Tuesday, November 30, 2010

embellish with die cuts!

FYI on the puppy: she's doing great! The girls had a 1/2 day from school yesterday, so we put the Christmas tree up and the puppy went crazy with everything! But now that it's up, she's being a very good girl. I also got groceries and discovered that she loves boxes! Empty soda boxes, etc. She crawls right in and rolls around, it's hilarious to watch her!

I have a couple of Jenni Bowlin things to share today - just some odds and ends! The first is a card that I made for Scrapbook and Cards Today Magazine's winter issue.

On this card, I used the Varsity line of mini papers by Jenni Bowlin, layered a vellum title that I made myself over the top and added a Jenni chipboard button, a Jenni sew-on button, Melissa Frances "brrr" sticker and pearls. I cut the snowflakes from my Sizzix die cuts out of the Jenni paper (polkadot) and cut them in 1/2. The scallops were fun to make! I used the JBS soap powder paint dauber to stamp on cardstock and then punched them out. If you dab them softly, you will get some white showing through....love how it looks like snow!
Then I just arranged the circles at the top to look like scallops!

This next page was done a long, long time ago for a book idea, but the book didn't pan out, so I'm able to share this one now. I was assigned to "use die cuts in a creative way", so I shaped them into a number 1. I used the Jenni Bowlin Embellished Butterflies, Felt Butterflies and punched some of my own butterflies as well.
I'd love to see creative ways you've used your die cuts too! :)
Danielle

Friday, November 26, 2010

Thankful for so much...

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with your friends and family! We had a very nice one with my in-laws, very relaxing. On Tuesday before Thanksgiving, we picked up a little something that's been keeping me extremely busy. Here she is....
She is 9 weeks old and is called a "Chin-wa":  1/2 long hair toy Chihuahua, which you can really see when her ears are up, and 1/2 Japanese Chin, which you can see in her markings. The Japanese Chin are usually black and white, but they have the same markings on their faces as this one does. She's super sweet and cuddly, and is spoiled already!! I think the girls have decided on a name for our little sweetheart now... Maggie. What do you think? Does it suit her?
Maggie loves to go outside, but it's been really, really cold lately. We are all getting a workout taking turns with her. She's really smart though - if you let her smell the treat in your hand and tell her "go pee" - she does her business right away just to get her treat.
We have one pet right now, a cat, but she is about 14 years old and doesn't want to be bothered much by the girls, so they are enjoying this playful little bundle of energy! This is our first puppy ever, so we have a lot to learn, but so far we can't get enough of our little puppy love. :) If you have any advice, I'd love to hear your experiences with your puppies!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

colors of fall...

I made a card last night...just for fun. Just for me!
I had Crate's Restoration line on my desk and wanted to make a Thanksgiving card of some sort. I punched 3 leaves from the different papers and stitched on them. On the back of the yellow paper is a playing card pattern, so I cut out a heart from that paper and stuck a little pin through it. The rub on saying and pearl are by Melissa Frances. The background paper is Bo Bunny. The sticker and chipboard are Crate Paper.
(The paper on the end that looks pink is actually more of a soft red color, I just couldn't get it to look right today for some reason. Sorry!) Our leaves are just about gone here, but I hope you are enjoying the colors where you are, and the sights and sounds leading up to this Thanksgiving season!
Danielle

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

good news!

I have just a few of my Wooden Spool Snowflake class kits left. They are all packed and ready to go, so you will receive same day shipping on them! There are full directions with photos inside to create 2 wooden spool snowflakes, each slightly different, but so beautiful for your holiday decor or a unique gift! They are about 9" - 10" across each when completed. If you already purchased a kit, they will be shipping out to you tomorrow.

Kits are $25, plus $5 for shipping in the US.
If you are outside of the US, please email me for additional shipping costs at: dflanders71@hotmail.com. Thanks!

Monday, November 15, 2010

hues of autumn...

One of my absolute favorite lines of the season is Crate Paper's Restoration line. I can't get enough of it! The colors are so fresh and perfect together.
Would you like to see step-by-step how to create this card? Visit the Glue Arts blog HERE today!
I'm getting my last minute details ready for my classes this weekend in Massachusetts! If you live nearby, I hope to see you there! If you ordered a kit, they will be shipping out very soon! These are some more sneaks to my layout class. We are doing 1 fall page and 2 holiday pages with the Lost and Found - Union Square line by My Mind's Eye, and I'm focusing on lots of fun techniques with punches!
Can't wait to share my love of punches with you! :)

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Wednesday's word: coordinate...

I am so grateful for today! A new day. My girls are finally both healthy (Taylor just had strep throat again!) and are on their way to school this morning! I have a few things to share with you. The first is a layout I made for the Pink Paislee blog today using the Parisian Anthology line. I love that these papers come white with an embossed image on them, and that you can coordinate them to your photos by coloring them however you'd like with mist, ink, etc. I chose 3 ink pads - pink, gray and blue - to go with my photos, rubbed them over the paper and then pieced the papers together to form a patchwork sort of feel.
The big snowflake near the title is an Artisan Element from the Circles set. I layered a Parisian Anthology Flair Variety clear flower and jewel over the top.
Stop over to the Pink Paislee blog to read more about this page and supply list today! These papers would truly work with any theme and are so versatile.

And today are also the gallery updates at Jenni Bowlin. They should be up in the gallery sometime today. I managed to make another card and gift tag with the remainder of my kit.(I do have a LOT of my kit left though! Hopefully I will get time to make more with it.)

I added the May Arts pom pom trim and twine from my stash, and stamped with a Jenni Bowlin date stamp on the bottom with her Brown Sugar ink pad. The tinsel is going to be for hanging the gift tag on a package. I am infatuated with these Prima jewels in the kit, aren't they pretty?

This next card could be easily changed out for Thanksgiving as well by changing up the sentiment and maybe using a punched heart instead of the snowflake. I used a Pink Paislee Parisian Anthology Stamp with Jenni's Brown Sugar ink pad in the center and some more May Arts ribbon from my stash.

Thanks for stopping by ~ have a great day!
Danielle

Monday, November 8, 2010

sweet christmas cheer...

Good morning, it's sleeting here and very cold! We are supposed to get snow/rain today. I hope you are having a better start to your morning! My little one was sick over the weekend with vomiting, but she is feeling much better today, thank goodness. It seems too early for all these sicknesses and such!

For Glue Arts this week, we are working with some GORGEOUS May Arts ribbons. I wanted to create something Christmas-y with these beautiful ribbons that I received!
My goal was to create a simple ornament and card that could be given to my girls' bus driver, the secretaries at the school, aides that help out in their classrooms, etc. It gets so expensive to give gifts to everyone, so I needed something that wouldn't "break the bank". The card was pretty quick to make, first I embossed the white card with a stripe design using my Cuttlebug. (LOVE the stripes in the ribbon!) I tied the sheer ribbon across the card into a bow and added a Jenni Bowlin star sticker, a dimensional star from Pink Paislee's Artisan Borders, 3 punched circles out of red cardstock for the "berries" and 2 of the May Arts ribbon leaves for the "holly".
The ornament was quick to make as well! I added a "Sweet" sticker from Pink Paislee's Sweetness line, a rub on saying below, and 2 little dimensional stars to the front of the ornament. I filled it with M&M's and adorned it with the same ribbon. I thought it would be cute to dress up the box as well, and put the little leaves inside a gift box for a soft place to keep the ornament.

Head over to the Glue Arts blog today to see more great projects with May Arts ribbon and to see a full supply list and instructions to create these!

Friday, November 5, 2010

star ornaments with a vintage feel...

Congratulations to Kana! You have won the JBS prize pack! Thank you so much to everyone for stopping by, I had such fun reading all your comments!

kana said...I would love to win some of this new product from JBS...it is great!! November 4, 2010 9:26 AM

All this month on the Jenni Bowlin blog, we are going to be featuring Christmas/holiday projects, cards, etc. Can't wait to see what the team has in store! Yesterday my project was due, so I came up with some star ornaments made each with 2 Jenni Bowlin chipboard stars, new Red/Black Extension III papers, JB Vintage Sew On Buttons, tinsel and May Arts pom pom trim. Stop over to the Jenni Bowlin blog to read how!

If you are wondering about the twine/jute trees in the background, I made these last year with styrofoam trees from the craft store and found some really thick twine, just wrapped the twine around these and pinned the twine down to the tree with little stick pins every once in awhile! I love them. I actually have them out all year round!

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

getting stitchy...

Hi there! If you are looking for the Jenni Bowlin giveaway, see the post below or just click HERE!

This week, Glue Arts is working with some beautiful twine from The Twinery! Just take a gander at all the gorgeous colors they have! Anyone that knows me, knows I am a HUGE fan of twine!! I decided to stitch with mine. I adore stitching and thought it would be fun to use it in a unique way. Of course you could stitch on a layout, bag, clothing, etc as well!

I created the misted background on one of my Jenni Bowlin kit layouts and had a piece leftover, so I stitched right over the misted background with an embroidery needle and Caribbean twine by The Twinery.

If you'd like to see a step-by-step tutorial on how I stitched the snowflake, please visit the Glue Arts blog today! There is a fantastic giveaway going on over there too, and you can win yourself some Glue Arts adhesive, along with this gorgeous twine!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

JBS giveaway!

Today Jenni Bowlin is having a blog hop to show off their new line of Red/Black Extension III papers and goodies. Winners will receive a set of the new 12x12" papers, a set of die cut mini papers, one set of journaling cards, one vintage or polkadot calendar pad, and one new mini bingo card set!

(new 12x12" papers)
 (new journaling cards)
 (new die cut journaling pad)
 (new calendar bingo cards)
Jenni Bowlin for Ranger also has paint dabbers, ink pads, and re-inkers now available for purchase in the general store.
And one more exciting thing to share, we now have a message board where you can come over and chat with us, ask us questions, etc! I hope you'll join us!

Head over to the Jenni Bowlin blog to see a list of blogs for 17 MORE chances to win! Leave a comment here too, and I will choose a random winner to receive a set of these great products! Winner will be announced on Friday. Good luck!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...

First of all, I want to say happy birthday to my beautiful 11 year old daughter! We love you, Taylor!!

Quickly, I wanted to share a gift box that I made for the Pink Paislee blog today using their Parisian Anthology line. All month long, the designers are going to be making things with this line to share on the blog...can't wait. I'm smitten with it!
Love all of the ruffles and dangles!
I added the little tickets as my gift tag.
Pop over to the Pink Paislee blog to read more on how to create one of these! I think it would be cute as a Christmas gift box, but would sure work as a birthday box or wedding too. Be sure to check back here later tonight for a another blog hop and giveaway! xo
Danielle

Monday, November 1, 2010

It's November!

Good morning, I hope you are not too exhausted from the weekend! I've been so busy lately and haven't updated much. Last week I was busy painting my master bathroom. We had a little bit of mold in there, so I killed the mold, re-primed and my husband put a window in! We didn't have a window before, so it's very nice and bright in there now! Painting is so much work. We are putting in new counters and faucets as well. It's a long process, but well worth the effort. Looks so much better already!

Saturday, we had family over for my daughter's birthday, and yesterday of course was Halloween for us in the states! Our local mall had trick-or-treating from 2-5pm, so I took the girls to the mall. Then we did end up going around our neighborhood later when it was dark, but it was extremely cold, only about 32*F or so. The girls didn't seem to notice one bit, however!

The November Jenni Bowlin kits are now available! I made 3 layouts with the main kit and add-on kit so far! To me, I thought of winter pages and Christmas pages when I saw this kit, but if you look at the design team gallery, you'll see everything from dog pages to school pages, boy pages, girl pages and everything in between.


The little gray paper under the house die cut is one of the new JB mini papers. I printed "for the holidays" on the die cut before adding it over the top. The doilies were a transparency in the back of the Prima flower package. This is just layered over kraft cardstock. These are some of my favorite photos of the girls last year decorating the tree.
On the "Look Out" layout, I used one of the mini papers under my photo. I misted the bottom piece by using the stencil that comes in the add-on kit and some Graphite Glimmer Mist from my stash. Love how soft it came out - perfect for a snowy page!
I was inside taking pictures of my family building a snowman last winter, and someone (who shall remain nameless) threw a big snowball at me, blocking the window!
To make this puffy snowflake, I used one of the white Prima flowers from the add-on kit. They reminded me of snow! I used my Martha Stewart Himalayan Snowflake punch and punched out 4 white snowflakes, adhered them behind the flower and wrapped some twine from my stash around it, topping it with a JB button from the kit.

The vintage check and background on this next layout made me want to scrap an older photo. I found this one of my dad and his mother with Taylor and I a few months after Taylor was born. This photo is about 11 years old. I love that we have a 4 generation photo. The photo is not very good quality, but I still wanted to get it in my books.

I used a Becky Fleck sketch here to create this layout! The black patterned paper is one of the JB mini papers which I just punched the corners out of with my circle punch, then layered a journaling card over the top. I printed out "generations" with my computer. I wanted to add hand-written journaling, because this photo is so meaningful to me! Computer journaling just didn't seem right with it.
I'm addicted to my punches lately. I love that you can add a lot of patterns to the page and still keep it uniform feeling with the same shape sprinkled around the page.

I plan on making more things with this kit, because it is right up my alley! Just look at all the stuff in the main kit!!
Enjoy your day,
Danielle