Perpetual Birthday Calendar

Country Livin’ Rocks!

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Living in the country has its perks, and wouldn’t this be just one of them?  I unfortunately do not have an adorable old truck like this, but it sure would be wonderful!  I will have to settle for the stamp and my imagination.

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This image was stamped with black stazon ink on water color paper and then adorned with a whole bunch of ink colors.  I started with a pallet of six colors, but it didn’t stay there.  I ended up with ten, but it called for it.  That doesn’t include the colors that emerged from simple blending and colors flowing together.  This kind of work is my favorite.  No real rules, just lots of distressing.

The perfect companion to the card is the new copper metallic thread.  It almost reminded me of barbed wire or old fence wire.  I like a little of embellishment, but don’t want any distractions when I water color.  The thread works for me.  There was a touch of stamping on the inside panel.  The splat image from the perpetual calendar set with cherry cobbler stamped off once.  Yummy!   I do think it would be interesting to try and paint this stamp with flames and metallic chrome.  I will have to see on that.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Garden Green Gift Box

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Need a gift box or two?  During the holidays we are always looking for something to wrap a last minute gift or party favor.  That is what my husband needed for a work party tomorrow.

Garden Green Gift Box

They are having a white elephant gift exchange, so I thought a really great box would throw them off completely.  The ornament inside is nearly bizarre, but almost interesting at the same time.  It has a flying pheasant, with a hunting fest hung below, and then a pheasant call hung below that.  Yes, somehow I let that one not go on my tree.  I wonder how that happened.

Garden Green Gift Box

This box though.  I used two sheets of garden green cut at 8.5 x 8.5 and scored at two inches all the way around for the sides.  The top score lines were moved a smidge over so the lid would be just a bit larger than the bottom and fit snug.  Mission accomplished.  I used the snowflake stamp from the Perpetual Birthday Calendar set.  Love that one so much.  It gets used all of the time.  I put a whole in the center with a circle framelit, which gave me funny half circle edges on two of the sides, but I couldn’t see a way around it, so I just went with it.

The window sheet was embossed with the elegant dots folder and stuck down inside.  The sheet measured 4 x 4 and I used fast fuse to keep it in there.  I ended up wrapping the gift in some 6″ wide burlap ribbon and doesn’t that look great?  Surprised me too.  Then this lovely box was given a big hug with some satin ribbon, gold to match the stamping, after being sponged like crazy of course.  Now, the fun begins!

Garden Green Gift Box

Have a creative day!

Moana

Thankful Swaps

~ moanaj ~ 1 Comment

I have been out of town this last weekend and it is nice to be home for lots of reasons.  I did love my trip, seeing my daughter and son at university is just fantastic!  Something about your own space though, just feels cozy.

Thankfuln Swaps

I also discovered that I am not the best blogger on my iPad.  They were pretty basic, but I managed.  I was honestly just too tired yesterday and had tons more standing in line waiting to be tended.  Day survived.

Thankfuln Swaps

There were several fall themed swaps I wanted to share as well.  I had recently ordered this stamp and framelit set but haven’t gotten to play with it just yet.  So it was nice to play at the demonstrator workshop event.  Working through someone else’s vision is different, but entertaining.

Thankfuln Swaps

While it is fun to share these swaps, I am getting anxious to dig back into my supplies and create.  Especially with some of the new treasures.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Lovely Amazing You

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

When you live in a house with teenage girls you get to enjoy all of the fun that goes along with it.  That includes having a healthy obsession over a fun band, One Direction.  My husband bought us concert tickets last fall, as a Christmas gift, and the concert was this last weekend.

Lovely Amazing You

While we were waiting for the show, I studied the stage and, guilty as charged, I started thinking of a card idea.  Well, why not, right?

Lovely Amazing You

I used three different stamp sets to put this together, and I could have done more.  I love how so many sets have these little accent stamps that can be used tons of different ways.

Lovely Amazing You

This comes down to a thank you card that will never be sent, I am sure my daughter will just want to keep it.  It was a blast to be with my girls, watching them totally fan girl over their ‘boys’, and revel in their happiness.  Just like Christmas morning magic for a child, really.

Have a creative day!

Moana

One Butterfly Too Many? I Think Not…

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It was time to gather the butterflies, and I didn’t even use them all!  There is another punch and framelit and other stamps as well.  Clearly I love these!  Can you blame me?  They are so beautiful.  I am getting excited for a new stamp set that is on its way.  It has a dragonfly in it and those are my favorite.

One Butterfly Too Many? I Think Not...

It is hard to match this combination though.  I wonder how many butterflies I have seen so far on my pioneer trek.  I might be too tired this morning to notice.  But today I get to come home.  This yellow is the accent color in my skirt and matching apron I made for this trek.  What an event it must have been.  I will have to tell you more later.

One Butterfly Too Many? I Think Not...

I layered up this beautiful butterflies after I sponged their edges pretty heavily.  I wanted them to be one color, but have a subtle difference as well.  It worked nicely,  I also used the tiny butterfly stamp from the perpetual birthday calendar set to create a flock of them flying up the side and across the top.  That was really fun.  With some heavy sponging that look was complete.

One Butterfly Too Many? I Think Not...

I didn’t know if I wanted to stamp my sentiment with so saffron or black.  I started with so saffron, decided it wasn’t bold enough, and offset a second stamping in black.  It worked out really well.  The photopolymer stamps really make things like that super easy.  I repeated some of those stamps on the inside and then blinged up the butterflies properly.  They do look grand, do they not?

Have a creative day!

Moana

Big News with Perpetual Birthday Calendar

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I must be one of the few Stampin’Up! demonstrators not showing new product today.  It is the first day with the new annual catalog.  Well, I have a different perspective sometimes.  I get just as excited for the stamp sets I already have that carry over to the new catalog.  So, there you have it.

Big News with Perpetual Birthday Calendar

The first is Big News.  It has these fun sentiments designed around exciting news and events.  They are written like we talk in a quirky way.  It makes it kind of fun.  The second is Perpetual Birthday Calendar.  I sure have gotten a lot of use out of this set.  An easy background maker if you ask me.  It really gets a lot of use.

Big News with Perpetual Birthday Calendar

I am also happy that the cotton ribbon, which was new last catalog, stayed with us.  It really makes such a pretty accent.  I must say, this bow is nearly perfect.  I kept this card pretty simple, but sometimes that is all I want.

Big News with Perpetual Birthday Calendar

I did a small pre-order earlier in the month to get the new colors that I have already shared with you.  I also got a couple of host sets, and they will be so fun.  Now I will let myself get into the new catalog and get a few stamp sets.  Isn’t that fun?  I thought so.  You should check it out.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Pleasant Poppies Gift Set

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As poppies are in bloom, my attention was drawn once again to my favorite background stamp.  I am sad to see it retire, I truly am.  Retiring or not, this one is a keeper that I will use for years to come.

Pleasant Poppies Gift Set

With that said, this post is a good news bad news.  Yes, my precious poppies will retire, but the wonderful Perpetual Calendar stamp set carried over!  The little flowers I stamped all around my gift bag are one of many adorable little stamps in that set.  It is so versatile.  I think it has been the most heavily used stamp set from the spring catalog.  Interesting…

Pleasant Poppies Gift Set

You cannot tell from the photo, but there is a little cellophane bag inside.  I made the floral windows on both sides to show the “treats”, but there aren’t any to show.  Literally, I don’t keep candy at my home.  You will just have to use your imagination.

Pleasant Poppies Gift Set

I stamped the poppies on a very vanilla card front using tangelo twist.  I then used my aqua painter to get a bit of ink to the centers of the flowers that showed them.  I cleaned my brush of ink and just used water on the rest.  I simply brushed over the stamped flowers to move bits of the ink around.  It gives a very subtle look, but it is just right.  I could have brought in another color for the stems, but I wanted this monochromatic.  A simple bow of very vanilla seam binding ribbon, sadly retiring, finishes off both projects.

Have a creative day!

Moana

All Abloom Gift Set

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Sometimes we go back to our beginnings when we aren’t even thinking about it.  Years ago when I first started paper crafting it was all about the paper and utilizing great tools.  I was pretty tired and just started without thinking.  Half way through I recognized where I was and just went with it.

All Abloom Gift Set

After I picked this patterned paper from the All Abloom dsp stack I literally had to scrounge for some coordinating pistachio pudding paper.  I try really hard to get through my in color stash before they retire.  I will be so sad to see this one go.

All Abloom Gift Set

Using the faintest of stamping, just color on color for the pistachio pudding strip, I enjoyed a little ribbon sewing.  So simple, yet it gives a lot of texture and interest.

All Abloom Gift Set

I used a couple of sheets to make the cute little matching bag.  Any more I give a card with a tiny gift or treat, it is almost compulsory.  I just love giving.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Cheerful Critters Party

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

There are never enough birthday cards to be made, never.  Sometimes I just dip into my stash of designer paper, pick a sheet, and get working from there.

Cheerful Critters Party

That is exactly where these two came from.  Of course I love the Cheerful Critters stamp set.  I know I teased it at first, but I have fallen in love with it every time I use it.  Really, how cute are these guys!

Cheerful Critters Party

I absolutely love my inside stamping to coordinate with the my card front.  It makes me very happy.  To the point that I have a hard time leaving the inside blank.  Kind of like doing your hair.  Everyone can make the front look nice, but the back needs just as much attention, or so my brain says.

Cheerful Critters Party

I had a fun time using my stampin’ write markers on this guy.  I have such confidence issues with them and making it look smooth.  But I have to say, this one didn’t turn out too bad.  Maybe I can do it after all.

And let me just say one more time, the perpetual birthday calendar stamp set is so absolutely wonderful.  I use those little guys all of the time.  Since they are designed to accent different months of the year, they go with everything.  How perfect is that!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Adventure Awaits with Lullaby?

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Sometimes traditional, sometimes floral, and sometimes, just right.  That is how I feel about the projects for today.  They came together so effortlessly.  I guess when you are in the zone good things happen.

Adventure Awaits

Can you believe these designer papers came out of the lullaby set?  They could speak baby, I guess, but really have a lot more uses than that.  Super fun with even a twist of masculine.

Adventure Awaits

I snatched the anchor from the Guy Greetings set to add to the nautical theme.  My husband told me that the color combination felt like the beach.  Guess it worked.

Adventure Awaits

I brought in the spots stamp from the Perpetual Birthday set and it gave just the right touch.  The largest spot is the exact size as the small epoxy sticker from the sticker set.  Things just lined right up!  I do love decorating the inside of the card to match.

With the square and circle framelits to do my cutting, it kept the sentiments large but still a nice layering effect.  I have gotten into 1/8″ boarders on my layering.  Those are hard to line up without using tombo adhesive to wiggle it into place.  Love that stuff.  And I even got to use more of my Sale-a-bration ribbon stash!  Winning all around!

Have a creative day!

Moana