Raising an Irish Mug to Ya

Coffee of the Day - Maple Fudge

for the next few days, I'll be sharing a few St. Patrick's Day cards I've made to send off to my sons away at school. We love St. Patty's Day here at our house! :)

Today's card uses an image from MelJen's, although she no longer sells her images anywhere. it's called "Irish Brew." the little strip of torn paper & banner are from the Authentique Charmed collection. can you tell how much I have loved using papers from that collection this season? it really is wonderful if you can get your hands on any before it sells out.

the other day when I was making my Irish Coffee card, I knew I was going to need those cutey little shamrocks. but I am a paper hoarder when it comes to the card stock from Paper Temptress. I don't have that much, so I use it very sparingly. I came up with the idea to put the Memory Box die across the bottom of the Olive BASIS card so it created a little cut out. this way I was able to get the die cuts I needed for the other card, but also get a fun effect on this card! cool! :) I highlighted the shamrocks with the same craft ink I used for the edges.

card base was also sprayed with olive glimmer mist. as you can see, someone in the family made the sacrifice to drink a Guinness so I could use the label and bottle cap here on the card. ;) pretty lime juice grosgrain ribbon from RRR was added to the label along with a vintage button tied with olive burlap string.

this was my first time using liquid applique, and I confess mine is fairly old. it was fun, so I'll definitely try it again! sure adds a lot to the foam on the beer stein! :)

enjoy your day and I'll see you back here again tomorrow!

Challenges:
Outlawz Twisted Thurs - add green
Shopping Our Stash - oh, me lucky charms (liquid applique is VERY old!)
Get Creative - St. Patrick's Day
Crafty Cardmakers - go green
Incy Wincy - shades of green
Glitter 'n Sparkle - use some green
Pile it On - green plus 2 other colors (gold and light blue for main image bg)
Quirky Crafts - masculine with ribbon or twine (I have both)
Choux Choux Paper Art - St. Patrick's Day linky party
Hiding in My Craft Room - super scraps (both pieces of designer paper are scraps)

Irish Coffee for the Day

Coffee of the Day - Irish Creme

It's another lovely Saturday, and I'm here to share a St. Patrick's Day card with all of you for my Paper Temptress post.

I started with a base of BASIS olive cs, inking the edges. being me, you have come to expect that SOMEWHERE I am going to use the Desert Storm Kraft cs, aren't you?! c'mon..... you know it wouldn't be the same if I posted a card without it! ;) so I made a fun banner using my fave kraft, adding little shamrocks cut with a Memory Box die from the same olive cs as the base.

 when it came time to add some ribbon, I was stumped because I didn't have any green from the Paper Temptress store. hmmmmm..... what to do? the 5/8" rainbow opulence ribbon to the rescue! I cut a snippet that was in the orange/yellow/green range, and it was perfect! :) you  never know what will happen when you need to improvise!

papers are from the Authentique Charmed collection, sentiment is by Create with TLC, and the Irish coffee cup image is by Jennifer Nilsson/Doodle Garden, although she no longer sells her digis. flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts and buttons are from my vintage stash. the froth on the coffee was covered in rock candy stickles, and I forget every time that it causes the inks to run. so please forgive the smoodges....

 Have a great weekend! :)  Jennifer

Challenges:
Outlawz Greeting - add a little green
Brown Sugar - green & gold
Pattie's Creations - anything goes with green

A Winged Messenger on Kraft

Coffee of the Day - Blueberry Cinnamon

Happy Saturday! :)

Well surprise surprise, I am here to share another card made with my favorite product in the Paper Temptress store, the Desert Storm Kraft card stock. I really truly love this stuff! almost all of the cards I make have a kraft card stock base, as you know if you come around here very often. it's the perfect base for any color combo. I highly recommend you give it a try in lieu of white or black sometime.

For today's card I embossed my cs with the Sizzix Tropical Paisley folder. The Desert Storm embosses so nicely! :) papers are from the Basic Grey Grand Bazaar collection, purple nite seam binding is from Really Reasonable Ribbon, flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts. a little banner was punched from the brown Basis cs  with a SU! punch for a bit of extra fun. :)

the image is from Scrapper's Delight and was part of a fun Facebook challenge they had a few weeks ago. I used a wink of stella clear glitter pen on the wings.

both dies are by Spellbinders.

 Hope you are able to get some craft time in at some point this weekend.

Challenges:
Outlawz Paper a la Mode - anything goes
Cr8tive Hands Friends - use a digi
Simply Papercraft - anything goes
The Stamping Boutique - ribbon or lace
Crafty Gals Corner - anything goes
Scrapper's Delight - anything goes

XOXO Puppy Love

It's almost Valentine's Day. are you ready with a sweet card for the loves in your life?

The card I'm sharing with all of you today was mailed off to one of my sons. Last year he rescued a wonderful dog from the pound, so it seems that almost every card I make for him has a dog on it. ;) but gosh, those 2 are inseparable! since it was going in the mail, I tried to keep embellishments to a minimum, which you know is fairly hard for me to do!  

I started with a base of Paper Temptress Spirit Red Feltweave cs and distressed the edges with several shades of inks, one being Prima chalk ink, which I really love to use.

puppy image is from Dustin Pike and is accented with stickles and crystal effects, decorative papers are part of the Gnome Sweet Gnome collection, and embellishments include vintage buttons, wood veneer piece, and dog bone clip. I tied some of the fabby red twine around the card for a spot of color.  finally, a little banner punched from Desert Storm Kraft cs draws attention to the stamped sentiment. stamp is by My Favorite Things.

thanks for stopping by!

Challenges:
Crafty Calendar - Love is in the Air
Outlawz Festive Friday - Valentine's Day
One Stitch at a Time - Love is in the Air
Crafting with Friends - anything goes
Creative Fingers - anything goes
Pattie's Creations - Love is in the Air
Simply Create Too - Love/Valentine
The Stamping Boutique - I Love You
Craft Rocket - Valentine/Love
Star Stampz - All About Love
If You Give a Crafter a Cookie - photo inspiration

A Different Kind of Cupid for Valentine's Day

Coffee of the Day - Bourbon Pecan

When we think of Cupid we often think of the little nearly naked baby angel flittering through the air. but when I came across this wonderful digital image of a young boy dressed in a vintage style as Cupid, I knew I had to have him! in fact, hubby even stopped what he was doing when he saw the card on my computer to comment about how much he liked the vintage look.

and thanks to the Paper Temptress store, you can get the papers to make a card for YOUR sweetie, too! :) I started with a base of spirit red feltweave cs. a little banner was punched from black Basis cs and then a sentiment generated from my label maker added over the top. I tied a ribbon of the poppy red splitz ribbon to a fun red & white paper clip. this ribbon is cool because it is both satin and grosgrain all on one ribbon. the color was a little too bright orangey-red for my papers, so I dyed it to match by just adding some ink. super easy! :)

Boy Cupid image is by A Day for Daisies, papers are from the Basic Grey Bittersweet collection, die is Spellbinders, and buttons are vintage. I love how the one even has a bit of fabric still attached to it. :) I added some faux stitching to the decorative paper panels. paper clip is by K & Co., I believe.

I gave the little fella some cool stripes to his pants and painted his wings with my wink of stell pen. the hearts on his bow and hat were painted with shimmerz.

so glad you stopped by today! hello to my newest followers, too! :)

Challenges:
ADFD - all my love
Brown Sugar - anything goes
Crafting with Friends - anything goes
Polkadoodles - love and romance
Wags 'n Whiskers - with love
CRAFT - love/Valentine/Anniversary
DL Art - Valentine
Outlawz Twisted Thurs - anything goes
Whimsy - with love
Tuesday Throwdown - anything goes

Miss U, Paris

Coffee of the Day - Spiced Pecan

There is no doubt in anyone's mind that my most fave item in the Paper Temptress store is the Desert Storm Kraft cs. I use it ALL the time! not only does it make the perfect card base, but today I'm showing you how you can use it for your digi images, too!

I am an oddball and watercolor my digis. I use stamping inks and watercolor brushes, so finding a cs that can take the inks well is not always easy. the Desert Storm Kraft is so fun for my needs. :) regular watercolor paper does not always go through MY printer with ease, plus I don't always want that particular look. sometimes it's just fun to mix things up every once in a while! you can see here how neat the watercoloring looks on the kraft cs.

 PT Black Basis cs was used for the Eiffel Tower die cut and itty bitty banner. a little snippet of 1/8" red & white polka dot ribbon & black ric rac were stapled to a denim belt loop in the upper left corner.

papers are from the Basic Grey Adrift collection, flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts, buttons are vintage, and sentiment stamp & Eiffel Tower die are by MFT. image is by Sandra Caldwell.

Thanks so much for stopping by! :)

Challenges:
Brown Sugar - movies madness (Midnight in Paris - I LOVE this movie!!!)
Simply Papercraft - anything goes
Crafting With an Attitude - anything goes
Crafty Girls Creations - anything goes
Inspiration Destination - anything goes
WAW - anything goes

Quick & Easy Thank You Card Set

Coffee of the Day - Maple Fudge

Hello, Everyone!

I hope your new year is off to a roaring start so far! how are those resolutions going? broken any of them yet? one or two? just a few? maybe all of them! grins!

I needed to make quite a few thank you notes, but I am a slow crafter since I spend so much time adding bits and bobs to each card. I decided it was time to just throw caution to the wind and try for a 30 minute challenge! pretty bold, don't ya think?!

 

 
I grabbed a few sheets of Paper Temptress Brown Bag Kraft cs, cut & scored to basic size for mailing, and then did some very simple layered stamping, using stamps by My Favorite Things. still needed a bit of 'zing,' but I was really wanting to keep the cards flat for mailing, so I grabbed my handy dandy glimmer mist. voila! just a few sprays added the exact amount of shine the cards needed while still allowing me to mail them with only 1 stamp.

I felt pretty happy and actually accomplished the challenge! wooo hooooo! granted, they aren't my usual style, but they get the job done. so I challenge each of you to step outside of your comfort zone and try something different. Paper Temptress has all of the card stock to help you with your projects, whatever style you are trying to make!

Thanks for stopping by! :)

A Big Snowman Thank You

Winner at Paper Sweeties

Coffee of the Day - Dulche de Leche

Today I am honored to be the Guest Designer over at My Sheri Crafts! thank you so much for having me! :) the theme for the new challenge is "Let's Build a Snowman."

I am always in need of thank you cards, but most especially at this time of year. I thought it would be fun to incorporate a winter theme with my thanks, and it's always fun to create a shaped card!

I started with a base of Paper Temptress  Desert Storm Kraft cs and cut out my Shape EZ snowflake template. other shapes were cut from Basic Grey Aspen Frost paper. edges were covered with either Prima chalk ink or white acrylic paint and stickles. the white pure elegance organza ribbon ties such pretty bows, and you can see how the iridescent stripes catch the light! just gorgeous!  the absolutely precious red satin with white polka dot 1/8" ribbon ties a few little twigs to the bow, mimicking the snow angel's arms stretched ever so wide. :)

cutey snowman angel image is by Sassy Cheryl, sentiment is from Create with TLC, flowers are all from Wild Orchid Crafts, and cute little dew drops are from Double Click Skittles. I just received them in the mail as part of a prize package I had won. couldn't wait to put them to use! :) stickles on main image for snow and wink of stella pen on wings for some sparkle. he sits on a ticket and is surrounded by mini doilies from Etsy.

whew.... lots going on, but it turned out so nice, I think. :) perfect way to say thank you to someone for their kindness!

Challenges:
Double Click Skittles - something new (my skittles and new stamps from them!)
Di's Digi Designs - new to you (skittles and stamps on sentiment piece)
Allsorts - what's new (skittles and stamps on sentiment piece)
Card Mania - winter fun
Cute Card Thurs - anything goes
Pile it On - anything Christmas/Winter
Crafty Calendar - something new (skittles and stamps on sentiment piece)
Bastel-traum - winter
World Wide Open DT Ch - anything goes
Paper Sweeties - photo inspiration
As You Like It - anything goes
Star Stampz - Winter Wonderland
WAW - anything encouraging goes
Crafty Boots - snow and sparkle
Eureka - snowman or snowflakes

Merry & Bright

Coffee of the Day - Butterscotch

Happy Saturday to all of you!

It's the last weekend before Christmas.... are you ready? almost? not quite? not even close?
when hubby and I first met back in college, he notoriously saved ALL of his Christmas shopping for Christmas Eve. it was a tradition for the kids in his family. drove me absolute bonkers, but I do confess to the rush of trying to find the perfect gift in what was left in the stores before they closed.... thank goodness we are waaaaaaaaaay past those days now. ;)

 

 I needed a special card to send out to my MIL with her gifts, so of course I turned to Paper Temptress card stocks to get me started. my card base is Desert Storm Kraft (as most of my cards are...). She has a special fondness for cats, so this adorable image from Mo's Digital Pencil was perfect for her! :)  I added some stickles to their Santa hats.

decorative papers from the Basic Grey Aspen Frost collection, vintage buttons, and a doily sprayed with glimmer mist were added. Tim Holtz holiday script dies were used to cut words from olive Basis cs. I so love this color! ribbon scraps were stapled to the upper right corner and then jingle bells were tied to a bow made from 1/8" red satin ribbon with white polka dots. little rose is by Wild Orchid Crafts.

I hope you have a fabulous weekend! hugs to you all! :)
Jennifer

p.s. some of you have asked for my hot cocoa mix recipe. I'll post it later this weekend.

Challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge - anything Christmas goes
Di's Digi Designs - anything Christmas
Mo's Digital Ch - traditional or non-traditional Christmas with an image by Mo (guess it's more traditional)
Little Claire's - special Christmas card (for MIL)
Sweet Stampin' - Merry Christmas
QKR - Christmas
Cardz 4 Galz - Christmas
Crafty Ribbons - favorite thing at Christmas: singing Christmas carols and being with the ones I love :)
Little Miss Muffet - holiday cheer
MAWTT - to a special person at Christmas
Creative Moments - anything goes/traditional Christmas
Inspiration Destination - anything goes
Paper Shelter - anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wed Ch - die crazy (Tim Holtz and Spellbinders dies)
WAW - anything encouraging goes
Kraftin' Kimmie Wonderful Wed - anything goes

Merry Christmas with Dies and Paper Temptress

Coffee of the Day - Spiced Pecan

Are you as behind on making your Christmas cards as I am? Paper Temptress makes it easy to use the dies in your stash for quick to make Christmas cards.

thank goodness it's easy to pull out a few dies, some great card stock from the PT store, a handfull of embellies, and complete a card in less time than you can finish singing all the verses from "The 12 Days of Christmas"!

for my card I used Red Basis card stock for the base and olive Basis for the trees.  the 'Merry Christmas' was cut twice with Cryogen White Iridescent. the 2 pieces were then glued together for extra thickness. 1/4" red grosgrain ribbon was tied into a bow around the bottom of the card.

paper is from the Basic Grey Evergreen collection, flowers and berry sprays are by Wild Orchid Crafts, wooden veneer snowflakes are from Studio Calico, and buttons are from my vintage stash. the beautiful dies are by Sue Wilson and Creative Expressions. I was blessed to win a wonderful selection of these dies a bit ago. :)

and I simply must do a quick shout out to our youngest son, Ryan. hubby and I did a quickie trip to Indiana on Sunday to surprise Ry at his church. it was his first time to preach, and we knew that we couldn't miss it.  a few tears, of course, but most importantly, lots and lots of laughter and JOY! God truly used this amazing young man to spread His message! I am so very proud! :)

thanks so much for stopping by! :)

Challenges:
Eclectic Ellapu - use more than 1 die
Robyn's Fetish - add a Christmas die cut
That Craft Place - Christmas
Allsorts - golden days (doily)
Creatalicious - something old (flair, buttons, doily, wood veneer snowflakes), something new (dies)
Southern Ridge Trading Co - Christmas words
Through the Purple Haze - Christmas
Choux Choux Paper Art - Visions of Sugar Plums Linky Party

New Design Team Announcement! :)

Coffee of the Day - Blueberry Cobbler

Hello everyone! just a quick post today to announce that I am now a member of the Design Team over at Crafts Galore Encore Challenges! my position takes effect at the start of the new year, so you'll see me on their blog then.

but a new challenge has started NOW if you want to play along. :) it's an Anything Goes theme, so that's always a fun one to play along with!

I'm always so very thankful for a team that wants to take a chance on me and my crazy, different crafting style. so I am very grateful to the folks at Crafts Galore Encore to reaching out to me!

a big thank you to my other teams at Really Reasonable Ribbon and Paper Temptress, too! :)

and a HUGE thank you to each one of you who leave such wonderful comments that truly make my heart soar! have a beautiful day! :)

A Fun Thanksgiving Gift

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice

 Wooo Hooo! It's the weekend! So what crafty plans do YOU have?

 I want to show you a fun little Thanksgiving gift I plan to give to our pastor at church tomorrow. something quick and easy and sure to please because it's food! grins!

Last night I made several loaves of banana nut bread. it's a great recipe because there is no sugar added, but also none of the sugar substitutes either - just all natural ingredients. it's so yummy that it doesn't last long around my house. I thought it would make a special treat for our pastor and his wife as a way of saying thank you for all that they do for our church community throughout the year.

the white jute twine was the perfect thing to wrap around the loaf for a bit of decoration. easy peasy to make a fun bow with, too! as I've said before, if this twine ever goes out of stock in the Paper Temptress store, you can be sure I had something to do with it! tee hee!  I added some sticks, feathers, and a leaf to the bow for a touch of autumn.

 it was fun to create a little card to go along with the bread. I used the Desert Storm Kraft cs as a base for the leaf template by Shape EZ. it was lightly embossed, edges were inked, and then distress stickles were added for a touch of sparkle.  a cute turkey digi image from QKR Stampede was added along with vintage button, sticks from the yard, little rose from Wild Orchid Crafts, and 1/8" wine satin ribbon with gold gold edges made into a fluffy bow. All set for gift giving! :)

thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you have a fabulous weekend! :)

Challenges:
Eureka - anything goes
WAW - anything encouraging goes
Brown Sugar - anything goes
Jo's Scrap Shack - gratitude
Quick Quotes - things with wings
As You Like It - fave season and why: I LOVE the Fall with the changing leaves, pumpkins, cooler temps from the awful heat of summer, football season, World Series, Thanksgiving which is my fave holiday, the great foods, gosh, I think I could go on for pages! :)
Creative Knockouts - no square cards
Pile it On - any holiday/celebration (Thanksgiving/thank you)
DL Art - Thanksgiving/thank you
DRS Designs - color inspiration
Double Click - Thanksgiving/thank you
TTCRD - anything goes