Crinkly wrinkly ribbon

You've probably seen it on cards. Wrinkly looking ribbon in muted colors that add the perfect vintage touch to a card. I first saw the ribbon used on Kiara's card here:

card by Kiara Lee (www.stampingcafe.blogspot.com)

Gorgeous, huh? I love how she uses the perfect color of ribbon to complement each of her cards.

After buying several bundles on Etsy, I wanted more colors and wondered if I could make some myself. I searched You Tube and there are several great video tutorials that show you step by step how to make your own wrinkled ribbon.  And it's not really a "ribbon" but rayon seam binding.

I found a great source for 100 yard spools of seam binding here. They come in tons of colors but if you want to custom dye your own, you have to get the white, cream or eggshell.

I made a card for an upcoming challenge and I can't share it yet--you'll see it on August 7th--but here's a peek at the ribbon tied around it. I used some Dusty Concord distress ink and for this, I just pressed the ink pad on my craft mat, spritzed some water and sopped it all up with the ribbon.

And if you do decide to try this, wear disposable gloves!

Thanks for visiting! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Aloha, Team Anya!

Today is my official last day (sniff!) as July's guest designer for Club Anya (sniff!) and it's been so much fun! Jessica and the rest of the crew have been so sweet and supportive that the days have just whizzed by.

Kristy Young has been chosen as the guest designer for August, and I know she'll have tons of fun working with Team Anya! I'm so looking forward to seeing her awesome creations!

Big hugs and thanks to fearless leader Jessica and the rest of the crew for an awesome experience that I'll always remember! ♥

Stamps: The Greeting Farm Fleur Anya, Hero Arts graph background, My Sentiments Exactly
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill, Papertrey Ink
Ink: Memento, Colorbox
Other: Copic markers, Nestabilities, Tim Holtz embossing folder,
Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Sharpie poster paint pen, pop dots

Whoo loves you?

Welcome to Day 3 of Sweet November previews featuring the cutest trick-or-treaters by the uber talented Amy Young.  Today I chose Amy's little witch and her owl friend who's clutching on to her hat--too cute!

I decided to use purple instead of the usual black and paired it with orange and green for the witch's costume. I made my favorite scallop circle card and stamped the sentiment before I embossed the dots with the Cuttlebug.

Amy has six new Halloween kiddos so visit her blog and leave a comment on each day's post to win one!

I'd like to thank Amy for giving me the honor of featuring her Sweet November previews. And be sure to visit All That Scraps on August 2nd for their much anticipated release!

Stamps: Sweet November, Hero Arts sentiment

Cardstock: Neenah, Bazzill

Ink: Versafine

Other: Copics, Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, Sharpie poster paint pen,

sheer ribbon, star buttons, pop dots

A sweet little dragon...

Trick or treat!! Welcome to Day 2 of Amy's Sweet November previews for August! Did you know that Amy is having a giveaway of ALL her new releases plus "zero calorie" candy just by leaving a comment on each day's post? Check out all the details here and yes, she will ship internationally, too!

Here's my card using the cute little Dragon dude. When I first saw the image, I asked Amy, "What is he looking at?" and she said "Whatever you want!"

So I stamped up a bunch of yummy jellybeans in different colors and covered them with Glossy Accents. Doesn't the little dude look surprised at the size of those jellybeans?

I texturized his costume by using some Copic colorless blender like my friend Kelly shared with me and I like the "scaliness" of how a dragon's skin would be.

Don't forget to visit Amy's blog to try and win this stamp and the rest of her release. And come back tomorrow to see another Halloween cutie that's very "bewitching"!


Stamps: Sweet November, Hero Arts, Imagine That
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, 
Ink: Versamark, Distress ink, Memento, Versafine
Other: Copics, Nestabilities, clear embossing powder, Glossy Accents, pop dots, ribbon

Amy's Pumpkin Sweetie

Hello and Happy Friday! The very talented Amy Young has created some new images for her Sweet November line and I'm excited to share them with you.

I made two cards using the little pumpkin sweetie. Both images were colored with Copics and I used the Sharpie poster paint pen and added white dots to her costume.

Isn't she adorable? I feel as though it's her first Halloween and she's in awe of the little jack-o-lantern.

I love easel cards so I reduced the image and made a small 3.5" square easel card. I ran the cardstock between a Sizzix embossing folder to give the background some texture.

Stay tuned tomorrow when I share another one of Amy's delightful images and please visit her blog to see her wonderful cards, too!

Thanks for visiting today! Hope you all have a great weekend!

A very Happy Birthday, Jessica!

Today is Jessica's birthday and Club Anya and The Greeting Farm are hosting a BIRTHDAY BLOG HOP for our special friend! I am at the very end of the hop and you should have arrived here from Randi's blog. If not, go to Club Anya & Friends and follow the blog hop order.

Jessica, thanks for all that you do on behalf of the design team and for the customers, too. I was (and still am!) thrilled when you asked me to be a guest designer and now I'm excited and proud to be able to call you a friend! Here's hoping you have a wonderful birthday with your family and a relaxing weekend, too. You so deserve it!

I honestly made this card a while ago and I was waiting for the perfect person to give it to...and that's Jessica! Do you see the resemblance?

I love Cheeky Rockabilly's fun, free spirit and I know it's a trait that Jessica has as well.

In honor of Jessica's birthday, there's a great prize up for grabs! Creeper Monday AND Creeper Wednesday will be given to one lucky winner. How do you win?

At the end of the hop, all you have to do is leave a comment on the Club Anya & Friends blog on the birthday hop post, wishing Jessica a HAPPY BIRTHDAY and your name will be entered for a random draw. You have until Sunday, July 25th at 8:00pm CST to leave your birthday wishes.

Amy will announce the winner on the Monday Mania post at Club Anya & Friends. Good luck!

Tiddly Inks Second Blog Hop + a Sweeeet share

Tiddly Inks is having their second blog hop and the theme is Halloween is Hopping in July! Christy created so many fun images with a Halloween theme--some goth, some cute, and digital papers, too!

Here's my card using Cast Your Spell. Isn't she a gorgeous fairy? I wanted to have her as a redhead and chose periwinkle as her contrasting gown color. I love the "fairy dust" around her and paired her up with a sentiment from Nina Brackett's Heartily Yours Additions set.

Blog hop posts are going live at 12pm CST, and the hop will begin here at 6pm CST after Inlinkz is closed. Christy is trying something new for the hop order. Simply start at Tiddly Inks and click on the first card in the Inlinkz box and continue the hop from there. Easy peasy!

Christy is generously offering gift vouchers for random commenters and blog participants, too! Hope to see you hoppin'!


Stamps: Tiddly Inks digital image, Heartily Yours Additions by Nina Brackett
Cardstock: Neenah Solar White, Bazzill
Ink: Memento
Other: Copic markers, Nestabilities square, scallop square, oval dies; 
Sharpie poster paint pen, gemstones, Stickles, pop dots, sheer ribbon

***

I also want to share that I'll be Amy's Sweet November gal and I'll be helping her preview her newest stamp release for August! I'm so honored that Amy asked me and all I can say is her newest line is super cute and a little spooky, too!

Here's a teeny sneaky peek teaser:

Tune in tomorrow through Sunday to see full sized cards of the newest designs that super creative Miss Amy has created, with the release on August 2nd at All That Scraps!

Wild Card Wednesday--My colors!

My days as a Guest designer for the fabulous Club Anya & Friends are slowly coming to an end. (Sniff!) Jessica asked me to throw in a color sketch for this week's Wild Card Wednesday challenge and here's my colors:

Pretty citrus-y, huh? It reminds me of a tropical fruit sherbet that we used to enjoy during the hot summer months. Here's my take on the colors using Sunshine Anya in her cute little bikini.

Please visit Club Anya and see the other team members' cards and hope you'll play along with my colors!

Stamps: The Greeting Farm, Purple Onion Designs noteblock
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill Basics, kraft
Patterned paper: Cosmo Cricket
Ink: Memento
Other: Copics, pop dots, MFT sun die, Sizzix dots folder

CMC Challenge #1--Black and White

My friend Rach shared a great tutorial here on using Copics to color an image to look like a black and white photo. And Color Me Copic is having their first challenge which is to create a card using her technique.

I really wanted to challenge myself and here's my card using WS Dee Dee.

Coloring the image in black and white tones was pretty similar to coloring in sepia tones. I used five Copic colors from the Cool Grey family:  C00, C3, C5, C7 and a touch of C9.

I love the old fashioned look and it's a bit nostalgic for me. I can remember when photos were printed only in black and white.

Thanks for a great tutorial, Rach! I think I'll be trying this again...and I need to buy more C refills.



Stamps: The Greeting Farm, Gina K Designs
Cardstock: Neenah, Stampin Up
Ink: Memento
Other: Copic markers, Nestabilities Labels One and Labels Eight, Sizzix dots embossing folder, 
Martha Stewart 3-in-one butterfly punch, pop dots

Have you met Kenny K?

My Flickr friend Cheryl Valadez was recently chosen for the Kenny K design team! Yay, Cheryl! After seeing this card on her blog, I went to visit Kenny K's and discovered their unique, fun stamps.

I bought this one digi--Download Diva--and at first, I didn't know why she was called that because I didn't see any laptop.  Duh! She has an iPod!

Kenny K has their first challenge--pastels. I was sorta going in that direction, until I got to her capris. I don't think camouflage print qualifies as "pastel".

But she was a lot of fun to color and I'll be sending this card to a friend who just graduated from high school.


Thanks for visiting! Hope you have a great weekend...


Stamps: Kenny K digital stamp
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Stampin Up
Patterned paper: Cosmo Cricket, Papertrey Ink 
Other: Copics, Nestabilities, Sizzix dots embossing folder, Papertrey Blooms die, 
Sizzlite leaf die, eLine pearls

Wild Card Wednesday--Kelly's colors!

Today is Wednesday which means it's Wild Card Wednesday at Club Anya & Friends and this month it's all about colors! This week is Kelly's pick and here's her palette:

Here's my take on the colors using Creeper Thursday. This is the first time I've colored up Thursday and I love her little cat cap and her sassy attitude!

Please visit Club Anya and see the other team members' cards and be inspired to try Kelly's colors!



Stamps: The Greeting Farm, Hero Arts
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Hero Arts notecard
Ink: Memento, Hero Arts Shadow
Other: Copic markers, Nestabilities Labels Eight, twine, pop dots

Got grass?

Okay, maybe that's not the best title for a post but I tried growing some grass on my card for the first time!  I usually "ground" the image by coloring some shadow underneath but I wanted to try grass after seeing Kim's tutorial here.

After coloring sweet Nahla from The Greeting Farm's Roll Call set, I cut her out with the circle Nestabilities.

I followed Kim's instructions and I didn't have the exact colors that she used, but I followed her technique which was clear and concise.

I paired up the image with Basic Grey's Green at Heart patterned paper and used Pam's Saturday Sketch #26.

I'll have to try this again and use more olive green Copics to match the paper better.

Thanks, Kim, for a great tutorial and sharing a fun technique!

Stamp: The Greeting Farm
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Stampin Up
Patterned paper: Basic Grey
Ink: Memento 
Other: Copics, Nestabilities, pop dots

Saturday Sketch #26

It's Saturday Sketch time at Club Anya & Friends with another awesome sketch by Pam.

Here's my take on the sketch, using Oliver from the Oliver & Amelia "Journey" set. I colored him in sepia tones for a vintage look, and adjusted the size to fit a square card. I also added the sentiment that came with the set. 

Visit Club Anya to see the other team members' take on the sketch and play along with us. Don't forget to add your card to the Gallery!

Stamps: The Greeting Farm (Oliver and Amelia Journey)
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Martha Stewart kraft
Patterned paper: Making Memories ledger
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink, Tea Dye distress ink
Other: Copic markers, Nestabilities circle die, pop dots

Meet Creeper Jack

Creeper Jack, one of the new digis from The Greeting Farm, is described as "a little punk, a little Emo". I must admit, I didn't know what Emo meant. I know Goth. I sorta know punk. But Emo? Does it have to do with black hair?
(ETA: The very sweet Kim directed me here for info on everything Emo! Thanks, Kim....HuGs!)

I can't imagine Jack with any other hair color and he has the funkiest guy hairdo I've ever seen. I tried to color his hair the way my friend Lysa does but she makes it look way easier than it is! Did you see her video? Totally awesome. Makes you want to color shiny black hair.

All I can say is practice, practice, practice and it helps to chant: "Feather strokes, feather strokes...." Thanks for sharing your technique, Lysa!

And I hope you all have a great weekend...



Stamps: The Greeting Farm Creeper Jack digital image
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Stampin Up
Ink: Pumice Stone, Black Soot distress inks
Other: Copic markers, Nestabilities Labels Eight,
Tim Holtz embossing folder, red twine, pop dots

TD02 Challenge and Wild Card Wednesday

Note: I have two posts today! Please scroll down or click here to see my 

Wild Card Wednesday card and post. Thank you!

.....

Today's the 7th day of the month which means it's another challenge for Tiffany Doodles! This month's theme is "Birds and Windows" and here's my card.

I used Cute Birdy Hugs from Tiffany Doodles and colored him up with Copics. The card was Cuttlebugged to look like the outside of a house and I fashioned a window frame with the square Nestabilities. I punched out some butteflies, leaves, and flowers and adhered them to the front, and added some pearls for a touch of bling.

I ♥ Cosmo Cricket's mini alpha stickers! It comes in a variety of colors and fonts and makes for quick sentiments.

Do you like my play on words? Today happens to be Tiffany's birthday and I'd like to wish her a Happy Bird Day! Please visit the other team members and see their awesome takes on the challenge theme.

• Tiffany Doodles
• Tiffany Richards
• Cammy Wall
• Cindy Lee
• Deirdre Horgan
• Donna Mikasa--that's me!
• Julie Masse
• Kathy Racoosin
• Kim Schofield
• Lindsay Amrhein
• Peet Roeven
• Ruby McGuire
• Shannon Neparko
• Vanessa Menhorn
• Virginia Lu

You have a little over 3 weeks to create your card. The deadline for submissions is July 31st at midnight EST. You may use stamps from other companies but Tiffany offers lots of freebies here for you to download.

Use the Inlinkz feature to upload your creations here and also to our Flickr group and tag it "TD02". The prizes are:

• 7 digis of your choice for first place
• 5 digis of your choice for second place
• 3 digis of your choice for third place, and
• 3 digis of their choice to a random winner

We hope you'll join our "Birds and Windows" challenge!

Wild Card Wednesday--Pam's Color Challenge

Today is also Wild Card Wednesday at Club Anya & Friends and here's a swatch of the colors that Pam chose.

Here's my take on the colors, using Ruby and some yummy Basic Grey Kioshi paper. And once again, I used Cosmo Cricket's mini alpha stickers for the "sweet" sentiment.

Please visit Club Anya & Friends and see the cards made by the other team members and be inspired to give this color challenge a try.

* * *

Thanks so much for bearing with me through two posts! In case you missed it (and there's a huge probability I may have posted wrong), please click here to see the post on Tiffany Doodles' second challenge, "Birds and Windows".

A card for Grace

You may have read on other blogs about a little girl named Grace whose twin, Ellie passed away from cancer a few weeks ago. The very kind Jennifer McGuire is hosting a card drive for Grace to help cheer her up and ease the pain of losing her best friend.

She suggests silly cards or funny cards and if you have kids or grandkids, you can get them involved with cardmaking, too. You can get all the details of the card drive here, and read about Grace's family here.

For my card for Grace, I used Robbie Seal, a new Greeting Farm digi which made me smile as soon as I saw it and I hope that Grace will, too. Love those stacked cupcakes! Yum!









Stamps: The Greeting Farm, Cornish Heritage Farms
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Hero Arts notecard
Ink: Colorbox chalk ink
Other: Copic markers, Nestabilities Labels Eight, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots, Sakura Aqua Lip glaze pen, ribbon, buttons, pop dots

Cupcake girl

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a safe Fourth of July. Overall, it was a lot quieter in our neighborhood this year, maybe because of the possible ban on fireworks here in the islands.

Just wanted to share a new Pure Innocence digi image by Heather Ellis that I found here in her online store. I colored her with Copics, added some glaze on the frosting with a Sakura Aqua Lip pen, and white dots on her dress with a Sharpie poster paint pen.

I layered the image on a Cuttlebugged birthday background that was sanded to show the white core. And although you can't see it, the little pearls are Glitter Domes given to me by my sweet niece. Thanks, Heather!

Don't you love that huge cupcake? I'll be sending this to a little sweetheart who'll be turning 2 in a few days.


Stamps: Digistampcharacters by Heather Ellis
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Bazzill 
Other: Copics, Nestabilities Labels Eight, Cuttlebug birthday folder,
Sharpie poster paint pen, Aqua Lip clear glaze pen by Sakura,
Glitter Domes, sheer ribbon, pop dots

Happy 4th!

I had this idea brewing for several days and finally finished this card this morning. Asked my hubby what he thought it was and I was so happy when he said "Fireworks"!

I white embossed the Row of Houses and various flowers from the Buds & Stems set and ink distressed with Chipped Sapphire distress ink. I added some white dots with the Sharpie poster paint pen and added a red ribbon to finish off the patriotic theme.

Hope you all have a safe and Happy 4th of July!

Stamps: Hero Arts
Cardstock: Neenah Solar White
Ink: Versamark, Chipped Sapphire distress ink
Other: White embossing powder, Sharpie poster paint pen,
Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, pop dots, ribbon

Got washi?

Hello and Happy Friday! I survived my first stamp preview/release/blog hop with Team Anya and it was so much fun! Thanks to those of you who stopped and hopped and left such sweet comments for me and my cards.

I hope you got to shop, too! Two new Creepers and Oliver and Amelia are now in the Greeting Farm store. And I saw Creeper Jack in the digi section, along with a few new Critters and Chibis!

Know what else is in the store?

Washi tape! This exciting product from Japan is a hot new trend in the papermaking world. You can do so much with it--even pull it off and reposition and retape without losing the stickiness. Pretty amazing stuff!

Here's a card that I made using the Brown Coffret washi tape set (which just sold out!) along with Creeper Wednesday. You can easily tear the tape, but I chose to trim it and lay it haphazardly behind Wednesday.

I even stamped the sentiment on it. How cool is that?

I hope you'll give washi tape a try. It comes in so many yummy colors and it's in the Greeting Farm store and moving fast!


Thanks, always, for visiting my blog. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Release Day & Blog Hop!

Hello there friends! Well, we've made it through a week of AMAZING previews and what better way to kick off RELEASE DAY than with a BLOG HOP? Sounds good? We thought so!

Thanks for sticking with us and today we are definitely making it worth your while! Not ONLY can you shop til' you drop RIGHT NOW at the TGF store, Team Anya has a special Design Team Blog Hop, and ONE LUCKY WINNER will take home ALL THREE Rubber releases! That's Creeper Monday, Creeper Wednesday, and the Oliver/Amelia "Journey" set.

I used sweet Oliver on my easel card and colored him with Copics. See the texture on his hat? My pal Kelly taught me how to texturize using the colorless blender. Thanks, Kelly!

And I couldn't resist putting some dots on his little hobo bag with my Sharpie poster paint pen.  Isn't he the cutest little traveler?

Be sure to start at the beginning at the Club Anya & Friends blog and continue on the hop. Here's the order in case you get lost:

• Club Anya & Friends blog
• Donna -- you are here!
• Pam
• Kim
• Traci
• Amy
• Kelly
• Jessica
• Club Anya & Friends blog

Leave a comment along the way and at the very end to say that you finished the hop. Remember, one lucky commenter will receive all 3 new rubber releases! Good luck and happy hopping!

ETA: The lucky winner of the new release is Barbara DeBose. Congrats, Barbara!