Stampin! with Jaydee

Masculine Week Day 5 - Life's an Adventure

Hi Everyone.  Happy Friday night.

Quick post for you tonight.  Here's number 5 in the Masculine Week series. 

As I've said before, there are few sets that I own that are non-SU.  This set is one of them.  Having lived in Africa for as long as I did, I couldn't help but buy this set when I saw it.  It brought back so many amazing memories of being in the African bush.  

All paper, inks, etc are SU.  The background stamp is also SU - it's the Wonderfully Worn background stamp.  One of my favorite background stamps.  Not only does it work, well... wonderfully :-) on vintage cards, but also on fairly clean and simple ones.  The paw print is from the SU C is for Cat set.

 

I used the camoflage colors as the basic color scheme:  Always Artichoke, Early Espresso and Basic Black.  I originally stamped the elephant in Basic Gray, but he just wasn't standing out enough.  So, I stamped him again in Basic Black and snipped him out and adhered him  using dimensionals.

I also stamped the canopy of the tree twice.  When I adhered the snipped out canopy, I did it using glue.  This allowed me to give dimension to the tree, but not have it on same plane as the elephant.  I created the grass from various colors of green, and shaded the area under the elephant and to the right side of him.

It's amazing how different each of the cards have been this week.  I've used the same layout and the same theme - masculine, but each card has really felt so different.

Now... spot blog candy.  How about a little fun tonight?

Let's have a trivia quiz.  How can you tell that this is an African elephant and not an Indian - or Asian elephant?  Leave me a comment giving me the answer.   I will then choose a random winner from the answers.  I will give one prize to the person who gets the right answer - and one to the person who gives me the funniest answer.   So... two spot prizes - one for the right answer and another for the funniest answer!

As always, you know I appreciate your visit - and your comments! 

Continued prayers tonight for those who continue to be affected by the storms.  For those of you who need a little lift, or a warm hug

Hugs

Jaydee

Cajun Fishing Cat

Hi Everyone.  Happy Tuesday night.

It was a great honor to participate in the Operation Write Home blog hop this weekend.  I really look forward to working with you on our current card drive for OWH and Hugs and Hope.  Just a reminder, for every 10 hand made cards and envelopes you send me, you will be entered into a draw to win $100 worth of SU goodies supplied by moi!  Trust me, looking at the previews of the catty, you are going to want to spend $100 on free goodies :-)

Tonight's card features one of the sets that I am so pleased is staying C is for Cat (115764).

I did stay up until the very early hours of this morning going through the retiring list and the preview and placing my order.  I am so looking forward to getting my hands on the new colors and some of the goodies I bought.  I must admit, I wasn't that thrilled with the preview sets last year - this year, it's a different thing altogether.  I was really happy with the goodies I bought.  They arrive tomorrow, so you will start to see some sneak peeks in the next few days, especially as I have one more day of vacation.  Hopefully, my box of goodies will arrive early enough for me to do some playing tomorrow!

I made this card for the CAS challenge this week.  The challenge.... to create a card with moving parts.  OK.... mmmm... I never normally do things like this and it had me stumped for a little while... but what's my motto about doing challenges.... YEP!!!!  it gets me outside of my comfort zone and sometimes that I can be a very good thing.  I certainly think it was for this card.

I played around with ideas in my head and then realized that what I wanted to do was a spinner card.  I thought this set, along with the fishes in the slit, would make a cool card.  It also gave me an excuse to use some of my new Cajun Craze paper. 

Creating the spinner card is really simple and there is a great tutorial on splitcoast for you here.  If you haven't tried one, try it out - it certainly was fun.

Here's the picture of the kitty in it's static position

 and then another one of it spinning across the opening eating little Dusty Durango fishies as it goes!

It took a little measuring and outlining with pencil to make sure that I got the fish correctly placed - and a stamp-a-ma-jig certainly helps with that.  Once I had stamped the fish, I erased the lines and was ready to finish the card.

I wrapped a piece of the (now retiring black and white gingham ribbon) around the card, stamped the sentiment in Black StazOn (always my preferred black ink for a crisp, clean, fast drying finish.

I stamped the cat in Versamark and then embossed him with Black embossing powder and heat set.  I used my Dusty Durango marker to color his collar and name tag.

Want the sizes? 

Card base A2 - scored at the 4 1/4" for folding

Cajun Craze is 4 1/4W x 2 3/4H.  I adhered the Cajun Craze to the white card stock base using two stampin dimensionals on top of each other.  You could use pop up glue dots instead.  You need something higher than the normal dimensional so that the pennies have room to run along the track made in the slit.

Easy as fishing, really :-)

On a personal note, it has been fantastic to have this week off and clean house, relax and chill.  It always feels wonderful when you can clean out all the cupboards from top to bottom.  The only thing we haven't done yet is our walk in closet.  Otherwise, we managed to do everything.  It certainly was a busy week - and a very hot one to be doing this sort of thing.

Our deck is now fully torn up and is being rebuilt.  We are going for recycled materials that require no treatment, which we are really happy about.  It should look fantastic when it is finished, but we won't be able to sit outside for another 8-10 days.  I'll post some pics when it is finished.

Tomorrow I do three draws for Blog Candy.  One for the big prize for those that commented on my posts for the OWH - and then two which I ran for my regular readers and commenters.  Bilbo will be doing the draw for my regular reader blog candy - but I will be using random.org to choose a number for the OWH one - I think that would be way too much for Bilbo:-)

Trish, it is wonderful to see you back and commenting..   Welcome home!  Germaine, we haven't seen you for a little while, we hope you are OK and that the pain is starting to subside - AND that they have found the reason for it.  Alison, we haven't heard from you for a while.  I know you will be getting ready for the world cup!

Tomorrow, we are taking a look at a featured project from Kadie.  I promise you... it's worth coming back tomorrow for.  You will be blown away with how gorgeous it is!

I have one last favor to ask you...... it is the Paper Players first design challenge this week.  We post on Sunday and REALLY hope that you will play along.  We'd really like to see it be successful.  I know that I really want to give back to the challenge sites, because they have really helped me grow.  So, please won't you come along and play with us.  I'll put a link up tomorrow for you, so that you can bookmark it and also see what other challenges are coming up this month.

Finally, yesterday was Memorial Day and I put up my Memorial Day Remember card.  I'd like to dedicate this post to my Father.  It would have been his 90th birthday today.  My Father went into the army as a fresh faced kid of almost 17.  He came out of the jungles of Burma a man just 8 years later.  He was stationed in India and Burma for almost all the time between 1940 and the end of 1945 and saw things that he would never talk about and carried those memories to his death.  Things happened to him there that changed him forever.  Even as a kid I can remember that something would happen - sometimes just a small thing - and you could see in my father's eyes that he had gone to another place and another time and that they were not good memories.    It was only 20 years or so after his death, that I began to realize just what had happened to the young boys and men in those jungles and the sorts of things he had seen during some terrible incursions.  He was also a POW under the Japanese for a while.  I cannot even begin to image what that must have been like.

I'd like to leave this subject with the epitaph that is on the Burma memorial for all those that did not make it home from Burma - this is the inscription on the Kohima 2nd Division Memorial

"When You Go Home, Tell Them of Us and Say,

For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today"

So... Dad, here's to you and everything you did.  I miss you and yes, I have grown up to be my Father's daughter.  You can take a look at me and there is no denying my heritage :-)  Now... if only I had gotten Mom's skinny gene :-)  Oh! yeah!  I forgot!  My brother got that!

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and got to spend time doing things that you love with those you love the most.  Happy Wednesday everyone... and Cherie and Brenda... GREAT JOB guys - best time on your half Marathon for the med-cities.  WAY TO GO!

Thank you to all of you for spending a little part of your day in my little neck of the stamping blogosphere.  You know your visits - and your support - mean a great deal.

Hugs to you all

Jaydee

C is for.......

Hi Everyone.  Happy Saturday night.  I hope you all had a fabulous Saturday.  This will be a quick post tonight.  I did manage to get a little time in my stamping space this afternoon, but now I need to go and get changed and go pick up Lou.  He's home for... count them.... 1...2...3... days... and then he's off for 3 weeks.  The least said about that - the better!

Those of you who have visited my blog for a while, know that we have multiple cats and I tend to be rather fond of animals.  In fact, we are building a new deck in our back yard, along with a gazebo, and we have given strict instructions to the builders that they are to be very careful about the raccoon den under the deck.  That they are to leave her as undisturbed as possible and to make sure that she still has access when the deck is finished.  OK.. yeah... I know... but anyway, we wouldn't want to put Martha Stewart out too much.  Yep.. we even named her.  She tends to run off with things that we put out for the birds, and we find them at the door of her den.  Or somewhere else in the garden.  She is also very fussy about her food when we leave it out.  Consequently, we decided that she was the kind of redecorating, food fussy kind of raccoon... hence the name Martha Stewart!

Anyway..... tonight I was distracted by Bailey.  Big-girls-blouse-Bailey.  he doesn't often come for loves and cuddles, but this afternoon he was like a big teddy bear.  Take a look at this

Oh! but... mother... I do love you mother... especially when I have this nice comfy cushion to lie on.... but I'm not happy about this stupid catalog and paper I have to sit on... what?  oh?  you were using it?  oh... sorry...  mmmmm... let me show you my profile to distract you with how handsome I am.

Those papers... oh... mmm... what papers?

OK... OK... so if you don't want me to sit on your papers, then you have to scratch my big fat hairy head.  Oh... and don't forget behind the ears... oh... yes... now... I like that!

Oh... yes... now that's good... mmm... sorry about the crazy-cat-eyed-look, but I like that :-)

And... here is my homage to the retiring color, Really Rust - and to his lordship Bailey!

Have a fabulous Sunday everyone.  I hope you have a day filled with love, laughter and the little things that make it magical.

Brenda/Cherie... I hope you had a great run this morning - that sure was quite a run you decided to do. You are both amazing :-)

As always, thank you so much for spending time in my little area of the stamping blogosphere.  Your visits - and your support - are always much appreciated.  Tonight, my able assistant Bilbo Baggins will be helping to draw the name of the winner of the blog candy.

Hugs

Jaydee

C is for a Grey Cat

Hi Everyone.  Happy Wednesday night and welcome to Jaydee's SU stampin space.  Today's card uses the C is for Cat set.  You've seen me use this set before and, in fact, I made two cards with it this week. 

The last two nights I've posted about mojo and what to do when it goes on vacation.  One of the things I did this weekend was try the Featured Stamper Challenge (FS151) on splitcoaststampers.  It's a challenge where you view a gallery that is nominated by the moderator and you have to choose one of the featured stampers cards and make your own version.  So, I saw this card created by Smilynstef and decided to change it to a Jaydee card, but still keep a similar layout and the cats on the card inspired me to use the C is for Cat.

If your mojo is on vacation, why not try the featured stamper challenges - you don't have to upload a card, but at least you might find some great inspiration.  Change 3 elements on the card and make it your own.

Here's my version of Smilynstef's card.

Card recipe:

1. Whisper White and Basic Grey card stock
2. Basic Grey satin ribbon
3. C is for Cat - one of the sets you can earn free during SAB starting January 5th!  You can also get the D is for Dog one!
4. Basic Grey ink
5. Because I didn't have the Kraft version of the Basic Grey stamp pad, I inked and stamped with Basic Grey and then used Crystal Effects to give dimension to the cats.  If I had the Basic Grey Kraft pad, I would have used transparent embossing powder instead.
6. I used stampin' dimensionals to lift the squares off the base of Whisper White
7. A relatively quick and easy card.  The hardest part was applying the Crystal Effects, which I did with a very fine painter's brush, and then waiting for the Crystal Effects to dry!

I hope you are all looking forward to 2010.  We certainly are.  This has been a challenging year for us.  I know that challenges grow us, but we will be happy to move into the next decade and are looking forward to seeing what it brings.

Have a great Thursday.  One last post tomorrow night, to close out the decade.

As always, your visits, your comments - and your support - are greatly appreciated.

Peace and cyber hugs

Jaydee

C is for Cat in Black and Red

Hi Everyone.  Welcome to Jaydee's SU stampin space.  Today Lou and I discussed that we are both missing our furry friends.  Consequently, I decided it was time to show you my C is for Cat card.  This stamp set premiered in the 2009/2010 Stampin' Up! catalog - and I absolutely love it.

I used a sketch that our talented friends at stamping411 challenged us with a couple of weeks ago.  I absolutely loved this layout and decided that it was prefect for the central cat image.  As I have a house full of felines with very strong personalities..... although most of them are a bunch of big girls blouses when push comes to shove... especially Mr Bailey.  He who is so big and tough and protects the house from all of those scary sparrows outside the window... yep... he ignores anything bigger than a sparrow!  But boy does he HATE the chipmunk!  Anyway, Mr Bailey was wandering around the house the other day protecting his borders when I suddenly heard him purring - REALLY loudly.... I snuck around the corner and found him stretched out on the soft blanket padding and purring up a storm with his eyes closed - in an ecstasy of softness and comfort from the blanket!  So much for defending his borders!

Anyway, as I was saying :-) I decided to use strong colors for the card - to match the strong personalities of the furrythings.  Also, I think this layout looks as fabulous with the strong colors as it does with the more muted ones.

Card recipe:

• I used Real Red, Crushed Curry, Basic Black and Whisper White card stock
• I picked up all of those colors with the cat.
• I embossed the cat in black embossing powder and then colored his collar area with Real Red marker and his medallion on his collar in Crushed Curry marker.
• I stamped the sentiment on Whisper White and mounted it on Basic Black.
• I mounted Crushed Curry on Basic Black, Real Red on Basic Black and Whisper White on Basic Black.  Each of the mounted layers are mounted on each other with stampin dimensionals

I was really pleased with the strong feeling of the card and the fact that the black cat never gets lost against the strong colors. 

So, I'm dedicating this card to Blackie. Blackie was the cat we had when I was growing up.  We found her one afternoon, all skinny and scrawny and my father made a bit of a fuss of her.  She followed us all the way home and he agreed we could keep her.  Yep....I was the one who came up with the unoriginal name for her.  Blackie lived out the rest of her life with us and even though I had left home many years earlier, every afternoon at around 4.00 pm, she would sit on the kitchen window waiting for me to come home from school! Blackie was an adult cat when we found her - and we were never sure how old she really was - the vet had thought that she was possibly about 2 when we found her.  One morning - 23 years later Mom found her curled up on "her" chair.  Sometime in the night she had gone to Rainbow Bridge in her sleep...... on the chair where she had spent almost every night of those 23 years.   It was a phenomenal age for a truly phenomenal cat and a perfect way for her to go.

I hope you all have a fabulous day and get to spend time doing the things you love - with those you love the most.  Me... I'm spending the rest of the day in Rome with my hubby and today our ship sets sail for our transatlantic sailing to Fort Lauderdale.  After we have been apart so much this year, we are really looking forward to spending the next two weeks together and for us, cruising is such a great way to relax.

Thank you for visiting my little area of the stamping blogosphere - you know I always appreciate it.

Peace and blessings

Jaydee