COWGIRLS AND INDIANS!

I have two posts for you today so please scroll down and take a look at both!

COWGIRLS

FARM FRESH FRIDAY!
There is a new sketch challenge in town at THE GREETING FARM and here it is pardner.







And here is my interpretation. Now, I have a difficult time following sketches, I think I have a severe authority figure "issue" even though I am a strict rule follower. My brain is always at odds with itself, it can be very confusing at times but it is great for seeing both sides of an argument.

Anyway, when I saw Lucky from the HELLO GO ROUND set, Clint Eastwood saying "Ask yourself, do I feel lucky?" popped into my cranium. And sitting right on top of my stack of unused rubber was WILD WEST ANYA.




On the inside, a lottery ticket was tucked inside the little pocket. Even though my kids are too young to officially get lottery tickets, they love getting the scratch off kind. They often get lucky even if it just for a free ticket or a couple dollars.

Also, don't forget to check out CLUB ANYA for the awesome new sporty digi stamps. If you have kids in sports you will not want to miss them they are adorable, but aren't they always!


CARD STUFF
STAMPS - The Greeting Farm, Wild West Anya, Hello Go Round
Paper - Raspberry Road Designs, Cowgirl Cool Paper and Elements
Etc., - Paper Daisies, brads, suede fringe


INDIANS
SCRAPPY FROGS CHALLENGE

The SCRAPPY FROGS challenge this time is to use paper piecing on your project. As you can see from several of my past posts I often use paper piecing, I think it is a great way to dress up a project.



I initially had the idea to do a folding forest card and had Anya and her forest friends colored and waiting patiently to be used. However, in my blogging forays I saw THIS card by Shawne, an uber talented artist. It was what I had envisioned only better! She has some amazingly beautiful cards, please check out her BLOG. I used a boatload of pop dots to make a three layered card. This is a bubble wrap or hand delivered one to be sure, for someone very special. It is hanging on my wall right now because I love looking at it.

I think the SCRAPPY FROGS CHALLENGE BLOG is a best kept secret because they give away such great prizes. The winner is chosen at random and there haven't been a huge number of participants so you have a super good chance of winning.
Get in on the fun before the secret gets out! You can always combine challenges too!

PROJECT STUFF
STAMPS - The Greeting Farm, Navaho Anya, Forest Friends, Fly Away
PAPER - Two Peas in a Bucket, Purse Passion Paper Pack; Scrapbook bytes, Grow, sophisticate
Etc., - EK success border punch

A SWEET EXPERIMENT

I usually do experiments of the mad scientist variety, well actually it is a little more mundane than that, but at home I tried out an experiment that was a little more domestic in nature.

I am sure you all have seen those wonderful cookie bouquets available for special occasions. To me, they all look so pretty and yummy I thought I might do a little experimenting and see what I could come up with. The inspiration came from another new stamp set called Hello Go-rounds from The Greeting Farm which will be available August 1st (tomorrow, yeah!).

Now, I am not much of a cook and most of my attempts at cake decorating have pretty much been a disaster and, as in many of my at-work experiments, I wasn't quite sure how things would work out. I have lots of grand ideas but many of them end up in the circular file so, come on into my lab and see how things went down.


First off, here is my motherly warning, if you are going to try this PLEASE do not use stamps you have used with regular ink. Get separate sets of stamps that will be specifically dedicated to one use or the other. I used a brand new stamp set that was washed with dish soap.



STUFF I USED

Sugar cookies - I used a pre-mixed package type
Gourmet Writer - these are special food decorating markers, I got mine at Cake Art Party Store
Cookie Cutter
Fondant - I used pre-made from Wilton, I think I got it at Michaels or Wal mart
Cuttlebug embossing folder - wash it thoroughly with dish soap before use
Color mist - decorating spray color, Michaels
Lollipop sticks - Walmart
powdered sugar, light corn syrup

STEP ONE
Cut out your cookies. I found it was much better to bake a solid sheet of cookie dough and then after it cooled slightly, cut out my flower shape. The cookies spread too much if I cut the shape out of the dough and then baked them as one traditionally would.



STEP TWO
The Fondant. Take it out of the foil and place it in a plastic zip bag. Rip a hunk off and zip up the bag. Work quickly and keep the remaining fondant sealed because it dries out rapidly. Roll it to about 1/4" thickness ( I made mine a little too thick and boy was it a mouthful to eat). Use a little powdered sugar to keep it form sticking. I placed it inside the cuttlebug folder and rolled over everything again as hard as I could to get a nice impression. Cut out shape.




STEP THREE
Spray with decorating color. I sprayed from the side first to get the edges and then the top. I was only semi-successful in getting a light airbrush effect. But doesn't that look cool?

STEP FOUR
Lightly brush cookie with corn syrup, this helps the fondant stick to the cookie, and place the fondant on top. I very lightly smooshed the edges of the fondant down around the edge of the cookie to give it a more rounded look. Sorry for the blurry photo, my hands were covered with gook and the camera kept slipping.



STEP FIVE
Color your stamps the same way you would if you were using regular markers. I chose a couple colors to match the flower pot I got at Michaels on sale for 1.99. Once the entire stamp was colored I "huffed" (breath heavily on it to moisten the marker) on it and then gently pressed into a smaller flower shape cut from non-embossed fondant.



I made one at a time placing it immediately into a zip bag till I was ready to put them on the flower base. The stamped layer was then placed on the base. No corn syrup necessary, they stuck together fine alone. Insert lollipop stick into cookie base.

And here is the finished product. Not too bad eh Igor?

Thanks for stopping by and make sure to check out the other design team members blogs both from The Greeting Farm and Club Anya for some more (and different) sneak peeks. And come back tomorrow for the blog hop to celebrate TGF'S one year anyaversary . There are over 80 participants so there is sure to be lots of fun and inspiration.