The Greeting Farm and Club Anya are having a challenge just for kids! So, of course, Emily had to make a card for the challenge! I showed her the 2 stamps that I have from TGF - Rockstar Anya and Happy Chef Ian - and she immediately picked Anya, "Because she's a GIRL, Mommy!" So, we stamped Rockstar Anya and Emily set to coloring her Just Right! Then she picked out some patterned paper, some ribbon and some flowers and put it all together! She had so much fun making this card - I hope that I can find more kid challenges for her to play in! Here are some photos of her making her card, and her final creation! Way to go, Emily!

If she happens to win the Club Anya challenge, she gets to choose a TGF stamp for her very own! (Although, I hope she'll share it with me!!)

Sharing the Love!

Norma Jean left this wonderful award for me and my blog - Thank you so much, Norma! It means a lot to me to read everyone's wonderful comments and to get a little pat on the back like this every once in a while. I love to work on my blog to make it pleasing to everyone who stops by and I am so glad that you enjoy what I do! Of course, every day, I do my "Daily Blog Hop" - sometimes more than once a day! - and I love to see what everyone else is up to! So, here are just a few of the blogs that I check out every day, that I love!
Callie
Kristine
Marie
Carisa
Becca

Stamps and Smiles Challenge #4

Today is the last in the series of sketch challenges for this week. I'm amazed that I actually stayed caught up and got all 4 of them done! And, I'm pretty happy with how each of them turned out! Today's sketch, again, was super fun! And I was excited to finally get to use the new TGF stamp set that I just recieved, Happy Chef Ian. Isn't he just the cutest? Especially when he's serving up a nice cold mango martini! Yum!
Be sure to check back in at Stamps and Smiles tomorrow for the last stamp set release, and their store opens at 10am, so we can finally buy those sets we've been drooling over all week!
This card uses The Greeting Farm's Happy Chef Ian, Colormates cardstock in Deep Terrific Teal, patterned paper by Karen Foster Design (Cheers) and Bo-Bunny Press (Splendor Paisley), flowers from the flower bin at my LSS, rhinestones by Me & My Big Ideas and Stickles in StarDust. I colored Ian with my Skin White Copic and my Bic markers. The sentiment is a rub-on from Daisy Bucket. I paper pierced with my Stampin' Up! piercing tool and mat pack.

Mom's Build-A-Card

When the post came up on CafeMom about the Build-A-Card challenge, I asked Mom if she wanted to play, too, thinking that it would be a day long or weekend long thing. She said it sounded like fun, so we decided that we would both Build-A-Card! We found out that it would be one step a day for over a week, we figured we could still do it, I would just tell her what step to do and she would email me a photo. It worked pretty well, I think! So, now the challenge is over and I've already posted my card here, so now I will share Mom's card with you as well. I think it is beautiful! Great card, Mom!

Nestabilities Storage

I am always on the lookout for good ways to store all my stamping stuff! I am so in love with my Nestabilities and am constantly looking for good deals to get some more! But, I was having a storage issue.. I looked around on blogs to see what other stampers had done and some had pretty great ideas! I especially like the one where she put magnetic strips on the insides of her cupboard doors to stick the Nesties on... but I wanted mine to be portable. So, I tried the metal CD cases.. I stuck a magnetic sheet to the inside of the case and my Nesties stuck to it! That was great! Well, until I ran out of metal CD cases.. hmm.. what next? So I was wandering through Target one day, checking out all the clearance stuffs on the end of the aisles when I found this.. another CD case:I thought it was pretty, but couldn't think what I would do with it... until my Nesties popped in my head! I thought, I could cut my magnetic sheet to fit in the little sleeves, then my Nesties would stick to the sheet, and slide into the sleeves! Brilliant! And now it's portable!My Mom says the only problem now, is if I lose the case, I lose ALL of my precious Nesties! Guess I better not lose the case, huh?

Emily & Grandpa feeding the birds

I was playing around with this Picasa software (free download!) and created this collage of photos from a few weekends ago in Roy. Emily wanted to help Grandpa fill his many, many birdfeeders, so Grandpa was showing her the ropes. One day she might actually be a help to Grandpa!

Hope you like the collage... I'll have to play with it some more to figure out the secrets and special stuff. But for now.. not bad, I guess!

Build-A-Card challenge

This card was a week long ongoing project! And I was really starting to question how it was going to turn out! In the Card Makin' Mamas group over at CafeMom, one of the girls started this Build-A-Card idea! Every day she would post a step and we would have to do that to our card.. some way, some how! So, here are the steps:
1. Choose an envelope, card base and solid cardstock
2. Choose 2 coordinating patterned papers and attach them to your cardstock
3. Add a ribbon, or fiber to your cardstock
4. Stamp and image, mat the image and attach to patterned paper on cardstock
5. Add a button or buttons
6. Add something to 2 corners
7. Add a flower and a brad
8. Adhere decorated cardstock to front of card base and decorate inside of card
9. Decorate envelope and you're done!
Here is my "creation"
I actually removed the button once the challenge was all over, because.. well, this isn't really a "button" type of card! I had a star button in her hair, kinda like a hair barrette... but I didn't like it, so I took it off. The rest of the card though, I'm pretty cool with!

I used The Greeting Farm's Rockstar Anya, DCWV patterned paper, Bazzil Bling cardstock, Stampin' Up! ribbon, and assorted bits and pieces from my scrap pile. I colored Anya with my Bic Markers and my Skin White Copic.

Thanks, Diane, for another wonderfully fun challenge!

Pink Cat Studio Challenge

I found this tutorial for Double Embossing while web surfing last weekend and bookmarked it because I thought the technique was awesome and I knew I would use it... sometime!

This morning while bloghopping, I found this challenge hosted by Vicki, a Design Team member for Pink Cat Studio.

The two go hand in hand! Vicki's challenge is to create a card using ONE layer! That is quite a challenge, isn't it? I've seen some cards in the blogging world that have 11 layers of paper on the front of the card, not to mention inside! So, remembering my bookmarked tutorial, I set to work this morning, creating a card for Vicki's challenge.

Here it is!
Of course I used a Pink Cat Studio stamp - this is Lily from my Lily & Billy sweethearts set. I inked her with my Jet Black Staz-on and colored her with Copics and Bics. I used my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and my Scallop Circle Nesties in my Cuttlebug. I added a touch of pink with a Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid ink pad and my brayer. I tied a pretty pink organdy ribbon and some pink flowers (all from unknown sources) to finish it off.

Stamps and Smiles Challenge #3

This simple card is for the 3rd Stamps and Smiles sketch challenge. Every day this week they have shown us another wonderful new stamp set! I can't wait to see the next two! The sketches are so much fun!
I've made this one to go in the mail today to my Sweet friend Callie! She just got accepted to the Queen Kat design team, and I just wanted to say Congratulatte! Callie and I share a love for all things coffee, so I thought she would enjoy this card!

This card uses Stampin' Up! cardstock in Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Bashful Blue and Very Vanilla. Stampin' Up! Espressoly For You stamp set. Classic Oval and Scallop Oval Nestabilites and Top Note Die (Stampin' Up!). Cuttlebug Swiss Dots and ribbon from my scrap stash.

CCC Sketch Challenge

I've been in a challenge mood today!
This one is for the Cute Critters Club over at CafeMom.
Again, pretty simple.
I used my new House Mouse "Giddy Up" stamp, rub-ons from Pebbles Inc, DCWV Green Stack, Stampin' Up! Whisper White cardstock, classic oval and scallop oval Nesties. I colored my image with Skin white and Light Walnut Copics and green and gray Bic markers. The ribbon is from Michaels.
Thanks, as always for checking in!

Card Patterns - Sketch #3

I made this card for another sketch blog - CardPatterns - where my blogger friend Marie is on the design team! I've been meaning to do one of the sketches from this blog for the past 3 weeks and this is the first chance I've gotten! It's a pretty simple card, but I think it's cute! As you can tell, I've kinda gotten to liking the double knotted ribbon thing!
So, here's my card:

I used Stampin' Up! Pretty In Pink cardstock, DCWV Sweet mat stack, my classic oval and scallop oval Nesties. The cupcake embellisment comes from the Colorbok The Sweet Life epoxy chipboard icons and the ribbon is Pink organdy and grosgrain from Stampin' Up! Oh, the rub-ons are also from Stampin' Up!
Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps and Smiles Challenge #2

Another wonderful stamp set was introduced today by Stamps and Smiles! They also posted the second in the week long series of sketch challenges! I am so loving these sketches! They are simple enough to be done in no time at all, while still leaving lots of room for embellishing and personalizing! Thanks again, Mercy!
So, here's my take on todays sketch:

I used Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip cardstock for my base. The patterned paper and the red vellum were rak'ed by a friend. The brads are Stampin' Up! and mounted on Old Olive cardstock. The image is House Mouse "Olive Heist" and is colored with my Skin White, Baby Skin Pink, Strong Red, and Light Walnut Copics, and my Old Olive Stampin' Up! marker. I also used my Glaze pens for the ribbon and to highlight the glass. The ric-rac ribbon is from my stash of scrap ribbon.
This was my first time playing with my new House Mouse stamp (other than just stamping and coloring to test it out) and I'm really quite happy with how this card turned out!
Thanks for looking and I hope you like it, too!
Anyone want to join me for a martini after dinner tonight?

A double challenge card

This card is for 2 challenges that I am participating in this week.

The first challenge is a color combo challenge over at CafeMom in the Addicted 2 Bellas group. The challenge is to use 3 colors - Chocolate Chip, Perfect Plum and Certainly Celery.
The second challenge is for a new stamp line called Stamps and Smiles. This week they are showing off their 5 new stamp sets and having challenges and giveaways! Go check it out - todays stamp set is called Cuppy Love - and if you know me, you know I loves me some cupcakes, so this set goes straight to the top of my Must Have List! Thanks, Mercy for introducing me to this wonderful new line! I am so excited to see what else they have in store for us! And, congrats to Mercy for being selected as their sketch designer! This is the first sketch, created by Mercy, in the Stamps and Smiles challenge week.This card uses Stampin' Up! cardstock in Chocolate Chip, Perfect Plum, Certainly Celery and Whisper White and grosgrain ribbon in Chocolate Chip and Certainly Celery. I used my IpodaBella from Stamping Bella, and the sentiment label is from Joann's. To color my Bella, I used Stampin' Up! markers in Chocolate Chip, Perfect Plum, Certainly Celery, Pretty In Pink and Real Red. I added Doodlebug Limeade Sugar Coating glitter (Thank You, Melissa!!) to add some sparkle to Bellas shirt and purse, using Martha Stewart glitter glue. I used my Scallop Oval, Classic Oval and Scallop Circle Nesties to cut all the shapes.

Photo of the week: 2-15-09 - 2-21-09

I was playing with some of my craft stuff and Emily saw the ovals that I was cutting out and decided that she wanted to make something too! So, she made a pair of glasses! Bradley thought they just looked fun to play with!!

The Greeting Farm Sketch Challenge

I can't seem to stop inking my new Rockstar Anya stamp from TGF!! She is just so cute and so much fun to color!
Although.. today I was having issues. I really wanted to enter the sketch challenge at The Greeting Farm as the winner will get a set of Nestabilities and if you know me, you know that I have become addicted to my Nesties!! I don't have the set that they are offering, so the candy was too sweet to pass up! You can find the sketch here.
So, I had my card design all in my head (well, having a sketch laid out for me made that pretty easy!) Since I only have the one TGF stamp, Rockstar Anya, choosing a stamp was also easy. And since she's a rocker, I grabbed my rocker paper and set to work.
I inked her in black, embossed her as well. Of course I used my Classic and Scallop oval Nesties for all the shapes, and I just got the embossing mat for my Nesties, so I used that as well. I love the embossed look on them! I used some dollar bin alphabet stamps to stamp the sentiment... I only had to do that 4 times before I was somewhat happy with the result! I used patterned paper from my scrap stash and some Stampin' Up! Basic Black, Real Red and Whisper White cardstock. Now, not only did I have to stamp the sentiment over and over and over again... I was having some serious issues with coloring! I had to stamp and emboss Anya over and over and over again! Every time I tried to color her, something would smear or smudge! I was getting quite frustrated! Finally, after the 3rd try... I settled. I was too tired to try again, I would only mess up again. So, that's where the silver stars come in. Under one of those somewhere (and no, I'm NOT telling where!) there's a small smudge. Probably only noticeable to me, but it's there! And it still drives me crazy, even if I can't see it anymore! So, coloring involved Stampin' Up! Real Red and Basic Black, Copic Skin White and a Sakura Silver Star glitter gel pen. Oh, and there's a fiskars corner punch, Stampin' Up! Real Red grosgrain ribbon and some shiny silver paper that I found in Mom's paper drawer!
So, here she is! I hope you like her! Sorry for the slightly blurry photo, but as I said, I'm too tired to try again - this card kinda took it all out of me today!
Cross your fingers for me in the random drawing on Monday! :o)
Thanks for looking!

Smile! - Take 2

Ok, so I can't leave well enough alone, right? I just had to play some more with this card! Tell me if I went too far! :o)

- The first picture was taken when the Cinnamon stickles were still wet, I like it better now that they have dried.
- I used my Skin White copic to color her arms and face.
- I tried to dress up the inside. I used my brand-spankin' new Top Note die from Stampin' Up! and I am so excited to finally have that! And that it works in my Cuttlebug!

So, let me know what you think, and I'll try to leave this card alone now!

Smile!

I can't believe how long I waited to finally use my new Rockstar Anya stamp from The Greeting Farm! And then, I would have posted this yesterday, but I thought I needed to add something to the sentiment and my Stickles were all at home. So, now that I'm home, I added my Cinnamon Stickles to the sentiment and I think the front is done... I'm not sure, yet, if this is the card that I will try dressing up the inside more or not, so if I do, I will repost it later.
I hope you like it!
I used Rockstar Anya, Fiskars clear stamp sentiments, Stampin' Up! rhinestone brads, My Mind's Eye patterned paper and Coredinations cardstock. I added dimensionals and of course Cinnamon Stickles and Diamond Stickles (did you notice that she has glitter eyeshadow?) I colored her with my Bic markers.

Emily had fun today!

This morning started with a yummy breakfast of blueberry pancakes and sausage made by Nana:

Followed by a birdseed cake making project:
And finished up with a Gingerbread Girl that we will have for dessert after Nana's famous S'ghetti!

Great job, Emily! Glad you had fun!

Another challenge card

This one is for my Addicted 2 Bellas group (at Cafemom), too! I used my new Stamping Bella "Cuddly Owlies" stamp, DCWV cardstock, Anna Griffin patterned paper, Stampin' Up! Photo Corner punch, random gold brads from my Mom's stash, VersaFine black ink and my Bic markers. This is a technique that I found on Splitcoast Stampers, called a Flip-Flop card (or a Swing card)
I am pretty happy with how it turned out! I hope you like it, too!