Getting a Head Start

Good morning everyone! I'm officially on vacation this week (though I do have to go in for a few hours tomorrow to do payroll) and I'm trying to get a "head start" on the New Year. Not that I'm in a hurry or anything - I'm just waaaaaaay behind in my scrapbooking, computer file organization and tax preparation for my stamping business. So last night I started my 2009 digi-scrapbook - and what better place to begin than at the end with the new Christmas photos.

Santa Claus always makes an appearance at my husband's family Christmas and EVERY family member has his or her turn sitting on Santa's lap to open presents. This page is a collage of my husband's parents, my hubby, all of our nieces and nephews on his side (except Andrew who is serving our country in Dubai) and a couple of my sister-in-laws. My favorite photo of the day is the large center photo in this page. My sister-in-law from Texas wanted an outdoor photo with Santa (my son in costume). He unexpectedly grabbed her up and acted as if he were going to dump her over the porch rail into the snow. She was laughing so hard her nose is all wrinkled!

It was a lovely Christmas with his family this year. All of my hubby's siblings were together in the same place for the 1st time in 17 yrs. so I made it a point to get a photo of my in-laws and their children. My DH is in the back row - 3rd from the left. Isn't he cute??? He's getting so gray now I think he should play Santa next year. Look at those rosy cheeks - don't you think he could do it?

Speaking of DH - his birthday is the day after Christmas so in the midst of all that hustle and bustle we always have to remember to celebrate his birthday too. I made this card for him and instead of a birthday cake (he's diabetic), my sister-in-law, Giselle, made him a wonderful, Lebanese breakfast treat called Knefay. It's made with white cheese, semolina and toasted wheat or bread crumbs and baked. While it's still warm you drizzle a little sweetened rose syrup over it. Mmmmmmmm!!!! It's delicious. In fact, I have a piece waiting for me in the kitchen as soon as I finish this post.

I used almost all Stampin'Up! product on this card. The cardstock is Kraft, Chocolate Chip and Bashful Blue. I hope the colors look true on your computer monitor becaue this color combination is really pretty. The stamps are Special Day Background Stamp, Lovely as a Tree, and Itty Bitty Backgrounds all stamped in Chocolate Chip Dye Ink. The ribbon and copper brads were purchased at a local craft store.

Thanks for taking a few minutes of your day to check out my life. I hope your Christmas was as nice as our was and that you enjoyed your day- whatever you were doing and whoever you were with.

Until Next time -

happy stamping.

Jill

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE

If you are going to be as busy as I am tomorrow you won't be touching your computer - so thought I'd better get my Christmas Wish out to you today. I hope your day will be filled with love, family, friends, good food, wonderfully wrapped presents and the Spirit of the Living Lord - JESUS.

This past Saturday I hosted a customer appreciation luncheon for all of my wonderfully supportive customers. Out of 14 who said they would be able to make it, 12 attended and I hope had a fun day eating, visiting and getting creative with the make n take project which was this little snowflake candle and gift box. These are very easy to make and make delightful little gifts.

The photos below are just a few that I took at the luncheon.

Our yummy lunch. BBQ, scoops with cheese and spinach dips, cookies, candies and beverages.

Mmmmmm! Don't these look delicious??? My favorites are the no bake peanutbutter & chocolate cookies -Oh - and the SNICKER bars, peppermint chocolate bark and the little gingerbread cookies. The divinity was okay - but I'm not a fan.


This is a photo of 2 of the place settings. Each person received a little thank you gift with a card and blueberry flavored candy cane.


Inside each gift bag was a little snowman figurine. Most were the "sitter" snowmen - aren't they adorable???? I should have gotten one for myself because I think they are so cute - but sadly I didn't think of that until later and by that time they were all gone.



Thanks for visiting today on this rainy Christmas Eve (at least it's rainy in East Peoria, IL). Christmas Blessings to each of you.

Jill

MOONLIT CHRISTMAS

Sorry I haven't been posting lately - I haven't been sloughing off though. I have been busily working away on gifts and cards but couldn't post them because I didn't want the recipients seeing them online before receiving them in person. That's like giving a sweater that 70 people have already worn - just NOT the thing to do!!!! LOL! I THINK I am safe to show this card though as I have sent out my Christmas cards and hopefully the recipient of this one already has it and opened it.

I created the main image for this card some time ago - maybe even last year (I am old now and can't remember things as well as I used to) - but did not use it for the card I was making. When it came time to mail my Christmas cards this year I found I was short 22 cards. I don't know how that could possibly be the case because it seems like all I had been making was Christmas Cards since October - but it was true - I still needed 22 cards and QUICK! So I looked through my file of cards - these are the ones I make when the mood strikes and then file away for future use - and was fortunate to find about 12 Christmas cards I had made throughout the years at classes/workshops etc. These would definitely come in handy THIS year but I still needed to make 10 cards and I only had one afternoon to do it. WHAT TO DO?????

I have a "junk" drawer in my studio that holds all the bits and pieces of things I've colored, created etc that are usable but were not used on the project I created it for. This image was in that drawer and would be perfect for a quick card.

To create the background I tore a large post it note to form "snow" and laid it across the bottom of a piece of WHISPER WHITE cardstock. Then I punched a circle (also from a post-it note) and placed it just above the snow to form a moon. Once the post-its were in place I brayered the exposed cardstock in NOT QUITE NAVY then sponged around the edges of the sky in NIGHT OF NAVY. The trees are from the SU! LOVELY AS A TREE stamp set and are stamped in MEMENTO TUXEDO BLACK ink. I added STARDUST STICKLES to make the snow sparkle and used a SU!SIGNO WHITE GEL PEN to create the falling snow. The image was layered onto a base of VERY VANILLA cardstock which was created using a SPELLBINDERS SCALLOPED RECTANGLE NESTABILITIES and then layered onto a piece of SU! NIGHT OF NAVY cardstock. The cardbase is SU!VERY VANILLA cardstock and is embossed using the BIGSHOT and a the CUTTLEBUG SWISS DOTS embossing folder. SU! NIGHT OF NAVY organdy ribbon (retired) and a snowflake button add the finishing touch.

Thanks for being patient and hanging in with me while I took a short break from posting. My New Years resolution is to create and post 2-3 projects a week. I hope I can keep to that schedule.

As always -
thanks so much for taking the time to visit my blog. I know you are all busy with your own lives and projects so I really do appreciate your show of support when you visit and comment on mine.

Until next time -
Happy Stamping!
Jill

DECEMBER BIRTHDAY

One of my nephews turned 10 on the 11th of December and today was his party so of course I had to make a card - I couldn't have done it weeks ago - it HAD to be this morning, the day of the party. (I also had to buy the gift today - it also couldn't have been purchased earlier!) So anyway, as I looked through my kajillion stamps and stamp sets it occurred to me - not for the first time either - that I don't own ANY stamps that work well for those masculine tween cards. I have the SU! Fishy Friends set which make really cute cards - but only if you're an adult or under the age of 7. 10 year old boys would find them just a way bit babyish - especially THIS 10 year old. So what to do????

Thankfully it's winter and snowmen are great for winter cards no matter how old or young you might be. A year or so ago I made a Christmas card using an adorable snowman stamp from WHIPPER SNAPPER. His arms are spread wide and I strung a string of plastic mini tree lights from hand to hand. I love this little guy - he's just toooo cute. I wanted to use this stamp for Tony's bday card so I stamped it in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink on SU!Whisper White cardstock and colored him with alcohol based markers.




Then I cut off his arms (OH NO!) and reattached them so they could hold a birthday cake complete with candles. I told Tony the snowman had to be really careful not to get the flames to close to his body and face or he would melt. Without even looking down at the card in his hand, his response was to say matter of factly "that's why he's all covered up." I loved it!!!! Not only did he "get it", his response also showed me that he really took the time to look at the card I made for him. How many 10 year old boys care as much about the card as they do the present????


RECIPE:
Whipper Snapper Snowman Stamp
Birthday Cake Stamp (unknown mfr)
Very Vanilla cardstock
More Mustard Cardstock
Whisper White Cardstock
Designer Papers sponged in Close to Cocoa
Copic Markers
Buttons
Twine


Thanks for visiting -
Until Next time -
Happy Stamping.

Jill

THE STUFF DREAMS ARE MADE OF

I'm apparently OBSESSED with stamping. Does anyone else out there dream about designs for cards???? I hope someone says yes - because I don't really want to think I'm the only one that's gone off the deep end.

I dreamed THIS card last night - or at least I dreamed PART of it. What I could remember when I woke this morning was the stamped image across the bottom, the layout and that it was Navy Blue and White layers. I couldn't remember th main image or any other accents. The card in the dream also had piercing in various places -- but when I started putting this together decided it really didn't work with punched holes all over it.

My friend, Cindy, is having her family Thanksgiving tomorrow and has really gone all out with her decorating to make her home and her table beautiful. One of the things she wanted to do was create name cards for each place setting using Stampin'Up! Sweet Treat Cups. She looked online and found a few ideas then chose bits and pieces from each one to create some adorable Tom Turkey Place Card Sweet Treats. She also added the name tab as a pull tab to release the candy so her guests wouldn't destroy all of her hardwork when it came time to eat the candy.

My version is basically the same as Cindy's. The only changes are the addition of designer paper to the front of the place card and the "stitching" to give it a homespun look. Hers have bigger eyes too - which I prefer - but since I didn't have the big eyes I used the little ones. Isn't he cute??????

Thanks for visiting -

Until next time -

Happy Stamping!

Jill

POINSETTIAS, HOLLY SPRIGS & GOLD

I'm still trying to decide on a design for my Christmas cards this year and spent HOURS this morning putting this together. I had remembered seeing a card online a few weeks ago that used a poinsettia stamp and this Holly Embossing folder together and thought it was beautiful. So I found my poinsettia stamp, embossing folder, gold embossing powder, heat gun and went to work.

My first attempt was on a 4.25"x5.5" vanilla cardstock base. I stamped the poinsettia's in Versarmark and heat embossed with the detail gold embossing powder. I added tiny gold half beads to the centers and made sure they would stay in place by adding a drop of crystal lacquer to the top. I remembered the card I had seen used the MS branch punch to punch little gold branches - but I didn't have any gold paper and since I am home with a sore throat today really didn't want to go out to the store to get some. Did you know you can MAKE YOUR OWN GOLD METALLIC PAPER???? All you have to do is take a piece of white cardstock, stamp your versarmark inkpad all over the surface, apply gold embossing powder and heat. I made just enough to punch about 8 branches and added those to the Poinsettias. I layed the flowers in place in the corner of the embossed cardstock, and while it was very pretty in it's monochromatic theme and simplicity - it still needed something to make it a "WOW" card. So I tried ribbon, then heated ribbon, then a greeting - and decided it just wasn't working so I should start over.

I saved the Poinsettias - after all that work I wasn't about to pitch them. I decided I should try a larger card base so I could have a larger canvas to work with - and after a couple more "FAILURES" came up with this as my end result. I wish the photo looked as elegant as the card does in real life - but the metallic portions of the card reflect the color of the walls and overhead light so that they look orange in the photo. In reality, the gold embossed metallic branches and Poinsettias appear several shades darker than the River Rock cardstock and blend beautifully.

I'm still thinking I might add a ribbon across the bottom of the embossed cardstock and tie a bow in the right-hand corner.

Hope you enjoyed the card and the babble -

thanks for visiting

and until next time -

Happy Stamping!

Jill

SNOWFLAKES AND DOUBLE BOWS

For those of you who came to last night's technique's class, you can stop reading now - unless you just like to read my chitter-chatter. If that's the case keep reading - otherwise today's post will simply be a review for you.

For some of the rest of you - you might have seen these ideas recently as you've been browsing through different blogs and websites - as both have been posted as tutorials recently. But I liked the ideas and techniques so much I had to try them out myself and I have to tell you - I LOVE them both.

The first project is a card using the 'MAGIC SNOWFLAKE' technique which uses glossy cardstock, white craft ink and white embossing powder. The mottled background was created using rubbing alcohol and SU! Soft Sky and Not Quite Navy reinkers. The really NEAT thing about this technique is that you create the background OVER the embossed image of the snowflake. The cardstock is Not Quite Navy and Chocolate Chip layered on Chocolate Chip and white polka dot designer paper. The double bow was created with the BOW EASY.


The second project is a LUMINARY. This was quick and easy to make and looks beautiful with the flameless tealight glowing from the vellum windows. I have plans to make several and either line the top of my piano or set in among evergreen boughs in my bow window. I'm soooooo getting in the mood for Christmas decorating now. LOL!


I used Bordering Blue Cardstock for this and randomly stamped one of the snowflakes from a retired set all over in Craft White Ink. The trees are from the Season of Joy stamp set and are stamped in Bordering Blue Ink and accented with Stickles. I used the beautiful scalloped border punch from Martha Stewart to create the topper and added a snowflake button for some dimension. Looking at it now - it still needs a little extra ooomph. I think I might go back and add some liquid applique or flower soft to make snow along the branches and maybe make a second tree and pop it up on dimensionals.

I'm off for now -
hope to be back in a day or two with another Christmas project or two to share.

Until then -
Happy Fall Y'all.
Jill

SWEET TREATS

I needed some party favors for an upcoming holiday party and thought these little treat pulls would be perfect. This particular one has a Ghiradelli Chocolate - but I think I might substitute that with a wrapped chocolate after-dinner mint and set them at each place setting.

These are very quick and easy to make - and in my opinion - pretty darn cute.


The cardstock is cut to 3.5" x 5" and scored at 2", 2 1/4", 4 1/4", and 4.5" and is stamped in Craft White Ink using the trip snowflake stamp from Definitely Decorations.


The ribbon hole is made with the Stampin'Up! Slot Punch.

The paper is SU! Christmas Cocoa Specialty Designer Paper and is cut to 2" x 2.5 ".

I used the SU! Scalloped Border punch to create the Whisper White top and bottom borders. The ornament is from the Delightful Decorations Stamp Set and is stamped in Real Red on Whisper White then punched with the coordinating Ornament Punch.

1/4" Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Silver Twine and the Ghiradelli Chocolate finish off one YUMMY treat.

Thanks for visiting today -
and until next time -
Happy Stamping!

Jill

HOSTESS GIFT - SIMPLE & SWEET

I've been busy in my studio - but none of you would know it because I haven't had time to post anything - including my monthly Digital FREEBIE! I will make up for it I promise!! In the meantime I wanted to show you a hostess gift I gave at a workshop yesterday. Who says the nicest gifts and cards take the longest to make. A little ribbon, a button and a sentiment - and you have a sweet little gift. The angle of the photo makes the actual candle color difficult to see but it is a deep Saffron - similar to the "thank you" medallion in the center and it has a rich, spicy scent. The button also has a lovely embossed design adding a little bit of extra interest (and also difficult to see from the angle of the photo).


I used Chocolate Chip and So Saffron cardstock cutout with circle Nestabilities to cover the top of the candle and stamped the sentiment in Chocolate Chip. The stamp I used is one of the under $10 items in the current SU! Catalog - although if you look for it, it's in the main pages and not the back with the others. The ribbon is a rich brown textured satin and of course the bow was created using that wonderful little gadget - THE BOW EASY! It's one of my favorite tools!!!!

Quick, easy and sweet. Wouldn't these be lovely at each place setting on your Thanksgiving table? Of course I'm not having a thanksgiving table myself - so I'll have to settle for making another and giving it to my wonderful SIL - who provides not only the location for our family dinner but ALL the food as well!!!!

Thanks for visiting and taking the time to read my 'BABBLE'.
Enjoy your day - whatever it brings -
and until next time -
Happy Stamping.

Jill

BEING BUSY WITH BABIES AND BELLIES

My niece's baby shower is quickly approaching and I've been busily working away on shower decorations.

I showed you the gift bag/centerpieces in my last post - but the newest additions are the name blocks and cupcake picks. I purchased 2" square wood blocks from a local hobby store and covered them with designer paper in the colors of the nursery. Once the glue was dry, I sanded the edges of the blocks and glued white chipboard letters to each one spelling out the baby's name.

The cupcake picks were made using Stampin'Up! Scalloped Circle punch to make the bonnet and their 1 1/4" circle punch for both the face and the bib. The picks are wooden toothpicks and were simply glued to the back of two "babies" - making the front of the pick and the back the same. The ribbon below the pick is an extra I will be using when I make the card.

I was also privileged to get to take the maternity photos today for my niece and her husband. This was my favorite of all the photos because it really captured the tenderness between my niece, her hubby and the new life waiting to spring forth.

Hope you enjoyed the photos -

Until next time -

Happy Stamping!

Jill

I COULDN'T WAIT . . .

I know I said yesterday that I was taking a break this week and would just be vegging out with hubby and son in the evenings until Friday. I JUST COULDN'T TAKE IT!!!!!! Not the husband and son part - the not being creative part. LOL! Being in my studio (as messy as it is right now) is my relaxation and enjoyment and I just couldn't make it another day without making SOMETHING. So I ran away during the national news broadcast and immersed myself in mess.

One of my sisters and I are planning a baby shower for our other sisters daughter. (Yes - that would make her my niece - and I could have just said that to make it easier for you to understand - but then you might have thought I only had one sister and I just couldn't HAVE THAT! lol!) We decided to make gift bags for the table centerpieces and fill them with baby items so that Amanda (my niece) could keep them as actual gifts after the shower.

She is having a girl and has decorated the nursery in Chocolate Brown, Celery Green, Pink and Cream so we stayed true to her color scheme for our decorations. She also loves polka dots so I wanted to incorporate that into the theme as well. I looked ALL over for polka dot gift bags in those colors but do you think I could find them???? Of course not. I found PLAIN pink gift bags and being the stamper/scrapper I am headed off to the scrapbook papers and found this WONDERFUL chocolate brown paper with polka dots in ALL the nursery colors. PERFECT!!!!! and best yet - it was on SALE FOR 50% OFF at one of my favorite large craft stores.

Also on SALE FOR 50% OFF was this beautiful celery, satin ribbon. Isn't the bow beautiful??? If you look closely you will see it is a DOUBLE bow and was so-so easy to make with a wonderful little gadget called the BOW EASY. I even figured out how I could attach the bow right to the ribbon while making it so I didn't have to use glue dots or glue to hold the bow to the ribbon.

I thought the stark brown against the pink bag needed a little softening so I punched white border strips for the top and bottom using a Martha Stewart Punch and since Amanda also loves buttons, I thought these cute pink heart-shaped buttons were just perfect. All that's needed now is to place the baby items so they peek out from the shredded paper and it's all set to go.

Quick and easy - just 10 minutes to make - and much better than a plain gift bag don't you think????


Thanks for visiting today and until next time -
Happy Stamping!


Jill

THE HOLIDAYS ARE UPON US . . .

and I don't have anything made to show you today. I've had such a busy couple of months with events every weekend that I decided I needed to take a break and just sit in the evenings and enjoy the company of my husband and son (on those rare occasions that he comes in to visit). Beginning Friday evening this week I plan on getting back into my little studio and getting busy. The real problem is - I have to re-organize the chaos in there from all the events before I can be creative. UGH!

I HAVE had a chance to do browse around the internet this morning though and found a few posts that I'd like to share with you. There are some really cute ideas floating around out there - so if you have the time follow the links below for some wonderfully, creative ideas.

There's this adorable little BROOMSTICK TREAT by Jeri Jimenez.

A sparkly, little SNOWFLAKE MEDALLION TUTORIAL by Sherry Cheever

For all of you into DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING: FREE JACK O'LANTERN PNG FILES

A truly elegant CHRISTMAS CARD by Betty Wright.

This cute little COFFIN TREAT BOX is a Martha Stewart original.

A PERFECT APPLE centerpiece/treat holder tutorial - or see this adorable PUMPKIN VARIATION with a stem made of buttons. TOO CUTE!

Need a gift bag? Check out this lovely little CHRISTMAS HOUSE idea.

That's it for today. I hope to be back next week with ideas of my own - or at least creations of my own - because I might have to "borrow" the ideas! LOL!

Thanks for visiting and until next time -

Happy Stamping!

Jill

DIGITAL FUN WITH SU! MY DIGITAL STUDIO

Woo Hoo! I am having fun with the new SU! My Digital Studio! I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my first professinally printed album (due at my house tomorrow) but I have been having fun trying out all the capabilities of this program.

For example: my new blog header. What do you think? I have the actual Dasher rubber stamp - but wouldn't have been able to create this blog banner as quickly or as easily with the actual stamp & cardstock. Not to mention I would have had to scan it BACK into the computer, resize, etc before saving it to my blog.

At first I wasn't crazy about the card making feature of this program - but have sinced changed my mind. It took a little playing around with the print settings on my printer to figure out how to print the cards - but I have it worked out for my computer, programs and printer. The first card is one that is 100% digital. I made it a few weeks ago but am just getting around to posting it.

The second card is also digitally created but I left off all embellishments. Then, after printing it I added a thread-tied button and ribbon for added depth and dimension.

The third card is only partially created in My Digital Studio. I love this butterfly stamp set but don't own it in rubber. However, it is included in My Digital Studio. I created the Chocolate Chip and Pretty in Pink mats around a digitally created Whisper White square. Then I digitally stamped the butterfly, changed the color to Chocolate Chip, added a shadow for depth then printed it out on Whisper White cardstock. I then cut out around the mat leaving a border of the Whisper White and then placed it as the focal point on a Chocolate Chip Cardbase. The ribbon is pink velour.

This program is so versatile - I'm lovin it!!!! I especially love the hybrid cards - part digital - part traditional. It's truly the best of both worlds.

Thanks for visiting today -

and happy computing!!!! (you thought I was going to say "stamping" didn't you????)

Jill

ALL WRAPPED UP TREAT BOX

I was sitting tonight trying to get through several weeks worth of blog subscriptions when I came across this adorable little Mummy by Gretchen Barron. I had seen the Frankenstein faces made with the Stampin'Up! Top Notes Die - and even made a few last year about this time - but hadn't seen the Mummy idea before. It was too cute not to make a few.




You can't really tell by the photo but this is a little treat box. I cut wide strips of Whisper White cardstock, scored and folded along the two long sides and adhered them to the back of the Mummy to make the box bottom and sides. I then added a second - undecorated Top Notes cutout to create the back. The inside holds a plastic bag that will be filled with candy. Once I have the candy in the bag I plan to add a RAFFIA handle across the top from side to side. All products except the 1.5" circle punch is STAMPIN'UP! merchandise.

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Whisper White, Basic Black
Soft Suede Ink
Circle Punches- 1.5", 1.25", 1/2"
Real Red Marker

That's it for today. Thanks for visiting. And in case you missed yesterday's post please be sure to check out the release of my digital clipart set: KANDY KANE KREATIONS.

Until next time -
Happy Stamping!

Jill

BELSHAZAAR BEAR & DIGI-STAMPS

My first digi-stamps are finished and are available for purchase.

Kandy Kane Kreations is a set of 9 black & white line drawings scanned at 300 dpi providing the best resolution and quality image available. THE IMAGES ARE NOT PRE-COLORED. Each image in the set is available for $2.50 or purchase the entire set of 9 for $14.95- that's a savings of $7.55 for the entire set of 9.

Here's a card I made using BELSHAZAAR THE BEAR and a variation of the MOJO Monday Sketch #84. I printed the image on my HP Printer onto Gina K Luxury White 80# Cardstock. (SU! Whisper White works just as well but I ran out because I use it most often.) The image was colored using Copic Markers - numbers G24, G85, G29, E15, E31, R39, R46, RV32, R000, C3.

To order send me an email at jhaddad59@yahoo.com. Make sure to put which stamp you want in the subject line and I will send you a Paypal invoice. Once payment has been received I will send you the file in .png format so that you can save it and open it in any photo editing software or in a word processing program such as Word.

The images for sale are:
Kandy Kane Kreations - Full Set
Miles the Mouse
Rupert the Reindeer
Giles the Gingerbread Man
Snippet the Snowman
Eli the Elf
Angelica the Angel
Penwick the Penguin
Belshazaar the Bear
Dangler the Dog

I hope you like the images. I LOVED making them. I even was up at 4:30 this morning coloring all of them - so you know they have to be fun to color if I gave up my beauty sleep to play with them! LOL!!!


Thanks for stopping by today.
Happy Stamping!

Jill

BABIES & BEARS

My niece is expecting a baby girl in early December and we had the first of three baby showers to attend last night. I had gone shopping earlier in the week and bought the most adorable deep, burgundy velvet overall style outfit with a bugundy & white toile longsleeve onesie. It was adorable. The best part about the outfit to me though was the gorgeous hooded, burgundy velvet jacket that matched it. It was extremely vintage appearing - and oh, so cute.

So, as I popped into the hobby store at the LAST minute to buy the gift bag it dawned on me that I hadn't made her card! I have made 40 invitations for the baby shower but here I was - a cardmaker - about to go to a babyshower with a storebought card!!! ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! I had picked up a sticker page to decorate the plain pink gift bag and decided to use one of the stickers from the set to make a matching card.


Isn't this bear adorable???? My niece has decorated her nursery with a floral print and striped bedset in pink, brown and celery so this little bear matched her theme almost perfectly. I also used the flowers from the sticker set and added buttons and embossed cardstock using SWISS DOTS and STYLIZED FLOWERS embossing folders to provide the dimension and texture.

Thanks for visiting with me today - and enjoy your day doing what you love to do!

Happy Stamping!
Jill

SNEAK PEEK: DAY TWO

I don't have a card to share with you today - mainly because I've been working on the Kandy Kane Kreations stamps and preparing for 2 upcoming workshops - so even though I've been happily stamping and coloring for hours on end, I don't really have any cards or projects to share.

With that said however, I do have another sneak peek at the upcoming release of my digi-designs: KANDY KANE KREATIONS.

This sweet little guy is Snippet the Snowman.

I hope you like him. He, like Penwick the Penguin, was colored with markers in traditional Christmas colors.

Have a wonderful day today doing whatever it is that makes

you smile.

Happy Stamping!

Jill

DIGI-DESIGNS & KANDY KANE KREATIONS

Good morning everyone. I'm excited this morning to share a couple of items of interest with you.



The first is this wonderful digital design I found HERE on the internet. Isn't he adorable???? I don't know if you've worked with digital designs before - but they are soooooo easy. Save them to your computer, open them in an application, make them whatever size you want for your project, print them, and then color them. Easy!

Depending on what coloring medium you use you might have to heat set or heat emboss the ink right after it comes from the printer - but the images in this post were colored with markers straight from the printer with no heat and you will notice there is no smearing of the printed lines.

I love digital images because of the flexibility to get just the size you want for a specific project and they take up absolutely NO SHELF SPACE unless of course you store them on disk.

Now for the next thing I want to share. My BIG announcement!!!

COMING SOON to a blog near you (ummm - wonder which blog THAT will be) - my own line of digi-designs.

Once I work out all the little details such as downloadability, pricing, payment options, etc I will be posting my first set of digi-stamps called "KANDY KANE KREATIONS". Here is a sneakpeek at one of the offerings in the set.

Penwick the Penguin. I know I created him so this may sound like bragging - and if so I'm sorry about that - but I think he's absolutely adorable!!! In addition to that, he was fun to color and to me that's what cardmaking and stamping is all about. FUN!!!!

And in celebration of my own line of digi-designs I'm offering all my wonderful friends and blog readers a "FREEBIE FRIDAY" special the 1st FRIDAY of each month.

I will post a design on my blog that will be yours for free. I know today is not the first FRIDAY of the month - but since I missed October here is a FREEBIE to get you started. To get the image simply right click on it and save to your computer.

All I ask is if you do download that you would leave me a comment here on my blog and if you publish it to a blog or online gallery that you link back to this post.

Thanks for visiting and

Happy Coloring!

Jill

MOJO MONDAY - (A LITTLE LATE!)

I saw this card sketch on a blog and loved it so I had to try it out.

I used mostly STAMPIN'UP! product - SOFT SUEDE, WHISPER WHITE & RUBY RED CARDSTOCK, CHRISTMAS COCOA DESIGNER SERIES PAPER, CHRISTMAS PUNCH SET, RUBY RED & SOFT SUEDE INK, SCALLOPED SQUARE PUNCH, SOFT SUEDE POLKA DOT RIBBON, SIGNA WHITE GEL PEN & the PETALS A PLENTY EMBOSSING FOLDER.

The circles were die cut using Spellbinders dies and the BIGSHOT. I added red gemstones to complete the sketch.

Thanks for visiting - and if you get a chance give the MOJO MONDAY sketch a go - there are prizes to be won!!!!!

Until Next Time -
Happy Stamping.

Jill

POP! GOES THE . . .

Christmas Tree! I know - you thought I was going to say "weasel" didn't you?????

I bought the SU! POP UP CHRISTMAS TREE DIE and finally decided to give it a go today. It's a little tricky - but now that I've put one together I think the next one will go together much faster.

I used a variety of products to create this card. The striped designer paper is non-SU! as are the shaped die cut-outs. The rest of the products are from Stampin'Up! and include RUBY RED, ALWAYS ARTICHOKE and WHISPER WHITE CARD STOCK, the POP UP CHRISTMAS TREE DIE, THE CHRISTMAS PUNCH stamp set, the LOVELY AS A TREE stamp set, OLD OLIVE 1/4" GROSGRAIN RIBBON, OVAL PUNCH, HOLIDAY TREASURES DESIGNER SERIES PAPER, BROCADE BLUE ink pad and markers in CHOCOLATE CHIP, OLD OLIVE, and ALWAYS ARTICHOKE.

The finishing touch was the addition of irridescent glitter glue to the pine tree on the front of the card (after the photo was taken).

Hope you enjoyed your visit - and if you've been thinking about getting this die - DO IT! It really is fun and like most things looks better in real life. You can still get it for only $10 (which is how I got mine) by holding a $250 workshop. In addition to your regular hostess benefits you can get ANY item from the Holiday Mini Catalog for only $10. That's a savings of $40 for this particular item. Well worth it.

Thanks for visiting today -

and as always,

Happy Stamping!

Jill

SNOW COVERED PINES

I live less than a block away from two of our city parks. They both have these HUGE, wonderful pine trees. In one of them the trees line the road that winds through the park and in the winter, after a heavy snowfall - mmmmmm - it's like a winter wonderland. Forest colored trees in soft, white snow - glittering like diamonds. Absolutely breathtaking.

That's what this card reminds me of. I used WHISPER WHITE and RUBY RED cardstock, and the LOVELY AS A TREE stamp set (one of my all-time favorites) I stamped my image, added sky & clouds behind it and a little DIAMOND DUST to the trees for sparkle and then glued it to the rim of a DIAMOND DUST filled SWEET TREAT CUP so that my trees were centered in the window.

The RUBY RED cardstock was partially enclosed in the PETALS A PLENTY embossing folder then run through my BIGSHOT. I then colored the dots using the SIGNA WHITE GEL PEN. The greeting is from the set FOUR THE HOLIDAYS and is stamped in WHISPER WHITE CRAFT INK. I added ribbon, punched pine branches and a thread-tied button to finish.

I hope you're not tired of Christmas cards yet. I love them and have about 50 to create for all the wonderful people on my Christmas card list.

Thanks for visiting today.

Until next time -

Happy Stamping!

Jill

O TANNENBAUM . . .

I haven't felt much like stamping the past several days - too tired I guess - but I woke up at 6 a.m. this morning and felt like playing. I had seen these cute little punched Christmas trees online and wanted to make one - so that's where I started with this card. All products are Stampin'Up! except the buttons.

I started by punching the tree branches from ALWAYS ARTICHOKE using the PHOTO CORNERS punch. Then I layed the branches in place to determine the size to cut the VERY VANILLA background. Once I cut the background, I took a scrap strip of CHOCOLATE CHIP and adhered it to the center of the VERY VANILLA as the trunk. I added a strip of adhesive to the tree trunk and placed the branches in place. Three big corners on the bottom followed by two of the smaller corners.

Next I used the TICKET CORNER punch on all four corners of the VERY VANILLA and matted with CHOCOLATE CHIP. From this point I was lost. I had no idea what I wanted to do with the tree - other than make a card. I chose the snowflake pattern from the CHRISTMAS COCOA SPECIALTY Designer Paper for the background. If you haven't seen this paper set up close and personal - you are missing a real treat! They're GORGEOUS!!!! One of them is flocked - the rest have a light metallic shimmer. Perfect for Christmas cards & gift items.

The cardbase is KRAFT cardstock and the ribbon is SU! Chocolate Chip. The finishing touch are the cute little star buttons I found in the craft section of a local hobby store. Don't they blend perfectly with the background paper??? The one on the ribbon is popped up on a round 4-hole ALWAYS ARTICHOKE button. Once I put on the buttons I had to go back an add the faux stitching to the branches and around the VERY VANILLA to match the buttons homespun look.

Thanks for looking.

Until Next Time -

Happy Stamping!

Jill

Mmm. Mmm. DELICIOUS!!!!

Have you ever tried Raspberries, Celery and Orchids??? What an absolutely DELICIOUS combination of COLORS! Were you expecting a food recipe??? This IS a stamping blog after all. LOL! SU! Rich Razzleberry and Orchid Opulence harmonize perfectly together and then add just a touch of Certainly Celery and BAM!!! it comes alive!

I picked up a few new alcohol based markers last night and woke up early this morning so I could have a chance to try them out before I had to get ready for my day job. I chose this beautiful "Sweet Pea" stamp to try them on and when I finished coloring I realized that the markers match SU! Orchid Opulence PERFECTLY!

The image was stamped in black ink on WHISPER WHITE cardstock then colored with the markers in 3 shades of orchid and 2 shades of green. I outlined the image with pale grey to add a little depth to the image and help it stand out from the background. EGGPLANT ENVY ink was applied to ITTY BITTY BACKGROUNDS and stamped around the image. The vignette effect was created by sponging ORCHID OPULENCE from the outer edges in close to the image, then sponging EGGPLANT ENVY from the outer edges in about half as far as the ORCHID OPULENCE.

I used a CORNER ROUNDER to round all the corners on the base card as well as each mat then layered them into place. Next, I stamped a greeting in EGGPLANT ENVY from the same stamp set as the Sweet Pea. It was punched out using the SMALL OVAL PUNCH and then edge sponged in ORCHID OPULENCE. The hardware is from SU! SILVER HODGE PODGE HARDWARE and is attached with a length of orchid ribbon. The finishing touch is just one small orchid rhinestone in the center of the open Sweet Pea.

Simple, elegant, quick and most of all - DELICIOUS!!!!!

Thanks for stopping in today. Hope you enjoyed the card and will be inspired to get busy and be creative. A day is just not complete for me unless I've had a chance to "play" a little.

Until Next Time -

Happy Stamping!

Jill

TEMPLATE FOR SURPRISE PACKAGE CARD

Okay - apparently you liked this idea as much as I did when I saw it. CLICK HERE for a printable template. I used this as the starting point to create my own. Mine has some minor variations (e.g. I centered my points instead of off-centered them and I also trimmed about 1/2" - 3/4" from the bottom of the front, back, and inside to make the box short and squat). You CAN print my template - but you will have to resize it to 8.5"x11" so you might find it easier to just print and adjust the other one.

Directions to put the card together follow the photo of the template.



DIRECTIONS FOR PUTTING THE SUPRISE PACKAGE CARD TOGETHER:

1. Trace your template on the WRONG side of your paper with a pencil. Cut out the pieces and erase the pencil lines.

2. Holding your template in place over the corresponding piece of cardstock, fold along fold lines. The folds folded AWAY from you when the cardstock is faceup.

3. Stamp your image below the fold on the INSIDE panel.

4. Place adhesive on the BACK above the fold line and adhere the INSIDE panel to the BACK being careful to match the top edges.

5. Apply a thin line (1/4") of adhesive along the sides and bottom of the backside of the FRONT. Adhere the FRONT panel to the BACK panel matching the side and bottom edges.

6. Apply adhesive to the INSIDE panel along and above the fold line (in the shaded area). Adhere the LID to the INSIDE panel lining up all the edges so they cover the BACK panel.

7. Apply adhesive to the back of the LID LIP and adhere it to the bottom the LID matching the bottom edges and sides.

8. Add ribbon, bow and a tag if you'd like and VOILA! You are finished.

If you DO make a card using either template, please be so kind as to send me a link to your blog so I can see it. If you don't have a blog then send me a photo - I'd really like to see your creative ideas.

Have fun!
Jill

SURPRISE PACKAGE!

I saw this idea on a blog as I was surfing around last night and thought it was so cute I had to have a go at it. BE WARNED! If you don't like working with templates, cutting, trimming etc then this is NOT the project for you.
























I originally made my template so that the card was the traditional 4.25"x5.5" - and though it looked okay, I decided I like it much better shorter - it just looks more like a REAL present. (Yes - I do know that presents come in all shapes and sizes -but it just looks cuter short and squat. LOL!)

For the outside "box" I used Stampin'Up! Lovely Flowers Designer Paper (it's a Level III Hostess Item) and Rich Razzleberry cardstock. The ribbon is white organza.

For the insert I used the Stampin'Up! Dream a Little stamp set and the new In-Color markers in shades of Rich
Razzleberry and Melon Mambo.

The flower is stamped in Summer Sun because I don't have the Crushed Curry ink pad and forgot I had the markers until after I stamped the flower. DUH!!!!

If anyone is interested in the template let me know and I will post it.

Until Next Time -
Happy Stamping!
Jill

FUN WITH FOIL

Remember when Stampin'Up! first released the BigShot last Fall and one of the big selling points was the list of more than 50 substances/materials that it would cut? I LOVED that and after trying the machine just ONE time at a stamp event to cut cardstock letters knew I had to buy it.

Well - here it is a year later and guess what? I STILL love my BigShot! The only thing is, until last night the only things I'd cut with it were cardstock and felt. THEN I saw a challenge on the internet to use aluminum foil on a card. I had actually participated in that challenge a couple of years ago - before the BigShot was released - and sadly my attempt at being creative with foil failed miserably. This time however, I am much more pleased with the result.

This is a Christmas CAS card (Clean And Simple). I've seen embossed metal before on cards at scrapbooks stores - but they always used a spackle like substance on the back so the thin metal sheets would hold the embossed designs. There had to be a way around that. Enter the BigShot, the Stampin'Up! Impressions Folder: Petals a Plenty, aluminum foil and cardstock.

All I had to do to help the aluminum keep its design was to wrap it around a piece of cardstock cut to the right size for my design and run it through the big shot. The cardstock center keeps the design from smashing when you adhere it to the background.

What do you think? I love the high shine - especially for Christmas. A little silver accent piece, a little ribbon and one small stamp finish the design and make it the perfect, quick card to send to all the friends and relatives. It's another "10 minutes or less" card. And if you are one of those "bling" lovers you could always add 3 little red gemstones vertically along the top right side to balance the card and make yourself happy!

Hope you enjoyed today's post and will try your hand at this quick and easy technique.

Until next time -

Happy Stamping!

Jill

A WHOLE NEW BALLGAME!

I am loving this program!!!!! and I learned of yet another use for it.

Have you ever sat down to create a project, cut your cardstock, Designer Papers and ribbon, placed your embellishments only to realize you absolutely HATE the way it turned out??? Not only do you have a finished card you would NEVER send to anyone - but you've cut up perfectly good cardstock, ribbon and papers into scraps. I realized last night that that never has to happen to me again because I can use the program to design and preview what the card will look like before I even pull out the actual consumables! How great is that???? I see my scrap pile dwindling already. LOL!

I also found out that this program has multi-media capabilities too. You can use it to make DVDs, slideshows AND add music! That's a little farther than I will probably go with it - but it's nice to know it's available if and when I want to use it.

Just had to share that info with all of you. I really didn't think I'd use it much for card making - but for card designing - that's a whole new ballgame!

Sorry - no card to share today - I made one last night but it's for a class on Monday so I can't share it yet.

Until next time -

Happy Stamping. - Jill

THE "OFFICIAL" STAMP BRACELET

What EXACTLY is a stamp bracelet??? One that is made from stamping supplies!!!!.

Look at this!!! Isn't it cute????

Really - I think it's a "must have" for every Stampin'Up! demonstrator! I used the Filigree Floral Brads from Stampin'Up! in two sizes and placed a Stampin'Up! Rhinestone Brad through the center of each floral brad. Next I opened the prongs on the rhinestone brads and using needle nose pliers curled the ends making a half loop. Place the jump ring in the half loop and then using the needle nose pliers squeeze the loop closed.

This photo gives you a view of how the brad prongs are bent to hold the jump ring. If you make one yourself make sure to hold the floret facing up and bend the prongs so that the loop faces up - it just works easier. Once you have the jump ring squeezed into place, push the center of the brad so that the prongs lay flat against the back of the flower.

My bracelet took 11 florets and rhinestone brads but for you petite gals it will take less. To obtain the correct size for your wrist just keep placing the bracelet on your wrist as you connect florets.
When the two ends ALMOST touch, STOP. Once you add a jump ring and clasp to each end the bracelet will fit perfectly.

That's it! Quick, easy and totally unique! From start to finish my bracelet took 30 minutes to complete. That's faster than some cards I create! LOL!!!

I'd love to say this was a Jill Haddad original idea - but I can't take the credit. I saw a sweet little braclet using a premade chain from a retail outlet and some "Build a Brads" on another demonstrator's blog - but since I didn't have any "Build a Brads" I had to get creative and make do with what I had on hand.

What do you think? Do you like it?

Happy Stamping!
Jill

SCRAP HAPPY VACATION

I played in my studio ALL day yesterday until 5:30 a.m. this morning and did a get ALOT accomplished. I started out by making an Xtended Scrapbook Card then cutting the paper/cardstock to make 9 more for a class I am holding on the 21st. I was left with a 3" high stack of scraps that were approximately 3"x 1" glittery patterned papers. So what's a girl to do but figure out layouts that could use them. Some I left as they were - others I cut into 1" squares - but here are some of the cards I created with them.

I had fun playing. I hope you enjoyed looking.

Until next time -

Happy Stamping.

Jill