Janie's Blog

Holiday Stamp Camp Sneak Peak

2011-11-16T20:33:00.005-06:00

Update 12/8 - I've replaced the sneak peaks with the projects from the stamp camp last week. Enjoy!

I am so excited to be hosting a stamp camp in the next few weeks. With the little one nearly turning one year old, I haven't had much time to spend on my favorite paper crafts. However, I have committed to host a holiday stamp camp in early December. In fact, I have already created the projects for the camp....

Happy Birthday Sister

2011-07-23T22:17:00.002-05:00

A birthday card that I made for my sister's birthday this month. It's so fun and colorful.

AMuse Holiday Catalog 2011 is Here...

2011-07-23T21:51:00.002-05:00

If you are interested in receiving a PDF of the catalog, please send me an email at jcervera@sbcglobal.net and I'll be happy to email one to you... There are so many cute sets and accessories in this catalog.

Here comes A Muse!!

2011-03-25T17:07:00.008-05:00

Hello all..

I'm taking a break from preparing taxes and my full time job. Today was a vacation day, and boy am I enjoying the time off! I finally got a chance to do all those things that I should do over the weekend, but can't because I'm in the stretch of tax season.

So anyway....

I took the plunge and have signed up to be an A Muse Studio Consultant a few weeks ago. I love their line of stamps and inks and am looking forward to sharing some of my creations and other interesting tidbits here on my blog. I received my starter kit a couple of weeks ago, so I'm posting some of the first projects I've made with their products. My consultant website will go live on April 1st, in which you will be able to order from directly. Here is the link, although it won't be live until 4/1.

Janie's A Muse web page

All items above are made with A Muse Studio products from my starter kit.

Adios,

Janie

My Favorite 2010 PTI Stamp Set is...

2011-02-05T10:03:00.003-06:00

My very favorite 2010 Papertrey Ink Stamp Set is Baby Button Bits. This set is so very cute and I was able to make adorable cards for my friends and co-workers. Anytime anyone has a need for a baby card, I am to go-to-gal because they know I have this adorable stamp set.

Have a great day!

Using my old and new crafting supplies...

2011-01-07T07:00:00.000-06:00

Today I wanted to share a project I made with some old and new items. The old item I used was the Jolee's stickers that I've had for at least 2 years. I love these simple flower vase stickers and stocked up on them when they were on sale for 40% off. The card set that I made is perfect to give to someone as a quick and inexpensive gift. The new item I used was the twine.. I added the twine to add some interest and dimension.

I love how this set came out - so elegant and yet trendy. I think I'll package and give to a friend as a special thank you.

Enjoy your day!

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-05T19:26:00.005-06:00

Happy New Year y'all. I can't believe it's 2011 already. Today I wanted to share some money holders I've created. I just discovered the Twinery and it has inspired me to create projects incorporating twine. Although I haven't received my order yet, I did have some twine of my own that I wanted to use on these money holders.

Look out for other project incorporating this wonderful twine!

Holiday Card 2010

2010-12-23T12:00:00.000-06:00

This year I was only able to make a few Christmas cards to send to family and friends. I made one card from acetate and the cute penguin die-cut from Quickutz. It's a little difficult to photograph clear cards, but here it goes...

I used acrylic paint on the edges for this one card, but left it off for the ones that I sent out in the mail as I wasn't sure which I liked better.

Anyway, this holiday season is flying by very fast. However, I can't wait to start scrapbooking my new bundle of joy Christian Max, just as soon as I get some time to do so :-)

Happy Holidays!

Gift Card Holders

2010-12-21T19:30:00.002-06:00

Christmas Gift Cards..... that's all I had time to get for people this year as I was busy pushing a human baby out of my body...

I thought I would make these cute guys to house the gift cards that I will be giving away this year... Also gave some to my mother who requested a few for her gift cards.

I also was able to use some SEI holiday paper from last year that I love as well as some old Making Memories metal snowflakes... I love these and had a few left over from previous year projects.... what do you think?

PTI Blog Hop Post

2010-11-25T07:57:00.004-06:00

This is my second post today. I wanted to share one example of the holiday tags I am making for this season.

I've made enough to use on my gifts as well as to package and give away as small gifts to co-workers. I've created an assortment of holiday tags to give away to my co-workers over the past couple of years and they love them. They love them so much they hoard them and rarely use them on their gift packages. They tell me they use them as ornaments on their Christmas Trees or as decorations on their mantel.

Supplies:

Stamps: Fillable frames #8, PTI

Paper: Poppy cardstock, PTI & Rustic Snowflakes PP, PTI

Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black

Other: Nestabilities Pinking circles, Snowflake die-cut sizzix, Kaiser Rhinestones, Eyelets, and Tinsel

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-25T07:48:00.003-06:00

Hello everyone, I know it's been a long while since I've posted, but I'm back. I wanted to start of the day with a card that I made for a few friends to let them know I was thinking about them during this season of Thanksgiving.

Have a good Thanksgiving with your family and friends! Cherish every moment.

Monday Monday

2010-05-15T18:14:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday to Y'all....

May Cards....

2010-05-15T18:09:00.003-05:00

Here are some cards I made last weekend before getting food poisoning...

It lasted 3 days and was horrible... especially since it was over Mother's Day Weekend. However, feeling much better now so I wanted to share some of my creations...

Have a great weekend!

Babies & Weddings

2010-05-08T12:00:00.000-05:00

So far I have 3 weddings to go to this summer and 2 more of my friends are having babies. It's gonna be a busy summer...

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-07T20:17:00.003-05:00

Happy Mother's Day to you all!

I made these clear cards for my family members and friends. I love how they came out!

It's almost Friday...

2010-05-06T12:00:00.000-05:00

Not sure why, but have been into birds and funky looking flowers & trees lately :-)

Tuesday Post

2010-05-04T12:00:00.000-05:00

Now that tax season is over, I'm having a little more time to play with my supplies.....

It's May already!!!

2010-05-02T21:33:00.002-05:00

Summer is almost here... I can see signs of it everywhere, except the weather in Chicago :-(

Some recent projects that I haven't posted... enjoy

New Camera!!!!

2010-03-31T18:53:00.011-05:00

I finally broke down and purchased a new digital SLR. It's a Cannon T1i. It's a serious camera, so I'm gonna need to take some lessons to get the full potential of the camera. Anywhooooo, I took my camera to visit my brother, his new house, and baby this past weekend. I have to admit even with the automatic setting, this camera is pretty awesome!!

My Brother and Daughter........

My Brother and Niece.........

All three......

My Mom & Nephew

this is the good stuff in life!

Scrappin Days!

2010-03-21T10:30:00.004-05:00

Here are a few more pages I've made.....

I made the majority of this page at Marisa's house a few weeks ago, but when I came home I added the ghost images from my very favorite Stampin Up set "Haunts & Howls" {retired}.

This second layout is my family at Gracie and Gaby's quincenera in 2008. Unfortunately Santos was not in the picture because he had to work that weekend and didn't join us for the trip down to Poplar Grove.

I love scrapbooking. I also love re-living the memories as I put the pages together.

Just Some Scraps

2010-03-18T21:24:00.002-05:00

Today I had attempted to clean up my craft table a bit. However, when I saw all the scraps on my desk next to some quickutz dies, I felt the need to make some embellishments and then a couple of cards using my embellishments.

The cards came out very simple, but they were so quick to put together once the flower embellishments were put together. I love using my scraps because it makes me feel good to use up all those little pieces of paper joy!

I may have to make several more of these and give them away to my sister who doesn't have time to scrapbook (with 3 kids and a full-time job), but loves to be creative.

Enjoy and have a good nite...Janie

One Page Challenge

2010-03-07T18:36:00.003-06:00

Today I issued myself a challenge, I wanted to make 4 3x6 cards from one sheet of cardstock. These were so quick and simple, I may have to rinse and repeat!

I also gave myself brownie points for using some old Amy Butler 3-D purse stickers I had for about a year. Finally I stamped a couple of the backgrounds with PTI sets (Borders and Corners Dot Spots, and Mega Guide Lines).

Scrapalooza

2010-03-06T21:08:00.002-06:00

Last weekend I got together with the 'girls' , Tiffany and Marisa. We all spent the day scrapbooking which was a nice change from our normal routine of making cards. I was so proud of myself because I didn't take a ton of embellishments but rather focused on the pictures and enhanced the pages using patterned paper in many instances.

I did pick up a book on a trip to Archivers titled "Playing With Paper" which was a great inspiration. Here are a couple of pages from the day...

Where has the time gone....

2010-02-23T21:34:00.003-06:00

since I last scrapbooked??????

I haven't had much time to craft lately with the new job and tax season, but I did manage to sneak in a couple of pages over the last few days... Although I enjoy making cards, I do forget how fun it is to scrapbook with pictures. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Cousin!!

2010-02-04T12:00:00.000-06:00

Gloria, G-L-O-R-I-A, Gloria.....

This is a little birthday gift I gave to my cousin Gloria. It is just a few cards I made packaged in a cellophane bag with a PP topper and a very cool acetate tag on top. Quick, simple, and thoughtful - so proud of myself ! :-)

You & Me and Me & You...

2010-02-02T12:03:00.001-06:00

Back to scrapbooking... Here's a quick layout of me and Jess on New Year's Eve 2009. I decided not to over- think it and just go very playful.

My Little Entrepeneur

2010-02-01T12:00:00.000-06:00

did i spell that right? Anyway.... On Saturday Nicole and I were crafting after a long day of tax prep and she said to me " You know Mom, I want to make some bookmarks and sell them at school. We are having a book fair next week and the kids will need bookmarks for their new books." I thought this was a great idea, so she and I made some of these bookmarks for her to sell. The price, well a very reasonable $.50 each! Look out Donald, here comes the young money maker!!!

What I'm most proud of is the fact that she was creative and business minded with this idea. I know she will do well in life because she has a very keen sense about her - must have gotten from her mom :-)

You Make Me Smile

2010-01-29T14:20:00.000-06:00

Hello everyone, here is a card made with my new favorite stamp from Hero Arts... It is the cloud background stamp and it's pretty awesome! I highly suggest you go out and buy it :-)

The sentiment is from PTI, the felt flower is from Stampin Up. I hand sticked the stem using some green floss and cut leaves and grass from some of my paper scraps. What a great card for just about anything.

2010-01-27T14:15:00.000-06:00

I love this baby button set by PTI. Since I had this set out for a previous post, I thought I would make another couple of cards.

Here's a closer look..

All Materials except the white cardbase (Neenah) is from PTI....

Oh Baby....

2010-01-25T14:10:00.000-06:00

In addition to the album I made recently for my co-worker, I made a card that our entire group could sign, thus I made a 5.5 x 5.5 card. I thought I should also dress up the envelope- so here it is..

The elephant template was from Papertrey ink, along with the sentiment, and patterned paper... so cute!

Baby Album Part II

2010-01-23T12:00:00.000-06:00

These are the last 13 pages of the album.... She is a new scrapbooker, so I tried to make this as easy as possible for her to just drop in 4x6 pictures of the baby.

I love how quickly this came together after thinking about the layouts. I really repeated three of the layouts throughout the book - can you tell?

Baby Album Part I

2010-01-22T12:00:00.000-06:00

This is the first part of the baby album I created for a co-worker. She is having a boy, so the album is themed accordingly.

Creations from Girls Weekend Part II

2010-01-21T11:00:00.001-06:00

Part II of my weekend adventure with the girls.

I love this card. It's so simple with the white embossed background to "pop" the image in the circle. The stamp is from Hero Arts, another new stamp I purchased from their new catalog. The sentiment is from PTI's "Say It With Style" set. Finally the epoxy brad is from KI memories.

This card was an inspired by Tiffany's card (check it out here). Such a simple but striking card using colors and textures. The stamp set is from Stampin Up, I {heart} Harts. Of course I didn't have it, but after using it this weekend, I'll have to buy it.

My final card is another simple card that I absolutely love! The card's background it embossed with a Quickutz embossing folder for added texture. The focal image is a bird and leaf branch that was punched from the new Stampin Up punch. Finally, the sentiment is stamped from PTI's Signature Greetings.

Creations from Girls Weekend Part I

2010-01-19T14:00:00.000-06:00

I love hanging out with Tiffany and Marisa. They always get my creative juices flowing! This past weekend we got together at Tiff's house and my mission was to complete a baby album for a friend at work. Well, not only was I able to complete the album (future post), but I also created several cute cards. Here are a couple of them...

Supplies:

Cardstock & Paper: Neenah, Bazzill, A Muse, an Patterned Paper from Stampin Up

Stamps: Hero Arts & PTI

Other: Punches (Martha Stewart), Buttons (PTI), and Archivers bling

Happy Monday!

2010-01-18T12:44:00.003-06:00

This is a card I made with one of my my new Hero Arts cling stamps. I love this image and can see lots of different colored cards in the same style in my near future.

Supplies:

Stamps - Hero Arts Silhouette Flower

Cardstock - Stampin Up, Neenah

Ink - PTI Aqua Mist & Ripe Avocado

Other - Twine & Gemstones

Sunday Bloody Sunday!

2010-01-10T12:08:00.000-06:00

Don't you just love that song from U2? Anyway, happy Sunday to you. Here are a couple of cutsie cards I created with my never used SU stamp set Love You Much.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Neenah, Stampin UP, A Muse, My Mind's Eye

Stamp Set: Love You Much

Other, Copic Markers, SU Punch, Nestabillities

PTI Scrap-tastic Challenge

2010-01-08T12:08:00.004-06:00

Yes, this is my second post of the day... can you believe it!

I decided to play along with this challenge since I have so many scraps to choose from :-)

Over the holidays I created perpetual calendars for my family using patterned paper so I had a lot of scrap strips left over. I decided to use some of these scraps to create this cute card. I also used Dawn's latest stamp set "Say It With Sytle".

Supplies: Cardstock My Mind's Eye - various collections, Neenah White, SU Craft

Stamp Set: PTI Say It With Style & Background Basics - Retro

Other: Vivid Ink, Copic, Buttons, White Gel Pen

January Card Creations

2010-01-08T11:41:00.005-06:00

Happy Friday ! Today I'm posting a few cards that I made last weekend. I purchased a few new Hero Arts Stamps 2010 and I wanted to immediately play with them. I combined the HA stamps with an older sentiment from Stampin Up. I love this series of cards. They are so simple yet elegant which is really the style I prefer. What do you think?

Supplies

Stamps: Hero Arts; Silhouette grass & silhouette burst. Sentiment from SU Happy Harmony

Cardstock: PTI Moss, Raspberry, and Charcoal & Neenah white

Inks: Memory Direct Craft Ink Set

2010 Can you Believe it!!!

2010-01-03T16:31:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year to all. I know it's been a while since I've blogged, but December really flew by. However, I did want to show you all my belated Christmas gift.

Isn't it Awesome!!!! It's 24 inches of awesomeness to be exact. I was planning on getting the 27 inch monitor, but I'm glad I went with the 24 inch cause it is huge! I will be using this to post my future bloggings so look forward to many more in the near future.

Have a great week!

Day 8 - Christmas Card Parade

2009-12-04T12:06:00.000-06:00

Trees in a Snowstorm - that is what these cards remind me of....

Happy Friday!

Day 7 - Christmas Card Parade

2009-12-03T15:04:00.000-06:00

Another 3-D card. These cards are so simplet to make yet have a very impactful result. You should definitely try this at home :-)

See y'all tomorrow...

Day 6 - Christmas Card Parade

2009-12-02T14:00:00.000-06:00

Okay, this one is a little blurry, but you get the idea...

Tune in tomorrow for another holiday card

Day 5 - Christmas Card Parade

2009-12-01T10:40:00.001-06:00

Today I am posting a card that my baby made - Nicole is a really great crafter and she always inspires me. She wanted to use the same stamp I used to create a card all her own.

I think it turned out great - what do you think?
Look out for more posts from Nicole in the days to come...

Day 4 - Christmas Card Parade

2009-11-30T10:37:00.000-06:00

Back to the Basics with this guy, just paper, stamps and a couple of other embellishments (buttons & ribbon). I love how cute this little guy is, I just want to eat him up!

Have a great day - see you tomorrow!

Day 3 - Christmas Card Parade

2009-11-29T10:31:00.000-06:00

Here are some cute mitten cards I cased from my friend Tiffany. I used different patterned paper as well as colors. The great thing about these cards is that the mittens are made from an old die-cut that I forgot I had. When the girls came over last weekend, Marisa brought this die, and when they left I found I had the exact same die... It always feel great to use your old stuff.

So cute... makes me want to see snow outside :-)

Tune in tomorrow for another x-mas card post

Day 2 - Christmas Card Parade

2009-11-28T10:24:00.001-06:00

Here are a couple of cards I made with a free paperpack I received from Archivers.

The cardstock pack I received as a gift was 6x6 bazill cardstock, so I just folded it to make 3x6 cards. The stamps I used were PTIs Holiday Button Bits along with it's included sentiments. I added the buttons and some Patterned paper from PTI and here you go! Quick, simple, and oh so cute!

Here is a close up of one of the cards:

Enjoy, see you tomorrow!

Holiday STamp Camp II - Sneak Peak

2009-11-27T10:18:00.000-06:00

Here's a sneak peak of one of the project in next week's stamp camp:

I love this set by Stampin Up! It is so versatile and with the coordinating punch, it makes creating great cards quickly an easy thing! Check my blog daily as I will be posting each day until Christmas!

Have a great day.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2009-11-26T09:42:00.003-06:00

Gobble Gobble.

To all my dear friends and family - happy thanksgiving... Have a great day and remember all that you have to be thankful for in this life.

p.s. Don't each too much turkey otherwise you'll have to work out extra hard next week :-0

Many More Thanks!!!

2009-11-20T08:20:00.000-06:00

Here are some more Thank you cards that I made so I can have handy. I busted out an old pack of Stampin Up note cards that I had sitting around for a couple of years. Doesn't it make you feel good when you can use your old and new supplies together?

Flowers are from Martha Stewart collection - on sale last week at Michael's 30% off. I also stamped the background with PTI's Giga Guide Lines stamp set.

Have a great day!

You Rock

2009-11-17T20:12:00.000-06:00

This was a card I made for my daughter's friend. The girl turned 10, so too big for a cutsie card and I thought this would fit the bill.

The card is pink and purplish.. The stars were stamped with Versamark and then Pearl Ex was applied to give it that shimmery look. It's a little hard to tell in the pic, but it's very glam IRL.

Have a good week!

With Sympathy

2009-11-16T18:01:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately this week I had to make 2 sympathy cards as a couple of friends (unrelated) had their parents pass. Since I found about both pretty close together, I made both cards in the same pattern:

I only hope the words inside the cards can offer some support to my friends during this difficult time in their lives.

Hostess Gifts

2009-11-15T14:28:00.000-06:00

This year I seem to be a tag-making machine! Now that I'm done with Christmas tags, I focused my attention on fall, in particular fall holiday parties. I made these tags to use on the bottle of wine that you bring when you attend someone's house for a party or even for Thanksgiving.

If your friends don't drink wine, you can use sparkling juice, or even on a gift bag. The whole idea was just to liven up that customary gift for the hostess. Invite me to your next party and I'll bring the wine with one of these cute tags!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Neenah and SU!, PP

Ink: PTI, Dark Chocolate and Orange Zest

Stamps: PTI Mega Mixed Messages

Other: Sizzix Leaf die, buttons

A Simple Thank You...

2009-11-13T14:15:00.000-06:00

I find reminders everyday of how good of a life I have. Although I'm not rich or have everything that I want, I do have plenty of things that show I'm blessed and that I am thankful for. I have a happy and healthy family, good employment, and good friends. Thus, I've been taking time to thank those around me more often to show my appreciation for the things that really matter.

I've been creating 'thank you' cards recently and have decided to make the cards simple yet elegant so the focus is more on the words on the inside than the pretty show on the outside. I was able to whip up a batch of 12 of these in about 30 minutes.. pretty awesome - right!

Supplies:

Cardstock: PTI & Archivers

Stamps: Giga Guide Lines (PTI)

Embellies: Martha Stewart

Holiday Stamp Camp 2009 - Part I

2009-11-11T18:02:00.004-06:00

I'm hosting a stamp camp this weekend and this is a quick peek at a couple of the cards we will be making. It's been a while since I've held a stamp camp... Although it's a lot of preparation, it is a lot of fun watching all the ladies enjoy my creations (with a little inspiration from several other stampers!) :-) Enjoy.

Supplies:
Cardstock SU, Neenah, & PTI
Stamps: SU! Delightful Decorations, Snow Flurries, Small Script, and Dasher
Other: Ribbon, PP, Bling, Glitter and Quickutz Embossing Folders

O' Christmas Tree!!!

2009-10-31T12:01:00.000-05:00

Played a little today with this tree set from PTI. I made two versions of almost the same card using Chocolate, Aqua Mist, White and either Raspberry Fizz or Berry Sorbet. Which do you prefer?

With Raspberry Fizz:

With Berry Sorbet: I know it looks little like Melon Berry, but it's not, that's just the pic.

I have to start making my Christmas cards. This year I think I'm going to make 3 different cards - 3 sets of 20, since I have about 60 to make.

Have a great day!

Nicole Turns 10!

2009-10-29T07:00:00.000-05:00

I can't believe my baby will be 10 in a few weeks! She's really catching up to me fast :-)

This year she wanted to have a Bowling Party for her birthday. So of course I had to create some really cute invitations.. What do you think?

Supplies: Neenah Cardstock, SU Cardstock, Quickutz Gazebo Cookie Cutters

Recycle & Re-Use!

2009-10-27T17:00:00.000-05:00

Before:

As I was creating halloween treat bags for my daughter's class, I saw the opened packages of my new Hero Arts cling stamps lying on my craft table. I had wanted to reuse the packaging just as Jennifer McGuire did in one of her videos. Reusing the packaging made me feel good and it was simple and done in a snap! If I used all of my packaging for treats, I'd have a lot of freakin' treats :-)

After:

Holiday Tags 2009 - Part Deux

2009-10-25T12:24:00.001-05:00

Hi All, here is the final batch of my 2009 holiday tag collection. I was super excited about the designs of these tags. They really complete my entire set. If you haven't seen the first batch of holiday tags click here to view. There is only 9 weeks left to Christmas, can you believe it? For me that means only 4 more paydays!!!

The stamps I used were Hero Arts Tags, PTI Holiday Button Bit set, as well as the Stampin Up Delightful Decorations Stamp Set. Additionally I used PTI, Bazill, Basic Grey, Neenah, and Bo-Bunny cardstock and patterned paper. Yes, Bo-Bunny, I couldn't resist their tree PP "Tis the Season Deck the Halls". Finally, I used lots of buttons and ribbon! So fun and cute, wouldn't you like to receive a set of tags like this?

Have a great Sunday!

New PTI Goodies - October

2009-10-23T23:13:00.004-05:00

Yes, I'm adding more "stuff" to my collection and my overstuffed craft room.....................
It's that time of the month where I anxiously await my PTI new release order. This month I splurged a little more and got the following goodies:

So in honor of my new goodies, I made this holiday card using my new Giga Lines stamp set along with the new Rustic Snowflake paper. I also used a sentiment from the Holiday Button Bits set. These cards are pretty simple, yet elegant and a good candidate for my 2009 Xmas cards.

All the goodies in this month's order should keep me busy for a while, so look for more posts soon...

Never too Early!

2009-10-21T12:00:00.002-05:00

It's never to early to start on your Christmas cards... Especially if you don't know exactly what kind of card you want to send out.

Here are the first Christmas Card of the season. I've made plenty of tags, but these are the first two cards.

Card#1 was one from some old snowflake chipboard that I bought a few years ago.

Card #2 is a copy of a friend Marisa's card using Stampin Up supplies!

Boo to You!!

2009-10-19T18:45:00.004-05:00

Can you believe Halloween is less than 2 weeks away?

Here are some cards I made to send out to some of my nieces and nephews and small cousins:

For the first card, I found this wood ink stamp from Inkadinkado in the Michael's clearance bin - such a steal for only $3.50!

Old & New!!!

2009-10-12T18:57:00.005-05:00

Here's a super quick card I made for a male b-day... I had this stamp for about a year and finally decided it was time to ink it up! I also used my new (2 months) Quickutz embossing folder. The color of the card is Ocean Tides from PTI, but the lighting in my office wasn't great this evening...

Holiday Tags 2009

2009-10-11T22:22:00.003-05:00

I've been creating tags all week long to get a jump start on the handmade Christmas gifts. These are various tags that I will package in bundles of 12 in a clear box and give to friends and colleauges. It's a small but thoughtful gift that has been very popular in the past.

I have a few more designs I'll probably add, but this is the bulk of the 2009 tags. Whadda ya think?

World Card Making Day - India Inspired

2009-10-04T11:03:00.005-05:00

I am posting my entry to Nichole's World Card Making Day Challenge #3. This is my submission for India. It was very fun to make this card because I felt confident I knew a little bit of India colors and styles since I've had a team in India for the past 2 years. This card was inspired by a bracelet that my team sent me for my birthday in August.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Stampin Up

Misc: Ribbon, Bling, Embossing powder (clear and gold)

Stamps: PTI - Simply Stationary

Finally!!!

2009-09-30T23:11:00.003-05:00

A new post... Life has really kept me busy, especially with Nicole joining the basketball team... games and practices consume almost every weeknight.

Anyway, here are a couple of tags for xmas. I like to package them up (about 10-12) and give them to my co-workers and thoughtful but inexpensive gifts. They love them, and always want to keep them for themselves instead of giving away on gifts :-)

U2 Baby!

2009-09-14T20:10:00.005-05:00

This past Saturday I went to the U2 Concert at Soldier Field. Even though we had near nose-bleed seats, I had a really good time... the concert was really good (as expected with U2) and it brought me back to the day!! The only big bummer was the $45 parking fee - can you freakin believe that? How the heck can you charge that much for parking for these types of events and then say the city is in financial trouble and taxes have to remain at 10.25%!! but i digress...

Here is a clip from the concert and a couple of pics... I'm working on my U2 inspired card and scrapbook page.

Full of Birthdays

2009-09-10T19:16:00.003-05:00

September is a month filled with birthdays... Mostly friends, but also some family. Today I am posting a card that I will give to my friend Lettie for her birthday. Since she's a chef and likes martini's with her food, I thought this was very appropriate!

Happy Birthday Girlfriend!

Happy Monday!

2009-09-07T19:22:00.003-05:00

I wanted to share a couple of projects I've made this week ...

I made this card for a friend of mine who just purchased her first home. This is a big deal since the gal is 35! The house is big and beautiful, so I thought this card was perfect.

This card was made for my younger cousin Andy who just turned 16. I wanted the card to look urban and funky...

I hope you have a good week!

The End of Summer :-(

2009-09-07T19:11:00.003-05:00

It's official, the end of summer is here! Today is Labor Day and although I love a day off, I'm sad that summer once again went so fast!

Although I've been busy all weekend, I wanted to sneak in my entry for Dawn's color challenge #16:

This card came together pretty quick as I punched a heart from the Marigold color and backed it with an vanilla cardstock stamped in chocolate polka dots.

Stamps: PTI - Text Background and Polka Dots II

Punches and Cardstock : Stampin Up

Tell me what you think. Enjoy!

Yes, Two Posts in one Day...

2009-08-27T16:51:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it either, but I really wanted to participate in Dawn's color challenge #15:

Don't you just love that medallion stamp from Stampin Up!

The close up... love the embossing and ribbon bow!

Stamps: SU! & PTI

Cardstock: SU & PTI

Ink: Versamark, Cream (PTI) Pink (SU)

Ribbon: SU!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

2009-08-27T14:59:00.004-05:00

Today is my birthday. No big plans, just a low-key day spent with my family. Actually every birthday over 25 has really been low-key, cause why in the heck would I want to celebrate getting older? Anywhooooo.... I thought I would post some cards that I made last weekend at Marisa's house.

Love this alien stamp set by Stampin Up matched by the colors of PTI and MME PP.

I purchased the tree and bird stamp from the Scrapbook expo for $2, colored it with my copics and there it is - so cute!

I made this card with a lot of patterned paper from Basic Grey, some PTI buttons, one SU Scallop punch, and two little stamps. The sentiment is from PTI, but the cute owl is from a larger Unity Stamp set that I also got from the Scrapbook Expo. This set was cling-on red rubber with about 20 really cute images. Tiffany brought the set first and then I had to go back and get it because it was so cool.

Love this Hostess Stamp Set by SU!, the ribbon is also gorgeous, but retired :-)

Hope you enjoy - off to create my mother a birthday card as her birthday is on Saturday.

Enjoy!

Scrap Challenge Update

2009-08-19T22:18:00.004-05:00

Although I haven't posted any recent pages, I have been creating pages to go along with my weekly challenge. Here are a couple that I created a few weeks ago. I'm getting together with the girls again this weekend to attend the scrapbook expo and plan to do more scrapbooking so I should have plenty to share next week.

I absolutely love this pic, it was taken with a borrowed Cannon Digital SLR. A friend at work let me borrow her camera for a weekend to give it a test drive. Truth be told it was hard to give it back. I thought maybe I can put my little digital camera in her bag and she would never notice I switched them- but I didn't do it :-)

Although the lighting was not great as I took these pics, I love the collage of pics in this 2-page spread. The focus is on the pictures and every time I look at this page, I remember how fun the family reunion was that Saturday in July!

Additionally, here are some more cards using PTI's button stamps - they are so darn cute... and to think I wasn't even going to buy them.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

More from Girls Weekend

2009-08-13T17:13:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple of other cards I made this past weekend. The first is a kitchy kind of card. Not my ususal style, but it looks pretty good. The other is a birthday card for a co-worker so I kept it pretty simple. This week has been pretty good as I have been on vaca and just chillaxing at the pool, shopping, and enjoying the fam. Life is good.

Have a great rest of the day Thursday.

Loving this set!!!

2009-08-11T12:01:00.000-05:00

Buttondictive (adj) Bu-ton-dic-tive
A trait displayed by person that uses buttons on every project. Describing addiction to buttons.

Hello everyone, my name is Janie and I am buttondictive!

When PTI revealed this set I thought I wouldn't really use it much, but after all of the great samples I saw being posted, it became a have to have.... So I ordered it after my normal 15th of the month order. I love it and here are some cards I made with the set. I love how these are so cute and really take no effort at all!

I may have one or two more to display, so keep tuned. Do you have this set? Don't you just LOVE it! Tata for now.

Crafty Weekend

2009-08-09T18:42:00.004-05:00

Another crafting weekend with the girls. Here are some projects that I made, I was actually a card making factory this weekend as I cranked out 22 cards along with a couple of other projects. Here are a couple, tune back throughout the week for more of this weekend's creations...

For these cards, I used the "Ewe" from a stamp but handwrote the Hey and bubble image. I love how whimsical these cards looks. I just slightly changed them using different ribbon and backrounds.

This card was made using an old SU! stamp borrowed from Marisa. The vase and flower image is so cute I thought it only needed some lining around it along with some copic coloring to make it really pop. I think my copic coloring/shading looks good

It's Been A While....

2009-08-02T10:33:00.004-05:00

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks because I have been busy enjoying the summer with my family. We have had road trips, camping trips, shopping trips, etc and I've been neglecting the blog a bit - so I thought I'd start out the week with a Dawn McVey color challenge and some other cards I made from my new Mod Squad stamp set. The Melon in Dawn's circle below looks like Melon Berry, but per her instructions more of a Berry Sorbet should be used - which is what I did.

I also made a couple of other cards since I had the stamp set handy... The more I use this set the more I like it!

Supplies:

Stampin Up Cardstock, PTI Stamps and Ink, Buttons & Twine PTI, PP and some Cardstock PTI.

New PTI Goodies

2009-07-21T21:29:00.004-05:00

I received my July PTI order and immediately busted out the couch set. It is so cute and I think it can be used for many different occasions. I created this card for a friend of mine who is in the process of purchasing her first home. All images are from the couch set. The cardstock base was Stampin Up's new color Bermuda Bay. The pictures on the wall were colored using copic markers.

For this card I used the new pattern paper from PTI, Hero Arts heart butterfly, a sentiment from the couch stamp set along with a scrap of kiwi kiss cardstock and a soft suede card base.

Next, I'm going to bust open my ModSquad stamp set...

I {heart} American Crafts

2009-07-19T15:00:00.000-05:00

My friend Tiffany forced (wink, wink) me to try out for the American Crafts Design Team. I love their products and their style and decided to take the plunge. Since I already owned many of their products, I was able to get started right away. I made a few cards and scrapbook pages for the challenge. Since I'm not sure if I can post those yet, I decided to post one that I was not going to submit. I really liked this one as well, but I was only allowed to send in one card.

What do you think??

All products American Crafts, except Cardstock (SU).

Scrapbook Challenge week #3

2009-07-18T09:30:00.003-05:00

It's contagious....

I made these last week when I got together with my buds but did not have a chance to post them yet. I hope I think I re-inspired my friends to get back to scrapbooking because we all got some pages done last weekend! These pages are not super fancy, but again, I'm enjoying showcasing the pictures in a scrapbook page.

Monday Post...

2009-07-13T22:44:00.004-05:00

Hello,

Today, I have a quick card I made this weekend while hosting my pals, Tiff and Marisa. Normally the host doesn't get to create as much as the others as they are doing host type things, but I have to say I was able to get more done than I thought I would.... Anywhooooo, here is the card:

Supplies:

Card Stock- SU, PP - Papertrey,

Stamps: Polka Dot Basics & Beautiful Blooms - PTI

Large dimensional cake on stand - Jolee's

Other: Boarder Punch - Martha Stewart, Scallop Die - Nestabilities

Weekend Challenge!

2009-07-03T19:38:00.003-05:00

Here is my submission for Dawn McVey's color challenge #11:

The close-up of the hand-made flower

Supplies:

CS: All SU! Black, Green, Pink, Grey - Red(other)

Accessories: Button, Fiber PTI

Stamp Set: PTI Text Basics

Ink: PTI Snow

My 9 year old daughter also wanted to participate, so here is her card for Dawn's challenge. She is such a cute little crafter!

Have a good holiday weekend!

Scrapbook Challenge week #2

2009-07-01T19:00:00.000-05:00

Here is the page I made this week in keeping with my personal scrapbook challenge. It was fun to create a not-so-serious page with various embellishments, stitching, and different titling fonts. I'm really excited about getting back into scrapbooking and look forward to re-aquainting myself with all the 12x12 paper, thickers, chipboard, and other embellies I have hoarded over the years!

The pictures were taken from my camera phone, so not very high quality, but the point of the pictures were very clear - Nicole is much too much like her Daddy! :-)

Cards to Share

2009-06-30T22:35:00.003-05:00

Here are some cards I made this past week.

This first card is using the new SU colors, ribbon, and stamp set. Love how quickly this simple card came together, even with the machine stitching around the card.

The next two cards were made from scraps and extra images from prior projects. I love the Hero Arts butterfly stamp on this card, it is so cute as a focal point.

This turtle card was one I made for my Dad for Father's day. I had previously stamped the turtle image using a friend of a friend's Unity Stamp set. The bubble with "Dad" insid was my doing - not too shabby..

Hope you enjoy!

In time for the color challenge this week...

2009-06-23T21:25:00.007-05:00

Since it was so yucky muggy out today, I stayed in my air conditioned craft room and made this card for Dawn's Color Challenge.

The pictures did not come out great, but the card is so darn cute IRL. Hope you enjoy.

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Mother (PTI) and Brown Ink (Momento)

Cardstock: Berry Sorbet & Melon (PTI), Neenah Cream

Other: 1 3/8 SU punch, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch, Bling, Stitching

Monday Monday...

2009-06-22T12:01:00.000-05:00

I'm so excited to post this page... Look at him, isn't he d-i-v-i-n-e??? (yum). Yeah, okay... This is a pic from a SOX game we attended on Mother's Day 5-10-09. We had pretty good seats and I had a pretty good zoom camera in hand.

Now, hopefully he can get off the injured list to play the rest of the season!!!

Puppy...

2009-06-20T23:45:00.004-05:00

Although not real, Nicole loves her puppy as if it were a real live pet. Sometimes I wonder whom she loves more???

Since Nicole is a "blingy" kind of girl I added much glitter to this page by highlighting the stamped flower images. Tata for now...

T.G.I.F.

2009-06-19T12:39:00.004-05:00

Finally! It seems as though it took super-long this week! Anywhooooo, here are some cards I stamped and colored with my copics last night.

Supplies:

Stamps: Katie & Co, Hero Arts, PTI

Cardstock: SU, MME, and Neenah
Other: SU Ribbon, Copics, Buttons, PTI Ribbon, & Nestabilities Dies

Scrapbook Pages

2009-06-18T15:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Thursday!

I have been pushing myself lately to scrapbook more and make less cards. Yes, cards are quick hits and provide instant gratification, but I have to remind myself why I started paper crafting in the first place - to document our life, my daughter, and our family memories. I have to say when my brother passed away last July, I was glad that I had plenty of pictures of him to share with my family and how they reminded us of all the fun times we shared together.

Therefore, my personal goal for the remainder of the year is to complete at LEAST 1 page per week. By doing this, I will have at a minimum of 30 pages by year end.

So here are this week's pages...

Too Late...

2009-06-17T21:06:00.006-05:00

I intended to make this card for Dawn McVey's Color Challenge, but I was too late. I've been really busy this week with work and my other professional organizations that I am a member. I have been very active in the organizations and that has really eating up into my crafting time :-(

However, I needed to spend a little time relaxing so what better way to make a pretty card?

Supplies
Stamp Set: Kind & Caring Thoughts (Stampin Up!) and Text Basics (PTI)
Cardstock: Kiwi Kist and Basic Black (SU), Cream (Neenah)
Ink: Palette (PTI)
Other: Grosgrain Ribbon (SU), Spellbinders Tag, Fiskars border punch, Vintage Brad (SU)

Smart House

2009-06-14T11:07:00.005-05:00

Yesterday my company had a Corporate Day at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago where they offered free admission to it's employees and families. It's been several years since I've visited, so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to take Nicole (Jesse was working). The Museum has changed so much and had many cool new exhibits, but the best by far with the "SMART HOUSE" exhibit. This house is a modular, eco-friendly, energy efficient, and overall COOL pad! Most of the furnishings were made from recycled items (chandeliers from car parts, coffee table from club windows, kitchen counter tops from recycled glass composite, etc. )It also had plenty of outdoor space, balconies at each level, rock and rooftop gardens. If you haven't seen this yet, I strongly encourage you to go, you will certainly be inspired to think green in your own home. I got some great ideas for the next house I build :-)

More to come later possibly...

Sunday Greetings!

2009-06-07T11:17:00.004-05:00

Here are some additional creations from last night's stamping session:
Supplies:
Stamps & Ink: PTI Star Basics & Raspberry Fizz
PP: SU! and PTI
CS for leaves (handmade my own template): SU!

Supplies:
Stamps & : CTMH - Be Yourself, Basic Black (SU)
PP: LuxeDesigns
CS: Neenah White, DCWV Glitter & PTI Smokey Shadow

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge 8 - NEW

2009-06-06T23:12:00.004-05:00

Second Post today...

I made this card today and then realized it matched Dawn's challenge so I'm posting another card for this entry. See my first entry here.

This card is a little more playful than my first card.

My mojo is working tonight, so I'm gonna be up for a while :-).

Friday Night Scrappin...

2009-06-06T14:45:00.004-05:00

Long went the days of Friday Night Clubbing... These days it's Friday Night Crafting - where the heck did my youth go????

I was inspired last night to do a little craft room cleaning. Also I purchased another American Crafts 12x12 Album and was able to add all the scrapbook pages I had lying around. I didn't worry about what size they were, I just put them in their appropriate protective folders (6x6, 8x8, 8/12 x 11, and 12x12) and added them randomly into the D-Ring binder. It felt pretty good to get this into their new home and not worry too much about the pages matching the album sizes. Also, it came out pretty ecclectic and looked intentional so it all worked out well. This allowed me some extra time to create some scrapbook pages for some random pics I had decided to scrap a while ago.

This was a fun page since I didn't have to be so serious...

This is my younger sister sporting a New Year's hat that the kids made during our annual Craft for kids event on Christmas Day.

Nikko is such a clown, he put on his hat and pretended to strut down the cat walk. He is so funny and cute! I swear he is an old soul because he really gets what life is all about - living happy!

That's it for now. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge 8

2009-06-03T23:27:00.005-05:00

It's been a while since I tried one of Dawn's challenges, so I hunkered down today and came up with the following. It's pretty representative of my style. Hope you enjoy...

Supplies: All supplies PTI except Ribbon (SU), Rub-on(SU), and bling (Hero Arts)

Good nite!!

Simple Cards

2009-06-01T22:41:00.004-05:00

Here are some quick cards I made this weekend in like a 20 minute crafting session...

This first card has a paper pierced (handmade) 3-d flower accent. The paper I used was from my large MME stash. The base of the flower was from a Basic Grey chipboard set and the greeting was a rubber cling stamp from Stampendous.

This card used all chipboard from Basic Grey along with the same rubber cling stamp as mentioned above.

For this card, I used a paper purse and small round embellishments by Amy Butler (K & Co.) along with a PTI stamped sentiment.

Sneak Peak

2009-06-01T12:01:00.000-05:00

I think I mentioned I purchased a new rug a few posts ago, but I may have forgotten to mention :-) our new couches... Here is a sneak peak... you'll have to come on over to check these babies out! I'll just tell you once you sit on them you will NOT want to get up - trust me on this!

Sunday Greetings!

2009-05-31T09:34:00.004-05:00

Hi All,

I wanted to share some cards that I previously made but have not shared on the blog yet. The first card is from the Paper Challenge that I issued to Tiffany and Marisa and myself. We had to use a 6x6 inch piece of paisly paper. I actually was able to get 3 cards made from this one piece. Anyway, here is my card.

You can find Marisa's card here and once Tiffany complete's her card, I'm sure she will add to her blog.

The next set of cards are ones that my daughter and I made to send as Thank Yous for the gifts she received for her communion. Since we had to make plenty of these, I opted for 3x6 cards because I could get 4 from a sheet of 12x12 paper. This was also a good card for us to make because I got to use many of those 3-d flowers that I had in my stash... Another QVC purchase from a year or two ago that I had to have :-)

That's it for now, as I'm off to do some Sunday shopping!

Supplies:

Card 1 -

Stamps: Text Background Basics & Mega Mixe Messages (PTI)
Cardstock: Blue Bayou, Tangerine Tango, Mustard (SU)

PP: Paisly -My Minds Eye
Ink: Tea Dye, Chocolate Brown, and Snow White (PTI)

Card 2 -

Stamps: Beautiful Blooms & Mega Mixed Messages (PTI)

Cardstock: Kraft, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink & Vanilla (SU)

Other: Rose Grossgrain Ribbon (SU), Prima 3-D flowers

Ink: Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, Basic Black all (SU)

Oh Baby!!!

2009-05-26T22:33:00.005-05:00

Someone at work asked me to make some Baby Shower invitations for them and so I came up with 3 options...

This 1st card was cute and traditional...

Card #2 - a little more non-traditional, but also very cute

Card #3 - Was cute and girly and THE WINNER!...

Luckily card #3 was the easiest to construct, so making 50 of these babies won't be too time consuming. Hope you enjoy!!

Supplies:

Cardstock SU and PTI
Stamps SU & PTI

Other: Nestabilities Rectangle scallops, SU star punch and butterfly die, SU Ribbon & Ink

Happy Monday!

2009-05-26T14:00:00.000-05:00

These are some cards I made this weekend hanging with the girls...

Supplies
Archivers Cardstock, Neenah White, and MME PP
Stamps: Unity and PTI
Other Buttons, Stitching, and Copics

Supplies
Cardstock: SU and PTI
Stamps: Scattered Showers and Polka Dot Basics
Other Buttons, Fiskars border punch, PTI Ink

Supplies
CS: Hibiscus (PTI), Solar White (Neenah), Kiwi (SU!), and PP (MME) Stamps: Unity and PTI
Other: Paper Piercing, Copics, and Bling!

New Rug!!!

2009-05-25T20:36:00.003-05:00

I love my new rug from Flor. It is very modern, yet it doesn't seem over the top... What do you think?