Where O Where are you?

This title refers to lots of things today...

1. Me! You've probably noticed I haven't posted in a few days. I haven't necessarily been MIA, it's just that...

2. My Mojo and inspiration to create are gone, and seems like they are no where to be found! I've made several attempts in my craft room to get something started & I don't like anything that I've been coming up with over the last few days. Rather then get frustrated & put everything in the garbage, I have several unfinished projects laying around my craft room that maybe when my Mojo comes back I will be inspired to complete them.

and finally #3. My Fun Filled Friday project is missing as a direct result of #2! Last weeks theme was to decorate the inside of our cards to match the outside. Once I finally get my mojo back to finish the outside of a card, I'll be able to complete the inside as well...if I should ever get to that point any time soon...

How frustrating this is!!!!!!! I am home for a 3 day weekend and had huge plans of getting caught up and crafting the weekend away & what a bummer it is to have my inspiration just up and leave me! Maybe it's because I just need a break and after a few days I'll be inspired once again. (I'm keeping my fingers crossed!)

So, now you know why I haven't posted in the last few days. I honestly just don't have any new projects to share with you. I'm going to stay out of my craft room for today & spend time getting some things done around the house & spend some time with DH since he is home today. Then, tomorrow when he is back to work & I'm enjoying the last day of my weekend with a nice, quiet house I'll venture back in to that craft room & see what I can complete. (Maybe I just need to clean that room...I bet I'll find my mojo in there hiding under a pile of cardstock!)

With that being said, it is Sunday & it's time to announce the next Fun Filled Friday Challenge. (Although I don't feel right posting another one before the other has been completed--just seems a little backwards to me...) Maybe a different challenge is just what I need to get my inspiration jump started! So, what's the challenge you ask? Get out your brayers & brayer away! Kimmy decided on this weeks challenge & I'm wondering if she had the Zindorf blog in mind when she decided this. Good thing for me, is I sort of already have an idea in mind for this challenge, so hopefully when I sit down to do it, this project will come easy for me. If you get a chance to play this week and want to play along in our Fun Filled Friday challenges, please do so. Make sure to leave a link with your project for us to see. I'd love to see what you do with your brayer!

So, for now I'm off to enjoy the day at home and tomorrow will be a new day for me in my craft room. Hopefully I have a project to share with you soon.

Until then...if you see my mojo send it back home, ok?

:-)

Have a Wonderful Holiday weekend!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Birthday Window Card!

Yesterday was a busy day for me. I had a nice leisure morning with breakfast & coffee while I checked on my email & all of the daily blogs I read. Then it was go, go, go nonstop all day long--I went grocery shopping, cleaned the kitchen, researched & put together a beef stew recipe in the crock pot, worked 8 hours at my real job, watched Gray's Anatomy, and finished my Fun Filled Friday Window Card Challenge in time to be able to write up this post today! Whew! So, now you know why today's post is later then normal! LOL!

I tried really hard to stay away from the computer and keep my mind focused on everything on my to-do list. I'm amazed at what can be done when I set these little challenges for myself! I love my computer to death but it's so addicting & such a waste of time--However, I am intrigued by the plethora of info on the internet. I'm always clickin' around on something and of course the addiction is enhanced by my papercrafting and stamping hobby as I'm always looking at other peoples work. Recently my time at home has been spent more on the computer then ever as they are now limiting our internet access at work. So, in between patients, I've been trying to come up with layouts and ideas for many of the weekly sketch challenges that I often do. Soon I'm going to need a new sketch book! But, once I get a nice chunk of time in my craft room I'll be able to share them all with you soon!

So, on to today's FFF card. I challenged Kimmy this week to make a window card. Here's the Birthday card I came up with for this challenge.

Not exactly how I thought this card would look when it was finished, but I'm happy with the color scheme.

I used my Nesties Labels One Dies to cut out the window from 3 layers. That was a little tricky to get everything to line up, but it worked out well in the end.

I colored the flowers with my glitter gel pens. This card has a ton of sparkle & shine to it!

The inside is on the plain side--I wish I had a bit more time to decorate the inside a bit. I might still stamp the flower image you see on the front, once or twice on the inside & use my glitter pens to spice things up a bit. I'll post a picture if I get a chance to do it.

Stamps: DRS Designs- Daisy Flower Corner (F696), Birthday Wishes Come True Sentiment (E508)
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, SU! Rose Red
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by American Crafts
Accessories: Starlights Glitter Gel Pens, Nestabilities Labels One Die Set, EK Success Decorative Corner Punch, Brads by Buttons Galore & More, Ribbon unknown from my stash
Finished Card Size: 4 5/8" x 5 7/8"

Some of you may have noticed that Kimmy hasn't posted her Fun Filled Friday Challenge cards in a while. She's had some computer issues and has recently hurt her back so bad that it is extremely painful for her to sit. Her Dr. took her off work for a while and she's waiting to have an MRI done. The most comfortable position for her right now is just laying down--she's trying to figure out how to stamp in that position! So, if you could just stop by her blog & send her a get well message & some prayers hopefully she be back on her feet soon. You can find Kimmy's blog here.

So, any big plans for this weekend? Doing anything special for Mom on Sunday? I'm hoping to get a lot done in my craft room over the next few days. I'm a bit behind & have some DT projects in my head that I need to get put together on paper. Hopefully Sunday won't be too hectic for us as holidays always are--DH & I have 3 Mother's to celebrate with, but one of then is out of town and we're taking the other 2 to brunch at a nearby banquet hall. I'm looking forward to a good meal!

Whatever your plans are this weekend, I hope you have a great one!

Thanks for visiting today!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Fun with Coasters!

It was Kimmy's turn to give this week's Fun Filled Friday Challenge theme & she picked Coasters! I was a little worried about this challenge since I've never worked with coasters before. Remember that Stamping Retreat, Shackapolooza, that I went on last weekend? Well, one of our Make N Take projects was this cute Coaster Post-It Note Holder...Can you say Shackapolooza to the rescue!?!?!?!

I lucked out with this project, so it wasn't much of a challenge at all--frankly, it's cheating! Our kit came with everything you see here. All I had to do was ink, color, and assemble!

I inked the edges of Bella with Colorbox Fluid chalk ink in French Blue. I colored her with Starlights Glitter Gel pens and then matted her on the brown cardstock provided. I assembled the scalloped circle layers together & then added a decorative flower rhinestone to match.

I covered each coaster with the 2 kinds of designer paper provided and used my Crop-a-dile to punch the holes for the binding.

What's great about this design is that when the Post-Its are all used up, it is easily refillable!

:-)


We'd love to have you participate in our Fun Filled Friday Challenges as well. Make sure to leave a link in the comment section of this post if you do. Stay tuned for next week's challenge theme to be announced on Sunday.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Circular Embossing and a New Challenge!

Sorry my Fun Filled Friday challenge card is late...I was so bummed that forgot to take my USB cord for my camera with me on my stamping trip and could not upload this on time on Friday, but as they say...better late then never, right!?!?!?

I challenged Kimmy to a unique technique (hey, that rhymes!) for this week's Fun Filled Friday challenge! We used the Circular Embossing Technique with the Cuttlebug. Not sure what I mean? Check out this card by Becca.

Here's my Circular Embossed Challenge card:

I created the embossed circle by following Becca's tutorial on her blog and then chalked the embossed areas. I colored the Hibiscus image with Prismacolor Pencils and Gamsol, and then cut it out. I added ribbon across the embossed piece, and then adhered the image in the center. I put dark pink eyelets in all four corners of the mat as well and tied a knot to the lower right corner and adhered the embossed piece to the center of it. I cute a 6" x 6" cardstock base to finish the card.

I really like this technique, but I think overall, it makes for too big of a card. If I try it again some day I may try to make it a bit smaller if possible. But, I really like the uniqueness of the embossing.

Make sure to check out Kimmy's challenge card to see her version.

Stamps: Rubbernecker
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Paper: Cardstock by Office Depot, The Paper Company, American Crafts
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Nesties, Cuttlebug and Cuttlebug Fancy Corners Embossing Folder, Eyelets from Joann's Scrap Essentials, Ribbon unknown from my stash, Chalk by Inkadinkado
Finished Card Size: 6" x 6"

For this week's Fun Filled Friday challenge, Kimmy has challenged us to use coasters. This should be very interesting for me--I have yet to use coasters or chipboard on any of my projects. I guess it's just one aspect of the papercrafting field I just haven't gotten into--until now! Make sure to check back this Friday, May 1st, when I post my finished project for you all to see. Feel free to participate in this challenge as well. Just make sure to leave me a link so I can check it out if you do!

Stay tuned for sneak peeks of the latest stamp release from DRS Designs going on here all week. I'll be sharing one with you later today. These new images are just too cute! You'll love 'em!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Stamping in La La Land!

Kimmy and I and 20 other stampers from the Stamp Shack are having a blast at our yearly stamping Retreat weekend! Unfortunately, I forgot the USB cord to my computer and am unable to upload any pics, so my Fun Filled Friday card has been postponed until I get home on Sunday. To be honest I haven't even been on the computer much at all--so unlike me!

We are living the life here, stamping & papercrafting all day & night long! It's amazing how quickly time flies by! I love seening what other people's projects in progress and I'm learning all kinds of new things from them. I have a ton of new ideas, I just hope I remember all of them when I get back home! I've tried to take pictures of the things that are inspiring me. So far I have ideas for Christmas cards! (I know it's still way to early to even be thinking about that!) I've also learned how to tie pretty knots (Thanks Traci!) and I have been playing with lots of glitter! Stay tuned to see all of my new projects soon!

I'll be sure to post an update Sunday evening when I return home.

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Who Let the Dogs Out?

TGIF & Happy Friday the 13th!

Just a quick reminder for you to check out the DRS Designs Blog today for you to get to know Michelle, the first Featured Friday Stamper. She was given a set of Easter images to use and you can see what she came up with on the DRS Designs Blog.

TGIF! I just can't seem to stress that enough today. For our Fun Filled Friday Challenge this week, I challenged Kimmy to create a card using a dog image.

I've had this dog image from Rubbernecker colored & blended for a while, so I figured this was the perfect opportunity to create him into a card. I think I actually got this image from Kimmy when we traded images one day--wonder what dog image she'll use for this challenge??? Will this be the first Fun Filled Friday where we use the same image?? Don't forget to run over to Kimmy's blog to see her challenge card.

This card is pretty straight forward and self explanatory. I didn't get too fancy with this one, but I've brought my computer back into card making by computer generating the sentiment. This poor little puppy looks like he's sad cause he missed the birthday party. I thought he'd make a great belated birthday card, so that's exactly what I made!

He is colored with Prismacolor Pencils and then the colors were blended with Gamsol. I sponged light blue ink around him to create the sky and then used a scallop die to sponge in some clouds in the background. I matted the image as shown and then used my SU! Word Window punch and some brads to fill in the empty space.

Stamps: Rubbernecker- Birthday Dog
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in French Blue
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by The Paper Company and American Crafts
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, SU! Word Window Punch, Brads by Joann's Scrap Essentials, Sentiment is computer generated.
Finished Card Size: 3.75" x 6.5"

I'm so glad the weekend is here! It has been a long exhausting week for me & I blame the Daylight Savings time change 100%! It time for me to catch up on some sleep, catch up on some card making & spend Sunday having fun at the St. Patty's Day parade! I hope to get some good pics to share with all of you!

I wish you all a wonderful weekend.

Thanks for visiting today!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Easter Suspension Card

TGIF and Happy Fun Filled Friday!

DRS Designs is releasing many, many new stamps today and if you've seen the sneak peeks from the DT then I bet you are just as excited as we are! As soon as they become available you will be able to see them all here. There's a collection of adorable "Cutie Pie Kids" and several new Easter images to choose from.

For Fun Filled Friday today, Kimmy has challenged us to create Suspension cards. I created this card featuring the new Double Cattail Easter Egg stamps that are part of the release today from DRS Designs. You get 2 stamps for the price of one! They are negative images of each other.

(I apologize for the shadows in these pictures--it was already dark out when I finished making this card and had to rely on my OTT light to get decent pictures.)

(Card is closed in this picture.)

I used the technique found on Splitcoast Stampers to create this card. The first step was to heat emboss the images. I stamped the silhouette egg on dark purple cardstock and heat embossed it in light yellow. Then I did just the opposite using the other egg image--stamped it on yellow cardstock and heat embossed it in dark purple. Then I cut both images out.

I adhered a 4" piece of dental floss to the backside of one of my cut-out Easter Eggs, so that the egg was centered on the floss. Then, I adhered the other Easter Egg to the back of it so that the floss was sandwiched between them. I used Nesties to create the oval opening rather than punches described in the tutorial to each layer on my card front. Next, I added a yellow brad to each corner of the purple mat. Then, I assembled the card so that when I attached the sandwiched egg to the oval window, the floss was hidden between the card base and the purple mat seen on the card front.

As a final touch, I stamped the sentiment in purple ink and added a delicate yellow satin bow to the top of the oval.


When the card is displayed, standing on it's own (unlike the picture above), the egg will rotate and spin on it's dental floss axis. I've taken a few pictures to show you each side. Notice that unlike the picture I showed above, you can't see the card base through the oval since the card is open in these pictures. This first picture is of the side that I embossed in light yellow on purple cardstock. The egg is slightly blurry cause it was spinning in motion when I snapped the picture!

Here's the in-between phase...

...and here's the other side that was embossed in purple on yellow cardstock.

Stamps: DRS Designs- Double Cattail Egg, Easter Sentiment
Ink: SU! Elegant Eggplant, Versamark
Paper: Smooth Cardstock by The Paper Company, textured cardstock by American Crafts
Accessories: Creative Beginnings purple Embossing Powder, Yellow Stamp N Stuff Embossing Powder, Brads by Making Memories, Nesties, Butler Dental Floss, Ribbon by Offray
Finished Card Size: 4.5" x 5 5/8"

Pretty cool technique huh? I enjoyed making this card--you don't see suspension cards very often!

Now, don't forget to run over to DRS Designs and see all of their new images!


Thanks for stopping by today, I appreciate your visit.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Happy Anniversary!

Finally, Here's my Fun Filled Friday card! I challenged Kimmy to create Anniversary cards for this week's theme.

I've made wedding cards before, but I've never made an Anniversary card. When I actually sat down to make it, I realized I don't have any images that are truly wedding or anniversary related, other than this "Happy" set from Clearly Wordsworth. It comes with a bunch of words to go with the "Happy," like Birthday, New Home, New Year, Everything, Thanksgiving, Halloween, New Job, Graduation, Day etc. Luckily for this challenge, Anniversary was one of them as well!

I colored "Happy" with a pink Prismacolor Pencil and blended the color with Gamsol. Then I stamped Anniversary in the little space under the H and A where it fits perfectly. I inked the edges and matted it in pink and gray cardstock.


Both, the Silhouette Love Heart from DRS Designs and the word Happy are painted with Shimmerz!

Stamps: DRS Designs- Silhouette Love Heart, and sentiment from Clearly Wordsworth
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Rose Coral, SU! Regal Rose
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by American Crafts,
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Cuttlebug and Heart Blocks Embossing Folder, Opal Shimmerz, Heart Brads by Joann's Scrap Essentials, Nesties, Ribbon by S.E.I.
Finished Card Size: 4.5" x 5.75"

Make sure to run over to Kimmy's Blog and take a look at her Anniversary card.

Sorry for the quick post, but I'm off to see my cousin & her newborn baby girl, Brielle!

Stay tuned, Kimmy's picked the next Fun Filled Friday Challenge and we'll announce it tomorrow!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Take Ten

Minutes that is!

Are you familiar with Take Ten magazine? All of the cards featured in this magazine can be created in 10 minutes or less! How's that for speedy crafting?!?!?!

Well, speedy crafting isn't my style. If you're a regular reader, you've heard me mention before that creating just one card takes me quite a while because I'm a perfectionist. (This trait was given to me by mother & her family--there are several of us women that share this quality!) Luckily, this trait is neither good nor bad, but it makes crafting a little slow for me, however I do enjoy it!

Anyways, getting to my point...Today is Fun Filled Friday! Kimmy challenged us to make a card in 10 minutes, just like those seen in the Take Ten magazine. I did it! Another challenge completed, and yes, this was definitely a huge challenge for me. I had to work very quickly!

Stamps: DRS Designs- Overflowing Birthday Greeting
Ink: SU! Rose Red
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by American Crafts
Accessories: Nesties, Cuttlebug and Textile Texture Embossing Folder, Prima Flowers, brads by American Crafts
Finished Card Size: 4" x 4.25"

Knowing that the time limit was only 10 minutes, I knew a sentiment was in order for this card--No time for coloring! This sentiment is a new one for me that I just received from DRS Designs, but it's not one of their current releases. When I saw this in my package the other day I immediately knew that I wanted to use it for this challenge. I love the wording and the font! It's a beautiful stamp, don't you agree?

Luckily, both circles were already cut out with Nesties for me. I pulled them from my scraps and built the rest of the card around them. (I hope this isn't cheating!) I used the Textile Texture Embossing folder for a little texture and then decorated the card front with some Prima flowers. I have tons of them and definitely don't use them enough. I needed a quick and easy embellishment and what could be quicker & easier then Primas?!

Make to to run over to Kimmy's blog to see her 10 minute Challenge Card!

Did you make a 10 minute card this week? Please share the link with me if you did. I want to see your version too!

Thanks for visiting today! Have a wonderful weekend!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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A Valentine's Day Card with no Red!

I challenged Kimmy to a Stipulation challenge theme for this week's Fun Filled Friday Challenge.

This means that our finished project had to portray the following 5 requirements:

-Main image must be matted on a circle,

-Project must use the color pink

-It has to contain a least one heart,

-It must contain at least one button

-It can NOT have the color Red

I've been thinking these stipulations would make for a great Valentine's Day card, BUT, how do you make a Valentine's Day card without red?

Well, I've done it! It took me a while--I was always reaching for something that was red, then I'd catch myself and remember that I couldn't use it.

My first step in making this card was to heat emboss the Giga Heart Circle image in white embossing powder on white cardstock. Then I used a Brayer and pink ink to "paint" around it. I used my Nesties to mat and layer this image. Next, I stamped the Silhouette Love heart image with light pink ink and used foam tape to mount it on top of the inner circle as shown to create the focal point of my card.

I created the card base from light pink cardstock and then layered it with dark pink cardstock that I ran through my Cuttlebug with the Heart Blocks Embossing Folder. I adhered the focal image to the center of the card base and then added my heart buttons to the upper left and button right corners of the card front.

Stamps: DRS Designs-Silhouette Love Heart, Giga Heart Circle
Ink: SU! Rose Red and Regal Rose, Embossing Ink by Rubber Stampede
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored cardstock by American Crafts
Accessories: Creative Beginnings Embossing Powder, Cuttlebug and Heart Blocks Embossing Folder, Buttons by JHB International, EK Success Decorative Corner Punch, Nesties, Brayer, 3D-Dots, Nice & Narrow Ribbon by Offray
Finished Card Size: 4.25" x 5.5"

So, there you have it...a Valentine's Day card without using Red! See, it is possible!

Make sure to run over and check out Kimmy's Stipulation card.

Think she was able to successfully attempt the challenge?

Thanks for visiting today!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Looks Like I'm Stamping on a Chalk Board...

...with this week's Fun Filled Friday Challenge, but I'm not! I'm just using the Chalkboard technique to make it look that way!

Have you ever tried this before? It was a lot of fun and I love the finished look. It really looks like a chalkboard! I used white ink to stamp each image on smooth black cardstock, and then applied chalk (using the applicators that came with my chalk set) to the stamped image before the ink dried. Easy, peasy and so unique. How often do you find yourself stamping on dark colored cardstock?

Make sure to run over and check out Kimmy's Chalkboard technique card.

Stamps: DRS Designs- Silhouette Love Heart, Silhouette Live Flower, Silhouette Believe Butterfly, Happy Birthday Sentiment
Ink: Versa Color ink in White
Paper: Smooth black cardstock by The Paper Company, Colored Cardstock by American Crafts
Accessories: Pink Brads by Doodlebug Designs, Ribbon By Bobbie M. Designs
Finished Card Size: 4.25" x 7"

**Don't forget, you only have a few days left to enter DRS Designs latest Blog Candy offer to win a free roll of 2-sided adhesive. Click over to this post and leave a comment telling us what your favorite DRS Designs image is. You can read more about this adhesive on that post as well. You have until this Sunday evening, Feb 8th to be entered into the drawing!

Hope you all have a Great Weekend! Thanks for visiting today!

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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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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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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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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No Fear, Santa's Here!

Yesterday's Fun Filled Friday Challenge was all about Santa! Sorry for the delay in getting him posted--Good things come to those who wait, right?

I love the way this cutey-pie Santa turned out!

I colored him with Prismacolor pencils and blended the colors with Gamsol. Then, I added Diamond Glaze to his beard, moustache, eyebrows and cotton parts of his hat & sprinkled it with white Fun Flock. This Santa is soft and fluffy! Next I added some Sparkle to the snow around the chimney to make it look like real snow and ice--I love all the texture in this image!

As you can see, my background uses the new snowflake Cuttlebug Embossing folder. DH bought it for me for Christmas, but he doesn't know it yet! (Wink!)

Stamps: Image by Penny Black, Sentiment by DRS Designs
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Lipstick Red
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by Bazzill
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Diamond Glaze, White Fun Flock, Stickles, Brads by Joann's Scrap Essentials, Nesties, Ribbon by Bobbie M. Designs, Heidi Swap Edge Distresser
Finished Card Size: 5.5" x 5.5"

Here's Kimmy's Santa Card!

Kimmy and I have been debating about whether or not to continue our Fun Filled Friday Challenges in the new year. Please help us decide! I've placed a poll on my blog for you to give us your feedback. Please vote and/or leave me a comment with your thought and opinions. This poll will run through New Year's Day when we'll decide to keep it or not.

(Fun Filled Friday is where Kimmy and I host card making challenges on our blogs every week. We call them Fun Filled Fridays (FFF). We take turns every other week giving a challenge. These challenges are announced every Sunday, and we display our finished cards for that challenge the following Friday. Kimmy and I keep the details to ourselves regarding these challenge cards, so until her challenge post Friday, I have no idea what she is planning on making until I see it, just like the rest of you, and vice versa. I think it is so much fun to see how different or similar our cards turn out.)

Thanks for vising my Santa today!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Late FFF, Turkey Dinner Recap, and DRS designs Update

Happy Friday!

Well, I'm still behind! (Yikes!) Tis the season I guess!

Sounds like we're all very busy this time of year!

My Fun Filled Friday Santa Challenge will be late this week! I'm so sorry to have to postpone it.

I hope to have it posted tomorrow.

Not sure what Fun Filled Fridays are? Well, Kimmy, one of my best friends, and I host card making challenges on our blogs every week called Fun Filled Fridays (FFF). We take turns every other week giving a challenge. These challenges are announced every Sunday, and we display our finished cards for that challenge the following Friday. Kimmy and I keep the details to ourselves regarding these challenge cards, so until her challenge post Friday, I have no idea what she is planning on making until I see it, just like the rest of you, and vice versa. I think it is so much fun to see how different or similar our cards turn out.

Kimmy and I have been debating about whether or not to continue our Fun Filled Friday Challenges in the new year. Please help us decide! I've placed a poll on my blog for you to give us your feedback. Please vote and/or leave me a comment with your thought and opinions. This poll will run through New Years Day when we'll decide to keep it or not.

Remember the post from the other day about me telling you that I was making my first Turkey dinner. Well, it was a hit! My sister joined my DH and I for dinner & they both ranted and raved about how moist and flavorful my turkey was! DH even mentioned that most often he needs gravy to eat turkey, but didn't need it for this one! I have 'his approval' to make turkey again soon!

I bought a 10 pound turkey and used this brine recipe to soak it in the day before I made it, and then baked it in one of those Reynolds Oven bags following the directions on the box. I also made this Sweet Potato Casserole. I didn't make the topping as it says in the recipe, I just sprinkled it with cinnamon and after it was done baking, I put mini marsh mellows on top and then put it back in the oven for 10 minutes to brown them. This was also very, very good, but almost a touch too sweet. Next time I make them I'm going to try 3/4 cup of white sugar instead.

On another note, I received an email from Samantha from DRS Designs saying that she'll be updating the DT card galleries on the DRS Designs website very soon. You can see all summary of all my cards by clicking here. Enjoy!

I promise next week will be filled with new projects!

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Until tomorrow...

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Fun Filled Friday House Mouse Holiday!

This week I challenged Kimmy to create a card using a House Mouse image, since it's been a long time since we've played with them! You can see my Fun Filled Friday Announcement post here.

I colored with image with pencils and blended the colors with Gamsol. I matted the image with red, craft, and green cardstock as shown. I mounted the Holly pattern paper with green cardstock and added 1 large green brad and 2 small red brads to the upper center as shown. Next I adhered this layer to my red cardstock base, and mounted the matted image to it with foam tape for added dimension.

Stamps: House Mouse by Stampabilities
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan
Paper: Smooth white cardstock by Office Depot, Colored Cardstock by The Paper Company, pattern paper by DCWV
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Brads by Recollections and Joann's Scrap Essentials, 3D-Dots, SU! Notched Corner punch, Red Satin Ribbon by Offray
Finished Card Size: 6.25" x 5.5"



Did you see Kimmy's Warm and Cozy House Mouse card?

So, how many of you braved the crowds and went shopping today? I stayed home, slept in, and enjoyed my morning. Did you get any really, really good deals? Leave me a comment & let me know what I missed out on. I'd love to hear from you!

Hope you all had a Wonderful Thanksgiving!


Smiles,
Jennifer

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Thanksgiving Blessings!

For our Fun Filled Friday challenge this week, Kimmy challenged us to make Thanksgiving cards. Can you believe Thanksgiving is next week already? WOW! Where has the year gone?

Just in time for this challenge, Nancy from the Stamp Shack sent me this Blessings image by Outlines. I thought it would make a great Thanksgiving Card!

I used quite a few mediums to color this image--markers & chalk, as well as pencils and Gamsol. I love how the red jacket on the scarecrow stands out like a sore thumb!

Make sure to run over to Kimmy's blog and check out her Thanksgiving Challenge card. I wonder if she's going to use her new Thanksgiving Turkey Riley stamp???????

Stamps: Image by Outlines, sentiment by Hero Arts
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan
Paper: Pattern Paper by Heidi Grace, Colored Cardstock byNature Preserve and Bazzill
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Bic Markers, Chalk by Inkadinkado, Ribbon by Pebbles Inc.
Finished Card Size: 6.25" x 5"

Today is also my day to post on the DRS Designs Blog. Click on the link and head over there so you don't miss my post on a Cozy Christmas card I made recently. Two posts in one day is so rare for me! :-)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Smiles,
Jennifer

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Thanksgiving Challenge!

Hello Everyone!

Did you miss me? LOL!

Sorry for the delay in posting over the weekend.

I work in a hospital, normally on afternoons-from 2pm-10pm, but on my working weekends I work day shift and it just really kicks my butt! It's such a shock to my system when I have to get up at 4:15am! After work today I took a 3 hour nap to try to make up for my lack of sleep, but I think I'll find myself in bed early tonight as well. But enough of that...on to this week's Fun Filled Friday Announcement!

Kimmy gave this week's challenge theme to create something Thanksgiving related. This is perfect timing for this challenge, because just over the weekend I received some new Thanksgiving images by Outlines, from my Friend Nancy at the Stamp Shack. (Thanks Nancy!) I'm definitely going to color them up & use them for this challenge. Make sure to check back on Friday to see my Thanksgiving Challenge card. Kimmy, will be posting hers as well.

So, did you have a restful weekend? Just like the weather forecasters predicted, we did get some snow today here in Michigan & it is supposed to snow on & off for the rest of the week. Today's snow wasn't too bad though--maybe about a half inch, but the flakes that came down were the big fat ones! It was pretty to watch!

Stay tuned for some new cards this week. I'm off to my craft room right now to create some cards with the images I colored up all last week.

Smiles,
Jennifer

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