March Calendar Cat...

This is one of my favorite calendar pages. I used an Irish QuicKutz set along with some fun green paper to sport up my little cat! She is not always the easiest cat to photograph. Usually when you find her in a cute pose, by the time you run and get the camera, she moves or walks toward you. Here she is sitting like a little princess on a throw pillow. Put a pillow down somewhere, this little cat will find it and settle in!

Let's hope March is less snowy than February!

Jeannette

Memory Box February Project of the Month!

This is the February project of the month. It is a nice springy design with some yummy colors. I love the chocolate and pink combination! I know, it is the END of February, but we have gotten a little behind this month. The March color of the month and project of the month are being shipped early next week and should be in the shop the following week!

Have a wonderful Saturday!

Jeannette

Great snuggling weather...

Looks like Old Man Winter just does not want to loosen his grip on most of the United States! Good grief! And I had great hopes that the groundhog was going to be correct and we were going to have an early Spring!

So, in honor of cold, crappy weather, a snuggling card! This is a cute mouse image from Penny Black with 2 of the little ice snuggling under a daisy! The yellow piece underneath the mice image is created by embossing the yellow cardstock with a Cuttlebug embossing folder, then carefully applying Ranger Spiced Marmalade distress ink to the top with a brayer. You have to be gentle to keep the ink only on the raised portions. Because distress ink is designed to react with water, I spritzed the cardstock with water, which made the ink run a bit, blotted the excess off with a paper towel, then completely dried the piece with a heat gun. You can really accentuate the embossed design this way! After that, add some ribbon and layers and you have a cute card!

Thanks for coming by and the sun will come out - TOMORROW!

Jeannette

Memory Box February Color of the Month!

February's "Color of the Month" is Mint! This color matches Tsukineko's VersaMagic Aquatic Splash ink - as all the cards in the monthly do. These cards are limited edition - only available once and when they are gone, they're gone! The sample card along with the stamps and card packages for sale are available at the store. Get them while they are hot! This is a pretty spring color - and we all need a little spring in our lives after all the snow we have had!

Have a great day!
Jeannette

Glitter Puzzle...

If you're looking for an easy way to create interesting glitter backgrounds, this technique is for you! You need white sticker paper (also known to some as "crack and peel"), a glue stick and fine glitter. Sticker paper is basically a piece of white paper with an adhesive back (covered with a removable sheet to expose the adhesive). You start by drawing lines on the white paper with a pencil. The best are wavy lines - don't get too intricate, as you are going to have to cut along these lines. Next you cut the pieces apart and position them back into their original position (like a puzzle). I prefer to flip them so that the sticker backing side is now face up. Next, cut a piece of plain cardstock the same size as your original size of sticker paper. Apply glue from a glue stick to one side and attach the sticker pieces to the cardstock - so that the release paper side is face up (your lines will be glued down to the piece of cardstock). You'll need 4-6 colors of glitter - depending on how many sections you have and how many colors you wish to use. Start at one end and remove ONE section (and only one section). Sprinkle glitter over that section. I recommend rubbing the glitter with your finger to help push it into the adhesive. Shake off the excess and remove all excess with a soft, wide brush. Now, remove the next section and apply a second color of glitter. Keep doing this, one section at a time, until the entire piece is covered. A couple tips: 1) apply enough glue from the glue stick to get good adhesion of the sticker paper; 2) position the pieces carefully - you want them to abutt nicely together. Do not overlap or leave gaps; 3) after putting all pieces onto the cardstock, rub your fingers over the whole piece firmly to adhere the pieces and set the glue; 4) remove just the sticker backing from each section. This is probably the trickiest part - a finger nail works wonders!

You can mix and match a variety of colors to achieve some wonderful effects. On the card shown, I stamped a butterfly flourish from Kaisercraft on a piece of acetate with Stazon ink and then positioned it over my glitter puzzle and attached it to the card with gold brads. The designer paper is actually from a winter BoBunny collection!

Thanks for coming by today!
Jeannette

Showering with Flowers...

The little mice images from Penny Black have always been images that bring a smile to my face. Penny Black has taken a lot of the older images and them into clear stamps - in a somewhat smaller size. This image comes from a set called Hugs. The pink background layer is made by taking a piece of pink cardstock and putting it through a Cuttlebug embossing folder then brayering clear embossing ink over the embossed piece. Then I put clear embossing powder on it and heat embossed it. This gives an interesting shiny appearance to the piece. You can do this with opaque embossing powders - which gives a very different effect.

Thanks for stopping by!
Jeannette

Girlie Girl Birthdays...

Sorry I have been so out of touch! I just got back from a 5-night cruise - it was actually a stamping cruise with Impression Obsession, The Paper Cut and Sparkle 'n Sprinkle. Met a lot of great stampers and pretty much ate our way through the Gulf of Mexico! Gads, I cannot imagine how many calories were consumed in 5 days! But more on that later.

This is another fun card using another of the A La Mode images from My Favorite Things. In this card I cut a straight and scallop circle in half - this means you can make 2 cards with one circle! The cake is done with paper piercing and some Crystal Stickles for a little bling! It is a great card for older teens and young adults.

Thanks for stopping by and the regular blog posts should resume this week!

Jeannette