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Saturday, August 30, 2008

Another day, another project!

Here it is almost noon time and I still have barely got out of my own way. Hubby spoils me. On the weekends he cooks breakfast. Oh, he can cook a darn good breakfast. He leaves a giant mess ~ but the breakfast is SO worth it!

Then I thought, I'll just sit at the computer and take a look around blog land for a few minutes.... Well, that turned out to be a trip to Jacksonbell's and a few dollars later (she's having a Labor Day sale!!) I'm still sitting here.....

So I figure I might as well be productive and show you what I did yesterday.

These cards need a little something else... But the idea was to show the actual birthday. I've got a little something else cooking along the same lines as this though. Hopefully I'll get that done today and show you tomorrow!

I took the Calendar set from TAC (it's discontinued) and stamped the calendar, date and month out. Then layered that on a piece of TAC paper from the Brighten my Day collection. I then took the happy bday from the Changito set that Nic sent me and stamped that out. I used a little glitter here and there and I was done.

I am in need of making some items for my stampers group. I've been busy making things for my family and the Peddler's Mall that I've "neglected" my other duties.

I always sent little things that I make along with my customer orders. I think that it is only right. Just because we are not sitting down to actual "parties" does not mean that they should not get something. Just my way of thinking....

So being stumped ~ I was off to look at my TAC catty. I think that it's kinda cool to have "recipes" for different projects right in the catty itself. And this is one of them.

It's called a treat holder. Now, I'm not sure what type of treat you can put in there because of the belly band, but I was thinking of using it as a coupon holder for my purse... And it was really super easy to make. The directions right there in the catty with the picture really helps!

I took a piece of Chocolate Chip cs for the base. You use a paper lunch sack to create the inside.

The belly band is made up with paper from TAC's Willoughby collection and a piece of Certainly Celery cs. I used my Mega and Giga scallop punches to adhere the image on to. The image is one of the previous stamps of the month from TAC. I added a loopy brad and some ribbon scraps ~ stamped the sentiment from Trendy Greetings and I was done! I am so using this as a coupon holder....

Well, enough of my babble ~ it's time to get going and try to make something out of this day.
I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday weekend.
Hugs,
Joani

***Edited 08/31/08
As some of you asked about the directions for this teat bag/coupon holder you can go HERE
and it gives directions for this project***

Friday, August 29, 2008

Happy Happy Long weekend Friday!

Woo Hoo!! It's Friday, and a holiday weekend at that. Just last night I was telling hubby that I missed going camping this year. I guess with the Labor day holiday upon us I'm thinking that it is the end of summer. Well, it kinda is. Only a few more months and it will be Christmas. Where has this year gone?? Of course, I'm not getting any older ~ just my daughter is :)

Yesterday I got to sit down and create a couple of things. I wanted to stop and show them to you before the weekend. I'm not really sure what we may be doing this weekend so I want to post them now for you.

This week's tutorial on SCS was for this pop up card. For some reason I've always been intimidated by this card. But yesterday was one of those "stay in your jammies all day, I don't give a care, not brush your hair, cookie eating" kind of day. So I thought what the heck!

It was actually very, very easy to do.
The base of the card was made with paper from Creative Imaginations. For some reason I thought that the paper reminded me of a table cover for a picnic. My brain sometimes..... The images are from Rubbernecker. I thought that this guy was kinda funny with the saying. Oh yeah, baby!

I stamped the images and colored them with my pencils and gamsol ~ layered them on to a piece of Brilliant Blue and Real Red and I was done.



I have to admit this card was "stolen" from my dear friend Keersten. She made this a month or so ago for a SU! party that we had. I've kept it on my desk that long just looking at it, wanting to create it. So I did.

This card is basically a tri fold card. The base is Chocolate Chip layered with Pretty in Pink, Creamy Caramel and Certainly Celery. I stamped each layer with stamps from the TAC Simply Devine collection. The chick and sentiments are from the TAC set Hey Chick! I stamped the "hey chick" on white and punched it out with my word window punch. I then matted that on to a piece of Chocolate Chip paper. I stamped the "you sweet little thing" in Chocolate Chip directly on the inside cs. I made the belly band with Chocolate Chip paper and stamped the chick with Creamy Caramel and colored it with my pencils also. I then punched it out with my 1 3/8" circle punch and layered that on to a piece of Chocolate Chip paper that I punched out with my Scallop Circle punch.

I hope that you enjoyed these cards. And I hope that you all have a safe and happy holiday weekend. Be safe.

Hugs,
Joani

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Some more of my can.....

Ok, I meant some more of my paint can's.....

Yesterday was a gloomy day and I really did not feel like crafting anything. But of course the true crafter in me just had to, so I did.
My SIL wanted a paint can made so she can fill it with cookies for the guy who came and fixed her A/C unit. Poor thing without air, in the humid state of Kentucky is no fun. On hot days I don't even come out of my shell!!! It can get so nasty hot here. Take your breath away hot. Growing up in California having 100+ degree temps is nothing to the 80 degree temps with humidity here. Just plain nasty I say.
Anyway, I made her a paint can.

This is the front view of the paint can. I used the SU! set Born to Ride for the images.

The paper is from EK Success. I took the vellum piece and layered it over a piece of Pumpkin Pie cs. The images were colored with my watercolor crayons, then I distressed the edges with my edge distresser tool. I took my black ink pad to it to give it a little rougher look.









I added some black grosgrain ribbon around the top and bottom of the can and some Pumpkin Pie ribbon around the center. It helps to keep the edges nicer looking :)

The stickers are actually stickers that I purchased long ago and they are from Jolee's. I randomly added them around the can.










For the top of the can I used my coluzzle and cut the different size circles from scrap paper left over from covering the can.
The emblem is another find from Jolee's.
I added an orange circle clip and the ribbon loopy brads to add some ribbon to the images to dress it up a bit.

All in all I think that it is still "manly" looking. The only reason why I added a couple of primas to the bottom of the can was to cover a ribbon seam. I like to keep all the seams covered up when I do a can or bottle. I think it looks a little nicer that way.


Remember the other day when I was working with the set "Feathered Hope"? Well, I found this card on my desk that I never finished. My desk was a total disaster area after making all that I made Saturday!
I had stamped this image from the Feathered Hope collection. I colored it with my watercolor crayons and layered it on to a piece of Not Quite Navy cs. I took a piece of beige paper (that who knows where it came from!) and took my Not Quite Navy pad and tapped it on to the beige, then layered the image on it. The DP is from TAC and it is from the Amberly Grace collection. I added a couple of eyelets to it and a couple pieces of scrap ribbon and I was done.

This card I made for my SIL. When we had a fun day over here last week she brought over Chinese food for us. It was so yummy. Kathy had got a good fortune and she thought that it was a bad one at first. Well, she wanted to save it. Of course the idea hit home with me the minute she opened the cookie.
The images used on this card are from the SU! set Asian Art. I stamped the Chinese writing in gold on to black paper. I stamped it again with black on to the red paper.
I stamped the geisha's in black and colored just parts of the image with my watercolor crayons. I swiped the Real Red pad around the edges of that panel before I added it to the card. I then stamped the cookie in Creamy Caramel and colored it in with my prisma pencil. I made a slit in the cookie so it looked like the fortune was coming out of the cookie. I'm sure she will like it.
Well that's all I have for today. I hope you all have a wonderful day! I'm staying in where it's cool :)
Hugs,
Joani

Sunday, August 24, 2008

I've been busy, can you tell?

Yesterday was a busy busy day for me. I had to finish up some post it note holders that a lady wanted for the people she works with. I also wanted to make a paint can for my hubby's niece. Her sister is going to be here and I thought that I'd make it and send it back with her so I did not have to ship it. She wanted one to keep candy in on the counter at work. So that one I made with cute candy paper. Of course I was a little nervous because it was my first gallon size one and I only had 1 piece of the candy paper. It came out fine. And of course she does not like pink too much, but I did make it mostly brown.... I so hope that she likes it.


What do you think? Not too girly you think?













Then she wanted a can for her pens and such for her desk. She wanted purple and turquoise. Well, I did not have any turquoise paper so I had to improvise and use sky blue. So I made these items for her. The can say's "Tonya" and I used my cricut machine to make the letters for both the cans, the Base Camp cartridge.
The letter's on this can look like they are buckling up but they are not. It's the ribbon on the center of the can that makes it look that way. I used mod podge on the cans to help seal them. The letter's are not going anyplace.

On the back of the post it note holder is dark purple paper. I took some rub on letter's and spelled her name out then mod podged it to protect the letters. Everything matches too, of course!


Do you remember the other day when I said that I received a call from a lady who buy's from me at the Peddler's Mall? Well, she had a friend who wanted 11 of these post it note holders for Tuesday. She wanted them to say "Thank you" instead of "notes". So I finished those up and packaged them so they are ready to go.



She wanted 11 of them ~ 9 for females and 2 for males. The one on the end was the "guy" one. There is no flowers on it :)

Then I wanted to make a little gift for her to thank her for getting the post it note holders, so I made this.

I took one of the cases that the Angel Company stamps come in and used rub on's to decorate it a little. I took a note pad and "covered" it with paper and decorated it a little with some primas and a sentiment that I punched out with my word window punch.

I added a length of ribbon on the side to "attach" a beaded pen. I also altered a black clip and I was done.

I really got a lot done yesterday. I was pretty proud of myself. I stopped once to take my DD and her BFF to the Humane Society. Well, no not take THEM, but take them to go volunteer. Silly...... And I stopped once and ate. But I was pretty much sitting in the craft room all day. I guess it shows, huh?

I do have to apologize for not listing any of the papers that I've used. To be honest, I don't think I could tell you anyway. I have lots and lots of drawers packed with paper. I do have 2 drawers listed with TAC and SU paper. But most of them are just papers that I've picked up from here and there. I can tell you that the plain card stock is from SU! They are the only ones that I buy cs from.

Well ~ today I am off to visit with family. We are going to my sister in law's to visit my hubby's niece and her little baby. Ricky's great niece. Boy, I bet he never thought he'd have one of those. Time goes by so fast!! I can't believe that my daughter is already a junior in high school.

So I'm off ~ and take the time today to call or visit the ones who are close to your heart!
Hugs,
Joani

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Happy Saturday everyone.

I wanted to stop in and let you all know that I have quite a few things to show you tomorrow! I've been very,very busy today. So make sure to stop back by tomorrow to sneak a peek!
It got too dark for me to take all the pic's but I'll finish the rest in the morning and post.

Have a great evening.

Hugs,
Joani

Friday, August 22, 2008

Howdy, Ho there Neighbor!

he he he.... That so reminds me of Mister Roger's neighborhood. Ahhhh, a memory from the past.....

Well today is Friday, and another week is gone by. Yesterday my dear friend Betty stopped by and we played... She's so bad about surprises and I told her that I had one for her. Well, that's all it took to get her over here.

A while back Betty had shown me a little book that she had got thru SU! that she said was discontinued. Well, I thought that it was the Bitty Book and for the life of me I can not tell you where I just purchased them. There was a lady who's blog I stopped by and she was selling her SU! inventory. She had 4 of them for sale and I bought them all. Well, it was not the same book that Betty had, but she liked it anyway. At first I thought that I would put my ATC's in them ~ but they are 1/4" too small for that. Well, anyway we decorated them yesterday. Betty did 2, one for each of her grandchildren. She is going to put school pictures in them. Me, I don't know what I'm going to do with them ~ but I'm sure I'll find something :) And of course I did not take pictures... But I will.

My SIL also stopped by yesterday. She took my Mom on some errands then brought back Chinese food for us, yuuuuummmm! Then the rest of the afternoon we all sat at the table and crafted. I think after 3 years I've finally given the bug to my SIL. Kathy sat there making some Christmas cards and she was so cute. I love it when I "infect" people with the stamping bug ;-)

Then last night at dinner I receive a call from a lady that buys my items at the Peddler's Mall. She said that she had a friend that wanted 11 post it note holders for Tuesday! She asked me if I could do it and I said of course. So I started on those last night and did as much as I could. I need to go get some more post it notes. So I know what I'll be doing this weekend.

Well, the other day I was talking about dusting off some old sets.... Here's one from the past. It is Feathered Hope. I don't think that I've used that one in a while, so here goes.....


All of these cards are watercolored with my watercolor crayons and my aqua painter.

The base of this card is Rose Red. I layered it with some DP from my TAC collection, Angelee and Kamalaht. When I layered the pieces I added some "bling" with the crystal brads before laying those pieces down. I don't care for the brad "legs" to stick thru to the card so I add them before I place the top layers down. I added the image panel to a piece of Elegant Eggplant and adhered that to the card with pop dots and some stickles to the flowers and I was complete!








Another image from the Feathered Hope set was this one that says "to someone special". I guess I'm into birds right now with my bird feeder and bird bath right outside my craft room window. I could sit and watch them all day ~ they are so cute splashing around in the bird bath.

This card was even easier than the first. The base card is Chocolate Chip. I layered a piece of DP from Provo Craft and wiped my Baroque Burgundy ink pad on it. I then took the image panel and layered it on to a piece of Baroque Burgundy and Chocolate Chip paper. I took my word window punch and punched 2 pieces out of Chocolate Chip paper. One I added 3 eyelets to and stuck in the bottom right corner. The other I folded in 1/2, added and eyelet and piece of ribbon and stuck it to the upper left of the image panel. Another quick and easy card.


Speaking of quick and easy.... The last card that I made was this one. The image from the Feathered Hope set.

The base card is Handsome Hunter. I layered a piece of DP from the Kamalaht collection on the paper. The image was layered on to a piece of Garden Green then a piece of DP from the Lilly Anna collection. I added 4 green eyelets to the left side of the image panel and tied a piece of ribbon thru the 2 middle eyelets and that's it!

I still have a couple more images from this set to make into cards ~ but I might not get back here for a couple days. I've got some post it note holders to make.

Thanks for stopping by, and if I don't make it back this weekend hope yours is a great one!
Hugs,
Joani

*** Edited.... I remember where I purchased the SU! Bitty Books. Go to Shelly's blog Stamp with Shelly and take a peek at all the SU! goodies that she has for sale! Oh, I wish I had another of those tax rebate checks :) ***

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

And some more "nice" things...

Good morning everyone! This post will be short and sweet. I'm on the run today.......

Remember when I told you I had pulled out an old set and dusted it off to use? Well, this is the same old set "And everything Nice" just with different images. I plan to use something else today.

This was a simple card. Not only do I like the effect of water coloring, but you can color images so fast with them.

I stamped the image and used my watercolor crayons to color her in. Before I mounted the image on to Handsome Hunter I just touched the brush to my green crayon and then touched the edges that I had torn around the paper. I then mounted that panel on to the card and took a scrap of Handsome Hunter and Garden Green that I added 2 brads to and then placed that below the image panel.

I stamped the flowers from the same image with some Creamy Caramel ink then stamped the sentiment in Handsome Hunter, layered that on to a piece of scrap and adhered that to the card.










This image was also from the same set, And Everything Nice. I stamped the girl and water colored the image. It took me a while to find my old raindrops stamp. It is old, it was one of the first stamps I had purchased from D.O.T.S. and I'm sure that some of you veteran stampers remember that they were Close to My Heart before they were Close to My Heart. That was a long time ago.....

I stamped the raindrops on the Pixie Pink base with Brilliant Blue ink. I then layered a piece of So Saffron to the card with a ribbon strip around that. I placed the image on a piece of Rose Red before applying it to the card with pop dots. I added some sparkle which is hard to see to the raindrops with my white gel pen and my sakura gel pen and I was done.

I hope you like what I did today. I'm now off to play with another "dusty" set.

Be back tomorrow!
Hugs,
Joani

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Happy Tuesday & a post...

Happy Tuesday everyone! I've been up early this morning and I've been busy!

Normally when hubby leaves for work I snooze a little longer til he calls at his morning break. That's kinda my cue to get going for the day. Well this morning he was off to work and I was getting some much needed computer time in. I really try not to be on the computer when everyone is home ~ I have all day to do what I want, and when everyone is home that's family time. So this morning instead of taking a snooze I was up surfing the net, checking out what everyone else is up to.

Now I've got to post my message for the day then get ready for my SIL to come over. We spoke last night and she said that she would like to come over today and make some cards! I was a little shocked. I've been here 3 years now and she has not shown any interest in it. She was here a couple of weeks ago while we were making some cards and we had an empty spot and she dabbled a bit. She actually made 6 cards for Christmas. It was kinda fun watching her. She's not the crafty type, but she caught on quick!! So I will pull out some stamps for her to play with today. I actually want to get her her very own craft knife and scissors and such. I think that would tickle her... She always looks at all of our stuff, but to have your own is special...

Ok ~ enough of my babble. Oh wait! There's more.

My DD has a boyfriend. Well I've mentioned before that she's 16. How can that be? She just started Kindergarten the other day ~ or what seemed like the other day!! But her boyfriend we were told is 18. Then we just found out he had a birthday and turned 19. I'm not too sure how much I like that idea, but he is a nice boy. He's been here a few times to visit with us. As a matter of fact last weekend we had him over for dinner (on taco night. He's never had home made tacos! Yes, I asked him if he's been living in a cave!!) and we had an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.... Well, yes, I did make a card ~ I'm getting to that... but I wanted to show you a picture of him and my daughter. And yes, I made him wear the hat. It is now tradition (since the necklace I had disappeared) that who ever's day it is they have to wear the hat!

This is my little girl. Where did the time go?? Yes, I'm feeling old... very,very old.
And yes, I have the grey hair to go with it!

So now on to the card that I made him.












There is an old set that I had purchased a while back from someone on EBay. I was sent the set and it did not have the indexing stamp or the name of the set so I had to look for it. Thank goodness I keep all my old catty's! It is called Times and Seasons. Well, being a Kentucky guy he's into tractors ~ so I thought this would be perfect!
I stamped the image and colored it in with my watercolor crayons. The base card is Handsome Hunter and I layered it with Basic Black and a piece of DP that I had in the drawer. I added some jumbo eyelets and the sentiment on the bottom, from Hero Arts, and I was done. Danielle was pretty happy with it so I was sure he would be too.


Remember the other day when I said I am trying to use the stamps that I have? Well, this is another set I pulled out and dusted off. It's called And Everything Nice. Cute set, actually it's Mom's. She always buys things that I call complicated. She's a big color-er!! (Is that even a word? But you knew what I was talking about though, didn't you??)
The base card is Kraft. I layered a piece of Ruby Red on it that I stamped the flower from Time Well Spent on with Versamark. I then used my watercolor crayons to color the image, then adhered that to a piece of Garden Green. I stamped the sentiment in the lower right corner in Ruby Red ink and I was done.
Well, that's all I'm showing you for today. Stay tuned tomorrow for more :)
Hugs,
Joani

Monday, August 18, 2008

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday everyone!! I hope that your weekend was a fantastic as mine was.

We took our dog to the Kentucky Horse Park for some exercise. Now, for those of you who know me ~ my dog does not exercise. She basically sleeps and eats. Sometimes more eats than sleeps. But it was such a beautiful weekend that we thought we would take her for a ride. She loves to go for rides. As a matter of fact she is the reason why I drove out here from California instead of fly. And 2500 miles under her and she still loves to ride.

Well ~ it was not the best thing for her. Really, she only walked about 500 feet and she was done for. That night she pretty much laid down and did not get up. I was really worried about her. Finally after laying next to her til 3:00 in the morning I got her to get up and go to bed. Sunday you could see she was a little sore, but she was getting around better. And as I sit here and type she just climbed the stairs to be with me. It's a killer moving muscles you have not used in a while. I know ;)

Yesterday I did sit down and create a few things. You probably want to look at those and not my mumbo jumbo talking ~ so here they are.....

I am in a little rut right now with stamps. Every time I look at what I am bored. Now, I have plenty of stamps ~ even plenty that have not even seen an ink pad ~ but I'm just bored with everything. I am trying to go thru and use what I have so I won't buy right now. I made a promise to myself that I will go thru all my stamp sets and make a card with them before I buy something else. Trust me, it's so hard.....

But that brings me to this card.

I don't think I ever remember using this set. I'm sure that I have but it must of been a while ago, a long while ago.... Remember it? It's called Farm Fresh.

I wanted to make some quick cards for the Peddler's Mall and this is one of them. And this is what I did.

The base card is Bordering Blue. I stamped the flowers with Versamark from my Victorian Frame set. I layered a piece of Garden Green cs that I tied a piece of string to then the image on top. I stamped the image with Bordering Blue ink and colored it in with my pencils and gamsol and layered it on to a piece of Ruby Red cs. Quick like I said.



Now this card I made with the same set, Farm Fresh but for the background images I used my Fresh Fillers set.

I stamped the Fresh Fillers set on to the card base Certainly Celery, then on to the piece of Not Quite Navy. I stamped the images from Farm Fresh with Mellow Moss ink and then Ruby Red ink. I cut out part of the image in Ruby Red and layered that over the Mellow Moss image. I added a couple eyelets and layered the image onto a piece of Ruby Red cs that I made a tag out of. I added a piece of ribbon and I was done.

I hope to get some more cards made today and I'll be back tomorrow to show you! Have a wonderful Monday!
Hugs,
Joani

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Help make TAC #1 and there's something in it for you too.....

Creating KeepsakesReaders' Choice 2009
It's time for Creating Keepsakes' 10th annual 2009 Readers' Choice Awards! We hope that you will support The Angel Company™ and vote for us!
It's time for Creating Keepsakes' 10th annual 2009 Readers' Choice Awards! Cast your vote for your favorite scrapbooking products (The Angel Company) on the market to determine which scrapbooking products will earn this prestigious award. Plus just for voting, you'll be entered to win one of 10 copies of 101 Expert Solutions for Scrapbooking.
So if you will click HERE to take you to the survey!!

Friday, August 15, 2008

And we have a winner.....

I just added the names of the people who entered my blog candy to Random.org and the winner is.....

Gina

Gina said...
Hi there! I subscribed to your blog but it doesn't update everyday you know? ANYWAY LOVE THIS LITTLE BOOK,TKS....gina


Gina ~ please e-mail me your snail mail addy and I will get that sent to you!

Thank you all for playing! And stay tuned.... I will be posting for another blog candy giveaway real soon.
Hugs,
Joani

Under the weather

No, not me silly! The stamp set. Yesterday I started to make some more cards to stock at the Peddler's Mall and that's the stamp set that I used.

As I sat there looking at my stamp sets and old catty's I came to the conclusion that I am bored with what I have. Isn't that awful? Has that happened to you? I have a mass amount of stamps, some I can honestly say that have never touched ink ~ and I am bored with them. And then I thought that I might need to go shopping for some new stamps. No, no. I need to look thru what I have and make them useful. I will first do that before I pull out the wallet. But I do know that I "need" some new fall stamps! That's a a must!! And with my birthday coming up....

Enough of that! On to the card...


Like I said, I used SU! Under the weather set. This card is so basic that I really don't have to tell you what I did to it.

Just stamped the images, layered them on to Basic Black then on to the card front that was Basic Black and a piece of DP from the Summer Picnic collection and I was done.

I did color the images with my watercolor crayons, and there is some stickles in the soup. Hey, maybe that's what made them under the weather? he he he.....






My second card is a little more of the same I guess. I stamped the images, colored them with my watercolor crayons, matted them and adhered them to the card. Oh, I also stamped the "chicken feet" from Best of Cluck on this card.

Maybe I was not too creative yesterday. I was thinking of buying more stamps....... Even though the mail man (or who I like to call the grim reaper sometimes) brought me some not too nice mail.

Today I will try harder, promise.

And it's Friday, Taco Friday - so what could be better??

I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend. I'm not too sure about being back tomorrow ~ my DD has an appointment with the Dr. to have some follow up lab work done. But I will try.

Hugs ~ Joani

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Here's something funky for ya....

Among my list of things to do is a card for a circles & scallops swap. I knew for sure that I wanted to use my scallop punch but until I looked in my stash of paper and found this I was not sure what to do.

I found some old SU! paper, Au Chocolat that I thought I'd use. Well 1/2 way thru the card I changed gears and this is what I came up with.

I used my boho backgrounds stamp set and this is what I ended with. I stamped the center image on kraft paper and then again on Creamy Caramel. I then embossed it with Judikins Chablis embossing powder and I liked the look. I then sponged some Close to Cocoa ink over it and this is what I got.

I made a few other things, but nothing that I can show you right now. It's for my Paper Wings Challenge. You might want to stop over at the gallery on Paper Wings and see all the fabby things that they all come up with! There is truly a lot of inspiration there.

Enough for now ~ I'm off to blog land to see what's up!

Hugs,
Joani

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Here's a few cards....

Good morning everyone ~ I want to post a few cards for you. Yesterday I was pretty good and sat in my craft room for most of the day. I only had 2 loads of laundry to do, but of course when I got up to check the washer & dryer I had to run upstairs to check this or that out on the computer. If I did not spend so much time on the computer I'm sure I'd get something done....

So here's a peek at what I did accomplish yesterday.


I am in need of a few thank you cards, so that's what I worked on first yesterday. It's better to be a little late with a thank you card than not make one at all.

This first card I made using my theangelcompany™ set called Butterbees & More. I love this set, but when I use it I feel like I cant do it justice. I feel like I am not shading or coloring it right. I do feel that this turned out ok though.

The main card is Kraft paper that I layered with a piece of Chocolate Chip and some DP from my TAC™ Amberly Grace collection. I also used a length of ribbon before I laid down the main image panel. I colored the bird with my watercolor crayons and sponged Close to Cocoa ink around that panel and layered it with a piece of Chocolate Chip paper and a piece of DP from the Hemmingway collection. I also used my TAC™ set called Trendy Greetings for the sentiment panel. When I was done putting the card together I noticed it needed a little something ~ so I added a few prima flowers and I was done.


It is hard to see in the first picture, but here is a close up view of the bird. I used my sakura gel pen on it and it gave the bird a little sparkle.










Here is another card that I made to send as a thank you. I'm not sure that the little angel is right for a thank you card, but it's my new set and the rubber needed to see some ink!


This set is on special now for just a few more days. With a $30.00 purchase you can get this set for only $7.95. It is a mini version of the set that is in the catty.

Anyway, I had to ink it up. And of course with my watercolor crayons that were already out :)

The main card is Soft Sky. I layered that with a piece of Chocolate Chip and a piece of paper that my dear friend Betty was kind enough to run thru her cuttlebug (I so have to get one of those!!). I then layered the middle panel with a piece of DP from theangelcompany™ Rustic Chic collection, Chocolate Chip and some ribbon. The last piece of ribbon on that roll!!!


I colored the image, sponged the edges with Close to Cocoa ink and layered it on to a piece of Chocolate Chip paper then adhered it to the card with pop dots. I stamped the sentiment in Close to Cocoa & lightly sponged that panel, added Chocolate Chip to it and glued it down.


I also outlined the wings with my sakura gel pen. Here is a close up view of that so you can see.

















The last card that I am going to show you today is for a swap that I am in. The swap was for the colors pink and brown so I pulled out some of my favorite SU! paper, Berry Bliss. I am so glad that it is in the new catty!!

For some reason the Bronc Buster set came to mind. I don't know why Bronc Buster and pink and brown popped up to me ~ but it did so I went with it.

The main card is Chocolate Chip (see a pattern with that today?). I layered it with some Pretty in Pink paper and a piece of DP from the Berry Bliss collection that I sponged with Chocolate Chip ink. I stamped the image and colored parts in with my watercolor crayons. I layered it on to a piece of Creamy Caramel - to stick with the brown theme - and on to a piece of Pixie Pink that I stamped with my Boho Backgrounds stamp. I added the pink ribbon and a little pearl in the center of the star and I was complete.

I hope that you like my creations today. Now I must be off to create some more.

OH! And don't forget to scroll down a couple of days and leave me a comment to be entered for my blog candy. I'm giving away the little tag book that I made ~ and who knows what else might be in the box with it....

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

I'll be back.....

I just wanted to let you all know that I will be back tomorrow. I have lots of cards to make and I will be busy with that.

And if you have not yet, scroll down and leave me a post for my blog candy that I am giving away. I will be drawing for the tag book that I made.

AND just one more thing....
If you have not yet ~ sign up for the yummy contest that The Angel Company is having. You never know, you could be the winner. I will leave that post at the top of my blog until it's over.

Have a wonderful day!
Hugs ~ Joani

Monday, August 11, 2008

Happy RAK day to ME!

Hi everyone! I hope that your weekend went well ~ mine was fan-tab-ulous!!

At the start of the weekend I was super happy because I had received some great RAK's in the mail and I want to share them with you!!!

I first wanted to show you the great card that I received from Becca over at Amazing Paper Grace. Her cards are always so beautiful ~ and I've got one!!! Isn't it wonderful? See the box that it is sitting on? That's also from her.



She was so kind to send me this box of ribbon. It is so pretty ~ it's one of those things that you don't want to use because it is so nice. I think that is why I have so much 12 x 12 paper ~ I never want to cut into it.

But she was so kind in sending it ~ I wanted you all to see. And if you can take a minute and pop on over to her blog. It will blow your hair back! Her card is sitting on my desk for inspiration.






And yet another RAK in the mail! A while back I mentioned to you all that I was part of a small group, I think that there is only 8 of us??? but we send out RAK's to each other just because. Not to get recognition for doing it, just doing it because we want to. Well this is another card that I received from Mary. I just love it! It's in my favorite basket for sure!


And last but not least....
My dear friend Betty phoned yesterday and asked if I'd like to take a trip out to her house. Well Betty is ever so kind, and she is always coming to our house so I though "YES!!!".
It was the most beautiful day yesterday and we drove out to Betty's. They live in the country, really not too far from here. There property is so beautiful and her home - it's wonderful!!
We spent some time out there and Danielle got to ride their 4-wheeler ~ which she has not done since we moved from California (it made her day!) ~ and we had some sweet tea while sitting out back under this huge tree. It was a perfect day! I've not traveled much since we came here and it was so nice. Then we took the long way home and I got to see even more of the country side.
But anyway, Betty was part of a ribbon buy and she had this huge pile of ribbon. When she showed it to me I could not believe the amount of ribbon she had got. Then she said "and that's yours" as she pointed to the jar with all the ribbon in it! My goodness! I'm such a lucky girl!
Well ~ that was the extent of my weekend ~ WONDERFUL! Now today I've got to get to the post office and mail off 8 boxes of orders that came in the other day. I'm not sure that I will get any crafting done today, but lookout tomorrow! I'll be on fire :)
Have a wonderful Monday!
Hugs,
Joani

Friday, August 08, 2008

Happy Friday & some blog candy.....

Happy Friday everyone! This week's gone by super fast!! Today was my DD's first day back to school. I got a little weepy the other night. I can not believe that she is already a junior in high school. It seems like just yesterday this little girl with pigtail's was crying because she did not want to be left at Kindergarten. Now, she's almost thru with high school. Seriously, where does the time go? I've never really thought of myself as old until now.

Ok, enough of that. Let's get on with business shall we?

Here's another card for the collection of Halloween cards. There is a TAC set of stamps called Spooktacular that I just love!! This card was made using that set.

I stamped the image and colored it in with pencils. I layered it on to a piece of Basic Black and then layered that on to a piece of K&Company orange candy glitter paper. I stamped the sentiment on to Only Orange cs with black ink and then layered that on to a piece of Basic Black and I was done. Super fast & easy. Another thing I think I mentioned the other day, I am adding a piece of white cs inside my cards. Just something about it makes it look a little more finished.


This little project is something that I wanted to show you for a while but really couldn't. This is the first little project I made for my Monday challenge over at Paper Wings. It is a tag book.

The front and back are just coasters that I covered with some DP from TAC's Sands of Time collection. The flowers I stamped are TAC's Gerbena Daisy that I stamped twice and cut out to add to the front of the book.

I punched the holes in it, used eyelets and ribbon to secure it closed.






The way that I folded the paper inside left the openings staggered from top to side. Each "page" has an opening with a tag pull out in it. And each "page" is decorated either with an embellishment or a stamp.

This little book is a perfect way to use all those little tags that come with the paper sets. I never seem to use those up.

Now, if you are interested ~ leave me a comment on this post and I will pick a winner on Friday August 15th thru random number generator and I will send you this little book.

Well ~ I'm off or now to blog hop a bit. I'm waiting for my TAC shipment to come in. It's always fun to rummage thru the box of new goodies!!

Have a great day & weekend if I don't get back here!
And remember ~ time goes by fast.... Take time to tell your loved ones what they mean to you!
Hugs,
Joani

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Howdy everyone!

It's been a few days and I'm sorry! I've been busy at putting together my daughter & her friends brag books from their Florida trip. I made 2 brag books for them. I made the mistake of getting the 6 x 6 albums and not the 8 x 8. I find it harder to do the smaller albums. Each were 20 layouts long. Not too bad, but the pictures were 4 x 6 so I had some "creative" cropping to do.

If you scroll down to the bottom you can see it....

I wanted to first say that The Angel Company has another contest going on. This is a good one too! I will leave it at the top of my blog for you all to see and join in on. Nothing to buy, just enter the contest. Hey, you just might win!!

Here is a card that I made the other day. Like I said, I've been a little too busy to show you.



I am in a swap and the theme is multi stamps. You've got to use more than one stamp on a card. Well, this one I used 3. They are all from the same set from the Angel Company called "Pick of the Patch". I don't know about you, but with the kids going back to school it brings autumn memories. Well, at least I am wishing for autumn ~ I'm tired of the heat of summer!

Anyway, the card base is Close to Cocoa layered with Chocolate Chip and a creamy shimmer paper that I don't know where it came from!

I basically stamped all the images on white paper and colored them with my pencils and gamsol. I then layered the image panel on to the creamy shimmer paper and Chocolate Chip. I used my paper peircer around the shimmer panel, added a photo corner with some orange ribbon, added the arrow with the saying and that was it. Even with all the coloring it was a quick card.



And like I said before, ahhhh. Thoughts of autumn. It is my favorite holiday for sure! And halloween, I just love halloween! I love to make cards for it, I love to decorate for it.... Everything about it is just a fun holiday!! So here is the start of my halloween card collection this year.

I stamped the image from TAC's "spooktacular" set and colored it with pencils. It's kinda hard to tell in this picture. I cut around the image and placed it on to a peice of Basic Black that I punched out with my Mega Scallop circle punch. I layered that on to a piece of Punpkin Pie that was punched with my Giga Scallop circle punch and layered that on to a piece of orange cs that I sponged with black ink. All of that was layered on to a piece of Heidi Grace Jeepers Creepers dots paper. I love Heidi Grace!!

I added a photo corner with ribbon and the sentiment panel, added some dots with my gel pens and I was done. 2 down, lots more to go!!


I hope that you all have a wonderful day! I've got some more school shopping to do with a very picky 16 year old girl (who starts school this friday - woo hoo!!) so I might not be around for a couple of days!!

Have a good one!
Hugs ~ Joani

Monday, August 04, 2008

Believe.....

I thought that I would share with you a card that I made for a dear friend who's having a little trouble. I want her to know, or to believe that she is special no matter what.

Then this card came to mind. Just something simple and plain. I wanted the words to say how I felt, not the flash of the card.

The card itself is Basic Black layered with white and silver. I stamped the word image with a stamp from Archiver's that I purchased. The saying "your the best" is actually a free with purchase stamp from TAC. For the cuttlebug BG I rubbed a black crayon over it. I added a bow and I was finished.

Not too fancy or complicated ~ like I said I wanted to make a card where the words said it all. I hope that it brightens her day when she receives it!

Have a great Monday!
Hugs,
Joani