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Introducing McKinneyX2Designs

/ Jodi / 83 Comments

Mx2 log

I am so excited to share something my sweet daughter-in-law, Colleen and I have  been up to the past couple of weeks.  We started a little Etsy Shop together, and I could not be more proud of her and her beautiful work, so I wanted to share with all of you wonderful LifeinBetween friends.

Colleen takes reclaimed pallet wood and creates beautiful rustic home decor and signs.

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She takes buttons and burlap and creates sweet little works of art (several have sold already for baby nurseries!  a little blue whale and a toy sailboat!)

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She paints beautiful sayings and adds country charm to each piece she hand makes with love and such attention to quality and detail.

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I’ve added a few of my favorite little watercolors that I’ve turned into prints and made into cards – selling them in singles and boxed sets.

whimsy owl set mx2

From our first sale, we got a Five Star Review:

review

Thank you, Maggie!

So I hope you don’t mind me sharing here and asking if you can help us spread the word.  Will you share with your friends and give us a “favorite” on Etsy,  a “like” and/or “share” on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram too?

And maybe you’ll even find something you like or a gift for someone you love.  Here is a little gallery of some of our products.

I look forward to hearing what you think, and we would appreciate any ideas for products, suggestions for promotion, and general feedback on what you like or don’t like about it.

Thanks for letting me share, and thanks in advance to those of you that are willing to help us out and spread the word and share with your friends.

Cheers & Hugs
Jodi

Thanks ever so much and a Card Giveaway!

/ Jodi / 73 Comments

PP269 Let us Give Thanks Fall Theme Card

How did it get to be November already?!  (And as hubby reminded me yesterday, only a little over seven weeks until Christmas!)

I do enjoy this time of year with all of the holidays and preparations and family time.

November reminds me to be thankful, and our theme for this week’s Paper Players Challenge seems so fitting:  Let Us Give Thanks – Fall Thank You Cards (PP269).

So on this first day of November, I want to say Thank YOU ever so much my “lifeinbetweener” friends.  I so enjoy sharing this journey with you and appreciate your comments and kind words whether in the form of a like or comment here, on Facebook, Twitter, an email or card, or in person.  Thank you for sharing lifeinbetween.me with your family and friends.  I am always amazed when someones comes up to me and says something like, “My friend told me about your blog, and I read it every day,”  And then I love when they tell me what they like best – whether it’s the recipes or stories or photos or DIY cards or watercolor art or crafts or chuckles with Charlie – all the stuff I love to do “in between.”

I would like to send this card to one of you to use to send to someone you want to thank.  Simply leave a comment –  a simple hello or anything that is on your mind, and I will do a random drawing on Friday to choose someone to send this too.  I may even add another bonus card or two!

PP269 Let us Give Thanks Fall Theme Card flat

For my stamping and papercrafting friends, here is how I made this card:

  • I masked off an oval in the center of a piece of very vanilla card stock and stamped it with the Penny Black Script Letter Background stamp in Memento Black ink.
  • I then randomly stamped on top of the edges with the Inkadinkado Maple Leaf stamp.
  • This was followed by sponging the edges in three layers of color beginning with StampinUp Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, and finally Cajun Craze inks.
  • I cut out two ovals with StampinUp Oval Framelits using #2 and #3 from the smallest – #2 in very vanilla and #3 in black.
  • Same sponging was done on the small oval as the larger piece, and then I stamped the Thanks ever so much Sentiment on using the Paper Smooches Pretty Phrases stamp set.
  • To put it all together, I matted with another piece of black onto a Crushed Curry Base.
  • Embellishments to finish it off included some dark brown candy dots, a bow of linen thread, and a ribbon of burlap.

Be sure to check out the other design inspiration cards by our amazing design team at The Paper Players and play along with us.

Thanks again friends, and be sure to leave a comment for the drawing!  I can’t wait to share this with someone.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Wedding Day for a Perfect Pair

/ Jodi / 39 Comments

CJ Candace Wedding Card hello life simply wonderful bird punch

It’s wedding day for C.J. and Candace!  (You might remember photos from Candace’s shower a few weeks ago.)

I couldn’t wait to make a special card to celebrate these two cute lovebirds.  They are a Perfect Pair.

My youngest son is a groomsman in the wedding, and we are looking forward to celebrating this special day.  Nick and C.J. were “roomers” in college and have remained good friends.

CJ Candace Wedding Card hello life simply wonderful bird punch 2

Candace is a country girl at heart and their wedding has a rustic theme, so I loved using some leftover burlap ribbon and lace from Jake and Colleen’s (my oldest son and daughter-in-law’s) wedding two years ago for this special card.

I had recently seen Dawn at Petals. Paper. SimpleThymes make a twine wreath and loved the look.  Thanks for the great idea to CAS Dawn!  (You’ll be seeing another card next Sunday for The Paper Players Challenge #262 using this twine wreath too on a completely different card).

I used the StampinUp Bird Punch for the leaves and love birds and the Hello Life Stamp Set to heat emboss the “love” sentiment in gold.

Looking forward to celebrating love today!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

‘Tis the Season

/ Jodi / 41 Comments

charrie shower card artisan embellishment and hello life

Tis the season…

For showers and weddings that is.

And you might know I love a good theme.

charrie shower invitation
So when I received this invitation to our family friends’ shower, I thought it would be fun to repurpose some of it for the card I made.

I gently removed the lace bow and added it to the card I created with vanilla and kraft card stock, a tiny watercolor, and the SU artisan embellishment floral cutout.  A simple “love” sentiment was added from the SU Hello Life Stamp set.

charrie shower card artisan embellishment and hello life

I then continued the theme when wrapping the gift.

Charrie Wedding Shower Gift Wrap 1

Instead of wrapping with paper, I used burlap which can be repurposed and was from our son and daughter-in-law’s similarly-themed shower and rehearsal dinner.

I made a big bow with some new kitchen towels that were on the registry, stuffed in a couple wooden spoons (they go with the gift inside), and tied it all together with lace to match.

Off to the shower today to celebrate Charrie and Corey and wish them many years of love and happiness.

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

PS  I received a very sweet note and invitation from the HUGELY talented Leslie Mahon at InkPaperScissorsStamp.com to enter my card into The Paper Plunge #29 April Showers Challenge.  It is a less-known challenge that I am super happy to learn about and participate in.  For my card crafty friends – hope you will check it out.  If you have created a baby or wedding shower card, take the plunge and play along with us!

The Paper Plunge