Happy Halloween!!!

Hope you all have a spooky fun day! Halloween is one of my favorites - it's just all about good fun, and the kids love it. Wanted to show you the treat bags that I made for my neice, nephew and sisters....


These were super simple - just a brown lunch bag covered front and back with paper and punched a couple of handles in them. In fact, there is absolutely no stamping whatsoever on these. I used rub-ons for the images - they coordinate well with the paper I thought.

It was a good quick project, and I could cram a lot of candy in the bag too!

I told you that I would post a couple of photos of my boys in their costumes:

This was my cowboy creation. I didn't have a pattern to go off of - so I just decided to wing it. I patted myself on the back a whole bunch. I think they turned out really cute, and I think the boys really liked them. Will commented to me that I was doing a nice job. I put a big red star on the back of Will's vest, and Alex had some additional "fringe" on the back of his.

Here they were shoving their mouths full of gummy snacks. Alex (on right) likes to put as much in his mouth as he can and try to chew it all up. He could have been a cowboy!

And last photo - with their Aunt Mallory as Peter Pan....too cute!

Have a fun and safe Halloween!

Twick or Tweet

I know you guys are all ready to see some new things on here. I've been super busy creating Halloween costumes, Halloween treats, taking care of a sick kid, blah, blah, blah!!! So, here's something new for you to see.....


These are the treats that Will took to his preschool class for their Halloween party. I "stole" this idea out of the Stampin' Success magazine that Stampin' Up! Demonstrators get every month. And while I only needed to make 10 of them, I wanted something easy this year. These definately fit the bill. They are simply cardstock and ribbon. The ribbon and lots of adhesive hold the pixie sticks and pencils to the paper. Easy, easy peasy!

I will post pictures of the Halloween costumes tomorrow. I have to say - Will wanted to be a cowboy really bad - and I saw a picture of a Cowboy costume in a catalog - but it was $50!!! So, without a pattern, I looked at the photo and came up with my own cowboy costumes for both boys. Once Will got his cowboy hat, Alex also had to have one. SO, instead of the Indian that I wanted him to be, he's just going to be "Bobby". Which is what he calls himself as soon as he puts on his cowboy hat. (We have a friend, Bobby, who always wears a cowboy hat, and he must have made quite the impression on Alex. Some of you know exactly who I'm talking about!) So, check me out tomorrow for my Halloween creations!

3rd Annual Christmas Stamp-A-Stack!!!

Handmade cards are much more meaningful than those storebought versions. It shows the recipient that you took the time to create something just for them, and that they were special enough to receive one of your creations.

On November 10th, I will be hosting the 1st Stamp-a-stack of the season. What is a stamp-a-stack??? In short, it's a stack of 10 unstamped, unassembled cards. Everything is measured, cut and scored for you - you just show up, stamp and assemble. Simple as that. You simply need to pick a card from the 6 options below - and if you want, you will have time to complete 2 stacks (20 cards) if you just can't decide!!! All supplies are included, just bring yourself.

When: Tuesday, November 10th; 5:30pm

Where: Denison Municipal Utilities Bldg.

Fee: $20/stack (Stamp Club Members take $5 off)

Option 1: Medallion Merry Christmas

Option 2: Happy Holidays Snowman

Option 3: Season's Greetings Photo Holder

Option 4: Blue Ornament

Option 5: Season's Greetings

Option 6: Pine Cone Christmas

To sign up, simply send me an email, and I will get you my address to send a check for your fee. Deadline to sign up is November 1st. Sign up early - space is limited.

Jen

More Snowbuddies...

I swear, I can't get enough of these adorable little Snowbuddies. I {heart} this set! These little snowmen are so Stinkin' cute, I could just eat them up! I used my favorite coloring medium to color them in a bit - Watercolor Crayons. You just need add a little grayish blue for some shadowing, and then color in the hat and scarf. The hat does come as a seperate stamp - so a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig is necessary. There is another hat too, some ice skates, lots of snowflakes, blah, blah, blah - it's all too cha-cha for words!


I will tell you that the entire card was CASE'd from this card
of Becky Oehlers. I loved her original so much, that I even had to find some paper that matched. The background snowflakes were taken from a retired stamp set.

In the end, I really love this card - it's got some great whimsy to it!

Thanks for stopping by today - more tomorrow!

Beware of SNOW!

No, it's not snowing again in Iowa - but it is Iowa, I think it could happen again anyday now. It is snowing in my stamp room however! I saw this idea on another blog, and just had to give it a try. I love the snow effect of the glitter on the vellum, but the rest of the card needs some work. I wanted to try my watercolor crayons on dark colored cardstock (Not Quite Navy) just to see how it would work - you know, as opposed to stamping them on white and cutting them out. In the end, it might be just as easy to cut out the snowmen and adhere them to the card....always, always, lessons learned. And, as my good customer, Bonnie, would say - "just room for embellishments!"

Anyway, the overall look of the card is fine. The snowflakes were stamped using the Frost White Shimmer Paint, and I love that stuff. Next time I will cut the vellum, then stamp my snowmen, instead of the way I did it. I stamped the snowmen first, then cut my vellum......am I pointing out too many wrongs???? Maybe, but, if you want to duplicate this, I just want you to be informed!!!!

FYI - I DO love these cute little Snowbuddies. They are whimsical, and just so cute! And, I do just LOVE the snow drifts out of vellum....Stamp Clubbers - look for this in you near future - of course with some improvements!

Okay - that is for today....it's Mom's night at Preschool tonight - so Will and I have a hot little date!!

See you tomorrow!

Did Elvis sing Blue Christmas???

I'm on a kick here with Blue Christmas cards. I have to admit, I'm really missing Baja Breeze from last year, and Riding Hood Red too.....So, Not Quite Navy is going to have to fill some big shoes...I think I'll survive.

The inspiration for this card comes from one of my favorite paper crafters - Heather Nichols of Pine is Here. She does really great work, and I love her style. I adapted this one, and I think it's okay, but I'm not quite sure. I feel like it needs something yet.

The care is quite quick and simple. I stamped the snowflakes in Whisper White on Not Quite Navy, wrapped some Taffeta Ribbon around the card, stamped and punched the Joy Ornament, added some glitter with a 2 way glue pen, then - believe it or not, I tied a BOW - not a knot - but an actual bow!!! and attached it with a glue dot to the top of the ornament.

That's all today folks!

Enjoy!

Wishing you a White Christmas!

Hello again! You may remember a card I did a while back with a chocolate glitter tree, found in this post, and I thought at the time that it might make a really neat frosted tree, so I finally gave it a shot. I really wish I had a stamp that said, "May all your Christmas' be white...". It would be perfect I think!

I really do like the way it turned out. I added a hint of Old Olive to the border to give it a tinge of color. But, it's barely noticable. That's fine with me.

What do you think? Is it Christmasy enough??? I can't decide. Leave a comment and let me know...

Thanks!

Jen

Light up my day!

So, anyone notice the new blog banner up above? It's one of the MANY, MANY, MANY things you can do with Stampin' Up's new My Digital Studio. You don't have to scrapbook to want this amazing software. There are SO many things that you can do with the program! You can make DVD's and even set them to music, you can make Calendars (great Christmas gifts for those hard to buy for people!), you can embellish your blog (!), make photo books, cards, stationary, and well, of course scrapbook pages. Plus, you can edit your photos, much like Photoshop, but easier! It's very impressive, and the price isn't out of line either. There are tons of fonts included, over 30 stamp sets, lots of embellishments, like buttons, brads, ribbon, stitching, staples, die cut stickers. It also includes a bunch of Designer Series Paper, Card Stock colors, ink colors (which you can "stamp off", or change to opacity of - you can do that with the paper too!). I'm telling you, Stampin' Up! thought of everything when they developed this software. I don't know of anything they could have added to make it better. Oh, and periodically they will (and have already) release additional digital downloads for you to add. These are extremely reasonable pricewise. Want to know more? Email me, and I'll send you some info.

Now, onto our regularly scheduled program:

My Stamp Club members are making this really cool luminary this month:


I got the idea from the Stampin' Success magazine that Stampin' Up! Demonstrators receive. There was a Halloween example in there. I don't necessarily decorate for Halloween, so I adapted this for Fall, and also did a Winter example with snowflakes. These are quite simple to make - a little time consuming cutting out all of the pumpkins, leaves and gourds, but that was fine by me, as I was happy with the results in the end. The vellum inserts are stamped with White Craft Ink and really show up once you light a candle inside.

My Denison Stamp Club discussed making these larger. I hope someone creates one, because I think they would be really neat - especially clustered on a table together with different sizes!

Well, that's it for today, but don't fret - I'll be back tomorrow with more!

Jen

Bright and Happy Snow Buddy!

I told you I'd be back with another card - See what happens when I start feeling better? It all comes back to me....I knew all this creativity was still pent up inside - it was just a matter of my body and my mind working together again.... Funny what a bunch of hormones will do to a woman! UGH!

So, I saw this layout on Nichole Heady's blog, and had to "steal" it - or CASE it (Copy And Share Everything). I'd been struggling with working with the bright colors of the Holiday Lounge DSP, but I think this little Snow Guy just screams for brightness - he's just a merry looking snowman, isn't he?


I hope you can see that I embossed the Real Red piece to add some texture. Otherwise this was super simple. I colored the Snow Buddy with my Watercolor Crayons (really my favorite coloring mediums).

Add a few strings of silver elastic cord, and voila - card done! Easy peasy!

And, believe it or not - come back tomorrow for yet another edition of my creative, do I say genius....no, I'm not that full of myself - just my creative side....

Thanks for stopping by!

Jen

Hold on to your hats....

....don't fall off your seat! I'm back! Things are looking up here in my little stamping world. Now that I'm feeling better, the inspiration has come back to me. The only thing that drags me down is the fact that my clothes are beginning to fit a little tight - kinda makes the chocolate and stamping not go hand and hand. The really bad thing is that I lent out all of my maternity clothes, so I'm left with workout pants to wear - IF I want to be comfortable.

Anyway - I created 4 - that's right FOUR - cards today. Granted, they are all the exact same card, but each with a twist. That's where I need YOUR help. Leave me a comment and let me know which one of the 4 you like the best....I'd love to hear your opinions!

So, I started with these two cards:


they are the same - with one minor difference. The card that is laying flat, the medallion is stamped using the Frost White Shimmer Paint (found in the Stampin' Up Holiday Mini Catalog). The card that is standing is heat embossed using Irredescent Ice EP. Here is a close up of the Irredescent Ice card:



And here is a close up with the Frost White Shimmer Paint:



Now, again - the same card, except this time I used the flourish from the Baroque Motifs set, the one standing up is heat embossed with Irridescent Ice, and the one laying flat is Frost White Shimmer paint:


And a close up the Irridescent Ice:

And now the Frost White Shimmer Paint:

The buttons used were from the Playground Designer Buttons Set and the ribbon in the bundled ribbon that can be found in the mini.

So, tell me - which one do you like best???

And, since I've been inspired lately - be sure to check back again tomorrow - I've got yet another creation to show you!!! Impressed, aren't you????

Thanks -

Jen

So I took the summer off....

well - kinda....I haven't had a ton of inspiration lately, hence the lack of the blogging....I'm hoping that since my favorite season is right around the corner here (officially Tuesday!) I should have a little more inspiration. It helps when I get new product in my hand. And I've been playing with Stampin' Up!'s new Shimmer Paint - holy cow - that stuff is AWESOME! I really love it. Until I get some new pictures uploaded, here is a card for you to see.

It uses the retired Raspberry Tart DSP, a couple of chipboard hearts. One of them I covered with DSP that was embossed with a texturz plate, then sanded so the embossing really stands out. The other heart was covered with glitter by simply covering it first with Tombow glue.

Until next time....(hopefully sooner than later :) )....

Cowboy Thanks...

I just got some of the new rub-ons from the Stampin' Up! catty - the Dots and Designs Rub-ons to be exact. These rub-ons appealed to me, but I wasn't jumping up and down over them - until....I saw them in person! Then wow! They really spoke to me. This one reminded me of a bandana - and I knew it would look really cool on a Soft Suede card. I went with a really simple layout - and used one of the designer buttons from the Button Latte collection. Remember - I said that you can get a free package of Designer Buttons this month with a $35 Stamp purchase. How cool is that??

Well, that's all for today folks!

Thanks for stopping in!

Jen

Recipe:

Stamps: Kind Thanks

Ink: Soft Suede

Paper: Soft Suede, So Saffron

Accessories: Dots and Designs rub-ons, Choc. Chip ribbon, Button Latte Button

You're a good apple!

I just love this stamp set - Season of Friendship. It's just so versatile - you can do so much with it. Here I turned it into a lone apple tree. I think it turned out stinkin' cute!!! The apple is one of the buttons from the Playground Designer Buttons. And guess what??? This month you can earn a free set of buttons just by purchasing $35 in stamp sets. This includes the Button Latte and Sherbert buttons....and they are all adorable! I have to say they can quickly jazz up a card at little expense - and in this case - FREE!!! So here's my little apple tree:

Have you been able to tell that I'm in {heart} with the new Real Red Polka Dot ribbon??? I just can't seem to get enough! It's just too cha-cha for words!

Thanks for checking it out!

Jen

Recipe:

Stamps: Season of Friendship, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Soft Suede, Old Olive

Paper: Kraft, Very Vanilla, Real Red

Accessories: Hemp Twine, Playground Button, Modern Label Punch, Real Red Polka Dot Ribbon

Have you been wondering where I've been??? Did you fear that I got lost in our cornfield? Well...no, but I could have - especially after seeing how the raccoons are now having their way with our patch of corn. I will report that we froze about 140 quart bags of corn. YEAH! It will taste SO good when we are up to our eyeballs in snow! And no - that corn isn't all for us - we split it up between Andy's parents and brother's family. But, we have almost enough to eat corn once a week this winter! My kids love it - but I think that they really like when they can eat it right off the cob. And we've got plenty of that variety left too. Okay, okay....enough with the corn right??? Onto some of the creations I've been working on:

I have to say, this is MUCH more stunning in person! In fact, stop on my booth at the Denison Armory tonight - I'll have this card with me. We are having a fundraiser for the Alzheimers Association. 15% of my profits from any sales tonight will be donated to the Alzheimers Association. Come and help support them - every little bit helps!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Thoughts & Prayers
Paper: Choc. Chip, Ruby Red, Close to Cocoa
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: Heat and Stick, Choc. Glitter
Techniques: heat embossing

Three Ring Circus!

Alright - quick post for the day....sweet corn is ready in the field - and that means I have to prepare the kitchen for cutting and freezing. It's super cool out today - well and yesterday too. So, we turned the air off, and opened all of the windows - all of them!!! It's so nice to have fresh air wafting (is that a word?? Is now!) thru the house, and I have banana bread in the oven, so the house smells even better. But, I think because the windows are open, and it was too nice, the neighbor had to go and ruin my good fun. When I heard Will yell to me - "Hey mom, check out that big tractor with the huge tank!" - I knew it wasn't gonna be good. Sure enough, he pulled into the neighboring field of freshly baled alfalfa (which smelled good too!), and there he dumped what was in that tank - HOG $%!&.....yes - it does deserve the foul word - because it's foul!!!! I quickly slammed several windows shut, but was able to leave a few on the other side of the house open. Then - to make matters worse, it dawned on me that I have clothes out on the line. LOTS of clothes....I'm crossing my fingers and toes that they don't stink....UGH!!!! I LOVE living on the farm, REALLY LOVE IT - but it's things like this that are SO disappointing. Oh - yeah - did you guys want to see a card today??? You do? Okay - here you go:

This was super easy - ran the front portion thru the Big Shot with the Polka Dot Texturz plate, attached a snipet of ribbon, stamped and punched some circles and cut a few of the flowers out to give the big circle some extra umph....it was totally cased - from Designs by Brooke. She's got some really cute things on her blog!

Alright crew - that's it for today - I'm off to cut some corn!

Jen

Sweet Sunday Sketch #28

Wow - it's been so long since I've done one of Karen's fabulous Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenges. It was good to do one again - however, with that being said - it was a tough one. Initially I wanted to pull out my Circle Circus set, but then I had seen that several other people had used that set - and of course I wanted to be different - so then I had to brainstorm a little more....then it dawned on my that I still had some of the AWESOME Snow Flurries from the last Holiday Mini catalog. ( I so wish they were back!!!) So, I started....

....and then...I looked and wasn't overly crazy about it.


I added some faux stitching....and still not jumping up and down.


Added some bling (aka Dazzling Diamonds) to the brad...and still not loving it. So, I may have to give this one another shot!!!! I think my problem is there is NO DSP and NO ribbon....and I'm all about that.....so, off to try round 2....

Thanks -
Jen

Last Deal of the Week!

This is it! The last deal of the week for July! And you are sure to love this great little gadget! The Heart to Heart punch. It's wonderful - three heart punches in one. The best thing about it, it coordinates with the Love You Much Stamp Set. So, you can stamp, then punch....or just punch in a multitude of colors!

If you can't pass up this deal - and you shouldn't - you can order it by simply going to my Stampin' Up! website and clicking on the SHOP NOW link in the upper right corner. It really couldn't be any easier!

That's all for today folks....

Jen

Yes, another Christmas card!

Well, July is almost over, so I better keep whipping out the Christmas cards right??? When will the madness stop? Maybe (MAYBE) August 1st. However starting August 1st I can preorder from the upcoming Holiday Mini....danger is in the air!
Have I mentioned that one of my favorite stamp sets is Snow Swirled? I really truly love a good snow storm - so snowflakes are right up my alley. This time I heat embossed one of the images with white embossing powder, then punched and layered it with an Old Olive circle, and a Whisper White Scalloped Circle, which I edged with Old Olive ink to take some of the whiteness out of it.

This is not a typical card size, but it does fit into one of Stampin' Up's Open End Envelopes. And looky there - once AGAIN, I used the new polka dot ribbon! I'm going to have to buy this stuff in bulk!

I added a few snowflakes to the envelope, and because the envelope is Whisper White and seemed a little bright, I sponged some Very Vanilla to the edges of the envelope.

Anyone recognize the layout???

Thanks for stopping by today! See ya tomorrow!!!

Recipe:
Stamps: Snow Swirled
Paper: Merry Moments, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Versamark, Old Olive (sponged on edge of scallop circle)
Accessories: silver brad, scallop circle punch, polka dot ribbon, white embossing powder

BLOG CANDY WINNER!

Alright - my 3 year old Will did the official drawing for my "Comment for the Blog Candy Giveaway!" He drew out:

gocanucksgo !!! Congrats!

If you will send me an email with your name and address, I can get your shipment of goodies in the mail to you! Hope you enjoy!!!

Check back tomorrow for yet another Christmas card!

Jen

More Christmas in July!

Once again - I was inspired by Heather Nichols on this card. I had to make it twice until I got it just the way I wanted - but honestly, I really love it! It's clean, it's simple - it's MERRY, it's right up my alley!

I absolutely love this new 3/4 inch Polka dot ribbon. It's stitched on each edge, adding a little extra something. The nice thing about Stampin' Up's DSP is that it's double sided, therefore, when you open the flap of this card, it's also pretty, which is how I incorporated the Chocolate Chip color. I think this card lends a good spot to include a nice family photo. Might as well use all available space in your cards - who needs white space???I used the Lots of Labels die to back the inside sentiment. I tried to use the Old Olive color from the outside of the flap, but it just didn't look right, so I stuck with Choc. Chip. Seemed to flow better that way. The inside sentiment holds another importance - it covers up the joint of the ribbon.

This was really quite simple to create - and I'd be more than happy to show you how - book a workshop with me, we can concentrate on Christmas cards if that floats your boat. And don't be surprised this layout changed up a bit for a non-Christmas card. I'm thinking that using the new Circle Circus set would be super cute - and quite trendy too.

I'll be back later with a winner for my blog candy! Stay tuned people!

Stamps: Snow Swirled
Paper: Kraft, Merry Moments, Whisper White, Old Olive
Ink: Whisper White Craft, Choc. Chip, Old Olive
Accessories: Scallop Circle Die, Lots of Tags Die, Wide Oval Punch, Polka Dot Ribbon