Workin' on a wedding....

Do not fret people - I am still here....I'm just up to my eyeballs in this:
what is this mess? Above you see a portion of 220 wedding invites that I'm working on. So, no, I'm not just sitting around nursing the baby and eating bon-bons....I'm GLITTERING myself silly!

All of these invites get hand glittered with a two way glue pen and Dazzling Diamonds. That is just on the INSIDE!!! The pockets were dry embossed, and the outside was glittered with black glitter - heat embossed. Believe it or not, the hand glittering takes less time than heat embossing the glitter on the outside.

They will really be stunning when complete, and I'll be sure to post a pic when done. (hopefully before Friday!) After that, I've got baby announcements to work on, and thank you notes too. Then, it's killing me to work on something else!!! I'll be back - stick with me!!!

It's coming up daisies!

Okay - all of a sudden I have found much interest in my Upsy Daisy set. I don't know why I didn't just love this set before....but it's begun to earn more ink time here recently. Maybe because it's finally spring and the daisies are taking over my flower bed. They are multiplying where they shouldn't be - I'm gonna have to dig a bunch up and either get rid of them or find a spot to put them.....in the meantime - until mine actually bloom, I'll admire these:
I really like the look of the Whisper White ink on the Kraft cardstock. And here I simply edged one side of them with a Rose Red marker to give them a little "pop". Because the stems didn't go to the edge of the Kraft piece, I covered it with my ribbon and a coordinating button. Clever - right? The pattern paper is from the often used Sweet Pea paper pack. If you don't have this paper yet - you better get your hands on some. You've got 11 days to get some ordered and then it's gone!!!! This paper pack is a great deal. For a little over the cost of 2 packs of DSP, you get the amount of FOUR packs of DSP!!! Plus, all of the paper is SUPER cute.

See how that little bit of marker work adds so much?

I broke out my Pink Pirouette stamp pad to stamp the label from Vintage Labels, and Rose Red to stamp the sentiment.

Now, this one is essentially the same card, but I changed up the ribbon/sentiment portion. You may remember a very similar card from this post. I used one less layer of DSP on this card. And got to thinking that it really needed some extra color, hence the Old Olive ribbon and label color.

Well folks - that's all for today. I'm sure the little ones will be awake soon and the two older ones are going to beg me to take them to the tractor for rides. The corn planting has finally begun! We'll be praying for 7 days of really nice weather, and no breakdowns and hopefully all of the corn can get in the ground then!

I'm back....

...with some new material....

My intentions were to have a bunch of blog posts ready for when I was in the hospital. BUT....since I didn't even come home after my last dr. appt, and just went and delivered a baby instead, that didn't get done. So, here is a card I made last week that I absolutely love!

I don't quite remember how the idea for this one came to me...but I think it's awesome if I do say so myself. Since dandelions will soon be "in season", I decided to make some pretty dandelions. Do you remember when you were little, blowing the dandelion seeds and making a wish? I think the sentiment on this one just conjers up some great childhood memories - probably for lots of people.
This card was super simple to make - in fact I made several at once, and even in different colors. All I did was stamp the dandelion (from Good Friend - combining 2 different stamps), then used a little Crystal Effects on the "pods"? and sprinkled with glitter. Here I used Taken w/ Teal. And, all of the ink on the card is Taken with Teal - which is soon to retire. Better get your little mitts on it while you still can! The card base is Baja Breeze (yeah for it's upcoming comeback!!!) Don't the colors mix well together?? I'm stocking up on Taken w/ Teal just for this reason - because I LOVE it!

Alrighty peeps....I better tend to my newest little stamper. I know Aubrie just can't wait to get her little fingers all inky with me. She's already helped me make banana bread....I hope she'll be a chickie after my own liking!

Let me know - did you ever wish on a dandelion? Oh, and what do you think of my card????

Our little Aubrie!

I think Andy is glad to have a little girl to spoil! She's super tiny in his arms!

Oh, heck, she's so tiny in MY arms!!! My boys were a good pound to a pound and a half bigger. Andy compares that to quarter pounders - it's like 4 -6 of them....he's got a way with perspective!

Just an hour old. She's a good little girl - we love her!

It's a GIRL!!!!

Aubrie Mae joined our family on Friday, April 9th at 7:46pm. She was an easy delivery, and has been super good ever since! She weighed a mere 6 lbs, 13 oz, and was 20 3/4 inches long. Compared to her brothers...she's tiny! Will post more later!

Here they are.....

I just love the new color collections. Before the Bold Brights were SO BOLD, and Soft Subtles were VERY SUBTLE.....these are much more to my liking.....don't you love them???

Edited to add - sorry for the fuzzy pic - if you click it, you'll get something a little more clear....

Introducing...Color Renovation!!!

It's time for change and change is good!!! Stampin' Up! announced today that they are revamping their color families - which will now be referred to as color collections. What does this mean? Well, in short, they will be retiring 30 of the current colors - yes, that's right - 30 of them. Now, now, don't fall over in your seat! They are also bringing back 10 of YOUR favorite In Colors from the past as core colors. (including Baja Breeze!!!!! and Wild Wasabi!!!!!) They are also adding 5 new core colors that are very cool! There will be four core color collections - Neutrals, Brights, Regals, and Subtles. Don't worry folks - I know, I know - no more Earth Elements - by far my all time most used color family! Most of these colors have been relocated into the other collections. We still get to keep Old Olive, Choc. Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Not Quite Navy!!! (those are the ones I was really worried about, and relieved to see made the cut!) So, now we'll have 4 color collections with 10 colors in each collection.
What about the In Colors??? Well, get this: The In Colors will now be 5 colors that stick around for 2 - yep - TWO years. However, every year they will introduce 5 new In Colors. So at one time, we will have 10 In Colors. I really like this idea. I'm never happy to see the In Colors go, but at the same time, I'm glad when there are new colors to play with.
What does this mean for you? If there are retiring colors that you can't live without, you will want to get your little hands on some of those ink pads, paper, etc before July 1. What colors are retiring? Here you have it:

Almost Amethyst, Apricot Appeal, Ballet Blue, Barely Banana, Blush Blossom, Bordering Blue, Brilliant Blue, Brocade Blue, Cameo Coral, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Gable Green, Glorious Green, Going Gray, Green Galore, Handsome Hunter, Lavendar Lace, Lovely Lilac, Mellow Moss, Only Orange, Orchid Opulence, Pale Plum, Pink Passion, Pixie Pink, Really Rust, Ruby Red, Sage Shadow, Summer Sun, Taken w/ Teal :(, Yoyo Yellow.

If you want to order some of these colors before they are gone - either shoot me an email, or go to my website, and click on the Shop Now button in the top right corner.

And, are you curious as to what colors are making a comeback???

Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Pacific Point, Baja Breeze!, Wild Wasabi, River Rock, Tangerine Tango, Riding Hood Red, Soft Suede
Yes, this means that there will be Watercolor Crayons and Markers and pencils (oh my!) in these favorite colors!!

And just to pique your interest, the names of the new colors are:
Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler, and Early Espresso!!!!

FYI - Kraft Cardstock (yeah, still my fave neutral) will now be referred to as Crumb Cake and will have coordinating ink!!! But don't be surprised if I still call it Kraft! Crumb Cake will just make me hungry 24-7!

I am so excited to get to play with the brand new colors we have coming out, I can barely stand myself. And even more so, I can't wait to get out some of my favorite old In Colors!!! I've been hoarding EVERY LAST PIECE of BAJA BREEZE - and now there will be more for me to play with!!!

Hip, Hip HOORAY!!!!!

Such a Sweet Pea....

I haven't shown you much with those cute little felt flowers in the Occasions Mini yet.....I've been hoarding them. I'd hate to run out of them you know.....heaven forbid!

Anyway - here's a quick and super simple card I created with those felt flowers and the super awesome Sweet Pea DSP (that's one heck of a good deal!). FYI - you only have one month left to purchase both the flowers and the DSP.....
Pretty cute - eh? If you'd like to order these before they are gone....send me an email

or go to my Stampin' Up website and place an online order.

Also - TODAY is the last day of Sale-A-Bration. If you haven't gotten all you want for freebies, you need to get your order in today! You certainly don't want to miss out on that uber cool Scallop Trim Punch, now do you??? You won't be able to order it until July. And, hey, why not earn it free.....seems pretty logical!

TTFN - Jen

Sweet Sixteen...

My sister Megan turned 16 a week ago today. SO, if you've felt a little nervous while on the roadways in Western Iowa, that could be part of the explanation! Another 16 year old on the loose! Here is the card I made her:





I really like the way this card turned out - bright, cheery, perky! Just like a sixteen year old, right? I used the FTL81 from the Clean & Simple Stamping Blog for my sketch, with some adjustments - I didn't let any of the circles "fall off" the page as I really wanted to use the jumbo brads. I think they worked great..... The card base is actually the Melon Mambo that you see in the center of the circles. I stamped the white circles from the Circle Circus set in the holes. The medallion is from Vintage Labels set that is in the Sale-A-Bration catty, it's embossed with black EP to keep everything shinin'. I liked how the ring of circles (that you can barely see around the white) coordinate with the pattern in the brads. I felt as tho something was kinda missing tho - almost too clean for me *GASP!* - and decided to:



....add the black ribbon and bow at the top.....It set it off just the way I wanted it too....yeah, I'm patting myself on the back.....

And, to keep you up to date on life on the farm.....we still have snow - the drifts in our front yard just don't seem to melt. Here is my hubby (who stands 6'3") standing by the drift that never ends. This is the drift that you've seen in many photos over the winter. The pic was taken 3/23/10 (last Thursday) when we were out cleaning up tree branches. Lots and lots of tree branches! At one point this winter - for a good two months actually - we couldn't even see those bushes behind the drift...So I know the drift was 10 -12 ft high at least! It has continued to melt over the weekend, and is now about 3 ft. high....it's just taking it's own sweet time.

We made 4 huge piles in the front yard, making a great "bird's nest" for two little boys!

Will took his job seriously and was moving sticks like he really was a bird! Crazy kid....

Unfortunately for my little birds, their nest was burned yesterday, along with the 4 other piles we had. Now we need to move on to the other branches and trees that are all over the lawn - my hubby is loving the massive amounts of yard we have this spring (approx 3 acres) and the gazzilion trees on it.....and the fact that I'm less than two weeks from having a baby (hopefully!) so I'm not much help at all. If those boys were 5 years older.....I'll regret saying that I know! So, there is your update.

Hope you enjoyed my card - it is what you came here for after all - right!

It's never to early to think about your Mother!

Had a great lesson today - NEVER, EVER walk away from your stampin' table without first putting your markers or your projects UP!

Not even for a second.

Not even to wipe your 4 year old's butt.


Not with a two year old in the house.


Who is awake.

And naughty.

It won't have a good outcome, and you'll end up regretting it. And here is proof:

See that nicely colored image underneath the scribbling? Yep, I'd been working on that....and got called away. I'd put the lids on my markers, got up from my table, and attended to my 4 year old to come back to that! Alex managed to pull the lids off my markers and have some fun coloring in his own fashion. I couldn't even say a whole lot to him, because when I got back in the room his first words were, "See...niiiicccce!" And I hate to discourage creativity....This is why I generally work only during nap time and bed time!

Yep - I'd stamped 4 of them on a page and my intentions were to die cut them after I had them colored....Needless to say - I just started all over at a later time.

When the 2 year old was sleeping.

Soundly.

It all worked out in the end, and I really {heart} my end result:

Yes, yes, that's PURPLE that you see, well, Perfect Plum to be exact. But it's in the purple family. Can you believe it??? I used my Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, (Big Shot - see, you just gotta have one!) to do the embossing. The floral image I colored (twice!), then die cut with the Big Shot (what did I tell you??) and used some Nestabilities - oval and scalloped oval. The sentiment is from All Holidays. There is a "Happy Mother's Day" Sentiment in the Messages for Mom set (where the floral image came from) but it's pretty simple, and I thought this card needed something with a little more. Oh yeah, that would be Old Olive ribbon behind the floral image - using my new favorite ribbon tying technique - just tie an end off with some linen thread. Easy!

So, what do you think? Was it worth the effort of redoing??? Leave me a comment - let me know!

Hang in there.....

Today, I've created a card for my cousin's one year old son, Grady. He's been suffering from a sinus infection for several weeks (or so they thought), that ended up affecting one of his eyes, causing it to swell and turn bloody. After some testing, and more tests to be run this week, the doctors are still unclear as to what his problem really is. He's got a tumor behind his eye that will be biopsied this week, and he'll also have a bone marrow scan. I just feel horrible for the little guy. He's such a cutie, and has such a good attitude all the time. Please, find it in your heart to say a prayer for little Grady, we'd really appreciate it.
In the meantime, here is a card I'm sending him:
This cute little monkey fits Grady's personality, all adorable like him. This card uses the sketch from the Stamping 411 site. I turned it on it's side, and opted for buttons instead of a ribbon since my card was for a boy. The background patterned paper is from the Sweet Pea Paper pack. There are so many awesome papers in this pack of paper, and it truly is a steal!

I hand wrote the sentiment. Wish I had a stamp that said that..... The leaves/branches are from the Two Step Bird punch. I used a two way glue pen to glue them down. The branch that the monkey hangs from, I didn't glue the center down, so that I could hang the monkey. The body of the monkey is popped up with Stampin' Dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by, and please pray for Grady!

Spring Layers!

Well, the sun is shining - finally, and it feels like spring is in the air. (Even tho we still have a 5 foot high snow drift in our front yard!) Here's the card that we did at our March Stamp Clubs - using that same Layered Brayer tech. that I showed you yesterday. This one uses 3 layered colors instead of just two.
We added those cute little Epoxy brads - in Choc. Chip - my fave! as flower centers. Pretty darn adorable if I do say so myself.

See that - my new favorite ribbon technique.

Alright - seems as tho my dearest sweet hubby thinks I need to help him with something - or just get off the computer.......anyone else have a spouse as sweet as mine???? :)

Happy St. Pat's Day....

...and with that I'm gonna show you an Easter project. One that we did at my Stamp Clubs this month....

I found this cute little basket on someone else's blog, and now, for the life of me, I can't find the originator to give proper credit to....so if you know where I found it, please let me know so I can give credit.

Edited to add: Found the original design for this box - and it's super cute, so you need to check it out. Here's the link to Robin Merriman lovely box. It's so stinkin' cute, I can hardly "contain" myself!!! I didn't LOVE the Spring DSP in the mini, and then I saw this box - she made me like it - a lot!

This month, my clubs worked on the layered brayer technique - which is shown in the side panels. This is pretty simple, but a little time consuming. A little. First off - you stamp your image in Versamark on glossy cardstock, then emboss with clear EP. Next, you brayer on your lightest color - here it was So Saffron. Wipe with a kleenex so the embossed image turns white again. Then, cover up what you want to remain So Saffron with sticky notes, and brayer again with your next darkest color - here, Cameo Coral, then wipe again. You can do this a third time with another darker color if you want. We didn't - not on this project anyway.

The basket was created by cutting 2 fancy favor boxes with the Big Shot ( you seriously need one of these handy little machines!), assemble them, then sticky strip them together. Create the handle with 2 pieces of cardstock (I embossed with my Big Shot -see, very helpful), tacking one on each side inside of the assembled boxes. Punch the holes for handles. Really - pretty easy and pretty stinkin' cute! Last, decorate as desired. We used that adorable little chick from A Good Egg.....

Whatcha think of it?

Hello....again!

Sorry for my disappearance from the ol' bloggo....I've been struggling with my photo editing program, and so, while a cute little 2 year old used my budda belly for a pillow during his nap today, I sat here with my laptop, and got 'er all figured out (I hope!). Plus I couldn't resist some good snuggle time with little Alex. He's only sweet to me once in a while, and I'll take it whenever he gives it up!
Anywhooooo....it's not that I haven't been doing anything.....although, I have slowed down quite a bit! Somedays the baby just wears me out. Funny how I keep telling my hubby that I can't wait for this baby to show up so I can sleep good at night! The other night I didn't sleep a wink, so therefore my stamping time was turned into nap time - and it must have been needed - I took a two hour nap!!!! Now, I'll just hope that the baby will be a good sleeper! My boys both were, and I'm a nursing mama, so that seems to help with sleep - no bottles to prepare in the middle of the night, just get up, diaper, feed, and go back to sleep! I'm gearing up!

Okay - on with the show, right?
This card features an emboss resist tech, and a masking tech all in one shot....
First, I cut a sticky note with my Big Shot using a Nestie die. FYI - you need to stick the sticky note to a scrap of cardstock or it's too thin for the die to cut thru. Stick your sticky note on your card front where you want it to remain white. Then, those cute little butterflies were stamped with versamark, I used white EP, and heated them up. Keep your sticky note in place, and sponge on the color (Cameo Coral here). I use a wiping motion when I sponge on the color. Once you have the color the way you want it, remove the sticky note. Now, you can stamp in your white space.

On this one, I used the flower from Hello Again (which you can earn free thru Sale-A-Bration!). I inked it up with my SU markers - Taken with Teal, Cameo Coral, and Old Olive. The "hello" sentiment is also in Taken w/ Teal, but I stamped it off once first. I also used my Coral marker and faux stitched around the white space.......

Let me know what you think......can you tell what's missing from this card (for a card done by me anyway!)????

Tripled up birthday....

My workshops this month are focusing on different ways to watercolor. I actually broke out my pastels for this card!
I hadn't used my pastels for a long time, so it was good to get them out an play again. They've been lonely! This sketch is from Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch, but I was too late to play.
Oh well.....

I really like this years offering of Sale-A-Bration stamp sets. I keep turning to the Vintage Labels (above) and the Happy Moments sets. One reason, I like to color in things....it's therapy for me.

Here, I just used a blender pen and my pastels.

In the end, I think the card is pretty clean and simple. And it sure uses a lot of Sale-A-Bration items - Happy Moments, Vintage Labels, and that super new Scallop Trim punch! Tell me - what is YOUR favorite Sale-A-Bration item????

More Mojo - Baby Style....

With the baby a mere 5 weeks away from making it's presence into the world, it's time to start thinking about thank you notes and announcements. This isn't always easy since we've never known what we're having, boy or girl. In the past, I've just come up with a simple layout, in neutral colors that I could add pink or blue to during completion. When Alex was born, by that time I was into stamping full gear, so I took my stamps and colors to the hospital with me, and did the coloring while I was in the hospital. That worked great. I'll likely do the same thing this time too.

So, with that same sketch that I used yesterday (Mojo Monday 128), I created a baby themed thank you card. In pink. That's my intuition on this one.....but don't jump to conclusions - we have NO idea what's brewing inside. I'll come up with some in blue too. Just in case. I'd be fine with a boy - after all, we've got all the clothing, toys and mindset for boys around here. But, here's my girly thank you!

I think it's pretty sweet. And was surprised to find that the thank you sentiment from Thank You Kindly fit so nicely in the Modern Label punch. I'm always thrilled when I can punch instead of cut!

That's all folks! I'll be watching it rain today and hopefully melting a lot of snow. Not looking forward to the mud - but at this point, as long as we are one day closer to spring, green grass and 70 degree temps....I'll take the mud!

Have a great day!

Thinking Tree...

....somedays I sure could use a thinking tree....and a money tree.... But, for today, I created this little card with the tree from the Forest Friends Stamp Set. This set reminds me so much of the cute animals in the movie Bambi. I couldn't bring myself to buy the set, because I wasn't sure what I would do with it. Even tho I loved it....I just couldn't justify it. So, I was thrilled when it showed up on the Sale-A-Bration list of free stamps that could be earned! And that's just what I did. And when I got it, I "clear" mounted it right away - it's what I'm doing with any set that only comes wood mounted - I'm making them clear mount.

Looky here too....that favorite color combo of mine for the spring.....I just can't get enough! What is wrong with me? Anyone got a new combo for me to get hooked on??
I used the Mojo Monday sketch 128. I really like this sketch - in fact I have another card to show you tomorrow with the same sketch! The background paper is from the Sweet Pea pack - LOVE IT!!!!! I like how the pattern in the paper is continued with my circle which the tree is stamped.

And....gotta have one of those adorable epoxy brads from the Occasions Mini Catty! I tied my ribbon end with some linen thread, then punched a little hole for the brad to go thru. This area is tacked down with a glue dot.

Oh - and remember I said we had a lot of snow still.....yeah - I'm not at all kidding!

This is the snow fort my hubby built for the boys. It has a top entrance, 2 front entrances, and a side entrance too. If you look in the background really good, you can see my clothesline - look at the top of the snow line...there are 2 lines that run across the picture....that's my clothesline! CRAZY!!! It's been above freezing all week, and so there has been some meltage, but it's gonna be a while for it all to be gone!

And here - Will who stands almost 4 ft tall, can touch the top of the garage with his shovel. Had the drift been up to the garage, he could have just walked onto the roof. I'm so ready for it all to just melt away.

Alrighty folks....I've got some workshops to prepare for. So, check back tomorrow with my other card - same sketch!

Jen

Better late than never....

(this one's for you Tami!) ....I'm not always one to post what we create at my Stamp Clubs. I don't really know why, maybe because I want it to be exclusive to all of those that are in my clubs. And I know I certainly don't want to give away the projects before hand....I love a good surprise! But, it has been requested that I post what we did in Stamp Club by some of the members. This way, when they give away their projects, they have something to refer back to. So, I will begin posting our projects - starting with January. They will be under the Stamp Club Projects label on the right side of the blog for you to refer back to from here on out. And while Tami requested I do this some time ago, and I told her I would....it just got hung up on the back burner........like I said....better late than never!!!! {heart} you Tami!!!!
January was based less on technique and more on theme - an organizing theme....It was January, and you know, most of us make (and break) resolutions - organizing is one of the top resolutions made, next to weight loss. How many have given up on their resolutions already? It is March 2nd after all....The first little gem is a covered post it note. Great for sticking in your purse. Who doesn't have a piece of paper handy when needed???

One of the other things we did was cover a note pad - also suitable for a purse, but great for a desktop - and one that looks cute to boot.

To complete the ensemble, we made a birthday card (cuz we can always use a birthday card!). Plus, this whole little set would make an adorable birthday gift. But it would be wonderful for graduation too!

All of the DSP was from Thoroughly Modern, and we used the I {heart} Lists, Vintage Vogue and Well Scripted Stamp Sets. Just too cha-cha for words, wouldn't you say??? (a line from my all time favorite movie - do you know what it is???)

So there you have the projects we made in January! One of these days I'll get the Feb. items up. And since March is here already, well, I'll get March on here. Maybe before I get February done!!!!

Thanks for stopping all....

Thoughts Away!!!

As I was thumbing thru that cute little FREE paper pack - Welcome Neighbor DSP - it dawned on me when looking at all the cloud patterns, the phrase "you're never more than a thought away" went perfect with this paper. Clouds drifting by, thoughts drifting by....you get the picture....RIGHT??? Both the paper and the stamp set can be earned FREE - they are in the Sale-A-Bration line up. I really like the font used in the word "thought".

And looky there peeps - Kraft paper!!! Who'd a thought?? Mixed with Melon Mambo, Old Olive and that sweet pattern paper. Geez - it's really a pretty clean card too, wouldn't you say? Oh yeah - and did you notice - a little "kiss" from the Occassions Mini - that's the die cut paper that the sentiment is on...

That's all for today folks....