All blog content, including designs, text, and photographs are COPYRIGHT © Janette Olen. Everything posted here is shared for your personal inspiration and enjoyment only and may not be used for publication or for design team submissions. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Friday, February 27, 2009

Blog Candy winner

Thank you to everyone who entered my blog candy drawing. The winner is:

Edith (aka thinker) by:

Here are your random numbers:

39
Timestamp: 2009-02-28 03:12:41 UTC

thinker said...
love the card... and the butterflies are such a perfect example of believing without having seen :) thanks for chance to win!!

February 27, 2009 7:13 AM

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Sweet N Sassy blog hop with blog candy

Hi there! Have you been enjoying all the wonderful samples so far from the Sweet N Sassy stamps DT members? Some of the DT members also have blog candy to offer as well, have you found any of them? Well, if not, you have now because I am one of them!! Korin has generously given me the chance to offer you the new Easter scripture set that is going to be released tomorrow- woohoo! It is a great set and I love that she used different fonts in it. To win this set, simply leave a comment on this post and I will draw my winner tomorrow (Friday) during the release party so you will have until 9PM EST on 2/27 to enter. Have a peek at the prize and my card sample using it:





I stamped the scripture and then sponged it with baja breeze and sewed it onto my brown matte that I then distressed with scissors. I embossed a row of flowers onto my vellum strip before sewing it onto my dp and I also embossed my saffron strip as well. All the edges were distressed with my scissors. I used my new martha stewart butterfly punch to add some butterflies which were accented with tiny pearls. I also added my yummy favorite new double sided satin ribbon which I found at hobby lobby the other day. It is a terrific match to chocolate chip and baja breeze cardstock from SU.



Supplies:
stamps- Sweet N Sassy stamps Easter scripture set
CS- cloud 9 dp, white, choc chip, so saffron, vellum
accessories- sewing machine, cb swiss dots folder, cb thanks set, pearls, ribbon, MS butterfly punch


Tomorrow night is the release party for Sweet N Sassy in their forum section of the website. There will be some chatting, give aways, and some challenges (one of which I am the hostess of). It is from 9PM- midnight EST so I hope that you will be able to stop by.

If this is your first stop on the blog hop then you will want to go to the SNSS blog after here. If you have already been hopping then your next stop for today is Jeanette.

Thanks for visiting today- have a terrific day!!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Stamp It! Cards pubs

Hi there! I am so super tired today and this is a very busy week here. I have a lot of obligations outside of the house this week and I am also preparing for the sweet n sassy release on Friday and for the Paper Temptress intro party tomorrow night on PCP. I did want to take just a few minutes to share some excitement with you though. A special issue of papercrafts magazine called Stamp It cards went on sale today and I have 2 cards published in it! I was so excited that I went out a bought a copy today since my complimentary one has not arrived yet LOL. My cards are on Pg. 72 and 73 so they are in the same shot.

here is the first one using Gina K. Designs Comfort and Peace set:



Here is the second using Verve stamps artful elegance and notes of prayer sets:



Here is the cover of the magazine so you know what to look for so be sure to check it out. Lots of inspiring projects from some talented stampers can be found in it. The thing I really enjoy about this magazine is that the cards all have stamping on them.



Well, have a wonderful day everyone and remember that the sweet n sassy stamps blog hop starts tomorrow where you will find sneak peeks of the upcoming sets and maybe some blog candy??? In addition is the paper temptress party where you will see some great projects featuring some super yummy new papers being added to the web store. Hope to see you there.

Monday, February 23, 2009

Sweet N Sassy Mojo Monday 75

Happy Monday and welcome to another mojo Monday sketch from Julee! Here is the sketch and my sample this week:





I stamped my scripture and sponged it while in the square nestie using it as a stencil. I sewed my bg dp onto the black layer before adhering to the card base. I used my corner rounder punch to create the scalloped border. I used a copic marker to color the ring around the pearl which was gold but I did not think it would look right so I colored it.

I also played along with the sweet n sassy stamps weekly challenge which was to finish the inside of the card too. The inside was pretty simple, I just sewed my white layer onto my black matte and added a strip of my dp that I used on the front of the card to coordinate.

Supplies:
stamps- Sweet n Sassy stamps Pray with Ceasing set
CS- black, white, riding hood red, basic grey urban prairie dp, soft sky dp
accessories- pearls, brides pearl, C9 copic marker, martha stewart branch punch, corner rounder punch, square nesties, prima flower, pop dots


Be sure to visit the mojo Monday blog and the sweet n sassy stamps blog to check out the samples from the other DT members and for the details of the challenges.

Have a terrific day!!

Sunday, February 22, 2009

High Hopes Challenge 19

Hi and welcome to the high hopes weekly challenge which is sponging. The challenge is brought to us by the wonderfully talented Amy who is a genious with watercoloring. I love this challenge this week because I tend to use sponging quite a bit in my card making. I am happy that this week's challenge was fairly simple for me because next week's is a little trickier for me personally but I am looking forward to trying something new. Anyway, here is my card for you to see:



I used the sketch challenge on SCS for my layout. I colored my image with copics, cut it out and popped it up with foam dots. I sponged the rectangle that image sits on with blue ink while in the nestabilities. I added a tiny pearl to all the scallops.

Supplies:
stamps- high hopes baby dragon
CS- celery, bordering blue, white, cloud 9 dp
accesssories- circle and rect nesties, grosgrain ribbon, pearls, corner rounder punch, foam dots, copics (G21, G94, B21, B45)


Be sure to stop by the high hopes blog to see the rest of the awesome challenge cards by the divas and to check out the prize being offered this week to a random participant in the challenge.

Some pretty cool things going on this week:
Monday- mojo Monday sketch
Wed- Fri- sweet n sassy stamps blog hop
Wed- paper temptress intro party on PCP
Fri-sweet n sassy stamps release party

Hope you will visit here this week! Have a blessed day everyone.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Thanks a latte

Hello! What a beautiful sunny day here in Buffalo. It has been a while since I posted I see. I have not been doing much stamping this week as my girls are off of school this week for winter break. So, I have been spending time with them, trying to get my house in order, cook and freeze meals, and spend more time on my own personal devotions and with the girls. Therefore, I have not had much time left for playing :(. I also have been struggling to make some cards I really like lately as well. I guess my mojo is on break too LOL.

So, I have a CAS (clean and simple) card for you today. I am enjoying making these occasionally because I am able to get a good looking card done in under an hour rather than the typical 3 hours for me LOL. Besides, with my mojo on vacation the simpler the better since there is less for me to mess up LOL. Take a peek:



Pretty straight forward here. I stamped the mug with chocolate ink on my dp and cut it out. I then stamped the foam and used liquid applique to give it dimension. I played along with the inspiration on SCS today and took my inspiration from this pillow which reminded me of one of my favorite dps from basic grey.

detail shot for you:


Supplies:
stamps- sweet n sassy stamps warm up set
CS- PTI white, basic grey offbeat dp, baja breeze
accessories- circle nestabilites, corner rounder punch, pearls, liquid applique, satin ribbon


Tomorrow I will have a card to share with you for the high hopes weekly challenge. Have a wonderful day!

Monday, February 16, 2009

Mojo Monday Week 74

Hi there everyone, welcome to another mojo Monday and terrific sketch from Julee. Here is my sample and the sketch for you.





Well, I have to start out by telling you that this card seriously took me forever!!! This was one of my five longest cards to make I think. I had a mishap and my copic marker started oozing and ink was everywhere so I had to start over. Then I thought I would try to do something a little new and do the paper tole technique with more layers than I normally would. The cutting out was a little long and tedious and too time consuming for this super slow cardmaker. Anyway, after all the time I took making it, I can't say that I am thrilled with it as the idea I had in my head did not come out on the paper the way I envisioned it. Did you ever have that happen and if so isn't it aggravating LOL? Enough chatter, on with the details. I stamped the bird and balloons 4 times and colored them with copics and then cut them out and layered the pieces with pop dots. I used angel wings shimmerz on the balloons, hat, and wing of the bird. I also used coal shimmerz to paint the brads and the black mattes. I have to admit that took a while to paint all the edges. I added tiny rhinestones to accent the tail and feet.





Supplies:
stamps- Verve birthday surprise
CS- silver swirls lustre, soft sky dp, white, black
accessories- coal and angel wings shimmerz, rhinestones, copics (BG10, BG72, BG75 (this is the one that exploded)), double sided satin ribbon, paper piercer, black brads, circle punch, pop dots


Don't forget to stop by the mojo Monday blog and check out the terrific samples from the mojo makers.

Hope you all have a wonderful day! I need to cook and clean now since the pastor and his wife are coming over my house for dinner tonight and hopefully I can get all the ink off of my fingers LOL. I made sauce and meatballs last week so we are having lasagna- yum!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

High Hopes Challenge and Sweet N Sassy Round Up

Today is the start of the new weekly high hopes challenge and the sweet n sassy stamps monthly round up. What a wonderful day filled with inspiring projects for you all to see.

I so excited to tell you that today high hopes had their quarterly release of new stamps today as well. There are about 75 new fabulously adorable designs added to the website today- woo hoo! I think that the mail lady is holding my new stamps hostage for herself as mine still have not arrived, bummer. So, I don't have a peek at the new images for you BUT I never got a chance to ink up my three pane Easter stamp from the last release so that is what I used on my challenge card today. This week's challenge is to make an Easter/Spring card and is brought to us by the super talented Nikki. Here is my card for you:



I stamped each of my panes separately just to be a little different and to show the versatility of the stamp (it is really a horizontal stamp with the 3 animals in a row). I colored them with copics and punched them with my square punch. Ok- so I am sure that most of you out there will not notice or think anything of it but I have to confess that I grabbed the wrong marker last night when coloring my images. The blue is a shade off and I meant to use my BG10 marker which has more green in it but instead used the B00 marker. Now, it is not too bad but for those of you that know me at all realize how hard it was for me to finish off my card when I discovered it was not exactly what I wanted. If it was not 12:30AM when I finished my card, I would have colored them again LOL. Anyway, I distressed all the edges and sewed my dp layer. I tied some lace (hem tape) into a bow. This is the lace that my good friend Sue bought for me when I could not get out of the house with my sprained ankle that I did not end up using a couple weeks ago. See Sue I did tell you I would use it LOL! I added some stickles to their noses.



Supplies:
stamps- high hopes 3 pane Easter, TAC sentiment (my high hopes one did not come yet)
CS- PTI white, basic grey urban prairie (thanks Chris!!!)
accessories- stickles, lace, shimmer brads, square punch, copics (C1, C3, B00, BG72, RV10, RV11, prisma- deco yellow, yellow ochre, orange
)

Next is my round up card:



I wanted to make a simple, elegant card because truthfully I kinda think sympathy cards should not be over the top with layers and embellishments. I also wanted to show that you don't always have to color in you line images so I embossed the lily in white and the sentiment too. I used my corner scallop punch on the corners to accent the card. This Easter lily set is going to be released on Feb. 27 from Sweet N Sassy stamps.

Supplies:
stamps- Sweet N Sassy stamps Easter lily and Elegant Blessings sets
CS- PTI white, ocean tides
accessories- white ep, marvy scallop corner punch, white satin ribbon


Some links for you to visit today:

Sweet N Sassy stamps blog- check out the other DT members sneak peeks of the sets being released 2/27

High Hopes blog- check out the challenge details and prize offered as well as the other divas' awesome cards and sneak peeks

High Hopes website- check out the newly released stamps added to the catalog today

Happy blog hopping and have a great Lord's day! Stop by tomorrow for mojo Monday!!

Friday, February 13, 2009

Sweet N Sassy snowflakes

TGIF! It has been a pretty busy week here and I have not had much crafting time unfortunately. What little time I have had has been spent on design work that I can't show you just yet LOL. I do have a couple fairly simple cards to share with you today that are for the limited supplies challenge today on Splitcoast. You were to stretch yourself for the challenge so I did simple with not too many layers and used ribbon in a new way on one of them. I used the sweet n sassy stamps snowflakes set on both of them which was designed by Chris Dickinson and was also a gift to me from her :). Take a look:



I stamped the bottom section of snowflakes with 3 different colors and rounded the corners. I added a solid top section of CS and sewed onto my brown matte before adhering to the card base. I stamped the center snowflake then stamped the sentiment on top of it followed by sponging the edges and sewing it onto the matte. I wrapped my ribbon around the card and cinched it with a button tightened with twine.

Supplies:
stamps- sweet n sassy snowflakes
CS- ocean tides, ripe avocado, dk choc, white ; papertrey ink
accessories- stitched grosgrain, twine, button, sewing machine, corner rounder punch




This card is quite simple and elegant. I stamped the snowflake in navy, scored a frame around it, double matted it and accented it with silver pearls. I embossed the sentiment in the lower right corner and finished the card off with some silver ribbon.

Supplies:
stamps- sweet n sassy snowflakes set
CS- white, metallic silver and blue; papertrey ink
accessories- scor-pal, silver pearls, silver ep, silver ribbon


This Sunday Feb. 15 is the quarterly high hopes stamps release. There are seriously some awesome new stamps coming out. Be sure to hop over to the divas' blogs (listed on on my sidebar to the right) to see who has some sneak peeks for you. I myself am awaiting to receive my stamps and I can hardly stand it LOL! I was able to get a couple of images to print off the computer from one of the divas so I hope to have time to make something with them today or tomorrow.

Well, I hope you have a nice weekend and Valentine's day tomorrow. Hopefully you will be able to do something special or get some crafting time.

Blessings,

Monday, February 9, 2009

Blog Candy winner

Thank you to everyone who participated in my blog candy drawing! I have the winner which was drawn by random.org.

Here is your random number:

6
Timestamp: 2009-02-10 00:12:59 UTC

The winner is TRACEY


Tracey said...
I'm back again to let you know that I linked you up on my blog sidebar.

Thanks for the chance at the candy!!

FEBRUARY 4, 2009 1:45 PM

Congratulations Tracey- please email with your contact info so I can mail out your prize.

Mojo Monday Week 73

Just another manic Monday and another awesome mojo Monday sketch for you from Julee. Here is the sketch and my sample for you:





I stamped my image and colored the heart with my R46 copic marker and then painted it with royal red shimmerz paint. I punched the corners with my scallop corner punch, matted it and then accented the corners and some of the swirls with tiny clear rhinestones. I stamped my bg with the border stamp from artful elegance by Verve with black ink and the bottom portion is accented with 3 red rhinestones given to me by my friend Michelle in Oregon- thanks girl!! I ran my red satin ribbon through the silver ribbon slide and trimmed the edges. I finished my stamping by sentiment with red ink and then matting it.

Supplies:
stamps- Verve stamps Hearts on Fire and Artful Elegance
CS- red, white, black
accessories- royal red shimmerz, rhinestones, Marvy corner scallop punch, red satin ribbon PTI, silver ribbon slide SU, R46 copic marker


Don't forget to stop by the mojo Monday blog to see the rest of the details for this week's challenge and to see the rest of the wonderful samples by the mojo makers.

Have a blessed day!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

High Hopes Challenge 17- Sketch time!

Good morning! A new weekly challenge is now up on the high hopes blog. This week the challenge is hosted by Katharina and she has an awesome sketch for us! She always comes up with terrific sketches and this one is no exception. Here is the sketch and my sample for you:





My image was stamped and colored with copic markers. I added glitter to the wings and rhinestones to the crown and wand. I colored the rhinestones on the crown and the flowers with a copic marker- my new little trick LOL. I forgot to highlight her cheeks with a white gel pen like I usually do- oh well. I had also wanted to sew on my card but it was late when I was making it so I decided to skip that this time.



Supplies:
stamps-high hopes fairy princess and sentiment
CS- PTI berry sorbet, sweet blush and white
accessories- sorbet satin ribbon, rhinestones, glitter, bridal flowers, copics (R20, R22, R24, E50, E00, E21, E33, E35, E37, BG10
)

A random name will be chosen from among the participants of this week's sketch challenge to win an image stamp and sentiment from high hopes. You can find out all the details for the challenge, see the prize, and check out the other divas' amazing samples on the BLOG. There is also going to be an exciting announcement made tomorrow if you are interested in becoming a guest designer for high hopes so stay tuned.

This card is also for my fellow diva Kim Reid's birthday challenge. It was her birthday this week too and she is celebrating with a week of challenges with PRIZES so be sure to check out her blog too.

Speaking of prizes you have until tomorrow morning to enter for my birthday blog candy drawing on the post directly below today's so be sure to check it out if you have not already.

I want to take a minute to share my excitement with you all today. My very first publication is on sale now so it is official- I am in print, woo hoo!! To add to the excitement, my good friend Michelle (sf9erfan) is also in the magazine and it was her first publication too. It is really cool to be able to share that together. We are in the March/April 2009 issue of Papercrafts magazine so I hope you will check it out if you have a chance. My card is on pg. 44 and Michelle's is on pg. 40. Below is the magazine cover and my card that is in it.





I hope you will stop by tomorrow for the mojo Monday sketch and to see if you have won my blog candy. I am very happy as my sample is already done for tomorrow so I don't have to scramble today trying to get it done LOL. I guess it is a good thing as we are having Lindsey's birthday party today- should be fun!

Have a great day and thanks for visiting,

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

What is a birthday without cupcakes and presents? Birthday blog candy

Hi everyone! Today is my middle daughter's 6th birthday so I thought we would celebrate! First, I will show you the card I made for her then I will show the blog candy.



I first stamped my swing and then colored it with copic markers. Once colored I then created the sky behind the swing by using my homemade cloud template (a scalloped oval punched out of acetate) and sponging with sky ink. Next my princess was stamped, colored with copics, cut out and accented with stickles. The princess was then adhered to the swing with pop dots. I colored the rhinestones inside my flowers with my V15 copic marker to make them purple. Never tried it before but boy do I like it! You can make a rhinestone the perfect color to match your project- woo hoo. Now I don't have to buy bling in EVERY color LOL. The matte around the princess and the sentiment as well as the hearts were painted with lilac shimmerz. My layout today was the sketch challenge on SCS that I flipped vertically.



Supplies:
stamps- high hopes princess, swing, sentiment
CS- PTI shimmer white, plum pudding, dp
accessories- lilac shimmerz, rhinestones, pop dots, stickles, bridal confetti flowers, satin ribbon, copics (V12, V15, V17, E00, E50, R20, Y21, Y23, E30, E31, E33, E35, E37, E25, E27)


Here is the blog candy:



In honor of Lindsey's 6th birthday you will have a chance to win 6 items:

1. MFT cupcake kind of day stamp set (NEW but not packaging)
2. 6 colors of grosgrain ribbon (approx 3 yds each)
3. cupcake rub-ons
4. some images
5. bling
6. butterfly embellishments

You will have 6 days to enter so I will close the blog candy on 2/9/09 at 10:55 AM which is the time she was born LOL. To enter for the blog candy drawing- you need to become a follower of my blog and post a comment that you did so on this blog post. If you are a follower already- just simply leave a comment on this post. Want a second chance to enter? If you post a link to my blog candy on your blog, you get a second entry and post a second comment saying that you did so.

ETA: I just had to share this. I gave my daughter her card and she loved it. What is sweeter though is that she has show and tell at school tomorrow and she wants to bring her princess card for her show and tell item. Is that not the sweetest thing? It just warmed my heart.

Thanks for stopping by today and good luck on winning the blog candy!

Birthday blessings,

Monday, February 2, 2009

Double sketch day with prizes

Happy Monday! Today I have 2 card samples for you using two different sketches and there is a prize associated with each. First up is the weekly mojo Monday sketch brought to you by Julee Tilman, owner of Verve stamps. Once a month there is a prize awarded to 2 people whose creations Julee finds to be the mojoest. This is a judged contest and you can find out all the details and see the other mojo makers samples on the mojo Monday blog. But first take a peek at the sketch and my sample:





As soon as I saw this newly released scripture stamp from Verve stamps I knew I had to have it. This is my favorite verse and one which I held onto when I was going through a difficult time 9 years ago. Anyway, I first stamped the cross image and then stamped the scripture on top of it with navy ink then sponged the edges with the saffron that the cross was stamped with and also edged it with gold glimmer blingz shimmerz. I used my favorite cryogen white paper available at Paper Temptress. I just love the subtle shimmer is has and it is even thick enough to use as a card base as well. I sponged the prima with navy and then used gold glimmer blinz to accent the flower and the button and pixie dust blingz on the leaves. I used a spica glitter pen to accent the dots on my dp and added tiny gold pearls to the scallops.

Supplies:
stamps- Verve stamps Jer 29:11
CS- navy, saffron, cryogen white, basic grey granola dp
accessories- gold pearls, corner rounder punch, gold glimmer blingz, pixie dust blingz, MS branch punch, gold edge organdy ribbon, saffron button, gold cold


The second sketch is from Card Positioning Systems and Sweet N Sassy stamps is one of the sponsers this week. A random participant of this week's challenge will be drawn to win the floral fourishes stamp set from SNSS. In order to be in the drawing you need to post a comment with a link to your project on the CPS blog post. Check out the sketch and my sample.





I have recently shown you some cards using one of my favorite sets from Sweet N Sassy stamps called Love Blooms. Those cards have been Valentines and lovey type cards but I wanted to show you that this set is much more versatile and can be used all year long not just for Valentines. I decided to use one of the sentiments that come in the set to create a birthday card. One of my favorite colors of roses is coral so that is what I did here coloring the image with copics. I added some crystal effects to the vase to make it look like glass and used my spica glitter pen on the roses. I also used an oval nestie die as a stencil to sponge some blush ink around my vase to create a vignette. Some tiny rhinestones were added to the points of the top note die.



Supplies:
stamps- Sweet N Sassy stamps Love Blooms
CS- sweet blush, sorbet, white from PTI
accessories- rhinestones, copics (R20, R22, R24, YG 63, YG66, C1, C3), crystal effects, sorbet satin ribbon, oval nesties, SU top note die, spica glitter pen, swiss dots cuttlebug folder


Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you will decide to play along with the challenges this week. I would love to see what you come up with! Have a wonderful, blessed day.

Janette

Sunday, February 1, 2009

High Hopes Challenge 16- Lace!

Good day everyone! This week's high hopes challenge is to use lace on your card and is brought to us by the super duper talented Ila. Well, believe it or not I have never used lace on a card so this was a great push too.



I colored my Bethany angel with prismapencils and blended them with gamsol. I used stickles on her wings and shimmerz on the hearts on her purse, pants and the prima flowers. The angel was cut out and attached to the oval which is sponged with pop dots. I actually started this card a couple weeks ago for the SCS challenge to dress up your dp and did not have time to finish it. On the dp strip, I embossed the heart flowers and on the bg dp I added stickles to the center of the flowers. This is my current favorite patterned paper right now and it is called Sugared from Basic Grey. This and lots of other awesome paper is available at Sweet N Sassy stamps. Now, where can you get the lace that I used on my side strip?? LOL- I actually cut the trim from one of my oldest dd's slips that was too small. I did not have any lace in my stash and could not get around to go buy some with my injured ankle so I improvised. Now, my friend Sue did go and get some lace trim for me which I did not use yet because this one looked better. She is such a sweetie and I promise that the lace she got for me will appear on a future card. Thanks Sue, you're an angel!!! Maybe she will have to get this card then huh?



Supplies:
stamps- high hopes Bethany angel and sentiment
CS- so saffron, white, basic grey sugared dp
accessories- prismapencils, gamsol, liquid pearls, oval nesties, angel wings shimmerz, lace, iridescent ice ep, stickles, primas, pearl


Be sure to check out the high hopes blog post today to see the specifics for this week's challenge and the stamp prize up for grabs too. There is lots of inspiration from the divas to check out as well! Since today is Febraury 1st that means that there is a new project of the month from high hopes too. There are 4 stamps from the new Feb. release that are offered as a set at 25% off. You can check them out HERE. As soon as my stamps arrive, I will have some samples of my own to show you.

I also would like to let you know that Sweet N Sassy stamps is one of the sponsors this week on the CPS blog for their one year anniversary celebration. You can see the details of the that contest on the CPS blog today. Be sure to also stop back here on my blog tomorrow because I will have 2 cards to show you. One of them is for a new mojo Monday sketch and this week's sketch is a contest sketch and the other card will be my Sweet N Sassy sample for the CPS sketch. Wow- what a great week of challenges and prizes in store for you all!! Three chances to win new stamps- how cool is that huh?

Hope to see you tomorrow- have a great day and I am so glad you visited!