LONG TIME NO POST!

Hey there, anyone still around?  Hope all you USers had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Did you get any good black Friday deals?  I stood in line at Toys r us for about an hour and a half (at 1:30am) but I got several things at half price so it was worth it. I have been doing very little crafting (been enjoying my break, my kids finally know what I look like again!) but with Christmas right around the corner, I made a couple gift boxes I wanted to show you.

These are made with the cake box template and digi papers/elements available at THE DIGI CHICK.  I have a tutorial on how they were made over at THE HYBRID CHICK.  I can't take credit for the tree/cake box idea but the snow man is all mine and I did kick it up a notch by making them extra 3D -no surprise there.  Hope you will check it out.  See ya soon!

HAPPY DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING DAY!

Hi there, did ya know today is digital scrapbooking day? It is, and The Digi Chick is having all kinds of challenges and lots of prizes.  You may not know that I am a Hybrid Chick for TDC.  What the heck is that you ask? Well, I am going to tell you even if you didn't ask LOL!  I get to choose from all the gorgeous papers and elements available for digital scrapbooking, print them out, and use them in "real life" projects.  The range of choices is incredible and I never have to leave home.  Perfect for someone who is as busy as  I am!

The Hybrid Chick challenge for DSD at THC is to make a fall  centerpiece.  You may recognize this shape from a card I made HERE.  I thought the shape would be great for a votive holder if I made it 3D.

The pumpkin is made from three oval spellbinders dies.  Two pumpkin shapes were made and a strip of rectangular paper was placed in between to create a little box for the votive.  The roses were made using an SVG file, also from TDC called PAPER ROSES.

I of course used a fake tea lite for obvious reasons.  This was also made for the current PAPER CUBED CHALLENGE  to make some type of candle decoration or votive holder.

If you have never tried digital today is the perfect day to give it a go.  There are sales at TDC (30% off storewide) and all over the place at the numerous digital scrapbooking sites!

PROJECT STUFF
Paper - TDC, Season of Thankfulness,  brown and orange card stock
PAPER ROSES
Etc., - Vellum, MS pumpkin punch, cuttlebug embossing folder, vine shape is an svg file from Penny Duncan 

WHEN WITCHES GO RIDING....

and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers, tis near Halloween.  Halloween is such a fun Holiday and I can never have/make enough decorations so I made a bat shaped treat container that can be used as a decoration once the goodies are gone. 

I have a tutorial on how this was made at THE HYBRID CHICK. 

And, I finished my sons costume just in time for his cub scout party.  We both love how it turned out and he won second second place in overall best costume, not bad for a bunch of bones!
I can't take credit for this idea though I made my son's costume quite a bit differently from the one I saw HERE.  The brilliant person who made the costume used a light weight modeling clay and it is incredibly cool looking.    I made my son's costume out of rolls of white craft foam.

Unfortunately, he couldn't wear the costume for his school party because they aren't allowed to wear masks.  Go figure. 

Have a good one!

WINDS OF CHANGE

Happy Wednesday!  This is my final official post as a design team member for The Greeting Farm.  Many of you who stop by (and I am so happy that you do) have come to my blog through the farm and I wanted to let you all know how much I have appreciated your wonderful comments.  Your generous spirits and lovely words have always brightened my day beyond words.  I also want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to Marie, Jessica, and all the amazing design team members I have had the honor of working with.   This has been THE best experience ever and I have loved every second!

 I am so grateful for all of you and all I have so I wanted this card to reflect that.  I have wanted to make one of these side step cards ever since I saw it on SCS.  It was really easy and looks so cool.  Check out the tutorial HERE.  I used My Guy Ian from the Special Autumn set which went perfectly with my leaf pattern paper and fall colors. 

Hopefully you will continue to stop by when you get a chance though things will be changing a bit. Because of my busy schedule I won't be posting as much.  My kids activities/schoolwork feel like they are out of control and I need to focus on that a bit more.  Also, I will be combining my other sadly neglected The Angel Company Blog with this one so you will be seeing more from TAC.  I will also be posting crafts other than stamping and paper crafting.  I have the attention span of a gnat and I love trying different things so I hope as crafters you enjoy the other stuff too. 

And finally I will be able to get around to all the templates and tutorials that I keep promising and never have the time to do. 

Soooo, I will see you around the Farm and in blog land, and of course don't forget to head over to TGF to check out all the new November releases.

A POCKET FULL OF FALL

Happy Friday! I have been so neglectful of my blog and paper crafting lately. Home life has been so busy with the kids activities and work, I can't seem to find the time or energy to get anything done. And the holiday season hasn't even begun yet, yikes!

This week's FARM FRESH FRIDAY CHALLENGE is to make something with an envelope on it. I made a little mini envie filled with fall flowers and popped it, along with SPECIAL AUTUMN MISS ANYA, onto a fall themed card. Despite the hectic schedule, this is my favorite time of year! 
We are off to the pumpkin farm this weekend to find our potential Jack o lanterns, can't wait!
Have a good one!

COOKIES!

Hi everyone, hope you are having a great week!

This week's Farm Fresh Friday is a sketch from the lovely and talented Melyssa.

I placed the elements of the sketch and the cutie pie Ollie from the JUST FOR YOU SET on a treat bag that I made using my cricut and an SVG/template by Kelleigh Ratzlaff from The Digi Chick.  I thought this would make nice gift bags for a kids party or a small thank you gift.  The cute cookie paper is also from The Digi Chick, it is called My Cup of Tea.  
Have a super sweet day!

HAUNTED SHADOW BOX

Happy Saturday! I have a tutorial on how I made this wall decoration over at THE HYBRID CHICK

.

GETTIN' SCRAPPY!

Traditional scrapbooking has always seemed very daunting to me because of the size of the pages (all that empty space) and expense so when I discovered digital I was thrilled. I still don't do very much because of time constraints but I sure would love to change that one of these days.

I was so happy to find that this week's Farm Fresh Friday challenge was morphed into the monthly scrap book challenge.  We (and you I hope) were to make a fall themed scrapbook page. Great motivation to get me going!  I did cheat a bit because this was a ready made page that I got quite a while ago.  I added some of the Halloween Digi's available at The Greeting Farm and a picture of my son in his piplup (a pokemon character) costume from a couple years ago. He wore that thing till it literally fell apart and I had to sneak it away and burn it!

Have a great weekend!

Punkin Time

I haven't been able to connect to our wireless connection at work for some unknown reason so I haven't spent much time on my computer:(.
I made this on the fly Monday night for SCS's Tuesday color challenge and only now have some time to post. The colors were Rich Razzleberry, So saffron and Tangerine Tango. It is mostly SS and TT but I sponged the RR along the vine and around the owl.

I have seen (and made one at a stamp camp) small pumpkins like this made using punches so it isn't my original idea.  It was my idea however to make a big one using the largest Spellbinder oval Nestability.  The vine is a Spellbinders Borderabilities die call On the vine border.  I cut out the circle with another die and placed the owl on the inside of the card.  The stamp is one from The Angel Company called Spiders are Seen. 
 Have a goodun!

I WANT MY MUMMY!

HAPPY RELEASE DAY, everyone!

It's been a WHIRLWIND week on the Farm and here we are, October 1st-the day is TODAY!   ALL OCTOBER RELEASES are available in the TGF Store for purchase, and don't forget to join us at 7pm CST on our PCP page for chit chat, prizes, some laughs I'm sure, and a SPEED CHALLENGE to be revealed this evening!

For now, it's Farm Fresh Friday and we have TWO challenges for you to begin our "FALL FESTIVAL of Challenges!"  The first one is a COLOR CHALLENGE: Dark Chocolate, Cream, and Olive

The 2nd Challenge is a "HALLOWEEN THEMED" Challenge-create a card or project ALTERING a TGF Stamp and make it Halloween Themed!

Being in the Halloween spirit, I decided on the latter challenge.  I made a coffin shaped card and place just the head of the pumpkin guy from the Spooktacular Digi set on the front. So glad that Marie re- released these guys in digi form!

Inside, I wrapped up one of the new Miss Anya Lounge girlies in gauze to make her a mummy.  

I wrapped some wire around a pencil to create a spring and attached it to both the sentiment and mummmy so that when the card is opened they spring up. 

In order to really PARTY it up for this release, there will be TWO PRIZES at stake this week-one in EACH category!     Oh, and did we mention the prize is HUGE???

That's right!   ONE lucky winner in EACH category will receive a new 4x6 set of their choice, PLUS the FIVE HALLOWEEN DIGIS!  WOO HOO!!!!  Can you say FABULOUS???

The DT has chosen different challenges to play in so be sure to visit for some UBER inspired samples to kick start your mojo for our FALL FESTIVAL of CHALLENGE here at the Farm!   

We hope you've had a great week of previews, and now, well, it's ALMOST time to party!   See you at 7pm CST on our PCP page and HAPPY SHOPPING, everyone!!!

OCTOBER 1st is HERE and things are just SPLENDID on the FARM!!!   WOO HOO!

JUST LOUNGIN' AROUND

It's almost time...

....you've SEEN the previews.... you've heard the screaming....and now, here's just another little peek of what you can do with these ADORABLY CHIC and SASSY new "Miss Anyas" from The Greeting Farm:

Introducing: MISS ANYA LOUNGE  

I needed to make some treat bags for a tween overnighter and these little girlies arrived just in time.  They were so quick and easy to make and the personalities of the real girls can be matched to the Miss Anya styles, cool huh?

 

I used navy Stazon to stamp the semi-transparent bags and topped them with a Spellbinders die (one of the labels can't remember which and I threw out the info) folded over the top. Holes were punched on either side and ribbon was threaded through both the bag and the die.  The flower was made using my cricut and a flower SVG from The Digi Chick.

These sassy chicks will be available at The Greeting Farm in JUST two days-October 1st, but there is ONE set hidden on a DT member's blog today!    So grab a cuppa somethin', sit back, relax and LOUNGE as you have a blast seeing the samples today! 

Kim Nath 

 Randi Wall 

Melyssa Connolly

 Mercy Kerin 

Tammy Maxvill 

Amber Hight

Jen Shults

Kristy Young 

Anna Maria Nilsson

Kim Yu-CA&F October Guest Designer!

Jessica Diedrich

Have a BLAST "loungin' around with the Farm today!  Winner will be announced tomorrow-RELEASE DAY, right here on the TGF blog!  

HIDE AND SNEAK PEEK!

It's a HIDE and SNEAK PEEK with TGF and CLUB ANYA & FRIENDS!

Hey everyone!  FALL is HERE!  Can you smell the apple pies, crisp leaves, and spiced cider?  Well we thought we'd SPICE things up for you indeed with a CHANCE TO WIN at the end of our "HIDE and SNEAK PEEK" with The Greeting Farm and Club Anya & Friends today!

It all starts on the TGF Blog today and as you can see, Oliver and Amelia are REALLY having fun sneaking away from Marie and Jess and playing Hide and Seek!   Cute little buggers, we just couldn't seem to catch them for previews today.

However, we've heard through several sources that they've been spotted hanging out on the DT's blogs and well, we plan on catching them VERY soon!

Your mission?   HOP THOSE BLOGS and check out the NEW OLIVER & AMELIA set "Just for You!"    Here's the order of the Hop:

TGF Blog

Kim Nath (your HERE) Mary Giles Randi Wall Melyssa Connolly Mercy Kerin 

Tanya Tahir-Oct. TGF Guest DesignerTammy Maxvill 

Amber Hight

Jen Shults

Kristy Young 

Anna Maria Nilsson

Kim Yu-CA&F October Guest Designer!

Jessica Diedrich

back to Club Anya & Friends!

Oh-and here's the thing-because of the "DOUBLE TROUBLE" that these two have been causing, there will be TWO winners selected at random for participating in our "HIDE & SNEAK PEEK!"   BOTH will be announced tomorrow here and on the Club Anya & Friends Blog, so stay tuned and have a BLAST finding those two cuties...and seeing what the DT has put together today, JUST FOR YOU :)

A LATTE FUN!

Hello everyone!

We have a little treat for you today on the TGF Blog as we are previewing one sweet little dude-that's right-ANOTHER brand new IAN has come to the farm, he's cute, coy, and CAFFEINATED!

Introducing:  CAFE IAN!

This tall drink o' water (or should we say, tall cuppa joe?) will be available on OCTOBER 1st along with the rest of the TGF sneak peeks you'll be seeing beginning next week!

For now, the Farmers have a special treat for you today using this week's FFF challenge, a sketch by Mercy: 

And here's my card, complete w/ the cream and sugar:

 Isn't he sweet? So many possibilities for making fun gift giving projects with this little guy.  I left the center of the cup open so that I could tuck a coffee house gift card inside for a teacher gift.

We have a FUN announcement for you today here on the Farm-please welcome TANYA TAHIR as our October Guest Designer for TGF!  Tanya will be growing lots of fun , creative ideas with us over the next few weeks and we're happy to have her!  Be sure to head over to the Club Anya and Friend's blog today, too-there's a HUGE surprise waiting for you across our little Cafe that is sure to make you smile :)

I'll see you back on Tuesday with another TGF Preview, but be sure to stop by the TGF Blog tomorrow, too for some CRITTER CREW previews and another ANNOUNCEMENT!!   Also:

Save the DATE!   On FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1st, our RELEASE PARTY goes live at 7pm CST on our PCP Chat Page, and also on the TGF Blog beginning with our Farm Fresh Friday challenges in the morning!   Yep, that was challengeS!  We are having a FALL FESTIVAL of challenges that day for you!   There will be THREE different challenges-two for FFF and a speed challenge announced during the Release Day party that evening!  It all adds up to LOTS of chances to WIN!   Don't miss out!

LET'S GO OLD SCHOOL

After all the Halloween goodness at The Greeting Farm, I am so in the mood for Fall! Did you get your digis?

"TGF is goin' OLD SCHOOL!  In honor of Back to School time, we thought we'd do a traditional "Back to School" challenge until Jess and Marie decided, why not go OLD SCHOOL?

I dug through my stash looking for this cutie, it is one of my absolute favorites and is an early one (maybe the first?) from the Hope and Grace line.   I think the flowers are from the same set. She looked like she belonged in a farmers field next to some fall flowers. 

If you want to play along here is the deal....

In order to be considered truly OLD SCHOOL, it's easier to limit the stamps to what you cannot use vs. what you can:  You CANNOT use:

*Wild Sprouts

*Cheeky Cherry collection

*Oliver/Amelia Stamps

*Creepers or Creepy Cakes

*Any Anya AFTER the release of WILD WEST ANYA (Spring/Summer 09)

*Any Ian AFTER the releases of SKATER IAN (Spring 09)

*Miss Anyas/My Guy Ians

*Any Critter Crew images

*Grandparents/Darling Sisters

If you have specific questions, you can email Jessica at teamanya@gmail.com.   Just think OLD SCHOOL.  Older the better :)

This contest will be opened for a few weeks.  The winner of this contest will be crowned OLD SCHOOL CHAMP and receive the ENTIRE October release along with an old, smelly pair of Converse All-Stars aka Chuck Taylors!! (ok, KIDDING on the latter prize!)

A runner up will ALSO win a 4x6 set of their choice!  This will be a random contest, but hey, why not a runner up too?  :)

The contest winner will be announced on Monday, September September 27th during our first October Preview post.   That's a lot of time, so get busy and get OLD SCHOOL!   You have until Sunday, Sept 26th at 8pm CST to enter your card.

Have a super weekend!

TOIL AND TROUBLE!

Back for another preview of The Greeting Farm's Halloween cuties. They are available today so fly on over and get them as fast as your little broom can carry you.  As a special celebration we are having a little Trick or Treat blog hop.  There will be THREE winners- two for a Halloween digi of choice and one GRAND prize winner gets all five.  I know you want them all so just start at THE GREETING FARM BLOG and comment your way through all the girlies blogs (listed at the bottom if you get lost) and end up at CLUB ANYA AND FRIENDS.

This is a cool treat container shaped like a witches hat. Is that witch not THE cutest evah?

I found a tutorial for this super easy treat holder HERE. I made mine just a bit bigger than the one in the tut but it is very easy to adapt.

Have fun trick or treating!

TGF BLOG

Kim Nath (That's Me)
Mercy

Mary Giles 

Melyssa Connolly 

Randi Wall
Tammy Maxvill  

Alice Wertz-September 2010 Guest 

Amy Young 

Kelly Booth 

Kim Costello 

Traci Porter 

 Pam Varnell 

back to CA&F Blog

Hope you have a bewitching day!

HOW CHARMING!

I am going to get started early this year on my son's Halloween costume. We have something pretty cool in mind and it is going to take some time to put together. I may suck at being a parent sometimes but at least I can make a kick a** costume, LOL! I will post a pick when we get it done. In the mean time I have some party favors for you.

Marie at The Greeting Farm has totally outdone herself in creating some awesome Halloween digis which will be available September 15th!  I made some wine glass charms using shrink plastic and little baby beads for the guests initials.   I printed the digi's as is from the download (meaning I didn't change the size) onto inkjet shrinky paper.  They turned out about 1.5 inches which was just about right for the charms. Obviously the wine glasses are for the older crowd.

To adapt them for a kids party just attach the charms to a colorful ponytail holder and slide it on a plastic cup.

Next up I made a little pillow box party favor out of a tp roll (if you feel a little queesy using tp or want a bigger one use a paper towel roll).  I saw this idea at Skip to my Lou blog.  She has some awesome stuff there go check it out!

It is so simple and a great way to recycle.  Take a tp roll and cut some PP to the width of the roll and long enough to go around and a bit for an overlap.

Attach paper to the tube.  Little clothespins always help when I am in need of extra fingers.

Bend the ends inward so they over lap.

Embellish as you like.

And fill em up with goodies!
Stop back again tomorrow for another preview of these cuties!

UN-FROG-ETABLE

Happy Monday ( I know oxymoron) to ya!  I though I would pop in today to show you my annual frog-themed birthday card made for my boss.

As you may or may not know I work in a lab that studies frog development and I always make (or gasp, sometimes buy)  my boss a frog themed card.  For this one, I took the Science Guy's body and glasses from Whimsidoodles (my apologies to Melyssa) and combined it with a frog head (Stamp source unkown, sorry).  A little  Far Sidish, which I love! The paper is digi from The Digi Chick called Imagine That.

The inside (excluding my written Bday wish) was all digitally created, cool huh? Hope he likes it!
See ya back here tomorrow for some TGF previews you will not want to miss!

WATERFALL OF HOPE

Happy Friday! The FARM FRESH FRIDAY CHALLENGE this week is to make a card that moves.  I had never made a waterfall card before and thought I would give one a try. 

Initially I thought to make this a B-day card for my sis but it was brought to my attention that someone could use a card of encouragement so I changed course a bit with the sentiments.  The little girl from the BUDDIES SET was perfect for this one.

I always wanted to try a waterfall card (you pull the ribbon and the layers unfold sequentially) but was intimidated cause they looked complicated.   

It turned out to be pretty easy though and I am sure to make lots more of these fun cards.  Click HERE for a tutorial that I found to be helpful.

 Such a fun card to play with and  you can use any kind of shape. I have seen them with ovals, stars and squares also.

Soooo you've got to move it, move it on over to TGF and  make something that rock and rolls!
Have a great weekend!

A GIFT THAT GROWS ON YOU

I have a tutorial up over at THE HYBRID CHICK on how this little plant gift box was made. Check it out if you get a chance.  Thanks!

 

THE POWER OF THREE!

Well, did ya love, love, LOVE, the new stamps sets from The Greeting Farm? I am sure you could tell I do.  Thanks so much for all the sweet comments! 
Did you ever watch Charmed, loved that show after Shannen Doherty left. This weeks Farm Fresh Friday challenge is brought to you by the number three. You need to use three different PPs and three different embellies. 

I took it a step further and did three's all over the place.  Three folds, three patterned papers, three brads, well you get the idea.  I did however use the one and only cutie pie OH BOY IAN. 

Have a triple great weekend!

SWEET SEPTEMBER BLOG HOP!

HELLO EVERYONE!  WELCOME ALL to the "SWEET SEPTEMBER" Blog Hop featuring our Farmers, Team Anya, and our beloved Critter Crew!   ALL THREE of our teams are joining forces today to bring you ONE SWEET Blog Hop with The Greeting Farm!

Just to recap, the new releases, "Sweet and Toxic", "Oh, Boy" Ian, and SWEET Anya are NOW in the TGF Store!  Also, our three new Marina Neira critters are available as digital downloads for INSTANT gratification!  Woo HOO!!!!

I used the SWEET AND TOXIC SET to make a couple of yummy Halloween projects. The first is a lollipop covered with those adorable skulls. 

The second is a card made based on the skulls as well. The tiny little image was stamped, then enlarged (a lot) on a printer. The bow was replaced by my candy/ribbon one and the eyes were removed to let the cutie peep out.

The top of the skull flips up to reveal the inside.

Be sure to stop by the TGF Blog if you are JUST beginning the hop and make it all the way to the CLUB ANYA & FRIENDS blog through the end to see the endless possibilities with this month's cute new additions to the Farm and to leave your comments along the way...there are some SWEET prizes to be had today!

Prizes?  Did someone say PRIZES?  

Yes indeed!  To sweeten the deal today in celebration of these new releases, there will be individual prizes given out as well as one ENTIRE release to a lucky winner!   Yep, that's a LOT of prizes!  Here's what's for grabs:

1 winner will be chosen to win the SWEET & TOXIC SET

1 winner will be chosen to win the SWEET ANYA Stamp

1 winner will be chosen to win the OH, BOY IAN Stamp

1 winner will be chosen to win the THREE NEW CC DIGIS

and ONE GRAND PRIZE WINNER will receive THE ENTIRE RELEASE for SEPTEMBER!!!

That's a LOT of chances to win!  So go, hop, and be merry :)   Here's where you want to be:

TGF Blog

• Amber Hight
• Jacqueline Nordaune
• Jen Shults
• Jennifer Royal
• Kristine Reynolds
• Linda Muhr
• Shaela Odd
• Tangii Crain
• 
  
  
  
  
  • Kim Nath
  • Mary Giles
  • Melyssa Connolly
  • Mercy Kerin
  • Randi Wall
  • Amy Young

• Alice Wertz-September Guest CA&F
• Kelly Booth
• Kim Costello
• Pam Varnell
• Traci Porter
• Jessica Diedrich
• Club Anya & Friends Blog

THANKS for joining us for our SWEET SEPTEMBER release and we'll announce the winners TOMORROW on the TGF Blog!  You have until 11:59pm CST TONIGHT to hop with us and enter to win!

HAPPY RELEASE DAY, everyone!!!