MFT Monday - Jolinne Birthday Book

I finally got to finish my birthday book that I started last week. I was going to make a book for the template WSC, but only got as far as printing the pages. Then on St. Patty's day when Kim announced the new club challenge to use something recycled, I thought it would be great to use some cardboard I rescued from some packaging to make the covers of my birthday book.

I used some Imaginecense papers that I had to alter the chipboard covers, then trimmed the inner pages to be a little smaller than the covers. I stamped and colored Jolinne with Balloons, then cut her with my nesties. I stamped the balloons again to paste on top so they could go outside the oval. I covered the balloons with crystal effects so they'd be nice and shiny! I cut the letters with my sizzex, and used a heat set jewel to dot the eye.

I stamped some different Pure Innocence girls on each month using different SU! inks along with the months. I decided I'll just start at the top and write the date and names of people with birthdays that month so as new people get added the numbers may not be in order, but that's OK. And of course I added some gift information pages to the end of the book as well! LOVE this template.

Great ideas for Designer Paper

German Phrase of the Day: Kannst du singen? = Can you sing? I like to think I can, but my husband informs me I'm really not that good. Of course, he has to listen to me when I have my ipod on and therefore can't hear myself! Poor guy!! Now, someone who CAN sing is Terry Fator. Since I don't watch TV much, I was quite impressed when I saw this guy on YouTube this week.

This project was inspired by a project featured in I believe a Papercrafts magazine. I saw it and loved it. Then...I saw it again on Polished to Perfection, and knew I HAD to make one. She has made 7 different trees over there, so be sure to go check those all out! They are totally awesome.

This tree was quite simple to make. I used 1/2" by 6" strips of the Wintergreen DSP. I used 1/2 of the first sheet I used for the bottom, and then progressively less as I worked my way up. I started with a styrofoam cone that I bought at Pipoos...but you all in North America should be able to get them anywhere! I used flat headed straight pins to attach the paper, and just lined up the two ends before sticking them on. No adhesive required. However...before I make another I will be getting a thimble...my finger and thumb are in GREAT pain tonight!! So, I highly recommend using one.

Oh...and there are lots more ideas of things to do with your pretty new patterned paper. I'll have even more things to show you over the next few weeks!

Don't forget to enter to win Blog Candy here!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: NONE
CS: Wintergreen DSP
Ink: None
Acc: styrofoam cone, straight pins

TFL!
-Jana

Christmas Ornaments

German Phrase of the Day: Kochen macht Spass. = It's fun to cook. Kochen (pronounced KOH-khehn) is to cook, Kuchen (pronounced KUH-khenh) is cake. So, I could also say ich liebe kuchen kochen meaning I like to cook cake! :-)

Today's project was SOOO much fun to make. I really love the new chipboard from the Holiday mini catalog. For this ornament I used the On Board Trimmings. I punched out the star from the center, then covered the remaining circle with real red craft ink. I like how the ink gives the chipboard a suede look. Then, I adhered some Dashing designer paper to the back of my piece...with the stripes showing through the star. You could probably use this for July 4th too...stars and stripes forever, yeah? (or I guess I should say Ja?)

Anyway...that wasn't all. On the back side, I decided to attach the star I had removed. So, I again covered it with the real red craft ink...let that dry a little, then covered it with Versamark and embossed on a layer of iridescent ice ep. Then, I put on another layer of versamark and did two layers of Glassy Glaze to seal it in and make it nice and smooth. Isn't it purdy?? I really liked this paper...and I love that I can showcase both sides so easily. I think I'll make a whole series of these and string them up like a garland across the divider between my living and dining rooms. Strung along on white taffeta ribbon, it will look simply perfect!! Can't wait to get a whole pack of this stuff...I just got a few pieces from my wonderful friend Michelle (Thanks Michelle!!) in the mail so I could play with them before I get to California. This is one of the fun projects (minus the embossing) we'll have available at our World Card Making Day event on October 6th! If you live in or near the Bay Area of California and would like more information about the event just drop me an email and I'd be happy to give you the details!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: none!
CS: On Board Trimmings, Dashing DSP
Ink: Real Red Craft ink, Versamark
Acc: White taffeta ribbon, iridescent ice ep, glassy glaze ep

TFL!
-Jana

Thank you card and candle set

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

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

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

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

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

TFL!
-Jana

Don't bother me now...

German Phrase of the Day: Ich lese gerade ein Buch. = I am reading a book right now. So...go away! I mean really...I can't believe people are actually blog surfing today when the latest Harry Potter book just became available. Over 2 million Americans are getting their copy today from Amazon alone! So...what are you doing in front of your computer??

Ok, for those of you still here, this is a name sign I made for Julia last summer when visiting my wonderful friend and upline, Rachel before we moved over here to Germany. The new chipboard letters had just come out, and she was teaching us all how to cover them, stamp on them, and emboss them. Isn't this just adorable?? I really loved this paper, and the colors are perfect for my non-pink little girl. Well, she does like pink, but as she says, she likes ALL the colors. Oh...and have I told you her other recent saying? She told her daddy one day that the sun was shining like "100 glitter glues." She makes me so proud!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this...now I'm off to buy my book!

TFL!
-Jana

I finished it!

German Phrase of the Day: Nachste Woche fahren wir in Urlaub. = We're leaving on a vacation next week. Actually, we leave on Sunday...but you get the point!

I just finished my initial pages for my circle journal I'm doing with Michelle Tweedy, and I'm SO excited! Since we have friends arriving from California on Friday morning, my dh doesn't get home until SATURDAY morning, and then Sunday morning we leave for the Black Forest, I figured I needed to finish quickly so I can get it in the mail.

I've never done a circle journal before, but I'm really excited about this one. I think it will be loads of fun. Over the next 5 days I'll post all the pages I had to complete before mailing it...since I won't have time to stamp anything else because I'll be too busy trying to get the house clean before our guests arrive!!

This first one is my title page. The theme of my book is All Things Nature, and I used one of my all-time favorite nature sets for the title page. I'm also a little into butterflies lately since we have so many on our Butterfly Bush (thanks to everyone who helped identify it!!) Not sure if you can tell, but I outlines the butterfly wtih glue and added some dazzling diamonds so she would really sparkle.

You can probably see I have not done anything with the cover of my journal yet...I decided it would be safer to do that after the rest of the pages are completed and it's done with its tour of the US!! ;-)

Have a wonderful day everyone! Just 3 more sleeps til my catty gets here - and, oh yeah - guess my husband will be with it!! ;-)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Touch of Nature
CS: Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, Pumpkin Pie
Ink: Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip
Acc: aquapainter, WWC, sponge, dazzling diamonds glitter, glue pen

TFL!
-Jana

Father's Day Gift

German Phrase of the Day: Sie ist sehr glucklich. = She is very happy. I LOVE the photo of Julia I used for this project - isn't that just he most beautiful smile? (and before you ask Mom...I'll try to make one for you and dad also!)

I bought some of those adorable tiny hinges online and I FINALLY got around to making one of the adorable little folding photo display things with the coasters. I attached the hinges on the inside so the "book" will close flat since it is for my dh to take when he's traveling...so he'll always have a smiling wife and bug-bug to look at (awwww.)

I covered the coasters with that wonderful SU! DSP from last summer's mini (the one I love but can never remember the name of!) and then made a simple design for the front using the Happy Father's Day from one of the AYC sets (I use the mini Rough Edges alphabet for the year) Since I wanted the outside to look nice, I inserted the brads from out to in...it also helps in closing the book better.

For the photos, I printed them here at home, then I ran my sanding block around all four sides in about 1/2" to frame them in a little bit, since I wasn't going to mat them. After adhering them, I stamped the heart image from Doodle That with white stazon. Unbelievably, my husband actually noticed this, and seemed to think it was cool that the stamped image matched the "scratches" on the edges of the photos.

On the back I stamped "The best is yet to come" from one of the spring mini sets and put a few hearts around it. Now he'll always have a photo to setup in whatever hotel room he's staying in so he can see our smiling faces when he wakes in the morning. And he has the wonderful benefit of seeing only the smiling faces and not having to hear the grumpiness that usually exists in our home in the mornings! (NONE of us is a morning person...my husband probably LEAST so!)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Doodle That, AYC, Love Matters, Rough Edges Alphabet
CS: Chocolate Chip, Bliss Blue, Ruby Red, SU! DSP from spring 06 mini
Ink: Chocolate Chip, white stazon
Acc: Crafter's Toolkit, silver brads, sanding block, mini hinges purchased online

TFL!
-Jana

I did a Jacob's Ladder!!!

German Phrase of the Day: Mai ist der schoenste Monat. = May is the nicest month. That certainly seems to be true. Ever since the day after my sisters arrived from the US we have had PERFECT weather on our travels. I actually have some color again!! :-) It rained here in Dusseldorf yesterday before we got here, but now today it's beautifully sunny again. Hooray, I've been waiting for some sign of summer's arrival here.

So, this projects was SOOO much fun to make. It really isn't that difficult if you follow Beate's wonderful tutorial, or watch the video if that's easier. I made this for my friend Julie of Stamping with Julie and her new baby boy. (sorry to spoil the surprise Julie...it will be in the mail soon!!) For the picture I just showed 3 of the panels...since they just continue in the same way except for the top one.

I used some retired SU! paper (sorry...can't remember what it's called) but I figured it was perfect for her adorable little boy. I stamped the giraffe from Bundle of Joy on whisper white and colored it in with an aquapainter and reinkers (barely banana and only orange) I embossed the word baby from All Year Cheer in clear ep after stamping with Ballet Blue craft ink. Lastly I made the corner with some Ballet Blue CS, and then added the white polka dots. I used white and celery grosgrain ribbons.

Now, the best part is how I obtained the coasters. I mentioned that my daughter's kindergarten had an ubernacht (overnight) recently. So my husband and I had a date night. We took the train into downtown Dusseldorf and had lots of fun. Of course, at every biergarten or pub we went to (ok...so 3 of them!) I had to snag a few coasters...and since the first place we went had round coasters, I then decided that all future stops had to have square coasters!! So Julie, your sons jacob's ladder book is made with genuine German beer coasters! I hope he enjoys them!! :-) I think I have to break down and actually BUY some plain coasters now...this was too fun!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Bundle of Joy, All Year Cheer
CS: Ballet Blue, Whisper White, retired DP
Ink: Jet Black stazon, barely banana, only orange, ballet blue craft
Acc: Aquapainter, white gel pen, clear ep

TFL!
-Jana

2 pretty girls.

German phrase of the day: Wie alt bist du? = How old are you?

Ok...one more "vintage" project from LAST April...this project is one of my favorites! I picked up a bunch of these frames at the Target dollar spot when they had them over a year ago. I used them for a fun kids class for father's day, but I used one to make this frame for my sister.

Last February when we were still living in California my sister and her wife invited Julia and I to come to Captiva Island in Florida with them to their timeshare. We had such a wonderful time, and Flo snapped this really cute picture of my sister with my daughter. At times, Julia looks more like her aunt than her mother!

This was another super easy project, just stamping directly on the frame using Lovely Lilac, Pixie Pink and Green galore.

TFL!
-Jana

PS I'll post a photo from Italy once I finish uploading them all and can find them on my computer! Picasa has been having trouble locating some of my photos it seems!! On the good side, I have finally uploaded photos from Holland and Paris and have links to them from the family blog if anyone is interested. Some day I'll actually take the time to scrap all of this!!

Happy Scraps

Scraps are happy when they get used, that's why this is my Happy Scraps stash. I totally CASEd this from Julie, because I figured since she was the featured stamper this week on SCS and I knew I wanted to make one of these, I'd get a 2fer....but then I made it a 3fer by adding the little Levi tag!! :-)

So, for complete directions on how to make this, go to Julie's blog. I used the Petals & Paisleys designer paper, along with Certainly Celery for the bottom. I stamped the title with Big Deal, and the happy is from Polka Dots & Paisley. I did use the new rounded tab punch for a top closure, but since I don't have any Velcro yet, you can't actually see it because it wouldn't stay closed for the picture. I still have to put the tabs inside for the different folders, and then I can just sort my scraps into here! Yeah!!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Big Deal, Polka Dots & Paisley
CS: Petals & Paisleys, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Cool Caribbean, Regal Rose
Ink: Regal Rose, Cool Caribbean
Acc: Tag Corner Punch, Rounded Tab Punch, sponge, sticky strip, silver brads, large envelopes from office supply store.

TFL!
-Jana

Birthday Bonanza

I love my birthday...doesn't everyone?? And one of best things about having a birthday (since it most surely isn't getting older!) is getting fun mail! Over the past week I've gotten some wonderful cards from my online friends from blogging and splitcoast, so here are the latest.

First, this amazing notepad in a tin from my friend Yvette. It's just amazing, isn't it?? I recognize 2 stampin' Up! stamp sets (office accoutrement and Sincere Salutations) but don't recognize the rest. The flower on here is made of suede I think - it's quite interesting!! And Ilove the fact that it "locks" closed, and then you click the button to open the tin again! So very cool!!

Inside, there is a notepad for taking those daily notes, along with a pocket, and a pen. I think this will have to live downstairs so I can see it all the time and keep my grocery list in it!!

She also included this beautiful matching birthday card...isn't it just gorgeous?? I love the use of the cuttlebug - that is my favorite embossing folder!! It's just amazing. Thank you so much Yvette...I LOVE it!!

Next up is a birthday card from my stamping hero Beate. I remember seeing this card (or something like it) on her blog a while back and admiring the combination of stamps and designer paper....and now I get to admire it in person! She gets these amazing papers from Eclectic Paperie and claims to have an addiction. Don't we all??? :-)








I also got this wonderful card from another of my Diva buddies, Linda Schmitt. She designs such wonderful projects, I always love swapping with her! This card is no exception. I love the twill tape stapled on. I always forget to use my twill tape...I think I will challenge myself to pull it out and use it! Thanks for inspiring me again Linda!











And then I even have 2 non-birthday cards to share. The first is from my friend Stephanie. She sent a load of things to my mom to bring to me, and this card with Bellas inside was given to me when I got BACK from Barcelona! Mom had almost forgotten it! I remember when Stephanie posted this card, I instantly fell in love with it, and that stamp set! Such an amazing card. I love the embossing...the stamping...the coloring...everything! Also, Stephanie sent me this really cute candle in a pot which I love! Now I'll have to take a bath soon so I can light it! :-)





This last card was from an SCS RAK club member, and it's just gorgeous! I don't think you can get the full effect from the photo, but it is embossed with black ep, iwht just a hint of gold glitter in it! I'ts incredible!!! Ilove the coloring and shadingthat she did, and she even sent me one of my favorite flowers...pretty neat, huh?? Thanks so much Beverly!

VSN on Splitcoast!

This weekend was Virtual Stamp Night over on Splitcoast Stampers. Because of the time difference I wasn't able to participate at the same time as everyone, but I did manage to squeeze in a few of the challenges, and boy were they fun!

Here is my favorite, the challenge was a Survivor challenge, and even though I think I've only watched the show a total of 2 times, I really liked this challenge. We had to create a "Survival Kit" by covering some sort of container, and if time permitted, put a few items into the kit.

I used a box from the Target $pot my friend Michelle sent to me. It came with some cute notepaper inside, which I have set aside for now. I covered the box with the Petals & Paisleys paper, then stamped the sentiment using the retired Newsprint Alphabet set. I also stamped Seeing Spots in the background.

After covering the box, I still had some time (altho not much sticky strip!!) so I quickly wrapped a strip of paper around an aspirin bottle, and then cut a circle with my coluzzle for the mini disk. I stamped TUNES on the mini disk (which does in fact have some great tunes on it - it is in fact the soundtrack from my wedding reception that a friend made for me!) Since this is a survival kit for a stamping weekend, I wanted to include some band-aide's for all the paper cuts, but couldn't find any in the allotted time (only 45 minutes!)

If you haven't done a VSN over on splitcoast, you should consider it. It was LOADS of fun (this was my first) and a great creative jump-start!

Supplies:

Stamps: Newsprint Alphabet, Seeing Spots

Paper: Cool Caribbean, Confetti White

Ink: Cool Caribbean, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose

Accessories: Pink Gingham, sticky strip, coluzzle, HPH, cutter kit

TFL!
-Jana

Accents & Elements Tin Album!

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Ok...this project was SOOOO much fun to make! I got the idea from my good friend Kallien who is doing a class on this...and SHE got the idea from Splitcoast (where else??) This tin was made by Staramaze which I admit I did case quite heavily! Be sure to click through to Sarah's blog for a wonderful tutorial on how to make these!!

Originally, I thought I'd make a cute tin album for my daughter of some photos I was planning to take over her decorating Valentine's Day Cookies with friends. Then...I saw my box of wedding photo proofs, and realized I really miss having photos from our wedding up here in our "temporary" home...and that they would be much more fun to work with. When I showed my husband his first reaction was "You cut up our wedding proofs??" to which I responded "Yes dear...that's why I brought them. We have the negatives in a firesafe in the US, so we can make more!"

I started with my tin, and belly band. I was too cheap to use one of my actual chipboard hearts, so I punched it out, then used the negative image to trace onto some thin cardboard and make my own heart to cover with our wonderful Loves Me paper. I swiped my heart across the Regal Rose inkpad to give it a little more shab. I measured my Pretty in Pink belly band, and layered some more Loves Me paper underneath just for the front. Then, I wrapped some brown Flirty ribbon around. On the heart, I added an oval of Pretty In Pink CS cut with my coluzzle, and I used one of the die cuts from the Sweet Nothings Accents & Elements tin. I stamped Celebrate Love using the Fancy Flexible Phrases set (I LOVE this set!!) Then I added some real chipboard colored with Pretty in Pink craft ink, tied with ribbons, and finished with a button from the regals set of buttons.

Lastly, I FINALLY got a heat gun, and so embossed on my tin! I first washed my tin (it's been handled a LOT) then rubbed my embossing buddy ALL over it. Then, stamped the Sweet on You image with versamark and embossed using detail Silver embossing powder. I think because I used the detail embossing powder, I didn't get as crisp an image - there was a LOT of extra powder that stuck, and I did try to wipe off as much excess as I could. I'll try again when I get more tins using the regular Sterling Silver powder to see if it works better.

For the inside, I used 4 pieces of Pretty in Pink CS cut to 4.5" by 5.25". I scored each piece at 1/2" on the long side to make the binding, then punched 3 holes with my 1/16" hole punch to insert the soft subtles brads.

For the cover, I added some Taken With Teal CS with faux stitching around the outsides, a square of Loves Me paper with the edges sponged with Chocolate Chip ink, and then stamped out names in Taken with Teal ink on Whisper White CS which I then punched out using my new Square Scallop Giga Punch. The ribbon is narrow white organdy, and I used a ribbon buckles from the Antique Brass hodgepodge hardware set. Finally, on the bottom is another die cut from the accents & elements tin with the date of our wedding.

The inside pages each have a strip of Loves Me DS Paper and the photos. I used the "Happy Today" stamp from Small Sayings to add a few words on the first two and last two pages with a Chocolate Chip marker. I thought about coloring the photos with chalks...but decided I liked leaving them as they are. Finally, for the last page, I again added some Taken with Teal CS and stamped the LOVE image from Love Matters, colored with markers, mounted, added some hardware and a little more flirty ribbon, and then stamped "the best is yet to be" from the same set at the bottom.

You could certainly do this much simpler than I did...but I wanted to put a lot into this one.