…FaT SanTA...

I made a Santa yesterday…I paper pieced the HoLY SnoT out of him…more paper tole than paper pieced…He was 5 layers tall and 13 individual pieces…some of them RiDiCuLouSLY tiny…then I looked at him and thought…WHaT was I thinking?!?!?!?!

So…I checked out the DeCoNStRuCTinG JeN sketch this morning and the FiRST thing that popped into my head was…HeeeeeY…my Santa would look CuTE in that big ol' circle :)

So then…since I was using Santa…I went over to see what the Challenge was on the

 CHriSTmaS CaRD CHaLLenGE blog…

…and it was ANyTHiNG GoeS…

SWeeT!!!

So, here's my card with my CraZY pieced SaNTa…that you can't even TeLL is pieced from the front (hence the CRaZY!!!)

I used Kaisercraft and Heidi Swapp christmas papers…The black accents were a last minute choice…mainly because the green in the Kaisercraft is SooOOoOOOoo hard to match up...

Here's a MuCH better view of the INSaNitY of my Santa :)

LooK how FAT he is!

 4 layers of foam tape will BuLK you up like that 

…and here he is from the front with his glittery trim…

…and ANoTHeR gratuitous shot from the side…just because that's where ALL the work on this card is!

…and the envelope…I am loving the Christmas card challenge…I will be CoMPLeteLY ahead of the game come December…is it weird that I'm a little giddy thinking about it??

It's also my friend Cindy's birthday today…

HaPpY BiRThDaY CiNDY! :)

the wrapping paper on her present was just so pretty that I had to take a picture...

…oatmeal raisin cookies are her FaV…so I baked some up today and put them in this cute tin I found at Michael's

…and here's a shot of the WoRLD'S BeST oatmeal cookies…

at least that's what the recipe says :)

The trick is to soak the raisins in the beaten egg and vanilla for an hour before you bake them

I wish the blog had smell-o-vision right now…my whole house smells AWeSoME! :)

thanks for looking!

jen

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...PaPeRTreY BLoG HoP...

The PaPerTReY BLoG HoP is today

…here's the challenge inspiration picture

I combined it with this week's BLoGGeR's CHaLLeNgE which was fancy folds…let me just say now…fancy folds scare me and are NOT my thing…sigh…

I chose sweet  colors,  flowers, and bugs to be my SPRinGY inspiration…I'm not sure bugs are exactly springy…but that little bee wanted to be on my card :)

Here's a better view of the "FaNcY FoLdS" portion…holy smokes…I knew right away that I wanted to run the vines up the side panels..but the front panel gave me fits…I still don't think it's right, but 4 hours on a card is my limit!  

All supplies are PTI except the hydrangea flower punch (martha stewart) and the stickles/liquid pearls.  I do like how the plaid embossing folder gave the SpriNG RaiN card stock just a little interest..

…another view of my FaNCY FoLd just because something like this will NeVeR be on this blog again :)

…and the envelope…

thanks for LookiNg!

jen

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…WaTeR CoLoR MaKE it MoJo MoNDaY...

Today I combined the MaKE it MonDaY technique over on the PaPeRTreY blog

...with the MoJo MoNDaY sketch...

I might have also been thinking about the PaPeRTReY BLoG hop for tomorrow :)

…since my card is awfully SPrinGY! :)

Here you can see the MoJO MoNDaY sketch clearly...

…and here's a better view of my watercoloring from the with embossed resist from the MaKe it MoNDaY technique...

I rarely do anything messy or artsy on my cards…but I LoVED this technique…easy, fun, pretty, and I had everything I needed to do it!

I stamped the butterfly, cut him out, glittered his wings and popped them up to add some dimension

Even though I took the pictures outside…my colors aren't very true to life…I used aqua mist, hawaiian shores, and spring rain as well as sweet blush and hibiscus burst…but the pinks look orangey and the blues look greeny…sigh...

Here's my envelope…super simple…I also used the dot embossing folder on the back flap…just a little extra cute for the snail mail recipient :)

Thanks for looking!

have a TeRRiFiC week!!

jen

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…a PoP of SNoW...

It had been a while since I peeked at the PaPerSMooCHeS  

blog and the were having a challenge that seemed easy enough to play along with :)

...since I was already stewing about this

FeSTiVE FriDaY challenge

... I did the OBViOuS and combined them :)

The red and white combo as well as the snowflakes really drew my attention in the inspiration photo…and one of my goof friend got me the most AMaZinG set of PaPeR SMooCHeS snowflake dies that hadn't been played with yet…SHaMeFuL…a situation that DeFiNiTeLY needed to be remedied :)

I started off cutting several sets of snowflakes to make the background paper for my card...the aqua accents were an obvious choice since it's my FaV color combo…but I'm not really sure where the black focal panel came from..it's kind of a weird choice..

…but I think it works...

I LoVE how the SWeeT PaPeR SMooCHeS snowman just pops.

I added some ribbon, buttons, AND twine…it felt good…my last several cards have been missing ALL of those things and have felt a little NaKeD to me…

All card stock is Papertrey and and the patterned paper is aMuse…except the big white dot on the snowman…I'm not sure where that's from…it was just a small random piece 

Here's the envelope…

Thanks for LooKinG!

Have an AWeSoME Saturday

jen

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…and a GiRLiE version...

I'm not sure why I've been on such a boy kick lately..but I felt the need to go PiNK today...

…perhaps…OVeRWHeLMinGLY, PePTo-LiKE, 6 year old girl EXPLoSioN PiNK… but…girls need BiRTHDaY cards too :)

I really liked how that last card turned out so I just repeated it…

I don't know why I never thought to put a rosette in that MaT stack stamp before…but I just love how it looks...

…and the envie…because Snail MaiL in a CuTE envelope RoCKS! :)

thanks for looking!

jen

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…MaKE a WiSH...

I LoVED this week's CoLoR THRoWDowN challenge pallet…ummm…do I say that EVeRY week?

Well…this combo was just GoRGeouS!  

Since I'm trying to build up the birthday stash…I went that route...

All card stock is Papertrey and the patterned paper is an AuTheNtiQUE set I picked up a few years ago…I've been doing GReaT using up paper from the stash lately…It's funny how well I remember 90% of what I have even though there is a RiDiCuLouS amount of paper in my cubby.  I used PTI mat stack 3 and then added a rosette to the top…

The rosette makes the card a little bulky, but since it's a smaller sized card, I just planned to put it into a larger sized envelope so there was no frustration or squishing…

I almost never stamp anything inside of my cards because I like to write a note inside and I tend to be a little long-winded :)

I stamped the cupcake base in PTi EnchanTeD EVeNinG and heat embossed the top with white filigree powder… 

The cream panel was embossed with the Cuttlebug numbers folder…I use that a lot on birthday cards :)

…and here's my envelope…I think I like the cupcake better with SPRinG RaiN "frosting"…but it wouldn't have worked on that blue polka dot paper.

Thanks for Looking!

HAve an AMaZiNG weekend!

jen

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..CAS (e) GinGiE...

For this card, I used this week's CAS(e) this sketch….unfortunately…I blew it again this week and they post new challenges on Thursdays….I totally should have posted yesterday…sigh…I need a blog challenge notebook or bulletin board or something :)

I got totally sucked in to ChRisTMaS seeing that snowman…so I went with it and am linking up over at the CHRiSTMaS CaRD CHaLLeNgE blog too :)  …that XMaS stash is growing nicely :)

I made a GinGiE instead of a snowman…but he's nice and clean and simple there on that VaST expanse of WHiTE cardstock…  It is so AMAZinGLY difficult for me to make cards like this…I always want to add a layer or emboss or glitter or SoMEThiNG!!  I punched holes in the corners and threaded the baker's twine through instead of layering and I think it added just enough 

The  "icing" marks on his arms and legs are the stripe or steam stamp from the PTI warm happiness set…it was sitting on my desk and ToTaLLY looked like a viable  frosting option to me when I saw it…usually I would have added rick rack…but the image in the sketch challenge looked CoMPLeTeLY flat….I kinda felt like I was cheating by using paper to make my GinGiE instead of stamping that image…not that the card police are going to show up and take away my paper trimmer if I wiggle the sketch…but still…I try to be law abiding :)

…and here's the envie…I kept it nice and clean too…but I was cracking myself up with  the paper choice…sometimes, it's the smallest things that amuse me :)

Thanks for looking!
jen

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