Stampin! with Jaydee

Faith in Nature and Flores Suaves

Hi Everyone.  Happy Thursday... almost Friday... YAY!!!  I am SO ready for the weekend.

The weather has been crazy here.  103 degrees with 90% humidity.  Come back winter, all is forgiven!!!!  Seriously, that's way too hot for me.  Luckily, today the weather cooled and it felt almost cold.  The temps went down to the mid-70s and it felt almost arctic :-)

I have another two of the one layer cards to share with you today.  I really enjoyed playing around with this format and hope that my work colleague gets pleasure out of these cards that she will be receiving as part of her thank you gift for my spa gift! 

I was thrilled that Flores Suaves was still in the Spanish catty this year.  I really LOVE this stamp.  The butterfly is such a gorgeous shape - and is wonderful to color.  Regardless of what you use to color this butterfly, you can't go wrong.  In this case, because I wanted really bold colors, I used my copics.

The background is created by using one of my SU clear blocks and applying ink to it.  The fact that you are applying ink every time gives a slightly different background - and I like that. 

Here's the one that I made using the new Faith in Nature set - available as a hostess choice in the new catty. (available July 1)

Isn't that pretty?  I used my SU markers for these stamps and they work beautifully.

Now.... a couple more of you have offered to help with the card drive... thank you so much to Kelly and to Lizzie.  I REALLY appreciate it.  I will be sending you all an email this weekend with my address so that you can send the cards for the Operation Write Home card drive.

BTW... Lizzie is still looking for the retired SU punch Deco Corner Punch.  She REALLY would like to use this on her 50th wedding anniversary invitations.  I've searched everywhere for her - including ebay, craigslist, etc. and come up blank... so if any of you have one in your stash that you aren't using.... Lizzie would be very willing to give it a new home :-)  Please let me know on jaydeestamping at charter dot net if you are able to help out.

On a personal note..... it has been crazy busy the last couple of days and I haven't had chance to get into the stamping space to play with my new goodies.... that's why you are all still seeing the cards that I made last weekend :-)  I do hope you will all forgive me.  I really am hoping to get into my space this weekend to make some new cards

I hope you all have a fabulous Friday and a wonderful weekend.  I will be back tomorrow night!

Prayers and hugs for those of you who need a little lift.

Hugs

Jaydee

'Twas the Night Before Christmas.... well... not exactly!

Hi Everyone.  Happy Tuesday night.

Updated 6/1:  For updates on the retiring products - check this post.

More about my blog title after my card.......

I have a fabulous card for you tonight... well, I think it's fabulous anyway.  I also can't take the credit for the layout or the design.  This is another one of the 45 minute cards I made for the splitcoaststampers virtual stamp night.  The challenge was the Pillage and Plunder... in other words, CASE someone's work that you really appreciated.   One other twist... you HAD to add bling!

For me, that was easy peezy, bright and breezy!  I mean.... seriously... if you haven't seen any of the work of Karen Dunbrook - you really need to check her out.  Karen is the queen of clean and simple and bold and beautiful.  I chose this card to CASE.  I changed the butterfly, the color scheme, the background embossed layer and made the scalloped layer purple.  But, you can still see the fabulous overall design that Karen used.

Even if this fabulous Flores Suaves set is on the retiring list tonight... I will still continue to use it.  I absloutely love it.

Card recipe - all ingredients Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

• Card Stock:  Concord Crush, Whisper White
• Inks: Concord Crush (sentiment).  Copics (butterfly)
• Stamp:  Flores Suaves - butterfly.  Papertrey - sentiment
• Accessories:  Basic Rhinestones
• Tools:  Big Shot.  Embossing Folder - non-SU

I was really pleased with the way it came out - but all credit goes to Karen!

Now... on to my blog title!!!!!!  Yes, it really does feel like the night before Christmas - in terms of gifts that is.  At 12.00 am MST - or thereabouts, we SU demos get to see the retiring list, the new in -colors (although I have already had a peek at those beauties!), previews of the hostess sets, and a preview of a small portion of the stamps that are in the 2011-2012 catalog.  It's really pretty exciting!  As I am on vacation this week, I have decided to try to stay awake for the reveal.  We will see how that goes.  The last couple of days have been hard work around the house - but the house really looks cool!  I am hoping tho' that little Charlie will keep me company and I can stay awake.

Prayers tonight for those who need a little lift - or a warm hug.

As always, thank you so much for visiting my little area of the stamping blogosphere.  You know your visits - and your comments - are greatly appreciated.

Have a fabulous Wednesday everyone

Hugs

Jaydee

Spring has Sprung! Flores Suaves - Paper Players Challenge #37

Hi Everyone.  Happy Saturday.

 

The Paper Players have a great challenge for you this week, hosted by the fabulously talented LeAnne.  The theme is Spring is Sprung!  Now, I must admit... it was tough making a spring card considering we still have snow covering our garden, nothing green other than the evergreens and well... temps below 20!  However, I sat in my stamping space and thought about the warmer weather just around the corner.  One of the great things about the warmer weather.... little fabulous members of the Lepidoptera family that visit with us every year.

That gave me a great excuse to pull out my Flores Suaves set, too!

I am constantly looking for sketches and other inspirations... Moxiefabworld are running a challenge - STAMPING WITH MARKERS.  Y'all know that I love my markers and love coloring.  Additionally, I just really need new sketches to get me out of my rut.  Imagine my surprise when I found this wonderful resource on the Papercrafts magazine site.  They were advertising their upcoming Go To Sketches 2011 edition (coming out in Summer by the sounds of it).  Anyway, they were kind enough to share the sketches that were used for creative submissions.

The pdf is a great resource and certainly has some very interesting sketches.  Some of them will certainly take me out of my comfort zone.  I was inspired by sketch number 7.  The only difference, I decided to go with a 3 x 6 card instead of the standard A2.  You can get the pdf of the 80 something sketches. Just click on the link and it will take you to the blog post with the pdf.  I downloaded it and printed it and will be using it for some inspiration over the next couple of weeks.

Here's my card for the Spring is Sprung Paper Players Challenge # 37 - colored using my markers.

Card recipe:

• Card stock:  Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla (textured)
• Stamp Set:  Flores Suaves (112913), Sentiment is from the Something to Celebrate set
• Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Basic Grey, Basic Black, Concord Crush, Daffodil Delight, More Mustard
• Tools:  Paper Snips, Mini Glue Dots, Stamp-a-Ma-Jig

Now... it's over to you.  We would love to see your new Spring inspired creation.  It can be 3D, card, scrapbook page - it's totally up to you.  All we ask is that you link to a newly created Spring themed project and link back to our challenge page.  You can see all the amazing design team submissions, including a submission from our Guest Designer Marian Garcia.  The team really has some amazing creations again this week.

On a personal note:  yay... I got into my stamping space and made 1 whole card.  yep... that is one whole card.  But hey, I am happy!  At least I got to do something.  It's the first time I have been in my space for well over a week.  I also took some time to do some housework, too.  Doing housework before I stamp makes me feel a little bit better - oh, yeah! and a little less guilty.  I really am loving my new crafting space.  I love my crafting table.  It's totally organized and I love being able to stand at it.  I spend almost of my crafting time standing.  The only time I sit is generally when I am coloring something.  I am still planning to show you some pics, but it's just not quite ready yet.  However, I will share a couple of pics with you around my organization.

Because of the cats... and because I tend to be a neat freak...

I have to have everything put away in its own little place.  I love these ribbon holders I found in the florist section of my local store.  They work fabulously for all my ribbons.  A couple of the ribbon holders are too tall, so I trim those.  The only ribbons that don't fit in here are the in-color ribbons.  If I didn't have these ribbon holders, and tried to store them outside of my cupboard.... man... there would be just one enormous tangle of gorgeous ribbon all over my basement!  The cats would have a field day!

I also need to keep my brads and buttons and things away from little furry paws.... so here's my solution for that!

All my paper is also stored away in my new two drawer file cabinet. 

I store my paper in alphabetical order... I know that probably drives Rach mad!  Rach loves everything in ROYGBIV order, but I find them easier to find in alphabetical order.    Now... I HAVE to have my scraps in the same place as my paper, so I use plastic folders to store my scraps.  They are stored in the same hanging folder as my paper.  The plastic folder is labeled with the name of the card stock, just so that I don't get confused!

Here's another pic of my storage cupboard for you.  We bought this at Ikea and I absolutely love it.  It really helps keep me organized.

Well, I am off to do some last minute chores and then go pick up Lou.  Who is finally on his way home from sunny London!

Prayers to all of those who need a lift or a warm hug tonight.  Prayers, too for those affected by the tornado in Louisianna.

Have a fabulous Sunday, everyone.

Hugs

Jaydee

 

 

Flores Suaves meets Clearly for You

Hi Everyone.  Happy Saturday.

So, generally on Saturday I post my Paper Players challenge card.  Errr....mmmmm... well, I don't have my card done!  Nope.  Not even in my head!  What makes it all the more embarrassing is that it is my turn at hosting the challenge on our site this week!  You can imagine that I am blushing very badly right now.  I will be working on my card tomorrow and will update the challenge site and my blog with the card.  I must say though, I got a sneak peek at what the design team have done.  Oh, boy!  They REALLY rocked it again this week. 

I really, really, really love the Flores Suaves set.  I honestly can't understand why Stampin' Up! didn't put this amazing set into the normal catty.  It doesn't matter how many times I stamp up and color that butterfly, it still gives me immense joy.  

One of the things I promised I would do this year is use colors I don't normally use.  Crumb Cake is one of those colors.  So, to push myself, I forced myself to do a clean and simple card using Crumb Cake as my base and..... I then added Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon that I *forced* myself to buy:-)

Here's what I came up with:

 

I love trying out new color combos on my butterfly.  Just this week I colored one using Baja Breeze and Not Quite Navy classic inks and my blender pen.  It turned out beautifully.  Perfect for Spring.  This butterfly feels perfect for fall. 

Card recipe - all ingredients Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted.

• Card stock:  Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla (for the butterfly)
• Stamps:  Flores Suaves - butterfly; Clearly for you - background
• Accessories:  Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon - I am loving this ribbon
• Tools:  Paper Snips, Mini glue dots, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Prayers tonight for Rose, Adelle, Jan A, Erin, Germaine.  For those still affected by the floods and fires in Oz.

I hope you have a wonderful evening and a peaceful, relaxing Sunday.

As always... thank you so much for your visit.  I know there are so many blogs out in blogland, and I appreciate you spending a little time in mine.

Hugs

Jaydee

To bow, or not to bow - that is always the question!

Hi everyone.  Happy Monday night.

My thanks to all of you who visited my blog on the Paper Players blog hop - and for those of you who continued on the hop to the other players.  It was a truly fun experience for me and I am so appreciative of all of your visits and all of your comments.  It really does mean a great deal to me!  So - many, many thanks!

I managed to get a little play time in my stamping space this weekend.  Those of you who visit my blog regularly know that I have a few new year goals.  I'm doing better with some than others!  :-)  One of my goals is to use different color combos.  Consequently, I find myself being drawn to color challenges that have colors that I never use, hardly use, or would never generally put together!  I am also trying to join the color challenges with sketch challenges to push myself even further.

This weekend I saw the BOW challenge across at the Pals  and when I made the first version of my card tonight, using Flores Suaves, I looked at my finished card and thought about the Pals challenge to use bows.  Sometimes, a bow really does make a card. 

I used the initial colors from the 4craftychicks challenge (very vanilla, chocolate chip, crumb cake, wild wasabi), but decided to throw a spanner in my works and add cherry cobbler to make it a little more outside my comfort zone!

I saw the sketch across at waltzingmouse and as the Pals challenge had really made me think about using bows and that I needed to put one on my card -  decided it fits the Pals challenge, too.

So, what do you all think?  To bow, or not to bow?  What's your vote?

Here's the initial version.

Here's the final version.

A couple of things I like about the card.  1) The texture on the bow and the texture on the Cherry Cobbler paper work really well together.  2) The light Crumb Cake of the background stamp.  (unfortunately it didn't come out too well on the pic!)   3) the different size layers on the focal point.  I really wanted a very small border of the Wild Wasabi and then graduated out very slightly with the Crumb Cake and the Chocolate Chip.  4) I am loving the Basic Pearls - being able to color them any color I want saves me heaps of money on colored pearls.

Card recipe:

• Card Stock:  Wild Wasabi, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake
• Stamp:  Flores Suaves, Tiny Tags
• Accessories:  Basic Pearls, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding Ribbon
• Tools:  Copic markers. Tag Punch. Paper Snips. 

On a personal note:

It was a really good weekend.  I didn't work at all this weekend, so had some time to catch up on some sleep.  In fact I slept in on Saturday until 10am. I never do that!  As I went to bed at midnight, that means I got a full 10 hours of sleep.  Very interrupted sleep, but sleep none the less!    Lou got home Saturday afternoon and it was good to have him home.  I also got some crafting time in, some house cleaning time.. so all round a good weekend.

Prayers tonight for Rose, Adelle, Maria and Germaine.  For those of you who need a little lift, or a virtual hug.

Have a fabulous Tuesday everyone.

Hugs

Jaydee

Butterfly Kisses for Moxie and Casestudy

Hi Everyone.  Happy Thursday night.

Firstly, my apologies for not posting last night.  It was another very, very, long day.  At the end of the day I was so tired and... I didn't have a card to show you, either!  Today I started at 5am and did manage to take a couple of hours break at 4.30pm.  I decided to come down to my stamping space, make a card and then go back and finish off what I had to do.  I really needed - really needed - to switch off and do something different.

As my mojo is not flowing that freely - it's amazing how stress will do that, I decided it was definitely a night for inspiration.  So, I checked out moxiefabworld and casestudy.  Moxie are showcasing their fabulous Color Inspirations special edition of Papercrafts.  I decided to use the jewel tones to work with.  Always one of my favorite ranges of colors.  I love the Stampin' Up regals, and they work so well for this color challenge.  I then popped along to casestudy and saw this fabulous card.  However, as this is a card that will go to the troops, I decided to keep it to an A2.

 

I hope you like it.  Coloring in the butterflies was incredibly relaxing for me and really allowed me to switch off from the day.

Now, I'm off to go feed the pussy cats, check in with what needs to be finished at work and then cook a little supper for myself.

Prayers tonight for Madiba - aka Nelson Mandela.  Madiba was admitted to hospital today with a collapsed lung.  I know he's 90 - but its going to be really tough when he does finally leave this earth.  Prayers also for Rose, Adelle, John and Sue, Maria,  and Germaine.  Warm thoughts and prayers to those who need a little lift.

Have a fabulous Friday, everyone.  If you are on the East Coast..... stay warm!

Hugs

Jaydee

 

The Paper Players Challenge # 30 - Color Challenge

Hi Everyone.  Happy Saturday night.

I hope you all had a great day.  Me?  I got to spend some quality time in my stamping space.  Always a good thing!

The challenge at the Paper Players this week is a color challenge.  The very talented Nance Leedy is our host for the challenge and chose an amazing color combination for us.  Now, I don't know about you, but color challenges are the hardest for me.  It's because they are hard that I actually do them.  It forces me to get outside of my comfort zone and put colors together that I would not normally consider.

For some strange reason... and I really don't understand it..... I don't like blue and pink together.  It's very rare that you will see blue and pink on the same card on my blog.  So, you can imagine my angst when I saw the colors for tonight.  Now, mostof you are going to love this color combo.  It's a wonderful combo... but it isn't one that I generally use. 

So, having said that... I ended up making two cards with this same color combo.  Go figure!

I'm still in a clean and simple mood.  Lots of white space - a single focal element and a single sentiment.  I love this sentiment.  I don't know how I missed this little set in the catalog, but I did.  I must have looked thru the catty at least 30 times before I even spotted this little set hidden away on page 183.

The colors for the challenge this week?  Rose Red, River Rock, Baja Breeze and Very Vanilla.

Here's my clean and simple take on it.

 

Card recipe - all ingredients Stampin' Up!

• Card stock:  Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla
• Inks:  Baja Breeze, Rose Red, River Rock
• Stamps:  Flores Suaves - Butterfly (112913), Nature Walk - flower (121997 (c), 121925 (w).  Sentiment - Hello, you (117118)
• Tools:  Paper snips, Stamp-a-ma-jig, mini glue dots (to adhere butterfly)

I used the River Rock for the body of the butterfly, as well as for the flower stamped behind the butterfly.  I also colored the outer rims of the butterfly wings with the River Rock.  The Rose Red is used in the "windows" of the butterfly wings.

I really love the Flores Suaves set.  In case you are wondering why you can't find it in the 2010/2011 catty - it is because it is in the Spanish catalog.  I really think that Stampin' Up! should have put it into the main catty.  The sentiment is in Spanish and is apparently taken from a love poem.  Now, the En Francais background stamp is available in the catty, and I really think this should be, too.  It really is one of the most beautiful butterflies that I've seen on any stamp.  It also makes a great moth!

Now, it's over to you.  I know that you will be able to do some great things with this wonderful color combo.  You don't have to use Stampin' Up! products.  We welcome any brand of stamp.  All that we ask is that you load your new creation to your blog, or social media site, and provide a link back to our challenge.  Don't forget to check out what the very talented design team have for you as inspiration this week. 

Prayers tonight for:  Rose, Adelle, Maria, Brien, Vickie, Germaine, Pri.  THe Australians and Brazilians affected by the flooding.  Those of you who need a little lift.

Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone. 

Hugs

Jaydee

 

 

Sneak Peek: Nature's Walk meets Butterfly Prints - and more snow!

Hi Everyone.  Happy Thursday night.  Tomorrow is Friday... oh yeah!

Tonight I have another sneak peek for you.  Nature Walk, Botanical Gazette and crown charms.  I Lurrrrrrvvvv the fact that SU is now carrying charms.  I really love this new stamp set and the DSP.  In this card I showed you the bee stamp and the honeycomb and bee paper.  Tonight, I'm showing you the butterfly/moth stamp and matching DSP.  I had to add the butterfly from Flores Suaves.  Y'all know I can't miss an opportunity to pull out that stamp and show it a little love!

It's also not often that I use a very muted color palette.  Early Espresso and So Saffron. 

  

So, what do you think?  Pretty, huh?  Well, I think it is and the color scheme is fine for either gender.  It's one of the cards that I will be sending to Robin - aka the sky angel for her troops.

Card recipe:

• Card stock:  Early Espresso
• DSP:  Botanical Gazette (new in the 2011 occasions mini)
• Stamps:  small butterfly, Nature Walk.  Large butterfly, Flores Suaves.  Sentiment, Butterfly prints
• Ribbon:  Early Espresso Satin ribbon
• Accessories:  Basic pearls, colored.  Crown trinket (new in the 2011 occasions mini)

On a personal note:

Well, it snowed some more today.  What does that mean?  MORE PICTURES!  I thought you might want to see what has happened to the Christmas presents under the Christmas tree.  Want to see the before pictures - check this post.  Here are the pics for today.

In the pic below, you can see that the presents have completely disappeared - as has ANY sign of the bench seat behind.  All you can see of the presents, is the snow on top of them.

Now, just for Rach... here are some night shots

I couldn't resist this close-up of the tree.  You can see the lights encased in the snow.  It really looks pretty teriffic.  Oh, yeah. and you can see one of the deer in the background, too

Then here's a pic of the trees that we put in this summer. We put lights on two of the trees.

To give you some scale for the next pic.  Lou had to stand on the ladder to get the lights on top.  They are about 8 feet tall.

Aren't they pretty.  The snow today was big, fluffy, soft snowflakes.  I went to collect the post and it really looked like Hollywood snow.  Seriously, it just didn't look real.  It was absolutely gorgeous.

Shout out to Pammie tonight.  I hope you are both feeling better, my friend.  I'm so sorry I'm not close enough to bring you some soup or something.

Lynn, I loved your comment.  I must admit the Buddah photos made me laugh.  The first one looks as though he is smirking, the second one (when he has more snow) looks as though hes just a little miffed and the third one... well, I have no idea what he looks like cos I can't see him :-)

Prayers tonight for:  Rose, Germaine (good to you from you!!!!), Arthur, Pri, Rach and Lesley.

Have a fabulous Friday everyone.  Don't forget to smile at a stranger, it may change their life.

Hugs

Jaydee

Flores Suaves - For Rose

Hi Everyone.

This is going to be a very quick post tonight.  I do apologise for not posting last night, but Lou got home from his trip 2 hours later than scheduled and consequently, the night just ran away with me!

This is one of the cards that I have made for Rose.  Some of you may remember that Rose is my surrogate Mom... Well, she is my best friend's mother and she is a wonderful, wonderful lady.  When my parents died when I was in my 20s (they died within 3 months of each other), Rose told me that she was adopting me - as no young woman should be without a mother! I love her dearly.  She was diagnosed very recently with breast cancer.

I have made several cards to send to her - this is one of them.  Rose, not surprisingly, loves pink and she loves flowers.

I must admit, I have gotten an amazing amount of use out of the Flores Suaves set.  If you haven't taken a look at it - because it is only featured in the Spanish Stampin' Up! catalog, you should.  It really is fabulous.

Card recipe:

• Card stock:  Very Vanilla, Rose Red
• Ribbon:  Lace, Purely Pomegranate
• Inks:  Old Olive, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Daffodil Delight, So Saffron
• Stamps:  En Francais, Flores Suaves

On a personal note.... It is wonderful to have my honey home.  He has been gone a lot this year and these multiple week trips get old after a while!  We went out to dinner last night and just relaxed, enjoyed each other and caught up on our time apart.

I did get a little time in my stamping space today... yay.... not much... but a little!

Prayers as always tonight for those that need a little lift.

Hugs

Jaydee

Clean and Simple Butterflies - and World-Wide Web Wednesday

Hi Everyone.  Happy Wednesday.  I hope you are all having a great week!

I used the fabulous sketch challenge from justusgirls this week and combined it with the color challenge at embellish magazine.  I love the combination of yellow, gray and black and I had great fun playing with it.  I shall be storing it away as one of my favorite color combos.   I had great fun with the sketch challenge, too.  As soon as I saw it, I decided I wanted to use the butterflies from Flores Suaves.  I know.... I know... how many cards can I show you to try to prove how fabulous this set is! :-)  I really thought the sketch was perfect for the butterflies.

 

I stamped the Butterflies onto vellum using StazOn (because it dries so much faster) and then used my Copics to color the butterflies on the underside of the stamped image.   I then cut around the butterflies and mounted them onto the squares using 4 mini glue dots.

The background DSP is from the newly reconfigured patterns packs.  I can honestly say, that I was really happy with it!

Firstly, big shout out to JOYCE tonight!!!!  I received from Joyce a box of fabulous cards for the Operation Write Home card drive!!!   Way to go Joyce.  I am so thrilled.   Thank you so much for making my day... and making the troops and their families happy, too.   It was so kind of you.  Woohoo... Jaydee doing the happy dance!

Now... on to a couple of cards that caught my attention this week on my world-wide web wednesday watch!

Fabulous Flower

Miss Havisham's candleabra?

A little pick me up, anyone?

Tell me again why I don't own this set yet?

Fairytale dreams

I believe in butterflies

On a personal note:  the landscapers were here today.  Oh yes.... finally! They are FINALLY doing the landscaping around the deck.  You know, it isn't as though we are doing massive amounts of andscaping, its just a piddly little area!  I didn't think we were going to get anything in until after winter... but we squeaked in just in time!  It's been a very long week for me this week.  Lots of long days and today was no exception.  The worst part about days like this is that 1) I don't get to do any crafting 2) I sit on my big fat behind all day for 12-14 hours!  I seriously think I need to rethink some things in life!

Shout out to Beverly and Linda - they both know why!  Hey guys!  Love ya!

Prayers tonight for Germaine and Pri.  Cherie it was wonderful to hear to T is progressing.  I was overjoyed to read that.  For John & Sue, for John's continued progress.  For Adelle, Lesley, Rach and their furbabies.  For Lesllie - who continues to be unresponsive.  For "B" - hope his job interview went well today.  For Rach's friend who is in ICU.  

As always, thank you for visiting my little area of the stamping blogosphere.   I hope you all have a fabulous Thursday.

Hugs

Jaydee

Butterflies for Breast Cancer

Hi Everyone.  Happy Wednesday night.

Tonight's card is a RAK for a young woman fighting breast cancer - another RAK I did for Sparkly Hannah Day!  I saw this wonderful sketch challenge on just-add-ink and decided it would make a perfect layout for the RAK card.  Of course, I absolutely had to use pink - and my favorite Flores Suaves set.  Don't forget to pop along and see the fabulous design team inspiration - and submission cards.  I know you will find something you love.

Adelle, I finally found a perfect card for Blushing Bride - as per your request :-)   Even better, I found THE perfect ribbon to co-ordinate with it.  Pity it's retired!  I was really happy with the result.

Card recipe:  (all supplies SU unless noted)

• Card stock:  Blushing Bride, Whisper White
• DSP:  Subtles DSP (love this newly reconfigured DSP)
• Stamps:  Flores Suaves (butterflies).  Sentiment non-SU
• Accessories:  Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon, Basic Pearls (colored with copics)
• Inks:  Basic Grey for the sentiment.  Copic markers for coloring

So, what do you think?  I was really happy with it.  It's one of the few times I have used Blushing Bride and I must say, I really think it coordinates beautifully with the Purely Pomegranate.  I think I might have to go to the clearance rack and order some more.   I really do love SU satin ribbon.  It's just so gorgeous to tie.

Rach, I know you will understand why I chose to use butterflies for my sparkly hannah day RAKs :-)

On a personal ntoe:

MORE cards on the way for our Operation Write Home Christmas card drive.  Soozie let me know that she had posted 80 cards for our drive.  YAY!!! Way to go, Soozie.  You are awesome.  I thank you from the bottom of my heart - and you know that you will have made 80 service men/women - and their families very happy.  Don't forget..... if you have some old Christmas cards sitting around that you haven't used, or maybe don't want to use this year.... please consider putting them into an envelope or a little box and sending them to help out our drive.  You still have a couple of days to get them to me.

Shout out to Beverly, too.  She knows why!   Jan..... I heard the weather in Perth was fabulous whilst you enjoyed yet another long weekend down under!

So.. I decided to add a twist to Wednesdays...... world-wide-web-wednesday.  the night when I showcase a couple of cards I found this week that really tickled my fancy one way or another!

Want to visit a card to make you laugh?  Click here

A super sweet Christmas card? click here

A fabulous masculine card?  click here

Clean and simple perfection?  click here

Looking for spooky projects?  Click here

Prayers tonight for:  Germaine, T, Pri, John & Sue.  Rach, Lesley and Adelle and their furbabies.  For Cam and for others of you who need a little help.  Missy, we haven't heard from you in a while - I hope you are OK.

As always, thanks for stopping by.  Have a fabulous Thursday.  Don't forget, smile at a stranger - it might change their life.

Hugs

Jaydee

Butterfly Trio

Hi Everyone.  Happy Wednesday.

Tonight's card is one of the RAKs that I created for Sparkly Hannah day, it is for a young lady fighting breast cancer.

I used a sketch layout from the Go To Sketches edition of Papercrafts magazine in May 2010.  Sometimes, I just get stuck into a rut using the same layouts, and this magazine forces me to get out of my comfort zone.  I liked the look of the layout on page 96.

I also used a color challenge from stampinwithstacey.  The color scheme was More Mustard, Always Artichoke, Kraft and Early Espresso.  This made me think of fall and how many butterflies we have around in early fall.

Here's my card

Card recipe:

• Card stock:  Whisper White, Early Espresso
• Ink:  Always Artichoke, Early Espresso.  The butterflies were colored using copics
• Stamps:  Flores Suaves, Inspired by Nature, Because I care
• Accessories:  Lots of Tags die. Basic Pearls (colored with copics)
• DSP:  Neutrals DSP pack
• Tools:  Paper Snips, Stampin' Dimensionals, Big Shot

Card instructions:

• Cut Early Espresso card stock to A2 11 x 4.25 - score and fold on the left hand side
• Cut DSP to 5 1/4 x 4 and adhere to base
• Cut Early Espresso layer to 3 3/4 x 4 1/8 and adhere to base
• Cut Whisper White to 3 5/8 x 4.  Ink up Inspired by Nature grass stamp with Always Artichoke and stamp onto Whisper White.  Adhere to card base
• Ink up Butterfly Flores Suaves stamp and stamp three times onto Whisper White.  Color.  Adhere to "grass layer"
• Put Whisper White scrap piece through Big Shot with the Dies.  Rub a little ink around the edges.  Stamp Sentiment with Early Espresso ink.  Adhere to card base and adhere two basic pearls.
• Decorate inside

Jaydee tips:

• Force yourself out of your comfort zone by using a sketch you wouldn't normally use
• Remember the power of three.  Three elements on a card are always much more pleasing.  (It's a standard design trick!)
• To give the butterflies motion, adhere one side of the wing to the card stock.  Alternate wings.  On this card I adhered one wing on the left, one week on the right and the top one in the middle.
• The sentiment tag was a little too white, so adding a little ink helped to tie it all together.
• The horizontal stripes work really well with the vertical stripes from the grass. 

On a personal note:  Today we had a great fall downpour and the humidity dropped dramatically.  Of course, it brought a lot of the leaves down from the trees.  So, the garden is certainly starting to look fall-ish!  It seems to have been a very fast jump for the heat of summer to fall.

I haven't had any chance to craft this week and I am really having withdrawal symptoms.  Hopefully, I will get to do something this weekend and maybe get around to doing some challenges.

I'm off to finish dinner.  We are roasting up some fall vegetables (butternut squash, baby zucchini, cauliflower, onions, garlic, 4 different colors of carrots in Spanish olive oil.  All goodies - except for the olive oil were bought at the Farmer's Market this weekend.  We are mixing that with some freshly picked potatoes mashed with goat's milk butter, vegetarian sausages and vegetarian gravy.  Yummy!  Then we will be watching Just Desserts on Bravo!

Several of you asked for the recipe for Rach's carpet cleanser from this post.  For this you will need three types of essential oils.  Bergamot, Lemon and Grapefruit.  You will also need some Baking Soda.  Mix several drops of each of the essential oils with 4 tbs of baking soda.  continue to build this mixture until you have sufficient to cover the carpet that you need.   We used a jugful.  The jug holds 2 pts.  Once you have the mixture, sprinkle it on the carpet and rub into the carpet.  Leave for about 30 minutes or so and then go back and vaccuum.  We also added some to our mattress and couches.  I would suggest you check a small area just to make sure you don't have any problems.  We didn't and the house smelled fabulous afterward.

Prayers tonight for Germaine, T, Pri.  Adelle, Lesley and Rach - and their furbabies.  For John and Sue.

I hope you all have a fabulous Thursday.  Thank you for spending time in my little area of the stamping blogosphere.  You know your visits, your support - and your comments are greatly appreciated. 

Hugs

Jaydee

Paper Players Challenge 16 - Lesley's Sketch Challenge

Hi Everyone.  Happy Saturday night.

Lesley's sketch was a challenge for me this week.... I have ALWAYS had a problem with a card that requires little elements... except for my 4-up fall to layout.  I don't know what it is.... but I feel compelled to bring out my squares and start to play around..... I never seem to quite get it right.  Then.... I remembered what Lesley had said about the challenge.... USE ANY SHAPE.... mmmm.... that got my creative juices going and I played around a little longer before I suddenly realized that I needed to stop focusing on the shape - and focus on the card.  I know that sounds silly, but once I let go of my hang up with 3 squares and looking for three images that fit into a square, I let myself get into creation mode.

I can thank Rach for "making" me use Poppy Parade.  It really is a color that is a little "loud" for me.  BUT... Rach has done some really cool cards with it and, whenever I use it, I enjoy it!  So, that shows me that I need to get outside of my little color box and play around a little more often!

Once I had finished the card... I loved it!  I also had immense fun coloring the images!  So, thank you, Lesley, for pushing me out of my comfort zone!

Don't forget to come play along with us at The Paper Players.  We really do love visiting your creations and leaving a little love.

Here's my card

Card recipe:

• card stock:  Concord Crush, Whisper White, Poppy Parade
• inks:  Concord Crush, Poppy Parade
• Stamps:  En Francais (background for the vertical Poppy Parade element); Flores Suaves (one of my favorite stamp sets and it is available in our Spanish catalog), Butterfly Prints (sentiment)

Card instructions:

• Cut Poppy Parade card stock to A2 11 x 4 1/4.  Score and fold at 5 1/2 on the top.
• Cut Concord Crush to 5 1/2 x 2 and adhere to card base - leaving a little Poppy Parade edge on the right hand side
• Cut Poppy Parade to 5 1/2 x 1 3/4.  Ink up En Francais with Poppy Parade and stamp onto Poppy Parade strip.  Adhere strip to Concord Crush strip using snail
• Stamp butterflies onto Whisper White and color.  Cut out butterflies using paper snips and adhere to card using Stampin' Dimensionals.
• I added two little pearls on either wing at the top.  For the pearls, I used the Stampin' Up basic pearls, but needed to dye them.  To dye them I used an alcohol based pen.
• I inked up the fabulous sentiment from the Butterfly Prints set and stamped it directly onto the card base

Jaydee tips:

• When you have a strong focal point - like the butterflies, and need to stamp a sentiment - often the best thing to do is stamp directly onto the card base.  If I had used a piece of card stock and then stamped the sentiment and then punched it out, and mounted it, I would have created two very distinct focal points in a fairly tight space
• With the three butterflies, I created movement by putting them at an angle.  There is continuity, however, because the top and bottom butterflies are essentially facing the same direction.  This makes it automatically pleasing to the eye.... as our brain likes order :-)
• Want a clean and simple version..... This card could be recreated with the butterflies stamped directly onto the card base and stamped with either the same color, or coordinating colors.  It isn't necessary to color them. 
• With the En Francais background... I wanted a slightly uneven look.  I created this by putting the card stock piece on top of the inked En Francais and pushing down the card stock hard in some areas than others.

On a personal note:  Fall is definitely arriving here in Minnesota.  Some of the trees are starting to turn and the nights are definitely chilly.  It didn't quite reach 60 degrees here as a high today and the nip in the air felt fabulous.  I really love this time of year.  It makes me want to bring out the autumn/winter lampshades, cushions, curtains, bedding, etc. and clean and prep the house for the inevitable cold weather.  So, tomorrow, we will be doing our autumn cleaning and getting the house ready for winter.  I am really ready to change out the spring/summer colors for the warm, rich colors of autumn/winter.  In fact, I have even been planning some winter decoration crafting.

Lou visited the farmer's market on his own this morning.  As I had not been well this week, he was kind enough to leave me sleeping in a little.  He bumped into Brenda who let us know that she and Cherie are planning to run their next half marathon in tutus.  Yep.... tutus.  What Lou didn't find out though, was what color?  I can't wait to see the chicks running in their tutus.  We would go cheer them on, but we will be on vacation so will have to see pictures instead!  I think it's a terrific idea.  Way to go, girls!

Talking about the Farmer's Market, Lou brought back Butternut squash.  I'll be roasting that for butternut squash pasta, and also roasting some with root vegetables as an accompaniment to the nut roast I'm making tomorrow.  We got tomatoes (oh yes, the season is not yet over!)  some local apples, cippolini onions, garlic, herbs, arugula, cucumber, gorgeous potatoes and other goodies.  It really gets me in the mood to do a little cooking!  So, no crafting for me tomorrow... .just house cleaning and cooking! 

As always, thank you so much for visiting my little area of the stamping blogosphere.  Your visits, your support and your comments are always much appreciated.  I really appreciate those of you who comment frequently.  It does let me know that someone is still reading my blog.  So thank you to those of you who do come by and leave a quick comment.

Prayers tonight for Germaine (who is still in pain, and could do with a little help), Nichole and Bob, John and Sue, T, Pri, Lesley, Adelle and Rach (and their furbabies).  Arthur has finally been given his diagnosis and a procedure set up.  Bypass surgery is in the future.

Have a fabulous Sunday everyone.   I hope your day is filled with love and laughter, and time to spend doing the things that make you happy.

Hugs

Jaydee

 

Happy Blogoversary and Paper Players #9

Hi Everyone.  Happy Saturday night.

Tonight is a monumental night for me - this is my 365th post!  Yep, one whole year of posts.  I know that I have missed a couple here and there, but I do post almost every day in the year.  So, I am considering my 365th post as my Blogoversary!  

For tonight's card - for the 9th Paper Players challenge - I used Notably Ornate and Flores Suaves and En Francais.  Oh! and some Newsprint DSP.

It's a theme challenge this week and the theme chosen by LeAnne was VINTAGE.  Well, I was really excited to participate in this challenge.  Vintage means different things to many of us - it can be really ornate and heavily embellished and almost Victorian.  It can be a little lighter and feel Edwardian.  It can be shabby chic.  It can be art deco or art nouveau.  It can be a vintage inspired - or all the way.  However, you interpret Vintage, we would love you to play along.

Here's what the design team have to share with you:

Ann's fabulous vintage Greeting Card Kid Christmas card

Marlene's striking red, black and white card showcasing her beautiful hand-made flower

LeAnne gorgeous card shows you how to make Punch Potpourri look vintage

Corie - lost her power because of a terrible storm yesterday so hasn't been able to update her blog, I'll put up a direct link as soon as she is back on-line

Lesley's beautiful Presto Papers card will make you want to purchase some of that fabulous DSP

Don't forget to pop along to the Paper Players site and play along with us.

I decided to play with colors, sepia tones, layered with just two pops of the same color.  I also did a square card, which is pretty unusual for me.  It took a little playing around to get the look that I wanted, but in the end I was very pleased with it.

All materials Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted.

Card recipe:

• Card stock:  Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla
• Stamps:  Notably Ornage, Flores Suaves, En Francais
• DSP:  Newsprint
• Inks:  Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler
• Accessories:  Chocolate Chip striped Grosgrain ribbon, Regals Buttons, Linen Thread, half pearls (Queen & Co.)
• Tools:  Paper snips - for cutting out the Notably Ornate and for distressing the edges of the music paper, heat gun (for sealing the edges of the ribbon)

Card instructions:

• Cut Early Espresso card stock to 5 1/4 x 10 1/2 and score at 5 1/4 with the fold on the top
• Cut Newsprint DSP to 5 1/8 x 5 1/8.  Distress edges and rub Crumb Cake ink pad along all edges.
• Using a blending tool, or sponge, age the Newsprint DSP.  I used Crumb Cake to do this.
• Cut a piece of Crumb Cake, ink up the En Francais Stamp with Crumb Cake and stamp onto the Crumb Cake card stock.
• Ink up the Ornate piece of the Notably Ornate set using Early Espresso, and stamp onto Very Vanilla paper.  Cut out using paper snips and age using blending tool or sponge.  Overstamp the Notably Ornate image with the round filigree image in several places using Crumb Cake.
• Assemble layers
• Ink up the butterfly/moth from the Flores Suaves stamp set and stamp onto Very Vanilla card stock.  Use your favorite markers to color the image.
• Wrap the Chocolate Chip Striped Grosgrain ribbon around the card and tie into a bow.  Using a piece of Linen thread, sew the button onto the knot of the ribbon.  Seal the edges of the ribbon to prevent them fraying.
• Add the pearls to the butterfly/moth and adhere to card base using mini glue dots.

Tips:

• It's unusual for me not to put a sentiment on the card.  I decided in this case that a sentiment would detract from the intricacy of the card and the two fabulous red focal points and placed the sentiment inside the card instead.  This is a great way to deal with a "just because" type of card.  One that isn't for a birthday or anniversary, or a particular event - but just because you wanted to send a card!
• Vintage can be vintage and still be clean and simple.  Using the same colors to age all of the elements (in this case Crumb Cake), helps to tie the multiple layers together - but still keeps a clean and simple feel.
• Cutting back on the accessories on the card, can really help to keep a clean look.  However, if you wanted to dress it up further, there is certainly room on this card to add more embellishments.
• When stamping a background stamp you can either stamp the whole image, or only parts of it.  For vintage, only parts of an image is the ideal way to go.  I ink up the whole image, lie it on my workspace and then place my paper on top of the stamp.  I only press in a few areas.  This gives me an aged effect to the image.
• Getting tired of frayed edges on your ribbon?  Use your heat gun to gently singe the edges of the ribbon.  Sometimes you can get really cool ruffles on the ribbon if you leave it a couple of seconds longer - which is exactly what I did with this ribbon.  It gives an interesting edge to the ribbon, and stops it from fraying.  You can use a lighter, but as we don't smoke, I generally don't have one around:-)
• Don't have distressing tools?  Use the edge of your closed snips to distress the edges of card stock.  It works really well, and can save you a bundle!

On a personal note:

I still cannot believe this is my 365th post.  When I started this blogging journey, I wasn't sure where it would take me and how long it would last.  Well, I have had a blast.  I have met some of the most amazing people through my blog and I am so pleased I started this!  At first it was all about market research on my creations.  However, it has become so much - so much - more than that.  It has been an amazing journey and one I am so pleased I embarked upon.  Thank you to my loyal visitors - you are the reason I continue to do this.  Tonight's post is dedicated to you!

Today, we started out our morning at the farmer's market and then went to the nursery.  We are trying to fill in the gaps in our bird, butterfly and bee garden - that stretches from one side of the garden to the other.  Today, we accomplished that,  We have a brush pile that we created for the critters to hide in, use to hunt, roost, rest, etc.  But...it really is a little ugly.  No longer.  It is now fronted with 5 different colors of Echinacea.  Kudos to my DH for removing grass and planting 25 plants today.  It certainly is worth it.

Adelle, your beautiful birdhouse was christened today.  A pair of Hoary Woodpeckers decided that it was about time they checked out your beautiful birdhouse to see if there was any interesting larvae in it.  They spent about 10 minutes in each rivulet in the roof, down all the sides to check it out.  It is now an accepted part of the garden.  The wildlife love it - and I absolutely LOVE IT.

As I write this, we are sitting on our deck drinking a glass of wine and enjoying some fruit, English Cheddar and little cracker biscuits.  The weather is GORGEOUS.  It is in the high 70s with low humidity.  The night sounds are amazing.  The fireflies are out, the bats are circling... it is a perfect evening.

I hope your Sunday is perfect.  Filled with love and laughter.

Prayers as always for Trish - stay strong, my friend, this chemo journey is almost over. Germaine, I do hope you reach some resolution soon.  For T, Pri, Arthur, John and Hugo.

Hugs to you all

Jaydee

Spanish Butterflies

Hi Everyone.  Happy Thursday night.

Tomorrow is Friday.  Oh Yay!!  It's the weekend.  I am so looking forward to it.

Tonight's card features a set that many of you may not have seen.  It's from the Spanish Idea Book and Catalog.  I saw this set and fell in love with it.  I love everything about this set - especially the butterfly/moth image.  The splitcoaststampers CAS challenge a couple of weeks ago was to create a card featuring things that fly.  This card certainly fits for this challenge.  It also fits for the SCS Dare to Get Dirty challenge for to use lots of white space...well, in this case - Very Vanilla space :-)

 

Card recipe:

• Card stock:  Very Vanilla
• Stamps:  Flores Suaves; Short and Sweet (sentiment)
• Inks:  Crumb Cake (for background script), black StazOn for the moth/butterfly image
• Inks:  Copics.  Sentiment Cajun Craze

Card instructions:

• Cut Very Vanilla to A2
• Ink sentiment with Crumb Cake and stamp
• Stamp butterfly/moth with BlackStazOn with your favorite inks
• Stamp sentiment with Cajun Craze
• Adhere butterfly/moth with mini glue dots

A really quick and easy card, but one that I feel has a soft romantic feel.  I was really happy with it.  It's such a tranquil looking card.  It's a versatile layout and stamp set.  It could fit for a birthday, thank you or even sympathy card.  Of course, the color scheme can be anything you want it to be:-)

On a personal note:

Finally a cooler day.  However, I wasn't able to get out and enjoy it as I have only just finished work and it's 9.13cst.  That means no stamping for me either tonight.  But........ I will get time in my room this weekend.  I will get time in my room this weekend.. I will ... you get the picture :-)  I have so many ideas going through my head and a real need to put ink to paper!

As always a few prayers tonight.... Lynn, thanks so much for your update on Jim :-)  Germaine, pleased that things are going so well for you.  So prayers for Trish - continued prayers, T, Pri, Arthur and Rach.

I hope you all have a fabulous Friday... filled with love, laughter and the things that make you happy.

As always, thank you so much for spending time in my little area of the stamping blogosphere.  You know your visits are so very much appreciated.

Dont forget to smile at a stranger - it may change their life.

Hugs

Jaydee