Girly Ghoul

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Hello and Happy Monday!  :)

Ok, so I love Halloween -- but I really, really, really, really hate being scared (I really, really, really hate it!)…  That's right -- no scary movies, no dark alley ways, no jumping out at me from around a corner --  I'm just not having it!   Sooooo…. that makes Halloween a bit tricky (ha!  how punny am I??)…  I like the idea of Halloween, but appreciate it best when its fun side is played up and its scary side is played down non-existant!  :)

So, on that note, my first Halloween card of the season is just that -- pure fun!  When I first saw this stamp set from The AlleyWay Stamps, I knew I had to get my hands on it!  It is too stinkin' cute!  And I just had to make it a little girlie…  :)  So here it is, my non-traditional take on Halloween!

{Sidenote:   If I have to be wrapped in cloth before I'm buried, will somebody puh-leeease put a big sparkly bow on my head?!?   I would be eternally grateful!  :)  }

This card was inspired by the color board over at The Alley Way Stamps Challenge.  I love the pinks and the greys!  For this card, I colored the mummy with Copics and distress-misted the background.  I was able to tie the color scheme together with some assorted Washi tape from my stash…

Hope you like it…  I always think it's fun to use unexpected colors for holidays that tend to have a pretty "traditional" color scheme.  You'll see me back again with more Halloween cards from this set -- it is too fun!  :)

Till then, holla back at your "ghoul!"  :)    ha!!

Gnome is Where the Heart Is!

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Hello again!  So last night I shared a card I had made for my new neighbors who just moved in two doors down…  Still haven't met them, but fingers crossed they will turn out to be pretty cool!

Tonight, I am popping in to share the farewell card I gave to my neighbors who just moved away.  So sad to see them go…  it has been fun getting to know them over the last several years….

This one is a paper-pieced bit of classic Lawn Fawn (I don't know why, but every time I think of Lawn Fawn, it's this set that springs immediately to mind!  :)  I totally love the Glossy Accents on the mushroom house -- kinda reminds me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the gobs of sweets those naughty kids were scooping out of all different kinds of plants -- don't ask me why!!  :)

I even used the squiggly line to create my clouds…  see??

Anyway, this one is inspired by the "Getting Texty With It" challenge over at Lawnscaping… (and on that note, I want to give a personal shout-out to the über-fab Melissa Shea, who will be joining the Lawnscaping Design Team in October!  Way to go, Melissa -- go on wit yo bad self!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you enjoyed it…  Next up from me is a non-traditional Halloween project that has had me "wrapped up" for a couple of days!  Ha!  :)  See you then!

Tag! You're It!

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Hello!  (and long time no blog, eh?)  Well, it has indeed been a few days since my last post, but that doesn't mean I haven't been gettin' my crafty on!!!  I have several new projects I will be sharing over the next couple of days -- promise!  :)

I wanted to pop in tonight to share a card I made for my new neighbors a couple of doors down to be accompanied by a batch of my famous (!) Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies {if I can stand to part with them when I see their golden brown gooey-ness emerge piping hot from the oven!! }).

But I digress.

Let me start by saying I have the best neighbors.  And we have the coolest quarter-of-a-block in our whole neighborhood.  Seriously.  I really lucked out five years ago when I bought this house (oh my goodness…  as I write this, I'm realizing that today is actually my fifth anniversary here in La Casa de Jen!!  :)

But I digress.  Again.

All of that is to say that my new neighbors have some big shoes to fill!  Hope they're as cool as my friends that moved!  (fingers crossed!)

Ok, let's get to it!  I wanted to make a welcome to the neighborhood card and was inspired by the current challenge over at A Blog Named Hero -- to use a tag in your project!  My tag started out plain white and I distressed the bejeezus out of it using my Distress markers to create the sunset.  All stamps used are Hero Arts, the house is colored with Copics, and there is Glossy Accents on the windows!

  

I hope you like it... (I have decided that I better keep improving at this paper-crafting thing or count on keeping my day job, 'cuz bricklaying is not one of my God-given talents!!!!  :)   I'll be back tomorrow to share the card I made to say goodbye to the neighbors who left!  Until then…  Tag!  You're It!  :)

"Like" It or Leaf It!

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Hello, my friends!  I have been out of town for the past week, away on business, but am happily back home now and looking forward to some serious crafty time!  I just have a quick post tonight….

DeNami Designs is hosting a competition on their Facebook page and my card has been selected as one of their finalists!  The challenge was an inspiration photo and I was inspired by the colors & the combination of florals and foliage (can't you tell?!?).

The card that receives the most "likes" on it will win…  Sooo… (shameless plug coming…) if you are so inclined, I would love it if you could swing over, check out the other worthy candidates, and then "like" mine!  :)

Click here to "like" me now!  :)

Thanks for stopping in…  Hope all is well with you in your neck of the woods…  'till tomorrow, my friends!  :)  

Teacher Want an Apple???

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Good Morning and Happy Hop Day!  :)  You are probably arriving here from Tenia Nelson's super-hip blog and, if you are, you're right on track!  Today, DeNami Designs is celebrating the annual rite of passage for children and parents alike -- Back-to-School!  I have to admit that when I first heard this was going to be the theme for this month's hop, I was a wee bit thrown…  I don't have kids, have been out of school for a hot minute or two, and kinda only think about Back-to-School long enough to realize it coincides directly with more traffic on my commute to work!  :-/

But then I stopped and thought about it, and remembered that I was actually one of those nerdy kids who liked school -- nay, loved school.  And I always looked forward to the end of summer and starting back to class -- new school supplies (shocker, huh?  Especially given what my adult hobby has turned out to be…  :), new clothes, waiting for the day they'd post the lists of what teacher you'd been assigned to  (and which of your friends were assigned to the same class)….  all of it!

So what says Back-to-School better than a spiral notebook and an apple for teacher?  Nothing, I tell you!  With that in mind, here's my card:

For this card, I knew I wanted to use the apple stamp from this Petit Fours set, so I decided to pair it with this leaf stamp to create my own patterned paper for my origami bow.  For the sentiment, I used this Petit Fours set combined with my own writing (no judgement, please!  :)  Finished it all off with some glitter and there you have it!

I hope you like it and think it's worthy of a passing grade!  :)  Speaking of a passing grade, I'm about to pass you straight to the head of the class -- to Amy Smidebush's blog, where I'm certain she's created something worthy of the dean's list!  :)  If you get lost somewhere along the way, or just want to start hopping from the beginning, remember you can always just head back to the DeNami Designs blog to get the full list in order!

I hope you enjoy today's hop and find lots to inspire you!  Remember to leave comments all along the hop for a chance to win one of two mini shopping sprees from the DeNami website!  :)  You have until 11:59 pm PST Monday, 9/10/12 to leave your comments!

And now…. Class Dismissed!  :)

Current sketch at RetroSketches

Missing You….

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Hello, and Happy Friday!  Today is actually a bittersweet day around here…  It's Moving Day for my little sister.  She and her boyfriend have decided to move to Key West, FL and today is the day they are heading off (literally) into the sunset!

Jessica in New England.  2009

Jessica is the baby in the family -- she came along at a time when Julie (my other sister) and I were just beginning to claim our early-teenage independence.  There are enough years between us to mean we only lived under the same roof for a very short period of time.  Julie and I had moved off to college before Jess even started kindergarten.

In my eyes, she has always been the baby (often spoiled and bratty, truth be told!  :) but in the last couple of years, I have been able to see her in a different light.  She graduated from college, moved to the Dallas area a couple of years ago, and has worked for the same company I do (in fact, I have been her boss for the last year!  ha!).  I have enjoyed watching her grow and mature and have been so proud of the way she has carried herself, both inside the work environment and out.  We have even travelled together on what have been some of my favorite vacations (like the one pictured above, where we explored the coast of Maine, enjoying the fall foliage, before heading to Quebec City).  

This is why her moving is so bittersweet….  I am happy for all the new experiences she'll have (and recognize that we only have a short period of time in our lives where we can set out unencumbered on new adventures), but I am so sad to see her go.  I will miss working with her, miss having her around, miss her.

Here's Jess's card…  When I saw this design (it's actually an embroidery pattern from the LiliPopo shop on etsy, which I just printed, paper pieced, and colored with my Copics), I knew it expressed just the emotion I was feeling…  well, that, and she's just so darned cute!

So, there it is…  Jess, I hope that Florida is all you hope it will be, that your days will be filled with sunshine and beautiful beaches, and that you will find love and laughter and much happiness in your time there…  Just know that we will be loving you and missing you here…  back home.  

Thanks for stopping by…  Here's hoping you have a fabulous weekend -- wherever you are!  I'll be back on Sunday, participating in this month's DeNami Designs Blog Hop --  see you then!  :)

This week's inspiration sketch at RetroSketches

Fairy Special!

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Hello, and Happy Tuesday!  I am so super-excited to share with you today, I'm just about ready to pop!  I mentioned here a few days ago that I had just completed my Copic Intermediate Certification and I have spent much of my crafting time since then "practicing" the techniques we learned in that class.  I have been having so much fun and it's been about all I've wanted to do for the last couple of weeks (sorry, laundry…  see ya later, feather duster!  :)

I received in the mail a couple of days ago this stamp by artist Hannah Lynn called "Bookworm Fairy" and I am in love…  She is so beautiful and sooo much fun to color!  You'll find that this card is definitely a departure for me, but I have to tell you, I'm just crazy about it!

I thought I'd present the card to you in stages so that you can see the coloring as I go…  soooo, without further ado…

Before I go any further, I must confess that the image you've seen to this point is not the one you're about to see on my card.  After I completely finished the one above, I masked it in order to color my background, which I totally, irrevocably botched.  Badly.  So, after a short, but intense, few moments of "losing it," I set out to do it all over again.  And better this time.

Isn't she beautiful?  If you love to color, I highly recommend Hannah Lynn's artwork.  So fanciful and fun!  :)

I am linking this card up to two Moxie Fab Challenges:  "Focal Point" and the "Gallon/Quart/Pint" Challenge.  You, too, can play along until Monday, September 24th.  :)

Additionally, I used this week's sketch from RetroSketches as the jumping-off point for my design.

Thank you for stopping by…  I hope you like this card!  I had so much fun making it -- twice!   haha!   :)

Talk to you soon!  

Love "Shell" Lift You Up!

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Hello (and Happy Labor Day to all my American friends!)!  Just wanted to pop in with a quick share this evening!  If you've been following for a while, you know I have a serious affinity for Darcie's stamps and shadowbox frames.  You may remember a couple of cuties I posted a while back (if you'd like a refresher, you can find them here and here).  Well, today, I wanted to share one that I made for my youngest niece, Leighton.  Leighton is a tomboy gone girly-girl, and I knew these turtles would be right up her alley!

For this shadowbox, I used Darcie's "Talilah Turtle" set and created my flower embellishments using her "Fleurs Abondante" set.  

Seriously, how cute are these turtles??  (Though I must admit they gave me a bit of grief…  I am used to stamping and then coloring an image, but this particular set does not lend itself to that technique.  I initially tried stamping and embossing the image and then coloring with my Copics -- ruining a couple, I fear, in the process…  Then I tried stamping with Versamark ink and applying chalks (nice result, though super-tedious!)…  But none of these really gave me the look I was going for.  I had never tried direct-to-rubber coloring (mainly because all I had was Copics and I didn't think that was possible with them…), but decided that was just gonna have to be the technique for these images…  So, I bit the bullet and bought a handful of markers designed for direct-to-rubber, and….. voila!  Colorful Turtles!  :) 

I did come back in and color my gems and pearls with my Copics for some added bling…  Gotta have that!  :)  And the sentiment is all mine -- not a lot of pre-made sentiments fit for turtles stacked on top of each other!  :)

You'll want to check out this week's challenge over at The Play Date Cafe -- gorgeous color combo and beautiful inspiration board!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  I will be back tomorrow with a new card with lots of coloring on it that I can't wait to share with you!  Until then, I hope your week starts off with a bang!   :)

Mission: KitPossible Part Deux and Giveaway Winner!

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Hello and TGIF (unless you're in a part of the world where it's not yet -- or already has been -- Friday!  {…but I digress…})!

Welcome back for the final reveal of our Mission: KitPossible Part Deux!  As you know, I have teamed up with some super-crafty ladies -- Melissa Shea and Christy Reuling -- to stretch (or flex!) our creative muscles in using our September Simon Says Stamp Card Kits.  We initially challenged each other with a set of cues and then each made a card, using only the kit, which incorporated each of those cues.  You can see the card I made here.

That was fun, but today is my favorite because we get to see what else everyone has made using the kit and their own inspiration (and maybe a thing or two from their own stashes!  ;)

To remind you, here's the kit we are working with (available as a one-time-only thing or via a subscription to the kit through Simon Says Stamp):

And here are the cards I made:

 This one used the washi tape and some of the Jenni Bowlin stickers and one of the really sweet stamps that come in the kit, along with a couple of Prima flowers from my collection… (you know I love me some Prima!)

This card was one of those that kept changing in my head as I was putting it together…  Used that same sweet sentiment stamp (it was my favorite in the kit!) and die-cut some notched flowers (PTI) and leaves (W Plus 9) and embossed my base (American Crafts) all on the papers that came in the kit.  Though it was a mystery to me till the very end, I am quite pleased (and pleasantly surprised) with the way it turned out!  :)

And this was a 3" x 3" quickie (thanks for the suggestion, Mel!) that used the ruler embellishment, stickers, stamp, and papers from the kit.  {that saying -- "You rule"-- takes me back a few years!  ha!}

I hope you enjoy these…  they were sure fun to put together!  Don't forget to stop by Melissa and Christy's blogs to see what else they have created…  I know I can't wait!  :)

But before you go, I need to announce the winner of my Mission: KitPossible giveaway!  The winner will receive a $10 gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp and a few goodies from my stash!  :)  So without further ado….

Random.org has spoken and the winner is:

Cat CraigAugust 28, 2012 11:19 AM

Cute card, I'm singing up to follow you. Love your wit!

Cat, congratulations!  Please email me your email and physical address at ima_spursfan{at}yahoo{dot}com so I can get your goodies to you!  :)

Happy weekend everyone!

Thanks A Pot! :)

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{For my Mission: KitPossible and Give-away post, please click here!}

Hello, and Happy Wednesday!  Just wanted to pop in to share a card I made a bit ago and just never got it posted on here.  It was one of those nights where I just wanted to "play" and make something I liked, without thought of which products I needed to use, or whose sketch or color scheme.  This one is just me.  {whew… now that I put it out there like that, I'm feeling a little vulnerable… like if you don't like it, then what does that say about me???  and now…..  where do these neuroses come from?!?!  :) }

Anyway, this is one of my favorite stamps from Hero Arts because it's so curly and fun to color…  I had to do some selective masking to get my pots situated just right and to get the vine to trail properly…  kinda fun!  I colored the vine and pots with my Copics to mimic the colors in the patterned papers from Authentique…  love, love this color combination!  :)

Speaking of Copics, I just attended the Intermediate certification class this past weekend and had a blast!  Our instructor was the amazing Cindy Lawrence, who was both filled with information and inspiration and absolutely engaging.  If you love Copics and find she will be teaching a class in your area, I would definitely recommend taking the plunge and applying for the class!  :)

I came home from the class eager to "practice" and found I didn't have nearly enough "coloring" images to work with, so (naturally!) I had to place an order for some!  Can't wait till those arrive!  whee!!  :)

Thanks for stopping in today -- I'll be back on Friday with some more Mission: KitPossible cards and to announce the winner of my give-away.  Remember you have until 11:59 pm Thursday 8/30/12 to leave a comment here to be eligible!  :)

Until then, my friends, may your pots be ever-blooming!  (I think that Confucius-guy said something like that…  :)

Mission: KitPossible Part Deux! {and a give-away!}

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Good afternoon!  Today is the day of the Big Reveal -- the day Melissa, Christy, and I are sharing the cards we made using the Simon Says Stamp September "You're Amazing" Card Kit (try saying that in one breath!! :)  We challenged ourselves (and you... but more on that in a bit!) with three cues and then got loose and more than a little bit crazy with these kits!

First, here's a peek at the kit we were working with:

And now a reminder of the cues we were working with:

1. Make any size card other than a standard 4¼" x 5½" card!
2. Use (at least) three patterned papers!
3. Use the chalkboard!

And, finally, the card I made using the kit and only the kit:

Ok, I must confess to one thing.  Since my card is actually a 6" x 6" square, I did have to use a piece of plain white cardstock for the card base since the kit only comes with 8½" x 11" papers.  Please don't flog me.  ;)

{And while I'm in confessional mode, one more thing:  I'm actually a teensy bit perturbed at myself lately for doing some rather intricate designs that, once finished, I later look at and think , "oh…  I coulda just done it this way and achieved the same effect…"  Take this card for example.  I actually took the time to miter all my pieces together and now that it's done and I'm looking at it, I'm thinking, "why the heck did I do all that???  I could've just cut squares in graduating sizes and achieved the exact same effect!!!"  What is the matter with me?!?!  Aaarrrgghh!  ok, good, glad that's done ~ i feel better now.}

You will definitely want to stop by Melissa and Christy's blogs to see what they created…  I'm on my way over there right now, because seriously, how talented are those girls?!?  :)

But before you go, I'm offering a giveaway!  I will be giving away a $10 gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp (think of it as a down payment on a kit of your very own… :) as well as some goodies from my stash to one lucky follower, so here are the details:

• Comment on this post by 11:59pm Thursday, August 30th.
• Become a follower (if you're not already!  :)
• Receive a second entry by playing along with our cues.  Just leave me a link to your post (or picture gallery) displaying your use of the kit and our cues!
• Have fun!!

Thanks for stopping by -- hope you are enjoying your SSS kit as much as I'm enjoying mine…  and if you don't receive it, maybe you will reconsider for next month??  :)  Talk to you again soon!  :)

Mission: KitPossible Part Deux :)

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Hello, all you Kit-lovers out there!  It's official.  The September card kits from Simon Says Stamp have been delivered and they are smokin' hot!  Seriously.  Love all the colors (lots of primary colors as there's a bit of a back-to-school theme here…) and the stamp set is adorable and I can't wait to get crackin' on it!

That's where my trusty friend Melissa comes in!  You may remember last month we challenged each other to get in there and Use Those Kits!  We gave each other a set of cues and then a set of rules (thou shalt use the kit, and only the kit!  :)  and then set out on our crafty adventure!  I had never worked from a kit before and was thrilled with how many cards I was able to make from that sucker!  :)

So, this month we are back at it again!  And this time, we have added one of the craftiest girls we know to the mix!  Say "hi" to Christy (even though I'm sure most of you are already familiar with her work!). We are so excited to have her join us this month!  :)

We have changed things up a bit because we want YOU to show us what you've got!  Here's a pic of the September "You're Amazing" Kit:

The challenge?   Use the three cues we have for you below to create your own little "wow" moment using this kit!

The rules?   Easy.

1. Use the kit.
2. Follow the cues.
3. Have fun!!  :)

The Cues:

1. Create any size card OTHER than a standard 4¼" x 5½" card!
2. Use (at least) three patterned papers! 
3. Use the chalkboard!

Melissa, Christy, and I will be back on Monday at 6:00 pm CST to share the cards we created using the kit and our cues.  We will also be offering a give-away on each of our blogs and will want to see what you have created, so play along with us!

Until then, happy crafting, my friends!  :)