Happy Belated Birthday Les!

My friend Les' b-day was last month and I only gave her her b-day present this week! I'm even later on another friend's b-day from January, so I need to get my act together and make some stuff!!! Sorry Les! Anyway, I wanted to use this new Greeting Farm Stamp called Gigi. She reminds me of Les- I think its the hair... Anyway, I'm still on that yellow kick, so she's wearing yellow too. I wanted to use this cool daisy paper I found at Island Scrapbooking, so I found the part of the paper that had the largest daisy cluster and used that as the background. Here's a close up of Gigi... Isn't she cute?? I also made Les this cupcake gift card holder.... 1 Luvn Mama posted it on her website and I was so impressed with it that I had to try it for myself. Mine didn't come out as nice since it was the first one I made, but I think it came out OK. You can see the binderclip sticking out... I don't know how they hide theirs so good! Here's the side view... I could tell from Les' face that she didn't know that it was a gift card holder. I wrote in her card to pull on the top flower but she didn't, so I had to tell her to do it. She must've been thinking to herself... gee thanks for the cupcake- what do I do with it! hee hee. Good thing I made her open it in front of me, so I had to tell her how to get her gift card out.

Anyway, hope she likes it... I gotta try make that cupcake again.. Practice makes perfect!

Supplies:

Card:

Gigi stamp- The Greeting Farm

DP- Bo Bunny & Best Creation

Ribbon

Party stamp- Hero Arts

Circle punches- Marvy

Cupcake:

Flowers- Prima & All Natural Accents

Ribbon

Chipboard

Styrofoam ball

DP- Bo Bunny

Chelsea Lately

Do you ever watch Chelsea Lately on E! It's pretty darn funny, so if you are up late, its good to have it on in the background when you craft. My husband always catches me laughing out loud when I'm watching it. Especially the round table part- its so funny when all the comedians are making fun of celebrities and pop culture. Anyway, I got this Chelsea stamp by the Greeting Farm recently. She doesn't look like Chelsea Handler, but since they share the same name, it reminds me of Chelsea Lately. As you can tell, I've been into the reddish brown hair lately. Not sure why, but I think I'm a little tired of brown hair, so red was a nice change. Made another double shaker box and now that I look at this photo, I'm kicking myself because if you read my last post, you are probably really confused yah? I think I wrote that I used dew drops in the back of that shaker, when I actually used them in this shaker. Did you even notice? I guess you caught me.... I was traveling this weekend and was trying to post that last post but my mom's computer is junk and you can't see the photo while posting. I guess I got mixed up and thought that I used the dew drops on that last shaker card, when I really used star confetti. Well, now I'm at home and figured out what I did- DUH! Sorry for the confusion! I'll just stop typing now... here's a close up to show you its a shaker... Supplies: Chelsea stamp- The Greeting Farm Flowers- prima Flourish punch- Paper Shapers Double loop punch- Martha Stewart Crafts Dew Drops Microbeads- Martha Stewart Crafts

Oh Happy Day!

Boy was it a happy day when I got my hands on these cute stamps by The Greeting Farm! The set comes with this cute boy and a cutie pie girl. They are great for making kids cards. Love the dinosaurs he's playing with too. I doubt you can tell from these photos, but I used mini pop dots to layer his hair, arm/sleeve and dinosaur to give it some dimension. As you may already know, I am not a pro at boy cards, so this was a challenge for me. Even picking paper was a challenge! Couldn't find any dino paper in my stash, so had to go with the good o'l embossing folders and spellbinders. I really don't have anyone to give this to, so its going to Island Scrapbooking as another sample. Supplies: Boy stamp- TGF Emobssing folder- Cuttlebug Star die- Spellbinders Markers- Copics Cardstock- Bazzil

Spring Love

Do you remember that Stevie B. song Spring Love??? Gee, I'm really showing my age yah? Thought it would be the perfect title for this post... I think I've been visiting Amy's blog too often.. she uses song lyrics a lot in her posts.

I was inspired by one of my students recently, who decided to color her Anya Fairy's dress in Yellow. I normally choose pink but the yellow really caught my eye and I fell in love with yellow all over again. When I was a child, yellow was my favorite color but I drifted away from it as I got older and gravitated to pink, red, black and brown. I love color combos too, but none of them seem to include yellow. Thanks Gwen for renewing my interest in this awesome color!

I finally got my hands on these Miss Anya Love stamps and really really really wanted to use them. I had no particular project in mind, just wanted to make a card using this cutie. Since she was holding my favorite flower (daisies), I thought this was the perfect opportunity to use yellow in my project!

Here's a close up of Miss Anya Love...

Supplies:

Miss Anya Love- TGF

Ribbon

Scallop Circle dies- Spellbinders

DP- Doodlebug, Bo Bunny

Copics

Stickles

A Tisket A Tasket...

Don't know if you remember, but last Halloween I made this same box, but used black paper instead for a scarier effect. Since its springtime, decided to go with the white picket fence instead and used my icicles punch again to make grass. See how good I'm being? I really want the grass border punch, but I'm trying to be good and not spend money- so need to be more creative and find ways to get the same effect. Thank you to Cheryl of Life is Sweet, who did this same thing on an earlier project.

I was pretty excited to use my new Easter Anya stamp! She was available only in digi form last year when I wasn't into stamping that involved coloring. Now that I have my Copics, I'm hooked! Digi Easter Anya was only available for a limited time, so I was glad to see she is now in rubber form!

Here's a close up of this cutie...

Oh yah... Island Scrapbooking also sells these cute bunnies! Thought they would be a cute accent to this basket.

Supplies:

Easter Anya- TGF

Bunnies- Island Scrapbooking Laser Cuts

Icicle Punch- MS Crafts

Picket Fence Punch- MS Crafts

Cardstock- Bazzil

M&M Treat Holder

If you haven't visited the ISS blog, you should go check it out. Every Monday, they have some kind of tutorial called Method Monday. I CASED this project from there.

Used the Wild Sprout Dhalia since I haven't used her in while. I thought her funky clothes matched this DP I had already choosen. Since the project is very slim, she barely fit !

As I was making this project, I thought that the holder would be a bit tight to hold M&Ms but in their photo, it fit, so I followed the instructions. When I got my bag of M&Ms and tried to put it in... I felt like it wasn't going to fit, but it sure fooled me! Lookie lookie! Now the challenge will be keeping it in there when I take it to Island Scrapbooking!

I suppose you could fit any other slim type of candy bar in the pocket.. or maybe even those slim notebooks (jr. legal cut in half)? Not sure though since I haven't tried it yet.

Supplies:

Dhalia Wild Sprout-TGF

DP- Doodlebug

Cardstock- Bazzil

Ribbon

Oval and Scallop Oval dies- Spellbinders

Markers- Copics

Cris Cross Bree

Not sure where I saw this idea, but I love using Bree to deliver Valentine's! It must've been on the Club Anya and Friends blog or Splendid Stamping with the Greeting Farm blog. They are a great source of inspiration!

Since this Cris Cross card reminds me of an envelope, I decided to use it with Bree. Looks like she's delivering the Valentine's yah?

And did you notice??? I FINALLY got my MS Loopy border punch (and corner punch too)!!! Whoopie! I thought I missed the boat on that one since wherever I looked they were sold out and didn't expect a shipment in. Now I see that everywhere is getting their shipments in... I don't care, it was totally worth it!

Supplies:

Bree- TGF

Cardstock- Bazzil

Ribbon

DP- Imaginisce

Loopy punch- MS Crafts

Markers- Copics

Box Turned Bag

I'm always looking for new ways of using my Sizzix dies. This is one of my favorite boxes that was released last year. The size is pretty big and can hold quite a bit of goodies. Decided to use my nesties and cut a labels #9 out of the cover and cover w/acetate. Love this Megan stamp, so I decided to use her on the box.

Here's the fun part, all I did was punch holes on one side and inserted ribbon for the handle! Yay, the box is now a bag!

Supplies:

Megan- TGF

DP- Bo Bunny

Cardstock- Bazzil

Labels 9- Spellbinders

Markers- Copics

Ribbon

TGF Digi Relay- Day 3

Had to rush doing this one- sorry not much to this card, but I am determined to get all those digis! Isn't Toby Cub cute? I think its cool they are offering such a nice array of digis! Thanks TGF! Supplies: Toby Cub- TGF Ribbon DP- Doodlebug Cardstock- Bazzil

TGF Digi Relay- Day 2

Hello, Hello, Hello! Are you still playing along with TGF for the free digi's??? So far I've surprised myself by keeping up.. I must say that this is very challenging for me, but I think it will be worth it to get all those freebies!

OK- so this is WS Charlotte that was the freebie for today. I must admit that this was my first try at dark skin but I think I found the right color combo! She came out much better than I expected. My husband and I agreed that she looked like she was ready to go and boogie, so I dressed her in some groovy clothes and made her a custom disco ball. I know you can't really tell from the photos, but I hand cut mirrored silver cardstock and pieced it back together to make the disco ball. Tried to get a shot where you can see that its the mirrored cardstock, but I think its still hard to tell.

Hope you can play along too!

Supplies:

WS Charlotte- TGF

DP- American Crafts

Ribbon

Cardstock- DCWV, Bazzil

My First Zutter Project

I'll admit, I've been really bad about buying some stuff and not using them... For example, I bought the Zutter tool and did not use it for over a year (or at least close to it). I know, what a waste yah? Wish I tried it earlier because it was pretty darn easy to use! Kelli totally inspired me when she made a 4x4 album in less than an hour. After watching her use the machine, I felt more comfortable... it didn't look that difficult to use, so I vowed that one of my first craft projects of the new year would be to use my Zutter.

What was I thinking? I should have unpacked this baby a long time ago. Oh well, live and learn right?

I wanted to use my favorite Love Bandit paper again. For some reason, I like how the Miss Anya looks with this paper, so I decided to use her on this project. Since it was my first Zutter project, I kept it very simple. Didn't know how many layers of cardstock and chipboard it could cut through, so I didn't want to chance it- bumbye I get discouraged and not use it! :)

Hmmmm, now I think I need to get the Dream Cuts Machine!!!

Supplies:

Miss Anya Stamp- TGF

Markers- Copics

DP- Bo Bunny

Ribbon

Chipboard

Wire & Zutter machine- Zutter

Playing Along

I'm finally feeling better and hit the blogs today, only to find that The Greeting Farm is hosting a digi relay where you can get free digis if you play along! I'm all about getting free stuff nowadays, so here's what I came up with... had to use MerIan as he was the free digi for today. Isn't he the perfect match to Mermaid Anya? I thought so, and colored them the same... they are a perfect match! Still in the mood for Valentine's day too, so thought I'd make it into a Valentine's day card. Hopefully I'll make the deadline so I can get the next digi! Supplies: Mer Ian & Mermaid Anya- TGF Loopy border punch- MS Crafts DP- MS Crafts Heart die- Spellbinders Cardstock- Bazzil

Cris Cross Flutter Anya

I wanted to try to make samples using card templates that I've never used before. I saw this tutorial on Split Coast Stampers and wanted to try it out. It was so easy to follow! I was bummed because I ran out of my brown satin ribbon, so I changed it up a bit and just used cardstock instead for the belly band. Since I haven't used Flutter Anya in awhile, thought I'd use her again for this card. I still think she's a cutie. Wish I had that tab punch that I could've used for the top of the card!

Supplies:

Flutter Anya- TGF

Stickles

Markers- Copics

Cardstock- Bazzil

DP- Bo bunny

Flowers- Prima (roses unknown)

Crystals- Hero Arts

Got Milk?

Don't these cookies look yummy? I was actually supposed to just make a tag sample for the store, but got side tracked and a little inspired by this girl scout Anya from the Respect set. The set also comes with a boy scout. Since the only thing I know about girl scouts are their yummy cookies, I decided to do a tribute to the girl scout and her cookie by making my own cookies! These cookies were made entirely out of punches. If you are wondering how I made the chocolate chips, they are small hearts punched and then I just cut it to look more like a chocolate chip.

When is girl scout cookie season anyway? Its making me hungry for cookies and milk!

Supplies:

Girl Scout Anya- TGF

Circle, scallop circle and heart punches- Marvy

Embossing folder- Cuttlebug

Markers- Copics

Cardstock- Bazzil, Doodlebug

Miss Anya Valentine Treat Bag

Here's the matching treat bag to that Miss Anya Valentine card I posted earlier. I decided to keep this one simple and not use any DP. Boy was that hard! This project was pretty easy to put together since the bag was a Sizzix XL die. This bag is so versatile that you can use it for just about anything.. I think its the perfect size to give away Valentine's Day treats. Maybe I'll use this bag for my daughter's class.

Supplies:

Miss Anya stamp- TGF

XOXO stamp- Hero Arts

Heart and Scallop Heart dies- Spellbinders

Markers- Copics

Ribbon

Bag die- Sizzix

Cardstock- Bazzil

Miss Anya Valentine's

Thought I'd help Michele out a bit by making her more new samples. This Miss Anya is from the Dressy Miss Anya set. Its amazing how if you just change the colors you use, you instantly have an image ready for whatever season you are in! I decided to go with the red dress and accessories for Valentine's Day. The DP is part of my new favorite line- Love Bandit by Bo Bunny. I just fell in love with these papers and can't stop using them. Here's a close up of Miss Anya.

Supplies:

Miss Anya stamp- TGF

Happy Valentine's Day sentiment- Hero Arts

Markers- Copics

DP- Bo Bunny

Cardstock- Bazzil

Leaf punch- MS crafts

Flowers- Prima (Rose unknown)

Labels die- Spellbinders

Sweet Lolli!

I've been making so many samples for Island Scrapbooking, that I can't keep up on my posting! I am pretty sure I haven't posted this one yet, so thought I'd share it with you today. Last year, I got inspired by Chalsie's creations for Valentine's Day and made a chocolate valentine heart bouquet similar to this one. This was much easier since I found these cute heart lollipops at Walmart.

At first, I was planning on using Hello Kitty, but then saw my Lolli Anya stamp and thought she would be perfect!

Supplies:

Lolli Anya stamp- TGF

Stickles

Markers- Copics

Ribbon

Lollipops

Paper shreds

Valentine metal tin

Sweet Lolli

Hi Everyone!

Is everyone ready for Thanksgiving??? I'm not. I guess since I'm not going home this weekend, I'm not in the mood. Plus I have to work the day after Thanksgiving- which is my normal shopping day- yes I'm the crazy one who goes out on Black Friday and buys the majority of my Christmas gifts.... but not this year. I guess it doesn't matter since the last time I spent Black Friday in Hilo, I pretty much finished all my shopping by 10:00am.

OK- enough grumbling... on to the post!

I forgot to post this goodie bag/card combo earlier. When Lolli Anya first came in, I had to make something with her- she's really cute yah? It was right after the first Craft Night at Island Scrapbooking, where Donna asked me how I add the white highlights into hair. I really didn't know how to do that, so Donna inspired me to figure it out. I'm really junk at hair, so this was definitely a challenge for me!

I made the card first... I chickened out and didn't leave the highlighted area white...

Then I decided to make the matching bag... I got braver here and tried to leave the highlights white. I guess it looks better from far away.

Supplies:

Lolli Anya- TGF

DP- Doodlebug Designs

Markers- Copics

Stickles

Cardstock- Bazzil

Swiss dots embossing folder- Cuttlebug

Lace border punch- Martha Stewart

Merry Christmas sentiment- IS custom laser cut

Well, hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving! I'm just glad I don't have to cook the turkey!

Miss Snow Anya Has Chicken Pox

I bought this Miss Anya set awhile ago and haven't played with it much. Now that its chilly outside, I thought about this stamp and thought it would go perfectly with my new Martha Stewart snowflake border punch! I decided to try embossing the "snow" all over the image as I've seen others do... here's how it turned out. I liked it... until my husband said it looked like she had chicken pox! He totally ruined it for me! Oh well, at least my coloring is improving. I tried to use more subtle colors for Miss Anya this time instead of bright bold colors that I normally use.

So do you think she looks like she has chicken pox?

Supplies:

Miss Anya- TGF

Markers- Copics

Swiss dots embossing folder- Cuttlebug

Snowflake and snowflake border punch- Martha Stewart

Cardstock- Bazzil

Peace love and joy stamp- Hero Arts

Princess Ava or Snow White?

Princess Ava is another of the new Twinkle Tots line by TGF. I think I like her because she looks a lot like Snow White! Her clothes is a fancier version of the Disney version, but overall its the same look. Even her hair is the same. The only thing that doesn't match is that Snow White didn't kiss the frog. I don't think the frog minds.

Since they are kissing, I decided to use my red flocked paper (leftover from a failed Santa card experiment) and make a gatefold heart card. I mounted the card on a white scallop heart to make it look a little fancier. I guess you could also use this for valentine's day.

Supplies: Twinkle Tots Princess Ava: TGF Stickles Markers- Copics