Merry Christmas!

This is the final card in my Christmas series from the Make and Takes. A simple and elegant touch of nature.

May you all be blessed today and the rest of the year.

Merry Christmas

Anna Banana

Happy Christmas Eve

This simple, yet elegant card has ornaments on the inside that show through a cutout window on the front of the card.

Anna Banana

Hedgehog

This cute little critter is stopping by to wish you Merry Christmas!!

Anna Banana

Embossed Tree

This was a really simple card to do - cut the paper, add a ribbon, stamp with embossing ink and emboss!! Can't be easier and such pretty results!!!!

Anna Banana

It's My Birthday!!

Today is my birthday!! At 12:51 am, 1971 I came into this world :)

For my card today I am posting this adorable cat!!

Have a fantastic day!!

Anna Banana

Church Scene Card

The beauty of this card does not come through in this picture. Each of the embossed snowflakes is covered in stickles giving sparkles with every movement of the card.

the snow covered peaks of the church and houses are also covered in stickles.

It's really pretty :)

Anna Banana

Candy Ornament Card

This card was made with a special "craft cup" of some sort with a line of glue around the edge. The opening was punched with circle punch to fit the base of the cup, but I am 100% sure you could recycle those cups that hold the powdered drink mixes to do the same job!! I think a line of redline tape would be good to secure the cup to the card.

The little ornament hanger was a stamp - not sure where it came from... if you really need to know, drop me a line and I will see if I can find out for you!

Anna Banana

Beautiful Angel

This angel is colored with a pale pale blue and a blender pen onthe dress and glitter along the details of the wings.

The background paper is a shimmery silver blue metallic and the snowflakes were stamped in a coordinating blue. A very cool feeling, wintry angel.

Anna Banana

Treat Bag

This is just too cute!!

Had to share!!

Anna Banana

Posting again!!! Sorry so long away!

For personal reasons, I have been pretty much out of the loop with my crafting since September... But I am back!!

This is the first of several Christmas cards that I did at two make and takes in October and November... Enjoy!

Anna Banana

This is a 3-D ornament card - the ornament doesn't come off the card, but it pops out giving a really neat dimension!

Hogs and Sketches Challenge #2 - "Hands2"

I've done a card for the Hogs and Sketches Challenge - #2.

While waiting for my new stamps to get here I have used one of the digital images.

I used the pig listening to the seashell because he was just too cute!!

I gave him in a little sunburn on his tummy, ears and snout. I just thought it was perfect - I always get burned at the beach and figured he would too!

Hope you like him!!

Anna Banana

A sympathy card

I sent this card to a friend of ours who's dog recently passed away.

Thoughts and prayers are with you, Jean.

The background is the shaving cream technique.

Colored with Prismacolor pencils and OMS to blend.

I left it simple...

Hogs and Sketches Challenge "hands1"

I just HAD to join in! It's the first Hogs and Sketches Challenge for Hambo Stamps!

I was really happy they offered a free digi design because I have not gotten my Hambo Stamps order placed yet! I guess this is incentive to get my order placed!! :D

I used their sketch (you can find it here) but I turned it on it's side.

I just loved their floating cat - how cute! So I gave her a lemonade and colored her in with my prismacolor pencils and OMS for blending.

I used the bingo dauber splatter technique as a background pattern paper. My wavy line was created with a very fine pink lace behind it - look close or you'll miss it!

My sentiment is on my printed ribbon - Sand...Sun...Fun!

Then I needed a little flair, so I used a tie-dye flower with a glittery brad center and a few blue raindrops to finish it off!

I had a lot of fun with this!

Anna Banana

Woo Hoo!

I'm super thrilled that I got a notice in my mail box just a few moments ago that I won the blog candy over at Starving Art Stamps!

And it's just in time too for some fun halloween cards!

This is the set I'll be getting:

DoodleFactory Costume Party

Now I'm off to the pharmacy to get something to make my head stop swimming.

Spreading the word

http://saturdayspotlight.blogspot.com/

There is going to be a new challenge blog starting in October, and I think it is going to be fantastic!!

Here is the main reason I think they will be fantastic challenges:

Quote from their new blog...

This is my philosophy behind this challenge blog:

"Be creative with NO boundaries or rules...feel free to interpret the challenges how you see them in your mind. All artwork forms are fun and welcoming as everyone has something talented to share! This challenge blog is not for me, but for YOU, for you to spotlight those talents and FIND that "hidden potential" inside yourself."

And on top of all this, they are being very generous to those who spread the word. Go over to check out the fantastic prize they will be drawing for among those who help out!

How exciting!!

Anna Banana

Whiff of Joy Guest Designer Call

Kiss A Frog! He may turn out to be a prince!

I came across a wonderful opportunity to apply for the Whiff of Joy guest Design team!!

I can not tell you how much I love their stamps!

To find out more details, go HERE.

This is the first card I have created for the Whiff of Joy Guest Designer Call:

Here is the recipe I used for my card:

Stamps: Melinda Blowing Kisses - Whiff of Joy, Frog - Inkadinkadoo

Paper: Patterned - Karen Foster (Archiver's Exclusive 2008), Cardstock - DCWV

Glitter: hand mixed green color for wings and flowers on pants, jet black on edge of black cardstock

Gold Twinklette pen - Marvy (The gold on her belt)

Pencils: Prismacolor, Odorless Mineral Spirits and Stumps for blending

Flowers: Prima and a mini-brad, Art Flower from Hero Arts Vintage Collage collection

Bling: Misc. Yellow rhinestone, Purple Swarovski rhinestones

Ribbons: Black Lace from Wal-Mart, Scrap of black organza ribbon, Orange velvet rickrack from Basic Grey "gypsy" collection, Black and White ribbon (off of a box of chocolates)

Dies: Nestabilities Small Classic Circle

Inks: White Galaxy Marker for Faux Stitching, Black Memento Ink, Grass Green Marvy Brush Marker (for frog), Yellow Glaze Pen by Sakura

Sticky Stuff: Pop Dots, Zots dimensional dots, Scotch double stick tape, Diamond Glaze (on frog)

Triangle Box

I made this one for some challenge or another - I just really liked the idea of this box!!

It matches the paper of the previous Gorjuss Girl card :)

I Break For Stamps Challenge

I participated in the I Break For Stamps challenge last week.

I just wanted to share my card!

I used a Gorjuss Girl stamp.

I had fun with this one because she is so cute and the flowers are so summery.

Enjoy!

Anna Banana

Good Deal!!

So I needed to get some sympathy stamps because we just got word of the 6th funeral for our family/friends since May and I ran out of pre-made cards.

Well, I picked up my stamps and then wandered down the clearance isle at Michael's.

I came across these two Martha Stewart paper packs:

So I couldn't pass up the paper pack with the lady bugs in it ... just too cute, and the other pack has a lot of neutral papers that can be for guys or girls. I wouldn't have bothered to get it, except for the price!!

Look closely at that price sticker ... here it is up close:

... yes, you ARE reading it right - Originally $19.99, reduced to $9.99 and further reduced to $2.49!! If they would have had more, I would have gotten them!!

That's my Unbelievable Purchase for the week!

Anna Banana

Addition to my studio

Hello everybody!

I added a new way of displaying my cards in my studio!!

I put up hooks and I strung some clothes line across...and then I used clothespins to attach the cards ... like they are hung out to dry!

The second area is on the slopped ceiling and I am planning to add some more line on the slope to be able to display even more of my cards.

Let me know what you think!!

Anna Banana

Twilight Tuesday Challenge

I'm So Excited!! Thanks to my dear, dear friend Karyn, who understands my addiction, I now know about the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge on TwilightTuesday.com.

If you like Twilight, I would head over there now and check out everyone else's creations too - there are some fantastic cards out there!

The requirements for this challenge are to use the color challenge of the Twilight colors (Silver/Red/Black) along with a stamp from The Greeting Farm.

It just so happens that last week I placed my order for a few stamps from The Greeting Farm and Edward arrived in the mail yesterday.

I set out right away to do this challenge.

I chose a black card stock for the base and built up from there.

I took a piece of white card stock and rand it thru my cuttlebug with the Textile embossing folder. I ran my Moulin Rouge Palette ink over the raised surface to make it really pop.

I grabbed a scrap of mirror-foil paper and cut and embossed that with my Oval Nestabilities die. You can see something reflecting in the highly mirrored surface on the left of Edward...oops!

I took some black lace by Model Crafts (from Wal Mart) and fixed it to the top and bottom of the embossed paper.

I stamped Edward (The Greeting Farm) in Black Memento Ink and colored him in with my Prismacolor pencils and blended it with OMS and stumps.

I stamped "Make Me Immortal..." by A Stamp in the Hand with the black, on white card stock, inked the edges in Moulan Rouge and added three silver brads.

Behind the corner of the oval and the sentiment, I placed two black feathers.

I glittered Edward with Prisma Glitter, because I love Vampires that Sparkle ... Doesn't he just Dazzle you??

As a finishing touch, I got out my Pearl Ex watercolor palette and my tiniest bristle paint brush and applied his mesmerizing Vampire eyes with Super Copper. I took a little but of Supper Russet and dabbed just a hint on his lips and he was perfect!

I pop dotted him on the silver oval and fixed it all to the card base!

I know my friend Dawn is going to try to steal him from me! She is more obsessed than I am. :)

Anna Banana

Papercraft Planet sk071109

I was inspired by Karyn's post of her no layer craft challenge that she found on Paper Craft Planet, so I went and did my own!

I masked Big Bird and stamped a pattern "behind" him.

I rather like the effect and I think he turned out cute:)

Anna Banana

Willy the Worm

I got this image from Victoria at Victoria Case Designs - I can't tell you how much I love her art - it's so darned cute to me!!

Anyhow - I got Willy a while back and then my printer went tots up, so I couldn't use ANY digital images I had.

Well, I finally have a new printer, AND my creativity dial has been re-set to the ON position, so I was ready to go!!

I coloured (that's for my European friends) up Willy and his pretty flowers with my Prismacolor Pencils and I cut him out.

Then I mounted him on a scrap of yellow paper (no - I am pretty sure I will never use all those scraps up). The yellow piece is on a thin pop dot on top of the splat background.

I made the splat background paper using pink, blue and green bingo markers.

~You spray the tops of the inky daubers with water and slam them down on your paper and Voila! a splat of color! Wear an apron - I get overzealous and my daubers are extra juicy with all the water I spray on them so the splat shoots out extra far!~

My background wasn't drying fast enough (all that water I use) so I grabbed my heat gun - still not fast enough, so I grabbed a tissue and blotted the color!! I am sure it would have been more vibrant if I would have been more patient ... but I wasn't.

Then the blue card background looked too plain, so I grabbed my ruler and my paint pen and made some faux stitches. Too bad I was not feeling like measuring them all out evenly, but I like how it turned out anyway.

I tied it all together with some prima flowers and rhinestones and a piece of green ribbon with Actual stitching on it. Not bad for an hour.

Then for the final bit, I glittered the centers of all of the flowers.

I photographed it in my basement on a piece of white paper and thought that was under-whelming, but you could see the glitter sparkle really well, and so I took it outside and tried to get artsy with it and I put it on my lilies that are growing in my front yard, but with the busy splats it's almost too much, but I thought I would share both!!

Anna Banana

The second Card I made SBS 24 - Pets

Well - this is the second card I made last week.

The theme for SBS24 to post this past Sunday was pets. I'm only 2 days late ... pretty good for me! I kept being drawn to this little pup...

I used pinks and browns - the pink is misc. card stock. I think the brown bone paper was from Doodle Bug or Doodle Factory or something... I can't remember - there was a Doodle in it!

The round brads were from a pack which had more elements than I show ... If you need to know cause you gotta have them, drop me a line and I will drag my butt upstairs and look at the packaging for you.

You can't see it here, but the dew drops are actually a pale pink color - they look clear against the matching card stock.

My favorite part of this card is the flower with the bone shaped brad on it!

The brad I got from a friend in a care package, and the flowers are prima.

I colored the up with prismacolor pencils and OMS with Stumps, and again this was a difficult one to fill because I stamped it on the textured heavy duty card stock. I finished it off with ribbon from the dollar bin in brown and pink and added a touch of glitter to the bloom and leaves of the rose.

Anna Banana

This time I wanna win them!!

I didn't win these the last time I entered, but I sure could use these now that my craft budget has been frozen :(

You can click HERE to enter to win them yourself:

I'm WAAAAAAYYY Behind on my SBS Challenge cards...

... But I DID do these two cards this past week and then ran out of time to post them until now.

The first is the 4th of July - I have had this cute stamp of Snoopy in a plane for ages and haven't inked him til now - I thought this would make a perfect 4th of July card!

All the stars and stripes background papers were from my scrap basket - these aren't even papers I bought - they were from a friend's house when she was cleaning to move over 5 years ago!! Wow - talk about me being a pack rat! At least it's only a large zip-top bag of papers in my basket.

I colored him up with my prisma colors and OMS with stumps, which was quite a challenge, because the heavy card stock that I used apparently has a texture in it and I was having trouble getting the color to fill in the nooks and crannies! It really looks quite nice in person, tho. The front propeller was colored with a metallic silver pencil that actually shimmers like metal when you move the card.

The ribbon is from Stampin' Up - I believe it is just White Gross-grain ribbon - it came in a HUGE spool.

The flowers are prima.

In 1999, when I was hand-beading my Renaissance wedding dress, I discovered Czech-cut flatback rhinestones. I ordered a bunch in different colors and now I am using them in my card making because they have more sparkle than the plastic ones or the plain glass ones... and I may as well use them since I paid a small fortune for them!

So that is my card for today!

I hope you all had a Happy 4th of July!

Anna Banana

Anna Banana

Birdy Birthday!!

The cute bird and the adorable cat are just so cheerful!!

This is the 2nd card from the make and takes this past weekend.

There are plenty of stickles to add lots and lots of sparkle!!

Toadily Awesome~

I smiled so big when I saw this sample at the Make and Takes this past weekend!

I really like how the blender pen worked with the colors on his tummy!

Again - stickles covering lots of the image to make it bright and sparkly!

Anna Banana

"S" is for Summer

I was sitting around last night - procrastinating. I pulled all the contents of my closet into the living room to put winter clothes in storage and move summer clothes where I could reach them. So naturally, I have 5 laundry baskets of clothes that need to be dealt with and I pop onto blogger to see what's there!! I came across the ABC Challenge Blog (No - that does not stand for Anna Banana Creations - it's alphabetical).

Well - sitting up in my craft room was my very first attempt at coloring with Copics on my own. When Karyn was here, I borrowed her markers.

I used one of my first Tilda stamps and I think she is just the essence of summer!!

Thistles around here don't really get tall and bloom until the middle of July... and they are my favorite flower!

So here she is ... Tilda with a Thistle, colored with Copic markers on some "quilted" background paper from my scrap box. She is decorated with white lace from Wal-Mart, purple rick-rack ribbon from Karyn, which I am sure is from Really Reasonable Ribbon, purple dotted paper is from DoodleBug Designs, the pink is a scrap of mulberry paper, the flowers are prima with stickles centers and the wings sparkle with prisma glitter!

I made cards!!!

Of course, I can't take any credit for these next few cards, but I did put them together.

These are from the Make and Take at Dragonflies and Dreams this past weekend.

This first one is a cute dragon lighting a birthday cake!

I have no idea where the image is from, but I know I have seen it before.

The sample had a brown piece of card stock that I replaced with pink and the cake was originally chocolate, so I did make it a little my own.

Anna Banana

A Diva from Karyn!!

When Karyn was visiting in May she brought a lot of stuff with her!  She had brought along a Rock Diva that she had already colored with her Copic markers.  The image is from Crafts 4 Eternity.

The image must have gotten lost in the shuffle, because I came across it on my desk as I was cleaning up some stuff that was piled there.

She said I could just use the image ... so I did!!

The card base and the border around the image are an olive green cardstock from a DCWV paper stack.  The pink striped paper was a scrap, and I am not sure who made the metallic silver skull paper, but I got it at Michael's last year.

The black flower was colored in with a marker (I think it was white) and then dipped in glue and dredged through my container of black glitter!

The star stick-on jems are from Darice and the rhinestone is just from my stash!

Anna Banana

Magical Mermaid

First thing's first ... I think I may have finally got some of my creativity back on!

I went to my craft room at lunch with the thought of straightening up some more stuff, and I ended up putting this card together in less than 1/2 hour!

Now - on to the Mermaid!

I ended up buying Mermaid Anya from The Greeting Farm, and then my great friend, Karyn, brought me one when she visited in May!

I dropped a note to the wonderful gal over at The Greeting Farm explaining what happened, and I am packing up the extra stamp and doing a swap for the Hula Anya!  WOO HOO!!

I love them!

The mermaid card is sooooo cute in person - the photo does not do her justice.  I colored her in metallic pencils and her skin is the prettiest shade of pearly metallic green!  The background is made from two coordinating wallpapers from one of those wallpaper books.

***Side note: I had over 100 wallpaper books about 5 years ago, thanks to my Aunt who worked for a decorating company!!  I have given away, or thrown away all but the last 4, which are very interesting books with lots of color and texture and I have decided that I am going to use them or loose them!!***

Anyway - back to the card ... the wallpaper that I used has a really pretty metallic sheen to it (you can see it a little in the close up) and the colors just fit with the mermaid perfectly!!

This card is swimming away to The Greeting Farm as a Thank You note for swapping out my stamp!

Be proud of me - I never send my cards - I have a drawer full of little works of art that I can't part with!

Anna Banana

A Birthday Celebration

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAWN!


Today is my friend Dawn's birthday!  We celebrated with her and her hubby on Friday and I baked a cake ... a giant Cupcake Cake!!  The "cherry" on top is an apple ornament - because she is a HUGE Twilight fan!

It started out really well, and survived the candles.  We set it aside to go have dinner and when we got back it was the Leaning Cupcake!

The raspberry filling I used settled to the bottom of the cake when I flipped it over and it squished over to the side!

It was really yummy none-the-less!!

Anna Banana

I miss you!

It has been a long while since I have actually made ANYTHING in my craft room ... and sorry to disappoint again, but I have nothing to share tonight either.

I have been spending a lot of time with Kirby and friends and family that I have just not had any inspiration to craft after visiting.

I just wanted to drop you all a note and let you know that I miss you all. I miss going to my SBS 24 sisters blogs (I know I have been slacking for a while and for that I apologize!!).  I miss seeing your comments coming in on my posts and in general I just feel a little bit empty with not having created anything pretty in such a long while!

I promise I will get back to it soon!

Anna Banana

Sad News

I'm sorry for no posts for so long, but after Karyn's Super Fun visit, we found out Friday that Kirby's Grandpa passed away.

The funeral /cremation will be on Wednesday and then I am not sure what state of mind Kirby will be in on Thursday.  I'm sure I won't get to the craft room to do anything this week.

Thanks for your support and understanding in this difficult time.

Anna

Getting Ready

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while ... I don't think anyone even noticed... 

I have been getting ready for Karyn's  visit.  She will be here TOMORROW!!  WOO HOO!!  We have a weekend of fun planned!!

Maybe I'll get something crafty done then!!  I haven't done more than a wedding card (which is still in my camera) since April!

Anna Banana

Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo - Milwaukee

Last weekend I attended the Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo in Waukesha, WI (Near Mlwaukee).  

It was at a new location this year with vendors in three rooms - this is the biggest the expo has ever been. It was a lot of the same people I have seen before, but there were some new ones that made the raised admission totally worth it!

This year there was a new company to me called Bugawumps out of Northbrook, IL.  Hey - That's pretty close to me - I need to see if they have a local retail location!!  Anyhow, the cranky bird, the flip flops and the Rum stamp were all from them - pretty reasonable and they had a lot of really cute stuff that I had not seen before. (Images blurred to protect their copyright (and my butt)).

I got 6 sheets of cling foam for $3.50 a sheet!!  That was the best deal at the show (Found at Stamping Sensations) and I was in need of some!

There was a fantastic place called Scrap-A-Holic that sold Magnolias!! (See her blog for info on the stamps). Two tables full of them in baskets and boxes!!  It was SoOOOOooooo Hard to choose!  They were running a show special - buy 4 get 1 free, so I got 4 magnolias and the little bench for my sitting Magnolia with a Crown to sit on for free!!  WOO HOO! Nothing beats Free!

Then there was the spot I stopped at first - it was Eye-Lets Etc. and they only took cash unless you spent a certain dollar amount (I only had $10 cash, so it was really good that I went there first).  They had the fantastic tie-dye flowers!

I just HAD to have them and now I wanna hoard them and not use them, but I promise I won't!

Maybe I'll use them with the Magnolias!

My last stop of the day was Whippersnapper. They always have tubs and tubs of unmounted rubber stamps to wade through. They used to put them in a plastic kiddy pool, but there wasn't enough room in the pool for all the stamps the last few years!  No joke, there were at LEAST 16 tubs of unmounted stamps. Nothing in any order, but it's so much fun to dig through!!

I smelled like rubber when I left from being elbow deep in bins for two hours!

I only chose 24 stamps this time around, but at $1 each it's such a deal!!  No matter what size just $1 !!!  WOO HOO!!

So all in all I spent about $90, had a good day and found some new vendors!

I'd call that a SUCCESS!

Anna Banana

Socks - KARYN - DO NOT READ!!!!

Karyn - I am trying to do something nice for you ... stop reading so it can be a surprise!!!

Stop Reading ... I mean it...I'm not Monkeying around!!

Ok - everyone else... Karyn is coming to visit me at the end of the month and she LOVES funky socks.

I am trying to win this pair of really adorable hand knitted cotton socks for her at The Post It Place

Shhhh ... Don't tell her, but if I win I'll get the socks for her since I know she wants them so badly!

Anna Banana

I can't believe it!

I Can't Believe it - I'm on a Good Luck Streak!!

I WON AGAIN!!

I participated in the Firecracker Designs Blog Hop ... now I am excitedly waiting to see what my stamp set is!  As soon as I know I will post again :)

Thank you Pamela for your generosity.

Anna Banana

Thank you card

On April 1, I entered the Sneak Preview contest for the Cookie Crumbs Ladybug Friends on the All That Scraps Blog and WON!!  WOO HOO!!  Thank you again, Amy R!

Well, my husband is a FreeMason, AND a Shriner... and he has just joined the Scarabs - which is the guys you see in the little miniature VW Beetle cars in parades!

Tom and Carol' hosted a Shriner Picnic at their house this past weekend to socialize and for the men to discuss Shriner business before the upcoming parade season. So I found out that because I am the wife of a Scarab, I am a "Lady Bug"  How cute is that??!!

And how absolutely perfect that I won the Ladybug stamp set!

Well, everyone there made us feel welcome and right at home, so the least I could do is send them a card right off the bat ... and here it is!

 

Below the picture stamped in black on the red card stock it says "when friends meet, hearts warm".

Anna Banana

Belli Challenge #64 Jumbo Brads or Eyelets

Well, I didn't have nay jumbo brads or eyelets - never saw the need for them, but I wanted to give the Belli Challenge a go today so I used the biggest eyelets I had.

The angel stamp is from the Gingersnaps line, the text is from Studio g, the eyelets came with my crop-a-dile, the paper is all from my scrap basket, the inks are all from Palette I used prismacolor pencils to color it and I used prisma glitter on the wings.  The paper flower is wedding Confetti from Brides and the pink gem is from the dollar bin at Joanne Fabrics with a flower brad poked through it's center.

I really like the way the weaved paper looks going through the eyelets!

Anna Banana

SBS 24 Challenge #25 Birthday -general

Well - I recently created two birthday cards for my parents - a March and an April Birthday.

Dad's card could truly be used as a general birthday card- the colors are pretty neutral and the embellishments aren't over the top.

Mom's card is a little more pastel in colors, making it pretty "girly", but I think the image of the party mouse could translate to anyone.

I'm pretty proud of this one.  I used lace, velvet ribbon, glitter (on the pink confetti flowers) AND rhinestones, two styles of flowers and two patterned papers - quite a lot there, but it doesn't give the impression of too much going on!

Anna Banana

Blog Candy!

WOO HOO!!  This is AWESOME!!

Check out the fantastic Blog Candy over at Passion For Crafts.

Debbie is celebrating her blogoversary and her hits are amazing!!

This is a pic of what she has to offer:

Then Bev is offering some Blogoversary candy over at All the things I Love.

Her candy looks like this:

Jeanette is celebrating at Happy Thoughts and Inkspots

with this generous offering:

Anna Banana