Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Sending Love

Hey everyone - I'm blogging over at a2z Scrapbooking today!

Those who know me, or have at least been reading the blog for a while, know that this time of year I start getting a little down (I blogged about it...wow, 2 years ago now...on this post if you're curious as to why). This year, however, I'm trying to not go down that road; so to my family and friends, those whom I can hug in person and those I can only hug via emoticon, this card is for you:


Thank you all for always sharing your love with me, and I'm more than happy to send love back your way. May you all have a safe and happy new year - 2015 is going to be great!

Happy Crafting!

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Crafty Friends...

Happy almost Christmas everyone!

A few things of note:

The 12 Days of Cards has stalled out at day 5. I've learned that video editing can be much, much more time consuming than one thinks (and bravo to everyone that does it on a regular basis!) thus squashing my plan of "oh, I'll just film, edit, and type in one night!" Hah. It's a minimum 2 day job.

  • There will be more videos. I'm just throwing in the towel for this series this year, not forever and ever. 
  • Part of my plan for 2015 is to get a good posting schedule going for myself. With (3) design teams to keep up with is it any wonder a planner is on my Christmas list? ;)
Speaking of those Design Teams:
  • There's still time to enter the Watercolor Challenge over at a2z Scrapbooking. Be sure to use a Hero Arts product to qualify. If you don't have any, feel free to sneak an order in and use coupon code JENNIFER15 to take 15% off your $25 purchase. Consider it Christmas shopping for yourself. ;)
  • There's still time to enter the Anything Goes Challenge over at So Suzy Stamps as well! Be sure to use a So Suzy Stamp product to qualify; with all the lovely (and snarky) stamps she has, there's sure to be something that speaks to you. And may I just say, wait until you see the January release...
  • Over at Mountain Plains Crafters, not only are we doing a just-for-fun challenge featuring glitter today on the blog, but we have a fantastic post coming up on January 4th featuring the new adornit line!
Speaking of glittery goodness, we made the remark at MPC the other day that glitter is stronger than blood, sparking MariLynn to challenge us to break out the glitter and craft it up! I grabbed one of those watercolor pieces I had stashed, added the sentiment with some gold glitter embossing powder, then made a striped background with some gold washi tape.



Be sure to head over and see what everyone else created!

Happy Crafting!

Thursday, December 18, 2014

So Suzy Stamps: Decorating the Tree and Giveaway Winner!

Hello there everyone! I'm blogging about this wonderful Christmas card over at So Suzy Stamps today, so be sure to go check it out:


For those waiting on the edge of your seats for the rest of the 12 Days of Cards series - it's coming! Promise! Video editing is kicking my butt, so everything is taking much longer than I anticipated. Hang in there though, I promise it will be worth it!

Now, for those of you who joined me for the Holiday Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, I have a winner to announce!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Yay Char - you have an email headed your way! Thank you all so, so much for stopping by, visiting, and following me all over the interwebs...LOL Each comment you left made me smile and glad that I keep on crafting.

Happy Crafting!

Friday, December 12, 2014

The 12 Days of Cards - Day 5

Welcome back for Day 5 of the 12 Days of Cards series! Let me just say that a lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into editing this video as it was not cooperative at all...the card, however, is just adorable. Because PENGUINS!


Yeah, stinkin' cute if I do say so myself. Now everyone better watch the video and like it so I didn't waste 2 hours of my life for nothing. And no, it should not have taken that long. I really hope Santa is bringing me a video camera!



Once everything was dried it looked even cuter. I love how the Enamel Accents turned out! I did realize that the steam from the coffee cup doesn't get cut, so I drew some back in with a black Zig marker.


Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you know when Day 6 is up, and don't forget to stop by my Holiday Coffee Lovers Blog Hop posts for a chance to win some blog candy!

Supply List:
Lawn Fawn Love You a Latte stamps
Mama Elephant Arctic Penguins stamps
Mama Elephant Arctic Penguins Creative Cuts
Hero Arts White Embossing Powder
Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Paper
Wink of Stella Pen
(remember, when shopping at a2z Scrapbooking use code JENNIFER15 for 15% off your purchase of $25 or more!)
Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue
Ranger Enamel Accents
Versamark Ink
American Crafts Galaxy White Marker
Spectrum Noir Markers
Core'dinations Glitter Paper
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Scor-Pal Scoreboard
3M Scotch Foam Tape (the best!)

Happy Crafting!

A Treat for You

Happy Friday everyone! I'm back to sneak in one more card for the Holiday Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, and it's one that would work for any time of year:


Are you loving it? Because I love it. And now for the part that will have me committed; I stamped the plaid background myself. Yup, created it with my own two, inky hands. It's one of the background builder sets from Papertrey Ink and each color is a different stamp from the set. I had so much fun creating it!


The little glassine bag in the middle there? Yup, made that, too; it's a die from Memory Box and is sooooo easy! Since you really don't see it when filled and decorated, I just glued the bag together with some Tombow Mono Adhesive and then used my tape gun to stick it to the plaid paper. A little stamping and paper-piecing got me the coffee cup from Lawn Fawn and the heat embossed sentiment on the tag I cut. The little bow die from Mama Elephant made the perfect topper to my treat!

Oh I did say the bag was filled, didn't I?


It's a gift card holder. Yeah, that's totally why I bought it. The perfect way to give someone a pretty card and a sweet treat. Coffee anyone? ;)

Speaking of treats, I'm giving away some blog candy consisting of some pieces from the wonderful Prima Coffee Break collection! Enter away using Rafflecopter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Supply List:
Lawn Fawn Love You a Latte stamps
Papertrey Ink Background Basids: Super Stripes stamp set
Mama Elephant Dainty Bow
Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Tags Die
Simon Says Stamp Gold Ultra Fine Embossing Powder (my new favorite gold!)
Hero Arts Ultra Pink Mid-Tone Ink
Hero Arts Green Hills Mid-Tone Ink
Hero Arts Cup 'o Joe Mid-Tone Ink
(remember, when shopping at a2z Scrapbooking use code JENNIFER15 for 15% off your purchase of $25 or more!)
Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue
Versamark Ink
Neenah Solar White 110# Card Stock
Scor-Pal Scoreboard
3M Scotch Foam Tape (the best!)

Happy Crafting!

Thursday, December 11, 2014

The 12 Days of Cards - Day 4

Welcome back to Day 4 of the 12 Days of Cards series! Seeing as we had quite the snow storm the other day, I had snowflakes on the brain...


Seeing as I love a white Christmas, this is my kind of card. I've got the video on how I created it right here:

Be sure to swing by the Holiday Coffee Lovers Hop posts while you're here - I have some caffeinated blog candy for one good little crafter! :)


Supply List:
Lawn Fawn Stitched Snowflakes
Mama Elephant Merry Greetings Stamps
Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Borders 1 Dies
Pretty Pink Posh 6mm Clear Sequins
Pretty Pink Posh 4mm Clear Sequins
Ranger Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder
Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue
Ranger Multi Medium Matte
Neenah Solar White 110# Card Stock

Happy Crafting!

Warm Coffee Wishes

Good morning everyone! I'm back with another coffee card I came up with for the Holiday Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. This time I went CAS with a chalkboard twist:


I played around with the Hero Arts Chalkboard background stamp to make a great base for the card. It's stamped in Unicorn White ink (my favorite) and then smudged some with a paper towel. After it dried (and it took a while! I left it overnight) I came back in with the Latte Love stamp set from Lawn Fawn to heat emboss the sentiment and adorable coffee cup.


A scattering of 4mm Pretty Pink Posh sequins in clear and a quick rounding of the corners with a 1/2" corner rounder finished it off!


Be sure to enter our caffeinated blog candy giveaway! One lucky crafter gets an assortment of Prima Coffee Talk goodies! Entries close on Sunday, December 14th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Supply List:
Hero Arts Midnight Folded Note Cards
Hero Arts Unicorn White Ink
Hero Arts White Embossing Powder
(remember, when shopping at a2z Scrapbooking use code JENNIFER15 for 15% off your purchase of $25 or more!)
Lawn Fawn Love You a Latte stamps
Hero Arts Chalk Background Cling Stamp
Pretty Pink Posh 4mm Clear Sequins
We R Memory Keepers Crop-a-dile Corner Chomper

Happy Crafting!

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

The 12 Days of Cards - Day 3


Welcome to Day 3 of the 12 Days of Cards! Real life kept interfering with my crafty life, but thanks to a snow day I'm getting caught up. Today's card is super CAS but super elegant with the help from some Liquid Pearls. It's also very mail-friendly!


It was fast to make as well - the video is under 10 minutes! A new record! LOL



Here's another closeup of the finished dove:


Be sure to swing by one of the Holiday Coffee Blog Hop posts for some caffeinated fun and a chance to win blog candy! I'll be back soon with Day 4 - be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you know the instant it goes live.

Supplies:
Stampin Up! Calm Christmas stamp set
Hero Arts Cup O' Joe Mid-Tone Ink (be sure to use code JENNIFER15 for 15% off!)
Liquid Pearls White Opal
Taupe Brown Fiber Cardstock
Scor-Pal Scoreboard
3M Scotch Foam Tape (the best!)

Happy Crafting!

Holiday Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!

Hello everyone! I wound up with quite the snow day here, which means I was finally able to do some catching up. This is my first of THREE projects I'll be sharing for the Holiday Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!
And let me offer a huge THANK YOU to all of these companies that are donating some amazing prizes:

17 Turtles:  $15 Store Gift Card
A Muse Studio/Chris Franco:  Cup of Good Cheer stamp set
Add a Little Dazzle:  $25 Store Gift Card
Butterfly Reflections Ink:  Prima Coffee Break
Color Cast Designs:  Coffee Lovers kit
Create a Smile:  Monster Party stamp set
Hero Arts:  A Little & Today's Special stamps/Cup 'O Joe Shadow ink
Kraftin' Kimmie:  $25 Store Gift Card
Kreative Kymona:  Fancy Mug Giveaway
Latina Crafter:  Cafe Wood Veneers + $25 Store Gift Card
Neat & Tangled:  Warm Wishes stamp set
Newton's Nook:  $15 Store Gift Card
Paper Smooches:  $25  Store Gift Card
Pickled Potpourri:  $7 Store Gift Card
Poppystamps:  Tea Cup Stack Die
Reverse Confetti:  $15 Store Gift Card
Stamp Academy:  2 classes
Stampin' Up/Veronica Zalis:  $20 Store Gift Card
STAMPlorations:  $10 Store Gift Card
Stamp Simply Ribbon Store:  Coffee Cup Prize Pack
SugarPea Designs:  $20 Store Gift Card
Sweet 'n Sassy:  Pick Me Up Clear stamp & die set
The Alley Way Stamps:  Tea Par-tea stamp set
Two Paper Divas:  Your Warm My Heart stamp set
Verve Stamps:  $25
Whole Wild World:  Coffee before Talkee mug
●●Sponsorship prizes are eligible via random draw from linked hop participants only●●

Ok, now that we have the fine print out of the way, onto my first project!


Oh yes, yet another adorable 4 oz coffee cup full of treats and a gift card holder! But can you tell what it's made from?


I painted a Starbucks coffee sleeve with Picket Fence Distress Paint and used the Hero Arts Deco Pattern Stencil with some Distress Inks to create a fun background. A few snowflakes heat embossed with white powder and a holiday sentiment finished it all off! To keep the gift card from falling out, I glued the bottom of the sleeve together. The corrugated cardboard gives the whole thing such a fun texture!


The cup is just fun; I used a pattern I found online for the wrapper, then used my scallop punch and circle punch to make the topper. The stamps are from my oldest stamp set; the Fiskars coffee one. The red Tombow Adhesive works best for making sure these stay together!

Now then, who's been a good little crafter this year and wants a caffeinated treat? I'm giving away some caffeinated goodies of my own from the Prima Coffee Break collection! Just enter via the Rafflecopter tool below - you have until Sunday, December 14th to do so!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Crafting!

Thursday, December 4, 2014

So Suzy Stamps - Instant Hug

Good morning everyone! I'm blogging over at So Suzy Stamps today about this bright and cheerful card I whipped up to snap me out of my winter blues.


Go read all about it! And if you simply must have the Hero Arts ink pads I used, be sure to swing by the a2z Scrapbooking store and use code JENNIFER15 to take 15% off your purchase.

Happy Crafting!





Supplies Used:
So Suzy Stamps - Peony, Herb 1, and Instant Hug
Hero Arts Shadow Inks in Mint JulepSoft Vanilla, Soft Apricot, Passion Flower, and Bubble Gum
Versamark Ink, Zing! Platinum embossing powder, Pretty Pink Posh 4mm Clear Sequins

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

The 12 Days of Cards - Day 2


Welcome to day 2 of my 12 Days of Cards series! Today I started with a stamp I really wanted to use and created my card around it...because who doesn't dream of looking out their window to see Rudolph flying by?


Hey, I still believe! I've got the full start-to-finish video below:



I really like how my night sky and that pop of gold embossing came out.


All right, I'll be back tomorrow with my So Suzy Stamps DT post!

Supplies used:
So Suzy Stamps Reindeer
Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Duo 1 Dies
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Ranger Distress Ink Mini Kit #2
Ranger Distress Ink Mini Kit #8
Ranger Distress Ink Mini Kit #12
American Crafts Galaxy White Marker
Recollections Gold Glitter Embossing Powder (available at Michael's)
Neenah Solar White Cardstock
Ranger Glossy Accents
Stickles Christmas Red Glitter Glue
Scor-Pal Scoreboard
3M Scotch Foam Tape (the best!)

I'm linking up to: Simon Says Stamp Monday & Wednesday Challenge - Holiday Cards

Happy Crafting!

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

The 12 Days of Cards - Day 1


Good morning everyone, and welcome to a new feature here on the blog - the 12 Days of Cards series! It's like the 12 days of Christmas, but with cards. Catchy, right? ;)

Today I'm starting off with a CAS card with some shimmer using this amazing wreath set from WPlus9. I filmed it start-to-finish for you, complete with having to switch to Plan B...because hey, we need to know these things, right?


Here's a close-up of the finished card again. I love how quick and easy it is, yet it turns out so elegant. Very easy to make multiples of for the holidays!


Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you'll know instantly when the next video is live! I'll be back Wednesday with Day 2. Remember, if you go shopping at a2z Scrapbooking (links below) be sure to use the coupon JENNIFER15 to get your discount!

Supplies:
WPlus9 Woodland Wreaths
WPlus9 Woodland Wreaths Die set
Hero Arts Layering Paper in Wet Cement
Hero Arts Pale Tomato Shadow Ink
Hero Arts Wet Cement Shadow Ink
Hero Arts Red Royal Shadow Ink
Simon Says Stamp Midnight Green Ink
Neenah Exact Index, 110 lb, 8.5 x 11 Inches, 250 Sheets, White, 94 Brightness
3M Scotch 1/2-Inch by 36-Yard Double-Sided Foam Tape
Scor-Pal Scor-Buddy Mini Scoring Board, 9 by 7.5-Inch

I'm linking up to - Simon Says Stamp Monday & Wednesday Challenges, Holiday Cards.

Happy Crafting!

Monday, December 1, 2014

Venetian Mask Cards and So Suzy Stamps

Happy December everyone! Some of you may have seen me singing & dancing the news on Instagram a few weeks back (or noticed the addition to my sidebar here on the blog), but now I can truly sing from the rooftops about my joining the new So Suzy Stamps design team! Wheeeee!!!


Our first challenge post is up on the blog today, and it's a fun one - Anything Goes! Just grab those So Suzy Stamps stamps and let your creativity fly. I decided to play with the Venetian Mask and it's matching sentiment, and my oh my do I love them. Remember the teaser photo I showed yesterday:


Well that's the inside of this lovely card:


I played with lots of watercolors and water color paper one night and created lots of pretty backgrounds. I pulled out this one and heat embossed the mask in white on top, then added some white stitching with a gel pen. A little matting with deep gray paper and then I added the whole thing with foam tape to the white card base. So soft and lovely.

I really wanted the sentiment on the front of the card, so I grabbed a darker background from the stack and just stamped the mask on top with some dark gray ink. To add the sentiment without taking away from the mask, I heat embossed it onto vellum and wrapped it around the watercolor paper. More matting with the same dark gray paper and some stitching added with a silver marker. More foam tape onto another white card base and this one was done, too!


I love how I used the same stamps on two different cards and got such different results. I can't wait to see what you create for the challenge. Be sure to go link up your creations here by the end of the month, and Happy Crafting!

Supplies used:
Love Takes off the Mask stamp
Venetian Mask stamp
(if you go shopping at a2z Scrapbooking, be sure to use Jennifer15 for your discount!)
Tim Holtz Watercolor Paper
Hero Arts White Embossing Powder
Ranger Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder
White Gel Pen
Silver Marker


Sunday, November 30, 2014

November Round-Up

Hello there everyone! Can you believe it's the last day of November already?? Yeah, me neither. I've got some fun things to share before December begins!

I'm sharing this lovely card today over at the a2z Scrapbooking blog:


Have you been shopping all the lovely small business sales online? I have one more for you; my own Storenvy shop is participating in the Biggest Small Business Sale ever. This is a great way to pick up some handmade gifts for your friends, family, coworkers, and barista this season!


Looking to win some goodies? We're having a fun Scavenger Hunt over in the a2z Scrapbooking store; the prize is a $25 gift card to the store! Woo! Be sure to shop the Cyber Monday sale while you're at it...you get 20% off your total purchase of $25 or more with coupon code CYBER20

What else, what else...oh tomorrow...TOMORROW we get to have some FUN! That's when we get to have a fun announcement and talk about the rest of this card:


Speaking of, I should go finish getting ready for that...later peeps! Happy Crafting!

Thursday, November 13, 2014

MPC Giving Thanks Blog Hop!

Hello hello everyone! Welcome to my stop on the Mountain Plains Crafters Giving Thanks blog hop!

We're so thrilled to be sponsored by Tombow and Unity Stamp Co. this month, and boy do they have some fun products to play with. Tombow's Xtreme Adhesive may be my new favorite "I said stick and stay stuck, dagnabbit!" adhesive. Seriously; you do not mess with this stuff! Of course, I own several (dozen) Unity stamps, so it was just a matter of finding one for the project.

I admit, I was a bit stumped at first...a DIY that isn't a card? Hmmm...been a while...so I went to Pinterest to see what I had pinned for future inspiration. Five hours later I finally made it to my idea board (don't laugh; you know you've done it) and rediscovered a mini calendar idea I found a while ago. Perfect!


Sort of.

The directions were a little...lacking. The idea was there, but I was left engineering some steps myself. So here we go, the Caffeinated Papercuts way of creating these adorable stand-up calendars:
  • Start with a standard 4.25"x11" piece of cardstock. 
  • Score at 5.5" to make a top-folding card
  • Cut a second piece of cardstock down to 4.25"x5"
  • Score at 1", 2.5" and 4" to create the interior 'stand'
  • Using the Tombow Xtreme adhesive, attach the interior stand to the top folding card, applying tape at the 1" and 4" folds

To create the calendar, I simply purchased a digital calendar file and scaled it down to 2.5" wide. I used my Tombow Aqua Liquid glue to create a tear-off calendar; make sure the pages are even, then clip them on both ends with binder clips. I then applied a healthy dose of the glue with my finger and let it dry. Pretty easy!

While that dried, I stamped my sunflower and colored it in with my Spectrum Noir markers. A little fussy cutting and some clear Wink of Stella on the petals finished it off.



To decorate the top, I pulled out some 6"x6" patterned paper from my ginormous stash and ran it through my Big Kick with the gorgeous border from the Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Borders 2 set. A little Distress Ink to finish off the edges (Marmalade, I believe) and it's ready to go.

Assembly time! The scalloped border went on with foam adhesive, topped off with some Lawn Fawn twine. I attached my calendar pages with the Xtreme adhesive and the sunflower with more foam adhesive. Easy peasy! I've linked all the supplies I used after the giveaway. ;)

I'm the last stop for today, so head on back to the blog to see all of today's participants and get ready for round 2 tomorrow! Don't forget to enter our giveaway, winner will be announced 11/17 on the MPC blog: