Saturday, February 27, 2016

Altered Treat Jar with Hearts




Hi, Friends.....

I am here with a fun altered treat jar I decorated with tissue paper hearts for the Winnie & Walter Belated 2nd BD Bash - Anything but a Card Challenge. I like to save my empty glass jars and bottles to decorate as treat jars for gifts. For this one, I started with some salvaged dark pink tissue gift wrap. I stamped it with my Winnie & Walter - Scenery: Big Bang Confetti stamp set in gold and silver pigment ink.



Next I folded it into several layers and die cut it with the solid heart die from my Serendipity - Heart Scroll stamp and die set.


I had previously gessoed up the lid, so it was time to put a heart on it. I used a matte decoupage medium.



I had already glued a "paint clean up" paper towel onto the jar, so it was ready for hearts, too. I outlined them with Elmer's Painters Markers in silver.

After the hearts and all the decoupage medium were dry, I spread some Faber-Castell Glass Bead Glitter Gel here and there for some sparkle in between the hearts. After the glitter gel was completely dry, I rubbed on some Gelatos in Metallic Grape and Bubble Gum. I blended it with my fingers and misted with water to let it blend and run together. I put some on the lid, too, for some pretty color. I also sprayed it here and there with my Hero Arts Neon Ink Spray in pink.



I got tired of waiting for the neon ink spray to dry where it had pooled, so I got out my Perfect Pearls and dusted on some of the powder in Interference Red to absorb the rest of the tackiness and to give some extra shimmer.









Here's the front of the jar:



I finished up the jar with a shimmery ribbon and a tag I cut from a free printable from the Winnie & Walter shop. It's from their Daily Grind Collection Vol. 1 - Holiday Mint. I used my Paper Smooches - Gift Tags Dies to cut the tag.

That's all for now. Tomorrow (Saturday) is my birthday and we are going to be gone so I want to get this posted tonight. :) Don't forget to be watching for my Belated 2nd Blogoversary/Birthday Giveaway in early March! Yay! Have a wonderful weekend.

<3
Janis

Friday, February 26, 2016

Love Card with Heart Doily



I just love photos of cat friends. I have a couple of boy kitties at my house that are best buds: Marshmallow and Alexander. They are so sweet together....rubbing, play-wrestling, eating, and hanging out.. Marshy lost his previous best buddy, Suzie, a year ago or so. Suzie was a highly-intelligent and very short-haired Siamese X and we thought simple-minded Marshy would be lost without her. (Talking for big fat fluffy Marshy we would say: "Suzie has enough brains for the two of us and I have enough coat.") But, for whatever reason, he never seemed affected by her loss. At any rate, when Alexander showed up, it wasn't long before he and Marshy were bonded. Now...Marshy is the brains AND the coat of this pair! Ha. That's how naive and simple Alexander is!!! lol...

Hi, Friends.....

I am here with a sweet card I made for the Cupcake Inspirations Challenge. They have just the freshest and prettiest color combination this time. I couldn't resist playing along!



I pulled another pieced card base from my stash that I had made months ago. It already had these fabulous colors on it, so I went to work. I decided to go feminine this time and added a big heart doily that goes over the edge.


For the sentiment panel, I used part of the Unity - Love Itty Bitty set. I stamped it with Versamark and heat embossed it with silver powder. Love the swirling font and the shimmer. I wanted something more on the panel, so I used some 4 pointed stars from my Winnie & Walter - Scenery: Big Bang Confetti stamp set. I stamped them in a sweep across the panel with Distress Ink in Stormy Sky, stamping off on scrap paper to mute the intensity of the color. Then I took a sparkly clear gel pen and filled in some of the stars and outlined some of the others. I also added tiny dots here and there. I LOVE the magical look!!


I really love how this card turned out.  It has non-traditional colors for a valentine, but I think it could be used as a wedding card.  What do you think?  How would you use it?  

Thank you so much for stopping in today.  Hey, tomorrow's my birthday, but I have been so busy this month with being sick and taking care of sick granddaughter and trying to play in challenges that I haven't gotten a 2nd Blogoversary/Janis' Birthday Giveaway organized.  I think I will take a cue from Winnie & Walter and do a Belated Birthday giveaway.  lol...  So stay tuned in early March for that!  It's only one short leap day away!  :)

<3
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Winnie & Walter Belated 2nd BD Bash - Two Challenge with Shay (I used 2 colors -green and blue...and stamps from 2 companies - W&W and Unity)

2. Winnie & Walter Belated 2nd Birthday Bash - Over the Edge (My heart doily goes over the edge.)
3. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Inspired by a Song
("We've Only Just Begun" by The Carpenters - "White lace and promises...." Do young people even know about this song, anymore????? Ha.)
4. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
5. Sweet Stamps Blog February Challenge - Anything Goes
6. Southern Ridge Trading Company February Challenge - Anything Love
7. Little Claire's Designs Challenge #66 - Love and Marriage
8. Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #348

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Happy Belated 2nd Birthday to Winnie & Walter!


Hi, Friends....

If you haven't noticed, I have been having a ton of fun making projects for the Winnie & Walter's Belated 2nd Birthday Bash challenge extravaganza! What's a birthday without a pretty tag for the gift? I made this one for their Rainbow Challenge. It was another fast one because I already had the textured bokeh rainbow piece leftover from some previous experiment. It was dry embossed with my Darice - Swirl Background folder.

I used another of the Winnie and Walter free printables from the 1st Birthday Bash Digital Elements Collection. I printed out the 3x4 journaling card that said "Let's Celebrate" and die cut it with my Paper Smooches - Gift Tags Dies. I used a scrap of yellow cardstock for an additional layer in back and tied it with some pretty pastel lime chevron ribbon that my crafty friend, Karen L., sent me. :) With all the colors on this tag, it will look great with almost any solid color gift bag. Yay!

Thank you for taking a peek at my project. Hope you are getting your week wrapped up so you can play in all the challenges, too!!

<3
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this tag in the following challenges:
1. Winnie & Walter Belated 2nd BD Bash Rainbow Challenge
2. Winnie & Walter Belated 2nd BD Bash - Anything but a Card Challenge
3. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
4. Sweet Stamps Blog February Challenge - Anything Goes

Pretty Blue Spring Flowers




Hi, Friends......

I am here with a pretty floral card in cool spring colors for the Winnie & Walter Belated 2nd Birthday Bash Floral Challenge.  This was an easy one to make because I already had the pieced card background lying in wait in my stash.  :)  I used one of the fun free printables from the Winnie & Walter shop.  This squiggly frame is from their 1st Birthday Bash Digital Elements Collection.  


The flowers and stems are from a very old Stampin' Up set that I got at a thrift store. I don't know the name of it. I stamped them on the printable with Altenew Crisp Dye Ink in Desert Night (THANKS, Jennifer McGuire and Altenew!!) and Distress Ink in Mowed Lawn. The two tones of blue were done by stamping them again without reinking. I die cut the panels with my My Favorite Things Die-namics - Stitched Square STAX die set and layered them over my card base. I love the clean fresh look. Do you?

Thank you for stopping in. I have been making tons of cards lately for lots of challenges. Hope you are participating in all the fun games, too!

<3
Janis

Grungy Valentine with Inlaid Die Cut


Okay, so it's not a cat meme this time.....but it is funny.  :)

Hi, Friends.....

I am here to share another inlaid die cut card that I made for the Waffle Flower February Challenge. It's almost time to put my valentine supplies away for another year, but first I wanted to try a different kind of heart project using some grungy mixed media techniques. I used my Waffle Flower - On My Mark stamp set and the solid heart die from my Serendipity - Heart Scroll stamp and die set.



My background was made by gessoing up a piece of white cardstock and then rubbing some red Gelato onto it.  Then I misted with water to make some scrumptious drips and pools.  After it was dry, I stamped and dry embossed over it.  Not much of the texture shows in the photograph.  

Other supplies used include:
Gelato - Red Cherry
Darice - Birthday with Dots - used just the dotted part for the inlaid heart
Darice - Crackle embossing folder for red background
Versafine Ink - Smokey Gray for stamping sentiment
Distress Ink - Black Soot for stamping on red background
Heart background stamp from dollar rack
Versamark ink and silver embossing powder for loooooooong cat


Thanks for stopping by today. Maybe this has inspired you to break out of your usual style and try something a bit experimental, too. I'd love to see what you come up with!!
<3
Janis


Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Waffle Flower February 2016 Challenge - Inlaid Die Cutting
2. Double D Challenges - Red and White
3. Design Memory Craft Take the Challenge with Mou February - Hearts

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

You're So Amazing!


Ha.  Peacocks are pretty amazing.  Some people a few miles away have peafowl.  During certain times of the year when you are driving past on the narrow, steep, winding dirt/gravel road past their house, their crazy peacock will jump into the road and display his tail at you... lol...  He's ready to take on all comers and is not about to let anyone steal away the affections of his peahens!!!  :)  

Hi, Friends.....

I am here with a card I made for the Winnie & Walter Belated 2nd Birthday Make Your Own Background Challenge. I love making backgrounds, as you might know, and I have dozens of them sitting around in various stages of completion. This one was an experiment with craft foiling that had been in my stash for over a year. I had begun with a premade embossed card base and brayered Tombow Multi Mono Glue over the texture and pressed on some gold Clearsnap - Designer Foils. I loved how it turned out, but was waiting for just the right time to use it. Well, I rediscovered it the other day and couldn't leave well enough alone. Ha.


I tore the embossed cover off of the card base and decided to make it also fit with the W&W Color Challenge (coral, lime, chartreuse, and aqua). So I got out my Dylusions Ink Sprays in Fresh Lime and Vibrant Turquoise and went at it. I put it atop some tissue scavenged from some old gift wrap to catch the overspray. This colorful tissue will end up as a mixed media project, eventually. :) Still not being content with it just sprayed, I also misted it with water for a blended look. LOVE!!!


I didn't have any coral mist, so I put some Distress Ink - Abandoned Coral reinker in a mini-mister with some water and splattered it here and there for some accents.
Next, I stamped the sentiment panel with a background of tiny dots in gold ink from my Winnie & Walter - Scenery: Big Bang Confetti stamp set and a sentiment from my Powerpoppy - Azalea stamp set (Thanks, PP!!) in Versafine Smokey Gray Ink and heat embossed with clear powder. Here's my finished card:

Hope you enjoyed my card. Maybe it has inspired you to add mists and sprays to some of your cards, too!

Have a great mid-week! Thank you for stopping by to visit!!

<3
Janis


Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Winnie & Walter Belated 2nd BD Bash - Create Your Own Background
2. Winnie & Walter Belated 2nd BD Bash Color Challenge - coral, lime/chartreuse and aqua/light turquoise.
3. Winnie & Walter Belated 2nd BD Bash - Use Gold + Watercolor
4. A Colourful Journey February Let's Play Challenge - Use neglected supplies
5. Moving Along with the Times Challenge #14 - Words Only, No Image
6. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
7. Tuesday Throwdown Challenge #282 - Create Your Own Background

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Peace - Inlaid Die Cut


Awwwww......
Hi, Friends......

I'm here with a simple card that I made for the Winnie & Walter Belated Birthday Party Inlaid Die Cut Challenge. As you might already know, I am not a big one to use digis or printables. However, Winnie & Walter has a bunch of really fun freebies on their website. That's where I got this image. :) It's from the Daily Grind Collection Vol. 1 - Holiday Mint.

I thought it would look nice as an inlaid scene, so I die cut it with my My Favorite Things Die-namics - Stitched Square STAX die set and cut a corresponding hole in a white background I dry embossed with my Darice - Snowflakes folder. I like the subtle texture the dry embossing brings without drawing too much attention away from the image panel.


This scene looked so peaceful that I pulled out a sentiment from my Mark's Finest Papers - Crisp Winter stamp set and stamped the word PEACE with Versafine - Smokey Gray ink on a scrap of white cardstock that I had die cut with my Inspired by Stamping - Fancy Labels 3 Dies. I sponged the edges lightly with Distress Ink - Pine Needles and put it up on foam squares.

I resisted the urge to do much more to this card because I love the CAS look with all the white....so I didn't add any glitter or heat embossing. I matted with a narrow band of green and mounted it on a white card base.

I am really loving this simple card and I hope you do, too. Please join us over at Winnie & Walter. They have a ton of things going on over there!!! See you soon with more cards.