I Brake For Praises!

I love Easter!  Good Friday....although seriously lacking in good.....is my favorite start to remembering.  It is the service that literally brings me to the very end of myself.  It is somber.  Sometimes, there are vivid images of the sacrafice made on my behalf.  We read, from the Scriptures, all that Christ endured on our behalf.  I face my position as a sinner.

On Sunday morning, apart from the silliness of egg hunts, jelly beans and chocolate for breakfast, my soul is filled with the joy that only comes from my risen Lord!!  It is a day of celebration, gratitude and praise.  This past Easter, after church and a bit more family time, I made this card--straight from the joy that He provides.

I began with a neutral piece of cardstock, various distress inks and a stencil.  After creating the sun ray background, I added the raised hands image.  Definitely the most compelling of images on a fabulous sheet from I Brake For Stamps!  I finished the piece with the simple "Praise Him" sentiment from Inspiration Sheet #3, also from I Brake For Stamps.

Full Sheet 139 is one of a few brand new goodies over at I Brake For Stamps!  Be sure to say HOW DO to sweet Ms. Della when you pop over for a little shopping!  You can save with my coupon code, too!  SAVE10JANE.

TTFN, Jane

New Life

I'm coming off a pretty fun weekend!  A weekend full of celebration--17 years of marriage, my momma's birthday and, most importantly, Easter Sunday--because He is Risen!!

I was lucky enough to have both my siblings with their kiddos and my parents at my house.  I can't even remember when that happened last.  It was great fun!

It makes a girl think.  About life.  About what is important.

Babies.  They are important.  Such a wonderful way to start people. 

Parents, here's a verse to cling to when those teenage years hit.....

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it"  Proverbs 22:6

I've use this verse from I Brake For Stamps as the back drop to my sweet and simple baby card.  I masked off a portion of the background cardstock, using post it notes, and stamped the verse multipe times to fill the space.  Next, I inked, using Vintage Photo Distress Inks (they are on clearance!!!!) to fill in the area.

Finally, I added these sweet baby shoes on dimensional tape for some interest and a piece of twine.

That's all for today--make it a good one!

TTFN, Jane

Celebrate, Celebrate!

Happy Monday!  It's time to talk about celebrations!  Here in Wisconsin, we may be celebrating the departure of winter.....any. day. now.  LOL!!  Most of the snow is gone.  The weekend rains have managed to wash away what was left in our yard.  It's a muddy, yucky mess at the moment, but I remain hopeful that we WILL see the sun again soon!

I made this colorful card using an image from I Brake For Stamps called Mayday.  It's such a happy image.  Despite the fact that you can't see their faces, I just know they all are grinning from ear to ear.  I can almost hear their giggles!

I started by embossing the image in the center of a piece of white cardstock.  Then, I added a floral stencil, called Flower Frenzy, and layered on a few colors of Dylusions Ink Spray.  I like Dylusions, as far as ink sprays go.....they are much more vibrant than some of the other sprays I've owned.  They blend well together, as well.

Those little kiddos look like they might be on a Easter egg hunt.....enjoy yours!

Don't forget, you can save when you stop by the I Brake For Stamps Store by using my coupon code SAVE10JANE.

TTFN, Jane

Trust The Creator

Happy Friday!!  I had to break out this new little goodie from Unity Stamp Co. as soon as I got it!  It was so much fun to watercolor.  I used my Stampin' Up! inks, an aqua brush and some watercolor paper. 

After the image was completely dry, I mounted it in the middle panel of this step card.  Just a little designer paper to decorate the remaining panels and the sentiment!  I added the final touch--a rosebud embellishment I made with my Stampin' Up! Simply Pressed Clay & Mold.  Such a fun thing to create your own custom made embellishments.

I colored the white clay with a few drops of reinker, filled the mold and waited!  Wahhhhlaaaa! 

Have a great day!  TTFN, Jane

I Brake For Lacey Springy Flowers...

I can only say that I am just in love with these images!  I got some new rubbah from sweet Bo Bella over the weekend and I just could not wait to get inky!

The main image, Kerr Jar, was colored with copic markers.  I added some extra dimension and interest by double stamping, coloring and popping up several parts of the image.   Most folks find this type of paper piecing too tedious, but I find it so therapeutic!  It's usually the time during my creative process when I am completely aborbed, and therefore, completely stress free! 

I wanted to create a background worthy of this fabby image.  My first thought was to use the September 2013 Technique Junkie tutorial, Distressed Rainbow Strips, but after all that therapeutic piecing, I wanted a simpler attempt with a similar result.  I also wanted to use Lace Borders which is not a large background, but several lacey strip stamps.  I could not be happier with my result!

I added each of the lace strip stamps to a block and then applied the following distress inks:  Spiced Marmalade, Squeezed Lemonade, Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean and Spun Sugar.  Sounds like a recipe, no?  After applying the inks, I spritzed with water and stamped onto white cardstock.  I just adore it!

Make sure to say a happy hello to sweet Ms. Della when you go about shopping the IBFS Store.  And, be sure to save using my coupon code:  SAVE10JANE

TTFN & TFSB (ta ta for now and thanks for stoping by!)  Jane

Thinking of Unity.....

Happy Friday!!  I've recently added Moment to Moment to my ever growing Unity Stamp Co collection.  Anxious to break it in, I made this simple card.  It came together pretty quickly---I love how it turned out!

The paper is from the Traveler paper pad by MME.  I recently picked up a little 6 x 6 pad for cheap at Michael's.  I added a section of  collaged paper over an embossed piece of cardstock, a strip of book page and a tiny little doily from Stampin' Up!  Next, I stamped the butterfly image both on kraft cardstock and book page.  I layered the two butterflies, securing them only in the middle to give dimension and create the illusion of flight.  The "thinking of you" sentiment is from another Unity set called Music of My Heart.

Make it a great one!  TTFN, Jane

Some Stampin' Up!

So......little known fact?  I've been a Stampin' Up! demo for a decade!!  Despite the fact that I no longer actively promote a Stampin' Up! business (I'm my best and favorite customer!), I still love all that they have to offer.  I stay in, mostly, for the paper--just can't beat the quality, in my opinion!  But, often find other goodies tempting!

I made the above card using Cool Kid (Occasions Catalog) and Banner Blast (Sell-A-Bration Catalog) for my nephew's recent birhday.  He is, by the way, a pretty cool kid!  It was fun piecing together the super dog--his cape matches the background paper!  I hope he liked it....he might be getting a little old for cutesy cards from his aunt, but really, who can resist a dog with a cape???

The second card is cased from somewhere in the wonderful land of Pinterest....I made a few adjustments to put my mark on it.....sometimes, when I'm feeling rather uncreative, CASEing can be just the answer to get things moving again.  The flower images are from a SAB free set and the words, from Geometrical--also in the Occassions mini.  I love the look of the lettering!

That's it for today!  Thanks for stopping by!  TTFN, Jane