Flying High!!

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Good morning!  TGIF!  :)

Normally, Fridays are work days for me -- and busy ones, at that! -- but today, I am off!  :)  There's a stamping/scrapbooking convention in town, and I'm planning a big day of rummaging through all kinds of crafty fun!  I always have to be careful about these things to remind myself there is actually a difference between "I want!" and "I need!" (and I have found through past experience that that difference has a dollar amount!  It can be the difference between my spending a little today or WAY TOO FREAKIN' MUCH!  ha!  Wish me luck!!  :)

But before I head out, I wanted to stop in to share a card I made for a sweet young man I know who just had a super-great week at school!

I was inspired by two challenges in making this card, the Coloring challenge over at Lawnscaping and the It's a Man's Man's Man's World challenge over at A Blog Named Hero.

             

The clouds and the airplane are from Lawn Fawn's Bon Voyage set.  The die cut is Hero Arts' Heart Frame, the background stamp is from Four Hearts, and the sentiment is from Everyday Sayings.

I was super-happy with the way this one turned out and I know it'll be a hit with my little neighbor!

Hope you have a great day!!  Thanks for stopping by!  :)

Hexed by CAS!

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Hello!  I know it's been a few days since my last post, but I have good reasons -- I promise!  ;)

First, let me start by saying I am officially on vacation.  Finally!  So last week was a little crazy at work trying to make sure I had all my loose ends wrapped up before I left…  It was a lot of long hours and very little sleep, which made for one super-crabby me…  :-/

But we had a terrific weekend, how about you?  We had some good family time celebrating my aunt's big birthday (we went to place called Painting With a Twist -- a little bit of painting and a little bit of wine! -- and had a great time…  Let me tell you…  I am no painter -- and no amount of wine could turn me into one!  My "masterpiece" may find itself gifted in a White Elephant exchange this Christmas!!!  ;)

But in the midst of all of that, I did find time for some late-night crafting…  and here's what I came up with…

I love these soft colors and think they'd be perfect for a baby card, too…  I tried to keep it as CAS as I could, because the challenge this week over at A Blog Named Hero is to Clean Up Your Act :)  And, I have to tell you, this is about as CAS as I get…  (and it's darn near the flattest card I've ever done…  not a lick of dimensional adhesive on this one!)

Thanks for stopping by…  Hope you have a stellar week!  :)

Late Night Dash!

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Good morning!  So I was up REALLY late last night -- my beloved Spurs went to double OT in a playoff game and I wasn't gonna miss a moment of it!  Don't know if any of you are basketball fans, but this one was one for the ages…  And we won!!!  :)

Anyway, I was cleaning/organizing/straightening up my craft room while I was watching, and because the game went so long, I was able to get it done!  :)

After the game was over, I was too jazzed to go to bed, and wanted to take advantage of my newly cleaned/organized/straightened up space, so I decided to put something together for this week's 10 Minute Craft Dash.  (Not 100% sure attempting this at 2:00am is the brightest idea I've ever had…).

But here you go:

I finished in 9:51.7.  It was too close for comfort, and I had to scrap some of my original plans to make it.  (I forgot to get my ruler out before I started the time, and it wasn't within reach, so my faux stitching is a bit wonky… oh well…)  Please don't judge me for the way I tied my ribbon…  I really wanted a bow, but I wouldn't have made it…  I also wanted to add some stickles, but that just wasn't in the cards, either.  

           

 It was a lot of fun and I'm happy enough with it, though!  And even better, my craft room is clean/organized/straightened up!!!  Can't wait to get back in it!  :)

Have a great day!

A Sunny Hello :)

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Hello!  Happy Monday!  There is a DT search going on over at Case Study right now and I thought I would {gulp!} throw my hat in the ring!  This is among my very favorite challenges because each month, one of the best among us is invited to serve as "muse" and provides a different card each week for inspiration.  I love that there are no limits and that all styles are welcome and embraced!

The challenge was to select my own personal "Muse" and draw inspiration from their work -- someone whose style is different from my own, so that you'll be able to see where I drew my inspiration, but still be able to see me in it…

I chose as my "muse" Melissa Phillips of Lilybean's Paperie.  I love her vintage, often shabby chic, style.  Here embellishments are usually handmade and always fabulous.  She usually includes way more detail than I am ever comfortable with, but she always makes it work!  (hello, Tim Gunn  :)

The card I selected of hers is one of my all-time favorites.  It's amazing.  Seriously.  Check it here.

Here's my take:

Here's Melissa's masterpiece:

Melissa Phillips, Lilybean's Paperie

I was inspired by a number of things with Melissa's card -- I loved her color palette (she went with cool tones, so I went with warm! :) and her circle background, and her handmade flower embellishment…  Lots of good stuff!  :)

I'm super-pleased with the results and hope you like it too….  It's just a happy card, no?  :)

Have a great Tuesday…  be back soon with a card I made when I just had the urge to color something!

Mother Knows Best? *wink*

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Hello!

Ok, so I mentioned in my last post that my mother had quite the dubious reaction to the card I'm about to share with you…  She literally saw it sitting on my counter and said, "Huh (kinda high-pitched-like)….  Sooo... what did you do to this one?!?  I've never seen a card that looked like that before…"  (To her credit, she immediately started back-pedaling by asking me questions about color and technique…  but I saw through that!  :)

Now, I admit this one is a bit different, but that's ok every now and then, right?

I chose my colors based on the color palette over at The Play Date Cafe this week.  I love this combination -- it reminds me of the beach, for some reason!

Anyway, enough stalling…  Here it is:

  

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope the rest of your week goes by swimmingly!  :)

A Heart Full of Love!

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Hello, hello!  Just wanted to pop in tonight to share some love with you!  (Literally!)  {Mad props to anyone who recognizes my title!}

This is a card created based on this week's color scheme over at Colour Q.  I love the pinks and the cheery spring colors…  I happened to still have a stash of the Konnichiwa line by Basic Grey that I had been hoarding saving for a rainy day (ahem…) and I thought these colors would be the perfect excuse to break it out!  :)

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have a great rest of your week!  It has been rainy here the last couple of days, but we sure need it, so I'm not complaining!  Bring on another couple of days of it -- I'm water-proof!  :)

Think Pink!

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Hello, friends!  I am popping in tonight with a super-quick share…  And I'm wondering where all of my time has gone lately???  The last few weeks have seemed to pass in a crazy blur and, happily, I am a week away from vacation!  :)  I am still in the process of nailing down last minute plans and itinerary, so there is still WORK to be done!  whew!

But, alas, this is not why you're here!  (Is it???)

The card I'm sharing today is a card made with this month's Breast Cancer Awareness in mind (hence, the pink ribbon!  :)  I love that we take this month to shine a light on those who fight so courageously against this disease that affects so many of our mothers and daughters and sisters and friends…

To those who push onward and just will not accept defeat,
  To those who love and pray and laugh and cry and hold their hands,
    To those work tirelessly to educate us all so we might put an end to all this for good,
       Thank you!

For this card, I stamped an image from a Flourishes set I love called "Zinnias" and colored it with my Copics.  The patterned papers are from October Afternoon's new "Woodland Park" line and sentiment is Hero Arts.

Flourishes:  It's Time to Think Pink!

Copic Oz: Think Pink!  (for this challenge,  $5 for every card entered will go to the McGrath Foundation who do such amazing work supporting those affected by Breast Cancer, generously donated by X-Press Graph-X!  How cool is that?!?!  :)

Retrosketches #32

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you are having great week!  :)

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!  :)

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…  :)

Hip to be Square!

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Hello, my friends!  Hope your week is going swimmingly -- literally, if it's as hot where you are as it is here…  whew!  C'mon Autumn!  :)

I just wanted to pop in to share a card I created for a friend who just had had a surgery and is facing a rather long recovery -- thought she could use a dose of sunshine right now!  :) 

These papers are from SEI's "Mimosa" line -- I thought they were appropriate for the color challenge over at The Play Date Cafe this week.  I used the sketch from RetroSketches and modified it to be a square card because Cas-ual Fridays demanded it!  :)

Anyway, I hope you like it…  Thank you for stopping by!  Here's hoping you're wrapping up your summer with friends and family and making the most of these last weeks before school starts up again!  :)  Be well!

I {heart} You! :)

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Hello!  Welcome to another fabulous DeNami Designs Blog Hop!  Hopefully you are enjoying yourself, and if you are hopping in order, I know you are…  Because that would mean you have arrived here from the super-fab blog of Paulina Nakamura -- and I have no doubt that she whipped up something fabulous just for you!  :)

I love this month's theme because it is all about COLOR!  Bright, Bold, Beautiful color!  And, boy, did you come to the right place!  Here's my card:

I knew for this card that I wanted to use one of my favorite sets of Petit Fours from DeNami, the Hearts stamp set paired with this super-sweet sentiment.  And, of course, it wouldn't be a DeNami Blog Hop if I didn't use my favorite DeNami stamp -- the Circle Scallop cling stamp (I know, kinda a random choice to be my fave, but seriously… it's so versatile and I use it a lot!!!)…

Soooo…  I just went to town inking up one of those cute little hearts in about a million different colors  to create my background, die cut my heart window (used Hero Arts Heart Frame-Cuts), masked my sentiment strip, stamped and colored and stickled my scallop border, and then colored my ribbon (it was originally a white satin ribbon, so I colored it with a copic marker and spritzed it with colorless blending solution and mushed it around in a ziploc baggie till it was the color I wanted!  :)   And voila!  Bright, Bold, and Beautiful! 

Thank you so much for stopping by -- you're about to head off to see what the very talented Rae Ann has in store for you…  I know it's gonna be good!!  (Remember if you get lost anywhere along the way or if you just want to start all over from the beginning, you can always head back to the DeNami blog for a full list of participants!)

But before you go, I wanted to remind you to leave comments all along the hop for a chance to win one of two gift certificates to the DeNami Designs website!  You have until 11:59 PM PST August 13th to leave your comments to be eligible for a prize, so HOP to it!!  :)

Topiary-ally Awesome!!!

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Good morning!  I mentioned on my last post that I hosted the Hero Arts 90-Minute Scramble this past weekend -- soooo much fun!  My challenge was to use the "filler" stamps that come in almost every stamp set to create the focal point on your card...  Thought I would share the second card I created as an "inspiration piece" for the Scramblers...  (I am happy to announce that, in the interest of fairness, I created both of my cards in 90-minutes -- not the same 90 minutes, mind you, but 90 minutes nonetheless!  Turns out I can work within time constraints when the pressure is off!  Who knew?!?)

This card was so fun to make and I am super-proud of it!  The topiary is made using the filler stamps I have highlighted in the pics below.  I created a "mask" by punching my 7/8" and 1-1/4" circles in scrap paper and lining them up on my cardstock.  I then stamped the little flowers and just "masked" them with hole-punched paper pieces while I stamped the little leaves and branches.  Pretty darn easy!  :)

 See the little "filler" pieces I used??  Too easy and so fun!

I made this card with two challenges in mind...  I wanted to make a "Hello" card for Stamp It! Cards The Hello Challenge in the Moxie Fab World and I chose my colors for this card based on the color inspiration board over at The Play Date Cafe this week.  Love the pinks and greens -- has to be one of my favorite color combinations!!  Check out their color board:

Thanks for stopping by!  I am off work today -- woo-hoo! -- and plan to get a few necessary (ugh!) things done and then spend some much-needed time in my craft room!  Here's hoping life is allowing you some craft-therapy time, too!  :)

Hitch Yer Wagon!

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So, tonight I hosted the Hero Arts 90-Minute Scramble over on flickr...  It was my first time hosting and, it has to be said, I was so flippin' nervous!  I kept thinking -- Was my challenge challenging enough?  Was it too challenging?  Were my "inspiration" cards inspiring?  Would anybody show up to play?  --  Geez, it was just like junior high again!  The angst!  The insecurities!  Ackh!

In the end, it was a lot of fun!  I challenged the scramblers to create a card using the "filler" stamps that come in just about every stamp set as their focal point.  They were also to incorporate stitching (faux or actual, their choice...) and to create their own sentiment by selectively stamping sentiments they already had or via a "mash-up" of different stamps.

I created my "inspiration" card following these cues, but used the color scheme from this week's ColourQ challenge as my jumping-off point.  The heart banner (as well as sentiment tag) was made using the "filler" stamps from one of my favorite Hero Arts sets (see pic), the wagon is from Simple Stories, and the grass is selectively trimmed from a giant Martha Stewart punch.

Here it is, for your viewing pleasure!  :)

See the heart?  The flower I've circled will find it's way onto a card near you in the next day or two!  :)

I am also linking this card up to the Stamp It! Cards Love Card Challenge in the Moxie Fab World this week.  The card has to use stamping as the primary technique...  check!  And have a "Love" theme... check!  And be cute!  (I think... check!)  Haha!  Good to go!  :)


Thanks for stopping by -- hope you're having a great weekend -- and avoiding the heat!  (We broke a daily heat record here today...  hottest day since 1939 at 106 degrees... whew!  and ick!!!)

Daydream Believer?

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Welcome to the DeNami Designs "Summer" Blog Hop!  I'm sure you've been enjoying "Hot" card after "Seriously Hot" card along this hop!  :)  I mean, is all this inspiration getting you all fired up, or what???

With that in mind, thought you'd enjoy chillin' here for a minute or two...  I think I've got something pretty cool to share!  ha!  :)

If you are hopping in order, you should be arriving from Greta Hess's fun blog -- bet she had a real sizzling something to share!  Don't forget you have until 11:59 PM PST on July 9th to leave comments all along the hop for your chance to win one of two mini shopping sprees on the DeNami Designs website!

Ok, so the theme this month is "Summer," and when I think of summer, I think of lots of sunshine and like to daydream about sippin' Mai Tais on a tropical beach somewhere...  (I'll keep the part about being fed frozen treats by a sun-bathed beach god to myself...  :)  Thankfully, I had just the set of stamps I needed to create my ode to summer!

  

I used this set to stamp these adorable "adult bevvies" which I colored with Copics and then coated with Glossy Accents.  I used this circle scallop stamp to create my "placemats" which I then paper-pieced.  And, finally, I combined the "cheers" stamp with this one (selectively masked, of course!) to create my own sentiment...  Lots of fun!  :)

Thank you so much for visiting and leaving comments -- I appreciate every one of them!  :)  I hope you are enjoying the blog hop.  You're off now to Deanna Jean's super-creative blog (I'll be right behind you -- can't wait to see what she's come up with!!  :)   If you get lost along the way, or would just like to start over from the beginning, just head on over to the DeNami Designs website!

Happy hopping!  :)

...... ummmm, excuse me, Beach god, my Mai Tai appears to be empty.....  ;-)

Mi Casa o Su Casa??

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Good evening and Happy Thursday!  Hopefully you all had a super-special 4th of July, with all things Americana that's supposed to go along with it!

I just wanted to pop in tonight to share a card I made that was inspired by this week's sketch over at RetroSketches.  What a great challenge this one was!  There were a lot of elements on this card -- and, coming from me, that says a lot (I'm a girl who likes her embellishments, ya know what I'm sayin'??).....

This was the sketch, based on an original card created by the uber-talented Jackie Rockwell:

And here's my take:

I do believe this is the most literal I've ever been with a sketch.  Stuck to it pretty darn precisely...  :)  These are Echo Park papers and the die-cuts are from Wplus9.  The sentiment is a Hero Arts goodie.

{On a different note, I'd like to welcome back into my life an old, trusted, and reliable friend -- my Gino!  Gino is my 2004 Mini Cooper with 42,000 miles on him (yep, you read that right...  the dealer said he'd never seen an 8 year-old car with so few miles....  :) and he has just been fully restored to his former glory and back into the part of my heart reserved only for cute little cars that ooze personality (and conjure up memories of Marky-Mark, sans the Funky Bunch, in the Italian Job!  yum!  :)  Welcome back, old friend!}

Thanks for visiting!  I'll be back tomorrow with a card for my sister, who celebrated her birthday this week -- how nice that she gets fireworks for her birthday every year!! -- and back again on Sunday for the "Summer" blog hop for DeNami Designs!  Until then, take care of yourselves, my friends!  :)

Got the Blues

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Hello!  Just wanted to pop in to share a quickie I made for this week's challenge over at The Play Date Cafe.  Color challenges are my favorite kind -- and TPDC never fails to deliver!

Having said that, this week's palette was certainly a challenge...  It just felt weird to be playing with these colors in the middle of the summer -- (it reminded me of the year my dad thought it would be great to change out all our traditional Christmas decorations for blue and silver ones -- pretty in theory {and in the department stores} -- but just not right in our home!!)

Alas, this is meant to be a challenge, after all...  So, here's what I came up with:

   

The Play Date Cafe Challenge #137

Thanks for popping in!  I always look forward to and enjoy your sweet comments!  Have a great rest of the week!  :)

Banner-ific!!

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TGIF!  Happy Top o' the Weekend to you!  :)

Just a quick post to share a card I created based on another of the Hero Arts sketches for this month and using the color o' the week from CAS-ual Fridays -- PINK!

I wanted it to be colorful and girly (I know -- shocker!!! :) and I wanted needed to use up some scraps of random papers!  (I am the world's worst about throwing paper bits away -- I seriously need some guidelines here -- like, hoard ONLY if the paper is THIS size or bigger....  any and all suggestions are welcome!  :)

Anyway, here's the sketch my card is based on...

And before you go....  It's officially summer, so I thought I'd share a fun video of Emmitt with you!  Crazy mutt would willingly give his own life for watermelon and avocados  :)

Have a fantastic weekend!!!  I know I plan to!!  :)

Thank You "Clearly"

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Seriously, have you seen the color palette over at The Play Date Cafe this week?? Simply gahhh-geous!  :)  How could I not play along??  And I had the perfect set of stamps I was dying to ink up just for the occasion!  :)

Just so we're "clear," (ha!) I have used acetate again on this card to create a window to house my sentiment.  So fun, but I didn't have the right color Staz-On ink, so had to stamp and heat emboss my sentiment on the "inside" of my card...  I like it anyway!  :)  Hope you do, too!  Thanks for stopping by!

But before you go, thought I would share some sage advice my mom passed on to me and my sisters, just for fun!  :)  You know, moms always know best!  

Thanks, Mom!  :)  Haha!

Just Because...

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***Before I get into today's post, I wanted to shamelessly plug, er, uh...  remind you about my first-ever giveaway I have going on this week!  You can find the details in this post, but really it's simple -- all you have to do to be entered is become a follower of this blog (if you aren't already!), and if you do, please leave me a comment so I can take some time to visit your blog and say "hi!"  I will run this thru 11:59pm CST Friday night, June 15th and announce a winner on Saturday, June 16th...  

Thank You and Good Luck!!!***

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming!  :)  


The card I'm sharing with you today is my take on this week's color challenge over at The Play Date Cafe -- which was a real bugger, btw!  :)  If you've been following my blog for a while, you know that I heart my patterned papers and rarely do a project without them.  Well, the good folks over at TPDC must have had other things in mind when they chose this color scheme, 'cuz I had nuthin'!  I was gonna have to do a lot of stamping and coloring!  I also had in mind to use one of this month's sketches over at the Hero Arts blog as inspiration for this card -- Circles!

So here's what I came up with:

 Was hoping you'd be able to tell more about the different levels on this detail shot...

I'm pretty pleased with it, especially since (promise you won't tell anyone --  this is just between us...) this was my first time ever stitching on a card!  Ha!  :)

Anyway, thanks for stopping by!  I would be super-honored if you would consider following this blog -- again, the giveaway is still open for another couple of days!!!  :)  Hope your week is starting off famously!