Warm Friends

German Phrase of the Day: Ich bin so gestresst. = I am so stressed out. Actually...I'm not stressed right now. I'm still flying up around Cloud 10! I went right on past Cloud 9!! LOL

Here's another Sweet Sophia card. Isn't she just darling? For today's card I wanted to paper piece her dress, so I used the lovely SU! Porcelien Prints DSP for her dress and matching border. I used a coordinating paper for the card base, all on a standard sized certainly celery card.

I already had little Sophia stamped on some confetti cardstock with Palette Noir ink. I colored her in first with my WWC and aquapainter, then I stamped her again on the designer paper and cut out her dress. After adhering her dress, I flocked little Teddy there. I think I got a little TOO much flocking this time because it's hard to see all his details. But...such is life. I actually scraped some flocking off his eyes using my paper piercer. That helped!

Next, I punched 2 scalloped squares from the same paper and pieced them together to make 1 rectangle big enough to mount Sophia on (can YOU find the seem on this picture - I can't!). Then, I adhered the coordinating design of paper to the bottom part of the card, tied some lovely Satin Ribbon from a Jody Morrow ribbon swap around, and then stamped the greeting with Not Quite Navy ink onto Confetti white cardstock, cut it apart, and mounted them on Not Quite Navy cs. I adhered the greeting (from Snowflake Kisses) directly to the card, and popped Sophia up on pop dots. I just love this saying with Sophia and her teddy. I mean...what better friend can a little girl have than her cozy "stufftie"? It was a very quick card (or would have been if I hadn't been interrupted a dozen times by Julia wanting this thing or that) and I LOVE quick cards!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Cuddle Me and Snowflake Kisses from Paper Pretties
CS: Certainly Celery, Confetti White, Not Quite Navy, Porcelain Prints
Ink: Palette Noir, Not Quite Navy
Acc: sponge, aquapainter, WWC, Marvy Giga Scalloped Square punch, Satin ribbon from May Arts

TFL!
-Jana

Oh wow!

I'm still reeling a little bit from the shock! Did you all see this post?? Can I just say HUGE honor?! Did you see the other names on that list? OHMYGOSH!!! Wow!! And my fellow Prettie girl is on there too, Joanne! Now I have 2 awesome companies I get to design for, Paper Pretties AND GinaK Designs! WOW!

Oh...and here are links to the 3 projects I submitted for the DT. You've already seen them all, but in case anyone is curious!

Pocket Card
Santa's Christmas List
In the Meadow

Have a great day everyone...I'm still walking on air so I know I will! ;-)

The Mitten

German Phrase of the Day: Ich habe drei Enkel. = I have three grandchildren. Ok...so obviously I don't have 3 grandchildren...but my mom does! And actually, my MIL will have 3 soon too. I hope it will be a VERY long time before I have any grandchildren!! So Enkel is grandchild, do you wanna know what grandparent is? Grosseltern, which literally means large parent.

Before I start babbling on about my card, have you all read about the Cutie Pie contest over at Paper Pretties? If not...you should!! You could be our next Cutie Pie and win all of the stamps for our next release at the end of the month!! How cool would that be?? Pretty dang cool I'm thinkin'!

I have another card using the mitten stamp from Snowflake Kisses today...but I added a little color. I had a complaint about too much blue recently (I love you mom!) and so just for her, I added some red to this card. For the layout, I CASE'd this card of MyVeronica's - she was the featured stamper yesterday and I just loved looking through her gallery. The hatpin card is so simple and elegant...perfect! Of course, I didn't end up using a hatpin...but I think it still counts as a CASE! :-)

I started by stamping the mittens onto Stamper's Select White cardstock and coloring them with the WW crayons. I don't usually color with the real red crayon when I want something to actually look red - that crayon makes things look more pink. Instead, I use Ruby Red and I think it turns out much better. I colored the snowflake on the mitten using the tempting turquoise crayon lightly to match Cool Caribbean. I added the liquid appliqué to the cuffs and puffed it up, then put the snowflake brad from the Paper Pretties Boutique in the top before mounting the piece onto a layer of Real Red.

I had some snowflake cuddled Cool Caribbean cardstock from when mom was here with her folders last April, and I swiped my white craft pad across it to highlight the snowflakes a little more. I layered this on some more Stampers Select White, then Basic Black. Next, I tied my red polka dot May Arts ribbon around these 3 layers before mounting them onto the White A2 size card. I mounted my central image using pop dots, stamped my greeting with Real Red ink and I was done. The card was actually quite quick to do, and I think turned out quite elegant as well - although looking at it now I think I would add a layer of black under the cool Caribbean. What do you all think?

Supplies:
Stamps: Snowflake Kisses by Paper Pretties
CS: Stamper's Select White from Papertrey Ink, Cool Caribbean, Real Red, Basic Black
Ink: Palette Noir, White Craft, real red
Acc: Silver brad, liquid applique, red polka dot May Arts ribbon, aquapainter, WWC, snowflurries cuttlebug folder

TFL!
-Jana

Beate's WSC with Sophia

I have another card for you today (it's a 2fer Sunday!) because I just made it and LOVE it so much I can't not share it!!! And to see more samples with the 2 stamp sets Paper Pretties just released this weekend be sure to visit the blogs of all the Prettie Girls listed on the right side - they've got some great ones! We also have 4 special Prettie Guests who've made some beautiful cards - so check them out as well!

I wanted to create a card for Beate's weekend sketch challenge using my sweet little Sophia. And I wanted to mimic the look of the embossed edges from the nestabilities. Now why haven't I bought the nestabilities yet you ask? Because I decided it didn't make sense to buy a personal die cutting machine to bring over here (and I would never buy one here because they cost twice as much!!) So I have to wait until we move back to the US before I make that indulgence. Maybe Christmas next year?? Perhaps I should tell my MIL now in case she's already started her Christmas shopping!! ;-)

I started by cutting a circle from Stampers Select White with my coluzzle that would just fit on the punched Marvy giga scalloped circle. Then, I cut a slight smaller circle out of chipboard. I centered the white circle over the negative space on the piece of chipboard and used my empressor stylus to emboss around. It creates a nice pretty edge. Next, I stamped sweet little Sophia using palette noir ink onto the circle...be careful not to get any ink on the embossed edge. I colored her in with my aquapainter and watercolor crayons (although for celery I use reinker - that crayon is just TOOO light!) Then, I punched my scalloped circle from Blush Blossom and lightly sponged the edges, then ran the sponge around the white circle to just add some color to the edge before adhering it to the scalloped circle.

I stamped the polka dot background onto my standard A2 certainly celery card, then I layered a strip from the Basic Gray phoebe collection onto some Blush Blossom (after sponging both!) and put that on the card. I cut 2 lengths of the wide celery grosgrain ribbon and cut the edges by folding the ribbon in half before making the angled cut. I adhered those to the card then added Sophia on top using pop dots. To finish her off I stamped the greeting in Palette Noir ink near the bottom and added 1/2 of a 3/4" square I punched from Blush Blossom cardstock. I'm sure with nestabilities I could have finished this card VERY quickly, but it didn't take too long. Plus, I now have a template I can use again and again to make my faux nestabilities circles! ;-)

I really like these softer colors and patterns with our little Sophia - it makes her look so sweet and delicate!! Have a great Sunday everyone!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Cuddle Me from Paper Pretties
CS: Certainly Celery, Blush Blossom, Phoebe by Basic Gray, Stamper's Select White
Ink: Palette Noir, Certainly Celery, Blush Blossom
Acc: sponge, aquapainter, WWC, wide celery grosgrain, marvy giga scalloped circle punch, coluzzle, 3/4" square punch

TFL!
-Jana

Happy Winter everyone

German Phrase of the Day: Hast du Kinder? = Do you have children? I'm gonna let you all in on a big secret they have over here in Europe. They PAY you to have kids! Well, not exactly, but you do get money each month for each child you have. Is that not wild?!?

Today's card uses the brand new clear stamp set from Paper Pretties, Snowflake Kisses again. I love all the variety in this set...there are just so many different possibilities with it!

These mittens are just so much fun...and using the supplies from my November Paper Pretties box, this card came together in a snap! First I stamped the mittens using my Palette Noir ink onto watercolor paper. I colored them in using an aquapainter and my Night of Navy watercolor crayon. After they were colored, I applied some liquid applique and dazzling diamonds glitter which I puffed up with my heat tool. Then, I stamped Happy Winter (Did I tell you there are 4 different sentiments in this set?) from Snowflake Kisses with white craft ink and embossed it with white ep. I lightly sponged the edges of my watercolor paper, then layered it onto the Bazzill Great Lakes blue cardstock. Next, I punched a hole and put a silver brad in for the mittens to hang off.

For the card base, I started with my Bazill Lavender Twilight card, then I lightly sponged the Paper Salon snowday plaid cardstock before adhering it. Lastly, I popped the central image up on pop dots. I think this card took me all of 10 minutes to make. I just love it when cards come together quickly and easily...and it helps when you've got a fun, versatile set to start with!

Supplies: (all supplies from Paper Pretties unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Snowflake Kisses by Paper Pretties
CS: Bazzill Lavender Twilight and great lakes, Paper Salon snowday plaid, watercolor paper
Ink: Palette Noir, night of navy from SU!
Acc: small silver brad, white ep, liquid applique, dazzling diamonds glitter from SU!

TFL!
-Jana

Need a Cuddle?

German Phrase of the Day: Wir hatten eine shone Zeit! = We had a nice time! So, who all came to the Prettie Party last night? Raise your hands! I had SUCH a great time. I'm a little tired this morning though, considering I was up partying from 2am until 6:30am! I know...I'm insane!! But, how could I miss the first Prettie Party?? Have you checked out the new stamps yet? No? What are you waiting for?!? We even had some celebrities at the party last night. Kim, The MFT Lady, and Emily, Queen Bella herself both popped in to say hi and offer their congrats to Christie on her gorgeous new stamps! Is this not the most awesome industry eveh?? I mean, how many competing companies do you know where the owners are all friends and truly supportive of one another?? You can tell it's a female dominated industry!!! I'm just so happy to be a part of this wonderful community of smart, talented, creative women - even if it is just as a happy consumer! :-)

For today's card I used the new Cuddle Me stamp set. Isn't Sophia just adorable? I really love the way her legs are crossed. My daughter often puts her boots on the wrong feet still - and someone once showed her that if she crossed her feet they would look right - so she does that all the time now!

For this card I used a SUPER simple layout! I scalloped the edge of my Basic Gray Lily Kate paper using my corner rounder, sponged all the edges with Ballet Blue ink, then layered that on a Ballet Blue standard A2 card. I stamped Sophia with Palette Noir ink onto Confetti White paper, then colored her in using an Aquapainter and my Watercolor Wonder Crayons. Next, using my Sakura Quickie glue pen, I put glue all over Sophia's teddy bear, then I added some Fun Flock! Oh my gosh is this stuff ever fun! Look at the close up photo and you can see the teddy bear is all fuzzy. Isn't that adorable?!? After Sophia was colored and flocked, I just layered her on some So Saffron, popped her on the card with some pop dots, stamped the sentiment from the set on the bottom and added some ribbon. All ready to send to some lucky person!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Cuddle Me from Paper Pretties
CS: Ballet Blue, So Saffron, Confetti White, Lily Kate by Basic Gray
Ink: Palette Noir, Ballet Blue
Acc: sponge, aquapainter, WWC, corner rounder punch, bashful blue grosgrain, white polka dot organdy ribbon from May Arts

TFL!
-Jana

The Cat's out of the bag...

Can you believe it? Paper Pretties now has their VERY OWN line of stamps! And what incredible stamps they are!! If you haven't seen them all yet, head over to Paper Pretties RIGHT NOW to see them! They are fabulous! I just love them both...and have been having so much fun with them (I just got mine on Thursday -yesterday- and have already made 5 cards!!)

This card uses the Snowflake Kisses set. I just love making snow angels! My daughter even likes making sand angels since she is much more likely to be near a beach than the snow. I colored in Sophia's outfit to match one my daughter has...I really like the pomegranate/guava combination.

I started by stamping Sophia on some watercolor paper with Palette Noir ink. These stamps are really great photopolymer acrylic which leave clean crisp impressions. Next, I colored her in with my aquapainter and ink pads. I gave her rosy cheeks and nose, along with her pink and guava outfit. Of course, the light blue jacket also matches my daughter's!! :-)

After she was all watercolored, I outlines her with my g01 copic marker (one of the few I have!) to give her a bit of a shadow. Then, I went around all the lines of her snow angel with my quickie glue pen and added some dazzling diamonds glitter. I wanted that beautiful glittery edge of snow effect. You can really see the dazzle in the closeup photo. I also colored her buttons with my Zig painty pen so they are a nice shiny silver.

Once the main image was done, I started with a 5 1/4" by 10 1/2" piece of Soft Sky folded in half and then I sponged the edges. Next, I layered a piece of Blue Bayou Designer Prints paper with sponged edges on top. I mounted Sophia on some Groovy Guava cardstock and adhered her to the card. I stamped the greeting (there are 10 stamps in this set...so plenty of options for greetings and images!) on some watercolor paper scrap and trimmed it down so I could round the edges with my word window punch. You can slip just one end of 3/8" strip of cardstock in to round the edge, then do the other when you have a strip longer than the punch itself. Works great!! After adhering the greeting under Sophia I added the double stitched Soft Sky ribbon and Voila! Completed card. I think this is my favorite so far (so I had to show her first!) but you'll see more samples with these amazing new stamps over the coming week - don't worry!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Snowflake Kisses from Paper Pretties
CS: Watercolor, Groovy Guava, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou Prints Designer Paper
Ink: Palette Noir, Groovy Guava, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Purely Pomegranate
Acc: sponge, aquapainter, WWC, word window punch, soft sky double stitched ribbon

TFL!
-Jana

PAR-TAY!

German Phrase of the Day: Heute abend kommen meine Freunde zu Besuch. = My friends are coming for a visit tonight. Right here...in my living room...through my computer! Yup...we're having a party tonight, and you're all invited!!

Tonight is THE night. Oh my gosh...I am so excited, and I can't even tell you how amazed you all are going to be. I can't show you the cards I was making this morning...at least...not yet. But tonight?! Oh yeah baby!!! (and I haven't even had any caffeine today!)

So, here are the deets:

You’re Invited to Our First Ever “Prettie Party”
When: Friday, January 11, 2008 at 7pm CST
Where: in the forum of our new website.

Please note, you’ll need to register as a user to the site, so please stop by a little early to make your way into the Forum. All you need to do is click on “register” below the member’s login. If you’ve already registered then you just log in and head to the forum!

Once in the Forum, look for “Parties” and we’ll all be meeting there at 7pm CST - that's 2am Saturday morning for us Europeans - don't worry...I'll have caffeine then!

Who: Everybody who loves to stamp!
Why: To celebrate our big announcement: There will be games, prizes, we’ll announce a customer submission contest, and LOTS of fun!!

In the meantime, the final clue has been posted by Christie, all the other Prettie Girls Charmaine Julie, me, Joanne and Jillian have also posted clues this week. Be sure to collect all the clues to register for the grand prize! Unscramble each of the clues, and re-arrange them to provide a complete sentence. Your final answer is due by 5 pm CST to paperprettiesprizes@yahoo.com

Stop by PaperPretties.net at 7pm CST to see what it is that we’ve been searching for all week and to see if you’ve won the grand prize!!

Knitabella for Mom

German Phrase of the Day: Ich freue mich auf das. = I am looking forward to it. Tomorrow that is. Big happenings over at Paper Pretties!! We're having a big party tomorrow night starting at 7pm CST in their new forum. Haven't been there yet? Be sure to go create yourself a login so you don't miss out on any of the fun!!

Today's card was done using sketch 157 from Splitcoast. I wanted to make a card with Knitabella for my mom - she's a knitter. I stamped her the other day when I was stamping a bunch of Bellas on watercolor paper using my Palette Noir ink.

I colored her in with an aquapainter and my watercolor wonder crayons. They are so easy to use, and I love having all the colors right in front of me! I chose colors using the Porcelain Prints paper - Not Quite Navy, Certainly Celery and a tiny bit of So Saffron for the yarn. Maybe she's knitting a baby blanket (and no...that is not a hint...I am not expecting mom!)

For the sentiment, I didn't have a stamp here that I liked, so I hand wrote the sentiment with a black gel pen. I don't have the best handwriting, but it works well enough. I clipped the corners with the SU! tag corner punch, sponged all the layers with Not Quite Navy ink, and assembled. I couldn't figure out where to add any ribbon...so I didn't! She's pretty simple, but I still like her!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Knitabella by StampingBella,
CS: Watercolor, Not Quite navy, Certainly Celery, Porcelain prints
Ink: Palette Noir, Not Quite Navy
Acc: sponge, aquapainter, WWC, tag corner punch

TFL!
-Jana

Snowflake was HERE?

If you’ve been following the hunt the last few days, you know by now that we’re searching for snowflake. However, if you’re just joining us, be sure to check back on Julie , Joanne and Jillian's blogs because they’re each received a clue this week. You’ll need all of the clues to register for the grand prize. Charmaine also received a clue today, so be sure to stop by her blog as well.

This morning, I found a note taped to my fridge reading “E I T H R” and at first I thought it was Julia writing German, but now I think it might be a clue. If you know what this means, please send the answer to paperprettiesprizes@yahoo.com for your chance at the daily prize. Charmaine also received a clue today, so be sure to stop by her blog as well because you’ll need both of today’s daily clues for the prize - the MFT set It's Elemental!

Please be sure to stop by PaperPretties.net on the 11th at 7pm CST to see what it is that we’ve been searching for all week and to see if you’re the winner of the grand prize!!

And the sale is still on through the end of day on the 10th! Be sure to pick up some great papers, ribbons, stamps, and more at the Pretties Boutique for 25% off using coupon code nwss25.

I won! I won!

German Phrase of the Day: Ich gewann! = I won! Gewann would be pronounced geh vahn. I'm so excited...I won another GinaK designs sketch challenge!! I was so surprised to have a pm from Erika Martin this morning at SCS when I woke up. I really didn't think I would win this time since I had so much trouble designing this card! Much more so than I usually do!! I cut out three different sets of paper before settling on the final card! WOW! Now I get to go shopping!! :-) Oh..and it was the second card with the stars that won.

I thought I would show you another GinaK card today...and I'm going to show you the before and after. This is one I submitted in my attempt at a position as one of Gina's guest designers back in December - using the set I won in the LAST launch party sketch challenge!! The first photo shows the original card. I spent a lot of time getting the colors right on the jeans, the shape of the pocket, and then coloring the phone, applying crystal effects to the screen and gray buttons, etc. I was happy with the quality of the work...but knew it was just so plain. I wanted to add something that wouldn't detract from the main image - and I liked the cuteness of having the phone in a back pocket. Then, early one morning while laying in bed I thought...rhinestones! Like the cute jeans everyone over here wears (and over there too) with the rhinestones on the pockets.

I also wanted to incorporate some ribbon somehow. There was TOO much blue for my taste, and it needed to be livened up some. I looked at different ways to add ribbon, making a Levi tag, a bow, something. Finally, I realized, a BELT! So with those two changes, the card became this! Suddenly, the card had come to life for me. It had more color, and much more pizazz! I loved it! What a fabulous Valentine's day card...especially for a tween!

Now for more details. I started with some Soft Sky, inked up my linen background stamp with Blue Bayou, then stamped off once before stamping on the cardstock. I did this to 2 quarter sheets so I could also make my pocket. Next, I sponged some white craft ink on the cardstock to fade the denim a little more. Once I was satisfied with that, I paper pierced the pocket and did the faux stitching with a More than Mustard marker. To attach the pocket, I used sticky strip along the sides and bottom, but I also put some dimensionals in, because I wanted to to stand up a little away from the card. When I added the belt loops later, I followed the same procedure for stamping and stitching. I just folded in the top and bottom edges and adhere the folded in part....just like on real jeans!

For the phone, I stamped it with Black Stazon on Stamper's Select white cardstock. Then, I watercolored it with Groovy Guava ink and my aquapainter. I made the number buttons a little darker, and tried to give them a little dimension with shading. For the screen and the gray buttons, I added some crystal effects to make them shiny. Then, I stamped the small flower from the Text Messages set with Purely Pomegranate and applied a rhinestone to the center after cutting it out. I attached a loop of silver cord to the back (since I don't have any wire over here, and no jump rings) then slipped it over the phone's antenna. It's not adhered at all...but easily could be with a dimensional or mini glue dot. I just like having it free to swing around - a little bling for my "handy." (That's what they call cell phones over here...funny, huh?)

For the belt, I used some Ribbon Originals ribbon, and the rhinestones are more of my wonderful self-adhesive rhinestones I buy over here at Pipoos. Think I'll have to stock up on those before I leave Europe...they are FUN!

It's amazing to me how little it takes to spruce up a plain Jane card. I am very pleased with the final product, and I hope you've enjoyed reading my thought process behind the whole thing.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Text Messages by GinaK Designs
CS: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Stamper's Select White from PTI
Ink: Jet Black Stazon, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, White Craft, more mustard marker, purely pomegranate
Acc: sponge, aquapainter, dimensionals, crafter's toolkit, ribbon originals, crystal effects, sticky strip, rhinestones from pipoos

TFL

Day 3 of the Search for Snowflake

Thanks for joining us for Day Three of our Search for Snowflake. Today’s clue is posted by Julie . Joanne and Jillian have also posted clues this week. Be sure to collect all the clues to register for the grand prize which will be drawn on Friday! Today’s prize is a Bella trio: snowbunnybella, veggiebella, and pompomabella! How cool is that?!

Also, for those of you who have checked out the sale at Paper Pretties and noticed the shipping seemed high, that bug has been fixed...so please head back on over! And if you haven't been there yet, what are you waiting for? There's still plenty of fabulous products that you can get for a great price!! Remember, 25% off ALLES (that's German for Everything - I hear that on the radio over her ALL the time!) just use the coupon code nwss25.

Birthday Bella Card

German Phrase of the Day: Morgan koche ich für dich. = Tomorrow I am going to cook for you. Hmmm...maybe this means I should find some good food oriented stamps upstairs and cook up something cute to show you all tomorrow. I won't promise anything yet...but I'll see what I can do! ;-)

Last week I had an email from my friend and only card customer that she needed a last minute birthday card for a friend. The only thing she told me was that she likes the color combo of deep turquoise and oatmeal/beige. For this particular friend, I know I can always count on Bella to keep her happy! So out came my trusty Cosmobella. She really is my go-to-gal when I need to make up a fun, celebratory card.

I started by stamping her with palette noir ink on watercolor paper. Next, I colored her in using my aquapainter and WWC - everything except her top. Her top I colored with a pink marker, because I knew I was adding stickles, and they tend to ruin any watercoloring underneath! I also "tarted" her up a bit (another Britishism) with some blue eyeshadow and glittery mascara. I applied some crystal effects to her glass, and when that was dry, a tiny line of glue across the top and some dazzling diamonds glitter to rim her glass with sugar. I grounded her with a little grey shadow, added some rhinestones to her sandals, and then stamped Cheers with Tempting Turquoise ink.

For the card itself, I started with a 5 1/4" by 10 1/2" piece of Taken With Teal (a good deep turquoise) folded and then layered Kraft on top that had been stamped with the swirls from Baroque Motifs. I lightly sponged the edges before adhering it down. Next, I attached Ms. Bella who had been layered on some more Taken with Teal cs. I dug through my bucket o' big primas, and pulled out some colors to go with the layout, then put a small cream colored one in the center along with a rhinestone brad.

Next, I had to figure out where and how to put the greeting on. I pulled out my PTI sets and decided that Faux Ribbon had the best options...so I stamped it, punched it with the small oval punch, and layered it with a large oval of more Taken with Teal. Lastly, I lightly sponged the edges of the card with some vanilla craft ink - not sure why, just decided it would look good!

Since this was for a friend to send, I also stamped a birthday cake from the new MFT Icing on the Cake set on the envelope. Have to have everything just right, right? :-)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Cosmobella by StampingBella, Faux Ribbon by Papertrey Ink, Baroque Motifs
CS: Watercolor, Kraft, Taken with Teal,
Ink: Palette Noir, Taken with Teal, Tempting Turquoise
Acc: sponge, aquapainter, WWC, Primas, stickles, rhinestone brad, mini rhinestones, oval punches, crystal effects, dazzling diamonds glitter

TFL!
-Jana

The Search continues...

Today’s clues is posted by Jillian . If you didn’t collect yesterday’s clue, please be sure to visit Joanne’s Blog you’ll need all the clues to register for the grand prize! Today’s prize is the brand new (to be released TOMORROW) My Favorite Things stamp set Be Mine. And to see the winner of yesterday's clue, visit Christie's blog!

Don't forget, there's a great SALE going at the Paper Pretties Boutique, now through January 10th receive 25% off EVERYTHING when you use coupon code nwss25 at checkout. New things are being added daily, and I know a WHOLE bunch of gorgeous ribbon was just added - so go check it out before it's gone!

GinaK release party Sketch Challenge X2

German Phrase of the Day: Er ist sehr hoeflich. = He is very polite. I suppose I could say Sie ist sehr hoeflich (SHE is very polite) but I'm not sure I'd find anyone in my family to match that phrase either! Oh well! ;-)

I did NOT stay up for the release party this weekend. I decided 2am to 5am was a little more than I could handle. Although...with the excitement coming up THIS friday night, I'll probably have to stay up. But...my lips are sealed! ;-)

Even though I didn't stay up for the party, I still managed to get a couple of cards done for the sketch challenges. The first sketch was posted by Carolyn King, who designed that adorable new set Dr. Feelgood. For my card, I used the Make a Wish set and the Punchy Words set. I stamped the cake on my confetti white card (where I had already trimmed 1.25 inches off the front) and colored it with ink pads and my aquapainter. I colored the tray with my G01 copic marker (I only have 4 Copics so far...but I do like the ones I have!) Next, I punched out the 1/2" circles from Blue Bayou cardstock, and adhered them down the side (I actually started in the center so it would be even at each end...I know...I'm a little anal!) Then I added the Soft Sky ribbon.

Now was the hard part. I had to ink up my punchy words stamp with Blue Bayou, then remove the ink from the outer ring, and then add purely pomegranate using just the corner of my ink pad. I really wish we could get markers in the In Colors, ya know?! Anyway, after stamping that and punching it, I mounted it on a purely pomegranate circle, then adhered that with a dimensional. Lastly, I added the stickles and let it dry overnight. Gotta have some sparkle for your birthday, right?! And the stickles give it such a wonderful 3D look.











For the second card, I decided to use the stars from Make A Wish first, then built the card from there. Erika did the sketch for this one, and I LOVED her samples, but didn't have any GinaK sets with small images that would work as well...so I decided a panel filled with stars would be fun. I played with a few different designer papers, and decided on my stella ruby paper that my friend Stephanie (Hi Steph...are you gonna start blogging again?!) sent to me. I like it because it looks a bit like a night sky...perfect for stars, right?

I stamped the first set of stars full on, with the lines going off the edge of the paper. Then, I just inked part of the stamp for each successive stamp using a marker so I would only have one "shooting" star. For the greeting, I used Old Olive, and put Old Olive brads on either side. I sponged all the layers as assembling - and even sponged a little extra So Saffron on top of the stars - then added the little bit of ribbon to set them off a little more. I wasn't so sure about this card at first, but now I'm very happy with it! :-)

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Make a Wish and Punchy Words by GinaK Designs
CS: So Saffron, Old Olive, Whisper White, Blue Bayou, Confetti White, Stella Ruby from Basic Gray
Ink: Palette Noir, So Saffron, Old Olive, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Purely Pomegranate
Acc: sponge, aquapainter, dimensionals, double stitched soft sky ribbon, gold organdy ribbon, gold cord, stickles, circle punches

TFL!

The Prettie Girls are BACK...but we've lost something!

We took a little break from our Wednesday challenge, but The Prettie Girls are back! We’re on a hunt and we hope you’ll join us. There will be daily prizes along the way, and a grand prize winner at the end of the hunt. All you need to do is collect the daily clues, unscramble them and submit your answers to paperprettiesprizes@yahoo.com for the chance at prizes along the way. At the end of the week, you’ll need to put the clues together and send your answer to paperprettiesprizes@yahoo.com for a chance at the grand prize!

Ready to get started? Please visit Joanne’s Blog to get started. Today’s prize is the Paper Pretties Premium Expectafellabella kit!

And don't forget, EVERYTHING in the Paper Pretties Boutique is 25% off now through January 10th! Just use the coupon code nwss25 when checking out to receive your discount!

Paper Pretties Card Remix...

German Phrase of the Day: Verlass mich bitte nicht. = Please don't leave me. I feel this way everytime I get an unsubscribe notice from Feedblitz. Although...I just unsubscribed via Feedblitz from all the blogs I had subscribed to before switching to Google Reader. I finally decided I didn't need my inbox flooded anymore. However, I did discover that when unsubscribing, you get to explain why...so from now on I'll read why! Maybe others are switching to Google reader too! :-)

Before I start talking about today's card, I have to tell you all that MY IPOD WORKS!!! I was SOOO happy the other day. I plugged it in to charge, and it turned right on. Thank you Nancy for giving me hope!! I am VERY relieved!!

Ok...remember when I posted my Paper Pretties box card last week? I said I wanted to play around with the contents of the box and see what else I could come up with? Well...here it is.

I started with a sketch from Kurt Amundson. This kid (I suppose I should say young man, but I'm feeling old today, and he's just a baby in my mind!) creates the most gorgeous, amazing pieces of artwork! Anyway, had his sketch in front of me, and I pulled the supplies out of my box. That made the card go SUPER fast, because I really didn't have to think! I stamped the image on the Metallic Luster cardstock and colored her in. Then, I stamped it again on the Paper Salon Plaid paper to paper piece her coat again. Then I trimmed the cardstock close to the outline because I wanted a bit larger matting with my icy blue.I trimmed down the Great Lakes cardstock and tore the edges (I used a little of the torn bit to stamp the hat on...clever of me, no?) I paper pierced the Icy Blue (just on the corners this time) added the snowflake brad, then assembled it all. Lastly, I stamped the sentiment, then added the cut out hat (on a dimensional) on which I had colored the band white with my gel pen. I really love getting these boxes with everything in them...it's nice once in a while to not have to think about what papers etc I'm going to use. Thank you Christie!

Supplies: (all supplies from Paper Pretties unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Baby it's Cold Outside by My Favorite Things
CS: Bazzill Lavender Twilight, Metallic Luster, turquoise icy blue and great lakes cs; Paper Salon snowday plaid and snowday clitter multiflakes designer papers
Ink: Palette Noir, SU! Markers
Acc: white organdy ribbon, snowflake paperfastener, swarovski crystals

TFL!
-Jana

What's YOUR word?

Ali Edwards of Scrappin' fame has started a trend that I've seen on a few blogs. She selected a word to represent this next year for her - and encouraged others to do the same.

So...following that advice, my word for 2008 is...

jour·ney /ˈdʒɜrni/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[jur-nee] n.

1.	a traveling from one place to another, usually taking a rather long time; trip: a six-day journey across the desert.

2.	a distance, course, or area traveled or suitable for traveling: a desert journey.

3.	a period of travel: a week's journey.

4.	passage or progress from one stage to another: the journey to success.

–verb (used without object)

5.	to make a journey; travel.

(definition from dictionary.com)

But I have to say I like the definition best from Define Your Life in the SU! catalog:

jour ney: {jur-ne} n. An experience or process that leaves you changed; trail of experience. From here to there.

Our life here in Europe has for sure been a journey for all of us. A journey of discovery about ourselves and each other , as well as discovery about the many countries we've visited. And in this coming year, our journey will bring us back "home" to the US - somewhere! And while we don't know where yet, it will be an interesting journey making that discovery as well! Enjoy your journies...they are what make life special!

Hope you all have a wonderful day...I'll be back with another card soon!

Big Sale at Paper Pretties

Hey everyone...just had to let you know before I go to bed (it's a little after midnight here!) that Christie is having a sale this week. 25% off EVERYTHING in the Paper Pretties store!! Fabulous, huh?!? We're adding products left and right...but it's all going to be on SALE! I've already picked out a few things I can't live without...so don't go ordering those before I get them reserved, ok?! The sale goes until January 10th!

To get the discount, simply type nwss25 as the coupon code, and you're set! Easy peasy, right?

If you haven't checked out the new site yet, it's awesome! We've got a new forum, and you can read all about wonderful me (and the other Prettie girls of course!) in the Powder Room, and the Paper Clip is for all the latest news.

Have a great evening everyone! And go SHOP!

Giddyup Cowgirl!

German Phrase of the Day: Heute wollen wir Plätzchen backen! - Today we want to bake cookies! Actually...I think I baked enough cookies last month so I'll hold off on this for a while.

Yesterday I was so thrilled to see Beate had a new weekend sketch challenge (WSC29), I just knew I had to do it! Julia was EXTREMELY cooperative yesterday, and we spent all afternoon in our craft room together. She made a Bella hospital with the pregnant Teddybella, doctorbella, and for the after mamabella. Then...she got to have a giddyupabella and another doctorbella to be a vet! She was quite busy, giving me plenty of time to whip out a few cards! :-)

Since she was happy playing with Bellas, I thought I would stamp a few out that I hadn't played with yet on some watercolor paper so they'd be ready whenever I had a few minutes to play. I got Giddyupabella back in November (actually, maybe even earlier...I'm not sure!) but hadn't played with her yet. She is stamped in palette noir on watercolor paper, and colored in with aquapainter and watercolor wonder crayons. I picked the colors from the Outlaw designer paper.

For the card base, I started with some Really Rust 5 1/4" square, sponged with rust. I sponged the dp with chocolate chip and adhered it down. Then, I pulled out some old Magic Mesh I still had lying around, and made my horizontal strip with that. I layered bella on some mellow moss (sponged) and then adhered her down. Lastly, I stamped the flower image from True Friend, inking it first with Mellow Moss, then coloring the petals with my Really Rust marker, and the outlying dots with chocolate chip. I punched it with my 1 1/4" circle punch, then mounted it on a 1 3/8" really rust circle. I punched a hole in the center and put in a vintage brad before popping it on with a dimensional. Overall, a pretty easy and quick card once you get the watercoloring done.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Giddyupabella by StampingBella, True Friend
CS: Watercolor, Really Rust, Mellow Moss, Outlaw DSP
Ink: Palette Noir, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, Mellow Moss
Acc: sponge, aquapainter, WWC, magic mesh, circle punches, vintage brads

TFL!
-Jana

Rain, Rain, Go away!

German Phrase of the Day: Warum bist du so empfindlich? = Why are you so sensitive? This applies to my daughter for sure. Please tell me she is not the only 5 year old that can go from happy and laughing to crying to screaming that she hates everything all in less than 5 minutes?! I don't know how I'm going to survive this....but I sure hope it's a phase!

Here's another card I made based on MJ's card sketch at Beauty Lies Within. I wanted to use my new Rain or Shine set from My Favorite Things. I hadn't used it yet, and I really needed to get it dirty! Since it's raining, I needed to use the gray, and I thought soft sky and purely pomegranate would go well with that. I thought I had bought the soft sky prints paper, but apparently I didn't. I only had the Blue Bayou, so that's what I used to paper piece her coat and the matching sweater for her little pooch - after stamping the image on Stamper's Select White with Palette Noir ink. I colored the image with an aquapainter and ink pads, then covered the puddle with crystal effects.

Next, I stamped the umbrella with Purely Pomegranate ink onto the same white cardstock and cut it out. I adhered it on the other layered image with dimensionals, then added crystal effects to that as well. I stamped the rain drops with versamark on my basic gray layer, then embossed them with crystal clear embossing powder. I sponged the edges with some basic gray ink, then layered it on my Soft Sky 5.25" card base. Then, I added the Purely Pomegranate strip (sponged, of course) with the ribbon. I layered the central image on top of that, and then stamped the sentiment and punched it out with the word window punch. On the inside I stamped "I'm Here for You." I thought this would be a great card to send to a friend of mine who's husband has been going through Chemo for the past many months.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Rain or Shine by My Favorite Things
CS: Papertrey Ink's Stamper's Select white, Soft Sky, Basic Gray, Purely Pomegranate, Blue Bayou Prints DSP
Ink: Palette Noir, Purely Pomegranate, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Versamark
Acc: Crystal Effects, crystal clear ep, sponge, dimensionals, word window punch, soft sky double stitched ribbon

TFL!
-Jana

BIG news!!!

Ok...I've been keeping a secret from you all. I'm sorry. I promise I'll try not to do this too regularly, but I was asked just before Christmas to join the Prettie Girls by Paper Pretties owner, Christie Ortman! I mean me...a Prettie Girl?? Oh, I was over the moon with excitement, and it hasn't died down yet! :-)

So...you'll see over on the right hand side a list of links to all the other Prettie Girls. Wow...such an honor to be listed with all that talent! I'll have some fabulous stuff to show you soon...Christie has some great surprises for everyone up her sleeve, and I can't wait to share - of course Canada Post and Deutsche Post need to come through first, but I'm hopeful. :-)

Thanks everyone for letting me share my excitement about this!!

TFL!
-Jana

I am the biggest doofus head ever!!!

I was doing my laundry like a good little Haus Frau, and had just moved everything to the dryer and started it. It went kaplunk, kaplunk, kaplunk, so I stopped it and felt around - figuring I'd find one of Julia's plastic animals. Nope...no such luck. I found my iPod Nano. I muttered many expletives and am now ready to cry. How can I clean without my tunes? I think I'll go curl up in the fetal position for a while now. Just FYI...iPods and water don't mix. Or soap. Or washing machines. Or probably even dryers. Oh well.

Cruising with Basic Gray

German Phrase of the Day: Du kannst mir vertrauen. = You can trust me. Doesn't that sounds like a used car salesman? Perfect for cruisabella!

I wanted to make a card for Jen Del Muro's Sketch for You to Try. (WARNING: When you go visit this blog entry, you WILL want to look at all the other American Art stamps that she links to - I assume NO responsibility whatsoever for your wallet! I already lost mine!!) And anytime I see a sketch with a tall skinny image who comes to mind, but Bella!

My good friend Stephanie in Canada (Hi Steph!!) sent me the 6 by 6 pack of Stella Ruby paper from Basic Gray while I was in the states last(THANK YOU!) and I knew I wanted to use that. I flipped through and thought the stripes would go well with the car...give it some movement! I took the colors from the paper - chocolate chip, ruby red, groovy guava, and some So saffron and celery highlights. Then, I watercolored her, layered her, and attached her over the wide chocolate grosgrain ribbon.

Lastly, I had to think about how to add an embellishment. I didn't want a flower, then I remembered my build a brads that I hadn't used yet. I pulled them down, then found a sentiment I could punch to fit inside - this one is from SU!'s Circle of Friendship and says Hip Hip Hooray! That is what my dh would say if I were ever able to afford to buy him this car! ;-) And if I looked as cute as Bella does. LOL!!

This Bella is makeup free. Lately I've been "tarting" them up (as my friend Lisa would say!) but this one is just out for a pleasure drive and enjoying the wind in her hair and doesn't give a hoot how she looks! (Of course she's gorgeous though...she's Bella!)

Anyway, hope you've enjoyed today's card and rambling! More coming soon!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Cruisabella by StampingBella, Circle of Friendship
CS: Confetti White, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip, Basic Gray Stella Ruby
Ink: Stazon black, Chocolate Chip, groovy guava
Acc: sponge, aquapainter, WWC, wide chocolate grosgrain, 1/2" circle punch, build a brad antique brass

TFL!
-Jana

Happy Cupcake Day, Daddy!!

German Phrase of the Day: Meine Freunde sind mir sehr wichtig. My friends are very important to me. This phrase is very true - I don't know how I would get through life without my friends!

I'm also fortunate enough that some of my best friends are also my family. My husband, my siblings, and my parents. Today, is my Daddy's birthday...so I thought a birthday card would be appropriate. Of course, I still have his bday card here that I made months ago and was supposed to give him when I saw him in New Jersey...oh well! I'll give him a call later today though, so he won't mind!

For the layout for this card I used Julee's Mojo Monday #17 sketch (better late than never, right?) What a fun sketch to use! I also used some fun SU! Prints Designer Paper, and MFT's Icing on the Cake and a color combo that I found laying on my desk. I started with my punched scalloped circle because I knew I wanted to use designer paper for that, and I built the rest of the layers from that. I used my coluzzle for the white circle (Papertrey Ink's Stamper's select white - I'm almost out so will have to get some more soon!) and stamped the cupcake first with palette noir ink, then masked it using my Eclipse masking tape. That stuff is AWESOME! If you haven't tried it yet, you can get it at the Paper Pretties store as well as other places.

Once the cupcake was masked, I stamped the stand in Blue Bayou ink. I'm not sure I like it in Blue Bayou...but I guess it's ok. After coloring in the cupcake (carefully so as not to run the ink from the stand...guess I should have colored it before masking it!) I sponged the edges of the circle first with River rock, then just a tiny hint of chocolate chip. I layered the circle onto the punched dsp (which was also sponged just with river rock though) then I had to decide what to use for the rest of the layers.

I chose Blue Bayou for my standard card base, and layered some blue bayou prints designer paper on top of it (sponged of course!) Then I used some Chocolate Chip satin ribbon layered on river rock for the center strip, then punched circles from river rock and blue bayou for the edges. I layered the circles, then cut them in half to make the 2 little tabs that appear on the sketch. After assembling everything, I stamped and punched the saying. This sketch was awesome, and will for sure go in my sketch book for future uses! Thanks Julee!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Icing on the Cake by My Favorite Things
CS: Papertrey Ink's Stamper's Select white, Blue Bayou, River Rock, Blue Bayou and River Rock Prints DSP
Ink: Palette Noir, River Rock, Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip, Ruby REd
Acc: Chocolate Chip satin ribbon, sponge, dimensionals, word window punch, circle punches, Marvy giga scalloped circle punch, eclipse masking tape

TFL!
-Jana

Glückliches neues Jahr!

German Phrase of the Day: Glückliches neues Jahr! = Happy New Year! We had a wonderful time bringing in the new year last night with friends - including some crazy fireworks!!

Today's card uses last week's CPS sketch, sketch #44. I really liked the sketch...but the image I used was so big I had to leave part of it off! However, I have been wanting to make a card with this image since getting this wonderful GinaK stamp set Got Snow over a month ago, and finally got to it this week! I used to go tobogganing with my family a lot as a child, so this brings back good memories! And you all do know that she's launching a bunch of new sets in just a few more days, right? Guess I'm gonna have another early morning coming up soon!! ;-)

I stamped the image with Palette Noir ink on Stamper's Select white cardstock and colored it in with aquapainter and ink pads. Then, I mounted it on some Night of Navy cs, and cut the ring from N of Navy using my Coluzzle. For the card base I used Night of Navy again, with a layer of the snowflake paper from SU!'s retired Holiday Thyme DSP - I love that snowflake paper - that I sponged. I popped the main image up on Dimensionals, and finished the card by stamping the sentiment in Night of Navy ink.

On the close up photo you can see the watercoloring a little better. I stamped 2 images at once and made a second card not using a sketch (I know, shocking!) and the scraps I had on my table. I actually think I like the second one a little better, but they are both fun!

I hope you all have a wonderful 2008. Thanks so much for continuing to visit me here, and providing me with a place to ramble.

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Got Snow? by GinaK Designs
CS: Stamper's Select White from PaperTrey Ink, Night of Navy, Holiday Thyme DSP
Ink: Palette Noir, Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Blush Blossom, Pretty in Pink, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Ruby Red, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum
Acc: sponge, aquapainter, coluzzle, dimensionals (ribbon and word window punch on the 2nd version!)

TFL!
-Jana