Card Designs by Jess

PTI 5th Anniversary Day 7 Challenge: Hearts

2012-02-11T15:50:00.000-06:00

Hello and Happy Saturday! I hope you are enjoying the day and staying warm! It has gotten quite cool here, and should be darn right cold tonight! It's the wind that's making feel way colder! Still no snow this year, though! :(
So, the challenge today is hearts. With all the Valentine's cards I've made this year, I still need one for my husband, so initial thought when I saw this challenge was, 'great!'. humph! However many hours later, I have 1 very clean and simple card so far! Mojo is not cooperating today, so far! I am hoping to come up with more this afternoon- evening, but we shall see. I think part of the problem is that I just got this in the mail:

So, of course I am now wanting to organize, label, etc., It is holding my new Papertrey Inks and some of my ribbon. My first thoughts are, I wish I would've gotten two. Or one for ink, one for ribbon. My husband is going to help me hang it on the wall when he gets home from work. I bought it from Organize More the beginning of January. So, it does take a few weeks, but they are all made to order, and boy are they well made! Very nice! I love it! And really want another one ASAP!
So, here is the card I made:

I embossed the heart border. And the pink heart is PTI's Shimmer pink die cut with the large heart die, then cut the medium heart out, then replaced with a Sweet Blush medium pink heart, stamped in Pure Poppy with the Silhouette from Love & Marriage, and clear rhinestone heart. Hopefully better things to come later today, if not tomorrow! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies: (All PTI, unless otherwise noted)

Paper: Rustic Cream, Kraft, Sweet Blush, Shimmer Pink

Stamps: Love & Marriage

Dies: Hearts, Heart Border

Other: Heart rhinestones

PTI 5th Anniversary Day 6: Sketch

2012-02-10T22:15:00.000-06:00

Hey there! Friday night! Woohoo! I came home and needed to make a card for a woman to give her son, who is in college, for Valentine's Day. Eek! Tough one! I also wanted to get in some cards for today's Sketch challenges, but only got this one done. Ah, well. I have the next two days to play more!

I chose to use this sketch:

And this is what I came up with:

That's all for today! As always, I really appreciate you taking the time to visit my blog!

Supplies: (All Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise noted)

Paper: Stamper's Select, Pure Poppy, Smokey Shadow, Echo Park Patterned Paper

Stamps: Happy Day

Dies: Hearts, Limitless Layers Ovals, Double-ended banner, Heart border (for scallops), envelope liner

PTI 5th Anniversary Day 5: Pinterest

2012-02-09T20:56:00.000-06:00

Hi there! I am back today with a quick card for today's Papertrey Inks 5th Anniversary Challenge:

As I have mentioned many times, I normally only craft on the weekends. Mainly because I am too tired during the week after work, have such limited time, but also because I have a hard time getting a good picture indoors, at night. Well, I had to get in on the challenge today, so I came home and went straight to my craft room and started cranking my Cuttlebug (a lot)! My poor husband and I haven't even had dinner yet, so I am going to get on with my card and get cooking (a quick meal)! ;)

Today's challenge was to make a card inspired by a picture on Pinterest, since Papertrey Ink is now on Pinterest! Yay! I LOVE Pinterest! I spend a lot of time there, get a lot of inspiration there, and am responsible for getting a lot of people addicted to Pinterest! hee hee.

So, here is the picture I found on Pinterest:

And here is my card:

Supplies:
Paper: Stamper's Select, Hibiscus Burst, Echo Park patterned paper
Stamps: Happy Trails
Die: Happy Trails
Other: Kaisercraft Rhinestones

Okie Dokie, I think that's it! Thank you so much for stopping by! It means so much to me that you take the time to visit my blog! If you would like to check out my Pinterest boards, there is a button up towards to the right side, or click here.

PTI 5th Anniversary Day 4: Color Combo, Take 4

2012-02-08T19:55:00.001-06:00

Okay, last one for today's color combo challenge(s) for Papertrey Ink's 5th Anniversary Celebration!

So, I was a crafting machine today! I am a very slow crafter, and tend to really over think things, so for me to whip up 4 cards this afternoon was a lot for me! I usually only have time to craft on the weekends, because of my work and commute, but I happened to get sick and stayed home, so I wanted to make the most of my time! If you are visiting my blog, then you are probably like me, and really love Papertrey Ink! Most people probably don't understand how much Papertrey Ink means to me, and why it means so much to participate in the festivities going on this week, but you get it, right? And, those prizes? Come On! Oh, how happy I would be to win any of the prize packages they've been offering up every day! Anyway, back to my final card for today. I chose to work with Lisa Johnson's lovely color combo:

And this is what I came up with:

Supplies: (All Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted)
Paper: Kraft, Aqua Mist
Stamps: Through the Trees, Signature Series: Flower for sentiment
Dies: Mega Mat Stack 4, Woodgrain Impression Plate

PTI 5th Anniversary Day 5: Color Combo, Take 3

2012-02-08T19:28:00.000-06:00

Back again with another color combo for...

This time I was drawn to the colors that Betsy Veldman chose:

They seemed very fun, so I tried to make a fun card:

I used Plum Pudding for the card base. I stamped the Chevrons in Berry Sorbet, Aqua Mist, Kraft and Melon Berry (Old formula). I also stamped the Tiny Tag in Melon Berry and Berry Sorbet.

Supplies: (All Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise noted)
Paper: Stamper's Select, Plum Pudding
Stamps: Background Basics: Chevrons, Tiny Tags, Rosie Posie
Dies: Rosie Posie, Tiny Tags
Other: Plum twine, Irridecent rhinestones by Queen & Co.

PTI 5th Anniversary Day 5: Color Combo, Take 2

2012-02-08T19:15:00.000-06:00

I'm back with my next card...

This time I chose to work with Heather Nichols color combo:

I thought the soft colors would make a nice Sympathy card, and I'd bought the With Sympathy set off a forum friend awhile ago, and hadn't used it yet, so took the opportunity to finally ink it up!

I heat embossed the main image with clear embossing powder on the Vintage Cream panel. I used Spring Moss ink on the stems, Kraft ink on the cat tails? and Aqua Mist on the butterfly and sentiment.

Supplies: (All Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise noted)

Paper: Kraft, Vintage Cream, Aqua Mist

Stamps: With Sympathy, Gracious Vases for sentiment

Other: Kraft ribbon, Queen & Co. pearls

Papertrey Ink's 5th Anniversary Day 5: Color Combo

2012-02-08T18:41:00.000-06:00

Happy Hump Day! I am stopping in real quick to post one of a few cards I made today for todays Anniversary challenges at Papertrey Ink!

Today we were given color combos that each of the designers picked as their favorite.

The first color combo I worked from was Dawn's:

And here is what I came up with:

There is a lot going on with this card. A little different than I normally make, but I like how it turned out. I had a piece of Ripe Avocado in my scrap file that had been embossed with the Vineyard Impression Plate, so I cut it with the Turning a New Leaf die, and my card just kind of evolved from there. I die cut the Mat Stack 5 die from Berry Sorbet and stamped it in Raspberry Fizz with Modern Wood Mats. There are also two layers of Beautiful Blooms dies and the larger is stamped in Raspberry Fizz, the smaller in Berry Sorbet, both in the smaller Houndstooth.

I'll be back in a few with my next card!

One thing before I go, I've gotten really behind visiting some of my favorite blogs, so if I haven't been by your blog in a few days, I'll be catching up in the next couple days!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Supplies: (All Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise stated)

Paper: Stamper's Select, Berry Sorbet, 2008 Bitty Boxes

Stamps: Modern Wood Mats, Houndstooth, Gracious Vases for sentiment

Dies: Turning a New Leaf, Beautiful Blooms #2, Edgers #1, Mat Stack #5, Double ended banner

Other: Raspberry Fizz Ribbon, Ripe Avocado button, Cream button twine, Raspberry Rhinestones

Make it Monday #52: Double Sided Stamped Die Cuts

2012-02-07T17:45:00.000-06:00

Hey all! I found a little time today to participate in this weeks Make it Monday! This week Erin created such a unique card and challenge, I just had to play along! We were asked to make a card using our die cuts by stamping both sides of it and showing the other side. I tried to think outside the box a little, and hope I did something a little different with mine. I am pleased with how it turned out and glad I was able to play along! Here is my version:

That's all for now! Thanks so much for stopping by today! It means so much to me! =)

Supplies: (All Papertrey Ink unless otherwise stated)
Paper: Vintage Cream, True Black, Aqua Mist
Stamps: Love and Marriage, Half and Half
Dies: Half and Half
Other: Aqua Mist ribbon and black rhinestones from stash

Papertrey Ink's 5th Anniversary Day 1

2012-02-05T16:50:00.000-06:00

Hello! Today is day 1 of Papertrey Ink's 5th Anniversary festivities! We were asked to pick one of the designers favorite cards and make our own based on inspiration from their cards. I chose the card(s) Betsy picked as her favorite. I remember when she posted those originally, and always loved them and had been wanted to recreate them, anyway! So, this is what I did with her cards in mind:

I think I may have gotten a little carried away with my stamping. lol.

Supplies: (All Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted)
Paper: Vintage Cream, Beautiful Blooms pp
Stamps: Big and Bold Wishes, Say it With Style, Tiny Tags, Modern Wood Mats, Mat Stack 4 Collection, Peaceful Garden, Botanical Silhouettes
Ink: Pure Poppy, Hawaiian Shores
Other: Pure Poppy button and Twine

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I'm off to see what everyone else did today with this challenge!

Love You

2012-02-03T16:45:00.000-06:00

Hey there! Happy Friday! Just stopping in to share a card I made a couple weeks ago and never got around to posting, yet. I actually saw the layout used by a few different people, so it may have been from a sketch challenge or something, originally. Anyway, I liked it and needed some Valentine inspo, and came up with this:

I have trouble with truly CAS cards, and just *had* to add more, so I added the banner using the little stamps from Love & Marriage. I also added some glitter for a little something extra. Here is a close-up of that:

Supplies: (all Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise stated)
Paper: Stampers Select, Sweet Blush, Raspberry Fizz
Stamps: Love and Marriage, Say it with Style, BB: Text Style
Dies: Hearts
Other: Sweet Blush button, 1/4" silk ribbon, Doodlebug Valentine twine, Prisma glitter

That's all for now! Hoping to have a crafty weekend and getting excited to participate in all the anniversary festivities starting on Sunday!!! Are you excited??

Make It Monday #50: Shaker Card

2012-01-28T17:45:00.000-06:00

Hey guys! Hope you're enjoying a lovely Saturday! It's been a nice, relaxing day here, with some time spent in the craft room this afternoon. A perfect day! I wanted to play along with this weeks Make It Monday, where the challenge this week was to make a Shaker card. I have always wanted to try one, and this was the perfect excuse to actually do it! Since I'm still in Valentine's mode, I chose to use the heart die as Heather did. Here is my take:

Sorry about the glare on the clear cardstock! Thanks so much for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Supplies: (All Papertrey Ink unless otherwise stated)
Paper: True Black, Stampers Select, Pure Poppy, Clearly Creative, Echo Park
Stamps: BB: Houndstooth, Think Big Favorites #12
Dies: Mat Stack and Layerz #4, Heart, Heart Border
Other: Country Companions heart gems, Heart Confetti

Together Forever

2012-01-27T10:20:00.000-06:00

Hello and Happy Friday! Are you as ready for the weekend as I am!? I will have the house to myself on Saturday, so I'm hoping to get a lot accomplished this weekend (besides just catching up on my Real Housewives of Beverly Hills)! Ha! Gotta love those guilty pleasures!
Anyway, I am stopping in to share a card I made a couple weeks ago. It's a CASE of this card by Kristina Werner. I really loved that card when I saw it, and wanted to make something similar using what I had, so I came up with this:

Supplies:
Paper: October Afternoon (Farmhouse) and Stamper's Select
Stamps: Love and Marriage
Dies: Doily Details and heart (both Papertrey Ink)
Other: Grey twine, Smokey Shadow ink

Thanks so much for stopping by today!
Have a great weekend!

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

2012-01-25T09:00:00.000-06:00

It's the 25th of January, which means it's time for Papertrey Ink's monthly blog hop. As I mentioned in a previous post and in keeping with my goal this year to participate in more Make It Mondays and Blog Hops, I am finally joining in my first blog hop! It's about time!
The Challenge this month was to first pick your favorite Papertrey project from 2011. Then are asked to take it a step further and create a second card inspired by our first card. The details can be found on Nichole's blog.
So for my favorite card, I chose a card I posted in November here.

The reason I picked this card, is because I've just always thought this card was pretty. I love the layout with the edger die used along the bottom, and the pretty papers and colors. I like the doily, and I really like that seam binding ribbon! This was my first attempt at using seam binding ribbon.
So, for my inspired by card, this is what I came up with:

I kept the same layout, just using a different Edger die along the bottom. I also just had to use my new Limitless Layers Ovals, instead of the doily, and used a lighter shade of Seam Binding to match the patterned papers. I still like the original better, but this was definitely a lot of fun!
Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by my blog! Now I am off to hop around! I can't wait to see the amazing creations you Papertrey fans came up with!

Supplies:
Paper: Stamper's Select, Smokey Shadow, Echo Park (Yours Truly), and Wassaw (shimmer for key)
Stamps: Lock and Key
Dies: Edgers #3, Limitless Layers Ovals 2.25, Lock and Key
Ink: Smokey Shadow
Other: Martha Stewart Pearls, Smokey Shadow button, Seam Binding Ribbon

Have a Crafty Day!

Another Valentine

2012-01-23T10:00:00.001-06:00

Good Morning! It's Monday! So, I'm going to keep it short and sweet once again! Here is another Valentine's card I made:

Supplies: (All Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise noted)
Paper: Pure Poppy, Stampers Select, Echo Park for patterned, Wassaw for dark grey shimmer
Stamps: Lock and Key, It's Official for lines on notebook page
Dies: Lock and Key, Filigree border, Notebook page, Edgers #1
Other: Smokey Shadow ribbon, Martha Stewart gems, Vintage Touch Tea Dye Duo Ink

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you have a great day!

xoxo

2012-01-20T09:31:00.000-06:00

Hello and Happy Friday!!! I'm going to keep it short today. I just wanted to share one of the Valentines cards I have made for the shop.

And a close up of all the sparkle:

Supplies: (All Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted)

Paper: Stamper's Select White, Pure Poppy, True Black
Stamps: Love & Marriage, Stitches & Swirls, Tiny Tags
Ink: Jenni Bowlin (Cough Syrup), Memento Tuxedo Black
Other: Tiny Tags die, Prisma Glitter, Doddlebug Valentine Twine

I think that's it! I hope you like it! I'll be back with more Valentine's soon!
Have a GREAT weekend and Thanks for stopping by!

Make It Monday #49

2012-01-19T08:53:00.000-06:00

Good Morning! So, one of my "New Years Resolutions" this year was to participate more in Make It Mondays and Blog Hops with Papertrey Ink. And when I saw the incredible card and technique by Betsy on Monday, I knew I had to get in on this one! I quickly made this card after work on Tuesday night, and wanted to get it posted right away, but wanted to wait for daylight to take the picture, so brought it to work with me yesterday. I got the pic then my batteries immediately died before I could upload the pic! So I spent last night recharging the batteries, and am finally here today to post my card! Whew! Such a fiasco!

So, If you have tried this technique, you already know this, but if you haven't, let me give you this tip...be careful with the ink on the velum it will stay wet and it will get on your hands and rub off on your card base! And with limited time during the week, I just had to roll with it! So, just don't look too closely, K? Thanks! ;)
I used the same Label Basics as Betsy, just used a rectangle. I also used Simple Sunflower, and Happy Trails for the sentiment. The inks are Summer Sunrise and Canyon Clay. The ribbon is also Canyon Clay.
I hope you like my take on the challenge! And I'll be back soon with some Valentine's I've been busy working on! Oh, and wish me luck with my puppy search! We decided we needed a new dog! We've just been missing our Mickey so much! We are going to look at one tonight after work, but I am not sure about this one. I haven't seen a pic, it is a Rat Terrier- Chihuahua mix and is apparently kind of a scared dog. Nice and sweet, but has been moved around a lot a so scared. So, we will see. I want to make sure we get the right dog, as it will be a part of our family for many years to come!

Have a GREAT day!

Valentine's Card

2012-01-03T11:28:00.000-06:00

Hello and Happy New Year! I hope 2012 is treating you well so far and you had a great weekend! We spent a little time with the family New Years Eve and Day, and the rest of the time we watched a couple movies, and I spent some time in my craft room. Pretty quiet, but nice. I started on some Valentine's that will be displayed for sale at the Jewel Shoppe in town. I wish I had gotten done more than I did, but I got a start, anyway. And this is one of them:

Supplies:
Paper: Patterned (Echo Park), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink)
Stamps: Love & Marriage (Papertrey Ink)
Misc: Dies: Heart border and Filigree (Papertrey); Button (Papertrey)
Twine and Silver Pearls

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Last of the Christmas Cards

2011-12-28T12:19:00.000-06:00

Hello! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! I know I absolutely did! I loved everything about it and didn't want it to end! I meant to get online and post the rest of my Christmas cards, but time just seemed to slip away from me! I'm sure you know how that is! :)
First, I'd like to share my very favorite Christmas card of the season! I made it for my hubby!

I told my husband he was definitely special, because I used my precious Papertrey Ink felt for the tree on his card! ;) The stockings are some brads I've had in my stash for years! The patterned paper and border sticker are last years Echo Park collection. I added some gems to the felt tree and tied some jingle bells on with some twine! Oh, and the sentiments got stamped on the inside.

Next up, a card for my Mother and Father-in-law:

October Afternoon patterned paper. In The Meadow stamps and dies heat embossed in silver. The snowflakes are punched out using Martha Stewart punch, then coated in Martha Stewart glitter. The trim was in my stash. and both this card and the previous I used Edgers die #1.

And for my final card:

Patterned Paper is October Afternoon, Holiday Style. I hand cut the snow drifts from vellum, and punched the snowflakes from vellum. The top was cut with Edgers Die #4 (I Think). Aqua mist ink and buttons and a Ripe Avocado button. and In The Meadow stamps and dies again.

One last thing I thought I'd share before I go. In my last post I mentioned the Cream Cheese French Toast Souffle I'd be making for Christmas breakfast. I was just so proud of it, I took a picture and thought I'd share with you how it turned out:

It was good. But, since I used this baking dish, instead of the 9x13 the recipe suggested, I ended up having to cook it for quite a bit longer than the 50 minutes suggested. But in the end, it was a tasty treat!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope to be back very soon with non-Christmas projects! :)

Merry Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T09:00:00.000-06:00

I hope you are having a lovely Christmas Eve and all ready for tomorrow! I thought I would jump on and post a few more of the Christmas cards I sent to my family before running out to do all my last minute Christmas shopping! I am very excited to make this delicious recipe I found on Pinterest for Christmas morning breakfast! It is called Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole, and looks dreamy! The best part is how easy it is! You do all the prep the night before, stick it in the fridge, then on Christmas morning you take it out and let it sit for a half an hour, then bake! Virtually no work Christmas morning! I am all about that! ;)
Click Here if you want to get the recipe for yourself.
So, on to my cards:

I just love those little hoof prints! Though my husband said I stamped them backwards...who would know the difference!?

And one last card for today that I made because I was inspired by a set of cards I saw at the store made by Hallmark. It was black with gold leaves and red berries and gemstones.

Ok, that's all for today! I will stop in tomorrow with my last few cards of the season! I hope you have a great day! And thank you so much for stopping by and spending your time with me!

*Christmas Hugs*

A couple cards and some sad news

2011-12-23T16:23:00.000-06:00

Here we are two days until Christmas! I still have some last minute shopping I am really waiting until the last minute to run out and do tomorrow. It is the second day of my Christmas break, and I'd planned on playing with all my December release Papertrey goodies the whole time, but unfortunately I have been a little down, and it's killing my mojo at the moment...When I got home from work Wednesday night, my little Miniature Pinscher, Mickey, who I have had for all the 13 years of his life passed. He was old, no denying that. But he still had some spunk and was such a little fighter, and even though he'd been a little slower and wasn't eating much for the last few days, I thought it was just a momentary thing, and he'd come back to his normal crazy self like he always did! I was standing next to him and watched him take his last breath! Just like that, he peacefully went! I wish I had taken more pictures of him recently, but I did take this one of him last week when I had just bought him a pink Snuggie. He did love his Snuggie!

So, I am hoping my mojo will come back sooner rather than later and I don't waste my whole Christmas break moping around the house! I am sorry to be such a downer today, so I will change up the tune by sharing some cards!
Today is my sisters birthday, and this is the card I sent her:

Supplies: (all Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted)

Paper: Rustic Cream, patterned is Authentique Splendid

Stamps: Modern Wood Mats, Think Big favorites (selectively inked)

Dies: Block Alphabet, Medium Scallop border

Ribbon: Summer Sunrise

Misc: Gems

And this is the Christmas card I sent my sister and her husband:

I just love those cute little animals and the footprints! I will be back tomorrow with a few more cards. Thank you so much for stopping by and listening to me talk about my little Mickey! More upbeat next time, promise!

Enjoy the eve of Christmas Eve!

(HUGS)

More Christmas Cards

2011-12-21T10:32:00.001-06:00

Good Morning! I am sitting at work waiting on 5 o'clock so I can start my 5 day weekend! I am nearly alone, as just about everyone else has started their holiday weekend already, so it is very quiet! Mix that with the fact that my December Papertrey release package is sitting on my doorstep at home, and I'm thinking this may be the longest day EVER! Ugh! So, I figured I'd pass some time and post a few more Christmas cards that I gave out to some co-workers this morning.

Supplies: (All Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted)

Tree Card:
Cardstock, Stamps (LLH: holiday), dies (LLH holiday, Tag Sale #3, medium scallop), Ribbon, and twine are Papertrey Ink
Patterned Paper is Echo Park
Holly is Martha Stewart Punch

Ornament Card:
Cardstock is Papertrey Ink
Patterned Paper is Stampin' Up
Ornament and Sentiment are Dazzles
Ribbon from stash

Poinsettia card:
Cardstock, stamps (YOF collection, Signature Christmas), dies (Mat Stack 2 and Layerz, Edgers #3?), ribbon, and buttons are Papertrey Ink
Patterened Paper is October Afternoon
Gold Embossing Powder is Martha Stewart, and gold dots over buttons from stash.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll be back again soon with more!

Happy Holidays!

Christmas Card

2011-12-20T16:48:00.000-06:00

Hello! I know it's been awhile since I posted, I have been spending all my crafty time making Christmas cards, and was afraid to post them, because I wasn't sure who was getting which card, and didn't want them seen on my blog beforehand. Which is probably pretty silly considering I don't think my family really visits my blog, but just wanted to be safe. ;)
I have many more cards I'll be sharing over the next few days, but wanted to share this one today, because I just gave it to my friend at work.

Stamps (Wreath for all Seasons) and Cardstock and dies (Mat Stack 3 and Layerz, and Banner) are Papertrey Ink
Patterned Paper is October Afternoon
Yummy Ribbon is May Arts
The 'berries' are a Viva Decor Pearl Pen, the little red buttons were in my stash
The Ink is Jenni Bowlin, and the sentiment is heat embossed with gold ep

Hope you like it! Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll be back real soon, promise!

Happy Anniversary

2011-11-04T09:18:00.000-05:00

Hello and Happy Friday! Who is happy it's Friday? I am! I am! I am definitely ready to start my weekend! However, this weekend we will be changing our clocks back, which I have been dreading for months! It means my hour long drive home from work will be in the dark and the deer will literally be lined up along the highway! I have never hit a deer, and I really hope and pray I never do! But it seems that everyone around here eventually does at some point, and the thought of it scares the heck out of me! Let's move on to something a little more cheery, shall we? My mother-in-law and father-in-law celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary a couple weeks ago, so I made them this card:

I used some pretty Echo Park, Victoria Gardens paper, some Papertrey Ink stamps and dies and the button, and I finally used some beautiful seam binding ribbon I'd gotten from a super sweet Papertrey forum friend. My husband and I will be celebrating our 3rd Wedding Anniversary on Tuesday, so I have a few things I'll be working on for him this weekend!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Have a wonderful weekend!

Make It Monday #39

2011-11-02T09:08:00.001-05:00

Good Morning! I am just stopping in to share a card I made last night for this weeks Make It Monday. This is actually my first time participating in Make It Monday! I have always wanted to, but just never seem to get it together to play along...this week I decided to change that! I actually came home from work last night with this card in my head, and got it done from start to finish! Something else I never seem to do during the week! The challenge this week was to use your stamps to make your own background paper, and this is what I cam up with:

I used the solid and outline leaf images and acorns from Gobble, Gobble, as well as the leaf and acorn from Tag It's #7 to fill in a little more. The sentiment is also from Gobble, Gobble. The paper is Ocean Tides, Harvest Gold, and Rustic Cream. I thought, or my husband thought it needed something else, so I put those little leaves in the corner, that I have had in my stash for ever! That's all for now!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Happy Halloween!!!

2011-10-31T15:25:00.000-05:00

Hello friends! I hope you had a nice weekend! Did yours fly by as fast as mine? Always over too soon! I worked on a lot of laundry, nursed a sick hubby, and worked on some Trick or Treats for my girls at work and my nephews across the street. Oh, and last night we watched the movie Bridesmaids! Have you seen it? Such a cute and funny movie! I LOVED it! SO FUN! I didn't do a lot of Halloween cards and crafting this year, but since it's Halloween, I thought I'd share the treat bags I made for a couple of my close friends at work.

I used my cricut and the Wrap It Up cartridge to make the bags and Pumpkins on the front and some Echo Park stickers for their names. I did not get a picture of all the little boxes and containers I made for my nephews, I was so rushed. If I have any daylight left when I get home and before I deliver them tonight, I'll try and snap a pic. But, either way, I'll be back soon! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

Merci

2011-10-28T15:34:00.000-05:00

Hello and Happy Friday!!! It has been a very long and stressful week at work so I am elated that the weekend starts in 1 hour and 41 mins..not that I'm counting! ;)

Anyway, I thought I would stop by and share another card I finished up last weekend...

I started by making a flower out of the Beautiful Blooms II #1 dies and vintage book pages. I scrunched them up really good, and spritzed them with some copper Shimmerz, which you can't really see in the photo...then I had a package of vintage-y looking brads I had never opened, and thought it would be a cute flower center. Then I stamped the houndstooth background on Kraft cardstock, cut and stamped the sentiment from Think Big Favorites on Fillable Frames #4, tied some twine, stuck on a couple gemstones, and called it done!
Well, I'm off to countdown the remaining minutes until 5 o'clock! I still have a card from last weekend to photograph, so maybe I get it posted over this weekend! I also hope to have a productive weekend so I have lots to share next week! So, I hope to see you real soon!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Have a wonderful crafty weekend!
***HUGS***

a birthday card

2011-10-26T16:40:00.000-05:00

Hello and Happy Wednesday crafty peeps! We are over half way through the work week! Woohoo! Come On, Friday! In my October Papertrey Ink order, I threw the Sheet Music Background set in my cart as a last minute decision based on a Christmas card I saw from one of the Design Team members, so naturally I was itching to use it and had the perfect reason to! This past Saturday was my mother-in-law's birthday, and she loves the piano and plays for our church, so I dusted off my cricut, and finally made her the card I've been thinking of making her for a couple years now!

I had also just gotten the new Aqua Mist Ink, and since my mother-in-law loves blue's, it was the perfect choice for my main color! You can't really tell in the photo, but the paper I used for the piano, and as the Mat Stack 3 Layerz is a dark gray shimmer paper, which looks pretty nice in person. The little white music notes are brads I have had in my stash for the longest and I finally used them up on this card! I was pretty happy with how the card turned out, and even more importantly, my mother-in-law really loved it! :))) I have a couple more cards I need to share, so I'll be back soon! Thanks so much for stopping by!
***HUGS***

My first Christmas card for the year...

2011-10-13T16:42:00.000-05:00

Hello and Happy Thursday! I don't know about you, but I am ready for the weekend! I just wanted to stop in and share a card I made on World Card Making Day, actually. It was the only card I completed. I had started a mini album/ journal that I spent most of the day working on, and most of my craft time since then, too! I've been having a lot of fun with it, and this is the first time I've made anything like it, but it's so time consuming for me! Well, maybe I can get some pictures of what I have done with it so far this weekend.
I had to at least make a card with Love Lives Here: Holiday, so I just kind of threw one together real quickly, and this was what I came up with:

That sweet little angel is what sold me on this set! Especially when I saw the ornaments that Erin Lincoln made with it! They reminded me of the little figurines that I collect! There are a lot more cute images and dies that go with this set, so I plan on using it a lot more in the coming months! Actually, the plan was this would be the only Christmas set I would need and use this year...that was until today and what the Papertrey Ink Design Team did with the set being released this month! UGH!

Anyway, this card is pretty much all made up of the stamp set Love Lives Here: Holiday and coordinating dies, along with the Mat Stack 3 die and the Medium Scallop Border die. The pattern paper is DCWV and really did all the work for me. If you have any questions let me know. Thank you so much for stopping by!

Hey There

2011-09-30T12:12:00.000-05:00

Hello and Happy Friday! I made a card for my sister over the weekend that I wanted to stop in and share real quick. Unfortunately, it's getting darker earlier these days, so by the time I get home from work, I don't have time to get a picture outside. So, I had to take these with my cheap-o light box. I already stuck the card in the mail, so I can't retake. She probably won't receive the card until tomorrow, but I know she doesn't check my blog, so I feel safe in posting it and not ruining the surprise! My sister has been having a rough time lately, and to top it all of, she was laid off from work last week! I haven't seen her since I moved from Florida to Mississippi in October 2008. To say I miss her and my mother and they miss me would be an understatement! The last time we talked, when she gave me thins news, she was saying how much she missed her sister, and wished she could have some 'sister time'. I hope I can make it down there to visit them soon, but in the mean time, I thought I'd let her know I was thinking of her the best way I know how...with a card...

And a close up of the dimension in the sunflower:

And the inside:

Now, if this card looks familiar to you, it was kind of a CASE. I combined inspiration from two different cards. It's a cross between THIS (the last card on the post) card from Maile and THIS card by Heather Nichols. Anyway, I hope you like my version, and I'll see you tomorrow for World Card Making Day!

{{{{{HUGS}}}}}
Jess

Supplies:(All Papertrey Ink unless otherwise specified)
Paper: Ripe Avocado and Stamper's Select
Stamps: Simply Sunflower and Big and Bold Wishes
Ink: Jenni Bowlin- Chicken Feed, Lemon Drops, Malted Milk, Stick Candy, and Brown Sugar
Other: Simply Sunflower die, Edgers die #4, Leafy Vine border die, and adhesive foam roll by 3M

Birthday cards

2011-09-28T16:05:00.000-05:00

Hello! We are half way through the week and I am so ready for Friday! I am really looking forward to Saturday, and participating in some fun World Card Making Day activities from around the web! I already told my husband to clear my schedule! ;) Do you have any plans? Will you be participating in the festivities?
In the meantime, I thought I'd pop in to share a couple cards my sister-in-law commissioned me to make for her son and step-son over the weekend. They both turned 14 on Saturday. Well, we all know 14 year old boys are not the easiest to make cards for, so I ended up making them both the same card, just reversing the colors. I also put different sentiments on the insides. Here they are:

That's all for now! I hope you like them! I'll try to stop in again before the weekend to share another card from the weekend, if I don't get a chance, then I'll be here all day Saturday! :) Hope to see you then!

{{{HUGS}}}
Jess

Supplies:(All Papertrey Ink unless otherwise mentioned)
Paper: Pure Poppy, Enchanted Evening, and Kraft Cardstock. 2009 Bitty Dots patterned paper.
Stamps: Just the Ticket
Ink: Enchanted Evening; Cough Syrup by Jenni Bowlin
Other: Just the Ticket die, Fiskars star punch, Pure Poppy button and blue button from stash, Vintage book print, Airmail twine.

A Garden Variety Birthday

2011-09-22T09:43:00.000-05:00

Good morning! I am back again today with another attempt to catch up on some cards I never got around to posting, as well as get back into a regular blogging routine! :)
So, I'll jump right in and share today's card!

I made this card a few months ago for our Aunt and owner of the jewelry store my husband works for.
I guess that's all for now! I'm glad we are getting closer and closer to the weekend! That means I will have some fresh cards to share with you! :) Anyway, enjoy your day! And thanks so much for taking the time to stop by my little corner of the WWW!

{{{{HUGS}}}}
Jess

Supplies: (All Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise noted)
Paper~ Hawaiian Shores, Vintage Cream, Dark Chocolate base
Stamps~ Garden Variety, Year of Flowers Collection, Inside and Out Birthday
Ink~ Fresh Ink: pool, Dark Chocolate, Promarkers, Fresh Snow
Other~ Hawaiian Shores twill, Garden Variety dies, double ended banner die, Vineyard Impression Plate, Kaisercraft Rhinestones

A Note of Thanks

2011-09-21T12:19:00.000-05:00

Happy Humpday! We are half-way there to the always highly anticipated weekend! Even more so it seems this week, as I had my September release Papertrey Ink package show up on my door step uber quickly on Monday! Oh, how I am looking forward to playing with those goodies! I'm sure you understand! ;) I don't get much crafty time during the week. I just don't have the energy once I get home. It's too bad, because most days I spend a majority of my day, daydreaming of a card or project I want to work on when I get home...I feel so inspired and full of ideas, but by the time I get home and get everyone (fur babies) walked and fed, and changed and all the other daily stuff, it is usually after 8pm and my mojo is sucked right out with my energy! Does that happen to you? I am always so envious of those crafters who work late at night, or when they are tired!
Anyway, in an attempt to keep things a little more active here on the ole' blog-o, I found this card I made a few months ago, and never got around to posting. I liked it. I hope you do!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

{{{HUGS}}}

Jess

Supplies: (All Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise noted)
Paper~ Rustic Cream, Melon Berry cardstock
Stamps~ Mat Stack 4 Collection, Fancy Flourishes
Ink~ Versamark, Dark Chocolate, Berry Sorbet
Ribbon~ Fine Linen twill, Lace by Simplicity
Other~ Clear embossing powder, Mat Stack 4 die, Edgers #2 die, Double-ended banner die

A baby card

2011-09-18T13:37:00.000-05:00

Hello crafties!!! Happy Sunday! I hope you are enjoying your weekend! Just a quick card to share today... My sister-in-law texted me yesterday needing a baby card for a girl pretty much within an hour or so, so I whipped one up real quick! I was glad to have recently purchased Bitty Baby Blessings Papertrey Ink stamp set for occasions such as these! So this is what I threw together real quick!

I had some car troubles on my way to work on Friday, and a couple guys from work took such good care of me and probably saved me a couple hundred dollars, at least! So, needless to say I have a couple Thank You cards to whip up for them today, so I should be back real soon to share those!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Enjoy the rest of the beautiful weekend!

{{{HUGS}}}

Jess

Supplies:

Paper~ Vintage Cream, Papertrey Ink; Patterened~ Imaginisce

Stamps~ Bitty Baby Blessings, Papertrey Ink

Ink~ Fountain Pen, Jenni Bowlin

Ribbon~ Vintage Cream, Papertrey Ink

Dies~ Mat Stack #3, Envelope Liner die, Papertrey Ink

Other~ Vintage Cream Envelope, Papertrey Ink

Happy Birthday

2011-09-11T12:29:00.001-05:00

Hello! I hope you're enjoying your weekend! I was trying to figure out the InLinkz manager to display my product lists. I figure it would be easier than writing everything up, every time. However, I do not have the patience to figure it all out right now! It is not a simple process! Hopefully, I can get it figured out pretty quickly.
Anyway, I wanted to stop in to share a card I made last weekend for my mother's birthday, which was Thursday. I had just gotten the Houndstooth Background set, and wanted to play along with it. I thought it looked pretty in grey, Jenni Bowlin Weathervane on Sweet Blush. It gave it kind of an elegant feel, which I though the silhouette would look nice, along with the new Mat Stack 1 Layers, some cream silk ribbon, a little bling and this card was born:

Thanks so much for stopping by my little corner of the web! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
*HUGS*
Jess

Supplies: (All Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted)
Cardstock: Sweet Blush and Smokey Shadow
Stamps: Background Basics: Houndstooth, Iconic Images, Peaceful Gardens for sentiment
Ink: Jenni Bowlin Weathervane
Other: Bling, Pearls, and Ribbon from stash.

Iconic Images

2011-08-28T14:12:00.000-05:00

Hello and hope you are having a lovely weekend! I am just stopping in to share a card I made a couple weeks ago.

I used Iconic Images and Peaceful Gardens for the sentiment. The patterned paper is Echo Park. The ruffle ribbon is Stampin' Up, and the white ribbon on the tag is Papertrey Ink white silk. The tag is Papertrey's Tag Sale die, and the rhinestones are Kaisercraft Champagne color. The inks are Jenni Bowlin's on the bird and Papertrey Ink for the sentiment. Cardstock is PTI Ocean Tides and Kraft.
I plan on spending the rest of the afternoon in my craft room, so I hope to be back with more soon!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Enjoy your Sunday!
Jess

Thank You

2011-07-31T11:13:00.000-05:00

There is not much better than waking up on Saturday morning and the mailman dropping off a big box from Papertrey Ink! Perfection! So, of course I had to play right away! This is a card I made using Peaceful Gardens and Half and Half.

When stamping the bamboo, I used the Rock and Roll technique using Jenni Bowlin inks. I first stamped the whole image with Stick Candy, then I just rolled the outer parts of the image in Seed Packet, the darker green. While the ink was still wet, I sprinkled some clear embossing powder on, and heated it. It gave it a really cool effect, that my poor photography skills did not quite capture in this photo.
The patterned paper is Echo Park, Victoria Gardens. And I think that's all for now! I hope to get a few more cards finished up today.
Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you are having an awesome weekend!
Jess

PTI Stamp-a-Faire Challenge #10

2011-07-26T19:57:00.000-05:00

Just stopping in to share my card for Papertrey Ink's Stamp-a-faire Challenge #10. Due to the original post not posting on time, we were given until tonight to complete this final challenge! I really wanted to participate in this one, so I rushed right into my craft room after work, and put something together.

I used Rustic White for the base, and stamped Text Style for the background with Chai ink. Then I stamped the lavender sprigs from Life in Plum Pudding, and highlighted some of the tops with a Sakura sparkle gel pen. I tied on the Plum Pudding saddle stitch ribbon, stamped the sentiment from Gracious Vases in Dark Chocolate ink, and threw on a few Basic Grey gem stones for good measure!

I hope you like it, and good luck to all! Such a fantastic prize for this one! Especially for those of us who missed out on being there......THIS time! ;)

Have a GREAT night!
{{{{HUGS}}}}
Jess

PTI Stamp-a-Faire Challenge #3

2011-07-23T22:44:00.000-05:00

I'm sneaking in with one last Papertrey Ink Stamp-a-Faire Challenge for the night. This one is for Challenge #3, which was to make a window card using dies or punches and tie a ribbon or twine on one side from the window to the side of the card. I had a blast playing along with the challenges today and watching the videos from Stamp-a-Faire, and chatting on the message boards with the other lovely PTI lovers playing along from home!
I worked in no particular order for the challenges, I just basically ran with any ideas that popped in my head along the way! This last card I am not very happy with, and would normally just scrap it, and it would certainly never make it to my blog! However, I am running out of time, and I really want to get one more card in before the challenges close!

Oh, and I ran out of daylight, so please excuse the photo quality!
I made my window with the Mat Stack 4 die, and I liked the way the Edgers #1 die matched in shape, so there's that. Then, I layered the inside with Stamper's Select. I stamped each of the vases on the same pattern of paper with each just having a slightly different shade of grey/ black. That paper is from Stampin' Up. Finally, I just stamped the flower, colored with my Promarkers, and stamped the sentiment and tied the Papertrey Ink twine to the side. Then I called this card done!
I am so glad these challenges got me to finally show this set some ink! I wish I could have gotten a couple more cards in, but I am a SLOW stamper/ card maker! I am also so glad for these challenges because I finally updated my blog after a couple months! I do actually have quite a few more cards I've made, so I'll definitely work on getting those posted over the next couple days or so! I hope you'll come back then!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Jess

PTI Stamp-a-Faire Challenge #4

2011-07-23T19:24:00.000-05:00

I'm back with another card for Papertrey Ink's Stamp-a-Faire challenges today. This one is for challenge #4, which is another color challenge, and the colors are Ripe Avocado, Simply Chartreuse, Hawaiian Shores, and Enchanted Evening. You can find the details of the challenge, and play along at Nichole's blog here. And here is my card for this challenge:

Another birthday card, but you can never have too many of those, right? I think this would be good for a male. I hope, anyway. ;-) So, the card base is Hawaiian Shores, and is a standard 4 1/4 X 5 1/2 size. I added a layer of Simply Chartreuse, which I embossed using Versamark and clear EP, stamped with Polka Dot Basics 2. As you see, I used every size dot, from smallest to largest. I have seen this done before, as well as using balloons in this image from Everyday Button Bits that I stamped as the focal point onto the die cut notebook page using paper from My Mind's Eye. I didn't have a balloon punch, so I cut the balloons on my cricut. The patterned paper the balloons were cut from are Stampin' Up. Finally, I cut the sentiment label from Label Basics, and stamped it with Enchanted Evening ink. And my Ripe Avocado came in on the middle balloon. I think that's it for this one! I'm off to try and get in maybe one more challenge tonight!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Jess

PTI Stamp-a-Faire Challenge #2

2011-07-23T12:31:00.001-05:00

Hello and Happy Saturday! I just wanted to pop in for a quick second to play along with Papertrey Ink's Stamp-a-Faire Challenge #2, which was to make a card using the colors Raspberry Fizz and Smokey Shadow. The challenge can be found on Nichole's blog here. I made the following card:

Oh my gosh! I just noticed there is a dang date across my card! Ugh! How embarrassing! I was using my husband's camera, and I don't know how to fix that right now...I want to link up my card, so I will try to fix the picture a little later.

**Here is a picture without the date! :)

Anyway, the card is 4 1/2 X 4 1/4. The Stamper's Select base is stamped using Dot Spot with Raspberry Fizz and Smokey Shadow inks. I used one of the Doily Detail dies and Raspberry Fizz popped on foam adhesive, to frame the flower and lace border from Tag-it's #5. And the Sentiment is from Inside and Out: Birthday.

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Jess

Celebrate

2011-05-16T15:27:00.000-05:00

Hello! Somehow it is Monday already! Ugh! I am really dragging today! I hope you had a nice weekend! I did, it just wasn't long enough, as usual!

In April, Papertrey Ink released a stamp set called Gunge Me. I thought it was really cool and immediately wanted it, but when I placed my order, it was out of stock. I knew I was going to be placing an order on May 15th, but since it was release night, if I waited until then to buy Grunge Me it would be a while before I would get it, and I wanted it sooner rather than later. I was very excited last Wednesday when I saw a very nice forum friend was selling their set. Of course I jumped on it, and she was so nice to go right off to the Post Office to mail it! I was even more excited to find it in my mailbox when I got home from work Friday night! She lives in CA, so I really hadn't expected it quite that quickly! I needed to make a birthday card for a male, so I thought this would be a great way to break in this new set! This is when I came up with:

And the inside:

This is so completely different than any kind of cards I normally make, so I'm not even sure it's nice or how much I like it. I mean, I do think it turned out pretty cool, but I'm just not 100% sure. Anyway, I will hopefully be using this set more in the future and continue getting comfortable with it. I'd appreciate any feedback or suggestions!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Jess

Mother's Day

2011-05-12T14:19:00.000-05:00

Hello and Happy Thursday! I am ready for the weekend! How about you? I just wanted to get one of my Mother's Day cards posted. I actually gave out 3, but one of them I forgot to take a picture of, and the other one I have a picture, but for some reason Blogger is giving me a hard time with it. It is a landscape picture, but Blogger will only insert it sideways. I've never had this problem before, so I guess I will assume it is a glitch, and try again tomorrow.

This is the card I mailed off to my mother. I stamped the background of Rustic Cream cardstock with Turning a New Leaf, and added the flowers from Flutterby Friend. I distressed the edges a little with ink.

I really like the way this card turned out and hope my mother liked it as well!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Jess

Supplies (All Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted):
Paper: Rustic Cream cardstock, Bity Boxes
Stamps: Turning A New Leaf, Flutterby Friend, Fillable Frames #4
Ink: Simply Chartreuse, Sweet Blush, Dark Chocolate, Vintage Touch Tea Dye duo
Misc: Double ended banner die, Butterfly die, Delightful Doilies die, Sweet Blush ribbon, clear rhinestones

a card and a CASE

2011-05-05T12:58:00.000-05:00

Look at me two days in a row! hee hee! I wanted to share a couple cards today. This first one I made a couple weeks ago for my co-worker and friend after she made some delicious cuppy cakes for me and my husband. If I still had it, I would totally retake the picture in the sunlight, but I don't and this is the best I can get the picture after playing around in some editing program. I will definitely be taking all my photos outside from now on...a world of difference! Anyway, my friend's favorite color is purple, so I knew I wanted to use some lovely Royal Velvet. At the time I had just picked up the new Turning A New Leaf die that was released, and since I didn't have the stamp set I picked that up as well. And I think it has been my favorite stamp set so far! I don't know what took me so long to get it! It is so versatile! So, you will be seeing a lot of this stamp set and die for a while, just warning you now! lol. The leaves were die cut from the Royal Velvet cardstock, then I heat embossed them with clear embossing powder, I think you can see a little shine on the leaves.

The next card I wanted to share today is a complete and total CASE! It is so completely copied right from the magazine, that I didn't think it deserved it's own post. But, I love this card and wanted to share. I have had the magazine for a while, and I've always absolutely loved this particular card that was made by the lovely and talented Jessica Witty. Love. That. Jess. So, I was flipping through that old magazine a couple weeks ago, and it jumped out at me again! This time even more so, because now I had the Turning A New Leaf stamp set, and I could actually make this card now!

I wish I could show you the original. It was in A Card A Day, I believe. It's more like a book than a magazine, I guess. Anyway, the only think that I changed was the 3 little dots of circles, she had used more of a splatter looking stamp from Green Thumb, and I don't have that set, so I chose something I thought was similar, which was the little dotty circles from Dot Spot. I don't usually like to completely copy someone else's card like this, but sometimes my mojo runs a little dry, and I need to make something, and I see a card that I like so much, and I just happen to have everything needed to made said card, and you have a replica such as this! I actually like the card so much I gave it to my sister-in-law for her birthday!

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading my rambles! :)
Jessica

Masculine Birthday

2011-05-04T10:32:00.000-05:00

Hello, Blog friends! I am glad I never publicly proclaimed my New Year's Resolution this year was to update my blog more! Well, I can always try sticking to that again starting in May, right?

On Sunday it was my sister-in-law and her son's birthday. Our Nephew, Sam, turned 17, and I made the following card for him!

I was pretty happy with how it turned out! He really enjoyed the card, too, which really made me feel good! He kept touching it and asking me how I made the background, and telling me he kept the cards I'd made him in the passed, and that he was going to hang it up on the wall in his room! Now, how sweet is that!?

All the supplies are Papertrey Ink, except the patterned paper I used to mat the focal point. The paper is October Afternoon, Seaside, and it looks like wood that has been painted grey. I also cut that out by hand, by tracing the Mat Stack 4 die on the back of the paper, and cutting slightly around it. The card base is Soft Stone, and stamped the Newsprint background in Versamark, and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.

I recently acquired some beautiful wood buttons that Papertrey Ink used to sell prior to my discovering them. I was asking about them one day on the messageboards, and the sweet and talented Nadine, was so kind and offered to send me some from her stash! Let me just say how genuinely nice the ladies (and Ted) are on the Papertrey Ink Messageboards! So, I really contemplated about adding a few of those buttons to embellish this card, I really thought they looked so cool with the patterned paper, and the rocking chair, and would really tie together the whole rustic wood theme. But, oh I just could not make myself use one of those precious wood buttons, even though she did send me a very generous amount, and would've had plenty left! That's awful, isn't it!? Please tell me you can relate!

Supplies: (all supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted)

Paper: Soft Stone cardstock, October Afternoon patterned

Stamps: Background Basics, Newsprint; Chair-ished; Say It With Style

Ink: Versamark, Dark Chocolate, Smokey Shadow, Chai and Chamomile vintage inks

Other: Clear embossing powder, Rustic Cream button twine, Mat Stack 4 die

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Have a Fabulous day!

Jess

More catch up

2011-03-23T10:15:00.001-05:00

So, I started making cards to sell at the jewelry store where my husband works. Since Valentine's Day is such a big holiday for a jewlery store, I made a lot of Valentine's cards. I shared a few yesterday, and here are a few more.

Okay, I think I'm done with Valentine's now! ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Jess

playing catch up

2011-03-22T11:00:00.000-05:00

It feels kind of silly posting Valentine's Day cards in March, but I never got around to posting them. Some of them can be used for other occasions too, though. So, here you go!

I have a few more, but I'll break it up a little a post those tomorrow.
Thanks so much for looking!
Jess

A couple cards

2011-03-21T10:00:00.001-05:00

Just wanted to share a couple more cards I made a few weeks ago. The first one was a birthday card I made for my friend at work:

And this card was made for my mother-in-law when she had to have her gall bladder removed a couple weeks ago:

Thanks so much for looking!
Jess

Friend

2011-03-20T13:00:00.000-05:00

Hello! Long time no blog! Just stopping by to share a couple cards I made a few weeks ago.

Card #1:

And Card #2:

Going to keep it short and sweet!
Thanks so much for stoppping by!
Jess

Favorite Papertrey Project

2011-02-05T10:07:00.000-06:00

2010 was a year of discovery and growth for me in my crafting life. I started the year obsessed and in love with my Cricut. It was around March when I discovered Papertrey Ink. I fell in love, hard and my crafting life changed forever! Since then, I have been all about Papertrey Ink! It is their 4th Anniversary month, and I am so excited to be a part of all the action and look forward to all the fun and new product releases they have in store for us!
To kick off their month long Anniversary celebration, Papertrey Ink is holding the mecca of all contests with a prize package valued at over $700! Go here to join in all of the festivities! We were asked to pick our favorite Papertrey project from 2010. I cannot choose between two. My first every Papertrey project is so near and dear to my heart, I'd feel guilty if I left it out. I used a stamp set I purchased with my first order and combined it with my cricut:

The hot air balloons and sentiment come from the Everyday Button Bits stamp set. The sun and grassy hills come from the Country Life Cricut cartridge. The buttons are Papertrey's Pure Poppy buttons.

But, I also have another card I love and is a favorite because my style has evolved a bit since making that first card. My official favorite Papertrey project :

This card I made using the Year of Flowers: Violets. I did a little masking and coloring with my Promarkers. The card stock is Blueberry Sky, Ocean Mist, and Stampers Select White. The ink is Ocean Mist and Memento, Tuxedo Black. The centers of the flowers are from a Viva Decor Pearl Pen.

Thank you so much for stopping by today!
Big Hugs and Crafty Love,
Jess

2010-12-29T16:35:00.000-06:00

Here is a card I made the other day for my husband:

Here is a close up on the sentiment on the front, since it is hard to see..

And the inside:

Oops. I think it's a little crooked. :)

Supplies:

Stamps~Chair-ished, Papertrey Ink

Cardsock~Fine Linen, Papertrey Ink

Patterned Paper~ October Afternoon, I think it's the Thrift Shop collection.

Other~ ribbon, Papertrey Ink; Ink, Walnut Stain Distress Ink; Large Scallop die, Papertrey Ink

And before I go, I also wanted to quickly share some gift bags I made for Christmas...

I made these for my Mother-in-law and Sister-in-law to hold part of their gifts. I bought the pre-made Kraft gift bags at Michael's, and decorated them with patterned paper from Echo Park, Cricut die cuts, the cardstock, ribbon, and tags were Papertrey Ink. I also added a little stickles to the fires. And I finally remembered to use the jingle bells I bought! I meant to put them all over my cards, cause I thought they were so cute when I saw them on cards, but kept forgetting!

And here is one last picture for today:

For our 4 nephews we went the easy and lame route, gift cards! So, I quickly cut these gift bags on my Cricut using some ancient patterned paper from my stash, in an attempt to add some excitement to the gift cards. But, they are all boys, so they would've been just as happy if I had just handed them the gift card! ;)

Well, that is all for today! I am now off to start another 4 day weekend! I only had to work 2 days this week! How nice is that! This is how it should be, I say! I hope to have lots to share next week after a long weekend in my craft room!

I wish you all a wonderful and safe New Years!

{{{HUGS}}}

Jess

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-23T14:11:00.000-06:00

This will probably be my last chance to post until after Christmas. I wanted to share a Christmas card I sent to my mother. It is a little different from what I normally do. I actually bought the stamp on sale after Christmas last year. I just thought the image was too cute, and couldn't resist!

I may just have to make a couple more cards with her before she gets put away this year! My husband got me a set of Promarkers for Christmas, so I need the practice coloring/ shading/ blending.

Here is another card I made for my friend at work:

And how about one more Christmas card for today!

The bling doesn't show up too well in these pictures, and the snowflake is covered in garnet glitter, which also doesn't show too well.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by!

I wish you have a Very Merry Christmas!

{{{Christmas Hugs}}}

Jess

Happy Friday!

2010-12-17T12:54:00.001-06:00

Will you be as busy this weekend as I will be with finishing up all those last minute holiday cards and gifts?? I still have lots of little treats and gifties to get together for my husband and my co-workers! Plus, Saturday night we have my husband's work Christmas party. Busy, busy! Keep the coffee on!

Today I'm sharing a couple cards I made like a month ago. They were both inspired by cards I loved in the Papercrafts magazine, Nov/ Dec Homespun Christmas issue.

Supplies:

Paper- American Crafts, Dear Lizzy.

Cardstock- Light Blue is Papertrey Ink, Silver is Waussau, the white skate is a glitter paper.

Stamps- Background Basics, Retro and Holiday Sparkle by Papertrey Ink

Other- Martha Stewart punch and glitter for snowflake, button is Papertrey Ink, embossing powder is Stampin' Up

And card #2

Supplies: (all supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted)

trees, diecut from Winter Woodland on Cricut Expression

cardstock, button, button twine

Sentiment from Signature Christmas

Not too much to say about that card, pretty simple!

Well, I have just a few more hours before my weekend officially starts. I mentioned yesterday that I had a Papertrey Ink order waiting for me at home. Well, I guess the Christmas rush at the post office has really set in, so where it normally only takes 2 to 3 days max to get my order, now has taken an exact week! So, it's even more to look forward to tonight! Can you tell how much I love my weekends!? I hope to get a lot done and my mojo flows well, and I have a lot to share with you next week! I also wish you all a lovely weekend, too!

Big Hugs!

Jess

Birthday cards

2010-12-16T15:13:00.043-06:00

Hello, friends! I have a couple cards to share again today. I thought I'd share a couple birthday cards that I made recently. The first one was for my husbands birthday last month. I had just gotten the Wrap It Up Cricut cartridge, so decided to use it to make his card:

I wish I'd taken a picture of the inside before I'd written in it, because it had a candle that matches the cake.

My second card is for my sister's birthday next week. Although she hasn't received it yet, I feel pretty comfortable posting it, as I'm quite sure she doesn't visit my blog.

My husband and I are being pretty lame this Christmas. Since he and I are both so into our hobbies, and it is nearly impossible to shop for each other, we just set an amount to spend, and bought our own gifts this year. We did buy each other one medium sized surprise gift. Then last weekend we ruined that, when I had the bright idea that we write down our gifts to each other, then wrap it up, and we sat there and unwrapped our written gifts, since they had not been delivered yet. I know! We are so bad!
Anyway, most of my Christmas money was spent at Papertrey Ink. I placed two different orders. The first one arrived on Saturday, so I used my new goodies to make my sister's birthday card, which I honestly think may be my favorite card I've ever made!

Supplies: (All Papertrey Ink, unless otherwise noted)
Paper- Raspberry Fizz and Hawaiian Shored
Stamps- Damask Designs and Fillable Frames #4
Other- border die, Fillable Frames #4 die, ribbon, Memento Ink, Kaisercraft gems

I hope she will like it, but even more so, I hope I can get the darn thing in the mail to her on time for a change! For being a card maker, I am the absolute worst at actually getting cards to people, especially on time!
My Papertrey Ink Christmas order #2 is waiting for me at home today, so I should have more nice cards to share with you very soon! I'm so excited to go home and play!
Thanks so much for stopping by today!
Hugs to you!
Jess

A couple more Christmas cards

2010-12-14T17:29:00.004-06:00

Another quick post today to share a couple more cards.

Card #1:

Supplies:

Patterned Paper- Echo Park

Cardstock and Ribbon- Papertrey Ink, Fine Linen and Dark Chocolate

Stamps- Papertrey Ink, Holiday Sparkle and Signature Christmas

Other- Fiskars circle punch for scallops, Viva Decor Pearl Pens in Brown and Red for eyes and nose.

And Card #2:

Supplies:

Patterned Paper- DCWV

Stamp- Papertrey Ink, Signature Christmas

Ink- Versamark, and Martha Steward embossing powder

Other- Martha Stewart punch, Papertrey Ink button twine, and 'dew drops' or 'skittles' for red berries

I hope you like them! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Big Hugs,

Jess

Trying to catch up

2010-12-13T17:18:00.001-06:00

Hello and 'Happy' Monday! Golly, we are only 12 days away from Christmas! Can you believe it!? Are you ready? I'm not. I've been busy making a bunch of Christmas cards, but I've slacked off on posting them again! So, I'm going to really get caught up with posting my cards. I will try to pop in with a few at a time this week. I'm a bit busy today, so no time for chit chat, just going to get on with the cards!

Supplies:

Patterned Paper-Echo Park

Cardstock, ribbon- Papertrey Ink

Stamps - Papertrey Ink, Holiday Sparkle

Other- Limitless Layers dies by Papertrey Ink, Small Circle punch by Fiskars, Snowflake punch by Martha Stewart, Gems by Kaisercraft, Ink by Versamark, Embossing powder by Martha Stewart.

Patterned Paper by Echo Park

Cardstock by American Crafts and Papertrey Ink

Stamp Sentiment by Papertrey Ink

Ink is Memento black

Die cut with Cricut Expressions and Joys of the Season cartridge

Other- doodles with White Uniball Signo gell pen and Stardust Stickles, green felt trim was in my stash.

Okay, that's all I have time for today. I'm sorry to rush off on you, I'll be back soon!

Hugs to all!

Jess

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2010-11-25T06:15:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to pop in to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

I also wanted to share a card:

Supplies:
Cardstock and Ribbon are Terracotta Tile, Papertrey Ink.
Patterned Paper is Autum Abundance, Die Cuts With A View
Stamp set and die is Gobble Gobble, Papertrey Ink
Ink, Orange Zest, Papertrey Ink and Walnut Stain, Tim Holtz Distress
Orange Rhinestones adheared with Irock

I hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by!
{{{HUGS}}}
Jess

Some Cards...

2010-11-24T15:57:00.000-06:00

Hello! I know I have been so neglectful of my blog lately! I will try to catch up on posting some cards I've been making in the last month or so.

I also played around with my blog design a bit today. I tried to clean it up a bit and make it a bit more pleasing to the eye and simple.

This first card I made for my co-worker/friend to give to her cousin for her birthday. I can't remember now if she was 14? Around there, anyway. Please excuse the lighting in the second picture.

the inside:

I used Rock Princess for the die cuts, and Echo Park for the papers and stickers. The little vinyl purse is American Crafts. And, you can't really tell in the picture, but the cupcakes eye patch is all sparkly from Stickles.

Next I have a card I made for my Mother-in-law for her birthday:

These two represent my husband and me. :)

I cut them from the Country Life Cricut cartridge. The patterned papers are October Afternoon. I used my Itop to make the brad in the top corner. The sentiment and ink are Papertrey Ink.

Next up is an Anniversary Card I made for my Mother and Father-in-law, which was the day after her birthday.

and the inside:

Again, sorry about the lighting!

This card I made using Tie The Knot for the gray layer, and Sweethearts for the flowers.
The pink card stock, ribbon, sentiment, and ink are Papertrey Ink. The Gray card stock is Stampin' UP. The bottom edge on the inside of the card is cut with Fiskars Uppercrest border punch.

Okay, I think I'll stop there now for today! I hope you like them! Stop by tomorrow and see a cute card I made for Thanksgiving! I hope you have a SUPER holiday weekend!

{{{HUGS}}}
Jess

Playing with Serenade by Flowerdisco and Friends, Finale

2010-10-28T02:01:00.001-05:00

Hello, my friends, and Welcome to our final week of Playing with Serenade by Flowerdisco and Friends! You know, I've really enjoyed working on this project, and especially enjoyed working with this fabulous group of ladies!

For the finale week, I was assigned with image 47, which is a bird perch? A bird cage stand? Okay, let's just say I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with this one! After quite a bit of brainstorming, this is what I came up with:

Patterned Paper: Echo Park
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink for pumpkin, Georgia Pacific and Waussau from 'Pumpkin Perch' lol.
Sentiment is stamped with Orange Zest ink from Papertrey ink, then heat embossed using clear embossing powder by Ranger.
The sticker boarder strip and stars are also from the Echo Park collection.

I think that covers it! It's a pretty simple card, I'm not totally in love with it, but I can live with it!

Now, let's see what the rest of the gals did!

Agnes~ http://flowerdiscosscraphut.blogspot.com/

Helen~ http://craftingcricutmom.blogspot.com/

Melissa~ http://melissaward72.blogspot.com/

Gaby~ http://gabycreates.com/

Abby~ http://www.scrapbookaholic.blogspot.com/

Ohh Snap! http://ohhhsnapper.blogspot.com/

If you haven't already, I hope you'll visit their blogs, and let everyone know how wonderful they did with this series! I also hope you enjoyed seeing all the cards we made using the Serenade cartridge!

I'll be back soon with some other cards I've been working on! Thanks for stopping by and for all your support and comments!

{{{HUGS}}}
Jess

Playing with Serenade by Flowerdisco and Friends, Week 6

2010-10-20T02:01:00.006-05:00

Hello and welcome to week 6 of our Serenade Series! I'm just going to just jump right in and show you the card I came up with using my assigned image 40, the bird. I knew before I started designing my card, I wanted to make it a Christmas card. I started with a completely different color combo and papers, and it just wasn't working for me. So, I finally decided to just start from scratch and started looking through one of the Echo Park Christmas lines, and it all just fell into place from there! When I was finished I still felt the card needed something, my husband was actually who suggested the faux stitching! lol. Anyway, here's what I came up with:

The colors are not all traditional Christmas. I actually had to tell my husband and friend/ co-worker that it is a Christmas card, but I guess unless you know the papers and sentiment come from Christmas collections, it might be hard to know, since it is a bit subtle. hehehe.

Ingredients:
Card Stock and Sentiment Stamp: Papertrey Ink
Patterned Paper and border sticker: Echo Park
Also, Versamark Ink, Ranger Embossing Power in black, Distress Ink in Walnut Stain, and Uniball Signo white gel pen.

Now, on to the rest of the gals!

Flowerdisco

Melissa

Helen

Gaby

Abby

Ohhh Snap!

Beautiful right!? I couldn't love their cards more!

Well, that's all for today, but check back in with us next Wednesday for our final installment of the series!

Have a Great and Crafty Day!

Love,

Jess

Playing with Serenade by Flowerdisco and Friends, Week 5

2010-10-13T08:25:00.000-05:00

Good Morning, my friends, and welcome to another installment of our Serenade Series! I am really enjoying the challenge of working with these assigned images and I'm also enjoying seeing what my friends have made with theirs! I hope you have been enjoying it as well! =)
This week I had Image 33, a tree. I immediately knew I wanted to make it a fall tree, and when I flipped through the Apple Cider paper pad by Imaginisce, well I really let the paper be my inspiration!

Ingredients:
Card stock base~ 5 x 7 Papertry Ink, Terracotta Tile
Patterned Paper~ all from 6 x 6 Apple Cider pad by Imaginisce
Sentiment~ Rubon, Apple Cider collection by Imaginisce
Embellishments~ Medium brads made with Itop brad maker, and strip made with Martha Stewart punch.

Now let's check out what the rest of the gang did!

Flowerdisco

Helen

Gaby

Abby

Melissa

Sally

Please visit Sally's blog to see her project!

Thanks so much for visiting and for all of your support every week!

{{{HUGS}}}

Jess

Playing with Serenade by Flowerdisco and Friends, Week 4

2010-10-06T02:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Hump Day, crafty people! I hope you had a nice weekend as well as a fun World Card Making Day! I spent a lot of time in my craft room, mostly working on cuts for a Cricut Cut Swap I'm in. Did you participate in any of the fun challenges or blog hops going on around the web? I could barely keep up with all the blogger posts! So fun! There should definitely be a World Card Making Day at least once a month! Anyhoo, let's get on with this weeks cards! I had image 26, which is a flower. A lot of images on this cart can be combined with each other, so the flower could go on the vase with a stem or one of the flower pots, but I wanted to show you an option to use the image alone, and made a shaped card with it. Pretty Simple, but cute I think.

Ingredients:

Kraft cardstock for card base.

Layers are Recollections cardstock

White Uniball Signo gelpen for faux stitching.

Light Blue Stickles

Sentiment is PTI Mixed Messages

Ink is Walnut Distress and Embossed with Bridal Tinsel

Now on to the rest of the ladies! They really blew me away with their cards this week! Check them out:

Flowerdisco

Abby

Gaby

Helen

Ohhh Snap

Melissa

If you like thier cards and previews, you can visit their blogs by clicking on their names, then you can go and leave them some love! I hope you enjoyed this weeks cards and you'll join us again next week!

Have a crafty day!
Jess

Playing with Serenade by Flowerdisco and Friends, Week 3

2010-09-29T08:16:00.000-05:00

Hello friends! I hope you are having a good week so far! Can you believe it's almost October? Time is going by so fast! So fast, actually, that it's already time for another round of cards off the Serenade cartridge! So let's just jump right in, shall we...

This week I had Image 19 to play with, which is the branch with berries. When I looked at the image, I immediately thought of this patterned paper by K & Company. Please, feel free to click on the picture for a better, closer look at the card and it'd details. I inked all the edges of everything with Distress Inks. The Sentiment, Buttons, and Twine are from PTI.

Let's take a look at what Flowerdisco and friends did this week. Just a reminder, you can visit their blogs by clicking on their names.

Flowerdisco

Ohhh Snap

Gaby

Melissa

Abby

Abby has a beautiful card for you, but you will have to go straight to her blog to see it, the website was giving me a problem with her pic while I was posting this...Sorry, Abby!

I hope you enjoyed this weeks cards!

{{{HUGS}}}
Jessica

Playing with Serenade by Flowerdisco and Friends, Week 2

2010-09-22T00:01:00.021-05:00

Hello and Welcome to Week 2 of our series, Playing With Serenade by Flowerdisco and Friends! This week I had image 12, a butterfly! Butterflies are always cheerful and fun, so of course I had a lot of fun with this one!

I made a Z-fold card, which folds into a standard A2 size card. All the patterned paper, including the base is Anna Griffin, except for the white layers and the black body of the butterfly, they are both the Georgia Pacific packs you buy at Walmart. The sentiment is Mixed Messages by Papertrey Ink. The ink and ribbon are Raspberry Fizz by Papertrey Ink. And the pearls are from my stash.

Now let's see what the rest of this lovely group of ladies made this week, shall we!? You can click on their names to visit their blogs, and get a closer look at their work! I know they'd love it if you stopped by and said hello! In no particular order:

Flowerdisco

Helen

Gaby

Ohh Snap!

Abby

Melissa

Wowza, huh!? They all made such different, yet beautiful cards!
Now, at the time I was getting this post ready and scheduled, Melissa was still finishing up her card, so even though I don't have her picture posted, you can hop over to her blog by clicking on her name to see what she worked on this week! I hope you enjoyed our projects, and are seeing some different ways to use your Serenade cartridge, or any cartridge that may have similar images!
As always, I appreciate you stopping by, and your comments truly make my day!
{{{HUGS}}}
Jess

More Halloween Fun

2010-09-20T17:16:00.001-05:00

Hello all my crafty friends! I hope you had a nice weekend and got some nice craft time in! I spent a lot of Saturday napping! lol. I guess I was wore out from my first week at my new office, with the longer commute, which means waking up at 5 a.m. everyday. Besides the commute and early rise, I do really like our new office! It's huge, it used to be a college. So, I think there's a lot more walking in heels around this big ole' place that has added to my ~~laziness~~ tiredness. Well, Sunday was better for me, a lot more crafting accomplished! Now, if only I could have a couple more days in the weekend, cause I was just getting on a role, had tons of ideas running through my head, and before you know it, I just ran out of time! You know how that is, I'm sure!

Here's a quick little card I made:

I basically made the card around the cute journaling card, I liked so much, by Teresa Collins.

The patterned paper is by Echo Park.

The Cauldron and Bat are die cuts from the Happy Hauntings cricut cartridge.

I also embellished with purple Stickles, doodles with Uniball Signo white gel pen

and added red to the bats eyes with a Viva Decor Red Pearl Pen.

I think that's about it! I hope you like it! If I'm not back tomorrow with a card, I'll definitely be here on Wednesday for week 2 of the Flowerdisco and Friends Playing With Serenade series! So be sure to check back in then!

Playing with Serenade by Flowerdisco and Friends, Week 1

2010-09-15T08:59:00.000-05:00

Good Morning! So, Flowerdisco got together 6 friends who'll be going through all the images from Serenade for the next eight weeks, and I am so excited to get to play along with this great group of ladies!
The image I was assigned was the 5th image, the apple. I originally had something totally different in mind for my card, but on Friday I received a package from a Christmas Ornament Crafting Club I'd joined a while back. Once I opened it up, I knew I had to make them immediately aling with my card to match!

For my card I cut the apple using my deep cut blade from chipboard. I then used the same paint that came in the kit to paint the apples and pears. The first coat was the gold matte, the second coat was the gold metallic. I also used a green paint pen then evergreen Creative Inspirations paint on the leaf. For the stem I used a brown Viva Decor pearl pen. The red base card stock is Recollections. The paper is from an old Paper Wishes pack I had, and the ribbon is from my stash. For the sentiment I cut a tag from the Winter Wonderland cartridge, and added a Dazzles sentiment sticker in gold. I really had fun with this project and love how it all came together!

So now let's see what Flowerdisco and her other Fabulous Friends did, shall we? Click on their names to visit their blogs if you'd like!

Flowerdisco

Helen

Melissa

Snap

Gaby

Abby

Oh my gosh, don't you just love their cards!? I hope you enjoyed seeing us playing with Serenade, and we'll be back next Wednesday for another round of fun! I hope you'll join us!

Thanks for stopping by!

{{{Big Hugs}}}

Jess

Happy Friday!

2010-09-10T10:59:00.000-05:00

Hello Friends and Happy Friday to you! My office is moving today, so it's been kind of hectic getting all packed and ready around here, but I just had to sneak in a quick post I've been trying to post all week, but my camera has not been cooperating again! I have a few cards I made over the nice long Labor Day weekend, and every time I take pictures of them, they look great on my camera screen, then when I load them up on the computer, they are blurry! UGH! So, I'm sorry for the quality of this picture, it's not crisp and clean, but I will be sitting down this weekend and really figuring out my camera and all the settings!

And speaking about things I'll be figuring out this weekend...I'm about to get real fancy on ya'll, cause yesterday I got a Janome mini sewing machine in the mail! I have been wanting a sewing machine for quite a while, but was kind of waiting until I found a good deal. Then on Labor Day night, Okie posted on her blog about a sale ending that night at Hancock Fabrics for the sewing maching for $39.99 and Free Shipping! Woo Hoo, that was the deal I had been waiting for! So I ordered it, and was so surprised when I got home last night, and it had arrived already! So fast and just in time for the weekend! I'm so excited!

Here's todays fun little ditty:

Card is A2 size Easel Card.

Main image is die cut from Cricut Expression and Rock Princess cartridge.

Cardstock base and ribbon is Papertrey Ink, Raspberry Fizz.

Pattern Paper is from DCWV, Midnight Spell Stack.

In Center of Flower is Kaisercraft Black Pearl.

Side View:

I hope you liked today's card, and I always appreciate you stopping by!

Have a GREAT weekend!

{{{HUGS}}}

Jess

Happy Haunting

2010-09-01T09:42:00.000-05:00

Hello my crafty friends! I hope you're having a great week! I was able to take off this Friday, so I am so looking forwad to my 4 day weekend! WOOT! Yep, I have another Halloween card today! You know I'm all about Halloween right now! While flipping through the images on the Happy Hauntings cartridge, I found a little hidden candle, so I just had to use it!

Card Deets:
Cardstock~ Recollections
Patterned Paper~ DCWV Midnight Spell
Die Cuts~ Candle, Happy Hauntings/ Spider and web, Paper Dolls Dress Up
Sentiment Stamp~ Inkadinkadoo
Ink~ Papertrey Ink, Orange Zest
Bling~ Gems, Recollections/ Stickles, Orange Peel and Lime Green/ Uni-ball Signo white gel pen for doodles.

Thanks so much as always for stopping by and for taking the time to leave some love! You guys are the best!

{{{HUGS}}}
Jess

Hapy Halloween

2010-08-30T14:52:00.000-05:00

I love the weekends, because that is when I get most of my crafting done. I work full time, with an hour long commute, so by the time I get home, and get changed and everyone (my hubby and our fur babies) fed, and cleaned up, I'm exhausted! Our office is moving, and starting September 13th, I will have an additional 20-25 minute commute each way! I am really dreading this! I try to remember how fortunate I am to have a job...there are many that would happily drive 3 hours if they could just have a job! But, it still kind of stinks! Well, I'm looking forward to the 3 day weekend coming up, and I'm actually going to try to take Friday off, so I can have a nice, long, crafty 4 day weekend before this move! Alright, enough whining! This weekend I got some good craft time in, and the theme was Halloween! I couldn't help myself! I would try to make a different kind of card, but I'd end up back in my Halloween stash, coming up with ideas! So, here is one of them!

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink, Orange Zest
Stamps: Papertrey Ink, Background Basics: Retro and sentiment is Magolia Ink
Ribbon: Papertrey Ink, Orange Zest
Diecuts: Cricut Expression, Happy Hauntings

Sweet Pagoda Challenge

2010-08-23T14:13:00.000-05:00

My friend Agnes, AKA Flowerdisco, is having a challenge this month to make a card using the Pagoda Cricut Cartridge. This is one of my all time favorite carts, and Agnes has become one of my good crafty bloggy friends, so I just had to support and participate! There is a wonderful prize involved of a custom personalized stamp, and the deadline to enter is August 31st. If you'd like to participate, you can find out more info here on her blog. Here is the card I made for her challenge:

And the inside:

The card base is A2, and layered with vellum which I ran through my Cuttlebug using one of the folders from the Asian bundle. I attached the vellum with a little tape under the fish, and mini brads in the corners. And of course no fish would be complete without a little bling, so some light blue Stickles was added to highlight his fins. I hope you like it and join in with us on this creative challenge!

Soaring by to say Hi

2010-08-23T11:56:00.000-05:00

Good Morning my friends! I am in an exceptionally good mood this morning, especially considering its Monday and all! Do you ever have those weekends where you don’t really go anywhere or do anything out of the ordinary, but it was just so nice!? Well, that was my weekend! I loved it so much, and I was so sad to see it end! I think it's because I got so much accomplished! I am also so excited because I put the last of my finishing touches and made the envelopes for the 16 cards for my card swap! They are getting mailed out today! A week early even! My husband and I took pictures of them all yesterday, and I can't wait to share them with you! It was really quite a challenge for me, and quite honestly I almost gave up, and thought I would never be able to get them done! My crafting mojo completely deserted me for a couple weeks in a bad way. So, being able to overcome that and completing the task is really such a good feeling! I am so thankful to Agnes, A.K.A Flowerdisco, for putting this card swap together! It has been so much fun, and I can't wait to see what cards I get from the rest of the talented group! I'll share their cards with you as soon as I get them!

So, that brings us to today's card. It is a mixture of my two favorite crafting things, Cricut and PTI!

The sunrise was cut from the Country Life cartridge. The card base, buttons, hot air ballons stamp and sentiment are Papertrey Ink. The stamps come from the Everyday Button Bits set. I used a little Star Dust Stickles to outline the clouds, and Yellow Stickles on the sun. I hope you enjoy my card as much as I enjoyed making it!

I have another card to share, I just need to take a picture of it, I finished it late last night. So I will try to be back a little later today, or if not, I'll see you tomorrow for sure!

Sending Crafty Love Your Way,
Jessica

Friday the 13th!!!

2010-08-13T08:54:00.000-05:00

Hello Creative Friends and Happy Friday! I got a few of the new carts as well as some other PTI goodies in the mail this week, and although I've been a little too busy with birthdays and other family stuff to play with all my new scrappy beauties as much as I'd like, I was able squeeze in time to play with Happy Hauntings so I could make a card for you. Since it is a little early for Halloween (expect to see that next week ;)) I thought this card would work well for today!

Both images were cut from Happy Hauntings, and the background was embossed using my Cuttlebug with a Tim Holtz embossing folder. You can't see the background too well in this picture, but it's a collage, sorry I don't know the name of it off the top of my head, but I really chose to use it because of the '13' in the top corner. I thought it worked. Anyway, I hope your like it, and I plan to spend a lot of time in my craft room this weekend, and hope to have a bunch of fun stuff to show you next week!

Have A Crafty Weekend!
XOXO,
Jess

More Meow ;-)

2010-07-26T12:04:00.000-05:00

Hello to all my crafty friends! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend! I enjoyed mine so much, I didn't want it to end! Isn't that always the case though? I did get some good craft time in, always a plus! And of course I spent some more time playing with the Meow Cricut Lite cart!

My little cutie patootie is wearing Lily Kate by Basic Grey. lol. And the little kitty she's holding is flocked, so he's all soft and furry. I don't know why my last couple pictures have not been as crisp...maybe a setting got switched when my husband was using the camera. Anyway, I'll try to figure it out before next time.

Here's one more card for today. It's a real quick and simple one. I carry around all these store bought monogram note cards that I've had forever, but I looked at one the other day and thought about making my own:

This card is a 4 inch square card. The W was cut from Storybook, and I believe the scallop square was as well. I embossed it with the Cherry Blossom folder from the Asian set with my Cuttlebug.

Lately I've mentioned how I love the hummingbirds in my yard. Well, guess what I saw yesterday? What is cuter that hummingbirds? Baby hummingbirds! Oh My Gosh! How cute are they!?!? We seriously thought they were bees at first, that's how small they are! And why don't I have pictures you ask? Because I suck, obviously! But, I will try to get a picture just for YOU! Promise!

Thanks for stopping by, and HUGS to all!
Jess

Cool Cat...I caved!

2010-07-22T10:08:00.000-05:00

Hello Friends! TGI's almost Friday! I hope your week is going well!
I wasn't going to buy any of the Cricut Lite cartridges until the prices came down. I usually only spend $20 - $25 on my carts. The most I ever spent was $30 when Just Because Cards and Give a Hoot came out, and one of them I got Office Help for free with the purchase, so that helped me justify it. Even though, Lord knows I'll probably never use Office Help! Anyway, I decided to take the plunge! I've been buying so many older carts lately, I knew I wanted a newer one, and the instant gratification that comes with picking one up at Wal-mart won! I had a really hard time deciding between about 5 of them, but being one of the world's biggest cat lovers, I knew I'd regret it if I didn't choose Meow! I love every image on the cart, so be prepared to see a lot of cat cards for awhile! ;) My husband is very musically inclined and his favorite instrument to play is guitar, so I wasn't at all surprised with his choice when asked what I should cut first:

Sorry it's a little blurry, I was rushing. My card is base is a standard A2 size, in cream card stock. I cut the cat at 3 1/2 inches, and Cool Cat at 2 1/2. The little music notes I cut from Stretch Your Imagination, the little singing birdie, I don't know what page. I used my score board to get the diamond pattern on the background, and drew in the guitar strings, added the little doodles to "Cool Cat" with a white pen, a little Stickles to the music notes, and that's about it!
I think I may get one more today, but now it will be hard to decide between my top choices, Sugar and Spice or Bloom.
Thank you SO much for stopping by, and I hope you like my Cool Cat!
Have A Great and Crafty Day!
Jess

What I've been up to...

2010-07-20T11:25:00.000-05:00

Hello to all my crafty friends! I'd like to start off by giving a big warm welcome to some new friends that have joined recently! I love new friends and hope you enjoy some of what I share with you here!

Well, I was MIA for over a week! I recently joined a card swap with the very sweet and talented Flowerdisco. Anyway, we have to make 16 cards. One for any occasion in each month, then a few others. So, I've been busy coming up with cards for that. Now, some people can whip up 16 cards in an afternoon. For me, this is a challenge. Especially when the recipients are all so brilliant! I just hope that my cards will be comparable, ya know? And, I decided to wait to share them on my blog until after they've been swapped. And of course I'll be sharing the cards that I receive from the other participants!

Anyhoo, other than that, over the weekend I was asked by one of the owners of The Jewel Shoppe, where my husband works, to make some little gift cards that she can attach to the custom pieces that go out. Well, their store color is purple, and their logo (I guess is what you'd call it) is a little snow flake (for their last name) with a diamond in the center. So based on that, this is the idea I came up with:

Oh, and I had forgotten to take a picture until late Sunday, and it was by then too dark to get a good one, so I asked my husband to take a picture of them before he left for work Monday morning. So, he took these for me, and I was so happy that they turned out! I made 3 variations, and figured she could choose what elements from each one she liked. They are 3 X 3, 2 of them I rounded the corners. They all have a diamond cut from Indie Art, but I used various layers. They were all embossed with my Cuttlebug and the Snowflakes folder. One I used white core paper, which I sanded lightly. All the diamonds were cut from Waussaw white shimmer paper, so the diamond really sparkles. ;) I also used a Waussaw shimmer in purple on one, and just a deep purple on the other. So, which is your favorite? I like the one with the deep purple, I think.

Oh, and did you watch HSN last night? How awesome is this partnership between Provo Craft and Martha Stewart!?!? I know I want those cake carts for all those wonderful borders!
I hope you have a crafty week!

XOXO,
Jess

A couple of cards...

2010-07-08T15:08:00.002-05:00

Hello friends! I'm finally starting to get back to feeling like my normal self again after my hectic weekend! I knew it was a bad idea trying to fit all that into just a 3 day weekend! With the drive being over 12 hours each way, I spent over a whole day out of the 3 just driving! It was all so fast I didn't even have time to see my friends or family like I'd planned! So, I hurt a lot of feelings in the process! But, honestly I'm just glad we made it home, and safely! We drove home through a lot of heavy rain, and were hydro sliding all over the place! I honestly felt like I'd been in a bad car wreck for the first couple days, and I realize now it was from my death grip on the steering wheel while I was in tears, and practically hyperventilating and chanting over and over, "I just need to get off this road". Good Times! Believe it or not, I'm actually a very good driver, but it was all just a bit much for me to take at that point after all the emotions from the guilt of not being able to see my family, and from just being overly tired! I just wanted to be home! And needless to say, I couldn't be happier that we have a short week after the holiday!

I really need to work on getting cards made ahead for my stash! I have some, but never the kind I need! I got home and suddenly need at least 3 birthday cards, just this week! So, here is one I put together last night for Mamaw, my husband's grandmother who is also our next door neighbor!

Pagoda seems to be my favorite go-to cartridge when I need a quick card! I've made a few others recently, but they were just so last minute, I didn't even have time to take a picture! :(

When I sat down to make Mamaw's card, I knew instantly I wanted to use a hummingbird ans flowers of some sort. Mamaw and Papaw are all about their garden, and have numerous sugar water feeders, which attract many of these cute little guys! I love those Calla Lilies and think they would also be great for a sympathy card!

Before I go, I thought I'd show you the Independence Day I made before I left. This was my first attempt at an easel card!

I cut the little guy from A Child's Year. I set him up on pop dots, and kind of liked the way he looked against the fireworks in the background, as if he was flying through it! I will definitely be making more easel cards in the future! So easy, fun, and just something a little different!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

XOXO

Jess

Die Cuts Are Us sale!!!

2010-07-07T09:36:00.000-05:00

Hey friends! I'm going to be back in a little bit to share a couple of cards. My husband and I drove back home to Florida over the weekend. It was long and rough, and I'm still trying to get back to 'normal'. So, that's why I haven't posted or been by to leave some love on your blogs! I did want to pass on a GREAT sale that Die Cuts Are Us is having! They have a little bit of everything over there, including Cricut and Cuttlebug! They are getting ready for CHA and have marked everything down 40 - 50% until Monday July 12th! Sounds like a good time to stock up on supplies!

Thanks for stopping by, and I'll be back a little later with a card or two!

XOXO

Jess

Happy Summer!

2010-06-30T14:28:00.001-05:00

Hi friends! I got the Serenade cartridge on Friday, so of course had to play with it all weekend! I thought this cute flamingo looked like fun, so he was my first completed project!

I thought I'd enter this little guy into the challenge at A Crafty Little Place. This week their challenge is to use Green, Pink, and Blue, the colors of Delovely. I've been wanting the beautiful Delovely papers, but do not have them yet, so I used my Anna Griffin papers. This is my first time playing along with a challenge, but I'm hoping it's my first of many more to come!
Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by! I hope you're having a wonderful week!
Until Next Time,
Jess

You're Purrr-fect!

2010-06-25T14:25:00.000-05:00

Hello and Happy Friday!!! Just a quick post today to share a card I made last night.

Anyone that knows me will tell you I love cats! The sentiment is one of those little $1 (Studio G, I think) sets from Michael's I picked up last weekend and wanted to use. The funny/ cute thing about this sentiment is it reminds me of what my husband wrote on the inside of my birthday card, "What we have is purr-fect". Awwww, right? He's the best! The clouds are actually from the Home Accents cart, and I used the hide contour feature to hide 'Dream'. See, I'm getting the hang of my gypsy! Well, really, that's about all I can do so far. lol. It's frustrating, cause I want to build elaborate designs like I see everyone else doing! *sigh* In time, I suppose. Anyway, my papers are Basic Grey, and I think those are all the deets! I always appreciate you stopping by! I hope we all have a great and crafty weekend!
XOXO
Jess

Love You a Latte

2010-06-24T15:34:00.000-05:00

Hello, my lovely friends! I hope you are having a nice week! As you may recall, I was hoping my gypsy would arrive last Thursday, on my birthday. Well, it sure did, and it really made my day! Yay! I have been constantly playing around with it since. I figured out a lot of stuff right away. Then again, a lot of stuff, like layers, sizing, and extensive design work is definitely going to take some time!

I made a simple little card last night. I'd had this sheet of Dazzles stickers in my stash for the longest, and decided to focus on using them, and this was what I came up with:

This was my only Cricut cut off the Just Because Cards cartridge.

I thought about it, and now as I'm looking at the picture I'm wishing I would've added some faux stitching around the edge of the base. Hmmm....I just might still...Actually, I'd like to buy a sewing machine, learn to sew, and add some real stitching! But, I'm also seriously contemplating joining the Cricut Circle, and there's about 10 cartridges I just have to have, and I need some copics, and I need that new October Afternoon Fly A Kite paper, and I have to buy stuff for my Secret Sister from the Cricut MessageBoard! Oh, and I have husband who likes to spend money just as much as I do! What is a girl to do?
Oh, well! That's all for today! It's not much, I've been in a bit of a creative funk, and hoped that making this card would help me push though it...we'll see!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
XOXO,
Jess

Father's Day card

2010-06-17T09:00:00.001-05:00

Since Father's Day ofter tries to steal my birthday's thunder, meaning many years they fall on the same day, I find it only fitting that I share with you the Father's Day card I made for my husband, on my birthday! I spent weeks trying to figure out a good Father's Day card to make for him. We have no children together (yet) but he has an 8 year old son who still lives in Florida. Anyway, I struggled with ideas for a card until I saw a card posted on the blog of a very talented woman. Her card uses the classic cars cut from the Heritage cartridge. I have this cart, and my husband love classic cars, so I knew I wanted to do something like this. A couple days later I came across a simple tutorial for the side step card, I'd wanted to try this type of card anyway, and I thought the two ideas would work well together...

It also gave me the chance to play with my new Martha Stewart Score Board, which I LOVE! The papers are K&Company Amy Butler, Lotus. I wish I'd had that sentiment in a stamp, but I can live with having to just write it in this time. I tell ya, it is hard toning down cards, and skipping over all the pretty papers to use the muted patterns, but you know this! :)

So, that's it for today, I'm off to stalk my mailman! Please, Gypsy, come today!

Have a great day! I'll save you some cake!

XOXO

Jess

hi....

2010-06-16T18:00:00.003-05:00

I hope you are staying cool...the heat out there is no joke! We got a little rain yesterday, which supposedly cooled it off some. I guess technically it did. The head index did drop to 96 from the 106 it's been at for days, but I can't really tell, and when I step outside I can't breathe, either, the air is so thick! Sounds like a good reason to stay in the craft room to me! My poor garden will never be completely weed free! But, I've been enjoying the late evenings, sitting on the back porch with my hubs, and watching the hummingbirds drinking nectar from the flowers and sugar water I've set out for them! Aren't the the coolest and cutest birds ever!?!?

So, here is a quick little card I put together over the weekend. The paper is Green at Heart by Basic Grey. I punched the middle strip with a Martha Stewart punch. The flowers and "hi" are chipboard the I painted with Tim Holtz distress paints, and filled in the center of the flower with a Viva Decor pen. I love it when a card goes together quick and easily, and I don't have to strain my brain too much, don't you?

Until next time, stay cool and crafty!

XOXO

Jess

Fly

2010-06-15T17:45:00.004-05:00

I hope you're having a good week, so far! I am getting ready for a much needed 4 day weekend! WooHoo! It'll kick off on Thursday, which is my birthday! So, that works out really nice! For my birthday, I bought a gypsy! I bought it off ebay on Friday, and I'm just hoping that it makes it in time for my birthday! I will have a nice long weekend to play with, and get acquainted with my new best friend! ;)
I don't think I've mentioned, but my husband is a Jeweler. He has just gotten into designing and making some custom pieces. So, he has made me something for my birthday, and he's really bad about waiting to give gifts, so this one is really killing him! lol. I can totally relate though, cause he is the first person I show all my cards to, and over the weekend I made a Father's Day card for him, which I am still shocked I got it done a whole week early! lol. I can be so bad about waiting to the last minute! But, I've been dying to show it to him! Maybe that is why it's better if I wait until the last minute??
So, enough about me and my birthday, I am old enough that I should really care less, and even dread it by now. But, comon' who doesn't LOVE getting presents!?!? Even the ones we get ourselves!

I do have a fun and easy little card to share today. It's another one that I got the idea while reading a card magazine. I actually made it last weekend, but it sat on my desk for a week needing *something* in the top corner where I'd left room for a sentiment or *something*. I finally decided I needed to just do something to finish it, so I cut "Fly"...

The background is the technique I saw in the magazine. It is achieved by taking those adhesive tabs, and placing them in that checker board pattern on a piece of cardstock. Then all you do is sprinkle your embossing powder on, and heat until melted with your heat tool! The dragonflies I cut on the Pagoda cartridge with my Cricut, and Viola! I hope you like it, and I'll be back soon to post a couple more cards I just haven't taken pictures of yet, including my husband's Father's Day card that I am really happy about, and at least I can show YOU now! lol. Have a great rest of the day, and thanks so much for stopping by and all the sweet and supportive comments that mean the world to me!

XOXO,

Jess

Dandelion Card

2010-06-03T18:15:00.002-05:00

Just a quick post to share a card I made last weekend after my trip to Jackson, using some of the paper I bought at Michael's. My husband and I had such a great time, we're planning to go back on Saturday!

and the inside...

The base is Recollections brand card stock, and the patterned paper is the new Anna Griffin line. I cut the dandelion from the Home Accents cartridge, and added the 'skittles' or 'dew drops' in cream pearl to the tops, and in a few colors on the bottom. I hope you like my card, this one makes me really happy!

Card 'Lift'

2010-05-28T18:37:00.001-05:00

Are you ready for the long Memorial Day weekend? I sure know I am! I have got a Scrappy-Shopping day planned for Memorial Day! You see, I live in a very small town that only has Wal-mart and Dollar General for shopping. The city I work is a little better with a Tuesday Mornings, but still not much else. So, my husband and I have a little day shopping trip planned, probably to Jackson, MS, which is a couple hours away, but there is a Target, Hobby Lobby, and a Michaels!!! I literally haven't been to these stores in well over a year! Isn't that sad!? And I'm sure you can imagine how excited I am! What's funny is that I saw some pictures on a blog recently that someone had posted of the Cricut Demonstrators at Michaels, and I saw a whole aisle of Cricut goodies! The last time I shopped at Michael's, they did not have a whole Cricut aisle, actually, I don't think they had much of anything Cricut, yet!

So, my husband has been really sick this week. They think he has Mono. He tested negative for it and strep, but his throat looks like he swallowed a soft ball, and his blood counts indicated he had something viral, so they're calling it Mono. So, yesterday I stopped in at my doctor's to get checked out, and as I was waiting, I was looking though a card magazine, and it was this card in this magazine in particular:

Well, I really liked this card, and I instantly thought of the paper in the DCWV Flower Shower, Spring Stack. So, I couldn't wait to get home last night to try and recreate it! Now, in the middle of the magazine, there is a tear-out pattern for all the elements on this card, but I found similar shapes on the Accent Essential's and Mother's Day cartridges, so decided it would be way easier to just use my trusty ole' Cricut. And this was what I came up with:

I inked the edges, as opposed to the sanding in the original. I added some stickles, and the sentiment is a stamp I've had in my stash that came out of a kit. I stamped it on cream cardstock, and spritzed it with a little pink home made shimmer spray. In the center of the flower is a Sweat Pea felt flower from Stampin' Up that I'd gotten a couple months ago as part of a blog candy I'd won from Sam over at Scrapmaster's Paradise. Actually, come to think of it, so was the ink I'd used to stamp the sentiment. She's a sweetie and has a great informative and inspirational blog, and is a Stampin' Up Demonstator.

Well, that's all I have for today! I hope you have a great holiday weekend! Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by my neck of the web!

Baby Blessings

2010-05-20T13:28:00.000-05:00

HELLO THURSDAY!!! Are you as excited as I am for Cricut's release of the new cartridges today?!? It's hard not to be with all the giveaways and hype! I just know I should've called in today! It's a good thing I didn't though, cause with all the cartidges being released, I'll need a second job! lol.

Anyway, I just wanted to share a quick card with you today. My friend at work asked me to make her a card for a baby shower. I finished it up last night. I have to say, I think this is the first baby card I've ever made. The nursery is pink and brown, so this is what I came up with...

I cut the card from the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge. I knew I wanted to use this patterned paper, isn't it cute? So, while flipping through my cartridge books, I thought this card with the scallop layer would be a nice way to use the paper.

I cut "Baby Blessings" from Wild Card, as well as the envelope and liner.

This is a bad picture, but that's the inside of the card on the left, and the front of the envelope on the right. The rattle was cut from my Cricut Sampler cart I got in the mail yesterday, which I got using my Cricut Rewards points!

I hope you liked seeing my first ever baby card, and have a great HELLO THURSDAY and upcoming weekend!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2010-05-10T16:54:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and a Happy Mother's Day! I know I surely had a nice, and relaxing weekend, which you know is never long enough! I just wanted to quickly share with you the card I made for Mother's Day...Of course the picture doesn't do the card justice, as you can't quite see all the glitter in the paper, or the shimmer in the rose, but hopefully you'll get the idea...

So, I decided to give the Pocket Card a whirl. I got the instructions from Splitcoaststampers.com. I used my Cuttlebug, Cherryblossoms folder for the base. The paper I used is DCWV Flower Power Specialty Spring Stack. I used the Mother's Day Seasonal Cricut cartridge, and the rose is a Prima which was white, so I painted it with Shimmerz Paint to match the purple! I hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by!

Basic Grey Giveaway!!

2010-05-07T16:41:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to pass along that there is great Blog Candy at Doodleplace...go check it out!!

Bad Blogger!

2010-05-06T16:14:00.000-05:00

Yes, I have been a very bad blogger, and have completely neglected my blog for quite some time! I have a few good reasons, but I'm not even going to start on all my excuses! What I would like to do is THANK YOU for following my pitiful and neglected blog! I have been really busy making a lot of projects that I want to share with you, and I'm going to really work on updating my blog a lot more regularly from here on out! I don't always have a lot of time to write a lot, so it'll probably be mostly pictures. But, isn't that what we really want to see, anyway!? I'm also trying to work on improving the quality of my pictures and lighting, so please bear with me in the mean time! I just may end up having to go out and buy a new camera here soon!

Today I'd like to share a couple of updated pictures of my beloved craft room! I've made a couple of big changes in just the last few weeks that I am just loving! On Saturday my husband and I were out shopping, and stopped into this store called Dirt Cheap where they sell a lot of close out merchandise that seems to come from Target mostly. Shopping in this store is hit or miss, but we happened to be there on a good day, cause I couldn't believe when I came across a brand-new, still in box (to be assembled) and in absolutely perfect condition, desk for only $30!

Two weeks earlier at that same store, I bought and assembled these Closet Maid Shelves. They were only $8!

I also finally got around to painting my pegboard a few weeks ago:

Oh, and lookie at my new Pink Cuttlebug, I also just got a few weeks ago from HSN! It was such a great bundle and was a great price during National Craft Month! It was one of the best purchases I've made, as it has really brought my projects to a whole another level!

Well, that's all I have time for today, but I will have more to share tomorrow! Thanks so much for stopping by and taking a peak into my happy place! Have a great and creative day!

Blog Candy Alert!!

2010-05-06T15:38:00.000-05:00

Look at this YUMMY blog candy! Head on over to Spesch Stamps to find out how to enter for your chance to win!

card for nephew

2010-02-18T18:31:00.002-06:00

Just a quick post to share a card I made for my 16 year old nephew on Tuesday night. He'd had a tonsillctomy earlier that day, and wanted him to know that his Uncle and I were thinking of him.

The envelope and outside:

Overall, I was pleased with the way this card turned out. However, if I'd had more time, I would've liked to have added a little more. And, in the rush to take a picture, I neglected to get a good close-up, so some details you can't make out. I 'pop-dotted' the 'Rx', and used my beloved Turquoise Shimmerz Paint on the word 'soup' and '&'.

The inside:

The card and envelope base are Bazzill CS. The Turquoise sentiments are

American Crafts paper. The ice cream cone is a Thicker, American Crafts. And besides that ice cream cone, everything was cut from my Wild Card cartridge. Oh, and except 'soup' that was cut from the From My Kitchen cartridge.

I hope you had a nice Valentine's Day, I will try to post pics of the cards I made later tonight or tomorrow, as well as some updated pics of my scrap room! Thanks so much for stopping by!

My First Ever Blog Candy Win!!!

2010-02-05T19:00:00.004-06:00

I was so excited to find out I won my first ever Blog Candy today!

In my crafting projects, I just love the bling! I love dimensional embellishments such as pearls, rhinestones, flowers, stickles, chipboard, and just recently discovered and bought a couple colors of shimmerz paints. They are so beautiful! I started following the Shimmerz paints blog to get inspiration by seeing how their awesome design team uses them.Well, earlier this week they announced a new product they are selling called Shimmerz Vibez, which gives you an intense color with shimmer when sprayed onto your desired surface. They also announced in the post that a lucky winner would get a bottle of the Vibez in their choice of color. I was just tickled when I found out earlier today that the lucky winner was me! The post announcing my win was just so sweet that it made me realize just how incredible the online crafting community is, as it's filled with the kindest, most encouraging, and generous people you will find, and I'm just so proud to be a part of this talented group of crafters!

If you'd like to read the post announcing my win, it's here.

And if you'd like to find out more about the Shimmerz products I've been raving about, you can do so here.

I've been working on a few products that I hope to finish up this weekend and will be posting the pictures within a few days. So, make sure you check back to see what I've been up to! Until then have a great weekend and thanks so much for stoping by!

My First Cricut Card

2010-01-06T11:53:00.000-06:00

I had to share my first Cricut Card that I made my 8 year-old step-son for Christmas. I had attempted a few other cards within the month I'd had my Cricut previous to making this card, but I was never happy with the way they were turning out, so I'd move on and try something else. I'd had something totally different in mind when I'd started his card. After hours of cutting, and piecing my dozens of cuts on an assortment of papers, then trying to mix and match them in different ways with different backgrounds, nothing looked good together, and I was on the verge of giving up. Then, out of no where a vision of a card pops in my head, and although it was a completely different style card than I usually create, it was also the very reason it worked so well. It was just a plain, simple card.

My First Cricut Card:

I don't have all the details and sizes at which I cut this, lesson learned, but it was all cut from the Joys of the Season cartridge. The base is cut using the card feature of the ornament shape. I just cut out the cute little penguin with his layers, and assembled! I love the look of dots or dashes or the combination of the two, so I completed the card by using a white paint marker to add the dotted border. Since making this card I've purchased a White Uniball Signo Gel Pen off ebay, after continuously reading all the raves and recommendations for this particular pen on many popular crafting blogs that I follow. I haven't used it on a project yet, but will definitely post my opinion once I do.

My New Craft Room

2009-12-23T13:08:00.017-06:00

Welcome to my first official blog post! I think the best way to start my blog would be to start at the beginning, of my craft room, and post the first pictures taken of my room as it all came together.

So here is my first official picture of my Craft Room:

I really wish I'd taken a better 'before' picture that would accurately portray the dramatic difference that was made to this room with the only change being the floors. However, I'm
glad I thought to take this one, at least!

While anxiously awaiting the completion of my craft room, I'd spent an obsessive amount of time online getting ideas for how I would organize my space. One of the first things I'd decided that I just absolutely had to have was a pegboard. I was on a limited budget, but the bigger obstacle was that I now live in the country where my shopping options are extremely limited. Those obstacles on top of my excitement and impatience led me to purchase the first pegboard I saw, which was at Walmart. In hindsight I wish I would've just waited a couple days and picked up a 'traditional' pegboard at Lowe's, but alas here it is:

My Pegboard:

I will most likely pretty it up a little when an idea comes to me. Please feel free to let me know if you have any ideas...I'm always up for suggestions!

And this is a picture looking into my room from the door:

The desk was hand made my husbands grandfather, and used to be used by his grandmother for crafting. I love this desk for this reason. I'd like to paint or refinish it in the future. This picture was taken a few months ago, so what is missing off my desk is my newer addition, as of mid-November, my newest obsession, my beloved Cricut!!!

My next picture is of another family heirloom. This one belonged to my mother. It belonged to a whole bedroom set that she had since before I was born, I keep meaning to ask her exactly how long she'd had it. Anyway, a few years ago she lost her house, and this is the only piece of her furniture that remains. I am so glad that I have this piece of furniture and that it was incorporated into my favorite place!

My Craft Armoire:

Like I said earlier, these pictures are a few months old, and I'm always changing and adding things, so I'll post up-to-date pictures soon, as well as share more about some of the organization details that are working well for me. I just wanted to finally get a post up and get the ball rolling! I think getting up my first post was the hard part, and from here on out my posts will be a lot more frequent!

Thanks for taking a look at my craft room and being a port of my new endeavour of blogging! Please feel free to leave me any comments or suggestions, as this really is new to me, and I could use all the help I get! Lol.