Hoppin' into the Holidays with TGF!!!

Happy Holidays!! Merry Christmas!! This is my favorite time of year. I love Christmas, I love Christmas songs. Just listening to them makes me feel happy. That's why when I saw that TGF was having this Hoppin into the Holidays, I knew I wanted to pull out my favorite TGF holiday stamps. I have been on a tag making kick recently. They are fast & fun to make - you can try out new techniques without a lot of waste and they just look cool! You can use them to put on gift bags or presents or even put them on a card as a fast & easy already made embellishment!

For my first tag, I used one of my NEW favorite Christmas sets - A Cheeky Xmas - LOVE this gal! I created my background with the snowflake from Keep Cozy - another adorable set - also using the sentiment from that I distressed some of my Tim Holtz trim as well as the tag in Fired Brick & Vintage Photo.

For my next set of tags, I used the super cute Merry Tags - I got these last year and wouldn't you know, never used them!! So, in my effort to handmake tags for presents this year I got started with these. I just stamped them on the tag in memento and colored the image with a combo of atyou glitter pens, copics & white gel pen. Then distressed the edges and added decorative ribbon for added flair & done!

I saved my favorite for last (which is full of covered mistakes, LOL) - so I hope you are still here!!! I've been having a blast making hand made ornaments for our tree and I just knew I wanted A Cheeky Xmas up there! I used some TGF holiday paper from my stash and cut out a frame and popped it up on the silver cardstock. Then placed my sentiment in the fancy frame and popped that up as well so it was flush with the DP. I kinda messed up cutting it out on my cuttlebug so I added the flowers to the bottom to cover that up but I love them! I also messed up on coloring her so I ended up paper piecing since I really didn't have time to color up another. But again, LOVE how that turned out, too!

Thanks for stopping by & I hope you enjoy the hop - remember there are prizes to be had! Be sure to check out The Greeting Farm blog for a full list of bloggers participating in todays hop! I'm so excited and can't wait to see what everyone prepared.

Merry Christmas!

Ippity Hop Monday!!

Last week, I was so inspired by all the awesome handmade ornaments by the DT that I finally got to make some of my own this weekend. This is one that I made using the set Season of Joy. I think it turned out cute but not exactly how I envisioned and I couldn't get a good picture of it either! Thanks for stopping by!

Mystery Monday - One last card for Club Anya & Friends!

Is it really the end of November already?! It went by soooo fast but I guess that is because I had so much fun guest designing for Club Anya & Friends. It was a dream come true for me to be a part of this amazing DT. It was an amazing opportunity and I hope you all had as much fun as I did with my cards this month. I have one last card to share for this week's Mystery Monday. Jen found THIS gorgeous card by Alice Wertz and we all had fun CASEing it for today. I hope you will play along as well!

I used Oliver from the OA - Just for You set. He is just adorable! I had a ton of fun coloring his hat all those colors & I used my colorless blender to add a little bit of texture to the hat by just pressing it down along each stripe. I am having so much fun using my colorless blender to add texture like that! I paired him up with some of my favorite October Afternoon papers. From all different lines - it's great how they go together so well like that.

Thanks for stopping by today, and oh...there's ONE more little thing. Be sure to stop by the Club Anya & Friends blog as well as The Greeting Farm blog to see another GREAT preview from the December release. ONE of the DT members (is it a Farmer? Guest Designer? Team Anya member? hmmmm....) has a "Because of You" set hidden on their blog today! Be sure to stop by and see their beautiful projects and ONE lucky winner will be announced tomorrow during our "HOPPIN' into the HOLIDAYS" Blog Hop, beginning at 7pm CST on the TGF Blog!

Anyone for Anya? Sketch Challenge!

This week Anyone for Anya? has a sketch for you! I just LOVE working with sketches. I know I say that every month. LOL but it's TRUE!!! This one is awesome and if you LOOK very closely on my card you will see handmade stitching on the top and bottom corners. But I think the design of the PP takes away from it unfortunately, but it was super easy so I'll definately be trying THAT again!

I used the ever adorable Cafe Ian that I colored at my copic certification class last week. I grounded him by drawing a simple line on the bottom with my copic multi-liner pen. Then just added some shading underneath which is something totally new for me. I think it turned out pretty good tho! I just love this paper from October Afternoon - I have no idea which line it comes from though! And cleaning out my craft area, trying to get semi-organzied, I came across some buttons which I just HAD to use! I love buttons but just don't have enough variety. LOL

I hope you will stop by Anyone for Anya? this week to see our NEW look & check out the rest of the DT inspiration! We also have a cute new blinkie to grab when you stop by along with new top 3 badges!!! And for a little bit of inside info: a couple DT members are stepping down and we will be having a DT call very soon so be on the lookout for that announcement!

Sketch Saturday with Club Anya & Friends!

It's my last Saturday sketch post with CA&F as the November Guest and I have to say I had a BLAST! I love all the girls and these sketches by Jen rock. I hope you have been joining in on them each week. This week's sketch was a lot of fun and I wanted to try the Anna Maria's background masking technique that was shared a couple weeks ago on WTW (you can find the post HERE). I think it turned out pretty cute and I know I'll be using it again! I used the adorable Anya from the I heart Sweaters set! I can't stop making Christmas cards! Which is a good thing since I want to send so many out to all my amazing crafty friends that I've made this past year. I have so many things to be thankful for - the friendships that I've made just being one.

Be sure to check out the Club Anya & Friends blog today as they an adorable new Oliver & Amelia set to debut for the December release!!! I know what I'm asking for from Santa! hehee I hope you will have fun with this sketch!

special black friday FWF! **edited to add my card**

So, here is my card! I have had this itty bitty for a couple months and this is the first time I've inked it up. I think they are SUPER cute!!! My girls call it the mr & mrs potatoe head stamp. hehee. This is the anniversary card I made for my parents. They've been together forever *34 years* so I thoguht the sentiment was fitting. I hope if you are off today you are enjoying it! I unfortunately have to work in a few hours. boohoo!

Unity is having an amazing sale if you haven't already heard - you can see all the details above! I don't have a card yet because I ended up going out for black friday LAST NIGHT!!!! OMG, I told myself I wasn't going to do it but then I saw the TRU ad and saw all the things my girls wanted for Christmas and there I was standing out in 27 degrees at 7:30pm at night. TRU opened at 10:00pm and I was about 20 in line. It was fun though, My mom and I do it every year and I got some GREAT fun things for the kids. I can't wait for Christmas to see them open it! LOL Then I stayed up late making Santa's letter from the Elf (if you haven't done or heard of Elf on the Shelf, you def should check it out) It is a fun new tradition we started last year and I love getting him out and planning out his little antics for the holiday season. :)

So, check out Unity's AWESOME sale and I'll be back in about an hour or so with a card. It is my mom & dad's anniversary today so I definately need to make them a card.

Lil Lolita Boutique Challenge Bids Farewell with one last challenge

So, the day has arrived and it's time to say farewell to Lil Lolita Boutique Challenges! We have one last challenge for you before we go and it's an awesome sketch by Kellie herself. I LOVE working with Kellie's sketches and you will find them at TPS regularly. I hate saying goodbye so I'll only say see you later as I will definately be catching up with my fellow LLB DT friends on their blogs regularly and playing along as much as I can at Tickled Pink Stamps where you will find familiar faces! With the closing of LLB, TPS will be becoming a weekly challenge spot and for that I am very excited!! I know Kellie has great things in store for you so if you aren't a follower already at TPS, be sure to stop by there and become one to be caught up on all the very latest!

I've already told the ladies how much I've loved designing along side each and every one of them! They've inspired me to grow & try out new styles along the way. I love that abou them. Kellie, what can I say, she's awesome. She's always been so sweet & encouraging and generous. One of these days, it's my goal to head down to the opposite side of the world & meet these amazing women I've gotten to know.

So, I hope you will join us - Kellie has a great prize for you as our last challenge & who doesn't love a sketch? Maybe you have some Christmas cards to make & have gotten some of the Lil Lolita / Lads Christmas edition. I used DIGI Lil Christmas Lolita Ivy - isn't she a cutie with her Christmas Cookies?! I wish I looked that cute baking. hehee I paired her up with some Christmas paper from my stash and added a strip of the new MS snowflake border punch I got. I LOVE it!

Make it Crafty - Fun Challenge - Anything BUT a card!

Welcome back to our fun challenge this week at Make it Crafty! Our challenge to you is pretty simple - you can make anything as long as it is NOT a card! Now, if you are like me, that is quite a challenge as I tend to stick to cards. I LOVE seeing unique paper crafts & 3d items but I rarely attempt them so I was excited when Zoe sent me her gorgeous Wishing Well 3D kit!! Now, my hubby will be the first to tell you I don't assemble things very well. LOL I don't know what it is, same thing with sewing, I just tend to freak out with instructions & lots of pieces so when the kit arrived, I pulled it out, thought it looked AWESOME and couldn't wait to put it together. I wish I would've taken a picture of the kit as it arrived because Zoe packaged it AWESOMELY. It's all right there ready to take a part and piece together. Her step by step instructions that are included (with PICTURES) was really easy to follow. I knew if I could put this together and have so much fun with it - anyone could. I think as it started to come together and added the bits of Picket Fence Crackle Paint I began to get more and more excited.

Then when it came to decorating it well, the possibilities are endless! I knew I wanted to add one of Zoe's Sapphire fairies and when I saw Sapphire Holly Fairy Digi Stamp in the store, she was perfect for my little wintery wishing well. I added some red ink to the top of the wishing well and distressed it all around with Distress inks in Shabby Shutters & Peeled Paint. Do you love that row of green pearls? Well, those used to be WHITE! I took one of my copic markers and colored them *another great technique learned at my copic certification class!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you will join us this week. Take a look at what the other Make it Crafty girls came up with - you will see anything but a card can be REALLY fun!

PS. My girls thought I was building the wishing well for their little snow white doll. *giggle* They have been playing with it ever since I finished though I have to say it is not meant to be a toy, I couldn't resist their pleas.

Dreamy Scene for 2 challenges

Ahhh, I've been thinking about this Pretty Fall Princess challenge since I saw it on Tiddly Inks Challenge 2 weeks ago and FINALLY got around to doing it today! I created my scene by combining two images from Tiddly Inks in PSE. I used Gothic Window and Fairy Fae Dreams - They worked SO well together! When I saw this week's sketch at 2S4Y I knew it would be perfect for my little scene.

Copics Used:

Skin: E0000, E11, R20, RV000

Hair: E30, Y21, E33

Dress: E07, E08, E09

Castle: C3, C6, C1

Grass/Trees/Sky: Y28, Y17, Y38, G21, G99, BG99, YG93, YR04, B0000, B000, B02

Mystery Monday @ Club Anya & Friends!

Hi everyone,

I'm hosting Mystery Monday this week at CA&F and let me tell ya I had such a blast browsing thru the galleries. It was an ubelievably hard choice! TGF has some of the most talented fans out there! I finally came across a card by Marit Meijer that just had my jaw drop! I loved everything about it from the coloring to the layers. So pretty so I knew I wanted to try CASEing it. I hope you will too!!

I'm trying to grow myself with my coloring - I'm still reeling from all the new ideas and tips I got from the Copic Certification class! So on Anya's cute little beanie, I tried to give it some texture with the Coloress Blender - so I dipped a piece of my jute ribbon in some of it and patted it across her hat. I still need to pracitce at it some more. I'm not entirely happy with it! I think maybe I used too much or something b/c it started bleeding and I ended up having to color a new Anya and then cut the hat out. Also, on her scarf since it's a smaller area than her hat and I still wanted to give it some depth I just touched the tip of my R20 to my R25 blending inward by flicking my brush tip. I love that it really takes less time, gives the same effect as blending with two different markers by using just one on smaller areas. This is just one of the great tips I left with on Saturday!!! I will probably be using new techniques all the time now with my Copics and I will definately be sharing them here with you on my blog!

Copics Used:

Skin:E0000, E000, E00, E11, R20, R24

Hair: E30, Y21, E33

Clothes: G99, G94, R20, R24, R27, R29, R46, YG94

AFA Girly Challenge Card & GIU WINNER!!!

Hi everyone, So sorry I was late with my AFA card! I have to admit though, I had a BLAST coloring this Anya with all the fun new techniques I came away with from my Copic Certification class yesterday!!! It was amazing to meet so many people that I knew from Blog Land. hehe I have a ton of practicing to do now and I can't WAIT to take the Intermediate Copic class. Meeting Marianne Walker along with Kazan Clark were just the icing on the cake - I made new friends while playing with old friends, laughed, colored and had fun. I definately recommend taking the Copic Certification class if you EVER get the opportunity! I am so happy that I did.

So our challenge this week is to make a girly card! I think you should find this easy to do! I think almost all of my cards are "girly"!! I hope you will join us this week, we have an amazing PRIZE of Tree Shapeabilities. You can check out all the details HERE.

And now, for the winner of my GIU week - using Random.org I picked Post #10 on Day 3 which was MommaJess!!! Oh my goodness, girl, I'm so excited you won!!! Email me your info and which set: Margarita Moments / Along for the Ride / Berry Good Life / Grow Yourself Extraordinary / you would like so I can forward on to Unity --- Congrats!!

That's it for me. Since I had to work on my hubby's birthday we are celebrating today so I have to go ice the cake with the girls.

Anyone for Anya? Girly Card Challenge

The challenge this week at Anyone for Anya is to make a girly card! I haven't been feeling that great this week so I don't have a card for you today. I was hoping to make one when I got home from my Copic Certification class as I was SO inspired by all the amazing new techniques I learned from Marianne Walker, but I had a headache that put me in bed very early. Hopefully I will feel better in the morning and be able to work on something tomorrow. Until then, be sure to check out the Anyone for Anya? Blog to see what the other ladies came up with!!

Also, I will be drawing a winner from my GIU posts as well. Thanks everyone for all your comments while I celebrated birthdays while Growing In Unity. :)

Sketchy Saturday with Club Anya & Friends!

I just loved this sketch by Jen this week. I love the use of different panels. This is the card I made for Marie for her baby shower. Of course, I just had to use Mommy Anya, right?! I paired it with my favorite October Afternoon Ducks in a Row paper.

Be sure to check out the CA&F Blog for the rest of the DT cards & I hope you will play along!

GIU - Day 5 Celebrating Birthdays

Hi there, so between errands I finally finished my card for today. It didn't really come out as I had imagined in my mind but I do love the end result. Again, I used the Birthday Wishes sentiment from Just Wanted To Say - LOVE that set! And paired it with some great vintage Graphic45 papers *from the Steampunk collection* and some Tim Holtz trim that I distressed with antique linen, tea dye & black.

This was so much fun! I'd love to do it again - maybe a little better prepared, hehe. I have some EXCITING news I can't wait to share so stay tuned. Don't forget to leave a comment on todays post and every GIU post from this week for your chance to win. I'll be drawing the winner tomorrow after I get home from my Copic Certification class! I'm SO excited!!!

GIU - Birthday Celebration Continues!

Hi everyone, so sorry I'm late! I was working on completing 80 baby announcements for a friend and didn't have projects lined up for this week either! Ah, procrastination gets me again. hehe BUT, I did manage to pick up some new goodies so I got to use those for my cards! I made two mini cards (also working double duty for this weeks ippity challenge & new release challenge).

I just LOVE these eyelet circle nesties and used them to frame my mini circle cards. I thought these would be great on top of presents. :) Very fast & simple to make. I loved it. The birthday wishes sentiment comes from my favorite ippity set Just Wanted To Say. My new goodies are the eyelet nesties, the Tim Holtz trim which I distressed with Broken China and Weathered Wood distress inks and the MS butterfly punch that I've had on my wish list forever!

Thanks again for stopping by & be sure to leave a comment to win! I'll be back tomorrow with my last GIU post and then I'll pick a random winner on Sat after I get back from my copic certification class out of all my GIU posts this week!

GIU - Day 3 of Celebrating Birthdays!

*please scroll down for my Lil Lolita Boutique Challenge post*

My card today is the one I made to give to my hubby. His birthday isn't until tomorrow but he doesn't read my blog so I think it is safe to share with you today! I absolutely LOVE how it turned out! I made this while stamping with my daughters our birthday cards for him. When I showed it to Tolla, she said "Awwww, Mom, I love it!" hehe She's my BIGGEST fan. So I used two sets again - Authentic Man (LOVE this set) and Life's Little Moments. Both are available for purchase on my {ippity} sales blog! I paired them up with some awesome paper from Graphic45 the Steampunk collection. I also used this week's 2S4Y sketch! They have some great sketch challenges if you love sketches like I do!



Remember to leave a comment all week for your chance to win your choice of one of these 4 fabulous sets from Unity Stamp Co:


Margarita Moments
Along for the Ride
Berry Good Life
Grow Yourself Extraordinary

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to come back tomorrow for another GIU card. :)

Lil Lolita Boutique Challenge - Anything Goes Christmas Style!

We're counting down to Christmas at LLB as well as to our last challenge which will be next week. :(

This week though, we're focused on Christmas and Anything GOES! Show us your Christmas Cards, Tags, Boxes, etc. For my card, I used the dapper digi Lil Christmas Lad Luca with that mistletoe in his hand, how cute is he?! I had such a blast coloring him. I paired him up with the awesome sketch at TPS as well as some Christmas Paper from my stash.


Thanks for stopping by - be sure to see the rest of the amazing creations by the ladies at LLB & I hope you will join us this week. Kellie has an AMAZING prize of THREE RUBBER stamps!

Stamping on Onesies!

How cute are they!? I just love stamping on onesies as I've shared a couple times before on my blog. I had a baby shower to go to for a dear friend having her FIRST baby in a couple months. You all might know her as the owner of a little shop called The Greeting Farm!! Yes, I had the pleasure of going to Marie's Baby Shower and I just knew I had to stamp her some onesies for little bean.

And if you'd like to know how I stamp on onesies - just head over to Club Anya & Friends for my tutorial - if you play along and try this fun technique, you have the chance to win a single of your chocie!

I just had to share the giftbag I altered for Marie! Isn't it adorable?! I just love October Afternoon!

GIU - Day 2!

Here is another birthday card - I made using one of my favorite ippity sets Just Wanted to Say for the sentiment and for the main image I used Love In Return - I thought the circle saying You are an original was great for a birthday card. I just love how these ippity sets are so interchangable!

Remember to leave a comment all week for your chance to win.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to come back tomorrow for another GIU card. :)

Growing in Unity - Celebrating Birthdays!

Hi Everyone!! Welcome to my Growing in Unity week. I hope to keep you all inspired this week. I don't have anything really special or unique to share but I decided since it is my hubby's birthday this week and when looking thru my cardstash I am really low on birthday cards that I would do a themed week of Birthday Cards! I hope you will enjoy it as much as I am creating them.

My first card this week uses two different {ippity} sets: A Little Buggy & Fall For You! Both are available for purchase thru my {ippity} Sales Blog & if you buy during my GIU week, you'll get an extra 15% OFF plus a free gift!

Remember to leave a comment all week for your chance to win your choice of one of these 4 fabulous sets from Unity Stamp Co:

Margarita Moments
Along for the Ride
Berry Good Life
Grow Yourself Extraordinary

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to come back tomorrow for another GIU card. :)