The Birthday Gazette

I just made this card yesterday for a customer. It is obviously for "Brooke's" birthday. She works for Sun Publications in the Classified section, so I thought it would be fun to play off that.

The background paper looks like an old letter, the border on the side is two layers of inked up paper that looks like old newspaper with a zig-zag stitch holding it all together. I printed her name on the computer and then carefully tore it out to look like someone tore it from the paper, it was inked too. The dark red ribbon plays off the aged papers and breaks up the card to look like a "headline" and "the body of the paper". The "Birthday Gazette" was printed out of Word and torn all along the edges and inked to look old and torn from the "newspaper". This card was a ton of fun to make and all the tearing meant I could throw "perfect" right out the window!

All of the papers on this card are from my scrap pile, so I can't give you a supply list this time. The only things I know for certain is the ribbon is Hobby Lobby and the black paper is Close to my Heart.

Later this week I will be starting my Christmas mini-album. I plan on posting the entire process, so keep checking back often. :-)


j.

Alfresco Thank You

All supplies from Close to my Heart

Simple Pleasures Paper Packet
Alfresco My Acrylix Stamp Set
Corner Rounder
Winter Cozy Ribbon Rounds
Cocoa Exclusive Ink Pad
Twilight Exclusive Ink Pad
Pop Dots
Hole Punch
From me to you My Acrylix Stamp Set
Bling

Last fall I participated in several local craft fairs in hopes of promoting my business. At that time I was selling things I had made and also trying to sell "supplies". It was very challenging to keep both going at the same time. I eventually made the decision to go in only one direction and just sell supplies. I still have a handful of customers that order personalized items, cards and small projects and I am very thankful for that. I certainly never have to worry about being bored!

This is one of several mini-albums that I created to sell. However after it was finished I decided not to sell it. I will probably post the others later this week, this one is my favorite.

We almost always host Thanksgiving and Christmas for my family at our house, so this will work perfect for all those family pics! If you notice every page has a white square of paper on it, that's because when I thought I was going to sell it those were for the customer to know picture size.

































All the pages in this book were very simple designs using cardstock, rub-ons & ribbon mostly. The cover was a very thick piece of cardboard that I covered with paper. The inner pages were created using a piece of cardstock folded in half. The folded edge goes on the outside edge creating pockets on several of the pages. All the pages were then bound together with a technique called Japanese Book Binding using ribbon. This project was a lot of fun and pretty quick to! If you have any questions please post a comment!


j.

12 Little Turkey's all in a row........

Here's a recent order that was a lot of fun to work on. Each turkey is stamped, colored by hand and then water brushed, to give it the watercolor effect.

I love things like this because I can get an assembly line going and they are done in no time.

Supplies: orange, teal & yellow cardstock/paper, Bo-Bunny; large flowers, Bazzill; chocolate & white cardstock, watercolor pencils, water brush & chocolate My Exclusive Ink pad, all from Close to my Heart; turkey stamp, Hobby Lobby; small felt flower, Making Memories; brads, hobby lobby; creamy brown ink, Cats eye.

I recently saw a beautiful album that involved many of the same design elements being repeated throughout the entire album. It was amazing how much of my focus shifted to looking at the pictures and not the embellishment on the page. I have been wanting to make something similar, so keep your eyes open you might be seeing more on that in the coming weeks. Maybe even some challenges and contests. :-)

First I have a wedding shower book to finish, a couple of cards on the wait list and just a "small" order for 400 school Thanksgiving invitations! HA! 400! It's getting very busy around here!


j.

All of these designs were created by me for current customers. Enjoy!

In Sympathy
Teal paper, Bo-Bunny, Ribbon, Hobby Lobby; White Cardstock, Archivers; lace edge created with Martha Stewart edge punch, Wal-Mart; White scallop circle, Cricut; teal scallop, McGill punch; small white circle, McGill punch; floral stamp, With Love, June SOTM Close to my Heart.


Midnight Flight
All ribbon, Hobby Lobby, circle punch & scallop punch, McGill; cobweb stamp, Stampendous; Tsukineko glue pad; prisma glitter, Close to my Heart; trick or treat stamp, Autumn Leaves; Enchanted paper pack & black cardstock, Close to my Heart; witch stamp, Stampendous.



Thinking of you
Black & white linen cardstock, Archivers; stamps, Stampendous; black ribbon, Hobby Lobby; black ink, Stazon.



Morning Prayer
Brown print cardstock, Basic Grey "Lily Kate"; Green paper, Creative Imaginations; white linen cardstock, Archivers; cross stamp & flourish stamp, Stampendous; creamy brown ink, Catseye; brown ribbon, Hobby Lobby.



Simple moments
Green & brown cardstock, Joann's; floral stamp, Stampendous; white cardstock, Close to my Heart, Brown Ribbon, Hobby Lobby; black ink, ink spot.

BOO!
Halloween Dingbats Acrylics stamp set, CTMH; Enchanted paper pack, CTMH; Winter Classic Fibers, CTMH; Glitter cardstock (from Sam)!


Happy Halloween
Enchanted Paper Pack; Creepy Cobwebs Acrylix Stamp set; Prisma Glitter; Tonertex glue pen; Clear Buttons; Halloween Dingbats Acrylix Stamp set. All materials Close to my Heart.


Happy Birthday Erick
Hunting My Acrylix Stamp set, CTMH; Green cardstock and brown cardstock, Joann's; ribbon, Hobby Lobby; Buckle, All my Memories Hardware kit; Water color pencils and water brush, CTMH; Creamy brown ink; Cats eye.

Thank you to Debbie for letting me borrow this stamp set, your a life saver!



Envelope Purse
All products are from Close to my Heart unless otherwise noted.

Floral Tapestry paper pack, Floral Tapestry stickease pack, Summer posies flowers, bling, Sept. SOTM Treasure Life, Winter Cozy Organdy, Follow your Dreams My Acrylix Stamp set, Garden Green Brads, 2 5x7 Envelopes ?other source?.





Halloween Party Invitations

Black Cardstock, CTMH; Ribbon, dollar store & hobby lobby; green cardstock, JoAnn's; pumpkin stickers, hobby lobby; orange cardstock, Wal-mart, Library pockets created using Library Pocket Coluzzle Template, CTMH.








No Matter the Season: I love you

All materials Close to my Heart

Magic Moments paper pack, Four Season's My Acrylix Stamp set, Winter Cozy Organdy, Hollyhock Ribbon Rounds, Chocolate Ink, Barn Red Ink, Olive Ink.



Happy Monkey Halloween

Autumn Leaves Mindy's Zoo Stamp set; Black Ink CTMH, Happy Haunting My Acrylix Stamp set, CTMH; White Daisy ink, CTMH; Water Color pencils, CTMH; Orange Cardstock, Bo-Bunny.




Many Thanks

Orange, green, white Cardstock, CTMH; Many Thanks stamp, Stampendous; Creamy Brown ink, Catseye; Leaves Stamp, Stampendous; Basket is made of chocolate cardstock, CTMH & light brown, Joann's; red & brown ribbon; American Crafts; fruit is handcut from a template off internet; Liquid Glass, CTMH. (Bottom card has scallop edge on green cardstock, created with Fiskars Scallop punch.)




j.

just art:

1 Gypsy & 1 Mid-life crisis......

Crazy combo right? Well in this case they both involve traveling, so I figured I could blog them together!

Yes, incase you haven't heard, my husband has had a mid-life crisis. His birthday was the first week of Sept. and by the 3rd week of Sept. he purchased a 2008 Nissan Altima 2 door Sports Coupe, moon/sun roof/premium pkg/spoiler/V6. It is a beauty! A friend of ours asked this week how his "crisis" was going and I told her it was going much better now that he has leather seats! :-)

I suppose you are still wondering how the 1 gypsy plays into this whole thing. Well our postmistress was showing one of the local mail carriers the cards I had made for her and she loved them and wanted me to make one for her daughters 39th birthday. I always ask a couple of questions when taking an order. What colors do they like? Favorite hobbies/things? What style? Simple/country/ritzy (bling)? She said her daughter likes to dress up as a gypsy for Halloween and she likes to have her fortune read. So I immediately went into gypsy/bohemian mode and this card was the outcome. It is unlike other things I have made and I'm not sure if it fits the bill or not. I delivered the card, but she wasn't there, so I still don't know if the customer liked it or not.

So I am asking my readers to post a comment and vote on it. Is this card considered "Gypsy/Fortune Telling/ Birthday/"?

Wow that's alot of stuff in one card!

j.