Jackie's Creative Paper Crafts

Time for a Picnic? Well, not yet....

2011-04-01T10:16:00.006-02:30

Thank you all for stopping by my blog lately and leaving comments! I'm so frustrated that I haven't been able to post any of my newest creations - and I have a bunch of them! Arrrgh. Please be patient --- I should have everything fixed up by the end of next week. In the meantime - if you're new (or if you're returning) please feel free to check out my older projects - you may find something interesting.

In the meantime, here are a few pics and an experience I'd like to share. Last summer DH and I took a day trip to Ferryland a small community about 70km from our fair city. We went for a picnic at the local lighthouse. Lighthouse Picnics caters to locals and visitors during the tourist season. After you've placed your order inside, you're given a blanket (what's a picnic without a blanket!). Then you go outside and select your spot close to the cliffs (but not too close!) to enjoy whale watching and the spectacular scenery. In short time your picnic basket is delivered directly to your table...umm...blanket. Voila - a lighthouse picnic! How cool is that - have a look! And check back next week for my paper craft projects...pleeze!!! I need you! :) If you double click on the pictures you can see more detail.

Looking back at the isthmus. We parked our car and walked the rest of the way!

Looking ahead - there it is! About 10 minute walk from the car.

Self explanatory!

Made it! Now for a picnic lunch - yum.

A breathtaking view from the second floor. If you look REAL close (double click the picture) you'll see there's a brave soul(?) down by the water. We saw a whale! It's always exciting to see these magnificent creatures.

Fresh squeezed lemonade! Mmmmmm.

Masculine Card & Blueberry Note Cards

2011-03-22T08:52:00.000-02:30

Here are a couple of projects from a previous post. I still don't have the battery for my camera! The masculine card was made for my brother (his birthday is in a few days). The blueberry note cards..I think...are really cute. The cards are 3x3; I used a 1/2" punch to make my berries and Cricut Expression to cut out the leaves. I think we'll be done with the painting today and everything can get back to normal. Cheers! - Jackie

Spring is Coming...

2011-03-15T22:00:00.000-02:30

None of my creations to post today...only somebody else's :) My camera is on the bum. I think it's the battery. I've got some lovely cards to post and will hopefully get that done tomorrow (after I go out and get the battery). DH and I have been busy painting these past few days and it seems everything is in such a mess. Plus he and my youngest son have a terrible cold. So far I and my eldest son have escaped it! Yay!

I was looking through my files and found these pictures. The orange-ie flower (absolutely gorgeous) was at the nursery across from where I used to live. I don't know what it is, but the petals were kinda waxy. And...the lilacs were in the backyard of previous address. There are no flowers around yet - still banks of snow. Til later - Cheers! Jackie

Today's Paper Creations

2011-02-21T20:35:00.000-03:30

Here are my card creations for today...my welcome baby

Friendship

Birthday

and Live with Passion

Have a great day!

Jackie

Thank You

2011-02-17T18:18:00.000-03:30

I just finished my first SU card (everything...SU). Here it is.

SU Starter Kit Arrived!

2011-02-17T15:55:00.001-03:30

After what seems like forevvver, I finally received my Stampin Up! starter kit yesterday. Happy camper indeed. So much to do...so little time. Here's what I did today, just playing around. Bookmark anyone? I dare not use my Whisper White paper just yet. Hoarding. Add a grommet/ribbon at the top, some DP, round off the edges, brads, bling, glitter...so many possibilities...

Cheers - J

Birthday Party Favour

2011-02-17T15:48:00.000-03:30

Well hi - here's a prototype of the "loot" bag I'm making for Mom's birthday. She's 80 years young early March. And...as she loves crafts as much as I do I wanted to do the loot bag for our family get-together. I can see from the pictures that it needs a few more embellishments but I think....so far...so good. I will post the finished product another day.

Cheers - Jackie

Happy Valentine's Day !!!

2011-02-14T11:26:00.004-03:30

Happy Valentine's Day! Here's a card I put together this a.m. for DH.

Just some brown card stock, patterned paper, inked around the edges; a paper doily (I cut away the outside) and pearl bling. It's a sunny beautiful winter's day but not for long. Apparently there's more snow on the way tomorrow. DS is scheduled to go on a snow boarding field trip tomorrow with his school mates - we'll see how that pans out. Here's an interesting photo - I was digging through my bookshelves yesterday and came across some old craft magazines my Mom gave me - this one belonged to my grandmother. I enjoy looking through them every now and then - advertisements, recipes, craft ideas. 1966 - I was only 4 years old!!

Card making directions 1966. No picture :)

Pre-Swiffer. Love it! LOL

Have a great day! Easy on the chocolate! ;c) Jackie

Faux Quilted Cards

2011-02-13T16:06:00.014-03:30

I have 28 of these cards completed. I put a lot of thought and time into my paper selection, preparation and choosing my coordinating buttons. Pictures don't do justice again! Notice the Levi's button? Blue jean faux quilt...blue jean button :c)

The heart confetti with this card is a little added touch!

And here are a few others. All blocks were cut to 1 1/2 inches square then taped on the reverse side back. I used the zigzag stitch on my sewing machine and adhered my faux quilt to coordinating layers of card stock. Vintage buttons from Mom's button jar ~~embellish~~ garnish the front...finished off with the sentiment. I wonder if any of the buttons come from the clothes I wore? I didn't recognize any. The finished sized is 5 1/2 x 5 1/2.

'Til next time - Cheers! Jackie

Thinking of You

2011-02-13T15:15:00.006-03:30

I finished these two cards today (sunny but very cold outside). But first I cleaned up my studio - I'm getting ready for some new stamping supplies that should arrive tomorrow! The "winter" card was in my previous post - it's now finished. The "thinking of you" treasure card has been on my studio desk for a while just waiting for that moment of inspiration that I needed to finish it. Have a look and if you've got any questions please leave me a comment and I'll get back to you! Cheers! Jackie

Snow Day...digging out

2011-01-25T14:31:00.002-03:30

I've had the idea for this card in my head and on my desk for about a week now. I was so anxious to post it that it's not actually finished - I just layered the pieces. And - haven't gone for my walk yet!! The day is slipping away from me and so much to do yet. Used my Cricut for the mug; lace punch from Martha Stewart; snowflake embossing folder; word punch from Stampin' Up and a white gel pen for the sentiments!

I'm sure you get the message in the card - nothing like that hot beverage after all is said and done on that stormy winter day....Mmmmm. I'll put up the finished product when it's done. Cheers! Jackie

Plenty of cards...

2011-01-25T12:11:00.005-03:30

Ahhh...spring. Ground Hog Day is next week - February 2nd. Hmmm...should do a card for that!

For the card player...

For the pool player! Note the dice have some bling added...

This was drawn freehand as well as the sentiment.


Just black cardstock and flowers cut with the Cricut "Plantin SchoolBook" cartridge. Scissors were used to fringe the top petals.

I've been busy making plenty of cards this past few weeks. These are all 3x3 with the exception of the black/flower cards. The "Thanks Sweetie" is all freehand and then coloured with markers. All of these were made using scraps of patterned paper and card stock. I have to head out for my walk - it's a little chilly, but sunny. Until later! - Jackie

Valentine I'm Wild for You ----- Bee Mine!

2011-01-25T11:39:00.007-03:30

This card was inspired by a card (and stamp) I saw on the.Toyrifix blog - Jan 5/11 "Love is in the Air"

This is my very own design.

Here's a cute card which has been in my stash for a few months and with everyone out in the blogosphere posting Valentine's Day cards I thought I would post one too :-) This was my own design and the "Wild For You" sentiment was picked up in the Michael's $1.50 bin. The beige cardstock was stamped with black ink using a kissing lips stamp; Martha Stewart lace border punch; pearl bling; and black ribbon. Till next time!

Have your morning cup...

2011-01-06T19:28:00.003-03:30

Worked on these little beauties yesterday and today. Have 6 sets of 4 completed. I used the SU Morning Cup set (on loan from sis). I used different sentiments and also made the envelopes myself (out of old larger envelopes and some paper I had around). White brown and yellow card stock, and some hearts to 'garnish' the final package. Great for tags for gift giving. The pictures are not the best quality - I couldn't wait until tomorrow to take the pics in natural lighting. Cheers - Jackie

Happy 2011 !

2011-01-05T21:33:00.004-03:30

Here was this year's tree. DH and I went about 10 minutes outside the city and found this little beauty. I made paper decorations (stars, peace, noel, joy) with my Cricut, cut my bows from burlap and put on a few silver bulbs here and there. Very simple. We liked it - a lot. Not sure about our teenage sons though :-) The quilt in the background is a beautiful quilt Mom did for me some years ago. It has everyone's name on it...on a stocking. I was very fortunate to get yet another quilt this year!!

Here's a masculine birthday card I did this evening - I used a "wood-type" embossing folder and rope to keep with the sea/ship theme.

These are some 3x3 cards - I made the envelopes to go with them - great for gift giving (with some homemade blueberry muffins, jam, pie or loaf!). Yum - blueberries - abundant here in Newfoundland & Labrador. The Brigus Blueberry Festival is held every year in August. It's about a 50 minute drive from the city and is the place to go for the best blueberry crumble and ice cream!! To die for :-).

I made this sympathy card this past weekend - my mother-in-law's brother passed away - he was 85. I stamped the background with a fern stamp. I used it again in the birthday cards below.

And that's it folks. The blue/brown dotted cards are my attempt at another masculine card again. Until next time! - Cheers, Jackie

Christmas Wreath

2010-12-05T16:08:00.004-03:30

I dusted off and fluffed up an old wreath I found underneath our basement stairs. I finished it today and this is what it looks like. Bought some ribbon at the local Home Hardware store, glued some extra pine cones that I picked up on one of my walks and added some Cricut-cut snowflakes. I didn't want to add too much to it - and am pleased with the finished product! Also made some soft banana cookies this morning - yummy.

Cheers! - Jackie

Birthday wishes

2010-11-14T19:02:00.003-03:30

Along with my crafting I've had a busy day. I was away at 6:30 but didn't get up until 7:20am. I made 6 dozen cookies this morning and three apple crisp desserts. Also went for a walk.

I have a few cards I am trying to finish so I can move on to more projects! The specialty coffee paper is actually gift wrap that I bought a long time ago at a local dollar store (gotta love the dollar stores). I knew someday it would come in handy......finally. The garnish around the "Birthday Wishes" sentiment are bits and pieces of paper I have in my stash. I made the orange rose garnish out of a 3/4 inch circle and used my glue gun to attach it to the card. I don't know if anyone is like this but I have to sit back and admire my little pieces of art for what seems like ages after they're complete.

Since I don't have a whole lot of punches, sister Jean has me stocked up with a bunch of stuff - every now and then I go through it when I'm in need of some small thing...and voila today I found my orange..in a jar of small punched circles (all colours). I coloured it with my markers. Also found the orange zest and mint leaves (not really mint leaves, but...you know..). I believe they are from a SU! punch. I'm going to have to start creating Christmas cards, etc. as I see from visiting other blogs that everyone has a lot of that already done!! Oh dear. I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I'm making all of these cards as a Christmas gift for my Mom - she has many family and friends that she sends/gives cards to during the year. I'm off to finish other cards..this time for baby. :-)

Cheers - Jackie

Cards & Tags

2010-11-12T18:43:00.002-03:30

A very quick post tonight...some new cards. Christmas, birthday/valentines/hubby card. I'm proud of my dress card - absolutely my own. I'll add more this weekend.

Thinking of You....

2010-11-08T20:42:00.002-03:30

I haven't posted in a little while because I needed a USB hub to connect my camera to my computer. The existing hub has seen much use and I had to keep connecting, unconnecting my mouse and the camera...frustrating. So, off I went to Wal-Mart today to pick up the hub. I am now a happy camper. So here are a few cards I've done, plus a project I'm working on for my Mom for Christmas. Mom's 79 and was in to visit last week for a few days (she kept me busy Christmas shopping!!) LOL. The pattern for her gift-to-be came from a tole painting magazine from some years back (I'll post where I got the pattern...when I find it!). Mom's an avid crafter as well...crochet, quilt making, knitting, painting...I'm sure I forgot something. I used the "Morning Cup" SU stamp set for the note cards...borrowed from my sister. She's got tons of stuff and again, was generous enuf to let younger sis borrow some. I used my Cricut "Joys of the Season" cartridge to cut out the branch and pine cone for my Thinking of You card. I think I'll use this for a Christmas card. Last night I did several tags using the same cartridge - have to take some pics to post. Here are the pics (and the unfinished pic of Mom's gift) for your enjoyment! LOL. Cheers! Jackie

And more cards....

2010-10-24T18:52:00.002-02:30

Two more cards to share...I've been busy today. I hope to go for a walk after supper (having cod au gratin tonight...plus a few extra ingredients to jazz it up a little. It's a beautiful sunny afternoon - gotta get out for a walk!!

I used the "Birthday Bliss" SU set for my brown/green card, and intentionally kept the rough edges around the embossed oval (behind the sentiment).

Cheers-Jackie.

Cards, cards....cards

2010-10-24T12:05:00.002-02:30

Good morning - I was up and at 'em bright and early today! A few cards to post....halloween, thank you, birthday girl ~ there are a few more in production which I hope to have up later today.

Cheers! Jackie

Skating

2010-10-17T20:33:00.005-02:30

Here's a winter skates card. Great for a friend who's a figure skater preparing for a competition or for someone who just enjoys a quick flick around the pond. For whatever reason this would be a great card to give.

I got to looking around the web again today and came upon Everyday Cricut an excellent site for ideas if you own a Cricut machine. I've had my Cricut Expression for months and haven't really used it a whole lot ~~ yet! I only have two cartridges but this site has given me lots of inspiration - I've subscribed so I can have their great ideas sent to my inbox!!

Inspiration for my card came from the skate theme paper. My sister knows where this came from ~ in 2007 she gave me a bunch of sheets from her calendar pad to use for scrap-booking. Card stock is from my stash (black, white and red). I used a silver star Gelly Roll pen to highlight the laces in the cricut skate, snowflakes and skate blades - picture does not do justice to the card, it's really pretty.

Later! Jackie

You Make Me Smile

2010-10-17T15:56:00.003-02:30

And my last post for today - these are a couple of small, cute note cards.

Have a safe and happy week coming! Jackie

Masculine Birthday Card

2010-10-17T15:50:00.004-02:30

Our (myself and DH) friend's 50th birthday is this coming Sunday (October 24th) and here's the card I made for him this afternoon. This is my third masculine card (the other two were for my sons!).

Along with our very crafty day on Saturday, Jean and I did some shopping - it was a crafty shoppy (new word I just made up) EXTRAVAGANZA type of day!!! LOL We went to The Paperie, Michael's, $ stores (plural!), Chapters and a few dozen other places...phew. When sis comes to town, I don't stop (I love it!)

I picked up blue card stock at The Paperie thinking it was purple (my plan was to make some Halloween paper crafts using the purple). When I got home, it was not purple at all, but blue. Anyway - it worked out perfectly for this particular card. I didn't colour the cake because I didn't want it to look too "girlie"; I DID use a little bit of glitter glue. There's blue argyle paper and sisal twine... very manly... :0). Voila, my man card.

Cheers! Jackie

Weekend Card Making & SU Workshop

2010-10-17T15:24:00.004-02:30

Hello - well I enjoyed my Saturday afternoon and getting new tips/techniques from the Stampin' Up! workshop. My sister took me as her guest. I also experienced my first card swap - pretty neat. I came away with about 30+ cards and lots of ideas. A LOT of talented ladies in that room! Here's sister Jean, her friend Kelly and me (on the right).

"For You"

2010-10-13T11:12:00.002-02:30

So this little guy is pretty cute. Not much to say about him 'cept that the image was one sister Jean gave me (again...while I was in Twillingate this summer) and that the card stock and paper was in my stash. Time for me to get those cupcakes and pumpkin loaf on the go. TTYL! Jackie.

SU Card Swap {Christmas Collage; Bows and Boughs}

2010-10-13T11:06:00.002-02:30

Good morning! Here's my second card for this Saturday's swap. I used the Christmas Collage and Bows & Boughs sets from SU. The card is made from old olive, brown and whisper white card stock, chocolate chip ink and coloured with markers. I used the Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder and inked edges with chocolate chip. I'm not entirely pleased with the picture - too dark; but the card is quite nice.

It's a grey foggy morning here in my little part of the world...my DH calls it a Jackie Day because...for whatever reason...I love rainy days...I always have. :0) I spent alot of time yesterday cleaning and organizing the Paper Garnish Studio (that's what I've decided to call my craft room) and laundry room (because it's right next to the studio). I made cupcakes for Taylor's birthday (instead of a cake we're having cupcakes) and it was extremely difficult keeping everyone away from them last night!!! I am also trying to fight off this cold that's been hanging around for about a week...yuk.

I thought I would get some additional spring bulbs planted this morning before the rain came (drumstick allium - really pretty) but it will wait 'til tomorrow now. I have the tulips in already. Pretty aren't they?

Today it's pumpkin loaf, more cupcakes! laundry and cardmaking. Have a safe and happy day! Take care - Jackie

Happy 16th Birthday

2010-10-11T14:07:00.003-02:30

Taylor (my youngest) will be 16 on Wednesday - and this card is so him LOL. I just used some beige coloured card stock, and black and darker beige on top of that. I got the image from sister Jean while I was visiting T'gate this summer...for my neice's wedding. I like the bright colours he's wearing. Happy 16th Taylor Boo! Luv u lots - Mom.

Squeegie Man!

2010-10-11T10:13:00.006-02:30

I just had to put these pictures up - a couple of weeks ago DH wanted to clean the outside windows after our visit from hurricane Igor. We were fortunate - no damage or loss of power...very fortunate.

To the rescue!!

We have some serious work to do!

Don't try this at home folks!

Noticing how dirty the windows were, DH wanted to buy a telescopie squeegie to clean them, figuring it would be a much easier task with that particular device (true enough). After we purchased said squeegie at our local Canadian Tire store...that's another story in itself!!.... he got to work. Finding the glare from the house hard on the eyes he searched around the house and found these sunglasses...belonging to our teenage son. Squeegie Man was born. He just had to make a superhero(?) of himself and thus the pictures. T'was amusing indeed.

Have a great day!

Cheers - Jackie

Stampin Up! Regional Seminar

2010-10-11T09:52:00.003-02:30

My sister - a local independent demonstrator has invited me as a guest, to the regional Stampin' Up! seminar on October 16th - for which I'm super excited and very grateful. She introduced me to Stampin' Up! products a few years ago and I've been enjoying ever since.
I've been into crafts as far back as I can remember - I believe it's in my genes. My favorite, favorite season is fall and I remember being very young and making window decorations - using a dinner plate and orange construction paper for my pumpkins, black for a fence and spooky cat; and yellow for the harvest moon. I think I've always enjoyed paper crafts the most but didn't realize it until recently - I've had my hand in leather making, macrame, ceramics, cross stitch, quilt making, tole painting, wood working (did a night course and made a small bench), plastic canvas, water colour painting, cartooning/drawing, sewing, crochet (I can barely knit), beading...I think that's it???

Anyway - here is a pic of the cards I'm doing for the swap. I've taken some time off work this week and plan to have another twenty five ready for Saturday. I'll post them when I'm done. I used the Bows & Boughs set from Stampin' Up!, real red, whisper white cardstock; Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder; chocolate chip was used to stamp the sentiment and ink the edges; coloured with markers and embellished with copper Stickles.

Now I must be off to plan my next creation!!

Take care

Jackie

Just Scraps Challenge #19 {Back to School}

2010-09-14T22:50:00.003-02:30

Hi - well here's my back to school card for the Just Scraps "Back to School Challenge - #19". Whipped this one up this evening - from basic card stock I have in my unlimited inventory LOL. The sentiment is "Hoppy to be Back". This could be tongue-in-cheek card to give to a teacher friend, or to have your little one give to his/her fav elementary teacher. You be the judge - I think it's kinda cute either way. Take care - 'til later - Jackie

Fall and Halloween cards

2010-09-14T08:07:00.003-02:30

I put these cards and the boot tags together on Sunday. Since I've been out of blogging for so long I'm not quite sure what to say. The fall card was inspired by one I saw on Lynn Pratt's blog; the witch boot I saw somewhere (but drew my own) and the "To Be Frank" cards are my own design. Hope you like - I'll try to get back sooner! Take care - Jackie

ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE

2010-07-06T22:23:00.001-02:30

Well I think so anyway - I made this batch tonight..before I went for a walk :) I've had the recipe for a long time - it came from a package of Butter Flavour Crisco. My milk jug however has been around for...well...almost ever. I became it's owner when my mother and father-in-law sold their home and retired 20+ years ago. This dairy company has since changed names to Brookfield Dairy and now Scotsburn Dairy (my husband works there - 20 years in 2011). Anyway, I just devoured three of these with a tall glass of cold fresh milk. Oh if the bottle could talk, what stories it could tell. Have a great evening - I'm off.

Cheers,

Jackie

Baby Shower Invitations

2010-07-06T21:38:00.002-02:30

I finished these cute baby shower invitations for a friend last week - the shower is on the 11th. I've seen diaper invitations all over the net and this is my variation. I made my own template - the diaper, and cut/sized the inside invitation. They were all made out of regular cardstock and embellished with pretty brown grosgrain ribbon speckled with blue polka dots. The giraffe stamp I downloaded (sorry...can't remember what website). I coloured it with pencil leads, then inked the edges with chocolate brown. The pictures are not that great - I was in a hurry. When am I not in a hurry.

I'm beginning to think I'm the budget paper crafter. I dearly love all the papers and embellishments, but don't want to waste money buying new stuff until I use what I have. Or if I buy new stuff, it's minimal. Use whatcha got already I figure! I hope you like the invites. I've got lots more pictures to put up on my blog...just gotta find the time. I'm just in too much of a hurry! LOL

Cheers!
Jackie

Just Scraps Challenge #9

2010-05-30T21:04:00.002-02:30

Well over a month since I last posted...oh dear. I have been busy with my paper crafting, but just haven't gotten the time to post my finished projects. Here's a card I did about two weeks ago and it fits in perfectly with the Just Scraps Challenge #9 - I think I'm getting in just under the wire (today's the last day to submit!!) This was some brown card stock I have and I used my Martha Stewart lace punch for white card stock to give the look of a lace cloth overhanging the kitchen table - sitting and chewing the fat (aka chatting), a great cup of tea/coffee, and great friend(s). The two tea cups were cut with my Cricut Expression "Joys of the Season" cartridge and were secured using a couple of pop dots. The Glad We're Friends sentiment was created in Word with a couple of different font styles, printed and cut with my oval punch. I think this is a cute card.

Until later! Her's wishing you a safe and happy week to come!

Cheers,
Jackie

Fry's Cocoa {Fudgey Chocolate Brownies}

2010-04-07T12:55:00.004-02:30

Fry's Cocoa...been around forever and it's the best for baking! When I was in my mid-twenties I collected all kinds of recipe booklets / brochures from the Canadian Living magazines. I'd buy the magazines at the used book store, check the advertisements and send away for free recipe books. This was one of them. The brownie recipe is nice and fudgey. There's also a really good recipe for chocolate sauce - which is great for ice cream, milk and cottage pudding. Cottage pudding is a white cake baked from scratch in an 8x8 pan. Mom used to make this and serve, most times, for dessert on Sundays. My sister liked the chocolate sauce while my favorite was vanilla.

Have a chocolatey, fudgey day!!! ;)

Spring Note Cards

2010-04-07T12:34:00.007-02:30

Am playing around this morning...changing the look of my blog a little more to reflect my personality. This sure takes time!! Here are a couple of blank note cards I created a couple of weeks ago. We have a flea market at my church in June and thought I would donate some of my paper crafts. Very simple...which I like. Hope you do to! :)

Cheers!!!

Boiled Cookies (?)

2010-04-07T10:27:00.004-02:30

The name definitely does not give visions sugarplums or how yummy these cookies might be....but they ARE! I haven't made them yet but got a sample from one of my co-workers a few weeks ago - these are to die for! I thought I would post the recipe today, as I've been wanting to do a recipe card for some time. I sent this recipe to my Mom yesterday - she loves to bake and I hope she tries these. I'm not particularly please with the picture - the lighting isn't great. If you try the recipe let me know if you like them or not! LOL! Have a safe day!
Cheers! Jackie

60th Wedding Anniversary...Invitations & Favours

2010-03-28T23:18:00.002-02:30

It's 11:03pm and I'm thinkin' I'm pooped (a happy pooped). I want you to see what I'm designing/creating for my Mother/Father-In-Law's 60th Wedding Anniversary this September (about 100 people). The invitation is done, and I'm working on the favours. Centrepieces are in the works and will be posted later.

I am quite proud of both the invite and favours. I have been surfing the web for weeks trying to get some inspiration and came across the wedding dress and tuxedo favours but no templates! Soooo...what to do? Create my own! And I did.

I've been up since 7:30 this morning designing, redesigning, modifying and here's what I've come up with. Both favours look like the ones we all come across on the net, but they were designed and created by me today...nobody else's templates.

I haven't given any details on the preparation...sorry...no time. I do plan on providing the templates for sale and download at www.paperandpiecings.com soon...stay tuned.

I'll tell you all about my new Cricut Expression, etc. in tomorrow's post! I'm on cloud 9. Too bad work gets in the way of crafting !! LOL!

Hope you like these! Cheers - Jackie.

Just Scraps Challenge #2

2010-03-14T12:06:00.003-02:30

It took me a little while to get my head around the Just Scraps Black/White/Red challenge - but here's my creation! I'm kinda proud of it. My son's 19th birthday is coming up in early April (oh my where have the years gone) and I wanted to create a card for him..something masculine.

His favourite colour growing up was red! As he grew into his tweens and teenager hood - black was added to that - black jeans, hoodies, sneakers...red, or white, or black t-shirts. Here's a picture of Timothy in grade 4 - red and black shirt on - I believe he had black jeans on that day too. LOL!

The card measures 4 1/4" x 5 1/2". I used black cardstock and... "just scraps"...of paper, black and white brads...I like the "dot/spot" theme! The two punched circles are 1 3/4" and 1 1/2". I bought a bunch of these cute pewter-like picture frames at the dollar store. I plan on putting a pic of Timothy inside the frame (early years). I didn't have a happy birthday stamp, so used my computer and a font called snap for the sentiment..I gently rubbed over it with my finger to give a "stamped" look. I hope you like it. Cheers - J.

Retro Vinyl {tags}

2010-03-02T08:43:00.002-03:30

I'm sure some of you remember the old 45's and LP's...aka records. I had a stack of 70's and 80's albums in my sister's attic - until my nephew sold them on ebay. I thought this would be a great gift tag. I designed this one myself and used just basic black card stock, a circle punch for the centre, added some70's glitter, my music note and voila. No sentiment on these...I was in a hurry to get them done and posted. I do have a pattern and can provide the instructions if you're interested - let me know! email me! Cheers-Jackie.

About a Boy {card challenge}

2010-02-28T10:58:00.005-03:30

I'm up for the challenge! I think little boys are the cutest...I have two of my own (they're teenagers now but they will always be Mom's boys!). This card challenge is posted on www.justscraps.ca and I thought it would be easy to do since I have boys of my own. It took me all of yesterday and this morning to come up with a design and theme! I'm happy with the result though.

The card is made from blue cardstock - 4 1/4 x 5 1/2. I used the green/daisies DP for my background and sponged the edges with fresh green pigment ink from Colour Box Cat Eyes ink set. All other elements of the card were cut and punched with card stock scraps just waiting to be used for something! The stickers are a cute addition - jars filled with caterpillar, butterfly and tadpoles (although you can't see the tadpoles) :)

Boy meets world...an excellent little sentiment for a young lad off to explore and conquer the world, red wagon in tow and heart full of courage. Hope you're inspired by the card. Cheers! Jackie.

Birthday Card & You're Tea-rific !

2010-02-14T12:03:00.001-03:30

Here are a couple of cards I finished this evening. I used the "card" option on my Cricut Expression - Joys of the Season cartridge to make the cup silhouette out of brown card stock (I really like it - I'm doing a "get well" card with this as well). Stamps used were SU - Morning Cup - "tea-rific" and Elements of Style - the swirls, stamped in white ink. Chocolate chip ink, Martha Stewart cat eye-ink in hibiscus; Michael's ribbon (from the $1.29 bin); and the flowers were some my sister gave me. Since sis has most of the tools, stamps, paper, etc. she willingly shares with me - for which I'm VERY grateful !! :0)

G'night! Jackie

I Love You....Valentine

2010-02-05T21:14:00.002-03:30

A simple Valentine card. I cased this from a website this afternoon....I can't remember where, but her's was red/pink/white. What caught my eye was the use of scoring the white part of the card...and it's simplicity. The picture doesn't really do it justice. Clean, neat and pretty. Cheers - J.

I'm thinking spring...

2010-02-05T15:31:00.006-03:30

Today' we're in the throes of Old Man Winter....the entire city is practically shut down...so, today is a Snow Day. Shucks - how I hate snow days ;-) The forecast calls for 40cm by end of day tomorrow (Saturday). So, having a little time on my hands...forget the housework... :o)....I thought I would so something spring-ish. I found the tutorial for these cute flower pot pocket cards on Splitcoast Stampers
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/flowerpotpocket/ . I hope you like them. I do. Cheers - Jackie

Wild for you! {and other sentiments}

2010-01-31T18:58:00.009-03:30

Spent my day just fooling around and playing with my papers, glitter, scissors and ribbon (and glue and more paper and ...... well you get the idea - :o)

A few more Valentine's Day goodies came out of the crafting and so did a Halloween one! I couldn't help it as I love Halloween (and FALL!). The card stock came from pieces that have been lying around waiting to be created into a cute favour! If you'd like the instructions, please email me or leave a comment. The only thing I'm not really happy about is the quality of my pictures. I'm no expert, but I know the lighting could be better - these little guys really do look cute and the pictures don't do them justice.

I'm designing and making the favours and table centrepieces for my friend's wedding in August. I worked up some samples for her yesterday, gave them to her and forgot to take pictures! Anyway - that's where the idea for these other favours came from. Cheers 'til next time - Jackie.

Kiss the Cook

2010-01-28T08:37:00.007-03:30

Don't have much time this morning as I'm off to work now shortly. I did these last night - and I think they're rather cute. I saw paper napkin rings at Michael's which inspired me to come home and do my own to match the aprons (which I did the previous evening). You could possibly use the aprons as invites to a BBQ, or a Mother's Day Luncheon, Father's Day BBQ, whatever....placecards? I think there are just sooo many possibilities with these. And...they're quick and easy. I wrote the sentiment Kiss the Cook, as I didn't have a stamp. I really enjoy the simplicity of doing the aprons - I plan on doing several more designs to use in a recipe book I'm compiling. Anyway - have a great day! Cheers - Jackie.

Valentine's Cards

2010-01-24T17:46:00.006-03:30

Into the Valentine's spirit, I made three cards today. I have but the most basic of supplies - I was pleased with the outcome. The little cupid stamp was my inspiration to make these cards - I thought he was so cute. I stamped him, and coloured with markers - and used stardust Stickles for his wings. I didn't have a large circle punch so I used a template I found. The cardstock I had on hand...basic white and what i call raspberry pink and found some paper to coordinate with each. Both ribbons were purchased at Wal-Mart, the "I Love You" stamp I picked up at Michael's last week for $1.50. I hope you like them - I enjoyed making them today. As I'm getting over a nasty 5-day cold, it was nice to have some down time to do some crafting.
Cheers - Jackie

You're the best cupcake!

2010-01-19T17:32:00.002-03:30

I got this pattern from Scrapchick (Friday Freebie) recently and thought I'd try out a few tags. Finished these Sunday night past, but haven't had a chance to upload the pictures for you. Hope you enjoy! Cheers - Jackie

Apron Tags

2010-01-19T16:50:00.003-03:30

I designed and finished these last night. I wanted to do a Valentine's apron as well as some sort of BBQ one. I really like the BBQ apron - and will definitely do more of these. The pattern is 6" high x 4" wide; the neck is cut with a 1" circle punch. These are neat little tags or could be used for scrapbooking.

Valentine Apron: I cut the apron out of pink cardstock and the pocket out of some scrap paper. I attached the pocket to the apron with double sided tape then used red chaulk around the apron and the pocket to add some interest. I embellished the pocket with 2 red brads and 3 small punched hearts. The spatula and wooden spoon were cut out of ivory cardstock and shaded with brown chaulk. The scalloped neckline was made from a scallop punch then attached to the plain neckline. I used a micropen to add a few details, tied on my red ribbon, printed my sentiment "Baked with..." and I was done!!

BBQ Apron: Same here, but with different cardstock and embellishments. I designed the mitt, fork and spatula and added those to give this apron a masculine look. Same with the sentiments I penned on the project..."Dude with the Food" and "Grill Master" for the guys in your life.

Valentine Projects

2010-01-10T10:54:00.005-03:30

I've been trying to come up with some ideas for Valentine's...here are a couple.

This easy and quick project is a teacher treat bag using some small paper bags I had left over from Halloween. I cut a piece of ivory card stock 2 1/4" x 3 1/4" and sponged it with chocolate brown ink then cut a piece of 2" x 3" black card stock for the blackboard. I used double sided tape to attach the blackboard to the ivory card stock, then to the bag.

The apple punch was borrowed from my sister - check out her website at www.justscraps.ca. I attached my green and red apples in different places, punched a hole in the top of my bag and added the ribbon for a decorative touch. Voila! I think they look cute. Fill with homemade fudge wrapped in cellophane and give as teacher gift bags any time of the year, a teacher's birthday, get well soon. halloween....use your imagination!

I designed the key shaped tag - with a little help from my husband. His idea was to put the heart at the end of the key. I think it's pretty good! I used ivory card stock and with brown chalk gave it some depth. These cute little tags could be used on a gift bag, bottle of wine, used to embellish a card or a scrapbooking page. The pattern can be downloaded at www.paperandpiecings.com for just $1.00.

Hope you enjoy my ideas and can use them for some of your crafting projects! Cheers 'til next time.

Halloween ?

2010-01-09T16:15:00.001-03:30

I realize Halloween far from anybody's mind right now....but I am still new to this and wanted to upload some projects that I did....Also a couple of Valentines projects. Have a look...

The Family

2010-01-09T11:52:00.003-03:30

I just posted a blog but it's not coming up on my blogspot. Anyway, I'm trying another one to see where I may have gone wrong. Here are some Christmas pictures...

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T14:21:00.003-03:30

Happy New Year! I mean to spend more time this year paper crafting - my day time job just takes so much out of me :) I spent my morning making several valentine hot chocolate sliders, browsing the internet for ideas, putting eyes on my cat/pumpkin paper piecing and in general enjoying the time off from work to be able to do this! I'll have to upload some pictures later - Taylor is lurking and wants his turn on the computer (he's my sweetheart 15-year old son).

I need to spend some time as well, updating my blog and getting used to navigating my away around in here! Am looking forward to it.

No time to blog...

2009-10-05T20:16:00.002-02:30

Back to work and no time to blog. The month of September was unbelievably busy...getting the hang of my new job and just barely surviving it! How exciting though to know that I've gotten through the month and am now more knowledgeable because of it. I've had little time for paper crafts or any crafts for that matter...I hope with the coming months I'll be able to get back at my designing. I took out my Halloween stamps tonight - I have some treat bags started and will need to finish them over the new few weeks. Cheerio - 'til next time.

Summer Candy Jars

2009-07-26T18:02:00.002-02:30

I created these candy jars last year. They turned out quite nice. I bought the jars at a yardsale for 10 cents each and knew I had do do something with my paper to spruce them up. I gave one to my sister, one as a 65th birthday gift to sister in law's mom and kept one for myself. I visited her (my SIL's mom) a few weeks ago and I see she still has the jar on the countertop in her kitchen (with new candy of course!!).

Timothy & Graduation

2009-07-22T15:17:00.001-02:30

Although I haven't yet posted anything about my craft, I will be soon. I wanted to share a couple of recent pictures...my son's grad. Proud Mom dancing with son. Next time will be a wedding (ha ha).

Back at the Blog

2009-07-21T20:36:00.001-02:30

First things first...I just learned how to upload a picture and the only half decent one I could find was one of my husband Keith and I on our wedding day (18 years ago). Cute eh? OK...onto the blog....

Things have been good this week...I've walked three days in a row. My goal is to have 5 pounds gone by this Friday (I weighed in Friday past - the 17th). It seems like a lot for one week, but apparently it's possible! My goal after that is 1-2 pounds a week, keep up the walking and watch the cheese and crackers (ha)...

My sister came to visit me last week for a couple of days and brought with her all of her cool scrapbooking stuff (I was in heaven). She has way more stuff than I do. She left me with a pile of doodles, sketches, ideas for patterns for our new website paperandpiecings.com (which I'm really excited about). I spent Sunday evening past going through the pile and discarded a lot of it...but there's still a stack of it on my coffee table. My next designs will be hockey, pregnancy, robots. I've got a zillion ideas. Can't wait to get these done and see them on the website!

I've been offline for a few days -- had to take the computer into the shop to get a new graphics card installed. Everything seems ticketie-boo now!

I also have to spend some more time figuring out and learning to do the blog thing...but I sure am likin' it. :) 'Til next time.

Welcome to Paper & Piecings.com

2009-07-13T08:45:00.002-02:30

Well our new website www.paperandpiecings.com is up and running - albeit in it's infancy. I'm excited about this new endeavour! Back again later....

Welcome !

2009-07-07T11:41:00.001-02:30

This is me...checking out my new blog. I'm here for the first time and I'm really quite new at this.