...NuTs about YoU...

I whipped this up in under 30 minutes for my neighbor's daughter's teacher...

I used Nicole Heady's pattern for a criss cross box.  The squirrel is from the PTI punny valentine set and the NuTs abut YoU stamp is an old aMuse stamp...

A few nesties, some patterned paper, a punch or two and twine...PooF...done! :)

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...MoJo MoNDaY 278...

I love the Mojo Monday sketches...but I just haven't been feeling all that crafty lately.

I decided that making one thing a week was a good goal and with the Mojo Monday Challenge...most of the work is already done for me :)  No more excuses!

Here's this week's sketch

click HERE to see all the amazing creations based on the sketch

Here's my version...

...with a bow...

...and without...I'm not sure which I like better...but I'm leaning heavily toward without.

I think the bow takes away from the cute little pennants hanging down...

The lettering in the background is AmAZinGLy CuTE subway art from

Eighteen25 

EvErYThinG they do is AdoRaBLe!!!  They have a bunch of different holiday SuBWaY art printables you can download for free...They are generous as well as CraZY talented :)

Here's a close up of my LoVE BuG :)

She has copic cheeks with a white gel pen spot and her shell is coated in diamond glaze with a few Stickles spots

I LoVE her.

Thanks for Looking :)

jen

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...TE CarD FoLiO...

Back in early November, Taylor from Taylored Expressions made the CuTeST "card folio" on her blog to promote her November release...

I immediately had to try one :)

Here are the cards I made to go inside...personalized thank you notes for my neighbor's daughter's teacher...

simple...computer generated personalization and then I added in the SNOW form the PTI set...I know I totally CASED this idea from someone...but I don't remember from who...SoRRy!!  Thanks for the BriLLianT idea! 

...This is the inside of the cards...

...and the back...

...and the envies...

...here is one side of my "folio" holder...look how cute the decorated binder clip turned out...

30 seconds + 2 buttons and a glue gun= AdoRaBLe! 

...and the other side...

 ...the entire thing laying open...

...the front, folded closed, with the bow tied...

...and with the complementary felt ornament I made to hang on the front...

these are copied from Debbie Olsen's  blog...she made them last year 

I have to tell you...that PTI Made of Snow die set got a MaJoR workout this Christmas!!

I ended up making a few of these sets for people to give to their kids teachers...I love it when an idea turns out to be cute and practical :)

thanks for looking!

jen

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...ChriStMaS CaNdY...

I got home from a meeting one night last week and was waiting for my husband to finish up a phone call...instead of pacing and being impatient...I went into the cubbyhole and made this.

Seriously...20 minutes...and I was done.

I used one of the clear purses from Taylored Expressions...I have a bunch of extras from the baby shower...and there was a doily laying on my desk...so I used that...

The new Papertrey Tremendous Treats:Christmas set was sitting there too...I stamped it up, colored it...and ta-da...CutE-NeSs...

I tied the ribbon around the purse and held up the doily...but you could see the ribbon through the doily...yuck! I punched a red circle and it fit PerfEctLy behind the center of the doily...LoVe when that happens!

I added a baker's twine bow and a sweet, sparkly jingle bell I picked up at Michaels. 

I colored Santa's beard a really light grey and then added little white swirls to it for some interest...I also added a little chunky glitter to Santa's hat...Every fat man needs a little bling right?

I had a package of HersheY choCoLaTe BeLLs in the kitchen just waiting for a crafty project...the ENTIRE bag (minus the 3 silver ones...really??? how could an entire bag only have 3 silver ones?) fits into the purse...

I'm making up a dozen or so of these...they are quick, I already have everything to make the package, and I think they are perfect for Sanford to give to the ladies in the school office and for Connor to give to his previous teachers :)

Thanks for looking!

Have a GreAt Tuesday!

jen

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...ChrIStMaS IdEaS...

Here are a few of the ideas I came up with for  cheap and easy gifties to hand out to neighbors, teachers, co-workers...or anyone you want to give SoMeThiNg to...but don't want to spend much money.

So...I was at Michael's right after HaLLowEeN...and they had these black metal plaques on ClEaRaNcE...85 cents each!!  So of course, I bought them all...I wasn't being a total HoaRdeR...there were only 6 of them :)

I went home, set it on my desk and started playing...I learned that you can HeAT EmBoSs onto them!  

See the word GREETINGS ?  It's from the new PTI set...I just stamped it with Versamark, sprinkled on white FiLiGreE embossing powder, and had at it with the heat gun...SuPeR easy and it looks AwEsOMe in real life!  Very professional.

I used the new snowman and accessory dies and some felt.  This came together really quickly.  The whole thing was based on the cute striped ribbon that was sitting on my desk...I ended up taping the ribbon to a sheet of cardstock and running that through the cuttlebug with the hat die to make the snowman's hat match the ribbon I tied on up top. :)

Another little thing that made me spend 5 minutes thinking I was quite clever...I'm sure it's nothing new...but I've never done it before and I LoVe how MaTCh-Y it makes everything! :)

So...that's my sign that used about $1.73 worth of supplies...including the sign!  If you get one for Christmas...it doesn't mean I only love you $1.73 worth...it just means I thought you'd like it :)

Godiva chocolate bars were on sale at Barnes and Noble..buy 2 get 1 free...

The whole ~Godiva~ thing makes even a little candy bar like this just a squidge more gift-y...I'm wrapping these up for the room mom's in Connor's class...I'm sure after the Christmas party and dealing with 36 squirrelly 5th graders, they will all need a chocolate fix! :)

I used the new holiday word dies from PTI, some baker's twine, and scraps lying on my desk...I think they are the PerFeCt thing sharing for just a little holiday cheer!...if you can't send booze :)

...and here's a sneak at what's coming tomorrow...I made soap!  I used stamps in the bottom of the mold to emboss it, poured two layers in, and poof...I had the coolest soap ever!  I'll show you how I package it all up tomorrow along with a WiCkEd quick candy holder...

Thanks for looking!
Have a Marvelous Monday!!
jen

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...PTi OcToBeR BLoG HoP...

The inspiration picture for this month's  PTI  blog hop was super fun...I have pumpkins that look a lot like those cuties in the picture.

I opted to go with the pumpkins and the felt...

I used PTI Terracotta Tile felt to make my pumpkin, Dark Chocolate for the stem (along with a few PTI buttons), and Spring Moss for the leaf...it was too bulky to put on a card, so I decided to pop it into a frame...

I used PTI Kraft, Simply Chartreuse, and Dark Chocolate paper and some dotted Simply Chartreuse ribbon.  I stamped the cute leaf from Tag-its with versamark ink onto my Kraft cardstock just to make things a little more interesting...and added the ThaNkFuL sentiment from Rustic Branches...

Thanks for looking,

enjoy the rest of the hop! :)

jen

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...live...laugh...love...

holy snap...it's a...NoN HaLLoweeN ...NoN ChriStMaS ...card...What was I thinking???  :)

I used the color challenge from the EmbeLLish MagaZiNe bLoG...

I loved the colors and the fact that they wanted me to use BuTTonS :)

I combined it with the sketch from Jen Schultz on her DeconStRuCting JeN blog..

I inked up this beautiful SunFlower PTI set for the first time...it's been sitting sad and lonely for toooo long!

I saw this paper at my LSS, brought it home, and used it immediately...I never do that...it felt good not to hoard it...but I'm already thinking I need to go back to the store to get more...is that bad?? It's not right??  I mean everyone has back-up of their favorite papers right...I mean, you need one to use and one to have...just in case you need it some day ...right?? RiGhT???  dang...I'm thinking I hear CriCKetS chirping out there....

Instead of using paper for the layers in the background of the sketch, I used buttons :)  I have to say that threading twine through all those buttons was just a squidge more time consuming than I thought it would be...but I do like how it looks :)

Here's a closer shot of those GorGeouS PTI SunFLowers and my buttons...

Thanks for looking!

Have a MarVeLouS MoNdaY!!

jen

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...Oh ChriStMaS TrEe...

The ChaLLenGe this Week over at ChriStMaS CarD ChaLLenGeS was this BeaUtIFuL inspiration photo...

So...pretty isn't my thing...but how could you NoT go pretty with this photo??

So here's my card :)  

I thought the overloaded tree with only one color of ornaments was absolutely gorgeous in that inspiration photo...so I added pearls and tiny border punch snip-lets and some bling to my PTI tree trimming trio die...I also embossed it in the hopes that it would make it look a little more...pine-y! :)

I kept everything else very plain...just like the picture...the tree is OveR the ToP...but the rest of the room is clean and simple...

Here's a close-up of my decorated tree...

Thanks for looking! 

Have a sensational Saturday!

jen

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...CleAn and SiMpLe...

So anyone that knows me...or has scrolled through the old blog-o for even a few minutes knows that 

is sooooooooo NoT me!!  

But I love the look of it!  

On a CAS card, everything is absolutely perfect and necessary...there is no room for error...I have enormous respect for people that can do it...but it's like ViNtAGe...it's just something I like to look at but can't do...

So when I saw this week's chaLLenGe...I was UbER-SurPRiseD when something popped instantly into my head! :)

I raced upstairs to pull out my Martha Stewart bat punch...and in the first punch drawer sat this little GhoStiE punch....dusty, unloved, and sad...I never found the bat punch...to be honest, after I saw the GhoStiE, I quit looking.

Wham...Bam...Thank you GhosTiE...here it is... 

Cardstock, embossing folder, strip of patterned paper, GhoStiE punches, a PTI sentiment...and the obligatory baker's twine and buttons...seriously...have I made anything without that look in wEeKs?!?!?!

Here's a close-up of GhoStiE...just because I think he needs a little LoVe! :)

...and my cLeAn and SimPLe envie...

truly...if inspiration hits, CAS is the way to go...I was done with everything...including the folder embossing and heat embossing the sentiment in 15 minutes...I swear that is some kind of record for me!!

ThE  AllsOrts chaLLenge this week was also CleAn ANd SimpLe...so I'm linking up over there too :)

Speaking of CleaN and SimPLe...I saw one of the leftover paper lanterns from the baby shower sitting in the garage this morning and was suddenly struck by the fact that it would make an AwEsOmE JaCk SKeLLingToN...so a Sharpie marker and 15 minutes later...

All hail the internet!  I googled pics of his face and just free handed one...it's so simple...anyone could do it...so here's my 80 cent HaLLoweEn decoration! :)

Thanks for looking!

Have an AmAZinG FriDaY!!

jen

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...HeLLo DeeR...

GoOd MorNiNg...

I made a cute little ChrIsTmaS card combining a few ChaLLengeS for today...
I used the September Sketch for You To Try
...since the month is almost over, I figured I'd better get on this before the October sketch is out! :)

Here's the sketch...which I LOVED!!! All I could see was toooooooooons of different, fun,  patterned papers when I looked at it! :)

...and here's my PeNnY bLaCk ChriStMas take on it...this stamp is sooooooooo cute!!! Look at that face! ack!

but all that patterned paper is where the second chaLLenge comes in...

Wee Memories chaLLenge 

this week was to use patterned paper...ummmm....pretty sure I've got that covered here!!! 

The third ChaLLenge was from 

icopic

...and here's a better shot of this week's little ReD! :)  You can kinda see the tinsel glitter I added on the bottom of her dress here too...It's fun and sparkly IRL.

This stamp has been sitting for WeEks...waiting patiently to get all inky...this was the first time she got dirty...but I'll DeFinIteLy be using her again!!

***RaNdoM TiP***

I wanted to add a red jingle bell in the center of my button...but the only one I had was GiNorMouS!...so I dug around and found some cute little bitty guys...but they were gold...ummm...yuck with this card...sooooo....

here's my tip for the day...but only try it if you're wearing gloves or don't mind technicolor fingertips...

Just color your metal bells with a copic in the color that you want :)  Mine were pretty small, so I threaded the top through a large headed quilting pin to make it easier to hold while I colored...then I pulled it off and colored the top...my fingers looked all gruesome and bloody afterwards...but my JinGLe BeLLs were LipSticK ReD!  PerFecT!!

See???  It was totally worth looking like I'd had an unfortunate run in with the garbage disposal for a few hours! :)  Those red guys are just right!

...and here's the envelope.

Have a WonDeRfuL HumP DaY!!

jen

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...SePtEmBeR PapeRtReY bLog hOp...tAKe 2....

September 2011 Blog Hop

Welcome everyone to the September Papertrey Blog Hop!  We are so thrilled to see you here!  First, the challenge...

  

Same Challenge...and I used the same striped paper I made the first time...I even used polka dot basics again...obviously, I didn't clean off my desk in between creations :)

I added some baker's twine this time...and the sentiment is from a Tag-it's set that was just PeRfecT! The sun is made out of the Limitless layers dies and I embossed it with an ArGyLe folder...can't go wrong with a sun that's just a little preppy can you?!?  :)

Here's a better shot of my inspiration stripes and the baker's twine...

...and the envie...

Thanks for looking...hope you are having a great Sunday and enjoying all the AmAZinG BloG HoP creations!!

jen

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