A Boy's Birthday Card

Here in New England we have been stuck in a bad weather pattern. It has been raining for about two weeks now! I feel like I live in Ireland or something. I'd like to see some sunshine for more than a few hours at a time. I know from reading other blogs that some people are having tremendous heat. It seems like the weather is crazy everywhere this year! I know I really shouldn't complain about the weather, it's cool here, only reaches 70 degrees on average each day so we haven't had to use the air conditioner yet. This is saving us a bunch of money which is a good thing since I haven't found another job yet. So I guess I just have to keep reminding myself of the silver lining. :)

The company my husband works for had their 'Summer Outing' this past weekend. We spent the day yesterday at a local amusement park. It was really fun! We went on some rides and ate all the great food that you get at those places. I especially like the Fried Dough ... yummmm. We were all thankful that the rain held off for most of the day. See, another silver lining!!

Here is the card I have to share with you this week. I made this for my husband's nephew. I seem to struggle a bit with cards for the 'male' gender. I find that this is common for a bunch of other people too.

I thought the paper was fun and certainly appropriate for either a boy or girl. It does have some glitter on it here and there but I don't think it comes across as being real girly. I stamped the slice of cake in Memento Rich Cocoa and layered it using the Large Oval Nestability. I only own two shapes of Nestabilities; the plain oval and the scalloped oval. I didn't want to use the scalloped as I was afraid it might appear too feminine. The stamp and paper are from Imaginisce. The ribbon is called Colorstiks by Strano Designs and the brads are by Making Memories.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you are enjoying whatever weather is in your area!

-Janice

Fun Birthday Card

If you're still taking the time to check back with me, please know how much I appreciate it! I really need to get back on track with posting messages. I promis to try and get better at it. :)

A few weeks ago I had to mail out a couple of birthday cards. Due to my recent unemployment issues I had fallen behind on making cards. I have saved quite a few templates from 2Sketches4You and decided to use this one to create one card.

The polka dot paper is from American Crafts and the solid colored circles are bazzil scraps. The ribbon was from my stash and is actually a satin ribbon but I turned it over and used the matte side, cool huh? The stamp is from Papertrey's Mega Mixed Messages set.

Hopefully the recipient liked her card!

I have a few other cards to share with you but I'm going to wait a few days and then post again. Thank you for hanging in there with me! :)

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

Mother's Day Cards

I haven't posted for the last few weeks and I'm feeling a bit guilty about it. My goal when I began this blog was to post once a week. That shouldn't be a difficult goal to achieve but sometimes life just seems to get in the way. I'm disappointed to say that I have recently become a victim of the current economy. On April 30th I lost my job after 8 and half years. To say I am disappointed and scared would be a huge understatement. Initially I thought it might be nice to be at home and have more time to create but I seem to have lost my mojo. It's not surprizing I guess given the circumstances.

Anyway I have a couple of items to show today. First up I needed to send a "thank you" card with some money to my aunt. She let me borrow a few dollars and I just didn't feel right not paying her back. Since I know it's not a smart idea to send cash through the mail I thought I would make a small money holder to enclose the cash into.

The card is one I received from a swap on a painting group that I no longer participate in. The paper for the money holder is called Polka Dot Parade and is made by PaperTreyInk.

I also made another holder and sent it to a friend using a previously made card. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture before I mailed it out.

Next I have the two Mother's Day cards that I made for my Mother-In-Law and my own Mother. In order to keep things fairly simple I used the same layout for both of them and just used different colored papers. The Designer Paper is a booklet that my husband picked up from one of the big craft stores. I think it was Michael's but I can't remember for sure. The booklet is titled Flowered "Handmade" Papers & Vellum and is manufactured by Hot Off The Press. The stamp is from Mega Mixed Messages by PaperTreyInk.

Well I think that's it for today. My husband took a vacation day yesterday and we spent some time in Manchester, NH at the Creative Keepsakes Scrapbooking Convention. It was a very nice day and we picked up a couple of new items to play with. Hopefully this will be the push I need to get back into paper crafting and posting once a week.

In the meantime, please wish me well in my search for a new job!

-Janice

No Projects This Week

With the warmer weather arriving in New England I have been spending my free time outside. We have started our garden, already planting some spinach, broccoli and a few herbs. We have completed our Spring clean up and spread the Lime on our yard. This weekend we dug up an area of our yard that has/had been overtaken with weeds. We will complete this process in another area of our yard next weekend and then plant new grass seed. It's very exciting as I have waited all winter for the nicer weather ... and it's finally here! I love being outside and pretty soon it will be time for camping season. YEAH!

I have been trying to stamp but ended up making more of a mess than anything else. I also considered trying out for a Design Team call that Lauren Meader posted but I decided that she has a very agressive schedule and I don't think I'm quite ready for it yet. I will, however keep trying and maybe apply to a Design Team in the future.

Thanks for reading and I'll be back with a paper craft related post soon.

-Janice

Happy Easter

Phew, it's been a busy week around here. I have three cards and two baskets to show you today!

The first card was given to my mom with the yellow basket. The card measures 4"x4". The stamps are all by Studio G and were purchased from the Michael's $1.00 bin. The images were colored with Copic markers in the following colors: G29, R32, R35, R39, Y06 and Y08. The beak of the chick was done with a Red Spica pen. I also double stamped the chick and used foam to make the image "pop".



The second card was given to my sister with the purple basket. This card also measures 4"x4". The image is by JustRite stamps using the 2" round stamp with 15 pt Times New Roman font. I used Copics to color this image as well and added a Clear Spica pen for the water and Martha Stewart Yellow Barite glitter to the center of the flowers.



The third card was given to my in-laws. I can't remember the exact measurements of the card but I think they were 5"x4" and the images were all by Studio G. I colored the images with Copic markers again and used the foam adhesive to "pop" the jelly beans. The buttons were tied with DMC floss, all of which I already had in my stash.



I made the baskets by creating a template first. There were a few versions of the template before I came up with one I liked. Each baskets was made using Bazzil card stock and "Happy Easter" image is from Studio G. I first stamped the sentiment with colored ink and then over-stamped it with Embossing ink and clear embossing powder. I liked the end result and so did my family. The bunnies which filled the basket are proped up on irredescent easter grass and were purchased from a Cracker Barrel Country Store. They play three different tunes when you hold them in your hand. Too cute!



Everyone loved their gifts today! Yeah! I hope you all had a fantastic day as well.

-Janice

Kids Cards

I wasn't able to complete these cards in time to post last week so I decided to just hold off until they were done. The next birthday's on our calendar are for Joshua and Abbey, twins who will be 4 years old this Friday. They are the youngest children that I have to make cards for and subsequently I don't really have any appropriate stamps.

The first card was made using a flower border by Nana's Kids card pack by Die Cuts With A View. The butterfly sticker was a freebie that was included with Papercraft Magazine. The pink cardstock was embossed with D'Vine Swirls and a Cuttlebug. Isn't it cute?

The next card was inspired by a layout from Papercraft Essentials Magazine. The polka dot paper and animal cut outs are from Nana's Kids paper pack by Die Cuts With A View. The inside flaps were edged with Memento Desert Sand ink for some dimension. The Partytime stamp is by Inkadinkadoo and was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black. The writing was done by hand with an Ultra Fine Point Black Sharpie marker. I was pleased with the end result.



I hope the kids enjoy receiving these cards.

Thanks for stopping by!

-Janice