cardmaking

Festive Flurry of Snowflakes

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Turquoise Brusho Festive Flurry Sparkle Snowflake Card

This week’s challenge at The Paper Players is a Tic Tac Toe Challenge.   These are always so fun to choose which way to go.

For my Design Team Inspiration Card this week, I choose the Diagonal: Snowflake-Sparkle-Die Cut.

pp273

I had an idea in mind, but when I saw a card done by one of my favorite stamper/ cardmakers, Sharon White of Copy Cat Cards, I was totally blown away and completely inspired to create my version featured here (with her permission of course – gracious CAS’er that she is!)

Turquoise Brusho Festive Flurry Sparkle Snowflake Card 2

This card combines Brusho Watercolor Crystals with embossing and stamping and die-cutting.

I started with Arches 140lb watercolor paper.

Using the StampinUp Festive Flurries Stamp Set, I randomly stamped a few snowflakes with VersaMark Ink and then heat embossed with Sparkle Embossing Powder.

I then taped the watercolor paper down, masking off the edges with painter’s tape and painted the paper with water.  I then sprinkled Turquoise Brusho Crystals onto the paper and spritzed with some additional water before letting it thoroughly dry.

While that was drying, I stamped a festive flurry snowflake in turquoise on white card stock for the the first card and one in Versamark on Pacific Point Blue card stock for the second one and then heat embossedwith some more Sparkle Embossing Powder.  Once dry, I die cut them with the matching Festive Flurry Die.

I then attached each to a card base, the first to Whisper White, and the second to Pacific Point.  I used some different fun sparkly ribbon for each and added a snowflake embellishment to the center of the large snowflake.

I’m thinking these will make beautiful Hanukkah cards for a few dear friends!

Hope my stamping and paper crafting friends will join us this week for our Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge at The Paper Players.

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

Black + White + Silver + a Color Challenge

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pp270 1

My design team inspiration card this week for The Paper Players Color Challenge #PP270 is a relatively clean and simple  card.  I made three Christmas cards before I decided I wanted to share this one for my inspiration – a not-Christmas card.

This week’s challenge is to use Black + White + Silver or Gold + One Color, and the other design team members have some awesome inspiration cards (including lots of Christmas cards!)

For my card, I stamped the dragonfly onto watercolor paper in black and then dropped in some W&N Prussian blue watercolor paint (surprise surprise!) very loosely and shook it a bit to make it move and drip.  I also threw a few splatters on just for more freedom and artistic flair.  Once dried, I added some silver brads to complete the front.

One the inside, I stamped the dragonfly again in Night of Navy stamped off twice before stamping on the third hit to make it more subtle and muted.  I then stamped the sentiment on top of it.  Just for a bit more sparkle, which you really can’t see in the photo, I brushed this one with the Wink of Stella.

pp270 inside 1

Card “Ingredients”

Hope my paper player friends will join us in the fun.

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

And the WINNER is…..

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Ann Coleman!

Congratulations Ann!  You are the winner of the card give-away from Sunday’s post.

PP269 Let us Give Thanks Fall Theme Card

I asked hubby to choose a random number from all the lovely comments you left on my post, and he picked Number 37.

So Ann, if you will email me your address to mckinneyjodi@gmail.com, I have a package ready to send with this card and a few more goodies.

Thanks ever so much to all of you, and I’m sure we will do it again soon.

Happy Weekend!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Thanks ever so much and a Card Giveaway!

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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

Charlie’s Thank You Card

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PP267 Leaves thanks

This week’s Paper Players Challenge #267 is a Clean & Simple Leaves Theme.

I needed a thank you card to send to Charlie‘s “Aunt” Tracy who babysat him while we were away at Krautfest last weekend.   (After all, the sweet “Aunt” that she is, she even let him sleep in bed with her – and hog the covers – and woke up at 6am with him on a Sunday morning to go for a walk!)  THANK YOU my dear friend Tracy!

So this was a great reason to turn my CAS leaves Paper Players Design Team inspiration card into a special thank you card.

Charlie Falls Leaves

Charlie in the Fall Leaves

Trying to keep it “clean and simple,” I chose the StampinUp “For All Things” stamp set with oak leaves that stamp in a watercolory kind of effect.  I stamped them in Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, and Cajun Craze Ink colors, and stamped the sentiment in Chocolate Chip Brown Ink.

PP267 Leaves thanks

Charlie and I wrote her a note of thanks inside, where I also stamped some acorns, which should remind her of the acorns Charlie likes to chomp on our walks and that I like to crack and smash when I step on them to hear that awesome crunching sound.

PP267 leaves thanks inside

You see – Tracy has been my walking partner for the past 20 years or so!  We are neighbors with a path through the woods to each other’s homes now and were neighbors before these homes!  Wow – another testament to how time flies!  We have been walking together all this time and neither of us is skinny yet!  LOL!  But we sure do enjoy the company and the “therapy” our walks provide – both physical and mental.

So thanks, Tracy, for your great friendship.

And thanks to all of you for visiting today.

In all things give thanks, for there is so much to be thankful for!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi (& Charlie)

Happy Birday

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Happy Birday whimsical bird

Once a month, a group of us bloggers celebrate Bird Day – draw a bird, paint a bird, photograph a bird….. on the 8th of the month.  So Happy Bird Day!

I was having fun with it this month and wanted to send our special hostess, Laura, at CreateArtEveryday a belated birthday card.  Since I missed it last week, this one is belated for her birthday, but just in time for “birday!”  This one was inspired by the amazing whimsical artistry of stressiecat.

Then I saw a cute little drawing of some simple birds on Pinterest that inspired the little card below that I sent to my BFF Jill in honor of some big news in our families that she is going to be a first-time grandma.  We are SO excited!

a little birdie told me card

This last one was a struggle, and I need to try again. I saw a tutorial of a watercolor robin done by Welsh artist Alison Fennell.  I’ll have to keep working on the robin!

robin watercolor card

So Happy #BirdDay!  Enjoy the birds that are around you – whether real, drawn, painted, or photographed – and chirp, tweet and sing, because tomorrow is Friday!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

#DrawaBirdDay

Spooky, Screamy, Happy Halloweeny

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pp265 halloween sheltering tree flower soft

This week’s theme for The Paper Players Challenge (PP265) is Halloween.

PP265 flat

I decided to break out the FlowerSoft for this week’s Design Team Inspiration card.  It makes such a fun textured Fall tree with lots of Halloweeny colors.

PP265 inside

Here is the fun sentiment on the inside.

My card isn’t very spooky or screamy, but hopefully it is happy halloweeny!

I gave a quick swoosh of green for the grass and blue for the sky in watercolor paint, then stamped the rest.

Here are the “ingredients” I used to make this card:

  • StampinUp (SU) Sheltering Tree Stamp Set
  • SU Holiday Home Stamp Set (Pumpkins and Ghosts and outside sentiment)
  • SU Mingle All the Way Stamp Set (Inside sentiment)
  • Inks:  SU Early Esperesso, Pumpkin, and Stazon Black
  • FlowerSoft Autumn Mix adhered with Tombow Mono Multi Glue
  • Early Espresso and Pumpkin SU Card Stock

Hope you are getting ready for a spooky, screamy, happy Halloweeny, and hope my paper crafting friends will join our challenge this week at The Paper Players!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

A Paper Players Sketch Challenge with Hugs

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PP264 Too Kind Hugs

As a guest designer for The Paper Players, I think Sketch Challenges are my favorite.  (I love a good color or theme challenge too!  – – – Heck – I guess I just love a paper challenge – eh?!)

This week, Claire presented us with this sketch for PP264 that I really fell in love with, so my card is pretty true to the sketch.

I haven’t used the StampinUp “Too Kind” flower stamp in a while.  I love it’s versatility and layers, so I did it in Autumn pumpkiny colors to pop off the black and (very vanilla) white background of the rest of the card.

pp264 too kind hugs flat

What would you do with this sketch challenge?  Join us!  I’d love to see your interpretation and creative expression of this sketch.

For my card, I used the following “ingredients:”

  • Stampinup (SU) Black and Very Vanilla Card Stock
  • SU Typeset Specialty DSP
  • SU Inks in:  Pumpkin, Tangelo Twist, Tangerine Tango, Mossy Meadow
  • Memento Black Ink
  • SU Too Kind Stamp Set
  • Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler Stamp (Hugs)
  • SU metal button
  • Black and White Bakers Twine
  • SU Adorning Accents Edgelit
  • Black Script Washi Tape

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Warm Thoughts of Fall Card

/ Jodi / 44 Comments

PP263 Fall CAS Challenge

This Wednesday, September 23, 2015 is the first day of Fall – the Autumnal Equinox – here in Mars and the rest of us in the Northern Hemisphere, so Happy Fall Y’All!

And this week’s Paper Player’s Challenge (#PP263) is to “Create a Fall Scene.”

PP263 Fall CAS Challenge 2

I’ve been having warm thoughts of Fall as this past week has to have been the most gorgeous ever that I can recall in recent history.  Seriously amazing here in Mars!  Crisp, cool mornings and evenings, pure blue sunny, sunshiney days, and NO humidity!  The birds seem happy, Charlie is in his glory, the windows and doors are wide open, and I even got hubby to sit out on the deck with me a little bit!

I am cherishing these glorious Fall moments!

For my Paper Players Design Team Inspiration card this week, I used:

Hope my paper crafting friends will join our challenge, and those who aren’t just enjoy the warm thoughts I send with this card and post!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful

/ Jodi / 35 Comments

Fall Leave Doodlewash Watercolor Card 091315

Like the beautiful leaves of Autumn…

each unique

individual

and beautiful in their own way…

Fall Leaf Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful Watercolor Card

Be your own kind of Beautiful.

Wouldn’t want you any other way!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi