Altered heart tin

German Phrase of the Day: Meine Tante kann gut Geschichten erzaehlen. = My aunt can tell good stories. Which is true...and her stories are so good because they are often true...like how she got me some AWESOME Barnie's Santa's White Christmas decaf coffee for FREE! (which is what I"m drinking right now...YUM!)

I made this tin for her while in Floriday, but forgot to show you all! It's one of those cool large heart tins from Papertrey Ink, and I covered it with last year's SU! Valentiney paper. I followed Debbie Olson's instructions for cutting otu the top, and I think it turned out pretty well. Mom only had an empressor stylus, but I think it worked ok. I used some teal velvet ribbon from the retired Flirty ribbon originals around the lip of the lid, and lastly I stuck on an organdy flower I had picked up at Joann's because I thought it was pretty. Worked perfectly for this piece.

My friend and fellow prettie girl Joanne had made some cute tins where she stamped on the center part...and I really liked that. But...since I had just gotten my rub-ons I thought those might work even better...so I went to town! It was sooooo easy, and I think it turned out great! You can't really see it all that well because of all the M&Ms inside...but I think it's from the SAB set and says "A Small thing done in Great Love is a Great Thing." I like that one!

I didn't film my cards from yesterday with So Hoppy, and there isn't a lot of light this morning so I'll try to take photos later this afternoon. Last night I sat and "mounted" 6 new SU! sets (that means I put the stickers on the back, cut them out, then applied my tack it again and again to them - I really do miss wood sometimes!) while watching Grease. I love that movie, and it's a great one to watch while doing something else because I don't have to actually WATCH the movie, I can mostly listen to it. Maybe I should try listening to it in German...see how much I understand yet! :-)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: NONE
CS: Retired SU! valentine's dsp
Ink: NONE
Acc: Flirty ribbon, flower from Joann's, SU! Rub-ons, heart tin from PTI

TFL!
-Jana

SC165 cards

German Phrase of the Day: Nein, ich habe Angst vor den Wellen. = No, I'm afraid of the waves. I love the german word Angst. It means fear...not angst as we think of it. But...just like kaput, it's a great example of how close the two languages can be at times (and yet, how far apart they truly are in meaning!)

Here are 2 cards I made yesterday morning for the sketch challenge. I really loves this Baskets of Happiness stamp set from GinaK's last release. It's just so beautiful, and fun to color!! And I LOVE Easter, so what better way to combine two loves?

I've been playing more with my new set of 48 Prismacolor Pencils I got from the Pretties Boutique, and I am starting to get the hang of it. I love how easily the colors blend together. I'm not quite at a professional level yet, but I'll keep working it so that I can be as comfortable with those as I am with my aquapainter and WWC. That's my goal at least.

I colored the image first with whatever colors I felt like, then I went about designing the card around that. I thought the Soft Sky would llook nice, but wanted to add a little extra touch of color, so I punched a pink scalloped oval. Since I don't have the companion oval template for my Coluzzle, the oval I can cut really is too small...so I made a mat for it with my now retired SU! layer tool (remember, the little round things you put your pencil in and then trace with? Love that thing!!) I also like that the basket handle goes a little beyond the coluzzled oval...adds some extra interest.

Finally...for the greeting I knew I wanted to use another of these fabulous plastic Bling and Dazzle tags. They are just so much fun to color and stamp on! I sponged a little soft sky ink onto the tag, then stamped Thanks from Tag You're It using my Palette Noir ink. I let it dry a bit, then attached it just under my bow with glue dots. Cute, no? Oh...and the oval WOULD have been a bit more to the left (kinda centered) but at the very end I managed to get my finger dirty on my Palette Noir bad (NEVER leave those open on your desk!!) and touched the polka dotted layer. OH NO! So...I hid my little smudge. :-)

The second card was loads of fun to make too. I'm just loving this Pun Fun set, and for this card I used some cute papers from the Prettie Boutique. I really love this Bo Bunny paper!! And I think the colors go great with the watercolored Hippo. Oh...for her frame...I actually had that piece sitting on my desk. I had punched a scalloped circle, then it was too big so I coluzzled a circle out of the center...leaving me this great piece to use elsewhere. Perfect! Isn't she just the cutest little thing? Could be a good birthday card for a little girl I think.

Hope you all are having a great day. I'm off to play with my Hoppy set some more...and maybe I'll finally get a few St. Patty's Day cards made!! :-)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Baskets of Happiness and Tag You're It by GinaK, Pun Fun
CS: Soft Sky, Basic Black, Pretty in Pink, Stamper's Select White, Soft Sky Prints DSP, Bo Bunny striped paper, pink and green from Bazzill
Ink: Palette Noir, Soft Sky
Acc: sponge, aquapainter, WWC, Bling & Dazzle Plastic Tags, ribbon, scallop punches, coluzzle

TFL!
-Jana

Prettie Wednesday!

German Phrase of the Day: Warst du schon einmal segeln? = Have you ever been sailing? My husband and I tried to sail one of those little sunfish things...you know the tiny boat with a sail? It was when we were in the Bahamas, and we were SOOOO bad at it we got out and couldn't get back in, so my husband jumped off and started swimming the boat back to shore! It was funny...but we decided perhaps sailing is NOT for us! LOL

Today is Prettie Wednesday, and I have the card from Charmaine's challenge right before CHA to show you all. Her challenge was to have some sort of dry embossing on the card. Perfect since I had ordered 4 new cuddlebug folders while at my mom's house. This is the Swiss Dot folder, and I LOVE it!!!

I started with a white card base (stamper's select cs from Papertrey Ink of course!) then a layer of black and the embossed layer of Purely Pomegranate. for the focal piece I stamped Sophia on some Stamper's Select white then used mom's Nesties to cut her out. I then cut a scalloped layer from black to layer her on. Then, I stamped her again (using my Palette Noir ink still) onto some Berry Bliss DSP for her dress. After coloring, paper piecing etc, I was ready to assemble - and used some cute ribbon I picked up at Mike's. Notice that strawberry Blonde hair? Since this card was for Charmaine, I just had to make her a cute little redhead! Just like our little Shortcake! ;-)

Now this week, it's MY week to challenge everyone, so here we go! I challenge you to make ANYTHING except a card. It can be absolutely anything you want Girls....but NO cards!! If you would like to play along at home, please do...and then come back and tell me what you made! I'll be showing you my creation for this challenge in 2 weeks - next week I'll show you what I made for Jillian's challenge to use stripes...just gotta get it in the mail now! :-)

Oh...and did you know that Christie has marked down some of her sale items even MORE? AND she's got NEW American Crafts Easter ribbon in stock??? Look...isn't it Gorgeous?!?! Be sure to check out the Prettie Boutique so you don't miss out!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Cuddle Me from Paper Pretties
CS: Stamper's Select White, Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate, Berry Bliss
Ink: Palette Noir,
Acc: watercolor crayons, blender pen, nestabilities, Mike's ribbon, Swiss Dot Cuddlebug folder

TFL!
-Jana

Quick post...we're sick!

Hi all...sorry no german phrase of the day today...other than Ich bin krank (I am sick.) I have another yucky cold, and so does dh. So far, Julia is just really stuffy...and even that seems to be getting better luckily. Although that means she wants to play and no one has the energy to play with her. Oh well.

Here' s a card I made earlier this week. I stamped some images from this Bloomin Beautiful set in Florida - it's my mom's...but I knew I was going to love watercoloring it! I had some trouble deciding on the color for the pot...so that's the part I like the least.

Card base is old olive stamped wtih Aida cloth in same color. Next layer is So Saffron (was also used for flower centers) wrapped with old olive twill tape and a ribbon slide from the new Occasions mini. Then, the main image stamped on watercolor paper with palette noir ink and colored with watercolor crayons and my aquapainter. This is mounted on Elegant Eggplant.

Here's the detail photo of the watercoloring. I really did enjoy this and tried to take my time to make them come to life a little. I think before I color the next one I'll do a little more research to see what they are supposed to look like in real life though!

Hope you all are well...tomorrow is Prettie Wednesday, so I'll be back with some fun for that! And it's my week to issue the challenge, so I'll have that for you all as well!

TFL!
-Jana

More CPS#53 along with a Technique Lovers Challenge

Hi everyone...here's another card for today. It's using today's Technique Lover's Challenge to mix up 2 or more designer papers along with that wonderful sketch from CPS #53 again!

For this card I used the Jersey Shore dsp from SU!. I really love those bright colors...and I thought these two patterns were perfect to go with the little rocket from Pun Fun. My good buddy Joanne stamped me some of these images to play with because I had seen her adorable cards and needed some of my own! Anyway...I colored the rocket with an aquapainter and watercolor wonder crayons first, then cut it out with my coluzzle. I then cut a slightly larger circle out of Pumpkin Pie to layer it on. For the card I started with a standard size Brilliant Blue card and layered on a piece of the striped dsp with lightly sponged edges. Next, I cut the long strip curvy on one side with my CM Curvy Cutter. I then layered that on some more Brilliant Blue, also cut with the curvy cutter. I love that thing but don't use it nearly enough!

After I assembled those layers, I added some sparkle with my Spica clear glitter pen to the stars and the rocket since it needed a little something. Then...I attached my focal piece with dimensionals. It was really a super quick and easy card...I love those!

On the close up you can see some that shimmer...those Spica pens are so perfect for adding just a little shimmer and shine quickly to a card.

Hope you all are having a wonderful day...we're off the the spielplatz jetz (playground now) :-)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Pun Fun
CS: Watercolor paper, Jersey Shore DSP, Brilliant Blue, Pumpkin Pie
Ink: Palette Noir, brilliant blue
Acc: sponge, coluzzle, CM curvy cutter, Spica clear glitter pen

TFL!
-Jana

Happy Birthday Jan Marie!

German Phrase of the Day: Die Aussicht ist fantastisch. = The view is fantastic. Well, the view may not be fantastic here in general...but at least I can see some blue sky! That's always nice.

Today is Jan Marie of Flourishes LLC's birthday. She's having a big celebration, and so I had to make her a quick birthday card this morning. I only have O Christmas Tree from Flourishes at this point, but I figured I could still use it for her birthday card. I stamped the present in Lovely Lilac ink all over the Lovely Lilac card first. I just love that little present...it's really quite pretty! Then, I sponged my Lavender Lace dsp and layered it on some Lavender Lace cs. I stamped the happy birthday image from the SU! Sale-A-Bration set So Many Scallops with Lovely Lilac onto Lavender Lace, then again with the candles and sentiment colored with markers onto white cardstock. I punched the white with my 1 1/4" circle punch, then attached it to the scallop punched larger piece with dimensionals.

I tied some silver organdy ribbon around the narrow strip before attaching it to the card, then I popped the scalloped piece on top. Lastly, I added some gold stickles to the candle flames to make them sparkle a little. I was following CPS sketch #53 - I LOVE it!! I actually made a second card with that sketch that I"ll try to post a little later.

Anyway...hope your Birthday is great Jan Marie! Alles gut zum Geburtstag!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: O Christmas Tree by Flourishes, LLC; So Many Scallops
CS: Whisper White, Lovely Lilac, Lavender Lace, Lavender Lace prints DSP
Ink: Lovely Lilac, Lavender Lace, Yoyo Yellow marker
Acc: 1.25" circle punch, scallop punch, silver organdy ribbon, gold stickles, sponge

TFL!
-Jana

Hoppy Day

German Phrase of the Day: Alles gut zum Geburtstag! = Happy Birthday (or literally, all is good with birthday) Nope, not anyone's bday just yet...altho I think I know of one coming up VERY soon...right Rach??

When I got my package of design team materials from GinaK, she had included this adorable little tin. I had been saving it for something fun and frivolous, and I was recently inspired looking at some of the projects Melanie has posted over on her blog using the Hoppy animals. So...I went with it.

For the outside of the tin, I covered it with some fabulous Bo Bunny paper I picked up in the Pretties Boutique (I told you all I had a good mail day on Thursday!!) and then wrapped a strip of Bazzill textured cs to make a belly band. I colored my tag from the Bling & Dazzle Plastic Tag Assortment with some Regal Rose craft ink. I heat set that carefully, then stamped the Happy Birthday! from Tag You're It, the latest one free with 3 set using Palette Noir ink. I attached it with some celery organdy ribbon. Now, when you slide this belly band off, you can open the tin...and that's when the fun begins.

Meet Minnesota P. Frog, Michigan J. Frog's delightful dance partner (remember...he's the WB's singing frog!) Isn't she adorable? I really love her pink parasol. I stamped the frog and umbrella from Just so Hoppy with Palette Noir onto Stamper's Select White cs, and watercolored her with certainly celery ink and an aquapainter (her umbrella was watercolored with watercolor crayons and the aquapainter) I cut her out, used a "flower stem" colored black with craft ink for the umbrella handle, and attached her to the lid with a strip of paper (I lined the lid and bottom with some more of that yummy bazzill textured cs.) It's so cute because she just pops up when you open the tin. There's still space in the bottom to place a gift card for that special someone. Now to decide who is worthy of this adorable tin...hmmmm.

Hope you all have a Hoppy Day! lol.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Just so Hoppy by GinaK,
CS: Stamper's Select White, Bazzill textured green, Bo Bunny striped paper
Ink: Palette Noir, Certainly Celery, Regal Rose craft
Acc: Bling and Dazzle plastic assorted tags, organdy celery ribbon, small hinged tin

TFL!
-Jana

A Quadruple Challenge!

German Phrase of the Day: Du musst viele Aepfel essen. = You have to heat many apples. Why you have to eat many apples, I have NO idea! Perhaps because they grow so many of them here!!

Today's card satisfied the requirements of not 1, not 2, but 4, yes FOUR different Prettie challenges. How did I manage that? By being sick and lazy and way too far behind to catch up! The Prettie Girls had a Stamping In Your Jammies (SIYJ) party while they were at CHA, and I happened to be sick. I never got a chance to catch up and do all the wonderful challenges. We had a sketch challenge, a color challenge (light pink, vanilla, and brown), and a technique challenge which was spotlighting. Well...I'd never done a spotlighting card, I like those colors, and the sketch was fabulous. Then to top it off...Joanne issues this week's challenge on the Prettie Forum to NOT use designer paper. That's an easy one for me, because while I love dp, I don't have to use it. Therefore, 4 challenges have been met with this single card. Is that cheating?

I stamped Sophia on vanilla Naturals paper, then a second time on some scrap to punch the circle out. I colored in the circle then added some brown flocking to her bear. I mounted that on a pretty in pink circle, then positioned them on the original piece. This was then layered on some Close to Cocoa, which was layered onto some Pretty in Pink with a scalloped edge. I added the tabs from the word window punch into which I had stuck some antique brads, and wrapped the excess around the back. I made it a 4.25" square card, and stamped the polka dot background onto some close to cocoa then tied pink organdy ribbon around it. The Sophia layer is popped up on that, and it's all layered onto the 4.25" square pretty in pink card.

The spotlighting technique was much more fun than I expected. I never tried it because it never really interested me...but I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. Will for certain be doing that again!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Cuddle Me from Paper Pretties, polka dot background
CS: Naturals Ivory, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink
Ink: Palette Noir, Close to Cocoa
Acc: sponge, aquapainter, WWC, corner rounder punch, circle punches, lt pink organdy ribbon

TFL!
-Jana

Hip to be Square

German Phrase of the Day: Kann ich dir helfen? - May I help you? I often ask this of the kids at Julia's school when I'm getting her dressed or undressed (leaving or coming) and they are struggling with boots, jackets etc. Some of the younger ones are just so cute!!

Today was a VERY happy mail day...so I'll have even more great stuff for you all in the coming few days...but for now...here's a quick card I made with the GinaK set Just so Hippy designed by Melanie Muenchinger (now THERE's a good German name!!!) I loved this set as soon as I saw it, but since I had it shipped to my mom's I ended up waiting longer than normal to play with it. So finally, I made card this week with this adorable giraffe! Don't you just love his little heart shaped spots?? TOO cute!

He was colored in with watercolor crayons and an aquapainter. Then, I stamped the balloon onto Regal Rose CS and cut it out...stamping the sentiment on last - guess I should have done that first in case I messed it up, huh? Oh well. I tied some embroidery floss around the bottom of the balloon, then made a bow and attached that to the giraffe's tail with a glue dot.

I used some more of that scrumptious 2 scoops paper I stole from mom (thanks mom!!) and finished it off with some grosgrain ribbon. Super quick and easy!

I have a great idea of something to make with my So Hoppy set tomorrow morning...so let's hope my mojo is with me because I think it will be really cute if I can pull it off. :-) Maybe I'll even make Melanie proud! ;-) Gotta earn my keep over there, right?

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Just so Hippy by GinaK,
CS: Shimmer white, Blue Bayou, Two Scoops by Basic Gray
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black, blue bayou
Acc: sponge, aquapainter, WWC, ribbon, embroidery floss

TFL!
-Jana

Prettie Wednesday!

It's another Prettie Wednesday...and I managed to finish cleaning the house. Of course, I couldn't let her take any photos in my craft room (it's a TOTAL disaster right now!) or in my daughter's room (same condition) but the rest of the house looks pretty darn good. Just don't go looking in any closets or cupboards!!! LOL!!

So...since we didn't get a Prettie Girl challenge last week during CHA, I created a card using this weeks sketch challenge over on SCS. I got the idea for this card from something my mother said (or perhaps it was Julia) while in Florida. It made me think, yeah...Wade IS the perfect Ringmaster!! (Maybe for a flea circus!)

Now, you might recognize the main image from a card back here. I have to admit...yes, he is recycled! But...that's only because I can't find my Wade ANYWHERE! I'm afraid I left him at my mom's house. Have you seen him mom???

I stamped the lions from the MFT set It's a Jungle Out There, and colored them in with my watercolor crayons and aquapainter. The dsp is SU! Chabon brayered with Real Red ink. Once I gave up on finding Wade the card came together VERY quickly since I already had the main image done!

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Wade E. Bug from Paper Pretties , It's A Jumgle Out There from MFT
CS: Watercolor, Real Red, Basic black, Chabon DSP, stamper's select white
Ink: Palette Noir, real red
Acc: aquapainter, WWC, ribbon, rhinestones, giga scalloped square punch, brads, ticket corner punch, brayer

TFL!
-Jana

Big Eared Bunny

German Phrase of the Day: Mein Haus ist sehr schmutzig! = My house is very dirty! Unfortunately, after being gone for almost 3 weeks...the house got a little out of hand. I usually try to clean right before I leave so that I can come home to a clean house, but my husband beat me home this time and had a whole 10 days to undo everything I had done!! Oh well. Normally I wouldn't care, but someone is coming over today to take photos of the house to get it ready to rent again...in 6+ months!!! 8-O Can you believe it?!?! Guess they work far in advance here in Germany!!

So, a very quick post today as I'm trying to clean up my desk area (which is in our living room) so that it doesn't look like a hurricane hit it! This was for the weekly MFT sketch challenge (#17) I was so excited when I saw the challenge since I had all those nested ovals to use...perfect! This adorable bunny just fits in the largest oval...I really love his overly large ears! I would have preferred to use the Size Matters sentiment from Kim's new phrase set Twisted Sentiments, but it wouldn't fit (funny, huh??) so I used the Happy Easter that came with this set (Eggstra Special Easter) but stamped it on 2 lines instead of one.

This was a super quick card...but I'm happy with how it turned out. Cute, no?

Ok...back to work! Thanks for checking in!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Eggstra Special Easter by My Favorite Things
CS: Papertrey Ink's Stamper's Select white, Purely Pomegranate, retired SU! dsp
Ink: Palette Noir, Purely Pomegranate
Acc: ribbon, nestabilities, oval punch, slot punch, sponge

TFL!
-Jana

Baskets of Happiness from GinaK!

Ok..I had to post another card today...because I love this one!! Baskets of Happiness is so much fun to color and play with...I really love it! And the new Bling and Dazzle pieces?? To DIE for!! Or should I say to DYE for?!? I colored mine with SU! craft ink just by pushing the flowers down into the spot. Worked great, although I didn't get total coverage...altho I think the white highlighting adds a little interest, right?

The pot is really certainly celery/old olive, but it turned out looking very light in my photos. Sorry about that...we need more sunlight here in Germany!! And I stamped it with a brand new Brilliance Graphite Black ink pad which was VERY juice...can you tell I got a little over-exuberant in my inking??

This card was relatively simple, but very fun to put together. I colored the image with my aquapainter and watercolor crayons, layering on the colors. First pale plum, then perfect plum, then a little elegant eggplant to add more depth. Then I want back and filled in with old olive for the leaves and extra spaces between blooms. Lastly, I gave the whole thing a yellow "glow" ala Debbie Olson, because, well, she's the queen of watercoloring and so I must imitate her style!

I used the SU! floral background on my pale plum layer...I like the subtle texture it gives! Then I added the black layer between the two plum layers to get some more contrast in there. Since I used my mom's nestabilities while still in Florida, I didn't have a lot of choice for CS colors, thus the Purely Pomegranate scalloped layer. If I were doing it at home, I would have had that layer be Perfect Plum...but I think the pomegranate adds some additional brightness to the card.

Oh, and for the flower centers...rhinestone brads from my SU! pretties kit. Gotta love em!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Baskets of Happiness by GinaK, Floral Background
CS: Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Stamper's select white, purely pomegranate, basic black
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black
Acc: sponge, aquapainter, WWC, Bling & Dazzle outline Flowers, ribbon, silver cord, nestabilities, rhinestone brads from SU! Pretties Kit

TFL!
-Jana

CC154 Is Looking Perky!

German Phrase of the Day: Ja, aber nur bis morgen. = Yes, but only till tomorrow. This is the first time I've seen the word but spelled out in German. It is pronounced Abah, since they don't do the er sound over here...you know...think like a Mainer and you'll get it right!

Ok...I'm still LOVING this set. Did you all go check it out in the Prettie Boutique last night? All these different phrases are SOO much fun!!

When I saw the color challenge this morning I almost backed down. I really don't like Orchid Opulence. It is my most disliked SU! color of all times. But, Emily made it look so pretty, how could I resist? And I have to admit, although I would NEVER in my wildest dreams team up these colors, it really works!! I watercolored my images first using just those three colors, then went about putting the card together. I like this little row of different mugs...it's such a cute border to use! And this coffee pot? Did you all see the one Charmaine did with the face?? I have to admit when I first saw this coffee pot I thought of Mrs. Pott's from Disney's Beauty and the Beast - and Charlie beat me to making her!!

So, once I had all my pieces cut and layed out, I decided I needed to something fun with the ribbons, so I went through all my ribbons and picked out all the scraps in coordinating colors to tie on here. I like that little extra that it adds...even if it does cover up part of the sentiment.

Hope you all are having a wonderful day today. I'll be back soon with another card from GinaK!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Look Who's Perky from Paper Pretties
CS: Stamper's Select White, orchid opulence, certainly celery, pumpkin pie
Ink: Palette Noir
Acc: aquapainter, WWC, lots o ribbon!

TFL!
-Jana

Today's the Day!

German Phrase of the Day: Heute ist der Tag! = Today is the day! So, when I put the phrase into Babelfish to make sure I had it correct, they actually said it should be heutiger tag instead of just heute. But, I've always just heard people say heute for today. Oh well! German, like many other languages, can be spoken in so many different ways. Makes learning it VERY hard. I suppose like learning English as a second language would be!

I have another Prettie Peek for you all today. I am SOOO lovin' this set! Look Who's Perky will be released tonight over at Paper Pretties, so be sure not to miss it!!

I think I was channeling Kristina over at KWerner Designs when making this card. I love the wonderful videos she does - Julia never wants to miss them and comes to sit on my lap whenever I watch them. Cute, no? Anyway...I wanted to go with a clean and simple design on this one, using some Two Scoops paper I snagged from my mom last week. I'm loving this pink and yellow combination - it's not just for baby cards!

For the sentiment, I decided that a tag from my new silver hodgepodge hw would be perfect, but I noticed it didn't quite fit. However, having just been in "the south" for 2.5 weeks, I decided I could shorten it to Hey Sug instead of Hey Sugar! Personally... I like it both ways!

I hope to see you all tonight...and don't forget to check out the other Prettie Girl blogs (links to your right) for more Prettie Peeks! Oh...and do you like my new Beachy Banner?? I just HAD to create a new banner with photos from our time on Captiva. Makes me feel like I didn't really have to leave and come home to sub-zero temps! BRRRRRR!!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Look Who's Perky from Paper Pretties
CS: Stamper's Select White, pretty in pink, So Saffron
Ink: Palette Noir
Acc: aquapainter, WWC, white taffeta ribbon, sliver HPH, corner rounder, circle punches

TFL!
-Jana

a Prettie Peek!

German Phrase of the Day: Vielen Dank! = Many thanks! Thank you all for sticking around during my spotty posts of the last few weeks. I'm home again, and hopefully back to full-speed stamping! :-) Speaking of which...I had a chance to play a little this afternoon while dh and dd were off at the swimming pool.

You all are going to LOVE this new set from Paper Pretties. Christie is releasing it tomorrow evening (Monday the 18th) and it's FABulous!! I LOVE all the cute little sayings she created for it. But my favorite image in this set is this wonderful swirly frame. How cute is that? I also love these two mugs with intertwining steam. So sweet!!

I colored my mugs with my trusty aquapainter and watercolor wonder crayons. I'm glad to have them back again! I stamped the polka dot background from SU! onto the pretty in pink layer before putting it on the Pink Passion layer. The sentiment is mounted on a chocolate chip scrap. A pretty quick card except for the cutting...but you know me! I don't like to cut things out if I don't have to...however, for this card it looks much better!!

Be sure to visit Paper Pretties tomorrow evening to see this set in its entirety...I know you'll love it as much as I do!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: What's Brewin' from Paper Pretties
CS: Stamper's Select White, pink passion, pretty in pink, chocolate chip
Ink: Palette Noir
Acc: sponge, aquapainter, WWC, ribbon

TFL!
-Jana

Excellent!

I was nominated twice while gone for the E for Excellence award! How sweet!! Thank you Francis and Charmaine! Both of these talented ladies are on Design Team's with me, and no wonder - they do AMAZING things with stamps, paper and ink!!!

And now...I'm going to cop out! Because I've been out of the loop for SOO long now, I'm not going to pass along this particular award because I have no idea who has gotten it yet. Suffice to say, if you visit any one of the blogs I have listed over to the right, they are ALL excellent!!!

home again home again...

How does the rest of that line go?? Oh well. We're home. A little jetlagged, but hanging in. I"ll post if I get inspired in the middle of the night and have to go upstairs to create something! ;-) Otherwise, I'll try to get SOMETHING made tomorrow when P& J go to the pool. Thanks everyone for hanging in there!!

TFL!
-Jana

Prettie Wednesday...just barely!

It's 11:34pm. I've just squeezed this one under the deadline. Nothing like a little pressure, right?

2 weeks ago Joanne challenged us all to use a sketch she had been using pretty frequently on her blog for our weekly Prettie Wednesday challenge. I LOVE the sketch...but have to say tonight (sorry Jo...I truly just made the card tonight!) my muse was a ways off. Of course, I am pretty limited in supplies. It will certainly be nice to get back to my stamp room, even though I'm NOT going to be ready to leave Florida in just 36 more hours!

For this card I used some fun paper my mom picked up in the Prettie Boutique along with My Favorite Things recently released Eggstra Special Easter. I colored the egg and little chickie with watercolor pencils and my blender pen. I was too lazy to find the OMS to use Prismas tonight! The fowers came from my good friend Michelle. She often sends me care packages, and last week was no exception! :-) Thanks Mich!! The ricrak is from Mike's. it's a flannel material that is really soft and fuzzy to the touch. overall...I'm not happy with how this card turned out, so i will for sure have to make Joanne another card to make up for this lousy one. I have a brilliant idea inspired by Julia...but I need some supplies that are at home. Perhaps I'll show that one to you NEXT Wednesday!

Anyway...it now being almost midnight, I best get some sleep so I'll be ready to help fix breakfast for everyone in the morning! G'night everyone!!

TFL!
-Jana

GinaK release...a little late!

Have you all seen the gorgeous new stamps GinaK just released on Sunday? I'm sure you have, but if not...go see them NOW! I was so excited when I got my box at my mom's last week...but didn't get a chance to play until here in Captiva! I was finally able to photograph and upload my card today. Sorry for being so late!!

For this card I used the new Basket of Happiness stamp set for the image. I love this combination of the eggs and the flowers. It's just so fun to color. You could color the eggs pastels and have them already dyed...or leave them white...but I wanted some nice farm fresh brown eggs to go with my daisies. I tried out my mom's new Prismacolor pencils for this one along with OMS and blending stumps. I'm quite happy with my first attempt! For the greeting, I used the He is Risen stamp set.

This is a super simple layout...but great when you're just recovering from being sick, have limited internet access, and haven't stamped in like a week! As you can see, I'm loving my mom's nestabilities. In fact, tonight while watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire with my dad, I nestled a bunch of ovals to take home with me! :-)

Ok...one more post for tonight. I'll return shortly!

TFL!
-Jana

Celebrate grid style

German Phrase of the Day: Kann ich dir helfen? = Can I help you? Boy...could I have used some help the last few days, and thankfully I've had tons!

We got to Captiva on Friday to perfect weather. Even went down for a presunset walk on the beach (I'll try to post photos if I can get my mom's computer online!) and then I woke up Saturday morning with the worst sore throat I'd had since childhood. Over the course of the weekend I was feverish, achey, could barely talk, and just plain miserable. Luckily, my daddy took my to the walk-in clinic yesterday (Monday) and I got antibiotics..and so finally today I'm feeling alive again! Phew!! And even better, Julia's had a blast playing with grandparents and Aunties, so I haven't had to worry about her at all. THANK YOU!!!

So...I missed ALL the fun. I missed GinaK's release party Sunday night (Sorry Gina!) and the Paper Pretties Stamping in Your Jammies last night (Sorry Christie!!) I'm so bummed!! I've been so sick I haven't even stamped a single thing in 4 days!! So, today I'm showing you yet another of my VSN cards.

This card was for the final challange...leftovers! You had to make a grid card using only the supplies that remained on your desk. That was a little tricky since I didn't do all the challenges right in a row...but I also didn't clean everything up (since I never do!) in between so I did have somethings available. I used the Linen Prints dsp from SU! along with Chocolate Chip, Cameo Choral and Very Vanilla cardstocks. I also used the new Celebrate Everything stamp set for the creeting. I did the faux stitching with the All in a Row stamp set like Beate has taught us all. Overall, I was quite happy with the results. Especially that lovely chocolate satin ribbon!! That stuff is so lucious!!

Ok...so now I have to go catch up on everything. I'm sorry to all as I will probably not read all my usual blogs this week, but I HAVE to go see what the prettie girls created last night while stamping in their jammies together in Anahiem!!

TFL!
-Jana

Moose You!

German Phrase of the Day: Ich mochte ihn heiraten. = I would like to marry him. And I did! However, this year we are apart for Valentine's day (probably a relief to him since that gets him off the hook as he says!) So, I left him a card or sweets for each day I'm gone and he's home.

This card is one I made for a Valentine's swap, and I was so happy with how it turned out, I kept one to give to my dh! Isn't it stinkin' cute?? I really love simple cards, and this one can't be beat for simplicity. Yet, it's still really cute! I made the lot of them in about 45 minutes!! The most time consuming part was cutting out the heart.

I used the Sending Thoughts of Love set to stamp the X's and O's on the background of the pretty in pink layer first. Then, stamped the moose with Chocolate Chip ink onto whisper white. I then layered that onto an ever so slightly larger layer of Purely Pomegranate, and then put that onto the much larger chocolate chip layer. I tied the ribbon around, then mounted this onto the card. Lastly, I stamped the heart with pomegranate ink on pomegranate paper and cut it out. It's popped up next to the moose. Super easy, but super cute! And, perfect for me who can't be with my honey for Valentine's Day this year.

Ok...I'm all packed up to head down to Captiva, but I still need to get my parents and daughter packed up. I'm hoping we'll leave soon though. So, my next post will be coming from beachside! :-D I can't wait!!!

TFL!
-Jana

PTI Cigarbox

German Phrase of the Day: Wilst du mit mir spielen heute? = Do you want to play with me today? Ok...if there are any errors it's Julia's fault today. I don't have my calendar with me, so I asked Julia, what's a good phrase for today, maybe something like "do you want to play with my today" and she just spit that out. She continues to amaze me!! And this after she just made a "cell phone" with some designer paper scraps I had out on a table here. Wish I had been that smart/creative at 5!!!

2 announcements to make today. First, on Monday night (Feb 11th) the Prettie Girls are hosting a Stamping in Your Jammies LIVE from CHA. OK, so they won't be on the show floor, but they will have been all day so they'll hve LOTS of juice for us all!! Be sure to visit the Paper Pretties Forum Monday night starting at 7pm PST (That's 10pm for us on the East Coast!) I'll be signed in from my beachside location...probably with margarita or mojito in hand - and of course wearing jammies! :-)

The other announcement is GinaK has a new release coming on Sunday, February 10th over at her forum on Splitcoast Stampers from 7-9pm central (that's 8 to 10pm here on the east coast!) In the meantime, starting tomorrow morning Gina will have sneak peaks on her blog...and many of us on her design team will have samples starting on the 10th (I got my package yesterday, and I LOVE it - get your credit cards ready!!!).

Today's project is one I made for my aunt here in Florida. I used the Plain Jane cigar box and stationary set from Papertrey Ink, along with their monogram set and mini borders set. For the designer paper I used some Porcelain Prints from SU! I pretty much just followed Nichole's directions exactly...so go check her blog to make your own. I was luck and my aunt liked her new stationary set. The top photo is everthing in the box, the second is everything out of the box, and the final is a more side view of the box.

We're heading down to Captiva tomorrow morning. so I need to get busy packing! Sorry this post is so short!!

Hope you all have a great day, and my next posts will be from the beach. HOORAY!!!

TFL!
-Jana

Prettie Girl Wednesday

Ok...here's an unplanned post. I can't believe I forgot to upload the valentine card I made for Julie from the Prettie Girl challenge she issued 2 weeks ago. What a doofus! Oh well...guess I'll have to share that some other time after I get back to Germany - it's really cute! I'll let you know what this week's challenge is once I know! Gotta get my card from LAST week's challenge done still!!

Today I'll show you 2 cards I made yesterday. Unfortunately, my newest package from Christie didn't arrive before I left for Florida, so I asked Joanne to send me a few stamped images of Luke and Lexi from Sealed with a Kiss because I just love them! I colored this image with watercolor pencils and a blender pen. It's been a while since I've done that...it was fun but I'll be happy to have my watercolor crayons back!!

I used my mom's Basic Gray Two Scoops paper for both cards...I just LOVE it! And notice the nested sentiment? Mom has nestabilities too!! I loved cutting this sentiment out with the oval nestabilities then putting it on the scalloped regal rose oval. That is just the coolest thing!! The ribbon is from the Target $pot, and the ribbon slide is from my SU! package that just arrived yesterday afternoon. SOO much fun!! I spent a good portion of last night cutting out rubber!!

The second card uses my lovely Wade E. Bug. I stamped him on my cut and embossed oval. I colored him again with watercolor pencils and a blender pen. I have been so inspired by my fellow Prettie Girls who color wade all kinds of different colors that I had to follow suit and color him to match the Two Scoops paper. Isn't he fabulous with his light turquise wings with pink spots?? I thought the colors were very Easterish, and thought he could be all dressed in his Easter Sunday best. For the ribbon, I used some leftovers from last spring's Flirty ribbon pack from SU! Perfect!! The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Limitless Labels.

Ok...Mom and I are driving up to Mount Dora to go to some famous stamp store up there, and guess who I'm meeting up wtih?? Kim, the MFT Lady! I am soooo excited. Since I can't come join the CHA fun with all the other Prettie Girls, at least I get to meet Kim before she goes. And you can be sure I'll be there on the party tonight for her latest release...Twisted Sentiments? How perfect for me!! ;-)

Have a great day everyone!
TFL,
Jana

Panty Card

German Phrase of the Day: Niemand hat gesagt, dass es einfach sei. = Nobody said it would be easy. What a fantastic phrase, and appropriate for today. I was so SHOCKED, when I saw Gina's blog this morning. I mean...that's my card she posted. I really couldn't believe it! You can read about the process I went through designing the card over here, but I have to admit, I was really proud of that one! And to see it on Gina's blog was just so thrilling to me. The funniest part is, when I wrote the post with it for my blog, I actually wrote "Since I don't think I got onto Gina's team" in part of the post because I was CONVINCED at that point that she must have contacted everyone and I just hadn't made the cut. Funny how things work out, isn't it?

Here's another of my VSN cards. My husband just left today so I can start stamping again - and will therefore have more new stuff to show soon. In the meantime, this was for a challenge issued by one of my fellow GinaK design team members Frances, AKA Stampowl. She challenged us all to make a Panty card. I didn't want to make one in the shape of a panty (although they were VERY cute) so I pulled out my Thanks for Your Support set created by Langley Boy Designs and manufactured by GinaK. It's such a fun, tongue in cheek set - which I LOVE! I stamped the panties with Rose Red ink on Rose Red paper, then stamped the greeting wtih Rose Red ink on Whisper White paper and cut it out. I cut the strip of designer paper from some Cutie Pie paper I had on my desk, then added the ribbon with the buckle. Then, I decided it needed something for the inside, so I stamped the Just Deal with it from the same set and added the ampersand from my SU! Big Deal alphabet set. I mounted it on some Old Olive prints designer paper and voila! Completed card!!

Ok, off to stamp some! DH left this morning, so now I have more "free time" to stamp! I loved getting to have some time with him in a relaxed atmosphere where he didn't have to work, but I'm also happy to get some time for just me again where I can stamp. Aren't grandparents a wonderful thing?!?! :-D

TFL!
-Jana

Birthday Bella

German Phrase of the Day: Heute hat meine Schwester Geburtstag. = It is my sister's birthday today. Well, actually her birthday was in December...but it's a good phrase! :-) And actually, I sent this card to a good friend of my sister who's birthday was last week! (The same special lady who got the birthday card Julia made back here)



This was another VSN card, and I just love this Bella! I had just gotten her in the mail the day VSN started, so of course I had to get her all inked up! The challenge was to Bring on the Bling, so I added little bits of bling here and there. It's funny, several of my other cards had more bling to them, but this is what I came up with while working on this challenge. Oh well! I really like the party hat the best. When you look at the detail photo, you can see that I used some silver cord to make the frizzy bit at the top of her hat.


I also used another of my precious hat pins on this card. I just love those things, and am trying to be less stingy with them. See...I've used 2 now! ;-)



Quickly, I used the Cutie Pie DSP from SU!, BirthdayBella from Stampingbella (I think that's the one...I get confused sometimes though!) and the wonderful new cupcake set from MFT for the greeting. I colored her in with my aquapainter and watercolor crayons after stamping her with Palette Noir ink onto watercolor paper.



Have a great day everyone! We had a wonderful time at the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa yesterday, and I think today will be a taking it easy day around here with Julia - then tonight I get to have a date with my husband! WOOHOO!! :-)



TFL!

-Jana

Altered Book

German Phrase of the Day: Es ist schon so spaet? = It is that late already? Oh man...I better keep this quick because we're headed to Lowry Park Zoo this morning! Gotta see the Manatees!!

I made this altered album for VSN last month. It's one of the little albums from the Target $pot that my friends in California bought for me (Thanks Kallien!!) and I totally CASE'd this layout from the new Spring/Summer SU! catalog. I just LOVE this set and have since I bought it...and when I saw the sample, I knew I had to recreate it.


I used Elegant Eggplant and just stamped off for the lighter colors. Isn't it lucious?? For the green, I did the same thing with Old Olive. So I only used 2 ink colors on this whole thing, cool, huh? The polka dot paper is from the Old Olive Designer paper. The ribbon is from a ribbon share I did with Jody Morrow back in November. May Arts Satin ribbon...isn't it gorgeous?!?

Ok...Gotta run! But, take a look at Gina's blog today...I still can't believe it!! :-)

Have a great Sunday everyone!
TFL,
Jana

Here kitty, kitty!

German Phrase of the Day: Habst du haustier? Do you have pets? As I've talked about, we brought over our pets with us and have a dog and a cat here.

I made this card (and several others!) for my aunt because she just loves these Bellas! And this card is so perfect for her because she has 4 cats (yes...quite a few!!) We just left her house this morning and Julia was very sad to say goodbye, to her AND the cats!

It's a pretty straightforward card. Bella here is stamped with Palette Noir ink on watercolor paper and colored with watercolor crayons and an aquapainter. She's mounted on Taken with Teal cs, then Regal Rose. The card base is some leftover Cool Carribean, and I put some Petals & Paisley dsp at the top. The ribbon is SU! turquoise. And the sentiment is from the MFT set Essential Sentiments. Very useful set!!

Hope you all are having a great weekend...it's a beautiful day here in Sunny Florida, and let me tell you I am LOVING this sun! I've missed it for the last year or so! ;-) Also, sorry I'm not including the fine print this week...just not enough time to go back and find it all! Thanks for understanding!!

TFL!
-Jana

Ticket to drink

German Phrase of the Day: Die Geschafte schliessen um halb 21. The shops are closing at 8:30 pm. It has taken some getting used to that Germans will say half 6 when they mean 5:30. It can get confusing when making appointments and we're switching between English and German because I want to make sure they are saying what they mean.

When Karin came to visit me for VSN, she brought my new stamp set, Cheers to You! I HAD to have this set when I saw it online in the European catalogs, and I so love it!!

This was another VSN card. The challenge was to create a card inspired by a ticket, or with a ticket theme. I decided this was a ticket to drink! I made the background paper myself by stamping the martini glass multiple times and coloring in just the olive. Cute, huh? Then, who goes better with the Cheers to you martini glass than Cosmobella? I colored her outfit to match the card (old olive and cameo coral) then attached her to the card. I used the ticket corner punch to make the greeting look more like a ticket, and by adding 2 Bella charms, I managed to follow Beate's weekend sketch challenge from that weekend (it was #31)

TFL!
-Jana