Thankful thoughts,
Grateful glow,
Blessed beyond belief.
Happy Thanksgiving Week!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
*Thanks Stacey Ailes of Studio Designers for hosting the StampinUp card-making class where I made this Thanksgiving card. It was so fun to create this and a few other fun projects a couple of weeks ago with friends and my daughter-in-law. And hopefully this card made it to its intended recipients today in time to show my thankfulness, gratitude, and blessings.
Love is in the Air….
Only a few weeks until Valentine’s Day, so time to play with all things lovely and pink and red and hearts and lacy or whatever makes you feel Valentiney.
This card was made for a special someone that requested a “girlie and pretty” card for someone very special to them. I had a lot of fun creating it with that special someone in mind.
For this card, I used the StampinUp Wondrous Wreath that is typically used for Christmas cards, but I made it in shades of pink and gray, added some tiny pearls, and backed it with a lacy doily to make it feminine and delicate and Valentiney.
This week’s Paper Players’s Challenge #PP275 is a CAS Valentine’s card. My card is not quite “clean and simple,” (I’ve created a few more layers than that!) but it is Valentine’s!
Our little corner of the world is bracing for a bit of a snowstorm in the next few days. We will see. No matter the weather – hope you are feeling warm and safe and loved wherever you are.
Remember love is a not only a noun – it is also a verb. It is something we can give as well as receive. And it is in giving that we receive.
Cherish the Moments.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
It is my last week as a Paper Players Guest Design Team Member.
For this week’s color challenge, I decided to watercolor some Christmasy mittens and hang them from some greenery and red button “berries.”
The sentiment is from StampinUp’s Endless Wishes stamp set. The greenery is cut from a Pine Needle Gina Marie die, and I simply mixed and matched some cherry red buttons to use as berries.
I hope you will continue to follow and participate in the Paper Players Challenges.
It has been a fun six months, and I so enjoyed challenging myself, sharing with all of you, and the wonderful ladies of the Paper Players Design team! Thank you all! It has been an honor and privilege to be a part of your team.
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 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.
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!)
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
“Soon will be Thanksgiving Day – Gobble Gobble Gobble!
Children run and laugh and play, but I think that I will stay,
and hide until the day is done – Gobble Gobble Gobble!”
This is a silly Turkey Song my kids and I sang when they were little (and I have to admit I still get it stuck in my head this time of year!) I sang it with my family as a little girl, so it is hard to think of Thanksgiving week without singing it!
This week is Sketch Challenge #272 at The Paper Players , and I had turkey on the brain for my Design Team inspiration card.
My turkey looks a bit concerned – doesn’t he?! I’m guessing turkeys are not so fond of Thanksgiving!
I had fun making this whimsical card and giving it to my sweet daughter-in-law with a few of those decadent Heavenly Hot Cocoa Brownies I made last week as a little surprise. She works really close to our house, and I practically pass her office to get to mine, so it is fun to drop by with a little surprise every once in a while. (And sweetheart that she is, sometimes I find little surprises in my mailbox from her too!) 🙂
For my stamping and papercrafting friends, below are the supplies and instructions. You can certainly improvise with colors and shapes and scissors and stamps, but I thought I would share what I used. There are lots of cute ideas on Pinterest to inspire you and which inspired me. I just made due with things I had on hand. Hope you will join us for this week’s Paper Players Sketch Challenge. So many fun things you can do with it and lots of other great inspiration from our creative design team.
Supplies & Instructions
Happy Thanksgiving Week! I sure am thankful for all of you!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
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.
It’s a color challenge at The Paper Players this week, and the colors are “cucumber crush” green, “crushed curry” gold, and “real red.”
I took a bit of a different twist with them for my Design Team inspiration card this week.
For my card, I took sponge daubers and dotted a sheet of very vanilla card stock with all three colors to pretty much completely cover it. I then heat embossed maple leaves in white over top it, allowing the colors to seep through like Autumn leaves. I then sponged Memento black ink over the entire thing, and rubbed it off the embossed parts with a baby wipe to give this dramatic masculine effect.
I layered this on top of real red and crushed curry card stock to frame it.
On a strip of vellum, I heat embossed Happy Birthday in black, wrapped it around and glued underneath, adhered to a very vanilla base, and added three black candy dot embellishments. Oh – and a Wink of Stella 😉 to give it a bit of sparkle that you cannot see in the photo, but adds just a nice shimmer and festive spirit to the card.
I added another green maple leaf on the inside, and this is a birthday card for my dear oldest son, Jake, who turns 28 this week! Where did the time go?! Seems like yesterday I held you in my arms for the first time. One of the best days of my life! Love you Jake! More than you could possibly know! ❤
Hope my stamping and paper crafting friends will join us at The Paper Players this week and you were inspired to create something from my post.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Stamp Sets Used:
Celebrate Today…. and EVERYday!
Happy Friday my LifeinBetween Friends!
Last night, Hubby and I went to John’s Bar for our usual Thursday night date. We had a couple drinks and dinner and were home in time to watch the Steelers football game. After playing a little fetch with Mr. Charlie outside, I realized I didn’t have a post for today. Of course I was looking forward to today being Friday (though this week sure did fly!), and I wondered what I wanted to say for a Happy Friday message…
While in the office for some meetings this morning, I noticed some beautiful new watercolor prints that were hanging on the wall that were added during a recent remodel, and I fell in love with them. They were extremely simple, yet so mesmerizing and delicate and impactful.
I thought to myself, “I could do that!”
Well – it wasn’t as easy as I thought…..
As many of my fellow watercolor artist friends out there know, restraint is key, yet often oh-so-hard to achieve – especially for us beginners.
But I literally only spent about 10 minutes start to finish on this card, and I kinda like how it turned out. I free formed the leaf with watercolor and brush, splattered a few fall-colored splashes, and then stamped the sentiment on top.
Nothing is ordinary.
Every leaf…
every watercolor painting…
every day….
every person….
has something special about it.
Embrace it, friends.
Cherish the moments!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Paper Smooches Pretty Phrases Stamp & Stazon Ink
M Graham Watercolors in Sap Green, Quinacridone Red, Nickel Quinacridone Gold
Arches 140lb Coldpress Watercolor Paper
StampinUp Very Vanilla Cardstock
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.
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:”
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
the creative life in between 