Autumn Themed Thank You

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday! We spent the day with family, cooking, visiting, and of course eating waaayyy too much! LOL We still have so much turkey left over that I think we will be eating turkey until Christmas. Seriously. I am officially sick of eating the traditional left-overs from Thanksgiving. I'm not much of a left-over person anyway. I made a Turkey Pot Pie last night so next I'll make Turkey Soup and then probably freeze whatever's left over.

So before we officially kick-off the winter holiday's I thought I would squeeze in one last Autumn Themed card.



Here are the details:

Cardstock: White from source unknown, Orange Zest by Papertrey Ink
Stamps: Maple Leaf from Leaf Prints by Papertrey Ink
Ink: Maple Leaf's in Yellow, Orange and Red Colorbox Petal Point Ink, sentiment in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Sentiment: Mega Mixed Messages by Papertrey Ink

Well that's all I have to share with you today. I hope you all have a wonderful week! We will continue decorating the inside and outside of the house. Hopefully we will be done by next weekend!

-Janice

Calendar Pages

Well, as usual it's been a while since I've posted. I don't know how time consistently seems to get away from me. I realized the other day that I never posted my October calendar page and now it's already November and I haven't posted that page yet either.

So, without further ado, here are the last two months of calendar pages! October ...

And November ...
The photo used in the October page was taken last year from our yard. The photo in the November page was also taken last year but it was from a local farm. We moved the pumpkin from the pumpkin patch over to a spot that I thought would make a nice picture.

I've really enjoyed having this calendar displayed in our kitchen this year. I was thinking about purchasing another one but Papertrey Ink has recently come out with calendar pages and if you follow my blog you know I'm crazy about any from Papertrey Ink! Needless to say I've already ordered and received two different types of Papertrey calendars. Now I just need to find the time to make the calendars for next year! LOL

As always, thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday this week.

Until next time,
Janice

Halloween Thank You

Happy Halloween!! We just finished giving out candy to the little goblins going door-to-door for Trick or Treating. I love watching the kids get dressed up and I really like that we live in a safe neighborhood where the kids can walk and be assured they are getting good candy.

Well my birthday falls around this scary time of year (no it's not actually today) and I needed a Thank You card for a good friend who helped to make my birthday something special this year.

My friend Cindy remembered my birthday and took time out of her busy schedule to make me a card and cupcakes! How sweet is she? I want to be sure she realizes just how much I appreciate her thoughtfulness. So I made her this card:

The base of the card is just white cardstock and all the other pieces come from PaperTrey Ink. The black is Smokey Shadow cardstock, the orange dotty paper is from Heather Nichols Halloween Paper pack, the white oval is more of the plain cardstock that I die cut and embossed with a Spellbinders Oval Nestability die, and the black ribbon started out as white grosgrain that I colored with a black Copic marker. The sentiment is from Dawn McVey's Signature Greeting stamp set. I used an orange Copic marker and their spray can to tone down the bright white of the oval. The inspiration for this layout came from Paper Crafts Go-To Sketches magazine, specifically Maren Benedict's sketch on page 33.

Well that's all I have to share for today. I do need to make another Thank You card for a different friend who also remembered my birthday. Hopefully I can get that made this week and I'll share it with you all next week.

Don't eat too much candy this week! LOL

Janice

50th Birthday Card

Tonight I would like to share a birthday card I made for my brother-in-law's 50th birthday earlier this month. Normally when someone celebrates a milestone birthday (30, 40, 50, etc.) black is a common color. So I went with that theory and here is what I came up with!



I started with a white standard cardstock base and added Smokey Shadow cardstock by PaperTrey Ink. I then stamped the letters "The Big" using Color Box Frost White Ink and Trajan: Monogram Edition by PaperTrey Ink. The numbers "50" are from PaperTrey's Top Ten stamp set. The interior sentiment is from PaperTrey's Birthday Basics stamp set and the lines on the front and interior were made with a white gel pen and a ruler.

Over the last couple of weeks I have given away a couple of cards and I haven't remembered to get pictures before they are gone. Oh well, I'm trying to do better.

Things are definitely different around the homestead without Skeemo. The cats seem to be more active and we are seeing Lady and Sultan much more now. I guess the dynamic has shifted. John and I are adapting but we still have our moments when it's really hard. I know it will continue to get better.

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy your week.
-Janice

Happy 4th of July America!

Wow, has it really been so long since I last posted? Where does the time go? Honestly I've been so busy with life that I haven't had a chance to really craft anything new. Last weekend I spent some time with my mom on Saturday and my dh's company had their 'Summer Outing' at a local amusement park on Sunday.

This past weekend was our 4th of July celebration here in the states. I spent two days cooking and cleaning to prepare our house for a cookout yesterday. We had friends and family join us for a very pleasant celebration. Unfortunately it was steaming hot so we cranked up the air conditioning and spent the afternoon indoors instead of outside. Good think I scrubbed everything! LOL Actually I really like entertaining as it causes me to have to really clean the house, not just a spit and polish, but a good, deep cleaning.

Now we're looking forward to a short work week and another camping weekend ahead. This trip will just be hubby and I and we are really looking forward to getting away, just the two of us. I'll have to get some pictures of the camper and our 'new-to-us' inflatable boat. I sure hope the weather is nice!

Our nephew recently had a birthday so I created this card for him. I think it had a nice masculine look to it.
The papers are all by PaperTrey Ink, as is the sentiment. The small greenish-grey circles are chipboard shapes which I painted with some Ceramcoat Acrylic paint. It's fairly simple but I really liked the way it turned out.

Well that's all I have for today. Thanks for stopping by!

-Janice

Happy Father's Day!

I hope that all you dad's out there had a wonderful Father's Day today doing whatever it is that makes you happy. It was a fairly humid day here with a couple of odd showers during the early afternoon but mostly it was sunny. Such a nice change from all the rain we've been having.

We spent the day with my in-laws. It was so nice to see them again, it's been a while since I've been able to spend any amount of time with them. It's an annual tradition for us to meet up at the Village Pancake House in Rowley, MA. Boy that food is so, so good it is always worth the hour+ wait! Yup, today's wait was just about an hour for the 7 of us. There are some beautiful gardens to sit in and catch up with the family while you wait. Very relaxing. :)

Here is the card I made up this morning.



The blue background paper is from a pack I got a while back at Michael's called Sarapapers. The red and yellow are from an unknown source and the Rustic Twine is from PaperTrey Ink. I attached the twine with some Score Tape. I am in LOVE with this adhesive! This lighthouse stamp is from JustRite Stampers. I stamped it onto some white cardstock using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it using various Crayola colored pencils. The yellow rays of light are highlighted with a Spica glitter pen.

I also made a birthday card this weekend for our nephew. I'll share that with you next weekend! LOL

Have a safe and enjoyable week. Thanks for stopping by ...

-Janice

Campfire and Graduation

Happy Stormy Sunday Evening! We've been having some pretty unusal weather here in the NE lately. Yesterday was supposed to be stormy and it ended up being HOT and HUMID, like unbelievably humid. Today was pretty stormy and we've been in a Tornado warning for the last two days!! Boy the weather sure has changed since I was kid.

Last weekend the weather was so beautiful. We were camping with some friends and had such a nice, relaxing time. My family and I played games, went to an entertainment park and visited with everyone. We had a nice fire Sunday evening and made s'mores ... yummo. :) This is one of my favorite parts of camping.

This weekend I spent some time being pampered. I had a manicure and pedicure yesterday ... it was wonderful! ... then my dh and I ran errands and grabbed some bar-b-que for dinner. It was nice not to have to cook when it was so bloody HOT outside. My dh is so good to me! :) One of our errands brought us to the local Scrapbook store. I got some fun papers by BoBunny which I'm planning to make into a 'word' scrapbook album. The word I have is 'TRAVEL'. I'm looking forward to getting started.

One of our other errands was to pick up a gift for my mom's birthday. She specifically requested chocolate cake and a submarine sandwich for lunch. So we stopped by Subway for her sandwich and I made a cute cake last night. This morning I frosted it with homemade cream cheese frosting. It was a big hit at the nursing home!

Today I had to make a graduation card for my god-son. I didn't have much time so I kept it really simple. I used Lisa Johnson's Argyle stamp set by PaperTrey Ink to create a nice background image in Royal Blue ink. The cream ribbon is from PaperTrey Ink and the tag is from a new die-cut I got from Spellbinders about a month or so ago at the Creative Keepsakes Convention. I used the 'Congrats you did it' stamp from Dawn McVey's Signature Series stamp set from PaperTrey Ink on the inside of the card.

Well that's all I have for today. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

-Janice

Mother's Day

Wow, I have been remiss in updating the blog for the last couple of weeks! I just love this time of year where we can be outside sprucing up the yard after a long and cold winter but I am so exhausted at the end of the day that I just don't have the energy to crop photos and write up a blog post. How sad is that?!?

Here is a card I made up at the last minute for my mom back at the beginning of the month for Mother's Day. All of the paper and stamps are from PaperTrey Ink. I colored the tulips with colored pencils and the bling is something I picked up in the dollar bin at Michael's.

Well I'm off to finish planting the Gerber Daisy's, tomato plants, pepper plants and herbs we bought yesterday. Then I need to visit mom again. I'm so looking forward to a nice long holiday weekend!

Thanks for stopping by ...

-Janice

Is It Summer Already?

Happy HOT Sunday Evening! It is unusually warm here in the NorthEast. Today it reached 90 degrees!! This is unheard of. I know it won't last very long but it is pretty uncomfortable at the moment.

While I was melting in the heat tonight I put together a fairly quick birthday card for my nephew/god son. He will be 19 years old tomorrow. I really can't believe how fast time goes by.

You will probably notice that I recently made a similar card for a new friend. I really like the layout and the concept and since I was pressed for time I decided to just go with what I liked. The dots around the outside of the circles and the Happy Birthday sentiment are from JustRite Stamps. LOVE them! The card base is Lemon Tart by PaperTrey Ink, the blue and green circles are left over scraps I had in my scrap bucket and the blue and green stripes on the white accent piece are Copic markers which I was shocked to see matched the circle colors.

Thank you for stopping by tonight. We bought some new Dahlia's and shrubs at the nursery today. Once they are planted I will get some pictures and show you all how wonderful our home is starting to look! LOL

Have a wonderful week.

-Janice

Birthday Card & Real Spring Weather!

Hello and happy Sunday evening to everyone in blog-land! We have been so blessed with our lately and it has been making me so very happy. The sun has been shining for several days now, we are experiencing above average temperatures, in the 60's and 70's and it looks like that trend will continue well into the coming week. Yeah!

Last night we met up with some new friends for dinner and conversation. We went to Bertucci's for dinner and I must say that while I love all of there meal choices I was especially pleased with my selection last night. I usually get the same old thing at every restaurant we frequent and Bertucci's is no exception. If I want a pizza I get the Silano and if I want pasta I either get the rigatoni and meatballs or the chicken, broccoli and ziti. Well last night I decided to step outside my comfort zone and be different ... and boy am I glad I did. Dinner was simply amazing! It was fettuccini with lobster and shrimp in a tomato cream sauce. Oh My Goodness ... it was heavenly! Can you tell that I would highly recommend it?! LOL

Well, our gentleman friend was having a birthday so of course I had to make him a card. I used a sketch from the new Paper Crafts Magazine titled Go To Sketches. I am really loving this magazine! This is one of Teri Anderson's sketches from page 24, if you are interested.

I used a combination of various papers and generic Bazzil cardstock. The beige cardstock background paper is something I had on hand and don't remember where it came from. I rounded the corners with a corner punch. The dark brown strip is Dark Chocolate from PaperTrey Ink and the green stripe is from Pixie Sticks by Imaginisce. I simply cut out just the green color I wanted. The green circles are Bazzil and the checked circles are from Park Buddies by S.E.I..

I also took advantage of the left over scraps and added a little touch to the inside of the card as well. The stamps are from Birthday Wishes by PaperTrey.

Well I'm off to start dinner. Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you have a wonderful week full of sunshine and happiness.

-Janice

Last Valentine's Day Card

Good Evening! I'm so sorry that I wasn't able to post this card last weekend, especially since it was Valentine's Day. I ended up with a terrible head cold that completely knocked me out last weekend. I was so looking forward to the long weekend but ended up in bed all weekend instead of getting to enjoy myself! I felt especially bad since my husband had taken a vacation day to spend the holiday with me.

Thankfully I am feeling much better this weekend. We went to visit my mother and I was able to deliver the Valentine's cards I'd made for her, my sister and my husband. Since my husband occassionally checks in on my blog I decided not to post a photo until after I gave it to him. So here it is ...

The plaid and polka dot paper are part of the Daisy Bucket Designs sheets I picked up from my LSS. The stamp is Signature Greetings from PaperTrey Ink. I just love the hand-written feel to these sentiments and Dawn McVey's handwriting is so beautiful. The frame which holds the sentiment is part of a stamp set that I picked up on clearance at Michael's a while back. There are also some miniture red rhinestones that I picked up in the dollar bin at Michael's a while ago.

I was able to spend some time in the craft room this weekend and came up with a gender neutral birthday card. Those can be some of the hardest for me! I'll be sure to share that creation with you all next week.

Until then, may you have a stress reducing week! LOL

-Janice

Replacement Valentine's Day Card

Happy Sunday Everyone! I hope you've all had a relaxing and enjoyable weekend, I know I have. My dh and I ran a few minor errands yesterday and spent the night watching a movie by the fire. It was so nice! Today I spent some quality time in the craft room and am happy to say I was able to replace the Valentine's Day card I showed you in my last post.

Here it is:

So what do you think? It's definitely better than having negative words and phrases all over it! LOL I still can't believe I didn't notice that. What a "duh" moment that was.

The pink paper is Berry Sorbet from PaperTrey Ink. I stamped the heart image using Versamark Ink and the Heart strip stamp from the Around and About stamp set from PaperTrey Ink. The cat stamped image and saying "be my Valentine" are from the Tiny Treats; Valentine's stamp set, also from PaperTrey Ink. I used my Coral Copic and the Air Brush System to add some slight color to the white scallop circle which I cut out using my new Scallop Nestabilities dies. For a final touch I added some Martha Stewart glitter to the heart on the kitty.

Overall I'm very pleased with the outcome. Next I think I'll tackle some Birthday cards and I'm hoping to complete a collage of pet photos for this really cool mat and frame that John and I picked up a couple of years ago while on vacation in the White Mountains. It's been tough as I'm still learning my new Photo program and the pictures don't always come out the way I would like. But I'm determined to figure it out ... all in good time.

Have a wonderful week!

-Janice

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone! Welcome to 2010!

Can you believe it's already 2010? I started this blog a year ago without really knowing where I wanted it to go. I knew that I wanted to show my paper creations by posting them online and I was aiming to post once a week. I really enjoy looking at other peoples creations and I envy those people who can post daily! After looking back over the last year I see that I have actually posted about every other week. That's not to bad considering how my life has changed over the last year.

When I started this blog I was working for a consulting company and traveling to CT three days a week. In April I lost that job due to the economic difficulties many companies were/are facing. I was incredibly lucky to land another full-time, permanent job in July. The unfortunate part of this job is that it requires me to commute approximately 3 hours a day. That doesn't leave much time for crafting during the week. Thus I am only able to get creative on the weekends and have something to post approximately every other week.

This years family holiday party was held the Sunday before Christmas at my sister-in-law's house. Each year we typically give all 7 neice's and nephew's gift cards. Last year we created some hand-made gift card holders and decided to continue the tradition this year. Here is what we came up with:

The template was purchased from PaperTrey Ink in the My Timeless Templates section of their store. You get three different options for $5.oo! How amazing is that? I ended up cutting each of them out by hand and John, my dh, scored, folded and assembled them to move the process along. Isn't he sweet?!

I also made a bunch of bows for the actual gifts we gave the adults. I wasn't able to get many photos and when I cropped the first photo it altered the picture permanently. Ugh! I was able to salvage this one picture:

I was totally in love with this candy-cane striped paper. I used every last scrap of it this year. I'm a little bummed but I'm sure I'll have a new favorite paper next year! I used my Bowdabra to make the bows. I know, it's kind of cheating but it just makes things go so much quicker than making them all free-hand. For this particular bow I purchased the red ribbon from Michael's, it has little white pom-pom's on it, and added the white satin ribbon I found in my stash. I thought it came out really well. My husband kept telling me that our gifts looked professionally wrapped this year! What a nice complement!

If you are a regular reader then you might remember that I was making a calendar for 2010. Well, I worked on it off and on over the last week or two and John helped me bind it last night with the Bind It All. I think it came out really well but it still needs a few more photos. I need to get the month of January photographed and then I'll post it for you to see. I tried to get the photo today and the camera battery died. Figures huh? Well it gives me something to post next week! HAHA! :)

I hope that 2010 is everthing your heart desires!

Until next time,

Janice

Baby Card

Good Evening! I ran into some computer troubles last weekend and was unable to post. Rather than post mid-week I decided to just wait and post this weekend. Then we got busy and I plum forgot!

We spent the weekend enjoying a friend's Baby Shower and a local agricultural fair. There was good food all weekend, I ate way too much! We have so much Kettle Corn I think we will be eating it until Halloween!!

Here is the card I made for the Baby Shower:

The background paper is from Nana's Kids pack, the two solid squares and circle cut out are paper from PaperTrey Ink, and the two blue brads are from Queen & Co Bucket of Boy which I picked up at a local scrapbook store.

When we were on our way to the Fair yesterday we stopped by a scrapbook store that I have been wanting to visit for over a year now. I'm kind of glad we waited because I could have spent a significant amount in there! Honestly they have everything. I got some cool paper and chipboard letters that I am anxious to use for Halloween. Hopefully I can complete this and get some pictures to show you next week.

Enjoy the week, it's getting cold around here.

-Janice

Floral Birthday Card

Good Evening! I can't believe it's Sunday night already. What a crazy weekend this has been. The weather has been extremely hot and humid here in New England lately and our Air Conditioner decided to break down yesterday morning. I'm not sure who is more upset, the dog or my husband! LOL Neither of them like the humidity very much. Although, truth be told, I'm not too happy about it either. ;)

I had some plans to work in the Craft Room this weekend. I needed to create a few cards for upcoming birthdays but when I went in to pull out my paper and decide what to use for supplies I noticed that one of the shelves had collapsed onto some tools! So between having to reorganize my supplies and being incredibly warm I didn't get any cards made this weekend. Not cool.

I do, however, have a card to share with you today. I started this card before we left on vacation and completed it earlier in the week. My niece Ashley celebrated her 19th birthday on Thursday! How exciting for her! Here is the card I made and mailed out to her.

I thought the colors and paper were so feminine. The pattern paper is from Sarapapers, something I found on sale at Michael's. The tag was part of the booklet. There are several coordinating tags. The scalloped paper framing the roses is Sweet Blush from PaperTrey Ink. I couldn't believe how well this color coordinated with the pattern paper. What a lucky break! The sentiment on the tag is from PaperTrey Ink's Birthday Basics. I am so in love with that font!! The strip of ribbon is from my stash.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by today, I hope you enjoyed your visit.

-Janice

A Few New Cards

Goodness, I can't believe how long it's been since I've last posted. Time certainly has a way of moving on, doesn't it? I've been spending a great deal of time revamping my resume and looking for another job but I have also created a few goodies to share with you. So without further ado ...

I created this card when I found out a friend is pregnant. I'm so excited for her! It was kind of a funny story because her husband had to go away on business and she was very concerned about leaving their two dogs home alone day since her husband generally works from home. So I offered to go over once or twice during the day and visit with the dogs, let them, etc. She was so happy that I volunteered! She had hinted that she had some exciting news to share with us but didn't want to go into everything in an email. Well, I kind of figured what she was going to say and then I happen to see her ultrasound pictures on her refrigerator! LOL So I came home and immediately made up this card. I left it next to the dog biscuts to surprise her but apparently I forgot to sign it! What a dope I can be sometimes.

The floral stamp is from a wedding stamp set by Rusty Pickle and the circular sentiment and heart are from PaperTreyInk's Around and About stamp set.


The next card was actually for the same couple. They were kind enough to watch our cats while we went camping over Memorial Day Weekend. Unfortunately I fell into procrastination mode in delivering it but I made it right away! Does that ever count? LOL

The flourishes are from the same Rusty Pickle stamp set as the flower used in the previous card and the sentiment is from PaperTreyInk's Mega Mixed Messages stamp set. I used an A Muse stamp and Memento Desert Sand ink to create the background paper. I noticed when I took the picture that the tan paper wasn't straight when I adhered it to the card base. I guess I'll have to make another one just to prove I can get it right! I hate it when these things happen!

The last card I have to share with you today is a birthday card I made for my mom. She is a big cat lover so I felt sure she would appreciate it.

I just love this layout. It was a sketch from Taylored Expressions. The cat is named Fluffles and the stamp is by Stampendous. It says "I coughed up this gift for you..." having four cats myself I knew I just had to own this little gem!! It's definitely not a stamp you could use for just anyone!! LOL I really like that this card is bright and colorful, not my usual style.

Well that's it for today. I made a couple of birthday cards this weekend but still need to get pictures. I also have a gradution card that I'll share soon. Hopefully it won't be so long between posts!

Thanks for stopping by!

-Janice