Gorgeous Grunge

Thanks a Latte! (and a Free Card Giveaway)

/ Jodi / 50 Comments

PP246 Thanks a Latte Love Perfect Blend

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.

pp246

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?

PP246 Thanks a Latte Love Perfect Blend

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.)

PP246 Thanks a Latte Love Perfect Blend 3

Cheers & Happy Friday Hugs,

Jodi

Happier than a Bird with a French Fry

/ Jodi / 29 Comments

Hey There

This card I am sharing today is a quite a diversion from my “usual” (if there even is such a thing), but oh how much fun it was to make!

I needed a birthday card for a special 14-year old boy, so pretty posies and sappy sentiments were not in order.

hey there inside

Remember last week when I shared my watercolor painted petals card and entered it into a new challenge, Can You Case it (CYCI#62)? 

Well…. lucky lucky me – I won!  Woohoo!  Happy dance!  🙂

So I was excited to see what the next challenge is, and this card is an entry for the CYCI#63 challenge.  It’s a sketch challenge, and here here is our sketch:

CYCI63-232x300

I tried to stay pretty true to the sketch.  What do you think?

Hey There

For this  card, I used the following materials:

  • StampinUp’s Just Sayin’ Stamp Set “hey there” stamp
  • StampinUp’s Just Sayin’ Framelit Die Set bubble die
  • StampinUp’s Gorgeous Grunge Stamp Set “ink blot” stamp
  • Jillibean’s You’re Tweet Stamp Set “little bird” stamp & “happier than a french fry” sentiment stamp
  • StampinUp’s Pumpkin Pie Orange Marker (for birdie’s beak)
  • StampinUp’s Adventure Bound Designer Series Paper “brick wall” paper
  • StampinUp’s Very Vanilla and Black Card Stock
  • Inks:  Stazon Black, SU White Craft Ink, Versa Mark, SU Tempting Turquoise
  • White Embossing Powder
  • Wink of Stella Clear Brush

Have a great day – in fact, I hope your day is Happier than a Bird with a French Fry!

By the way – have you ever seen a bird with a french fry??  I can say I have first hand!  A couple of years ago, a friend took me to this very specific “special” french fry place on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland.  We got a batch of fries and were walking along talking, when out of nowhere and in no time at all (I hadn’t even tasted one fry yet), a bird swooped in to grab a fry, startling me to the point of throwing the fries in the air.  When they fell to the ground, about 50 hundred gabillion birds appeared, and the fries disappeared in about 1.5 seconds.  And to top it off……… the stinkin’ bird POOPED on my shoulder in the process.  So after that fiasco, I went to the ladies room to “wash” off my top, and back we headed to buy more fries.  When we arrived at the shop, it had closed for the day…..

I never did get to try those fries.  But the birds sure were happy!  🙂

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

PS  Happy Birthday Aaron!  With love from Aunt Jodi ❤

Thanks

/ Jodi / 20 Comments

thank you card 2015

Decorations down…. thank you notes sent…  the holidays are over.

Now it is another New Year.  A time for renewal, hope, dreams, clean slates, reflections on the past, goals for the future.

For the first time, I “mass produced” a batch of cards.  I had many thank yous I wanted to send in appreciation for wonderful friends and family – good times spent together, generous and meaningful gifts exchanged, love and appreciation expressed.

thank you card 2015 w

I designed a card I liked that I thought would be somewhat easy to duplicate 15 or 20 times.  I’m happy with how they turned out, but the important part was the handwritten message inside – a message of appreciation and gratitude.  I love sending thank you notes.  They are probably my favorite….  Maybe because they are becoming such a lost art and etiquette.  Mostly because it is an opportunity to let the recipient know how thankful I am to have them in my life.

jodjodi

Thank YOU my lifeinbetween.me blog friends!  I am thankful to have you in my life.

Cheers & Thankful Hugs,
Jodi

Silver or Gold

/ Jodi / 17 Comments

pp218 jlm 3 vignette

This week’s Paper Player’s Challenge (PP#218) is to make a card using Silver or Gold.

pp218

I always find it challenging to make a card with Silver and/or Gold for some reason, but I love The Paper Players Design Team and strive to participate in their challenge each week.  This is my third silver/gold card I made this week, and one that I finally feel worthy of submitting for the challenge.

I was excited to try true watercoloring on this card with brushes and watercolors.  (Well – at least my first stab at using paint and brushes to create a rather obscure, abstract background – gotta start somewhere!)

jodjo

 I used my little starter watercolor set, which is Sakura’s Koi Water Colors Pocket Field Sketch Box to create my background on SU watercolor paper and then heat embossed silver snowflakes and the Merry Christmas sentiment from the SU Endless Wishes stamp set.  I added a couple silver sequins and framed it in glittery silver paper.  I then dabbed some white “snow” with SU’s Gorgeous Grunge stamp and added a piece of silver and white ribbon tied into a bow to the top.

pp218 jlm 3 inside

I continued the theme on the inside with more silver embossing from SU Endless Wishes.

PP218 jlm 3

Another Christmas card done and ready to save to send to someone special on my list.

Cheers & Hugs,

Jodi

Happy Friday – Fourth of July!

/ Jodi / 3 Comments

Celebrate Today 4th of JulyWoohoo!  Not only is it Friday, but it’s a holiday – Independence Day!  An extra day off work and a day to celebrate.

celebrate today 4th of july insideI was inspired to make a red, white, and blue celebration card and already gave it to someone special.

celebrate today 4th of july flatI’m having fun with a more abstract look in my card making lately using watercolor paper and spritzing and splotching.  I’m loving white embossed on vellum too – and touches of gold string.  And lately, most every card uses the “Gorgeous Grunge” stamp in one way or another.

Hope you and yours enjoy the long holiday weekend…

and celebrate today…

at Life in Between.

Cheers and Hugs,

Jodi

 

Hello Friday! Friday the 13th

/ Jodi / 2 Comments

Hi There Gorgeous Grunge and Kinda Eclectic

Oh Friday – How we look forward to you each week – so Hello!

Hello Friday!

And it’s Friday the 13th!

And it’s a Full Moon!  (also called the Strawberry Moon and the Honey Moon – which is not supposed to occur again for 5 years – so check it out!)

Woooohooo – what excitement may come our way?!

Friday is #FreebieFriday in the StampinUp Where the Rubber Hits the Road Group I belong to.  It’s the day we all share a card we made this week to inspire each other.

I love seeing all the creativity and crafty, artistic inspiration from my fellow stampers.

This week, I’m sharing this Kinda Eclectic/Hi There/Gorgeous Grunge Card  (those are the names of the three stamp sets I used, but funny how they “kinda” name the card!)

I had a BLAST making and seeing how this turned out.  A little off my usual path, but I just kept adding…

Lots of bright colors combined with the contrast of black inked on vellum….

A silver embossed ray of sunshine…

A cut-out starburst cog to go under it and lift it off the paper….

Some gold cord swirled under that and on top of the sliver sunburst…

Then topped it off with some sequins.

I saw something done with some similar techniques on Pinterest and couldn’t wait to try.

I hope it made you smile…

Or brightened your day…

Hello to you – and Hello Friday!

Wishing you all a wonderful Father’s Day weekend ahead.

Enjoy doing all the things you love to do…

with the people you love…

at Life in Between.

Cheers and Hugs,

Jodi

 

A little Kindness goes a Long Way

/ Jodi / 6 Comments

Kinda Eclectic Kindness CASEd ilina crouseBack in January (could that really be six months ago!?), I was all gung ho on participating in the One Little Word project.

“Kindness” was the word I had chosen.

Then I decided to take it a little “deeper” and changed my word to “Accept.” (but that is probably for another day…. another blog….)

I followed the project for a couple months, but for some reason, I just didn’t stick with it.  (I applaud a few friends who I know are sticking to their “reflections,” “choices,” and “moxie!”)

Well – Even though I changed my “one little word”…. and didn’t stick with the program, I am still reminded of my original and “gut instinct” word when I look at something I wrote on the chalkboard in my home office:

“A Hug is a Blanket of Kindness”

Do you ever stop and think how SIMPLE it is to make a difference in someone’s life?

An impact on the world?

Have you thought about how much a real, genuine, T I G H T, last-to-let-go hug means to someone?

I held a training session at work yesterday for one of our teams on one of my favorite topics:  Customer Service – and specifically – how a Complaint is a Gift!  No matter how many times I talk about it, or how many times I present the same topic, I get excited….   I get energized…  I get downright giddy about the endless opportunities at our fingertips and on the tip of our tongues – both personally and professionally – when we simply display kindness.

You see – customer service, handling complaints, and simple acts of kindness – are really such basic concepts.

Why do we try to complicate things so?

Why do we look for magic bullets?

Miracle creams?

Quick fixes?

What happened to the simple act of kindness?

The simple gesture of a genuine hug?

Do you let the world around you affect your day or do you make an impact on others?

I make it my daily goal, even if it is simply with the teenage boy or middle-aged woman working the cash register at the local grocery store, to share KINDNESS with everyone I interact with.

Do you let that “grouchy” checkout lady ruin your day or your shopping experience or your moment? Or do you make it your personal challenge, like I try to do, to make that person smile…? leave them with a positive, kind thought?

It’s kinda fun really.

It’s kinda eclectic.

Hmmm…  That is the name of the new stamp set I used from StampinUp to make this card:  Kinda eclectic

Can’t wait to decide who to send it to and share a little kindness.

Don’t underestimate the power of simple kindness, random acts of kindness, and the value of a TIGHT, last-to-let-go hug.

A little act of kindness goes a LONG way!

Cheers and Hugs,

Jodi

 

PS   For my stampin’ friends, this card was made using the new in colors, Kinda Eclectic stamp set, and Gorgeous Grunge Stamp set.

Happy Birthday Colleen!

/ Jodi / Leave a comment

Happy Birthday Colleen!

Every Special Birthday Girl Deserves a Special Card. I loved making this one with StampinUp’s “Petal Parade” and “Gorgeous Grunge” Stamp Sets and the new “SoSocial”. I even broke out the sewing machine to stitch in a little extra love.