I’m guessing most of you are familiar with the current party dance song if you’ve been to a wedding or holiday party recently or listen to the radio: Whip Nae Nae! (I dare you not to wiggle when you hear this song!)
So taking on this twist, I made 12 aprons for a Holiday Cookie Swap my daughter-in-law hosted last night. ( and I can’t wait to share more on the amazing party she threw when I get a chance!)
For now, gotta BOP BOP BOP to wear off those cookies! 🙂
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
This week’s Paper Players’ Theme Challenge is “Let it Snow.”
Well – no snow happening here in Mars, but we can dream, can’t we? I’m dreaming of a white Christmas…
My design team inspiration card this week is stamped and heat embossed with a glittery embossing powder for the snow and snowflakes to sparkle, and I added some miniature pearls for an extra special touch.
Stamp sets used are StampinUp’s Endless Wishes & Gorgeous Grunge.
Time to get this card in the mail, and Celebrate the Season!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
This week’s challenge at The Paper Players is a sketch challenge, so I created this sympathy card for my design team inspiration card.
A little designer series paper from Stampin’ Up’s Timeless Elegance, a little watercoloring on the stamped flower from SU Bloom with Hope, and a cute little bee cut out of English Garden DSP and bedazzled with some Glossy Accents to make it pop and shine!
On the inside, I stamped off the Bloom with Hope flower stamp a few times before stamping in the card to give it a lighter watermarked look and then added the sentiment on top.
Hope my papercrafting friends will join us in The Paper Players sketch challenge #PP268 this week. I also have to say the other design team members’ cards are exceptionally amazing this week. Check out these talented ladies!
Claire Creates Cards
Stampin! with Jaydee
The Crafty Owl
Stamping Up North
Week Inklings
Canopy Crafts
Stamp with Sandy
Stamp with Amy K
My Paper Tales
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Follow the path of joy.
Follow the path of happiness.
Follow the paths of justice and righteousness and goodness, loyalty, equality, and freedom.
But mostly….
Follow the path of love.
A simple card
with a simple message.
Why do we complicate things
so much?
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Hi All – I am on a little vacation this week. A fun trip to the beach with some girlfriends from GFC (Girlfriend Camp).
I thought it would be fun to send Hubby a little card while I am gone to let him know I miss him.
The challenge this week at The Paper Players is to make a CAS (Clean and Simple) Card with the theme: “Frames.”
The first thing I thought of was glass frames as Hubby and I are at that fun stage in life where we are always looking for our reading glasses and/or sharing each others.
And… After 33 years, my heart still does stop and skip a beat when he looks at me. ❤
Hence the design for this week’s Paper Players Design Team Inspiration Card.
Here’s what I used and how I made it.
Card Recipe/Ingredients:
I simly drew and watercolored a heart on a piece of watercolor paper, splattered it a bit, and stamped the sentiment on with Stazon JetBlack Ink.
I then die cut the glasses out and put a thin layer of Crystal Accents for a glossy accent on them. When that dried, I adhered it with small glue dots, and assembled the layers on the card.
I added a little line heart on the inside from StampinUp’s Hello Life Stamp Set.
So – Here’s looking at you, Merv. And if you look back, I might wink. 😉
Cheers and Hugs,
Jodi
Any coffee lovers out there?? Do you ever sigh after that first sip of joe in the morning like I do? Does anything taste better? (with the exception of red wine after dinner?) I love my coffee pretty bold (like my wine) with a nice splash of Italian Sweet Cream in it.
I created this card for The Paper Players PP246 Sketch Design Challenge.
The design was inspired by an awesome card I saw done by Paula Sievers at Stamping with Paula. I don’t often use Designer Series Paper, but I loved how Paula framed and layered it and then cut out the coffee cup and embellished the cup holder with chevron.
I have been wanting to use the StampinUp Perfect Blend Stamp Set and thought it would be so fun to put a lipstick mark on the cup like us ladies get so often. Can you relate?
I had another stamp set from Fiskers with this sentiment on and the coffee beans that I thought complemented it and went well with the sketch challenge theme. Some Gorgeous Grunge “coffee splatters” added just the right finishing touch.
I’d love to give this card away to one of you lovely “lifeinbetweeners” out there. Leave a comment with your favorite coffee brand, flavor, shop, or how you like your morning java to be entered into a random drawing to win this card. I’ve left the inside blank so you can write your own special thank you message to the person you choose to send it to. (Winner will be drawn Sunday, 5/31/15.)
Cheers & Happy Friday Hugs,
Jodi
My Most Pinned Card on Pinterest – Birthdays are for the Birds!
How about that? Pretty exciting stuff – eh? (at least in my little corner of the world)…
I am so honored to be asked and super excited to participate as a Guest Designer for the next three months at ThePaperPlayers.
My second most pinned card on Pinterest – Dots Big Day Birthday Card
The Paper Players is a fun community of artsy crafty paper peeps who love to stamp or draw or paint handmade paper crafts. The design team is a group of amazingly talented, inspiring individuals that are as kind and encouraging as they are artistic. They truly embody creating HeARTwork!
I originally discovered The Paper Players when I started stamping, and for those that have been with me here a while know this is a weekly challenge I often participate in – – – and have actually won a few times!
One of my winning cards
I will be creating one card per week as “inspiration” for the challenge in hopes that others will join in and play along.
I hope some of you that love or would like to try paper crafting will check it out and join in with us weekly or as you like from time to time.
One of my faves – Stamin Up By the Tide Hello There Card
The guidelines are very simple:
1. Create a new paper or digital project.
2. Upload your creation to your blog with a link back to ThePaperPlayers. (Please provide a direct link to the post featuring your challenge entry as opposed to you blog home page.)
3. We also ask that you link your project to no more than three challenges.
4. Have fun!
Wish me luck, and I hope this inspires YOU to do more of what makes YOU Happy!
Happy Life Watercolor Card
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
There is ONE single joke I can remember to retell, and it is my favorite….
If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?
(ready?!)….
Pilgrims of course!
We have lots to celebrate in May, so I’ll be busy making special cards for a lot of very special people this month, including this May”flowery” card for a special Mom in my life I fondly refer to as “Mom II.”
Sunday is Mother’s Day – a very special day for those of us who have been blessed with the privilege and honor to be called a “Mom” or “Mum” or “Mother” or “Momma” or “Mommy” or “Mummy” or “Mom II”…
Carole (aka Mom II) is my Dad’s wife. When I reunited with my (birthfather) Dad five years ago in July, the first thing she said to me after I said “Hello” was, “Your Dad always promised me a daughter. Now I have one.” That was followed by a big tight hug from a beautiful, petite woman. A pretty warm welcome – eh?!
I will never forget that moment.
So this fussy, frilly Mother’s Day card is for Mom II.
The design was inspired by the CanYouCaseIt #68 Sketch Challenge.
And I’m also sharing this card on the Paper Plunge #32 Mother’s Day Theme challenge.
For the card, I used a variety of Stampin Up flower paper punches, Best Day Ever Designer Series Paper, and lots of buttons, pearls, and linen thread. It was fun to create and flower up!
So Happy Mother’s Day this coming Sunday Mom II! I hope your day is as special as you!
Cheers & Hugs and Motherly Love,
Jodi
Isn’t it true? It’s the “little things” that mean so much!
Next week at this time, I will be in (hopefully) sunny, warm Florida with one of my besties, Janet, celebrating “the little things” that have sustained our friendship for 40 years! And seriously – I’m not sure how that is possible when I am [ahem] barely past 40, but Janet is my oldest – really meaning “longest” together – friend.
I can’t wait to just spend time with my sweet friend doing the “little things” that have sustained our friendship through the ages, miles and miles, and extended periods of separation (Janet lived in Alaska for about a million years).
Janet is my sister and her family is my family.
My hubby, Marty, gave me the BEST birthday gift this year. He’s sending me off to spend time with someone I hold so dear. And I can still hear the squeals when I called her on New Year’s Eve (my birthday) to tell her the good news. And we are going to get to celebrate her birthday, which is just a few days after my visit.
We will talk, walk, laugh, likely cry, eat, drink, reminisce, reflect, discover, and just “BE.”
No matter how much time or space has separated us, we have always enjoyed “the little things” that make life and our friendship so precious.
So this card I created is dedicated to my Janet.
It is made from the Stampin Up Sheltering Tree and Hello Life Stamp Set. It is clean and simple (CAS), because the message is so powerful: Love the little things – for they are what make up the greatest joys in life.
Wishing you a wonderful day filled with many reasons to celebrate “the little things.”
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Make a card!
Hi Friends – Yesterday was a “sick day” for me.
It doesn’t happen often, but this head cold has got the best of me right now. I have a whisper of a voice (and for those that know me well know what a challenge this is for me – you know – my quiet, reserved nature… NOT!). My throat just aches, and I am so sick of honey lemon cough drops I could throw up, but they help soothe and quiet the hacking cough. My stuffed up ears are cracking and popping, and I would like to poke holes in them to release the pressure. What a whiner – eh?! Good thing I don’t get sick very often!!
I spent most of the day snuggled with Mikey on the couch watching the snow fall and binge watching crazy stuff on television between cat naps.
I was glad I had this card made and photographed and ready to go for the Friday Mashup Challenge (#193) for today’s post.
The challenge is to:
I decided not to add a sentiment to the front of the card since it already has a lot going on, and this is the simple inside:
For my card, I used Stampin Up Old Olive and Very Vanilla Card Stock, the SU Love Life Stamp Set (same one that had the cute little bird I featured here), the SU En Francais Background Stamp, and had fun with the technique and challenge. I colored the lemons in with a Crushed Curry Marker and the leaves with Old Olive, and some thin black lines and some accents with a white gel marker. I finished it off with a button and some twine.
I really enjoyed the technique of triple layering, and besides being much easier than it looks, there are so many possibilities and variations you can do with this.
…. like life…. right?…
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
the creative life in between 