Beer Barrel Dwarf Publication

No Coffee today... feeling poorly and having juice instead.

I am finally getting a chance to share the card that was recently published in issue #110 of PaperCrafter magazine. I was so excited when they let me know they wanted to use one of mine in their publication!!! I am still waiting on the issue to arrive here in the States so I can add it to my collection. :)

I made this card for Tyler, our oldest son who graduated last month with a degree in bio-technology. He wanted to go into either the craft beer or winery industry, so I thought it would be fun to use this cutey little dwarf by Mo Manning, one of my ab fab fave artists.

papers are from the Basic Grey Boxer collection, flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, ric rack is by Really Reasonable Ribbon, and vintage buttons & twine are from my stash. liquid applique is added to the top of the tankard for beer foam. the beer label is from one of Tyler's favorites to add a bit of a personal touch. ;)

He actually started working for The Winery at Wolf Creek right after graduation and loves it!

Happiest of Birthdays, Pretty Fairy!

Coffee of the Day - actually, today I'm having a yummy tea - Strawberry, Lavender, Mint Green blend from a wonderful tea shoppe in Ann Arbor, Michigan :)

Hello to everyone! yep, once again I have been missing from my blog. all for good reasons, I assure you. I had even picked up a few goodies to do a birthday blog candy, and then didn't even get around to posting. how sad is that?! ;) I'll try to get that up by the weekend though.

I have been to several protests against pipelines and fracking, so traveling all over Ohio. hubby and I are also delivering water and other supplies to Flint, Michigan every Saturday to try to help the situation there. Even Palmer went along on our last trip! Country dog in the big city! :) of course he was a big hit. He celebrates his fist birthday next week.... oh how the time has flown! When not traveling, I am busy working at Camp. yep, life is lots of fun and filled to the brim!!!

So today I am sharing a card I have made for both the progressive monthly challenge in the Simply Betty Facebook group and for a very special young lady we know. :) I hope she enjoys it as much as we enjoy having her in our lives! :)

The challenge is to use at least one decorative paper, the colors red, black, yellow, and cream, and also add glitter.

I used Prima digital papers and elements from the Doodledux collection, added touches with stickles glitter and the wink of stella pen, included flowers from Michael's, Prima, and Wild Orchid Crafts, vintage buttons, and finished the card with glitter ribbon also found at Michael's. the inside is decorated, too, with elements from the same Prima digital paper collection. I added cream acrylic paint to the card edges.

Thank you so much for stopping by! love to all of you!
Jennifer

Graduation Extravaganza!

Coffee of the Day - Vanilla Macadamia

I promised that I would share photos from all of our sons' graduations, so here I am.... grab a cuppa and sit back. :)

it all started with Ryan graduating from Indiana Wesleyan University. he is now working for The Salvation Army in Marion, Indiana as their Assistant Director. :) Pictures show him with his girlfriend, Elizabeth, as well as his dad.

the next week was Mick graduating from Hocking College. he and his girlfriend, Lauren, are moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan in just a few weeks. She will be starting work at a nature center there, and he will be working for Plant Wise Restoration, a company that manages invasive plant species with native plants to the environment.

lastly we have Tyler who graduated from Kent State University. photos show him with his fiance, Danielle, as well as Mick and Dave. Tyler has started working for The Winery at Wolf Creek after obtaining a degree in bio-technology.

yes, I am a VERY proud mom! they are all in jobs doing exactly what they love with wonderful women who both love & support them. (and vice versa!!!) I couldn't ask for more!!! :) life is good indeed!

Strong, Beautiful, Kind

Coffee of the Day - Bourbon Pecan

Hello everyone!  Sorry I've been away for ever so long! I didn't realize that I haven't posted here on my blog in ages.  I apologize for that. with all 3 of our sons' college graduations, life here was just pretty crazy! :) but all in a VERY  wonderful way!!!

I'll do a post this weekend to share photos with you. I have them on my Facebook page, if you would like to see before then. :) yep, I'm the proud momma bird!

My post for now needs to be fast since we are dog sitting Mick's pup for almost 2 weeks. Brutus and Palmer are begging to head back out to Camp for their daily romp, so I'll come back to add in all of my card details.

I'm scooching in by the skin of my teeth for the Simply Betty monthly progressive challenge.  the theme for this month is to use at least 2 designer papers and add flowers. isn't the image gorgeous?

digital papers are from the Basic Grey Fresh Cut collection, main image & matting die are from Spellbinders, pretty floral dies are by Sizzix, mulberry flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts, and buttons are from my vintage stash.

okie dokie, I am back. the dogs and I  had a grand time playing in the rain out at Camp! we were soaked through to the bone, but had so much fun. :)

the neat little embellishment by the sentiment circle is from Webster's Pages. it has a pretty sparkle irl. I added touches of shimmerz paint to the pearls and buttons on the main image. the seam binding, which I distressed, is from Zipper Stop. crochet trim is from my stash. I think it might have come from Hobby Lobby. it has the prettiest satin finish.

have a most amazing day! love ya!
Jennifer

Challenges:
Double D - flowers galore
Digi Choosday - anything goes
Tuesday Throwdown - anything goes
A Bit More Time to Craft - anything goes
Through the Purple Haze - anything goes

Feathers and Pearls Progressive Challenge

Coffee of the Day - Salted Caramel

Hello again! I bet you are surprised to see me back so soon. :) While I was in my craft room, I decided to get my card finished for the Simply Betty Facebook group's monthly progressive challenge. the deadline is in just a few days, so I'm cutting it close this month. nothing like losing time from computer crashes and illness....

The theme for our challenge is pearls and feathers. we were given this neat roaring 20's image to use.  isn't she pretty?

I decided to go with a bit of a retro feel with my card. I found some neat digital feather paper online that fit with the entire 1920's look. I wanted to paint her hair blue to show her independence and rebellious streak that was so prevalent in women of the era. :)

flowers and leaves are from Wild Orchid Crafts, ribbon & twine are from Really Reasonable Ribbon, crochet trim, vintage button, & tag are from my stash and little pearl accents are by Studio G. the little pearls on the image are painted with shimmerz.

thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have a most amazing week! :)
Jennifer

Fun Blog Collaboration with Debra and Celeste! Science Themed Projects

Winner at House Mouse & Friends

Coffee of the Day - Maple Fudge

Today I am part of a fun collaboration with 2 great ladies, Debra and Celeste! and guess, what? they love coffee, too! :)

One of the things these lovely ladies do is show photos off their coffee cups. Well, today's cup is in honor of our son, Ryan. these next 3 weeks are going to be a whirlwind here in our family. all 3 of our sons are graduating from college!!!  in just a few short days, Ryan graduates from Indiana Wesleyan University, so today I am drinking from this great mug he gave me. I usually drink my veggie juice from it because he absolutely hates vegetables. :) it makes me giggle every time to think of him cringing in horror that I would dare drink my kale and cucumber juice out of his IWU mug! yeah, I am sassy that way! but today it is filled to the top with coffee. Moon Pie would normally be in the photo, but he and Palmer are off playing right now. :)

here is last week's photo of him with my normal coffee cup. you can see there is a wee bit of a size difference in the mugs! ha!

Since I am the guestie of the month, I was allowed to choose the theme. With yesterday being Earth Day as well as the March for Science, I decided to use that as our theme. we are going to "Geek it for the World!" truly, science is all around us and impacts absolutely every single part of our lives. I had high hopes of being part of the March for Science, but a nasty case of pneumonia has had me sidelined for more time than I care to count. thankfully I was able to get my card finished in time to post though. again, thank goodness for science, this time medical science and the medications that have kept me from the hospital!!!

for my card, I decided to use my adorable House Mouse stamps and create a card that focuses on sustainable farming. In the past 9 months or so, we have gone from giving up all beef to eating an almost completely plant based diet. we stay away from all palm oil products as well as soy based items whenever possible. our food choices can make such a difference in helping leave less of a carbon foot print.

Papers are from the Basic Grey Hillside collection, bg die is by Tim Holtz, flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, and seam binding (which I distressed) is from Zipper Stop.  vintage buttons and ticket are from my craft stash.

if you look closely, the bg paper looks a little like the wind turbines you periodically see. as we drive out to visit Ryan in Indiana, we pass a huge wind farm. we always know that he is about 2 hours away at that point. wouldn't it be wonderful to see more and more wind turbines everywhere?

Netflix has some wonderful documentaries on sustainable farming as well as the impact of animals as a food source and their effect on our planet. I recommend "Sustainable", "Forks over Knives", and National Geographic's "Before the Flood" to start.

Thank you so much to Debra and Celeste for inviting me to be a part of their fun collaboration this month! I had a great time making my card! :) please be sure to stop by their blogs to say hello! :)

Challenges:
House Mouse Lovers - Stop and Smell the Flowers or anything goes

Happy Easter!

Coffee of the Day - Moon Pie (I'll drink their coffee until it's gone, but we no longer eat their treats. discovered that they sadly use palm oil in their products. insert sad face here....)

Happy Happy Easter to each and every one of you! well, at least those of you who celebrate the holiday, that is. ;) Happy Sunday to the rest of you. :) may your day be glorious whether you celebrate the holiday or not!!!

I want to share with you a project I made for our son's fiancee's family. I also made one that I gave to our neighbors.

I started with a cardboard cheese box, pained it several shades of green with acrylic paint, added cs grass, and then topped with some fabulous wooden veneer fencing pieces I found at JoAnn's. the fence pieces were distressed with Tim Holtz distress markers. various sizes of Prima flowers dotted with stickles were added to complete the little garden boxes.

This sure does say 'springtime,' doesn't it?! :)

Have a wonderful day! Jennifer

Where I've Been...

Coffee of the Day - none, actually! eegads! out of milk at the house, so I'm drinking Bolthouse Farms Greens.....

Sorry I've been away for such a long time. hubby and I took some time off last week for a fun trip to Boston. we've always wanted to go. let me tell you, for a history buff like me, one week was NOT enough time! ;)

Only saw a small portion of the sites we wanted to see, but LOVED every single moment of it. we took our time. could have rushed and had a chance to visit more, but we really wanted to enjoy the visit.

oh my gosh, are the people there ever so nice!!! yummy food, too. some of the best was to be found in a fabby little pub not far from The Commons. it was the only place we actually went back for a second visit - Emmet's Irish Pub. Willie, the bartender, made the trip all the more enjoyable. :) of course he knew exactly how to pour my Guinness!

one of the highlight's of the trip was getting to see Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren at a speaking engagement. we were privileged to be invited to volunteer for the event. both are quite inspiring.

I hope to get some crafting done this weekend. Easter is right around the corner, and I am not the least bit ready!

we still have lots of snow on the ground. I hope the sun is shining wherever you are! :) enjoy your weekend and be blessed!

The Ides of Trump

Coffee of the Day - Maple Fudge

We live in a democratic society that allows us, at least as of this writing, many freedoms. I believe some of those are in jeopardy and have taken a call of activism recently. If I am truly honest with myself, I have been an activist from the first moment I saw the 'The Crying Indian' commercial from the early 70's and insisted my dad buy me the lunchbox with the recycling symbol on it when it was first released. yep, I go that far back with my hippie ways. ;)



Today marks a unique day that is being called 'The Ides of Trump.' the idea is to flood The White House with post cards letting our current president know of our opposition to his cabinet and policies of hate and destruction. Ideally, everyone is to respectful. of course there will always be people who don't follow the rules. that happens with any event or group.

As important as the environment is to me, as well as human rights, I could not let this day go by without expressing my concerns and opinions. My plan is to have a post card for each day he has been in office. I am using the wonderful new Wonder Woman stamps, too.  :)

Mary Engelbreit has so graciously offered for free 2 lovely post card designs on her website. You can see them in the above photo on the top row, middle.

As one of my post cards reads, "Mr. Trump, You've turned me into an activist." he has actually just caused me to pick up the protest signs and get out onto the streets to speak up for all of the causes that need speaking up for. We must stand together.

Our animals are being killed, our water and food are being poisoned, people are not only being brutalized, but killed as well, our planet is being destroyed for the sake of greed. I can not sit by and watch it go on and not do anything.

sure, they are just post cards. but someone will look at them. perhaps it is the person at the post office. maybe it is one of the aids working in The White House. maybe it is the person who takes out the trash. but I believe in my heart that at least one of these cards will be seen by someone who will see it and think for even one second about what is written on it. and the seed will be planted.

no, this man sitting in The White House does not represent me or my ideas. not that all of them have. but THIS man is quickly destroying everything that keeps our hold on humanity - love and compassion. so I will not sit silent.


editing to add a photo of more cards I am mailing for a total of 62. a mix of these plus some from the picture I posted earlier.

I was very sad to hear that not only has a town near to us put up signs on telephone and electric poles welcoming ICE agents, but signs are also appearing on college campuses listing phone numbers for people to call to report immigrants as their 'white duty.' sorry, but NO. just NO. strengthened my resolve to get more post cards sent out today.

Save the Bees!

Coffee of the Day - Salted Caramel

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm busy crafting this weekend since I'm not yet feeling well enough to get out to any of the rallies and protests going on. it's fun to be covered in ink and glue again, I must admit. :)

Today's card is for the monthly progressive challenge that takes place in the Simply Betty Facebook group. it's always fun to play along in this challenge, and the image is so wonderful every month. This time we were provided with 'Beehive Queen' that you can also find here in the store. We also have a recipe challenge to follow: at least 1 designer paper, at least 1 ribbon, the colors yellow, black, & white, and embossing (either powder or folders).

I have used digital papers from the Basic Grey B Side collection as well as flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts. my Zipper Stop seam binding was distressed with several shades of ink. for the embossing, I used 2 different colors of Frantage powders on the main image. I really love this stuff! :) dies are by Spellbinders and buttons are from my vintage stash. all wings were accented with shimmerz paint.

I found the 'Save the Bees' clip art on the internet. some bee species are actually on the verge of becoming extinct. please limit your use of pesticides in your garden and consider planting more bee (and butterfly!) friendly flowers this spring. dandelions are one of their primary food sources, so think twice before eliminating them from your yard. if you do a bit of research, you will discover just how crucial bees are to our entire food chain and ecosystem. :)

so let's do all we can to SAVE THE BEES!!! :)
who says I can't be an activist even if I'm home sick?! tee hee!

Hello! Have a Lovely Day! Coloring Contest Entry

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice (again!)

Since I am still not feeling well enough to go to any of the rallies and protests scheduled this weekend, I hit the craft room yesterday and participated in a coloring contest going on in the La La Land Facebook group. Participants are asked to use this cutey image, 'Lovely Marcie.'  She only has to be colored, but I went ahead and added her to a card. She is available for a discount for the time of the challenge, which is so nice of the owner! :)

papers are from the Basic Grey Typeset collection, flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, buttons & lace trim are vintage, and dies are by Spellbinders. accents on main image were made with a white gel pen and touches of Frantage embossing powder were also added for some fun sparkle. sentiment was included in the digi set by La La Land.

heading back to the craft room in just a bit for more relaxing therapy. ;) hope all of you have a great weekend! ours has lots of snow in the forecast!!! y'all know how I love my snow! :)

hugs to each of you! Jennifer

Some Major News....

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice

Some of you who follow me on Facebook know that I just recently returned from another trip out to Standing Rock, North Dakota. I actually took part in the evacuation/prayer walk from the Oceti Camp on Wednesday just before the police and other officials invaded.


 You can see me in the bright yellow poncho and red much boots.....but most importantly, listen to the words of Raymond Kingfisher. He speaks such wisdom, and truly from the heart. When we had walked over the bridge that covers Cannonball River, he again thanked everyone and spoke of the peace & dignity with which everyone had left. Everyone at Standing Rock continuously portrayed that peace he spoke of and it resonates with me today.

As I was driving back home to Ohio, I saw construction on a pipeline taking place along the highway of Wisconsin. the pipeline there is going right through farmlands. WHEN that pipeline breaks and leaks, because they ALL do, corn and soybean fields will be infiltrated with oil. this will then leech into the water tables. cattle graze upon that land. crops used for livestock and human consumption are grown upon that land. and it will all be tainted by oil one day. this breaks my heart.

every single time I return from Standing Rock I am made aware of so very many things, but never so strongly as on this trip.

I can not sit idly by and watch our very planet be ruined. I must continue to go to protests and speak out against not only the pipelines, but all of the other injustices that are taking place. we only have one planet. and oh my gosh, we MUST show love and compassion to everyone we meet. this building of walls must not take place.

so I have left all of my last remaining Design Teams to focus on my activism work. crafting will always be important to me, and I'm not giving it up completely, just on a professional level.

I thank all of you who have been so kind and faithful through the years. keep following if you would like. there will be crafty posts a few times a month.

I pray for all of you great peace and love! Jennifer

Thinking of You Birthday Card

Coffee of the Day - English Toffee

Super quick post today as I am on my way out the door to a pipeline protest. Also trying to get this card in the mail for a birthday next week.

Over in the Simply Betty Facebook group there is a monthly progressive challenge. this is the image that was provided this month. isn't she so lovely? we also had a color challenge to use. I decided to create a birthday card for Mick's girlfriend.

papers are from a pad I picked up at Michael's. flowers are from both Michael's and Wild Orchid Crafts. main die and matting one are by Spellbinders while the large flourish is by Sizzix. buttons are from my vintage stash. the sentiment is not from the challenge set, but is from Simply Betty. lace and baker's twine are also stash items. a bit of shimmerz paint accents the main image as does a white gel pen.

the large flourish is cut from a piece of re-purposed plastic packaging.

thanks for stopping by! enjoy your weekend! gotta dash......
Jennifer

Love and Joy Snowman Tag Card for Season's Greetings Challenge

I realize this is a late night posting for those of us here in the States, but over in the other hemisphere, it's early morning on Valentine's Day and the start of the very first challenge at the Season's Greetings Christmas blog! :)

The theme for our new challenge is "Anything Goes with an optional - Love" and of course any kind of Christmas project, too. it's a huge help to get started on those holiday cards and projects early, let me tell you! so I do hope you will join along! :)

for my card, I have used an assortment of stamps from the Unity Stamp Company: snowflakes from "Layers of Life Magical Bliss and Wonder," sentiment from "...a joyous season", and cutey little snowman from "One of a Kind Winter."

papers are from the Basic Grey 25th and Pine collection, snowflake die is by Sizzix, holly flourish die is by Cheery Lynn, buttons and holly sprig are vintage, and everything else came from my stash. little accents to the sentiment, tag, and card base were made with a gold spica pen. isn't the little straw a fun accent?!

thanks so much for stopping by! I do hope you will play along in the challenge with us! :)