Thank You So Very Much

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Everyone says thank you in their own way.  Me, well I like to do favor boxes or cartons.  A little bit of words along with a special treat.  I always want to give something special and to be honest, the budget won’t often allow that.  Hence my love of paper crafting.  I always have more time than money, so my time can show my gratitude.  It isn’t that people expect, I just enjoy doing it.

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This carton was made with a whole sheet of sahara sand card stock.  I pulled out the trusty simply scored scoring tool and it came together in no time.  I actually made this one while having a lovely chat with my mom and dad.  How wonderful summer can be to me.  I did do my stamping first, because it does bother me when the stamping skips over the score lines. I know, not a real big deal, but it bugs me.  So the stamping first with the Flourishing Phrases large floral image.  I stamped and sponged in crumb cake instead of sahara sand to give a more vintage look.  So adorable.

The tag was cut with from the frame from the Rose Garden Thinlits set.  It it so much fun to put such pretty things together.  The smaller floral image was stamped first, the thank you second and then die cut.  Of course the whole project enjoyed lots of sponging.  I wrapped the top of the carton with gold metallic thread, popped a tricky bow through a bitty hole I punched and topped it all with a large basic pearl.  I refrained from putting those all over the box, I made myself keep it more simple.  So there you go!

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Well, This Just Stinks

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I think sometimes cards can just be funny and that is more than enough.  When I read the sentiment I used I knew I didn’t care what the rest of the stamps were like, I had to have it. Good thing it is really a great set with fun and sincere sentiments.  This phrasing, especially with the intro, is kind of an inside joke.  No pun intended…tee hee…

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The background stamping was pretty darn easy.  I used an element stamp from the Basket for You stamp set and just stamped my way across the card front.  I could have been a bit more careful to keep some of the edges better in line, but my desk is such a mess I just went for it.  Really, my desk hasn’t ever been this bad.  I think it will be top of my to do list tomorrow.  Summertime really gets me out of whack.  As you can tell by this very late blog.

Anyway, then the fun die cut letter had to get done.  I didn’t want those huge letters to take over my funny phrase, even though they are so large.  So, I decided to stamp them lightly in gold.  It kept them not as strong and allowed the rest to really catch your eye.  In order to keep them lined up I arranged them on the card front how I wanted them and laid a piece of painters tape across them, lifted them up, turned them over to put on dimensionals, and then placed them right where I wanted them.  It worked out pretty good.  The tape lifted some of the ink, guess I should have heat set it first.  Oh well, you can hardly notice it.

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I sponged all around the edges on the front and a touch on the inside panel.  All in all, this little project really makes me laugh.  There are times when life is great and sometimes it just stinks and it is more than okay to say so.  Even better to laugh about it.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Wedding Favors?

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

What kind of summer has been going on here?  Well…I guess it has been about weddings. We just finished enjoying our son’s wedding and both receptions.  So much fun and truly a joy throughout the entire process.  Much easier to say that now that it is through.  Guess who is looking at wedding favor possibilities?  My oldest daughter.  Wow, two weddings in one year?  Okay…I guess…

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Not much to talk about here to be honest.  I have used a die cut I got from a thrift store and I don’t even know who makes it.  But it is totally adorable.  I don’t even know if I can fit an entire fortune cookie in it, but we are going to try.  The ribbon is current in this years catalog and I love it.  I might go with the other mint macaron ribbon though, a bit smaller scale, easier to work with and a touch less expensive.  The paper I have here is a retired paper from last year.  I will have to use regular card stock or find another paper that is close to the color she loves.  Shouldn’t be too hard though.  I would rather use designer paper instead of card stock so it can be patterned and avoid stamping, mass stamping actually.  I would never avoid stamping.

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Either way, you can get a tiny glimpse into the adventures ahead.  It should be more than wonderful.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Flourishing Phrases

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This particular project went through a few different phases.  This is how it started out, all about blue.  I had the ocean on my mind and gave it a try.  I had intended on using a new embossing folder after I water colored, but to be honest, I forgot once I got all this going.

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After I painted with all of the blue inks I have I did some detail work using my gold wink of stella.  I focused on some of the watermarks and edges of color.  The look it creates is really awesome.  It is tricky to know when to stop because it is so much fun.  Mission accomplished here for sure.

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The next step was to add a special tag.  This one got a bit out of control and went to a busy style that really isn’t my own.  However, I decided to leave it and see how it balanced out with the huge butterfly addition I had in mind.  I water colored large areas of paper to provide both my tag area as well as the butterflies.  It is much easier to paint whole sheets instead of small specific die cuts.

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When this butterfly combo came along I really began to wonder just what I was up to.  I think that is because I love decorative painted backgrounds so much I rarely cover them up. They are such great all occasion cards, but I pushed forward.  I did edge the butterflies with the wink of stella, which of course you cannot see in these photos.  It is there though, and it looks so pretty.  You can see it better in the lead featured image which is much more close up.  Basic pearls, gold metallic thread with a little more patience and this project was finally finished.  It measures 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 plus the butterfly hanging off the edge.  A custom envelope will definitely be in order here.

Have a creative day!

Moana

I am Much More Me When I’m With You

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What do you do with a huge pineapple stamp?  Well, just about anything you want I guess.  I loved it, but probably had more questions than answers.  This is definitely one of those answers.  I asked my daughter to pick out a stamp from my stash of new product and give me a color.  She chose light green and this stamp.  Sometimes you just need a nudge in the right direction to get moving.

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Yesterday, and well into the evening, I spent my time helping a good friend with a wedding photo shoot.  You never know how much you are needed, but judging how tired I am today, it would have been so hard for her without me.  And of course we had an absolute blast.  We work nearly seamlessly together, another plus.  I thought this would suit us nicely.

I went with light water color washing using only two colors.  I wasn’t sure how they would blend in the middle, hoping it wouldn’t make some kind of brown.  It turned out great.  I opted for minimal distressing and one single stamping.  The leaves needed a bit, so I used my aqua painter to blend them a bit, but left the pineapple pattern alone.  I stamped it again on the inside, but more in the corner for more interest.  Good stuff there!

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The tags & labels framelit set fit perfectly around the sentiment and provided the perfect place for my favorite ribbon.  A few of the new enamel dots found there way as well.  The card front and inside panels were both layered with an additional piece of pear pizzazz card stock and the front was popped up with dimensionals.  There you go!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Your Generosity and Fabulosity

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This is another one of last weekends workshop projects.  A very simple but lovely card. There are so many things that I love about it, but especially how they all work together.

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The layering design is all about showing off the designer series paper.  The embossing folder draws attention to it and the sentiment accents it.  In this pack of paper there are several two sided patterned pieces, but two sheets of gold foil designer series paper.  This pattern is one of the two and I love it!

I accented the sentiment with the layered square framelits and some of the awesome new mini striped ribbon.  It might have been a bit over sized, but it is what I wanted so I did it. A touch of echo stamping on the inside to tie it to the designer paper and I was good.  Another great project that will find its way to another fabulous person.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

We’ll Weather This Together

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A project can go through several phases, and some can be unexpected.  The original vision kind of got lost somewhere along the way, had some confusion, but ended up reasonably pleasing.  These ladybugs though, too much love there.

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My daughters have a canvas in their bedroom that inspired this little card.  I was looking at it recently and thought of the new stamp and framelit set that could help me create my own version.  I pulled some of my favorite pastel colors for the background and started the process.  The more colors I use the longer it takes me to become satisfied with how they blend and flow together.  I went through this one three different times and then once more when I added in the yellow around my little bugs.

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I water colored on a scrap piece a mix of pool party and blushing bride.  The umbrella was then cut out and hit again with more blushing bride.  The clouds and raindrops were cut from areas that just had pool party.  And yes, I did glue all of those parts down, even those little drops.  I love the dimension the thick water color paper gives to them. Before I stamped my sentiment I added a touch of wink of stella to the clouds and raindrops.  All the pieces were layered together and put in place.  And before the blog had even been finished I was able to use it to brighten someones day.  Wonderful.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Fiesta Like There’s No Manana

~ moanaj ~ 1 Comment

Here is one of the projects I made with my club ladies last Saturday.  Such a fun and interesting birthday card.  Plenty of color and who doesn’t just love an adorable llama?  Finally though, a project where I love the brightness of cucumber crush.  It is just one gregarious green there.

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Framelit cutting made pretty darn quick work of the elements for this project.  A little stamping before and after doing the cutting.  The llama was really fun, but I felt he was a little on the whimsy side to worry about painting and making him look too real.  Besides, his teeth really aren’t accurate, they come from the bottom not the top like a bunny.  Still totally adorable though.  The banners were stamped afterwards though.  Since you can see through the photopolymer stamps there is not a worry to be found.  Fun and easy to do.

Everything was put on tipped one way or the other to add to the silly look.  Nothing about this card says slow down, just have a bunch of fun!  And my club ladies sure did.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Happy Father’s Day, a Day Late…

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Where have my blog manners gone?  Well, I had workshop on Saturday and one heck of an adventure before going, so couldn’t blog the projects we were going to make.  I will share them this week though, no worries.  Then there was Father’s Day, and these lovely little tuxedo boxes to make, nearly 85 all together.  So, you can see why I haven’t had a minute or two to share some of these goodies.

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This tiny gift box wasn’t my idea, thank you many people who are also so creative and share online, but I adapted to make it work for me.  They looked so adorable all lined up with treats poking out of the top, but I just didn’t have a moment to photograph them all together before they were given away.  Believe me though, there were many smiles from more than pleased men in my church congregation as they were passed out by the young women I work with.

The box was made with half a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 black cardstock and measures 1 x 3 4/2 and can hold a lot of little treats.  The tuxedo was assembled and then glued to the box.  All kinds of assembly lines were working with my family being so helpful.  The bow tie was obviously just a bit of ribbon with a knot in it and then trimmed to look kind of right and glued on with a glue dot.  The buttons went on in a bit of a whirlwind, but ended up looking pretty darn adorable.  The boutonniere was made from a retired tiny flower punch, punched twice, and attached together as well as the lapel with a tiny silver brad.  It was a bit extra, but added just the perfect touch.  The lapels and shirt collars were really eyeballed and scored with no real measuring in mind, just trying to make it look right.  I knew I had too many to do to make them too perfectly.

It was a great project that took quite a bit of time, over four days, with plenty of family help, but was worth every moment.  Way to be awesome dads everywhere!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Artistically Asian

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

New stamps, new stamps, new stamps!  I love having new stamps!  This particular one caught my eye right away on my first browse through this seasons catalog.  I could easily get lost exploring the possibilities, there are so many.

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But, I am totally in the mood for water coloring, so what else would I turn to just now?  I thought some of the new in-colors combined with gold would compliment the Asian feel of the stamp set.  And, I absolutely agree with myself.  Good thing too…

Flirty flamingo is the card base and the main color I painted with.  These colors go so very well together.  I used a lot of water and kept the color light building the intensity but not overdoing it.  Experimenting with this kind of painting is really something you just need to sit down and do it.  I have learned some things that work better for me, and of course there are tons of very talented people online that generously share their techniques to learn from.

I did stamp over the floral image again with both flirty flamingo and gold encore ink.  I wasn’t looking for a particular effect, just more of the image itself.  Then I hit it pretty hard with the gold wink of stella brush pen.  I accented the image quite a bit then followed along some of the water mark lines.  They ended up giving me a bit of a mound for the plant to rest on and maybe an interesting mountain or two in the background?  That wasn’t the intention, but I keep seeing that when I look at it.  Judge for yourself.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Layering Love

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Summer is here and it seems like love is everywhere.  How fun is that!  I wanted to capture some of that carefree spirit that summer can bring and had a fun time giving it a try.

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I must admit, I have been enjoying my water coloring quite a bit, but it is still my favorite medium right now.  I thought I might use a die cut on this image and layer it, but I forgot about that until I started typing.  I was wondering why I left the image off center like that.  I then remembered my original plan.  Well, I am okay with how it turned out.

It began with stamping the sentiment in versamark ink and then embossing with white embossing powder.  The next step was to create some kind of heart over and around the words.  When that was done I stared at it for a while trying to decide on a background color. My oldest daughter suggested tempting turquoise since it felt like summer.  That went with my plans, so I went for it.  I kept the color the strongest in the corners and painted towards the heart.  I was trying to create a lighter area around the heart to make it look like it was floating a bit.  That worked pretty good.  Wish I could make a more balanced heart, guess that is why I love die cuts and punches so much.  They correct my work some…

In the end I was happy with the result.  I went ahead and did a touch of blending along the edge of the heart and the blue background.  This provided a bit of a border and gave some cool layering effects.  I went back around the lettering with a wink of stella brush which gave a bit of shadow, but also made the image appear almost blurred.  Interesting, but I still went with it.  I left it a single layer on the card base of watermelon wonder and there you go.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Country Livin’

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There is something so calm about a nice long water coloring session.  When I found myself needing a break from putting away yet more wedding reception decorations I looked for this stamp set.  When I saw these boots. I knew I would love creating with it.  I was right.

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I honestly stamped just the boots in the lower right hand corner of the water color paper and started to layer color and distress it like crazy.  I can’t tell you how satisfying this card was to make.  I thought about putting a sentiment to it, but couldn’t find something that I thought worked well enough.  So I decided to leave it as an all occasion card.  I have adorable country girl friends that would enjoy this card just as much as any man.  And it is always great to have a great masculine card on hand, especially an all occasion one.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Thank You, Friend

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Did I take a few days off?  Well, not really.  My son recently got married and just last weekend we had a reception in our backyard to celebrate.  I thought I could keep things going, but I just had to get a bit more focused. Family always comes first.  Then you have the lovely friends that support and make everything come together.  I have several such friends and I couldn’t be more grateful.

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Could these two adorable friends be any more wonderful?  They come on one stamp and make the perfect pair.  I decided to put several of the new in-colors to work to show them off.  The elephant is painted in sweet sugarplum, the mouse in peekaboo peach and the ground painted in emerald envy.  The sky background needed something different, so I went with soft sky.  Yup, just what the card needed.  Nothing else was needed, no ribbon, no distressing or anything else.

I mounted the water color on a separate piece of sweet sugarplum cut to provide a narrow 1/8th inch border and then raised up on dimensionals.  This is just the type of card I would love to get, but even more, love to give.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Lots of Love

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I had this little treasure ready for yesterday, but never got to share it.  I guess that is what happens when you are this close to throwing a reception for your child. And yes, that would be today.  I was obviously thinking about them and how sweet they are together.

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This focal image is taken from a new host set called Love You Lots.  I am not usually one to go for whimsical images, but this set was way too cute.  I stamped these guys on water color paper and proceeded to take my time.  The background went through phases, several of them, then I finally just had to stop.  My girls were happy with how it turned out, but I am still a bit unsure.  Either way, here you go.

I wish I could just sit at my desk and water color my day away, but this household has a list of many last minute things to be done.  Some were pushed from other to do lists, but the day of the big event has things that can’t be done any earlier.  These are tasks of joy though, absolute joy.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Love, Love, Love…

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

When the new catalog comes out each year I do a quick scan for the super obvious favorites. Here is the first one that was an absolute must have.  To be honest, I focused so much on the adorable jars and lettering I didn’t notice just how huge the stamp set was.  Well, it is amazing.  Talk about options.  I could do a series just using this set and have tons of projects, all looking unique.

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I began by creating a background using marina mist ink on water color paper.  I have been using quite a bit of designer series paper lately and missed making some of my own.  I do feel better now.  After it was all painted and distressed I moved onto the jars.  I could hardly wait.

They were stamped in marina mist on whisper white paper then cut out using the matching framelit pieces.  I do love perfect little images all ready to go.  They were layered a bit, but you can still easily see that they all say love on the front.  I am still in wedding mode and the card reflects this.  I will be hanging dozens of mason jars below several of my trees today that will get candles and create a lovely look.  The couple is already so wonderful, I just want a beautiful evening for them and all of our friends.  Just two days away!

I did a tiny bit of stamping inside.  The small jar was used but stamped off once to give it a lighter look and allow me to write over it if needed.  Then, I stamped with silver encore ink a wrapped string to match the front.  I went back and added large basic rhinestones on the metallic thread and thought it was perfect.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

You Wonderful Thing You

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This is the end of a very fun and simple series.  I hope you have enjoyed seeing so many of the patterns in this designer series paper pack.  There are a few more that I love, and a couple that probably won’t find their way to a project, but that is why it is awesome that paper is two sided.  Something for everyone, right?

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One card base, one layer of dsp, one simple tag stamped and sponged next to a simple gift bag.  Just a touch of metallic thread and there you go!  I have enjoyed the series, but I am ready to get my water colors out and play a little longer.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Thank You for Everything and More

~ moanaj ~ 2 Comments

Kind words and a sweet treat.  It doesn’t quite add up to all the gratitude I have been feeling these days, but sometimes that is all you can muster.  Making something yourself means so much more I think.  You should give it a try.

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Clean and simple yet again.  When you want to focus on the lovely sentiment and wonderful paper that is just how it needs to be done.  I did add a layer of mint macaron under the DSP before I attached it to the crumb cake card base.  It gave it a little extra style without becoming a distraction.  So fun!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Thanks Kindly

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Here is the official beginning of summer for me.  I do have a wedding reception to host this Saturday, so it isn’t time to head to the lake just yet.  Soon though, soon.

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This series of clean and simple thank you gift sets sure was fun to create.  I enjoyed giving them just as much, and isn’t that why creative people create?  To share with others the joy that comes with creating?  Try your hand at something this simple and realize how rewarding it really can be.

Have a creative day!

Moana

You Are Too Kind.

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

When you are surrounded by kind people even the simple things are wonderful.  As huge life events come into play it just keeps getting better and better, don’t you think?

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A clean and simple card and gift bag duo can be so rewarding.  This is just as simple as the others in this series and was received with great smiles and even a few giggles.  So rewarding, so very rewarding.

Have a creative day!

Moana

One Tiny Word With One Big Meaning

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Today is a day full of gratitude for so many things.  I get to enjoy the experience of my son marrying a wonderful lady.  My heart is more than full.

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Let’s keep this one even more simple, shall we?  I love a simple card that really lets you enjoy the sentiment.  Talk about clean and simple.  The matching gift box is tall and skinny. I filled it up with tiny treats as I shared it.  So much fun!

Have a creative day!

Moana