered one of the lyrics, ‘I forgot how to cry,’ to make my title.
I used pictures of just me because I wanted ME to be the highlight of the layout and not him or our relationship.
I used the masked areas to do my journaling that I wanted everyone to read. It’s mostly random memories from the last year, stuff he and I talked about, and memories from when we were together for those couple months. I used the color washed areas to do hidden journaling for some stuff I needed to get out but didn’t want everyone to be able to read – such a neat trick!
My journaling reads: I have never cried over a guy as much as I did for Matt. I never want to do that again. Eventually I’ll pull my life together. Emotionally, financially, socially, romantically. Right now I’m just working on staying afloat - & that’s just fine. No one figures their life out before the age of 25 anyways! I miss the security blanket of college but I don’t think I could do classes anymore. Somewhere along the line I lost myself - & that’s not always an easy thing to find again. But I did. & then Matt happened. When we broke up I was an emotional mess for two weeks. It took me a considerable amount of time to want to be social again, & I’ve only recently started to date again. I’m not 100% the me I was before Matt, but I don’t think I’ll see that girl again. I’m starting to like this girl more. I hold all my pain inside. So many promises made & not a single one kept. No more tears for him unless I can drown him in them.

Journaling close up:

July 15th, Prompt #39

2010-07-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Please join me in hopping over to the Scrap Your CRAP blog and shouting at the gals over there! We SWAPPED with their Design Team!!
Before you head over their way, take a look at what their team did with our PROMPT!!
THE PROMPT: Mindless
THE SONG: Dickhead by Kate Nash
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Trash
Kristin Fougeron
I would say most of my page is "trash" ...well, lets say when i was going thru all my scrapbooking supplies this is what stood out to me...
First I used the piece of packaging from some chipboard pieces as my background and spray painted the clouds onto it, then used the top of my snack for the sun and some plastic that you line you shelf with for the rays, then I had all these stamps so I thought that I would put them all under the picture and then I painted the fence and added some crackle to it with the bathroom fixtures as flowers ...
I also like the line in the song ....
Will you stop, no don't show
Just have a think before you
Will you stop it, oh will you just have a think before you..
My son sometimes does not think before he acts ....he does not use his mind... Thanks for letting me play along!!!!

Sarah
I used part of the lyrics but changed the “f” word to “yucking”, as I found a rat out on my daughters play mat and it completely yucked up our play time! Rats remind me of rubbish (you know they’re scavengers and disgusting), so the “Trash” theme worked perfectly with this. I made a ruffle from a Milky Way packet, I used a bottle top, old cardboard that I tore the top layer off and then used the curls as embellies as well, I found a ring pull from a can, some scrunched up paper balls that my daughter had used for craft and no longer needed, some staples and lots of scraps of paper that I tore up. I also used some new bug stamps. All together this created a rubbishy theme to go with my disgusting rat! Thanks for making me think outside the box! This was a real challenge!

Angela
I found the prompt VERY challenging because the song uses language I don't use and hate hearing. I tried to get past the language to the meaning in the lyrics, and I ended up thinking about how I refuse to let other people ruin my life. They may make bad choices, but I get to have a choice about how I respond and how I see my life - a life truth that I do want to record as a scrapbook page, something I believe to be true. As for using trash in the prompt - I used some embellies that were nearly garbage, they'd been sitting on my desk so long, as well as an old key that doesn't belong to anything.

Kim
Even though I swear like a trooper I could not find a use for any of the lyrics in my layout (maybe I haven't met a proper dickhead yet...LOL) but the MINDLESS prompt did work for the picture of my with a "fat" lip.
Being someone who detests flying, the only way I was going on a plane after 5 years of refusing to do so, was to get completely wasted. I did not think of the aftereffects this had, as my boyfriend who only speaks English, had to pick me up from the airport floor in Salzburg/Austria, when I tripped and split my lip. Apparently we had to sit for about four hours at the airport until I sobered up enough to find the way to out hotel....needless to say I never acted so mindless again.
TRASH: the part of sequin waste tucked underneath the picture on the left hand side of the layout. Thanks for swapping with us!

Leslie
Here is my image for your Kate Nash challenge. This song made me think of being stuck in LA traffic, and dealing with jerks on the roads. You know, the ones who drive on the shoulder and cut everyone off, the men in mini vans who drive like maniacs. The endless stop and go of the freeways... God I love LA!!! That awesome K&Co sticker of the man's mouth wide open is me, screaming in my car!! Thanks for letting us play, I had a lot of fun on this one!

Illy

I had so much fun doing this layout! For the background I used a torn page from a composition book and I added a piece of a broken paper-doily (directly from the trash bin). For matting the photo I used a piece of the paper that I usually use as a cutting mat (paper written on a side). Then I glued and stapled tiny bits of patterned papers (I keep them in a box, even the smallest scraps). I also used masking tape, white ink and a brown chalk. The page (and the title!!!!!) is dedicated to my ex boyfriend.Thank you very much!!!!!!!

Thank you SO MUCH all you gals at Scrap Your Crap!! I love design team swaps!! This one is no exception! It's so fun to see what other gals will do with our prompts, and what directions they will take. You did NOT disappoint!!
Stay tuned on the 30th for another great prompt, and don't forget to play along with us here! Leave a comment and be in line to be invited to be a guest designer!

DT SWAP and the NEW YEAR!

2010-07-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

First:
DT SWAP!! Don't forget to hop over to Scrap Your CRAP challenge blog, and tell 'em the Gutter Girlz sent you!! We'll be sharing the SYC gal's work here on the 15th.

Second:
We also have some changes coming to the gutter!!
A break down of the changes:

Our design team will not be providing prizes anymore. It gets to be spendy for the team, and they don't get any compensation for helping me keep this place an AWESOME place for inspiration GUTTER STYLE. If we have offers for sponsorship, we'll still share THOSE as a prize, but prizes won't be something we do regularly any more.
We'll be going back to TWO prompts per month, but instead of little old ME creating all of them, your very own dirty girlz will be coming up with their own prompts at the end of every month!! They'll also be choosing their own guest hosts!!

A break down of what is staying the same:

Prompts will still be posted on the 15th and 30th of every month. (the 28th in Feb.)
We'll still be choosing guest hosts from those of you who PLAY with us and leave links in the comments.
The prompts will still consist of three parts, which you can choose to create with using all or some of the three parts.

I'm looking forward to the new year!! We'll be entering our THIRD YEAR in the gutter!! Thanks to each and every one of YOU who help make this place a great place to be. We hope that our changes will keep you coming back, and having more fun than EVER.

End of the Month MOJO JUNE '10

2010-06-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

Nikki Z brings us our honorary Gutter Girl this month!! This month's Honorary Guest Designer is Susan!

I just love Susan's work! She has such a unique way of putting together pictures, paint and words....Here is her take on this month's prompt Fingerprints....

And check out some more of her fantastic work...You can tell her whole heart goes into all of her pages!

Let's learn a little bit more about Susan shall we?
Are you artistic in other ways/mediums?
Yes I am. I sew but it really is not my thing (meaning I don't enjoy it that much). I am going to make a tutu for Miss Aubrey right now ..shhh.don't tell Sarah. I also can create a a stunning table scape. I just started creating alter art and love collage.

Is there a scrap technique/style you are afraid to try or feel clueless about?
There is nothing I am afraid to try and several things I am clueless about. I continue to learn new techniques all of the time.

Who or what gives you the most inspiration when you create?
Other artist, other scrappers, the world around me and my family

If you had a super power, what would it be and why?
The power to heal cancer!

What cause or charity organization is most important to you?
Project Ed Bear is a not for profit all volunteer organization dedicated to providing comforts and needs for pediatric patients. My son Ede had bone tumors when he was 11. He is a healthy 27 year old young man now. We started Project Ed Bear together 16 years ago.
What was your most embarrassing moment?
I have had many but the one that comes to mind is when the back of my sundress became pull up with my panties after I went to the bathroom and I walked down the street with my husband for a long time before someone (woman) pulled me aside to let me know that my ass was hanging out. She said it much nicer than that! :)

Have you ever had plastic surgery? Would you?
Yes!! I had a tummy tuck last year. I will probably have nips and tucks as I get older and sag more. : )

What are your strengths and weaknesses?
Seriously? How much space do I have..lol
Weaknesses:
I procrastinate
I say YES too often
I fail to schedule down time and then get mad about it
I am messy
I sometimes spend more money than I should
and the list goes on and on

Strengths:
I am an encourager
I am confident
I am not pretentious
I love and accept my friends and family as they are
I don't try to change anyone
(the last two strengths have only come after years of working on them and I am so much happier now)!

What was the most useful criticism you ever received?
Don't ever go to bed angry at your husband (or anyone really).

Are you the life of the party or do you blend into the background?
Depends on the party and the people but most the time I am the lie of the party.

Are you always on time or always late?
Almost always about 5 minutes late....drives my husband crazy as he is an always early kind of guy!

Are you spontaneous or do you prefer to plan everything out?
I plan but I am much more of a spontaneous person

What's your favorite Holiday tradition? Why?
The Gold gift! I give each of my children, grandchildren, husband and mother a gift wrapped in gold paper each year at Christmas that is just from me and not from Skip and I together.. This is a special gift chosen just for that person by me. It rarely is anything that they have asked for but often times their favorite gift . I shop for them all year long and when I find the perfect something that I know each person will love.I buy it. Examples are I gave Ede a first Edition of Catcher in the Rye one year and Buddy Holly's first album that was released another year(both things he LOVES but would never have even have thought to ask for. I gave Sarah's husband a picture of the first Massillon football team ever.. etc.

If your friends were asked to describe you, what 3 words would they use?
caring faithful and creative (I asked Sarah and this is what she said).

If you could be anyone famous, who would it be?
Myself..I AM famous you know! lol

Tell us ONE thing about you that nobody else would know?
Sarah is here with me and she says I should say that I am not a good driver and that I drive too slow...I think I should say that I was invited to the White house to meet the President (and I went)! OR maybe it should be I am not as nice as everyone thinks I am..lol Take your pick!

We'll be changing the way we are running our prompt schedule coming next month! I'll be creating a post in the next couple days about how things will run this coming year!!

Our random number generator picked
BEKAH "I keep trying to post this...
http://reflectionsbyrebekah.blogspot.com/2010/05/...
to win a $20 gift certificate from Studio Calico provided by Margarethe!! Bekah, please send us an email using our contact email here on the blog. In your subject line, please write JUNE PRIZE. Congratulations, and THANK YOU for playing with us!

We're taking part in a design team SWAP on the 15ht, so we won't be having a guest designer. We're swapping with the crew at SCRAP YOUR CRAP!! We'll be hosting them on the 15th, but THEY are sharing our work for their blog on July 1st!! Be sure to hop over and say HEY to an amazing group of talented ladies!

June 15th, Prompt #38

2010-06-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Geeze!! Two "late" posts in one month. It's like I've been BUSY or something... lol I'm sending this from Indiana!! I put off the post thinking I'd be able to get it in while I was waiting for planes on my way here... but you know how airlines work. Always making things difficult by plane delays and baggage issues...
THE PROMPT:
I'm the STAR of this show
THE SONG:
Fingerprints by Katy Perry
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE:
Film Negative or Negative effects (there is a free process for this on Picnik.com called INVERT)
Please Welcome our Guest Designer:
Sarah Elliott
Gallery
My name is Sarah Elliott and I live in Ottawa , Ontario, Canada. I’m mom to 4 boyz ages 12 down to 5 years old. Yes I’m busy, Yes I’m tired… and don’t ask how ‘clean’ my house is. ;O)

I'm also getting married in September 2010, lucky enough to have found love with a longtime high school friend who treats my boyz like his own, he is my missing Soul-Partner. So life is even busier right now, but oh so fun! I often refer to myself as having ADAD (Attention Deficit Art Disorder) as you can see on my blog www.keepsakescrafts.blogspot.com I’m always up to something Art-sy. I call myself a Mixed Media Artist because if I can find some way to craft it... I will. I’m always Re-Using, Re-ducing & Re-decorating. Been creative my whole life, don’t think I could put a ‘date’ on when I started making Art, if my Mum’s right it’d be on the wall about the same time she gave my solid foods.

Besides making a mess daily in my Studio at home: I’m also a Summer lover ‘cause I get to play in the garden, our Summers are way to short. I read lots & lots & lots… usually have 3-4 books on the go at any given time laying all over the house/car. I’m delighted to be given the opportunity to be a regular DT on ARTastic Challenge Blog and am looking so forward to the creative challenges ahead! In short: As you'll see by my page for this Challenge, I lead a Chaos-Driven life full of sh-tuff always going on, but I really wouldn't have it any other way.

I really had fun with this one... I kept meaning to put down my common diatribe about how we lead the PERFECT Sitcom Life. They would have a field day and years & years worth of situations we always seem to be in. I've never played with the features in Picnik... quite addictive. ;O) I was able to able to complete a large part of my LO right at Picnik then print & paste, awesome!

Journaling reads: I often wonder when the networks are going to show up at our door... wanting the rights to our life story for the next Prime Time Sitcom...
Script Notes:
Title: of our next Hit show
MOMMY IN THE MIDDLE
Solo-Parent-Mom of 4 boys + Fiance
little bit of estrogen dealing with A LOT of Teststerone!
Boy 1: 12 years old going on 16... teen angst, TEEN-many funny options
Boy 2: 9 years old... and already showing GAY tendencies, senstive etc...
Boy 3: 8 years old WILD-medication, school issues, dual personailty Great Storylines
Boy 4: 5 years old CUTE, baby of family- needs to be center of universe but Charms with smile and Big Brown Eyes. SELL IT!
Fiance: Work a LOT, helps when there but Mom is the Focus -the STAR
MOM: ADD, SAHM, ARTIST always trying to work in the chaos
EX: largely absent... occasional drop-ins allows for DRAMA.
It's my life, and I'm not sitting on the sidelines watching it pass me by...
-Fingerprints-Katy Parry-
Pets:
Fish (scenery), Crazee Bunny... Scene Stealer
2 dogs: 1 neurotic, but quiet. 1 BAD chews, poops in the house etc... OH the SCENES.
Big Dog, Black (bunny) like Ninja, Medium Dog, (fish) pretty.

Design Team:
Becky:
I have found that I love to paint. And the day I made this layout I had made a canvas painting using only my fingers. And it reminded me that no matter what I touch...I will always leave my fingerprints behind for someone to remember me by.

Glenda:

Nikki:
Love the lyrics to this song! I used a pic of my painty, messy hands and inverted it using picnik.com. I masked an alphabet sheet onto the background and then stamped the image. I drizzled some black glimmer mist on the page as well, did some messy stitching and stapled the hanging ends of the thread to the page....then used one of the lyrics from the song....

Susan:
The lyrics to the song prompt really spoke to me this month. I just put my grandmother in the nursing home last week and I'm moving from Kansas to California here soon so the lines of 'leaving my fingerprints' and 'making my mark on the world' reminded me of this big change in my life. I've never been one that wanted to fit into anyone's mold or stereotype. Of course my mom always said they broke the mold after she had me :) In the book page you might notice the 50's woman which is my reference to the 'mold'. I chose to get messy with some paint & ink for fingerprints rather than use a negative. I used my DT kit from Top Shelf Memories to make most of this lo.

Sarah:

Margarethe:
I had so much trouble figuring out what to make this month. I pondered about it for a long time before interpreting the prompt my way. Leaving fingerprints is one way to show that you've been here, but it can also mean you touched something, your way. There's a saying that everything has been thought of before, and that art is merely copying someone else's work, but doing it your way. I thought that leaving fingerprints could be a metaphor for this, so I decided to scraplift, as I happened upon the same die-cut paper. I had falled in love with a layout by Kaori, and wanted to "leave my mark". It also gave me the chance to play around with Maya Mists.

But I also wanted to make something, from scratch, so I made another layout as well. This is just playing around with Hambly screenprints and papers from Studio Calico...

Patti:
I thought this was the prefect prompt to scrapbook about my scrapbooking. Just showing how I want you to remember me by all my scrapbooks and scrap gifts I have done over the last few years. I got messy with my handprint and it sure felt good!

Christi:
I knew as soon as I saw the prompt that I'd easily be able to find a pic of at least one of our four kids hamming it up for the camera wearing something flashy. And when I saw these photos of our daughter from last summer, I knew they were perfect! I loved the song, but didn't "feel" it with these pics of my sweet girl. I had to go back in TIME to 2006 to find these sweeeeeeet photo negatives!!

End of the Month MOJO May '10

2010-05-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

OH MAN!! I totally lost track of my days!! It's the END OF THE MONTH!! I nearly forgot to get our end of the month MOJO up!!
Margrethe is hosting this month's End of the Month MOJO as well as this month's prize. She has asked Julie to be this month's honorary Gutter Girl! Due to some mix-ups on Margrethe's part, (apparently I'm not the only one mixed up at least...) Julie didn't get a chance to do this May's prompt. Instead she'll be showing some of her other works of art - she truly is an amazing artist!

Bio: My name is Julie Fei-Fan Balzer and I am a mixed-media artist and
avid scrapbooker. I live in New York City (right in Times Square),
where my husband (also my college sweetheart) has graciously accepted
that everything we own is covered in paint! I like to make art that
has a handmade, primitive feeling to it. You'll find lots of paint,
ink, hand cutting, and crazy color in my work. And I dabble in
everything from quilting to quilling!

I have been lucky enough to be published in books and magazines
including Cloth Paper Scissors, Quilting Arts Gifts, Creating
Keepsakes, Memory Makers, Scrapbook Trends, Somerset Memories, and
others! I regularly appear on both Scrapbook Memories TV (PBS) and
Quilting Arts TV (PBS). I am on the design teams for InfoCrea, Pencil
Lines, and Prima. I teach a live web class for Prima twice a month.
The classes are free, so be sure to check them out at
LiveWithPrima.com. I also teach around NYC, and will also be teaching
at CREATE (the CPS mixed media retreat) in Chicago, and for another
retreat in France in November. Also I'm excited to share that Cloth
Paper Scissors will be releasing my hour long DVD (lots of great
painting and texturizing techniques) in late July!

I've been scrapbooking for about seven years. It took me a while to
find my voice, but I've enjoyed every step of that journey. I love to
tell stories and make a mess and scrapbooking allows me to do both!

10 Random Scrapbooking Thoughts from Me:

1. I can't live without my Ranger Heat It Craft Tool (I'm an impatient
creator and it makes paint dry!) or my Cutterbee scissors.
2. I try to do something creative every single day.
3. Always try the things that scare you.
4. I am drawn to art that is quirky and unique, just as I am drawn to
people who are quirky and unique.
5. Gel Medium will always work when nothing else will stick this-to-that.
6. Don't ever be afraid to ruin it. You can't. Be brave and add that
next layer!
7. Use the photos of yourself with a double chin. Seriously.
8. One of the things I love most about scrapbooking is the community
that it creates. I adore going to crops!
9. Try to always put on apron. Otherwise, all your shirts will have
paint on them.
10. Perfection is overrated.

You can see more of Julie's art on her blog: Balzer Designs

For those of you dying to play along, post a direct link to your Gutter inspired projects in a comment on this post, THIS CURRENT POST or the one coming up on June 15th!! Your name will be put in the hat to win our prize from MARGRETHE: A $20 gift certificate from Studio Calico! We'll also keep our eyes open through the comments here for our NEXT guest gutter girl!!

We'd like to ask KeepSakeCrafts to be our GUEST designer for the upcoming prompt on the 15th!! Please email us using the email address (or the form if you click the email image) and use JUNE GUEST as your subject line! Let us know if you are interested!!

Our random number generator has selected CHERYL!! "Hi I love the textures ,too. I went with the song from concrete blond and re wrote the lyrics my interpretation is at www.scrapaddict4sure.com " Congratulations, Cheryl!! You've got yourself a 35$ gift certificate to TallyScrapper.com!! Send me an email with MAY PRIZE in your subject line, and I'll give you the details on how to redeem that!

May 15th, Prompt #37

2010-05-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hello! Welcome to the Gutter! This has been one busy month, and it felt SO nice to get in the gutter. I feel like it's been ages since I've been there... Thank you so much for putting up with us while we get ready for our new year! We're making some changes, and hoping to make the gutter an even BETTER place to be!
Are you ready!?
THE PROMPT:
Not It!!
THE SONG:
Not the Doctor by Alanis Morissette
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE:
Stitches Please welcome our guest Designer:
Marit!!

Hi, I'm Marit and I'm honoured to be a guest designer for Gutter Girlz!

I love the concept of this challenge blog - dig deep and spit out those emotion - that's my way of scrapping and art journaling! I am a passionate artist who’s loves to try new techniques, products and ideas and I always try to stretch myself in my work.
Defining my style isn't that easy because I think of each layout as unique.
Inspired by an idea, photo, paper or technique, I go from there driven by my mood.
I’m very concentrated and thoughtful when it comes to creating.
I like to put away my work from time to time and look at it later with a fresh mind.
My work needs a little time to “grow”.
The outcome can be very diverse: from graphical to mixed media like.
Although it isn’t always clear to the observer my layouts always come with
a “deeper meaning”.
I also create Art Journals. I enjoy adding mixed media (meaning sewing, fabric, dimension)
to my scrapbook layouts as well as my Art Journals.
There is a certain cross over when you look at both fields and I like to explore the
boundaries of it.
I graduated as a teacher in arts and last year I built my own website with a community
where I teach online art journaling/scrapbooking workshops.
My blog Marit's Blog
My website Marit's Scrapworld

I didn't know the song but when I listened to it, and read the lyrics, it hit me hard.
It's very personal and I was a little confused at once... but I knew right away which photo
I would use. Here's the original photo (that's me in 1986 on a Dutch dike...)

I edited this photo in photoshop and I used a part of the "dike" to make a pedestal
(adding some shadows with a marker)

Here's the complete layout:

I hand stitched the "swirls" and used markers for the journaling.
The blue "frame" is made with oil pastel.

Here is what the Design Team created with the prompt!
Kristy:
My thoughts on the creation of my LO is the prompt and the stitches came together with me in a sense of growth. I am finally getting over the fact that I could never and probably will never live up to my Mother's expectations and seeing as she lives her life (the anger and alcohol) I thought "why am I trying?" I'm done trying. I'm going to be better for ME and live up to MY expectations. The happy and bright colors grew out of that.

Patti:

It felt real good to get my feeling on paper for this months prompt. I used a few verses from the song and I hand stitched my title. I am not sure if you can read the journaling but here it is:

"I don't want to be the sweeper of the eggshells you walk upon. I continue to live in a void when it comes to a proper relationship with my Mom. She turned her back on family to boost the ego of the man in her life. We're almost at the point of no return. I won't tip toe around and pretend it's okay. I won't treat her with kid gloves. She made a decision that has affected too many peoples lives."

Lara:
This is an art journal page. All the photos are from my 2010 Photo a Day challenge. Instead of stitching, I glued sewing patterns over the bottom layer of photos - love how they become semi-transparent with glue and water.

Margrethe:

It took me quite a while to figure out what to make this month, but... On Monday I received new jewelery for my stretched piercings; 5mm/ 4 gauge. I've been slowly stretching my ears since February, I think, but it's only now it's really noticeable. Before, I wore glass spirals, but now I've switched to eyelets, and you can actually see through my ears. Darling Husband is more than slightly icked. He doesn't like piercings to begin with. And that's where the song comes in. To me, it's all about breaking free, defining who you want to be, or who you don't want to be, if that's the case. So that's what this month's layout is about for me: How I'm taking charge of who I am.

Becky:

I have a broke heart this month....and what a better prompt than this one to journal about it. I used staples to replicate stitches in the heart.
Glenda:
I took these lyrics from the song and made an ATC.

Rachel:
This month has been a whirl wind for me... so I decided to focus on the line in the song that says lend me some fresh air... I also took advantage of the fact that I host A Year in the Life of an Art Journal, and combined that prompt with this one... :) So my tangled feelings and the string stitching mixed well with that.

Once a month, that guest is chosen HERE from those of YOU that play along! All you need to do to be considered for a guest spot, is create YOUR art from OUR prompt, then leave us a comment with a direct LINK to your creation in a comment here. Please be sure when you leave your comment, to include your email in the space provided in our comment system. Your email is not shared publicly, but it allows us to email guest invitations!!
This month, all comments with links will be entered to win a gift certificate from TallyScrapper.com!

Can't wait to see what you create!!

End of the Month MOJO Apr '10

2010-04-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

Patti is hosting our End of the Month Mojo as well as our prize this month!! She has asked Gina to be our honorary gutter girl!!

I am completely flattered to be chosen as an Honorary Gutter Girl! I witnessed the launch of this site and have watched it grow and evolve. Rachel has created an amazing place to come and be honest and raw with your emotions through art. WTG, girlz for taking the concept and running with it!!!

A Little Bit About Me
I am a proud New Yorker...born and raised on Long Island. I have been married to my High School sweetheart for almost 14 years. We have 3 beautiful children, Sydney (9), Jack (7) and Sophia (3) as they tend to be the major subjects of my scrapbook pages.

By trade, I am a Special Education Teacher, specializing in Autism Spectrum Disorders. However, I am currently staying home to raise my children. Keeping up with their activities is a full time job in and of itself! J

I have been scrapping for about 5 1/2 years now. It all began with 1 photo of my daughter, Sydney in her dance recital costume and the rest is history.

I am generally a single photo scrapbooker, always making it the main focus of my page. I use lots of paper layering and have a love of white space! My style (which I have no clue what it is) can vary a bit, depending on which child I am scrapping for. Jack's pages tend to look a bit different from my girls. I like to think outside the box and try new things and my “style” is ever evolving however I am always true to it.

I am a published scrapbooker and have been in various paper magazines, ezines and books, including Scrapbook and Cards Today, Scrapbook Trends Babies 2007 Idea Book and most recently, Somerset Memories. I have designed and taught classes for many online scrapbooking sites and kit clubs as well as my local scrapbook store and love sharing my passion for the art scrapbooking with others.

Gina created this for our current prompt!!

Details:

Patti took some time and asked Gina some Q too!

1. Who or what gives you the most inspiration when you create?
I have always had a love for photography, even as a child. Often, I find much of my inspiration from my own photographs. When I develop them, they speak to me in a sense and my creative juices begin to flow! I, too, look for inspiration in my surroundings...my home, my yard and all types of magazines.

2. What is your proudest accomplishment in life?
The easy answer would my children but I am sure everyone says that because it is usually the case for most people...including myself. So, aside from the obvious, I would have to say it was graduating with honors and caring a 4.0 Grade Point Average throughout Graduate School. Hard work but worth it! :)

3. Are you artistic in other ways/mediums?
You know, I never thought I was. Can't draw or paint to save my life. However, I have always had a sense of style and fashion...love fabric and patterns. This "art" carried over to my decorating skills. I love to decorate my home and have been told that I have an "eye" for it. Maybe I missed my calling? :)

4. Is there a scrap technique/style you are afraid to try or feel clueless about?
Anything that requires tools that need to be plugged in, like sewing machines, heat embossing tools, irons, etc.

5. Are you spontaneous or do you prefer to plan everything out?
You know that quote, "Just Do it"? That is my take when it comes to scrapbooking. Who has time to plan? I am lucky if I have the time these days to actually create anything!

6. Have you been published? How did it make you feel?
Yes, I am lucky enough to have been published several times over. I am always flattered when my pages are accepted for publication. However, my family and scrapbook friends are the only people I share it with. Don't want to sound like I am bragging, kwim?

7. How do you feel about glitter mist? Love it? Or hate it?
Oooh...Glimmer Mist! When it first hit the shelves, I had to have every color they made. Patti can attest to it. In fact, she made be buy them...all! The kicker is I did not touch them for months and months. Once I remembered I had Glimmer Mist in my stash, I busted it out and have used it frequently on my pages ever since. Love it!

Here are a few of Gina's layouts

PRIZES and Dirty GIRLZ:
As always, we choose our prize winners AND our guest gutter girlz from those of you who play along with us!! All you need to do is create YOUR art from OUR prompt, then leave us a comment with a direct LINK to your creation in your comment. We'll go through and pick a random prize winner, and our choice of a guest designer. How easy is THAT?
Winner of GLENDA'S prize:
BEAN DIP!!
"Here is my entry! Hope you like it, I had fun with this one. http://beandipshell.blogspot.com/2010/04/gutter-g... My recent post Gutter GIrlz Prompt #36"
Bean, Please email me with your mailing information so I can send it to Glenda! Thank you! Please put PRIZE WINNER in your subject line.
AND
We'd like to invite
Marit to be our guest Gutter Girl for our May 15th prompt!
I loved this prompt so much that I just HAD to play along... I hope I'm on time with my entry!!! It's here on my blog
Marit, if you're interested in being our guest, please let me know via email! Please put GUEST GG in your subject line.

For those of you dying to play along, post a direct link to your Gutter inspired projects in a comment on this post, THIS CURRENT POST or the one coming up on May 15th!! Your name will be put in the hat to win our prize from PATTI! We'll also keep our eyes open through the comments here for our NEXT guest gutter girl!!
ONE $35.00 GIFT CERTIFICATE to
TALLYSCRAPPER.COM!!

Construction

2010-04-29T21:50:00.000-07:00

Pardon our DUST!! We'll be putting on our hard hats and gearing up for our THIRD YEAR in the gutter!! We have some changes coming your way this year, and those changes will require a little house cleaning and construction here on the blog! Thanks so much for your patience with us while we get the new format up and running, and prepare for these changes.

For now, all YOU need to do, is keep on linking us to your projects! The rest we'll take care of. :)

April 15th, Prompt #36

2010-04-15T07:01:00.000-07:00

THE PROMPT: It's No Secret
THE SONG: Everybody Knows by Concrete Blonde
THE PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: None this month
Patti
I really played with this one. No plans just got out my paints and glitter mist and this and that and I would not allow myself to change anything. When it went on the page it was there for good. It was fun to play! I used the title and a few words out of the song for my inspiration.

Margrethe

Glenda
I had all of these great pics of my parents and wanted to document how much I loved them.

Becky
Well everyone knows that ART ROCKS so why not scrap about it :)this was a lot of fun to do and as soon as I saw the picture I knew this was what I wanted to do for this months prompt!

Kristy
the lyric I picked "everybody knows its now or never" and the prompt "its no secret" combined in my head to make an upbeat type thing. I just wanted something artsy without alot of thought with happy colors. The bikes and the swirls/doodles to me convey the "get your ass up and go" that they lyrics spoke to me.

Lara
Lyrics from the song "The Fly" by U2. The background is 3 papers cut up and pieced back together, glimmer misted and gesso dripped/stamped. The photo is heavily photoshopped with texture.

Susan
I so love this song. Brings back so many memories. The journaling is about me being an alcoholic but also about when you are in a bad relationship or pretty much anything else where it's a bad situation & everyone else knows but you can't see it because you're to close to the situation.

As always, we choose our prize winners AND our guest gutter girlz from those of you who play along with us!! All you need to do is create YOUR art from OUR prompt, then leave us a comment with a direct LINK to your creation in your comment. We'll go through and pick a random prize winner, and our choice of a guest designer. How easy is THAT? This month's prize comes from our very own GutterGirl, Glenda!

This Month's Guest Gutter Girl!

2010-04-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Howdy ho, dirty girlz! It's Christi again, coming to you LIVE (okay, there may be a slight delay for the censors) from Gutter Central to introduce to you our amazing new designer for the month, Paula! *cheers* Since Paula went above and beyond the call of duty and made EIGHT awesome art journal pages inspired by this month's song lyrics, we wanted to give her a post all her own! Thank you, Paula!! Can't wait to see those pages, but we'd love to know a little about you first!

My name is Paula, aka Journal Artista. I live near Toronto, Canada and I have been a scrapbooker for over a decade. I recently fell in love with Art Journaling. It is a way for me to release my anxiety and emotions, as well as use all those hoarded, too special to use, scrap supplies. Art Journaling has enabled me to combine all my passions; scrapbooking, stamping and mixed media. I enjoy incorporating the old with the new, I'm on a crusade to bring retro back... scrap supplies that is!

This prompts song really touched me, I hadn't heard it until now. It embodies where I am at this point in my life, struggling with unfairness and uncertainty, so all of my pages are focused around it. I really enjoyed playing this month, thanks to the GutterGirlz team for inviting me! It was definately a challenge and I feel like I have grown because of it. See more of my work (and real journaling) at http://www.messymindcreativesoul.blogspot.com, and in the upcomping July issue of Art Journaling by Stampington & Co. Much Love!

End of the Month MOJO Mar '10

2010-03-30T07:00:00.001-07:00

Rachel here! My apologies!! I got our post ready last night, and neglected to include our honorary gutter girl that Glenda found for us!! Please welcome Michelle, and prepare to be inspired by her!!

My name is Michelle LaPoint Rydell and I'm so excited to be an honorary gutter girl!!! I love the concept of being open and honest with your art and couldn't wait to get going with this challenge!
I'm a public guardian by day, and an obsessed scrapbooker and art journaler by night! I like to get messy with my art and use lots of intense color!
When I married my soulmate Michael in 2007, I inherited three awesome stepkids and became a “mom” for the first time at age 47! How great is that?!!! I love my new life, and my two funny felines Willie and Johnny love their new home in the country! I'm lucky enough to have a scraproom now, and most evenings, the cats and I spend our time down there creating to our heart's content!

I started my first scrapbook in the early 1970's with an article about David Cassidy (of the Partridge Family) being hospitalized – LOL. I've been pasting mementos of life in one form of scrapbook or another ever since!

This challenge was right up my alley – what a great combination of elements! I love the message of the Miley Cyrus song, and I've certainly climbed some difficult mountains in my life! I do believe it's what you do with each day along the road that counts. I love the idea of the “road trip” of life, and wanted my layout to reflect that.
Here's Michelle's Take on our Current Prompt!

Music has always been a huge source of inspiration for me. I totally dig the poetry of lyrics and have been writing them down in notebooks ever since I was a kid. I'm also inspired by the daily sights, sounds, and happenings of life. I look around me and see inspiration everywhere! I love the messy stuff. Paint, gesso, spray inks, poster paint markers. I also love to do detailed cutting with my tiny scissors.
I also LOVE to art journal! I currently have about six different art journals going at once – each with a different purpose or theme.

Here is some of Michelle's work!
This layout was part of a week-long challenge hosted by my friend Marit in the Netherlands. They celebrate the new year by playing the top 2000 songs of all time on the radio during the last week of the year; and the challenge was to scrap one of those songs each day. I love the song “Mr. Jones” by Counting Crows and when I saw it on the list I had to scrap it. The reason I love this layout is that I was looking to capture the feeling of the song, and for me, it does that. The silhouette is actually a photograph of frontman Adam Duritz (from the web) which I turned into a stencil.

This art journal page was done for last year's “A Year In The Life of an Art Journal” project. I loved using the multimedia techniques, and the quote about Magic is one of my faves. P.S. The photo is from a magazine – I didn't take it :0).

This layout has a special place in my heart because it is about my husband's sobriety. He is such an inspiration to me and I love that photo of him.

This was a layout for the Scrapping The Music challenge blog. The song (Drive by Incubus) was one I picked out, and it was just a lot of fun to make!

I love this layout because it reflects the special part that animals play in my life.

Thank you so much for allowing me to join you as an honorary gutter girl!!!
You can get more inspiration from Michelle on line at these places!
Blog:
Inspiration Everywhere
I design for:
Scrapping The Music
These Are A Few of My Favorite Things
Online galleries: Scrapbook.com Studio Calico

Hi Glenda here. I am such a sucker for mists right now and am loving using the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists. Here is my much loved collection at the moment (my Precious.......)

When I look at mists I see endless possibilities, backgrounds and fun. I love using stencils (store bought plus I make my own) and the Tattered Angels Glimmer Screens. In this next picture here is the paper before I misted with a glimmer screen on it

and these are the colors I chose to use for my project (aren't they pretty????)

So I misted over the screen until I got the look I wanted, carefully lifted the glimmer screen off and let the paper dry. Then I just let my imagination run wild and made this

What a difference the Glimmer Mists made to that plain paper right? Also, don't forget you can use the negative side of the glimmer screen since it is usually still wet and covered in mists after you have used it so what I did was take a plain piece of white cardstock and flip the wet glimmer screen over and press it onto the white cardstock. Now I have that same image as above but the negative image is in color. I have covered alot of it up with the pictures but this is what it looks like

On this layout I didn't even use any patterned paper because the mists and paint were all that was needed for a background. I also love spraying my mists and having them drip down my page as shown on these art journal pages (and I do this alot!!!)

So there you have it! Now you all know that my name is Glenda Tkalac and I am a misting maniac!! mmaawwaaaaaa! If you've never played with mists run, don't walk, and grab some and let your inner child free! It is sooo much fun to play with and gives such a unique and individual look to your art. Have fun!!

AND Here in the Gutter, we invite players that we notice, and how play regularly to be our Guest Gutter Girlz. This month, we'd like to invite

PAULA!! "I finally bit! http://messymindcreativesoul.blogspot.com/2010/03... Much Love!" Paula, please send an email and let us know if you're able to do this!! You'd be playing with us for the prompt coming on the 15th of April!
Don't forget!! Playing with us puts YOU in the spotlight to be our next guest gutter girl!! You also get placed in our random drawing to win a monthly prize when you play. We need to SEE what you create though!! When you comment, be SURE to leave us a link to what you've created in response to our prompt!! Play along with our current challenge! CLICK HERE to see what we're up to!

Here's the goodies that Glenda will be sending to our winner drawn at the end of April!! Leave a comment with the URL of the project you made inspired by our prompt on Feb. 15th and March 15th, and be entered into our random drawing to be chosen to receive this prize!

March 15th, Prompt #35

2010-03-15T07:00:00.001-07:00

Things are a little weird right now, because of my move, and our canceled Design Team Swap!! Keep leaving your links! When we have a sponsor, I'll be going back into the comments and including commentors from all the prompts since our last winner!!
Let's get to this one!! It's a GREAT prompt. I wish I was more unpacked. It's one I was really looking forward to. Sucks not having a printer!! (OR being able to find the box with my PHOTOS in it... )

THE PROMPT: Road Trip
THE SONG: The Climb by Miley Cyrus
THE PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: A Map

Here's what the girls came up with!!
Margrethe
This month's song really struck a chord with me. I've always felt that I'm "behind" when it comes to what other people my age has achieved. I was late getting my first job. I'm still in school. I don't have kids (and not sure I want to, either), etc. But it's dawned on me. I'm not. I'm not working full time /because/ I am still in school. Sure, I could have finished my degrees sooner, of I hadn't taken a few extra years, and so on, but because of that, I am the person I've become. And I'm not really behind, either, I've just chosen a different path in life.

Glenda
The words in this song always strike a chord in me because it seems like I am always climbing and that there isn't a plateau for very long. I'm hoping that in the next few years my husband and I will have kid-free drama and be able to just enjoy our time without having their troubles become our own. I know this sounds selfish but if you are parents of teens you probably know exactly what I'm talking about!!! I'm tired of climbing but I know it has made me strong!!!

Nikki
Love this song!!!! the words are so perfect!

Sarah
I think this one speaks for itself.

Becky
I wanted to take this layout and share photos of my daughter through the years. It feels like the last year has been such a struggle for us...with her...now that she is almost 20. I keep having to remind myself that its not whats on the other side but it is the climb to get there that matters.

Patti
I used lyrics from the song. With all these medical tests I have been put through in the last two years. It has been a steep climb for me.

Susan
I decided to take the easy obvious route this time. When I went to look for pics these were the first I found & I'm glad to have them scrapped. I've made the trip between Tulsa and KC many times but it was fun to stop at the places along the way this time and see some things I'd never seen. And a few things I'd seen numerous times in my life. Reminds me that it's not just about where you are going but the route along the way.

Lara
I saw Muse a couple of weeks ago and all of these memories of the trip I call "Muse Odyssey" came flooding back. This layout background is 2 maps cut up and pieced back together to form a 12x12 paper. Lyrics from a favorite Muse song are tape transferred in the corner.

Be sure to leave us a link with your projects!! We'll be returning to our regular schedule then, with an invitation to one of our participants to be our GUEST GUTTER GIRL, and we'll have another PRIZE for you to WIN!!

Feb. 15th, Prompt #34

2010-02-15T06:30:00.000-08:00

Hey, all you dirty girlz!! Christi here, bringing you this month's prompt while Rachel is up to her armpits in boxes, smack dab in the middle of moving!

THE PROMPT:
I'm Still Sugar and Spice
THE SONG:
One of the Boys by Katy Perry
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE:
Ribbon/Bows AND Dirty Socks

I'm so pleased to introduce to you this month's guest designer, Irma! Remember, YOU could be our next guest...it's as simple as playing along and leaving us a link to your gutter-inspired creation! Thanks, Irma, for joining us!

I am so honored and humbled that the Gutter Girlz asked me to be a guest designer. I've found this blog recently and it just feels like "home" — a place one is welcome to be, say and create whatever is on one's mind. Meaning, if Gutter Girlz was an actual house, I'd feel comfortable coming in, helping myself to their fridge, and putting my feet up :)
My biography in a nutshell:
I'm a 30-somethin' mom of 2 kids (2.5 and 4.5 y.o); Got married in the most gorgeous place on earth Kauai, Hawaii back in 2001. I've emigrated from Lithuania to USA with my family when I was 11 y.o.

My pursuit of being a published scrapbooker has made me too critical of my own work; There's always the nagging thoughts: is this product too outdated? Is the design solid? Is there an odd number of elements? Are my kids smiling in the photos (because "they" don't want to see heavy-matter topics). I started to feel artistically unfulfilled, so I prescribed myself a remedy: Create like no one is watching (I ought to make this into a plaque to hang in my room :) I've made a few deeply personal layouts after this turning point. Some I do not dare share online, a few I did share, but the greatest benefit of my latest work, is that it was deeply therapeutic. I've gained closure, had a chance to "talk" to a person that always shuts me up, I've taken stock of my life, counted my blessings, and most importantly, I realized I'm on the right path artistically. I still plan on making "cute kid" pages, but other subjects will not take a back seat anymore. When I started scrapping (late 2004), my intent was to create pages so that my kids would know me better, now I create, so that I may know myself better.

Random tid-bits about me (my likes):
Photography, Lush beauty products, jewelry, perfume, hand-bags, shows: LOST and Mad Men, Lindt chocolate, tea vs. coffee (but I can't say no to the Starbucks caramel macchiatos my hubby makes); Music: Tori Amos, Damien Rice, Chris Issak, Pink, Gwen Stefani, and classical (especially Vivaldi 4 Seasons); The stacks of books I never get to, but it's reassuring to have them around.

As soon as I saw the prompt, I knew that this photo is perfect for it. I had it for a while, but the only title/concept I could come up with at the time was: "As Good as it Gets". So glad I held out for this prompt ;) This picture was destined for it :)

Do you have a day when you just feel pretty as a woman? A day you feel powerful as a woman? You know the type of day when your hair just falls right, and your make-up looks good, and you have bounce in your step. This was that type of day for me. I was glowing in my 1st trimester, was still getting my uninterrupted beauty rest and long weekends slowly savoring stacks of books at a local Borders coffee shop. It dawned on me this day that my life is going to change soon, so I told my hubby to grab a camera and take a picture, because: "this is as good as it gets".
***
I was never a tomboy. Never tried to be "one of the boys". Always loved jewelry, make-up, fashion and pretty girlie things. I consider myself a feminist in the aspect that I do believe women should get equal pay for equal work, but I don't want chivalry to be dead. I love it when men open doors for me, and pull out a chair. I truly love being a woman!
THE PROMPT: I'm Still Sugar and Spice (I printed my title on a tag "Sugar and Spice"
THE SONG: One of the Boys by Katy Perry(I used lyrics of the song that echoed the sentiment of my layout).
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE Ribbon/Bows AND Dirty Socks (plenty of ribbon, bows, lace AND the dirty socks are the red fishnet stockings I have selectively ripped).

Thank you sooo much Gutter Girlz for this opportunity to roll in the gutter with you!

Here's what the rest of the girls created with this month's challenge!

MARGRETHE
I think this must be one of the more heartfelt layouts I've done for Gutter Girlz. This is something that stings quite a lot - I've never had a true best friend. Ever since childhood, I've watched other girls couple up, but it's never happened to me. I'm not sure how much more I should say about this, how much more I should admit to, so know this - if you're like me, you're certainly not alone!

GLENDA
I used some of the lyrics from the song and made this ATC. I have this awesome Marilyn Monroe stamp and put some little pearls on her necklace. She was definitely not one of the boys!!

PATTI
Even though I try real hard not to be so nice and get walked on. I still think I am sugar and spice!

BECKY
I really liked the title Sugar and Spice and wanted to scrap how even though I turned 38 last year, I am still the same person.

NIKKI
Just ask my husband....LOL!

CHRISTI
Okay, I'll admit the "dirty socks" part of the prompt intrigued me! I noticed my 3-year-old son had a hole in the heel of his sock, so I totally pulled it off his foot, cut it up, and used it in this challenge! lol

SUSAN
I've always been a girlie girl. I love clothes & makeup & getting my nails & hair done. But I'm NOT prissy & most definitely sassy. There's a LOT of spice with my sugar. I've never been one of the boys & I'm glad because I like being a girl.

End of the Month MOJO Jan '10

2010-01-30T07:00:00.000-08:00

We're excited to be able to have Joyce as our Guest AND Highlighted Gutter Girl!! She plays with us regularly here in the gutter, and I always LOVE the things she shares!!

Two things happened at once, as I was gazing at the prompt info. My first thought was “what am I going to do with that!!” and deciding not to listen to the music until I was completely done. On the tail of that I got to thinking of growing up and realized that I could do a school theme. Remembered I had this little plastic donkey and it all seemed to come together after that. Found out that embroidering the chain stitch in the shape of a bow doesn’t work real well. I worked some of the lyrics into the title.

Oh no, not me Oh no,

not not me, not me…never ever me

It’s just happened, some kid has blurted out something that would make a sailor blush and it was smack dab in the middle of church service!

As the collective gasp gives way to all the kids saying “Mommy, he said a lot of bad words”, and as the pastor gets back on track, the red faces mellow. You can bet with pretty good odds in your favor that at least half of the parents are pondering the nightmare of this ever happening to them and how, unbeknownst to us kids, those parental thoughts would lead to every kid’s nightmare…REFORM SCHOOL

In the little pouch are some of the replacement words: kiss my asp, phooey crackers, shucks, shoot, darn-dang, golly, gee, gosh, turd, horse patooty, hockey puck, blast!!!

P.S. The playing card is my nod to the Gutter Girlz.

Mom never stopped us from going places because there might be cussing and bad manners, etc.

Mom worked the Golden Rule into her lessons on bad language.

Mom: “How does it make you feel?” Me: “Mom, I don’t care how it makes me feel, I just want to say it!” She wanted us to really think, to know why we were saying what we were saying. Not because we had heard it somewhere and thought it would be cool to repeat. We learned what the cuss words meant ~ Mom kept it age appropriate and from there we had to make up our own to replace them. In our social circle at the school playground and neighborhood, I learned very quickly that a lot of the kids had potty mouth and when asked why they said bad words, it was either because they had heard it somewhere or didn’t know why. As we got older the “damn” jar funded most of our family nights once a month. Found out in tenth grade speech class that “gosh”, “golly” and “gee” were forms of “god”. So we could no longer use them. (As I recall I enjoyed telling my Mom about that!) As I look back I can remember a few times when my brother and I got going with the cuss words when no one else was around; and I’m remembering that sarcasm began playing a heavy role in how we treated each other at times.

Kristy also came to share some goodness in the form of a technique!! This lil technique is one of my favs. You can take this and combine it with the yummy goodness Lara showed us a while ago with paints. Oh the possiblilites girls! I'm talking about masking! Masking is just where you take any object and either paint or mist over the top to create a negative effect.

Great practioners of this easy to do technique are our own Glenda

and Lara

You can use anything! Even your own hand like Lara did :) That old chipboard shape or letter set that is kinda eh can be all new and reusable. Don't have anything handy? Do my fav and just free hand a shape. Take a piece of scrap cardstock, sketch your shape out, snip snip snip, then just position it on your page and spray or paint right over the top. Lift it off and see the finished product! Its like christmas! You can save and reuse that shape again and again. Here's a couple examples...

Lace paper? That is a super fun mask! Regular lace ribbon? Also good! Take a look around and I bet you'll find a ton of things you have that will find new purpose. Have fun with it!

Winner of the PRIZE from Treasured Scrapbooking:
Kim Sonksen said...I SO SO loved this prompt - here is my take on the challenge: http://kimsonksen.blogspot.com/2010/01/gutter-girlz-prompt-33-and-syc-dt-call.html
Kim, send me an email with your mailing address with ya!? Thanks!! Be sure to put JAN PRIZE WINNER in your subject line. Thanks!
Don't forget!! Erin at TS is offering GutterGirlz an EXCLUSIVE discount!! Enter the code GutterGirlz at checkout, and get 20% off your purchase until Feb. 28th 2010!

Here in the Gutter, we invite players that we notice, and how play regularly to be our Guest Gutter Girlz. This month, we'd like to invite
Irma said... I did another one too ;) http://irmaperedne.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-see-scrap.html to be our guest!! Irma, please send an email and let us know if you're able to do this!! You'd be playing with us for the prompt coming on the 15th of Feb!

Don't forget!! Playing with us puts YOU in the spotlight to be our next guest gutter girl!! You also get placed in our random drawing to win a monthly prize when you play. We need to SEE what you create though!! When you comment, be SURE to leave us a link to what you've created in response to our prompt!! Play along with our current challenge! CLICK HERE to see what we're up to!

Jan. 15th, Prompt #33

2010-01-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

Thank you for making Gutter Girlz what we are. An AMAZING group of women who dare to share the dirt in their lives. Just by being you, YOU are a member of this gutter. You don't have to BE anything. You don't have to SAY anything There isn't any "special" way to be part of what we do. We aren't a bunch of celebrities. We aren't better than anyone else. We/YOU are simply YOU. Moms, Wives, Sisters, Aunts, Single Ladies... You bare parts of your souls that alot of people consider off limits. I want you to know that it's in that sharing that you reach out and touch people's lives in ways you may never imagine. YOU all were at the start of a scrapping revolt!! YOU all have stood up in this nasty, dirty gutter and said that it's about YOUR lives. The clean parts, the shiny parts, and the dirtiest of dirty parts. You have told it like you know it. As you live it. No matter what it looked like, and that, is what makes you beautiful.

We're adding a NEW gutter girl to our AMAZING list of Dirty Girlz Designers!! She's been a player here for a while now, and as most of you who visit often know, we choose our design team and our guest gutter girlz from those of you who take time out of your busy days to stop and play with us. This girl is no exception. She's been down and dirty with the best of you here in the gutter, sharing herself in pages that make me smile every time I visit her. When Kris told me she needed a break from the Design Team, I really wasn't planning on replacing her, but Margrethe made me reconsider. I know she will be a great asset in encouraging all of you to be brave and get dirty.

Margrethe Aas Johnsen: Stavanger, Norway
OnLine: PapirDiva, mercurygrrl, drinking-mercury
Gallery: HERE
BLOG: HERE
Favorite Cuss Word: Do I have to choose just one?! Bitch and/or cunt
Please explain what "being in the gutter" means to you. Getting in touch with my REAL feelings, and letting the world know. I have a huge problem with raising my voice in real life, letting other know my opinion, but online, and through scrapbooking, I've become better at it. Also, I'm not a very vocal person, so the journaling aspect of scrapbooking is just excellent, as well as titles.

My creativity comes and goes. I "majored" in art in high school (which works a little bit different here than in the US), and used that as my springboard to photography. After doing that for 2 years or so, I was introduced to scrapbooking. Sure, it was fun enough, but since I don't have children, I never knew what to make pages about. Then I found Gutter Girlz, and knew it was ok to be a bit self-absorbed. I'm still learning how to use this art form to vent and get everything out in the open, and I continue to try and get others to do the same. Scrapbooking isn't just about the good days, but all aspects of life.

GUTTER IDOLS: Everyone? Seriously... everyone. I admire anyone who does something different from how I use to do it. I love looking through other people's galleries. I especially enjoy those artists who are able to mess with paint and glue and whatnot. I'm still trying...
Are you READY!?!
THE PROMPT:
Kiss My ASS
THE SONG:
Bad Reputation by Joan Jett
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE:
Chain
Our guest designer this month also happens to be our end of the month mojo Inspiration Spotlight!! She decided to share her creation at the end of the month with her inspiration interview!!
Here's what the Girlz created.
MARGRETHE
I really struggled with this month's prompt. All I could think about with regard to the lyrics, was the situation with my in-laws and how we go from one disaster to the next. And, I didn't want to make a layout so specifically about that, as I did last month. I guess, for them, I'm the recipe for catastrophe. I do what I want to do. I'm continuing my education (going for MA in Art- and Cultural Science) and not settling down being a jr. High teacher, popping out kids. I guess what I wanna tell them, is that they can kiss my ass! (And it gave me a chance to use my new Epic Six ;) )

BECKY
My best friend in the whole world turned out to be not such a good friend. I had as much of the lying, stealing and everything else she managed to do and said that is it. I'm done. I've had this picture in my room for the last 10 years...I felt it was time to take it down.

SARAH
About 5 months ago I quit my job to be a stay at home mom after being in the work force for 15 years. Up until then I had always fully supported myself and honestly had issues giving up control of my finances. (since I made more money and was better at budgets)
On NYE I made a joke about my daughter asking daddy for money and not mommy. A snotty female friend of my husband's looked right at me and said NO! You need to teach her to be a liberated woman! (not like me) I just gave her the evil eye. How horrible that I gave up her definition of "liberated" to take care of my baby? I truly believe the womens' movement is about choice. Women can do WHATEVER they want, whether its a high powered career or a stay at home mom. There is no right or wrong. I used the theme, lyrics from that badass song and a ball chain for my layout.

NIKKI
this is in response to my crappy situation this year where one of the girls told me that she didn't want to be friends with me anymore because I had too many tattoos! Really, can you believe that s&*t! Anyway, the lyrics of this song were perfect, so I used them in the journaling... "I've never been afraid of any deviation...and I don't really care if you think I'm strange. I ain't gonna change...And I'm never gonna care..."
And of course I used some ball chain...

PATTI

GLENDA
I had fun with this one and made a page for my art journal. I used some of the lyrics from the song and used one of my fave stamps.

LARA
I've been really into deconstructing then reconstructing paper lately - both the papers i used and those BIG LIPS i've been "saving" - now i know for what!

KRISTY
This one finally came to me as I was thinkin about a fight a "friend" and I just had. I feel like it was a dumb reason to fight and only time will tell if things will be ok between us. I hope it will but I've made all the apologies I intend to as I did nothing wrong.

SUSAN
I chose to go with the title of the song because it reminded me of days gone by. I intermingled some of the song lyrics in with my journaling:
There were times I had a bad reputation. They say it's a new generation. Girls can do what they want. Act how they want. Sleep with who they want. But it's not always true. That double standard still exist. Boys can get tattoo's, be falling down drunks, fight and sleep with whomever they want and it's all ok because boys will be boys. But not so much for girls. Exerting our independence isn't all right with everyone. Using our sexual poweress will still get us called sluts whores bitches skank trash prostitutes easy dirty. When my Nana saw my tattoo's she said they made me look trashy. When I cursed she said it wasn't lady like. I never claimed to be a lady. The word has connotations I don't relate to. I don't give a DAMN about my reputation I used to say. But I did. I wanted to be liked by everyone. I didn't want to be hated because of the clothes I wore. How my hair looked. The makeup I wore. The car I drove. Where I did or didn't live. I don't have to please no one. And you should except me for who I am. I really wasn't trouble. I was lost. Wanted to fit in somewhere, even if that place was with the crowd with the bad reputation. So that's the persona I took on. Wild child. Easy. Party girl. Club kid. Groupie. Druggie. But that's all gone now. Now I don't really ever think about my reputation. Good or bad I'm just who I am. If you don't like me then you can KISS MY ASS because I finally do.

RACHEL
This is actually a two part prompt for me, because I host an art journaling blog as well, and as I was working on that, I realized that the prompt there was a good fit here too!! My page started with a bunch of the things that people tell themselves about why they CAN'T do something... I painted over the words, and then journaled on the tag... "What is holding me back? NOTHING. Kiss my ASS." I added the chain over the top of the word I masked WHAT to kind of emulate that feeling of being bound and held back.

We choose our prize winners AND our guest gutter girlz from those of you who play along with us!! All you need to do, is choose a prompt. This one, or the one from last month, and post a comment with a direct link to your creation in your comment. We'll go through and pick a random prize winner, and our choice of a guest designer. No matter WHAT, we want you to play, but these things just sweeten the pot a bit, don't you think?
Our sponsor for the this month is Treasured Scrapbooking!! Erin is donating the January Kit #1. retailing at $27.95!!! Treasured Scrapbooking is online only, but Erin will accept local pick ups if someone happens to be local! (very cool, I think!) Erin is also offering YOU gutter girlz a SPECIAL DISCOUNT!! Enter the code GutterGirlz at checkout, and get 20% off your purchase until Feb. 28th 2010!! Thank you SO MUCH, Erin!!

Saying Thanks and See Ya!

2010-01-02T17:36:00.000-08:00

One of our Gutter Girlz has had a LOT of changes in her life this last year, and she's asked me to take a step down at least for a while, so she can focus on some of those things. Like....

And becoming a US citizen.
And And And...
And of course I told her YES!! Because one of the best things about the Gutter, is that you're always welcome back. So it's not really goodbye. It's just changing roles.
Help me say Thanks to Kris!!

She'll be joining our Alumni and HOPEFULLY she'll be able to come back as a full time Gutter Girl later on.
Kris had this to say to you all.
"Hey Guttergirlz!

Gosh! Its been a fun ride!

I've been with the guttergirlz from the start and boy do i heart you ALL!

I need all my focus to be on some changes i'm making in early 2010 so i have to step down a little bit. I may be back later on when things normalize (whats that anyways?).

I will definitely play along whenever i can and i'll be checking in to see all the awesome LOs!

To Rachel , thank you for being the most awesome chica ever and for always being here for all of us and going above and beyond!

Thank you for letting me on this crazy train :D Muah! xoxo"
Kris, I just want to say THANK YOU for the time and energy you put into the gutter girlz over the last two years!! I really appreciate it. Without AMAZING DT like you, I wouldn't be the boss of a KICK ASS blog!! Thanks for being a KICK ASS girl!! I love you!! THANKS!!

We have asked one of our regular players here in the gutter to fill the spot that Kris is leaving!! We'll introduce you to her on the 15th with our next prompt!!