More Pretty Chocolate Razzleberries.....

I must not be eating enough chocolate lately!!!!! And well, "raspberries" are my most favorite fruit....so I've got more cards with Tuesday's Colour Challenge.

On my first card I've used my first images from Sugar Creek Hollow. I just love the scroll work around the heart. My camera decided not to feature the words - their clear in person. I added a range of big and tiny bling and the outside of the heart just called for Dazzling Diamonds on this card. I used Rich Razzleberry and Pretty in Pink around the edges of the scallop. I was going to add a bow, but decided that the simplicity of the bling was enough.

When you get a chance you should pop over to the Sugar Creek Hollow and sign up as a follower so that you don't miss out on the Grand Opening and an opportunity to win a $50 gift certificate at the store. Wooo Hooo!!!!

The image on the second card comes from Delightful Inspiration - It's the second week of a
challenge where you get a free digital image each week by creating a card with the image from the site. I love almost anything served hot in a cup....coffee, tea, chocolate. I went a bit overboard with this card though. I paper pieced the cup, part of the saucer, and the little hearts on the saucer. Then I rolled up some chocolate chip paper, made a little slit in the image and stuck in the two "cinnamon sticks". Next, since I recently found some old liquid applique - I just HAD to make the whip cream look good enough to stick your finger in!!!!!

So, with all that done - I'm heading to bed. It was a long afternoon taking 300 kids to watch the Olympic torch pass through our city. They were excited though and showed good Olympic spirit. Also...I'm still on my roll of getting up early in the morning to do my Wii fit, stamping and posting each day - on top of working. I can TRULY say that my prayers are being answered....I pray that your days, too, are blessed with creativity, patience, endurance, and peace.

Thanks for stopping by,

New Adventures and Chocolate.....

Well, let me tell ya......yesterday afternoon was pretty busy.

First, I got the news that I've been invited to join the design team for Sugar Creek Hollow - a brand new digital stamp company which will be opening it's "doors" on March 1st. Click on the badge at the right for the link. I'm really excited about this because it's a whole new avenue to go down. I'm also excited about being part of a team of women of faith!

Next on the agenda was to make a card from various challenges. I don't think this was exactly what I was expecting with this card. I had some of these bunnies stamped in Chocolate Chip and decided since it was one of today's colours for the Challenge, I would use one of them. ( The other colours are Rich Razzleberry and Pretty in Pink). Well, he changed from being a flat chocolate "chip" bunny to becoming a "crafty" glazed chocolate bunny. Once he was embossed I wondered what these hearts would look like - and vwala (how do you spell that???)

I used the sketch from over at Paper Works Co. - (PWCOSS#15). I liked using the ovals and Circles. Anyway - it became a wee bit "fancier" than I expected but I like it. I noticed that the gel pen spots I added around the oval soaked into the cardstock because of the fibers being roughened up by the sponge dauber. It's all okay - melted chocolate is just a good.

The weather has been wonderful here too - melting snow - not chocolate. Hope your day is filled with warmth and excitement! Our school gets to see the Olympic Flame today as it passes through town - talk about exciting!!!!

Thanks for stopping by

Coming Up Hearts......

Here are two more projects from the Extravaganza I was at this past weekend. I finally got to do a shutter card. I saw this as a SCS challenge quite a few months ago; folded the cardstock, but never got to finish the card. It looks so intricate, but it really is rather simple. And, I am TOTALLY sold on the bird punch now. I've seen people working with it, but now that I got to play with the punch.....it's super.

The main project we worked on in the afternoon was creating 30 different 3x3 Valentine notes from the "Love Sparkles" Simply Scrappin' Kit.
Tamye and Lori got the idea from CraftyPerson
Production. All the directions were easy to follow. I've gone to Debbie's website and she has a lot to offer so check it out.

Funny how we so easily move from Christmas to snowflake to heart motifs in our creations......WooHoo!!!!!

I hope you are having a wonderful day! Thanks for stoppin' on by!!

Duel Inspiration

I really enjoyed the work from Saturday's Inspiration Challenge website - Groovy Inclination. This tree caught my eye and I thought I could do something similar with the "Thoughts and Prayers" tree. I stamped the tree in Certainly Celery and then went through and re-coloured all of the leaves black. I then spritzed the background with black, added some gray chalk and drew on some lines. I didn't like how dull it ended up looking, so I took the chalk eraser and took the chalk off of the tree itself and away from the edges. I was inspired by Tamara Bertram, Saturday at the Extravaganza I was at, by how she added ribbon to some of her cards. She uses the Double Rectangle punch and then feeds the ribbon through. I decided to add a button to the centre. Quick and Neat!!!















The second piece of art at Groovy Inclination that caught my eye was a number of cool looking birds...like this little dude. I like all the circles on his body. So.....I decided to try making my giraffe look like an actual giraffe this time (see previous posts about the Ogopogo) and looked for DSP with circles on it too. I created the Dustry Durango piece by using the Circle Circus set. This sketch is from Prairie Fairy Fridays Challenge blog. I like all the circles on the sketch and it fit right in with the inspiration.
It's the beginning of a new week - the Olympic Torch comes through the Fort this week and we're taking the entire school to the route. I hope that something exciting happens in your world this week too.
Thanks for stopping by -

Four from the Extravaganza

Wow, another fantastic day of stamping at an Extravaganza hosted by Tamye Dunbar and Lori
Waples. I'm so lucky to be part of that team. I'm loading 4 of the cards we made Saturday morning. I will get some more of them posted over the next couple of days.

I liked the website for Saturday's Inspiration Challenge, and have picked out the image that inspired me - I will work on it today and post it soon.

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend - weather here is very nice....but in Alberta it can
change at a moments notice.

Thanks for dropping by -

First Digital Project

Yesterday I used a digital image for the first time ever. I happened across Designed2Delight digital stamps and found a challenge using digital images and decided to try it out. I'm sorry that the writing is fuzzy in my picture. I'm excited about doing challenges on Delightful Inspiration's blog - the images I've seen so far are very appealing. So....that was challenge #1.

The second challenge I've included in this card is Thursday's "Ways to Use It" challenge which was to use something new.....in this case - the digital image. I may post another card using some of the stamps I've purchased from companies other than SU.

Next, the "Limited Supply Challenge" using only pinks, reds, black and white and some sort of polka dots within the creation. The Razzleberry Lemonade DSP has a very subtle dotted sheet which I used for the two side strips.

Finally, the sketch is from Stamp Something - or rather - Sketch Something for this week.

I'm excited about today because I'm going to a Stampin' Extraveganza with my Upline. Tamye and Lori put on such wonderful events. We'll be stampin' a whole whack of projects that I'll be sharing with you later. I hope you also have a wonderful day. Thanks for dropping by.

Gearing up for a Birthday Card Camp

Here are two of the cards I've created for my Birthday card camp at the end of this month. I really love the "Nature's Nest" set and look forward to using it more and colouring the images. They are just so wonderfully drawn.

I also like the "Animal Stories". Although when I showed this card to my husband he wondered about the "snake" on it. I told him it was a giraffe....but agreed that it did at least look like Ogopogo - who lives in Okanagan Lake in British Columbia - where he comes from! I must use the full image on my next card!

Tomorrow is Friday - Yipee!! Hope your week went well; Thanks for stopping by.

Trio for You

Well, today was a day for triples! I created this card using three challenges...

First, I used the Sketch Challenge from Splitcoast, shown at the top.

Second, I used this week's colours from over at "Colour Throwdown" - Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip and Dusty Durango.

The third challenge is from "Stamp Something" which honored the "new" year by using something new for our card. I received a cuttlebug embossing folder from a Divine Secret Sister a while ago and hadn't used it yet - so....this was a great opportunity.

The week is almost over and I'm gearing up for a Stampin' Extravaganza on Saturday from my Team in Edmonton. I can't wait - 48 different projects - WOW.
Hope you're having a wonderful day! Thanks for stopping by -

Bermuda Celery Hunter

I finally got around to opening up my package of Pendant Notes - Took a little while for me to figure out what I wanted to do, but I'm please with the result and think I'll use it as one of my cards for next month's technique workshop. I used sticky strip along the top to adhere the microbeads (haven't used them in ages) and although you can't see it in the photo, I used Crystal Effects on the flower to add microbeads to the centre.

This week's colour challenge on Splitcoast is behind the name of today's post. It sounded cute.....hunting for celery. Anyway - I like these
colours together - Bermuda Bay, Certainly Celery and Handsome Hunter. The "dessert" of the challenge was to add a bit of pink to the card without using cardstock. I did include the cardstock, but added the pink brad for the flower centre. This card also follows a sketch challenge from a couple of weeks ago.

School has only been in session for two days, but I have still managed to create and post cards, do my Wii-fit routine (and play with the darling daughter), and enjoy my school classes. Bring it on 2010 - we're on a roll.

Hope you too are having a great week -

Patchwork and Simplicity

Wow, I was able to hit two challenges yesterday after school....

The first was the technique challenge which was to use the Patchwork Paper technique. I had spotted it on someone's work a little while ago and wanted to give it a try. I'm glad I was able to wait and find out yesterday morning that it was a challenge!!!! I think I'm going to use this for my February technique workshop. I used the Rich Razzleberry Paper - which I'm going to have to corder more of because I've used it so much!

The second card is for the Clean and Simple Challenge which was to create a Valentines Card. This gave me the opportunity to use my new "I {Heart} Hearts" stamp from the New Mini - which goes into effect TODAY!!!! Woo Hoo!!!

I had fun creating this card because I haven't done the masking technique in a long time. Also I combined a whole whack of glitter colours together for the border. I stamped the "friends" heart on white paper and then punched it out with the heart punch. This created a nice white border around the edge which I covered with Tombow Glue and then added my mixture of Rose Pink Cosmo glitter, Silver Galaxy Glitter, Pink Supernova glitter AND Dazzling Diamonds. I was "introduced" to mixing glitter colours at the last SU Regional that was held in Edmonton. Something soooooo simple - but rarely considered. It's good to be reminded about things from time to time.

I hope you're having a wonderful day - It was great to see all the kids at school yesterday. A few looked very tired, but for the most part I think everyone was ready to get back into the swing of things.
Thanks for stopping by! -

Natural Birthday

Good Monday Morning -
I am planning on having a Birthday Card Camp at the end of the month and this is one of the projects. I love how the images from "Nature's Nest" turn out. The etching is so wonderful. I am not the best colourer - but I look forward to working with these images more.
The base of the card is Mellow Moss with a layer of So Saffron which has been distressed along the edges - although it doesn't show up much in the photo. I had thought of using the new Satin Ribbon (from the new All Occasions Catalogue), but decided that a strip of black paper would work better for the card camp. The ribbon is wonderful though - so I'll be using it soon. I sponged Ballet Blue ink around the edges of the Top Note and decided the Curly Label Punch matches pretty well.

Well, this will be posted as I'm getting ready for school. I'm looking forward to music classes that don't centre around a Christmas concert! The kids were fantastic though - I'm always in awe of what they can do. I hope you are having a wonderful day.

Thanks for dropping by

From Snow to Spring

Today's Featured Stamper of SCS was Ann from ardodd - what a wonderful gallery she has - check it out! I selected the pumpkin card to case because the beautiful black "lace" caught my eye. I decided to use my Lattice die again - which made me think of a garden trellis and got me using "Garden from the Heart" for the first time. It's one of the great new sets in the upcoming Occasions Mini Catalogue.
I'm also using this card for the Clean and Simple challenge over at Our Creative Corner.

Although I would love to be in my garden - we have only started the year - and that means
January snow.....which is also good. I cased this layout from someone's blog and I am extremely sorry to say that I don't remember who it was. I just loved the "hill" of snow and the different sized letters. I'm hoping to use this layout for a scrapbook class later this month.

So, school starts again tomorrow and I'm hoping I'll be able to stay in my stamping room in the afternoons.....I'm feeling very optimistic! Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday -

Music by Design

I can hardly believe I'm awake - I was putzing around on the computer .....this morning.... and thought I check to see if, by chance, the Inspiration Challenge had been posted yet (it was 3:00am). Low and behold - it was and what a fun website - Design Spirit Studio. When I spotted the music clock I knew it was the one I'd use for the challenge and decided that I had to start right away. I created the card and then went to bed while the glitter dried. I decided to try the Van Gogh technique from last weeks Technique challenge - I think I need a bit more practice on that one. The colours are a lot more vibrant in person - but I had fun making it. Now I think I'll get a cup of coffee and do some of my puzzle before taking down the Christmas decorations.

Hope you are having a wonderful day - thanks for stopping by -

Happy New Year!
Today's Limited Supply Challenge was to use the words from today's greeting. Happy - make the card in 15 minutes. Use something New that you received over the holiday, and have the card pertain to a Yearly event.

I used the sketch challenge from a couple of weeks ago and the Kaleidoscope DSP that I'm falling in love with. My New item is the Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die - I love these little butterflies! I must say though, that the card took a wee bit longer than 15 minutes to make...but I'm still happy!

One of the reasons I love the Kaleidoscope paper is that it's so bold and bright. It fits perfectly with the day outside - Too bad it's too cold for butterflies - the sun is shining, the sky is blue and the snow is glistening - what a wonderful way to start the New Year.

Hope you're having a great day - JOAN

I incorporated yesterday's sketch challenge while creating these cards which go along with the Ways to Use it Challenge today.

The first card is for a very dear friend of mine who let me borrow her sewing machine in a pinch when mine decided to go on strike.

The second is truely for the challenges....the Ways to Use it Challenge was titled "It's About Time"...I decided that although I appreciate some of the technology that we have these days, I enjoy the artistry and personality of tools from days gone by.

I hope that you are all enjoying the last day of the year and that the New Year will bring you all you strive for.

Happy New Year - Joan

It's been a while, but I've decided I need/want to get back into doing some challenges. I found school overwhelming this fall, but now I think I should be able to find a groove that includes stamping, workshops and work.

I started with this week's colour challenge....Barely Banana, Basic Gray and Dusty Durango. I used a sliver of designer paper because I loved the swirl of gray that it had.

It's the last day of 2009 - hard to believe.... I hope you have a safe and Happy New Year!

Thanks for visiting - Joan

Gearing up to get busy in the New Year. Here are some projects that I'll be doing at a workshop on January 5th. I've revamped the apricot one so that it was a little more exciting that my original plan.....glitter does do wonders.



I love the new butterfly set for the Big Shot....I'm sorry that I was in a bit of hurry to put the cover in the plastic - some of the glitter smudged so the butterflies have fat little bodies.

And for the clean and simple....I love this medallion stamp!

I'm hoping everyone had a very Merry Christmas and that you are looking toward a wonderful New Year.

Thanks for dropping by - Joan
Note the address change to j-jcreations.blogspot.com

Clean & Simple Christmas

Here are two of a few cards I made this weekend using the "Christmas Jingle" Simply Scrappin' Kit. I don't have them all done yet..hopefully after school today.

I used the gold elastic cord to act as "hangers" on the bulb trio. For the REALLY clean and simple one I added a bit of Dazzling Diamonds in the centres of each of the little snowflakes. I'm finding this kit a bit harder to make cards with...but it will come.

Hope you're having a great day - we're getting into the fall weather here.
Thanks for stopping by - JOAN

Gift/Party Boxes

During the summer I worked on putting together some of the little gift boxes which were created by BJ Peters from Stampin'Up! There was a photo of these cute little boxes on the demonstrator website and I thought I'd give them a try. I changed the pumpkin a bit by adding the vine and leaves across the front. I'm also using a different box base than was used in the originals because it was the only one I had.

Everything is made with the Big Shot dies and SU punches. There are a few more designs which I'd like to make and some others I'll share later.

Hope all is well your way - thanks for dropping by.
JOAN