Easter Birds

A few weeks ago, a sweet reader asked me if Members of Design Teams ever go into a creative slump. My answer, YES! A month or so ago I set out to make an Easter card using a peach store-bought matchbook card base. I tried to make it "work" with a sketch. I just kept adding and adding and adding until I forced myself to stop.

Now that I look at it, it's not awful. What a difference a month makes. LOL.

justjohanna images and sentiment, DCWV patterned papers, Prima flowers, sparkles from the Dollar Spot and TAC ink.

3 Challenges in One Card

This is my tribute to British fashion. I used the Stamp Shack February sketch for my layout, the SCS TLC157 challenge to mix patterned papers (which I love to do anyways), and Allison from Stampin When I Can's challenge to use a girl image.

Papers: Paisley paper is from Bo-Bunny Presss, London paper is Creative Imaginations, yellow, white and black cardstock, black ribbon, image from CTMH.

Easter Tree

I turned the Valentine Tree into an Easter by adding cut outs of spring images. Images: justjohanna aloha pierre, pierre le bunny (front), pierre le bunny (right), nest with eggs, carrot, big bumble, Sunday hat, small bracket frame, and bernard left.

Speaking of birthdays . . . It's Mine!

I really was blessed with a full mailbox of beautiful cards from my friends from the Stamp Shack. Here are their creations:

The adorable fish card is from Chelsea C, , IL. The card on the right is from Donna C, GA. I love all the texture.


The first card is from Amy S, MI. I love the colors. The card on the right is from Sarah P, Western Australia. I love the butterfly sentiment.
I LOVE the colors of both of these cards. The one on the right is from Cathi C, IL. I love the sparkle around the sentiment. The card on the right is from Thanh V, British Columbia. I love the bg paper with the image.

The next two cards were hand drawn by my niece. She has a handy trick: when you want to draw flamingo legs, just make the number 4. She thought she was pretty clever to draw a bat and call me "Beather."


I love the shrinkydink hat from Pat G, British Columbia. On the right is a really pretty card from JP, England. It came in a fun home-made envelope.


This fun card from Nancy F.,MD. My niece says it is her favorite and the "funnest card ever." On the right is an adorable card from Cheri S., FL. I LOVE all the polka dots.







My friend Joanie M, MA must know I love Elzybells, the color combo pink and green, AND polka dots. Love it! The card on the right is a beautifully colored gatefold card from Jan E., CA.

The candle card is from Joanne D, TN. We've been swapping cards for a few years now. She is so sweet she even sent a little goodie. The card on the right is from my French Canadian friend, Pascale S. I think I'm going to have to borrow this layout sometime.

I love the bright colors and fun fold from this card from Mary C, AZ. The last card is from my friend Heather S, UT. I think she used resist emboss. I don't know but it looks cool.

Thank you ladies. You made my day. Tomorrow I'll post an Easter treat for y'all.

Lucky Tiki

So remember that week a couple of weeks ago when I was winning blog candy left and right? Well, I also won Barb's Bingo. My prize was a gift certificate to Jessica Lynn Originals. I ordered these fun Tiki stamps. They remind me of when I lived in Hawaii. Thanks Barb. This was my second order from Jessica Lynn and she is wonderful to work with. She has some really fun stamps for dog lovers.

ETA: Jessica Lynn added an extra monkey stamp. It is so cute, he is flying a kite. Thanks Jessica!

Singing Cupcakes

I did a lot of paperpiecing on this card but the cupcakes are super easy to cut out. Some are popdotted to add dimention. Patterned papers: Basic Grey. Stamps: justjohanna Cupcake Row, Single Note, Happy Birdie to You, Long Legged Sue Left, Long Legged Sue Right, and Tall Crown.

FYI, the cupcake row stamp is part of the February justjohanna Special Deal. The deal also includes the Frosting Only Cupcake (as seen on the cover of this month's PaperCrafts Magazine), Kim's Pants Bird, and the sentiment, Life's Short, Eat Cupcakes. All at a 25% discount for February only.

Sparkly Graduation Card

These owls sure are happy to graduate from whatever it is they are graduating from. I don't know any school colors that are pink but I thought it would make a cute card for a girl with lots of pink, a big bow and sparkle. All images are justjohanna colored with markers.

Nest of Easter Eggs Card

The very first time I saw this stamp I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. Using timber brown StaZon, I stamped justjohanna Nest with Eggs onto 3 different DCWV patterned papers. I left the left egg alone and cut out the green and red eggs and adhered them over the top and right eggs. Ribbon from the stash.

We have dog-loving winners. I drew two names: Debbie from Welcome to the Shoe Closet and Julie from The Last of Lost Luggage. A little something will be heading your way soon.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Last month Amy Westerman from Heartfelt Greetings posted the most adorable card that she made using a random draw of paper scraps from her stash. She does this every Saturday for what she calls, Scrap Stash Saturday. I loved her card so much that I bought a used SU Mon Ami stamp set with the intent on creating my own version of her card. I'm not usually a card "CASEer" but I had fun putting my own spin on Amy's card.

It's Strawberry Season

It's true. The roadside stands that sell strawberries in town are open for business. Love it.

This is a simple card that I made using DCWV papers and justjohanna stamps. I love these papers because they are thick and sparkly. Here's the trick for paper piecing the strawberries: 1. stamp the strawberry pair on green patterned paper 2. stamp again onto red pp 3. cut out the entire strawberry outline on the green paper 4. cut out only the red berries and adhere them onto the green cut outs.

I cut out the strawberries separately so I could pop up the top strawberry. I used the justjohanna Happy Birthday sentiment but the images are pretty neutral for other occasions.

Dog Lover Post

I had a couple of fun dates this weekend with my dogs. First, I took Paris to Petco for a Valentine's party. We "frosted" a dog cookie with peanut butter and sprinkles and got our picture taken.

Then, I took Moses to the Moe Toys for the dog toy warehouse sale. We had fun except Moses got car sick on the way home.

Okay fellow dog lovers, please post a comment below with a favorite dog memory. I'll do a random draw on Friday and will send two posters a homemade goodie (no, it's not edible).

Notes About Posting In Online Galleries

Online galleries are a great place to find creative inspiration. It's also a great place to share your talent and make friends. I've been posting my projects in online galleries for years and I love leaving praise on my fellow crafters' posts. Here are some tips for good posting and some galleries that I know about. And, please feel free to leave a comment and ask questions or leave suggestions.

Posting tips:

1. Write a catchy title that describes your theme or technique that you used.
2. If you are posting something with several pictures like an inside/outside view of a card, try to post in as few posts as possible. Some galleries allow you to post multiple pages.
3. Post good pictures. If you scan pictures, crop out the extra stuff and make sure to rotate it so it's facing the right direction.
4. Write a description of your project including supplies and techniques used.
5. Give credit where credit is due. If you used a sketch or "borrowed" someone's idea, give them the credit and a link to their original post.

Some Online Stamping and Cardmaking Galleries:

• Splitcoast Stampers
• Two Peas In A Bucket
• The Stamp Shack
• Papercrafts Magazine
• justjohanna
• Simple Scrapbooks
• Creating Keepsakes
• Scrapbooks, etc.
• Paper Wings
• Rubber Stamp Chat
• Gingerwood

Challenge Online Galleries:

• Daring Card Makers
• Cardvaarks

I'd love your feedback on this subject. Please leave a comment if you know of other online galleries or if you have additional tips or questions. The next Notes About subject will be: Getting Noticed.

Polka Dots and Frosting

The bow got a little smashed on the scanner but I think you get the point: lots of colors and polka dots. I made a stencil by punching a 1 inch circle in a piece of scrap cardstock and inked all different colors on the I Love Cake stamped background. I colored the Circle Dot Cake and added diamond glaze to the dots and attached it with pop dots. I added different color brads around the Eat the Frosting First sentiment and topped it off with lots of ribbon.

All stamps from justjohanna.

I'm a lucky girl

A couple weeks ago I won blog candy on two of my favorite blogs. The first was for Sherri's celebration for 20,000 hits on her blog, I Love Flip Flops. I am so excited about the coasters, penguin stamp, thanks stamp, little House of Mouse stamp, and clear Easter stamps. Thanks Sherri.

The next candy came from Jennifer from Thimbles, Bobbins, Paper and Ink for hitting 15,000 hits on her blog. She sent this beautiful card. It is so full of texture. I love the stitching with the embossed paper, ribbon and the texture of the flowers.

She also sent a set of Farm Faces stamps from Inkspirations. I have 2 other Inkspiration sets but I didn't have these so I'm very happy with my new stamps. Thanks ladies. You spoil me.

Valentine Tree

I wish you could see all the sparkle on this tree. I painted the wooden tree from JoAnn's pink and outlined it with bubble gum Stickles. I used 1 inch and 1 1/4 inch punches to punch out images that I had colored with Marvy and Tombow markers. Actually, this part of the project was super easy because I stamped 2 of each image when I made the Valentine's Day Advent Calendar. Then I just added the ribbons that came with the tree. All images Odd Bird Planet.

Love Bites

This week I'm hosting the Winter Stamp '08 Love Bites: justjohanna Challenge on Two Peas in a Bucket. The challenge is to make an anti-valentine card. There have been some really fun interpretations of the theme. There is a really fun prize package from justjohanna for one of the lucky entries. This is my interpretation of the theme. I thought Burt the Owl looks like he just went through a rough break up.

justjohanna images: love bites, tiny skull and crossbones, heart branch and Burt the owl. Cosmo Cricket card base and Bobunny paper. I colored the images with Marvy and Tombow markers.

February Sketch Cards

I've gotta be honest. When I first got a sneak peek of the February justjohanna newsletter sketch, I was clueless. Something about those diagonal lines just stressed me out. Then, I pulled out my cute diagonally striped note cards from the Target Dollar Spot and I knew I could handle the sketch. Other papers are also Dollar Spot. Images: justjohanna Intertwined kitties and Happy Valentine's Day.

The next card was a card that I had imagined using for the Cardvaarks challenge last week but I never got around to posting it. Images: justjohanna Moon and Stars and Make a Wish. There is a little sparkle on the stars.

Football Krispie Pops

I love Super Bowl Sunday. I make penants every year and we make a fun food spread. This year, we are having a football shaped cheeseball , faux chili dogs and football shaped jello jigglers.

I don't know who I'm cheering for tomorrow. I think I'll just enjoy the game, food and commercials.

Oh, and the little goal post is from the Target Dollar spot.

Want some free Valentine Images?

Lisa from Ten Two Studios is doing a countdown to Valentine's Day. Every day until Valentine's Day, she offers a free Victorian image to download. Click here for more info.

Cookie Sheet Valentine Count Down Calendar

This is a 14 day cookie sheet advent calendar. I started with an inexpensive cookie sheet that I spray painted red and flecked with pink paint. Using the Crop-a-dile, I punched holes in the top and bottom for ribbon (American Arts and unknown). I made the grid using Microsoft Word. The scalloped strip was made with My Mind's Eye paper and my dot sticker method. The lacy white strip was made using a Fiskars border punch. Each magnetic number has a stamped image and Dymo Label Maker number. I also used metal rimmed tags, wooden squares, puzzle piece, wooden and ceramic heart and chipboard piece. Colored with Marvy and Tombow markers. All images and sentiments are from Odd Bird Planet:

• Love fancy
• Heart Trio
• Paisley Heart
• Inverse Heart
• Madame & Monsieur
• Louise Right and Left
• Lacy Circle Medium
• Happy Valentine's Day
• I Love You Flourish
• Floral Flourish Left
• Lacy Border
• Nigel the Owl Left and Right
• Bigger Nigel the Owl Left and Right
• Waltzing Mathilda (L and O)
• Intertwined Kitties