Happy Birthday, Kid!

I have no idea how it happened (that's a lie) but in just the blink of an eye, I've become the mother of a 17 year old!!!  I'm trying to wrap my head around the idea that this kid:

Is now this kid--a two sport athlete, Junior in High School, with excellent grades, a job and awesome friends:

And, today is the day--17 years ago, that it all began!  This is the one who made me a mom....and despite the many years that have happened since that first day, I still remember like it was yesterday.  I don't regret for one moment that the time has passed.  But the memories for me seem like just  a moment ago and I'm saddened that life is like this, sometimes.  Too fast, too beyond my control.  And then, I remind myself, that I knew it would happen all along.  Life IS short and unpredictable so, live each day and grab joy when you can.

Today, my joy will be spent with this one.  Just the two of us.  For him, it's a fun celebration, a shopping trip and a sushi lunch.  We will laugh and I will learn things about him I didn't know.  For me, it will be grabbing joy and storing it up.  The day is coming when he will no longer be part of my everyday life.  For me, it is a sadness I will have to learn to live with.  For him, I'm so excited to see what the future will bring--who this boy will be when he is a man.  He's off to a great start!

To create the card you see above, I've used some wonderful goodies from Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps.  They are:  Grunge Elements 2 and Birthday Bash.  I've also used the dies that coordinate with Birthday Bash to make the cute little candle embellishments.  A fun card for a fun day!

Make yours great!  Be awesome--Jane

Just Trolling Around......

I'm not even sure if there is a difference between a troll and a gnome, or really what that difference would be.  I find that I am wholly ignorant of the whole troll/gnome continuum, but I love this guy!  He's from a full sheet of super cuties from I Brake For Stamps called.......wait for it...Gnome Sheet!  You'll find the Happy/Life sentiment over there too! 

It's fall so I had to break out the Gnomes at least once.  They are an older sheet, but I love them so much...I look forward to seeing them every year! 

I had some masking fluid I wanted to try out so, this truly started as just an experiment.  After stamping this cute little gnome on watercolor paper, I covered him with masking fluid--mostly because I wanted to try the fluid--it was a little much.  I think the fluid is better for smaller areas you want to keep "clean."  But, alas, I had to move forward.  So, I inked up an acrylic block with various distress colors, spritzed with water and then stamped over the image.    The background was so colorful and lovely, I was tempted to leave the gnome black and white.  I caved in and colored it any way.  It's how I roll.

Here's to a great inky day in your little neck of the woods!  TTFN, Jane

I Dare You.....

Happy Monday, Friends!!  Welcome back to my blog and another Monday with I Brake For Stamps!  I'm happy you stopped by!

I am totally in love with this Large Unicorn image from I Brake For Stamps.  Here, in Bosiville, we have a love/love relationship with the unicorn......you may remember this shirt I created with the same image this summer.  What a great day that was!  You can make your own uni shirt with the digital image available in the IBFS store.  You.  Are.  Welcome.

I water colored some broken china distress ink on a piece of water color paper to start.  When that was completely dry, I added some 2-way glue and glitter......what's a rainbow colored unicorn without glitter, afterall?   It's so sparkly in real life!

I stamped the unicorn, also on water color paper, and used various distress inks and my aqua brush to color it in.  As a side note, I was watching Friends while I was coloring.....it was the episode where Fun Aunt Rachel teaches little Ben practical jokes and cuss words.....LOL!!  I only mention this to relate the therapeutic value of coloring......not only is it a great stress reliever, it's also great for improving your memory!  On a normal, non-coloring day, I can scarcely remember my name......

To finish things off, I added the Dare to be Different sentiment....because...you know......unicorns.

I dare you....be different.  Be Awesome!  Jane

Goodie, Goodie!!! It's Release Day!

It's Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps Release Day, Friends!!!  I'm excited to share the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps October Release and Blog Hop with you today! There are  four brand new stamp sets plus four new products from the October Sweet Perks Club that have been added to the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Store!  You can check out the whole release on the Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps blog, right here.

The inspiration for my first project came from this week's Splitcoaststamper's Try A New Technique challenge.  The challenge is to use Watercolor Powders.  You can review the challenge and Dina's tutorial, right here.  I used Bisters as my powder and a stencil.  I completed my project using the brand new set, Message of Hope.  I also used Borders & Backgrounds.

You can see that I'm pretty excited about this set and even used it to stamp on a painted rock!  I have a little terrarium that looks a bit like this that I have added it to.  The perfect crafty touch!

Every once in a while I find a treasure from eons ago and decide that it's time has come.  I bought this frame years ago--it's covered in denim--when framed art was first making the rounds.  I decided to finally use it and created this little 8 x 8 decor item, using Name Above All Names.  I love this set!  It's hard to see, but I started by stamping all of the Name stamps on the background and then added several distress inks.

 I created my final project using a stencil (the large polka dots) and then overstamping with several images from Grunge Elements 2.  The focal image on the card is also from Name Above All Names.

I hope you are feeling inspired--be sure to see what the rest of the team has shared!  Go be awesome!  Jane

I got crafty with:

Time For Cozy.....

SNOW!!!  Can you just believe that?  Tonight's weather forcast includes snow for our area...naturally, they are quick say that no accumulation is expected, but SNOW!!!  Uggh!  Time for bulky sweaters and hot cocoa!

Today, I'm sharing a cocoa treat bag featuring some adorable images from Sweet N Sassy stamps!!  This set, called Snowman Soup, is sooo adorably cute!  Last month, matching dies also became available and make this project even more fun!

I also have a fun little die, from Stampin' Up!,  that I used to create the gift bag.  It's called, Mini Treat Bag Thinlets.  I'd be happy to hook you up with your own--just send me an email.  It's a fun and versatile goodie bag!

 Because the die cuts the bag in two pieces, it was easy to add the window on the front.  I used some coordinating card stock colors and Sweet 'N Sassy's Borders and Backgrounds stamp set to decorate the bag before adding my cute little snowman.  I love how the snowman die cuts a a nice little edge around the image---I used water color paper so, I colored the image using my aqua brush and inks.  The white edge is the perfect contrast to the colored image and makes it pop! right off the project.

To decorate the marshmallow bag, I created a little charm using another image and die from the set along with some shrink plastic.  I was probably in second grade (.....just a few years ago....) when I first discovered shrinky dinks.  I still love them to this day!  Isn't it just the cutest thing?

 Stay warm, my friends!  Be awesome!  Jane

Spooks...Not Just For Halloween!

Happy Monday!  I am poised for what I hope will be a productive week of creating, so I wanted to clear out my "to share" folder here in blog land.  I made this fun birthday card for one of my kiddo's friends last week.  (Her name is Scout and she's about as cool as cool can be!  What else would you expect from someone with such a cool name?)  She's important to all of us and I wanted her card to reflect that.

The main image is an old, old, old set from Stampin' Up!  I am always soooo drawn to the cute little Halloween images.  It (Halloween) being one day (I know some people think it's a season....), I'm generally hard pressed to indulge in purchasing, but this one was just too cute to pass up.  It's also super fun to color--the whole gang is there!  The name of the set is Tableau of Terror, in case you have a mind to look around in the dark internet corners to pick up your own copy.

In what I will call a stroke of genius (they are hard to come by in my world), I combined the Tableau image with sentiments from a more recent Stampin' Up! set, From The Herd:

Same flavor....am I right?  Anyway, since I have a large family, this one was a definite must have....plus, it kinda resembles us....I'll let you decide which one is me--

Okay.  That is all.  I've already got paint on my fingers and lots of inky things calling me.

Be awesome--Jane

Silhouette Thanks

Happy Monday, Friends!!  I Brake For Stamps is a great way to start each week!  Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to!  This week, my IBFS share features one of my most favorite silhouette images and bisters!

I am always trying to think of new ways to use my bisters.  My goal is always to maintain the color saturation of each color. I started by scattering bisters on my non-stick kraft sheet.  I placed a stencil over the top of the sprinkled bisters and then misted the entire area.  From this process, I was able to pull two nicely (and uniquely) colored background pieces.  Neither has a distinct stencil design, but I'm good with it.  The stencil simply helped to create an interesting pattern in the ink flow vs. a specific design.

For the piece above, I added a final spray of water to blend the inks a bit more.  When it was thoroughly dry, I stamped Floral Silhouette Bouquet several times with Ranger Archival Ink.  This is my favorite black ink because of the intensity of the black image it provides. 

To finish things off, I added some pearl accents, washi tape, baker's twine and a sentiment.  You'll find the sentiment, Thanks So Much, here.  There's lots more good stuff like this over in the store--I recommend just strolling around!  Have fun and be awesome!  TTFN--Jane

Technique Junkies Are Hopping!

Happy October, Junkies!! A new month means new designs and hop to show it all off!  I'm so happy that you've happened by today!  If you didn't start at the beginning of the hop, you may want to START over in order to catch all of the inspiration!

Beth Norman has done it again, hasn't she??  She never fails to suprize and delight me with her unique style! 

For my projects, I've used Incrediball Canning Jar for a quick and easy tag.  It's such a fun pun!  I tend to think of the Fall as a time for gifting so, the decorated canning jar of flowers was an instant match!

For my card, I created a window die cut card front similar to a popular new die I've seen online quite a bit lately.  I, however, used my paper trimmer to create the same effect.  The "die" cut front is mounted on dimensional tape over the colorful resist background I created.  I began by stamping Pom Pom Swag with Versa Mark on white cardstock.  After heat embossing the image, I used a variety of art sprays to add colors.  I split the Live In the Present sentiment placing the first part on the front with the remainder inside the card:

The butterfly adornment is from the very versatile Technique Junkie Stamps set, Whimsy Wings.  Although Whimsy Wings is not included in the sale, the rest of what I used is!  All of the October release images are on sale until October 8th--now is the time to shop!!

Your next stop on our inspiration hop is the fabulous Jerri Jones!!  Enjoy!

Be Awesome--Jane