Coloring Time

Good morning - is anyone counting down the holi-days? I'm in semi-panic mode... but not too bad.

It's time for a JUGS color challenge - since I am CHALLENGED by TIME right now I decided to show you a few QUICK and EASY cards I make at this time of year.

The JUGS color challenge this week is to use Cherry Cobbler (Red), Old Olive (Green) and White or Kraft.

Here's what I do every year... I always need a ton of quick, easy and simple thank you cards for the holidays.) I SAVE all of my holiday cards from the previous year. (I get a lot of cards from businesses, too and they are always gorgeous.) I simply cut up the old Christmas cards and make them into simple thank yous for this year... Here are three I made using these colors. I love the beautiful embossed backgrounds and the gorgeous images - why not re-use them? My friends always comment on how fun my thank you's are :-)

Now, for a little holiday inspiration from the team...

♥♥ Just Us Girls Design Team  ♥♥

Andrea

Elise

Kathryn

Lynn

Maria

Vicki

♥♥ Be sure to stop and visit our Featured Designer for the month ♥♥

Lenet

Hope you will be able to play along with us. In the meantime I wish all of you a joyous holiday season!!

Hugs n smiles,
Stampin' Pam

"Nine Circles" CAS

Well girls - today is a JUGS 3D/Template challenge and I've been enjoying time with my DD who has been home from Afghanistan. I did not get a JUGS 3D or template project done for today's challenge BUT I have a patriotic card I created a while ago and never posted so I'm going to substitute that for you today. Please pop over to Just Us Girls to see this week's challenge.

A while back a friend shared a simple card with me. (I have no idea who first created the simple layout - if it was you please let me know so I can give you credit!) My mojo popped in with a couple of changes to it - it's still clean and simple but I loved how quickly it comes together.  I call it Nine Circles because that's the basis for it. I made several (see below.)

I created this simple "nine circles" card for one of our staff members who recently got her US Citizenship. I made it before I dashed off for work. Now THAT'S what I call a fast and easy (FAE instead of CAS?!?) card!! I started out by dry embossing my white CS with a square nestie. I then stamped 9 circles using the open circle stamp from PTI's Polka Dot Basics set. I just "eyeballed" them for alignment so they may not be perfectly aligned. I then added rhinestones or silver beads etc. into the center of each circle. On two of the cards I purposely used a larger pearl to offset the balanced layout.  I then stamped a sentiment from Signature Greetings (PTI) and mounted my white CS to a colored base and I was done.

Here's my patriotic card complete with matching envelope. I stamped the same flag image on the inside of the card.

Here are three more basic "nine circle" thank you cards. I really like the way they turned out. Hope you enjoy them as well.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be MIA for a few weeks since I have a lot of intense commitments coming up BUT also some vacation time. I will miss my faithful followers but will come back with more ideas I hope!

Hug the ones you love!

Kissing with a Twist

Good morning ladies. It's a Just Us Girls technique challenge. Today Kristin is our hostess and she has challenged us to use the Kissing With a Twist technique. If you are not familiar with this technique here is a link to the tutorial on SCS or you might want to watch Gina K's video on Stamp TV here.

I have very few solid stamps that I could use with this technique so I turned to the Bold Flowers set from Gina K. I "kissed" up this thank you card using the kissing technique on all 3 flowers...

It's hard to see in the photo but the background is sponged with blue, pink and a touch of purple plus some brown sponging at the earth layer just under my textured torn paper strip. I used the Nested Sentiments nestabilities to create the sentiment flag. An orange jeweled brad and a stamped butterfly from MTME finished off the card.

It's time to pop over to the team to see what they have in store for you today then get out your supplies and start kissing! Can't wait to see what you create.

♥♥ Just Us Girls Design Team  ♥♥

Andrea

Dana
Elise
Kathryn
Kristin 

Lisa

Maria

♥♥ Be sure to stop and visit our Featured Designer for the month ♥♥

 Clare  Buswell

Have a great weekend. Unfortunately this is one of those weekends where I must go back in for a few hours - we're doing some Strategic Planning.

Just Smashing!

NOTE to my followers: I will be MIA for a couple of weeks. My daughter is back from her assignment in Germany and is coming home for a week as she prepares for her deployment to Afghanistan - I will then be going to DC to help her finalize her plans and will then drive her car back here once she leaves. I want to spend every possible free moment with her before she goes so I hope y'all understand and check back on me soon. Here's a quick post for the JUGS.   Try it--- You'll Like it!

Good morning - it's a JUGS Saturday - are you ready for a fun technique? Today's challenge is to use the acrylic smash technique which you can find HERE from SCS.

I had never tried this technique before and, although I used to do a lot of tole painting, I could not find my old acrylic paints. I had one bottle of cream on hand so I simply added a few drops of re-inker ink to a small pool of acrylic, stirred it up and sponged it on my acetate layer.

Here's my sunrise thank you...

I used a light pink, soft yellow and a pale purple for my three colors. I had stamped my acetate with a few pieces from the Tropical Flowers set from Gina K. The rest was just a simple design - a little embossing, a couple of prima flowers and a few purple pearls.  I really liked this technique and will surely use it again!

Please check out the rest of the team's creations and I will "see" you soon.

♥♥ Just Us Girls Design Team  ♥♥

Andrea

Dana

Elise

Kathryn

Kristin 

Lisa

Maria

♥♥ Be sure to stop and visit our Featured Designer for the month ♥♥

Alyssa Scritchfield!

Thanks for stopping by.
Hugs n smiles,

Grunge Flowers ala JUGS

Wow I've been quiet for a while and all of a sudden I have a bunch of posts all popping up at the same time. :-)

3 posts today!!!
To view my project for the Stamp TV blog hop please click HERE.
For MTME sneak peek click HERE.

Meanwhile - Just Us Girls is bringing you a challenge to create a 3D flower - we made our 3D flowers ala Tim Holtz - if you have not tried these PLEASE do! They are fantastic!!! Remember - the challenge is to CREATE a 3D Flower (not just use one).

Here's my card for the week:

The sketch is from Mojo Monday and the papers are a sneak peek of some brand new papers coming on Feb. 1 to the My Time Made Easy store!!! These were created for MTME by our very own JUGS girl, Kristin, and you are going to LOVE her latest collection. The sentiment is also part of a new set from MTME - it's part of the new Bold Botanicals set - you can see my sneak peek for this set further up on my blog. (Although this is the ONE stamp from the set that I did not use on my project.)

Now, I must admit that I did not make my grunge flower for this card - a good friend of mine, Hanne, made me a few that she sent me as a gift - (BLESS you Hanne!!) Well - it worked so perfectly with what I wanted to do that I just used hers but I assure you these were handmade and they follow the Tim Holtz method. 

Here's a close up of the flower, the seam binding bow and the tiny pearl/rhinestone hat pin.

Now - hop on over to the rest of the JUGS team to see the beauties they have cooked up for you. AND this will be our last Saturday with Carla Suto. She has done an outstanding job as our FD for JUGS this month (thank you Carla) -  we'll be introducing a new Featured Designer next week.

♥♥ Just Us Girls Design Team  ♥♥

Dana

Kathryn

Kristin 

Lisa

Maria

Carla (Featured Designer)

Have a great weekend. Looking forward to maybe getting to go to a movie for a change!!!

Hugs n smiles,

A Special Thank You

I can't tell you who this is for (yet) but I wanted to post this card. I used the new sketch challenge from Treehouse Thursday -- Challenge #75

I used several Nesties with one of my favorite new Gina K Designs Stamp sets Lovely Labels 2 - which coordinates with the new Nesties Labels16 dies. The words are from Gina K's  Elegant Flowers. The "swirly" accent next to the Thank You is actually the word TO: (I thought it was a small flourish) so I stamped it a couple of times and used some turquoise bling to "accent" it LOL.  The flower on the right is also from Elegant Flowers - stamped in Potters Clay (stamped off once) then overstamped with Hawaiian Shores. A tiny bit of MS glitter to make it sparkle.

I chose an unusal color combo - chocolate, pumpkin spice,  hawaiian shores and rustic cream.

Edited to add: After I posted this I discovered Elise's Color Cue combo - THESE exact colors! Woo Hoo!!! SO I'm adding this card to this fabulous color challenge: Color Cue combos from WPlus9!

Added some texture to my accent strips with CB folders. Here's a close up of the front panel.

I also decorated the inside with one of the accent stamps from Lovely Labels 2 and the floral from Elegant Flowers.

This is for someone special who has made a difference in my life and I just wanted to say Thank you for that. I'll edit my post later and let you know who I made it for.

Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs n smiles,

Three Circles

Today I share a clean and simple card layout from a friend (thanks Hanne!!!)  I was able to make several of these in a short amount of time. I've been so busy with work and other things in my personal life that when I do have time to stamp it's typically either for JUGS or for My Time Made Easy.  I have not had a chance to do any creating just for me, just because. SO these cards were just because - no challenge to be entered, no contest to be trying for, no design team requirements - just me making what I want! (Mind you I'm not complaining about JUGS or MTME - I love them both - just don't get a lot of time to create for creation's sake right now.)

SO here's the basic card - simple layout - one or two layers of matting for color accent, scor pal scoring a couple of lines for texture and interest. The rest is stamping, punching, embellishing. I also wanted cards without bulky embellishments for mailing purposes. All of these cards are featuring stamps from PTI's anniversary set. I love the simple designs and the fact that I can punch them out quickly and easily. No copics or complex coloring - just stamp n' punch.

Card #1 - stamped in New Leaf and Terracotta Tile.  Gold ball embellies.

Card #2 - stamped in New Leaf ink - punched then added flat red "berries" and a few silver balls.

Card #3 - stamped in New Leaf - stamped a 2nd time in Plum Pudding - cut out the purple butterflies and flowers and mounted right over the green ones so it looks like two step coloring. Two flat backed pearls for flower centers.

Here's the whole set - total time about 30 minutes. YAY ! I think these would make cute card sets to use as gifts too.

Thanks for looking and for stopping by. I am blessed by those of you who willingly follow my blog - I hope I bring you some sort of inspiration. I know YOU are inspirations to me!

Hugs n smiles,

Butterfly thanks

It's time for a Just Us Girls sketch challenge hosted by the lovely and talented Alicia. I'm happy to report that Alicia's rodeo fundraiser to benefit Neuroblastoma research was a big success - KUDOS to her for organizing such an amazing event. We're proud of you Alicia!!

Here's the sketch...

I was in the mood for simple simple and I also really wanted to use the butterfly (even though that just represents any shape or embellishment).  I couldn't find an image that I liked to compliment the patterned paper so I left off one element (the rectangle) of the sketch and here's my simple thank you card.

A snippet of ribbon and a few pearls and I was done with my card. Sometimes I forget that simple can be effective too!

Come play along with the JUGS this week. Before you do stop over and welcome our newest Featured Designer for the month,  Lynn Mangan. Then scamper over to the rest of the JUGS team and feast your eyes on some beautiful eye candy then get out yer stuff and come get sketchy with us.

Have a great holiday weekend.
Hugs n Smiles.

Jam Packed Thank You

Wow - I can't believe all the amazing samples from Lauren and the DT for My Time Made Easy. This month's sets have been a huge hit and it's easy to see why. For my last sample this month I'm bringing you a fabulous new template called Jam Packed and I'm combining it with the versatile new stamp set called Well Preserved.

My daughter's bridal shower was this past weekend and I wanted to make a couple of thank you gifts for the hostesses who so generously put on the shower for her.  Here's what I came up with:

Since I started with some homemade Blueberry Preserves (NO - not homemade by me but homemade by a local group who supports adults with developmental disabilities) I worked up the set with blue papers.  Preserve It (I'm using the one for blueberries and grapes) is a new digital paper from Sara and it's fabulous. I used the picnic plaid for the box and the preserve it blueberry for the top of the box. Here's a better look at the top (complete with some tiny silver balls as embellies).

The adorable stamps in the Well Preserved set allow for SO much versatility!! Pick the fruit, berry, butter, syrup, preserve, pickle of your choice and make something cute!!

Meanwhile, the Jam Packed template is designed with a hole cut out in it - so the jar of jelly or jam just pops right in - I made my circle opening larger before I cut it to accommodate this jar. I also put some bubble wrap in the bottom of the box to lift the jar up just a bit and to protect it just a little.  Here's a peek at the box opened and empty. You'll see that I also added some of the picnic plaid paper to the inside edges. I love this cut out hole feature of this template but you can cut off this piece if you don't want the circle.

Here it is with the jam in the box:

I used some of the stamps from Well Preserved to decorate the lid of the jar, and to make the cute little jar on the front of the box.  The little tag on the front of the box says "For Someone Sweet".

The one on top says Thank you Berry Much and has some blueberries stamped on it.

I made a card to match the set but I kept it simple in design. I just used several layers and some dry embossing and a couple of rectangle nesties. Isn't that little jar adorable with the coordinating plaid cover?!

The berries were colored with Copics as were the jar accents.

Here's a peek at the side of the box and the card:

I thought the navy and white polka dot ribbon added the perfect accent to this fun little set! Hope you check out this Jam Packed template AND the Well Preserved Stamp Set. Even if you don't make your own jam (like me) you can use this wonderful box and stamps to create lovely gifts. I hope to get another idea done with this set soon.  (tease!)

Thanks as always for stopping by and for your wonderfully encouraging and sweet comments. You really make my day! Just when the world seems a bit overwhelming, in comes a lovely, kind comment that just makes me smile!!

Hugs and Smiles,

WCMD - Japan

I hope everyone had a chance to play with some of the challenges across the web for World Card Making Day. I had grand visions and plans but, alas, things required at home took precedence AND I'm also in the midst of preparing something new for everyone! (stay tuned for more!) I got a chance to play along with the first challenge posted by Nichole Heady at PaperTrey Ink. We were to create a card that was reflective of Japan. I came up with this little goodie.

Since Origami is a Japanese paper folding art, I used some beautiful origami paper that my daughter had given me. It's so beautiful and delicate and shimmery. It made the perfect focus for my card which needed only a few accents to finish it off.

I used the Weekend Sketch #100 from Beate for my layout,  added a few prima flowers, a simple sentiment and some embossing and paper piercing on the Raspberry layer. Here's a close up although you still can't see the delicate shimmer on this pretty paper.

Papers: Enchanted Evening, White, Raspberry Fizz, origami
Stamps: PTI - Mega Mixed Messages
MISC: Primas, pink floral rhinestone embellishment

Hope you had a great weekend - thanks for stopping by!

Inspiration Mosaic Quilts

I finally got a chance to work with Melanie Muenchinger's stamp set, Inspiration Mosaic, (available through Gina K Designs). I put it to use to make two quilt cards. Now, I am NOT a sewer but I love quilts so this was my way to make a paper quilt.

This first card was designed as a thank you for my colleague, Cathy, who made a t-shirt quilt for my daughter. We gathered all of Dee's favorite t-shirts from college and Cathy made them into a spectacular t-shirt quilt. ABSOLUTELY fabulous. (Dee hasn't seen it yet so I'm not posting a pic.) I wanted my thank you card to reflect the concept of a quilt so I turned to Melanie's Inspiration Mosaic stamp.
I started out by stamping the mosaic onto a piece of white CS (my "master quilt"). Each quilt piece was stamped onto designer paper from PTI, cut out then adhered to the master quilt. Two of the solid pieces of CS were stamped in Versamark with the words thank you and grateful as a subtle sentiment on the front. Once the "master quilt" was assembled I ran the whole thing through my CB with the swirls embossing folder. A big fun flower with a button center was my final touch.
I added a couple of strips of DP to the inside with a thank you senti. The best part about this card? My quilter friend loved it so much she is framing it for her wall in her quilt room!!!

I thought this was so much fun that I made another quilt card from Inspiration Mosaic. This one is for the Color Challenge on Stamp TV this week. I used GinaK's Pumpkin Spice, Green Apple, SU! So Saffron and Vanilla CS. I followed the same process as the first one only I CB'd each piece before I adhered it, instead of the whole master quilt. For the wreath I stamped the mini sunflower image from Theresa Momber's Autumn Beauty in a circle using Butterscotch Vivid Ink then colored with copics, cut with Nesties, and sponged a bit of So Saffron. I added a fun bow from some fun fibers, and a few buttons to finish it off.

Thanks for looking! Have a great week :-)