A SWEET BLACK FRIDAY!

Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving! I am so grateful for my family, friends, job, the whole package. We had my husbands family over for a wonderful dinner but we weren't so sure it was going to turn out that way. Our oven quite working on Monday and we had to run out to Lowes and buy one Monday night. My husband picked it up and installed it Wednesday night because they couldn't do it till Saturday. Whew! That was a close one. As my DH said, at least it didn't happen while we were cooking the turkey. Since I am out shopping Black Friday sales right now this is the perfect time to introduce Chibi grocery.


She, along with 9 others Chibis, are a Black Friday surprise available in Digi form today at TGF. They are like Pokemon, you gotta catch em all!

In honor of the Chibi's the Farm Fresh Friday challenge is to make something using your favorite sweet treat. The winner will receive their choice of 5 of the new Chibi digis!

I started out thinking Chibi grocery would make a super cute "To Do" or grocery list but I found this recipe holder at a local discount store and decided to spiff it up a bit. It not only holds spiral bound recipes but it has its own little foldable stand. I always spill stuff on my recipes and this keeps them out of the way. If you filled it with your favorite recipes it would make a nice gift for someone who likes to cook. But I am keeping this one for myself.

Check out the other Chibis on the rest of the design team member's blogs. They are Suh weet!
JESSICA
CHERYL
CINDY
KADIE
MERCY
SANDRA
LISA
LYNDA

Also, Today we have a special TGF preview of another kind for you too...our new December Guest Designer is giving us a SUPER sneaky peek at a new Stamp set by Marina Neira for The Greeting Farm! Please welcome GABBY and head on over to her blog to see some super cute critters DAYS earlier than the rest of the DT will be showcasing them!

Happy Shopping and I'll see you tomorrow with a little sneak peek of the upcoming December release.

MEET ME UNDER THE MISTLETOE!

Lately, as I have been blurfing, I have seen some wonderful diorama projects such as THIS super cute/cool card by Traci (aka wicked pixie) and THIS gorgeous box by Mel. I love this type of card so I thought I would do one for this weeks FARM FRESH FRIDAY CHALLENGE which is to make one WILD project.

The two little kissin cuties all snug in their tree home waiting for santa (and maybe gettin a little wild themselves before he lands on the roof top) is a digi stamp called MISTLETOE KISS from THE GREETING FARM.

I used my favorite faux wood tutorial found HERE on SCS to make the tree stump which I cut out freehand. I figured how exact do I have to be, its a tree stump! I made the faux wood as directed, added a couple coats of water based varnish for shine and stiffness, let it dry then used my nesties on it for the cutout part. The trees and lights are stickers I found in the dollar bin at Joanns and the snowflake is a couple of MS punches. I didn't have an icicle punch so I used the goo one and just trimmed the globs to points. I ran that and the bottom snow (white CS) through my wizard using my dotted swiss cuttlebug folder and added little shine with my jelly roll clear star pen.

Head on over to THE GREETING FARM BLOG to participate in the challenge, things are gonna get WILD over there!

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,

A LITTLE TEASE AND A CONTEST!

The Greeting Farm is coming out with some amazing new stamps on September 1st and the design team is here today to tease the heck out of all you TGF lovers and give away some of the new releases.




This is a little snippet of one of the newbies. Just leave a comment and try to guess who/what it might be and you could win it. Don't worry about being correct because the winner will be selected by random.org from all the comments. I will have the full reveal on Monday so be sure to check back to see if you won. Check out the other design team's blogs as well for more a little more teasing and more chances to win!

Also, please help me welcome our TWO NEW FARMERS, Cindy Haffner and Kadie Ensley! Cindy and Kadie are both former Gardeners and when TGF had some spots open up, we were happy to welcome them!

Here is the blog list, make sure you visit them all and when you are done, head on back to The Greeting Farm Blog and leave a final comment for an extra special prize!

Cheryl
Cindy
Kadie
Kim
Sparkle
Mary
Jessica

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to LEAVE A COMMENT here before Sunday night at 11:59 PM CST and you'll be entered to WIN.....well you will have to wait till Monday to see!

FIVE LITTLE PUMPKINS!

FARM FRESH FRIDAY is here with another terrific sketch challange at THE GREETING FARM.

My daughter has loved music pretty much since she was in the womb. I could feel her little feet tapping against my belly when we would jam in the car. She now plays the flute and the violin beautifully and I am so proud of her. When she was little, she had a Raffi tape (yes tape, we are THAT old) and we played that thing till it fell apart. We had to replace it at least once maybe twice and I was so sick of those songs but she never tired of them. One of the songs was the Five Little Pumpkin song which she adored. When I was thinking of projects for the SPOOKTACULAR set from THE GREETING FARM that song came to mind and here is the result.



I had some leftover faux wood from the Spooky fence project so I made a gate for the pumpkins to sit upon. I made the background using some of Michele Zindorf's amazing sponging/brayering techniques. The wonderful vine is an SVG file from the fabulous Penny Duncan. I swear that woman can read minds. One day I was in need of a swirly vine and the next I find it on her blog.


Here is the sketch, it was a really fun one to work with. I flipped it on its side and left off the flower. I was going to add a witch instead but forgot until I was writing this.

Check back tomorrow for a little TGF tease, I won't say more than that and you can't make me na na nana na na.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!


PROJECT STUFF
STAMPS - The Greeting Farm, Spooktacular, Hope and Grace
PAPER - SU, apricot appeal, night of navy, more mustard
INK - SU, apricot appeal, night of navy, not quite navy, more mustard, baja breeze
Etc., - Prisma pencils, gamsol, copics, cricut

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

LOVELY AS A "PINK?" TREE

Happy Thursday and thanks for visiting!


Lindsay from LINDSAY'S STAMP STUFF is always on the cutting edge of trends and trees are so cute and trendy right now. This is one of several digi's she has to choose from.

I printed the digi stamp on the BACK of a couple different patterned papers and cut out the tree separately from the leaves. Of course I know leaves are usually green (or fall colors) but I liked how the pink looked against the background and what is art for if you can't bend the rules of nature once in a while. Some very thin green ribbon was thread through (with an embroidery needle) some tiny buttons for the tree and a brad was put through the holes of the buttons for the ones along the edge.

Lindsay has a bunch of great new stamps and some spooky, fun Halloween ones if you are the type to plan ahead so check them out.

Check out the other dt's blogs for some inspiration and another freebie it is another fab one.

Lindsay
Melissa
Janet
Lisa
Margie
Katt
Tracey
Tamara
Row
Olena
Melissa
Leanne
Diana,August Guest DT Member

CARD STUFF
STAMPS - Lindsay's stamp stuff, Funky tree; The greeting farm, hello go rounds
PAPER - Scrapbook Bytes, Retro sugar
Etc., - Buttons, ribbon, brads, lace

FARM FRESH - FREAKY- FRIDAY?

So glad its Friday, how about you? It's a freaky Friday because I am starting my vacation today and because I have another Halloween project.



The FARM FRESH FRIDAY CHALLENGE this time is to make a card with stitching on it. Although I love to decorate for Halloween, I don't usually send many cards, so I decided to stitch up something I could use as a decoration. I adore the SPOOKTACULAR set from THE GREETING FARM so you will probably be seeing several projects made with them long before Halloween ever gets here.



It is hard to see but I did the stitching around the edges of the fence posts. They were made using my stamping idol's (Kim Teasdale) technique for a faux wood frame. A tutorial can be found at SCS HERE. I made a fence post shape as apposed to the frame she demonstrated and I added a couple coats of a water-based varnish to give it a little shine and to make it a bit more sturdy so it will hopefully last for a few more Halloweens. I used 20 gage wire and twisted some knots in between the posts to try and make it look like barbed wire. Just make sure you sew the edges of the top fence piece BEFORE you put in the wire. Don't ask how I know this;0. Scroll down to see a pic of how I sandwiched it together and for an announcement.



The little plastic decorations are buttons I found at Joanns. I just cut off the backs and popped them on. The letters are made from a free font I got at 1001 free fonts called SPOOKY MAGIC.
I enlarged it to about 250, printed it and used it as a pattern to cut out my patterned paper. Just about everything is popped up on pop dots.

As I was putting this on the blog I sez to myself "those little guys are just too cute to be spooky" so I added this little NOT! tag to the end.




The super cool trees (and paper) that I used for the Os are from a digital scrapbook kit called Googley eyes from Digitals.

Speaking of digital did you see that The Greeting Farm is going digital? And they are looking for a digital creative team. If you are into digi check it out. I have had so much fun being a Summer gardener and everyone associated with TGF is so wonderful to work with, I am sure you would love it!

Try out the FFF challenge "SEW SIMPLE" this week the prizes are amazing - ALL THREE WILD SPROUTS! - Bree, Megan and hunky Edward woo hoo!!!!

Have a freakishly fun weekend!

FROST ON THE PUMPKINS?

I wish! For the first time this summer it has been hot as Hades and wouldn't you know it our central air conked out about a month ago. We have been so lucky as it has been a pretty cool summer. We were going to put off getting a replacement till next spring but we may need it sooner if this keeps up. At least I have a good excuse to spend more time in my craft room which is in our nice, cool basement.


I found these cute pumpkins HERE on SCS last fall and I thought they would make fun place cards for a Halloween party using the new SPOOKTACULAR set from The Greeting Farm. They would also be cute by themselves as a little shelf decoration or a craft for the older kiddies.



Stampin up's round tab punch is used to make the pumpkin parts which are glued together. I put a little ribbon in the center before I sealed the final edge and curled some paper for the pumpkins tendrils and tucked them in along the ribbon. The vampire, witch and mummy were placed along the side of the pumpkin with some pop-dots.

I know summer isn't over yet but fall is my favorite time of year so I like to get a head start and it takes my mind off the heat!

I WANNA SOAK UP THE SUN ON A FARM FRESH FRIDAY!

Two posts (and two challenges to get your pinkies inky) for you today, so make sure you scroll down!

I WANNA SOAK UP THE SUN!


The challenge this time at SCRAPPY FROGS CHALLENGE BLOG is to make a card with summer fashions. Even though it is tiny, a bikini screams summer and I hid some summer duds under the sun's happy rays.

If you haven't tried a Scrappy Frogs Challenge check it out. Since summer is winding down (sniff, sniff) this would be the perfect challenge to get in on the last rays of summer time fun. They have some really great prizes too!


CARD STUFF
Stamps - The Greeting Farm, Dress me and Summer Wardrobe
Paper - Scrapbook-Bytes,Time to Play, SU, Apricot Appeal, tangerine tango
Ink - Black, Tangerine tango
Etc., - Spellbinder sun die, cricut, dimensional paint, SU scallop circle punch
Aquabrush, re-inkers, twinkling h2o


OH NO I DI'INT!

Since it is Friday it must mean another Farm Fresh Friday Challenge. This week we have a sketch provided by the super talented Mary. This was a fun sketch to work with, I love the corner circles.








Megan has "TUDE". Cuteitude that is, she is a new release from The Greeting Farm. Check out the hip action!

The outside says "OH NO I DI'INT" and the inside (which I forgot to take a picture of before I gave the card away) says "FORGET YOUR BIRTHDAY, I'M JUST FASHIONABLY LATE"!

Give the FFFC a try or Megan will be giving you "tude" too!

CARD STUFF
Stamp - The Greeting Farm, Megan
Paper - Scrapbook-Bytes, Dirty Flirty; SU Melon Mambo
Ink - Melon Mambo, black
Etc., - Ribbon, felt flowers, brads, aquabrush, SU reinkers, oval and scallop oval punch, nestabilities scallop oval, oval

GUESS WHO HAS THE FREEBIE THIS WEEK? and HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDSEY!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!!!
It is my daughter's 15th birthday today. In my mind I can still see the way she looked up at me the first time, all wide eyed and yawning. She was so tiny, now she is taller than I am. Love Ya Lindsey!

Scroll all the way down to the bottom if you want to see Lindsey's wicked birthday card.

















YEP YOU FOUND IT!


Lindsay's Stamp Stuff is giving away another freebie this week and I have it. It is this wonderful
GARDEN TOOL stamp (just click on garden tool to get the download).

This card was made for my sister's birthday. She is an avid gardener and her house is a floral showcase. I wanted the card to be very pretty on the outside in contrast to the sentiment on the inside. Outside it says "Gardeners never grow old". On the inside it says "They just soil their plants". I can't remember where I got the sentiment but it was last year sometime, probably on SCS. It cracked me up so I tucked it away in my brain knowing it would be perfect for sis.



My new and super sweet, super talented cyber friend Penny Duncan created - yes created (go ahead and gasp, I did) the floral, oval frame that I used for the front of the card. She does some magic to make something called an SVG file which will work with my Sure Cuts Alot software (SCAL) and my Cricut. Peggy is a genius and generous to boot, the frame file is free and her blog is gorgeous.

Lindsay has decided to keep the get a free stamp when you spend $5 special going for a while so if you haven't yet checked out her designs it is a great time to try them. Meanwhile, check out the other design team's blogs for some inspiration.

Lindsay
Melissa
Janet
Lisa
Margie
Katt
Tracey
Tamara
Row
Olena
Melissa
Leanne
Diana,August Guest DT Member

A WICKED BIRTHDAY CARD


Traci Porter AKA The Wicked Pixie, changed graduate Ian into Harry Potter and included the owl, another Greeting Farm stamp as Hedwig. As I told her, in HP's words it was bloody brilliant! As soon as I saw it I knew I had to make one for my daughter's birthday card. I made the base a sorting hat by cutting out an oval and a triangle. I scrunched it up in a ball to get a wrinkled effect and then pinched the face into the hat. I glued it onto a black cardstock base trying to keep the wrinkles and creases intact. Although it is covered by the whomping willow and Harry, the face looks sorta like the one in the movie. Instead of making a card that opened, I just printed a Marauder's Map from the internet and put it on the back writing the inscription on it.

Mischief Managed!

YOU SAY ITS YOUR BIRTHDAY NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA!!!!!!

Happy Anyaversary and congratulations to Marie for a fabulous year of amazing, wonderful, fun stamps! The Greeting Farm totally started my obsession with stamping and I am ever so grateful to now be a part of the current crop of gardeners. I have had so much fun the past month or so and I am so glad you stopped by on your blogging frenzy today!

The Greeting Farm is ONE year old today and we have all of you to thank! If you are just getting started on my blog, feel free to head on over to The Greeting Farm and Club Anya blogs for the COMPLETE blog hop list and also some important information on contests, giveaways, and a SURPRISE! We have over 80 participants so we'll be hanging out, hopping, and having an awesome time along the way!



Ace of Cakes is one of my favorite shows (I have a secret little crush on duff), they make the most amazing cakes. This isn't one of theirs, but it similar to the types they create. It was made by Sweetums Designer Cakes I tried to re-create this cake in card form but with a little "twist".






Oh My! What could that be peeking out of the top of the cake?

















Could it be?








Oh Yeah, it's Birthday Anya popping up to say SURPRISE!!!!!!

Isn't she just the cutest? I used this super cool tutorial from SCS for a PUSH/PULL CARD that allows Anya to pop out of the top when the bottom tab is pulled down. So much fun to play with.

And here is the best surprise of all, today only you can download a new digi stamp "birthday Ian" free! Just head over to The Greeting Farm Blog and get him, he is adorable!
Thanks so much for sharing Anya's Birthday with us. Hope you have loads of fun blopping around, I know I will!

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.