Some recent RAK's

Ok...here are those promised RAK's. This first is from Allison who stamps when she can! Seems to me she does a gosh darn good job of it too!
Isn't this beautiful?? The red paper is velvety, and SOOO wonderful to touch! I just love it!!

This second card is from my fellow Mainiac (even if she is a transplant!) Julie Masse. I love all of Julie's work, and she just got on the Paper Pretties Design Team!! Whoo Hoo Julie!!! Thanks girl!
I love the stickles on the little bee...he just sparkles!! Totally made my day. :-)

Ok, we're off to The Netherlands to hang at the beach for the weekend. Wish me clear skies and sunshine, because the current forecasts are calling for rain!! I'll try to post when I return home on Monday!

Huggs to all, and Happy Labor Day Weekend to those who are stateside! Have a hamburger (or better yet, BBQ Rib!) for me!!

TFL!
-Jana

My swap...spoiler alert!!

German Phrase of the Day: Kocken macht Spass. = It's fun to cook. I like cooking...except when I'm too busy to actually make something good, then it's just another chore. I made pork tenderloin with berry sauce the other day for lunch, and it was YUMMY! Maybe I"ll post the recipe when I get more time. ;-)

I decided I needed to post one of my own creations! I made this hurriedly last week before going to the krankenhaus for a swap I'm in. The challenge was to create a flower from a non flower. So, use a different stamp set to create a flower, or something else. I chose to do ribbon, because I think it turns out pretty darn cool. At the time I wasn't overly thrilled with this card, but it's grown on me (like many things do!) It is a very bulky card, but it turns out cute!

Have a great day everyone!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Happy Everything, Linen background
CS: Mellow Moss, So Saffron, Bravo Burgundy, Saffron designer paper
Ink: So saffron, bravo burgundy, mellow moss
Acc: Burgundy grosgrain, clear buttons, crystal effects, ticket corner punch, glue dots, needle and thread.

TFL!
-Jana

Adorable little card...

German Phrase of the Day: Sie hat ein shoen Lacheln. - She has a beautiful smile. I liked this phrase for today, because it fits the giver of this card. Yup...it's a Beate creation! She included this card with the spool of ribbon she recently sent me for winning one of her weekly weekend sketch challenges. Isn't it adorable???

She used the textured Wild Wasabi, some sky blue patterned paper, and I think that's the Priceless stamp set (which I finally broke down and ordered, mostly thanks to gorgeous samples like this one made by Beate!!)

I also recently got another get well card from my friend Julie Masse who lives in Maine. I can't wait for February! I'm going to Florida for 2 weeks, and will somehow figure out how to get from Lakeland (down near Tampa) up to Niceville to finally meet Beate in Person, then I'm going up to Maine for a week to visit my brother and his family, and will plan on stopping off to meet Julie in person! And it will even be Sell-A-Bration, I mean...could there BE a better month?!?!

Ok...I'm FINALLY getting back to my old self, so I'll try to get some photos taken today or tomorrow, and maybe I'll even STAMP tomorrow. I've been cutting out stamps this afternoon from all my new stuff, and I can't wait to start using them!!

TFL!
-Jana

I'm home...FINALLY!

German Phrase of the Day: Willkommen zu Huase! = Welcome home! I guess this phrase is appropriate, and in answer to Queen Mary's question, I get my phrases mostly from this really cool desk calendar my friend Michelle gave me before we moved. It's made by Living Language, from whom we also have several leaning German CDs. Anyway, I thought this phrase appropriate for today!

So, after WAY too long in a hospital, I am home. Many thanks to my mom for keeping you all posted on how I was doing. I won't say it was fun, and I'm sure glad I only had one gallbladder to loose, but it wasn't horrid either. At least everyone was very NICE.

I did get a lovely RAK from Allison Filio while I was gone...a RAK back, and I'll try to post a photo of it tomorrow. Right now, I'm not quite up to climbing that last flight of stairs to my stamping lair.

Thank you all for your well wishes and prayers, they were all appreciated! And I promise to be back with pretty pictures for you tomorrow. Oh...and my husband has speculated I might make a card out of my lovely black gallstones they gave me (all 20 of them!!) but I think it would work better for scrapbook page...what do you all think??? Guess I'll have to work on that.

Huggs to you all!
-Jana

Surgery Complete - Now How Do I Get Outa' Here

Haven't heard anything from Germany since Phil called to say she had been taken to surgery, 32 hours after admission. Since they informed Jana she had to stay at least 3 days, I imagine she is using every resource to convince them to count that first uneventful day of Wednesday!

I am sure that the parcel I mailed with her "first" order out of the latest SU catty has arrived and bet she is conducting a workshop for all interested staff and patients ! ! (MoM)

ON HOLD . . . and WAITING ! !

Would you believe it - I checked in at 7am and finally at 2pm they informed me that there had been so many emergencies, that I must wait until tomorrow. No I cannot go home!!! If we are lucky tomorrow, I might get home by Sunday!!! Stay tuned for the next installment . . . from my MoM. She is bemoaning the fact that she can't be taking care of Julia - and Phil may agree by the end of the week. (This Post submitted by MoM, aka Susibella)

Viewmaster from April

German Phrase of the Day: Kannst du bitte etwas lauter reden? = Could you please talk a little louder? Usually I'm asking people to speak more slowly since that is the problem I usually have!!

Here is a card I got from one of my Diva pals, April. She did such a great job with the viewmaster card for our one on one swap. I love the images she stamped in the opening, and the paper and everything! Thanks so much April...I love it!!

So, tomorrow is the big day. When I type to you all again on Saturday I will be minus one gallbladder. So, think happy thoughts for me Tuesday night/Wednesday morning US time!

Thanks,
-Jana

Another card from a friend

German Phrase of the Day: Sie redet zu viel. = She is talking too much. That is something folks could say about me at times, and more recently, about my daughter! I swear there are times she talks just to hear herself! And, when she's speaking in German, I don't even know what she's saying half the time.

This beautiful card was from my great friend and downline Michelle. She makes such beautiful cards. And always lots of work! I love this little ladybug made with the pick a petal set...she's just so darned cute! And the little trail...adorable! She sent me this card along with some fun stuff...tabs for me to attach to my catalog to separate the sections, and some retired rubber from last year's hostess section. Thank you Michelle!! You are the bestest! Mwah!

TFL,
Jana

PS Yesterday, and some today I have been cleaning my stamping space. I just have to finish clearing off my desk, and I'll be done. If/when I finish, I'll take a photo to share with you all! Till then, no more stamping!! :( Gotta get this place cleaned up!!!

Thank you Yvette...

Here is a beautiful card sent by my wonderful online stamping friend Yvette (be sure to check her blog...she's got some great cards and scrapbook pages that she's been working on since getting home from Australia!) I can't believe how quick she was in getting this mailed!!! Looks like she used Cranberry Crisp, Ruby Red and Very Vanilla cardstocks along with the Cranberry Crisp ink and stitched ribbon. I love the fall look of this card...although I have to admit I can't quite place the stamp set. Maybe it's the one from the Southern Living special last fall? Yvette, can you help me out with this??

Thank you Yvette for the wonderful card! I love it!! And I'm SOOO impressed with your promptness...I never get cards out on time!

TFL!
-Jana

SCS Sketch challenge with Carte Postale

German Phrase of the Day: Das war ein gelungener Abend. = This was a pleasant evening. My hubby has been doing everything he can to help me stay relaxed this weekend. Well...not EVERYTHING since he hasn't just sent our DD off somewhere and cleaned the whole house single-handedly...but he's trying! He knows I'm not looking forward to Wednesday, so he is working at keeping my mind off it. So sweet! So...we did have a very pleasant evening last night just relaxing, watching a DVD (Coupling, funniest show ever!) and spending time together. I like that!

Here is another card I whipped out yesterday while Phil was mowing the lawn and Julia was going back and forth between hanging with me upstairs and coming down to check on daddy's progress. I used this week's sketch challenge from SCS, along with my Carte Postale and matching DSP from the winter mini catalog. It started, because I have these cool mirrored crocheted button-like things that I picked up at Pipoos, and I really wanted to use them. So, I figured this paper would match pretty well.

I used both sides of a single sheet of paper for the 2 designs of paper, pale plum and perfect plum cardstocks for layering, and 3 ink colors for the stamped image. I stamped the full square in Perfect Plum, Pale Plum and Certainly Celery. I punched the darkest layer with my 1 3/8" square punch, then tried to punch the celery layer with my 1 1/4" punch, but the punch was too big...so I had to cut it out by hand. Then, I cut out just the flower for the pale plum layer...not easy but I pulled it off!

This isn't one of my favorite cards...but the more I look at the photo the better I like it. I think this is an instance where IRL actually ISN'T better!! Oh well.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Carte Postale
CS: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Whisper White, Very Vanilla, DSP that I can't remember name of!
Ink: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Certainly Celery
Acc: dimensionals, mirrored button things from Pipoos

TFL!
-Jana

Thank you card and candle set

German Phrase of the Day: Ich mochte ein Glas Sekt, bitte. - I would like a glass of sparkling wine please. My calendar actually says champagne, but since Champagne comes only from the Champagne region of France, I thought sparkling wine would be more correct. I can be a wine snob at times...but I will say Germany makes some very good Sekt!

Today's card uses Beate's weekend sketch challenge #15 to make some Danke cards for Julia's teachers. While at Real this morning they had these cute little tins with candles, and I thought they would be fun to cover and turn into gifts for Julia's teachers. They have been very accommodating of all my various Doctor's appointments, etc. over the last week, and it has been such a relief to know she's in such good hands. It's bad enough to not feel well, but when you also need to worry about your child care it's much harder!

Anyway, I used the retired Recollections designer paper, along with Cranberry Crisp and very vanilla cardstocks and the Cranberry Crisp stitched ribbon. I turned the sketch on it's side, adn then paper pierced the upper left corner since it was looking so bare. The stamp is the one I picked up at the local craft store. That one little bitty stamp cost me 9 Euros!!! That's like $13!!! Can you believe it??? I can't wait for SU! to hurry up and get over here...people are going to love it!

Lastly, I my surgery is scheduled for Wednesday, so I'll post up until then, and I'll have a post for my hubby to put up saying all went well (since it's a routine type thing, and there is practically no chance of things to go wrong) after it's over...but I have to stay at the hospital for 3 nights. :-( We tried to talk the surgeon down (he was VERY nice, speaks perfect English, and has offered to come translate for me if I have any problems during my stay making myself understood) but he was firm at 3 days. Oh well. At least I'll get it over and done with!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Danke stamp (unknown)
CS: Cranberry Crisp and very vanilla, Recollections DSP
Ink: Cranberry Crisp
Acc: Cranberry Crisp stitched ribbon, dimensionals, sponge, coluzzle (for candle tin top!)

TFL!
-Jana

How Californian are YOU?

Alison got me over to Blogthings this morning...and I just HAD to do the "How California Are you?" quiz!! Unfortunately, a lot of the California has rubbed off while living in Germany. Can't wait to get back there in just 6 more weeks!! :-)

You Are 56% California

You're fairly Californian. Unless you're really from California, you should be stoked!

How California Are You?

Wild about You animals

German Phrase of the Day: Du fahrst viel zu schnell. - You are driving too fast. Now, this is a common occurance over here. Of course, I don't drive too fast (although my sister may disagree.) With no speed limit on many of the highways here (you know, the famous German Autobahns!) it is not unusual to see a lovely Porshe going 200 kph or faster. The fastest I've ever driven here was just shy of 200 (about 120 mph.) It was on a long straightaway with no cars around me, and I wanted to see what the E-class Mercedes we had rented could do. I will admit, it was fun!!! Hopefully DH and I can rent a nice Porshe or Audi TT or some other fun car for a weekend getaway next time my parents come over! :-)

I really like this card, and it's going to a special online friend of mine for a swap! I've seen so many cards where people have cut out the lion mane and popped it up, that I HAD to do one for myself. I also really like these colors together, Really Rust, So Saffron and Old Olive. I added in the grass by hand with the Old Olive marker...and finished it off with some old olive brads.

Hope you like these little guys as much as I do!! Have a great day.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Wild About You, Aida Cloth
CS: Whisper White, So Saffron, Really Rust, Old Olive
Ink: So Saffron, Really Rust, Old Olive, Ruby Red
Acc: ee brads, dimensionals

TFL!
-Jana

Beate's Sketch and SCS Color challenge

German Phrase of the Day: Kannst du mich spater abholen? = Can you pick me up later? I love the word spater (supposed to have the 2 dots over the a, again, I'm lazy!) it actually rhymes with later - well, so long as later is said with a good New England accent that is! So, it's pronounced SPAYta. Such a fun word to say.

Today's card was for Beate's weekend sketch challenge. I decided to use the colors for the Tuesday color challenge over to SCS, and while I like the colors, and the layout, I'm not thrilled with the card. I think my favorite part of the card is the large text boxed image. I inked it up with summer sun, then I used the chocolate chip marker in the air art sprayer and spritzed on some chocolate directly on the stamp, then stamped it. Doesn't it look cool?!? Gotta play with doing that some more with those stamps...I really like the effect.

Speaking of Papertrey Ink stamps, have you SEEN the newest releases yet?? OMG!!! I HAD to have the spooky sweets set. And all my daughter's cards are going to have the "From your favorite little pumpkin" sentiment stamped on the back of them!! We called her pumpkin a lot when she was little, and so for her first Halloween home, she was dressed as a pumpkin. TOO cute!! (maybe I"ll post the picture for you all to see!) And for her first birthday, we have a beautiful photo of her with a pumpkin the size of her birthweight, and one the size of her at her 1st birthday. I just love that photo because it shows just how far she came in the one year. From just under 2 pounds to 16+ in 12 short months!! Ok...I'll post that photo instead.

Anyway, be sure to head over to Papertrey Ink today to check out their newest releases. And for the curious, I bought...Spooky Sweets, Beautiful Blooms, Borders & Corners {square}, some circle metal tag rims, the small window coffee bags (both colors) and 1 jar of primas. Yeah...I had a fun shopping morning!!! I'm waiting to order the tins next month...and those I'll ship direct to California to pick up when I'm there! :-)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Text Boxed by Papertrey Ink
CS: whisper white, Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip, Blue Bayou
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Blue Bayou, Summer Sun
Acc: circle punches, air art gun, chocolate grosgrain, natural hemp

TFL!
-Jana

I stamped today!

German Phrase of the Day: Ich muss mir noch die Haare waschen. = I still have to wash my hair. Actually, I washed it yesterday so it's ok today...but boy was it desperate for a wash when I got home on Saturday!!

So, the latest on me is I'm just waiting to meet with a surgeon to schedule my gallbladder removal. Hopefully we can get it scheduled soon so I can just get it over with!!

I actually made three cards this morning, but I'm going to dole them out one day at a time because I have no idea when I"ll have the energy and time to stamp again!! I needed to make a viewmaster card for a fun one on one swap I do with my Stampin' Divas MSN group, and then I was excited to see it was also the TLC challenge this week over at SCS, so it was meant to be!

I used 2 of my favorite new colors, Soft Sky and Blue Bayou for this one, and boy doesn't the saffron look gawgeous with them??? For the stamp set I thought it would be fun to use Perfect Presentation again. I'm happy that I've been able to use this set quite a bit so far...makes me feel better about actually PAYING for it!! So, if you've never made a viewmaster card, go for it...it's super easy! If you need directions, my wonderful friend Kyla made some fantastic directions over here on SCS.

Oh...and I decided to include 2 photos so you could see another of the windows!

Have a great day!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Perfect Presentation
CS: Whisper White, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky
Ink: Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Purely Pomegranate, So Saffron
Acc: 1 3/8" 1 1/4" 1/8"circle punches, Coluzzle, white grosgrain ribbon, silver brad

TFL!
-Jana

Home again...

Well, my trip to Turkey has been canceled, or at least, postponed. I spent the last 24+ hours in the hospital over here due to Gall stones. Seems I'll be having an operation while here in Germany, so that should be interesting. You really learn a lot about a culture being stuck in a hospital, and only able to sort of communicate with your doctors. I was allowed to come home for the rest of the weekend, so long as I don't eat anything beyond dry toast and water or tea. Then back to Hospital on monday for more tests...and scheduling of surgery.

So...Guess that means I might get some time to stamp this weekend, huh?? ;-) And for sure when I go back to the hospital, I'm packing my stamping stuff so I don't go too insane sitting there. Thought I'd go bonkers last night after I finished the book I had brought (not expecting to be stuck at the hospital) before my hubby showed up with a new book and the dvd player with some movies. .

So, today's German Phrase of the Day is: Ich bin im Krankenhaus. = I am in hospital. I love how the word krank is sick in German. Gives you new insight into the word cranky!! :-)

Oh, and the card today is one I did for my recent customer newsletter. I got the colors from one of the Dirty Dare's on SCS, and the technique is the Emerging Color technique Beate recently did for the SCS newsletter. I used a few more stamp sets than I usually like to for this card, Pick a Petal, In the Spotlight, Little Pieces and Carte Postale. Phew! But, it was loads of fun to do!!

Hope you like it...and I'll keep you all posted on my medical adventures in German!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Pick a Petal, In the Spotlight, Little Pieces and Carte Postale
CS: Whisper White, glossy white, more mustard, tempting turquoise, Wild Wasabi
Ink: more mustard, tempting turquoise, Wild Wasabi, purely pomegranate
Acc: turquoise grosgrain, small and large tag punches, sponge, crimper

TFL!
-Jana

More Christmas-y fun!

German Phrase of the Day: Manchmal ist er auch hoeflich. = Sometimes he is also polite. I suppose that could refer to my husband. Sometimes!! I think it's funny how we require our children to always say please and thank you when asking for things, yet how often do we actually use those words with our spouses? Probably not as often as we should!! Oh well.

So yesterday when I was doing the sketch challenge, I decided to do another card with Perfect Presentation, because I'm feeling a little bad that I bought this set and am not using it much. I like the tree a lot (I LOVE Christmas trees!!) and wanted to try using it. I had nothing in mind, so I stamped the tree on some white cardstock, then decided I could possibly frame it inside a scalloped oval. Ta-da...it fit! I suppose I could have punched the tree out and that would have looked better, but I liked having the red be on top! Then...what to do with the card base. I had wanted to stamp the JOY sentiment on yesterdays card, but it just wasn't going to work, so I thought it might here. I stamped the upper right JOY first, then started working down the card...then I moved over to do the send diagonal line...and when I finished that I thought "Gee, this looks kinda cool like this, I think I'll stop now!" Then I added the red gingham and mounted my framed tree on dimensionals. Overall, I'm happy - and it was super easy!! :-)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Perfect Presentation
CS: Whisper White, Real Red, Wild Wasabi
Ink: Wild Wasabi
Acc: Red gingham ribbon, dimensionals, Marvy giga scalloped oval punch

TFL!
-Jana

SC136 with Perfect Presentation

German Phrase of the Day: Sie ist sehr nett. = She's very nice. Nett is a new word for me today, pronounced NEHT I guess like net in English, this will be a good word for me to remember and use!!

I loved the sketch challenge today over at SCS. But designing a card with it is always a separate matter! I still had out my in color blues from yesterday (no, I don't often put things away...bad girl, I know!) and so I decided to match them up with my beloved pomegranate! I mean, I hadn't used it all day yesterday, so it was feeling neglected!!!

The hardest part of this card was stamping the Do Not Open image. I inked the entire image up with pomegranate, then used a cotton swab to remove ink from the words, then carefully rolled the edges in Blue Bayou ink, trying not to get any ink on the petals!! It would be so much easier with a marker, but alas, SU! doesn't make markers with the in colors...wish they would! And, I don't even have the reinkers yet to make my own markers with blender pens!! Soon though! :-)

I used my 1 3/8" circle punch to punch out part of the Soft Sky cardstock to make the circular cutaway... and then of course added some glitter to the center of the poinsettia...I mean, a girls gotta have something glittery! Finally, I finished it off with some May Arts ribbon. I'll be so glad to get my new double-stitched ribbon in the new In Colors. It's been very trying to create with these gorgeous colors and not have matching ribbon!! Especially when everyone else does!!! Ok, temper tantrum over. I'll have my new stuff when we get back from Turkey.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Perfect Presentation
CS: Whisper White, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Purely Pomegranate
Ink: Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Purely Pomegranate
Acc: 1 3/8" circle punch, SU! cutter kit distressing tool, dazzling diamonds glitter, May arts ribbon

TFL!
-Jana

Baroque Color Challenge

German Phrase of the Day: Gehst du gerne einkaufen? = Do you like shopping? Literally, it translates to Do you gladly go shopping, which I only do sometimes. I gladly shop for craft stuff, but I really don't enjoy shopping for clothes or other things. To me, it's just exhausting! Perhaps that is because I've been worn down by bringing a young child with me so most shopping excursions are exhausting!!

Today's card is a combination of 2 challenges. As usual, I forgot to bring my little sketch upstairs, so it's off a little, but I like it this way. And I like just having that little tiny bit of cameo coral (NOT one of my favorite colors, to be sure!) because it adds just enough non-blue to balance the card out.

I really like all the cards I've seen with the faux stitching around the outside of this blue bayou color...so of course I HAD to incorporate that! Otherwise, it's a very simple card using the sketch from Jen Del Muro's blog, and Emily's color challenge 126 up at SCS.

Oh...and I'm playing around with my photo taking. My husband told me last week that some of the photos I was using were really bad (which I knew) so I'm actually using Beate's technique of setting 2 sheets of cardstock on a chair by the window and taking the photo in natural light. I still think I need at least one back light...but this is what I've got available now. If hubby keeps complaining about quality maybe I can convince him to get me some good lights!! :-)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Aida Cloth
CS: Whisper White, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Cameo Coral
Ink: Blue Bayou, Cameo Coral
Acc: sponge, white gel pen, silver narrow organdy ribbon

TFL!
-Jana

What's Black & White and Purely Pomegranate all over?

German Phrase of the Day: Es ist richtig warm hier. = It is really warm here. And believe me, I'm NOT complaining!!! After having possibly the coldest summer (following the warmest winter) I'm enjoying a few days of sunshine. However, I hear it's going to cool down again starting tomorow, so don't worry, I'll find something to complain about! ;-)

I discovered I actually have one more card from my Dare to get Dirty challenges to show you all, but not today, because today, I stamped!!! Can you believe it? I finally made it back into my stamp room after almost a week away, and it was great.

I really wanted to do Beate's weekend sketch challenge, because it looked like so much fun. My color scheme was governed by some cool new Making Memories brads I picked up at Pippoos last week...and then I didn't even use them! They're all black and white, 2 sizes, with the larger ones having different patterns. They are very elegant looking, so I will have to find the perfect cards to use them with (of course!) But in the meantime, I wanted to do something black and white, and of course I had to use my favorite pomegranate!! And what better stamp set for that color combo than this little lady.

The card itself is pretty self-explanatory. For directions on sizes, etc, Beate's blog. Oh, and I used some more bling for my flower centers. I mean...you GOTTA have bling, right??

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Little Lady by Papertrey Ink
CS: Whisper White, Purely Pomegranate, basic black
Ink: Purely Pomegranate, basic black
Acc: rectangle punch, black narrow organdy and black gingham ribbons, rhinestones from Pippoos

TFL!
-Jana

More definately IS more!

German Phrase of the Day: Das ist meine Freundin. = This is my girlfriend. Now, I'm not sure if that is girlfriend as in You all are my girlfriends, or Girlfriend as in boy and girl girlfriend. But, I'm guessing that just as in English, it can work either way. Freund is friend, so adding the in makes it feminine, thus, girlfriend!

I can't believe I forgot to post these cards! These were another multi-challenge set, being pink to meet Cambria's challenge, and the More is More challenge by Jami was loads of fun. We had to take a simple card, then step it up with layers, embellishments, or other things to kick it up a notch. So, on the left is my basic card, and on the right, the stepped up card, with matting for the designer paper layers, along with sponging, I used the ticket corner punch and some brads on the stamped piece, and I also did the faux diamonds technique on that to add some shimmer and shine. Lastly, I used some organdy ribbon along with my grosgrain to add a little more elegance.

This was a very fun challenge, and definitely got me thinking more about what I could to to Kick Up my cards more!

Stamping Supplies (All supplies Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted.)

Stamps: Big Blooms

Paper: Regal Rose, Rose Red, Whisper White, Rose Red Prints DSP

Ink: Regal Rose craft, versamark

Accessories: ticket corner punch, irridescent ice ep, rose grosgrain, pink wide organdy, silver cord, silver brads.

TFL!
-Jana

What's black adn brown and dirty all over?

German Phrase of the Day: Du hast Recht, wie immer. = You are right, as always. This is a phrase my husband should be perfecting to say to me...don't you think?? ;-)

Today's card is NOT one of my favorites, but I haven't been stamping the last few days because I"m fighting some sort of virus, so it's all I got left! I do like that I used my Danke stamp...it just fit perfectly! This was for the Brown and Black stamping challenge of the Dare to Get Dirty week, and I knew this DP was just perfect. Problem was, Chocolate Chip didn't quite match the brown, so I couldn't use any Chocolate Chip cardstock. I think the black worked out ok though. Also, I realized after I finished that it was in fact a brown-eyed susan in reverse...oh well! Hopefully I'll get some new stuff created tomorow for you all.

And Danke to Beate - I won her sketch challenge last weekend!! :-) When I feel better I'll be doing the happy dance.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Pick a Petal
CS: Basic Black, Very Vanilla, summer sun, Basic Grey Perhaps or Phoebe
Ink: Chocolate chip, basic black, summer sun
Acc: black grosgrain, 1 3/8" circle punch

TFL!
-Jana

A Lighter shade of pale...

German Phrase of the Day: Das ist viel Arbeit. = That is a lot of work. Arbeit is pronounced AHR-bite, like "hey, I'm a Pirate, ahhrr bite!" Sorry...that was pretty bad.

This card was another Dare to get Dirty challenge - actually - 2! The sketch was a challenge created by StamperSharon, and the color scheme was from JanTink's Lighter shade of Pale challenge. I used some more Basic Gray paper (I've been loving that lately!) and another of those awesome silk flowers from my friend Karin. I kinda followed Wanda's tutorial for coloring the flowers from the Pretties Kit. I coloed the petals with the blush blossom marker, then added some So Saffron to the center, then I used my aquapainter to spread the color out and soften it some. Lastly, I added the Rhinestone brad to the center.

For the sentiment, I used Happy Everything. Did you know that if you stamp Happy upside down it actually looks like helehoy? I had my stamp upside down (a problem with unmounted images!) and kept stamping it on the wrong end of the cardstock...and looking at it upside down I thought "well, that doesn't look like Happy!" Oh well!! I'm a doofus, I know! So, I finally correctly stamped Happy with So Saffron, then I used Pretty in Pink to stamp the "For You" which gets hidden by the flower somewhat. I thought this would be a nice generic card for a bridal shower or a baby shower.

Hope everyone has a great Friday!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Happy Everything
CS: Blush Blossom, So Saffron, Very Vanilla, Basic Grey Phoebe (I think)
Ink: So Saffron, Pretty in Pink, Blush Blossom
Acc: Rhinestone brads, silk flower

TFL!
-Jana

A Dirty Christmas card...

German Phrase of the Day: Wahrscheinlich ziehe ich bald nach Berlin. = I am probably moving to Berlin soon. This is NOT true...but we did visit recently! :-)

Today's card was a result of more Dirty Girl challenges over at Splitcoast. It was for the twisted humor, vintage image, and ATC challenges. It was originally an Artist Trading Card, but I knew it was missing something in that format, so I pulled it apart and tried again. I added the red layer and red gingham to bring out the red in Rudolph's nose...although I notice you still can't really see his nose in the photo.

I thought the saying was great. I actually thought it up on my own - although I may have seen something similar on a store bought card at some point. My husband actually laughed when he saw this one, and has requested this be one of our Holiday Cards this year...I'll keep working on the overall design for that since I'm still not happy! And of course, when mass producing, I'll print the sentiment from the computer.

Have a great day everyone!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Festive Favorites, Weather Background
CS: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Real Red
Ink: Basic Black, Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Handsome Hunter, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, bashful blue
Acc: Sponge, chocolate grosgrain, red gingham ribbon, dazzling diamonds glitter

TFL!
-Jana