Paper Piecing Your Digital Images - a mini tutorial!

I'm back with my quick tutorial...it's really quite simple, but I thought a few photos might help!

Step 1: Print out your image on regular copy paper. Cut pieces of designer paper that you want to use for paper piecing to cover the area of the image you want covered. Adhere these directly to your printed paper using a removable adhesive such as Dotto. You want to make sure the edge that is going to get fed into your printer first is adhered down so that it is less likely to jam up your printer

Step 2. Print the same file again feeding this paper BACK through your printer. Make sure you know which way to load the paper so the file prints in the same orientation. If you look at this image, you can see some of the Rosies at the bottom are looking a little blurry - it's not your eyes it's just because there are 2 images printed and it got a little off.

Step3. Now that you have your image printed, remove it from the copy paper and you can now trim it out. There are many great tutorials on paper piecing out there..one thing that's important is to cut ON the line (not outside it) so that it fits in your stamped (or in this case printed) image perfectly.

Step 4: It is best to color your underlying image BEFORE adhering your paper pieced bits on. You can move things around and figure out what you like best before gluing it all down. I like to use my Quickie Glue Pen to put glue onto the image, then use my paper piercer to move the bits around and get them into perfect alignment (great when working with small bits)

Step5: Finish it off. Here you can see I decided to color the bodice of her dress and just piece the skirt. However, I now have 3 other dresses ready to cut out and use, so I'm set for a little while - at least for THIS La-La!!

Thanks for coming by, I hope you find this helpful! Let me know if you have questions about any of this and I'll be happy to answer them.

Clear Snowflakes

German Phrase of the Day: Wir waren zusammen im Konzert. = We have been to the concert together. Actually...I couldn't tell you the last time I went to a concert. Oh wait, yes I can! It was a Ralph's World concert in San Francisco!! We were in a dive bar near the Mission District at 10am on a Saturday surrounded by 3-6 year-olds all dancing in the aisles to Green Gorilla! If you have young kids...check him out! We LOVE his music...it's great when mom and dad enjoy singing along as much as the kids!

Today's card is one I made after my recent Pipoos trip. I used more of my stained glass stickers as I call them and made an acetate card. Pretty cool, huh? I started with a half sheet of acetate folded in half, then I applied the snowflake outline stickers randomly. I colored them in with my Sakura 3D gel pens and left them to dry.

For the inside, I trimmed a piece of Brocade Blue, stamped on it with Versamark (for the large snowflake) and Night of Navy for the greeting, and then sponged the edges and adhered it inside the card. Voila...SUPER easy!

If you look at the detail photo you can really see the translucent effect of the gel pens. I just love those things!!


Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Snowflake Spot, Season of Joy
CS: acetate, brocade blue
Ink: brocade blue, versamark, Sakura 3D gel pens
Acc: snowflake stickers

TFL!
-Jana

Vellum Snowflake

German Phrase of the Day: Frierst du? = Are you cold? I sure am now since I just got back to 11 degree C weather. It was a little warmer in Istanbul, although not as much warmer as I would have liked!

I hope you all have had a good weekend. We really enjoyed our trip to Istanbul, although I ended up with food poisoning and spent all day Saturday in our hotel room while Phil and Julia went out for a boat ride on the Bosphorus River and toured the Blue Mosque and the Hippodrome. Oh well. At least I got to see several other really cool sights, and even got a beautiful new leather jacket at the Grand Bazaar!

This card was inspired by a beautiful card created by Terri and her instructions for Vitalized Vellum you can find here. It's really easy to do, and the results are quite pretty.

I used Brocade Blue and Night of Navy as the ink colors on the vellum, and stamped the ink away with the Snow Burst stamp set. After mounting it on whisper white, I then tied the silver cord around it. Then, I used The Snowflake Spot to stamp the greeting and embossed with white ep on the Night of Navy card, and then attached the vellum piece.

On the detail photo you can really see the snowflakes stamped in the background. I loved this technique...and many thanks to Terri for doing such a great tutorial!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)

Stamps: Snow Burst, The Snowflake Spot

Paper: Night of Navy, Whisper White, Vellum CS

Ink: Night of Navy, Brocade Blue

Accessories: silver cord, white detail ep, versamark

TFL!
-Jana

Silhouette's in Fall

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

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

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

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

Have a great day!

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

TFL!
-Jana

Baby Kiyo

German Phrase of the Day: Bald gibt es wieder Kastanien. = Soon we will have chestnuts again. Soon equals now in our case...at least in London! Julia loved going to the park near our friend's home because she was able to pick up a TON of chestnuts right off the ground. Now what she will do with them I have no idea. She just tells her dad "They're for crafting daddy!" Now...where has he heard that before???

Today's project was "commissioned" by a friend of mine to give as a gift for a new baby. She wanted a name frame...and chose pink and brown for her color scheme. She's going to be here in 10 minutes...and I hope she likes it!! I used the Simon on board lower chipboard pieces, and a flower my friend in London gave me. The k and y are covered with some retired SU! paper (I think that was Rebbecca?) and the O is covered first with Regal Rose craft ink, then stamped on with the paisley stamp with close to cocoa craft ink, and the i is just covered with regal rose craft. All the pieces are then embossed a few times with glassy glaze ep to give them a nice shiny look. The flower over the i was covered with some of that wonderful Blonde Moments ultra thick embossing powder I talked about over here. The color is called Festive Berry, but it's a nice metallic pink in real life. I quite like it!

I used a variety of ribbons to finish off the letters and make them extra girly. For the base, I stamped the paisley from Polka Dots and Paisleys set and a flower from Polka dots and petals set with versamark ink. Then, I added a strip of close to cocoa cs, and some leftover ribbon from the winter mini ribbon originals set. The frame is about 7" by 9.5" and I bought it at a local store here for two and a half euros (about $3.50.) Tomorrow, I'll show you all the matching card!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Polka Dots and Paisleys, Polka dots and petals, paisley background, retired SU! paper
CS: Pretty in Pink, close to cocoa
Ink: regal rose, close to cocoa, versamark
Acc: Glassy Glaze ep, blonde moments ep, simon on board lower, pink gingham ribbon, taupe grosgrain

TFL!
-Jana

Grateful

German Phrase of the Day: Endlich Wochenende! = Finally, the weekend! And, we're off to London! I can't wait, we're going to see one of my good friends who I haven't seen in about 1 1/2 years already! She moved to London while we still lived in California...and was so excited when I told her we were moving to Europe too...but it's taken me a year to get over there to see her!!!

I'm hoping Karin doesn't check my blog this morning, because this is a card I made for her and her husband. It is loosely based on this week's sketch challenge, using my new With Gratitude stamp set.

I stamped the Old Olive card base with the linen background stamp in old olive ink. For the next layers, I wet a piece of naturals ivory cardstock, then stamped the different leaves with More Mustard, Old Olive and Elegant Eggplant inks (a color combo from the Color Wheel!) and then spritzed them lightly to make the color run more. Debbie Olson had done a card like this I just loved, so I was trying to imitate that somewhat. For the focal image, I embossed the large leaf with gold detail powder, then watercolored in some of the 3 colors I was using. I sponged the edges, roughed 'em up, and layered on more eggplant. I used gold metalic ribbon around the middle layer for some texture, and mounted the focal image on dimensionals. When stamping my greeting, I screwed up and used the wrong color marker. It didn't turn out too bad (artichoke instead of olive) but it bugs me. Oh well...no time to fix it as I had to get the dog to the tierpension (pet hotel) and come home to pack. Sorry Karin!!! Hopefully the other goodies I'm bringing will make up for this. :-)

Sorry...no time to do the full supply listing...will try to add later!

TFL!
-Jana

Technique Lover's Challenge

German Phrase of the Day: Die Unterhaltung war sehr interessant. = The conversation was very interesting. Unterhaltung is pronounced "oohn-tehr-HAHL-toong" - quite a mouthful, huh??

Last night I decided I had to make one of these fabulous 2,5,7,10 boxes like everyone else. They really are quite quick and easy, just like their sisters the 2-4-6-8 boxes...but I like the shape much better. I've never been one for squares.

For the box I decided to use some of my GORGEOUS new glitter paper that I purchased at Stempel Mekka. This piece came from a package of K&Company Christmas Glitter paper. Isn't it just gorgeous?!? It's super glittery in person, the photo just doesn't capture the beauty of this paper. I'm loving the glitter lately!

My box came together fairly quickly, and so I went up this morning to finish it off, and realized that my Merry & Bright set was perfect with this paper, so I stamped Merry on some SU! Shimmery White CS with Pomegranate ink, then sponged the edges. I wanted to mound it on a scallop, but of course don't have the right shape and size, so I made it longer but squatter by cutting 2 scalloped squares together. GinaK did a great tutorial on how to do this on her blog sometime last spring I think. I didn't do a great job...but it's hard to see the lines in the photo at least! ;-)

Lastly, I added the double stitched Purely Pomegranate ribbon at the top. I'm quite pleased with how this turned out...now to fill it and find a recipient!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Merry & Bright
CS: Shimmery White, Purely Pomegranate, Glitter Paper from K& Company
Ink: Purely Pomegranate
Acc: Purely Pomegranate double stitched ribbon, Marvy square scallop punch, 1/8" circle punch, scalloped scissors.

TFL!
-Jana

Blonde Moments...

German Phrase of the Day: Die Liebe geht durch den Magen. = The way to a person's heart is through the stomach (or more literally, Love goes through the stomach - which is a little more humorous!!) We all know this is the truth...I mean...our husbands have to love us because they'd starve without us! (except you lucky women with husbands who cook...I envy you!!)

I took a little time this morning to play with my new toys from Stempel Mekka. One of the products I was most excited about it a new Ultra Thick Embossing Powder from Blonde Moments. It is a 2-tones powder that gives stunning effects. For this card, I embossed my chipboard frame with 3 layers of the Festive Silver powder. Since I'm a slow embosser, I have to use a layer of Versamark in-between layers because I can't seem to get the powder on quickly enough when it's still hot! Oh well. Oh this close up photo, you can see the cool crackled effect that happens with this powder. Honestly, I didn't make it happen...it just does!! So between my friend and I, we bought 6 different colors we were so enamored!

For the rest of the card, I used some of last year's Halloween DSP from SU! on an 8.5 by 8" card base folded in half. I sponged the edges of my designer paper with black ink to help it blend in a little better. I colored the images from Batty For You with my markers so I wouldn't get the words, then mounted the images to the back of my frame (it's from the On Board Blossoms and Basics set of chipboard) After mounting this on to the card with sticky strip, I decided I wanted the ribbon, so I had to gently lift it up and slide the ribbon under...but it worked! Lastly, I stamped boo on the right side of the card using my Big Deal alphabet and some white craft ink. Probably would have been better to emboss with white to make it really stand out, but I didn't think of that until it was too late. Oh well.

This last photo was taken at Stempel Mekka during the demonstration of this product. She did a lot of samples stamping into the still hot powder to leave the impression behind...but I like leaving it plain better...shows the incredible 2-tone effect much better I think! But...she sure sold a lot of the stuff!!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Big Deal Alphabet, Batty for You
CS: Basic Black, old Halloween DSP from SU!
Ink: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive markers, versamark, white craft ink
Acc: On Board Blossoms and Basics chipboard, black gingham ribbon, UTEP in Festive Silver by Blonde Moments

TFL!
-Jana

CASE of Julie's oh so Pleasing Card

German Phrase of the Day: Interessierst du dich fur Kunst? Are you interested in art? I am very interested in art...in all different forms! I used to paint (not very well!) and have always tried to find a way to express myself creatively. I also enjoy art created by others, and so today's card is my attempt to emulate an incredibly beautiful creation by an amazing papercrafting artist, Julie Buhler!

Julie's card (seen on her blog, Paper Pleasing Ideas!) struck me as jaw-dropping gorgeous the first time I saw it. Earlier this week there was a card done in a similar style on SU!'s Stamper's Showcase, but I thought Julie's execution was much better. After having a discussion with my friend and downline about how to do this card as a make and take at a workshop last night, I really wanted to try and recreate the card myself. But alas, hubby got home, and time with him took precedence!

Then, I took Julia to kindergarten this morning, only to discover they had an ausflug today (field trip!) and I had forgotten. Since they carpools had already left, I had to drive her over and was lucky that one of the other mom's had room to bring her back at the end. Then, off to the airport with my husband's credit card to get our flights to Istanbul changed (remember, that's the trip we had to postpone because of my gallstones!) and I finally got back home around 10:30 and declared I NEEDED to make this card now!!!

I used one of my precious Fabriano cards for this one, deciding that if it wasn't going to have layers, it was going to be top-notch paper! Then, for my reverse mask, I decided I wanted rounded corners. So, I found a piece of CS on my desk, rounded the corners, traced it onto copy paper, and cut it out. Using my dotto, I adhered it to the card and sponged in some mellow moss. I think I was a little heavy-handed, and would go much lighter next time. Next, I stamped the trees with mellow moss and close to cocoa for the trunks - although I think the trunks are a little too dark still. Finally, I removed the mask and stamped the tree in the foreground with Always Artichoke and chocolate chip trunk. Instead of using the liquid applique like Julie did, I decided to just use some dazzling diamonds - make it look like a light frost. Finally, I stamped the Merry Christmas sentiment from Holidays and Hugs in Basic Brown ink, and added the artichoke grosgrain and gold organdy ribbons to finish it off.

It's not quite as good as the original which inspired it, but I'm satisfied. Might have to make a few more to use this year as Christmas cards!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Lovely as a Tree
CS: Fabriano Card
Ink: Basic Brown, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa
Acc: Artichoke grosgrain, gold organdy ribbon, glue pen, dazzling diamonds glitter

TFL!
-Jana

One more criss-cross pocket card...

German Phrase of the Day: Bald ist wieder Herbst. - Soon it will be autumn again. Soon?? I think we just skipped summer and went from spring to fall over here!!! Oh well. Only a few more weeks and I"ll be in Sunny CA. It will be sunny...right girls?????

So...I really loved this card layout, and had to make another. I was so excited to get my Cutie Pie paper, but still hadn't used it...and the same is true of my In the Spotlight stamp set. I have an idea of this set which I'm having trouble executing...so hopefully I'll have that done soon to share too. In the meantime though...I did create this!

Originally, I was going to put the rhinestone brad into the center of the larger "flower" but decided that the Hello would work better. Then, I had to try out my 5 petal flower punch, so I decided that might work better for the rhinestone brad. It's stuck over the top of a rounded corner punched tab...which was stamped with the solid image from Totally Tabs in Certainly Celery on whisper white. I was trying to continue the small white dot theme...but you really can't see them since they got covered up with the flower.

I'm very happy with this card...although I'm not sure it will fit into a regular sized envelope with that extra flower on top there. Hmmm...will have to figure out someone to give it to over here then maybe!

Tonight I'm hoping to play more with some more of my new stamps that haven't seen ink yet. I think I need to start working my way through...pick one set and use it a few times, then move on to the next. Wish me luck!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Totally Tabs, In the Spotlight
CS: Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Purely Pomegranate, Cutie Pie DSP
Ink: Certainly Celery, Purely Pomegranate, So Saffron
Acc: Double Stitched Purely Pomegranate ribbon, circle punches, rounded tab punch, corner rounder punch, rhinestone brads fire

TFL!
-Jana

Halloween Criss-Cross Card

German Phrase of the Day: Ich will mich nicht argern. = I don't want to get angry. Well...no one really wants to get angry, do they?? Sich argern is pronounced zihkh AYR-gehrn for those interested in the pronunciation. It's supposed to have an oomlot over the a to make it more of a long a sound.

I was a busy girl yesterday. I actually completed 4 projects yesterday! Woohoo!! Love it when I get time to stamp, especially now that I'm feeling so much better. This is the last project, which I completed around 10pm last night. I just loved Beate's wonderful tutorial for this card, and had to try it out. It's a really fun project to do.

I considered just completelly CASEing her card because it is so perfect...but then had the wonderful brainstorm of making a Halloween card instead since I had just been looking through all my new designer paper. I was so excited to use not only new designer paper, but my new Party Time stamp set. I just love this little cat...especially since we have a wonderful little black kitty ourselves!

The spider and inside greeting is from a retired set...I think it's called Creeping By?? Oh man, now I'm going to have to go look it up! Found it...it's called Web Wishes. How could I forget that?? Anyway, I used the adorable little spider from that set for the front, and colored her in with markers. I think she's the perfect little accent for that spot, and she covers up where the belly-band doesn't quite reach together! I'm going to have to make more of these cards...it's just too fun!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Web Wishes (retired), Party Punch
CS: Whisper White, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Creepy Crawly
Ink: Basic Black, Perfect Plum, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard
Acc: Black gingham ribbon, circle punches, rounded tab punch, corner rounder punch

TFL!
-Jana

I stamped today!

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great day!

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

TFL!
-Jana

Home again...

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

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

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

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

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

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

TFL!
-Jana

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

ENORMOUS Silk flowers

German Phrase of the Day: Ich wurde so gerne im Suden leben. I would like so much to live in the South. Not that I've been north yet (altho by the time you all read this I"ll be in Berlin, so I can tell you about it when I get back!) but I definitely like the southern areas of Germany.

This card uses those beautiful silk flowers my friend Karin sent to me. I colored the largest using a sponge and my Purely Pomegranate ink pad. I would have preferred dying it with ink refill, but I forgot to buy those. Ooops! The middle flower I left white, and the smallest I sponged with Groovy Guava. Then, I used a pink rhinestone brad from the SU Fire collection for the center. Isn't it gawgeous?!?!

To give you some size perspective, the white card base is 6 by 12. That flower is HUGE!!! And this card came together so quickly...even coloring the flowers took next to no time. Hope you enjoy!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Sincere Salutations
CS: Whisper White, Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate, Prints DSP in Celery
Ink: Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate, Groovy Guava
Acc: Ice circle rhinestone brads, May arts polka dot ribbon from a Jody share.

TFL!
-Jana

Quilt card

Normally, I try to only post one new card per day - especially when I'm going to be traveling and can't stamp for a while - but today I had to share this card I just finished! I followed a link from Allison's blog to this awesome tutorial for making a quilt card on Nancy's blog. I mean...with her instructions it was just so stinkin' easy! I used my Brocade Background paper to make the quilt, and of course the matching Baroque Motifs set for the center image.

Once I had the strips cut, and the adhesive on the under level it went pretty quick. After adhering all the strips, I decided to use my craft knife and a ruler to cut off the excess because I don't have the guillotine style cutter and I didn't think my trimmer would be a good idea. That worked perfectly. I wanted to add some ribbon or something, but decided that it really didn't add much. Perhaps some piercing around the vanilla layer on the Old Olive would look nice....but at this point I don't want to screw it up, KWIM ??

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Baroque Motifs
CS: Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Brocade Background DSP
Ink: Old Olive, Groovy Guava, River Rock, Chocolate Chip marker
Acc: 1 1/4" square punch, Ice rhinenstone brad

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

Bleached flowers

German phrase of the day: Heute scheint die Sonne = Today the sun is shining.

**Quick update - heading home tonight, Italy has been great (amazing food!!) but we're glad to be heading home, I'll try to post a good update about the trip tomorow after I've had a chance to process it all! :-)

I really liked this card, and it was super easy. I stamped on the black cs with bleach, then after it dried I brayered ink on from my celebration kaleidacolor pad. How simple is that???

For the center flower, I colored with markers on the rubber... only orange and pink passion. The base is only orange, and I used the tangerine grosgrain ribbon.

Hope you all are enjoying these oldies but goodies. I'll be back soon!

TFL!
-Jana

Inspiration Challenge

I loved the purse that Jeanne used for this week's Inspiration Challenge over at splitcoast - I sure hope she tells us all where she got it!!

I used the baby wipe technique (put reinker on your baby wipe, then "swipe" it down your glossy cardstock) to create the background. I used Always Artichoke, Cool Caribbean, Pumpkin Pie, Marigold Morning, and Rose Red reinkers. Then I stamped the large doodle from Doodle This in basic black. I stamped the flower on shimmer white cardstock, painted it with my aquapainter and the same colors as the background (still had the reinkers out!) then used my new Sakura fine tip glue pen and added some dazzling diamonds to the spots on the petals. I rounded the corners, sponged the edges with some cool Caribbean, then mounted on to Cool Caribbean and popped it on the card with some dimensionals.

Lastly, I added the light blue may arts polka dot organdy ribbon. I am SOOO in love with this ribbon. I LOVE polka dots, and I LOVE organdy, so to combine the 2 is like heaven for me! Thanks for yet another addiction Beate!!

Oh, and thanks for all the correct responses - guess I'm not the only A-team fan around!! :-) I'll be emailing numbers 1, 2, & 3 to get snail mail address.

Supplies:
Stamps: Doodle This
CS: Always Artichoke, Marigold Morning, Glossy White, Shimmery White, Cool Caribbean
Ink: Always Artichoke, Cool Caribbean, Pumpkin Pie, Marigold Morning, and Rose Red, basic black
Acc: Aquapainter, May Arts ribbon, corner rounder punch, sponge, baby wipe, dimensionals

TFL!
-Jana

Stained Glass Windows

I suppose considering the number of cathedrals we've visited with incredible stained glass windows that this technique is quite appropriate for me to be sharing with you all. :-)

Here is a card made using the sticker things for those awesome pens. I know I've seen these in the states...they come on sheets with very intricate designs - although I chose a pretty simple one. And I believe they are all laser cut.

The photo is not so great color wise, as the pink scalloped piece is Pink Passion, but you get the idea. I colored my stained glass piece and after it was dry, mounted it inside the pink passion scalloped square with a square cut out. Then, I put the black behind. Then I just took a piece of Lovely Lavendar cardstock and stamped some doodles from Doodle This (because it's new rubber!!) which white craft ink, and poppped the stained glass piece up on dimensionals. All in all, a very simple, quick card once you have the inner squares cut out. Maybe I do need a mega square punch!

TFL!
-Jana

PS Dinner last night was amazing!!! It was actually an 11th century castle, and I ordered a house special steak cooked on hot stone. The brought me a large hunk of raw beef, and a VERY hot stone on which they then cooked it for me at our table. Perfect for a carnivore like me!!! I'm LOVING Barcelona! I promise to update the family blog this next week when I get back and can sort through my 1000+ photos from the last 3 weeks!!!