Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge #129

Hello Friends,
Here with my last card of 2012.  I decided to play along with sketch #129 over at the Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge blog.  It sounds like some changes are coming to these challenges in 2013.  I am looking forward to seeing what the New Year will bring to Waltzing Mouse Stamps and to the stamping and paper crafting world overall.  This hobby of ours is always growing and changing and surprising me with new ideas and concepts and designs! 

Here is this week's sketch from Edna Morrisedie:

And here is my take on it:

 

The background in white was impressed with the Cheery Lynn Designs Petite Heart Impression plate.
I have started mixing white with cream on my cards for some reason...it just seems to make it POP but I don't know if it is "proper" from a color standpoint?   Does anything go?  Hmm?

I took some liberties with the sketch and still am not sure that this card isn't missing something.  I was trying to use up some items on my desk from some previous cards I had made which is how I ended up with the square card with the die cut French Flair Scalloped shape in it.  I just hate to waste anything if I can help it...it comes from growing up in a family of 9 with very little in the way of extras I guess.  I just can't throw something away if I think I can make a card with it!  LOL!

Thanks for taking a look.  And thanks to Waltzing Mouse Stamps, Claire, and her design team and everyone that participates for a year full of fun in 2012!  I enjoyed myself and was inspired each and every time I visited or participated!

Happy New Year 2013!
:) Jill
 

Believe in the MAGIC....

Hello Friends,
I made another card for this weeks Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge #122. I gained inspiration from the many wonderful cards made by the designers and from several Holiday based Waltzing Mouse stamp sets as well as a new Santa stamp that I recently purchased from Serendipity Stamps: HERE

Here again is this weeks sketch:

I had fun making this card and was inspired by Renee who made a card with a Santa silouhette and the colors black, red, and cream.  You can see her card on her blog "It's a Patchwork Life":   HERE.  I ended up using the colors black, red, white and silver on my card. 

 I love this sentiment "Believe in the magic..." and wanted to give a special card to my son who is being shall was say "challenged" in his Santa beliefs this year.  The picture doesn't show it well but the snowflakes stamped over the "Twas the night before Christmas" poem are done in silver while the poem was in white.

I added some glossy accents to Santa's glasses so they look more real and created a reindeer border with the sweetest little stamp from Waltzing Mouse's Holiday Ornaments set!  I think I might try to make this card again and emboss the snowflakes over the white ink next time. 

I also made a little tag to go with the package that I will be putting this card with.  I am trying to make things as special as I can for Tim this year as it will be a hard day for both of us - our first Christmas without our beloved Papa Stuart.  Just praying to make it through with grace and peace in our hearts.  Thank goodness for all of our wonderful family and friends and all of you out in blog land who have offered such wonderful and loving friendship and support these past months.  It means so much to me when I read your comments and emails!  You are a blessing to me! 

So thanks very much for taking a look at my creations and leaving such sweet comments on my blog.  They truly do brighten my days!

I was able to get my desktop computer that has my picture editing software on it up and running tonight so my picture quality is a bit better but as usual it was a very dark and grey day here in Seattle land which makes good picture taking difficult even with extra lighting.  It looks like a new computer is definitely in our future as even with 2 repair appointments it is hit or miss as far as the desktop booting up when I want to do some photo editing or other work.  Bummer! 

Happy Crafting friends!!!

:) Jill

My Parents celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary...

Hello Friends,

Today I made a card for my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary which is coming up on October 20th, 2012.  Here is a retake of a picture I have of the two of them on their wedding day...and they are just as cute now, fifty years later!  (Sorry about the picture quality but my main computer crashed today and is at the repair shop and using my laptop means that I don't have all of my normal programs at my fingertips...)

My sweet parents, Clark and Jackie, have raised a family of 7 children and are the best role models any child could have.  They are both retired but continue to lead active lives helping all of us kids and their friends, neighbors and extended family on a daily basis as well as being active members in their church community.  I pray at night to become as wonderful a woman as my Mother is.  And I hope that I can raise my son to be as wonderful a man as my Father is.  They are a true blessing in my life and I am so lucky that God blessed me with them as my parents.  Happy 50th Annivsersary Mom and Dad!!!

 In honor of their very special anniversary day I made a card for them taking my inspiration from The Shabby Team Room - week #136: Rustic Elegance.  And a beautiful inspiration photo picked by the lovely and talented Rebecca Deeprose  of Paper Primrose:

I just love the roses and candlesticks with the wood table - shabby chic elegance at its best with that touch of rustic wood!  And there is a ton of gorgeous inspiration in the Tea Room to inspire you if you would like to join in the challenge.

 My card started off with some lovely design paper with small glittered hearts on it.  I then added some rows of light pink felt cut with a heart border die and also used the leftover edges from the die cuts in between the rows of hearts.

My touch of "rustic" elements are two rusty old tin hearts which I lightened with some cream ink around the outside edges and topped with pink jute twine and some I am Roses baby roses.

I also added some felt and glitter details to the clothing of the stamp silouhette I used to represent my parents.  I added some paper and ribbon banners behind the focal diecuts and some doily type half circles to frame their faces.  I could not find any small stamps in my stash to make a "50" with so I hand wrote on a tiny tag for now.  I have an idea to print a tag on my computer and will experiment with that as soon as my computer is repaired and I am able to print again.  For now this will do.  I am learning to always get my "needed" cards done early so that I am not rushing at the last minute.  If I don't have time to print a new tag for this card I can still give it as is. 

Thanks for taking a look.  I would love to hear what you think of it!  I wish I could add a photo of my parents today but I wasn't able to find one tonight.  Maybe I can add it later on....
Smiles,
Jill

Another school card...

Edited to add post script at end of post below on 8-28-12
Hello all,
Here today with a card for Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge #111.  Here is a picture of the sketch:

And here is my card:

I used a new to me set from Waltzing Mouse Stamps called "Blessed By You" to make my background and my little school house.  I just love this set and will be making lots of cards with it in the future.  The sentiments are just so lovely and the little images are so wonderful for creating backgrounds which I have been trying to do more of lately. 

 

To finish my little "scene" on the focal area I supplemented with some other school stamps that I had in my stash so I can use this as a "school" card for one of my son's many teachers. I doodled some clouds and a sun as well as the smoke from the chimnies of the school.  Not sure if I love it but it will do.  I also distressed inked my black and white gingham ribbon to help it match the card better.  I used "old paper" distress ink to add an aged look.

I used white prima chalk ink to make a "chalkboard" outline on my red die cut focal and also impressed the yellow cardstock with an alphabet impression plate to add to the school feel. A button and some twine finishes it off.

Thanks for looking at my card.  I had fun making this one and was inspired by several cards made by both Claire and her mischief makers in some of the pre-release hops that are going on right now at Waltzing Mouse Stamps Blog.  I sure like the sort of "toile" look that it creates.

Happy Crafting everyone!
: ) Jill 

 Edited to add 8/28/12
Post Script:
I was so thrilled to learn that my card was one of the top mouse cards of the week for this challenge!
It was announced at this post on the Waltzing Mouse Challenge Blog: HERE.  There were so many incredible cards for this challenge and I am so very honored that my card was chosen with Ren-Yi and Michelle's for a top mouse blog badge!  Thanks to everyone that is involved in providing these wonderful Waltzintg Mouse challenges to all of us.  And thanks to Claire for her beautiful products!  They are such a gift to my crafting life and my bliss! 

A mini-book for my son's 8th Birthday...Edited 7-23-12

Hello,
Tonight I wanted to put together a mini-book for the stamp-a-faire event over at Nichole Heady's blog for Papertrey Ink: HERE

I watched all of the videos over the past two days and decided to go with something similar to Melissa Phillips book after re-watching her wonderful video a second time.   The album is for my son's 8th birthday.   I really wanted the birthday photos to take center stage so I kept the book fairly simple.  I have never made a mini album from scratch like this before and I enjoyed the process.  I also learned a lot of things that I would do differently next time but I still like my final product.  I still need to add some embellishments to the pages but I added my journaling while the memories from the party are still fresh in my mind.  I also think I need to stamp on the "happy" die cut (or color it with my copics) to help it stand out but I am out of time tonight so that will have to be done later too!

This was Tim's first birthday without his beloved Papa Stu and we both struggled with how to celebrate it.  Some of you know that my sweet Stuart passed away from brain cancer 5 months ago.  We are still trying to figure out how to celebrate special days without him - these are the times when his absence is the hardest for us.  Tim did not want to have a party with his friends this year - he asked that only his immediate family celebrate with him.  So I planned a very impromptu pizza and salad party for the evening of his birthday and invited the family to come.  I have 6 siblings so it was a full house and it ended up being a very nice evening which helped the sadness of Stuart's absence to be less overwhelming.  I wanted to make an album of this birthday especially as I know as Tim grows up he will wonder and have questions about what his life was like after his Papa went to heaven. 

Here are some pics of my mostly finished mini album:

 If you have any suggestions on how to make the "Happy" look better I woud love to hear them!

 My sweet boy at breakfast - we have a tradition that you get to choose something special for breakfast on your birthday each year!  We always light a candle and sing with just "us" on the morning of each other's birthdays.

 My sister Beth who lives out of state sent a Tim a special package with his favorite - Mad Libs!!!

 The back of the mini-album.  I used light weight cardboard sandwiched between two pieces of die cut cardstock and a sheet of patterned bittdy dot paper for the front and back covers to make them sturdier.

A side view so you can see the pages and the colors used.  I think I can make a much better product now that I have this one mostly under my belt so to speak!  Thanks to all the designers that made such great videos and tutorials.  I learned a lot and had fun with this project!  Thanks for taking a look.  Stamp-a-faire was such a fun event! I hope I can participate more fully next year!

New cover picture - see edit notes below:

7-23-12:  Edited to add an updated picture of the cover.  I received some wonderful suggestions on fixing my "happy" as I wasn't pleased with it.  I changed the color and I tried to move the  hat but I will have to re-do the whole cover if I want to do so.  For now I am happier with just the new color!  Yeah!  Thanks for the lovely suggestions in my comments area!  So appreciate it! :)
                                                                    : )   Jill

A birthday card for the My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge #80

Hi All,
Just a quick card for the My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge #80.  I tried my hand at a little coloring - very straight forward coloring - since I am not copic trained and am just trying to learn as I go.

Here is a picture of this week's sketch:


And here is my card:

I used Pure Innocence Birthday Girl and colored her very simply. 

 For the two circles in the sketch I made ribbon and button embellishments with pink hemp cord tied through their centers.  The border is my MFT scallop border cut out of white tissue paper and design paper from my scrap stash.

I used several pieces of MFT flower diecuts to make this flower and the turquoise rose is from my stash.

One last picture...I added some bling to her little shoes to jazz her outfit up! :)

I am using Neenah cardstock for my coloring but the weight is not heavy enough or I used too much ink?  If you noticed it her sweet little face got marred slightly while being colored.  I need to invest in some 130lb that I read about on one of the MFT Design Team members blogs - Barbara's?  I always seem to mar my paper and this might help me out a bit.  Either that or some training since I am a total amateur colorer.

Thanks for looking at my card! 

: ) Jill

A card for the My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge MFTWSC75

Hello everyone,

I have a card to share today for the weekly sketch challenge over at My Favorite Things. Here is the sketch:

Here is a picture of the card I made:

This was a fun sketch.  I like the circle element with the squares.  I had some trouble with my paper piecing and coloring but I know I will improve with practice - especially if I keep doing the sketch challenges.  You may know that I am new to paper piecing and Copic markers so I am just learning - if you have any tips on good videos or tutorials to watch let me know in the comments.  Hopefully someday I can take a class!  I tried to make the background of the stamped image look like the uneven surface of a cement wall to help balance the bright colors in the image and papers.  I don't know that I succeeded but I had fun trying which to me is what crafting is all about.   

Thanks for taking a look at my card!  I hope you join in the sketch challenge too.  You can find all the info:  HERE

Happy Crafting!

: ) Jill

Some Thank You cards...

Gratitude! Gratitude and Thankfulness!  That is my theme of the day today!  And I have some new cards to show for it too!

Wow - it has been quite some time since I posted!  I have been busy with lots of financial and insurance issues for our family over the past couple weeks since the New Year!  Today, though, I had time to make some cards to send as Thank You notes to some very special people who have been helping my family out during a difficult time.  I am so very grateful for my friends and family!  Here are the cards:

The sentiment on the front is "From my heart to your home" and on the inside:  "Thanks for giving me a helping hand".  Both sentiments are from a new set from Papertrey Ink which I will like too in my next card.  My son wanted to emboss the other night with the heat gun and embossing powder so I had him emboss the birdhouse stamp  in white and the sentiment too so it would match.  It turned out quite well for a 6 year old doing it!  Embossing can be a little bit tricky! LOL!

Here are some additional shots of the same card....

I colored in the birdhouse with my water-color pencils to add a touch of light color to it.

This next card uses the same sentiments and the small house diecut which are both from Papertrey Ink's December 2010 release titled "Love Lives Here".  Love Lives Here Stamp Set - with concepts by Melissa Phillips.  This is my current very favorite stamp set and I am using it a lot!!!

It has matching dies which you can see here:  Dies: Love Lives Here Collection.  I adore the butterfly and the hand too!  So cute and versatile! I love it!

I added the chimney with a piece of the same paper I die cut the house with and made "glitter" smoke coming out of it....a nice touch I think and makes it feel all snuggly and warm!

This card I made twice - once for my friend Julie and Skip and Family as Skip just lost his Father recently and once for my friend Leanna who just lost her husband Jerry.  Jerry and Leanne are Tim's adopted Aunt and Uncle and always send him the most adorable Hannah Anderson Christmas Pajamas each year along with lots of other goodies.  They are very generous and giving and sweet people and all I know is that heaven just received a wonderful new angel in Uncle Jerry!

 This last card uses an Inkadinkado set which is where the adorable polka dot heart and sentiment come from.  The die is from My Favorite Stamps and can be found here: Dienamics Decorative Doily Die


                                     
I just love the soft purple colors of this card....so fun to have something cheerful on a dreary morning...
This one uses a die from My Favorite Stamps:  Die-namics Decorative Doily Die.  I just love how this one die can totally dress up a card!  They have wonderful stamps too! 
Well that is it for cards today.  I have 3 more thank you cards still to make but this is all I am going to post for now.  I am still learning how to make good cards but each one I make allows me to get a little bit better at this fun craft!  Plus I get to send homemade cards to all my family and friends for different occasions.  Thanks for looking at my little blog!

:) Jill

A few tags and cards on a lovely Thursday afternoon....

Well I spent last week and weekend decorating for Christmas and having lots of company so not much card making got done.  The past couple of days I have had a little bit of time in the afternoon and did get some cards made.  One is a baby card for my friend who is due at the end of December and the rest are more Christmas cards...here are some of the pics...I will add the rest later when I take them...happy crafting... : )

A Saturday afternoon working on some Christmas Cards...

Well today was one of those days when staying inside was the only option - it was freezing outside and super windy!  Clear and cold and windy is not a good combination for working in the yard or taking a nice Saturday afternoon walk....sooooo.....since my husband was napping and my son was playing video games I opted to make some cards (of course!). 

Here are my results....
This first card is from a stamp by Pink Cat Studio (http://www.pinkcatstudio.com/).  I just discovered them while blog hopping and ordered some stamps.  I haven't had time to try all the wonderful stamps I purchased but I did try this one that was sent digitally:

The sentiment inside of the card says: 

"A handful of love and another of kisses 
An angel sent on a snowflake
to deliver winter wishes"

It is a sentiment stamp from Amuse Art Stamps.   http://www.amuseartstamps.com/   They have a lovely retail store near the Woodland Park Zoo if you live in the Seattle Area but do most of their business online.


By the by I am looking forward to trying the "Itty Bitty Christmas Stamps" set and the "Lily and Billy Winter Stamps" set from Pink Cat Studio too once I have some more time to make cards...


The second card I made today is a "Let it Snow" snowman card using a Snowman stamp I purchased last year from Inkadinkado. 

I had a lot of fun making this card.  I used my cuttlebug and embossing folders as well as spellbinders dies for the circles.  I made the little "let it snow" sign by hand.  And as always when making Christmas cards I of course used lots of stickles glitter glue to brighten things up.  Sorry it was such a gloomy day outside as the lighting for the pictures does not do them justice.  But with my husband having cancer I am finding that sometimes I do better to post a picture as is than try to wait and hopefully post it after taking photos in the morning hours.  Mornings are taken up with school and doctor's appointments these days. 

Well off to do some more crafting....Happy Weekend Everyone!