Caring Hearts Blog Hop

Today I am playing along with a fabulous online event.....So you may have come to me from Malika Kelly  ..... 

This is a fantastic event that gives cards to nursing homes.....you can find all the details HERE.....

You can hop your way through all kinds of inspiration and find the complete list of designers HERE....

We were all asked to create a holiday themed card.....here is mine :)))

I used Bella Blvd. 'Christmas Wishes' to create this fun card.  I made it a little bigger than a standard A2 (4 1/4 x 5 1/2") and decided to go with A6 (4 3/4 x 6 1/4")......

• To get the accordion fold I cut my pp to 3 x 4" H, sanded the edges and scored it at every 1/4"
• Then I folded it back and forth and let it open on it's own
• I ran a few lines of quick dry liquid glue along the folds on the back and gently pressed it down to adhere to the base of my card

.....and then I added some designer tape ribbon folded along the bottom for a bit more dimension !!!

These companies have generously donated prizes for you to WIN.......Bella Blvd, Hero Arts. Lawn Fawn, Avocado Arts, May Arts and Two Peas In A Bucket ...... and Jennifer McGuire is offering 2 online classes too !!

Winners will be chosen randomly from comments left on each designers blog.....so, the more blogs you left comment on the better your chances to WIN :)))

You have the whole weekend to leave comments 

(Closes Monday, 11/5/2012 midnight CST)

NOW.......

.....you will want to head over to visit  Laurie Schmidlin

TFL ..... Talk soon.

j. xo

Traveling today.....

Happy November everyone !!!

Today I am on the road.....okay on the planes actually :))

I am heading out to teach HERE for the weekend with a whole group of lovely ladies and this MAN.....

I thought i'd share a quick little birthday card that Alex (my 7 yr. old son) made with me for his friends birthday a few days ago !!

We used Bella Blvd. 'Mr. Boy' and cut some dinosaurs (ok I cut out the dinosaurs :))....

.....added some designer tape, a birthday sentiment and it was good to go !!!

I've got lots more to share with you over the coming weeks so come on back for more inspiration......

TFL ..... Talk soon.

j. xo

'Kiss ME' again.......

Even though I am in the middle of Halloween craziness here I thought I would share another 'Kiss Me' layout with you.....

This is the newest collection by Bella Blvd. and it starts shipping to LSS November 1st.......

The colors are fantastic - i love the navy and pink with a bit of brown and grey.....

.....and it was a sweet little break for me to dig out some old (very old ..... like 14 yrs old) wedding pics of Scott & I ...... that's a whole lotta dress ;)))

I've been crafting like crazy these past few weeks and have LOTS of craft projects that you'll see soon so keep checking back......

TFL ..... Talk soon.

j. xo

Featured on Bella Blvd.

I've got a couple of projects featured over on the Bella Blog today !!  Head over to see what else they've got goin' on .......

Fall Altered Wooden Owl

I found this cute little wooden owl in a clearance bin shortly after Thanksgiving and as cute as I thought he was, I knew I could make him cuter :)

I took the bottom banner off and got out my tracing paper. I traced every piece on him (yes this one took some time) and then chose my patterns. Once I had all the pieces cut and the edges sanded, I started putting him back together with some of my faves from the Thankful collection.

I loved the chip icons and alpha stickers for my title and thought the chip house fit in perfectly.

I added some wooden buttons for his eyes and folded some designer tape to create some funky eyebrows too. I am so happy that I brought hime home and really made him mine.

Supplies:
Thankful: Turkey Tracks, Homey, Burlap, Our Spot, Alpha + Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers, Chipboard Icons; Designer Tape: Pony Dot; Wood Buttons: Checkers

Halloween Altered Tray

My kids absolutely LOVE Halloween. It is only 2nd to Christmas in our house. Okay, maybe their birthday's too. Nonetheless, they LOVE Halloween. It is always a big production and the costumes choosingis HUGE, especially for Alexander.

He was adamant that he got to be something scary this year (2010). I had a hard time with it as he was only 5 but Dracula was my compromise and he LOVED it. Emma wanted to be a rider – thanks goodness we had most of her costume so I got a toddler pony costume, did a little cutting and stitching and she was good to go.

Documenting this particular Halloween in a special way was important to me as it was the only year that Emma & Alex would be in the same school together. This tray was the perfect way to capture these memories for me as I can have it out in my office all year and then add it to our Halloween décor each October too.

The stickers and cute cuts worked beautifully to embellish (I love the bats in the corner) and I even got some designer tape in there as the spiders web.

Supplies:
Too Cute To Spook: Itsy Bitsy Spider, Quadrants, Cute Cuts, Jacks-A-Glow, Spooky Night, Cob Webs, The Boo Crew, Alpha + Bits Stickers, Just Write Journaling Stickers; Flags: Summer; Designer Tape: Jail Bird

TFL ..... Talk soon.

j. xo

Bella Blvd. & Becky's Sketch

Check out the Bella Blvd. Blog for .....

Becky Fleck has designed another fabulous sketch for the team to use for inspiration and I decided to play along........

I am buried in Halloween at our house right now.....costumes and cupcakes and craft projects too !!

So I thought it was the perfect time to try and 'catch up' with some of my older Halloween pics before I take a whole bunch more in a few days :)))

I loved this sketch and found it very easy to create this layout..... 

I am off to work on a Holiday Layout Workshop now.....Check back soon for more inspiration :))

TFL ..... Talk soon.

j. xo

a baby gift.....

Today I thought I'd share a gift bag and card that I made for a friends new baby girl.....

I used 'Baby Girl' by Bella Blvd. to cover a white paper lunch bag.....

..... i added patterned paper to the front AND back.  I made the back piece a little longer than the bag so that it could fold over the front when it was closed.....

....a few die cut shapes and a ribbon to close - perfect !!

For the card base I used pieces from the David Tutera Celebrate collection with lots of paper and stickers from Bella to embellish......

TFL ..... Talk soon.

j. xo