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

Emma - a sweet little fairy doll to love!!!

EDITED TO ADD 12-31-13 10:30pm Seattle Time:   Pictures of Tim's paper doll that is Emma's playmate....

Hello Friends and Happy New Year!

I am here with a posting for Paper Sweeties.  Debbie very kindly invited me to guest design for the Paper Sweeties Inspiration Challenge #15.  Here is the inspiration board:

My lovely email from Debbie said that I could be inspired by anything on the graphic!  And the ideas started popping into my head right away.  My eyes kept coming back though to the little girl who is so cute in her tutu and hat and scarf!  And to the colors in the lower half of the graphic.

My project was also inspired by a little girl who was a wee bit disgruntled at church this past week.  I was wishing that I had a little doll in my purse that I could give her to play with.....and hence this idea was born:

 I started by creating a lovely little fairy doll with the  "Emma" stamp set and die!  I cut the "Emma" die three times total:   twice out of cream felt and once out of linen.  I stamped Emma's image onto the linen using memento tuxedo black ink and then colored her very lightly with Copics.  It is important to color lightly so that the ink does not bleed on the linen fabric!!!  I then very carefully sewed all three layers together leaving the top open so that I could add some batting.  I used very tiny stitches!  And used a small crochet hook to push the batting down into her leg area when I was "stuffing" her!

After I had Emma all sewn up and "stuffed" my sweet doll was ready to be dressed up.  I dressed her in a tulip skirt and belt and created a hat for her from a pink button, two white glittery jingle bells and two baby roses.  Next my son Tim helped me create a butterfly wand for her with some beads.  And her "wings" or butterfly cape I made with half of a doily and a running stitch to create a tie for around her neck.  She has fairy dust (aka glitter) in her hair and on her skirt!  And her shoes are made from glitter! :)

 We felt that she needed a bed to sleep on and hence the box was created along with a pink felt mattress, and cream felt pillow and blanket! (The blanket was created by my son Tim who also made Emma a little friend to play with named after himself!)  I decorated the box and created the tag on the computer leaving a space to stamp her name using the coordinating stamp from the Emma set.   Here is a picture of the little room we set up for her using the box as walls, and adding some spools for tables with a snowflake doily on top of the smallest one and a "leaf" throw rug.  And of course you have to have a tiny bottle-brush tree as a house plant or perhaps the Fairy Emma's very own Christmas Tree!  LOL!

Emma also has a tie added to the top of her button hat made from a piece of pink and white twine so that she can be hung on a Christmas Tree, a rearview mirror or a door knob etc.

 Here is Emma all snuggled up for a long winter's nap under her doily comforter:

All of the "accessories" for her room snuggle up in the box with Emma when she needs to be put away making her the perfect small toy to tuck in a bag when you have to take your daughter to an appointment and you need something to entertain her in the waiting room! 

One last picture of Fairy Emma and her friend Timmy enjoying the Christmas Tree as we wait to ring in the New Year here in Seattle!:

Tim says he is now working on something to allow Emma and Timmy to have fun!  It is a secret he says...but he has scissors and paper in his hands tonight and is creating away!

Thanks so very much for taking a look at my project!  I had so much fun with this challenge!!!  I think I may have to sew up a few of these dolls in a more simple format to share with the little ones at church!  I wish I had taken a picture of the doll before I dressed her up!  Too cute!!!

To Debbie and everyone at Paper Sweeties:  Thanks for letting me join in the fun as a guest designer for January!  And congratulations to all the new Design Team Members!  They are a fantastically talented group of sweet women!  Here are links to their blogs if you haven't made the hop yet:
Amber Kroening
Annette Allen
Annette Witherspoon
Andrea Ewen
Char Cundy
Jeanne Jachna
Jinny Newlin
Kerin Sylvester
Kristi Schurr
Lesley Croghan
Lisa Elton
Maria Patrick
Michelle Bala
Nancy Penir
Tammy Hobbs

If you have some crafty time I hope you will join in the Paper Sweeties challenge this month!  We would all love to see what you create!

May you have a year full of blessings and friends and family to lift your spirits during times of hardship or sorrow!
Hugs,
:) Jill

You are in my thoughts today!

Just a quick post today.....some very dear friends of ours lost their home in a fire on Monday in the very early morning.  Thankfully their entire family made it out safely but their home is pretty much a total loss.  Having been through a flood in the 1990's in which I lost pretty much everything but the clothes on my back I know how very devastating it is to go through something like this!  Our homes are our places of comfort and security and they are filled with so many memories and mementos.  It is very hard when you begin to realize all you have lost - even though you are grateful for your lives being saved.  So last night after finding out where they are staying I took them a gift (and some homemade chocolate chip cookies because times like these call for comfort food and my other girlfriend was already bringing their dinner!) to help them and their son through this very difficult time!  My heart and prayers are with them! I am so glad they are all safe! 

Here is the card that I gave to them:

My dear friend Rebecca who blogs at PaperPrimrose.com sent me a lovely gift the other day and that sweet little rosebud embellishment on top of the snowflake is from her.  Isn't it adorable!  Thanks Rebecca!  I had to make this card so fast because I had nothing in my card stash that was right....and I see that I missed popping out a few of the little "chads" in my heart diecut..oops!  Hopefully they won't notice! That is what happens when you are trying to make a card, bake cookies, and help your little one with homework all at the same time!  LOL!!!!
Hugs,
:) Jill

2013 Christmas Tags distributed and great deal on pearlized cardstock on Cyber Monday - today!!!!

Hello Friends,
Well I did it!  The first annual "gift of tags" to each of my family members went off with a wonderful response!!!  I think next year I will actually have to make more for some of the extended family members too!

This year I created 14 different sets of tags though a couple sets did not get photographed and posted to my blog.   I then filled a clear cello bag with one of each type of tag for each of my 6 siblings as well as my parents which I distributed at our family Thanksgiving get together.  I thought you might like to see a picture of all of the tags that were placed in the bags this year:

I sure have enjoyed creating tags for my family!  It was a gift that was very much appreciated by everyone which really warmed my heart!  And it was a lovely way to give thanks to all of my family who have supported Tim and I through some very tough times the past couple years.  What a true blessing our family and friends are - I am so very grateful!

I am now working on some tag gifts for my girlfriends that will be coming over for a cookie exchange party during December.  I hope to give them a few each too to use for their Christmas gifts this year.  So stay tuned for a few more posts with Christmas tags in them! LOL!

I hope you are all enjoying this wonderful Holiday season!  I know I am.....the outside lights are up thanks to some lovely help from my sister and niece on the day after Thanksgiving and I am starting work on the inside of my home now.

TAG SUPPLIES:
Companies whose products I used to create my 2013 tags:
AmuseStudio.com - cardstock
Cheery Lynn Designs.com -  dies
DutchPaperCrafts - Pinking edge star dies from Marianne Creatables
Factory Direct Crafts:  rusty jingle bells, and other items
Papertrey Ink stamps and dies
Serendipity Stamps:  stamps
Spellbinders dies
Taylored Expressions - Stamps and tiny tags dies
Technique Tuesday: stamps
The Craft Spot: Tiny tags stamps/dies
WPlus9 stamps and dies
Waltzingmouse Stamps and new dies!!!! (Yay!)
Sissix Dies - retired and current
And various other items from Etsy, Michael's, Joann's, and Hobby Lobby

Crafty Hugs!!!

:) Jill
SHOPPING ENABLER ALERT:    PEARLIZED CARD STOCK AT A FANTASTIC PRICE:
  Factory Direct Crafts has:  Tan Pearl Cardstock: Item: GXCS6 for 25 sheets just $2.99
   Pearl Cardstock - Item: GXCS1 for 25 sheets for $4.99 and other colors too for $4.99.  If you use code "CYBERMONDAY" you also receive 20% off your total.  There are lots of fun crafty items on their site and free shipping in the USA when you spend $50.00. 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I am so thankful for all of YOU!!!! My lovely crafty friends who visit my blog throughout the year and share in a love of creating with me!  I wish those of you that are celebrating Chanukah/Hanukkah and/or Thanksgiving a time full of blessings surrounded by all those you love!  I am off to enjoy time with my family today after attending a beautiful service this morning and thanking my Creator for all that is good in my life!  You are all part of the many things I am grateful for!  Blessings on this day and always!

:) Jill

Happy Birthday Jeanne!!!!!

Hello Friends,
Today we are sending very special Happy Birthday wishes to our dear friend Jeanne!

Happy Birthday Jeanne!!!!

 Jeanne blogs at "A Kept Life" and is a paper artist extraordinaire!!!!  I always enjoy my visits to her blog and come away inspired and ready to create!  She has a way with color and combining elements to create incredible cards and tags and other paper crafted items!   I hope you will pay her lovely blog a visit and enjoy some of the beauty within its many gorgeous entries!  And while you are there leave her some birthday wishes too!

Jeanne I wish for you many blessings throughout the year and a day filled with much happiness surrounded by everyone that loves you!  Thanks for your friendship here in blog land and sharing your many talents and lovely comments with me and so many others!  You are such a sweetheart!!!

I want to send a big thank you to our friend Joyce who so kindly organized this lovely blog hop for Jeanne.  She is our party planner extraordinaire!  Here is a list of links to everyone that is hopping in honor of Jeanne today:
Joyce (our blog hop cruise director!)
Cathy
Christina

Darnell
Jill (You Are Here)
Kara (Go Here Next)
Kim
Marybeth
Tracey 
Vickie

Crafty Hugs Everyone!!!!
Jill

Supplies:
Cardstock:  blush, rustic cream: PTI; 80lb base weight pink - Michael's
Stamps:  Friendship Jar - PTI; The craft spot - tiny tags 2
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Dies:  Cupcake: PTI; label: PTI; Doily - Cheery Lynn Designs
Other:  Flowers; twine, streamer paper; crocheted doily - Paper Bag Lady on ETSY

2013 Christmas Tags - Tag set #11 - Folk Art Star Tags featuring Serendipity Stamps

Hello Everyone,
I am still sick with a sore throat and cold and was feeling punk this morning so I sat and watched a Christmas movie and made this set of lovely star tags using a stamp from Serendipity Stamps.  I am adding them to the Serendipity Stamps Challenge #24 - Gifts and Tags.

Thanks for taking a look.  If you haven't see the other tags that I have posted for my 2013 Christmas Tag series you can click on these links:

Tag post #1  Candy Cane
Tag post #2  Peace On Earth
Tag post #3  Trees
Tag post #4  Pine Cone Trees
Tag post #5  Red Felt Snowflakes
Tag post #6  Sledding Fun
Tag post #7, 8, 9  Snowgirls, Gingerbread Sweeties and Reindeer
Tag post #10  Waltzingmouse Stamps Inspiration

Bye for now!
: )   Jill


Supplies:  Folk Art Star Tags:
Card Stock:  Kraft - PTI
Stamps:  Folk Star and To and From stamps - Serendipity Stamps
Dies:  Star Die
Other:  copic markers, twine, glue

WMS Pajama Party - Challenge #3 - Tag, You're It & 2013 Christams Tags - Tag Set 10: Waltzingmouse Inspiration

Hello Friends,
I am waltzing tonight at the Waltzingmouse Stamps November Pajama Party:

I have a set of tags to share tonight that I made on Thursday during some free hours this week!  It felt good to do some crafting as it has been a couple weeks since I have posted anything.  Tonight I am sick with a sore throat and it has been very cold here in Seattle so I am keeping this very short as I am down in my basement posting this and it is cold down here too!!!!  I was hoping to do some more crafting as it is Friday night but some hot tea and bed is what I am thinking is needed for me instead.

Here are my tags:

I was hoping to take some pictures outside in the daylight today but it just didn't happen....so I hope you can make do with these that I took by my kitchen window.  I used some of my favorite WMS sets:  Candy Jar Christmas Fillers, Sewing Box Christmas and Sewing Box Hugs.  And thanks to very fast service I got to use my new candy jar dies too!!!!  I am SO HAPPY about the dies coming our way from Claire!  What a lovely Christmas gift to myself!!!

Here are a few more pics:

 This tag of the sweet home is one of my very favorite WM stamps!!!!  The sentiment says "cozy winter wishes".  I also added some glitter smoke coming out of the chimney but it is hard to see since I added the twine bow and hanger. 

 A cozy pair of mittens....

 A sweet stocking with a plaid star and bow.....

 Some peppermint candies in a sparkly jar....

And of course what Christmas would be complete without some lovely Gingerbread men?!?

I wish I could stay up and play a little longer as my new stamps are loudly calling my name tonight!  But alas my bed is where I need to be AND my toes are freezing and I have only been downstairs for about 15 minutes now.  So...nighty night and happy pajama party everyone!  Thanks for hosting Claire!  And thanks for all of the lovely inspiration from the design team and Claire over the past few days!!!  You ALL inspire me!!!  And Lynn thanks for shipping so FAST!!!!  So happy with my new stamps and dies!

Hugs!
Jill

Happy Birthday Wishes for Christina!

Hello Crafty Friends,
Here with some sweet and very special birthday wishes for the lovely and talented Christina of Seaglass Papercrafts.  You may be familiar with Christina's gorgeous creations from The 12 Kits of Occasions blog  which is where I came to admire her cardmaking prowess even more!!!!  ( If you are not familiar with this lovely and talented group of women and the cards and projects they make each month you are missing out!  I love hopping around each month to each of their blogs to see all of the beauty they create!) 

I love Christina's card making style.  It is elegant and classy with just the right embellishments to finish each card!  I tried very hard to channel her lovely style on the card that I made to wish her a Happy Birthday:




I decided to use my "Lovely Layers" stamp set from Papertrey Ink and paired it with some stamps from the "Wreath for all Seasons" stamp set too.  I drew inspiration from a card that Dawn McVey made when this set was released.  You can see it HERE.

Christina I hope your day is filled with happy moments and lots of joy surrounded by the people you love!  May your year be full of blessings, health, and lots of happiness!  Thanks for sharing your love of crafting with all of us here in blog land!  You are a true inspiration!


Here is a list of links of everyone that is hopping along to send Christina "Happy Birthday" wishes today:
Joyce
Cathy

Darnell

Jeanne

Jill   - you are here

Kara - go here next

Kim
Lynn

Marybeth

Renee
Sharron

Tracey 

I am sending you onto the lovely Kara's blog at KandRdesigns.
Hugs,
Jill

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - Welcome Home

Hello,
Had a bit of time to play in my craft room tonight and decided to play along with the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge - Welcome Home.  Here is the inspiration graphic:

I love wreaths, turquoise, and old barn wood and when I saw this photo I fell in love.  I have also had my new Rustic Wreath stamp and die set sitting on my crafting table awaiting time to play hence this card was born tonight in my crafty studio:

 

I used several stamp sets to create this card including:

Love Lives Here Holiday - for the sentiment; Mat Stack 1 collection - for that little acorn branch under the sentiment; Lovely Layers for the leaves on the wreath; And the die from Rustic Wreath cut from three different papers and wrapped in jute twine to create the wreath itself.  Also in keeping with it being an outdoor wreath I added some Aleene's Glitter Snow which gives it that frosty look with just a wee touch of snowy sparkle!

Thanks for taking a look at my card! I sure enjoyed the time spent making it this evening!
:) Jill

Supplies:
Cardstock:  Rustic Cream (PTI) and Berrylicious (MFT)
Stamps:  Love Lives Here Holiday; Mat Stack 1 Collection; Lovely Layers; Pinecone stamp - wood mounted - not sure of manufacturer.
Inks:  Memento and PTI and SU - various brown shades
Dies:  Lil Inker stitched square/circles; Rustic Wreath Die - PTI; Lovely Layers Die - PTI. Snowflake Impression Plate - PTI
Other:  Digital Papers - Iralamija Shop on ETSY and Gingham Papers - not sure of source but from ETSY.
Jute Twine: WMS; Aleene's Glitter Snow;  

Happy Birthday Big Brother!!!!

Hello Friends,
Today is my oldest brother Tony's  50th Birthday!  Wow!  The big 50!!!!!

  Happy Birthday Tony!!!  

You are truly the best big brother a girl could ask for!!!!  An all-around GREAT GUY!!!  And this card is for you!  :

I am also entering it into the Serendipity Stamps Challenge Blog SSCB#23:  Use up those scraps! 
Now if I just use this technique about twenty or thirty more times I may put a dent in all the scraps I have on hand!  It is a fun technique and I love the colorful cards it creates!!!  By the way I did not have any birthday sentiments from Serendipity to use on my card so I improvised by using the "Happy Holidays" sentiment from the "Old Time Christmas" stamp set item: 934QCL.  I masked off the word "Holidays" and just used the "Happy" to create my card.  I definitely need to order some sentiment stamps from Serendipity during this weeks sale!  Shipping is free for all orders over $10.00 until 11-12-13! 


Thanks for taking a look at my card!  And I also want to send a thank you to the Serendipity Stamps Challenge Team for choosing my card from last week as the favorite card for challenge #22. You made my week!!!!
:) Jill

2013 Christmas Tags: Tag #7 - Snowgirls; Tag #8: Gingerbread Sweeties; Tag #9: Reindeer

Hi everyone,
Here with a quick post of part of my weekend crafty endeavors.  I went to see my friend Kara following her surgery and wanted to bring her a little "feel better" gift so I made and gave her these tags to bring a smile:

Tag set #7 -  Snowgirls:

Kara texted me after opening my gift and said she liked them so much she is going to use them as ornaments on her Christmas tree.  Isn't that the sweetest!  I have to be honest I like these so much that I will definitely be making more very soon!   I LOVE snowgirls and boys!!!  And I love that I can print as much of this digital paper from Iralamija Shop on ETSY as I need!  :)  Yay!

 The little rose buttons are from Hobby Lobby but can also be made with a mold an some clay if you want.

 A view of the back:

Tag set #8:  Gingerbread Sweeties:

 I made 7 of these sweet gingerbread girl tags and will probably make more....thanks to Annette at Annette's Paper Bistro for the inspiration which led me to buy this die on Ebay and to make these tags!!!!  If you have never visited Annette's blog than grab a cup of coffee and spend some time paging through her beautiful creations!  I have long had her gingerbread men pinned to my "Tags Only" board on Pinterest. 

 The white on the gingerbread man is both chalk pencil and ink.  Most of these I did not put glitter on - can you believe it!?!  I glittered the one in the picture above but liked it better plain!!!!  LOL!

Tag #9:  Reindeer with scarf:
  I made 7 of these tags too!  The background paper on the reindeer is something I created on my computer using the names of Santa's reindeer.  I like this idea but need to learn how to use this new version of "Word" better to get the spacing right.  But this worked for now....

 That is it for me tonight.  Thanks for taking a look at my tags! The base of the tags are made with dies from Cheery Lynn Designs.com.
Hugs,
: ) Jill

Happy Birthday Tracey!!!

 

Today we wish the wonderful Tracey McNeely a very Happy Birthday!!!!!  

Tracey was one of the first bloggers I came to admire on-line.  She has a wonderful style that is admired by so very many of us card makers!  I love seeing what she creates each week and draw much inspiration from her lovely cards and projects!  Tracey's blog "In My Creative Opinion" can be found:  HERE. 

I came to know Tracey through her blog when I began to join in the Papertrey Ink "Make-it-Monday" challenges as well as their Blog Hops.  Her blog was one of the first that I ever subscribed to via e-mail and I love when her posts pop into my inbox!  

Here is a birthday card just for you Tracey - with a cup of cheer to say "Happy Birthday to YOU"!

 I cannot take credit for the design of this card.  I saw Nichole Heady use this sweet cup of cheer and birthday sentiment with the snowman die : HERE and I had to try it out!

I hope this year is full of blessings for you and your family Tracey!  Enjoy your day and thanks for making this craft I love so much extra special by your presence here in blog land!

I want to send a great big thanks to our sweet party planner Joyce!  Please check out the lovely inlinkz party list over on Joyce's blog: HERE and join in all the fun for Tracey's special day!

Hugs,
Jill 

Supplies:
Cardstock: Kraft, Scarlet Jewel
Paper:  Gingham - digital paper

Stamps: Shape Up Snowman Accessories, Tremendous Treats Christmas, In the Meadow. KaiserKraft background stamp: love, laugh, life.

Other: Snowman Shape Up Series Die; Medium scallop border die; Stickles Glitter glue - Diamond; copic markers.

SSCB#22 - Words and Verse: "Let Heaven and Nature Sing"

Hi all,
Had an hour to whip up a card today.  This is for the Serendipity Stamps Challenge Blog #22 - Words and Verse:

 Thanks for taking a look at my card!

: Jill


Supplies:
Stamp: Serendipity Stamps: Let Heaven and Nature Sing
Cardstock:  Kraft, Vintage Cream
Paper:  Iraliamija Shop - ETSY
Dies: Cheery Lynn Designs - oval; Impression Obsession - pine branch; Snowflake Emobssing Plate - PTI
Other supplies: twine, crochet flowers, vintage buttons, tombow glue, stickles - mercury