Julee's Mojo Monday #9

It's a 2-fer day! I'm so far behind in posting (or you could say I'm so far ahead in my creating!) that I decided I'd give you 2 posts for the price of 1 today! :-)

I made this card for Julee Tilman's Mojo Monday #9 sketch challenge. I love the sketches she creates, but I haven't made one until this one. I created this Tuesday morning after finishing up the cards I had started Monday night with my new Pipoos supplies. You'll see those cards later this week.

I knew I wanted to use my Dashing DSP (almost out!! Good thing that special starts tomorrow!) and some Real Red cardstock. I cut the DSP and sponged all my edges, punched my real red scalloped giga circle and sponged that, and cut my dashing circle with my coluzzle...and even sponged that!

I inked the tree from Season of Joy first in Versamark, then with Wild Wasabi ink pad and a Summer sun marker for the sun, chocolate chip marker for the trunk. After stamping it on whisper white cardstock, I then embossed it with iridescent ice ep to give it some nice sparkle. Then, I cut it out. I mounted it to my dashing circle with dimensionals, and then mounted the scalloped piece with dimensionals as well.

I then used my new Making Memories Snowflake embellishment to add some snow to the card. The snowflakes come with rhinestone brads...making them super quick and cute embellishments. I adhered that with a pop-up glue dot so it would be about the same hight as the tree.

Lastly, I wanted to add a greeting, so used the Merry Christmas sentiment from my MFT Home for the Holidays set and punched it using the Word Window punch from SU!. The greeting is a little longer than the punch, so I trimmed the paper to 3/8 inches wide, then stuck one end in to round it with the punch, leaving the tail end of the strip out. I used a brad to anchor it onto the card.

Thanks for the fun sketch Julee!! LOVE it! Don't forget to enter to win Blog Candy here!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Season of Joy, Home for the Holidays by MFT
CS: Whisper White, Real Red, Dashing DSP
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun, Real Red, Versamark
Acc: Irridescent Ice ep, coluzzle, Giga scalloped circle punch, sponge, dimensionals

TFL!
-Jana

Happy Halloween

German Phrase of the Day: Du siehst wie ein Gespenst aus. = You look like a ghost. Ghost in German is pronounced GEH-shpehnst. Another fun word!! :-)

This is the Halloween card I sent to my Diva Swap sister Yvette this month. I had seen a card somewhat similar in my blog travels and decided to create one of my own. I started with some Glossy White CS and wheeled Spooky Skyline with Black Craft ink. Next, I sprinkled on some black detail embossing powder and heat set.

Next step was to create the moon. I used the large circle from Big Pieces and stamped that with versamark, somewhat overlapping the trees. Next, I embossed it with clear ep. The next step was to add some color. I actually did two versions of this card, but the first turned out too dark (sorry Sher...you got that one!) For this one I used Pumpkin Pie, Lovely Lilac and Night of Navy reinkers on an alcohol soaked cotton ball. I simply substituted Lovely Lilac for Elegant Eggplant on this version to lighten it up a little. I mounted the Glossy piece on Basic black, then onto a Pumpkin Pie card.

After I finished that it still didn't look done yet, so I added the Bat from Batty for You layered on Pumpkin Pie and a Black scalloped circle to finish the card off.

Don't forget to enter to win Blog Candy here!! And have a great Halloween everyone!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Batty for You, Spooky Skyline wheel, big pieces
CS: Glossy White, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black craft and classic, Pumpkin Pie, Lovely Lilac and Night of Navy reinkers
Acc: circle punches, scallopwed punch, embossing powders

TFL!
-Jana

50K Blog BonBons!!

I finally got past the 50K mark! Hooray!! :-) And, I'm coming up on my 1 year blogiversary in just one month. What better way to celebrate than with Blog BonBons?!?

Included in this package is:
1. 2 Michael's Clear Stamp sets
2. 1 small acrylic block
3. A few yards of some striped grosgrain ribbon, pink and purple.
4. Some glittery patterned paper from DCWV glitter stack
5. Some Crystal stickers, 4 sizes of rounds.
6. 1 sheet of snowflake stickers for creating stained glass effects (see this post for an example)
7. 1 sheet of Christmas shimmery clear stickers - an example will be coming!
8. A few Genuine German Beer Deckels (chipboard coasters!)
9. Accents & Elements tin from spring mini catalog - unopened!
10. Both Way Blossoms stamp set (minus the wood, sorry!) This was a hostess set in the 06-07 SU! Idea Book and Catalog...and was used for the card in this post. This is a new uncut set.
11. And as always...some yummy European Chocolates!! :-) Gotta have chocolate!!

So...to win this plethora of stamping goodies, please leave a comment on THIS POST telling me what you like to listen to when you are stamping. I listen to my ipod...and it depends on my mood which playlist I start, but it can range from Dixie Chicks to Sarah McLachlin to REM to Queen, and a thousand options in between! I think I need to create a special Stampin' playlist!! :-)

This is open to anyone...I will ship anywhere in the world. I will select a winner using random.org when we get back from Istanbul on Monday morning, November 5th. So please enter by 8am European Standard Time (GMT +1) on the 5th. For the time-zone impaired, that's 2am EST, 11pm PST on the 4th! :-)

Good luck, can't wait to read about your favorite stampin tunes!
TFL!
-Jana

Happy Halloween, almost!

German Phrase of the Day: Guten Appetit! = Enjoy your meal! This is what is set by every waitperson when you are served a meal...so it is a phrase I learned pretty early (and you can use this phrase tonight when getting dinner for your husband Adelina!)

Today's card was sent to my by my stamping friend Yvette. I LOVE this card. I have a little black cat...so I was really tempted to buy this set. Somehow, I refrained! But I just love the colors she used, and the whole layout of the card. It's one of my favorite Halloween cards!

Yvette is my Swap Sister this month for our Diva's group. I love doing our monthly "Sister Swap" with Diva's because it's a way to get mail over here :-) and a fun way to stay in touch with this awesome group of ladies! And they don't even mind paying the extra postage to ship stuff all the way over to me! They're all awesome!!! In the next few days I'll be showing you the projects I made for Yvette...as hopefully they will have finally arrived!

Here on the detail photo you can see how Yvette didn't adhere the tail down on the kitty, so it stands out a little bit. I just love that!!!

Have a wonderful Day Before Halloween everyone!

TFL!
-Jana

Just Because They Wanna...

German Phrase of the Day: Magst du Tiere? = Do you like animals? For us the answer is a resounding yes, with our dog and cat which cause is untold problems, costs, and of course extra cleaning time...they are totally worth it! :-) We love our furry children/friends.

Today's card is for Sherry and Jeanne's Just Because We Wanna weekend challenge. Sherry had a sketch this weekend, and I loved that it was perfect for a large image. Since I had stamped this image a few days ago but hadn't gotten around to coloring it, I thought it would be perfect to use.

I had to have this set because of this image. This is NOT my usual style (although I will admit, I just bought a Thomas Kinkade stamp last night - looks like a beautiful rustic cabin in Maine!) but this scene reminds me so much of the area where I was born and spent many happy early childhood days down in Bucksport, Maine. Even the little church up on the hill looks like the church my "adopted" grandmother attended, and where we went for holidays. And if you're wondering what an "adopted" grandmother is, well, I adopted her! I even wrote up adoption papers, because both my grandmothers had died before I was born, and she was the best Grandma I could imagine having anyway! I still visit her every time we go to Maine!!

Anyway...It was a relatively quick card once I figured out how to color in the image. I think I need to reink my stazon pad, because my jetblack is looking more charcoal gray these days! I of course had to add some glitter...because we all know that snow truly glitters! You can see it a little better in the detail photo, but IRL this card truly sparkles!!

Other design notes, I sponged my watercolor paper with Brocade blue to match the underlying layer, and the DSP with chocolate chip for the same reason. I used some blue grosgrain (not sure which it was called...the one that matches Brocade Blue) with a little silver cord to dress it up a bit, and I was done!

Have a wonderful Monday everyone!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Sleigh Bells Ring
CS: Chocolate Chip, Brocade Blue, Watercolor Paper, retired SU! Christmas DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Brocade Blue, jetblack stazon, Watercolor Wonder Crayons
Acc: sponge, blue grosgrain, silver cord, aquapainter

TFL!
-Jana

Nightstamper in the afternoon...

German Phrase of the Day: Der Hund bellt. = The dog is barking. This is a phrase I'm sure our neighbors use frequently, since our dog does tend to bark a couple times per day. Especially when the kids are at our back gate teasing her hoping that I'll then come out to say "Maisy, no!" Poor dog.

Today's card is for the Featured Stamper challenge over at SCS. I quickly looked over Nitestampers gallery and was completely blown away by the incredible artwork I found! I loved so many of them...but this card of hers was by far my favorite! I just loved the layers, the colors, the use of embellishments. It was amazing!

For my card, I had to change the Groovy Guava to Soft Sky because I don't have any Groovy Guava double-stitched ribbon (a calamity I intend to correct as soon as possible!) because I don't like Groovy Guava...remember? LOL! I do now!! Anyway...I swapped in Soft Sky, I changed the stamp set (both for the images and for the greeting) and I used silver brads instead of white. Otherwise, it's a total CASE!

This card did take me quite a while to finish, what with all those layers, measuring, cutting, etc. But It was totally worth it! I LOVE this card. And so when I stamped "You're my favorite" the greeting could be as much about the card as the recipient. One thing is for sure...it will have to go to a VERY special person! Looking at the card now I'm thinking it really could use a little glitter on the flowers. Perhaps I'll add some stickles before I send it out to anyone as an extra special addition! :-)

Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday! I also made cards for Beate's weekend sketch challenge and Jeanne and Sherry's Just Because We Wanna challenges today, so I'll upload them this week too! Oh...and I just saw I've gone past the 50K mark, so I'll be having some blog candy this week too!! Yipee!!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Both Way Blossoms, retired SU! greeting set
CS: Whisper White, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Purely Pomegranate, Rose Red Prints DSP
Ink: Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Purely Pomegranate, Certainly Celery marker
Acc: Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, and Purely Pomegranate double stitched ribbon, silver brads, word window punch

TFL!
-Jana

Garden Whimsey Butterflies...

German Phrase of the Day: Soll ich dir ein Geheimnis erxaehlen? = Shall I tell you a secret? I don't have many secrets...so I have nothing spectacular to share with this phrase...sorry! :-)

This is the card that I made with my friend Lisa last week. She called and wanted to make a couple of "thinking of you" cards for friends having tough times. When she got here, we went upstairs and picked out the stamps and designer paper, which is what set our colors. I decided I simple layout would be best...and we went to town.

For this card, the base is Old Olive, with the Fall Flowers DSP layered on top (sponged of course!) and then we tied on the double-stitched soft sky ribbon. For the central piece, we stamped the 2 butterflies on the whisper white cardstock, then stamped the large butterfly on some scrap cardstock and cut it out. We added dazzling diamonds to the cut out butterfly to give it some shimmer, which is much easier to see on the detail photo. We stamped the greeting in Old Olive ink and sponged the edges of the white with really rust ink, and layered it on some really rust cardstock also sponged with the same color. Then, we attached the cut out butterfly on top of the stamped one with a half a dimensional.

I have loved so many samples I've seen with this set, and especially love cutting out the butterfly so the wings are free and it truly looks ready to take off in flight.

I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend. We just got home from our Halloween Party with the American Women's Club of Dusseldorf. Julia had a great time playing games and getting treats, and I got to wear my new Queen costume. It's good to be the Queen! :-)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Garden Whimsey, Sincere Salutations
CS: Whisper White, Old Olive, Really Rust, Fall Flowers DSP
Ink: Really Rust, Old Olive
Acc: sponge, Dazzling diamonds glitter, soft sky double stitched ribbon

TFL!
-Jana

Silhouette's in Fall

German Phrase of the Day: Du musst einen Tee mit Rum trinken. = You have to drink a tea with rum. Perhaps this is a cure for my caffeine high from yesterday? Or perhaps this was to cure the gentleman's cold from yesterday. I'll let you all decide!

Today's card was one I made earlier this week because I had my Garden Silhouettes set out to make a card for a swap. I really liked this set once I started seeing samples on Splitcoast, even though the samples in the catalog didn't get my all that excited. It always helps to see what others are doing with a stamp set!

For this I stamped the flower and word Lovely with versamark on Really Rust cardstock, then embossed with clear ep. I added some Vanilla craft ink using a sponge to make the flower pop more, then sponged really rust around the edges. You can see all that much better in the detail photo below. The next layer down is very vanilla, and it has a small bit of mellow moss sponged on. I then tied the ribbon around those two layers.

The card base is chocolate chip, again sponged with the same color, and then the Mellow Moss layer is stamped with Linen background, and of course, sponged again! It's a very simple layout, but overall I'm quite pleased with the results. However...wait until you see the OTHER card I made with this set...the one for the swap. I'm hoping the swaps arrive at their destinations soon so I can start posting those projects. I was quite happy with 2 of the projects...and the third was ok. ;-)

Have a great day!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Stem Silhouettes, Linen background
CS: Chocolate Chip, Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla, Really Rust
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla craft, Really Rust, versamark
Acc: sponge, moss grosgrain ribbon, clear ep

TFL!
-Jana

NSR: Caffiene high...

Does anyone else out there react strongly to caffeine? I weaned myself off it over the summer when I thought my stomach issues were really bad heartburn and figured not drinking coffee would be better for my tum...then just continued after my surgery hoping it would also be better for my migraines. But, everyone once in a while I like to have some coffee, because I really like it. Well...while I was in California I bought myself some General Foods International Coffee drink mix, the Cafe Vienna flavor. I know it sounds like their old ad, but it really does make me think of the incredible coffee I had at our hotel in Salzburg back in May (where I had SOOOO much fun with my sisters!) So anyway...this morning I was making pfanne kuchen (ok, making is a stretch, I was warming them in the toaster oven because I bought pre-made ones from the store which are SOOOO good!) To me, these are more like crepes than true pancakes, because they are sweet. Anyway, I was making those with some nutella for Julia's breakfast (yeah, I know, real healthy, huh?) and I thought some Viennese coffee might be good with the French crepe au chocolat. So I made myself a large mug. Then, after dropping Julia at school, I thought "hmmm...another crepe might be good...and some more coffee with it!" so I made myself jut half a cup this time. However...that much caffeine was too much for my system, and now I'm so wired I can't sit still. I'm typing really fast though!! :-) LOL

Ok...so since my last post I've managed to fold and put away 3 loads of laundry (while starting another) sorted out the rest of the laundry (almost a week's worth...oops!) Cleaned my kitchen (which hadn't been done in too many days to admit here!) and cleaned off my dining table (since when my husband placed his magazine on it 2 days ago and it stuck he thought it might be time to be washed!) Of course, I have to have my ipod on for all this, so while doing all this I'm dancing around the house singing (my poor husband has the door to his office closed!!)

Anyway, the point of all this rambling is I'm really wired, but my hands are too jittery to stamp right now so I'm cleaning instead. I think DH will start spiking my rooibus tea with caffeine if this is the result!!

ETA: Ok, It's almost 2:30 here and I am slowly recovering from my high. Since my DH kept making Tweek references (South Park) I decided to add his picture to this post! ;-)

SC147 HuggyBellas

German Phrase of the Day: Er ist schon wieder erkaeltet. = He has a cold again. Thankfully, although our family all has the sniffles a little, none of us have developed a full-fledged cold this week, unlike my family in Maine who ALL seem to have this nasty bug that's going around.

So, yesterday afternoon my daughter chose to go back to kindergarten to play more because "I don't want to help you clean up, mommy!" Well...I decided I didn't want to either, so I went up stairs and stamped! I wanted to do something for the sketch challenge, and I wanted to use more of my new bellas. I really want to use Giddyupabella, but I knew she was too square to fit this sketch, so I chose Huggybellas instead. Aren't they cute???

I wanted a nice bright card, so of course I pulled out my cutie pie paper. I mean, what colors are more cheerful and bright than these?? I paired it with a Purely Pomegranate card base, and layered my dsp on some certainly celery. The Bellas are stamped on watercolor paper (got to remember to order more of that!!) and colored in with watercolor crayons and aquapainter this time. The H2O crayons are more forgiving...but they are also lighter in color overall...so for the celery, I have to use reinker to get good color. It seems to be the only one I can't get decent color out of consistently from the crayon - anyone else have that problem?

I stamped Sistahs (also from StampingBella) with Purely pomegranate ink onto the watercolor paper, and then after assembling the card, added the other saying with basic black to the card base. I of course had to add my double stitched purely pomegranate ribbon and some of my new BellaBaubles to the corners of the card. Aren't they adorable?? I got some pink and clear ones to play with...and finally had a card I thought they would work with. You can seem them better on the detail photo. And isn't it funny how anytime there is a bella with frizzy hair I tend to make that hair dark??? If only my hair looked that good when it gets all frizzy!! (if only I could wear that cute little dress!)

Have a wonderful day Sistahs, and thanks for stopping by! To quote Em, THE Bella herself, "Mwah!"

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Huggybellas, Sistahs from Stamping Bella Saying from retired SU! set
CS: Watercolor paper, purely pomegranate, certainly celery, Bashful Blue, Cutie PieSU! DSP
Ink: Black stazon, purely pomegranate, certainly celery, Bashful Blue, H2O crayons
Acc: Sponge, aquapainter, double stitched purely pomegranate ribbon, BellaBaubles

TFL!
-Jana

Feeling homesick...

I normally don't pay attention to banner ads or other things because I've been web surfing so long I've developed banner blindness...but today I just saw the word "Acadia" on my Windows Live Messenger window and had to click. I got this BEAUTIFUL video set to some lovely music that has me really missing my home state, and this incredibly beautiful national park. For some soothing beauty, click the link below (and be patient through the ad...sorry!)


Fall Beauty: Seasonal change in Maine

Hope you all are having a wonderful morning! (and I have a card coming next!)

TFL!
-Jana

CC137

German Phrase of the Day: Frisches Obst ist gesund. = Fresh fruit is healthy. Boy ain't that the truth...and you think I can find much over here in winter??? Nope! Oh well...that is one thing we for sure miss about California is all the yummy fresh fruit and veggies we used to get. MMmmm.

Today I made 2 cards for the color challenge over at SCS. One following Sharon's challenge to use the contents from the regional M&T, the other just using whatever CS I had in the right colors. This first card was VERY challenging for me. I had no idea what the card they did for the regional looked like, and just wanted to use what I had. I did cheat a little and added a tiny bit more of whisper white cardstock to stamp the flowers. I inked the stamp with soft sky first, then touched the purely pomegranate to the blossoms. I did the greeting stamp the same way, just using the edge of the ink pad to ink up the pomegranate colors. In the close up photo, you can see the detail of the flowers better. If I had had a blender pen with me I might have tried using that instead...but I was stamping at a friends house and had brought limited supplies.

The second color challenge card I was initially going to use Julee's Monday Mojo sketch...but I got off track somehow. I'm not totally happy with the card...but it was what I came up with. I'll have to try another card with Julee's sketch later!

I sponged all the layers, and then stamped the swirl from Season of Joy on the Soft Sky layer in soft sky. I liked the way it looked going out from the center, and thought that would work well with something covering the center. I stamped the poinsettia on whisper white with pomegranate ink and then cut it out. I decided to mount it on a scalloped pomegranate circle, but that seemed to much, so I then punched a 1 3/8" circle from the Basic Gray cardstock to put underneath, and that seemed to tone it down enough for me. I used a dimensional between the flower and the circle, and again when mounting the scalloped circle onto the card.

To finish off the card, I added the satin ribbon, and put some burgundy stickles in the center of the flower which you can see better on the detail photo. I'm still not thrilled with this card, seems to need something...just not sure what! Any suggestions???

Oh...I made a few other cards today too...but you'll have to wait to see those. I'm getting quite a stockpile here!! :-)

Enjoy!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: True Friend, Season of Joy
CS: Basic Gray, Purely Pomegranate, Soft Sky, Whisper White, Holiday Harmony DSP
Ink: Basic Gray, Purely Pomegranate, Soft Sky
Acc: sponge, scalloped circle punch, circle punch, stickles, ribbon originals, satin ribbon

TFL!
-Jana

OHMYGOSH!

Wow! Am I ever flattered!! I was browsing through my Google reader and came to Stephanie's blog "Scrapped Silly!" and noticed my name in the title of today's post...I'm her Tuesday Spotlight! Can you believe it?? I was just floored. Thanks so much Stephanie! I'm very excited!!!

If you haven't checked her blog yet, you should. She always has some great projects, and amazing photos!!

Have a great Tuesday everyone...I'm heading to bed! :-)

TFL!
-Jana

Card for Camden

German Phrase of the Day: Komm doch mit. - Come along! As in, "come along Julia, we need to keep going." What mom doesn't same Come on at least 10 times in a day??

I whipped up today's card just yesterday (although I still have tons that I made over the weekend to show you...I've been a stampin' fool lately!) because it dawned on me that my new nephew is over a month old and I still had not made a card for him yet! What a terrible auntie I've been!!

My nephew Camden was born September 18th, 7.5 weeks early because of an obstruction in his bowel which had been observed via ultrasound. Today, 5 weeks and one surgery later, he is still in the hospital - where he will stay for the foreseeable future. Camden, my brother, his wife and their adorable little girl all have a long road ahead of them before Camden is home, and even longer before Camden is "well." My heart truly bleeds for them because I know firsthand how hard it is to have a baby in the hospital long-term, and yet for me it was so much easier. We always had the hope that Julia would come home with no long-term medical issues. Even with all the battles she fought during her first months of life...there was nothing save the damage to her lungs which would for sure cause long-term problems...and even that damage was not too bad. However, Camden's life will be different, because he will always have some residual issues due to his "short gut." However, he is the most adorable little baby, and I just know he will overcome these issues and live a most wondrous life!

Ok...on to the card itself. I made this for the FS37 challenge to CASE a card of TruCarMa. I chose this card, because I loved the size, and the overall layout. I changed the colors, and the images, but left the layout the same. I of course sponged all the layers - Hi Beate! and even sponged the little word window I punched out with the greeting. And I used watercolor paper again. It is SOOOO much easier to watercolor on the right medium!! Way better than my poor Santa. I first colored him with Creamy Caramel, then went back over him with Chocolate Chip to darken him up a little while leaving some highlighting.

Hope you like today's card...have a great day!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Bundled in Joy, retired SU! greeting set
CS: Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip, Spring Flowers? DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Jet Black Stazon
Acc: sponge, bashful blue grosgrain ribbon, coluzzle, marvy scalloped over punch, word window punch

TFL!
-Jana

I leave you with a photo of my oh so sweet niece with her adorable baby brother.

Name frame for Sher

German Phrase of the Day: Ich mag Montags nicht. = I don't like Mondays. This is for sure my daughter's feeling, as she loves her weekend days with lots of Daddy play time. On Mondays she had to go back to school, and more importantly, daddy has to work again and can't focus solely on her. Have I mentioned she's a daddy's girl before? ;-)

Today's project is a name (without the frame) that I did as part of my Diva Sister swap last month for my buddy Sher. She is the sister swap coordinator, and comes up with the awesome ideas for our swaps. Last month we had the grey black and white card, this framable name, and a card using chipboard. This was my favorite of the projects, and I was so glad to hear that Sher and her family liked it as well. I really love this stamp set, it's so much fun to build different families with it!

I did lots of sponging on this to try and add some depth to the white cardstock. I sponged all over with creamy caramel, then I sponged certainly celery around the edges, and then tempting turquoise on the very edge (only in about 1/8 of an inch or so) to make the colors blend into the matting. I actually got the color combo from the SU! color wheel, and used the same colors to color the people in as the cardstock I used for the layers. It includes Taken With Teal, Certainly Celery, Tempting turquoise, and for ink only some Apricot Appeal. I'm so glad they liked it! I'll be showing you what I made for this month's swap as this week continues. I finished them all yesterday and am popping them in the mail today! Phew!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Newsprint alphabet, All in the Family,
CS: Whisper White, Taken With Teal, Certainly Celery, Tempting turquoise
Ink: Basic Black, Taken With Teal, Certainly Celery, Tempting turquoise, apricot appeal, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, CHocolate Chip, basic black H2O crayon.
Acc: sponge, celery grosgrain ribbon

TFL!
-Jana

Beate's weekend sketch 24

German Phrase of the Day: Ich verstehe das nicht. = I don't understand this. I tend to say this, or variations of this, quite frequently. It was a phrase I learned pretty early on.

I used Beate's weekend sketch for this card...and I'm so glad! I've really missed doing her sketch challenges. I used last year's holiday designer paper (Holiday Thyme I think?) with a cranberry crisp card base. This being Beate's sketch, I sponged all the edges of EVERYTHING. ;-)

I stamped Santa from the Papertrey Ink set Believe with Basic Brown ink on Very vanilla cardstock. I have to say, after using watercolor paper, it's REALLY tough to watercolor on ultrasmooth cardstock. I used ink from Cranberry Crisp, Old Olive, and Creamy Caramel ink pads to color him in, then I colored his beard and mustache with the white gel pen. Finally, to finish him up I added some liquid applique to his hat and coat, and after letting it dry for several hours I "puffed it up" with my heat tool.

The fun thing with the white gel pen is, you can make "lines" in the ink. Since it's a bit thicker, and the pen has a nice ball-point, after applying some ink, if you go back over it when it's partially dry, lines show. Sometimes, this is quite annoying, but in the case of Santa's beard, I thought it was cool because I could makes some whiskers! Even in the close-up photo it's a little hard to see...but trust me, they are there!

The final thing I did before putting my old olive matted Santa onto the card was tie some stitched cranberry ribbon on. I have to admit...I really like this year's double stitched ribbon better...but this looks OK. Next time though...I'm stamping him on watercolor paper so I can color him in properly!

Hope you all enjoy your day!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Believe from Papertrey Ink
CS: Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Cranberry Crisp, Holiday Thyme DSP
Ink: Basic Brown, Old Olive, Cranberry Crisp
Acc: Cranberry stitched ribbon, white gel pen, liquid applique, dimensionals.

TFL!
-Jana

Take a bough with Purely Pomegranate

German Phrase of the Day: Ich bin satt. = I am full. I like this. Full is satt, or "satisfied"... that makes sense! Unlike the American version which would be stuffed - like a turkey!

Today, I have a Christmas card. I know I've been all over the holidays, first Thanksgiving, then Halloween, now Christmas. But...that's the way it works in my world. All over the map!

shimmery white, although you can't really tell from the photo, and I do have a making memories page pebble on there. I ordered like 4 packages of those things from Nicole...they rock!! I really love this designer paper, and decided I like having the stripes I was very happy with today's card, because I think it perfectly strikes the simple/elegant balance. Not too over the top, but with enough extra oomph to make it not a plain old boring piece. I placed my DSP stribes on verticaly, and like them much better than horizontal (yes, I have 2 cards, one each way!) This was a super easy card to make, but I really love the final effect.

And, I LOVE the new satin ribbon from SU! I mean, this is the most extravagant ribbon you will ever touch. WAY better than velvet. I want to sleep on a bed made of this ribbon. Hmmm...maybe I should get satin sheets!! ;-)

Oh, and quick update on my space - I spent an hour picking up on Friday, and when a friend came over to stamp (you'll see the product of that tomorrow!) it was at least workable. I have about another 30 minutes worth of work to do before I can declare victory....but at least I'm getting close.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Take a Bough from Papertrey Ink
CS: Shimmery White, Always Artichoke, Purely Pomegranate, Holiday Harmony DSP
Ink: Always Artichoke, Purely Pomegranate, chocolate chip, silver
Acc: MM Page Pebble, Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon

TFL!
-Jana

Black Magic Woman

German Phrase of the Day: Jeder Mensch hat eine Begabung. = Every human being has a talent. I like this saying...and I think it's something we all should live by. The key is to find your talent and use it! Plus, Begabung is just such a fun word!!! :-)

So, I had a card I made the other day when I made globetrottabella that I was going to post...but instead I finished up some witchybella cards this morning, and I am so in love with her, she gets to be first! And of course I have that song "Black Magic Woman" floating around in my head now. I think I may even have that on my itunes so I can sing while I type! Yup...I got it! Didn't realize that was Fleetwood Mac...wow!

Anyway...isn't she just the cutest thing ever? And aren't these bats AWESOME?! Those are from my Papertrey Ink set Spooky Treats (as is the greeting) and I was so excited when I realized how awesome they would look stamped onto the designer paper like that. Now, Normally, I'm not real adventurous with my designer paper, and I would NEVER stamp an image on dp...I mean...that just isn't done, is it?? Well, apparently it is, because I've been seeing that more and more lately, and with this wonderful small pattern I thought the bats would fit perfectly, and they did!

I used Vintage Violet for my card base, and the dsp is SU!'s Halloween paper from last year. I sponged the DSP with vintage violet, then adhered it down. For Ms. Witchybella, I stamped her with Stazon onto watercolor paper again, and colored her with my aquapainter and ink pads - Vintage Violet, Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery, Creamy Caramel, and Chocolate Chip. I added some shadow to ground her, and sponged the edges with the celery...then decided she needed some sparkle, so I added dazzling diamonds to her hat band and shoes. Who says only ruby slippers can sparkle, right?

I love the new wide grosgrain from SU! I hadn't really used mine yet, but decided the celery would work perfect for this card, and I'm quite happy with the overall effect. I mean, isn't she just perfect?!? Ok...now I'm starting to sound like Jan Tink, so I guess I better calm myself down. :-)

On another note...I'm also including a photo of my VERY messy stamping room. My friends Kyla and Gina are encouraging each other to clean up their stamping spaces...and I'm jumping in too. I haven't taken the time to process all the new stuff I brought back with me, and it's getting hard to move around up there, let alone actually stamp! Something must be done!! So...I'm doing another self-imposed stamping ban. No more stamping until it's {relatively} clean. What does that mean? I'm not sure, but I"ll be sure to post an after photo when I get there. Luckily, I have a few projects in reserve that I can share with you while I'm working on it!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Witchybella from Stamping Bella Spooky Treats from Papertrey Ink
CS: Watercolor paper, vintage violet, certainly celery, SU! DSP
Ink: Black stazon, Vintage Violet, Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery, Creamy Caramel, and Chocolate Chip
Acc: Sponge, wide Celery grosgrain ribbon, dazzling diamonds glitter

TFL!
-Jana

Globetrotting Sketch Challenge

German Phrase of the Day: Baby, ist es kalt draussen! = Baby it's cold outside! I REALLY want that set - and think I may just have to sign up for the Paper Pretties kits to get it early! This morning was REALLY cold here, in fact, even at noon it's still quite chilly. I guess winter is truly coming. It's still pitch dark at 7am!! Can you believe it? It's only October?!?!

I decided I needed to do the sketch challenge from SCS last night because it was super simple, and I really wanted to play with my new Bellas! I pulled out Globetrotabella and stamped her with Black Stazon onto my SU! watercolor paper. I have to say, watercolor paper truly is the best medium to watercolor on! Give me that and my aquapainters and I'm a happy girl!

So...since she's trotting the globe, I thought my retired DSP from last year's SU! catalog was perfect to go with her. I used last year's In Colors as well...since I still have some True Thyme and Cranberry Crisp sitting around that needs to get used. I sponged all my edges with appropriate colors...for Ms. Bella herself I sponged on creamy caramel first, then I sponged chocolate chip more just on the edges to darken them up some. I colored the globe with Brocade Blue and True Thyme, and used those colors along with Cranberry Crisp, Chocolate Chip and Creamy Caramel on the rest of her. Here's a close up photo of just the main image.

I stamped the card base with the Linen background to add some texture, and then added the sentiment from a retired SU! set (Travel Time maybe it was called?) by just inking first the top line for the top, and the bottom word for the bottom. I left of "is an" deciding it was not needed. Lastly, I added the hodgepodge spiral wanting to continue the circular theme from the globe, and tied on some polka dot ribbon a friend sent me a while back from Michael's. I think it works perfectly with this card.

Our next adventure is less than 2 weeks away...we're finally going to get down to Istanbul - the trip which had to be postponed when I had my gallbladder out.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Wish you were Here, Linen Background, Globetrotabella from Stamping Bella
CS: Watercolor paper, Chocolate Chip, Cranberry Crisp, True Thyme, SU! DSP
Ink: Black stazon, Chocolate Chip, Cranberry Crisp, True Thyme, brocade blue, creamy caramel
Acc: Sponge, hodgepodge hardware, Mike's ribbon

TFL!
-Jana

Tea on the go

German Phrase of the Day: Ich habe kein Benzin mehr. = I'm out of gas. (Or translated literally, I have no more gas.) My car actually told me I only had 10 more kilometers to go before the tank was dry yesterday...that's possibly the lowest it has got since we bought the car a year ago because my husband is usually so particular about not letting a gas tank get too low. Oh well...I coasted in and filled her up!

Today I'm showing you my Starbucks Design-Your-Own-Mug that my wonderful upline Rachel made for me a year and a half ago when Looks Like Spring was in the Spring mini! Isn't it cute?? Well, I FINALLY updated my insert. I started in California, but never got a chance to finish it until this morning.

For my new insert I used the Holiday Harmony DSP from the Holiday mini to add some beautiful Pomegranate strips of color to the top and bottom. Then, I stamped my name in Night of Navy ink using the Big Deal alphabet. Lastly, I stamped 2 sizes of snowflakes from the Snowflake Spot (got it "mounted" last night, and the glue was dry this morning!) by first inking with Versamark, then Bashful Blue, and I embossed them all with iridescent ice ep. I just love the extra glimmer that gives you!!

These mugs are SOOOOO easy to do, and they are a wonderful conversation starter when you're out and about drinking your coffee, tea, water, etc. I've had many people comment on my beautiful mug - which is a perfect opportunity to talk about Stampin' Up! and crafting in general. I've given out a few business cards thanks to this mug!! And now, I'm all decked out for the Holidays! :-)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Big Deal Alphabet, Snowflake Spot
CS: Whisper White, Holiday Harmony DSP
Ink: Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Versamark
Acc: Iridescent Ice ep

TFL!
-Jana

Poultry in Motion

German Phrase of the Day: Ich geniesse das Leben. = I am enjoying life. I like this phrase, because this is how I try to live...enjoying each day for itself, and being sure to get the most out of what you are given.

Today I was truly enjoying life, because I went upstairs to stamp!! I got so much new stuff while in California it's going to take me a month just to get it all processed and put away, much less play with it all! I'll start "mounting" my new SU! stamps soon, but in the meantime I wanted to make a card with these adorable GinaK stamps that I won as blog candy from Emily, one of the very talented artists on Gina's design team.

I really loved this turkey the first time I saw him on Gina's blog. I mean...just look at that expression! He just knows he's bound for the table come Thanksgiving Day! I started with a half sheet of Chocolate Chip CS, and sponged it (Beate's rubbing off on me!!) and I KNEW I had to use my new Apple Cider designer paper (speaking of which...have you all heard about the November special from SU!??? I can't WAIT to load up on more DSP!!!) I sponged the edges of that (first with Old Olive because I wasn't paying close attention to the colors, then I realized it was actually garden green...) then sponged the edges of my Garden Green matting. I stamped my little guy with Basic Brown on naturals ivory cardstock, because I wanted to color him with markers, and the posts I've been catching up on say that marker strokes won't show on the more porous cardstocks. It's true for the most part, except when coloring with lighter colors (like the creamy caramel for his wing and head)

After coloring this little guy in with Creamy Caramel, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie and Really Rust, I very lightly sponged the edges with really rust, and mounted him on some sponged really rust. I've realized I can have a heavy hand when sponging on my neutrals...so this time I went over it twice. once VERY lightly holding the sponge perpendicular to the paper to just color the edge, then again holding the sponge at a little more of an angle to add a little more color in about a quarter inch from the edge - you can see it a little better in the detail photo.

Once I had the main elements ready I started playing with embellishments. I thought I was going to use some light brown polka dotted organdy from May Arts...but then I decided that some paper hinges with my word window punch would work well. And then with this sorta country feel, I realized faux stitching would be better than ribbon. For the sample shown I drew on a blanket stitch. After piercing all the way around, I drew on the lines, and the outline in chocolate chip. I stamped the greeting in Basic Black, then mounted Tom on with dimensionals to make him pop up a little. I'm very happy with this card, and since I made 2, one will go to Emily, the other to Gina as a little thanks for the fun stamps!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Turkey and Poultry in Motion from GinaK
CS: Chocolate Chip, Garden Green, Really Rust, Naturals Ivory, Apple Cider DSP
Ink: basic black, Chocolate Chip, Garden Green, Really Rust ink pads; Creamy Caramel, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust and chocolate chip markers
Acc: word window punch, antique brads, crafter's tool kit, sponge, dimensionals

TFL!
-Jana

The never-ending geburtstag!

German Phrase of the Day: Kein Problem. = No problem. My daughter is really milking this whole birthday thing...Friday was her actual birthday, Saturday was her party, then today she had her birthday celebration at kindergarten! Such a busy girl!!

For Kindergarten, I made more cupcakes, and I decided I really wanted to include the cute cupcake toppers that I saw on Mary's blog It's All About the Journey. I wrote to ask her questions about them, and I'm guessing others did because she even made a cool tutorial on how to make them here!

They are super easy to make, and turned out so cute. All the kids loved them, and everyone wanted to pick which animal/color combo they got.

To make them, I punched everything first, then I stamped the animals and colored them with markers (I used aquapainter and inkpads for the Purely Pomegranate and Vintage Violet ones because obviously I don't have markers for those colors!) I just used whatever colors I had in my scrap drawer which was great. After stamping and coloring, I assembled the circles, then attached them to the party picks using clue dots (because I wanted to go quickly and was too lazy to wait for glue to dry!) Worked like a charm!

Have a great day everyone!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Zoofari
CS: whisper white, basic black, other scraps
Ink: basic black, markers to match cs
Acc: 1 1/4", 1 3/8" circle punches, scalloped circle punch, glue dots

TFL!
-Jana

Geburtstag Party

German Phrase of the Day: Erklarst du mir das bitte? = Could you please explain this to me? Why did I decide to fly to California, return home the day before my daughter's fifth birthday, and plan her party for the day after her birthday? What was I thinking?!?

Julia's birthday party yesterday was an apparent success, based on the fact that there were 11 kids (9 party kids and 2 younger siblings!) running around screaming and saying lots of things in German that I just didn't understand!

The party was at one of those indoor playgrounds for kids. You know...the places that look like a giant habitrail? The place is called "Jungle Town" so we had kind of a jungle theme going which I started with the invitation I posted back here. For the goodie bags I wanted to use my new MFT stamps that I received while in California. They are so much fun to use, although coloring in all these animals between 11 and 12 pm is not exactly fun when making 10!! Oh well. Now I have to make some fun cards with the set so I"ll still love it! ;-)

I decided to just make a card front I could attach to the bags thinking that would be the quickest and easiest solution. So, I stamped on white cardstock with black ink for the animals, added the branch with basic brown, and then stamped the leaves with mellow moss and always artichoke. The grass on the bottom was artichoke also. Lastly, I colored them in with markers thinking it would be faster than watercoloring. Not so! I'm much better with an aquapainter than I am with markers. Oh well...I think they still turned out OK...and Julia was thrilled when she saw them in the morning. Her direct quote was "Just what I wanted them to look like, Mommy!"

Now...to make the the cupcakes to take to Kindergarten tomorrow! A mom's work is never done, right?

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: It's a Jungle out There by MFT
CS: Whisper White, always artichoke
Ink: Basic Black, always artichoke, mellow moss, close to cocoa, more mustard, going grey, basic brown
Acc: small white gift bags

TFL!
-Jana

Home again, home again...

German Phrase of the Day: Nein, ich habe keinen Hunger. = No, I am not hungry. Julia and I just got home yesterday afternoon. We went to bed at 7pm local time because we were exhausted...woke up for about 3-4 hours in the middle of the night, and then slept until past 10am this morning! So...we actually WERE hungry when we got up!!

Sorry I've been MIA for the last 2 weeks almost! For some reason, I couldn't login to Blogger from my friends' computers...so I finally gave up. Plus, I just didn't have a lot of time as we were busy catching up with all our old friends. We loved our time in California, but there's also something to be said for sleeping in your own bed again! Many thanks to all our friends who gave us a bed to sleep in, and so much fun!!!

This card was made for a one-on-one swap. Sorry you're getting a preview of this Sher...but all yours will be arriving with your other swap! The challenge for this swap was a color challenge. We could only use Basic Grey, Going Grey, and black and or white for this card...so I used all 4! The basic grey card was stamped with the linen background, then a smaller piece of going grey was layered on top (after clipping the bottom 2 corners and sponging on some basic grey ink.) For the central image, I stamped the polka dot background with going grey onto whisper white, clipped all 4 corners, then layered it on some basic black and clipped those corners. Then, I layered 2 flowers from the pretties kit with a half pearl in the center and adhered that with glue dots. I tied the black gingham around the card to hide the seem with the going grey cs, then popped the central image over the ribbon with dimensionals. Lastly, I stamped the Best Wishes greeting. I love that greeting because it can be so versatile!

Hope you've enjoyed today's card. I forgot to take photos of the few projects I managed to complete while in California, so will have to ask my friends to photograph them for me! And now I have to stamp some goodie bags and make some cupcake toppers for my daughters birthday party tomorrow. I can't believe she's already 5!!! Today is her actual birthday...and she is SOOO excited! I'll leave you with the first photo taken of her the night she was born...and a picture I just took today. She's come a long way from that sub 2-pound micro premie to the precocious 5-year-old she is today!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Linen background, sincere salutations
CS: Whisper White, Going Grey, Basic Grey, Basic Black
Ink: Basic Black, Going Grey, Basic Grey
Acc: Pretties Kit, Black Gingham ribbon

TFL!
-Jana

Princess Julia ready to hold court on her 5th birthday

Julia at birth, 1 pound 13.5 ounces, 13" long. Or as my dad said, she could fit in his shoe!