Make it Monday #150 - Window Screen Cards...

Hello Everyone,
Do you ever fall in love with a card at first sight and HAVE TO CASE IT!!!! ?

Well I fell in love with this week's Make it Monday video and the cards that Melissa Phillips made and I just had to try CASEing them...

I used stamps from Papertrey Ink and Paper Sweeties as some of the products Melissa used I do not have in my crafty stash at this time.

Here are my cards:

The tiny feathers sticking out as leaves behind my flower are from a Cheery Lynn Designs Feather die set that comes with a tiny ink well!  Thought they worked great here!  The floral paper is from Iralamija's shop on ETSY. 

And a couple details shots:
I added glossy accents and glitter to the "screen" on this card because of a glue mistake but I love how it looks:

 On these two I turned the "screen" portion in the opposite direction so I could bring the focus on the diamonds in the center of the heart:

Melissa thanks for inspiring me!  I have a ton more ideas buzzing in my head but I already stole all the time I can this morning and am off to some appointments with my son...

Thanks for taking a look!  I cannot wait to go and look at everyone's cards for this MIM!
Hugs,
Jill

Warm and Cozy week at The Shabby Tea Room....

Hello Friends and Happy Monday Morning to you all!
I hope you heard my happy news that I announced on my blog last Friday: here.  I am the newest design team member at The Shabby Tea Room!  I am here today with my first official design team post! Yay!!!!

We are in week #203 in The Shabby Tea Room and our host is the lovely and talented Aneta.  Here is the beautiful inspiration photo chosen for this week:

Aneta asks that we use white or cream with cups and/or teapots in our project.  I just love this photo! Especially all of that yummy texture!  And that is what inspired my card:

I tried a couple of different ideas for the texture and settled on using this lovely heart diecut.  Our sponsor this week is "Digital Papers by Janet" on ETSY.  She has so many beautiful digital files!  I own quite a few of them myself!!!  I chose to use "Antique Paper 3" for my project today!  Such beautiful papers!

My teapots and/or cups are in this vintage image I chose from Pinterest.  I tried to link to the origin of this photo but the link kept saying it was broken.  Lots of computer glitches this weekend!   I lightened the original and made it into a heart shape using a photo editing software program. I then cut it out by hand and distressed the edges. Here is what the file looked like before I cut it out...I made several different sizes:

 Here is a close-up which better shows the digital papers I used.  I also added some charms and flowers:

 A side view:

 Thanks for taking a look at my first design team project for The Shabby Tea Room.  I hope you will take a look at all of the lovely projects over in the Tea Room and hopefully play along!
Happy Crafting!
: ) Jill  

A wonderful announcement....

Hi Everyone,
I am here on this lovely Friday night to make a wonderful announcement!! If you have visited my blog in the last few days you may have noticed a few changes on my sidebar. Debbie Marcinkiewicz has asked me to be on "The Shabby Tea Room" design team.  That's right I am the newest "Shabby Girl"!  My first post as an official design team member will be this coming Monday!  I am so thrilled and excited!

I decided to make a card using the lovely "Emma" stamp and die from Debbie's lovely "Paper Sweeties" stamp company to celebrate!  Don't you just love this sentiment!  I thought it was perfectly appropriate for my announcement!  Back in early 2012 a few months after my husband died I started to paper craft more often and to join in challenges more frequently.  As I was just starting to sort of get a handle on how to compose a good card I use to visit (lurk) in the Tea Room and wish I could make cards like the ones made by all of the very talented "Shabby Girls!"  Here is a link to what I believe is the very first card I ever shared at the tea room back at week #140 in November of 2012:  http://greenwoodgirlcards.blogspot.com/2012/11/wishing-you-sweet-shabby-christmas.html

And here is the card I shared:

I still have this card sitting in my craft room on my curio shelf and will never part with it.  It is one of my favorite cards!  I want to thank everyone that has ever shared a card in the Tea Room or been a designer there - YOU have ALL inspired me and helped me grow in my card making endeavors. And I am so excited that I now get a chance to do the same as a design team member! 

Happy Weekend everyone and I hope you will join me and all of the wonderful "Shabby Girls" in the Tea Room this coming Monday as we kick off the newest challenge!
:) Jill
 

   

The Shabby Tea Room - Week #202: 'Baby It's Cold Outside'!

Hello Everyone,
It is hard to believe that it is already the 20th of January!  Tim and I will be enjoying Martin Luther King's Birthday and a partial day off from our normal routines today.  I enjoyed an assembly at Tim's school last week all about Dr. King and it was so lovely to see the kids perform poems, songs, and skits with such an important message about equality!  I loved it when the first grade class performed "We Shall Overcome" in 3 part harmony!  They were too cute!!!  I am hoping during our free afternoon today to get some time in to visit and see what everyone is up to on their blogs!  I have been sooooo busy lately and I miss visiting everyone as regularly as I used to!!!!

I am here today with another "January Guest Designer" post for The Shabby Tea Room.  This is week #202 and here is the inspiration photo:

The theme is "Baby It's Cold Outside" and we were asked to create a card/project inspired by the photo using white/cream, green, red, and include a bow and something silver.  I was excited to use a new Paper Sweeties stamp/die set that I ordered recently called "Make the Season Bright". 

I love the sweet little angel in this set and once I started creating with it I could not stop!  I ended up making a card, tag and ornament.  Here are some additional photos:

The first thing I made was this card: 

My touch of silver is on the wings which were colored with a metallic marker.

Then I made this tag:

 

 And finally I made a Christmas Ornament:

 I made a "stuffed" angel ornament and then suspended it inside a tiny heart tartlet tin that was painted with picket fence distress crackle paint and edged with some Melissa Frances glass glitter. I added a red felt heart and smaller gingham doily heart behind the angel so that she would show up more and to add to the Christmas colors!  I put holes in the top and bottom of the tart tin with my crop-o-dile so I could add a tie and bow at the top with a snowflake and rose bead embellishment, as well as some beads at the bottom with a tiny bow.  The angel is suspended from the top hole with a bit of twine and she swings back and forth when the ornament moves.  I think this ornament looks a lot better in person - it did not photograph all that well!

Here are some pictures of me sewing up the ornament.  I die cut it from cream felt twice and once from linen which is what I stamped the image on.  Then I sewed the three pieces together by hand and added some batting:

Then I colored her with copics and added glitter to make her sparkle on the Christmas Tree!  Finally I added her to the painted tart tin and decorated!

Thanks for taking a look at my projects.  I so appreciate all of the lovely comments I receive!  They make me smile!  I hope you visit The Shabby Tea Room to see what all of the designers have created for this week!  There is always so much beautiful inspiration!!!! 

Crafty Hugs my friends!
:) Jill

SSCB#27 - Buttons....and some chalkboard too

Hello,
Here with a card for my son's sweet art teacher for the upcoming Teacher Appreciation Day in May.  I make quite a few cards each year so I like to do them a little bit at a time.  I drew inspiration from the Serendipity Stamps Challenge Blog and challenge 27 which is to use "buttons".  I also chose to embrace the chalkboard technique that many of the design team featured on the challenge blog!  Gorgeous cards ladies!!!

I chose to use a sentiment stamp that reads:  "Art! Who comprehends her?  Whom can one consult concerning this great goddess? - Ludwig Von Beetoven"  I tried using my pastels to cover the embossed sentiment with a rainbow of color....what do you think?

Thanks for taking a look! And I have to say it...."Go Seahawks!!!"  I know my husband is probably watching from Heaven as he was a season ticket holder for so many years and always hoped to go to a Super Bowl one day.......he would have been so excited today!  My son and I have the game on and are watching it for him today!  Love you Papa Stu!!!

Hugs,
Jill

The Shabby Tea Room - week #201 - "Fun with Sketches"

Hello Friends,
Here today with a couple of cards for The Shabby Tea Room - week #201: Fun with Sketches.  Here is the sketch for this week:

I made 2 cards with this sketch so far.  One is for a birthday and the other is a "thinking of you" card.  Both use sentiments from Paper Sweeties wonderful sentiment stamp sets. 

Thanks for visiting my blog!  I hope you will visit The Shabby Tea Room to see all of the wonderful inspiration from the "Shabby Girls"!  And if you have time join in all the fun with this lovely sketch!
Hugs,
Jill

The Shabby Tea Room - Week#200 "So romantic"

I am so excited to be guest designing for The Shabby Tea Room for the month of January 2014.  What a lovely way to start the New Year!  Thanks Debbie for inviting me!

The theme for week #200 starting on Monday January 6, 2014 is "So Romantic".  Here is the inspiration photo:

We were asked to create a card/project inspired by the photo using roses.  Isn't this a gorgeous picture?  I love the roses, velvet ribbon, and pocket watch as well as the different papers and decorated tin can at the top of the photo.  So much to be inspired by.

January, February, and March in our family includes the birthdays of all 5 of us girls plus one of my nieces too.  With all of those birthdays to prepare for I decided to work on a birthday ensemble since I need to create several in the next few weeks for gift giving!  Here is what I came up with:

 I created a large Medallion using a Brenda Walton Sissix die as well as a card and tag. 

 The card uses two sets from Paper Sweeties.  The sentiment is from the stamp set called "Occasions".  While the polka dot frame label is from a set call "Beautiful".  The die cuts for the card itself are from Cheery Lynn Designs.

 Here is a close up of the medallion.  It is so much prettier in person! 

 Here is the little tag with a sweet little rose covered cottage.  This die is from Impression Obsession and I love using it for house-warming gifts or really any occasion!

I thought I would take a photo of the medallion hanging on the handle of a gift bag outside too to see if the light was better.  I love how easy it is to dress up a plain gift bag with one of these.  

Thanks for visiting my blog.  I hope you will check out all of the beautiful projects from the design team in the tea room this week and hopefully come and play along with us.

: ) Jill