The Greeting Farm Guest Designer Monday

Just one more day left until Christmas...are you all ready for the big day tomorrow or are you running out today to do some last minute shopping?   I am done shopping but have a LOT of wrapping to do...and cookies to make!  

This past week has been full of adventure....we had a really bad snowstorm with blizzard warnings, the kids got a snow day (fun) and we lost power (thankfully it was only for a few hours).  Then to top it off, after our power came back on my computer decided it was done and will not turn on at all...I knew it was coming, but was holding out as long as possible to replace it although I think Santa will be bringing us a new one ;)  In the meantime I am making due on my daughter's laptop (when she isn't on it).  

For my first card I used Sadie in a monochromatic color scheme:

I kept it pretty simple with embossed paper, some ribbon, twine, a button and snowflake charm.  I'm thinking I may use this one as a winter birthday card but I'm not sure, so I didn't add a sentiment.

My second card uses James:

I wanted the card to say "Wishing you a Cool Yule" (because James is just too cool in his leather jacket) but I didn't get it printed before we lost power so, I decided to look through my stamps and found something similar to that.  I love the brown snowflake ribbon I found in my stash just adds the right touch.  

While coloring these two images, I noticed a few of my E color family markers are starting to run out of ink....no fun coloring that way!  I guess it's time to buy some re-inkers since there is no place local that refills Copics anymore!

Well, I'm off, lots to do to prepare for Santa's arrival.  I hope you all enjoy the holiday with your family and friends!  

Merry Christmas!

The Greeting Farm Guest Designer Monday

Happy Monday everyone!   I don't know about you, but for me the past week just flew by and I expect this week will too with everything going on.  I can't believe Christmas Eve is just a week away....how is it that you know it's coming, but nevertheless it always seems to sneak up on you?   Or maybe it's just me ;)
      

The music store that my girls take guitar lessons at happens to be in the same strip mall as a Dollar Store, so each week I tend to walk down there to see if anything catches my eye.  This past week I happened to find a black picture frame with a little mirror section in it and thought it would be cute to make something for my daughter's locker and this is what I came up with:

I chose the colors based on the inside of my daughter's locker ~  black and white zebra print paper with accessories in hot pink, black and lime green.  Anya Styles was the perfect image for this project!  I colored her with copics and paper pieced parts of her outfit.  To add some sparkle I added a little glitter to her phone, purse charm and boots.  I finished the frame off with a few black rhinestones in each corner and 3 in between the image section and the mirror (unfortunately they don't show up too well in the picture).  I also wanted something on it to hold lip gloss (because what teenager doesn't like lip gloss) so I adhered matching ribbon to the side adding velcro to it so the size can be adjusted to accommodate different sized lip glosses.  To make it usable for her locker, I added a few extra strong magnets on the back side. 

After I made this, I wished I had bought another frame as I thought it would also be cute as a wall hanging necklace holder by adding a few small black hooks to the bottom.  If they have anymore of these left this week, I'll pick up a few and give it a try.

Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic day!          

The Greeting Farm Guest Designer Monday

Happy Monday everyone! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around my house.   We had our decorations up in time for St Nick and put the tree up over the weekend.  I have stacks of boxes that UPS delivered during the week that need to be wrapped and we had our first snowfall yesterday (only about an inch though).  I love how a fresh coat of snow looks on the ground and on the trees, but truth be told, I absolutely hate driving in it!  If it could just snow in the grassy areas and not the streets/driveways I'd be happy ;)

Speaking of Christmas and snow, my first card features Holiday Anya II and a few snowflakes.  

Anya was colored with copics and I paper pieced her dress, ribbon and shoes, highlighting those with copics as well.  On the snowflakes I added some glitter for a little extra sparkle.  Since it is a Christmas card, it fits in with last weeks FFF challenge Christmas or Holiday Themed Card.  If you still have Christmas/Holiday cards to make, there is still a few days left to play in that challenge and we'd love to see them!

For this card I would like to enter the following challenges:
Creatalicious Challenges - Winter
Charisma Cardz - Christmas
Craft Challenge - Christmas
Cupcake Craft Challenge - Merry Christmas
Delightful Challenges - Christmas
Frosted Designs - On the 4th Day of Christmas - use 4 patterned papers
Fussy and Fancy - I Love Christmas
One Stop Craft Challenge - Christmas Friends
Paper Play - Christmas is Coming
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Snowflakes
The Ribbon Girl - Christmas Projects

Now in a totally different direction....this card reminds me of summer time with the bright colors. 

I wanted to use last weeks DTT challenge of "It's a Rainbow", so I chose Twinkle Bean.  The "Beans" are really fun to give different colored hair to, and although I usually stick to blue or pink, I decided to go all out and color it in rainbow colors.  To keep the rainbow theme throughout, I stamped the background paper and colored the rhinestones in matching colors.  It's a bit different than what I'd usually do, but I think it's whimsical and fun!  There is still a bit of time to play along in this challenge (ends today), so if you have some free time, we'd love to see what you come up with!

I would like to enter this card in the following challenge:
Frosted Designs - On the 2nd day of Christmas - use 2 stamps (image and chevron)    

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Surprise....I'm a guest designer for The Greeting Farm!!!

I am so excited to announce that I am a Guest Designer for The Greeting Farm this month.  Ever since I saw the adorable Anya and Ian stamps I was hooked.  I bought a few singles (if I remember correctly it was Rockstar Anya, Cheer Anya, and Skater Ian).  Since that time my collection has grown by leaps and bounds.  It has been a crafty goal of mine to be on the Design Team for The Greeting Farm, so when Jess asked me it was a dream come true!  Thank you so much Jess and Marie for allowing me to be a part of the farm this month!

For today's post I used Holiday Anya II.  She is so cute and I love that ribbon wrapped around her!  Not only is she great for Christmas cards, but I think she would be adorable on a New Years card or even a Birthday card! 
  

I colored Anya with my copics and cut her out so I could use the snowflake paper as a background.  Speaking of patterned paper, I think I may have set a personal record, I used 6 different ones on this card.  While I was cutting the papers I noticed one of the designs had "Merry Christmas" in the lower right corner, so I decided to use that as my sentiment.  The button bow in the corner was made by threading some ribbon through a button, tying that in a bow and then sewing it to the bottom ribbon that I had made into a partial bow.  

I hope you enjoyed my first card and come back again next week to see what I have to show you.

Thanks for visiting and have a great day!

I used the sketch from The Deconstructed sketch for my card.        

Christmas Elf

Here is a Christmas card I made using Holly's Stocking, a cute digi from The Digi Garden:   

I colored Holly with copics and added glitter to the "furry" pieces of her outfit.  On her stocking I added some polka dots with a white gel pen.  The green ribbon was from a gift box.  I added another ribbon to that, along with a button and the sentiment (which has a rhinestone for the dot of the letter i in Christmas).   

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge - For the Girls
ABC Christmas Challenge - Santa Claus is Coming to Town (Santa or someone dressed in a Santa hat)
Christmas Stampin All Year Long - Photo inspiration (colors, layers)
Moving Along with the Times - Seeing Red
Nutcrafters - Glitter and Gems
Pile it On - For a Child
Simon Says - Anything Goes

Whoopsie Daisy - Sparkle and Shine

Now, the winner of my giveaway for the Latte Anya Stamp using Random.org

is:  Stephanie.  Congrats!  Please contact me via email with your mailing information by Oct. 6.

Recipe : 
Stamps:   Holly's Stocking - The Digi Garden; Sentiment - CC Designs
Ink/Coloring:  Cranberry Crisp,  Copics 
Paper:  Cranberry Crisp; Neenah Solar White; DP - K & Co  
Embellishments:   Ribbons (Cranberry Crisp - SU / Green Ribbon recycled from a gift box); Button; Martha Stewart Glitter; Rhinestone (Recollections)    
Tools/Misc: Border Punch 
 
Have a great day :) 

Latte Anya and a Giveaway! :)

Today I am sharing a card that I made using Latte Anya, one of The Greeting Farm's newest additions.  

I stamped her on Kraft Paper and colored her with copics ~ definitely takes a little getting used to coloring on something other than plain white paper, but I do like how it looks.  I added a cute heart button to her hat....although looking at it, I think I should have added some twine to it....hmmm, maybe I'll carefully pull it off and do that.  I used this month's sketch from I ♥ Sketches.  I also used this weeks Farm Fresh Friday challenge at The Greeting Farm - old lace.  I couldn't fit it on the front, so on the inside it says "Sending you a latte birthday wishes". 

And now for a giveaway.....Courtesy of Marie and Jess at The Greeting Farm I have one of these adorable Latte Anya stamps to giveaway!  Just link your blog with the inlinkz below by September 28th to enter into the drawing.  
For extra entries:
   Be or become a follower of my blog - Add a note in the comments section.  To add a link for this, just pick any current post on your blog.  
   Share my giveaway on your blog - Add a note in the comments section.  To add a link for this, use the post on your blog sharing the giveaway.

I have edited this so that the post will remain on the top of my blog until the giveaway is over.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:
7 Kids - 1 Stamp, 2 Designer Papers, 3 Embellishments (lace, ribbon and button)
Crafty Calendar - Browns & Creams
Designed to Color - Celebrate
Moving Along with the Times - Make it Girly
Papertake Weekly - A Hazy Shade of Autumn
Stamp and Create - Anything Goes
Stamptacular Sunday - Less is More
Totally Papercrafts - Favorite Stamp (since I love all my TGF's equally, I just used one of my newest additions)
Whoopsie Daisy - Make it Girly
Your Next Stamp - Anything Goes

Recipe : 
Stamps:   TGF - Latte Anya
Ink/Coloring:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics 
Paper:  Kraft (SU);  Brown, DP - Basic Grey - Bittersweet  
Embellishments:   Velvet Ribbon; Button; Lace    
Tools/Misc: Scallop Border Punch (SU) 

Have a great day!  :)    



Giveaway begins on September 20, 2012 and ends on September 28, 2012   

Later Sk8r Birthday

I usually make girly cards, but since this weeks Farm Fresh challenge at The Greeting Farm was to use a boy image along with the colors orange, turquoise and silver, I decided to play along....I can use some more boy cards in my stash!  

I picked Ian from the Later Sk8r set.  I colored him with copics and paper pieced parts of his shirt.  To get the texture on his pants, I took a scrap piece of denim, soaked it in blender solution and pressed it on ~ love how this looks!  For the larger patterned paper piece I colored in all the dots in with a copic....although I should have probably figured out my layout first, then I wouldn't have had to color as many since most are covered up ;)  I was trying to figure out how to add the silver, at first I drew something on the orange band of his shirt, but didn't like it (one of the benefits of paper piecing, you can see what you like before actually gluing it on), so in the end I just decided on silver brads....safe, but it works.

In addition to the Farm Fresh Challenge, I would also like to enter this into the following:

By the Cute and Girly - Boys/Men
CRAFT challenge - Children
Designed to Color - Orange 
7 Kids Challenge - 1 stamp, 2 designer papers, 3 embellishments
Stamp and Create - Anything Goes
Totally Papercrafts - For a Child

REMINDER:  I have a giveaway at the top of my blog for a Latte Anya stamp from The Greeting Farm!  You have until Friday, Sept 28th to enter. 

Recipe : 
Stamps:   TGF -Later Sk8r; Sentiment - Claudia and Company
Ink/Coloring:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics 
Paper:  Pumpkin Pie (SU);  DP - My Mind's Eye - Stella and Rose - Mabel  
Embellishments:   Silver Brads    
Tools/Misc: Denim material  

Have a great day!

Ashley's Lil Sprouts entry

Ashley (age 9) decided that she wanted to play along with The Greeting Farm's Lil' Sprouts Challenge.  Here is her card:

She used Surfer Anya, colored her with copics and then cut her out.  The paper is from Echo Park's Paradise Beach collection....I think it makes a great background for this image!  In place of a sun in the sky, she wanted to add some flowers and a rhinestone brad.  I think she did a great job! :) 

Ashley would also like to enter:
CRAFT challenge - Children
Stamp and Create - Anything Goes
Totally Papercrafts - For a Child

And while you are visiting....I have a giveaway at the top of my blog for a Latte Anya stamp from The Greeting Farm!  You have until Friday, Sept 28th to enter.

Emily's Harvest...Giving thanks

I don't know about you, but lately we've been having some pretty cold days, enough to make me put on jeans instead of shorts.....unfortunately that means summer is definitely on it's way out.  But, the colder weather also means that soon the leaves will be changing and we will be seeing all the beautiful fall colors (love that).  So, I decided to make an fall themed card using Emily's Harvest from The Digi Garden.

I used this weeks sketch at The Sweet Stop (with the theme of Welcome Fall) and thought that these older Basic Grey papers would be great to use with this image.  Aside from the coloring, it was a pretty quick card to make.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:
Basic Grey - Harvest Time
Papertake Weekly - A Hazy Shade of Autumn
Stamp and Create - Anything Goes
Stamptacular Sunday - Less is More
Your Next Stamp - Anything Goes

Edited to add that this card was chosen as a spotlight card on The Sweet Stop blog (and I was lucky enough to win the prize for this challenge too):

Recipe : 
Stamps:   The Digi Garden - Emily's Harvest; Sentiment - Unity Stamp Co (Harvest of Memories)
Ink/Coloring:  Copics; Memento Rich Cocoa 
Paper:  Neenah Solar White; Kraft (SU);  DP - Basic Grey - Mellow  
Embellishments:   Button, Twine    
Tools/Misc: Grass Border Punch (Martha Stewart) Keytag Punch (SU)  

Have a great day!  :)    

Design Team news :)

I am happy to announce that I am now a member of The Digi Garden design team!

The Digi Garden has digi stamps as well as pre-colored images available for purchase and they are CUTE!  Head on over and check them out (right now there is a sale, buy 3 and get the 4th free).  While your over there, take a peek at the current color challenge, we'd love to have you play along!

Have a great day!

Dream with Anya

Back again with another challenge for The Greeting Farm...well, two actually.  I used the weekly sketch challenge on TGF's member group page at SCS and the Farm Fresh Friday challenge - paper piecing.   

I used one of the three limited edition stamp sets from The Greeting Farm, Anya Lifts (and yes, I did purchase all three).  I colored her with copics and paper pieced the balloons, her dress, boots, bow and shorts (although the last three things I colored with copics).  To make the balloons more realistic, I covered them in Crystal Effects.  Her earrings have stickles to make them sparkly.  

I would also like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Creative Inspirations - Polka Dots, Ribbon, Blue (and Polka Dots, Cream, Glitter)
Moving Along with the Times - Flying High
Pile it On - Something with a P (Polka Dots, Paper Piecing, Patterned Paper, Pop Dots)
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Recipe : 
Stamps:   TGF - Anya Lifts
Ink/Coloring:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics 
Paper:  Kraft (SU); Gina K Pure Luxury (White); DP - October Afternoon - Modern Homemaker  
Embellishments:   Ribbon (SU); Button; Twine; Ticket (Tim Holtz); Stickles (Stardust); Crystal Effects (SU)    
Tools/Misc: Border Punch (Martha Stweart); Dimensionals 

Thanks for visiting and have a great day!

Dream Big

I can't believe summer is almost over and school will be starting soon.  I sure will miss having my kids home with me all day!  

Since I haven't played with any of The Greeting Farm challenges lately, I made it a point to do so.  I had every intention of playing along with the August CCN on SCS, but time got away from me.  So instead I played along with the weekly sketch challenge on TGF's member group page at SCS.  Now I'm going to have to try and do this weeks Farm Fresh Friday challenge....it's paper piecing and I love that technique!   
  

I pulled out an older stamp ~ Flutter Anya ~ and colored her with copics.  I  tried a different hair color and I really like how it turned out...now I just hope I can figure out the colors I used for it since I cleaned up my area before writing them down.  To make her dress match the papers, I added dots with a white gel pen.  The butterfly was made by punching the shape from the Designer Paper, adding stickles and some pearls for the body.  I added a pin with some seed beads on it to the layered flowers.  I even pulled out the sewing machine for this one and zig zag stiched the panels...I have to say that I love the look of sewing, but hate pulling out the big machine to do it.

I am also entering this card in the following challenges:
Cute Card Thursday - Bling it Up
Do You Stack Up - Fantasy
Papertake Weekly - Pins and Needles
Stamp and Create - Stitch it Up
Stamptacular Sunday - Let's Hear it for the Girls
The Pink Elephant - Create you own Embellishments (pin, butterfly)
Whoopsie Daisy - Include a sentiment

Edited to add:
I won the TGF SCS sketch challenge as well as made the top 3 at Whoopsie Daisy.

Recipe : 
Stamps:   TGF - Flutter Anya; Anya Says
Ink/Coloring:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Taken with Teal (SU), Copics; White Gel Pen 
Paper:  Kraft (SU); Gina K Pure Luxury (White); DP - My Mind's Eye - Bloom and Grow  
Embellishments:   Flowers; Stick Pin; Seed Beads; Pearls (colored with copics); Stickles (Stardust)   
Tools/Misc: Butterfly Punch (Martha Stweart); Word Window Punch (SU); Sewing Machine  

Thanks for visiting and have a great day!

Happy Birthday Trevor!

I can't believe my youngest is now 8.  Where did the time go?!?!  Today we celebrated with just our family....Pizza Hut for dinner (Trevor's choice) and then some delicious birthday cake from our favorite bakery.  Trevor spent most of the day putting together new Lego sets and playing his new Wii game (his idea of a perfect day).  We wanted to play The Logo game tonight, but it got too late, so perhaps tomorrow.


For his card he wanted a puppy and a cupcake on it....lucky for me I had the perfect stamp for it.  I chose paper from Simple Stories Happy Day collection along with Kraft paper.  I stamped the image on one of the journaling elements included in the 6x6 paper pad and then paper pieced the entire image.  I added a pearl for the cherry on top of the cupcake and added a Happy  Birthday sentiment.  On the side I cut out the July calendar, wrote in the dates along with the current year, and then circled the date of his birthday.  A bit of ribbon and a border punched panel with some embossed paper and the front was done.  

Here (inside - left), I made a pocket, added another happy birthday sentiment to it and then put a journaling element inside the pocket.  

And here (inside - right) I added some cardstock to write on along with yet another journaling element.  

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Moving Along with the Times - Happy Birthday
Papercraft Star - Embossing
Anyone for Anya - use an image not recently used (it's been at least a year since I've used this one)
Moxie Fab - Birthday Card with stamping
Cards for Men - Happy Birthday
Simple Stories - Use Simple Stories Basics paper
   

Thanks for stopping and have a Great Day! 


Recipe ~ all items SU unless indicated 
Stamps:   CC Designs  - Pixie Pets Birthday Bash
Ink/Coloring:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Cherry Cobbler Stampin Up Marker  
Paper:  Kraft;; DP - Happy Day (Simple Stories)  
Embellishments:  Ribbon (Taupe); Pearl   
Tools/Misc: Border Punch (EK Success); Swiss Dots Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug); Dimensionals  

Graudation Anya....for Emily

Our friend's daughter graduated from High School, so I made her a card, using her school colors and logo:

I used the Grad Anya digi stamp from The Greeting Farm and colored it in Photoshop (can't believe I didn't pull out the copics, but since I was at the computer making the other elements for this card, I thought I'd try something different).  I created the sentiment and the banner flags in MSWord as well as the background paper (which is her school's logo).  


I would like to enter this into the following challenges:


Paper Play - Flags/Pennants/Banners
Totally Paper Crafts - Can you digi it (use digi image)
Anyone for Anya - Use a TGF image not recently used (it's been over a year for this one)

The Greeting Farm - Farm Fresh Friday - at least 4 layers and ribbon and/or a button

Ginger Snap Scraps Giveaway

Ginger Snap Scraps is having a giveaway on their Facebook page.  One lucky winner will get these newly released Lawn Fawn stamp sets:

I know I wouldn't mind getting this package in the mail :)


They are also having a sale on The Greeting Farm stamps (one of my favorite stamp companies).  30% off on all pre-orders (with the order going in on Sunday).  Head on over to the Ginger Snap Scraps Store to place your order.  I've already got mine started ;)