Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Coffee of the Day - Irish Creme, of course! :)

I've been drinking some wonderful Irish teas from the quaint little tea shop up in Ann Arbor, Michigan that we love so dearly. they have an online store and monthly special that we have just become aware of. so happy happy happy to discover this! :) this month's special is all about Irish teas, so of course we ordered some. oh my goodness, are they ever delightful! now if we could only get them to ship their lavender shortbread and macaroons! grins! It's called the Tea Haus if any of you are interested.

I am still battling this terrible migraine. it has been years since I last had one of this magnitude. some days I can't even get myself downstairs to say hello to anyone. I need the dark because any kind of light is just too painful. this one is a doozy.... my high powered migraine medications aren't even touching it. ick. hopefully it goes away soon. this is getting ever so tiresome.

so I do apologize to all of you that I haven't been able to share any craft projects with you. I really want to get to my craft room and create, I really do. hopefully it won't be too much longer.

until then, wishing all of you a very Happy St. Patrick's Day!
love to you,
Jennifer

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Winner at A Bit More Time to Craft
Best Technique Winner at Champion of Champions Worldwide Challenge

Coffee of the Day - Irish Creme

I would like to say Happy St. Patrick's Day to each of you! I hope you have your green on today. :) if not, grab a smidgen of green ribbon you picked up in the Really Reasonable Ribbon store, pin it to your lapel, and you'll be good to go!

To get you in the mood for festivities later in the day, I'm sharing with you an altered project I made for one of my sons. He saw it while it was a 'work in progress' in my craft room, so  he actually thinks it was made for his brother. what a sneaky mom I can be when I need to be! grins!

I started with a wooden shamrock wall hanging I found on the JoAnn's website. I did quite a bit of work on it to get it ready to alter. I sanded off all of the glitter and added many coats of paint of different shades of green with some browns in between.

papers are from the Authentique Charmed collection, with a ripped piece of a paper bag thrown in for good measure! felt shamrock was from Michael's a few years ago, little applique is vintage as are the buttons, and flair buttons were found at the dollar store. fun vintage dog image is from an Etsy store called Vintage by Me. I actually burned the edges before adding it to the collage. beer stein die is from Find It Media.

plain cotton blend ribbon was tied and added to the shamrock face, green burlap string was tied in a bow around the stem, and 5/8" emerald green gingham plaid ribbon is used for the hanger. I did add some kraft ink to the gingham to age it a bit.

Thank you so much for stopping by today! have fun celebrating!

Challenges:
Champion of Champions - anything goes if a previous winner
Craft Rocket - anything goes
Crafty Ribbons - green with ribbon
A Bit More Time To Craft - anything goes
Craft for the Craic - St. Patrick's Day

A Leprechaun's Pot of Gold

Coffee of the Day - Vanilla Macadamia Nut

Sharing another St. Patrick's Day card with all of you, this one with an image from Aurora Wings. He is the 'Whimsical Leprechaun with Shamrock' and always makes me smile. :)

I added a felt shamrock from Michael's that was inked a bit to help tone down the brightness of the green, once again the paper is from the Authentique Charmed collection, both ribbons are the lime juice grosgrain from RRR with the bow being tied with the olive burlap string. a few sequins complete the card. little touches with distress stickles, a white gel pen, and the wink of stella glitter pen to the main image.

Tomorrow is a BIG day for posts on my blog, so be sure to stop back by! see you then! :)

Challenges:
Cr8tive Hands Friends - anything goes
City Crafter - make it green
Going Grey with Scrap Creations - go green
Outlawz Color Ch - color challenge plus twist (green, orange, & black plus felt)
Aurora Wings - fave season (I actually like all but summer. spring is wonderful with things blooming and turning GREEN again. grins!)
Dragonfly Journeys - go green
Choux Choux Paper Art - St. Patrick's Day linky party

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 Fun Little Shamrock Shaped Card

Coffee of the Day - Spiced Pecan

So how is your weekend going so far? is it sunshiney where you are? cold? warm? we have bits of snow on the ground, but not too much. it's been a fairly mild winter so far.

Today I am going to share with you a card I made using the freebie image given out over at Sandra Caldwell's Facebook page as part 3 of the Facebook challenge. You can also find the image in her Etsy store here.

The shamrock card template comes from The Cutting Cafe. I will warn you now that it is small. I had to print the digi out super teeny tiny in order to get it to fit. but it sure is cute! :)

paper is from the Authentique Charmed collection. I intentionally offset the pale green piece. little doily is from Etsy and pale green rose is from Wild Orchid Crafts.  pretty ribbons can be found at Really Reasonable Ribbons. for a bonus, the light green grosgrain is even on sale right now! gotta love sale stuff. ;)

of course every St. Patrick's Day card needs it's spot of gold, so I added some fun sequins.
enjoy your day! I really appreciate you stopping by! see you tomorrow. :)

Challenges:
Choux Choux Paper Art - St. Patrick's Day or green
Come and Get It - monochrome
Great Impressions - Let's Celebrate (St. Patrick's Day)
Hiding in My Craft Room - any holiday (St. Patrick's Day)
Fussy and Fancy - shabby and fun bingo (cute image, ribbons or bows, shaped card, anything goes - sequins)
Creative Knockouts - go green
DL Art Thankful Thurs - frogs and/or green (do leapin' ladybugs count?! grins!)
Star Stampz - monochromatic

So Lucky Lion

Coffee of the Day - Spiced Pecan

Happy Monday to all of you! it means so much to me that you have decided to come by to my itty bitty blog for a cuppa today. let me grab you a fresh cup of coffee while you have a looksie at my latest make. :)

There's going to be some fun new images in Sandra Caldwell's Etsy store later today. my card today features one of them, 'Lucky Lion #278.' he just makes me smile so! and he was certainly loads of fun to watercolor! :)

papers are from the Authentique Charmed collection, sentiment is by Create with TLC, fabby dotted organza ribbon is from Really Reasonable Ribbon, flowers are all from Wild Orchid Crafts, and buttons & shamrock applique are from my vintage stash. card base was sprayed with olive glimmer mist.

join us over in Sandra's Facebook group, too. there's a progressive challenge going on.

enjoy your Monday! :)

Challenges:
613 Avenue Create - anything goes with optional color challenge (C - orange, yellow, green)
Color Your World - anything goes
L'il Patch of Crafty Friends - anything goes
Ribbon Girls - use any image and ribbon
Crafting From the Heart - anything goes
Catch the Bug - bingo: designer paper, friendship, tag
Alphabet Ch - 'Z' is for zoo animals
Creative Fingers - anything goes
Jo's Scrap Shack - anything goes
Polkadoodles - lucky green

A Wee Irish Recipe and Fun RRR Blog Hop!

Featured Photo at The Outlawz

Coffee of the Day - Irish Creme, of course!

Welcome to my stop on the Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog Hop! everyone is featuring projects using this month's ribbons from the new monthly club kit. as a lover of all things green, this collection really made my heart go pitter pat! ;)

if you are following along on the hop, you should have come here by way of GINNY's amazing blog. should you ever lose your way, you can always head back over to the RRR blog for the complete list. plus you'll want to stop there at the end to have a chance to win your own ribbon club kit! :)

when the photo of the new ribbons for this month were posted, I made the comment to the rest of the Design Team that the pic made me hungry for the white cheddar and bacon scones that I fix for my family every St. Patrick's Day. the other ladies commented how yummy the scones sounded. I must say that they really are VERY tasty! I promised to share the recipe, so decided it would be fun to create a recipe card as my contribution to the blog hop.

I'm showing both the front of the card and the inside, which is where the recipe is posted. not sure yet just who is going to receive this goody in the mail. maybe YOU?!?! :)

EDIT!!!!
there is a typo in the recipe - in the 2nd paragraph 2nd sentence, it should read that the large rounds should be about 1 inch thick, NOT 2 inches thick. sorry about that.

the adorable little bingo images come from the St. Patrick's Bingo Collage digital file found at Polly's Paper Studio. you might remember that I had made 2 cards with this collection earlier.

papers are from the Authentique Treasure collection, flowers are by Wild Orchid Crafts - chrysanthemums, lilies, and open roses, and a gold spiral stamen. some frantage embossing powder was added to the cards for a bit of shabby fun. vintage buttons, gold doilies, and a retro shamrock applique complete the project.

thanks so much for stopping by! now head over to AMBER's blog for something spectacular to inspire you! :) be sure you leave her a comment and tell her hello!

Challenges:
Outlawz Tues Color - green + 2 others and twist (yellow, brown, and white from photo. twist is flowers from pic)
L'il Patch of Crafty Friends - anything goes
Scrappy Hands - bingo elements
Ribbon Girls - anything goes card with ribbon
Polkadoodles - Lucky Green
Crafty Girls Creations - anything goes
Southern Girls - anything goes

Lucky Me, Knowing YOU! RRR Challenge Time!

Coffee of the Day - Irish Creme

Hello all of my fellow ribbon lovers! It's time for a new challenge over at the Really Reasonable Ribbon blog today, and we have some exciting news to share!  not only do you have a chance to win ribbons from the RRR store, but some lucky person has a chance to win some beautiful digital collage sheets from Polly's Paper Studio, our sponsor for this challenge. :)

our theme for this fortnight is 'Anything Goes with ribbon or trims,' so have fun creating! I can't wait to see what you make! please be sure to stop by the RRR blog to see what some of my teamies have come up with. they really do make the most gorgeous things! :)

for my cards today, I have combined images from the St. Patrick's Bingo Collage Cards with ribbons from the new monthly club kit. green is my fave color, so this pack really made me swoon! :) btw - if you ever have questions about individual ribbons in the kit, please don't hesitate to ask me or any of the other DT members. we will always do what we can to help you out.

I matted each of the little cards and sprayed them with my SU! ink squirty tool. paper is from the Authentique Charmed collection. card bases are sprayed with glimmer mist for that extra bit of shine. you know how much I love the dies in the Tim Holtz Handwritten series. the 'lucky' seemed perfect to use for a St. Patrick's Day theme! the words were covered in rock candy distress stickles.

the white of the green gingham plaid was a bit too stark, so I ran the ribbon across my crumb cake ink pad to distress. it took the ink perfectly and gave it the vintage look I wanted. gold doilies, tags, and vintage buttons make the ideal embellishments. of course flowers were needed, so a few mulberry chrysanthemums, lillies, and open roses in shades of green add the finishing touches.

thank you so much for stopping by! I do hope you will play along in our new challenge! and I hope you will also stop by Polly's Paper Studio to see her gorgeous store! :)

enjoy your weekend!

Challenges:
TTCRD - anything goes
Eureka - add some sparkle (stickles, glimmer mist, gold doily)
DRS Designs - lucky charms
Morgan's Art World - add flowers

St. Patty's Bear with Blessing

Coffee of the Day - White Chocolate Coconut

I managed to make a card today, using the fun cupcakes at Cupcake Inspirations Challenges as my inspiration. I had saved this free Irish blessing from Michelle Perkett last week, and knew it would be perfect to go with this cute Irish bear from Sassy Cheryl. all the makings for a perfect St. Patrick's card! :)

Papers are Basic Grey Origins, flowers are Prima, buttons are vintage as is lace. the bear's tie and clover centers are dotted with distress stickles in peeled paint, a lovely shade of green. I painted the edges of the card this time, rather than using craft ink like I usually do. the edges of the blessing were carefully burned.

Challenges:
Sassy Cheryl - flowers everywhere
Party Time Tuesdays - die cuts
QKR Stampede - 3 of something (3 designer papers & 3 buttons)
Celebrate the Occasion - Luck of the Irish
Clear it Out - St. Patrick's Day stash (papers and flowers are OLD! grins!)
Going Grey with Scrap Creations - go green
Twisted Tuesday - springlike and green
Digi Darla's - green
Stamp and Create - fur or feathers
Great Impressions - going green
One Stitch at a Time - green
Basic Grey - anything goes with Basic Grey
Hiding in my Craft Room - green
Digi Haven - green
Broken Box Stock - St. Patrick's Day
Card Makin' Mamas - green