A sticky situation

Raise the Bar's new sketch

2012-02-03T08:17:00.000-05:00

Hello again everyone!
{For this week's FFC Friday Spy Day, please scroll down to the earlier post - thank you!}

This week at Raise The Bar, we have a sponsor AND a sketch by the wonderful

*Melyssa Connolly of Whimsie Doodles*

Here is the sketch:

For my card I used the adorable Lollipop Girl:

Late one evening I had an idea to use twine to mimic those old fashioned lollipops.

It was so simple to do! Just put down a nice, thin layer of craft glue, then using a tool,

twirl the twine from inside the circle on out.

It was actually quite therapeutic, I'll be finding more images to use my twine on. ;)

Here are some challenges I'm joining in on :

Pals Paper Arts: red

Paper Pretties: ribbon or twine

Fab 'n' Funky Challenges: Use a digi

Truly Scrumptious: Love and hearts

Come on over and join in on the sketchy fun!
You can see the beautiful (and I'm not kidding) samples

here on the Raise The Bar's blog.

You have one week to participate for your chance to win a spot as a Guest Bar-Tender!

Have a beautiful day everyone!

xoxoxox

Friday Spy Day

2012-02-03T01:08:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday everyone!

I hope your week went well? I am looking forward to some lazy days ahead with the kiddos.

I think I am waiting patiently for spring to get up and moving. lol!

This week at Farm Fresh Challenge, we have spied this beautiful card by Jas:

Jas

What beautiful details!
I love the Beanie Anya she chose, and all those gorgeous embellishments,
beautiful layers, and distressed edges. Breathtaking!

Here is my take on her card using Birthday Anya II:

The papers are from October Afternoon (Sidewalks line) and is my new favorite pack.

The designs can go anywhere between shabby, playful, and elegant.

To add to the shabby chic, I added some handmade flowers and fun embellishments,

then inked up the doily and nestie underneath it.

Come on over and play along in this CASE challenge!
Use Jas' card as inspiration, whether it's the layout,

the color scheme, or any interpretation that you choose.

You can see the adorable samples by the FFC design team here on the blog.

Have a beautiful day everyone!

I'll see you back here in a few with our new challenge from Raise The Bar.

xoxoxox

TPE Challenge #133

2012-01-30T13:27:00.002-05:00

I'm back with a RECIPE challenge over at TPE!
This week The Pink Elephant is sponsored by

CLEAR DOLLAR STAMPS

The lucky winner receives a $15 gc to shop at their adorable store!

Here is the recipe:

1 image, 2 patterned papers, 3 buttons

And here is my card using the Sunshine & Smiles sunflower image:

I love happy flowers, and these sunflowers peeking behind a picket fence make me smile. :)

I paired it with Basic Grey kraft dp, and October Afternoon gingham paper

for that outdoorsy/country feel that I just love.

I also used the current sketch from The Paper Players:

{Love this layout!!}

Come on over and play along with our challenge!
You can see the other beautiful samples here on The Pink Elephant blog,

this is also where you will link up your work.

Have a beautiful rest of your day everyone!
With the kiddos home, it feels like a great day to bake a cake...

xoxoxox

Monday Fun Day - key to my heart

2012-01-30T11:01:00.001-05:00

Happy beautiful Monday everyone!
I am so happy that the kids have a Teacher's Work Day.

After a busy weekend we really needed one more day off. ;)

If you are crafting up a storm this week, be sure to join in on our Farm Fresh Challenge's latest theme:

"KEY" to my "HEART"

All You have to do is use either a KEY or a HEART on your card!

Very easy, since we are quickly creeping up on that love month.

For my card I used "My House" (retired) from The Greeting Farm:

My sister and her new hubby (as opposed to old? heehee!) are house hunting again.

In my optimism, I hope that they find the one they are looking for!

It has been quite the process, but I am so proud that they are patient and remain confident

that their dream home is out there. In Hawaii, what house isn't a dream, right? ;)

I searched everywhere for a key that would work, but they were all too big.

With some silver paper scrap, I decided to do my own - super easy!

And now I can mail out the card without having it too bulky WHEN they sign for the key.

Come on over to join us at Farm Fresh Challenge!

Have a beautiful day everyone, off to make 6 lunches. Phew.

xoxoxox

Raise the Recipe bar (a day late!)

2012-01-28T13:00:00.004-05:00

Happy beautiful Saturday eveyone!
I am a day behind, but nothing like an easy morning to catch up. ;)
This week at Raise The Bar, we are having a recipe challenge:

PINK, SILVER, TAG, and RIBBON

For my card I used the adorable Miss Anya Bags from The Greeting Farm

and papers from K&Company called Gypsy Baby.
I also made the main image as a tag, then used silver in her bag and heart brads.

This is also created with the beautiful sketch from TGF's SCS first ever sketch challenge:

Ooh I love combining challenges that I love!
So hop on over to Raise The Bar to add in your recipe card of

Pink, Silver, Tag, and Ribbon,

and be sure to hop over to SCS to play along with TGF's fun sketch challenge as well!

Have a beautiful weekend everyone! I am off to shuttle the kids to birthday parties -

FOUR all weekend long...mmmm...cake. ;)

xoxoxox

Friday Spy Day!

2012-01-27T13:04:00.003-05:00

Hello dear friends and happy Friday!

It feels so weird only posting on Mondays and Fridays.

Hmmm...I think I should do something about that and be more active on my blog!

But YOU can do something wonderful today by joining in on our latest challenge at Farm Fresh Challenge, CASE-ing RACHEL:

Oliver is sooo cute on her card, isn't he?
I love her papers, so festive and happy. :)

Here is my take, using the adorable digi Wonderland set:

I needed some fun and crazy papers to go with Alice,

so I pulled out my Snuggle Bug papers from K&Company.

I try to google ideas and color schemes before I color up something,

and this is the picture I based the card on:

If you ever need a starting point, the internet is a great resource!

Joining in on these challenges with my Alice card:
Just Inspirational Challenge: every color in the rainbow
Little Darlings challenge: Polka Dots
More than Favors Wacky Wednesday: Let's get animated
Sisterhood of Crafters: Striped papers
Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge: Polka Dots

Come on over and join in on the fun on our FFC blog.

All you have to do is use any of the many wonderful TGF images from the store

and be inspired by Rachel's card, whether it be color scheme, layout, etc.

Link up here on the blog and come see the adorable designs by the Design Team!

Have a great Friday everyone, see you later with our Raise The Bar challenge.

xoxoxox

TPE Challenge #132

2012-01-23T09:47:00.001-05:00

Happy beautiful Monday everyone!
I hope you had a great weekend and are ready to craft. ;)

The Pink Elephant has a fun new challenge based on this beautiful photo:

What a FUN collage! It's like Pinterest all in one picture.

All you have to do is be inspired by any or all of the above photos.

It could be the color scheme, an individual picture, you name it!

Here is mine, going with the wedding theme:

This cute digi called Kissy Kissy is from The Greeting Farm (of course!).
I always thought this pair was the sweetest little couple.

Here is a closer shot at my handmade roses (sooo super easy):

And to pull it all together, I used this wonderful sketch from Sketch Saturday:

Now come on over to The Pink Elephant and show us what you've got!

You can also see the beautiful samples made by Ella's girls there as well.

Have a wonderful Monday everyone, thank you so much for coming by!

xoxoxox

Raise the 'ring' Bar!

2012-01-20T08:00:00.003-05:00

Hello again! :) Twice in one day, I am on a roll. heehee!
{For this week's Farm Fresh Challenge's Friday Spy Day, please scroll down to see who we CASE-d.}
This week at Raise The Bar, we are celebrating 2012 with the theme:

'Ring' in the New Year!

We want to see CIRCLES (aka 'rings') on your card. Let's see polka dots, circles, anything that has ring shapes. :) For my card I used the sweet Birthday Anya II from The Greeting Farm, she's so much fun to color up with her adorable hairdo and yummy oversized cupcake. I used some polka dotted paper from October Afternoon (thanks Claudia!) a MS edge punch, and a doily that I bought in a pack from WalMart. I never realized how affordable they are, $2 for a pack - fun stuff.

To accent the circle theme, I used the current sketch from Cardabilities:

Come on over to Raise The Bar and join in on the fun! There are also some wonderful samples there by the Designers, be sure to ooh and ahh over them here. :) Have a beautiful weekend everyone, thank you so much for coming by!

xoxoxox

Friday Spy Day!

2012-01-20T01:02:00.001-05:00

Happy beautiful Friday everyone! I am soooo glad the weekend is upon us. I just love sleeping in on Saturday mornings and hanging out all day long. We are not weekend warriors - we are weekend couch potatoes. lol! Without apologies!
This week's Farm Fresh Challenge's Friday Spy Day has us CASE-ing a great card by...

Sheena!

What a dapper fellow! ;) I love all the layers of her card, the distressed edges, and wonky squares. I still need to get that nestie, by the way...

For my card I CASE-d her as best as I could, but decided to embellish the area with the sentiment instead:

Refreshing my memory here...This is Wild Sprout Annika if I remember correctly! Yes, I believe so. ;) She is one of my favorites with her sweet First Day of School look. heehee! I paired her with some adorable papers from October Afternoon that I won on a Facebook giveaway! Woohoo! The colors are soo happy and sweet, the patterns are perfect for any school age child. Here is a closer look at my embellishments:

Usually I keep embellis quite simple, but lately I've been wanting to layer them until it takes $4 to mail one card. It's just a phase, I am sure, but in the meantime I'm having fun. ;)

Come on over to the Farm Fresh Challenge blog to see what the other fabulous designers have created, this is also where you will link up your work, CASE-ing Sheena's card.

Thank you for stopping in today, I will be back later with yet another TGF card (gasp!) for a different challenge! See you soon!

xoxoxox

TPE #131 and FFC Monday Fun day!

2012-01-16T01:00:00.003-05:00

Happy beautiful Monday everyone!
It's time for another challenge week, and once again,

I've combined two of my favorites:

The Pink Elephant's Challenge:

YOUR FAVORITE COLOR

and

Farm Fresh Challenge's Monday Fun day:

GET SENTIMENTAL (use a sentiment)

Here is my card using one of the sweetest images from The Greeting Farm:

I have always loved Izzy from the Twinkle Tot line (retired).

She's sweet and carefree, so of course I had to color her in my favorite color!

Orange has always made me so happy, and since it comes in different hues,

it's the yummiest color throughout the year.

I also love it with linen, it balances out the boldness of this particular shade.

Sentiment is from another retired TGF image called Light Up.

Wow, I have been addicted to TGF for quite a while. lol!

Are you ready to come over and join in on the fun?

Come visit these two blogs to see the wonderful samples by the designers!
Join Ella's girls here on The Pink Elephant blog,

then come on over Monday Fun-Day here on FFC's blog.

Have a beautiful day everyone!
Off to enjoy one more relaxing day before the week begins tomorrow...

xoxoxox

Raise the Banner Bar!

2012-01-13T09:02:00.003-05:00

Happy beautiful Friday everyone!
Raise The Bar is baaaaack for the New Year, after taking a much needed hiatus over the holidays.
It's our first challenge of the month and it is SPONSORED!
Woohoo! And sponsored by a company I heart heart heart:

Thank you LORi!! Mwah! The winner receives a $10 shopping spree at her adorable shop,
so be sure to play along this week! Our theme is:

BANNER OF A NEW YEAR

For my card I used Puddle Jumper Cole because he's sooooo dreamy. lol! I would have had a crush on him in elementary school if I was a Puddle Jumper. haha! The banner is actually part of the DCWV Grade School pack, as are all the papers that I used. I never get tired of those fun designs!
Come on over and join in on the fun, click here to get to the Raise The Bar blog to see everyone's work, this is also where you will link up your card! Have a beeeeeautiful day everyone, I am headed out to lunch with my little man and hubby. :)

xoxoxox

TPE #130 and FFC Monday Fun day Challenge

2012-01-09T07:40:00.001-05:00

Oh sweet Monday, I can't believe you are here already!

But alas, I take comfort in 2 of my favorite challenges today:

TPE's challenge of HEARTS

and

FFC's Monday Fun Day recipe of:

Polka Dots

Pink

2 ribbons

How sweet are those challenges?
I combined them with a new Miss Anya:

I think she represented quite well, didn't she? :)

Miss Anya Garland is the newest release from TGF, she's so pretty!

Keeping my pledge to use scraps, I pulled together some fun vintage papers.

The sweet heart banner is from TGF's clear set called Bantastic.

Come and see what both fabulous design teams did for these challenges,
visit TPE's blog and FFC's blog - amazing samples and inspiration!

Link up your work too so we can see your work!
Thank you so much for coming by today,

I truly appreciate your visit! :)

xoxoxox

Friday Spy Day!

2012-01-06T08:00:00.002-05:00

Happy beautiful Friday everyone!
Wow the week went by nice and quick...which is fine by me! ;)
I hope you have great plans for this weekend? I think I'll spend the majority of my time recovering from this funky sinus infection/congestion. bleh. :P

But we are back today with a fun Friday Spy Day - and I hope you all are ready for a fun one?
We spied...

WILFREDA'S card:

Cheeky Cherry Pie is adorable, isn't she? I just love the way Wilfreda matched her papers to her Cuttlebug folder. Adorable!

Here is my take on her card, inspired by her beautiful layers and stitching:

I can't get enough of Miss Anyas - they are so much fun to doll up! I ran my Cuttlebug script folder through a piece of marbled scrap paper, then added some zig zag stitching to make it more whimsical.
Come on over and see what the fabulous Design Team has done with Wilfreda's card! Hop on over to the Farm Fresh Challenge blog, this is also where you will link up your work for the week.
Here are the wonderful ladies I work with and links to their personal blogs:

Jessica Diedrich
Margie Cortina
Lisa Gobea
Sharette Smith
April Davis

Have a great day everyone, thank you so much for coming by today!
xoxoxox

Love U!

2012-01-03T08:00:00.003-05:00

Just thought I'd put it out there...heehee!

Happy wonderful Tuesday everyone!
Since I had a wonderful vacation week with the kiddos home

and hubby on half day schedule, I had plenty of time to play in my craft room.

Today's card is a new image from TGF called Miss Anya Garland:

Aren't they adorable? I love their different hairstyles, so retro and sweet.

Miss Anya was colored in copics and embellished with handmade flowers,

Martha Stewart leaf punch, and die cut flourishes.

I decided that she needed to be darker complected with those gorgeous braids,

and paired with some vintage-y olive papers to compliment her skin tone.

I am actually joining in on some challenges this week (yay!):

iCopic Challenge #63: Smooth and Shiny hair

Stamp and Create: Vintage theme

Lily Pad: Chipboard (letter U)

Stampin' For The Weekend: Anything Goes

Thank you so much for coming by everyone, have a beautiful Tuesday!

xoxoxox

TPE Challenge #129

2012-01-02T08:00:00.013-05:00

Hello and happy beautiful Monday of 2012!

We have a new challenge over at The Pink Elephant - and we are ready for another year of fun themes!

This week we have one that I KNOW you will enjoy:

ANYTHING GOES

See? I know you too well. ;)

Back in November (that was SO last year - lol!) the DT was privileged

to work with MFT stamps, and we are showcasing them again.

I chose to work with Feelin' Froggy:

Here is the card that I made for this week's challenge:

So much fun!

I love sentiments as a focal point, and having that little toad as an accent was perfect.

Here is the card that I made back in November with the same set:

(There's something about this set that makes me want to use my leafy CB folder - lol!)

Now come on over to TPE's blog to join in on the Anything Goes challenge!
All you have to do is link up your current work and we will stop by to visit.

Have a beautiful day everyone!
Happy New Year!

xoxoxox

Monday Fun Day - a color challenge!

2012-01-02T01:00:00.009-05:00

Happy 2nd day of the New Year everyone!

I hope your weekend was awesome?

I spent a lot of time in my craft room this week,

with hubby on a half day schedule and kiddos home from school.

One of the cards I made was for today's Farm Fresh Challenge:

Blue + White + another color

As you can see, I did another...and another color. lol!

Isn't this bunny the sweetest?

This is part of a NEW clear set from TGF called Lucky Bunnies.

They are so adorable and come with sentiments, perfect for year round cards!
Now if you haven't used TGF clear stamps, you will be SO thrilled,
they are made with the highest quality and stamp like rubber. :)

Come on over and join in on the fun of
Blue + White + one other color of your choice.
TGF has the best prizes for their customers who enter in on the fun!

Have a wonderful Monday everyone, thank you so much for coming by!

Friday Spy Day!

2011-12-30T01:00:00.003-05:00

Happy Friday everyone!
I am sure you all have awesome plans for the weekend,

so I will make this short and sweet. ;)

Today over at Farm Fresh Challenge blog,

we found yet another wonderful card that we spied for Friday Spy Day!

Here is Shaela's cutie of a card using Flirty Anya:

What a fresh palette she used! Love the reds and blues together for winter!

I jumped ahead to Valentine's day, after running across some fun glitter heart papers:

Teen Anyas are so much fun to color up!
I chose this cutie from the Miss Anya Love collection.

I matched her outfit to the papers and then added sparkles to her shirt and necklace:

Now it's your turn to CASE Shaela's card!
All you have to do is be inspired by her sweet creation, then link up here to the FFC blog.

It can be her sketch, her color scheme, anything you interpret!

Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR celebration everyone!
Be safe and I will see you all back here on Monday! :)

xoxoxox

By Lori Designs showcase

2011-12-28T07:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Wednesday everyone!

I hope today finds you well and enjoying the holidays.

I personally love this time of year because it's a great transition from this year on to next.

I have been reflecting on all the areas of my life that I need to work on,

including health, finances, crafting, and being the person I want to be.

I hope that 2012 is amazing for you as well!

With the end of December comes the end of my term with By Lori Designs.

I have truly loved working with her images, as well as being part of her team.

Lori is full of God given faith, love, and talent;

I am fortunate in so many ways to know her!

For my last showcase I wanted to show you the beauty of digis,

especially cute ones like Lori's that often come with a little friend.

For my lineup I used Puddle Jumper's Winter Ella.

Here she is in her entirety:

Here is her little companion, shown by himself:

And here's Ella, for her nice close-up:

I just love the versatility of digis!
Lori has so many adorable ones to choose from,

many of hers come with sentiments as well - what a great bargain!

You can find them all here on her blog site,

as well as wonderful inspiration from the designers.

Thank you so much for coming by, have a great mid-week day everyone!
xoxoxox

Monday Fun Day - Sing a song!

2011-12-26T01:00:00.001-05:00

Happy day after Christmas everyone!
This week at Farm Fresh Challenge, we want you to create with our theme:

Sing a Song

It can be any song: a favorite, a holiday one, an oldie but goodie, it's up to you!

All that is required is that you use a TGF image (digi or actual) for your card.

For my project today, I decided to use Birthday Anya II

and create one based on "Happy Birthday to you!"

I have so many loved ones who celebrate their birthdays this month,

including my sweet hubby who turns 41 on Wednesday. ;)

And in staying true to my new resolution of sending out cards that I've created,

today is my sweet Aunty's 70th birthday. And guess what?

I sent her a card last week! Yay me! lol!

So come on over and join in on the "Sing A Song" fun,

click here to get to the FFC blog and enter your card.

Have a beautiful day after Jesus's birthday everyone,

thank you so much for coming by!
xoxoxox

Friday Spy Day!

2011-12-23T08:00:00.002-05:00

Happy beautiful Friday everyone!
I see how busy you all are wrapping and singing to the carols. :)

I am - um - sort of done. For now.

But I did have time to work on my card for FFC's Friday Spy Day!
This week we have the most beautiful card made by Beate from SCS:

Isn't it just gorgeous?!?!

I couldn't even come close to CASE-ing her card,

the lovely colors, patterns, embellishments, I could go on and on.

But I did try. heehee!

The layers on Beate's card is just so much fun to work with,

I used Cheeky Cherry Pie for my card since everyone is baking around this time. ;)

Come on over and join in on the fun!
You can see all the pretty samples here on the FFC blog,

as well as link up your card.

Have a beautiful Friday everyone,

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
xoxoxox

Monday Fun Day - with a very special hop!

2011-12-19T11:00:00.002-05:00

Happy beautiful Monday everyone!
Well it is a 'hoppy' one indeed as today we celebrate TGF's blog hop with our wonderful customers!

I wanted to ink up my sweet Cheeky Mate to celebrate many of our troops coming home.

I've been there, counting down the days until my soldier returned from a deployment,

and it is always such a wonderful and exciting time prepping for their homecoming.

I'm SO excited for all the families who will have their parent(s) home for the holidays!

This week over at our Farm Fresh Challenge Blog, we have a Monday Funday recipe:

*twine, button, and kraft cardstock*

So I made sure to use all of the above with Cheeky Mate. ;)

Now this is a fun and exciting blog hop, so be sure to get comfortable

and get ready to see some awesomeness from the friends of the Farm!

Click here to see the entire list of hoppers,

you won't want to miss the amazing lineup of talented crafters!
Thank you for coming by everyone, happy Monday to you~

Retro Fresh Challenge - Tag It!

2011-12-14T01:00:00.006-05:00

Happy beautiful Wednesday everyone!

I hope you all are in full swing of celebrating His birthday!

I have a few hundred more things to do, but I'll manage. ;)
For today I worked on a super special card -

one that I need to look at daily as a reminder of why we celebrate the season!

This month's challenge is called TAG IT!

Use a tag, create a tag, incorporate a tag, in any way

using a TGF stamp that is 6 months or older.

This retro set that I used is called Shepherd Boy,

and dates waaaay back to when I first discovered The Greeting Farm.

I absolutely love this set and all its sentiments!

The cross tag tucks in to the card,

and can be pulled out easily for separate use as a bookmark.

Come on over and join in on the fun this month for our Retro challenge!
Click here to get to the Farm Fresh Challenge blog,

this is also where you will link up your work.

Have a great day everyone, thank you for coming by!
xoxoxox

Boys Only

2011-12-13T22:39:00.001-05:00

Ugh for computer issues!

Happy Tuesday evening everyone!
Well my pink laptop is sick. cough cough.

Hubby can fix it but we run the risk of losing a few pictures and videos,

so I haven't given him the green light yet. :(

However, I have taken over his laptop so that I could still blog,

visit Facebook, SCS, and online browse. heehee!

So on to my post...
This card was made for Monday Funday's:

FFC's BOYS ONLY challenge.

All you have to do is create a card or project made

with any boy image from TGF.

I used my Special Autumn set but colored Ian up in more holiday colors.

The dp is from a Me&My Big Ideas stack, love the wintry trees - pretty masculine.

Come on over and join in on the fun!

Click here to see the other samples by the designers,

this is also where you'll link up your work.

Have a great Tuesday night everyone!

See you tomorrow. ;)

xoxoxox

Santa Baby...

2011-12-09T07:50:00.002-05:00

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

I hope today finds you well and ready to celebrate

Farm Fresh Challenge's Friday Spy Day?

This week we have an adorable card by Danielle to CASE:

Super pretty, right? LOVE the vellum, image, dp, and beautiful ribbon!
I just fell in love with her card!

To celebrate a friend's bday, I inked up my Cheeky X-Mas set

and colored her in Dallas Cowboy colors:

I didn't have any vellum but I did use clear cardstock as one of the elements.

I forgot how wonderful it is, it adds depth but doesn't clutter!

One of my favorite CB folders is this ornate tree,

which is a fitting background for this Cheeky cutie.

Now it's your turn to CASE Danielle's card

and show us how it inspired you!

Click here to get to the FFC blog to link up your work,

as well as see the beautiful samples by the Design Team.

Have a great day everyone, thank you so much for coming by!

xoxoxox

Monday Fun Day - No embellishments!

2011-12-05T07:30:00.001-05:00

ACK! I know, right? Who was the crazy that picked this theme for the Farm Fresh Challenge?
Oh yes, it was I. :)

{Please scroll down for another fun challenge over at TPE this week - thank you!}

So here are the rules - no hardware stuff, including but not limited to brads, eyelets, buttons, baubles, spirals clips, etc. NOR can you use ribbon, fiber, twine, etc.
However, you can use punches and die cuts as long as your accents are made with paper!
See? I'm not that mean...
Here is my card for Farm Fresh Challenge's No Embellishments theme:

It's adorable Oliver! Since this was such a boy-ish image, I decided to use my double hole punch and circle nestie to make paper buttons as accents. I also used a MS train border punch to take the place of where the ribbon would normally go, then added the 'handsome' rub on and faux white pen stitching. Super easy to do! I did have a sweet dt member ask me how I did Oliver's hat - it was quite simple with copics and the blender pen, just color in the area, then do stripes with the blender pen to remove the ink. Alternate directions so that it looks more like a pattern and voila - a plaid newsboy cap! :)
So now it's your turn to show me your non-embellished card. Just click here to see the beautiful work that the designers did on the Farm Fresh Challenge blog, this is also where you will link up your work.
Thank you again for coming by - hugs and happy day to you all!
xoxoxox

TPE Challenge #128

2011-12-05T00:01:00.012-05:00

Happy beautiful Monday everyone!
I hope your weekend went well

and that you're ready for a new fun week of challenges?
Today at TPE we are being sponsored by

ABC Toys and Crafts

with our theme being:

SNOWFLAKES and SPARKLE

I don't mind if we have zero snowflakes this year,
but bring on the sparkle! :)

Here is my card using a Sugarplums digi from All That Scraps:

I used purple! Not a common color for me but it was fun creating around it.

Here is a side shot so you can see some of the 3D effect:

By running off her boots and mug twice,

I was able to add some dimension to this card.

This is a fun technique!

Now it's your turn to show us your snowflakes and sparkle,

link your card on TPE's blog

so we can come by and pay you a visit.

Have a beautiful day everyone, thank you so much for coming by today!

I will be back in a bit with a new challenge for Farm Fresh Challenge's Monday Funday...

xoxoxox

It's Friday, Spy-day, Gotta get down on Friday...

2011-12-02T01:43:00.000-05:00

Heehee! HAPPY FRIDAY everyone!
Now that I have you singing that song...

It's time for another fabulous Friday Spy Day over at Farm Fresh Challenge Blog!

But wait! There's some very fun news to share with you:

Our 3rd ANNUAL CUSTOMER BLOG HOP event!!!

What: An ALL-customer blog hop for anyone who wants to participate using TGF stamps

When: Monday, December 19th, 10am CST-10pm CST

Where: Splendid Stamping with The Greeting Farm blog and on YOUR blogs!

Please make sure you stop by the FARM for all the details...

And now on to this week's awesome SPY DAY challenge...
This week we spied Jacqueline's cutie card:

Jacqueline

I love Red Riding Hood Anya!
All that red is so festive, and her layers are so much fun!
Here is my take:

I just love my Amelia stamps! She's so sweet, even when she's away from Oliver.
{She is from the Just For You set found here at the Farm.}
I case-d Jacqueline's layout of her card, all the squares and circle frame
were just fun to work with.
You can be inspired by Jacqueline's card in any way,
just be sure to link your work up here on the blog.
This card was also made for the current theme from Raise The Bar:
It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas
You can see other adorable samples by my Bar-Tenders
here on the RTB challenge blog. Come on over and play along!
This will be the only challenge there for the entire month of December. :)

Thank you so much for coming by today, have a beautiful weekend everyone!
xoxoxox

Happy Holidays at BLD!

2011-11-29T08:00:00.007-05:00

Happy beautiful Tuesday everyone!

I hope today finds you well and ready for December? EEK!

It's almost upon us and for the first time in years, I am ahead of the game. :)

Fresh tree - check! Kids' pictures - check! Homemade gifts - check!

House decorated - check! Gifts ordered - check!

All that's left are some here and there details,

but I am very happy with my progress so far. ;)

Yeahhhh!

Now if you want to spoil yourself and do some online shopping,
be sure to pop over to By LORi Designs

and treat yourself to some of her adorable new images!
For my cards I used a couple of the releases:

Lollipop Christmas Tree

and the adorable Winter Landon:

Aren't these digis so cute? I just love LORi's whimsical sweet style!
Both cards also use LORi's fabulous set of sentiments -
perfect for all these fun characters!
You can see all of her adorable images here on the site,

as well as the wonderful cards made by the Design Team.

Thank you so much for coming by everyone,

have a wonderful day!
xoxoxox

TPE Challenge #127

2011-11-28T00:32:00.002-05:00

Happy wonderful Monday everyone!
I hope your bellies are happy and that you're ready to get crafty.

This week The Pink Elephant has Simply Betty Stamps as our sponsor.

Thanks so much Betty! :)

One random winner will receive 3 of her images!

We have a sweet (literally) photo inspiration:

Aren't they the cuuuutest cupcakes?
I just love their knit caps and baby faces. :)
For my card I used Kiss The Cook:

He is quite the charmer, isn't he? ;)

I found a sheet of Recollection paper that had the perfect colors in it.

It's such a great palette of light blue, sage green, and brown.

In my stash I also found this cute spatula charm - I was so excited,
I love when unexpected crafty mojo happens. heehee!

You can see the other adorable cards made with SBS images here on the TPE blog.

This is also where you'll link up your card using any image,

inspired by that yummy set of cupcakes.

Thank you so much for coming by everyone,

have a wonderful Monday!

xoxoxox

Raise the Thankful Bar!

2011-11-25T10:00:00.005-05:00

Hello again! I am back with another post for Raise The Bar.

I promise this is the last one, as my house needs some Christmas attention. ;)

{Please scroll down to our Farm Fresh Challenge below. Thank you!}

Over at Raise The Bar, we want to see your projects of gratitude -

all that's required is that you have the words

THANK YOU or GRATEFUL

on your work.

Really user friendly, right? :)

And perfect for this time of year with all the giving and receiving that we do.

For my card I was inspired by my fabulous Bar-Tenders

to create a more elegant design.

It's been so long since I used a Stampin' Up image!

This one is an oldie (very) but one that I can never part with:

{circa 2000 called Ornamentals}

Isn't this such a great seasonal set?

I used the one on the lower right, embossed on Basic Grey papers.

Come on over here and see the beautiful samples by the Bar-Tenders.

This is also where you'll link up your work for your chance to become

a Guest Bar-Tender next week.

I am also entering this in to the following challenges:
If the Shoe Fits...Scrap it! - Thankful
Paper Play Challenges - Being thankful
Crafty Creations Challenge - Give Thanks/Gratitude

Have a great Friday everyone!

Thank you so much again for your friendship!

xoxoxox

Friday Spy Day - Tag, you're it!

2011-11-25T08:31:00.001-05:00

Happy Black Friday everyone!

I hope this post finds you all full and happy from Thanksgiving,

and that whomever braved Black Friday is happy with their venture!

If you are in for the weekend, be sure to join in on our fun challenge

over at Farm Fresh Challenge Blog. This week we are inspired by Nancy,

who we Spied for our Friday Spy Day:

Gorgeous, right? I love the steampunk/collage look of this Edward tag!

And check out his hair, awesome coloring. ;)

For my tag I chose to use Elf Anya, Katy Perry style as my daughter pointed out. lol!

I wanted her bright and festive, perfect for this time of year.

All you need to do to join in on our Friday Spy Day challenge

is to be inspired by Nancy's beautiful tag above.

Come on by the FFC blog here to see what the other designers have done,

and enter in for your chance to be a winner!

Have a great Friday everyone,

I am off to get our fresh Christmas tree and bring out the decorations!
xoxoxox

Monday Fun Day - and a very special Thank You!

2011-11-21T01:00:00.000-05:00

Happy beautiful Monday everyone!
I hope you all are looking forward to the holidays.

They're approaching rather quickly, aren't they?

Today is a very special post combining two of my favorite blogs:
Farm Fresh Challenges and The Pink Elephant

FFC has another week of Monday Fun Day, and this week we have a sketch:

Super cute right? Thanks Captain Margie!
For my card I used the beautiful Twinkle Tot Madelynn:

I used the beautiful BG Pyrus papers from Claudia & Co.

It has such a warm and Fall feel to it, with great Autumn hues.

Come on over to see the beautiful cards made with this sketch,

you can find them all here on FFC's blog, this is also

where you'll link up your work using the sketch.

TPE is doing a special post to all who have supported Ella's girls.

Although there is no challenge for this week,

we wanted to wish everyone a very special "Thank You"

for your love and participation in our weekly themes!

Have a beautiful Monday everyone,

I am cleaning up the house and keeping my fingers crossed

that my In Laws make it over for Thanksgiving!

Thank you for your visit, it means a lot to me!

xoxoxox

Cullen wedding cake anyone?

2011-11-18T08:00:00.002-05:00

Hee hee! Happy Friday everyone!

Well no spoilers from me, as I haven't even attempted to see Breaking Dawn just yet. I usually wait until the hoopla dies down, but I am anxious to see what they've done with the movie!

For now, I have two fun challenges in one with today's card, I hope you join in!

First up Raise The Bar wants you to use FOOD on your project this week, in our challenge called "Time To Feast!" Please note, it doesn't have to be T-Day related foods, just anything edible for us to all enjoy. For my card I used the adorable Chef Ian and the cake image. This past Tuesday I turned the big 40 but opted for cheesecake instead of regular cake. YUMMY! Best decision I've made in my old age. heehee!

You can see the yummy samples of our food themed challenge here on the RTB blog.

And finally, this Ian card was made for Farm Fresh Challenge's awesome Friday SPY DAY! This week we spied Mercy Kerin's adorable card:

Rosalie looks quite sassy, doesn't she? I love it! I CASE-d Mercy's sketch, it was a fun one to layer with Ian. You can take inspiration from the colors of Mercy's card, the layout, the fun elements, just as long as we can see how she inspired you! Come on over to the Farm Fresh Challenge blog to see the beautiful samples by the designers. This is also where you'll link up your work as well!

Thank you so much for coming by today! I hope everyone enjoys their weekend! xoxoxox

Monday Fun Day - Breaking Dawn!

2011-11-14T01:00:00.005-05:00

Hello again and thank you for coming by for Farm Fresh Challenge's new week.
(Please scroll down for this week's TPE wonderful challenge, you won't want to miss it!)

Well this is a big week for Twi-hards, including some of our fabulous dt members at Farm Fresh Challenge Blog. I don't know if I am a Twi-hard by definition, but I do know that I loved the books and my date nights with hubby for the past 3 movies. :) This week we have a fun color combo challenge in honor of the Saga:

Red/Black/Silver (or white)

We want you to use these colors on your card - but please note that it doesn't have to be Twilight based! As you can see on my card, I used a sweet Wild Sprout Stella who, I guess by stretch of the imagination, could be handing out Edward's and Bella's wedding invites. heehee!
I am in need of some early holiday cards and decided to go with a festive theme with the silver cardstock. I embossed the bottom with a Christmas text folder and really liked the way it came out:

It says Joy & Cheer, which makes for a nice substitute for a sentiment.
Come on over and see what our fabulous design team has created as a little Twilight inspired gallery! You can find the FFC blog here, this is also where you'll link up your color combo card. I can't wait to see what you come up with!
Thank you so much for coming by today, hubby is off so I am hopefully going to un-do my craft room mess! xoxoxox

TPE Challenge #125

2011-11-14T00:01:00.003-05:00

Happy Monday everyone!
Today starts a new challenge over at The Pink Elephant,

and this week we have a wonderful sponsor:

I had the honor to meet Kim, the owner, a few years ago! :)

MFT is a generous sponsor this week, so be sure to play along with our theme:

EMBOSSING

Love it! It can be dry, wet, as long as there is some embossing on your creation.

For my card I used the adorable Feeling Froggy set:

I loved her denim overalls for this time of year!
I embossed the denim dp with a branch folder and the image with my favorite button border.

What ever did I do before the Cuttlebug was invented? ;)

The image is also wet embossed - one of my go-to techniques,

especially when I run out of quality card stock.

This ensures that your copics won't bleed out of the image.

I also stamp with black ink, and emboss with a clear powder,

this way you don't have to worry about black specks everywhere.

(Thanks Marji! Great tip!)

Come on by The Pink Elephant blog to see the other beautiful samples!
The Design Team has showcased MFT's range of fun clear stamps,

be sure to join in on the fun this week!
Have a beautiful day everyone,

I will be back in a bit with another great Monday challenge.

xoxoxox

In honor of Veteran's Day

2011-11-11T09:49:00.000-05:00

Happy wonderful Friday everyone!
In honor of Veteran's day, I pulled double duty (heehee - no pun intended!) for two of my favorite challenges: Farm Fresh Challenge and Raise The Bar.
This week over at Farm Fresh Challenge, we are CASE-ing the red haired girl, the fabulous Elena:

I loved Elena's work when she was a Farmer! The details are beautiful on her card, the triangle sides and stitching is perfect with this Anya!
Here is my take on her wonderful design:

In honor of Veteran's Day and our new Military Theme challenge over at Raise The Bar, I used Soldier Ian from The Greeting Farm. Just create something with a patriotic theme and enter your link here on our RTB post. You have to come and see the beautiful cards that Wanda and Thanh created, and read Thanh's beautiful poem to go with it.
Have a beautiful day everyone, celebrate our Veterans all over the world! xoxoxox

Going Blue-berry Retro!

2011-11-08T01:00:00.001-05:00

Happy beautiful Wednesday everyone!

Today over at Farm Fresh Challenge Blog, we are going "Retro!"
Now if this is your first monthly retro challenge, the rules are simple:

Use an older TGF image from 6 months or older.
(You can read more information about the Retro challenge here on the blog.)

This month our theme is Blue-Berry {aka aqua/pink} -

what a sweet combo, right? It happens to be Jessica's favorite pair!

For my card, I used Susie Surprise, one of my all time favorites:

She's such a happy girl, isn't she? I just love that big smile of hers!
I used a paper collection from Me&My Big Ideas, the colors are so happy. :)

Hop on over to the FFC blog to see the other beautiful Aqua/Berry designs,

this is also where you'll link up your fun Retro card for the month.

Have a great day everyone, thank you for coming by!

xoxoxox

Monday Fun Day - can you handle this?

2011-11-07T01:06:00.005-05:00

Hello again friends!

{If you want to see the fabulous new challenge over at TPE,

please scroll down a bit more to the first post of the day - thank you!}

Now have we got a WOWZER of a challenge for you, specially picked by

fellow Farm Fresh Challenge designer Lisa Gobea:

No patterned paper/1 ribbon

I know, right? I'll wait a minute until you catch your breath. :)
If you are a hoarder like me, then suddenly every single patterned paper

will match your TGF image that you color up for this challenge.

I guarantee it. heehee!

Here is my card for today's theme:

I used some neglected textured cardstock as the base,then a MS punch for the frame around Laundry.

The embossing borders are from Cuttlebug, the buttons suit her well considering her current chore. ;) Now don't forget to add 1 ribbon to your project - do you see mine up there? heehee! Instead of paper piecing I thought I'd try to see what it would look like as a hair tie.

I cannot wait to see what you create for this challenge! Be sure to pop over to Farm Fresh Challenge blog to see the other beautiful samples from the designers. This is also where you'll link up your work for your chance to win a TGF image!

Have a great Monday everyone, thank you again for your friendship!
xoxoxox

TPE Challenge #124

2011-11-07T00:36:00.002-05:00

Happy beautiful Monday everyone!

Are you ready to start off this wonderful week
with a new challenge from The Pink Elephant?

You should, (heehee!) because we have a fabulous sponsor:

(*Waving - hi Melyssa!)

Whimsie Doodles has the cutest images, seriously,

so I was excited to work on our new challenge with her images this week:

GIFT TAGS

We want to see your tags and help you get a jump start on the holidays!
Here are a few I created using 'Tis the Season images:

Aren't her digis so cute? I could have done a dozen of these tags!
In fact...I think I will. ;)

Come on by TPE's blog to see the other samples done by Ella's girls,

and as a BONUS there is a wonderful discount code

for you to use at the Whimsie Doodles store. Eeek! So go shop!

Be sure to link up your tags here on TPE's blog for your chance to win!
Thank you so much for coming by, I'll be back later with the newest challenge at FFC!

xoxoxo

Spy Day and a Raise The Bar challenge!

2011-11-04T06:45:00.001-04:00

Happy beautiful Friday everyone!

I am pulling double duty here on today's post for both Farm Fresh Challenge's latest Spy Day as well as Raise The Bar's latest theme!
First up is this beautiful card we chose for Spy Day from Danni:

Isn't this center step card adorable? I just love Izzy, she's my favorite Twinkle Tot image from The Greeting Farm and orange happens to be my fave color. heehee!
I've never tried this technique but was actually quite surprised at how easy this was to do. You can find the tutorial here on SCS's page. Don't be intimidated - I actually got it on the first try and I don't even own a Scor-Pal. lol! For my card I used the beautiful Miss Anya Bags and did a more muted card with Basic Grey's Cappella pad. I distressed the edges and paper pieced her bag to match. {This is such a FUN set if anyone is ever contemplating on getting it!}

I am also using this for Raise The Bar's newest challenge of:

NO EMBELLISHMENTS

Can you handle that? heehee! When we say no embellishments, we mean no brads, eyelets, ribbon, thingamabobs, doo hickeys or anything. HOWEVER, feel free to use paper as decor (i.e. die cuts, decorative edges, and the like). I know this is a challenge, especially since so many of you do the most awesome cards with the most perfect embellies to match!

Come on over to the Farm Fresh Challenge blog to see what the other designers have done CASE-ing Danni's adorable Center Step card. Remember to click on the link to get to the tutorial to see how it's done if you are a first-timer like me.

Then put on your thinking caps and join us in our No Embellishment challenge over at Raise The Bar - click here to see what my fabulous Bar-Tenders have done, as well as some fun guests who joined us in debuting this week's theme. xoxoxox

Ready for the Holidays?

2011-11-03T08:20:00.000-04:00

Happy beautiful Thursday everyone!

I hope your week is going well?

If you were around The Greeting Farm's blog, then you would have seen the debut of this new cutie:

Isn't Holiday Anya just adorable? She is so festive in her fluffy dress and holly berry bow. I've colored her up in different colors, but decided that there's something really sweet about the traditional red and green scheme. I also used some white fun flock on her dress and broke out tons of punches for this beautiful sketch from Crafting Life's Pieces:

There were also 3 other releases this month from TGF - Creepers and a Wild Sprout for you treat yourself to this holiday season! :) Thank you so much for coming by to visit, I'll see you back here tomorrow for a fun new challenge over at the Farm Fresh Challenge blog! xoxoxox

Monday Fun Day - happy halloween!

2011-10-31T08:00:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone and happy Monday to you all!

Any fun plans for this evening?

If it were up to me, I'd grab a hot cup of tea and watch Hawaii 5-0. lol!

But 6 kiddos are excited to walk their new neighborhood and get some candy,

which is exactly what we'll be doing.

Once the sugar high is over, be sure to get crafty with us over at
Farm Fresh Challenge Blog,
for our Monday Fun day, we are celebrating today's sugary event:

Happy Halloween!

All you have to do is show us your Halloween card made with any TGF images.

For my card I printed off Hallo Bride (digi)
and found some spoooky paper in my stash.

I decided to keep it simple, since all eyes were on her anyway. heehee!

Come and show us your work!

Link up your card here on this post to either your blog, SCS gallery, or TGF album.

Thank you for coming by to visit!
Happy trick or treating, I hope you get the good stuff. ;)

xoxoxox

TPE Challenge #123

2011-10-31T01:53:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday everyone!
This week at The Pink Elephant, we have a fun new challenge for you.

This week we are being sponsored by the awesome

CLEAR DOLLAR STAMPS

That store is just full of delightful images in both digi and clear stamps!

This week, Ella's girls want you to:

DISTRESS IT!

One lucky winner will receive a $15 gc to spend in the Clear Dollar Stamps store (lucky!!!!).

Here is my card using the adorable Gigi Giraffe image:

Look at that sweet face! I matched him to some $1 ribbon that I had in my drawer.

{I also added in a sentiment from BLD that worked perfectly for this guy!}

Come on over and play along with us!
Link up your card here on TPE's blog, so we can come and distress you out. haha!
Have a great Monday everyone, I will be back later with another FFC post!

xoxoxox

Argh! Another birthday?

2011-10-28T01:00:00.018-04:00

lol! Hello again friends!

{If you want to see our newest challenge over at Raise The Bar,

please scroll down a bit to the earlier post - thank you!}

Well of course I couldn't let a Friday go by without featuring the new challenge over at Farm Fresh Challenge Blog! This week for our awesome Spy Day, we found this beautiful card by Abby Grimaldi:

Isn't Amelia soooo cute? And look at that fabulous designer paper to go with it! Yummmy, now I want chocolate chip cookies from the oven. I have been wanting those wonky square nesties, now that I see Abby's card I think it's a must! For my card I used the newly released-on-digi Matey Ian. This paper has been in my stash for quite some time now, and since it has a fun pirate theme, who better to pair it with?

I loved Abby's use of twine and place of sentiment, super cute layout! My saying was printed out on the computer with a pirate font that I googled.
Come on over and join in on the fun! Be inspired by Abby's card - via sketch, colors, theme - we want to see it! Click here to see the other adorable designs by the team, this is also where you'll link up your work. Have a BEAUTIFUL Friday everyone! Off to bake some cookies! ;) xoxoxox

Raise the Sewing Bar!

2011-10-28T00:01:00.014-04:00

Happy beautiful finally Friday everyone!

I hope your weekend is full of fun stuff? Or nothing at all? :) Either way, come on and play with us over at Raise The Bar - we have a fun SEW WHAT? challenge for you all. Faux or real, we want to see stitching on your cards!
For my little sample, I used the adorable Alice from the Wonderland digi set from The Greeting Farm. She's soooo much fun to color in! I wanted her to be a focal point so I zoomed in with my nestie to just feature her upper body. I used some thicker thread to stitch around the card, my poor mini Janome sewing machine needed some attention as it has been sitting behind me gathering dust. :( I couldn't believe I actually had ribbon to match the dp, it kind of all came together by surprise. The sentiment is actually an embossed outlined sticker. Pretty nifty, eh?

Click here to see all the other samples by my fabulous team, including the Guest Bar-Tenders which could be YOU next week! :) Thank you so much for coming by everyone, have a wonderful day! xoxoxox

Baseball Season!

2011-10-25T10:00:00.001-04:00

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Well if you know me, I am in no way a baseball follower but I do know that there have been some amazing playoffs this week! And I also know that this cutie would sway me to be a baseball fan. haha! Today's image comes to you by the talented LORi Boyd called Sugar Stick Boy w/hat. This was part of BLD's new releases this month, so I just had to pay homage to this great sport! I used the current sketch from Deconstructing Jen:

You can see more of the new releases here in the BLD store. And don't forget that BLD still has an ongoing fundraiser to support Katie Renz! You can find out more information here on the BLD blog - please consider purchasing the image (or bundle) to support a fellow crafter during this time, and keep her and the family in prayer.
Thank you for coming by everyone, have a beautiful Tuesday! xoxoxox

Monday Fun day!

2011-10-24T01:00:00.001-04:00

Hello again friends!
{If you are here for the TPE current challenge, please scroll down to the earlier post. :)}

It's Monday Fun Day again at Farm Fresh Challenge Blog and we cannot wait to share this week's 'theme' with you all:

EMBOSS IT

Fun right? Everyone loves to emboss! A friend of mine got me addicted to embossing with a heat gun - doing this technique on inexpensive paper pretty much guarantees that your copics won't bleed. Just a little tip. ;) Since I used the digi Hallo Witch for my card today, I opted for dry embossing with my sweet old Cuttlebug. I loooove that green machine! I used my border edges for the faux stitching and a dots folder for the very first layer. I wanted to try my hand at a vintage-y Witch to keep the card monotone.
Come on by the Farm Fresh Challenge blog to see what the other fabulous designers have created with embossing, this is also where you'll link up your work for the challenge. Thank you again for coming by! I promise this is my last post for today. lol! xoxoxox

TPE Challenge #122

2011-10-24T00:01:00.001-04:00

Happy beautiful Monday everyone!

I hope your weekend went well and that you're ready to join in on a fun new TPE challenge!

This week we have a sweet (n sassy) sponsor:

heehee! They have the cuuuutest images there, be sure to pop by the store site!

This week we have a sketch challenge:

Great sketch LORi!
Here is what I did with the cute little Sweet Cocoa:

Look at that little face! I could have a sweet guy like him in my house, even though mice freak me out. :)
Come on over to the TPE blog and see all the wonderful work that Ella's Girls have done! Follow the sketch as it inspires you, and link up your work for all the world to see.
Thank you so much for coming by, have a wonderful Monday! xoxoxox

TGF Giveaway part 3

2011-10-23T22:01:00.002-04:00

Hello dear friends! Soooo...this is my oops. When I planned on doing a giveaway to celebrate my TGF DT stint at the Farm Fresh Challenge blog, I didn't realize that there were 5 Sundays in October. whoops! I only had enough for 4 giveaways, but I've come up with something, I promise...:)
So without further ado, congratulations to random.org's pick for the Rain-Snow-Shine Anya set:

Congratulations to Aideen! Please email me at jonjinko@hotmail.com with your address, all these little giveaways will be sent out at the end of the month.
And now for this week's giveaway - an Anya that truly represents me at one time:

lol! 80s Anya is so cute, I love the leg warmers and wavy perm! So you know the drill, put a smile, comment, giggle, something in the comment box and I will draw a winner for next week. Thank you so much for coming by everyone, have a wonderful rest of your evening!

Spy Day with Paper Crafty!

2011-10-21T08:14:00.001-04:00

3 reasons for my excitement today:

1) It's FRIDAY
2) I get to combine a Farm Fresh Challenge with my Raise The Bar post
3) SPY DAY is CASE-ing one of my sweeeetest buds Sheri! {aka PaperCrafty}

Woohoooo! Is that enough excitement for one morning? heehee!
Here is how Spy Day works - the DT goes through TGF galleries finding awesome cards from all the talented crafters. It's so hard to choose since you all are amazing! We spy that card, then CASE it, then invite you to join in on the fun as well. My card uses the adorable Hallo Pumpkin Digi using Orange & Black which happens to be Raise The Bar's current color challenge.

Here is Sheri's card:

What a cutie Graduate Ian!
So here's what you can do: Click here to see all the wonderful samples CASE-ing Sheri's card, this is also where you will link up your work, whether it's to your TGF gallery, a direct link to your blog, or SCS.
Now click here to get to Raise The Bar challenges to see the yummy Orange & Black samples made by my talented Design Team! If your card uses Orange & Black, be sure to link up there as well for your chance to be a Guest Bar-Tender!
Thank you SO much everyone for coming by! I didn't forget about my TGF Giveaways - I will catch up on Sunday with last week's winner and show you which stamp is up for grabs this week. Have a great day everyone, happy FRIDAY!

A very special post for Katie

2011-10-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hello friends and happy Tuesday to you all!
I am writing this morning about and for Katie Renz
you can meet her HERE on her Card blog and HERE on her Family Blog.

Many of you may know that she has a wonderful husband, 3 beautiful little boys, that she is a super Mommy and way talented crafter...she also has Stage 4 Gastric Cancer.

Her husband writes updates on her blog. Our hearts are broken and we continue to pray for Katie's Miracle, AND YOU CAN HELP TOO!

We're trying to get the word out to both cover Katie with prayer and bless the Renz family with a financial gift. LORi Boyd was asked at the start of the year to design a stamp for Katie and her family. She ended up getting an email from Katie, telling her how much she loved it. Katie said it really was her boys and was very appreciative. So, at this time LORi and the rest of us would like to do a HUGE push of this image for The Renz Family!

It just so happens that Katie's 2 little guys have a birthday on the 19th of this month and her older boy has one on the 1st of December. The hope would be that we all could bless them with a wonderful birthday and Christmas, so that Kevin and Katie do not have to think or worry about that (especially in light of the medical bills they are incurring too)!

The stamp is shown above in the Help4Katie logo, but I've also included an example above made by me (using Cardabilities sketch), and below, of a card made by LORi.
You can help this cause and BLESS THE RENZ FAMILY, by purchasing this stamp for $5. And then you can bless them further (if you wish) by creating a card and sending it to them (CLICK HERE for details on where to send your card).

_________All donations will receive a random image__________
THANK YOU!

AND if ANY of you would like to help spread the word on EVERY forum,
blog, etc etc you can think of, then the proceeds will go to The Renz
Family. We know she would be so appreciative that we are helping to wrap her
boys with our love and care.

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH for supporting and loving Katie and her Family!

PLEASE keep Praying for Katie's Miracle!!

Thank you for coming by everyone, have a beautiful day
and be sure to hug those you love!

TPE Challenge #121 & Monday Fun Day!

2011-10-17T16:52:00.000-04:00

Happy beautiful Monday everyone!

This week we have an amazing sponsor for a great challenge over at TPE:

SCOR-PAL!
Eek! Yes - now who wouldn't want to join in on the fun this week?
Our challenge is to show us how you score: whether it's to create an amazing fold

on a project or card, or to add those beautiful decorative lines as accents.

This week one lucky winner will receive a Scor-Buddy!!

Here is my card using scores as decorative accents:

Sometimes there's that missing element on your card, but reaching for an embellishment or more ribbon just seems a wee bit too much. This is the perfect opportunity to score! I framed my card as well as the sentiment, because I didn't want any distractions from the lovely Miss Anya Bags. If you don't own a scoring product, it's simple to do with a sharp edge and ruler as I did here. :)
This lovely sketch also happens to be our current challenge at Farm Fresh Challenges, a wonderful sketch by Team Captain Margie:

What a great sketch! You can see all the wonderful samples made by the Farm Fresh Challenge team here on the blog.
And be sure to pop by The Pink Elephant's blog here to see the beautiful scored projects.
Thank you for letting me do a double duty post today! Have a super day everyone!

Spy-Day, with my first Creeper!

2011-10-14T01:00:00.000-04:00

Hello again, with another fun Friday post. ;)

{Please scroll down to see another TGF card made for the new PINK IS IN Raise The Bar challenge!}

Now I couldn't end the week without celebrating SPY DAY over at at Farm Fresh Challenge Blog, could I? This week is brought to you by Raparys' card that we spied here in the TGF Gallery:

I love the neutral tones of Raparys' card! This Cheeky sure is sassy, and her sentiment is perfect, pardon my French. lol
To play along with the SPY DAY challenge, draw inspiration from this photo and show us what you've got! It can be the layout, the color scheme, the same Cheeky - you name it. For my sample I used the wonderful sketch she did, as well as the distressing and embellishments. This is my first Creeper that I've ever colored in and now I know why everyone is hooked! She was SO much fun to color, it was like putting makeup on someone for Halloween. lol!
To enter in on the Farm Fresh Challenge, you can link up your SCS Gallery, TGF Gallery, or your blog. Please be sure that it is a direct link to any of these, and use thegreetingfarm as a keyword in the SCS Gallery. I can't wait to see what you all create, I know it will just be wonderful!
Have a beautiful Friday everyone, thank you for your friendship. :0) xoxoxox

Raise the PINK bar!

2011-10-14T00:01:00.001-04:00

Happppppy Friday everyone!

I hope everyone has fun plans for the weekend? It's homecoming week for our son, including a football game and the team honoring Breast Cancer Awareness month.
Not only are they going to do it, but we are celebrating October with a challenge of PINK over at Raise the Bar!
My card features the adorable digi Hallo She-Devil from The Greeting Farm, pink is just as hot as red, right? heehee! I also used a strip of Basic Grey Kioshi papers, and the current sketch from Deconstructing Sketch site:

Show us your pink support! There are so many fabulous images out there celebrating this month of strength and hope.
Come on over to the Bar here to see all the inspiration that the Bar-Tenders have created for you.
Thank you so much for coming by, I will see you soon! xoxoxox

with love

2011-10-13T16:45:00.000-04:00

Happy sweet Thursday everyone!

I hope everyone is having a great so far, the weekend is upon us! By LORi Designs just released the cutest handfuls of images this month, including this little sweetie named Bella. I have been in a pink and brown mood, so I was happy to find this stash of dp that worked perfectly with her. I used the current layout by Sunday Sketch & Stamp:

Come on over and see all the sweet images in the store now under the "What's New?" tab. And for some incredible samples by the DT, come see their samples here on the blog!

Thank you for coming by this afternoon, have a wonderful day everyone! xoxoxox

Let's Go RETRO-FRESH!

2011-10-12T01:00:00.002-04:00

Happy wonderful Wednesday everyone!

Well what in the world does that post title mean? heehee!

It means that Farm Fresh Challenge Blog is kicking it old school with stamps that are over 6 months old! This is a FUN and new challenge on the blog that will happen once a month. Yes - you have all month long to play along...now I am sure we could fit that into the schedule, eh?

There are just a couple of rules - you can only use an older TGF stamp/digi (a list will be posted soon on the blog) and no other image from another company. However, you can use a sentiment that is non-TGF.

Are you ready? This month our theme is:

ANIMALS

If you don't have an animal stamp from TGF, feel free to design around this theme! Animal print papers, embellishments, have fun with it!

Confession time - I have so many TGF stamps from when it was a brand new company that I had such a hard time deciding. Alas, I settled on coloring in this sweet deer from the Forest Friends set in pink, for a baby girl birthday card. I love this little cutie - she's so inquisitive and truly gives meaning to big doe eyes. ;)

Come on over and play along with us! The dt has set up a pretty little gallery for you all here on the blog. And remember, this is also where you'll link up your blog, SCS gallery, or TGF gallery for the contest - so many fun options now! Have a beautiful day everyone, thank you so much for coming by!

xoxoxox

Monday Fun-day!

2011-10-10T01:00:00.003-04:00

Happy Monday Fun-Day everyone!

{Please scroll down to see our newest challenge over at TPE - thank you!}

Today over at Farm Fresh Challenge, we want to see you use Black, White, and one other color of your choice. Ooooh...the many possibilities! I see you with your thinking cap on...heehee! Here is my card for the challenge:

I have this amazing paper stack that is almost 3 years old. 12x12 stacks last waaaay too long with me, but I still buy those darn books anyway. I really do love the black, white, and baby blues of this pattern, especially with Miss Anya Bags sporting a paper pieced tote. I tried something different by adding the sentiment right over the image. What a risk - it didn't dawn on me that I could have messed up the entire thing! lol!

I also used the current Deconstructing Sketch, it was perfect to show off more layering:

(Another great layout Jen!)
Now come on over to Farm Fresh Challenge Blog to see the other beautiful samples by the Design Team and see which color they chose to pair with black and white. Remember, you can also link up your card on your blog, SCS gallery {keyword thegreetingfarm}, or TGF gallery for all of our challenges. And be sure to stop by the SCS forum and say hello!
Thank you for coming by to see me, have a beautiful day everyone! Be sure to enter your name on my TGF giveaway, celebrating my DT spot here on this post. :) xoxoxox

TPE Challenge #120

2011-10-10T00:01:00.000-04:00

Happy beautiful Monday everyone!

Today over at TPE we have a fun new challenge for you, sponsored by the lovely:
SASSY CHERYL'S DIGIS

Her images are so cute! Thank you Cheryl!

For this week we have a photo inspiration challenge for you with this pic:

Ohhhhhh, I LOVE this picture! Did I mention that I {heart} autumn colors?

All the shades of orange make me so happy. :0)
Here is my card made with the Pumpkin Wagon Girl image:

She's one hard worker, isn't she?

I pulled the arches from the lanterns, all the beautiful colors,
and the black accents from the picture,

then added more leaves in coordinating colors with an MS punch.

Now it's your turn to show us what inspires you from the photo!
It can be anything: the color scheme, the elements, the details - we want to see it.

And be sure to check out what fabulous work Ella's Girls did on TPE's blog,

this is also where you'll link up your work.

Before I leave, I wanted to show you my own front yard - I started setting it up

at the start of Fall so I had to giggle when I saw the photo inspiration:

Hmm...I am really loving the black adirondack chairs, mine are actually a dark green.
I still need to buy my bale of hay (waiting for the rain to pass this week),

as well as pumpkins for the kids to carve...

and maybe I'll buy an old truck from craigslist to back into the yard. heehee!

Have a beautiful day everyone, thank you for coming by!

xoxoxox

TGF Giveaway...

2011-10-09T22:29:00.001-04:00

{*Please note, there were 13 comments, one of which was from the lovely Leanne Poe just stopping in to say hello! Thus, the 12 friends to choose from.}
So...
Congratulations goes to SWEET of Sweetland Paper Treats, all the way in Hilo, Hawaii! :0)
Please contact me at jonjinko@hotmail.com so that I can get this in the mail to you!

And now on to the 2nd week of giveaways to celebrate my TGF Farm Fresh Challenge DT spot:

Rain-Snow-Shine to celebrate all the changing seasons! All you have to do is leave a message/smiley face/comment here and I will draw a name next Sunday. Good luck everyone! xoxoxox

SPY-day

2011-10-07T01:01:00.000-04:00

Happy beautiful Friday everyone! It's day 2 of my hubby's vaca and I am loving it! Although I got out yesterday for some quick shopping, today I am staying put and hopefully clearing my craft table. Saves money that way...heehee!
Since it's Friday, it is also time for a fun and NEW challenge over at Farm Fresh Challenge Blog:

SPY-DAY

Does this make you think of those two spies from the MADD magazine? lol! For Spy Day the DT will spot a card in the gallery to CASE, either through element or its layout. For today's card we spied Dictionary's beauty:

What a great Creeper!! I used her layout for my card because I loved all the different patterns and sweet twine. That new cutie in my card is from the Fur-Ever set, a new clear set from this month's release!
Be sure to come on over and play along with SPY DAY! The challenge winner (done randomly) receives a single image of choice - how cool is that? Click here to see the beautiful cards done by the DT and to link up your work. Remember you can link up your blog, your SCS gallery, or TGF gallery for the contests now. :0)
Thank you for coming by everyone, have a wonderful FRIDAY!!
xoxoxox

Guess who just turned 1?

2011-10-05T08:14:00.001-04:00

That would be By LORi Designs' fabulous digital company! Happy Wednesday everyone, hope this mid week day finds you smiling and whistling along. ;)
The fabo LORi Boyd just celebrated her first year of digi designing with a fun blog hop and a huge set of releases. Isn't this one just adorable? This reminds me of those large numbers at the photography studios that you sit your baby next to and make them smile for that perfect picture...that you spend too much money on. heehee!
The number is big enough to paper piece, which makes it so much fun to customize. There's also a boy version as well, along with a ton of other reallllly cute images that you can find here at the store. And take a peek at all the adorable samples by the DT here on the blog, there's so much inspiration to ooh and ahh over!
Thank you for stopping today and visiting, enjoy your beautiful Wednesday! xoxoxox

Monday Funday!

2011-10-03T01:00:00.000-04:00

{Please scroll down for TPE's new Trick or Treat challenge this week. Thank you!!}

Welcome to our first challenge with the new team over at Farm Fresh Challenge Blog. For our first Monday Funday challenge, we want to see you use SCALLOPS on your cards/projects. How fun and easy is that?
For my card I used a brand new clear set from TGF called "Fur-Ever." Suuuuper cute, and it stamps like buttah! These new clear stamps are amazing, just like all of TGF's products. Marie and Jess do a wonderful job making sure that we get top quality!

Now for confession time - just as I finished coloring up my image, I dropped an ink pad on the cardstock. :P ACK! I had to 'woosa' and take a deep breath. I could have re-done the image, but decided to try my hand at a sidewalk and camouflage the ink line. ;)

But YOU, my non-clumsy friend, can come and show us what you got here on the FFC blog! Link up your work to your blog, your SCS gallery (YAY!), or in the TGF Galleria. Now you have so many ways to play along with us! Come on by the blog to see all the other beautiful samples by the DT, showcasing the new releases from October 1st. Adorable stuff, I tell ya...
If you are new to TGF or have been a friend of the farm for quite some time, be sure to check out my post here, I am giving away some TGF stamps each week to celebrate October!
Thank you so much for coming by and visiting. Your friendship really means a lot to me! xoxoxox

TPE Challenge #119

2011-10-03T00:01:00.002-04:00

HAPPY MONDAY everyone!

It's a brand new challenge week over at The Pink Elephant:

TRICK OR TREAT

What a fun theme! I decided to do a take on this challenge and play with a $1 image that I got years ago from Michaels:

Except that I turned it on its side. lol! Ding Dong, the witch is dead! :0)
I used a great sampler pack of patterned papers from Claudia & Co. called Happy Halloween by Echo Park, and Martha Stewart bats done with patterned dp. I love seeing the way crafters run patterned papers through their cuttlebug, so I pulled out my spider web folder and dry embossed it. I love the way it distresses it!
Come on over and see what AMAZING cards and projects the designers did over at TPE's blog - can you say cuteness?!?! Beautiful stuff there! And great ideas for the upcoming trick or treat day. :)
Thank you so much for coming by today, I will be back later with another post. I hope to see you then! xoxoxox

One more surprise...

2011-10-02T21:07:00.000-04:00

Happy Sunday (evening!) everyone!
After a full day of church, picking up one son from a sleepover, lunch with friends at Panera's and frozen custard after (yum), a trip to Michaels, JoAnn's, and then WalMart, I finally made it home to watch football and relax. lol! I had no idea my day was going to be this busy, but I didn't forget my last surprise.
Soooo...after yesterday's big announcement with TGF and all their wonderful news, I have decided to celebrate October and all this beautiful Fall splendor by sharing my joy. In honor of TGF and Marie's wonderful images, I am giving away stamps each week in October! This week I have a hottie (*swoon):

Who would have thought that busy little big head Ian would grow up to be sooo dreamy? lol!
My Guy Ian will be given away to one lucky winner (US only please, I truly am sorry but I have had 3 packages get lost to Canada and it breaks my heart that my recipients and I were so disappointed!).
All you have to do is leave a comment, a smiley face, a wink, anything really, as a comment. I will draw the name on Sunday, and then show the next stamps up for grabs.

{Please note, if you are outside the US, then I will be doing a birthday giveaway next month that has no borders or limits!}

Have a wonderful evening everyone, thank you so much for coming by to celebrate the start of something new! xoxoxox

My BIG announcement!

2011-10-01T01:06:00.002-04:00

I hope you have an umbrella, because I am about to BURST! First off, Happy World Card Making Day! What a perfect way to start off October and type up this post.
So here is a long post for my long kept secret...

EEEK! I have been a huge fan of The Greeting Farm and was SO thrilled to be asked to be on the Farm Fresh Challenge DT! Thank you Jess and Marie! I will be part of a fabulous team that will introduce and invite you all to the new challenges every week. I am so excited to challenge my own self to keep up with the other wonderful ladies that are on this team:
Margie Cortina (Team Captain)
April Davis
Lisa Gobea
Sharette Smith
and of course Jessica Diedrich (TGF Creative Director)

And to celebrate this announcement, the design team is joining in on the Farm Fresh Fun and CASE-ing Rachel's cards. Rachel was the first Team Captain who did a wonderful job launching the new challenge blog, all the girls did an amazing job inspiring us throughout the months, and I am happy to be representing the Hawaii connection as well! :0)
Here is my CASE'd card:

And this is the card that I drew inspiration from:

Super cute card right? I just loved Rachel's layout!
For my card I used a tag that was on my daughter's new shirt. heehee! You never know when inspiration hits you, right? ;) I loved the pink, black, and white scheme, this Hats Off Anya was perfect for the overall theme I was going for - a bit of sweet sass, of course!

With my own exciting announcement today comes another HUGE bit of news for TGF! The Greeting Farm is beyond thrilled and honored to have been invited as the newest Member Company at SPLITCOASTSTAMPERS!

For those of you NEW to Splitcoaststampers (SCS), it is the single largest online community for stampers and a wonderful place to access tutorials, a vast online gallery, and tons of ways to get involved with their awesome forums dedicated to stamping and much more!

As one of only ten Member Companies on SCS, The Greeting Farm now has our VERY OWN FORUM to encourage ALL of our customers, new and old to get out there and chat with us, while we keep you up to date on the latest TGF happenings :) With over 700,000 unique hits a month, we are excited about the potential to meet NEW Farm friends, but we are mostly SO, SO very excited about being able to have a 'home' to chat with you, get to know you better, and post fun and important information ALL in one place! We really look forward to this being a means of getting closer to our stamping community, welcoming new stampers and getting to spend more time with our cherished current customers, as well!

Splitcoaststampers also offers a wonderful Member gallery where you can upload ALL your photos, even non- TGF cards, to their gallery and use different keywords depending on what you're uploading. Please use this keyword for all SCS gallery posts: thegreetingfarm (no spaces :)

If you have ANY questions whatsoever, please contact Jess and she will be happy to answer them! With this announcement also brings GREAT news for Galleria users! While we love our galleria and still plan to keep it open for your use, we will now offer the option to post challenge cards, contest entries, etc. to SCS as well. We will be using the INLINKZ system from now on for ALL challenges. Again, we will still keep the Gallery open, but you now will have the option to upload there, to SPLITCOAST, or your personal blogs. All entries will be counted as LONG as they are posted to our INLINKZ below each challenge post. Splitcoasts offers a WONDERFUL gallery option and we can't WAIT to see your cards there!

There is a TON more info about this on the Farm Fresh Challenge Blog today...so be sure to check out the announcement there too! Thank you for reading through this, isn't it SO exciting?!

Okay, so I will save the last surprise for tomorrow, be sure to come back in and see what it's all about, okay? THANK YOU for coming by today and letting me share my news!!! xoxoxox

Raise your Hat!

2011-09-30T07:56:00.001-04:00

Happy wonderful Friday everyone!
Phew, what a long week it was here at the Wilson Compound...Our 5 year old has had that back to school cough for 3 days, and all school activities are in full swing! Ack! Not used to being so busy!
But I did have time to color up this cutie for Raise The Bar's newest challenge:

HAT'S OFF!

Use any image with a hat and enter into the fun. For my card I used Cuddle Anya from The Greeting Farm. She's sooo sweet, such a little snuggle bug with her little bear. I also used the current sketch from Papertake Weekly:

Cute sketch, right? :) Thanks Dawny!
Now it's your turn to show us your Hats Off creation! Come on by the blog here to see all the wonderful cards made by the Design Team. Thank you so much for coming by everyone! GUESS WHAT? I am posting TOMORROW with fun and exciting news!! EEEK! I'm going to burst so be sure you're here to see it. lol!
xoxoxox

BLD Spotlight: Halloween altered items

2011-09-27T10:00:00.001-04:00

Happy Tuesday everyone!
Today over at ~~Boo~~ er...By LORi Designs (heehee!) we are showcasing her adorable images on ABAC projects. For anyone new to the crafting world, ABAC fondly stands for Anything But A Card, and with digital images, they can be resized for any project idea!
For my box, I used Frank (by LORi's beau Eric) and printed him in green instead of black outline. It gives him quite a zombie appeal, doesn't it? :) I covered the box with this fun dp and then gently pulled apart a piece of white stuffing to make the eerie fog around him. While I went with a simple treat box cover with Frank, the design team went uber creative with the cutest treat holders. You can see all of their adorable ABACs here on the BLD blog. There are amazing projects and ideas there, be sure to stop in and see what the girls have been up to with LORi's cute images!
Thank you so much for coming by everyone, have a wonderful Tuesday - we're one day closer to the weekend! xoxoxox

TPE Challenge #118

2011-09-26T08:10:00.000-04:00

Happy wonderful Monday everyone!
Today starts a new challenge over at TPE - and I cannot wait to share it with you all!
This week we want you to CASE one of the Designer's cards. Isn't that fun? You can copy the layout, the colors, the company that she used, just have at it!

Here is my card using an original sketch and my new Boho Anya that I won from The Greeting Farm:

She's soooo sweet! I just love her free-flowing vibe (we fondly call it "granola" - lol!). I found this sheet of Recollection paper in my stash, and since it had a very earthy design, I though it would be perfect with her. I also used a white puffy pen for her dress, the lace looks more like pom pom dots. :)

You can see the other wonderful cards that are up to be CASE-d here on the TPE blog. Choose any one that you like (the designers did an amazing lineup) and link up your work so that we can come and visit you!
Have a wonderful day everyone, thank you so much for coming by. xoxoxox

Happy BLD Birthday Hop!

2011-09-23T08:00:00.040-04:00

Hello everyone and welcome to BLD's 1st birthday Blog Hop!

I am so excited to be a part of this,
a huge HUG to LORi and all of her continued success!

It has been one fabulous year of Puddle Jumpers & Lollipops,

and now it's time to celebrate!

For my bday card I used the adorable BIRTHDAY EMMA image:

Dressed in pink, black, and white, this cutie is ready for some fun!

ALL of LORi's images have so much personality and are SO versatile to use.

I love them all. ;)

Now here is the order of the hop, LORi has some wonderful friends
joining in on this special day,

so be sure to follow along and comment on the way!

HAPPY HOPPING everyone!

By Lori Designs Digi Shop

Lori

Jodi
Hannah

Anna Maria
Karen
Loretta
Tori
Kadie
Krista
Mary
Joni <--you are here!
Peggy
Shelby
Lysa

Frances
Tracy

Arielle

Sheri

Raise the Bar - and order some wings!

2011-09-23T00:40:00.001-04:00

Okay, so that TOTALLY did not come out right. lol! HAPPY {finally} Friday everyone! I am so glad the weekend is here, and we have my in-laws coming in to surprise the kiddos for a few days! YAY!
This week we have a great theme over at Raise The Bar:

THINGS WITH WINGS

All you have to do is create a card with an image that has wings on it: Fairies, butterflies, bats, you name it! For my card I chose a much loved image from The Greeting Farm {Forest Friends set}. This owl is just the cutest thing to me, very wise, very mellow, very "woosa" as my husband calls it. lol!
I followed Jen's Deconstructed Sketch 20:

(Great layout every week, I tell ya!)
Come on over and see the winged art that the DT has created on Raise The Bar's blog. And be sure to link your card up for your chance to be a Guest Bar-Tender the following week!
Thank you so much for coming by everyone, I will be back later this morning for By LORi Designs 1 year birthday celebration Blog Hop! YAY!! xoxoxox

BLD Spotlight: Trick or Treat!

2011-09-20T10:59:00.001-04:00

Happy beautiful Tuesday everyone!
Today over at By LORi Designs, we wanted to jump start your fun Halloween cards and projects by showcasing all the adorable ways you can use your BLD images. LORi has some sweet Halloween ones out right now that you can find here, but I decided to play with a good old fashioned Cowboy (Colt) McCoy. lol! To all you UT football fans out there, this is what I call him. ;)
By coloring him in neutrals with a bit of orange, he now looks like a little trick or treater! LORi designed cute little bags for them to hold, this truly finishes off his look.
Come on over and see more fabulous designs by the BLD team - there are princesses, butterflies, cowboys, witches and more! You can find them all here on the blog.
Thank you for coming by everyone, have a wonderful day! xoxoxox

TPE Challenge #117

2011-09-19T08:36:00.001-04:00

Happy beautiful Monday everyone!
Are you ready for a fun new challenge over at The Pink Elephant?
This week we are sponsored by the wonderful

Arielle Gordon

and her beautiful digi Wax Fruit company:

Thank you Arielle!
This week we have a photo inspiration:

I used the beautiful hibiscus image from her flora collection:

I loved all the little floret patterns of that beautiful blanket, I chose to mimic that part of it as well as the colors in my card. I finally used a die folder that I've had for a while, it make for a nice subtle floral pattern at the bottom of my card.
This falls in nicely with the Cupcake Inspiration challenge photo inspiration as well, and I used the current layout over at Unscripted Sketches:

Come on over and see what TPE's Design Team has created for inspiration! You can see their work here, as well as link up your own card for us to come and swoon over. ;)
Have a wonderful start of your week everyone, thank you for coming by!
xoxoxox

"Leave" Summer

2011-09-16T07:46:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday everyone! Okay, corny title, I know, but as we transition into cooler weather here in the NE, I couldn't resist this theme! Over at Raise The Bar, we are celebrating the leaves of Fall. I just love all the colors of Autumn and the crunchy leaves on the ground...as long as I'm not raking it, bring it on!
For my card I combined two images from The Greeting Farm - Anya from the 8.5x11 Sunshine Kit and Paul from Roll Call Kit. After all, who doesn't love a comfy pair of sweats?

I used the current layout from Deconstructing Sketch with Anya:

Come on over and play along with us! You can see the beautiful samples of Fall here on the RTB blog. The design team did an amazing job! Thank you for coming by on this crisp Fall day everyone, 68* as a high, and I am ready for the weekend! xoxoxox

Post-It holder with BLD!

2011-09-13T10:00:00.001-04:00

Happy wonderful Tuesday everyone!
Today on the By LORi Designs blog, we are showcasing the many wonderful ways you can use LORi's images for ABAC {anything but a card} projects. Since we just started school last week, I thought it would be fun to do a post-it note holder with the Lollipop School Girl Mina image:

If you are unfamiliar with this fun and quick project, it takes just a few seconds to 'assemble' and is so affordable for all those wonderful teachers your kids have this year. The holder is actually a 4x6 clear picture frame that can be purchased for about $1, simply decorate a 4x6 cardstock any way you desire, then slip it into the picture insert on the side. {You can see more detailed directions here on this tutorial.} Add the adhesive post-its on the front and voila! A cute little message area for your desk.
Come on over and see the adorable ideas here that the BLD team has come up with. Brilliant, just brilliant designers there!
Thank you so much for coming by to visit, have a beautiful day! xoxoxox

TPE Challenge #115

2011-09-12T08:00:00.001-04:00

Happy beautiful Monday everyone!
I hope your weekend was full of reflection, love, and family time. :)

This week starts a new challenge over at The Pink Elephant, we want to see you go

VINTAGE! 

This week we are sponsored by Lisa Hjulberg's wonderful company called The Craft's Meow:

{Thank you Lisa and crew for sponsoring us!}
While I love this theme and adore all the gorgeous vintage cards in blogland, it's so out of my comfort zone! However, I LOVED working with this sweet image that Lisa has at her store called Telegram:

And here is my ode to vintage:

Can you believe I used 6 images on this telegram? How amazing that you can create so many different cards with this versatile set! Paired with vintage papers, some scrap lace and distressed edges, I couldn't believe I actually did it. lol!
You can see the other wonderful samples by the Design Team here on TPE's blog, they did such an amazing job with Lisa's other images. Be sure to play along with us this week, if vintage is your style - show it off! And if it's something you shy away from, then jump on board and surprise yourself. ;)
Have a beautiful Monday everyone, thank you so much for coming by! xoxoxox

You're HOT!

2011-09-11T17:49:00.001-04:00

Happy wonderful Sunday everyone!
I hope you are spending time with loved ones and friends, doing what you love doing. This day always brings a reminder of how precious life is for us all, doesn't it? We have spent the day doing nothing but watching football and hanging out in the living room. 8 Wilsons all gathered in the same spot makes for fun conversations!
I got a chance to play around in my craft room and decided to join in on Farm Fresh Challenge's lastest theme: You're Hot or You're Cold. Fun, right? All you have to do is create a card according to which season you are still relishing. I love Fall and all its colors, but I am not quite ready to give way to the chilly days ahead. :(I just love blue skies and hot temperatures, so I grabbed my Twirl Anya and inked away:

She's such a cutie with her pixie 'do! I did an actual pinwheel with wire and a small scrap of dp, then secured it down with a little gem. This card uses the Sweet Sketch Wednesday layout, perfect for my summer lovin' card. :)

Thanks for coming by today everyone, enjoy the rest of your weekend and hug those around you!
xoxoxox

White after Labor Day???

2011-09-09T11:55:00.001-04:00

heehee! Yes indeed, we are breaking all the fashion rules over at Raise The Bar. :) Hi everyone and a very happy Friday! After torrential downpour last night, our kids are home from school today. Yay for a longer weekend!
We invite you to come on over to Raise The Bar and join us as we create mostly white cards for our new challenge. Be sure to use mainly white cardstock, but you can distress it, ink it, cuttlebug it, or use white designer papers for a background.
I used a brand new image from By LORi Designs called Mummy Marvin. Isn't he adorable? He's got the sweetest face under all that bandage. lol!
Come see what the other fabulous and elegant designs the Bar-Tenders created as inspiration. You can see their work here at RTB, this is also where you'll link up your work. Have a beautiful day everyone, I see the sun trying to come out and dry up all the rain! Woohoo! xoxoxox

It's Back To School at BLD!

2011-09-06T10:00:00.001-04:00

Happy wonderful Tuesday everyone!
Did you all enjoy your long weekend? With 5 of our kiddos back in school today, I don't know whether to 'woohoo' or 'boohoo' about it! :) Iz and I are going to just stare at each other today...lol! I hope I don't bore him, with all the energy and attention he received all summer long, it's going to be interesting!
And speaking of Back To School, this is the newest challenge over at By LORi Designs! We want to see all the fun school cards you've been working on to butter up your child's new teacher (heehee). Here is my card featuring Lollipop School Girl Mina :

Isn't she the sweetest? Teacher's pet all the way...heehee! You can find her here along with the other new releases from August. I used some wonderful papers from Claudia & Co. called The Boyfriend {Cosmo Cricket}. It is the best collection of school patterns! Even my big pencil embellishments are from one of the designs. ;)
Come on over and see what the awesome design team has done over at the BLD blog! This is also where you'll link up your inspiring back to school creations. Thank you so much for coming by everyone, have a wonderful day! Off to find my little man and see what he's doing... heehee! xoxoxox

TPE Challenge #115

2011-09-05T00:01:00.002-04:00

Happy wonderful Monday everyone!
Did you all join in on the fun paper piecing challenge last week?
TPE has a wonderful NEW challenge for you,

Raise the Whimsie Doodles Bar!

2011-09-02T08:10:00.000-04:00

Happy wonderful Friday everyone! Are you all ready for a nice long weekend? Me toooo! We have football games, hopefully a bbq night, and just relaxing before the kiddos start school on Tuesday - all 5 of them! Eek! What will Iz man and I do during the day?!?! Maybe I'll teach him how to scrapbook so he can help me catch up.
But I hope you have time to join in on the fun over at Raise The Bar with our new challenge:

PAPER PIECING

because we are being sponsored by the first time ever over at RTB! Yes, the wonderful Melyssa of Whimsie Doodles is offering a $10 gc to the top crafter! I used the wonderful Whimsie ark SVG file (in JPEG form) to create my card for today. Now that I think about it, I am not sure if that's considered piecing as the entire card is made with patterned papers. But if you hop over to the RTB blog you'll be able to see the cuuuutest cards done by the Designers and Guest Bar-Tenders! Come on over and play along! You can also enter your paper pieced card here on The Pink Elephant's blog as this is our challenge there too. :)
Have a great day everyone, thank you so much for coming by!

A new challenge at Bee Crafty!

2011-09-01T10:55:00.000-04:00

Happy beautiful September everyone!
A new month also means a new challenge over at Bee Crafty. This month's theme is:

Beautiful Borders/Fantastic Frames

Let's see how you create around your image! We've seen all those gorgeous cards in blog land, with images surrounded by perfect details: flourishes, die cuts, borders, embellishments, and flowers. For my card I used "Seated Boy" and some fun accents by hand cutting stars, and double punching a train border from Martha Stewart.
You can see all the beautiful framed cards here on the Bee Crafty blog, this is also where you'll link up your work for us to see!
On another note, I know that I have mentioned some posts and a giveaway that I had intended on doing. My craft room can't seem to stay clean long enough for me to take pictures of it! And as far as the giveaway? It's still going to happen, but postponed until October to coordinate with an announcement. So stay tuned - because I'm so excited!
Thank you so much for coming by everyone, have a wonderful Thursday!

Paper Piecing fun!

2011-08-30T08:10:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone and a very happy Tuesday to you all!
I wanted to share a fun technique that is being featured on The Pink Elephant's blog, both as a tutorial and as a challenge!
Paper Piecing is a great alternative to coloring, especially when you want an image to have patterns as part of the design. For today's tutorial, I am using an image from The Greeting Farm named Fleur Anya. {This week's TPE Paper Piecing challenge happens to be sponsored by this wonderful company too!}

First, choose an image that has a nice area to paper piece. You want to avoid little edges and lines, as it can be quite tedious to cut around. Stamp (or print) your image:

Next step, color in the areas that will not be pieced over. This is where you have a bit more leeway if you color outside of your lines, as the designer papers will cover any mistakes!

Now take that same image and stamp or print it on a patterned piece of paper, it is a bit hard to see but it is on that black and white paper to the left:

Trim around the edges as best as you can, then adhere it directly on to the image...voila! Now Anya has a pretty printed dress:

I made a handful of these cards for an SCS swap that I was in:

And here is the final result:

Now it's your turn to show us some fun paper piecing creations! Be sure to link up your work using ANY image {here} on this post for your chance to win a 4x6 set from The Greeting Farm. Thank you so much for coming by today, have a great day! xoxoxo

TPE Challenge #114

2011-08-29T08:00:00.000-04:00

Happy wonderful TPE challenge Monday!
I hope this post finds all the East Coasters safe and sound after Irene's visit.

Are you ready for a FABULOUS challenge this week?

We want to see you PAPER PIECE an image,

and you just have to join in on the fun
because we are being sponsored

by one of my all time favorite companies:

THE GREETING FARM

Eek! Yes! The winner of this week's challenge wins a 4x6 set of his/her choice!

Here is my card using a digital image called Winter Fairy:

I love paper piecing!

Now her dress is all matchy matchy with the papers. heehee! :)

This is a fun technique, especially when you want to jazz up an image with pattern,

here is a closeup of the fairy:

Now come on over and join in on the fun! For more inspiration you can see the adorable paper piecing samples by Ella's girls here on TPE's blog. Have a great day everyone, thank you so much for coming by! xoxoxo

Raise the primary bar!

2011-08-26T07:00:00.002-04:00

Happy already Friday everyone!
Wow - what a week this was! Laptop cord died AND an earthquake here in VA. High school football season kicks off tomorrow, and in the meantime, we're bracing ourselves for Hurricane Irene this weekend. Definitely a busy week of planning and praying! Thankfully my internet is still up and running on DH's laptop so I can stay connected to the world. heehee!

So are you ready to play along in this week's challenge over at Raise The Bar? It's a fun one, and an easy one too:

PRIMARY COLORS

For my card I inked up one of my favorite Oliver images from The Greeting Farm. His outfit is so cute, and who can resist that chocolate chip cookie? ;) I also played along with one of the challenges over at Farm Fresh Challenges, using a fabulous sketch by Tracey P.
Now come on over and show us your true primary colors! You'll have the chance to become a Guest Bar-Tender the following week, all you have to do is link up to enter in on the fun here on the RTB blog. Thank you so much for coming by everyone, I am going to finish up our emergency bin stash (flashlights, batteries, candles, water bottles) and try to post ahead for next week...just in case. heehee! xoxox

TPE Challenge #113

2011-08-22T08:00:00.001-04:00

Happy beautiful Monday everyone!

It's time for another great challenge over at The Pink Elephant.

Ready for an awesome inspiration picture?

Here ya go:

Eeek! I want my entire home in these colors! DH would lock himself out of the house on purpose. :P
Here is my card I made using a BLD image called Baby Love:

I took inspiration from all the fun patterns and colors of the linen set, then found all these great sample papers in my stash that I bought from Claudia & Company. You can interpret it any way you want to, and you can use ANY image or papers to play along...just be sure to link up so that we can see your adorable work! Ella's girls did an amazing job here on the TPE blog, be sure to see their cute samples and enter in on the fun!
Have a beautiful Monday everyone, I will be back tomorrow to show you some awesome finds from my yard sale ventures on Saturday! xoxox

Raise the {Ice Cream} Bar!

2011-08-19T08:53:00.003-04:00

heehee! Happy beautiful Friday everyone! Are you excited for the weekend? Me tooooo! My buddy and I are hitting yard sales tomorrow so I am keeping my fingers crossed for awesome bargains. I am not a fan of retail. lol!
We plan on getting ourselves a nice cool drink (diet pepsi for her, mango smoothie for me) before we head out because we're still in the heat of summer in VA. And speaking of cooling down, come on over to join in on the fun at Raise The Bar's newest theme:

BEAT THE HEAT!

We want to see your cards featuring your favorite cool dessert - ice cream, popsicles, shaved ice, let's see it! For my card I combined two images from By LORi Designs, Puddle Jumper Todd & Sweet Treats:

Mmmm...I would LOVE a giant ice cream cone like that! {You can see all of LORi's adorable images here at her website blog and shop. }
So ink up your favorite summertime dessert and show us what you got! Come visit all the yummy ice cream samples here at the Raise The Bar blog, this is also where you'll click on the blue happy frog to link up your work for your chance to be a Guest Bar-Tender. Have a great Friday everyone, I hope to show you some fun finds from our yard sales next week right here on the blog! xoxox

Waiting for Pre-K

2011-08-16T07:27:00.001-04:00

Happy wonderful Tuesday everyone!
Well we are down to ONE computer in this household. One! Until our new cord and batteries come in, my pink laptop is the hottest commodity in the home. It stays in my craft room though, so I am always surrounded by one or more of the kiddos throughout the day as they watch YouTube, play computer games, or surf the web. Although I had originally set up my craft room to be my oasis, I LOVE having all the noise and will truly miss it come September!
While we are still enjoying summer, my 5 kiddos are so ready for school to begin since we've moved to a new area. There's only one little Wilson that will be left at home with his mommy. {Insert 'why do they have to grow up so quickly' sad face here.} Isiah and I won't know what to do! The last time I was home with just one Wilson was when Kalil was a toddler! Since then they've always had a younger sibling to hang out with.
Here's a card I made for Iz man, I just know he'll wish he was part of the school crew when September rolls around:

Isn't Oliver the sweetest? I inked him up for Farm Fresh Challenge's school theme, using Jen's current Deconstructed Sketch:

I couldn't believe I ran out of my favorite American Crafts cloud paper, so I had to go old school and make a cloud template of my own to sponge on to the background. Now I'll never run out again! heehee!
Here are some other fun challenges that I am entering Oliver in:

Creative Stamp Friends: Create your own background
Creative Inspirations: Back To School

Thank you so much for coming by everyone, I appreciate your visits!

TPE Challenge #112

2011-08-15T07:30:00.009-04:00

Happy beautiful Monday everyone!
I hope your weekend went well
and that you're ready to join in on some new challenges?

This week at The Pink Elephant, we challenge you to:

STITCH!

Faux or real, let's see some sewing on your card!

This week we are sponsored by the awesome Tiddly Inks.

Here is my card using Poppy:

Romantic/Gothic? heehee!
I thought she'd work well with a black and white scheme, accented with poppy reds.

{This has been my current palette as I re-do my craft room.}
I played with the tension on my Genome and settled for this stitching,

now that I look at it, it kind of reminds me of Coraline. ;)

Come on over and see the adorable samples made by Ella's girls.

You can see them here on the TPE blog, this is also where you'll link up your work.

Have a wonderful day everyone, make something great happen today!