PDCC 112

Hey everyone! I've had some time on my hands to join some challenges this holiday season. I tell you, I think I used to join them almost everyday before I started working for different DTs. Now I don't have as much time to do that anymore, and so whenever I do get a chance to, it's so much fun. This one is for The Play Date Cafe Challenge 112.

It's a nice Christmas colored theme, perfect for the holidays. Here's my card. I stayed neutral for most of the card, with little splotches of color. I just LOVE neutrals. I stamped a newspaper print background using some PTI stamps and distressed the edges. Then I adhered some patterned paper strips over it. I zigzag stitched the panel on my newspaper print background.

I used one of my favorite holiday stamps from The Craft's Meow, Vintage Snowflakes. I also added this beautiful flourish from Waltzingmouse Stamps, Flourishes - Scallops and Dots.

To tie it all off, I added a lace ribbon, a button and some pearl stick pins. It was so much fun just making a card like this. Card challenges are so much fun, maybe I'll go look for some more to join...

Thanks for stopping by today! Happy New Year!!!

~Jean~

The Ribbon Reel Challenge 18: Happy New Year

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you enjoyed your Christmas weekend. 

After all the food has been enjoyed, and presents opened...did any of you get some crafty gifts? They're my favorite gifts to receive! :) 

I was going through my favorite blogs and found a new challenge site. Well, it's NEW to me. I haven't been playing in many challenges lately and I wanted to join this one.

The Ribbon Reel Challenge 18 - Happy New Year.

They have this beautiful inspiration photo. I used a combination of stamp sets from different companies. I used Mehndi Medallions and stamped 3 images from it on my patterned paper. I added this gorgeous Ironworks Accents to the top of my card. My sweet hubby bought me a few of the dies I had on my wish list. :) Now there's still a bunch of stuff on the list...but I'm slowly getting there! 

My main image is from Waltzingmouse Stamps, Seasonal Remedies. I also used this beautiful snowflake from The Craft's Meow, The Merry Best. And the sentiment from Happy New Year.

That's it for me. I'll be looking for other challenges this week that I can join. I'll see you again in a few! Thanks for stopping by today! :)

The Sahbby Tea Room - Week 93

Hi friends! Christmas is almost upon us! I've been making so many Christmas cards lately that I thought you might be sick of it by now. So since it's my sisters' Cathy and Julie's birthdays this month, I thought I would make a birthday card. I entered this card for The Shabby Tea Room Week 93 challenge without reading the instructions well. It's theme is supposed to be A Kraf-y Christmas!!! Argh! Jean, really! You should read first! BEFORE making a card!!! lol!

I love their theme for this week and I thought I would still enter my card today. I'll try to make another Christmas themed one if I have some time this week. :)

Here's the inspirational photo for A Kraft-y Christmas! 

Don't you just want to start wrapping something up?! It's such a wonderful inspirational photo. I was at work and sneaked a peek at some of the challenges and found this. I wanted to go home to make a card after! lol!

I was missing my WPlus9 stamps and really wanted to break them out and get them inky. 

I used my favorite stamp set Mehndi Medallions to make a background panel for my card. Then I used severl images from Le Cirque to decorate my card. 

I also wanted to add some banners up top and so I die cut some triangles using the Pile It On die and stamped the banner image from Pile It On. I added the little German glass glitter star for some texture and bling.

I hope you liked this one! I'll try to be back to make a Christmas themed one for this challenge. Thanks for stopping by today! Enjoy the rest of your weekend! See you again!

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge 78

Hey there! We have one more Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge before we take a break for the holiday season. I hope you're enjoying it so far. It's finally the weekend and we can all rest and maybe have some inky fun? We have a nice festive little sketch for everyone this week!

Yes, it's a star. And you can do WHATEVER you want with it! lol! Since the sketch is so festive, I've decided to go with a Christmas card. I've been trying to make background panels using my stamps lately. I did the same thing with this card. I used Seasons of Love to make a star background for my card. I went for neutral colors with a little pop of red.

I also made a small strip of patterned cardstock by repeatedly stamping an image from Midnight Feast. I added some baker's twine for a little more red. I restamped the star from Seasons of Love and heat embossed it silver for some bling. Then I stamped Santa from Santa is Coming to Town right in the center.

I added a little glittery star to complement my bigger one. I hope you like this one as much as I enjoyed making it. I'll be seeing you over at the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge blog! Thanks for stopping by today! 

The Craft's Meow December - January Sketch Challenge

* This is my second post for the day...please scroll down for CASE Study Challenge 70.*

Hi friends! I'm back with another post and a card for you today. Welcome to The Craft's Meow December - January Sketch Challenge! Nothing like a challenge to spice up our crafting day. What do you say? :) 

I don't know about you, but when I started card making, I LOVED joining card challenges online. It's always with the spirit of friendly competition. And don't you just love perusing through the blog's of the participants? I always found inspiration doing so. 

Well, here's your chance to join us! Here is The Craft's Meow December - January Sketch Challenge. 

Here's what I came up with. I moved some elements of the sketch...I know! Naughty, naughty! lol! It is as always, open to interpretation...just as long as the sketch is still there. I used two of my favorite stamp sets for this card, Vintage Snowflakes and Vintage Ornaments. As you can see, it's Christmas themed once more. I hope you're not tired of my Christmas cards yet! 

I stamped a background panel using Vintage Snowflakes using 4 different shades of ink. I wanted to make a vintage looking Christmas card. I hope I was successful. I zigzag stitched a strip of patterned paper over my background panel. Then I die cut a circle from another patterned paper. By the way, all patterned papers used for this card is from Recollections Naughty of Nice collection. 

I stamped and hand cut images from Vintage Ornaments and adhered them to my card with foam tape. Of course, I added a ribbon and a nice vintage looking button.

I hope I've inspired you to join us! You have one month to do so! So come and play!!! 

Don't forget, you have to use at least one TCM stamp image in your creation! Oooh, and because we're celebrating being featured in the Moxie Fab blog's Stamp of Approval we are  offering 10% off everything in the store, including TCM stamp sets!!! This means an additional 10% off clearance sale prices on the following:

• LaBlanche Stamps - 25% off!!
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads, Re-inkers and Stains - 25% off!!
• Maya Road, Pink Paislee, Echo Park and My Mind's Eye - 50% off!!!
• Little Frieda & Friends stamp sets - 50% off!!! 
• Crate Paper and Graphic 45 - 60% off!!!

Just enter the code MoxieFab at checkout to receive the discount. The offer ends December 15th, so hurry! See you over at the sketch challenge! Thanks for stopping by today! Have a nice week! :)

The Play Date Cafe 109

I know this is ubberly late...but I had made it with the intentions to join PDCC109. I still wanted to share it with you anyway. My sister in law and her family spent last week with us so the house was a bit busy. 

Here's the beautifully soft colors that PDCC109 had for last week.

My picture came out a bit too bright...I hope you can still discern the colors though. The inspirational photo was so soft and feminine that I came up with a card just like it. I used Mehndi Medallions from Papertrey Ink and made a background. The I took a piece of text patterned paper from Recollections and attached some lace onto it. 

It feels like I haven't used my PTI stash for such a long time because of all the releases for other stamp companies. So I broke them out for this card. I die cut Mat Stack 4 using some kraft cardstock. Then I die cut and stamped this cute little house image from Love Lives Here. I also put some coarse glitter over it to add a little bling. The sentiment is also from the same stamp set. 

How was your week? It was nice to have family over even for only a short while. I'll be back again this week for more challenges and cards! Thanks for stopping by! I'll see you in a bit! :)

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge 77

Hey! Welcome to another round of Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge. This week, we have a nice, simple sketch with sooo much possibilities. I couldn't wait to ink up when I saw it! And I just love what the other Mischief Makers have made with it! Here's the sketch for Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge 77.

Nice and simple, just like I said! I'm still into the Holiday card making mode so I made another Christmas card for you this week. Since I've been away for so long, I had no chance whatsoever to make any Christmas cards to send to friends and family. I had to go and buy one in Barnes and Noble. So embarrassing for a card maker! lol! And just when I promised myself I would make them this holiday season. I even went and bought a lot of the new holiday stamp sets from all of my favorite stamp companies before I left thinking I had time to make my cards. 

Well, since I can't make them all in time...I thought I'd make just enough to send to family. Here's my holiday card for this sketch. 

I just bought this Recollections Naughty or Nice patterned paper pad last weekend from Michael's. I've been using it so much over the course of the week. It's an absolutely fun and yet vintage looking paper set that I'm pretty sure you're going to love.

I've kept it pretty simple...layering the lovely patterned paper over each other. Then I die cut a scalloped circle and a circle and stamped some background text on it from Text It. I also stamped some foliage on the side from Festive Foliage. 

For my main image, I used this cute little mistletoe that I stamped, colored and hand cut. Then I tied some twine around the card, and attached a tag on it. The sentiment is from Compliments of the Season.

I hope you've enjoyed my card for today. I want to see what you're going to make for this sketch over at the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge blog. I'll see you all again soon! Thanks for stopping by!

The Craft's Meow December 2011 Release Blog Hop

Hey everyone! How have you been enjoying the release? We've finally made it to the end, today is The Craft's Meow December 2011 Blog Hop. The TCM DT has a wonderful array of cards for you today! Let's begin shall we?

If you've just come from Iwona "Chupa" Palamountain's blog then you're in the right spot. If not, head on over to The Craft's Meow Store Blog and start there. I'll have the order of the blog hop at the end of my post if you need it.

I made a Christmas card for my project today. I used some beautiful patterned papers from Naughty or Nice from Recollections. Then I stamped this beautiful label from Lovely Labels 18 designed by Nina Brackett. I wanted to add some more color and fill out parts of the label so I stamped some snowflakes on the side. These are images from last month's release Vintage Snowflakes.

I stamped this gorgeous sentiment, also from Vintage Snowflakes. I was thinking of one of my favorite crafters, Kristina Werner, while I was making my card. I ended up using my white gel pen to make the faux stitches. I learned that technique from her, until I actually learned how to use a sewing machine. :) 

To finish it all off, I tied some twine around the card and attached a button before making the ribbon. I also added some 3D snowflakes on the top and bottom of the card to carry on the theme. Glue dots seems to hold them pretty well. 

Well, that's it for me...just a little reminder...one lucky person can win ALL 7 stamp sets from The Craft's Meow. All you have to do is go around the Blog Hop, and at the end, leave a message at The Craft's Meow Store Blog. You have until December 9, 9:00 pm Pacific to leave your message for a chance to win. Before you do your shopping, I just want to remind you....there's a big sale going on in The Craft's Meow store...

• LaBlanche Stamps - 25% off!!
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads, Re-inkers and Stains - 25% off!!
• Maya Road, Pink Paislee, Echo Park and My Mind's Eye - 50% off!!!
• Little Frieda & Friends stamp sets - 50% off!!! 
• Crate Paper and Graphic 45 - 60% off!!!

Happy shopping! Here's the order of the Blog Hop in case you need it...

Alice Wertz
Amy Tsuruta
Debbie Pamment
Ivana Camdzic
Iwona Palamountain
Jean Martin
Jenny Suchin
Jessica Fick
Julie Ranae 
Lindsay Amrhein
Lynn Miller
Michelle Bertuzzi
Nina Brackett
Viola Mahr

The Craft's Meow December 2011 Release Day 4

Hello! Hello! It's me again! Back for another day of The Craft's Meow December 2011 Release. It's Day 4 today, and we're introducing Warm Winter Wishes by Maree Truelove. It's a sweet little winter stamp set with lots of cute images.

Let's get right on to my card for today. Out of all the cute images in the set this one caught my eye the most. I LOVE hot cocoa during the winter! The snowflake images are also super cute! 

I combined the doily from Simply Delightful and a snowflake image from Warm Winter Wishes to make a background. The doily I just stamped regularly, the snowflake I heat embossed white white embossing powder. I matted it with a vintage cream cardstock panel. 

I made another smaller panel and made another background using another snowflake image from the set. I inked the edges and attached it to a Fine Linen cardstock piece. I also used a label from Lovely Labels 18 and stamped the image directly on it.

I stamped the mug image onto a piece of patterned paper and hand cut it then adhered it over the pre-stamped image. I also took some of my Copics and colored the mug and the steam that was rising above it. The sentiment I stamped on a strip of cardstock and added over the image with some foam tape. 

I hope my card look warm and winter-y to y'all! Make sure to check out the other DTs blogs. There are prizes up for grabs as well...just jump on over to The Craft's Meow Blog.

Thanks for stopping by today! I'll see you all again tomorrow! :)

The Craft's Meow December 2011 Release Day 3

Hi ya! I'm back again! This is my second post for the day, my WPlus9 group post is just down below. So just scroll down! 

Welcome back to Day 3 of The Craft's Meow December 2011 Release! We're going ahead with a Valentine themed stamp set today called All You Need Is Love by Kaitlyn Ord.  

Since this is mostly a sentiment stamp set, I wanted to used it not only as a sentiment. I picked one from the many, and I made it into a background. I remembered watching and loving Betsy Veldman's video on making backgrounds using stamps you normally wouldn't use as such. I applied it on my card today. I took the "you're my favorite" sentiment stamp and stamped it with varying amounts of distress ink. This is what I came up with. 

The I added some patterned paper over my background panel and sewed it onto a kraft card base. I added a ribbon, a metal frame and a scalloped circle to embellish the card. I also stamped a heart image on a circle vintage cream card stock and them stamped over it with a sentiment. Oh, I almost forgot...I also used the postage images from Telegram on top and on the bottom of the background panel. 

See you again tomorrow for some more previews!!! Thanks for stopping by. Make sure to pass by the TCM girls' blogs to see what they came up with! 

WPlus9 December/January 2012 Release Group Post

Hey ya! One final post for the WPlus9 December/January 2012 Release coming your way. 

How have you been enjoying the release so far? Ready to do some shopping? 

If you need a little more inspiration we have today's round of group posts for you. 

I used my favorite set out of the December/January 2012 lot of stamp sets for my card today...A Pocketful: Valentines. First off, I distressed the edges of two panels of patterned papers. The striped one is from Recollections and the polka dotted one is from Papertrey Ink. After the distressing, I added lace and sewed them onto my kraft card base.

I inked up two doilies with some aqua mist ink, then affixed them over the patterned paper. I also die cut a label and placed it over the doilies to cover the seams. I inked up my little pocket and hearts, hand cut them and adhered them onto the label. 

I added the twine and button. I also die cut the little envelopes and used them as embellishments beneath the button. 

I really enjoyed making this card. I hope you liked it. Be sure to check out the other WPlus9 girls! Thanks for stopping by today! 

The Craft's Meow December 2011 Release Day 2

Hello again! It's my second post for today, scroll down for the first one please. I hope you're not getting tired of me yet! I'm back for Day 2 of The Craft's Meow December 2011 Release. Today we're introducing Happy New Year from Michelle Bertuzzi.

This is such a great set with so many, many possibilities! This one has to be my favorite card out of the lot the I made for the entire release. It seems simple enough, but with enough detail to still be mine. :)

I stamped one of the cityscape images on some vintage cream cardstock using some silver pigment ink. I hand cut it and inked the edges with some distress ink. For the background panel, I stamped some Vintage Snowflakes on a panel of patterned paper, I also stamped a swirl on the left side of it. I used silver pigment ink as well to keep the colors down to a minimum. 

I adhered the city scape image onto the panel with some foam tape. Then I stamped my sentiment on a strip of  Fine Linen cardstock, hand cut it and affixed it on the upper right hand corner of the panel. I tied some and added a button for some added texture. 

Well, that's it for me. I hope you've enjoyed the cards I made for today. I'll see you all again tomorrow. Don't forget to check out the other TCM girls for more inspiration! :) Thanks for stopping by. Take care now! 

WPlus9 December/January 2012 Full Reveal Day

Hi friends! Yay! We made it this far! It's finally time for the WPlus9 December/January 2012 Full Reveal Day! I'm sure you're all excited to see the entire release for the months of December and January. Well, here we go...

Love You More

Details

• is a 6x8 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 19 stamps; 2 word art images and 17 mix-and-match sentiments and images
• will be available for purchase December 5th for just $19

Love Birds Die

Details

• coordinates with Love Birds stamp set
• comes on a single die that can be easily snipped and separated
• will be available for purchase December 5th for just $9

Heartfelt Mix

Details

• is a 6x8 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 24 stamps; 12 images and 12 sentiments
• will be available for purchase December 5th for just $19

Hearts & Clouds Die

• coordinates with Heartfelt Mix stamp set
• comes on a single die that can be easily snipped and separated
• will be available for purchase December 5th for just $7

A Pocketful: Valentine

• is a 4x6 clear photopolymer stamp set
• contains 15 stamps; 1 pocket image, 3 pocket filler images, 5 accent images, and 6 sentiments
• will be available for purchase December 5th for just $13

Love Notes Die

• compliments the A Pocketful stamp series (*Please note: these die cuts were designed to be used on their own. Unlike the A Pocketful Die, they are not scaled to be stamped onto with the pocket or envelope images in the companion sets)
• comes on a single die that can be easily snipped and separated
• will be available for purchase December 5th for just $7

I made a card for today's reveal...

I used the seed packet label from Hope Seed Co. to make this little "candy" card. Then I stamped the little pocket and heart candies from A Pocketful: Valentines and adhered them with foam tape. I just love these little pockets! I was going to use the lollipop image but it wouldn't fit along with the pocket inside the seed packet label.

I made a little shabby chic background for my "candy" card, with some My Mind's Eye patterned papers. I added lace, a ribbon and a button for some added interest. I also stamped LOVE from Love You More on a strip of vintage cream cardstock, inked the edges and affixed it over the ribbon. 

All the new stamp sets and dies will be available at the WPlus9 store by December 5th. Have fun shopping! See you again tomorrow for the group post! Thanks for stopping by today! :)