Just So Hippy!

I received this image from a fellow stamper (thanks Jan!) and decided it was time to play with it!

This hippo is from a set called "So Hippy" and you can see the whole set here on Gina K's site. I love the giraffe and the hippo the best.



So...what do you think? The card opens in the middle...you untie the bow to open the card.

Jane

Happy House Mouse Birthday!

I don't think I've shared this card yet (and if I have - forgive me).

I love my House Mouse stamps! This is the first time I've used this one. I bought it used but hadn't had a chance to play with it (or a reason to) until recently. One of the ladies in our "thebestofhousemouse" group sent me a birthday card and her birthday was the following week so I wanted to reciprocate. Seemed like the perfect opportunity to use this stamp.



It's colored in with chalks and there is stickles on the flame of the candle to make it shine. It's a simple card but I like how it turned out.

Jane

More "New Toys"

Don't remember the name of this company but will come back and edit it later. I want to say it was "Endless Creations"? Anyhooo, they had the scalloped punches and these stamps that went with them. (The solid and then dotted lines). I also saw this floral stamp and thought it'd go perfectly in the oval.



I dry embossed 1/2 inch around the edges. Then mounted the oval in the upper center and stamped the greeting (TAC) in the bottom right. I added a little "bling" on the flowers and added stickles to the "water" in the vase. It's a simple card but I like it BECAUSE of it's simplicity.

Jane

New Toys!

Ok...was going to put "New Rubber" but thought that sounded a little on the dirty side...but so does "New Toys"! LOL.

Remember my card with the peeing dog? Well, that company (RubberNecker) was at the expo last weekend and I had to stop by and see what else they had. I restrained myself and only bought these two stamps. But aren't they adorable? I SOOOO know the feeling that cat is experiencing! ;-)



Isn't it adorable? They have some great stuff!

Jane

No time to post!

I woke up late and need to be out the door in 15 minutes. Just wanted to say I haven't forgotten about posting new artwork. I promise I'll get it posted in the morning tomorrow!

Jane

RAK's to Share

Had a great time at the Expo today. Got to meet a few other ladies from the AZStampers group and got to meet Dave from RubberNecker (and picked up another fun stamp). Will have new artwork to share in the days to come. Already made a couple new cards but am holding out on sharing for now because I have even BETTER stuff to share...cards that OTHERS have sent to ME!

Between my birthday and also being the person up for the "Mouse-a-Round" swap...my mailbox has been happily full of handstamped cards!



The card on the left is from Debi on SCS. Love the "Fluffles" cat! The card on the right is from my Secret Sister on our SBS4 group. She also included some images for me to play with! Love the way the corner is and the mini brads. Thanks...whoever you are!



This next card is from Laura on our AZStampers group. The quote says "Your birthday came and your birthday went...here's the card I should have sent!" I love that it was late...makes my happy mail last longer! Thanks Laura!



This one is from Marjorie on our SBS4 group. This turtle is so adorable! Another belated card...and another opportunity to stretch out my special "day". Thanks! And thanks for the images to play with as well.

I also received a BIG envelope of stamped images from Chris in Calgary. I'm in heaven! Thanks Chris!

So far I've received several of the Mouse-A-Round cards. I think I'm going to wait and post them all in one post once they've all arrived.

Oh...and one last BIG thing to share...my last Secret Sister package arrived from my SCS secret pal. Here's a pic of all the goodies! It was a great package...thanks for everything Kim!



Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Jane

Happy Friday!

I'm SOOOOO glad it's Friday...and it's the RUBBERSTAMP AND SCRAPBOOK EXPO this weekend! Whooo hooo! ;-)

Ok...I need to keep this short. Woke up late (hit the snooze just a few TOO many times! LOL!)

I found the pattern/design for this card in the "Fan Club" section on SplitcoastStampers. What is the Fan Club you ask? It's a way to help support the site. It's pretty reasonable cost wise and in addition to helping out a great site - you also get "bonuses". You get bonus patterns and an artwork gallery that is just for Fan Club Members. You also get instant photo uploads to the regular gallery (no more waiting for approvals from moderators). Part of the deal though...is that any pattern you get on there you are NOT allowed to share. Hopefully I'm allowed to share the card itself! But don't ask for the pattern because I can't share it with you.
Now is your curiousity really peeked? :-)

Without further ado here's my card!



I tried to add lots of little touches. The faux stitching...the mini brad buttons...the "bling" for a "tie tack". This is going to eventually go to my brother congratulating him on his new job.

Have a great day all!

Jane

Not all cards are created equal!

I'm not overly happy with this card. Actually, I don't LIKE this card. But I thought I'd share it to show that all of us create things that are less than appealing. Actually, I'm sure maybe someone would like this card. But I don't. (Don't worry...I covered the cards "ears" so I'm not hurting it's feelings! LOL.)



Sometimes certain sketches just don't work for me.
This is one of those sketches. In general, I like most of the things about the card but I'm not crazy about the layout (which was a sketch challenge from Beate's blog.)

The stamps are from Stampin' Up. I used liquid applique on the "foam" to make it puff up and look like whipped cream.

So...now that I shared an "ugly" card...you have to share one too!

Jane

My dahlia - my friend

Have been seeing these "dahlia fold" cards cropping up all over the internet so had to give it a try myself. The big flower you see is actually 8 circles that are then folded into kind of a triangle shape and the 8 pieces fit together to form the flower. Not the easiest thing with little 1 1/2 circles! I am really happy with how it turned out though.



The metal word charms and the metal brad (center of flower) were embellishments I received from my secret pal. I think they work well here with the autumn colors.

Enjoy!

Jane

Iris Folding

This was my very first attempt at "Iris Folding"...so be gentle with the critique! ;-) I found the pattern and directions under the "Resources" tab on Splitcoaststampers. I'm happy with how it came out for a first timer. I can see a couple of goofs I made but hopefully they aren't TOO obvious!

The pig and saying are from a Stampin' Up set called Very Punny (or something like that?)



I'm off to an afternoon of stamping! Enjoy!

Jane

Wishing by the Sea

This image is so beautiful. We picked it up at the thrift store in a "lot" of stamps and I'd been afraid to try to use it because of all the coloring. But I decided it was time to take the plunge and test my coloring skills.



So...what do you think? Did I pass "Coloring 101"???

Jane

Pissy card

I couldn't resist this stamp when I saw it at Rubber Necker! The night I got the stamp I stamped two images and then colored them in while watching tv...but that was as far as I got because I fell asleep early. So, the next night I made this card...I liked it so much that I actually made TWO of the same card (which is unusual for me).



This kind of came together on it's own. I used an old sketch challenge from SplitcoastStampers. I grabbed a couple papers that went together...and went from there. The "rusted" looking paper is from a paper stack I got at Joann's. I ran it through the cuttlebug to emboss it and then sanded off the top of the embossed to give it some distressing. I added the little mini button brads to finish it off.

One card went to my boss (I was giving out thank you cards to everyone at work for their birthday gifts and knew he'd get a laugh out of it) and the other card is going to go to my brother (for 'pissing me off' and taking that job in Reno!)

I've also seen people use this stamp but omit the hydrant and have the dog peeing on other things (like snowmen). Hmmm...I guess the possibilities are endless!

I'll probably work on a few cards this weekend. Monday I'm doing a Stamp-A-Stack of birthday cards with a group of women. I also have got some fun mail that I'll be sharing this upcoming week. So keep your eyes peeled!

Jane

More Birthday Cards to Share!

Time to share the next round of cards I received for my birthday. None arrived yesterday so maybe my week of celebrating is over :-( . See, I don't mind late cards/gifts because it just makes the holiday last longer.

However, I did get chosen to be the next "Mouse" for the Mouse-A-Round swap so should be receiving lots of cute HM cards in the near future.

In the meantime, here are cards from Stephanie (SBS81) and Denise (Peanutbee).



And this last one is from Melissa from the WISH RAK list on SCS. She even included items from my WISH list! (Stamped Bella images and punched out scalloped circles.)



Well, I need to get headed off to work. It rained most the night last night and I'm afraid the roads are going to be icky. A bad commute gone badder. Have a great day...at least it IS Friday! Yay!

Jane

Monkey Love!

This is the card I made for my husband for Valentine's Day. It actually is part of two challenges as well. It was this past weekend's "sketch challenge" over on Beate's blog AND it was part of a challenge for our SBS4 group to "use something you love" (my monkey stamps!)



I love how it came out! It combines two Stampendous sets. Remember the "chick" cards I posted a few days ago (Easter themed)? Well, the chick has all sorts of "accessory" stamps so you can use him year round. I combined the hearts from that set with my Changito monkey sets to make this card. The bottom set of hearts is pop-dotted and there is Stickles on the hearts.

Also, I wanted to share some more birthday cards I've received! These have all been wonderful and it's so nice to come home after a long day of work to something fun in the mailbox! I'll share a few today and a few tomorrow.



These two are from Concetta (a local stamping buddy) and Julie (aka hobbywoman on SCS). Thanks ladies!

Jane

Hippy Valentine's Day!

These are the valentines that I'm making for the kids' classes. Yes, I'm STILL working on them (and will be tonight). These are super simple...I wasn't going to spend a lot of time on something the kids won't care about. 2 seconds after they see the candy I know the rest will be in the garbage! LOL. So I printed the saying on the computer then stamped the hippos. Next the kids colored their hippos. After that I cut the hippos out in squares. I cut red cardstock to 3x6 - folded over the top of the bag...held the white stamped piece on there and then stapled through the whole shebang. Decided I wasn't going to bother with using adhesive on the white part to stick it to the red. One staple does it all.



Jane

Design Team Project

This is what I finally came up with for the Design Team project.



Chick stamps by Stampendous. Paper by Bazzill.

I made sure that everything matches (including the envelopes). I'm happy with how they came out. I made four cards and envelopes but then that little box is bulging so I'll probably only include 3 when I hand it in.

Anyways, just wanted to share. I have been working on hubby's valentine, the kids' valentines, etc. So will have more to share soon!

Jane

Houston...we have a WINNER!

Oh wait...we have TWO winners!

Would Laurlynn and Cammy404 please email me with your addresses. (There's a clickable link to email me on the right side of the blog.)

Thanks to everyone who played along. I love these cards and I'm sure I'll get a chance to use many of your sayings! You were all very creative.

I did have a couple questions asked that I wanted to answer.

#1 was what color cardstock did I use. Honestly, I don't know. It was some cardstock from Close To My Heart. But that's as close as I can get to telling you the actual color of cardstock.

#2 was if there is a pattern for this card. There is a pattern on Splitcoaststampers. I believe there is a clickable link from the cards themselves somewhere. I'd provide it again here but SCS appears to be down this morning. It was in the forums area, under Challenges, and then under VSN or Virtual Stamp Night. Email me if you can't find it and want it.

Well,I best be off to work!

Jane

Jane

Happy Birthday to ME!

I've received a few more birthday cards that I wanted to share with everyone. These first two cards are by Kathleen (from SCS Wish RAK) and Cynthia (from AZStampers). Aren't they pretty? Kathleen's has this beading on the bottom that is really pretty (and managed to survive the mail...a feat in itself!) Cynthia's has a clear rhinestone in the middle of the center flower and the word February is all glittered. Both very happy cards!



The next two cards come from Sandye (aka sgc on SCS) and from Karen (from SCS). I love the variety of images. I'd never seen the House Mouse image before. If you can't tell it has three larger mice singing (apparently "happy birthday" and then a little mouse in the front. In front of the little mouse is a scoop of ice cream with a lit candle. The second card uses an image by My Favorite Things. Love the pink/brown color combo on the card. Thanks ladies!



Today I need to finish my Design Team project and work on the kids' valentines. Tonight I plan to be an Gina K's "Reveal Party" (where she debuts her new stamp sets). I'm planning on choosing me a new set for my birthday gift! Last night my niece babysat for us and we went out for mexican food for dinner. It was really nice to get out.

I'll be back either later tonight or tomorrow to reveal the blog candy winners. I need to look through all the comments and find THE ONE that I can't resist for my cards.

Have a wonderful day all!

Jane

What's Up Chicken Butt?

Ok...that was the first saying I had for this card...but I opted for "What's Up at Your End?" instead. This is my first Spring Fold card. I found the directions HERE on Splitcoaststampers. A huge thanks to Sandy for sharing her directions!



The image is another from High Hopes Rubber stamps. It's called Henrietta's BackSide and can be found HERE. I love these images and am having so much fun coloring them with my new prismacolor pencils! Thanks to everyone who granted my wishes and traded HH images with me! For the saying I printed it out on the computer and punched it out with a SU tag punch. Then trimmed just a bit and punched another tag from the brown and layered it.

The fold looks really complicated but it's quite simple. This folds down flat for mailing.

I have a couple things going on stamping-wise.

I've applied for Gina K's Design Team. I really like her (feel like I know here from SCS) and love her stamps...so would love to be chosen. I'm sure there will be MANY qualified people applying though. So, keep your fingers posted!

Also, I'm currently on the Idea Team from Clear Dollar Stamps. It sounds like some changes may be coming there as the owner is revamping the program. Right now she has an Idea Team and a Design Team. Sounds like she may be moving to just a Design Team. I guess this is what they call "growing pains" probably a good thing for her. Sounds like I'll have to apply for the Design Team if I want to continue on (will have to wait and see what her requirements are - but in general I've enjoyed working with her so probably will reapply).

Anyways, that's it for today. I'm working on cleaning the house a bit. My niece is babysitting the kids tonight and me and hubby are going out for my birthday (a day early). Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Jane

New Artwork to Share

My boys are both MAJOR "Hippo Lovers". I'd bought this hippo stamp a while back so I could make cards for them. The stamp is by Art Gone Wild. Honestly, it is NOT my most favorite stamp. I don't think the rubber is cut as deep as it could be and he has such "wide open spaces" in his head that you often end up with an ink smudge right in the middle of his head from trying to ink him up. I suppose I could unmount him...trim out the middle portion of his head and remount him...but that's too much work! LOL.

Anyways, here is the card I came up with. Now I need to make a second one.



Last night I went out with coworkers for Happy Hour for my birthday. I had a great time. My brother and his wife came as well. He did take the job offer and will be moving out of state within a month. Sigh. Not happy about that.

Tomorrow I'll be posting a few more cards that have come in. Thanks to everyone that is sending them...it's so much fun to get mail that is NOT a bill! LOL.

Jane

BDay Cards Received

I've started receiving some birthday cards and wanted to share them with all of you.

These first two are from Virginia (AZStampers group) and Melinda (PIF thread on SCS).



These next two are from Carol (AZStampers group) and from Yara (House Mouse group).



Thank you ladies! It's always a good thing when my mailman brings fun mail and not bills!

Jane

Panty Card

Leave me a comment with a unique saying and maybe YOU will win blog candy! Contest runs till Feb 10th! Enter as many times as you want for this and the Bra Card. I will choose one winner for each card! Humor and playing on the words is encouraged!

For example: "Put on your big girl panties and deal with it"



Jane

Bra Card

Leave me a comment with a unique saying and maybe YOU will win blog candy! Contest runs till Feb 10th! Enter as many times as you want for this and the panty card. I will choose one winner for each card! Humor and playing on the words is encouraged!

For example: "Breast Wishes!"



Jane

WHOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!! 10K!

I'm SO excited! You guys make me feel so special by stopping by and visiting my little "closet" of the world wide web!

The challenge for the blog candy is for you to look at the Bra and Panty cards and then leave a comment with a saying that I could use inside the card. A little off color humor is encouraged. I enjoy playing on the words. I'm going to leave this contest running till my birthday (Feb 10th). Then I will choose my favorite sayings (one for each card) and the winners will receive some nummy goodies! So far it will be a full jar of prima flowers (mix or red/yellow) and a small clear stamp set. I may add more stuff as I look through my goodies.

But for now, I'll post my cards...feel free to leave as many sayings as you want for each card...there is no limit...and you have till the 10th to come up with ideas!

Click on "Newer Posts" to see the bra and panty cards!

Jane

Flash Back!

Remember this? My Design Team project for the local scrapbook store?



Well, yesterday I stopped by to pick it up (they were through with it) and the owner of the store told me that because of my sample they'd sold out of every one of those albums in the store! Talk about some positive kudos! :-)

If you missed the original postings of the whole album and want to see pics, there are more pictures on my blog, just click on the "Design Team" tag to the right.

Have a great day all!

Jane

Come on blog candy...

Let's see which one we reach first...

1) Blog candy (given away when my counter reaches 10,000 visits

or

2) My birthday (Sunday)

My guess is that we'll hit the blog candy within another day so we'll probably hit it first.

Did any of you watch the Miss America pageant this past week? I kind of know someone who reached the final 8. My Dad was a Ranger in WWII. One of the ladies up there was the granddaughter of one of my Dad's Ranger buddies. It was Miss Wisconsin...the one that played the violin for the talent contest. I was impressed.

Guess what I saw on TV the other night that I haven't seen in forever? The Beverly Hill Billies. I love that show. So, as they'd say, "Ya'll come back and visit now. Ya hear?" ;-) I want to give away my blog candy!

Jane

Mouse-a-Round Card #2

This is my second card for the "Mouse-A-Round" swap I belong to. It's all part of a yahoo group that is just for House Mouse cards/images. If you want more details on joining this group just shoot me an email (link to the right side of my blog).

If you are #2 on the MAR swap list and want to be surprised then don't look any further. The card will be posted below.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.




This stamp is called "Smooch" I believe. I love sunflowers...and the mice make it all the more adorable. It's colored with chalks (seems to be the only medium I can use and still have my mice look decent). Funny thing is that the mice are the ONLY think I color with chalks. If you look on my blog everything else is colored with markers and/or prismacolor pencils.

I'm going to try and work on a valentine's idea for the boys for school today. And I only need another 90-ish visits before I post blog candy...so probably by Monday or Tuesday I'll be posting a challenge for blog candy (it's an easy challenge!)

Jane

A Boy and His Frog

My mojo has returned after a brief hiatus. :-)

Between last night and this morning I've made 4 new cards. SO, keep an eye out for new artwork! Also, I'm nearing 10,000 hits on my blog and I'm going to be having a contest for blog candy when I do...so keep coming back (the more times you visit...the faster blog candy becomes available!)

Without further ado...here's one of my new creations! This guy is another image from High Hopes Rubber Stamps. I received him in an image swap. He's colored in with Prismacolor pencils and I used odorless mineral spirits to blend the pencils. The background papers are from Stampin' Up (thanks to my friend Concetta!) and I used a Stampin' Up background stamp on the blue to give it some texture. Then I used an old CTMH stamp to make the "dirt" under his bare feet. Also, if you look closely...there are some TINY screwhead brads that I used as the fasteners on the boy's overalls. I love how it turned out! Hopefully you do to.

I'm going to post a couple pictures of the card from different angles. Also, you can click on the photos to view them larger.





Enjoy!

Jane