This card has a lot going on, in terms of the number of challenges it meets, but you’d never know it with it’s clean and simple style.  I started with the sketch from 2Sketches4You, but I wasn’t sure what way I wanted to go in terms of color schemes.  I then remembered that Dawn McVey started a new color challenge on her blog.  This card uses the colors from Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #2.  To make it even easier I used the challenge theme from the Late Night Stampers group which is run by Sherrill Graff.  This week’s theme is Birds of a Feather and look how fabulous that rub on works for the challenge.  Speaking of Sherrill’s group, I was just selected to be on the Late Night Stamper’s Design Team for the next 3 months!  It’s a group that focuses on Stampin’ Up! only artwork, but demonstrators and customers can both belong.  If you are interested in joining, please do so here.  Now if seeing wonderful artwork that uses Stampin’ Up! supplies only isn’t reason enough to join, Sherrill is also giving away $50 in free merchandise just for posting samples.  Three lucky winners were just chosen, but there are more to come. 

Well there is a lot to get done today.  Colin’s birthday is just around the corner and I have to get his invitations in order.  I still haven’t started on swaps for the Regionals in Minneapolis this weekend.  At least it’s raining so I don’t feel as guilty about staying inside.  Have a fabulous Tuesday!

Jenn

All supplies are Stampin’ Up! and can be purchased on my Demonstrator Website: http://igotstamps.stampinup.net

I know I’ve said it many times before, but Sympathy cards are the hardest cards for me to make.  I always feel like they have to be just right to convey the right feeling and sentiments.  Unfortunately, I’ve needed a lot of them lately.  Yesterday I stayed in my PJ’s all day long and worked on both Artisan Award entries and then attempted to catch up on Challenges at SCS.  One of the ones I am very far behind on is the Featured Stampers challenge.  When I saw this card in Twinshappy’s gallery I knew what I wanted to do with it.  I changed a lot, but I also kept the overall look of the strips of designer series paper with the brads and of course I kept the butterflies.  The butterflies on this card have such a light and airy feeling and the color scheme to me is so peaceful.  I hope it brings some comfort to the person I’m sending it to. 

To complete this card I started with a Kraft card stock base.  I then layered Baja Breeze and Whisper White card stock that was punched with the eyelet border punch.  I added 1″ strips of Parisian Breeze specialty paper.  On the bottom strip I stamped the sentiment from Close as a Memory in Chocolate Chip craft ink and heat embossed it with crystal clear embossing powder.  I then added the vintage brads, using my mat pack to give me equal spacing on all of them.  I then cut out 3 butterflies that are from Dreams du Jour and had been stamped with classic Chocolate Chip ink on Whisper White paper.  I added them with mini glue dots. 

Some of you have been asking how I have been coming along on my Artisan Award entries.  Out of 10 projects I have 3 done (1 card and two 3D items).  I still have 3 scrapbook pages and 4 cards to go.  I think I work best under pressure, but I’ll have them mailed with time to spare. 

This coming weekend I am headed out of town.  I don’t know at this point in time if I’ll have enough to keep me going everyday through the weekend, but I’m working hard on it.  If not I’ll be back on Monday with projects from the Stampin’ Up! regional in Minneapolis.  Jackie and I are leaving early Friday morning in hopes to make it there in time for an SCS dinner.  I’m looking forward to meeting some of my online friends in real life. 

Have a fantastic Monday!  Our snow is gone and the sun is shining!  Cross your fingers that spring is here to stay.

Jenn

All supplies are Stampin’ Up! and can be purchased on my Demonstrator website: http://igotstamps.stampinup.net

Yesterday we went out with my family to celebrate March birthdays and an Anniversary. My Sister-in-Law and I both have birthday’s this month and it was my brother and Sister-in-Law’s 5th wedding anniversary.  When I got to my parent’s house my Mom tells me that the gift card she picked up from Corner Bakery had the cutest little shopping tote to deliver it in.  After my brother and Sister-in-Law opened their present I stole the tote.  LOL!  My brother really told me I could have it.

This morning I deconstructed it and came up with dimensions for it.  I improvised a bit to make it a tad bigger just to get the dimensions on even numbers.  Do you want the directions?

1. Cut a piece of Designer Series Paper to 8 X 4 1/4

2. Along the 8 inch side, score at .5, 1, 3.75, 4.25, 4.75 and 7.5

3. Along the 4 1/4 inch side score at 3 and 3.5

4. Using Stick Strip tape the .5 inch piece up to the 7.5″ score mark

5. Place a small box (I used a Sweetheart box) inside of the bag.  Close the bottom like you would wrap a present

6. Cut 2 piece of designer series paper to .75 X 4.25

7.  Fold both end into the center so you have a tube that is .25 X 4.25

8. Fold your handle at 1 5/8 and 2 3/4 inches.  Attach to the inside of the bag with sticky strip

9. Decorate as desired

The finished size is 2 3/4 X 3 1/2 and is 1″ wide.

Inside of my bag I can fit a Stampin’ Up! button container and it will easily hold a gift card as well.

I’d love to see your little Mini Shopping Totes so post here if you get a chance to make one.

Have a fun Sunday!  The boys are out playing in the snow and I hope it is the last snow I see for a long time – at least until next Winter.

Jenn

All supplies are Stampin’ Up! and can be purchased on my Demonstrator Website: http://igotstamps.stampinup.net

Just exactly where did this week go, or better yet where did the entire month of March go?  All I know is that this week went by way too quickly and this next week is bound to do the same.  Especially since there is so much I want to get done before I leave for Minneapolis on Friday.  I plan on trying to get a few swap cards together to take with me.  There is nothing like waiting until the last minute on those.

This is my last card as Guest Designer on Jen’s blog.  Come along and play with her Sketch For You To Try.  I had fun with this one and pulled out colors I haven’t worked with in a while to go with the spring like colors in the designer series paper.  It’s from the Walk in the Park package and it will be available on April 1st.  The Hello sentiment is from Fundamental Phrases and I used the leaf image from A Great Friend and stamped it over it.  I like how it carried the image from the paper into my sentiment frame.  The flower is colored with a Cameo Coral marker and has a half pearl added in the center. 

Have a great Saturday!  Today we are going out for Thai food with my family.  I love Thai food.  Hopefully I can get to the Korean grocery store because they have some of the best green curry straight from Thailand that is sold in a can.  YUM!  Tomorrow I’m going to work on my Artisan Award entries so if I’m MIA it’s because the creative process is going so well that I can’t share what I’m working on.  Plus a nasty 4 letter word is in store for us tomorrow.  Can you believe it is supposed to snow?  YUCK!  Not just a dusting, but 1 – 3 inches are predicted.  I just hope they are wrong about that.

Jenn

All supplies are Stampin’ Up! and can be purchased on my Demonstrator Website – http://igotstamps.stampinup.net .  Walk in the Park designer series paper and Great Friend will be available on April 1st.

I am moving slowly today. I had a class last night and we had a lot of fun making my Cupcake Tote and a Wonderful Circles card. I cleaned up and got carried away into a book and unfortunately went to sleep too late. I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning, much less do anything constructive. I did have to finish my Sister-in-law’s birthday gift.  I have a few more cards to make to fill this container up, but I’m well on my way to being done.  The template is one of Lauren Meader’s called Filed with Flair and it can be purchased from Papertrey Ink.  Now you all know I’m a very loyal Stampin’ Up! person, but I am hooked on the monthly templates.  I used the same designer series paper that I used on my cards, which is the Urban Garden designer series paper.  I decorated the outside with images from the Great Friend stamp set.  It will be available in the Occasions Mini catalog on April 1st. 

I’ve had an overwhelming response for a tutorial on my post from yesterday.  The tutorial or template will have to wait until after I am done with my Artisan Award entries – so it probably won’t be around until at least May.  I made that project at the beginning of February and all I have are the photos to go off of, so hopefully I can recreate it.  I’ll post it as soon as I have the chance. 

Have a fabulous weekend!  March just flew by and I’ll have the last card as Guest Designer for Jen’s Sketch for You to Try.  I am still so honored that she chose me.  What a fabulous compliment.  Thanks Jen!

Jenn

I was cleaning up folders on my computer when I came across this project. I made it for a Stampin’ Up! contest for March, but it didn’t make the cut. The good thing is that I can now share it with you.  I made this to be a little Love Notes book.  The cover is Pink Pirouette and is decorated with Kiwi Kiss, Raspberry  Tart and flowers from Petal Pizzazz.  I just love cutting these flowers out and adding half pearl centers to them.  To give them some depth I curl the petals and leaves with the handle of my paper piercer.

The inside of the notebook opens up to reveal a pocket for Post It Notes and a pen. The pages are decorated with the Petal Pizzazz flowers as well as Define Your Life Definitions.  I only picked definitions that dealt in some way with being in love.   I was in love this this project when  I made it.  I wish I had made another to keep on hand so I have the dimensions.  If I have time in a few weeks I’ll try to sit down and figure them out. 

Well I have a few things to get done around the house as I have a class coming in tonight.  I hope you all have a fantastic day.  Plus I have an offer for all of my Blog Readers.  I was contacted by Snuggle and they would like to offer you a $2 off coupon on their brand new Snuggle Creme. Snuggle creme is a brand new product that adds two luxurious aromas to your laundry time while also softening your clothes. You can click on the widget to download your coupon. 

Jenn

On Monday the Clean and Simple Challenge was to use punches. I don’t have much of my Urban Garden designer series paper left so a 1″ punch was all I needed to make this card. I actually made a set of 4 in under 15 minutes. I started with a Baja Breeze Base and then cut my Whisper White layer to 5 1/4 X 4 1/4. Using the Eyelet Border punch along the bottom edge made it the perfect size to mat on the card front. I then made my embossed frame with my fiskars cutter and bone folder. I started along the top edge 1/8″ in and ran the scoring blade from 1/8″ to 5 1/8″ and then followed up with the bone folder to deepen the impression. I then did the same thing placing the top of the paper at 2 5/8″. The sides were joined by scoring 1/8″ from the edges, but from 1/8″ to 2 5/8″ this time. I placed my circles and used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to make sure the placement was perfect. I added paper piercing and was satisfied with the results. I will show you the holder I am making for them later this week as it’s not quite done.

Today Evan has a pediatrician appointment as a follow up to the ENT. His adenoids are normal so I think that leaves us re-testing his immune system. Yesterday I didn’t get much stamping done since I spent the day talking to the school about a school yard bully down at the bus stop. This morning it happened again and I am just furious. I even confronted the parent and she did nothing. I guess I need to do some therapeutic stamping today to calm my nerves.

Have a great Wednesday!

Jenn

All supplies are Stampin’ Up! and can be purchased on my Demonstrator Website

Isn’t this basket cute? I’m thinking of making one for each place setting for Easter dinner. I’ll probably end up filling them with Jelly Beans instead of Chocolate, but for the sake of the photograph I used what was on hand. My kids love my treat stash that’s used for pictures. They know when I pull it out they will most likely get a piece after the photo is taken.

If you are interested in finding the pattern for the basket it was part of the Try a New Technique Challenge on SCS yesterday.  Click here to get the pattern.  It is in the first post.

I used Pink Pirouette for the base and stamped it with the floral image from A Good Egg in Pretty in Pink.  The liner is Sweet Always designer series paper as is the paper pieced egg shell.  The little chick is stamped on Barely Banana with Basic Gray ink and his beak is Apricot Appeal.  To dress it up a bit I added some Whisper White Organza ribbon as well as the sentiment punched with the Word Window punch and a Fresh Favorites button threaded with Linen Thread.  The edges of the liner are punched with the Eyelet Border punch. 

I hope you have a fantastic Tuesday! 

Jenn

All supplies are Stampin’ Up! and can be purchased on my Demonstrator Website: http://igotstamps.stampinup.net

Let me tell you, my house was so quiet yesterday I almost didn’t know what to do with myself. So to keep myself busy I made this cute little tote with 3 matching cards. Isn’t it adorable? It’s one of the Technique challenges over at SCS and the tote is the design of Julie Buhler. If you check out this link you can find the directions. I’m going to be making this one at a class next week.  The tote is made from Pink Pirouette card stock and is decorated with Sweet Always designer series paper.  I used the cupcake from Wagon Full of Fun and the sentiment from Sweet Little Sentiments.  The tote opens to reveal the 3 X 3 Love Notes inside, but I couldn’t get a good photo of it open.

Inside are 3 matching cards and envelopes. I just noticed that my cupcake card is right in front of the tote and it’s the one that matches the front, so it sort of blends in. Again I used Pink Pirouette paper and Sweet Always designer series paper. All of the images are from Wagon Full of Fun and are stamped on Whisper White in Basic Gray ink. I watercolored them with an AquaPainter and re-inkers. They are matted on Regal Rose, Pumpkin Pie and Chocolate Chip and then attached to the card with dimensionals.

I think this project is just darling and it would make a fabulous gift to give. Have a great Monday! The supplies to make Colin’s birthday invitations are arriving today. I also have to finish up a few swap cards, get started on swaps for my upcoming Regionals and work on more Artisan Award entries. I guess I have a lot to do so I better get started.

Jenn

Do you know how quiet it is in my house today? The boys aren’t home yet, Roger left to go pick them up, and there isn’t a single noise! I’m down in my stamping space enjoying the peace and quiet. We even went out to breakfast this morning and I didn’t have to cook or clean up after anyone.  That will be over soon. 

I have seen these baskets floating around on the Internet and I just had to give it a try.  I made these baskets in my last class with the scallop envelope die and the Delicate Dots designer series paper.  I decided to alter this one into a bunny basket.  I got the template for the head from Sandi MacIver’s blog.  You can find it here.   I changed mine up a bit by adding a mouth and some rosy cheeks.  I also used crystal effects on his eyes.  The ribbon on his head is from the Valet Ribbon originals card. 

I better get back to getting stuff done while the house is empty.  Have a great Sunday!

Jenn

All supplies are Stampin’ Up! and can be purchased on my Demonstrator website.