Hello there! I’m chiming in today, with a special Birthday card

Light the candles, cue the music and get ready for a little bit of birthday fun! It will SOON be a very special lady’s birthday and so we rallied the troops to send some birthday wishes her way a little early!
On Monday, February 25th, Jan Marie Caruso, the fearless and creative force behind Flourishes will be another year older — what a wonderful thing to celebrate! So, we’ve asked Flourishes’ designers from all of our teams to join us to help make this day super special with a……

Here’s the scoop, there’s a way YOU can help Jan celebrate and win some Flourishes stamps as well! HOW? We just love creative challenges here at Flourishes and so, why not usher in another one! One randomly drawn winner will get a $25 gift certificate to the Flourishes store, just for playing along!
You can find the challenge on the Flourishes blog, all you need to do is create a birthday project inspired by the graphics above, just like we all did!

Here’s my offering for Jan Marie…

Since it’s a “berry sweet” occasion, I chose the Cherries and Peaches set for my card. I used R02/R05/R46 Copics for the peaches, with a hint of Y11/Y15 in the light areas to add some warm yellow tint. The leaves were coloured with YG61/YG63/YG67, and a we bit of YG97 for the stalks and shadows.

You can also find on this card, paper from MME and a scrap of older American Crafts PP, French Pastry Doily die cut from PTI Aqua Mist cardstock, some decorative trim & brads that I haven’t used for longer than I remember… lol
I wanted this card to have an orderly, layered look that I used to reach for a lot, two or so years ago. It’s not so much of my favourite any more - I prefer a messy, bit more ‘artsy’ layers now, but I thought Jan Marie would enjoy this style more

Jan Marie, I hope your day is filled with much love!! You deserve every bit of it, in return for the kindness that you’re spreading around, and the strength and courage that shines through you and inspires us. I’m grateful to know you, even if not in person, hopefully one day!

One extra note? Jan may be the head of this company but one thing she doesn’t get a ton of is happy mail from customers using her stamps? Let’s change that for her birthday and flood her with some creative “love” by sending her your Berry Sweet Birthday Blog Hop creations! Here’s her address so you can pop them in the mail!

Jan Marie Caruso
4140 Lyric Lane
Pensacola, FL 32514

I know she would love to see “in real life” what beautiful work you all do and I know it would bring a huge smile to her face! So, join us in singing her a special little birthday song! Be sure to check out all the fun and festive wishes and grab some great ideas for birthday cards along the way.

• Christine Okken
• Cindy Lawrence
• Danielle Kennedy
• Heather Jensen
• Julie Koerber
• Silke Ledlow
• Stacy Morgan
• Allison Cope
• Broni Holcombe
• Cindy Haffner
• Maki Jones
• Aleksandra Mihelič
• Dina Kowal
• Iwona Palamountain You are here!
• Kathy Jones
• Meredith MacRitchie
• Sasha-Marie Holmes
• Deborah Anton
• Amanda Havon

Thanks for stopping by and helping us with Jan Marie a wonderful and fabulous BIRTHDAY on Monday!

I came across a fantastic tip yesterday, that reminded me of the Stamp with a Homemade Stamp challenge in the Moxie Fab World.
Let me just say… the eraser of your good ole’ pencil, people!! Used as a stamp! How cool is that. Seriously. Lookie.

I grabbed mine and decided to make a little bokeh-like effect in a jar. A Waltzingmouse Candy Jar Christmas Fillers set, that is (plus the screw top from Jar Fillers - Jam Packed).

I also used the colours from Runway Inspired ric#28. What a sweet extra inspiration, for this little tag.

See you later
Don’t forget about my updated sale list! (access through the link bar under the blog title)

Just a quick note, that my sale list has been updated. I threw in lots and lots of The Craft’s Meow stamps. Some are retiring, grab them while you can!!

I was observing Paulina’s 10 Minute Craft Dash challenges for quite a while, always impressed but never ready to join in. More often than not us crafters would say “no way I can make it in such a short time!”, but man, I’m soooo slow!
This is NOT a challenge I feel comfortable with, since I fuss over everything and more importantly, I can never envision the card from start to finish, at once. I like to see what happens

However, I gave it a go. Gasp!
Here’s the challenge… such beautiful colours.

…my time:
(yep, barely made it!)

And the card that I made.
I had the supplies all gathered on the desk, plus the card scored and ready for action.

I started by stamping the foliage from Woodgrain Silhouettes Additions (WPlus9, who also happens to be the fabulous sponsor), selectively inking it with Memento Pear Tart. Then I shaded the leaves with a Copic marker, in quick & light dabs.
I added the sprinkles by flicking October Afternoon Sprinkler in Hopscotch (Sidewalks) directly from the little tube inside.
Then I stamped the sentiment from Defining Words (also WPlus9) with Memento London Fog, on a separate panel, used a grey pen to make a line, matted the whole thing with pink cardstock and adhered to the card with foam tape.
The finishing touch are the rhinestones, that I hurriedly added in the last seconds…

Here’s the beautiful layout from rs#47, that I was itching to use:

Hope it tickles

Along with the new year, some exciting changes have come to Jay Gee’s Nook!
We got ourselves a brand new BLOG, but there are several new changes in store for 2013 in regards to how the blogging format will be: showcasing more of the creative teams signature styles, product reviews, techniques etc…
I’m excited to take part in this new adventure, and I’ve got to say that there’s LOTS to look forward to!
Make sure you bookmark or subscribe to the NEW BLOG, if you don’t want to miss all the fun! Judith (the owner) will be adding lots to the store in February as well.

Lastly, Judith is hosting a giveaway, and the Design Team is sharing some yummy creations!! Pop in the JG’s Nook blog and join us in the grand opening
Here’s a snippet of my card:

I took upon another challenge within the 75 Creative Challenges Week in the Moxie Fab World. The toughest one, just for my amusement. Stamping with a Homemade Stamp. Hmm.
It took many attempts and half a day, to come up with something I’m satisfied with. Before I settled down for my final choice, I tried chipboard shapes, kitchen utensils and buttons. The latter were perhaps the brightest idea, although I was fussy about the kind of ink I’m using on them. I found that in general, pigment inks with soft sponge give the most even coverage.

My choice of a home-made stamp is a cutting edge of a steel die. Provided that there’s a decent ink coverage (not as easy as it seems!) on all the edges, and the impression is done with a firm and steady hand, I must admit that I’m quite taken with the results.
I used the Twiggy Tree die from Memory Box, along with Memento Nautical Blue ink.

I embellished my tree with some light green rhinestones (Kaisercraft) and finished the card with the sentiment from WPlus9 (Filigreed Frames).
This terrific layout is courtesy of the super-talented Laurie of Retro Sketches rs#46, and I thought I’d also play with one of the the long neglected colour challenges, PDCC164.

Hope it tickles See you tomorrow, I hope!