Another card for my WCMD class!

German Phrase of the Day: Wollen wir tanzen? = Shall we dance? The family and I just returned from a very fun weekend away with 6 other families from Julia's kindergarten. So...my German is a little better! I had to speak Deutsch with all the children...and tried to communicate with the parents in German as much as I could...but I usually had to resort to English for any involved conversations. But it was just nice to go hang out in the country with other families and shat with the adults while the kids played. I don't know that schools in the States do that kind of thing...but I know when we return I would definitely try to arrange something similar! We all had fun!

This card was also lots of fun. I used another piece of chipboard from the On Board Trimmings set and covered it with some Wintergreen DSP this time. The circle was cut using my coluzzle from Blue Bayou textured paper, and then I did the faux stitching. I wheeled Bold Snowflakes along the bottom, but for the class we'll be using the Snow wheel from the Holiday mini. I just inked the wheel up on my versamark pad because I didn't feel like reinking my cartridge for just a small bit...it worked great.

The "let it" is from Big on Christmas...and I was able to ink up just those 2 words on my Blue Bayou inkpad pretty easily. I think the hardest part of this card was sanding off the extra paper from the interior parts of the snowflake chipboard and doing the faux stitching...but even those were pretty easy. Oh...and I CASE'd this layout from the projects Stampin' Up! has featured on the World Card Making Day website.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Big on Christmas, Bold Snowflakes jumbo wheel
CS: Wintergreen DSP, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou textured
Ink: Blue Bayou, Versamark
Acc: White gel pen, crafter's tool kit, coluzzle, On Board Trimmings

TFL!
-Jana

RAK from Mo!

Look at this beautiful card I got in the mail today!!! Thank you so much Mo...I just love it! The coloring on this card is exquisite, with beautiful shading and everything. I am in awe! It even came in a handmade envelope!! I mean, wow!!

Mo is also from Maine, although she doesn't live there any longer. My mom emailed her after reading a comment of hers on my blog and they have now discovered they have much in common. Although, I think it would be tough to find someone with nothing in common with my mom - she's a true jack-of-all-trades, and master of many!

Mo, I don't know if you have a blog...I couldn't find one in your profile...but if you do please let me know so I can link to it!

Thanks again for your thoughtfulness,
Huggs,
Jana

Christmas Ornaments

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

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

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

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

TFL!
-Jana

Blogroll update!

I finally went through and added all the sites I have in my google reader to my blogroll on the right. Phew! That was not a quick and easy task, but I'm glad to have finished it. If you discover you are listed and would rather not be, please feel free to send me an email asking me to remove your site. If you see yourself listed and want to link back to me, please feel free to do so!

Thanks everyone for continuing to inspire me!

-Jana

Halloween Criss-Cross Card

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

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

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

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

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

TFL!
-Jana

The Weavers

German Phrase of the Day: Die Hose ist viel zu lange. - The trousers are far too long. Since I haven't been posting, I'm way behind on my calendar...that was from August 22nd!! I'll work hard to catch up again, I promise!

So, I finally played with my new All in the Family set. I just think it's the most adorable thing ever!!! First I stamped our name at the top, then I started with my daughter so I could center her in the middle, and worked out from there. I colored all the people with ink pads and my aquapainter. I was able to just line things up without the Stamp A Ma Jig, except for the glasses on my husband. Those I just didn't trust myself to line up properly. I guess this is the nice thing about having my stamps unmounted...I can eyeball things even easier.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Big Deal Alphabet, All in the Family, Karen Foster Snap Stamps
CS: Whisper White, Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate
Ink: Blue Bayou, Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate, Soft Sky, Basic Grey, Wild Wasabi, Summer Sun, Blush Blossom, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocao
Acc: SAMJ

TFL!
-Jana

Happy Jana...

There's nothing better than listening to the ocean, and looking out over that intense expanse of blue. Julia loves the beach, and playing in the sand...and when she can get someone to go with her - the ocean! I am now sitting up on our balcony overlooking the ocean at our wonderful hotel here in Wikj an See called Het Hoge Duin. The photo of Julia is from when we were here in March (I don't have my card reader so can't put any photos on hubby's laptop right now!)

Last night, we ate in town at a restaurant called "Little Switzerland" and it was fantastic!! We had some cheese fondue and mixed grill which included 2 different shish kabobs (one chicken, one pork) some grilled fillet of beef, the most amazing spare ribs I've ever tasted, and of course the sides of veggies, a salad, and fries. Oh, I was in heaven!! So nice to eat good food again after last week!!!

Anyhow, just wanted to let you all know we're having fun, and I'm getting my stamp sets all ready so that when we get home I can start stamping! :-)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

TFL!
-Jana

Some recent RAK's

Ok...here are those promised RAK's. This first is from Allison who stamps when she can! Seems to me she does a gosh darn good job of it too!
Isn't this beautiful?? The red paper is velvety, and SOOO wonderful to touch! I just love it!!

This second card is from my fellow Mainiac (even if she is a transplant!) Julie Masse. I love all of Julie's work, and she just got on the Paper Pretties Design Team!! Whoo Hoo Julie!!! Thanks girl!
I love the stickles on the little bee...he just sparkles!! Totally made my day. :-)

Ok, we're off to The Netherlands to hang at the beach for the weekend. Wish me clear skies and sunshine, because the current forecasts are calling for rain!! I'll try to post when I return home on Monday!

Huggs to all, and Happy Labor Day Weekend to those who are stateside! Have a hamburger (or better yet, BBQ Rib!) for me!!

TFL!
-Jana

My swap...spoiler alert!!

German Phrase of the Day: Kocken macht Spass. = It's fun to cook. I like cooking...except when I'm too busy to actually make something good, then it's just another chore. I made pork tenderloin with berry sauce the other day for lunch, and it was YUMMY! Maybe I"ll post the recipe when I get more time. ;-)

I decided I needed to post one of my own creations! I made this hurriedly last week before going to the krankenhaus for a swap I'm in. The challenge was to create a flower from a non flower. So, use a different stamp set to create a flower, or something else. I chose to do ribbon, because I think it turns out pretty darn cool. At the time I wasn't overly thrilled with this card, but it's grown on me (like many things do!) It is a very bulky card, but it turns out cute!

Have a great day everyone!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Happy Everything, Linen background
CS: Mellow Moss, So Saffron, Bravo Burgundy, Saffron designer paper
Ink: So saffron, bravo burgundy, mellow moss
Acc: Burgundy grosgrain, clear buttons, crystal effects, ticket corner punch, glue dots, needle and thread.

TFL!
-Jana

Adorable little card...

German Phrase of the Day: Sie hat ein shoen Lacheln. - She has a beautiful smile. I liked this phrase for today, because it fits the giver of this card. Yup...it's a Beate creation! She included this card with the spool of ribbon she recently sent me for winning one of her weekly weekend sketch challenges. Isn't it adorable???

She used the textured Wild Wasabi, some sky blue patterned paper, and I think that's the Priceless stamp set (which I finally broke down and ordered, mostly thanks to gorgeous samples like this one made by Beate!!)

I also recently got another get well card from my friend Julie Masse who lives in Maine. I can't wait for February! I'm going to Florida for 2 weeks, and will somehow figure out how to get from Lakeland (down near Tampa) up to Niceville to finally meet Beate in Person, then I'm going up to Maine for a week to visit my brother and his family, and will plan on stopping off to meet Julie in person! And it will even be Sell-A-Bration, I mean...could there BE a better month?!?!

Ok...I'm FINALLY getting back to my old self, so I'll try to get some photos taken today or tomorrow, and maybe I'll even STAMP tomorrow. I've been cutting out stamps this afternoon from all my new stuff, and I can't wait to start using them!!

TFL!
-Jana

I'm home...FINALLY!

German Phrase of the Day: Willkommen zu Huase! = Welcome home! I guess this phrase is appropriate, and in answer to Queen Mary's question, I get my phrases mostly from this really cool desk calendar my friend Michelle gave me before we moved. It's made by Living Language, from whom we also have several leaning German CDs. Anyway, I thought this phrase appropriate for today!

So, after WAY too long in a hospital, I am home. Many thanks to my mom for keeping you all posted on how I was doing. I won't say it was fun, and I'm sure glad I only had one gallbladder to loose, but it wasn't horrid either. At least everyone was very NICE.

I did get a lovely RAK from Allison Filio while I was gone...a RAK back, and I'll try to post a photo of it tomorrow. Right now, I'm not quite up to climbing that last flight of stairs to my stamping lair.

Thank you all for your well wishes and prayers, they were all appreciated! And I promise to be back with pretty pictures for you tomorrow. Oh...and my husband has speculated I might make a card out of my lovely black gallstones they gave me (all 20 of them!!) but I think it would work better for scrapbook page...what do you all think??? Guess I'll have to work on that.

Huggs to you all!
-Jana

Surgery Complete - Now How Do I Get Outa' Here

Haven't heard anything from Germany since Phil called to say she had been taken to surgery, 32 hours after admission. Since they informed Jana she had to stay at least 3 days, I imagine she is using every resource to convince them to count that first uneventful day of Wednesday!

I am sure that the parcel I mailed with her "first" order out of the latest SU catty has arrived and bet she is conducting a workshop for all interested staff and patients ! ! (MoM)

ON HOLD . . . and WAITING ! !

Would you believe it - I checked in at 7am and finally at 2pm they informed me that there had been so many emergencies, that I must wait until tomorrow. No I cannot go home!!! If we are lucky tomorrow, I might get home by Sunday!!! Stay tuned for the next installment . . . from my MoM. She is bemoaning the fact that she can't be taking care of Julia - and Phil may agree by the end of the week. (This Post submitted by MoM, aka Susibella)

Viewmaster from April

German Phrase of the Day: Kannst du bitte etwas lauter reden? = Could you please talk a little louder? Usually I'm asking people to speak more slowly since that is the problem I usually have!!

Here is a card I got from one of my Diva pals, April. She did such a great job with the viewmaster card for our one on one swap. I love the images she stamped in the opening, and the paper and everything! Thanks so much April...I love it!!

So, tomorrow is the big day. When I type to you all again on Saturday I will be minus one gallbladder. So, think happy thoughts for me Tuesday night/Wednesday morning US time!

Thanks,
-Jana

Another card from a friend

German Phrase of the Day: Sie redet zu viel. = She is talking too much. That is something folks could say about me at times, and more recently, about my daughter! I swear there are times she talks just to hear herself! And, when she's speaking in German, I don't even know what she's saying half the time.

This beautiful card was from my great friend and downline Michelle. She makes such beautiful cards. And always lots of work! I love this little ladybug made with the pick a petal set...she's just so darned cute! And the little trail...adorable! She sent me this card along with some fun stuff...tabs for me to attach to my catalog to separate the sections, and some retired rubber from last year's hostess section. Thank you Michelle!! You are the bestest! Mwah!

TFL,
Jana

PS Yesterday, and some today I have been cleaning my stamping space. I just have to finish clearing off my desk, and I'll be done. If/when I finish, I'll take a photo to share with you all! Till then, no more stamping!! :( Gotta get this place cleaned up!!!

Thank you Yvette...

Here is a beautiful card sent by my wonderful online stamping friend Yvette (be sure to check her blog...she's got some great cards and scrapbook pages that she's been working on since getting home from Australia!) I can't believe how quick she was in getting this mailed!!! Looks like she used Cranberry Crisp, Ruby Red and Very Vanilla cardstocks along with the Cranberry Crisp ink and stitched ribbon. I love the fall look of this card...although I have to admit I can't quite place the stamp set. Maybe it's the one from the Southern Living special last fall? Yvette, can you help me out with this??

Thank you Yvette for the wonderful card! I love it!! And I'm SOOO impressed with your promptness...I never get cards out on time!

TFL!
-Jana

SCS Sketch challenge with Carte Postale

German Phrase of the Day: Das war ein gelungener Abend. = This was a pleasant evening. My hubby has been doing everything he can to help me stay relaxed this weekend. Well...not EVERYTHING since he hasn't just sent our DD off somewhere and cleaned the whole house single-handedly...but he's trying! He knows I'm not looking forward to Wednesday, so he is working at keeping my mind off it. So sweet! So...we did have a very pleasant evening last night just relaxing, watching a DVD (Coupling, funniest show ever!) and spending time together. I like that!

Here is another card I whipped out yesterday while Phil was mowing the lawn and Julia was going back and forth between hanging with me upstairs and coming down to check on daddy's progress. I used this week's sketch challenge from SCS, along with my Carte Postale and matching DSP from the winter mini catalog. It started, because I have these cool mirrored crocheted button-like things that I picked up at Pipoos, and I really wanted to use them. So, I figured this paper would match pretty well.

I used both sides of a single sheet of paper for the 2 designs of paper, pale plum and perfect plum cardstocks for layering, and 3 ink colors for the stamped image. I stamped the full square in Perfect Plum, Pale Plum and Certainly Celery. I punched the darkest layer with my 1 3/8" square punch, then tried to punch the celery layer with my 1 1/4" punch, but the punch was too big...so I had to cut it out by hand. Then, I cut out just the flower for the pale plum layer...not easy but I pulled it off!

This isn't one of my favorite cards...but the more I look at the photo the better I like it. I think this is an instance where IRL actually ISN'T better!! Oh well.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Carte Postale
CS: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Whisper White, Very Vanilla, DSP that I can't remember name of!
Ink: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Certainly Celery
Acc: dimensionals, mirrored button things from Pipoos

TFL!
-Jana

Thank you card and candle set

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

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

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

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

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

TFL!
-Jana

How Californian are YOU?

Alison got me over to Blogthings this morning...and I just HAD to do the "How California Are you?" quiz!! Unfortunately, a lot of the California has rubbed off while living in Germany. Can't wait to get back there in just 6 more weeks!! :-)

You Are 56% California

You're fairly Californian. Unless you're really from California, you should be stoked!

How California Are You?

Wild about You animals

German Phrase of the Day: Du fahrst viel zu schnell. - You are driving too fast. Now, this is a common occurance over here. Of course, I don't drive too fast (although my sister may disagree.) With no speed limit on many of the highways here (you know, the famous German Autobahns!) it is not unusual to see a lovely Porshe going 200 kph or faster. The fastest I've ever driven here was just shy of 200 (about 120 mph.) It was on a long straightaway with no cars around me, and I wanted to see what the E-class Mercedes we had rented could do. I will admit, it was fun!!! Hopefully DH and I can rent a nice Porshe or Audi TT or some other fun car for a weekend getaway next time my parents come over! :-)

I really like this card, and it's going to a special online friend of mine for a swap! I've seen so many cards where people have cut out the lion mane and popped it up, that I HAD to do one for myself. I also really like these colors together, Really Rust, So Saffron and Old Olive. I added in the grass by hand with the Old Olive marker...and finished it off with some old olive brads.

Hope you like these little guys as much as I do!! Have a great day.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Wild About You, Aida Cloth
CS: Whisper White, So Saffron, Really Rust, Old Olive
Ink: So Saffron, Really Rust, Old Olive, Ruby Red
Acc: ee brads, dimensionals

TFL!
-Jana