Ok, I'm Back...

And this time, I was productive!

First: The Greeting Farm & Farm Fresh Friday

I haven't had a chance to ink up these little cuties yet, so I took the FFF challenge this week as the perfect opportunity! They are, of course, coloured with Copics. The little flower I made when I was fooling around with crochet thread & a button....I like how it turned out!

Now for more cuties:

My little Lily had her 3 Month birthday yesterday... I can't believe how big she's getting! When I brought her home from the hospital, she hardly took up any room in the bassinet...and now, she almost fills it completely!

It was also a good day to ride unicorns in our house yesterday.

As you can see by the bags under Lily's eyes, she tuckered herself out riding... Good thing she's got a big sister to hold her up!

Speaking of Big Sisters.... I think I hear her now. Time for breakfast!

xo, ~S~

Just a little note...

Hello to Sarah (#5) & Sunghee (#6)!!!!!!

Thanks for following me, chickies - you've made my day!

On another note... I did get the FFF challenge done....but now I've just got to post it... (Later!)

xo, ~S~

Midnight Madness #16

This is the second post for today...

Here's my entry for the Midnight Madness Tuesday Sketch Challenge #16. This one uses the Homeward Bound set from Bombshell Stamps... Perfect for manly cards! Because I was going for relatively plain, and because I've got a limited supply of Copics, I decided to forgo colouring the image; instead, I stamped it twice with Distress Inks - Antique Linen & Walnut Stain. It gives it kind of a funky shadow-ish effect; I did the same for the banner & compass.

I also stamped the compass image randomly on the background piece in Antique Linen, and I used one of the Cuttlebug border folders (3 times) on the long strip; it made me think of chain. I added three brads on the left side of the strip, in the centre of each circle. To finish up, I inked absolutely all of the edges with both Antique Linen & Walnut Stain. The banner & compass are both on pop dots, to give the card a little dimension.

Hope you like it!

xo, ~S~

Mojo Monday #101

So here's my entry for the Mojo Monday Sketch #101 - again, I used the Cherry Bomb set from Bombshell Stamps...

This sketch was perfect for this girl... This time I used the Glaze pen on her outfit as well as her shoes... put a dew drop on her cherry.... added some Stickle to the circle...some luscious red satin ribbon....some Cuttlebug embossing...and of course, a little bit of leopard print!

Voila - my 'sexy' stash is growing nicely... And I promise, there will be more girls soon - they should be here Tuesday-ish! (Yay!)

xo, ~S~

Random...

First: Hi Terra (#3) & Kim (#4)!!! Wooo hooo, I'm starting to feel important! (LOL!)

Second: ... so I got two cards done today...and in the morning, I'll get them posted! Remember my bad light problem? It's worse now, 'cause one of my lamps broke! (Grumble, grumble)

Night folks; I've got to get one more project done tonight...

xo, ~S~

So Far...

All I accomplished today was something I can't show anyone yet! (lol) So... I'll show off my other two 'creations' instead...

Silly Lily in her swing... Sticking her tongue out at her fish. This was interspersed with sneezing, giving her ducky Shaken Duck Syndrome, 'talking' and blowing spit bubbles. I can't believe she's almost 3 months old already!!!!!

Here's Ms. Emily, running around at the farm, taking pictures of herself. That'd be the combine in the background...she was 'helping' daddy get it ready to go. It was CRAZY windy out; her hair isn't always such a mess!!!!! (lol)

Well.....that's it for today, folks.

xo, ~S~

What Was I Thinking?!

FIRST: Hi Lisa!!! Lisa from The Craft's Meow is OFFICIALLY Follower #2; YAY!

Ok.....

So, I was playing around the other night on the internet...and I found this poster here.

Which, of course, inspired me to break out the Bombshells! The part that worries me about all this is... I made a freakin' Christmas card! WHAT?! Being Canadian, Manitoban to be specific, I should be relishing every single ounce of Summer & Sunshine that I can get; it will be forty below zero all too soon! Except...that Bombshell Angel of mine was needing to be in a bar, with a drink in her hand...and that little red piece in the top corner just screamed *CHRISTMAS* to me...and so, my first Christmas card of 2009 was born!
The background on the navy piece is heat embossed to give my 'wall' a little texture...and the 'bar' is coloured with Copics....as an afterthought, I should have broken out the Cutlebug and the Distressed Stripes folder....meh. Maybe next time! Angel is also coloured with Copics; Sketch & Atyou Spica.

I added the little martini glass, too - this Bombshell is very easy to alter into holding something! NOTE: I'm not in denial; the colouring does kind of suck on her, I admit it - shading & blending don't work quite as well when you've only got Spica to work with; I'm waiting, albeit NOT patiently, to order more Copics! I also smudged a bit of brown by her hand, because I'm a klutz...Don't worry, I promise she'll look MUCH better the next time you see her!

Go check out Bombshell Stamps NOW - Shannon's having a 20% off sale in celebration of Bombshell's 2nd Anniversary! WOO HOO!!!!

(That works out to be $11.99 for an unmounted set of approximately 10 stamps, for the regular priced sets!)

I am off to bed now; peace out, dudes!

xo, ~S~

Julie's Blog Candy

Jeepers, there's even more blog candy out there! This is what Julie from Julie's Open Window is giving away - what a sweetheart! Thanks, Julie!

Melissa's Blog Candy

WOW! Check out Melissa's blog candy - there's some awesome stuff she's giving away! Thanks, Melissa!

A Bombshell of a Challenge Entry!

Happy Hump Day! This little Bombshell is (hopefully) going to get some recognition in two challenges: the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #15 and the first Artful Inkables Challenge... Check 'em out & play along!
You can't really see it, but there's mesh on the bottom half of the centre piece, under the ribbon ruffles. It just adds a sexy little touch! I used a Sakura Glaze pen on her shoes, too - it gives them a 'patent leather' look.

I can't wait to get moved into our 'new' house...the lighting should be substantially better! I'm off to go supervise - somebody's got to go crack the whip & keep those boys in line!

xo, ~S~

Mmmmm....cherries!

So this is a small sampling of what my cherry tree looked like yesterday:

I picked half of what was out there, and wound up with 58 tarts & 9.5 jars of cherry pie filling.... My big mean self is going to bring some tarts to the boys working on our house...just as soon as I get my Cherry Bomb card finished & posted!

Priscilla Styles + Blog Candy = YAY!

PriscillaStyles is giving away some awesome blog candy between now & September 18 - here's what she has to say:

This candy give away is "JUST BECAUSE":) and I'm STARTING this candy, by Giving Away 5 Stamps Sets. It will be a variety of stamps from “Stampin Up”, “Hero Arts”, “Inkadinkado”, “Gina K.”, “Rupa Shevde” to name a few. They are going to be hand picked by me from my BRAND NEW stash collection. They will be all types from Exclusive Hostess Sets, to Halloween, Christmas, and Everyday use Stamps! Sound good? Thought so! The deal even gets sweeter, so keep reading……

Click the photo to go to her blog & read up on all the deets...then how about you join in the sketch challenge, too?!

I'll be back with a card or two later...

xo, ~S~

TGF Week of Challenges Day 5 AND TGF Farm Fresh Friday

Hey all! First of all, I want to say 'Hi' to my very first Follower (YAY!) - Julie from JuliesOpenWindow - Thanks Julie!!!! Now go check out her stuff & leave her some love - she rocks!

And now - cards!

The final challenge in The Greeting Farm's Week of Challenges is to follow a sketch. ANY sketch. SO, this one by Amy Rysavy won my heart; I found it on Midnight Scramper's blog.

I decided to break out Geisha Anya for this one, 'cause when I was digging though my scrap box trying to decide what to use, I came across this cute fan paper (from the Far East DCWV stack, I believe). For the record, the colours are pretty sketchy in the photo - the base is a stone grey, which matches the background of the fan paper; the purple is an almost-perfect match to Copic BV00. The flowers are actually Ivory Brides' Table Confetti, coloured with said Copic; Geisha Anya was coloured with it, and with C5 & C7 also. The ribbon is a dark purple, which matches the dark purple fans on the paper. Stupid lighting!

Of course, I couldn't just decapitate the poor girl...so when you open up the card, there she is! Since apparently I'm a half-wit and can't stamp straight, I decided to pretend that I meant to have her all crooked in there, instead of trying to make it look straight. I have to say, though - not really sure I 'LOVE' it... I mean, I don't hate it, but it's not my favorite by far!

For the Farm Fresh Friday challenge, you were to use sewing - which I am horrible at! (You can actually see some practice stitching on the white bg paper the card is sitting on - lol) I guess, though, for someone who's never touched a sewing machine prior to this past Monday, I think I'm doing all right!

I thought I'd use Alice, from the Wonderland set, for something a little different - you don't see her much in these challenges. I used the mushrooms from the set stamped in Tim Holtz Tea Dye Distress Ink on the Kraft cardstock, just to dress it up a bit.

This is another one that I don't really 'love' - but it will do in a pinch to have on hand. Emily gets rather upset with the fact that she never gets any mail, so perhaps this one will show up in our mailbox one of these days... And I just now noticed how awfully crooked Alice & her background are - I think I'm seriously lacking in sleep! (Or at least, that's what I'm blaming it on! LOL)

Thanks for stopping by today... Remember, watch out for those White Rabbits!

xo, ~S~

The Greeting Farm - Week of Challenges - Day 4

Well, Day 4's challenge was MUCH better than Day 3's! Today, it was to use bling & sparkle - both of which I'm VERY comfortable with! Since I've been posting the challenge cards in the TGF Galleria, I keep noticing titles of past challenges - one of which was 'Trip it Up & Stamp it Out!".... So since that's been rattling around in my brain, I thought the sparkle challenge was a perfect excuse to ink up this super cute Hippie Anya!

I used some pretty shimmery paper - I found it online at paper-papers.com, although like usual, you can't see just how shimmery it is in the photo; same goes for the Spica Atyou shine all over Anya!

I just punched various circles out of the shiny paper, and stuck them down randomly...added a KaiserCraft flower to her hair band, and some KaiserCraft rhinestones to finish it up - all on a plain black base. OooooOOOooo, shiny!

I think I'm off on an adventure today - need to go see how the reno is going....and to swap cars. Apparently there's a recall on the Jetta, and the cruise control is pooched till the recall is fixed....so that's resulting in a royal pain for me! (3 hours round trip to get the Jetta - then 5 hours round trip to get it fixed - plus however long it takes for the actual repair....and then another 3 hours to get MY car back! Grrrr!)

Peace out, dudes!!

xo, ~S~

TGF Week of Challenges Day 3

And a Challenge it is! Dude, I just couldn't believe it when I read the Day 3 Challenge from The Greeting Farm at 2:30 this morning...

BLUE AND BROWN!

Whaaaaatttttt??!?!?!?!!! Not outtta this girl! That colour combo is one I can say that I have NEVER used before... if anything screams 'country' to me, it's those two together...and despite the fact that I am a farmer's wife, I am just not country.

So....after a sleepless night thinking of what the heck I was going to do with that, I decided I better ink up Anya from the "Rock The Farm" set. (I did say country, didn't I?!) So I suppose now you're asking, 'Why do you even have that set, then?!' and my answer is: "I am a farmer's wife - I NEEDED it!" And...as my best friend announced yesterday, I can justify anything if I really want to, no matter how ridiculous it is!

Anyway, here is the result:

The patterned papers are out of a big ass K & Co box that was on clearance at Mike's last summer - and this is the first time I've ever used anything out of it! (Actually, there were 3 boxes...but that's a whole 'nother story!) Anyway, I just sort of plunked a couple strips down on the kraft base, added some Antique Linen & Walnut Stain Distress Inks, and stamped/wrote the sentiment on the bottom (which, btw, says: "Let's Go Rock the Farm!")... Who knows what's going to become of this card... It's probably going to go to Scotty at some point!

I paper pieced Anya using the same paper as the background stuff...added a bit of Copic Sketch, Atyou Spica, and Sharpie markers...a dab here & there with the white gel pen... and two coppery-looking brads. Oh, and a bit more Distress ink on the edges, just to dirty it up a bit!

TA-DAAAA! There, country. Blue & Brown. I did it. Whew, I think I need me a nap now - That was freakin' tough!!!!!!

xo, ~S~

OOPS! And, TGF Week of Challenges Day 2...

So, I'm officially an idiot! For the TGF challenges, you've got to use either Anya or Ian...so, poor Annika was taken off the card, and replaced with Princess Anya! (Fitting, since it's my little princess who is starting school & this card will be tucked in with her school supplies!)

AND, to prove that I'm not a total idiot, I thought I better partake in the TGF Week of Challenges Day 2 - Crazy Hair Day... So, who better to have crazy hair than Rockstar Anya?! Apparently, I'm on a lime green & hot pink kick this week... Guess I've just been feeling a little more like my punky old self these days! (YES!)

See that zebra print ribbon? It used to be white, but the Bics fixed that! Also, you can't really see them, but there are 3 stars stamped in lime & clear embossed up the right-hand side. The border on the bottom has some lime green glitter to accent it, too - YAY for sparkles! (And now Lily is glittery, too...damn, that stuff just gets every-freakin'-where!)

That's it for today, folks -

xo, ~S~

Mojo Monday #99...and some other stuff, too!

Today, we've got us a combo post - I used the Mojo Monday Week #99 sketch to make my Back to School themed card for the TGF Week of Challenges Monday Challenge... (Yep, I struggled for a while to figure out how to say that one with the least amount of words! LOL)

For this one, I coloured The Greeting Farm's Annika with Copic Sketch & Atyou Spica markers, and a couple Sharpies (for her hair)... Man, will it be nice to get my hands on a few more colours (read: ALL) of the Copics; I'm getting sick of mix-n-match! (Wah! LOL)

Ok, enough whining - back to the important stuff: I used Annika, along with the Single Book from Hambo Stamps, and the One Smart Cookie set from Stampin' Up.

AND - you can see my very first ever stitching on a card, using my new toy...on the base layer of pink, anyway. There was SUPPOSED to be stitching on the little pink pocket, too...but that didn't work out for me (which is also why there is a bow on the right side, instead of the ribbon following through to the bottom of the pocket, as per the sketch...ooops!)

In the pocket lives a little bitty book mark - think Emily's actually going to use it? (Doubtful; it's only kindergarten!)

ANNNNNNDDDDDD,

(because I'm too lazy to make a second whole post)

today's a double-header - I also (finally) finished the FARM FRESH FRIDAY for The Greeting Farm! (WOOOO HOOOOO!)

This one uses the Farm Fresh Friday Sketch #4 and will be submitted to the Galleria in a few...

I had no idea what I was going to do with Marie's ADORABLE rendering of Edward from Twilight....all I knew was that my sister (who is 14) was going to wind up with whatever it was! She starts high school this fall, so I thought a notebook would be appropriate.

You can't see the music notes very well, but they are clear embossed on the black background... The CD was a 'Happy Accident' that I had while trying to make the circles the sketch actually calls for... I decided it looked pretty cool with Edward (who is supposed to look black & white) sitting on top of it. The flowers used to be white...until my Copics got hold of them...and those little wooden red hearts were in a huge package at the dollar store - oooohhhh, yeah! The flowers are actually quite sparkly IRL, too - the darkest parts on them are actually done with a Silver Atyou Spica pen.

I grunged up the CD a bit with my sanding block & some Staz On ink - it was just too shiny for the whole B & W thing I was going for.

I think it turned out pretty funky... let's see if it's a winner!

Th-th-th-that's All Folks - (and THANK YOU, if you made it this far!)

xo, ~S~

My New Toy...

I decided to buy myself a Singer Pixie sewing machine today - I love the look of stiching on cards, and despite the fact that I have NEVER been much of a seamstress, I thought I'd give sewing on paper a shot.

How cute is that?! Not only does it have an awesome name, it's PURPLE! (Yep, like, really purple... not sure why it looks so blue in the photo!)

I'll be back in a few with my very first ever stitching on paper to show you...

Cookie Sheet Message Board #2

My husband's aunt throws a "Christmas in July" party every summer (although, it was "Christmas-in-Not-July" this year...), because it's just too much like work to try to get everyone together when it really is Christmas, and we all bring a small gift each for a gift exchange. This year, I made all three (one from Emily, and one each from Scott & I).

First up, my second ever Cookie Sheet Message Board: A little black spray paint, some patterned paper from I don't know where, and a whole bunch of magnets from the dollar store were put to good use for this project. The little round yellow magnets (under the white board) are just circles punched from paper that I inked yellow (it started out white) and then stuck the paper on the magnet & covered with Glossy Accents. The top left black circle is a chalk board (I am SO in love with chalkboard paint - and Mike's had a ton of wooden shapes on clearance...yay!), the middle one is (obviously) a cork board, and the bottom one is a sticky note holder. All three of the circles are magnetic, so they can be moved around at will. The calendar is a white board, and was framed in a really ugly orange; more black spray paint fixed that problem! It's also magnetic, and I made little month magnets for it (which are hidden in a little envelope behind the white board). For future reference, I DEFINITELY will be more careful with my adhesive - I just sort of put it on haphazardly, which was all good...till I sprayed on the clear coat! Now in some spots (ESPECIALLY under the piece of chalk) you can see the adhesive - like with vellum! Other than that, I think it turned out pretty well...now to make one for my new kitchen! (Think Scotty will go for pink in a grey kitchen?)

xo, ~S~

I haven't fixed the desk caddy yet, and I haven't gotten my TGF Farm Fresh Friday project done yet.....but I HAVE found:

http://fluttabyz.blogspot.com/

She does AWESOME work and is giving away some VERY yummy blog candy ~ go check it out! (Gorjuss Girls - so cute!)

xo, ~S~

Desk Caddy... OR, Why Distress Inks Are a MUST!

When I was working before Lily was born, I was a 'sexytary' in a semi-truck dealership, and had one of the most entertaining bosses EVER. I swear, that man is one of the most quote-able people I have ever met...and some (*ahem, most*) of his quotes are pretty...um, colourful. You ever get songs stuck in your head? Well, this Michael V. Krassman quote was stuck so deep in the (wonky, sometimes scary) darkest places of my brain - and succeeded in keeping me up ALL night, till I went and did something with it! I didn't have any plaques sitting around that I could have painted up all pretty for his office wall, nor was I about to head out at 5AM to see if I could find one... so this (sorta-sloppy - forgive me; I was exhausted and leaning closer to full-on insanity with every second that passed!) first attempt at a desk caddy was born from drink coasters.

(YES! I (heart) Michael's' clearance! WOOT!)

The quote is:

"Nobody F'd With LBJ; Nobody F's With MVK!"

(In reality, there really are no abbreviated words - I just thought I'd try to at least fake a little professionalism! LMAO!)

Let's keep some things in mind here:

A) I DESPERATELY needed some Tim Holtz Distress Inks - (Check! Got me a few of them now!)

B) It was 5 AM and I was nearly insane - (think: 5AM, 7-ish months pregnant, with a very stubborn quote on repeat in my mind - I think I'm still a little nuts from it!!!!!!!)

C) ...

This is why you need to make sure you have the right supplies before you begin a project!

The idea was cool, but looking at it now, I can see a bazillion things to change... Looks like it's going to be a LOOOOOOONNNNGGGG night!

(Or not....But I DEFINITELY will be making Mr. Mike a new box - with all the good stuff - in the future!!!!!)

Tim Holtz = My (one-of-many) Hero (es)!!!

xo, ~S~

Mojo Monday #98 - Save A Horse...

And I'm not even going to finish that sentence - you all know where I'm going with this! ;)

I scored this yummy fellow from Victoria Case Art Designs yesterday, and couldn't wait to print him out and colour him up! Then, along came the Mojo Monday Week #98 sketch challenge, and TA-DAA! Now I've got a sexy cowboy card...and I've got no idea what to do with it!

(Besides enter it as my first-ever challenge contest entry...lol)

This was a pretty short & sweet one - some Copic Sketch markers for his skin (E00 & C1), hat & belt (E31), and hair (E31 & E33) Copic Atyou Spica Gold on his belt buckle, and a Bic Mark-It for his jeans; a bit of Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Antique Linen & Walnut Stain); some twine & buttons; and an Inkadinkadoo flourish stamp. Mr. Cowboy has been put on some pop-dots for a little added dimension, too.

YUM!

xo, ~S~

Just a quick...

THANK YOU

to everyone who visited me today (thanks to the Club Anya/TGF blog hop) and to everyone who left a comment - you've all totally made my day!!! (And then some!)

BIG!! XO, ~S~

Anya Mermaid

Hello, hello!

Hopefully you've made it here thanks to The Greeting Farm/Club Anya

ANYAversary Blog Hop!

I made this card using the Mojo Monday Week #95 sketch...and it is the first of such attempts! I promised myself that I would participate in challenges regularly, although it hasn't really happened yet - I think we've got to get our new old house finished and get moved before I'll have the time to really follow through!!

Anyway, the card:

I changed the sketch a little bit, by adding the sentiment & the cute little shells in the corners. I used Mermaid Anya & the fish from TGF; the shells & sentiment ('Birthday Fishes') are from Stampendous - 'Sushi Bowl Party' & 'Sushi's Favorite Words'. I wound up spending a few hours on this card (like, 5 - lol), thanks to all the paper piecing I did... Everything on the mermaid except her skin (colored with Copic E00 & R20) was pieced, as well as all of the pink on the fish. For the glittery black parts (mermaid tail, background mat, big shells) I colored the pieces with a Marvy Uchida Wet Looks Clear marker & then heat embossed using glittery black embossing powder. The fish's body was colored with Copic C3 & C7, and once that dried, I used the Marvy marker again and clear embossed it. The mermaid's tail fins & shell bra and the fish's middle tail fin & lower fin are all popped up.

I finished up the card with an EK Success Binding Edge punch, CuttleBug Tiny Bubbles embossing folder, KaiserCraft rhinestones and a bit of ribbon from Michael's. There was nothing quick about this card at all - usually anything I make has an intended recipient! (Which means I usually start out with a pretty good idea of what they like, and what I want to incorporate into the card - this one, I was totally 'winging it'!)

Since this is my first ever blog hop, I have no idea what I'm doing, but I think you're supposed to head back to The Greeting Farm and move on to the next blog!! Hopefully, you'll be back...

xo, ~S~