One Year Anniversary of Blogging!

I can't believe that today is my First Blog-iversary (that's blog and anniversary combined). Looking back I've come so far in terms of my cards, projects and regular postings. Thank you to all of you who visit here. I really do appreciate it!

I made two simple one layer cards with the newest C.C. Designs Little Bits kit called Love Ya' Lots. This set and it's companion Love Ya' Much will be released on January 4th at All That Scraps. I have always wanted to make a plain white card where my focal image was in a dry embossed square, but I only have one embossing template. So to make this card I made my own template. I simply took a Post It Note, traced it onto some scrap cardboard I have left over from Stampin' Up!'s designer series paper packages and cut the square out. I put the template on my light table and then centered my stamped image on top of it before embossing with my stylus. After the image was colored and the sentiment stamped I tied a simple light pink grosgrain ribbon (retired SU!) around the spine of the card.



I repeated the exact process for the second card, this time using Lulu the cat. These are so easy to make and they are going to make adorable Valentine's Day cards to mail out to friends and family.

Today is going to be a hectic day. Roger's best man from our wedding is getting married at 7 tonight with the reception to follow through until the New Year. To top it off we are expecting 4 - 6 inches of snow tonight. I am so glad we decided to get a hotel room instead of driving home. I'm not worried about Roger and I, I'm afraid of all of the other people out on the road. Last night coming home from the rehearsal dinner the traffic was already crazy, and it wasn't even New Year's Eve yet. Colin and Evan are going to stay nice and cozy at home while my parent's babysit. Someone asked my last night why I didn't bring them to the rehearsal and if I'd be bringing them to the wedding. Even though my kids are pretty well behaved I'm not that crazy! Roger has to work this morning so maybe I'll get some stamping time in as Colin and Evan make their own artwork on their brand new easel.

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe New Year's Eve!

Jenn


Stamps: Love Ya Lots by C.C. Designs
Paper: Naturals White
Ink: jetblack stazon, pretty in pink, close to cocoa
Accessories: light table, embossing stylus, light pink grosgrain (retired SU)


Stamps: Love Ya Lots by C.C. Designs
Paper: Naturals White
Ink: Jetblack Stazon, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi
Accessories: light table, embossing stylus, light pink grosgrain (retired SU)

Mane Squeeze

Earlier this week I got the newest release from C.C. Designs in my mailbox. It is called Love Ya' Lots and has a matching set called Love Ya' Much I immediately wanted to color in this lion. He is absolutely adorable! This set will be released on January 4th so you'll have plenty of time to make your Valentine's Day cards to send out.

I made this card for the Limited Supplies Challenge as well. I stamped the lion onto Confetti White cardstock and colored him in with blender pens. I added a piece of designer series paper a simple piece of taffeta ribbon and stamped the sentiment. I wanted to keep as much focus on the lion as possible and I think I accomplished that.

Stamps: Love Ya' Lots by C.C. Designs
Paper: Confetti White, Loves Me dsp
Ink: Jetblack Stazon, More Mustard, Close to Cocoa, Sahara Sand, Basic Gray
Accessories: Pretty in Pink Tafetta Ribbon, Blender Pen

Fluttery Love

I was catching up on blog hopping and I noticed this sketch. Sometimes I see a sketch and print it out to try later. This was one I had to do right away. It is a simple 5 1/4" square card, but the results, in my opinion, are stunning. I used retired Loves Me designer series paper on this one. I added faux stitching around the edges and layered the Word Window punch on the largest Oval punch from Stampin' Up!. I set the sentiment up on dimensionals.


The butterflies are from Happy Heart Day a new set from Stampin' Up! that will be available for order as of January 2nd. I stamped them in Jetblack Stazon and colored them in with a blender pen. To give them some pop I outlined them in Sahara Sand and they look like they pop off of the page.

I wanted to make a sample to use in my January classes with current supplies, so I used the same sketch, but since the Limited Supply Challenge said no punches I changed it a bit. I also made a standard 4 1/4 X 5 1/2 card to fit into a standard A2 envelope. I stamped the sentiment in Groovy Guava on the designer series paper and it doesn't stand out enough for me so I'm sure I'll tweak the card for classes and probably use some of the new designer series paper. I had some Ginger Blossom paper cut to use and then I grabbed Groovy Guava ink accidentally so I changed my dsp to match.


Stamps: Happy Heart Day
Paper: Confetti White, Loves Me dsp (retired), Chocolate chip
Ink: Jetblack Stazon, Pretty in Pink, Taken with Teal, Regal Rose, Sahara Sand
Accessories: blender pen, large oval and word window punches, dimensionals, crafter's tool kit, chocolate chip marker

Stamps: Happy Heart Day
Paper: Whisper White, Groovy Guava dsp
Ink: jetblack stazon, groovy guava, wild wasabi, sahara sand
Accessories: wild wasabi double stitched ribbon, blender pen

Retro Flowers

I am slowly getting back into the habit of stamping. I had to do something after building castles with Mega Blocks for 3 hours this afternoon. Colin insisted that we had to use all 120 pieces in the bag and we each had to have a chance to pick the starting block for our castle. There is only so much building a mom can do in a day without going insane.



We headed downstairs where the GeoTrax trains and their drivers rode around my table, hence the crooked sentiment. I was actually browsing the Splitcoaststampers Gallery and came across a card that screamed CASE me with Spring Solitude. Here is the original by seewah.

We are getting ready for another full weekend, so if you don't see me around for a day or so you know that I'm still around but unable to stamp. We are celebrating Christmas with my extended family and Roger is in a wedding for the best man from our wedding. I hope you all have a great weekend.


Stamps: Spring Solitude, Polka Dots
Paper: Confetti White, Basic Black
Ink: Basic Black, Jet Black Stazon, Regal Rose
Accessories: ticket corner punch, mini glue dots, dazzling diamonds, black gingham ribbon

Lovin' Winter

If you were to look outside you would not believe that we got 10.2" of snow not even two weeks ago. Yesterday the temperature topped 48 degrees and the sun was out for a while. This has been an unusual winter marked with ice storms, heavy rain and some snow here and there. I don't mind a huge storm if I don't have to drive in it and if the snow disappears quickly. Despite the warmer temperatures there is still the bite of winter air outside and you aren't fooled for that long.

We are finally settling back in after a few days with family. We have presents unpacked and each has found it's own place inside our home and Colin and Evan have enough new toys where they can play independently long enough for me to stamp something. Hopefully I'll be able to try out all of my new toys this week too. I was completely surprised to get a Cricut for Christmas especially since my Mom told me that she had bought one for my sister and was asking me all of these questions about it. I never expected to get one for myself courtesy of my parents, sister and grandma. I also got a Scor-Pal and Xyron sticker maker. I keep taking up more and more of the basement stamping area and the playroom part keeps getting smaller and smaller. As I stamp I can feel a GeoTrax Train rushing by my feet as the boys build the course around my table and chairs.

This card was made with yesterdays Sketch Challenge and I used some retired paper I had left over from last Winter's Mini Catalog, and I think it was called Loves Me. I'll have to dig out the mini to be absolutely sure though. I used my C.C. Designs Little Bits Wintertime Fun set. I wanted to make it feel more like a Valentine's Day card than a Christmas card and since there is still snow on the ground here come February this set is perfect for Valentine's Day too. I added a Heidi Swap Ghost Shape heart as well as a foam flower from American Crafts. Both of these items and the stamp set can be found at All That Scraps if you are looking to get some for yourself.


Stamps: Wintertime Fun by C.C. Designs
Paper: Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, Loves Me dsp, Taken with Teal, Whisper White
Ink: Palette Noir, Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand
Accessories: 3/16" corner rounder, 1/16" hole punch, coluzzle, Heidi Swap ghost Shapes, American Crafts Greenhouse Foam Flowers, mini glue dots, blender pens

Merry Christmas!

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Jenn

Toilet Paper in the Stamp Room

It's not just for the bathroom anymore.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. The main image of this card is made from Single Ply Toilet paper. I used a stamp as a mold to make a raised image by using a Watercolor brush (an AquaPainter works too), water and toilet paper. You then have to let it dry overnight, or a hair dryer with a diffuser on the cool setting works well too. Just make sure not to burn the paper.

Anyway, you take your stamp and place it on your table image side up. Take one square of toilet paper and lay it over your stamp. Take your brush with water and dampen the area over the raised image on the stamp. It will move into the creases and indents. The first piece is hardest to work with but as you add each layer it will get easier. After the first piece is damped lay over the second square of toilet paper and repeat the dampening. You will do this with all 8 layers. I used Scott brand toilet paper and it worked out well. After all 8 layers are done set it aside to dry overnight, but do not use a Heat Gun to dry it. I found out it burns the paper if left on too long.

After your image is dry trim the paper the size you want it. I used the Stampin' Up! Table Top cutter. I don't think it will work with a regular Fiskars slide cutter or Rotary cutter. The paper tears very easily. I then used Stampin' Pastels to color the raised areas of my image. To keep them from rubbing off and to intensify the color I took Versamark and patted it on top of my image, added Crystal Clear embossing Powder and then embossed very carefully. Do not leave direct heat on the Toilet paper layer for very long.

I will try to have a photo tutorial up over the next week or so for all of the visual learners. I'm one of them too when it comes to crafting.

After the main image was done I just used it as I would any main image and finished off my card. The rest of the card is pretty simple so I'll leave you with a recipe for it. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas Eve. This morning is a normal day for us as Roger has to work and then his parents, brother and wife are coming over to celebrate with us. Until then I do have some time to stamp!

Jenn


Stamps: Spring Solitude
Paper: Rose Red, Basic Gray, Bali Breeze dsp, Taken with Teal, Whisper White, Toilet Paper
Ink: Stampin' Pastels, Versamark, Rose Red
Accessories: Heat Gun, Crystal Clear embossing Powder, 5/8" Old Olive Grosgrain, 1/16" hole punch, dimensionals, vintage brads
Techniques: cast toilet paper

Garden Solitude

Yesterday I decided to check out the Inspiration Challenge on Splitcoast Stampers. The inspiration piece was a Sticky Note pad that was purchased at Target. You can view the item here. I knew I would have an easy time with this one. I have always wanted to try out a round card, so I used my coluzzle on the second to last circle and let it overlap the fold in my card a bit. After I cut the circle out I simply stamped my flower from Garden Silhouettes in Whisper White craft ink. I then heat set it to prevent smearing of the ink. I punched out flowers with my Three For You Punch Box punch and placed them on my card before stamping the bird and sentiment. I also heat set these to prevent smearing. To give the flowers a bit more dimension I laid them onto my mat mack and used my stylus to press in the center. I attached them with mini glue dots and added a touch of Sakura Gelly Roll pen in the center for some sparkle. A simple knotted piece of white grosgrain is tied around the fold in the card to finish it off.


Stamps: Garden Silhouettes, Spring Solitude
Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun
Ink: Whisper White Craft Ink
Accessories: Three For You Punch Box, White Grosgrain, Stylus, Sakura Gel Pen, Coluzzle

Evan's RAK from Beate

If you have ever received a card in the mail from Beate you'll know the excitement that comes with ripping into the envelope. When you know it's from Beate you know the contents are going to be absolutely amazing. I am floored by the beauty of this card and by the heartfelt message inside. Thanks so much Beate! I let Evan look but not touch because this beauty is a keeper.



Jenn

What Happens When . . .

you wait until the last minute to go Christmas Shopping? The answer for me is that the toy you promised your oldest child for behaving while his little brother is in the hospital is sold out so you have to buy something even more expensive to appease him, you have no idea what to get anyone, presents are in shopping bags all over your bedroom, you're not sure if you even remembered everyone . . . and the list goes on.

Yesterday Colin had his eye appointment and is eyesight is improving tremendously. His pediatric opthamologist is very impressed with him and he is down to patching only 4 hours a day. The bad thing about patching is that when he goes out in public people ask strange questions and we get lots of odd looks. Today at the bank Colin was asked if he got a Red Rocket BB Gun, because apparently he looks like we forgot to warn him "You'll shoot your eye out!".

Today I spent 4 hours bleaching every surface in my house and I can say that it is a almost compete germ free zone. The bad part is that I am completely exhausted and just want to lay on the couch doing nothing for the rest of the day.

Here is the project I made for the Ways To Use It Challenge - It's a Wrap. I saw the project on Craft Weekly TV and I thought it was perfect for this challenge. You can find it on December 7, 2007 and the episode is called Boxing Match. I only made 1/2 of the box shown and it holds standard sized cards and envelopes.

Have a Great Saturday!

Jenn


Stamps: Happy Heat Day
Paper: Rose Red, Bali Breeze dsp, Tempting Turquoise, Watercolor paper
Ink: Basic Gray, Stampin' Write Markers (Pretty in pink, Tempting Turquoise, Regal Rose, Old Olive, Always Artichoke, Creamy Caramel and Close to Cocoa)
Accessories: Sticky Strip, AquaPainter, Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain

Thank You from JenMarie

JenMarie sent me this gorgeous one layer card. I'm jealous because I have problems pulling these off and hers is stunning. JenMarie was one of the winners of my last blog candy contests. The colors in this are so pretty and in real life you can see the sparkly glitter she added to the center of each of the snowflakes. Thank you JenMarie!



P.S. If you have a blog let me know and I'll add it here.



Jenn

RAK from Alison

Look at this gorgeous and festive card that came my way all of the way from Canada from Alison. I'm sure you all know her blog Stampin' When I Can as a fabulous resource for Stamping Tutorials, Blog Candy Alerts and her wonderful cards.



Thank you Alison!

A Thank You from Tracy

I have received a few RAK cards and Thank You cards for Blog Candy in the mail over the last few days (or in this case weeks ago). I'm sorry I didn't get this gorgeous card from Tracy posted sooner. Tracy was the winner of one of my Blog Candy contests and sent this card in return to express her thanks. It is is just gorgeous. Thank you Tracy!

Stamp Room Heaven

I made it into my stamp room and it is just heavenly to ink up my new stamps. I am so happy right now. I wanted to start out easy so I pulled out this week's sketch challenge, selected a color scheme from the January issue of Stampin' Success and got to it. This card took me a long time, but it could be because I made two of them at once. I am making it a priority to send a bunch of cards into Stampin' Up! this year. So needless to say, if you CASE this card or any of my cards please don't send them in to Stampin' Up! for contests or to make it onto Stamper's Showcase. I'd appreciate it. In the last week I there was a card showcased that is almost the exact duplicate of one that I made in August but didn't send in.

This is the very first time I have inked up A Beautiful Thing and it is exactly that - Beautiful. It is so easy to line up the solid flower image with the smaller outline image without the use of the Stamp-a-ma-jig and we all know I love my SAMJ.

This card is fairly simple to figure out so I'll just leave the recipe. I am going to hopefully get a lot of stamping time in today in between playing with the kids and cleaning the house. Today is also the last day of school for Colin until 2008 so with no where to go I should have a lot of time to play.

Jenn


Stamps: A Beautiful Thing
Paper: Rose Red, Old Olive, Taken with Teal, Whisper White, Bali Breeze dsp
Ink: Rose Red, Taken with Teal, Old Olive
Accessories: ticket corner punch, 1 1/4 and 1 3/8" circle punches, 1/16" hole punch, silver brads, dimensionals, horizontal slot punch, turquoise grosgrain (retired)

Wish Upon a Star

I am finally feeling back to my normal self, Colin is back to school and Evan is finally drinking the soy milk we are forcing upon him. Hopefully this is a turn for the better. Roger is even back to work for the first time in a week. Now we are just scrambling to get everything together for Christmas. My tree has exactly 5 ornaments on it, so I don't think I'm going to have my beautifully decorated tree full of paper ornaments to show off, but there is always next year.

Thanks again for all of the well wishes!

I made this card last week before Evan got sick and forgot to post it here, so today is as good of a day as any. I am even going to get into my Stamping Room today to make something. I mounted new sets last week and never got a chance to ink them up. I'm just hoping that when I do sit down I will feel creative and make something I can actually post.

This card is one of my favorites because I am learning how to use my Stampin' Up! Markers to work like Copics and it's all due to Julie's tutorial - No Copics? No Problem! Check it out because it is amazing.


Stamps: Elzybells
Paper: Soft Sky, Wintergreen, Watercolor, Always Artichoke, Whisper White
Ink: SU Markers, Basic Gray
Accessories: AquaPainter, Vintage Brads, Crafter's Tool kit, Soft Sky double stitched ribbon

We are finally home!

Evan was finally discharged from the hospital late last night after maintaining a normal temperature for 24 hours and being able to eat and drink without any problems. He is adjusting to being home and getting to do what he wants when he wants instead of being confined to a hospital room. Nothing ever came back with a positive result so this is all a mystery to us. It's just some viral infection. They do think he picked up the stomach flu somewhere along the way and he worked through that in the hospital.

Colin and I now have the stomach flu. UGH! Evan cycled through his within 24 hours so hopefully we will too.

I hope that in a few days I will be able to get back into the swing of making and posting projects. Today I hope to be able to read through all of your kind comments and well wishes. We really do appreciate them.

Jenn

Evan Update

As of Saturday morning Evan is still hospitalized and will remain so through tomorrow. Each day we hope and pray that we will get the clearance to come home. Today was looking promising until he came down with stomach flu like symptoms around midnight. I was jolted awake by my poor baby throwing up.

The pediatrician has been in and said that we have ruled out mono and meningitis. We are very thankful for that. But the bad thing is that nothing has come back with a positive result. We know he has a viral infection, but we don't know what or why or how long it will last. We are expecting 8 - 10 inches of snow today and the pedi feels more comfortable with him staying because we could possibly get stranded at home with a very sick and dehydrated baby.

I wish I had time to read through all of your well wishes, but I am just home to shower and change clothes at this point in time. Please pray that we will be home again tomorrow. Evan and all of us would really appreciate it.

Jenn

Evan has been hospitalized

Long story short - took him to the ER because he threw up his meds. Temp lowered to 99, and got a shot of rocephin (sp?) since he couldn't keep the Zithromax down.

Got home and he turned a weird shade of purple and started shaking uncontrollably. Called the pedi who told us to call 911.

We think he had a febrile seizure. He was cold to the touch but had a fever of 105. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital and admitted. We don't know what he has at this point in time. They want to make sure it isn't mono or meningitis.

Will update as I get a chance.

Jenn

Rose Filled Life

Yesterday when I looked at the color combination for the day I wasn't sure of the outcome, but now that is together I am really liking it. The color combination is Rose Red, Certainly Celery and Pumpkin Pie. For good measure I threw in a little Basic Gray and Whisper White.

What I want to draw your attention to is the medallion made with my new punch, and the best part about it is that it is FREE! That is if you own Stampin' Up!'s scallop circle punch. Dannie Graves posted a tutorial on her blog and I tried it out for the very first time yesterday and my medallion is a result of that. The things people come up with to use Stampin' Up! products in a new way just amazed me. Now why couldn't I have thought of that?

Today is probably going to be a very unproductive day. Evan had a mysterious fever that appeared last week on Monday night. It lasted until Wednesday night and all weekend he was fine with maybe just a low grade fever. Yesterday after his nap it was 104 and I called the pedi. I didn't know why it was coming back since he isn't presenting any other symptoms. One look at his throat and they said it was most likely strep. So we head home with antibiotics and are trying to make him better. He was very fussy all night and I feel like I got next to no sleep. But now he seems to be getting worse. His fever is 104.5 and he can't keep the Motrin in his stomach and can't keep the antibiotics down either. I'm waiting for the pedi to open so I can call and find out what to do for him. Cross your fingers he gets well soon. I hate when my kids are sick. So if you don't see me around posting you know I'm cuddling on the couch with my baby instead of stamping. At least I got my new stamps mounted last night so if he happens to take a nap I can play with new stuff.

Jenn

PS. Can you tell we got absolutely no sun yesterday? I'm sorry my photo is so dark. I think I convinced my husband to get me better lighting for Christmas though!


Stamps: Enjoy Every Moment
Paper: Rose Red, Basic Gray, Certainly Celery, pumpkin pie, Whisper White
Ink: Rose Red, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: 1/16" hole punch, vintage brad, pumpkin pie grosgrain, dimensionals, crafter's tool kit, scallop punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, heat gun

Darling Penguin

The Ways To Use It Challenge was to make a Gift Card Holder, and it was perfect because I came across this tutorial by Nancy and I've been wanting to make some up.

I've been drooling over the Cutie Pie designer series paper for a while now and finally broke down and bought some a few weeks ago but haven't had a chance to dive into the package. I was also very happy that it didn't end up on the retiring accessories list from Stampin' Up! today. So again my color scheme was pulled directly from the paper. The base is Rose Red, the belly band is Certainly Celery and I used Whisper White for my image layer.

The tutorial does not include a belly band but you can make one very easily. All I did was cut a 1" strip out of cardstock and wrapped it around the gift card holder. I then cut off the excess and adhered the back together. I think it ends up being just shy of 7" long.

The main image layer features the new Little Penguins set from C.C. Designs and can be found at All That Scraps. I recently bought some of the Copic markers and I wanted to try them out so this was my first attempt at coloring with them. For my first attempt I am quite pleased. I am sure I will get better as time goes on.

Here is the inside of the holder. I used my slit punch to make the part that holds the gift card in. I am going to dress up the inside a bit more, but I didn't have a chance before I took the photo.

These are so quick and easy. I think they make giving a gift card even better when they are packaged so nicely.

Jenn

Stamps: Little Penguins by C. C. Designs
Paper: Rose Red, So Saffron, Cutie Pie dsp
Ink: Palette Noir, Copics, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Scallop Circle, 1 3/8" circle punches

Birthday Doodles

After all of the freezing rain we got yesterday I needed to make a nice bright cheery card. I just opened my package of Cutie Pie designer series paper so I chose my color scheme right from there. I started with a Rose Red base and layered it with the polka dotted designer series paper. I used my slit punch to make a little tab and to make my paper slide under to where I wanted it I used my paper snips to enlarge the punched area. I then stamped my Doodle This flower twice. Once in Basic Gray on Whisper White paper and once in Blue Bayou on Blue Bayou cardstock. I colored the top flower in with my AquaPainter and Bashful Blue classic ink. To hold the two flowers together I set a Jumbo eyelet with my Crop-a-dile.



The layer under the flower was made my cutting a circle out with my coluzzle from So Saffron ink and then I added 3/4" punched circles of Certainly Celery to the back of this layer. I then stamped the lined circle image from So Much onto the back and used it as my paper piercing guide. To finish the card I added Certainly Celery 5/8" grosgrain ribbon and the sentiment is from All Holidays.



I hope you all had better weather yesterday than we did. Tonight we brace ourselves for yet another ice storm. Is winter over yet? At least I made a run to the grocery store and stocked up on milk and fruit so if we can't leave for a few days we'll be all set. There must have been a huge milk run because I didn't see a single gallon or half-gallon of milk in Kroger. Surprisingly the store was pretty empty though. The ice from yesterday is melted off the streets as the layer of salt is really thick, but the streets in our neighborhood are still pretty treacherous. When taking Colin to school there was a teenage boy attempting to walk up his driveway and for every step he took forward he slid back three. I'm so glad I don't really have to walk on all of the ice.



Jenn

Subtle Silhouette

This past week the Ways to Use it Challenge was to use tape in your design and not just the tape you use to hold your layers together. At first I was stumped and then I remembered something we learned at the Louisville Regionals, how to use sticky strip to adhere glitter to your cards or projects. From there I was off and running.

I absolutely love the Soft Sky and Always Artichoke combination. I also wanted to use my Wintergreen paper to make something besides a Christmas card. With my Garden Silhouettes stamp set out I was on my way. I stamped my main image in Always Artichoke and without re-inking my stamp I stamped once to the right and once to the left of the main image. It didn't have enough texture for me so I then inked up Aida Cloth in Soft Sky, stamped off once and then onto my main image panel. I also sponged the edges with Always Artichoke ink. I really like the effect.

Then instead of using ribbon I ran a piece of sticky strip across the main image panel and my Wintergreen dsp. After I peeled the liner off I dumped Dazzling Diamonds glitter onto the top of the strip and I had a nice faux glitter ribbon strip. I then added the large and small oval punches and stamped my sentiment. I do have to say that this is one of my favorite cards this week.

We are home bound today. We had huge freezing ice storms last night and early this morning and our street and driveway is not very safe to drive on. We also are expecting at least another 1/4" of ice today. I hope that it melts quickly, but with the temps in the high 20's right now I don't see that happening. Stay safe and have a great Sunday. I know I'm going to take advantage of the weather and stamp a lot.

Jenn

Dashing Goodbye

I am officially saying goodbye to my stash of Dashing dsp. After a few packages, I have finally used up every last scrap on these two cards. They were both made with this week's sketch challenge. On the first card I made a winter scene with the adorable penguin from Punch Pals. I stamped the trees three times and then added snow by tearing some Whisper White cardstock and adding Dazzling Diamonds glitter to it with my 2 Way Glue Pen. I then popped the penguin up on dimensionals.

I added the sentiment by punching it out with the Word Window punch and then tying it to my 5/8" Old Olive grosgrain ribbon with natural hemp twine. To keep the tag in place I added a mini glue dot to the back of it.

Stamps: Punch Pals
Paper: Real Red, Old Olive, VV, WW, Dashing dsp
Ink: Basic Gray, Old Olive, Summer Sun, Close to Cocoa, Ruby Red, Soft Sky, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Blue Bayou
Accessories: Word Window punch, Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain, dimensionals, AquaPainter, 2 way glue, dazzling diamonds, sponge

On the second card I used the same paper but changed out the stamp set. On this card I opted to use Peaceful Wishes. I love this set. The stamps combine easily to achieve the effect you want. On this image panel I combined the red berries and foliage with the pine tree image to add a splash of color.

Instead of tying my ribbon in a bow I ran it under the main image panel and then added my sentiment right to the layer. Two vintage brads anchor the piece.

Today we are going out for Greek food! We are combining my brother's and sister's birthdays and celebrating both on one day. I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing afternoon with family. I hope you all have a great afternoon enjoying something you like to do.

Jenn

Stamps: Peaceful Wishes
Paper: Real Red, Old Olive, River Rock, Basic Gray, Very Vanilla
Ink: Old Olive, Real Red
Accessories: Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain, paper piercer, vintage brads

Lovely Shades of Green

On Tuesday, the Color Combination was Old Olive, Certainly Celery and Summer Sun. I don't know why two greens I like gave me such a problem when I only had to pair them with one other color. The first card is evidence of that. I just had no idea where I was going I guess, or I simply chose the wrong layout or the wrong stamp set. It could be a cute card, but the main panel just does nothing for me at this point in time. I honestly wasn't even going to post it, but I figured that I should post things that work out as well as things that don't.

It's quite a simple layout and card. I used Oh, So Lovely and stamped it in Basic Gray. I love Basic Gray classic ink and it has almost permanently replaced my Basic Black. It doesn't smear and is softer and more subtle than the black ink. I then used an AquaPainter to color in the image with Always Artichoke and Summer Sun. The bow is Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain ribbon.



This second card is my favorite and it takes on a whole new feel. I like Garden Silhouettes so much more with this color combo. The sketch is from Jen del Muro's Sketch for You to Try. While digging through my stash of designer series paper I came across a neglected Palette O'Prints that I never got to and used it for my Certainly Celery layer.

Today I have a Vendor Fair at my MOM's group as well as our winter brunch. I am so excited to have a morning to myself, converse with other moms and have a catered breakfast. Then this afternoon I have to take inventory of my stock and see how many more Christmas cards I actually need to make. I am also working on learning the in's and outs of Adobe Dreamweaver CS3. I hope to use it to develop my own personalized website. I am so excited about that, but right now I feel like a fish out of water. Once I get a start on it I hope it all falls into place, so keep your fingers crossed on that.

Have a great Friday!

Jenn


Stamps: Oh So Lovely
Paper: Old Olive, Whisper White, Certainly Celery
Ink: Summer Sun, Basic Gray, Old Olive
Accessories: Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain, dimensionals


Stamps: Garden Silhouettes
Paper: Old Olive, Certainly Celery POP, Whisper White, Summer Sun
Ink: Old Olive, Summer Sun
Accessories: Ticket Corner Punch, Crafter's Tool Kit, Sponge, Three For You Punch Box, Silver Brads, dimensionals

New Banner

I created my new blog banner today in Paint Shop Pro X using a free scrap kit from Shabby Princess called Holiday Magic. The font is Scratch from DaFont. I also used EyeCandy 4000.

I get a lot of questions following the uploading of my blog banners so I wanted to include the information here for you. Any questions, please post them in the comment section.

Jenn

Don't Open Until Christmas

When I saw yesterday's bonus sketch I almost skipped over it, but I am bound and determined to use up my Wintergreen and Dashing designer series papers over the next few days. I think I did actually accomplish the task with Dashing yesterday with a few cards I made.

The bonus sketch was a "gift card", and is supposed to look just like a wrapped gift. I sat down and got my certainly celery and striped paper in order and had no idea what I was going to add in the upper left hand corner. I pulled out stamps and punches and then ended up just using paper. I just fiddled with the paper until I found a way to make a bow I liked. I cut 7/8" strips of the Wintergreen striped paper and then looped it over and stapled in the middle. If you look at it from the side it resembles a figure 8. I then make a smaller layer on top and to cover the staples I made a little loop of designer series paper this time highlighting the other side of the paper. The ribbon strings are a 7/8" strip cut in half. After I figured out the length I wanted them I cut a triangle notch into the ends. The only stamping on here is the sentiment from All Holidays. This is a super simple card and would be so easy to mass produce for holiday cards.


Stamps: All Holidays
Paper: Always Artichoke, Wintergreen
Ink: Always Artichoke
Accessories: staples, dimensional

Blog Candy Winners

Thanks for all of the congrats on my 300th post. I honestly wouldn't have made it so far without all of my readers.

By overwhelming response it looks like Flaky Friends is the set that most people are sad to see retired.

Since I didn't realize how much paper I actually have sitting in my storage unit, I have decided to share the wealth with 3 lucky winners. At this point the envelopes are stuffed with Stampin' Up! designer series paper. Hopefully, I'll actually have room for the new paper when it gets here. I really do need to invest in Stampin' Up!'s 12 X 12 storage unit. At least I'd keep it all better sorted.

Without further ado, the lucky winners of the designer series paper are:

canben said...
I'm equally sad about the 2 sets I am losing! I'm losing both Linen and Headline Alphabet! Good thing I had JUST convinced my hubby I needed the Jumbo Outline alphabet!

JenMarie said...
Congrats on the hits!!So sad to see Frosty go!!

amyd8776 said...
Congratulations on your 300th hit. Your blog is wonderful. I love the book.I am sad to see Bodacious Bouquet and Cold Play retire. I'll have to find new favorites.

Please e-mail me with your snail mail address at startstampin (at) comcast (dot) net. I will get your envelopes in the mail on Saturday. I am at home with a sick toddler so a mid week trip to the post office is not in my future.

Congrats ladies!

Jenn

I'm so super excited!

I about fainted when Beate asked me to be a guest tutorial writer for SCS and to make a tutorial for the Double Pocket Bag. You can now see it on Splitcoaststampers by clicking here.

Snowstorms and Flowers

I feel like I am so far behind on challenges on SCS and they really are my favorite. They have helped me come so far in the past year as a stamper. For this card I started out with the Color Combo challenge from last week but deviated at the end. The color combo was Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery and Basic Gray. I just had to have some nice cheery flowers in the midst of all of this snow, so I deviated at the last minute.

I love this sketch! It is one of Jen del Muro's and you can find her Sketch For You To Try here. As I was looking through my designer papers I came across a Palette O'Prints from Stampin' Up! I didn't think I had hoarding issues, but obviously I do. Actually it's not hoarding as much as buying more than I need. I am slowly conquering that issue and I am trying to use what I buy and buy only when I need things. That being said I do have 2 brand new packages of paper coming from Stampin' Up! that are going to be in the new catalog. I am so excited for spring papers. Hopefully when they get here next week spring will arrive too. Wishful thinking on my part huh? We had a snow storm last night that actually left snow on the ground. I think I'd like snow much better if it fell only on grassy areas and avoided the streets and sidewalks. I am stuck inside with Evan so I can't complain much. He has a mysterious fever, and has for 2 days now with no other symptoms. I hope it passes soon.


Stamps: Time Well Spent
Paper: Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery POP, Basic Gray, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Gray, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Festive Favorites buttons, Bashful Blue Taffeta Ribbon, mini glue dots, dimensionals

Meander Book & Post 300 Blog Candy!

When I saw this as part of the Holiday Blitz Tutorials over at Splitcoaststampers I knew I wanted to make one, but I didn't get around to it until yesterday. I used some Fall Flowers designer series paper from Stampin' Up! that I have laying around still. I really need to use my scraps up before the new catalog is out, or before I get my hands on the new designer series paper I ordered on Saturday.



Instead of using coasters for the front of the Meander Book I used the backing that comes with the Designer Series paper and I cut mine to 3 1/4" square because I liked the size better in comparison to my pages. I then used my Bind It All to bind the covers and pages together. The front is stamped in Always Artichoke and Ruby Red ink using the sentiment from All Holidays.



This is the first page of the inside of my book. It has a picture of Evan this summer as he played in our blow up pool. It makes me feel nice and warm on this freezing cold Winter day. I long for some warmer weather already and it has just started to get frigid cold here.



I used my 1 1/4" circle punch to punch a notch out of the pocket pages and then used Always Artichoke cardstock with the corners rounded for journaling tags.



If you haven't tried out this tutorial, you really should. It is such a neat way to make a little book of photos to keep in your purse or can be a great gift for grandparents this Christmas.

I can't believe that I've made it to Post 300 already! The end of this month marks my first year blogging and it has gone so fast. To celebrate I have some Blog Candy for you! I have so much Designer paper sitting in my stash there is no way I am going to get through it all without sharing some for you. I have Stampin' Up! paper, as well as My Mind's Eye, Basic Grey and a bunch of other 6X6 sheets to share. Just leave a post here telling me which Stampin' Up! set you are sad to see on the retiring list. The link it in my post below on December 1st, or you can go to the Stampin' Up! website here to see it as well. I will use Random.org to pick a winner on Thursday morning.

Cosmic Penguin

Another busy weekend has come and gone and I am in a lull between creating projects. My cutter that I have had for at least the last 4 years suddenly broke. I debated getting another of the same, but instead I opted for the Tabletop Paper Cutter from Stampin' Up! since there wasn't a big price difference and everyone is raving about how well theirs works. My cutter won't be here until tomorrow and the small Fiskars cutter I have does not cut in a straight line anymore. I don't know why but it is always slightly off and bugs me.

Until my paper cutter arrives I am using up some scraps. I made this quick card today with Wintertime Fun from C.C. Designs. I used some Cosmo Cricket Dutch Girl paper and layered it on Blue Bayou cardstock. My main image panel is Basic Gray and Whisper White. I used a Heidi Swap Ghost Shape Heart and then put a Festive Favorites button on it to make it pop a bit more. It is much more apparent in real life. The penguins stomach is colored in with Crystal Ice Stickles.

Finally Finished!

I finally finished my Advent Calendar. It kind of bugs me that I messed up on my color pattern so that all of the rows but the last line up, but I'm not going to redo the last row just yet. Colin and Evan are very happy it is done and that there are treats inside of the tins.

A Quick Card

I am heading out for a class today so here is a real quick and easy card that was also made for the Limited Supplies Challenge. I used the wreath from Thank Snow Much that was a little larger than the 1.5" square maximum stamp size, but it was under 2", so I went with it anyway. This card came together really quickly and features paper and designer paper from the Winter Bright Simply Scrappin' Kit. I am just down to bits and pieces of it at this point in time. I can't wait to see the newest kits come January.

Have a great Sunday!

Jenn


Stamps: Thanks Snow Much, All Holidays, All in a Row
Paper: Real Red, Winter Bright dsp, Wild Wasabi textured, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Gray, Wild Wasabi, Real Red
Accessories: dimensionals, crafter's tool kit

Snow Flurries

Today we are supposed to have some nasty weather and it is supposed to involve some snow flurries and freezing rain. I sure hope that isn't the case. At least we have about 2 weeks of dinners sitting in our deep freezer so we don't have to go out if we don't want to. I sure hope if we do get the storms that they clear out by tomorrow because I have a class that I have been looking forward to and have had everything prepped for a while now.

This card is for the Limited Supplies Challenge. I had seen a card with a layout like this in Papercrafts magazine and loved the idea of it. So when I saw the Mini main event theme I thought it would be a perfect option. The snowflakes are stamped in Whisper White craft ink and then heat embossed with white embossing powder. Each circle is sponged on the edges with Real Red ink and popped up on dimensionals.

Stampin' Up! has released it's Retired List today as we get ready to get a brand new catalog in just one month! You can view the Retired List here. Also remember to check out the Wrapping Up the Holidays Promotion and if you have someone who is hard to buy for there is a Five Fantastic Gifts Under $25 link you can check out.

Due to the overwhelming response to the C.C. Designs stamps over the past week, Christine at All That Scraps has decided to move the release date up! You can now purchase Wintertime Fun and Little Penguins today!


Stamps: All Holidays, Snow Flurries
Paper: Naturals White, Winter Bright dsp, Real Red
Ink: Whisper White craft, Real Red
Accessories: Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain, dimensionals, white ep, heat gun, 1 " circle punch, 3/4" circle punch