Garden Variety Tuesday at TGF

It's Tuesday so that means time for another Garden Variety Tuesday over at The Greeting Farm. This week Annie Rose gave us a sketch challenge:

For my card I used Cheeky Lessons and colored her with copics.  I added some Crystal Effects to her glasses and the apple for shine.  The buttons are from Jane's Buttons and I added some embroidery floss to them.  The ribbon had white stitching, but I colored the white with one of the copic markers I used for her dress. The little embellishments in the corner are from a set of clear dollar stamps from a few years back.  The papers are Lily Bee and one is from a stack I picked up at Walmart one night when my daughter and her friend wanted to go there to get some party supplies.

Here is the sketch:

Head on over the The Greeting Farm blog to see some more amazing work from the Design Team!

Also, for the 4-13 year olds, there is a Kidz Contest at The Farm this week.  It will run through Sunday July 21st at 8:00 pm.  Check out the post I linked above for more details.

I thought I could get all 4 of my kids to participate, but only Trevor had enough time to actually complete a card (we have been crazy busy this past week with play practices, kids over, kids going to friends houses and being away most of the weekend).  Trevor is 9 and here is his card:   

Trevor used McSpendid Farm and Sheriff Ian (both retired).  He colored them with copics and metallic paint pens and then cut them all out.  I love how he made the cow have spots!  When he was cutting, he said "I think I should bubble cut the chicks feet and the pigs tail so I don't cut them off"  ~ love how he was thinking ahead.  He used my grass paper punch for the edge of the green paper and my sizzix die for the sun.  The sentiment is also from the Simple Stories paper pad and he chose it because he said "This is perfect for my card since it is sunshiny"  I think he did a great job (and think he may be able to line up paper better than me).   

Thanks for visiting and have a great day!  :)

Destination ImagiNation - State here we come!

The DI Regional Competition was held this past Saturday and everyone did such a great job!  I am happy to say that all 4 of my kids are going on to the State Tournament!   This was Tyler and Trevor's first year in DI, Alicia and Ashley's second year.  They are all so excited!   Unfortunately I didn't get very many pictures (and half are kind of blurry)....I was video taping, so I had other people take pics for me (Alicia did a good job with the Rising Star pics...but someone, who shall remain nameless ;), not so good with the other pics...at State I think I will have them video tape and I will take the pictures! 

Tyler's team in Challenge E - Verses! Foiled Again! (structural) took 1st place out of 9 teams!

Alicia's team in Challenge C - Triple Take Road Show (fine arts) took 2nd place out of 12 teams!

Ashley & Trevor's team - Big Bug's Bad Day (Rising Stars) were given the option of going on to State, which was new this year (last year it was a lottery draw), so we jumped on the opportunity.

Now we are just crossing our fingers for Globals!

You may be wondering exactly what Destination ImagiNation really is (I know I had no clue when I first heard about DI and wish I had more information on it so my kids would have had the opportunity to participate earlier) so here is a link to the DI website (www.idodi.org). 

But here is a brief rundown of the program....

In DI teams solve an open-ended challenge.  The teams are tested to think outside of the box, work together and come up with creative, original solutions to satisfy the requirements of their chosen challenge. 

The competitive teams (Elementary, Middle School, High School levels) have 5 different challenges available to choose from at the beginning of the season and the categories are technical, scientific, fine arts, improv, or strucural. 

Rising Star teams are made up of K-2nd graders and are non-competitive.  This gives the younger kids a chance to learn what DI is all about and go through the same experiences as the competitive teams.   

After working on their solution for a few months, the teams present their solution to appraisers at a tournament and are scored on how well they met all the requirements of the challenge as well as on their creativity and teamwork.  In addition to their main challenge, they must also participate in an Instant Challenge (usually 4-10 minutes in length).  This is task based (ex.  build a structure out of given materials that will hold a golf ball), performance based (ex. present a performance in which your team uses 6 imaginary props of your choice to rescue themselves from an avalance), or a combination of the two.  The Instant Challenge is also scored on how well they met all the requirements of the given challenge, their creativity and teamwork.   

At the 3 competitive levels, the 1st and 2nd place teams from each challenge move on to the next level of competition.  There are 3 levels of competition...Regionals, State and then Globals (which, as it's name implies, has teams from all around the world).

I really believe in this program and what it does for the kids.  So much so, that I decided to be a Team Manager this year, and not to just one team, but two.  Next year I plan on returning as a Team Manager, and, hopefully again, to two teams. 

Have a great day!
 

Happy Birthday Tyler!

Happy Birthday to my oldest son, Tyler.  Today he hit double digits....the big 10!  He took brownies to school to share with his class and tonight's menu was Cousin's Subs (per his request) and then a Chocolate Cake with Buttercream frosting from a local cake shop.
    
 Here is the card I made for him:

I used Jack from The Greeting Farm's Creepin kit and paired him up with some American Crafts papers.  For the layout I followed this week's sketch at Club Anya but turned it sideways.  This was a really fun sketch to work with....definitely will need to use it again and maybe next time I will even use it the way it is shown ;)

There are a few more challenges that I used for this card and add them later when I have a bit more time.
The Paper Variety - Tic-Tac-Toe - I chose Stamped Image/Sentiment, Make a Card, Use Scallops 
Anyone for Anya - Birthday Card
Everybody Art - "Happy Birthday"
Birthday Sundaes - "Birthday"
Really Reasonable Ribbon - "One for the Boys"
Paper Cutz - "Anything Goes"
Totally Gorjuss - "Button It"
ABC Toys & Crafts - "Happy Birthday"
One Stitch at a Time - "Something for the Boys"
Pear Tree Designs - "Happy Birthday"""
Catered Crop - I chose the following ingredients - Striped paper, mini print patterned paper, the color blue, ribbon, die cuts, circles (although cut in half) and scallops.


Thanks for stopping and have a great day!  

Recipe ~ all items SU unless indicated 
Stamps: Creepin (TGF); So Random Sentiments Up/Down (Claudia & Co)
Ink/Coloring:  Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; Copics (E000, E00, E01, Y21, Y23, Y26, E31, B93, B95, B97, B99, R24, R22, R24, R27, R29, Y32, Y36, Y38) - (I will check these for sure, I know I'm missing at least 2, and am not positive on some of the Y)
Paper:  Night of Navy, So Saffron, Riding Hood Red; White (Gina K Pure Luxury); DP - American Crafts (Road Trip)
Embellishments:  Ribbon, Button  
Tools:  Star Nesties; Epic Scalloped Circle Dies; Circle Cutter (Creative Memories); 3-D Dots

 

Destination Imagination and some Unity projects

On Thursday all 4 of my kids tried out for Destination Imagination (DI) at their school.  Ashley and Trevor are in the Rising Star age level and performed a poem the three of us worked on together about DI.  Alicia and Tyler are at the regular DI level and performed a skit about recycling that they wrote themselves. 

Ashley and Trevor made a Rising Star team and I am their co-coach.  I've never coached a DI team before so I'm not sure what I'm in for, but I know we will have a fun time (and I know quite a few of the coaches from last year, so I'm sure they will help me along the way).  

Now the older two, Alicia and Tyler, won't find out until Friday the 12th if they made a team or not.....that is such a long wait for me that I can't even begin to imagine how it feels to them!  Alicia was on a team last year that placed 1st in Regionals and 3rd at State, and would be absolutely heartbroken if she didn't make it on a team this year.  She was sad when DI was over for the year and has been counting the days until she could do this again.  Tyler has not been on a team before, but after watching his sisters last year, he had his heart set on this and I know he would be really hurt if he didn't make a team.  I do believe that they both have something special to offer and hope the judges saw that as well.  So now it's a waiting game and all I can do is hope and pray that they both make it!


Last month I finally got my first Unity Stamps.  They have been on my wish list for quite some time, but I'm sure you know how it is....a wish list a mile long with papers, stamps, embossing folders, nesties, punches, embellishments and more, but unfortunately no money tree to go along with it.  But, waiting turned out to be a good thing for me because I picked up on some awesome "Deals of the Day".

Here are a few of the fall themed cards I did:

This card is one of my favorites ~ and although not a fall card, I did incorporate fall colors.  I used one of the sayings in "The Artist in You" set:

This one is a mini card using the "Trick or Treat Peeps" Set:

These two use the "Harvest of Memories" set:

Note:  This is my attempt at a one layer card (I still don't like doing these!)

This one uses the 12/09 KOTM:

I have oh, about 18 more cards to get up yet....sooner or later they will be here ;)

Have a great day!

Happy Birthday ♥Alicia♥

Today was my oldest daughter Alicia's birthday...wow, I can't believe she is already 11 years old.  She is smart, talented and growing into such a wonderful young lady and I am proud to be her mom ♥ I love you sweetheart!  Tonight we celebrated her birthday with the family ~ us and then my parents and my brother.  On the kids birthday's we let them pick whatever they want for dinner and Alicia's choice was Cousins Subs ~ I have to say that I love their subs and their Broccoli Cheese soup (not to mention that I didn't have to do any cooking) so I was happy.  After dinner we had some delicious cake from our favorite baker (marble with buttercream frosting) and then it was time for the presents.  OK now for the card....

Yesterday I had Alicia pick out a few of her favorite images and I went with the Tuesday Creeper for her card~ my first time using the Creepers and boy are they fun!  The paper I used is actually digital paper from Tiddly Inks (and this was my first time using digi paper as well).  I stamped a large flourish stamp on the right side of the heart paper in gray and then colored over it with a Spica clear pen.  The edges of the cardstock and her "eyeshadow" were also colored with the same Spica pen ~ it took awhile to color the cardstock, but the shimmer it has in real life made it worth it.  The bottom has three layers of scalloped tulle and then a silver organdy ribbon along with a trio of pearls.  On the image panel, I used the distressed stripes folder, sanded it and then sponged it with gray.  The sentiment was computer generated and I then colored it with R21, T0, T1 and 0 to mimic the heart paper colors.  As a final touch I added one of my precious rhinestone swirls ~ I have a few of these, but because they really are not cheap, I hate to use them unless I know the card will be cherished and I know in this case I have nothing to worry about ~ she absolutely loved it! :)

Here is a close up showing the shimmer a little better:

I hope to head into the craft room again this week, but I am swamped with appointments and Girl Scout events through Sunday.  And here I thought once the kids were back in school I'd have all kinds of free time.....maybe next week.

Since I have to post while it is still her Birthday, I will come back and update the challenges I want to enter this card into.

OK...after a bit of picking and choosing (to remain at 10 total challenges), I am entering the following:
Nutty Nutshells - "Pretty in Pink" 
Southern Girls - "Anything Goes" 
Stamp and Create - "Pearls and Gems" 
One Stop Craft Challenge - "Fashion Throughout the Years" 
Aly's Sunday Challenge - "Sparkle and Glitter"
Club Anya and Friends - Case this card:  My notes...In place of the musical notes I stamped the flourish stamp on my paper.  The rhinestone swirl replaces the butterfly, the sentiment replaces the circle with the 8, the ribbon "bow" replaces the flower and the scalloped layers of tulle replace the torn paper layers

Pear Tree Designs - "Pink"
Our Daily Bread - "Make Your Creations Sparkle"
Scrap Creations - "Gotta Go Digi" - digi paper and digi sentiment 
Paper Sundaes - Minimum of 3 embellishments - Organdy, Tulle, Rhinestones, Pearls 


Have a great day! 




Recipe  ~ all items SU unless indicated
Stamps:  Tuesday Creeper (The Greeting Farm); Baroque Motifs  
Ink/Coloring:  Memento Tuxedo Black; Going Gray; Copics (E00, E01, E11, R20, E33, E35, E37, E57, E77, E79, T0, T1, T2, T3, T5, R21); Atyou Spica Clear
Paper:  Basic Gray, Going Gray, Pink Pirouette; Gina K Luxury White; DP - Tiddly Inks digi paper (Light Pink Grungy Heart)
Embellishments:   Organdy Ribbon (Silver); Pearls (Kaiser); Rhinestones (Michael's); Rhinestone Swirl (WalMart); Stickles (Stardust and Fruit Punch); Tulle  
Tools:  Key Tag Punch; Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (Distressed Stripes); Sanding Block

Happy Birthday Trevor!

Wow, it seems like only yesterday

I was pregnant with him and

we were eagerly awaiting his arrival.

 Here is my handsome guy at his 1st birthday party:

And here he is today 

(well actually yesterday)

Where does the time go?

Happy 6th Birthday Trevor!

I love you always and forever!

I Woof You!

I have to start off by saying that I am so proud of both my girls.  They had their regional DI (Destination Imagination) competition last weekend and Alicia's team took 1st place out of 16 teams, so they are on to the State competition next month!  Ashley was on a Rising Star team, and while they participate in the regional competition, they do not advance to state by their performance, but rather a lottery drawing, and unfortunately her team was not picked.  She was so sad that night because she has had so much fun with DI and she didn't want it to be over.  Out of 5 competing teams from their school, 4 of them are going on to State.  3 teams took 1st place in their categories, and one team took 2nd place (which happened to be in the same category as Alicia's team, so the school took 1st and 2nd place in that category).  Way to go Wildcats! 

Now on to the card.....For this one, I used Charlie from InStyle Stamps and matched him up with these wonderful DCWV papers from the pet stack (and yes, I even used some of my in color paper from a few years back).  I thought a dog tag type sentiment would work really good on this, so I dug through my junk drawer and came across this chain that came off a pair of my sons Tony Hawk pants (it had a mini skateboard attached to it), see there is a reason for all that "junk" we save, and better to recycle it than toss it out!  The sentiment is from my daughters stamp collection ~ you can't see it too good on here, but inside the heart it says "woof".



Remember....to receive an automatic 5% discount on your purchases, please be sure to go through this link InStyle Stamps. 

I am entering the following challenges:
Pile-It-On - "Animal-riffic"
Cute Daisy May - "For the Boys"
Sophisticat - "Raining Cats and Dogs"
Crafty Creations - Anything Goes
Allsorts - Alter or Recycle something - I recycled the chain I used 


Recipe ~ all items SU unless indicated
Stamps:  Charlie InStyle Stamps (digi image); Sentiment - Studio G 
Ink/Coloring: Colorbox Chalk Ink (Creamy Brown); Copics (E31, E33, E34, E35, E37, N3, N5, N7, N9, YR21, YR23, YR24)
Paper:  Soft Sky, Kraft; Gina K Pure Luxury White; DP - DCWV (Pet Stack)
Embellishments:  Ball chain; Eyelet (Making Memories)
Tools: Key Tag Punch; Martha Stewart Border Punch 

Hippie Birthday

I can't believe my oldest daughter hit double digits earlier this month. Here is the card I made for her 10th Birthday. She is very big time into Peace signs, smile faces, hearts, flowers and all things, well "hippie", so Hippie Anya was the perfect choice for her birthday card.


Since I didn't have an appropriate sentiment stamp, I created my own saying on the computer and after a bit of searching came up with the perfect font.

She absolutely loved the card ~ and that is what makes it all worthwhile!


This card is for the following challenges:
Just Christmas and Birthday Cards - sketch
Kaboodle Doodles - 1 solid cardstock, 2 patterned papers, 3 embellishments
Stamp Something - use a favorite sketch (I really like this sketch for larger images)

Card #1 Recipe~ all items SU unless indicated
Stamps: Hippie Anya (The Greeting Farm); Sentiment - Computer generated (LMS Hippy Chick font)
Ink/Coloring: Memento Tuxedo Black; Copics (E00, E01, E11, E25, E27, E29, R20, B21, B23, G21, G24, Y32, Y35, RV32, RV34, V93, V95)
Paper: Rose Red; Gina K Pure Luxury White; DP - DCWV (Blossoms and Butterflies)
Embellishments: Flowers (Bazzil); Rhinestone Brads (unknown)
Tools: EK Success Border Punch; Corner Rounder

And for some family updates......

Ashley started ballet and tap lessons this past week and was so excited ~ she had so much fun at her first class and loved shopping for her new dance wear! Of course that means one more thing to add to the calendar each week, but as long as she enjoys it ~ that's all that matters.

I had Alicia's Brownie troop bridging Ceremony this past week and they are now officially Junior Girl Scouts! I held it at a park, and was worried all day long as it was overcast and looked as though it could rain any minute, but lucky for us the weather held out, and there was no rain for the ceremony ~ always a nice thing, since wet soggy cake would not have been to appealing. It was a very nice way to begin the year.


Have a wonderful day :)

Back to School....

I know a lot of people are happy that the kids are back in school, but I am not one of them. I really enjoy having my kids around, and now, not only did the three older kids head off to school, but my youngest started Kindergarten. Wow is the house quiet without all the kids running around and I sure miss them, and I really miss my little buddy who would cuddle up with me after the older kids got on the bus last year!

Here is my little man ready for his very first day of school:

Here are all 4 of the kids:
And we have a lot of kids in our little subdivision ~ here they all are waiting for the bus this morning while all the moms were busy snapping pics:


Now for some cards. Every year I make my kids cards for their first day of school and here are the cards I gave them this morning:

For Alicia my 4th grader:
Alicia loves the new Kiki La Rue stamps and I thought this image was the perfect back to school girl. I added rhinestones to her shoes her shirt (as well as all along the scalloped circle), put stickles on her barettes and on her sock ruffles, and used the color pink since that is Alicia's favorite color. Notice how you can see the "4th" on the black DP? I had to make sure I cut it just right so this would show up on the card since she is in 4th grade now.

This card qualifies for the following challenges:
Creative Card Crew ~ pink, black and white
Paper Play Challenges ~ "Back to School"
Pile It On ~ "Round"
Simon Says Stamps - "Back to School"


For Tyler my 3rd grader:
Tyler loves the color yellow, and I he loves dogs so I chose to use this cute image. No big embellishments here ~ I just wanted to keep it clean.

This card qualifies for the following challenges:
Stamp Something ~ "Animal Somethings"
One Stop Craft Challenge ~ "Cute and Cuddly"
Paper Play Challenges ~ "Back to School"
Pile It On ~ "Round"
Simon Says Stamps ~ "Back to School"


For Ashley my 1st grader:
Ashley loves the color purple and the color pink. Since purple paper just didn't look good with the DP (although the pink layer behind the image and the sentiment looks a bit purple in this picture), I decided to color the crayon purple and use pink paper. I thought this bunny image was too cute not to use.

This card qualifies for the following challenges:
Allsorts ~ No stamping - can use digital images/sentiments
Stamp Something ~ "Animal Somethings"
One Stop Craft Challenge ~ "Cute and Cuddly"
Paper Play Challenges ~ "Back to School"
Pile It On ~ "Round"
Simon Says Stamps ~ "Back to School"


For Trevor my kindergartener:Trevor's favorite color is green so I had to use that as my main color. I chose to use this image since the stamp is named "Trevor" ~ how appropriate! I still can't believe my little man is in school.....

Cute Card Thursdays ~ "New Beginnings" ~ I think this qualifies as a new beginning
Paper Play Challenges ~ "Back to School"
Simon Says Stamps ~ "Back to School"

Card #1 Recipe~ all items SU unless indicated
Stamps: Kiki La Rue (CC Designs); Back to School (My Favorite Things)
Ink/Coloring: Memento Tuxedo Black; Copics
(E00, E01, E11, E25, E27, E29, R20, RV21, RV23, RV25, N0, N2, N4, N6, N8)
Paper: Basic Black, Pretty in Pink; Gina K Pure Luxury White; DP - DCWV (Grade School Stack)
Embellishments: Gingham Ribbon; Self Adhesive Rhinestones (Michael's); Stickles
Tools: Circle and Scallop Circle Punches; Scallop Border Punch

Card #2 Recipe~ all items SU unless indicated
Stamps: CC Designs; Back to School (My Favorite Things)
Ink/Coloring: Memento Tuxedo Black; Copics (E42, E44, E47, R24, R27, R29)
Paper: Yo Yo Yellow; Gina K Pure Luxury White; DP - DCWV (Grade School Stack)
Embellishments:
Tools:

Card #3 Recipe~ all items SU unless indicated
Stamps: CC Designs, Whimsie Doodles
Ink/Coloring: Copics (V000, V01, V12, V15, RV00, C0, C2)
Paper: Basic Black, Pretty in Pink; Gina K Pure Luxury White; DP - DCWV (Grade School Stack)
Embellishments: Ribbon (Lt. Pink); Dew Drops
Tools: Oval and Scallop Oval Punch; Martha Stewart Border Punch

Card #4 Recipe~ all items SU unless indicated
Stamps: Trevor (Me and My Big Ideas); Whimsie Doodles
Ink/Coloring: Memento Tuxedo Black; Copics (E00, E01, Y21, Y23, E53, E55, YR12, YR14, B93, B95, B97, G05, G07)
Paper: Basic Black, Gable Green; Gina K Pure Luxury White; DP - DCWV (Grade School Stack) and Provo Craft
Embellishments:
Tools:

Have a great day :)

Smile....

Today was the last day of school for the kids ~ wow, where did the time go?!? While I am very happy that I will have the 3 older kids home all day, I am a bit sad as it also means this was the last day Trevor and I got to spend alone together, as he will be off to school in the fall. I know you can't keep them young forever, but why do they need to grow up so fast?

We went to school to have lunch with the kids and then stayed for recess (which Trevor absolutely loves). After coming home for a bit to finish up a card for the principal (who we are sad is retiring this year), we went back to pick up the kids and deliver their teacher's gifts (and of course get a picture of them with their teachers). Alicia is really sad that school is over, she loves it and I think would go year round if given the option. Ashley and Tyler like school, but are thrilled to be off for the summer.

Just looking at this adorable turtle from Whimsie Doodles makes me smile ~ isn't she just the cutest turtle ever!?! And to make you smile even more, you can pick her up free ~ just hop on over to Whimsie Doodles (and while you're there take a peek at all the other cute images available).

I bought this My Mind's Eye paper (along with a bunch more) at my local LSS a few weeks ago and just had to use it with this turtle. Although I tend to gravitate towards the same color schemes, I was really drawn to this line of papers. I am trying to use more and more color combinations outside of my "comfort" zone, and you know what, I am really having fun with the process and finding that I like the results as well.

After coloring the image, I went over her spots and the rose with my Sakura Stardust pen ~ I just wish I could pick up the shimmer that this pen gives.


Card Recipe~ all items SU unless indicated
Stamps: Whimsie the Turtle digi image ~ Whimsie Doodles
Ink: Copics (G24, G28, YG91, YG93, YR12, YR14, YG41, YG45); Sakura Stardust Pen; Signo White Gel Pen
Paper: Garden Green; Pumpkin Pie; Gina K Pure Luxury White; DP - My Mind's Eye (Bloom & Grow)
Embellishments: Ribbon (Tangerine); Flowers (Prima); Rhinestone Brad (unknown); Stylized Silver Hodge Podge Hardware; Dew Drops; Epoxy Sticker (Target)
Tools: Marvy Giga Scallop Circle Punch; Branch Punch and Border Punch (Martha Stewart)

I am also entering this card in the Cute Daisy Mae Challenge for using circles, the Stamp with Fun challenge for using Dots, and the Creative Inspirations Wednesday challenge for using 4 different papers.