Friendship's Garden

Challenge 10 - Pinterest Photo Inspiration Challenge!

2012-02-22T04:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome back! First I want to congratulate the winner of our blog hop with Design on Cloud 9! I used Random.org and they gave me number 4 and that is ... our good friend Hazel!!! Congratulations Hazel, if you will email me at friendshipsgarden (at) yahoo (dot) com, I'll arrange for you to get your gift code!

We had some amazing projects this week, but I am running behind this week, so we will announce the top three and winner of the Altered Angel $10.00 gift certificate on Thursday, so please come back for that announcement.

Now on to our challenge number TEN!!! It's a Pinterest Photo Inspiration challenge. You should make a project using the picture and the attached colors for your inspiration. And the twist ... the theme is "Happy Birthday"!!! Here is the image . . .

Don't forget that your card needs to fit the challenge, and the focus of your card can NOT be a stamped image. Please read our rules in the right hand column if you aren't sure! Now on to some great examples of what can be done with this challenge.

As always we will choose our top 3 and a winner for the $10.00 gift certificate from our wonderful sponsor, Altered Angel

.

We are very fortunate to have two guest designers for this challenge! First up is Peggy Marsh ...

"Helloeveryone! I’m really thrilled to be the guest designer at Friendships Gardenfor the Birthday challenge this week and I hope you like my creation. Here’s alittle about me…

I’ma Mom to two grown sons and a ‘PAM’ (Proud Army Mom) to boot. Not only have Ilived in eight different states, I’ve satisfied my wanderlust needs with a bitof traveling throughout the world and I have my sights set on so many moreplaces to explore.

Sincemy childhood, when I first picked up knitting needles, I have been doing somesort of craft. When I’m not in my craft grotto making cards, you would find meknitting away while watching the food channels. There’s always a portableproject in my purse should I get delayed in an airport or doctor’s office. I’malways up for the challenge to make something new whether it’s a card, handmadesocks and sweaters, or to try my culinary skills at a new cuisine. It’s been mygoal since my early adult life to learn something new each and every day -- notby chance, but intentionally. Having the opportunity to share what I’ve learnedbrings me so much satisfaction.

So,why the “Wired Angel”? If you saw me after a bit too much coffee you wouldunderstand, but those days are long behind me. ‘Sending good wishes to you fora fantastic and creative day – I hope that you learn something new each day aswell."

Thank you, Peggy! And here is Peggy's card for the challenge, it's a cutie that she made with a digital image ...

Our second guest designer today is Inka ...

My name is Inka and I live in Poland, I am an instructor and a great fan of decoupage techniques, this is my work and hobbies .. so I'm lucky that I do what I like most. I was also fascinated with scrapbooking -this technique is becoming increasingly popular in our country! Paper, the smell and texture are always exciting for me, I love it!

My favorite flavors are vintage and I like the color blue so it was not easy to do but that's why I love these challenges! I want to show you my interpretation of the images and I'm very curious how you use the power of colors (we still have a white winter). Have fun with colors that are in the picture-this is our job to do. I hope that you will have just as much fun as I did when creating this card. Greetings!

Thank you, Inka! And here is her card based on the challenge ... it's so pretty I thought it deserved two views ...

And now for the Garden Girls' projects for this week ...


Jamie

Sam's Tag

Sharon

Becky

Carolyn

Chana

Ciska

Dena

Erin

Aren't those some cute example cards??? We have the BEST design team around, but then I am prejudiced! So, please join us for this challenge! You have until midnight EST on Sunday March 4th to get it linked up here below. And don't forget to come back on Thursday to see who made top three and won the $10.00 gift certificate from Altered Angel. Have a great week! Becky

(Special note ... this is a card making challenge, however we will accept tags. We do not accept scrapbook layouts! If a scrapbooking layout is entered, they will not be eligible for the Altered Angel prize or top 3. Thank you!)

Designer Spotlight - Sam Pirkle - Making Rosettes

2012-02-15T04:00:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone... Sam here for Bonus Week! I'm here to host the first 'Designer Spotlight' at Friendship's Garden. Over the next couple of months, each member of the design team will be spotlighted on a bonus week blog post. I want to start by telling you about what inspires and causes me to be so crafty.

Since paper crafting involves taking a lot of pictures I can't think of a better way to tell my story than with a few pictures.

This is what I get to see every morning.

Buddy and Paris

This is my husband Tony.

Me at a fly-in in Wisconsin

Little Buddy and Tony

I live in Mobile, Alabama and my husband and I have been married for 25 years and have two grown children. The only thing that keeps us at home is our animals. The only reason we go to work is to fund our many obsessions (hobbies) I started with scrapbooking about 20 yrs ago when my kids were little and I was a stay at home mom. But now if you stop by my blog I could be doing cards, pages, mixed media, DIY storage idea, refinishing furniture. Yep, I like to do it all. Since our life is kind of quiet without the kids home my little dogs have to be my subject A LOT but they don't mind. I have even started scrapbooking for other people just to "Get my Fix"

So enough about me I want to share one of my favorite things to make with my Martha Stewart score board. Everybody knows it is used to score and make cards but have you ever made a paper rosette with it? Well, if not I'm going to walk you through it step by step.

Supply list:

Solid or Pattern paper cut at 3/4" or 1" strips. I like to use double sided paper. If you want to use a scalloped punch on the edges I suggest you do that before you cut the strip.
Tip- 1" strips will make a 2" rosette. A 1/2" strip will make a 1" rosette.
Punched circles or punched flowers to glue your rosette onto.
Martha Stewart score board and bone folder.
Fast drying glue- I use Glossy Accents

Step 1- Take your strips and score them every 1/4"

Step 2- Fold paper back and forth and then secure the end to each other with Glossy Accents. .

Step 3- Take your small punched circles and put a little puddle of glue.

Step 4- Now gather your crimped paper together really tight at the top and over the circle with the glue.

Step 5- Now the tricky part. While keeping the top together and getting the bottom to spread you push it down and stick it to the glue. Hold your finger on it for a few minutes to let the glue start drying.

Then get something to sit on top of your Rosette till it completely dries.

Now you're ready to decorate it anyway you see fit.

Here are the ones I made and some I had in my stash.


I layered rosettes to make this card

The purple rosette has the flower behind it.

The yellow one I made and cut the edges with my scissors. Then I used two foil cupcake liners to make the middle and attached fuzzy balls.

Rosettes are so versatile you can use them anywhere.I like to make them ahead of time so that I will have them on hand just like any other embellishment. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to join us next week for another great challenge and prizes. Sam

*************************

Thank you so much, Sam, for putting together this great tutorial! As she said, we will be back next week with a new Pinterest photo inspiration challenge, and then 2 weeks from today, we will have another Designer Spotlight featuring Ciska. Also, you have until midnight EST on Sunday night to get your projects in for this week's challenge. Thanks for coming by! Becky

Friendship's Garden Challenge # 9 and It's A Love Thing Blog Hop

2012-02-08T04:00:00.000-05:00

Hello Friends! Welcome to challenge NINE (9) and our second quarterly blog hop sponsored by Designs on Cloud Nine! We're calling it the ...

blog hop! This is going to be a long post, so let's get started first with our winners of top 3 and the prize from Altered Angel!

The Top 3 are ...

Heidi

Liva Kalnina

Inka

And the winner of the $10 gift certificate from Altered Angel is ...

Francine

Congratulations ladies! The top 3 are welcome to take our award button from the left hand column and share it on your blogs! Francine, will you please email me at friendshipsgarden (at) yahoo (dot) com to arrange for your gift certificate? Thanks!

Next, on to this week's challenge! Love is the theme, and your project must have at least 3 embellishments on your card! (Buttons, ribbon, lace, trim, bling, brads, die cuts, chipboard, etc.) As usual, you should make a project based on the theme and link it up to us below. The usual rules apply (see list in right hand column) and we will choose the top 3 and winner of the gift certificate from Altered Angel via vote by the Garden Girls. Remember that your focal image can NOT be a stamped image!

Now for the blog hop info ... Michelle at Designs on Cloud 9 was very generous and gave the Garden Girls a free file for us to work with, and if you win this blog hop, you could buy it for your very own with the $20 gift certificate to the Designs on Cloud 9 online shop!!!

Here are the rules, and you must follow this order:

First, become a follower of this blog (if you haven't already). Leave us a comment saying you have done this.

Second, please go become a fan of Friendship's Garden on Facebook. Leave us a comment here saying you have done this.

Next, go visit the Designs on Cloud 9 shop and pick out your favorite file and come back here and leave a comment telling us which file is your favorite!

Then go 'like' Designs on Cloud 9 on Facebook, then come back here and leave a separate comment that you've done that.

Next you must visit each of the Garden Girls blogs and leave a comment. Some of the Garden Girls are offering their own giveaway, so leaving a comment there gives you an extra chance to win a prize! They will tell you all about that on their blog post. Come back here and tell us that you have left a comment for all of the Garden Girls. (Note: Erin has just moved and started a new job this week, and we gave her this week 'off' so she hasn't made a card for this challenge. BUT you still have to go leave her a comment to qualify for the fifth chance!)

That gives you five (5) chances to win the gift certificate from Designs on Cloud 9!!! If you only do one, you get one chance, if you do 3 you get 3 chances, and so on. The winner for the $20 Designs on Cloud 9 gift certificate will by chosen via a random number generator from the comments received on this blog.

Now, here are the inspiration projects from the Garden Girls. You may click on their name under their projects and be taken directly to their blog. Sharon is first, and she will link you to the next person in line, who is Sam, and she will link you to the next in line, and so on until you get to my blog, and I will link you back here to our blog. Here are the inspiration projects made using the Bee Mine files from Designs on Cloud 9 ...

Sharon

Sam (Cute candy bar cover!)

Welcome back! Thanks so much for participating in our blog hop! Whether you simply left us one comment, or all five, you still are entered in the drawing for the prize from Designs on Cloud 9. Now it's time for you to go make a project based on this week's challenge and link it up to us below. We are so grateful for each and every one of you! Blessings, Becky

No Bonus Week, and Special Things To Come!

2012-02-01T06:04:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone! Just a quick post to let you know that we will not have a bonus week post this week. We are all just too busy getting ready for our Challenge #9 coming up next week ... and it's a biggie! Not only will we have our regular challenge with a prize from Altered Angel, we will also be having a big 'It's A Love Thing' blog hop, sponsored by our friends at Designs on Cloud 9!!! It's going to be lots of fun, and we sure hope you will be here next Wednesday, February 8th to join us!

As a note, you still have through midnight, Sunday February 5th to make a card and get it entered for the current challenge!

Thanks so much for being a part of our little garden! Blessings, Becky

PS ... here's a little sneak peek of what you might see next week on the Garden Girl's projects ...

Challenge Eight - A Sketch Challenge

2012-01-25T03:59:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone!!! Welcome back for our eighth challenge! Thanks so much to all of you who participated in challenge seven! There sure were some beautiful cards and deciding on the top 3 wasn't easy, but we did it! The Top Three are ...

Inka

AJ's Scrapbooking

SusanLotus

Our top pick was Inka, so she will get to be our guest designer for an upcoming challenge. As she is not in the US, she is not eligible for the $10 gift certificate from our wonderful sponsor Altered angel, but we do look forward to her helping us out as a guest designer.

And, since Inka will not receive the gift certificate, then it will go to the next person in line, and that is AJ!

Will both of you ladies please email me at friendshipsgardenchallenge (at) yahoo (dot) com at your earliest convenience so we can make arrangement for Inka's guest DT spot, and AJ's gift certificate.

And now, on to our new challenge! This week we have a sketch challenge with a theme. Your card must be based on the sketch, but does not have to be 'exactly' like the sketch. You can flip it, rotate it, whatever you like, just as long as we can 'see' the sketch in your card. Oh, and the theme is a 'love' or Valentines Day theme. Here is the sketch ...

And this week we have a wonderful guest designer! Our good friend, Hazel, who won our first ever 'Friendship Award' a couple of weeks ago is with us again as a guest designer. Here is a little bit about Hazel ...

"Foras long as I can remember, I have been interested in crafting of some sort oranother, hence the name Craftyhazelnut! As a child I was often ill and offschool, so my time was often taken up with some form of crafting – embroidery,knitting, sketching and anything that involved cutting and sticking.

As an adult, for a few years, with work commitments,etc., crafty things fell into the background a bit, but until fairly recently Ialways had some knitting, crocheting orcross stitching on the go.

Cross stitching is how I got into cardmaking, then I startedto produce cards on the computer and then papercrafting itself about twelveyears ago, mainly cardmaking, but I also do some scrapbooking, altering etc.

About 18 years ago, I early retired from teachingbecause of ill-health and have now reached senior citizen status. Crafting issuch a good way of relaxing and trying to forget about the aches and pains! Ifind that entering challenges keeps me up to date with trying new things thatperhaps I wouldn’t otherwise try. I sell cards to raise money for charities –this includes Christmas cards, so I need to make a lot throughout the year,which is why I started my own Christmas challenge blog."

And here is Hazel's card for this challenge ...

Thank you so much, Hazel for being such a great friend and loyal supporter of Friendship's Garden!

And now on to the project examples by our Garden Girls ...


Carolyn

Chana

Ciska

Dena

Erin

Jamie

Sam

Sharon

Becky

Please go visit all the girls blogs and leave them some love ... you can find a link to all the blogs in the right hand column.

So, there you have it! A sketch, a theme of love or Valentines, and the usual rules: No stamped images! The rest of the rules are also in the right hand column. You have until midnight EST on Sunday, February 5th to link up your project below. Thanks for joining us!!! Blessings, Becky

Bonus Week ... Where Do You Find Inspiration?

2012-01-18T04:00:00.000-05:00

Hi there! It's bonus week, and that means that we can do pretty much anything we want to! Some bonus weeks we may have a smaller challenge, other weeks we may have a tutorial, and coming up in a few weeks, our bonus weeks will be featuring our designers, one at a time in our 'Designer Spotlight'. So be on the lookout for that!

But this week I've decided to ask you a question, and that question is ... where do you find inspiration for your card making and paper crafting??? Is there a gallery or website where you find inspiration, a blog, or some other place where you go to get ideas and get a little jump start of your creative juices? I asked the Garden Girls this question, and here are some of the answers ...

Erin ... " My inspiration is Mou Saha. I absolutely love her work, and best of all, she makes me feel like I can make things like she does! She's so experienced in the crafting world, but is completely down to earth at the same time (and even personally answers your emails! I know from experience!)."

Dena ... "I met Audrey on a scrapbooking website, and I immediately fell in love with her style. She always uses the cutest images, and her cards are always so well put together without seeming overly done or needing anything more. Her cards renewed my interested in card making after a very long break from papercrafting. I always enjoy seeing Audrey's latest creations, and they never disappoint!"

Carolyn ... "My favorite inspiration is Beatriz Jennings"

Sam ... "Mine would be Chriss and Lou... One of my favorite stops in the evening while I'm scanning the web. They always have the latest and cutest of all card makers."

Jamie ... "Definitely a hard question! I pick up inspiration from a lot of random places, but if I had to pick one (or TWO!) I'd pick these two fantastic sisters-- Gini Cagle and Lori Leng-- They are both amazing and I love how varied their creations are, they don't just stick with one set of colors or one style, etc. Plus I worked with them both on a previous DT and they are sweet ladies, always willing to share ideas and give compliments."

Ciska ... "For me, it's Kath."

Becky ... Well, that's me, and I have TONS of places where I go to find inspiration, but one person who's blog I always visit is Cherry Nelson of Cherry's Jubilee. I love how she used color and layering and texture, and has such a romantic style!

But I also have a huge list of people that I visit on a regular basis for inspiration. A few years ago I had probably 3 times as many, but when my dad was sick and I just didn't have time for visiting all those blogs, I deleted every single one! A few weeks ago I created a new blog, just for listing my favorite inspiring people, and started trying to re-build the blog list. I would love it if you would visit it AND the people you will find there. The blog links are in the right column, and a list of pub calls that I know about are in the left hand column.

Now, we want to know where you go for inspiration! If you have a favorite blog or website where you find inspiration, please leave a comment and share it with us so we can check them out, too.

If you haven't entered a project for Challenge Seven, you still have through Sunday night to do so! You can find all the info by following this link. Thanks so much for visiting us today, and don't forget to leave a comment and share with us your favorite place for card making inspiration! Blessings, Becky

Challenge Seven --- Clean and Simple

2012-01-11T04:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! Welcome back to Friendship's Garden, and our first official challenge of the new year. You know how everyone loves to clean up, reorganize, simplify their homes and lives at the start of a new year? Well, that's what we're going to do here this week! But more about that later ...

First I'd like to thank everyone who participated in our ATC challenge last week! Your projects were really great!

I also want to welcome our new crop of Garden Girls for their first official challenge. Please take a moment to visit their blogs and welcome them to Friendship's Garden.

Now, on to this week's challenge, but please don't forget this is a NON STAMPING blog, which means you can NOT use a stamped image as the main focus of your card! All projects must be new, and the publish date on your blog must be AFTER the date of this post. lso, if you are outside the US you can not win the prize from Altered Angel as they do not ship internationally, but you WILL still be asked to be a guest designer in a future challenge!

And just what is this week's challenge? Please make a card that is 'clean and simple' and spotlights a sentiment. Here are our design team's projects ...

Ciska

Erin

Sharon


Becky

Carolyn

Sam

Dena

Chana

Jamie

So now it's your turn! Get in there with all your supplies and make us a clean and simple card. We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Blessings, Becky

Happy New Year ... Bonus Week ... So Many Entries!!!

2012-01-04T04:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome Back! And Happy New Year! I hope every one of you had an amazing holiday season and wish you all an amazing 2012! It feels like it's been ages since I 'talked' with you, and I guess it has, but in those few short weeks, a lot has happened! For challenge #6 we had the most entries on any one challenge since we started back in October. Thank you to each and every one of you! You made our holidays even more special for stopping by and taking part in our little challenge!

But, one person truly amazed us with her 'prolific' creativity! And because of this one person we have created a new honorary award! It's called "The Friendship Award" and will be given from time to time so show our appreciation for them. And it includes an opportunity for a guest designer spot for an upcoming challenge! Here is the new award ...

Are you ready to find out who is getting the inaugural presentation of this award? Well, a few facts first! She entered THIS challenge a whopping 12 times! Yes, she was one busy crafter! And in those 12 entries, she submitted a total of 34 ... yes, that's 34 cards! And each and every one was as cute as a button! She had the Garden Girls checking the challenge inlinkz frequently to see what she had entered this time! And yes, we are talking about .....

HAZEL!!!

Hazel, you and your cards brought us much joy, and we really appreciate your enthusiasm and creativity so very much! Thank you for your participation ... we are truly blessed to call you friend, and give you our very first Friendship Award!!! Please email me at friendshipsgarden (at) yahoo (dot) com so we can talk about your guest designer spot! (OH! And you can also save a copy of the image award and post it on your blog to tell everyone about your award!)

Now on to the winners of the Top 3 Award ... it wasn't an easy choice, but the garden girls picked these three ...

Peggy M - The Wired Angel

Sylvia Blum

Vicki - Paper Squirrel

Ladies, you may take the image in our left hand column and share it on your blogs!

And the winner of the $10 gift certificate from our wonderful sponsor ...

is ...

Peggy M - The Wired Angel

Peggy, please email me at friendshipsgarden (at) yahoo (dot) com to arrange for your gift certificate and guest designer spot in a future challenge!

Now for our challenge! It's a 'bonus week', which means there is no prize, but there is a lot of fun! And this week is going to be more fun than ever, because we're doing something kind of different! This week it's time to ...

Make an ATC!!!

(aka Artists Trading Card)
With a vintage children's theme!

Artists Trading cards have been popular for a long time, and the styles and types are as varied as the 'artists' who make them! If you aren't familiar with them, the main 'rule' is that it must be the size of a playing card - 2 1/2" x 3 1/2". I've included some links where you can find out more about them HERE, HERE, and HERE.

So you have one week to make your ATC(s) and get them linked up here on our blog. As usual with 'bonus week' challenges, if you make one that just blows the Garden Girls away, we will feature you and possibly invite you to be guest designer on a future challenge.

And remember ... this is a NO STAMPING ZONE! You can use small stamped accents or a sentiment, but the main image or focus of your ATC's can not be stamped! If you use a digi-stamp, it must be pre-colored, and not one that you colored yourself.

How about some examples from our wonderful Garden Girls???


Ciska


Erin

Becky - check out her blog to see 3 more examples!

Dena

Sharon

Chana (love that image!)

Sam

Now, get busy and make some ATC's, they really are addictive to make so if you make more than one, that is fine, too!!!

Challenge Six!

2011-12-14T04:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome!!! This is our sixth challenge ... can you believe it! But before I share with you this week's challenge, I want to announce the top three and winner of the $10 gift certificate from Altered Angel and an opportunity to be a guest designer for a future challenge. The top three are ...

Nancy

Chana

Hazel

and the winner of the gift certificate and guest designer spot is ... NANCY! Congratulations, Nancy! Please email me at friendshipsgarden (at) yahoo (dot) com to make arrangements for getting your gift certificate and to make arrangements for your guest designer spot!

NOTE - Please Read: You all know that when I started this challenge, I had been on a couple of design teams before, but had never had to deal with all the administrative 'stuff' involved. A week or so ago it dawned on me ... does our wonderful, gracious and generous sponsor, Mary of Altered Angel ship internationally??? Why hadn't I thought of that before? Well, I had finally had the thought, so I contacted Mary and asked her that question. The answer is, no, she does not ship internationally as the costs are just too prohibitive.

Then the question was, what do we do? How do we handle this situation should a project that is entered was made by someone outside the US? I discussed this dilemma with a couple of our Senior Designers, and we decided that this is how we will handle things: If an international entry is our first place winner, they will still be our first place winner and get the opportunity to be a guest designer. The prize from Altered Angel will be given to the second place entrant. Should the second place entrant be international as well, then the prize will go to the third place entrant.

And now on to our challenge number six! This challenge is all up to you - kind of! The challenge is Anything Goes - but it must have a Christmas, New Year or winter theme. Please remember that the main focus of your project can NOT be a stamped image! Just use our theme, and make a card that shows us what you can do!

Because this is the Christmas holiday season, and because all the Garden Girls here at Friendships Garden have families and jobs and lots of activities going on right now, we are taking a few weeks off after this challenge! Our first challenge of 2012 will be a Bonus Week challenge on January 4th, and then our first true challenge will be on January 11th, and that's when you will get to see the new Junior Designers at work, too! That means, you have almost three weeks to make a project for this challenge. The challenge ends at midnight EST on Monday, January 2nd, 2012!

Now, we have a very special guest designer this week! Not only did she win the last challenge, but she applied for and won a spot on the new crop of Garden Girls! Please welcome Chana!

And here is her project based on this week's challenge ...

Isn't that just lovely! I love that image! Thank you so much, Chana for participating in Friendship's Garden, and we really look forward to having you as a part of our team in 2012!

And now for the projects from the Senior Garden Girls! First up is Dena's card. The traditional Santa image is just beautiful against the more contemporary, and non-traditional colors in the background. Great job, Dena!

Dena


Erin

Becky

Carolyn

Ciska

Aren't they beautiful! We have the best Design Team around! Okay, so now it's your turn! Let's see what you can come up with based on this week's challenge. Please link up your project below.

And have a wonderful Christmas season, and a bright and happy and blessed 2012!

A New 'Crop' of Garden Girls!!!

2011-12-07T18:02:00.001-05:00

I am delighted and overjoyed to announce to you the newest members of our design team, the Garden Girls ...

From Idaho/US - Jamie Cooper

From Georgia/US - Chana Harris

From Alabama/US - Sam Pirkle

From Australia - Sharon Rogers

These four ladies term starts with the first official challenge of 2012, and I am sure they will make a wonderful addition to the other members of the Garden Girls. I really look forward to seeing what they come up with for our future challenges. Welcome ladies!!!

I will do a formal post in a few days, introducing each of them to you with a photo and bio, but I know they will want to share this with their friends and family and that's why I'm announcing this way tonight.

Blessings, Becky

(Note - we are so excited to have been highlighted on ScrapChallenge.com's website today! Please pay them a visit and leave them a comment! Thanks, Becky)

Bonus Week - Tutorial by CherylAnn Robinson

2011-12-07T04:00:00.000-05:00

{This week's 'bonus week' project is a great tutorial from Garden Girl CherylAnn Robinson. I hope you enjoy the tutorial and learn something new. Thanks! Becky}

Hello everyone! I am glad you are visiting Friendship's Garden. Today we have a special bonus for you - a video tutorial explaining how to make tags or cards using adhesive metal sheets. These tags were created using this technique:

I am sure you will find this video interesting and informative. If you cannot find adhesive metal, you can glue thin metal sheets to a cardstock backing using a liquid adhesive for metal. Then you can follow the remaining steps to complete your projects.

I hope you enjoyed my video and I also hope you have learned a new technique to use in your card making and papercrafting . Thanks for stopping by! CherylAnn

Challenge 5 - Pinterest Photo Inspiration Challenge

2011-11-30T04:00:00.000-05:00

Please Note: Due to the busy Christmas holiday season I have extended this challenge until midnight EST on December 12th. I hope this extra time will encourage you to make a project to submit for this week's challenge! Thanks, Becky

Hi everyone, and welcome back!!! I hope all of you here in the US had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I have a lot of ground to cover in this post, so let me start first by reminding you about our open DT call! I have extended the call until midnight EST on 12/6, so you have plenty of time to get your application in! You can find all the info HERE!

Next I want to share with you the winners of the last challenge! Winners are ...

3rd is KIM

2nd is SAM

1st is CHANA

Congratulations to all of you! You can all take the button from our left hand column, and Chana, I will be contacting you soon about your Altered Angel prize and guest designer spot!

Now it is time for challenge number FIVE!!! And this time we are doing something kind of different! I have been scouring Pinterest for inspiration photos, and found a great photo for a great Christmas inspiration! The idea of this challenge is to use the photo as your inspiration, and use the colors (shown to right of photo) from the photo in your project. Here is the Pinterest inspiration photo for this challenge ...

You can use the star or the stocking, you can do a snowflake or some felt holly leaves, you can make it any way you want, but we have to see the inspiration photo someway, somehow in your project! If you find any of this confusing, feel free to email me at friendshipsgarden (at) yahoo (dot) com and I'll help any way I can. If you are a fan of ours on Facebook, you can ask questions there as well.

We have a special guest designer this week! Her name is Sharon Rogers, and she is the last of the people who applied for our first DT call. She took this challenge and really made it her own and I just LOVE what she did with it! Let's meet Sharon ...

Hi Everyone! I live in South Australia and have been crafting for along time and several years ago I ran my own Wedding Invitation business –hence my love of beautiful papers! I love to make anything and everythingincluding cards, tags, ATC’s, construction type items and I love tocreate with fabric as well. One of my favorite styles of creations is vintageand collage but I also create cute and modern as well. I love embellishments,die cuts and embossing folders and of course I have far too much paper andcrafting bits and pieces in my cupboard! Thank you to Friendship’s Gardenfor inviting me to be a Guest Designer for this great color inspirationchallenge!! Christmas is Coming!!!

And here are Sharon's 'projects' ... yes, she made three projects based on this challenge ...

Don't you just love these gift boxes??? I keep trying to pick a favorite, and each one is a favorite for different reasons! They are gorgeous, and thank you so much, Sharon, for your participation and support of Friendship's Garden!

Now for the Garden Girls projects for this week! They have outdone themselves, and I am sure they would appreciate it if you would go and show them some love on their blogs!

I wanted to share CherylAnn's project first, because it is just so creative and fun! She used die cut holly leaves and tiny red buttons for berries to make a wreath surrounding a plastic congtainer filled with little red candies! What a 'sweet' way to send a holiday greeting!

So now it's your turn!!! We would love to see your cards, tags, etc. showcasing your take the Pinterest photo above! Just click on the link below to link us up to your blog! Just remember that we are a NON-stamping challenge, so stamps are only accepted for sentiments or smaller accents and can not be used for the main focus of your card. You can use printed images, digis, vintage images, photos, die cuts or any thing else you want, but you just can't use a stamped, colored image.

Blessings, Becky and the Garden Girls!

Garden Girls Design Team Call ... Part Two!

2011-11-29T00:00:00.000-05:00

THIS DESIGN TEAM CALL HAS ENDED! WINNERS WILL BE NOTIFIED AND THE NEW TEAM MEMBERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. THANKS SO MUCH!!!

NOTE: Since one of the DT Call lists I submitted this call on did not post it on their list until today (11/29), I am going to extend the call for another week, so applications are due by midnight EST on 12/6!

*This post to remain at top until call has ended - thanks!
** If you are looking for our 11/16 challenge, please click here!

Yes, I said Design Team call!!! And no, none of the current team of Garden Girls are leaving, but when their term ends at the end of March, I don't want it to be a whole new team, so I want to do alternating terms. What that means is that each term is 6 months, but part of the team will be chosen 3 months apart so that we always have some familiar faces here. This time I will be choosing 3 or 4 new Garden Girls for a 6 month term beginning on January 1, 2012. Here is what our team of Garden Girls is all about ...

The 'Friendship' part: A willingness to join in and participate in the team - that is very important to us - this is not just about making cards, although that is a big part of it. The six of us in the first group of Garden Girls have really enjoyed getting to know each other, supporting and encouraging each other, and we want that from new team members, too.

Please remember: This is a NON STAMPING challenge!

Please remember: This is for cards, tags, etc. Not scrapbooking layouts.

Social Media: You must be on facebook, or if you aren't, be willing to set up an account for yourself. It can be your real name or an alias, just as long as you are willing to become friends with the Garden Girls and participate in our private group on Facebook. If you are active on Twitter ... that's great, because we could use someone who loves to tweet about our group's activities, but it is not required.

The Garden Party Blog: In addition to our group page on Facebook, we have a blog (blogger) where all challenges are posted, and where you post your projects for each challenge. It is our 'home base'.

Your blog: You are responsible for publishing a post for each challenge, scheduling it for around 4:00 am on the morning of the challenge.

Projects: You will be responsible for a minimum of two and a maximum of 4 projects per month. Right now we are averaging three per month. Projects are to be posted don the Garden Party Blog by end of day the Monday before each challenge. Also, we do things a little different here at Friendship's Garden. We have two main challenges per month and can include a sketch, a theme, a recipe, a Pinterest color inspiration photo, or any other type of challenge. There is a prize for the winner, and a top 3 award for the top 3 projects entered into each of the two challenges. But we have 'Bonus Weeks' where we do things like tutorials, something different like tags or ATC's, or even a week off!

Comments: It is imperative that you leave comments for EVERY entry whenever possible! Should we ever get to the point where there are just too many entries, we will divide them up among us, but for now, each DT member leaves comments for every entry for every challenge.

Choosing winners: For each of the two monthly main challenges, the team members are responsible for giving their picks for the top three. As team leader, I will compile the numbers and tabulate the three with the highest scores. Top 3 gets a button for their blog, and the top scorer of the 3 will win a gift certificate from Altered Angel and an opportunity to be guest designer for a main challenge. For the 'Bonus' challenges, we don't do prizes, however if one project is just amazing and blows us away, we may ask the creator to be a guest designer for another project in future.

Extras: In addition to our regular sponsor, Altered Angel, we also have another sponsor, Designs on Cloud 9, who does hand drawn cuttable files for paper piecing or use as digital images. We will be having a quarterly blog hop with prize(s) from Design on Cloud 9, and some times Michelle will provide free samples for the design team. Our next blog hop is in February.

Who am I? I am Becky Garrison, and I started an adventure a while back to start a new and different challenge. I have been so very excited and proud of the response we have had thus far, and i really believe we can only go up from here! I live in Georgia, USA. I am married, retired, and love paper crafting with a passion! I am the 'lead' Garden Girl and a permanent DT member. I do almost all of the posts on our main blog, and set all of the challenges. I am your fearless leader, staunchest supporter, and hopefully your biggest encourager.

I think that is all, but if you have any questions, please email me at friendshipsgarden (at) yahoo (dot) com.

So, are you ready to apply for a six month term as a Garden Girl??? GREAT! Here is what I need from you:

Send an email to friendshipsgarden(at)yahoo(dot)com with the following information:
Your name
Where you live (city, state, country)
Why you want to join our team
Why you love paper crafting
Tell me something about you that would make me want to get to know you beyond paper crafting
Any previous or current DT experience, awards, publishings you are proud of
A link to your blog and any galleries in which you participate.
Are you on Facebook and/or Twitter? Please share links to your page.
Do you do tutorials? Either photo step by steps or video?
How did you learn about this DT Call?
Pictures of three projects that will show me your style(s). This is your chance to blow me away!

So, what are you waiting for??? I can't wait to hear from you! I have scheduled this call for right now because I will be out of town for a while (a 10 day camping trip), and that will give you all a chance to apply and I won't have easy access to the internet so I won't be able to obsess over applications (yeah, I did that last time - a little - okay, a lot!). Call ends on December 1st at midndight EST. The new team will be announced within a week after that, and the term begins on January 1st, 2012.

Good Luck!!! Becky

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T04:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Friendship's Garden! We normally have a bonus challenge or some other special information for you on our 'Bonus' week, but as tomorrow is the Thanksgiving holiday here in the states I wanted to give the Design Team a break so they can spend extra time with their families. So instead of a paper crafting challenge, my challenge to them was to come up with a brief paragraph about something for which they are thankful. Here is what our Garden Girls had to say ...

Carolyn said...
"I am so very thankful for our US Military. My husband is in the Air Force and has deployed twice in the last 2 years in the name of "freedom". Now I never thought I would say this but I am grateful for all the military does for us as a family and nation. We have health insurance, a steady paycheck, a tight knit community and a sense of belonging. We also have a huge sense of patriotism. I am proud to stand at a ball game or during a parade when the national anthem is played. That song represents a free country full of free thinking and actions. For this I will always thank the military of today and ages past for those freedoms. The US Military is in one word, FREEDOM."

Ciska said...
"There are so many things I am very thankful for: I have a very loving husband, all our parents are in good health (and so are we), we both have steady jobs in a time where that really isn't a given, we have just bought a house, my fantastic friends, my lovely DT and blog buddies and the joy I get from crafting, baking and cooking! I really feel incredibly blessed :)"

Dena said...
"Where do I begin? I have much to be thankful for even though I could sit here and rattle off a list of things that haven't gone my way in the past year. Despite life's bumps in the roads, I am so very fortunate to have what I have: a loving caring boyfriend who provides for all of us, two beautiful daughters, wonderful family and friends, a beautiful home, and my health. I just thank God for providing me and my family with food and shelter every day. It may sound a bit cheesy to some, but I truly am grateful for God's provisions!"

Becky said...
"The last few years have been really tough for us. My husband works in the steel/construction industry, and it has been really bad in our area. In two years we lost about 25% of our income, and that really hurt! So this year I am most grateful that business is picking up, and my husband is getting to work some overtime to help make up some of the difference in his income. Things aren't great yet, but so much better than they were this time last year! This time of year always brings to mind a song we sang every Sunday in church when I was growing up, the Doxology: "Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise Him all creatures here below, Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts, Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost." Have a wonderful, safe, and grateful Thanksgiving!"

Erin said...
"I really do have so much to be thankful for in my life. God has blessed me in so many ways. More than anything, I have been truly blessed with a wonderful husband. Not only have we been blessed with two amazing children, but he is supportive of me in every way possible. He stays at home with the kids while I work, and he puts up with my obsession with crafting and creating. He not only puts up with it, but he encourages me 100%. They say that behind every good man is a great wife, but I really believe that the reason I'm able to be who I am today is because of him being such a great husband, father, and man of God."

CherylAnn said...
"I am thankful for so many wonderful things. As we grow older, my husband and I grow closer and closer. I have two loving and wonderful children. My grandsons are the prides of my life and I am so grateful that they live close to me. My mother is in relatively good health. But most of all, this year I am so thankful that my brother, who has been estranged for many years has decided to rejoin our lives. Thanks to a mutual friend and social media, we have been able to reopen the lines of communication with him. While he was "missing", there was a very large hole in my life. Now, even though we have not been together in person, we can talk and video chat. Family is so important and now ours is intact again. For that, I am thankful every day."

And as leader of this challenge blog and Design Team, I want to add a big - HUGE - word of thanks to each of the Garden Girls for all their dedication, commitment and hard work they do as a member of this team. When I started this journey, little did I know how special each of them would become to me. I also thank you, our readers and participants, for your support and enthusiasm for this new challenge. I am blessed beyond measure, and each of you is a part of this challenge's success. So thank you all, from the bottom of my heart! -- Becky

Challenge # 4 - Thanksgiving

2011-11-16T04:00:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! Welcome to challenge number 4 here at Friendship's' Garden! This week, here in the United States, we are busy planning for our Thanksgiving Day. A day set aside for us to take time to spend with our family and friends and concentrate on our gratitude for the blessings we receive.

So, with that in mind, of course we are going to give this challenge the theme of . . .

Thanksgiving (or gratitude) Theme using this recipe: 1 Die Cut, 2 Patterned Papers, and 3 Trims (ribbon, lace, etc.)

Now, remember that we are a NON-stamping challenge, so stamps are only accepted for sentiments or smaller accents and can not be used for the main focus of your card. You can use printed images, digis, vintage images, photos, die cuts or any thing else you want, but you just can't use a stamped, colored image.

And you know what's next, right??? Of course, the Garden Girls beautiful projects! But first, we have two ... yes, two ... guest designers this week! First up is Ann, who applied for our DT and wasn't chosen, but she got a guest DT spot for applying. Let's meet her now ...

My name is Ann Tomaschik, I'm 25 and I've been married to my best friend for just over a year now and we live in Kennesaw, GA. I've been scrapbooking since 2004 and love the simple style I've found for myself. I recently got into card making and I've been loving it as well. I also enjoy Disney Parks and it's history and the Tampa Bay Rays. I really enjoyed creating this card. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of the challenge.

And then there is Jamie! She won one of our challenges a couple of weeks ago and won a guest DT spot. Here is Jamie ...

Hi! My name is Jamie Cooper and I am SO delighted to be joining Friendship's Garden as a Guest Designer this week. I am from Blackfoot, Idaho and was born, raised and am still living on a 4th generation potato farm being run by my husband David along with my sister and brother-in-law. Currently, I am lucky enough to be a stay-at-home mom with three busy kids: Carter (10), Lindsey (8) and Jace (4). They keep me going, remind me what's important in life and give me lots and lots of subjects for scrapbooking! When not busy with my kids, I love to read, shop, vacation and watch any kind of football. I, of course, also LOVE to scrapbook and generally do any kind of paper crafts. I have been scrapbooking for about 15 years, more seriously for the last 8 years. I sell cards and other paper crafts at local craft fairs. I am so honored to be a part of Friendship's Garden this week and to see all the great things they'll offer in the future.

And now for the projects from the Garden Girls Design Team ...

Carolyn

Erin

Becky

CherylAnn


And Dena's AMAZING card!

Aren't they wonderful? Now it's your turn! We would love to see what you come up with based on this week's challenge! And as an extra bonus (and since I'll be out of town) you will have TWO weeks to finish a project and get it linked in below!

Also - please visit the blogs of our guest designers and the Garden Girls and leave them a comment ... I am sure they would all love to hear from you! Blessings, Becky

Winners - Challenge Three

2011-11-11T10:51:00.001-05:00

I am so sorry that I am late getting the winners from Challenge Three posted! I know I promised to post them yesterday, but I had crafter's brain all day yesterday! (I'm sure you understand!) I just started making the cutest Christmas brooches from felt and Christmas mini ornaments, and that's pretty much all I did Wednesday afternoon and Thursday!

But I'm here now!!! And here are the top three ... well, actually the top four, because we had a tie for third place!

Janet M.

Irit

Nancy

Maria Matter

Congratulations to all of you! You can take our Top Three button from the left hand column and wear it proudly on your blog! Please don't forget to link the picture back to this blog!

And the winner of our prize from Altered Angel and a future guest designer spot is .....

Janet M.

Janet, we just L♥O♥V♥E♥D your fall card! It was cute and quirky and had lots of layering and texture and all the elements of a fun fall card! Thanks so much for playing with us, and for your enthusiasm and support of our new challenge! I have your email address, so I will be emailing you to discuss ANOTHER guest DT opportunity, and your gift certificate from Altered Angel!

Now, if you haven't already, we'd love for you to scroll down and play with us on our Bonus Challenge for this week! Blessings everyone! Becky and the Garden Girls!

Bonus Challenge Week!!!

2011-11-09T04:00:00.000-05:00

A special hello and big huge welcome to each and every one of you!!! We had an amazing week this past week with (as of time I'm writing this) 15 entries!!! Not bad for just our third challenge! We are most grateful for each and every one of you whether you just stop by or submit a project!

I've been gone ALL day today, and I don't have the winners of last week's challenge done yet, so please come back tomorrow - Thursday 11/10 - to find out who won the Top 3, Altered Angel gift certificate, and a guest designers spot!

I want to take a minute to remind you a few things about this challenge. The first is, please remember that this is a non-stamping challenge! You can have a stamped sentiment or small accent, but the primary focus of your card can not be a physically stamped image. You can use digis, photographs, clipart, hand drawn, die cuts, chipboard or any other elements, but it can NOT be a stamped (using stamp and ink, etc.) image!

Also, you can not back link to a project that was made before the date of our challenge! We've had several people submit projects that do not fit our challenge at all. That is fine, just know that if your project does not fit the challenge, you will not qualify for an award or the prize! The whole list of guidelines is over in the right hand column, so please read them before you submit a project.

But now the question is ... who's up for a bonus challenge??? Well, the design team really is, but before we look at the DT projects, let's find out what the challenge is ...

Make a card - any theme, any occasion - whatever you choose ... but you have to make it in less than 15 minutes!!!

When you post your project on your blog, if you can, we'd love to see a clock or timer showing how long it took you to make it. It's not a requirement, but we'd love to see!

Since this is a bonus challenge there is no prize, but if a card is incredible, amazing, and just blows us away, we might invite the creator to be a guest designer at a later date!

Now, let's look at the DT's projects!!!


CherylAnn's Card - isn't that gorgeous!


It took CherylAnn only 10 minutes and 40 seconds to make her card!


Dena's Card - I love that strawberry paper!

It took Dena 14 minutes 35 seconds!


Ciska's Card - She forgot to get a picture of her timer, but she's busy moving to her new home, so we'	ll forgive her!


Becky's Card


Becky's Timer - 13 min 10 seconds

Erin's Card - I love that big green bow!!!


Erin's Timer - Almost 13 minutes!

Aren't they great? Now it's your turn! Get busy making a card, and let us see your projects by linking back to your blog post below. And thanks again for visiting, for participating, and for telling your craft friends about us here at Friendship's Garden!!! Blessings, Becky and the Garden Girls!!!

Challenge Three --- Autumn Colors and Leaves

2011-11-02T03:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to Friendship's Garden Challenge number THREE! This last month has really flown by, and I think that is because of all the fun I've been having with the Garden Girls and the folks participating. Here is our challenge for this week ...

Autumn Leaves - must use leaves and typical autumn colors on your project! And don't forget, no stamped images as the main focus of your card!!!

That's easy enough, right? Well, I thought so until Garden Girl Dena reminded me they don't really have fall in Hawaii, at least not like we do here in Georgia. But she came through the challenge with flying colors ... fall colors! Here are the Design Team's inspiration projects ...

Dena

Ciska

Carolyn


CherylAnn

Becky

Erin

Aren't they great? I think every one is lovely and met the challenge right on! And we also have a guest designer this week! Rochelle applied for our Design Team but wasn't chosen, so she was offered a chance to be a guest designer and she jumped at the chance. Introducing, Rochelle Washington ...

Hi! My name is Rochelle Washington. I am an avid paper crafting enthusiast. I am married to Terence, my husband of five years. We have a two year old son, Picard and a cat named Nandi. We live in Lithia Springs, GA, a suburb just outside of Atlanta. When I am not working as an Admin., or completing assignments for school, I am crafting. I love challenge blogs and play along with different challenges weekly. I have won a few challenges as well! My other hobbies include, singing, writing and reading.

Isn't she the cutest thing? And here is her project based on the challenge ...

Lovely card, Rochelle! Thanks so much for joining us for this week's challenge!

Now it's your turn! We would love to see your project based on our theme. And remember, the top three projects will be featured in next week's reveal, and one will receive the chance to be a guest designer, AND win the $10 gift certificate from Altered Angel's online shop!

Don't forget to go visit the Garden Girls blogs and leave them some sweet comments before you leave! Blessings, Becky and the Garden Girls!

Bonus Challenge - Make a Tag!

2011-11-01T01:13:00.000-04:00

Welcome back to Friendship's Garden!!! It's our 'off' week, and that doesn't mean we're 'off' ... exactly! It means we just don't have a challenge every week, some times we'll have a tutorial or some other information. But we will have a challenge ... sometimes! And this week is one of those times!

Our challenge this week is to make a tag according to our theme and recipe:

The theme is Halloween

The recipe is 1 image, 2 rick rack (can be real, die cut, rub-on, felt, just so it looks like rick rack, and 3 bling.

Now we want you to blow us away with your tags! They can be any shape or size, but they must fit the theme and the recipe listed above! And if one of you really does blow us away with your creativitiy, you could receive a guest designer spot! But you really have to make it special so that we Garden Girls really, really love it!!!

And speaking of the Garden Girls, I'm sure they would love it if you would visit them and leave some love on their inspiration projects! Here they are ...

Carolyn

Becky

Erin

CherylAnn

Ciska

Dena

Aren't they great! Now it's your turn! Make your tag and link it up below so we can see what you came up with! Blessings, Becky and the Garden Girls!

Oh, I almost forgot! Please come back tomorrow (Thursday) to find out who got the top 3 for last week's challenge!

Challenge Two Winners!!!

2011-10-27T02:38:00.000-04:00

I'm so happy to share with you the winners of Challenge Two! But before I do, I want to also share a little change with you in regards to our prize and buttons. We have 'consolidated' the button down to one button that works for the top three. If you win top three, we would love it if you would take this button and place it on your blog with a link back to this blog. Everything else remains the same! The top 'one' wins a guest DT spot on an upcoming challenge here at Friendship's Garden, and the $10 gift certificate to our wonderful sponsor ...

Altered Angel

Based on a vote by all of the Garden Girls, here are the top 3 for the 'Vintage Halloween' challenge ...

# 3 goes to ...


Nancy

# 2 (and my personal favorite!) goes to ...

Susan

and # 1 - winner of a guest DT spot and the gift from Altered Angel is ...


Jamie

Congratulations to all of you, and especially to Jamie! Please take the button from our right hand column and place it on your blogs. Jamie, please email me at friendshipsgarden (at) yahoo (dot) com so that I can find out how to get your gift certificate code to you, and to arrange for your guest DT spot!

And for the rest of you, please come back next Wednesday for Challenge Three! Here's a sneaky peek of my (Becky) card for next week's challenge ...

Hope to see you here next week! Blessings, Becky and the Garden Girls

2011-10-22T15:00:00.005-04:00

Next Wednesday we are having a special bonus challenge here at Friendship's Garden. Here's a sneaky peek of my project for that challenge.

Any ideas as to what it may be??? And remember it's not always about theme or style, it could be something totally different!

Be sure to come visit us on Wednesday!!! Becky

Challenge Two - A Vintage Halloween!

2011-10-19T01:49:00.001-04:00

Hello and welcome back to Friendship's Garden!!! There's lots of ground to cover today, so let's get started!

This week's challenge is to make a halloween card with a vintage feel! Simple, right! But don't forget that you can not use a stamped image! That's a no-no here at Friendship's Garden! You can use stamped sentiments, or maybe a tiny accent stamp here or there, but the main focus of your card can not be a stamped image. You can use die cuts, vintage images from the internet or digital collage files, or any of the other dozens of types of images out there.

And once again, one person who enters their card into this challenge will win a guest designer spot, AND a $10.00 gift certificate to . . . .

Our wonderful regular sponsor, Altered Angel!!! Altered Angel is a real brick and mortar full service scrapbooking store in Alpharetta, Georgia, and my very favorite LSS! But they also have a very cool online shop that has some wonderful goodies for you to drool over, so please go pay them a visit!

We have two, count them, two guest designers this week, and we will have for the next several weeks. I promised a guest designer spot to the ladies who applied for our Garden Girls Design Team but weren't chosen, and we have several more of them to fill spots in the next few weeks.

So our first designer is Janet Miller . . .

A little bit about me, I started paper crafting and scrapbooking in some form years before I ever knew there was a specific name for it. I home schooled my youngest daughter so we could travel more and putting together her experiences for the year got me a good start.

I got really captured by it about 12 years ago and I enjoy it more as time goes on. I love recording the memories of the family with a story to go along with the picture. With the large family we have I never run out of material and ideas, 7 children and 12 grandchildren give me motivation and inspiration.

I am really honored to be the guest designer at Friendship Garden this session and look forward to many more great projects from this site.

And here is Janet's card for today's challenge . . .

Thank you so much, Janet! I love those felt jack o'lanterns, and look forward to seeing more work from you as time goes by!

Our second guest designer for this week is Sam Pirkle, and she was chosen for the bouquet award for her cute project for last week's challenge. Please welcome Sam:

A little about me. I live in Mobile, Alabama. I have been scrapbooking and crafting for over 20 years. I do work 40 hrs a week but since both my children are grown adults I get to work on crafty things everyday... WooHoo! My other hobbies include reading, working in my yard, making wood projects, and my greatest love is being a foster mom for dogs. I foster for Lauren's Zoo who rescues dogs from puppymills and high kill pounds. Such a rewarding job that doesn't pay anything but puppy kisses... Scrapbooking was my first obsession and cards came later when I realized that making cards was alot more fun then standing in the store trying to find the perfect card for that someone special...

And here is Sam's card based on this week's challenge . . .

Thanks so much for joining us Sam! And now on to what our regular Design Team, the 'Garden Girls' made to share with you for this week!

Carolyn


Ciska - Card Front

Ciska - Card Opened

Dena

Becky

Erin

CherylAnn

Thanks to all the Garden Girls - you all did a great job with this challenge!!!

Okay, before you leave, I wanted to let you know that next week - our 'off' week - isn't off at all because we'll have another challenge! I won't tell you what it is now, or that would spoil the fun, but please come back next Wednesday, October 26th to see what our special challenge will be!!!

So now, go get busy, make us some pretty cards, and enter them by clicking on the linky below!

The Winners!!!

2011-10-13T02:09:00.000-04:00

Thanks so much to each and every one of you who participated in our first ever challenge and blog hop!!! We had five entries and 18 comments, gained a bunch of followers and Facebook fans, and we are most grateful for each and every one!

Before I share the winners with you, I wanted to make sure one point about our challenge is clarified:

If you make a project to submit, it must NOT have a stamped image! That is the whole concept of this challenge, and that will remain the one thing that will definitely disqualify your entry from qualifying for awards or prizes! We'll let a lot of things slide, but having a stamped image as the focus of your card is not one of them!

Now that I've got that little point cleared up, on to the winners!!!

Winner of the Designs on Cloud 9 $20 gift certificate was chosen by the random number generator @ random.org, and it chose # 1 and that is ...

Janet M.!!!

Congratulations Janet! Please email me at friendshipsgarden(at)yahoo(dot)com to find out how to claim your prize!

Winners of the top three awards are:

Third Place, and winner of the Chrysanthemum award is ...

#5 - JEN!!!

Second Place, and winner of the Rose award is ...

#1 - JANET!!!

First Place, and winner of the $10 Altered Angel Gift Certificate, the Bouquet Award, and a Guest Designer spot is ...

#3 - SAM

Jen and Janet, please take your blog award from the left column and share them on your blog.

Sam, you may also take the Bouquet award from the left column, and email me at friendshipsgarden(at)yahoo(dot)com to find out how to claim your gift certificate and about your guest designer spot!

Thank you all (once again) for participating in our very first challenge and blog hop! We have a great challenge planned for next Wednesday, October 19th, so please come back then and play with us!

Blessings friends! Becky

First Challenge On The Books .....

2011-10-12T09:06:00.002-04:00

Welcome back to Friendship's Garden!!! The first challenge is now over, and entries or comments left from today on are no longer eligible for the prizes. We are in the process of choosing the three award winners for the entries, and I will draw the winner (via random # generator) later today. They will all be announced early tomorrow.

We do not have a challenge for this week, instead I wanted to share some places where you can find great vintage images to use on your projects. There are many ways to get images, including clip art software like Print Master, Print Shop and more. But then there are blogs and websites where the authors share their collections of images with us; here are some of my favorites:

Little Birdie Blessings - A sweet blog just full of lovely vintage post cards, photographs, advertisements and more.
Bumble Buttons - I just checked Bumble Buttons, and she has added some of the sweetest vintage Christmas images since last time I checked. I think you will love scanning through this blog!
Graphics Fairy - Probably the most well known image site, Graphics Fairy has a huge library of images, just waiting for you to use them!

Now, how do you use these images? Well, I save, sort, edit and print them using a free download called 'Picasa' from Google. You can't do PhotoShop type edits, but you can crop, straighten, edit out blemishes, add text, and more. And it's FREE! You can download Picasa by clicking on the link above.

I start a folder for each blog. For instance, I have a folder for Graphics Fairy, Bumble Buttons, etc. Then when I want to save one of the images from their blog, I right click on the image, scroll down and click on 'Save Image As', and save it to the appropriate folder. You could also choose to make folders for categories such as Florals, Patriotic, Children, Christmas, etc. It's all about what works for you.

For most of my cards or tags, I print the image at the wallet size, using the button that says 'shrink to fit' rather than 'crop to fit'. Cropping it will cause you not to get the whole image printed. For printing the images I use a card stock that I purchase at WalMart. It is from Georgia Pacific, and is 110 lb. weight. It is perfect for printing images, and is fairly reasonably priced. And I just use my ink jet printer - no fancy inks or printers.

I hope this info has helped you today! There are so many places on the web where you can find great vintage images that you can use on your cards and other crafting projects.

Now, PLEASE come back tomorrow morning to find out who won the Garden awards, the $10 gift certificate from Altered Angel, and the $20 gift certificate from Designs on Cloud 9!

Blessings friends! Becky and the Garden Girls!

Challenge One - New Beginnings!!!

2011-10-05T03:55:00.000-04:00

It's here!!! Aren't you excited? Well, I really am! I am Becky Garrison, and I am the founder and head gardener here at Friendship's Garden Challenge!!! For months now I have been obsessing over making the decision whether or not to actually start this challenge. And then once I did make the decision to move forward with the challenge, I've been busy searching for a design team and setting up challenges for the DT to have ahead of time, trying to get a sponsor, and all the fun stuff that comes with starting a new challenge blog!

Well, I found five amazing card designers and crafters, and I would love it if you would visit their blogs and say hello! You can read more about them on THIS POST and you can find their blogs listed in the right hand column.

I also found a permanent sponsor! Altered Angel is MY very favorite local scrapbooking store, but they also have an online store. They will be sponsoring a $10 gift certificiate to their online shop (or their store if you are local) that will be awarded to one person who participates in our bi-weekly challenges.

And we also have a one time sponsor for our blog hop! A one time $20 gift certificate to Designs on Cloud 9 hand drawn cuttable files!

Now, on to the challenge! As you may know, the main focus of this challenge is that your projects can NOT have a stamped image as the focus of the project! You can use digital images, photographs, die cuts, etc. ~ but no stamped images or digi stamps!!! If you use a stamped image, you will not be eligible for the $10 challenge sponsored gift, and your project will be deleted.

Today's challenge is ...

Here are the samples created by our Design Team ...

Carolyn's New Baby Girl Card

CherylAnn made a wedding card using a vintage wedding photo!

Erin's New Home Card!

Dena's card for a friend who is moving on to a new job - neat twist on our challenge!


Ciska's New Baby card - Love that image!!!

Becky's New Baby Card

Next Wednesday, October 12th we will announce the winner of the Altered Angel gift certificate (chosen by random number generator from projects entered), as well as the winners of the Bouquet, Rose and Chrysanthemum awards (chosen by The Garden Girls Design Team). The winner of the Bouquet award will also be featured as a guest designer on a future challenge.

And now the blog hop! Here is what you need to do:

visit all the DT blogs, leave a comment on each, then come back and leave a comment for one entry
visit Altered Angel website AND Design on Cloud 9 website, come back and leave another comment for a 2nd entry
'Like' our page on facebook, come back and leave another comment for a 3rd entry
become a follower, leave a comment for a 4th entry
submit a project, leave a comment for a 5th entry

This blog hop will run through noon EST on Tuesday October 11th. One name will be chosen from all of the comments via random number generator and will be announced on our Wednesday October 12th post.

Here is the order in which you should visit The Garden Girls Design Team members ...

1 - Dena Jones
2 - Ciska Reilly
3 - Carolyn LaBille
4 - Erin Bullock
5 - CherylAnn Robinson
6 - Becky Garrison
7 - Back here to the blog

Are you ready now? Then let's get started! Ready, Set, GO!!!

Meet Our Designers and Sponsors!

2011-10-04T16:03:00.002-04:00

We are only hours away from our first 'inaugural' challenge here at Friendship's Garden Challenge, so I thought it was time to properly introduce you to our Design Team!

Our Designers - The Garden Girls:

Erin Bullock from Ohio USA

Blog: Deeply Rooted Life

Hi there! My name is Erin, and I'm thrilled to have been selected for the Friendship's Garden Design Team! I'm 29 years old and I live with my hubby and two kids in North Central Ohio. I keep pretty busy by day: I work full time in Columbus as an Ultrasound Tech, take call (you know, carry around the pager and jump in the car when it starts it's little *BEEP*) most every weekend for a hospital not far from home. When I'm not decked out in scrub-attire, you can find me singing with the worship team at church, on stage with our local theatre group, teaching ballet to some cute little girlies, and crafting in my spare time! I began scrapbooking after my son was born three years ago and have found that time escapes me and stress rolls away while I'm elbow deep in cardstock and glue.

Dena Jones from Hawaii USA

Blog: The Unknown, Entertaining Mind of Miss Dena Jones

Aloha! My name is Dena Jones. I'm honored to be included on the very first design team here at the Friendship's Garden Challenge Blog. I enjoy papercrafting and have been dabbling in the craft off and on for about ten years. I started with rubberstamping and scrapbooking and now create a lot of cards and 3-D paper projects. I love using different techniques and often push myself to try new things. I just wish there were more days in the week to play! Papercrafting is my "me" time. Some women go shopping. I craft. LOL! I'm very fortunate to have a boyfriend who supports and encourages my hobby. We have a beautiful daughter who just turned one. I also have a teenager who will be fifteen soon. Right now, I am blessed to be a SAHM, but before that, I worked for twenty years in the real estate industry. I hope you all enjoy the projects I create here at the garden, and I am looking forward to getting to know all of you!

Carolyn LaBille from Illinois USA

Blog: Miss Petunia's Garden

I am so lucky to be a SAHM. I have been married to Todd for 11 years who was my very first "real" boyfriend (we met in college). He is a pilot in the USAF. We have one little boy named Jack who is 6 and a crazy, sweet and nutty english cocker spaniel named Holly. I've been paper crafting for 11 years. I make cards, totes and most anything crafty. I am a very messy crafter. Enter my work space at your own risk.

Ciska Reilly from The Netherlands

Blog: Crafty Card Crafts

Hi, my name is Ciska Reilly. I am 34 years old; I live in the south of the Netherlands , together with my husband and several fish. I started paper crafting in 2010 because I just wanted something to do that was both creative and productive. I was literally hooked from the start. In no time at all, I had a whole room full of crafty goodies, I'm sure you know how that goes! I have a special weakness for pretty designer paper (especially glittered or double-sided), the one thing I can never resist buying. I am really excited to be a DT member at Friendship's Garden, hope you like my creations!

CherylAnn Robinson from Canada

Blog: CherylAnn's Stamping Spot

I am a grandmother of two boys, 10 and 7 years and aunt to a set of 11 year old twins. For my "real" job, I am a commissioned sales person at Leon's Furniture. I have been crafting in one form or other forever. I teach scrapbooking and card making classes and am a Stampin Up! demonstrator. I am excited to be a part of the Friendship's Garden Design Team because I look forward to the challenge of making cards without stamped images!

Becky Garrison from Georgia USA

Founder and lead 'Garden Girl'

Blog: Camellia Cottage Designs

I am an 'almost 60' year old retired stay at home wife to my best friend and love, and mama to our two mini Dachshunds. My husband and I love camping, canoeing, and going on day trips around our beautiful northern Georgia as well as nearby North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama. Some of my earliest memories are of crafting! My mother taught me at a very early age to make paper dolls from the old Sears catalog models and furniture for them from my dad's uniform shirt cardboard. Today I do some sewing, crocheting, and various other crafts, but my heart and my passion is papercrafting! My craft of choice is making cards using vintage images

.
I started this challenge because many times I would enter lovely cards in various challenges, but because they did not include stamped images, they were either ignored or frowned upon. So I decided to start my own challenge where stamped images are not allowed. This is a big adventure for me, and I am so glad you are here to take it along with me! I am sure there will be some bumps in the road, but please hold on and stay along for the ride, because I think it will be worth your time!

Our Sponsors:

Altered Angel is my (Becky's) very favorite local scrapbooking store located in Alpharetta, Georgia. And while it is a brick and mortar store, she also has a great online store as well. Mary Harrell is the owner and when I approached her about sponsoring our challenge she immediately said YES! For each bi-weekly challenge she will be offering a $10 gift certificate to her online shop, or a gift card if you are local! This prize will be given to one person who submits a project for the challenge, based on the challenge's theme or guidelines. Please click on the image above and pay Altered Angel a visit!

Designs on Cloud 9 - Here is a bit about their shop: "My hand-drawn paper piecing cutting files are available in AI, SVG, WPC, PDF, DXF, GSD, and JPEG formats. You can use them with your electronic cutters or cut by hand if you like. All the files are instant download once you make payment. Digi Stamps are now available and come in PDF, JPEG, TIFF, and PNG formats." Designs on Cloud 9 is proud to be sponsoring a one time $20 gift certificate to our shop for one person commenting for Friendship's Garden inaugural blog hop.

So, please come back tomorrow for our first ever challenge and blog hop for your chance to win one of these great prizes! It's gonna be fun!!!

More News!!!

2011-09-30T01:51:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to tell you about some great news concerning our sponsors, and yes, that is sponsors with an S at the end! First up, as I told you a couple of days ago, Altered Angel will be sponsoring us, but instead of a one time prize, they will be sponsoring each challenge - that's 2 a month - with a $10 gift certificate to their shop for anyone who submits a project based on our challenges! I am extremely happy and grateful to Mary and her willingness and generosity!

And, we will have a special, one time prize just for those who participate in our inaugural challenge and blog hop, sponsored by Designs on Cloud 9 - a shop that sells the cutest hand drawn digital images - in the amount of one $20 gift certificate to their shop!!!

So that is two chances to win on our first challenge and blog hop! Amazing stuff, right???

So please come back next Wednesday, October 5th for our first challenge - it's going to be lots of fun!

Big News!

2011-09-26T09:43:00.000-04:00

Big, Big, BIG News!!!

Our first 'LIVE' challenge is set for just over one week from now, on October 5th! And we have some great fun planned in the form of a blog hop so you can visit and get to know each of our wonderful, amazing, INCREDIBLE designers!

But that's not the most fun part!

Nope!

The most fun part is this . . .

We have a sponsor!!!

Yes, that's right, a sponsor and a giveaway!

Mary, owner of Altered Angel - my very favorite LSS (aka local scrapbooking store) - has graciously offered to sponsor our first challenge! Now, I am going to meet with Mary in the next day or two so we can discuss what we will be doing, so I will post more info here as I have it available.

And I am so very, extremely excited, you just have no idea! Come back soon to find out more about our first, inaugural Friendship's Garden challenge!!!

The Garden Girls

2011-09-15T18:01:00.000-04:00

I am so excited, proud and happy to announce . . .

The Friendship's Garden Design Team 'Garden Girls'

Erin Bullock - Ohio, USA
Dena Jones - Hawaii, USA
Carolyn LaBille - Illinois, USA
Ciska Reilly - The Netherlands
CherylAnn Robinson - Canada

Becky Garrison 'Lead Garden Girl' - Georgia, USA

You can click on their name to visit their blogs. Pics and Bios to come soon!

And now we are on to our first challenge! Please don't forget to join us on Wednesday October 5th for our first challenge!

Design Team Call Now Closed!!!

2011-09-15T11:58:00.000-04:00

Hi there! Just wanted to let you know the DT call is now closed, and I am reviewing applications, blogs and such and will be contacting the new DT members shortly! They will be announced publicly as soon as I've gotten acceptances from everyone!

Don't forget our first challenge goes 'LIVE' on Wednesday October 5th, so please become a follower so you can keep up with what's going on here at Friendship's Garden!

Blessings, Becky

Moving Forward . . .

2011-09-15T09:21:00.000-04:00

Well, little did I know when I decided to proceed with this adventure, that I would have such great response, and so many wonderful artists to apply for the Design Team! I expected maybe 3 or 4 applications, and so far I have 8! And there are some wonderful crafters in that group! Of course I won't be able to choose all of them, but even those who don't make the team, will receive an invitation to be a guest designer some time in the future. It is going to be a hard decision!

The call ends 9/15. I will be sending emails to all the applicants some time on 9/16, some with an invitation to be a guest designer, and some with an invitation to join our Design Team for the next 6 months. As soon as I have acceptances from all of them, I will announce them to the world. That may be a while, though, because I will be on vacation beginning 9/17 for a week - camping in TN and I really doubt I'll have easy access to a wifi hotspot.

Our first challenge will go live on Wednesday October 5th . . . and I can't wait! Are you excited? Are you ready? It won't be long now! I'll be back soon with the announcement of the new 'Garden Girls' Design Team. Blessings, Becky

WELCOME!!!

2011-09-15T00:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Friendship's Garden! A brand spanking new paper crafting challenge blog that will hopefully go 'live' on October 5th, 2011! This post is to share with you a little bit about what Friendship's Garden is about, and what we will be doing here! Please read the info below to find out all about us!

Once you have read the info, if you are interested in applying for our very first design team, please email me at friendshipsgarden(at)yahoo(dot)com with the following information:

Your name
Where you live (city, state, country)
Why you want to join our team
Why you love paper crafting
Tell me something about you that would make me want to get to know you beyond paper crafting
Any previous DT experience
A link to your blog
Are you on Facebook and/or Twitter? If not, would you be willing to join facebook in order to participate on our Facebook page?
How did you learn about this DT Call?
Three projects that will show me your style(s)

Designers will be responsible for a minimum of two regularly scheduled projects, but usually 3 projects per month. Equally important is visiting participants blogs and leaving comments on their projects, and possibly doing a special blog post once in a while for a tutorial or something special. Challenges will be random, sometimes a theme, sketch, recipe, Pinterest photo/color inspiration, etc. Projects can be cards, tags, altered items, etc., but stamped images are not allowed.

At the end of each bi-weekly challenge, the DT (including myself) will choose our top 3 favorites. One will be a guest designer on the next challenge. Each designer will email me with their top 3 projects and I will narrow down to choose the top 3 and which one will be the guest designer.

UPDATE: Design Team Call extended to September 15, 2011!!!

Now, here is the story of Frienship's Garden!

Friendship’sGarden is a beautiful place where everyone is encouraged to challenge and growtheir paper crafting skills and cultivate new friendships with othercrafters. After all, we are all justfriends who haven't met yet! Please joinus in this garden party - our garden is a wonderful place!

Why another challenge blog? That's an easy one! First, because I love card making challenges,and I hope you do, too, but also because I want to fill a void in the papercrafting world. A challenge wherestamped images are NOT allowed! I lovestampers and their craft - really! Thereare some incredible artists out there, and I admire their work in a big way,but to be honest, stamping takes a special touch, and it also requires deeppockets. I mean, stamping is just plainexpensive! Here at Friendship’s Gardenwe will concentrate on using all kinds of images, or even no images at all, tomake beautiful papercrafting projects.

So, are you in? Are you going to join me on this journey? I surely do hope you will!

Who am I? I am Becky Garrison, I live in beautiful northern Georgia, USA, with myhusband and two mini-Dachshunds. I amretired from the corporate world and spend as much time as possible playingwith paper. I am also a helper to my 80-something year old mother. Hubby and Ilove to travel, mostly camping these days. We also love canoeing and taking day trips around our beautiful area. You can find my blog HERE. If you ever have any questions, you may emailme at friendshipschallenge(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Guidelines, and they are very simple:

Create a project using the published challenge. Sometimes it will be a theme, others it maybe a sketch, a 'recipe', a technique or a color scheme. But we'll figure that out as we go along!

Your project can NOT have a stamped image! It can have (but is not required to have) astamped sentiment, but that is all the stamping that is allowed here. But you don't have to use an image per se',for you could also use flowers, shapes, die cuts (Cricut, Silhouette,Cuttlebug, Sizzix, etc., or purchased ones), or any other type of decorationsand embellishments you would like to use.

Your project must be a new one - that means it cannothave been made before the date of that particular challenge, and mostdefinitely could not have been shared on your blog or any forums before thatdate!

Comments are appreciated! Commenting is a great way to make friends andincrease comments on your own projects. Pleasevisit the blogs of as many participants (and DT members) as you can and leavethem comments.

Challenge Info: This is a bi-weekly challenge, and each new challenge will be posted ona Wednesday. That gives you the wholeweekend to work on your project. Youwill have one week to get your project posted on your blog and linked to Friendship’sGarden before 5 am EST on the following Wednesday. On the alternate Wednesdays we will sharesomething special. Maybe it's atechnique for something we are using, or a link to a website where you can findgreat images for free! It could be areview on a product we love (or you love), or possibly a one day mid-weekchallenge just for fun.

Design Team? Right now I am looking for three or four artists to join me for a sixmonth term. Each challenge, starting with the second one, we will have a guestdesigner, chosen by myself and the other DT members based on their project fromthe previous challenge. (See prizesbelow)

Prizes? Well, there are none! I'm aretired lady with limited funds. Butwhat we do have is a few awards to give out:

The Bouquet Award is the top award and comes with an invitation to be aguest designer on an upcoming challenge as well as a pretty award for yourblog.
The Rose Award is the second award and comes with a pretty award for yourblog.
The Chrysanthemum Award is honorable mention and comes with a pretty awardfor your blog.

These will be chosen by the DesignTeam members and myself (I am also one of the DT members!).

Hopefully, in the future, we will be able to linkup to some sponsors who will furnish some prizes as we go along. If you are someone who would like to sponsorour challenge, please email me at friendshipsgarden(at)yahoo(dot)com.