Happy Father's Day!

German Phrase of the Day: Heute ist Vatertag. = Today is Father's Day. And my wonderful husband has taken our daughter to the Neander Valley (Neanderthal - thal is German for Valley...betchya didn't know that, did you?) to see the museum there. It's only about 40 minutes away from our home - I can't believe it's taken us over 20 months to go see it. I stayed home to get some cleaning done on the top floor, and to start sorting through what will make the cut to go back home with us, versus what will I give/throw away here. Not a fun process!!!

I have also been busy getting a few Father's Day items made. First, I made a large chocolate chip cookie cake. I LOVE the cookie cakes from American Cookie stores, and since I had made some cookie dough on Friday night and not finished baking the cookies yet, I thought it would be perfect. Looks pretty yummy, huh?

I also got a card made for my dear husband. I can't even begin to tell you how helpful he's been the last few months. He's been VERY concerned for my well-being, and trying to make sure I'm healthy, rested, and not over-doing things. He's also a wonderful father who loves playing with his little girl and taking her to new places and teaching her new things. I consider myself extremely lucky.

For his card, I used the Just so Hoppy and Hip-Hop Accessories sets by Melanie M. for GinaK. I stamped the two frogs with Palette Noir ink on Stamper's Select White CS, then colored them with prismacolor pencils and blended with OMS and blending stumps. Then, I stamped the greeting (the HOPPY part is from Just so Hoppy, the Father's Day is from Accessories) with Wild Wasabi ink. For all the layering I used Wild Wasabi CS, Stamper's Select White and the Wild Wasabi prints from the hostess set of prints paper. Oh yeah...and I added some cute screw head brads from Gina's store also. I think he'll like it.

I hope you all have a wonderful day today, and be sure to thank your dad...I know I will! He's the only man I know who's as good a dad as my own husband! :-)

Supplies: (all supplies from SU! unless noted)
Stamps: Just so Hoppy, Hip Hop Accessories from GinaK Designs
CS: stamper's select white, Wild Wasabi, Wild Wasabi prints dsp
Ink: palette noir, wild wasabi
Acc: screw brads, sponge, prismacolor pencils, OMS, blending stumps

TFL!

Sympathy card

German Phrase of the Day: Ihnen Frieden und Komfort wünschen. = Wishing you comfort and peace. I don't make sympathy cards. When one is needed, I use a Thinking of You card because I like that better...makes me feel less bad I guess. But, I LOVE this new Free with 3 set from GinaK!

For this card I started with the focal image. I inked the flowers up with my Certainly Celery, Regal Rose and Apricot Appeal markers, huffed, and stamped. These flowers are so pretty...and I know they would look great with different techniques such as poppin pastels, chalkboard, etc - which I hope to get to when I get back. But for this first use of them I wanted to start simply. After stamping the flowers, I stamped the greeting with Basic Gray ink over the stems, then mounted it onto Certainly Celery and Regal Rose cs.

The next layer is some Certainly Celery prints DSP with the same flower image stamped in certainly celery ink repeatedly to add to the background. I like the way it turned out. I clipped the corners then sponged the edges, then adhered this to some Pretty in Pink CS. I added the silver brads in the corners, then tied the pink gingham ribbons around it before adhering to the Regal Rose card base. Finally, I popped the central piece up with pop dots and added the flowers with bling center that I got from Gina last month. I like how it looks like it's another flower on that stem going over to the side.

Have a wonderful day! I'll be back home again soon.

Supplies: (all supplies from Stampin' Up! unless noted)
Stamps: Comfort & Peace from GinaK Designs
CS: stamper's select white, , certainly celery, pretty in pink, regal rose, certainly celery prints DSP
Ink: regal rose, certainly celery, apricot appeal, basic gray
Acc: pink gingham ribbon, flowers and bling from GinaK, silver brads
TFL!

Egg-citing News!

German Phrase of the Day: Ich verlasse auf einem Düsenflugzeug. = I'm leaving on a jet plane. We're off again...this time to Spain. We'll be there for a week, but I have a few posts here "in the can" for you so I'm not going totally silent for this trip. I'm so thoughtful, always thinking of you, my loyal blog visitors! And hey...if we have internet at any of the hotels we're staying at maybe I'll even post from the road with some photos! (DH can't seem to travel ANYWHERE without his laptop!!)

Today's card uses another of GinaK's newest releases, this one called Owl Always Love You. I've never been a big owl lover, but these little guys are just too cute! For this card I stamped my owl onto stamper's select white cardstock using Palette Noir ink...and then noticed I had stamped it quite crooked. Being the lazy stamper that I am, I colored it anyway and decided I could just attach it to the card a little tilted. I colored the image with my aquapainter and watercolor crayons. The designer paper (it looks really washed out in the photo but is a little brighter in real life) is some VERY old retired SU! DSP. I thought the pastel colors would be great for a baby card. The base is Bashful Blue and the matting is Certainly Celery.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Supplies: (all supplies from Stampin' Up! unless noted)
Stamps: Owl Always Love You from GinaK Designs
CS: stamper's select white, certainly celery, bashful blue, retired SU! DSP
Ink: Palette Noir
Acc: Aquapainter, watercolor crayons, Bazzill polka dot organdy ribbon

TFL!

Queen of the Grill

German Phrase of the Day: Ich bin die Königin! = I am the queen! In our household...I work the grill. My husband does not grill, much to my dismay, so if I want something cooked outside or in, I must do it myself! I was actually bummed when I saw Melanie beat me to the punch with this one...I thought I was being so clever in coming up with the idea, and then saw she came up with the same one! Oh well...guess great minds think alike, right?!? ;-)

I decided to make a tin for the Grill Queen. Perhaps she can keep her matches in it. I started with Melanie's What's In Your Tin Set 1 and kissed it with my Aida cloth background inked up with real red. Next, I stamped the grill with Palette Noir an dcolored it in with my Prismacolor pencils, blending stumps and OMS. I cut out both stamped pieces, then stamped "of the Grill!" from the King of the Grill set and then added "queen" above it from Hip Hop Accessories. To finish off the t in, I adhered some red gingham around the side of the lid. This actually came together very quickly, and I'm quite pleased with the result. Perhaps I'll save it for my Sister-in-Law when she gets here next week...she's also a Grill Queen - and VERY good at it! :-)

We're heading out in the morning at 0 dark thirty (which is REALLY early here since the sun has been rising by 5:30 lately!) Have a great Friday everyone!

Supplies: (all supplies from Stampin' Up! unless noted)
Stamps: King of the Grill , What's In Your Tin 1, & Hip Hop Accessories from GinaK Designs, aida cloth background
CS: stamper's select white
Ink: Palette Noir, real red
Acc: Prismacolor pencils, OMS, blending stumps, red gingham ribbon, "Altoid" tin

TFL!

New GinaK Stamps!!

German Phrase of the Day: Ja, gerne. = Yes, that would be nice. (Or more literally translated it means Yes, gladly!)

I was so excited to get home from all my travels and discover that my new GinaK stamps had arrived! YEAH!! Although I am very sad that this was my last release as part of the Guest Design Team, I have had so much fun during my 3 month stint! I strongly encourage everyone to apply for the next round...Gina is such a lovely person to work with, and so generous!! I know I'll be trying out again once I'm settled back in in the states! :-)

The first card I made was with the new King of the Grill set. My dad LOVES golf. He golfs whenever he can, which now that he's retired is fairly regularly. My daughter always asks her Nana on the phone "Where's Grampy, Golfing?" My dad has a green golf bag (at least, I'm pretty sure it's green) so I thought these colors would work well. I colored the bag with Always Artichoke and Mellow Moss markers, and used the 2 grays from the neutral marker set to color the clubs and metal clasps. I stamped the bag first onto stamper's select white with palette noir ink, then masked the bag to stamp the clubs inside it.

I started with an Always Artichoke base with a layer of Mellow Moss stamped with the flannel background in Always Artichoke and then sponged on top of that. The strip of stiped paper is from some VERY old retired SU! DSP, and I used Gina's new masculine bling screw brads to anchor the strip. Originally, I wanted to use the Happy Father's Day stamp on here...but it wouldn't fit and I wasn't feeling up to splitting it into two lines...so I decided to make it a birthday card instead. Guess I'll have to save it for quite a while - or maybe dad will need it for one of his golf buddies!

Ok...more GinaK tomorrow! Off to get my little bug bug very soon. :-)

Supplies: (all supplies from Stampin' Up! unless noted)
Stamps: King of the Grill from GinaK Designs, flannel background
CS: stamper's select white, always artichoke, mellow moss, retired SU! DSP
Ink: brilliance graphite black, always artichoke, mellow moss, going gray and basic gray markers
Acc: GinaK Bling & Dazzle Screw Brads

TFL!

Kindred Spirits now available!

Run, don't walk, to GinaK Designs to order YOUR Kindred Spirit! These incredible new stamps are so very cool...there are 4 super moms to choose from, and the 4 other stamps you saw yesterday on your Journey. Wasn't that fun to see all the different designs everyone came up with for these 8 stamps? I really enjoyed seeing everyone's creations - and you should go back to visit everyone today as well since there will be MORE lovely samples for you to see! Oh...and don't forget the awesome sentiment set that goes with them!!

Today, Maria is on a background from Webster's Pages. I like how the stripes are going the same direction that she is...adds an extra level of movement! I made the photo corners using my 3/4" and my 1 3/8" square punches, since I still haven't bothered to replace my photo corner punch, and at this point I probably won't until after we've moved back to the US this summer. I colored Maria in with my aquapainter and watercolor crayons using Really Rust for her leotard and boots, mellow moss for her cape, and close to cocoa for her skin. She could even be me when I have a really good tan! ;-)

Supplies: (all supplies from Paper Pretties unless noted)
Stamps: Super Mom Maria Kindred Spirit from GinaK Designs
CS: stamper's select white, really rust, Webster's Pages patterned paper
Ink: brilliance graphite black
Acc: SU! watercolor crayons, aquapainter, square punches, artichoke grosgrain ribbon

TFL!

Kindred Spirits - the Journey

I'm back...just in time! GinaK is releasing an AMAZING new line of stamps at 12:01am on April 10th!! Here is a sneak peak at these amazing new stamps...I hope you like them as much as I do!

My name is Maria and I live in New Mexico. I am actually from Mexico and moved here with my family when I was just a little girl. I don't have any children yet but my husband and I want to have them someday. But I am an Aunt to my sister's adorable little boy. He and I do so many things together. I am his Godmother too. I take him to church with me every Sunday. He's such a cutie pie!

Last week, he came to spend the weekend at our house so my sister and her husband could go away for a couple of days. While he was here, I taught him how to cook a few things. He loved it! I think he could be a chef someday.

One of the things we made together was Steak Fajitas. He loved hearing them sizzle in the pan.

Next time he comes, we will bake cookies together. I love how close we have become. Besides, it's an Aunt's job to spoil her little nieces and nephews!

Steak Fajitas

1 lb of flank steak or skirt steak
1 large yellow onion, peeled and sliced with the grain, not against the grain as one would normally slice an onion. Slice first in half, and then slice off sections a half inch wide at widest point.
2 large bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, de-ribbed, sliced lengthwise into half-inch wide strips

Marinade:
Juice of 1 lime
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 fresh Jalapeño pepper, seeded, ribs removed, finely chopped (be careful not to touch your eyes or anywhere near your eyes after handling a Jalapeño pepper!)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, including stems

1 Mix all marinade ingredients. Set the steak in the marinade and let it sit at least an hour, the longer the better.

2 Heat to high heat a large cast iron pan or griddle. Add a teaspoon of olive oil to the pan. Add the steak, frying on each side for 3 minutes, or to desired doneness. 3 minutes per side will yield approximately medium rare doneness for an average cut of flank steak. If pan starts to smoke too much, reduce the heat to medium high. We want the steak browned, not burned. Remove from pan and let sit for 5 minutes.

3 Reduce the pan heat to medium high. Add a little more oil to the pan if necessary. Add the onions, bell peppers. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, until the onions are slightly translucent.

4 Slice the meat against the grain into thin slices. If you slice the meat at a slanted angle, you will be able to get your slices pretty thin. Flank steak is flavorful but can be a little tough, so thin slices will really help make it easier to eat.

5 Serve immediately with shredded cheese, salsa, shredded iceberg lettuce, sour cream, guacamole and warm flour tortillas. (Hint for warming tortillas - put in microwave over a paper towel for 20 seconds on high heat.)

PS I stamped the greeting on the inside this time...I know...not my normal MO - but it worked!

To continue the journey, click here

A sketch, some colors, and some new Rubbah!

German Phrase of the Day: Er isst oft Marmorkuchen. = He often eats marble cake. Marble cake is very popular over here, and it is VERY yummy!! :-) I have yet to find a German Chocolate Cake though with the coconut/pecan frosting like I grew up with...perhaps I'll have to keep looking!

Today's card using Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #39 along with a color inspiration challenge that Kristina Werner has started over on her blog. I thought this sketch would work perfectly with my new Thinking of You set designed by Rupa Shevde.

I started with a square of whisper white and stamped the table and one chair using Basic Brown ink. I followed Gina's tutorial and cut both chairs off from the table so that I can stamp them going either direction. Next, I colored them with my prismacolor pencils and blended away with my OMS and blending stumps. I layered this onto Purely Pomegranate and declared that layer done. Next, I stamped the phone in Pretty in Pink onto some white scraps, then stamped the Call Me! in basic brown on top. I punched this with my 1 1/4" punch, and layered it on a 1 3/8" circle of Pumpkin Pie. Finally, I layered that onto a scallop circle of Chocolate Chip.

For the card base I used a 5.5" by 8.5" piece of chocolate chip cardstock folded in half. I layeredsome Pretty in Pink cardstock on top, after tying the Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon around the edge. Then, I attached the central image and popped up my greeting, and I was done. Notice how I sponged all the layers with just a hint of chocolate chip? It's a card for Beate's sketch, so it's GOTTA have some sponging!! :-)

Hope you all are enjoying your weekends! And did you check out the great new stamps from PaperTrey Ink yet?? WOW!! Can't wait to get my hands on some of that acrylic. :-)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Thinking of You from GinaK Designs
InkChocolate Chip, Basic Brown, Pretty in Pink
CS: Stamper's Select White, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate
Acc: Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon, sponge, prismacolor pencils, OMS, blending stumps

TFL!

Hat pin or no?

German Phrase of the Day: Backst du gerne? = Do you like baking? (or literally translated it means Do you bake gladly?) I do bake gladly...but I try not to very often because I like to eat what I make - and that's never a good thing!!

Yesterday when I went upstairs to play, I planned on making a little mini card first to get warmed up...but then I got so caught up in making my tin I had to make that first. So...the mini card came second. I knew I wanted to use Carolyn King's new set Framed Flowers. I reached into my scrap drawer and magically pulled out a piece of 3 by 6 Blue Bayou cardstock, so that's how I picked my colors. First I stamped the frame, then I masked inside the frame and stamped all around with these wonderful flowers in Blue Bayou ink. Then, I cut a piece of white cardstock to fit inside the frame and inked the stamp with Soft Sky ink, then colored in the stems with my chocolate chip marker. After layering that on some chocolate chip cs I adhered it to my mini card and finished it off with a bit of gold cord. Isn't it cute?? Maybe I'll go back and add some sparkle with my clear spica glitter pen...just to the flower centers.

Next, I wanted to make a card with the Thinking of You set, designed by Gina's newest artist Rupa Shevde. I LOVE this set!! I really like the nice clean lines, and the elements included are all gorgeous! A true knock-out set! Since so many others on the design team were stamping these images on Fabriano cards, I had to try that too. I don't use my Fabriano cards as much as I should, I tend to save them for "special" occasions! Need to start using them! Wonder if I can pick any up in Venice cheaply next week...hhmmmmm!

Anyway...I stamped the hat boxes with Palette Noir ink and colored them in with my aquapainter and watercolor crayons. I really love all the little details on these boxes...although it does make coloring a bit of a challenge! I finished it up by stamping 'Miss You...' from the same set and adding some rust colored satin ribbon from May Arts. I tied it in a bow (as you see here) and snapped my pictures.

Then, last night I got to thinking...wouldn't this look cute with a hat pin from my SU! Pretties kit? So this morning when I finished my errands (had to go to the trink markt to get more wasser!) I put together a hat pin and change the bow to a simple knot. Which do you like better? I think I like the one with the hat pin best...but I'm not sure. I'm curious to hear all YOUR thoughts.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Framed Flowers and Thinking of You from GinaK Designs
Ink: Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip, Palette Noir
CS: Stamper's Select White, Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip, Fabriano notecard
Acc: aquapainter, WWC, May Arts satin ribbon, gold cord, SU! pretties kit

TFL!

Open Me!

German Phrase of the Day: Gehst du mit mir ins Theater? = Will you come to the theater with me? My husband actually asked me the other day if I would be interested in seeing We Will Rock You. I was shocked! He RARELY plans outings...and for him to think of a date is quite the rare thing. It's been playing in Cologne just down the river ever since we moved here, but apparently it is ending in June so he thought we could go see it. WOW! :-) Now to figure out when.

This may not rock you...but I've been playing with my new GinaK stamps this morning. I had a tin that I made a belly band for and gave to my husband as part of his 10 Valentine's while I was gone, but since it was empty I recently "rescued" it from his basement office to re-use it. (What's HE going to do with it now??) I had been thinking, why limit myself to Altoid Tins with Melanie's new stamp set. I mean...Joanne made an adorable notebook, Melanie herself just put it on a bottle, so why not use the new What's In your Tin? set on this larger tin?

I stamped the outline and the Survival Kit sentiment from What's In Your Tin? Set 2 with white stazon onto the plastic window first. Then, I covered the bottom part of the tin with some retired SU! designer paper (linen prints I believe it's called) and covered the rim of the lid with the new Old Olive twill ribbon (I love this stuff!) and then I colored 2 flowers from my little round tin - the bottom with the Cameo Coral marker, the top with the So Saffron marker and put a rhinestone brad through the center. This was then attached with a mini glue dot.

Then, I took some mailing labels and stamped them with my linen background stamped off once using So Saffron ink. Next, I inked up one of the small flowers from Carolyn's new Framed Flowers set with my Cameo Coral and Old Olive markers and stamped the flower in the center of each label. Lastly, I attached the labels to the Hershey Nuggets and Voila! I have a great gift for a friend all ready to go.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Spring Blooms, What's In Your Tin 2 by GinaK Designs
Ink: Old Olive, cameo coral, so saffron, white stazon
CS: Linen Prints DSP
Acc: paper flowers and brads from GinaK, old olive twill ribbon

TFL!

Double Challenge with New GinaK Stamps!!! :-)

Hooray! Deutsche Post must have heard about all my whining and finally came through! The funny thing was I got a flat envelope from the regular mail deliver with the new Free with Three set, Spring Bloom and one of Melanie's sets which somehow got shipped separately just before lunch. So, while lunch was cooking I sat at the table and quickly cut them out. Then, while we were all eating lunch, the DHL man knocked on our window (our doorbell ist kaput!) and he had a BOX from Gina (which was mailed 2 days before the flat envelope mind you!). I was over the moon with excitement, but had NO time to mount all those sets too (the other 3!) First, I had to book our flight and hotel for Rome (that's in early April) Then, I stole 30 minutes to run upstairs and crank out a quick card. The flowers I got in the cool round tin along with these awesome brads matched this week's color challenge perfectly (I think Emily must have planned that! ;-) And, you get them FREE with any purchase of $100 or more! Cool, huh?) So, with colors and sketch in hand, I got to work!

I still have a few more pre cut ovals from my mom's nestabilities, so I pulled one out to stamp the tulip on. Then I quickly colored it with my aquapainter and ink pads (purely Pomegranate and Old Olive) and mounted the white oval onto the pomegranate scalloped oval. Next, I ran some white cs through with my swiss dot cuttlebug folder (LOVE that one!) and cut it up to then mount on more Purely Pomegranate. I mounted these onto a 4 1/8 by 5 3/8 piece of Basic Gray cardstock which was stamped with my greeting. For the greeting, they are all separate words, but because they are unmounted, I was able to line them up on my block and stamp them all at once. Makes it SOOO much easier!! Can you imagine lining all those up if they were wood mounted? You'd have to use the SAMJ, and I'm just to lazy to use it THAT much! I also attached the flower with the brad, and then adhered this layer to the black card base. It ended up taking about 45 minutes, but 20+ minutes of that was playing with different layers and things, and helping Julia with her various projects. Then we had to run out the door to a play date.

So...it's been a busy day. Good news is I got the rest of my sets cut out while at the play date, so tomorrow morning I"ll be ready to go! (Thought I'd stamp tonight, but we've been busy planning the rest of our spring and summer travel. I truly will be prepared for a career as a travel agent by the time we move back to the US - anyone know of any openings?? :-) )

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Spring Blooms by GinaK Designs, Lovely as a Tree
Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Palette Noir, Old Olive
CS: Stamper's Select White, Basic Gray, Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate
Acc: aquapainter, swiss dot cuttlebug folder, paper flowers and brads from GinaK

TFL!

Another Party?!?

German Phrase of the Day: Kannst du mir verzeihen? = Can you forgive me? I might be saying this to my sister-in-law when I give her this card! (Nancy...don't let her see it here please!!!) But, when I spend over 2 hours on a single card, it darn well is going to someone I know that will appreciate all the time, effort and love that went into it! Besides...she has a "milestone" birthday this year...so I have a feeling I will be saving up a few cards for it (it isn't until August!!)

You all know me...I make fairly quick, simple cards. I like to focus on my coloring, have a few quick and easy embellies, and get it done. So, when I say I spent 2 hours making a card, and that's one where the layout and colors were determined by challenges, you know it must be a labor of love. The GinaK Designs release party last night was lots of fun...and there were 4 awesome challenges issued by my fellow DT Members. Well, of course once I was up and recovered from my middle of the night partying I had to get to work.

I decided why not combine the 3 card challenges into one? The sketch was a great one, with plenty of room to incorporate a scene, and having the colors pre-set made the design part a breeze. Of course, I don't have the new sets yet (HELLO Deutsche Post, I'm waiting!!!) so I needed to use some previously released sets, and this fun You Know You're Old When set has been calling out to me lately. Well...scenes aren't easy as I've discovered. I stamped my Little Old Lady Driving first, then masked her (with Eclipse masking tape, the best product EVER!) then stamped the flowers from one of the Baskets of Happiness stamps - while carfully NOT samping the basket, or eggs! Then, I had to create a mask for them too so I could stamp the trees from my SU! Lovely as a Tree set. Phew!!

Once everything was stamped, I colored it in with my Prismacolors. Then, after having applied what I thought was enough color, I started blending. I have learned a few things about coloring with Prismacolor pencils. It is different from watercoloring. You can't "spread" the color as well as when watercoloring, and so when doing a large area...it can get tricky (thus the splotchy parking lot!) If I were ever crazy enough to make this card again I would watercolor the parking lot with watercolor crayons. However, it is quite easy to add more color with the pencils if you didn't get enough down on your first pass.

After coloring and blending everything, I was ready to put the card together. That was the easiest part!! I added some ribbon to cover the seem (I really don't like unsightly paper seams that much!) and then put some brads from the new stylized silver HPH on the greeting, and I was good to go. Oh...and of course I stamped the sentiment on the inside reading "getting lucky means you found your car in the parking lot."

You still have time to win some of the brand new GinaK stamps (or even an old set if you prefer) by entering the contests on SCS. Go to the member forum to see all 4 challenges, then upload your creations with the correct keyword by Thursday night at 7pm central, and you could win a stamp set valued at 18.95 or less. That gives you a lot of options!!! Can't wait to see what you all create!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: You Know You're Old When and Baskets of Happiness by GinaK Designs, Lovely as a Tree
Ink: Palette Noir
CS: Stamper's Select White, Taken with Teal, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Sky
Acc: Double-stitched soft sky ribbon, stylized silver HPH, prismacolor pencils, OMS, blending stumps, eclipse masking tape

TFL!

Little Ducky Duddle

German Phrase of the Day: Das ist ja interessant. = That sounds interesting. Literally translated it says That is yes interesting. I always love looking at literal translations and realizing that when I do that into German I sound just as crazy as when non-English speakers do it into English. Oh well...thank goodness most people here are very understanding!

Here are the 2 cards I made with my Just So Hoppy set the other day. My mother has this little ditty she sings about Little Ducky Duddle walking in a puddle and getting all wet, but it doesn't matter "because I'm just a ducky after all." I've heard it a million times since becoming a mom...but that's ok...it's just so nice to have a mom who I can count on to play with and love my child!

I really love this little chick, and decided I could turn her into Ducky Duddle easily enough. I stamped her on stamper's select white with my Palette Noir pad, then colored her with my prisma pencils. I'm really getting addicted to those. The color just glides right onto the paper, and it blends so well with the stumps and OMS. LOVE it!! I just can't believe I waited this long to get them!! It's definitely different than watercoloring, but most of the same concepts apply as far as shading and highlighting go which helps.

I stamped her puddle with Cool Caribbean ink, then quickly went in with a blender pen to smudge up the lines a little. I cut her umbrella out and mounted it with a dimensional...after drawing the handle in. Lastly, I added the rain dots I had purchased from GinaK's store a while back. Those things are WAY cool...if you haven't used them yet I highly recommend them!!

The layout for this card is super simple...just a folded piece of Cool Caribbean with some old DSP and the Olive twill ribbon from the new Occasions mini. Then, I stamped the greeting with Tempting Turquoise ink at the bottom. Fast easy card...just the way I like them!

This second card was also pretty quick... although figuring out how to make the bunny appear to be holding the basket after I'd already stamped him was a little tricky. Finally, I cut out the basket then using my craft blade I cut a slit around his paw and slide the handle into it. Worked out ok!

For her...I really wanted to put something for her to be looking at with that cute little grin. The butterfly was perfect! I really love this little butterfly...it's just so cute! I added a little shadowing to her with some gray watercolor crayon, but mostly I colored AROUND her to make her stand out more. Light green around her feet for grass and some tempting turquoise around the rest for the sky. That little bit of color makes the white of the bunny pop off the page a little more.

For the tulips, I used the same trick as earlier - I stamped them with Regal Rose ink then went over them quickly with a blender pen to bleed the color in a little. And I used the hop line for the stems...works great!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! My cold resurfaced yesterday and had me down for much of today....but I'm hopeful that I'll be better again tomorrow so we can go do something fun around here!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Just so Hoppy by GinaK,
CS: Stamper's Select White, Almost Amethyst, Regal Rose, Almost Amethyst prints DSP, Cool Caribbean, Old Olive, retired SU! dsp
Ink: Palette Noir, Regal Rose, Old Olive, Cool Caribbean, Almost Amethyst, Tempting Turquoise
Acc: Olive twill, May Arts ribbon, Rain Dots prismacolor pencils, OMS, blending stumps, blender pen, aquapainter, WWC, craft knife

TFL!
-Jana

SC165 cards

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TFL!
-Jana

Hoppy Day

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

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

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

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

Hope you all have a Hoppy Day! lol.

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

TFL!
-Jana

Hip to be Square

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

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

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

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

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

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

TFL!
-Jana

Baskets of Happiness from GinaK!

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

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

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

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

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

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

TFL!
-Jana

GinaK release...a little late!

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

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

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

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

TFL!
-Jana

Panty Card

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

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

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

TFL!
-Jana