Papertrey October Blog Hop Challenge

I decided I need to stamp more (and clean less? Not sure the hubby would agree but oh well!) so I thought I'd play along with this month's PTI Blog Hop Challenge. The challenge was to make a card for a winter holiday NOT Christmas. That was easy for me. I have several athiest (or perhaps they are pagans?) friends who celebrate the Winter Solstice in place of any other religious holiday - and through the trees is perfect for that!

I stamped it with versamark on white cardstock, then embossed with clear ep. I brayered on some various blues/purples to make it look like white birch trees at night - perfect for winter solstice! I added the Peace from the old Snowflake Serenade set, embossed with white ep on my navy card base...added some white polkadot ribbon, and some h.s. ghost snowflakes and rhinestones and it was done!

Thanks for hopping through...I hope you enjoyed my Winter Solstice card!

Dahlia's for mom...

Ok Mom, I know you'll see this. And maybe you'll get lucky and this will be the card that actually gets put in the mail - we'll have to see! ;-)

I got my new goodies from PTI this week and immediately had to play with the new Dahlia's stamp set and matching dies. OH MY GOSH! WOW! SOOO easy to use, lining them up was a piece of CAKE! I love the look of neatly cut out flowers, but HATE the work, so this was perfect for me. I cut my cardstock first, then stamped the image, and colored it with copics. I can see I need to expand my collection some more since I didn't have ANY of the right colors to go with the PTI papers, but it turned out ok.

I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch (# 131) and on the inside I even got to use some ricrak I cut with the new rikrak die!! LOVE it!! I used some SU! dp with polka dots and added a couple of buttons so this also qualifies for Lisa Johnson's Poppy Seed challenge to use polka dots, buttons and light moss.

I think you'll see a lot more with these dies and set in the coming weeks...I haven't even begun to get this out of my system yet!

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

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

More VSN fun

German Phrase of the Day: Nur wer schwach sein kann, ist wirklich stark. - Only when you can be weak are you really strong. I must be really strong today because I'm weak from lack of sleep! We were up until 2am trying to get all our projects uploaded to SCS, and dh's alarm went off at 5am today since he had to head to the airport at 6. :( Oh well...I'll sleep well tonight!

I think I'll give you a couple cards a day from VSN, but I probably won't be as verbose as I can sometimes get. ;-) The first card was the second challenge using an inspiration piece - chocolate shoes in cream, pink and brown! They were quite pretty, and appetizing! I pulled out my trusty Green Thumb set from PTI and got to work. I used my Au Chocolat paper and brayered pretty in pink onto it. I love that look! The layout is pretty simple, with the sentiment on top and some hodgepodge hw to add some ribbon.

The second card was one we did on Sunday. The theme was Little Black Dress, and we had to stamp on black. I stamped with white craft ink on the black cardstock, then embossed it with iridescent ice. For the pink side, I used my brand new K & Co. Valentines paper from a paper stack I picked up at Pipoos on Saturday. LOVE it!!!

For the ribbons, I used some lt. pink grosgrain, then added in some pink, black and silver narrow organdy along with some silver cord. I thought that helped dress it all up a bit. I then stamped the greeting from PTI's Faux Ribbon set in white craft on black cs and again embossed with iridescent ice ep. I punched it out with the large oval punch and attached it to the pewter bookplate using glue dots. For the eyelets holding it on the card, I used some Making Memories black and white eyelets I had bought a while ago but hadn't broken out yet. Lastly, I added 5 punched 1/2" circles of Pretty in Pink CS to the side. It just needed a little something extra, and I thought that might work. I really love this card, and will probably use it for dh's valentine this year. Since I will still be in Florida for V-day I'll have to hide it for him here somewhere! This is my favorite *card* made from VSN, but surprisingly it has received no comments on SCS yet. Go figure.

Here's a closeup of the sentiment...I just love the little bit of sparkle it gets!!

Supplies, Card 1:

Stamps: Green Thumb

Paper: Au Chocolat, very vanilla, chocolate chip

Ink: chocolate chip, pretty in pink

Accessories: HPH, May Arts Ribbon, cutter kit

Supplies Card 2:

Stamps: Priceless, Faux Ribbon from PTI

Paper: Basic Black, K& Co.

Ink: White Cr aft

Accessories: iridescent ice, pink grosgrain, silver pink and black organdy, silver cord, HPH

TFL!
-Jana

Holiday Baking

German Phrase of the Day: Der Braten schmeckt ausgezeichnet. = The roast tastes excellent. I thought this was somewhat suitable, even though I haven't been making any roasts yet - that will be on the 24th when we have our Pork Tenderloin roast. Yum!!

So, I haven't been totally neglecting my stamping. I've just been stamping containers for all this fudge I've made!! I made 4 different flavors of fudge to give away this year: peanut butter, toblerone, chocolate mint, and dark chocolate (counter clockwise starting at the bottom) My favorite is the peanut butter, so I made that one last so I wouldn't eat too much of it. Oh well...I still did! I just LOVE peanut butter fudge. I found some boxes to cover at one of the local stores, and so I wrapped them with the celebrations wrapping paper. I just love the bright colors! I put fudge, and a few kinds of cookies that Julia and I made together in these boxes.

But, I had SOOO much fudge leftover (I probably made close to 15 pounds of fudge total!) that I pulled out my coffee bags from Papertrey Ink and stamped on them with my Holiday Treats stamp set. Didn't they turn out cute? The boxes are going to close friends over here and 2 neighbors that we interact with a lot, as well as Julia's teachers as kindergarten. The bags will go to other moms at Julia's school who have been very helpful to me, and some other neighbors who are passing acquaintances. I just love holiday baking and sharing of treats. I hope our German neighbors and friends will enjoy the fudge!

For those who are interested, here is the fudge recipe I use:

Easy Peanut Butter Fudge

2 cups Sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup stick butter
1 tsp vanilla
3 T corn starch (although, I don't usually use this one)

Mix all ingredients in a large sauce pan and bring to boil stirring constantly for 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Beat in:
3 heaping tablespoons Marshmallow fluff
3 heaping tablespoons peanut butter or 12 oz chocolate.
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Pour mixture into a buttered 9 by 9 pan and let set.

Over here I can't get Nestle's chips, so I use good European chocolate bars (Lindt was the maker of choice this year!) and it tastes SOOOO good! I think I will continue that tradition when I move back...I mean, we shouldn't have to settle for Nestle chocolate, right?

Have a wonderful day everyone! And enjoy some special holiday treats. :-)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Holiday Treats by PaperTrey Ink
CS: Handsome Hunter, Brocade Blue, Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Kraft
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Handsome Hunter, Brocade Blue
Acc: mini self-adhesive rhinestones from Pipoos, circle punches, scallop punch, silver cord, coffee bags

TFL!
-Jana

Stamping with friends

German Phrase of the Day: Mein Computer ist kaputt. = My computer is broken. Kaputt is one of our favorite words. It was so funny to us when we first heard the word in Germany and realized that is how you say something is broken. We have so many slang words that have been appropriated from German.

Last week a friend of mine came over to make a few special Christmas cards. She wanted a special design for her girlfriends, a special one-of-a-kind card for her brother and new SIL, and then a more solemn card for the few older folks on her list (like her parents!) We sat down together and designed 2 new cards - for the more solemn card we cased this card I did a while back.

This first card is the special one for her brother and SIL who are expecting. We had some fun stamping this one, with lots of masking! Initially, we kept the teddy bear that is coming out of one of the bags on the left on teddybella, but it was too cluttered so we chose not to stamp it and it came out much better! She loved how fixafella looks a lot like her bro - which figures since I think Lisa likes a lot like Bella!

For the girlfriends card, we used Presentahbella. I actually purchased this stamp because I knew Lisa liked it and thought she would enjoy using it! While designing the cards together, I helped with color selection and the overall design of the card. I did much of the stamping for her, and let Lisa concentrate on watercoloring the images. Since she is quite an accomplished artist I figured this was the best way to break it down and keep us both busy while creating them.

On this Presentahbella card, we came up with the idea to hang the sentiment (from PaperTrey Ink) off Bella's ankle. Isn't that adorable? We just used some silver cord tied in the back so it doesn't show!! I love how little details like that really make a card.

We had a lot of fun making these cards together. I'll have to get Lisa all setup to stamp her own cards next year after I've moved back to the States...I've created another addict! :-)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Teddybella, Fixabella, Presentahbella by StampingBella, Holiday Wishes by Papertrey Ink
CS: Watercolor paper, creamy Caramel, cranberry crisp, always artichoke, retired SU! DSP, blue bayou, whisper white, wintergreen DSP
Ink: Palette Noir, creamy Caramel, cranberry crisp, always artichoke, blue bayou
Acc: sponge, aquapainter, word window punch, spica glitter pen, WWC, silver cord, purely pomegranate satin ribbon, stitched cranberry crisp ribbon, ticket corner punch

TFL!
-Jana

Finally...a card for you!

German Phrase of the Day: Draussen ist es kalt und grau! - Outside it is cold and grey! That is a phrase I could use pretty much every day now. Although we would have to add the word wet. Let's see...wet is ..(grabbing dictionary by my keyboard) nass. So here in Drisseldorf, it would be more accurate to say Draussen ist es kalt, grau, und nass! Oh, I miss you sun!!!

So, today I actually have a new card for you. My regular camera batteries are dead (both, and my charger is in a UPS express box back to me as we speak thanks to my wonderful sister!!) so I had to use my old camera (i.e dh's camera!) And I also didn't take the photo until almost 4, so the lighting was horrible...because of course that's what time the sun sets around here nowadays (well, practically! Ok, so official sunset was 4:27 - wanna know when sunRISE was? 8:19!! You can do the math...even if it wasn't cloudy all the time I still wouldn't see much sun!!) Ok...can you tell I'm not much for winter over here? I mean, if it would at least snow then maybe I'd stop my whining. What am I saying...of course I wouldn't!!

Oh yeah...the card. I made it yesterday with some NEW RUBBAH! I got a lovely package from Ms. Bella while in New York, and was so happy to have these adorable ornaments to play with. Don't you just LOVEY them?? I stamped them with versamark, then embossed with SU! Sterling Silver ep. I colored them with markers...the first with a Copic (B00 I think) the next two with SU! markers. Isn't it adorable?? I used up almost the last of my brushed silver cardstock (have plenty of gold...never seem to use that color!) and some of my very precious Cool Carribean cardstock. I think it matches the B00 perfectly! My photo corners are homemade using a 3/4" square punch and the 1 3/8" square punch because my photo corner punch is all wonky on me. :-( I even tried to sharpen it with tinfoil, and nothin'! I'm going to try my parchment paper (since I forgot to buy waxed paper in the US again...doh!) and if that doesn't work guess I'll have to call SU!

I came up with a new greeting for Emily to create: Have a Ball this holiday Season! But, since I didn't have that I used Merry & Bright from PaperTrey Ink. I find I use those sentiments quite often!!

I've got quite a few more things to show..but will wait to take photos when I have some light (perhaps in March?!?)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Cutesy Ornament by StampingBella, Take a Bough by Papertrey Ink
CS: Whisper White, Cool Caribbean, Brushed Silver
Ink: Versamark, SU! Markers
Acc: Sterling Silver EP, Copic Marker B00, square punches, May Arts ribbon

TFL!
-Jana

ClickaBella for a friend

German Phrase of the Day: Das Wetter ist schrecklich. = The weather is horrible. Well, I guess it's not horrible...it could be raining! But it is cold and dreary...just another typical fall day here in Deutschland I guess.

I made today's card this morning for a good friend who just started a new job today. I hope her day goes very smoothly and that she is enjoying getting to know all her new (German) colleagues! She's braver than I to go work in a German office all day...but then again, her German is much better than mine also!

I decided Clickabella was the best I had for a working girl...and Bellas are perfect for my friend Lisa who is cute and skinny just like Bella. I stamped her with black stazon onto watercolor paper, then colored her in with my aquapainter and WWC. I keep going back and forth on which I prefer for watercoloring, my Crayons (WWC) or my inkpads/reinkers. I think you get more vibrancy from the reinkers, but you can move the color from the crayons around more, and therefore have a little more control over it. The most convenient thing about the crayons is that I have all 48 colors available in just one place, and that does help. Guess it all depends on my mood (as do most things in my life! LOL!)

Anyway...after getting her all colored in, I added some glitter to her necklace, the flower on her jeans and her waist, to give her a cute sparkly belt. However, that was NOT enough glitter for my friend Lisa. This woman would BATHE in my dazzling diamonds if I let her!! (Hmmm... good idea for a Christmas present...a load of glitter!) So after LIGHTLY sponging the edge with some Regal Rose, I rubbed my glue pad along the edges and added MORE dazzling diamonds. You can really see the sparkle in the detail photo!

Anyhow...I mounted the main image on some Rose Red CS, then used some designer prints paper (sponged of course) with some rose grosgrain wrapped around to add some more color to the regal rose card base. I added the swirly hardware because I thought it continued the swirls from her desk quite well. I popped Ms. Bella up with some dimensionals, and finished off the card with the sentiment from my Faux Ribbon set from PaperTrey Ink. Perfect! Now I just leave it for Lisa at Kindergarten, and hopefully it will make her smile at the end of her first day.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Clickabella Stamping Bella Sentiment from Faux Ribbon by PaperTrey Ink
CS: Watercolor paper, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Rose Red Design Prints
Ink: Black stazon, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Rose Red, H2O crayons
Acc: Sponge, aquapainter, rose grosgrain ribbon, HPH, dazzling diamonds glitter

TFL!
-Jana

Beate's Weekend Sketch challenge Wishing Well

German Phrase of the Day: Sie ist sehr begabt. = She is very talented. How appropriate a phrase is that for a Beate sketch challenge, huh?? You all know Beate is my stamping hero, right? I can't wait to meet her in February when I'm in Florida...it's going to be sooo much fun!! Good times, Good Times! ;-)

This z-fold card was super easy to make, and lots of fun too! I started with my chocolate chip base, and wanted to have my card in the portrait orientation instead of landscape like a lot of z-folds tend to be. So, I scored at 4 1/4" and again at 2 1/8" then I stamped the flannel plaid background on the "front" bit.

I stamped the Wishing Well from GinaK's Wishing you Well set on watercolor paper with brown stazon and watercolored with aquapainter and some ink lids. This is SOOO fun to watercolor, I really enjoyed it. Then...I mounted on Brocade Blue. I attached this to the front of my card, trying to center it.

Next, for the inside, I layered on some designer paper (sponged of course!) and then centered underneath the well piece some very vanilla with the greeting stamped. I kept it simple and didn't add any ribbon or anything to keep it masculine looking. Think I'll have to send this card to my dad since it is such a nice masculine card (a rarity for me!) and he's the only man I know who actually appreciates my cards!! Love you Daddy!!

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

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Wishing you Well by GinaK
CS: Chocolate Chip, Brocade Blue, watercolor, retired SU! dsp
Ink: brown stazon, chocolate chip, close to cocoa, mellow moss, always artichoke, brocade blue, going gray, basic gray
Acc: sponge

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

Another color challenge card, for Victoria!

German Phrase of the Day: Ich bin sehr faul heute. - I've been very lazy today. Well...I guess that's true so far since I've just been sitting here quickly scanning my google reader before I go get some cleaning done!

Today's card was actually made yesterday with the color challenge for Victoria. You can read more about her here on Courtney's blog...and even enter to win blog candy by sending her a card both from Courtney and on Beate's blog!

I really liked this color combo, and since I had just received a package from my parents with last months Papertrey Ink order, I NEEDED to use those stamps!! And I have to say, this may be the first time I've EVER stamped a card and mailed it in the same day!!!

The card itself is pretty self explanatory...I sponged all pieces (a first for me!) and used only the 3 colors of ink, and the 3 colors of cs, plus naturals white. I stamped off once for the solid bloom image, and I outlined the leaves with the chocolate chip ink since the River Rock was too light to stamp off for the inside of the leaves. I LOVE this flower center stamp...and I think the chocolate goes so perfectly with the rust!!

I used my photo corner punch to make the really rust ribbon ends. Just use any punch with a right angle to cut a triangle out of your strip of paper. Turns out much better than trying to cut freehand...at least for me!! I loved using the photo corner punch for the first time...finally! I sponged that too...then did the faux stitching, then even added brads. I think I have a new favorite punch. Well, at least until I get a chance to really plan with my scallop punch!

Lastly, I finished up the card by stamping the "Make a Wish" sentiment from GinaK's Make a Wish set. That was also in my package, and I had just finished cutting it out. LOVE it, and can't wait to play with it more!!!

Anyway...guess I better do some cleaning or my stamping budget may get cut! LOL!!

Supplies (all are by SU! unless otherwise noted)

Stamps: Beautiful Blooms by PTI, Make a Wish by GinaK

Paper: Naturals white, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, River Rock

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, River Rock

Accessories: photo corner punch, crafter's tool kit, white gel pen, vintage brads, sponge

TFL!
-Jana

A triple challenge card

German Phrase of the Day: Ich muss in den sauren Apfel beissen. = I have to swallow the bitter pill (or more literally, I have to bite into the sour apple.) One of the fun things about this phrase calendar is finding all these fun phrases that I wouldn't otherwise learn.

Last night I decided I could probably get 1 card done quickly while my husband got Julia to bed. I figured I'd use Beate's sketch, and then I also wanted to do Jen's Clear Stamp challenge and Sharon's Easy Elegance challenge. So, I used my PaperTrey Ink stamps (Green Thumb) since they are the only acrylic stamps I own thus far. Then, for the added elegance I added some rhinestones to the flower centers and the silk flower with rhinestone brad for the circular part of the sketch.

Of course, I had to use my new in-colors again. I can't believe I just placed my first order (FINALLY) and didn't order any new In Color cardstock except the textured 12 by 12. Oh well...guess I'll have to do another order soon! ;-)

Ok...hoping to send dh and dd off to the "Aquazoo" so I can do some serious stamping today! :-) Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Green Thumb by Papertrey Ink
CS: Whisper White, Purely Pomegranate, soft sky, blue bayou, pretty in pink marker to color flower
Ink: Purely Pomegranate, soft sky, blue bayou
Acc: Rhinestone brad, sponge, silk flowers by ???, rhinestone stickons from Pippoos

TFL!
-Jana

Pomegranate Strawberries?

German Phrase of the Day: Ich liebe Nachspeisen! = I love desserts! And boy, is that ever true (as you can tell from my photos!) and what a perfect phrase for todays Berry card. :-)

I decided I wanted to do as many of the Dare to be Dirty challenges over at SCS over the next week as I can squeeze in. (If you're a fan club member, you can see the challenges here! all others can see the gallery here.) Now that I'm out of my Harry Potter stupor, I need to get stampin'!! Only way to get over the post-Harry blues, right?

I was inspired to make this layout when looking at Sherry's sample for Jody's challenge. The white cardstock is actually 4.25 by 5.5, and is truly attached with the brads. (Well, I did use a little snail to hold it in place while attaching the brads, but still!) I really like how this turned out with the brads in each scallop!

The berries are of course from the Papertrey Ink Green Thumb stamp set. I stamped them with the purely pomegranate ink, which I am completely and totally in love with. I mean, it's such a LUCIOUS color!! Makes you want to just eat them up, doesn't it?!? The tops are stamped with Wild Wasabi, another new fav of mine. Can't wait to get the matching ribbon!! Since I didn't have that, I thought it appropriate to use some May Arts polka dot ribbon from one of Jody's awesome ribbon shares! See....she even ships to us poor souls overseas! :-) And she didn't charge much more for shipping either!!

Hope you all like this one as much as I do...cuz I LOVE it!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Green Thumb by Papertrey Ink
CS: Whisper White, Purely Pomegranate
Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi
Acc: corner rounder, silver brads, may arts polka dot ribbon

TFL!
-Jana

Text Boxed playtime.

German Phrase of the Day: Ich liebe neue Stempel! = I love new stamps! Every once in a while I come up with a phrase of my own...and I always double check the spelling on babelfish. However, it won't correct the phrasing, so Beate, or other native German speakers, please feel free to correct me when I screw up!

This is the only card I have made so far from my new Text Boxed set. I really like the set, just haven't had enough time to play yet. I was working on another, but it just didn't turn out quite right.

Have you checked the new sets released today yet?? I probably haven't since right now I'm probably on a train to Prague...hope we have internet at our hotel in Prague!!

For this card, I used the Fossil Stone technique from Pat Stamps technique junkies newsletter. I had a subscription for that which my friend and downnline Michelle got me for my birthday one year, and I really enjoyed it. I thought this technique would work perfectly with these leaves...and I was right!

I think it might have been a little better had I also clear embossed the focal image...might have given it a little more pop. But...it's ok. All stamps used are from the Text Boxed set...I did emboss the words with gold ep after stamping with gold ink. Hope you like it!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Text Boxed by Papertrey Ink
CS: whisper white, wild wasabi, brushed gold, garden green, glossy white
Ink: Wild wasaby, always artichoke, mellow moss, versamark, gold encore
Acc: Gold ep, clear ep, narrow white organdy, gold cord

TFL!
-Jana

Pick a Petal fun

German Phrase of the Day: Der Wein schmeckt sehr interessant. = The wine tastes very interesting. I hope you all are memorizing these, because I will have a test someday!! And in the test I'll include ALL my favorite words, of which Wein is certainly one! :-)

So, like I said yesterday I finally sat down and played with my new goodies while DH and DD were riding their bikes to the pool about 5 miles away (and 3 "villages" over.) I knew as soon as I saw sneak peaks of Pick a Petal I would have to have it...but then I saw people struggle with what to do with it...and I got worried. I decided for this card I wanted to go simple, and stuck with just 1 layer (altho, looking at it now, I'm thinking I might scallop one edge and put a layer of color under it...what do you all think? And which color would you use? Wasabi or Apricot??)

I used Purely Pomegranate (the greatest color ever created!) for the petals, and then took a 1" circle chipboard piece out, covered it with Apricot Appeal craft ink, and embossed it with my iridescent ice ep (no, I actually DID put it away, but it was near the front in my drawer of ep)

Once I had the flower basically created, I realized I didn't have anything for the stem...and it will be a while before I get Stem Sayings...it didn't even make my first order, but it's in the "Must Order this catalog period" column. So, I pulled out my PaperTrey Ink Faux Ribbon set and used that to make my stem...and I LOVE it! Of course, I had to use Wild Wasabi ink! Then, I finished it off with a greeting from Hugs and Wishes. Such a fun and easy card to make! I love new toys!!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Pick a Petal, Hugs and Wishes, Faux Ribbon by Papertrey Ink
CS: White CS from Papertrey Ink
Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi, Apricot Appeal Craft
Acc: Iridescent Ice ep, On Board Blossoms & Basics

TFL!
-Jana

Little Lady

As promised, here's my submission for this month's PaperTreyInk Guest Star Stamper contest. I got a little fancy with my setup for taking the photos....what do you all think?

I made a set of 4 cards and put them in the new clear boxes Nicole and company are selling, then made a matching belly band. This was WAY fun...I LOVE this set!!

The large ladybugs are stamped on vellum cardstock and embossed (2 each with irridescent ice, the other 2 with crystal clear ep) And I just love that I can twist the sayings to lay along the ladybugs trail. Isn't it adorable?? Below I've also posted individual photos of the projects. I hope you enjoy!!


Supplies:
Stamps: Little Lady by PaperTreyInk
CS: PTI White Cardstock, Pretty in Pink, Cool Caribbean, Pink Passion, Vellum Cardstock
Ink: Jet Black Stazon, Versamark, Pink Passion, Pretty in Pink, Cool Caribbean
Acc: Irridescent Ice ep, crystal clear ep, May Arts ribbon, mini glue dots, corner rounder

TFL!
-Jana

Another SC card with PTI

German Phrase of the Day: Ich kenne ein schoenes Lokal. = I know a nice restaurant. Not that we eat out when home very often, but I just love the restaurant that is close to our home. We had a farewell dinner there with my sisters on Monday evening, and it was DEE-lish!!! Mmm-Mmm good!!!

As I said yesterday I loved that sketch and I just needed to make another card using Green Thumb (sorry Linda!) I really love this set...especially being able to bend the flower stems any which way I want!

I used the color wheel for my color combo (Regal Rose, So Saffron, Brocade Blue and Mellow Moss) and stamped some of my own DP as well as used the new Pallet o' Prints paper I recently got for the 2 strips. I added some tiny bling to the centers of my little blue starburst flowers, and I LOVE it!!

For the main panel I stamped everything, then decided I needed to pop up the watering can. What is it with my lately, I'm cutting images out!! I NEVER do that! Ah well...must be this gray weather getting to me again. So, I cut it all out with my scissors, but decided it would look better with the handle cut out completely, so I pulled out my SU! self healing mat and hobby blade and went to work. I'm happy with the result.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Green Thumbby PaperTreyInk
CS: Confetti White, Whisper White, Brocade Blue, So Saffron, Mellow Moss, Pallet o' prints DP
Ink: Brocade Blue, So Saffron, Mellow Moss, Regal Rose
Acc: Bling from Pippoos, sponge, dimensionals, hobby blade and self healing mat

TFL!
-Jana