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Friday, January 29, 2016

Girl with Kitty-February's new digi release - Little Blue Button Stamps~


For the Funday Friday Challenge, click here

Hello my crafty friends!
I am super excited for today because it kicks off the new February digi release for Little Blue Button Stamps.  It is also very exciting because it is my first project as one of the newest design team members!! How cool right? :)

Olga Ishenko is the owner of Little Blue Button Stamps and she is such a sweetheart! Have you seen her beautiful designs?? Her stamps are absolutely the cutest! If you get a chance, make sure to stop by her blog and sign up so you can keep up with all the latest and greatest and then head over to her store to check out all the gorgeous digital stamps! Trust me, you will spend quite a while there just browsing.

Before I get to my project, I just want to say Thank You Olga for choosing me to be on your amazing design team! I really am looking forward to designing again and getting back into my crafting. I hope I made you proud with this first project!!

Okay so onto my design team project.  I made this card today using the new digital stamp called "Girl with Kitty". This image is so adorable and playful!

 
See? Olga's images are so beautiful and this image I fell in love with because it shows the true love between humans and animals. For all of you pet lovers out there, you know what I am talking about. Especially you kitty lovers. :) 

I colored this beautiful image using my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers. I don't know what it is lately, but the first thing I like to grab to color with are these markers. I think it is because of how easily they blend together and I love how smooth the color goes on with the brush bristles. After I colored up my image, I cut it out using Spellbinder's Floral Ovals dies

  

I added a little bit of wink of stella to this sweet girl's clothing and hair bow. I popped up my image on some foam tape and adhered it to a piece of American Crafts red glitter paper, that was adhered to a white piece of cardstock and then adhered to my card base. My card base is just some white cardstock from Recollections and it was embossed with a damask embossing folder by Craftwell. My sentiment is from the "You had me at Meow" stamp set by My Creative Time . I stamped it in Momento black tuxedo ink onto the same white cardstock and just snipped the ends into a banner. I used the heart glasses stamp from the same stamp set and then fussy cut them out , stickled them with red stickles and adhered them to the sentiment banner. To finish off the card I added some white rose organza ribbon and petite roses from Wild Orchid and a large red rose from Prima, and added a strip of the red glitter paper to the inside.  I added some wink of stella to all my flowers for an extra shine  and added a few red sequins from my stash.  Well that is my project for you today and I hope that you will go have a look at all the beautiful digital stamps in the LBBS store!  Definitely check out the New Release! You won't be disappointed!

Well that is my card to share for today. I hope you like it and I hope I have inspired you to get crafty! I would like to add this card in the following challenges:

Thanks for stopping by today!
Until next time, Enjoy life's blessings~

FFC #123 'Anything Goes"


Hello sweet friends!
Welcome to another Fun~day Friday Challenge!! 

Today we welcome a new sponsor, Sami's Stamps! Sami has the sweetest stamps in her shop so please give her a warm welcome and stop by and say hello! Thank you Sami for your sponsorship! 

 This week's Challenge:
"Anything Goes"
Create a card, layout or project with
this week's theme!

Our Sponsors this week are:
Little Blue Button Stamps
  The winner will win 4 digital stamps of their choice!

And

Sami Stamps

 The winner will win a $12 voucher to the Sami Stamps Shop!

 So make sure to play along this week~


    Starts: Friday, Jan. 29 12:00AM

Ends:  Friday, Feb. 05  6:00PM
(Eastern time)


I created a cute birthday tag using LBBS's Miss Lilly Happy Bday digital stamp. Is she not the cutest? I colored her up using my Copic markers and added some wink of stella to her dress and headband and the cake when I was done. I adhered her to a manilla tag that I had inked up using some shades of green distress inks and then used a brick stencil that I have, and added texture paste. I was not trying to go for a full on mixed media look, I just wanted a little dimension and figured I would get that by adding some texture paste. I also mixed a bit of the paste with some gold paint and then stenciled on the gold butterflies for some more texture. I sprinkled a little bit of glitter dust on the butterflies for a little sparkle and then finished the tag by adding a bit of ric rac ribbon to the edge and then
 creating a topper with it too.  It definitely was  simple and that is what I wanted. Hope you like!

Now let's see what the FFC Design Team has created for this Challenge:







What do you need to do to enter?
Challenge Rules

1. Please post a direct link to your card/project post that includes your challenge,
using the linky tool below.

2. Be sure to include a link back to our challenge

3. THREE entries per person and you must post a separate blog post for each entry.

4. All entries must be NEW and created for the current challenge.

5. You may combine with other challenges as long as you link back to us in your post.

 * All entries that do not meet the challenge requirements
Will not be eligible for top 3 or random wins (optional from sponsors prizes)
Any random wins will only be mailed within the US and Canada only.
You have until Feb. 05th by 6:00PM (eastern) time to link up.
All winners will be announced during the week of Feb. 08th.
Have fun and we look forward to seeing what you create!
Until next time, enjoy life's blessings~
Thanks for stopping by!



Thursday, January 28, 2016

Rain or Shine!



Hey bloggy friends!
How are you all doing today? Getting excited for the weekend to be here? I really want to say that this week has flown on by. But then again, doesn't it always? :)

I have a cute little card to share with you today. I created this card yesterday and glad that I did. I enjoyed working with this adorable stamp set called, "Rain or Shine" by Sunny Studio Stamps. The owner is a sweet and talented woman and I am proud to call her my friend, the sweet Mendi Yoshikawa.

  
I completely enjoyed working with this stamp set and it's matching dies. When I saw this set, I knew immediately that I wanted to do a cute card with paper piecing. I stamped the umbrella, clouds, rainbow, water puddles, ducky, and the pup onto some white GP cardstock first. I used my Zig clean color real brush markers to color the ducky and the pup's face and paws. I then stamped the pup, umbrella, and rainbow out again onto some patterned paper from the 6x6 Doodlebug Sugar Shoppe paper pad.  I just loved the colors in this collection and although it is geared more for birthdays and celebrations, I thought that it would look nice for springtime. After I stamped out the stamps onto the Sugar Shoppe papers, I cut them out with their coordinating "Rain or shine" dies.  I paper pieced the pup's rain coat, rain boots, his hat, the rainbow and the umbrella. 

My card base is a smaller card size, 4.25 by 4.25" using white GP cardstock. I then took a piece of the "Frankenstein" stripe Let's Polka in the dark paper pad by Lawn Fawn  to add as a background layer for some added interest and on top of that, I added another piece of the white cardstock. I took all my pieces and laid them out on the card until I found which way I liked my scene best and then one by one, started to adhere them in place. I left just enough room to place my sentiment which was stamped in Momento Tuxedo black ink. I took a few of the raindrops from the stamp set and randomly stamped them so that it would like like a springtime downpour. I actually stamped the raindrops using my blue gray Zig Clean color real brush marker.  To finish off the card, I pulled out my glossy accents and coated all the raindrops, the puddles, and made sure to add raindrops to the umbrella, some falling onto the ducky splashing around in the puddle and added glossy accents onto the pup's rainboots since he was standing in a puddle. 

Well that is my card to share for today. I hope you like it and I hope I have inspired you to pull out some of your favorite patterned papers and do a little paper piecing. I would like to add this card in the following challenges:
Until next time, Enjoy life's blessings~

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

It's Talk Time Tuesday with Ask Jo- Very Long Post~


Hello my sweet friends!
Welcome back to another Talk time Tuesday! 

Wow what a crazy storm the north east was hit with! Thank you first off for all of your prayers. I hope all of you who were in this blizzard's path were safe and that your homes and vehicles were not damaged. I live down at the NJ Shore so we were hit very hard. At one point during the storm, I thought that our house was going to be flooded out. All day Saturday and most of Sunday, my entire city was under water, nearly 7 feet deep in some areas. Many of the homes in the next town over from me in Ocean City got flooded and some of the businesses and homes here also did. I am glad the storm is over! It was a very scary experience and I just kept praying to the Lord to keep us safe and He sure did! Bless Him! Today our streets are completely clear. It does not look like there was any flooding here. We do have some snow and ice on the sidewalks and driveways but our roads are clear. Here are some photos from my neighborhood. This is my street....




This is my porch
Do you see how high this got? I was really scared it was going to continue to rise and flood my home.
Now this is what it looks like today in my driveway, clear roads now but snow and ice lingering.
Here are a few photos that I took off the news.
 This is my city of Margate





As for the rest of my family who live in Central NJ and in Bucks County PA, they got slammed with nearly 3 feet of snow! YIKES! I feel bad for all of you who were hit by that snow. It will take days for many to dig out of that snow and I bet that made a lot of kids happy! No school and a fun snow day! I just feel so bad for the families who lost loved ones during this storm. So sad.


Okay so moving on,  today's question comes from Bobbie Lathrop who wants to know, " Well Jo I guess I will start your Tuesday talk time with a question on organization. As you know I finally have a dedicated craft room and I am finally having a chance to set it up. I have managed to file my stamps by maker but having a hard time organizing the dies. What would you or your views have for suggestions on organizing dies that don't have matching stamp sets and a way to make it easy to find them??"


  Hello Bobbie!

Great question! Organization is one of those topics that we all struggle with. What works for one person may not work for another. It is always a never ending job because as our needs change and stash grows, we need to come up with a different method to fit our needs. 


I store my stamps in these Avery Elle storage pockets. They fit a 4x6 stamp set inside or they can also fit two of the smaller stamp sets. What I normally do is cut down a piece of white cardstock to fit inside the pocket and then I add my stamp set and if the stamp set has a matching die set, I will add the dies in the back of the stamps in the same pocket. I store my dies on these magnetic sheets. It keeps all my dies together and that way if I want to work on a project, I can just choose the stamp of my choice and if it has the dies, they will be in the pocket with it, all in the same place. Easy!

Now this will work for you for storing your dies too, as I also use these same pockets to store my single dies (no matching stamps). I will create a label for each pocket for my stamps and my dies using my Brother P-Touch label maker. My label maker allows me to create two lines at a time so I will always have the Company's name and the name of the Stamp or Die. I then store everything in alphabetical order by the company. Right now I have my stamps and dies stored in separate shoe box plastic containers, These containers by Iris and they work just fine for me. I have them in clear. I have 3 for my stamps and one for stand alone dies. Again, I just keep all my stamps in the bin according to company and I have created my own dividers from chipboard to separate each company. It is very easy for me to navigate through my stash this way. I can see everything and if I know I want to work with a certain company's products, I can get to it very fast. Another option a lot of people are using to store stamps and dies are in these refrigerator clear bins. I would like to eventually switch over to these bins too because I like the sturdiness and size.  



I got my organization method from Jennifer McGuire. She has an amazing stamp and die storage organization method. Click the link with her name on it and it will take you to her blog where she has tons of videos of how she stores her stamps and dies.I have tried to follow her method and it has worked so well for me.  So I hope this helps Bobbie with helping you to get your dies organized a bit better. Remember to find what works for you. Everyone has their own setup and works in different environments so if you find a method that you can adapt to, please share it with us. We are always looking for new ways to keep our stamps and dies organized. Thanks so much for writing in and I hope you write in again soon!



Well friends, that is it for today. Please write in with questions you want answered or topics you would like to see talked about during our Tuesdays together :) 


 Thanks for stopping by and until next time.... Enjoy life's blessings~




Monday, January 25, 2016

I could still use your help....Purty Please :)


 

Hello my sweet friends! 
There are only 4 days left for me to remain active as a demonstrator for Stampin up and in just a couple more weeks, I will be with the company for one year. I really enjoy the company and love their product. I know that many of you do too. So I'm hoping that I can get a few more of you to help me stay active... because it benefits you too! Right now Sale-a-bration is going on so that means for every $50 you spend, you get to choose any product you want from the Sale-a-bration catalog. So if there is a certain punch or die set or stamp set that you have been wanting to get, you should get it now. It will help me stay active as a demonstrator, it will get you something you've been wanting or needing crossed off your wishlist and it will get you additional product free as long as your order equals $50. Not bad right? :)

Okay so you are probably wondering why it means so much to me to stay active. And I will tell you in the short version. I love the company and the product and I am just shy of moving up to the next level and being with the company for a year. And now that I am putting myself first again and diving back into my crafts, I get to bring you lots of new and fun projects, giveaways and more. So that pretty much sums it up. And if you could really do me a huge favor... if you haven't already... can you please visit my Jo's Stampin Studio blog and subscribe there to receive updates on everything Stampin Up? I am only posting here because this is where the majority of my bloggy friends are but I would love to keep this blog separate from the Stampin up blog. I will be posting projects, new product, promotions, tutorials and giveaways over there and I would not want you to miss out on anything. :) 

I could really use your help in keeping my status. If I had just 5 of the 420+ people that are subscribed to my blog, place an order and spend $25, I will be able to continue being active. But because it is Sale-a-bration time, this again is the perfect opportunity for you to spend that extra $25 and get yourself some free product too of possibly something else you may have been eyeing. 

So if you can help, I thank you in advance from the bottom of my heart. All orders will need to be placed no later than January 29th. 

 You can see the catalogs and shop Sale-a-bration and more at my store. Just click here 

Also you can use this hostess code below if you meet the qualifications. 
 HOSTESS CODEGYVEFDBW

   Use this Hostess code and receive a free gift from me! (Please do NOT use this Hostess code if your order total comes to $150+). The reason you do not want to use this hostess code if your order reaches $150 or more is because you would be giving up hostess benefits to possibly win those benefits.  *** Please take note: If you select the "no contact" option, I will not have access to your name or mailing address to ship you the free gift. 

 ***** PROMOTION






So remember for every $50 that you spend (before your taxes and shipping costs), you will get a FREE Sale-a-bration product!  You can see all of the products available in our Sale-a-bration catalog by clicking here.

If you would like to be a host of an online party, you could earn even more product! If your party reaches $250 in sales during Sale-a-bration (which ends on March 31st), you will earn yourself $25 more Stampin Rewards! And those rewards can also be used towards the purchase of your very own starter kit to become your very own demonstrator! Being a demonstrator is so much fun and I would love to have you on my team and help teach you how to help others create beautiful projects! So please contact me if you would like to host an online party of your own. You can invite all your crafty friends to help them purchase the products they have been wanting and help them earn free product during Sale-a-bration. And you can earn more free product too! So c'mon, email me so we can get you started! 

Use this Hostess Code and receive a free gift! (Please do not use the Hostess Code if your order is $150 or more). - See more at: http://www.mychicnscratch.com/blog#sthash.0c4iQbhn.dpuf


Use this Hostess Code and receive a free gift! (Please do not use the Hostess Code if your order is $150 or more). - See more at: http://www.mychicnscratch.com/blog#sthash.0c4iQbhn.dpuf

Use this Hostess Code and receive a free gift! (Please do not use the Hostess Code if your order is $150 or more). - See more at: http://www.mychicnscratch.com/blog#sthash.0c4iQbhn.dpuf


  Thanks for stopping by and until next time.... Enjoy life's blessings~

 

Winners FFC #121 Announced!


Hi there friends...
We have the Top 3's and winners from Fun~day Friday
challenge #121! Are you one of them lucky ones???

What happened to all of our Sketch players? This challenge only had 2 participants this past week so we were a little shocked. Maybe there are some of you that aren't quite back yet from all the holidays and new Year adjustments. We hope to see more of you in the next sketch challenge!

Our TOP 3 winners from  FFC #121
 "It's Sketch Time":



                       #01----->  Emily Shroom
                       #02-----> Dorothy S.
                     


 And now our winner of the 4 digital stamps from:
Little Blue Button Stamps

------> #01 Emily Shroom





All Winners & Top 3's Please email me at:
Joann6274 at gmail dot com!
You will have 2 weeks to claim your prizes!

  
Well my friends that is all I have for today. I hope you have a great day! Thanks for stopping by and until next time.... Enjoy life's blessings~
  


Friday, January 22, 2016

FFC #122 "Color Challenge, Blue & Green" and add some embossing too!


Hello sweet friends!
Welcome to another Fun~day Friday Challenge!!
Before we get to today's challenge, May I ask each of you to keep my family and I in your prayers? Tonight we have a major snow storm coming in that will be dumping at least 6-10 inches of snow on us from tonight into Sunday night, but what I am fearful of, is the coastal floods. I live right off the water and we are expected to get extreme to major flooding. The news channels are saying this is going to be the worst flooding since Hurricane Sandy. If you followed that story then you know how dangerous this could be for our town. I literally have the Bay in my back yard and the ocean is only 4 blocks from my home. I just ask if you could say some prayers that we make it through this storm okay and that the flooding is minimal at best.
Thank you so much. 

 This week's Challenge:


"Color Challenge"
Use the colors Blue & Green and we want to see some embossing too!

Our Sponsors this week are:
Bugaboo Stamps
  The winner will win 7 digital stamps of their choice!
and a brand new sponsor this year!
Robyn's Fetish

The winner will win 3 digital stamps of their choice!
 So make sure to play along this week~


    Starts: Friday, Jan. 22 12:00AM

Ends:  Friday, Jan.  29  6:00PM
(Eastern time)


This is my first project of the new year! I am super excited to be creating again but I feel like I am off my game a bit. Yikes! LOL
In any case, here is the card I created using Robyn's Fetish's Gilded Christmas Dove  and I made sure to use Blue and green with embossing.
  


I love this bird! And since I think this bird is so beautiful, I wanted to keep it as the main focal point. So to do this, I kept everything clean and white. My card base is a standard A2 size. My first layer was cut using Spellbinder's A2 matting basics B rectangle and was embossed using a Craftwell embossing folder. My second layer was cut using Spellbinder's Majestic Labels Eight and is popped up on some 3d mounting foam. I colored this sweet dove in using my Clean Color Real Brush markers. My sentiment is from My Creative Time's "Once upon a time" stamp set. To finish the card I added a few enamel dots from MME and added some clear wink of stella to certain areas on the bird. Here are a few more photos that show the wink of stella.


Now let's see what the FFC Design Team has created for this Challenge:



Tina 


 

What do you need to do to enter?
Challenge Rules

1. Please post a direct link to your card/project post that includes your challenge,
using the linky tool below.

2. Be sure to include a link back to our challenge

3. THREE entries per person and you must post a separate blog post for each entry.

4. All entries must be NEW and created for the current challenge.

5. You may combine with other challenges as long as you link back to us in your post.

 * All entries that do not meet the challenge requirements
Will not be eligible for top 3 or random wins (optional from sponsors prizes)
Any random wins will only be mailed within the US and Canada only.
You have until Jan. 29th by 6:00PM (eastern) time to link up.
All winners will be announced during the week of Feb. 01st.
Have fun and we look forward to seeing what you create!
Until next time, enjoy life's blessings~
Thanks for stopping by!