Picture Tag!

My Friend Teresa, from Aunt T's Paper Arts Tagged me!


Here are the instructions:

1. Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures.
2. Go to the 6th Folder, then pick the 6th picture in that folder.
3. Post that picture on your blog and the story that goes along with the picture.
4. Tag 6 other people that you know or don’t know to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog or an e-mail letting them know you chose them.


I like this tag game! It's a fun one! Here's my picture!

Over a year ago, my DH and I built the home we are currently living in. This picture was taken in the very early stages of the building process. At this time we didn't even have a roof yet! This is showing the back of our house. Of course this is one of many pictures we have of the building process. We moved in last March (Can't believe it's been almost a year already!) and I posted many of the pictures right here on my blog. You can read all about the process and see pictures from start to finish, including pictures of the inside of our house too, by clicking the label "house" on the side of my blog.

The six other people I am tagging for Picture Tag are:

Kimmy-Stamps, Scraps and More

Traci-Inkin' Up The Dog

Angie-Stampings of the Shug

Ethel-The Paperquilter

Kim-Running On Ink

Tami-Dapple Designs

Well, that's it for today--Sorry so short. I'm leaving on a Jet Plane next Saturday and have tons of house work to do, some packing, and I want to play a little in my studio today. I MUST get off this computer if I'm going to accomplish anything today!

Hope you have a nice & relaxing weekend!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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It's a Golden Birthday!

For our Fun Filled Friday Challenge this week, I challenged Kimmy to a Precious Metals theme. This meant that our cards had to be made mostly of Gold, Silver, Bronze, or Copper colors, and as the theme title implies, it also had to include a metal embellishment on it. You can see Kimmy's challenge card here.

Here's my Golden Birthday Card for this challenge!

And, just for clarification, I say "Golden" as in "there is a lot of gold on this card," not necessarily that it means it's for someone's 50th Birthday--however it could! :-)


If you look closely at this sentiment, there are little stars for the "dots" on each of the letter I's. I dabbed them with Golden Rod Stickles, and then chose to decorate my card using star eyelets in red to match the color scheme and sentiment on this card.

I loved the way this card turned out! This card is even more unique for me because I rarely use Designer paper--I have a hard time "making it work!" Plus, with all of the background stamps I have from DRS Designs I've gotten into the habit of making my own lately as well. To be honest, I'd rather make my own designer paper--you have more control over where to place your stamped background images and you have control over color choices too! Have you ever found a sheet of patterned paper you really like, but wished it was a different color scheme? I can't even count the number of times that has happened to me, especially with Scrapbooking! If you're curious as to what Background stamps I'm talking about, you can see all ones offered by DRS Designs by clicking here.

Stamps: DRS Designs- Birthday Sparkle Accessories Greeting
Ink: Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Cranberry
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by American Crafts, Designer paper by The Paper Company
Accessories: Star Eyelets by Oriental trading Company, Fiskars Treading Water Punch, Golden Rod Stickles, 3D-Dots

Finished Card Size: 5 5/8" x 4.5"

Just a reminder that DRS Designs is holding another Blog Candy offer! Click over to this post and leave a comment telling us what your favorite DRS Designs image is. You'll be entered to win a roll of 2 sided adhesive. You can read more about this adhesive on that post as well. So why not enter the drawing? I know we can all use a little "free" adhesive! You have until Sunday evening, Feb 8th to be entered into the drawing.

Hope you all have a Fabulous weekend!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Do You have an extra Birthday Card?

Please help me shower my Great-Aunt with tons of Birthday cards!

She will be 93 Years Young on Feb. 5th!

My Great Aunt loves to get mail. Being independent and still living alone in her own home, getting the mail is the highlight of her day. Unfortunatly, the last few months have been rather challenging, as her health is really starting to fail her. She has been recently put on oxygen that she now has to wear 24 hours a day and simple things like walking the short distance from her bedroom to the bathroom make her extremly short of breath. She even told us at Christmas that this is the last Christmas she'll have. Sad, I know, which is why I'm asking for your help.

Please help me wish her a wonderful and extra special Birthday! I'd love for her to spend her entire Birthday week opening cards from all of my stamping friends! You don't need to create anything fancy, even just sending her a birthday card from your stash will do, and will be greatly appreciated!

Soon after her birthday and as the card shower slows, I will take a picture of her and all her cards to show you all. Thanks so much for helping me make this birthday extra special for her!

If you are interested, please email me, for her address. (Please add "CARD SHOWER" to the subject line so your email doesn't get added to my spam folder. thanks!)

I did this for her 3 years ago when she turned 90 and she was so surprised I had so many Friends, and really enjoyed each card she received.

I can't Thank You enough!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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This Little Piggy went to the Market and...

...it looks like He bought some flowers!

Welcome back to another episode of Card Sketch Wednesdays here, at Ink N Scrap Habits!

Here's this week's card sketch:

With this little piggy as the focal point in this card, I couldn't help but throw the nursery rhyme in the title of this post!

As you can see, this card could easily follow a Valentine theme, or Not! It is red and pink, but I purposely left out the hearts. Instead, I dressed it up with a little floral ribbon and aded a few little bling diamonds.

Stamps: Penny Black
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Lipstick Red
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by Bazzill and American Crafts
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Fiskars Leaf Border Punch, Fiskars Treading Water Punch, Hero Arts Gemstones, Ribbon-Jacquard Woven One Sided
Finished Card Size: 5 3/4" x 4 1/8"

I'd love to see what you come up with for this sketch. If you give it a try, make sure to leave me a link so I can look it up.

Can you believe the weekend is almost here! (Yeah!)

Thanks for visiting today!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Be My Valentine!

Can you believe it is the end of January already!?!?! Why does time seem to go by so quickly now that I'm an adult? I would give anything to make things slow down, just a little. You know the saying "Time flies when your having fun!" I guess I'm just always having fun! Well, it will be Valentine's Day before we know it, and it seems like forever since I've created anything with my House Mouse Stamps. I've missed all those little Cuties and it felt good to get back to creating with them. I've created a special valentine with this one, using last week's Splitcoast Stampers Sketch Challenge (SC212).

I made good use of a lot of supplies on this one:

my Cuttlebug and Heart Embossing Folder

Ribbon,

Fiskars threading Water Punch,

Conversation Heart Brads, that I received in a swap a long time ago,

and of course I had to incorporate a DRS Designs image, to create the word love from one of their latest releases!

Oh, and of course I layered my little House Mouse using my Nesties! (How could I forget!?!?)

Stamps: Stampabilities House Mouse, Love from Silhoutte Love Heart by DRS Designs
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by The Paper Company and American Crafts
Accessories: Conversation Heart Brads-unknown, Ribbon by S.E.I, Cuttlebug and Heart Blocks Embossing Folder, Fiskars Treading Water Punch
Finished Card Size: 4 7/8" x 6"

*******Remember my question to all of you last week regarding the trouble I was having trying to get my blog pictures "clickable" so you could see the details better? Well, I figured it out and I'm so excited about what I've learned! I found this blog, Dummies' Guide To Blogger, and did a little research & found out why it wasn't working for me. If you are having the same issues, read this post to find out how to change it. I'm sure you will find many other aspects of this blog helpful. I know I did, and I still have a lot of posts to catch up on.

Happy Tuesday To You and Happy Day off To me--I hope to spend it shopping at Achiever's, Joann's, and Target for a few goodies, then to use my new goodies crafting the night away!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Candy To Find Out What's Your Favorite Image!

Want more Blog Candy? DRS Designs wants to know what your favorite DRS image is!

There's another Blog Candy giveaway on the DRS Designs Blog! They are giving away a roll of the adhesive that DRS sells (it's awesome!). It is a roll of two sided tape, that measures 1/2" x 36 yards.

All you have to do is leave a comment on the DRS Designs Challenge #13 Blog Post, indicating your favorite DRS image. A random winner will be drawn from all of the responses on Sunday, 2/8/09.

I'm curious to find out what everyone's favorite image is. Here's the link to their catalog if you need to browse all of their images.

Good Luck!


Smiles,
Jennifer

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Handmade By Me!

The next challenge posted on the DRS Designs Blog today is to use any of the DRS recognition stamps on your projects. DRS already had a ton and just released three more so there are plenty to choose from. Of course the intended use of these images is for the back of your cards/projects, but what about thinking outside the box, and using them in other ways?? The DT has put their thinking caps on to find ways to use these images in other ways so you can get more bang for your buck!!!

We would love for you to play along in our challenges. You do not need DRS images to play but if you have them, why not use them! If you play along, be sure to post a direct link to your project on the DRS Designs Challenge Post, so we can check it out. We want you to inspire us! Also, if you upload to a public gallery, please use the keyword - DRSC13.

I decided to create a tag with the "Handmade By" image to decorate this cute little treat bag. I wanted this tag to indicate that, not only did I hand make the bag, but also the handmade chocolates inside! (Yum!)

I used the tutorial for the 2,5,7,10 bag on Spilitcoast Stampers to create this. I originally thought I would fill it with handmade cookies, but then after making it, I was shocked at how small it was! The actual size of this bag is only 3" x 5" x 2". I guess I should have known this from the beginning since it requires only 1- 8.5" x 11" sheet of cardstock! Not sure what I was thinking! DUH!

Before assembling the bag, I used the stamp "A Treat For You" to decorate the cardstock with blue ink. Sorry those images aren't seen very well--as luck would have it, I randomly stamped them and of course the 2 that could be seen fairly well are covered with my bow! :-(

Stamps: DRS Designs- Oval Handmade Recognition Stamp, A Treat For You Sentiment
Ink: SU! Ballet Blue
Paper: Colored Cardstock by The Paper Company and Bazzill. White cardstock by office Depot and Bazzill
Accessories: Ribbon by American Crafts, eyelets by Joann's Scrap Essentials, Nesties, Pearls by Hero Arts

Make sure to stop over at the other DT members blogs and see how they used their Recognition Stamps:

Angel Rivera

Cathy Indelicato (Team Coordinator)

Dawn Knight

Etha Schuette

Heather Lee-Reppen

Janette Olen

Jessica George

Jessica Knutsen

Vicki Parson

DRS Designs and myself would like to wish several of the DRS designers good luck as they move on to other projects at the end of this month. Their hard work and awesome contributions during their design term was greatly appreciated! Expect to see their names again and again crossing paths in the stamping/paper crafting world! Best wishes for a successful future to Angel, Etha, Janette, and Jessica K. Stop by their blogs above & tell them how much you'll miss their work. I know I will!

I hope you have a fabulous week!

Thanks for visiting today!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Precious Metals

It's my turn to give this week's Fun Filled Friday Blog Challenge.

This week's theme is...

Precious Metals!

I've challenged Kimmy to create a card with thoughts of Gold, Silver, Bronze and Copper in mind. We also have to use some type of metal embellishments on it too.

We'll post our cards on your blogs this Friday, January 30th for you all to see. We'd love for you to give this challenge a try as well. Make sure to leave us a comment with a link so we can check it out!

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Happy Stamping!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Interested in FREE Stamps from DRS Designs?

DRS Designs currently has 2 different opportunities where you could earn FREE stamps from their awesome catalog!

1. If you are the selected winner from the Blog Candy Give Away on the DRS Designs Blog, you could win FREE stamps. You have just a little while longer to post a project using any brand of ribbon slides on the DRS Designs Blog. The deadline is Sunday (tomorrow) Jan. 25th, 8pm. You can find the original Blog Candy post here to explain all of the details.

2. Have you heard DRS Designs is looking for Guest Designers? Designers will serve a 2 month term and you will receive a generous selection of new releases and current images during your term. Applications deadline is 10 pm EDT, Jan. 30th. Notifications will by made by Feb. 5th. Check the DRS Designs Call Blog for details on the application process.

Hope you have a wonderful and productive weekend!

Happy Stamping!

Smiles,
Jennifer

PS: Tomorrow I will announce the next Fun Filled Friday Theme Challenge. Stay tuned...

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Too Early for Easter?

I hope not, cause Easter Egg Riley is here! He's just in time for this week's Fun Filled Friday Challenge! Kimmy challenged us this week to create with him. When I think of Easter, the colors purple and yellow come to mind for me, so that's what I had to use to color this egg, and build my card from there.

I used my Prismacolor pencils to color my Riley image and used my Nesties to mat him and to create the sentiment tag.

As you can tell, I also used my Martha Stewart Zig Zag Border Punch to decorate my cardstock. I love how the different color of cardstock shows up through the little holes.

Stamps: Hanna Stamps- Eggshell Riley, Sentiment by Great Impressions
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Wisteria
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by American Crafts and Bazzill
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Ribbon by Bobbie M. Designs, Brads by Recollections, Nesties Martha Stewart Zig Zag Border Punch
Finished Card Size: 5.75" x 4.75"

Make sure to check back this Sunday as I will be announcing the theme for next week's Fun Filled Friday Challenge.

Don't Forget to check out Kimmy's Riley card--and check her post's from earlier this week. She's posted several cute Riley cards already!

If you make a Riley card, or if you've made one recently, make sure to leave me a link so I can check it out. I'd love to see it!

Thanks for visitng today, TGIF! and have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Stamping!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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I've been Awarded!

Another Blog Award!

Thanks so much to my friend Vicki from Stamped Smiles.

This award is titled the "Marie Antoinette Award."

My curiosity got to me & I had to investigate why this was significant. All I have to say is gotta love Google! LOL!

Apparently, during her reign as the Queen of France, she became known as an extravagant woman who spent excessive amounts of money on clothing, furniture, gambling and diamonds, that eventually caused the people of France to dislike her. This conflict of interest eventually lead up to the French Revolution.

So, how does this award relate to stamping and blogging? (be warned, I think I've looked a little too far into this LOL!)

Well, I'm not spending money on clothing, furniture, gambling and diamonds, however, I can certainly relate to the "excessive spending" part. That's the bad part about being a stamper/scrapbooker. I'm always spending money on something hobby related--stamps, tools, embellishments, paper, cardstock, ribbon, ribbon, and more ribbon etc. Sometimes I feel like I just gotta have every new tool out there! However, I make an attempt not to pay full price for anything relating to stamping/scrapbooking! Let's just say I make great use out of my Michael's, Joann's, Achiever's and LSS coupons! Anything to stretch that little ol' dollar a little further!

So how many of you out there can relate and are deserving of this Marie Antoinette Award?

The rules for this award are to name 5 things about myself AND tag 5 people for this award!

5 things about myself are:

1. My birthday is right around the corner! (I'm thinking blog candy soon!)

2. I'm getting ready to leave for a Mexican Vacation in a few short weeks, and I'm so excited with butterflies in my stomach every time I think about it!

3. I'm a perfectionist--one quality about myself that is both good and bad! (which is why creating just one card can take me hours to complete!)

4. I love coffee and don't function well without it--just ask my husband! Once of my favorite parts of my morning routine is to enjoy my coffee at the computer and blog hop!

5. Today I'm meeting with some of my scrap/stamp buddies for a play day, all-day-long! Watch for more cards right here, coming soon!

In no particular order, the five people I'm passing this award to are:

Cindi-Hooked on Crafts, in Maine

Jan-Far North

Barb-Barb's Card Creations

Cathy-Crafty Thoughts

Dawn-Dawn's Rubber Room


Well, I'm off to pack my bags for my big play-day! Hopefully I don't chit-chat too much--I have big plans to get a lot done.

Ta Ta For Now!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Back In Business with Sketch Wednesday

Last Week DRS Designs sponsored the CPS Sketch challenge that was posted on my blog last Wednesday, so I cancelled my personal Sketch Wednesday. Well, I'm glad to announce that my Sketch Challenge Wednesdays have returned!

Here's today's sketch...

Won't you give it a try? I did, and here's my card:

This card is perfect for a baby shower or the new arrival of a sweet, little baby girl. My cousin's baby show is February 1st and I'm going to give this to her. She's due February 23rd and she knows already that she's having a little girl. The sentiment and both images are from the latest release by DRS Designs. You can see their entire stamp catalog here.

I colored the baby Buggy image with Prismacolor Pencils and blended the colors with Gamsol. The diaper pin image and sentiment were stamped with pink ink.

Stamps: DRS Designs- Brush Baby Buggy, Babies Prayer, Diaper Pin
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, SU! Rose Red
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by Bazzill, and DCWV
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Nesties, Brads by O'Scrap, Ribbon by American Crafts, Decorative Corner Punch by EK Success
Finished Card Size: 4.25" x 4.5"


Don't forget!

DRS Designs is looking for several Guest Designers for their Design Team! Check out the DRS Designs DT Call Blog for all of the info.

Happy Wednesday Everyone! (and Happy Friday to me! No, it's not a long weekend--I'll be working the weekend-Yuck!)

Smiles,
Jennifer

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DRS Designs Guest Designer Call-Apply Now!

Have you ever wanted to try out for a Design Team, but are somewhat intimidated by a lengthy term?

Does being on a Design team for only 2 months interest you?

Does this term fit into your schedule better than a more lengthy one?

If you've answered "yes" to the above questions then this call's for you!

Now is your chance to apply!

DRS Designs is looking for several Guest Designers to be a part of their Design Team!

Application deadline is 10pm EST on 1/30/09 - notifications will be made no later than 2/5/09.

They've recently created a blog for all of their Designs team calls and you can find all of the info for this call here.

Go on, Don't be shy, Give it you're best shot and apply today!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Valentine Love with Faux Designer Paper!

Well, I'm at it again--I spent last night creating my own designer paper using the new heart silhouette stamp by DRS Designs. I stamped the image using light & dark pink ink on a 8.5" x 11" piece of white cardstock. Perfect for Valentine's Day & I'll get a lot of use from this one sheet! I guarantee you'll be seeing more projects made with it!

Here's my first Valentine's Day card of the year featuring my hand made designer paper.

I colored the Ribbon Heart image with markers.



The "love" tag was created by using my Nesties to cut out the writing on the silhouette heart image. I was shocked at how perfect it came out! I thought for sure I'd have to touch a part of it up with ink--but nope, I just cut it out, matted it with a small black scallop oval, added a brad, and my tag was all set!

Stamps: DRS Designs- Silhouette Love Heart, Ribbon Heart
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, SU! Rose Red, Regal Rose
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by The Paper Company, DCWV, and American Crafts.
Accessories: Bic markers, Nesties, brads by Joann's Scrap Essentials, Ribbon by Bobbie M. Designs, Cuttlebug and Heart Blocks Embossing Folder, SU! Ticket Corner Punch
Finished Card Size: 4.25" x 5.5"

I think this card is pretty simple in it's design and layout except for what I've described already. But of course, if you have any questions regarding this card or any others that I've made, please feel free to ask!

Thanks for visiting today. I appreciate you stopping by!

Make sure to come back tomorrow, my Card Sketch Wednesdays have returned!

Have a wonderful day!

Smiles,
Jennifer

PS: Resolution Update:

Still going to the gym 3 days a week! (Such an achievement for me!) Now I'm beginning to have issues with food. I'm losing the self control in the food department that I had during the first 2 weeks- A little backwards, I know. I think it's because we went out to eat twice over the weekend. I have no idea how to calculate what I eat in a restaurant! Plus, I need to find some lower calorie snacks to stretch my calories more throughout the day. Oh, and how the heck are you supposed to drink 8 cups (64 ounces) of water a day? I just don't ever get that thirsty. I think in order to accomplish it, I'd have to literally take a sip of water every 5 minutes throughout the day. Ugh! I've been averaging 3 cups of water a day, and I don't drink anything else besides water, except my morning coffee. It's really tough for me! Sometimes I can eat a full meal without even drinking anything. Ok, that's it for now. I'll update you again in a few days. Thanks for listening/reading! :-)

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Technical Difficulties! (Long!)

Unfortunately, I don't have a project to share with you today. I'm so sorry about that, but you can expect more later this week. My weekend was spent being lazy, and then when I wasn't being lazy, DH and I cleaned up. We finally (!) put away all of our Christmas decorations and took our real Christmas tree down. Oh, such a chore! Now my house looks so dull and dreary. I'm always bummed every year when the holiday decorations come down. (Although I am glad that all of it is finally put away!) Do any of you get the post-holiday-decoration-blues like I do?

I spent some time on Saturday and Sunday revising my blog a bit. If you click on the actual link to my blog you can see that I've changed my blog header to one of the snowmobiling pictures I posted on my blog a few weeks ago. We are in the heart of Winter right now in Michigan and I swear this winter we will break records with the amount of snow fall we've had so far! It seems like every few days we get dumped on! So anyways, I thought the picture I used for my blog header was appropriate.

I also noticed this past Friday that Feedburner was moving their feeds to Google, and I received notice that Feedburner Subscribers have until the end of February to make the move. They claimed we wouldn't lose any of our stats, subscribers etc. Since I was revising other areas on my blog this weekend I figured I should make this change now as well. With a few clicks I had everything transferred to Google. Since this change I've notice I've lost half of my subscribers just over night!!!!!!! Now, I may be completely wrong (although I find it hard to believe that half of you would just up and leave me!) but I'm blaming the transition from Feedburner to Google for the loss. So, If this should reach any of you who used to receive my posts via feeds and now you now longer are, please re-subscribe! If you are new to my blog, WELCOME! Please click on one of the subscribing links on the right side of my blog to follow me! I have a lot of exciting things to share with you all over the next month or so and I'd hate for any of you to miss it! So go ahead, Subscribe today, It's free! :-)

I normally take and answer questions from my readers, but today I'm changing things up a bit. I've stumbled on a question of my own that I thought you could help me with.

I am stumped on how to add pics to my blog that people can click on to make larger to see the detail better. How is that done? I've tried changing the pic size on my camera from email size to regular printable size, but that doesn't do it. Does it have something to do with photo editing software? I don't have Photoshop...I use a Kodak photo editing package.
I'm curious as to what incite any of you may have on this. Any advise is greatly welcome. If you would rather email me privately, please feel free to do so.

I apologize that this post is rather long, and I don't have any fun pictures for you to look at. If you've made it this far, thanks so much for taking the time to read it all!

Thanks for visiting today!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Who Has Rileys?

Get your Riley Stamps out if you do!

For this week's Fun Filled Friday Challenge, Kimmy has challenged us to create a card using our Riley images. I know I ordered 4 Riley Stamps back in October but I've only created 1 card with them so far. You can see my Pumpkin Patch Riley here.

Now that Kimmy has challenged me to create another you'll get to see another one on my blog this coming Friday, January 23rd.

I hope you'll join me in this challenge.

My favorites Riley's are the ones where he's dressed as Santa, but I promise I won't use those ones for this challenge.

Let me know you were here today today & tell me which Riley image is your favorite!

Hope you have a great Week!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Butterfly Gate Fold

In order to spruce up our card making a bit for our Fun Filled Friday Blog Challenges, I've been browsing the resource files over at Splitcoast Stampers. I know the Gate Fold Card Technique isn't anything new, but would you believe in my 5 years of paper crafting I've never tried it? This was my challenge to Kimmy this week.

Here's my attempt!

Both the image and sentiment are by DRS Designs.

This butterfly image is one of my favorites. I love using it with 2 colors of ink and giving it a little sparkle!

Stamps: DRS Designs- Flower Butterfly, Happy Birthday Sentiment
Ink: Color Box Fluid Chalk Ink in Wisteria, SU! Rose Red
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by American Crafts
Accessories: Glitter Glue, Nesties, Silver Ribbon by May Arts, EK Success Decorative Corner Punch
Finished Card Size: 4.25" x 5.5"


Make sure to run over & see Kimmy's Gate Fold Challenge card too!

Just a few reminders...

There's still time to try this week's sketch challenge sponsored by DRS Designs on the Card Positioning Systems Blog. You have until this Saturday at Noon to post your card on this CPS post.

Also, creating any project using any type of ribbon slide image and posting a link on this DRS Designs Blog Post will get you entered to win several Ribbon Slides by DRS Designs. You'll get an added bonus if you create your project with a DRS Designs Ribbon Slide. The winner will be selected on Sunday, January 25th.

Good Luck!

Thanks for visiting today. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Sending You a Smile!

There's an Arctic air blowing through Michigan right now making it very, very chilly here! We're in sub zero temperatures!

I made this card as a little "warm-me-up!"

All images by DRS Designs.

Gotta love the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig! It made adding the sentiment like this a piece of cake!

The oval floral image is one of their New Releases. You can see them all here , along with samples too!

Stamps: DRS Designs- Mega Flower Oval, 2 Line Flower Designs, Sending you a Smile Sentiment
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Brilliance Pearlescent Poppy
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by The Paper Company and American Crafts
Accessories: Bic Markers, flower brad unknown, yellow circle brads by Recollections, Nesties, SU! Word Window punch, SU! Ticket Corner Punch
Finished Card Size: 5.5" x 5.5"

Curious about how my New Years Resolution is going?

Well, day #10 & it is still going strong! (I'm happy to report!) I'm still making it to the gym 3 days a week and I'm eating under 1500 calories a day. Progress so far...down 3 pounds! I'm definitely on the road to a happier and healthier me!

Sorry for such a short post today...I'm pressed for time. I'm off to squeeze in my work out for the day.

Ta Ta For Now!

Smiles,
Jennifer

PS: Don't forget DRS Designs has 2 Blog Candy Opportunities for you this week...

1. Check out this CPS post.

2. Check out this DRS Designs Blog Post .

Good Luck!

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CPS Sketch Challenge

I've about had it with the freezing cold temperatures and snow here in Michigan. Now that the Holidays are over, I'm ready for Spring and Summer! With thoughts of warmer weather stuck in my head, I created this card for this week's CPS Sketch, sponsored by DRS Designs. Unfortunately, I don't have my own sketch challenge for you to see, but that will continue again next Wednesday.

I colored the main image and the butterflies with pencils, and shaded the background behind the flowers with blue chalk. Then, I went on a 3D-frenzy and colored the entire image several times in order to mount all 3 flower blooms and all 4 butterlies on foam tape! That turned out to be a bigger job than I thought, but so very worth it for the final outcome!

Stamps: DRS Designs- Framed Daffodil
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by The Paper Company and Bazzill
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Brads by Recollections, Chalk by Inkadinkado, 3d-Dots, Nesties, Dashes, Dots, and Checks Ribbon by Michael's
Finished Card Size: 5.5" x 6.25"


Hopefully you have a chance to participate with this CPS sketch challenge. If you do, please post a link to your card on this post from the CPS blog by Friday at Noon to be eligible to have your name entered into a random drawing to win something great from DRS Designs!

How cool is that?

I can't wait to see your project!

Happy Stamping!

Smiles,
Jennifer

PS: Don't forget DRS Designs has another Blog Candy Opportunity for you this week...

Creating any project using any type of ribbon slide image and posting a link on this DRS Designs Blog Post will get you entered to win several Ribbon Slides by DRS Designs. You'll get an added bonus if you create your project with a DRS Designs Ribbon Slide. The winner will be selected on Sunday January 25th.

Good Luck!

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Already Getting Ready for Next Year!

Can you stand it? Another Holiday card--Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! LOL!

I should join Kimmy and Kathy, from the Stamp Shack, in their 5 Christmas cards a month challenge, since this is my second one for January. I bet I could fulfill it if I made approx. one card a week.

I created this card using this beautiful snowflake image from DRS Designs. This stamp was just released last week. You can see all of their new designs here.


On this card, the snowflake image is completely flat, but you could also score and fold this image along the center of each of the snowflake "petals" to add dimension to your project! You can see what I mean in this project that Cathy created.

I also used last week's Splitcoast Sketch Challenge (SC210) to guide my layout for this project.

If you are a regular reader of my blog then you know I have a hard time creating Holiday cards without using a little sparkle. This card follows suit with a little glitter glue on the background snowflakes as well as the smaller dots in the large snowflake image.

Stamps: DRS Designs- 3D Snowflake, Snowflake Easy Background
Ink: SU! Ballet Blue, SU! Brocade Blue, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Lipstick Red
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by The Paper Company and Bazzill
Accessories: Ribbon by Bobbie M. Designs, Glitter Glue, Brad by Recollections, EK Success Decorative Corner Punch, White Gelly Roll Pen, SU Photo Corner Punch, Nesties
Finished Card Size: 6" x 6"

Sorry for throwing another Holiday card at cha, but I hope you don't mind! :-)

Stay tuned for tomorrow. I've completed another challenge--Check! I can't wait to show you!

Have a great day!

Smiles,
Jennifer

PS: Don't forget DRS Designs has 2 Blog Candy Opportunities for you this week...

1. Check out the Card Positioning Systems Blog for this weeks sketch challenge. You have until this Saturday at Noon to post your card on this CPS post.

2. Creating any project using any type of ribbon slide image and posting a link on this DRS Designs Blog Post will get you entered to win several Ribbon Slides by DRS Designs. You'll get an added bonus if you create your project with a DRS Designs Ribbon Slide. The winner will be selected on Sunday January 25th.

Good Luck!

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Winter Treat and Some Candy!

It's a new year and the DRS Designs DT has a new set of challenges!! We would love for you to play along. You don't have to use DRS images if you don't have them yet...we know you will soon and you can use them for later challenges!

Today the design team was presented with a challenge to use any of the DRS Designs ribbon slides as their focal image. If you would like to play along, just post a comment with a direct link to your creation on the DRS Designs Blog so we can come check it out! If you upload to a public gallery, please use the keyword DRSC12.

As an added incentive for you to play along, one lucky challenge participant will be eligible to win some ribbon slides for their very own! Anyone can participate as long as you use some kind of ribbon slide for your focal point. On Sunday, January 25, one random winner will be drawn from all the entries. The winner will win a selection of ribbon slides...BUT...if the winner also used DRS Designs stamps in their project, they will win an even bigger selection of slides! We really hope you play along. Be sure to use DRSC12 if you upload your creation to a public gallery. Remember, the only way to be entered in the drawing is to post a direct link to your creation on the DRS Designs Challenge Post.

For this challenge I created a Hot Cocoa Holder card.

I embossed the Snowflake Ribbon Slide and the new Mega Snowflake Circle in silver embossing powder. I matted both of these images using my nesties as shown to create the focal point of my project. I used a large rhinestone in the middle of the ribbon slide for a little sparkle!

I also heat embossed the sentiment, on both the front and the inside...

...and used watermark ink to stamp the snowflake background on the front & inside of the card.

Stamps: DRS Designs- Snowflake Ribbon Slide, Mega Snowflake Circle, Snowflake Easy Background, Treat For you Sentiment
Ink: Rubber Stampede Embossing Ink, Versamark Watermark Ink
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by The Paper Company, Silver Paper unknown
Accessories: Creative Beginnings Silver Embossing Powder, Martha Stewart Star Border Punch, Ribbon by Offray Holiday Sentiments, Nesties, EK Success Corner Rounder, Darice Finishing Accent Rhinestones
Finished Card Size: 4" x 5.75"

Wouldn't this be a perfect reward for someone who just shoveled your driveway on a cold Winter day!

We just got about 8 inches of snow Saturday night. So, who wants come over my house to shovel?

I'll give you this special treat...Promise!

Pretty Please with a cherry on top?

Oh, please don't make me go out in the cold!

I guess I'll just have to reward myself with it.

:-)

Smiles,
Jennifer

PS: Don't forget to give this challenge a try to be elgible to win some of the great Ribbon Slide images from DRS Designs!

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I'll be busy this week...

...with several challenges that I want to complete.

#1 : To complete the Card Positioning Systems Sketch challenge that is sponsored by DRS Designs. Have you ever checked out the CPS blog? Every week they have a new sketch challenge! I like to use the achieves whenever I get stuck.

#2: To complete the new blog challenge that will be posted on the DRS Designs Blog tomorrow-Monday Jan. 12th. I hope you'll check it out & give it a try as well. We'd love for you to play along!

#3: To complete the Fun Filled Friday challenge held on my blog every week. Kimmy and I challenge each other to create projects with certain themes. For this week's challenge I've challenged Kimmy to create a Gate Fold card. I've never made one of these types of cards before so I'm eager to try it. I've heard they're rather easy to make.

With these 3 challenges, in addition to some projects that I am still trying to finish up to post later this week, it looks like I better stay focused. I have a lot on my plate right now...so, I'm off to my studio to play.

Can't wait to share my challenge projects with you!

Stay tuned...

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Itty Bitty!

This week's Fun Filled Friday Challenge was to create a 3" x 3" card. I thought this would truly be a challenge for me since I tend to make cards that are larger than the regular A2 size cards (4.25" x 5.5.") However, DRS Designs just came out with some new stamps and they have a few that are perfect for a such an itty bitty card! DRS Designs came to my rescue for this challenge & I found it rather easy overall! You can see all of the new DRS Designs stamps here.

To create this Butterfly 3"x 3" card, I simply heat embossed the butterfly, used my Nesties to mat it, tucked in a small piece of ribbon to create a loop, used my Treading Water border punch to decorate the right edge of my card, and layered pink cardstock behind the front of the card, and then got carried away a little bit with my distressing. Easy Peasy, but cute! I love the colors.

Sunday we will announce next weeks Fun Filled Friday theme, so make sure to come back to see what it is. If you created a 3" x 3" card for this challenge, please post a link here in my comments so I can check it out. You can see Kimmy's Challenge card here.

Stamps: DRS Designs- Silhouette Believe Butterfly
Ink: Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in creamy Brown
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by The Paper Company,
Accessories: Nesties, Fiskars Treading Water Border Punch, Ribbon by Maya Road, Rubber Stampede Embossing Ink, Embossing Powder by Creative Beginnings, Heat Gun,
Finished Card Size: 3" x 3"

So, how is the first week of New Year Resolutions going?

I'm happy to say that I've made it to the gym twice this week, both on Monday & Wednesday, and I plan to go again today. I've been doing a jog/walk on the tread mill for 45 minutes with a 5 minute cool down. This averages about 3 miles and I burn about 300 calories. I'm really happy that I'm actually sticking to it--I know it's only been a few days, but this is major progress for me. The SparkPeople website is really keeping me focused. My DH is impressed that I'm refusing to eat foods that I can't track on their Nutrition counter. All week long I've also stayed within my calorie intake goal. So far, things are going really well.

I hope your resolutions are going well too.

Have a great weekend & I'll visit again with you on Sunday.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Sketch Wednesday's Just a Note!

Welcome to the first Card Sketch Wednesday Challenge of the New Year!

I used this sketch to create my own border with one of the new border stamps from DRS Designs. These new border images fit perfectly with the Marvy Uchida Giga and Mega punches. You can see all of the new images just released by DRS Designs here. Run over & check them out, they're great!

If you get a chance to play with this sketch, please leave me a comment with a link on this post, so I can check it out. I'd love to see what you've made.

Stamps: DRS Designs- Giga Knot Square, Arch Recognition Stamp, Flourish Wording Frame, Just a Note
Ink: SU! Rose Red, Colorbox Pigment Brush Pad in Green
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by The Paper Company,
Accessories: Maya Road Ribbon, Brads by Joann's Scrap Essentials, Cuttlebug & Divine Swirls Embossing Folder
Finished Card Size: 4.25" x 5.5"

This release also included some new "Hand Stamped by" and "Hand Made by" stamps for the back of your projects. As you can see I use the "Hand Stamped By" image on the back of this card and signed my name. These are like having your own Hallmark logo on the back of your cards! I know I will be using these a lot!




Resolution Recap-Day 2

Well, I've decided that I need to change my resolution up a bit. Hitting the gym every morning is a little harsh--especially since this routine is fairly new to me & since I was so sore getting out of bed yesterday! I'm sad to say that I never made it to the gym yesterday, but my new plan is to go to the gym every Mon, Wed, Friday. This way, I can still make it to the gym & make time for my cards & DT requirements, blogging etc. and still be able to sleep in a bit on the off gym days. Trying to schedule time for all of this is tough! Sometimes I wish there were more than 24 hours in a day, or that I could be one of those people who can get by with less than 8 hours of sleep. I find getting 10 hours makes my body happy!

I'm happy to report that I stayed within my calorie goal by tracking the foods I ate yesterday on Sparkpeople. (If you check it out and sign up--it's free--use me as a reference-Fief14) I measured all my portions out, from my coffee and cream with breakfast, salad dressing at lunch, and to the hearty soup I ate for dinner. It was a little cumbersome, but I did do it & was surprised to see how much salad dressing you actually get in 2 tablespoons! If anything at all, tracking what I eat & tracking the amount of exercise I get at Sparkpeople is definitely keeping me interested.

Well, it is Wednesday, so I'm off to the gym. Stay tuned for another project tomorrow & a recap of my resolution Day 3.

Thanks for visiting today!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Ladybug Thanks and Resolution Day 1

A few of the cool things I really like about DRS Designs is that their images are fun to color & create with, and they have neat background stamps that you can use to make your own designer paper.

This ladybug card features both of these aspects.

I colored the ladybugs with pencils and added black Stickles to their spots. I tried to be creative with the new decorative border shaped stamps and used the Mega Dot Square Stamp to create the border around my sentiment. I colored the larger dots with a black marker & then added Stickles to them as well.

As you can see I used the Interlocking Circle background with red & black ink to create the designer paper column. I'm so happy with the way this coordinates so well with this card.

I accessorized this card using my black & white Gel pens to create dotted borders around the ladybug image, and on the scallop around my sentiment. I also added a black bow to the bottom of the vertical column and then a few black brads, and Viola! This card turned out too cute!

Stamps: DRS Designs- Lady Bug Stack, Small Thank You, Interlocking Circle Background, Mega Dot Square
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Lipstick Red
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by American Crafts
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Bic Markers, Nesties, Black Diamond Stickles, White and Black Gelly Roll Pens, Ribbon by Bobbie M. Designs, Black Brads by Joann's Scrap Essentials
Finished Card Size: 4.75" x 5.75"

So, how are you doing with your New Year's Resolutions? Mine are to go to the gym, Monday through Friday, and get ahead with my DT responsibilities & blogging. I got up early yesterday & ran/walked 3 miles at the gym before I went to work. I felt good knowing that I accomplished day 1. Then, after work I had big plans to work on some cards in my Studio, but from getting up early, I was just too pooped out to do anything. My brain could not think!

So, for all of you regular exercise people out there, how do you balance sleep, crafting, a regular job, a blog, and all the regular duties like housework etc? We don't even have children yet! I can only imagine what they will do to this mix when the time comes! I always hear that working out is supposed to give you more energy, and I feel it does just the opposite. (FYI, This opinion is not made just on yesterday's gym/workout accomplishment. I've noticed this with a majority of my other workout attempts as well.) Does it eventually get easier? DH thinks I need to take some diet pills or other energizing supplements to help me. I refuse to even consider those options!

I'd love to hear how you balance it all-- have any advice that could help me? I hate to think that I've set my goals to high, but I'm afraid that if I make them easier then I won't stick to them long enough to make them routine. I just joined Sparkpeople yesterday & I'm still learning my way around it, but I've heard many good things about it. I'm hoping that once I start to plug in my stats that it will keep me focused on the exercise portion of my resolutions. Are any of you Spark People members?

Well, I'm off to start Day 2--wish me luck!

Until we meet again tomorrow, have a great day!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Snow Fun!

As promised here are a few pictures of us this past weekend on our Snowmobiling trip to Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It was about a 6 hour drive for us from the Metro Detroit area. Oh what fun! They have tons of snow there!

Saturday was a great riding day, very cold (17 degrees F) but the sun was out. It was so pretty on the trails! See for yourself!

Here's DH and I sitting on his sled. We posed this picture ourselves & set the camera timer. I ran in just seconds before this was taken. The camera is sitting on my Snowmobile across from us.

Here's DH being funny and posing in the middle of the trail!

We even saw a deer! This is my first time ever seeing one up close. I wanted to stop and watch him (or her), but it was almost dusk and I was freezing, so we had to get back to the hotel. Are these pics great or what!?!?

Hope you enjoyed seeing these!

Have a great Day!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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