CAS

Charlie’s Thank You Card

/ Jodi / 48 Comments

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)

Punny Father’s Day

/ Jodi / 24 Comments

PP250

My Father’s Day card for hubby was inspired by The Paper Players Clean & Simple (CAS) Summer Treats Theme (PP250).

pp250 1

I love this punny stamp set from WPlus9 , and I have featured it a couple of times in the past here and here.

pp250 inside

What better summer treat is there than fresh ripe juicy tomatoes, and what better summer celebration than to honor our Dads for Father’s Day.

I’m looking forward to sharing the day with the family.

Wishing you a day spent with those YOU love from YOUR head to YOUR toes!

Cheers & Happy Father’s Day Hugs,

Jodi

Celebrate Today

/ Jodi / 17 Comments

Happy Birthday Nick Celebrate Today

Celebrate today!

Celebrate every day!

Hey – it’s Friday…

and it’s a birthday weekend around here!

My “baby” turns 25 in a few days.  How did that happen when I am only like (ahem)….  Hey – I just realized as I am typing this I am the exact reverse number…. 

In my current “clean and simple” (CAS) mode, I made this card using the StampinUP Celebrate Today stamp set.  It is so fun and festive!

After stamping the birthday balloons in Pear Pizazz and Marina Mist, I heat embossed the stars inside the balloons, as well as the birthday greeting, with silver glitter.  A few star sequins and some white baker’s twine for the balloon strings finished off this card.

I am so looking forward to spending time together with my family and celebrating.  I’m not sure how I got so lucky having two wonderful sons, an amazing daughter-in-law and a dear girlfriend, and a hubby that puts up with my shenanigans… but I’ll take it and run with it!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Do More of What Makes You Happy

/ Jodi / 25 Comments

PP228 happy life

Time to get HAPPY!  Right?  Enough whining about the cold! 🙂  I’ve made the turn and thank so many of you for your support and great tips.

And it is Friday!

What’s making you happy today?

A while back I wrote my Top 25 List of Things that Make me Happy – and those are still tops and all still apply, but today in particular, let’s see….  What is making me happy today?

  • A good hot flash to take the chill off  (just thought I’d throw that in there, because my guys say it is all I ever talk about – – – AND it makes them crAAAAzy!)
  • Spoonfuls of molasses with black pepper, warm salt gargles, steam vapor, hot team with honey, lime jello (and all the other tips and home remedies you all supplied over the past few days… I tried ’em all!)
  • Hearing a “ding” on my iPhone that means I’m getting a note from one of you!
  • Mars Pizza delivery (it’s our Friday dinner tradition)
  • Movie night – will I get to pick – and will I stay awake?
  • The gift of another day – to be happy – and maybe make a few others happy too!
Marguerite's Mom's Cure for a Cough - spoonful of molasses covered in black pepper

Marguerite’s Mom’s Cure for a Cough: A spoonful of molasses covered in black pepper

I really enjoyed making this card for The Paper Players Challenge this week PP#228 (and just in the nick of time!).

While on the couch this week, I caught a great video tutorial for this watercolor technique by Kristen Werner.

I love how clean and simple it is – a technique I strive to excel at that I often struggle with.

The challenge this week is to make a card where the sentiment is the focal point and to keep it clean and simple.

pp228

I used the Stampinup Happy Life Stamp set, watercolor paper, some Tim Holtz Distress Inks and assorted sequins for this card.

pp228 happy life flat

So as I am writing this post, a song is running through my head and making me smile.  Music is so remarkable like that – right?  Almost everything reminds me of a song.  Can anyone relate?  So who remembers this one? Kinda silly, but hey – c’mon get happy! 🙂

Who’s wigglin’ with me?  🙂

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Thanks & Giving

/ Jodi / 11 Comments

Neat and Tangled Thanks and Giving

‘Nuff Said….

(This card was created for The Paper Players Clean & Simple Thank You Challenge #PP222)

Cheers & Thankful Hugs,

Jodi

What is Froo-Froo Fussy-Fuss Anyway?

/ Jodi / 5 Comments

Happy Friday!  What a BEAUTIFUL Fall week it has been here in Western PA!

Wetlands Zindorf

Today, I’m sharing a card I’ve made for The Paper Players Challenge (#PP214), but I can’t take credit for the design.  I copied this one from one of my Stampin’ IDOLS, Michelle Zindorf.  You can check out her blog here and her much better version of the card here.  I had fun making it nonetheless.  Thanks, Michelle, for the inspiration.  And thanks, Jaydee, for the challenge.

This week’s challenge was to make a Masculine CAS Design.  I think I got CAS (Clean and Simple) confused with CASE (Copy and Share Everything)!

pp214

Cards for men are always a bit more difficult.  They don’t usually like all the froo-froo fussy-fuss many of us girls like.   🙂   Michelle did some brayering when she made her card.  I just sponged my colors on.   It was actually quite a quick and easy card to make using the SU Wetlands stamp set.  I added the taller grass, extended the ground, made the transition into the “ocean” a bit softer, and gave it an olive green background to be a bit different.

And while I’m sharing cards, here are two I made at “card class” this week with one of my other Stamping Idols and mentor Stacey Ailes.

boot and bandana

I had so much fun making this boot and bandana card.  Especially the bandana – which was started from scratch on a red piece of card stock, randomly stamped in black, then the most fun part of doodling in white.

en francais maple glow

It was fun to make this Fall-colored card look like it is “glowing.”

Check out Stacey’s blog here.  She is one very talented, creative lady – and an even sweeter friend! Her card is even more exquisite with an embossed gold maple leaf and framed in tiny pearls.

You can find instructions for both of these cards on her site.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Hope your weekend is just as you like it – froo-froo fussy-fuss or clean and simple!

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

 

The Gratitude Challenge

/ Jodi / 8 Comments

 

 

blended bloom suo 104

So now the latest “thing” buzzing around on Facebook is the Gratitude Challenge.

The Ice Bucket Challenge was awesome and all – for a while – and it raised some great awareness for ALS.  I did it. Everyone did it.  I’m growing a little weary of it.

But now I’ve been “nominated” to do the Gratitude Challenge.  I just finished my first post, and I’m still feeling a little bleery-eyed from expressing my gratitude for “my guys” (my hubby and my two boys – well men now – but all the same my guys).  Feeling so…… well…… grateful…    so full… so blessed.

There is nothing like spending time thinking about things you are grateful for and expressing that gratitude to make you feel good.

There’s a lot of “crap” that results from social media these days.  My dad and I talk about it regularly.  He’s not such a fan of it all.  I’m pretty much into it.

I am in Corporate Communications…..

And I do like to be “social”  🙂

So despite the “yukky” stuff that comes about through social media (which I need not take the time to mention and remind you about),  like everything else, social media can be used for good as well as bad.

I’m feeling good about the Gratitude Challenge, and I’m also going to make it a point to send a card of gratitude every day for the next five days to go along with my posts.

The card I’m showing here is one I am submitting for the SUO Challenge #104.   This is my first submission for SUO, so wish me luck!  Here is the description of the challenge rules:

“Clean and Simple” – also known as CAS – is a style of greeting card that most of us have tried at one time or another.  A Clean and Simple card is one that doesn’t have a lot going on with it.  It can have layers and it can have embellishments.  But basically with a CAS card, anything that’s part of it helps us all focus on the single important element in the card, including in many cases lots of clean space that forces our eye towards that focal point.  Your challenge for this SUO Challenge is to make a Clean and Simple card.

I love this SU Blended Bloom Stamp and can get lost in “coloring” it with alcohol markers and just blending and creating shades and highlights and different colors.  I hope this card meets the criteria of CAS, as I feel the focal point is the flower and hope your eye is drawn to that when looking at the card.

And…. I am going to send this card to a few ladies that I haven’t met yet, but hear are following my blog, so I am excited to send it with an extra little treat and hopefully bring a few smiles.  🙂    (Hi TSM friends!)

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

 

PS  Just in case you are wondering what I posted for my Gratitude Challenge Post #1, here it is:

Gratitude: Day 1

Janet Adams and Joyce Brugnoli both nominated me yesterday to do the gratitude challenge. Every day for five days I am challenged to list three things or people for which I am grateful. On each day, I nominate two people to do the same…. This is just about expressing thanks and recognizing amazing gifts in our lives. The sharing of my first three does not necessarily mean I am… less or more thankful for those things or people that I share over the next days.I could so overthink this as I am grateful for so many things in my life! I am having trouble narrowing down how to begin, so I will keep it easy by just expressing the first things that comes to mind…. 1. Marty (Merv) – the man I met when I was 16 and he was 20 – married when I was 19 and he was 23 – and that I still get to say “I love you” to every day – 35 years later. My rock – the man I cannot imagine my life without. 2. Our first born son, Jake – who changed my life forever by showing me the joy of motherhood 27 years ago. He gives me a hard time as often as he can, but also loves me so powerfully in a way that he and I “get” and enjoy. His intelligence and musical talent blow me away and make me so proud. 3. My “baby” Nick, who brought such joy to our little family 24 years ago when he joined it – all 10 bouncing pounds of him. He balanced us out by making us 4 and continues to balance us out in so many other ways. He charms me into doing anything he wants, gives me honest opinions, thinks like me, understands me, and humors me when the others don’t/won’t.