SC147 HuggyBellas

German Phrase of the Day: Er ist schon wieder erkaeltet. = He has a cold again. Thankfully, although our family all has the sniffles a little, none of us have developed a full-fledged cold this week, unlike my family in Maine who ALL seem to have this nasty bug that's going around.

So, yesterday afternoon my daughter chose to go back to kindergarten to play more because "I don't want to help you clean up, mommy!" Well...I decided I didn't want to either, so I went up stairs and stamped! I wanted to do something for the sketch challenge, and I wanted to use more of my new bellas. I really want to use Giddyupabella, but I knew she was too square to fit this sketch, so I chose Huggybellas instead. Aren't they cute???

I wanted a nice bright card, so of course I pulled out my cutie pie paper. I mean, what colors are more cheerful and bright than these?? I paired it with a Purely Pomegranate card base, and layered my dsp on some certainly celery. The Bellas are stamped on watercolor paper (got to remember to order more of that!!) and colored in with watercolor crayons and aquapainter this time. The H2O crayons are more forgiving...but they are also lighter in color overall...so for the celery, I have to use reinker to get good color. It seems to be the only one I can't get decent color out of consistently from the crayon - anyone else have that problem?

I stamped Sistahs (also from StampingBella) with Purely pomegranate ink onto the watercolor paper, and then after assembling the card, added the other saying with basic black to the card base. I of course had to add my double stitched purely pomegranate ribbon and some of my new BellaBaubles to the corners of the card. Aren't they adorable?? I got some pink and clear ones to play with...and finally had a card I thought they would work with. You can seem them better on the detail photo. And isn't it funny how anytime there is a bella with frizzy hair I tend to make that hair dark??? If only my hair looked that good when it gets all frizzy!! (if only I could wear that cute little dress!)

Have a wonderful day Sistahs, and thanks for stopping by! To quote Em, THE Bella herself, "Mwah!"

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Huggybellas, Sistahs from Stamping Bella Saying from retired SU! set
CS: Watercolor paper, purely pomegranate, certainly celery, Bashful Blue, Cutie PieSU! DSP
Ink: Black stazon, purely pomegranate, certainly celery, Bashful Blue, H2O crayons
Acc: Sponge, aquapainter, double stitched purely pomegranate ribbon, BellaBaubles

TFL!
-Jana

Feeling homesick...

I normally don't pay attention to banner ads or other things because I've been web surfing so long I've developed banner blindness...but today I just saw the word "Acadia" on my Windows Live Messenger window and had to click. I got this BEAUTIFUL video set to some lovely music that has me really missing my home state, and this incredibly beautiful national park. For some soothing beauty, click the link below (and be patient through the ad...sorry!)


Fall Beauty: Seasonal change in Maine

Hope you all are having a wonderful morning! (and I have a card coming next!)

TFL!
-Jana

CC137

German Phrase of the Day: Frisches Obst ist gesund. = Fresh fruit is healthy. Boy ain't that the truth...and you think I can find much over here in winter??? Nope! Oh well...that is one thing we for sure miss about California is all the yummy fresh fruit and veggies we used to get. MMmmm.

Today I made 2 cards for the color challenge over at SCS. One following Sharon's challenge to use the contents from the regional M&T, the other just using whatever CS I had in the right colors. This first card was VERY challenging for me. I had no idea what the card they did for the regional looked like, and just wanted to use what I had. I did cheat a little and added a tiny bit more of whisper white cardstock to stamp the flowers. I inked the stamp with soft sky first, then touched the purely pomegranate to the blossoms. I did the greeting stamp the same way, just using the edge of the ink pad to ink up the pomegranate colors. In the close up photo, you can see the detail of the flowers better. If I had had a blender pen with me I might have tried using that instead...but I was stamping at a friends house and had brought limited supplies.

The second color challenge card I was initially going to use Julee's Monday Mojo sketch...but I got off track somehow. I'm not totally happy with the card...but it was what I came up with. I'll have to try another card with Julee's sketch later!

I sponged all the layers, and then stamped the swirl from Season of Joy on the Soft Sky layer in soft sky. I liked the way it looked going out from the center, and thought that would work well with something covering the center. I stamped the poinsettia on whisper white with pomegranate ink and then cut it out. I decided to mount it on a scalloped pomegranate circle, but that seemed to much, so I then punched a 1 3/8" circle from the Basic Gray cardstock to put underneath, and that seemed to tone it down enough for me. I used a dimensional between the flower and the circle, and again when mounting the scalloped circle onto the card.

To finish off the card, I added the satin ribbon, and put some burgundy stickles in the center of the flower which you can see better on the detail photo. I'm still not thrilled with this card, seems to need something...just not sure what! Any suggestions???

Oh...I made a few other cards today too...but you'll have to wait to see those. I'm getting quite a stockpile here!! :-)

Enjoy!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: True Friend, Season of Joy
CS: Basic Gray, Purely Pomegranate, Soft Sky, Whisper White, Holiday Harmony DSP
Ink: Basic Gray, Purely Pomegranate, Soft Sky
Acc: sponge, scalloped circle punch, circle punch, stickles, ribbon originals, satin ribbon

TFL!
-Jana

OHMYGOSH!

Wow! Am I ever flattered!! I was browsing through my Google reader and came to Stephanie's blog "Scrapped Silly!" and noticed my name in the title of today's post...I'm her Tuesday Spotlight! Can you believe it?? I was just floored. Thanks so much Stephanie! I'm very excited!!!

If you haven't checked her blog yet, you should. She always has some great projects, and amazing photos!!

Have a great Tuesday everyone...I'm heading to bed! :-)

TFL!
-Jana

Card for Camden

German Phrase of the Day: Komm doch mit. - Come along! As in, "come along Julia, we need to keep going." What mom doesn't same Come on at least 10 times in a day??

I whipped up today's card just yesterday (although I still have tons that I made over the weekend to show you...I've been a stampin' fool lately!) because it dawned on me that my new nephew is over a month old and I still had not made a card for him yet! What a terrible auntie I've been!!

My nephew Camden was born September 18th, 7.5 weeks early because of an obstruction in his bowel which had been observed via ultrasound. Today, 5 weeks and one surgery later, he is still in the hospital - where he will stay for the foreseeable future. Camden, my brother, his wife and their adorable little girl all have a long road ahead of them before Camden is home, and even longer before Camden is "well." My heart truly bleeds for them because I know firsthand how hard it is to have a baby in the hospital long-term, and yet for me it was so much easier. We always had the hope that Julia would come home with no long-term medical issues. Even with all the battles she fought during her first months of life...there was nothing save the damage to her lungs which would for sure cause long-term problems...and even that damage was not too bad. However, Camden's life will be different, because he will always have some residual issues due to his "short gut." However, he is the most adorable little baby, and I just know he will overcome these issues and live a most wondrous life!

Ok...on to the card itself. I made this for the FS37 challenge to CASE a card of TruCarMa. I chose this card, because I loved the size, and the overall layout. I changed the colors, and the images, but left the layout the same. I of course sponged all the layers - Hi Beate! and even sponged the little word window I punched out with the greeting. And I used watercolor paper again. It is SOOOO much easier to watercolor on the right medium!! Way better than my poor Santa. I first colored him with Creamy Caramel, then went back over him with Chocolate Chip to darken him up a little while leaving some highlighting.

Hope you like today's card...have a great day!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Bundled in Joy, retired SU! greeting set
CS: Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip, Spring Flowers? DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Jet Black Stazon
Acc: sponge, bashful blue grosgrain ribbon, coluzzle, marvy scalloped over punch, word window punch

TFL!
-Jana

I leave you with a photo of my oh so sweet niece with her adorable baby brother.

Name frame for Sher

German Phrase of the Day: Ich mag Montags nicht. = I don't like Mondays. This is for sure my daughter's feeling, as she loves her weekend days with lots of Daddy play time. On Mondays she had to go back to school, and more importantly, daddy has to work again and can't focus solely on her. Have I mentioned she's a daddy's girl before? ;-)

Today's project is a name (without the frame) that I did as part of my Diva Sister swap last month for my buddy Sher. She is the sister swap coordinator, and comes up with the awesome ideas for our swaps. Last month we had the grey black and white card, this framable name, and a card using chipboard. This was my favorite of the projects, and I was so glad to hear that Sher and her family liked it as well. I really love this stamp set, it's so much fun to build different families with it!

I did lots of sponging on this to try and add some depth to the white cardstock. I sponged all over with creamy caramel, then I sponged certainly celery around the edges, and then tempting turquoise on the very edge (only in about 1/8 of an inch or so) to make the colors blend into the matting. I actually got the color combo from the SU! color wheel, and used the same colors to color the people in as the cardstock I used for the layers. It includes Taken With Teal, Certainly Celery, Tempting turquoise, and for ink only some Apricot Appeal. I'm so glad they liked it! I'll be showing you what I made for this month's swap as this week continues. I finished them all yesterday and am popping them in the mail today! Phew!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Newsprint alphabet, All in the Family,
CS: Whisper White, Taken With Teal, Certainly Celery, Tempting turquoise
Ink: Basic Black, Taken With Teal, Certainly Celery, Tempting turquoise, apricot appeal, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, CHocolate Chip, basic black H2O crayon.
Acc: sponge, celery grosgrain ribbon

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

Globetrotting Sketch Challenge

German Phrase of the Day: Baby, ist es kalt draussen! = Baby it's cold outside! I REALLY want that set - and think I may just have to sign up for the Paper Pretties kits to get it early! This morning was REALLY cold here, in fact, even at noon it's still quite chilly. I guess winter is truly coming. It's still pitch dark at 7am!! Can you believe it? It's only October?!?!

I decided I needed to do the sketch challenge from SCS last night because it was super simple, and I really wanted to play with my new Bellas! I pulled out Globetrotabella and stamped her with Black Stazon onto my SU! watercolor paper. I have to say, watercolor paper truly is the best medium to watercolor on! Give me that and my aquapainters and I'm a happy girl!

So...since she's trotting the globe, I thought my retired DSP from last year's SU! catalog was perfect to go with her. I used last year's In Colors as well...since I still have some True Thyme and Cranberry Crisp sitting around that needs to get used. I sponged all my edges with appropriate colors...for Ms. Bella herself I sponged on creamy caramel first, then I sponged chocolate chip more just on the edges to darken them up some. I colored the globe with Brocade Blue and True Thyme, and used those colors along with Cranberry Crisp, Chocolate Chip and Creamy Caramel on the rest of her. Here's a close up photo of just the main image.

I stamped the card base with the Linen background to add some texture, and then added the sentiment from a retired SU! set (Travel Time maybe it was called?) by just inking first the top line for the top, and the bottom word for the bottom. I left of "is an" deciding it was not needed. Lastly, I added the hodgepodge spiral wanting to continue the circular theme from the globe, and tied on some polka dot ribbon a friend sent me a while back from Michael's. I think it works perfectly with this card.

Our next adventure is less than 2 weeks away...we're finally going to get down to Istanbul - the trip which had to be postponed when I had my gallbladder out.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Wish you were Here, Linen Background, Globetrotabella from Stamping Bella
CS: Watercolor paper, Chocolate Chip, Cranberry Crisp, True Thyme, SU! DSP
Ink: Black stazon, Chocolate Chip, Cranberry Crisp, True Thyme, brocade blue, creamy caramel
Acc: Sponge, hodgepodge hardware, Mike's ribbon

TFL!
-Jana

Tea on the go

German Phrase of the Day: Ich habe kein Benzin mehr. = I'm out of gas. (Or translated literally, I have no more gas.) My car actually told me I only had 10 more kilometers to go before the tank was dry yesterday...that's possibly the lowest it has got since we bought the car a year ago because my husband is usually so particular about not letting a gas tank get too low. Oh well...I coasted in and filled her up!

Today I'm showing you my Starbucks Design-Your-Own-Mug that my wonderful upline Rachel made for me a year and a half ago when Looks Like Spring was in the Spring mini! Isn't it cute?? Well, I FINALLY updated my insert. I started in California, but never got a chance to finish it until this morning.

For my new insert I used the Holiday Harmony DSP from the Holiday mini to add some beautiful Pomegranate strips of color to the top and bottom. Then, I stamped my name in Night of Navy ink using the Big Deal alphabet. Lastly, I stamped 2 sizes of snowflakes from the Snowflake Spot (got it "mounted" last night, and the glue was dry this morning!) by first inking with Versamark, then Bashful Blue, and I embossed them all with iridescent ice ep. I just love the extra glimmer that gives you!!

These mugs are SOOOOO easy to do, and they are a wonderful conversation starter when you're out and about drinking your coffee, tea, water, etc. I've had many people comment on my beautiful mug - which is a perfect opportunity to talk about Stampin' Up! and crafting in general. I've given out a few business cards thanks to this mug!! And now, I'm all decked out for the Holidays! :-)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Big Deal Alphabet, Snowflake Spot
CS: Whisper White, Holiday Harmony DSP
Ink: Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Versamark
Acc: Iridescent Ice ep

TFL!
-Jana

Poultry in Motion

German Phrase of the Day: Ich geniesse das Leben. = I am enjoying life. I like this phrase, because this is how I try to live...enjoying each day for itself, and being sure to get the most out of what you are given.

Today I was truly enjoying life, because I went upstairs to stamp!! I got so much new stuff while in California it's going to take me a month just to get it all processed and put away, much less play with it all! I'll start "mounting" my new SU! stamps soon, but in the meantime I wanted to make a card with these adorable GinaK stamps that I won as blog candy from Emily, one of the very talented artists on Gina's design team.

I really loved this turkey the first time I saw him on Gina's blog. I mean...just look at that expression! He just knows he's bound for the table come Thanksgiving Day! I started with a half sheet of Chocolate Chip CS, and sponged it (Beate's rubbing off on me!!) and I KNEW I had to use my new Apple Cider designer paper (speaking of which...have you all heard about the November special from SU!??? I can't WAIT to load up on more DSP!!!) I sponged the edges of that (first with Old Olive because I wasn't paying close attention to the colors, then I realized it was actually garden green...) then sponged the edges of my Garden Green matting. I stamped my little guy with Basic Brown on naturals ivory cardstock, because I wanted to color him with markers, and the posts I've been catching up on say that marker strokes won't show on the more porous cardstocks. It's true for the most part, except when coloring with lighter colors (like the creamy caramel for his wing and head)

After coloring this little guy in with Creamy Caramel, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie and Really Rust, I very lightly sponged the edges with really rust, and mounted him on some sponged really rust. I've realized I can have a heavy hand when sponging on my neutrals...so this time I went over it twice. once VERY lightly holding the sponge perpendicular to the paper to just color the edge, then again holding the sponge at a little more of an angle to add a little more color in about a quarter inch from the edge - you can see it a little better in the detail photo.

Once I had the main elements ready I started playing with embellishments. I thought I was going to use some light brown polka dotted organdy from May Arts...but then I decided that some paper hinges with my word window punch would work well. And then with this sorta country feel, I realized faux stitching would be better than ribbon. For the sample shown I drew on a blanket stitch. After piercing all the way around, I drew on the lines, and the outline in chocolate chip. I stamped the greeting in Basic Black, then mounted Tom on with dimensionals to make him pop up a little. I'm very happy with this card, and since I made 2, one will go to Emily, the other to Gina as a little thanks for the fun stamps!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Turkey and Poultry in Motion from GinaK
CS: Chocolate Chip, Garden Green, Really Rust, Naturals Ivory, Apple Cider DSP
Ink: basic black, Chocolate Chip, Garden Green, Really Rust ink pads; Creamy Caramel, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust and chocolate chip markers
Acc: word window punch, antique brads, crafter's tool kit, sponge, dimensionals

TFL!
-Jana

The never-ending geburtstag!

German Phrase of the Day: Kein Problem. = No problem. My daughter is really milking this whole birthday thing...Friday was her actual birthday, Saturday was her party, then today she had her birthday celebration at kindergarten! Such a busy girl!!

For Kindergarten, I made more cupcakes, and I decided I really wanted to include the cute cupcake toppers that I saw on Mary's blog It's All About the Journey. I wrote to ask her questions about them, and I'm guessing others did because she even made a cool tutorial on how to make them here!

They are super easy to make, and turned out so cute. All the kids loved them, and everyone wanted to pick which animal/color combo they got.

To make them, I punched everything first, then I stamped the animals and colored them with markers (I used aquapainter and inkpads for the Purely Pomegranate and Vintage Violet ones because obviously I don't have markers for those colors!) I just used whatever colors I had in my scrap drawer which was great. After stamping and coloring, I assembled the circles, then attached them to the party picks using clue dots (because I wanted to go quickly and was too lazy to wait for glue to dry!) Worked like a charm!

Have a great day everyone!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Zoofari
CS: whisper white, basic black, other scraps
Ink: basic black, markers to match cs
Acc: 1 1/4", 1 3/8" circle punches, scalloped circle punch, glue dots

TFL!
-Jana

Geburtstag Party

German Phrase of the Day: Erklarst du mir das bitte? = Could you please explain this to me? Why did I decide to fly to California, return home the day before my daughter's fifth birthday, and plan her party for the day after her birthday? What was I thinking?!?

Julia's birthday party yesterday was an apparent success, based on the fact that there were 11 kids (9 party kids and 2 younger siblings!) running around screaming and saying lots of things in German that I just didn't understand!

The party was at one of those indoor playgrounds for kids. You know...the places that look like a giant habitrail? The place is called "Jungle Town" so we had kind of a jungle theme going which I started with the invitation I posted back here. For the goodie bags I wanted to use my new MFT stamps that I received while in California. They are so much fun to use, although coloring in all these animals between 11 and 12 pm is not exactly fun when making 10!! Oh well. Now I have to make some fun cards with the set so I"ll still love it! ;-)

I decided to just make a card front I could attach to the bags thinking that would be the quickest and easiest solution. So, I stamped on white cardstock with black ink for the animals, added the branch with basic brown, and then stamped the leaves with mellow moss and always artichoke. The grass on the bottom was artichoke also. Lastly, I colored them in with markers thinking it would be faster than watercoloring. Not so! I'm much better with an aquapainter than I am with markers. Oh well...I think they still turned out OK...and Julia was thrilled when she saw them in the morning. Her direct quote was "Just what I wanted them to look like, Mommy!"

Now...to make the the cupcakes to take to Kindergarten tomorrow! A mom's work is never done, right?

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: It's a Jungle out There by MFT
CS: Whisper White, always artichoke
Ink: Basic Black, always artichoke, mellow moss, close to cocoa, more mustard, going grey, basic brown
Acc: small white gift bags

TFL!
-Jana

Home again, home again...

German Phrase of the Day: Nein, ich habe keinen Hunger. = No, I am not hungry. Julia and I just got home yesterday afternoon. We went to bed at 7pm local time because we were exhausted...woke up for about 3-4 hours in the middle of the night, and then slept until past 10am this morning! So...we actually WERE hungry when we got up!!

Sorry I've been MIA for the last 2 weeks almost! For some reason, I couldn't login to Blogger from my friends' computers...so I finally gave up. Plus, I just didn't have a lot of time as we were busy catching up with all our old friends. We loved our time in California, but there's also something to be said for sleeping in your own bed again! Many thanks to all our friends who gave us a bed to sleep in, and so much fun!!!

This card was made for a one-on-one swap. Sorry you're getting a preview of this Sher...but all yours will be arriving with your other swap! The challenge for this swap was a color challenge. We could only use Basic Grey, Going Grey, and black and or white for this card...so I used all 4! The basic grey card was stamped with the linen background, then a smaller piece of going grey was layered on top (after clipping the bottom 2 corners and sponging on some basic grey ink.) For the central image, I stamped the polka dot background with going grey onto whisper white, clipped all 4 corners, then layered it on some basic black and clipped those corners. Then, I layered 2 flowers from the pretties kit with a half pearl in the center and adhered that with glue dots. I tied the black gingham around the card to hide the seem with the going grey cs, then popped the central image over the ribbon with dimensionals. Lastly, I stamped the Best Wishes greeting. I love that greeting because it can be so versatile!

Hope you've enjoyed today's card. I forgot to take photos of the few projects I managed to complete while in California, so will have to ask my friends to photograph them for me! And now I have to stamp some goodie bags and make some cupcake toppers for my daughters birthday party tomorrow. I can't believe she's already 5!!! Today is her actual birthday...and she is SOOO excited! I'll leave you with the first photo taken of her the night she was born...and a picture I just took today. She's come a long way from that sub 2-pound micro premie to the precocious 5-year-old she is today!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Linen background, sincere salutations
CS: Whisper White, Going Grey, Basic Grey, Basic Black
Ink: Basic Black, Going Grey, Basic Grey
Acc: Pretties Kit, Black Gingham ribbon

TFL!
-Jana

Princess Julia ready to hold court on her 5th birthday

Julia at birth, 1 pound 13.5 ounces, 13" long. Or as my dad said, she could fit in his shoe!

Birthday card from Sher

German Phrase of the Day: Bedien' dich! = Help yourself! Like, help yourself to some cake!! :-)

Isn't this the coolest card?? I love how it came inside this cute little sleeve. My friend Sherri Retton made this for me. We were Diva Swap Sisters this last month, and she sent me 4 amazing creations which I'll show you while I'm traveling. This first she claimed is because she's sure she forgot my birthday (since she was a little busy in April having a new baby!) and I'm so glad she did. I just LOVE it!!! Definitely an idea I will have to CASE. And there's some sparkle on there...it's just really hard to see. I've included 2 photos...one inside the sleeve and one out so you can see just how cool it really is.

Julia and I are headed to the airport in another 30 minutes. California here we come! Right back where we started from. Which is true. We're going "home" to the area we lived in and haven't been to in a whole year! We're so excited to see so many of our friends that we've been missing!

Hope you all have a great Monday. Oh yeah...I already ordered my new MFT stamps this morning...LOVE that new jungle set. If you haven't checked them out yet, you must!!!

TFL!
-Jana

Make a Wish

German Phrase of the Day: Das ist Geschmackssache. = That is a matter of taste. Well, you could say that about most things...my cards included! But not about this stamp set...I just love it!

I finally pulled out my Make A Wish set from GinaK Designs. This set is awesome - and did you know that $7 from the sale of EVERY set goes to the Make A Wish foundation?? How cool is that?!

I only had a few minutes, so I couldn't play like I want to (can't wait to color in that wishing well on some good watercolor paper!!) but I did make a quick cute card. I used a sketch I found on my desk and I have no idea where it came from! I've gotten into the habit of sketching ideas I get online onto scrap paper, and when I first started I was not including the source. Since then I have learned to write that down as well!!!

Anyway...I still had my Cutie Pie paper out from doing dd's bday invitations...so I thought those colors would be great with the birthday cake from this set. I colored the cake with a combo of aquapainter with ink refill (for the Purely Pomegranate) and markers for the celery and bashful blue. I also added a light shadow around the whole image using the going grey H2O color crayon and my aquapainter...then added a slightly darker shadow under the cake plate. I punched off my corners and layered on Bashful Blue - also with punched corners. Finally, I mounted on some Purely Pomegranate and added the silver brads. I cut my circle with my Coluzzle, and tied the Purely Pomegranate double stitched ribbon over that. I think I should have used the textured cardstock for the base...but I don't have the soft subtles textured cardstock yet. Oops!

I mounted my central image on dimensionals, and lastly I stamped the greeting and added some gold stickles to the star shaped flames. Pretty darn cute if I do say so myself! And also, very simple. No sponging whatsoever so that I could maintain the nice clean lines of the patterned paper...and I'm ok with that! :-)

Hope you all are having a great Sunday!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Make a Wish from GinaK Designs
CS: Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Purely Pomegranate, Cutie Pie DSP
Ink: Basic Black, Certainly Celery, Summer Sun, Bashful Blue, Purely Pomegranate
Acc: Purely Pomegranate double stitched ribbon, Coluzzle, Silver Brads

TFL!
-Jana

Baby card

German Phrase of the Day: Verschluck dich nicht. = Don't choke. Yup...that really is in my living language calendar for Sept. 21. Maybe that's national Heimlich month or something! Hey...that name sounds German to me...wonder if there' s a correlation.

Don't mind me today...Julia has been in high gear all morning and has both her dad and me completely worn out, so she's having "quiet time" and I'm supposed to be re-energizing so I can deal with her in 30 more minutes. Wish me luck!

This is the card I made to go with yesterday's frame. I haven't used this Bundle of Joy set very much and thought it would be a cute way to continue the pink and brown theme. When my friend came by yesterday to pick them up, she did indeed love them...so I'm glad!

I colored the bear in with close to cocoa and chocolate chip inks using my aquapainter. His interior arm doesn't look that white in real life...at least I hope not! For the faux stitching, I just free handed some xxx all around. I wanted to use my all in a row set, but I can't find it anywhere! Oh well. I also stamped the swirly dots with stars up the side of the close to cocoa cardstock, but it's hard to see. And...this is almost the end of my narrow chocolate grosgrain. I'll have to break down and buy the wider stuff soon I guess. Oh well!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Bundle of Joy
CS: Pretty in Pink, close to cocoa, chocolate chip
Ink: close to cocoa, chocolate chip
Acc: pink gingham ribbon, chocolate grosgrain

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

Invitation...

German Phrase of the Day: Wir freuen uns, euch dort zusehen. = We hope to see you there. This is the last line on the inside of my daughter's birthday party invitation. I actually took what i had written to a German friend of mine here to make sure my Deutsch wasn't too awful. She only had to make 6 corrections. The invitation details aren't that long! Oh well.

So, all that blog surfing I did yesterday paid off...because I was inspired by this card here for the invitations! Isn't this just the cutest? Her party is at a place called Jungle Town, so I figured these cute little animals would be perfect!

I used the prints designer paper in Rose Red, So Saffron and Almost Amethyst. I also used Cutie Pie, because it matched the best of what I had on hand. I think it turned out very cute! Ok...now I just have to make 8 more of these tonight, print the inside, and deliver them all tomorrow morning. Then, I have to finish some stuff for a couple swaps, and make a name frame for a friend to give to a new baby. Phew!!

ETA: Ok...I just finished them up. I started around 8:45, finished around 10:45 - even includes addressing the envelopes (not easy to spell these German names!!) Now I'm off to bed!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Zoofari, sincere salutations
CS: Regal Rose, Basic Black, Whisper White, Prints Designer Paper, Cutie Pie DSP
Ink: Basic Black, So Saffron, Rose Red, Almost Amethyst
Acc: 1 3/8" circle punch, black gingham ribbon

TFL!
-Jana

Pretty Primas

German Phrase of the Day: Einen Kaffee, bitte! = One coffee please. I've actually given up coffee...again! I tend to get quickly addicted to caffeine, and when I first moved here and realized it's next to impossible to FIND decent decaf coffee, I switched back to caffeinated. But...after many migraines, I decided it was better to just drink tea. So now I'm totally addicted to Rooibus tea. That stuff is awesome! And..this way I don't have my daily sugar/cream intake, so I've cut back on fat and calories at the same time. Woohoo! ;-)

I have a list a mile long of things to get done before leaving for the US. I just returned from London yesterday (Thank you Karin, it was sooooo much fun!!!) and have barely unpacked, but I already need to start getting ready for our trip back "home." I've brought the BIG suitcases up from downstairs (the ones which ONLY get used for trips to the States!) and need to begin gathering all the gifts I'm taking, as well as get a few things done here like make birthday party invites for Julia's party we're having 2 days after getting home (Yes, I am insane!) and make a name frame for a friend to give as a new baby gift. And as Julia says, we only have 5 more sleeps 'til we leave. So what did I do? I made a card for you all!

In my defense, I only had about 30 minutes until my dh came home with the car so I could go pick up the dog at the kennel...which really wasn't enough time to finish anything else. This card literally took 10 minutes to create - and that includes opening up the mini paint can my new primas are in without a screwdriver, and selecting a paper that would go well with them.

It's a super simple layout using my Basic Grey Perhaps paper and some Purely Pomegranate cs, but it's lovely just the same, right?? And it really showcases these incredibly gorgeous new Primas I got, right?! So it HAD to be simple!! And look...not even any stamping! Of course, when I decide who to send it to I'll stamp a greeting inside.

Ok...gotta finish cleaning out the cupboard and taking stock. Tomorrow I have to shop and get enough food so my husband doesn't starve during the week he's home without me. Poor guy. He'll have 3 whole days of being home all alone with no child to look after, no work (he gets a holiday while we're gone) and no wife to nag at him. Can I sign up for that?!?

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: NONE
CS: Purely Pomegranate, Whisper White, Basic Grey Perhaps
Ink: Purely Pomegranate
Acc: Double Stitched Purely Pomegranate ribbon, ticket corner punch, primas, rhinestone brad, sponge

TFL!
-Jana

I'm really not that old yet, am I?

German Phrase of the Day: Guten Morgen! = Good Morning. This was one of the first phrases I learned...and I use it almost every day!

This stamp just called out to me at the Stempel Mekka. I had recently had an MRI of my knee, and the radiologist informed me that I have the knee of a 60 or 70 year old woman. I'm only 36. Oh well!! The sentiment reads: "Inside this old body is a young voice asking me 'What Happened?'"

This is another super simple one using my glitter paper stack and an Emerson stamp. I colored her in with aquapainter and ink pads. I punched the corners with SU!'s retired notch corner punch to add some interest.

London has been wonderful. We're really enjoying our time with friends Karin and Dave, and seeing lots of fun things. Today, we're heading out to Hampton Court Palace, the former playground of King Henry VIII and where he courted Anne Boleyn, his ill-fated second wife. Have a great day!

Stamps: Emerson stamp

Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Purely Pomegranate, THe Glitter Stack from DCWV

Ink: Basic Black, purely pomegranate, chocolate chip, always artichoke

Accessories: aquapainter, corner punch TFL! -Jana

I had a nightmare...

German Phrase of the Day: Das stimmt doch gar nicht. = That's not true. Well, I guess the title isn't true...but the sentiment on this card certainly could be!!

Having a great time in London...hope you all are having a good weekend.

This is one of the 3 stamps I purchased at Stempel Mekka. I mean, with a saying like that, how could I resist?? If you can't read it it says. "I had a terrible nightmare. I dreamed I was disconnected from the internet." I can think of a few bloggers this would be good for, but I have a special one in mind for this particular card.

It was a super quick and easy card, using some more of my new glitter paper, this time from a Die Cuts With a View (DCWV) glitter stack. I started with a black card base, put a slightly smaller layer of whisper white, then the slightly smaller layer of glitter paper. For the central image, I stamped her with Basic Black on whisper white, and colored her in with creamy caramel and summer sun. I layered that on a larger piece of basic black and tied on the black gingham ribbon, then decided it needed one more layer there, so added the little bit of extra whisper white. I super simple, easy-peasy card - but I like it!
All supplies by Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Stamps: Emerson stamp

Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, The Glitter Stack from DCWV

Ink: basic black, summer sun, creamy caramel

Accessories: aquapainter, black gingham ribbon 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

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

Color Challenge with Zindorf Case...

German Phrase of the Day: Liest du viel? Do you read a lot? As I've talked about before, I definately do read a lot. In fact, I ordered 6 new books through Amazon.com to pick up in California when I'm there in a few weeks time! I can't wait!!!

This card was inspired by Zindorf over on SCS. She was this week's featured stamper, and I was completely blown away by her amazing creations. I especially loved her amazing backgrounds. The card this one is loosely based on can be seen here. Hers is so much more intense!!!

I wanted to use my new Spooky Sweets set that I just got yesterday, which was purchased solely (well, ok, let's get real here!) for this particular greeting. Now I just need to get Julia to make some cards and use this greeting on them!! I inked up the pumpkins in Pumpkin Pie, then rolled them in some Really Rust (because I was trying to stick with the color challenge!) then stamped them on naturals white CS. The stems are all stamped with River Rock. For the background, I sponged on river rock, then really rust, then a little ballet blue, and finally night of navy before running the piece through the embossing folder. Finally, I added the Old Olive and Night of Navy with DTP method.

The background piece was then sponged all around with chocolate chip, and layered on Really Rust, and Chocolate chip. I added the greeting inside the HPH and attached with Chocolate grosgrain, then finally mounted it onto the river rock card base. Lastly, I attached the pumpkins, with 2 of them up on dimensionals. This was a fun card...but I must keep working at those amazing backgrounds by Zindorf!!!

Stamps: Spooky Sweets

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

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, River Rock, ballet blue, night of navy, old olive, pumpkin pie

Accessories: HPH, Chocolate Chip grosgrain, oval punch, Cuttlebug swirls embossing folder

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

Tagged...

Julie just tagged me so I get to play along in this newest game of Bloggers tag!! Thanks Julie!! (I used Julie's modified tag list, which works well since I don't like perfume!)

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) -Happy Audi
2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Moose Tracks Spritz
3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) JWEA
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) - Purple Panda
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)- Christine Bangor
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) - Weaja
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put “The”) The Blue Tea
8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)- Ernest Sydney
9. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) XXX Ralph (my mom actually didn't have a middle name until she got married and was able to use her maiden name there...and I'm not listing that one, so I guess my witness protection name really is protected!)

Thanks for the fun!!
I hereby tag Stephanie and Rachel - so hopefully they'll both update their blogs!!

My purchases...

So, here is a photo of all my purchases yesterday. I think I did good only buying 3 new pieces of rubber. Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a card showcasing some of that. And that glitter paper? It was just to die for!!! I can't wait to break into that stuff! And look...I got some scalloped scissors for only 2.50 Euros - what a bargain! Oh yeah, some fun primas, some silver metal sheets that I can't WAIT to run through a cuttlebug embossing folder, a bow tying template, some masking paper, ultra clean and a water misting bottle. Phew! Seeing it like this it doesn't look like all that much...especially when I think about how much I paid for it all! Oh well...at least I had fun!

TFL!
-Jana