NEW BLOG DESIGN AND THE HAT TUTORIAL

Pretty obvious that I have changed things up a bit on my blog. The names a little different but the address is still the same. This magnificent background and header was designed by the fabulous Penny Duncan of PENNY DUNCAN CREATIONS. She has the most amazing FREE blog bling, SVG files, digital files and gorgeous art work. She is such a sweet and generous person, I just can't say enough nice things about her so so please go check out her blog.

Now, on to the tut.

This is for the hat card found HERE.



I used my circle punch and the guide that came with it for the base. I traced 3 circles using the outer part of the plastic as a guide, 2 of white card stock (CS) and one of patterned paper(pp). One white circle was left as is for the bottom. The second white circle was punched and I kept both the inner punched part and the outer leftover piece.


I used the inner part of the plastic guide to make a circle of pp and sewed this onto the punched white cs. All edges were sponged with bordering blue su ink. I threw on a spellbinders die for a little extra girlyness.
















This is the leftover piece from the white cs punched part layered on pp. This was attached to the white cs base.







Cut a strip of cs 9in. X 1.5 in. and score along the length at 1/4 on either side.

Then cut notches along the edge of each side and a bone folder was used to bend these edges in toward the center.



Layers of pp and trim were added and the entire thing was looped around and the loose ends attached together.



A circle, 2.5in. in diameter was made using a compass and attached on one side (doesn't matter which one).





Another circle about 3 inch in diameter was made using a compass and the edges were scalloped using a corner punch. You will see coming up that my edges were a little skimpy so you might want to make yours a little bigger say 3 1/4-3 1/2 maybe. Play with it and see what you like.









The whole thing is then attached to the top part of the hat base and the scalloped edges were bent over the sides to cover the cs and make a decorative trim. You can see that mine are a little short so it would probably be better to make your circle just a bit larger than my 3 inch one.







The top is attached to the bottom base with a brad. It was put in the area where the two ends met on the upper part so that the bow would cover everything up nicely.




It swivels apart and is ready for your decoration of choice on the inside.







I used my E6000 glue to attach the bow and flowers because they just didn't want to stay put. That stuff will glue just about anything but I did have to hold it together for a while before it stayed put.

Hope this made sense and if you make on PLEASE let me know so I can admire your work!
Have a great weekend!

FARM FRESH "FROG-PRINCE" FRIDAY

I consider myself pretty lucky, I didn't have to kiss too many frogs before I found my own prince. Although, I once dated a nasty bullfrog of a guy...hmmm, I think that story is better left untold!



This is ava and she HAS kissed one too many frogs in search of her prince (Max), but somehow I just know this is gonna be THE one. Is that frog not the cutest and how sweet is the expression on Max's face? Oooooh just tooooo cute!

I just can't get over how adorable these little sweeties are. Definitely my favorites from this new set of Twinkle Tots (and that is saying something because they are ALL adorable) being released from THE GREETING FARM on November first.






The inside has a sentiment cut on my cricut from the storybook cart.

We have a wonderful sketch for you to try from the talented Farmer Mercy for this FFF. I flipped it for my card and added the little oval frame.


Give the challenge a go, great prizes and lots of fun and inspiration. And speaking of fun and inspiration, come join TGF this Sunday night at 7:00 PM CST for a GREETING FARM VIRTUAL STAMP NIGHT (VSN). So much fun, you won't want to miss it!

WE'VE MOVED!

We haven't really moved, in fact when we moved into our current house I swore I would never move again... not while I was living anyway. I don't think anyone actually enjoys the moving process but sometimes you have no choice.

(If you are looking for my Lindsay's Stamp Stuff post scroll on down, it was posted yesterday)



If you do know someone who is moving (or have to go through the torture yourself) this would be a nice little housewarming gift. Both the house and sentiment is from the new "MY HOUSE" set available from THE GREETING FARM on November first.



I used THIS tutorial from SCS for a 3X3 notecard box for a set of cards that notify your family and friends of your new address.



Just some simple little notecards but I am sure they would be very much appreciated by someone who is frazzled from the moving process.




Now, did you THINK we were going to do a release and NOT have a contest for the adults? Well, whether you're young, or young at heart...we have a FABULOUS chance for you to WIN this new set! We are excited to announce the:

"HOME IS WHERE THE _____________ IS!" CHALLENGE!

That's right! It's your turn to fill in the blanks! WHERE, WHAT, or WHO reminds you of home?

Now's your chance to get creative with this fun weekend contest. Here are the details:

*Create a card, project, or layout that completes and symbolizes the above sentence by making it your own. WHERE? WHAT? or WHO? reminds you of home? We had SUCH an awesome turn out for the New Beginnings Challenge at Club Anya last month, we can't WAIT to see how you interpret this challenge!

*You will have until Sunday, November 1st at NOON CST to get your submission into the Galleria.

*You MUST USE TGF stamps.

*Please place your entry in the TGF Galleria>Contests/Challenges>Home Challenge

We will choose our TOP TWO submissions and announce the winner at our VSN/Release party on Sunday, November 1st at the TGF PCP page at 7PM CST!

The GRAND PRIZE winner chosen for this contest will win the ENTIRE NOVEMBER RELEASE! The 1st prize winner will win "My House!" Can you STAND IT?!?! See you back tomorrow for another Farm Fresh Friday...and have FUN with this contest! Can't wait to see what you do!

BATTY BINGO!

This will be my last LINDSAY'S STAMP STUFF post as a DT member. I have met and worked with some wonderfully talented ladies and am so grateful to Lindsay for choosing to have me on her team. THANK YOU LINDSAY! You and the team are the best and I wish you continued success with your wonderful stamp line!

Between my son and daughter I have been through too many class parties to count. Each has required an activity and ideas have been running thin lately.
That is until I saw the Spooky Bingo Set from LINDSAY'S STAMP STUFF.



Using textured black cardstock, I made a 4.5 X 9 inch rectangle and scored it at 4 and 5 inches respectively.
For the front, I printed the tree/crows from the Creepy Crow Stamp Set onto printed paper.
Cut it to fit the 4x4 front of the card, sponged around the edges with both black and purple ink, then attached it to the front.


The Bingo cards (there is a set of 6) were printed on some bright green paper and attached to the inside of the black cardstock. The center piece that holds the test tube (a real test tube from my lab, not one of those fake MS ones, he he)is a 3 X 3/4 inch rectangle scored at 3/4 inch increments to form a square. That was attached to the back of the cs and the test tube slides right in. The cap is larger than the tube so it prevents is from slipping out.


The bats were made from a Punch bunch punch and stored inside the test tube for use when the bingo game starts. Let the fun begin!

Lindsay has a new flower set and as always the buy $5 get one free stamp special. Head on over the the other dt's blogs TOMORROW (I posted a bit early) for some more inspiration.

Have a great day and check back tomorrow for another TGF sneak peek!

Lindsay
Leanne
Janet
Lisa
Margie
Tracey
Tamara
Melissa
Diana
Cindi
Shannon
Ceal Pritchett, Oct. guest designer

KEEPING SOMETHING UNDER MY HAT!

I am finally able to share the news (and it has been killing me to wait) that I was asked to be a Farmer for THE GREETING FARM! I can't tell you how appreciative and excited I am about this opportunity. THANK YOU MARIE AND JESSICA!!! I am sure you all know how much I loved being a Summer Gardener and how creatively inspirational I find this amazing line of stamps.

So, without further ado, here is a preview of one of the adorable upcoming November 1st releases at TGF.




Obviously, another "give in person card" considering the dimensions, but I thought if I put it in a little hat box (which I didn't have time to make yet) it would be a really fun card for someone special.




The top portion is connected to the bottom with a brad and swivels to reveal the image.



That sweet little girl is one of the new Twinkle Tots line at THE GREETING FARM. Isn't she darling?

I took pictures as I was making the hat and if anyone is interested just let me know and I will post it this weekend. I added a new feature to my blog that lets you ask questions and I can answer quickly. It seems pretty cool, don't you just love technology? Wish I were smart enough to be a computer geek!

Here is the best part of today's post - TGF is holding some super fun contests to celebrate the new releases and there are not one...but THREE contests BEGINNING TODAY in the TGF Galleria!
***CALLING ALL KIDS: "THIS TOT'S GOT....*** contest!!!
We are SO excited to announce THREE contests, beginning RIGHT NOW for the wee ones! ONE RANDOM winner will be selected on Sunday, November 1st (release day!) to WIN THEIR CHOICE of one of the new Twinkle Tots!

Here's how to enter:

Here are the THREE categories for the "This Tot's Got..." contest:

"This Tot's Got...BLING": Kids (ages 0-13) are to create a card or project using bling :)

"This Tot's Got...COLOR": Kids (ages 0-13) are to color their little hearts out using crayons, markers, pencils, paint, copics? (gah!) Just COLOR it up!

"This Tot's Got: A STORY": Kids (ages 0-17) are to create card or project based on their FAVORITE CHILDREN's BOOK.

RULES:

*Create a card or project, based on the THEME and AGES above.

*Kids will have until Sunday, November 1st, at NOON CST to enter the above three contests.

*PROJECTS MUST use TGF stamps.

*Please upload your projects to: TGF Galleria>Contests/Challenges>This Tot's Got> one of the 3 categories listed above.

Remember, the winners for these contests will be selected at RANDOM. Can't WAIT WAIT WAIT to see the submissions! If you don't have kids of your own, grab a niece, nephew, or neighbor! ALL can enter to WIN their CHOICE of ONE new Twinkle Tot!

Winners will be announced on Sunday November 1st during our release party/VSN!

Thanks so much for stopping by you all always brighten my day with your generous comments. This is going to be a busy blogging week so stop again tomorrow for a spooky fun kids party project.

PROJECT STUFF
PAPER - BO BUNNY, KAISERCRAFT
STAMP - THE GREETING FARM
ETC., - DERWENT INKTENSE PENCILS, COPICS, GAMSOL, AQUABRUSH, RIBBON, FLOWERS, SPELLBINDER SHAPEABILITIES,

SAVE THE TA-TAS!

Face it, whether we are women or men we all have them and are therefor at risk. In some way it has touched the lives of just about everyone. My mother in law is a survivor and the lab that I work in has an undergraduate student who is in a current battle with it. I spent three years working on breast cancer research so I know firsthand how difficult, time consuming and expensive it is to find effective treatments. Take some time this month to educate yourself and maybe donate a coin or two to help support ongoing research.

In honor of BCAM Lindsay from LINDSAY'S STAMP STUFF is giving away a couple of great digi stamps on her blog THE FRUGAL CRAFTER. And Shannon, a DT member, has this cool purse/card holder (along with cards to go inside) template as a freebie as well. You can find it on her blog DESERT DESIGNS. All you do is print, cut and paste. Easy peasy and you have a really thoughtful and quite useful gift.

I printed the stamp in both cream and pink then cut out and layered the pieces. If you look closely you can see that Shannon wrote words like hope, believe and courage throughout the purse paper.




Lindsay has more freebies this week on her blog and has just added some really great Christmas cupcake wrappers to her store. check them and the other DT members blog for some inspiration.


Lindsay
Leanne
Janet
Lisa
Margie
Katt
Tracey
Tamara
Melissa
Diana
Cindi
Shannon
Ceal Pritchett, Oct. guest designer

BY THE PRICKING OF MY THUMBS.....

I love this line from Macbeth, it is so evil sounding that it gives me the shivers, not to mention it is fun to say. I don't think my thumbs have ever felt a pricking though so I guess I won't be for-warned when something wicked is approaching.



The current challenge at SCRAPPY FROGS CHALLENGE BLOG is to make this really fun little bag in a Halloween theme. It is called a 2-5-7-10 box and the tutorial can be found HERE at SCS.



I used my cricut and my SCAL (Sure Cuts Alot) to make the amazing GATE created by the one and only Paulo a very generous and uber talented crafter.
I thought it looked like a cemetery gate or a door to a haunted mansion. I backed it with acetate to create a window so the treats could show through and not fall out.



Give the Scrappy Frogs challenge a try this time and you will have a fun treat bag and you might just win a prize!

Have a wicked weekend!

LEAVES ARE FALLING!

Here in the Northeast the leaves are begining to fall and I am finally ready to accept the fact that summer is over. Yeah, I know, it took me long enough.
Fall is definitely my favorite season but I feel like we just didn't get enough summer this year.





To get me in the spirit of things I decided to make a fall table decoration. The leaves and acorns are digital stamps available from LINDSAY'S STAMP STUFF.




The base is a small grapevine wreath which I chose to fit around what looks like a candle but really isn't. I was concerned about using a candle with the paper surrounding it so I went looking for an alternative and found this cool fake candle at Michaels and bonus, it was 50% off. It is battery powered and it actually flickers like a real candle.

I made the leaves to scale (about 1.5 inches in length) and glued them onto the base along with the bow. I think I made the acorns a little too big but didn't have time to change them. I printed the leaves using Lindsay's great tutorial on changing the color of things digitally. I made them a sort of browny/maroony color that blended well with the patterned paper and sponged the edges with SU really rust and more mustard. The acorns were printed on both tan and brown paper and pieced together.

I wanted to make a sleeves for the "candle" to coordinate with the leaves but I ran out of time and energy.



Lousy pic ( I am still learning to use my new camera) but you get the idea. I think this will look great on my Thanksgiving table.

Lindsay has some more freebies on her BLOG and there is lots of inspiration from the dt this week so check them out.
Lindsay
Leanne
Janet
Lisa
Margie
Katt
Tracey
Tamara
Melissa
Diana
Cindi
Shannon
Ceal Pritchett, Oct. guest designer

Thanks for stopping by!

WHAT A BLAST!

It seems like every time I turn around there is another kids birthday party to attend and it is always "mom, don't you remember its so and so's birthday party TODAY"! I always keep a supply of toys r us gift cards on hand for such occasions.



Well, I was in need of a quick and easy boy's Birthday card and thought of the Retro Rocket from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff.

I printed the digi stamp on some silver, navy, and white card stock to layer up a rocket shaped card. I ran the silver layer through a cb folder for some texture and used the stamp to cut the shapes out of the navy. Also, I cut the tips off the edges of the sides so that it would sit flat when it was open. Got it done just in time!

Lindsay has a new Funky Forest set available at her shop and both a freebie and a digi stamping tutorial on her blog THE FRUGAL CRAFTER today.

Check out the other design team's blogs for some fab inspiration!
Lindsay
Leanne
Janet
Lisa
Margie
Katt
Tracey
Tamara
Melissa
Diana
Cindi
Shannon
Ceal Pritchett, Oct. guest designer

BOO, DID I SCARE YOU?

This was a busy week both with blogging and at home so this is a dual purpose project.


The SCRAPPY FROGS CHALLENGE this time was to make something with a tree. I am participating in a Halloween themed ATC swap so I thought this would be a good time to combine the two.



I'm sure I broke the ATC rules by adding the little fold up flap but I thought it would be fun to make it a bit 3-D, I am hoping my swap partner won't mind. I used the same technique as I showed earlier this week and made a little graveyard scene with my cool Martha Stewart tombstone punch. It both embosses and punches at the same time. The background was done with masking and sponging. Boy, those ATC's are so tiny. I am used to making a big 6X6 card and I had to really work at something so small.



Check out the challenge and give it a go, they always have fun themes and great prizes. Last week's was some Tim Holz crackle paint ooooh aaaaah!

HOME SWEET (HAUNTED?) HOME!

I don't get a chance to watch much TV but one show that I try not to miss is Ghost Hunters on Sci Fi. I don't really believe in ghosts but a couple of the shows have definitely given me goosbumps and it is just a lot of fun to watch.



I think this Haunted House from LINDSAY'S STAMP STUFF would be a perfect place for the guys from Ghost Hunters to investigate.

This week Lindsay is sponsoring the ICSketch challenge and here is the fun sketch...



Lindsay has a lot of great stuff going on over on her blog, The Frugal Crafter, freebies, specials, new stamp sets, and.... well, just go check it out and see for yourself! While your blopping around check out the other design team members blogs too for some fun and inspiration.

Lindsay
Janet
Lisa
Margie
Katt
Tracey
Tamara
Melissa
Diana
Cindi
Shannon
Ceal Pritchett, Oct. guest designer
Ellen Smith,AKA “Tink” September Guest DT Bonus Project!