Weekend Question--weddings

I have a wedding to go to tomorrow (my 4th one this year and all with no date to go with me...but that is another story ;) ). I was told that the registry was pretty picked over a few weeks ago already so I need to get creative on the gift.

So my question to you is:

What is your favorite wedding gift to give?
Do you always go off the registry? Do you give money or gift cards? Or do you get creative? Help me out!

Monday Update:
Thank you to everyone who helped me out with wedding gift ideas. I always love hearing other people's opinions and thought processes behind those opinions so THANKS! I decided to go with a gift card. I know how much other friends of mine appreciated all the gift cards they got and how fun it is to have "fun money" to spend on something special.

Fixing mistakes to salvage a card.

Ever have those cards that just give you a lot of trouble, and then you try to fix it, but mess something else up? This card was one of those cards! I had two stamped images of "tiers of treats" by Stampendous. They were both on Whisper White, but I really wanted to use my watercolor crayons. I knew that watercoloring and whisper white don't mix...but I tried it out. The image looked really cute colored in...until I accidently smeared it. So on to image #2...I decided to carefully use watercolor crayons again, but then clear emboss over the entire image so it wouldn't smear. This worked really well...until I realized that my Pretty in Pink frosting turned into Cameo Coral when heated...GRRRRR! Cameo Coral totally didn't match the paper I planned to use with the image! So then I got a genius idea. I used Crystal Effects over the frostings on image #1, let it dry and then cut just the frosting part of each cupcake/piece of cake out and adhered them on image #2. What a lot of work!



I got the patterned paper for this card from Joy and Daisy and it is soooooo rich and shimmery and nice. The picture totally doesn't show how cool it really looks. It is called Cute Cakes-Shimmery-striped Decor by Heidi Grace. The paper itself is shimmery and then some of the lines and dots are embossed clear and glittery--you definitely have to see it in person!

Treasure Hunt

Every once in a while I play this little "game" to make sure I comment on the less well known blogs and just to find fun stampin' blogs that I didn't know about. I call it "Treasure Hunt" I go to the comments section of one of my blog posts and pick a person that commented and go comment on their blog. Then I pick someone that commented on that person's blog and visit that blog and make a comment and on down the line. I did it today and kept track of the blogs I visited. Here is a list of the first 6. I challenge you to try this out sometime also. It is fun and it passes on the love.

http://starcreations.blogspot.com/ Esther

http://andreabrownjohn.blogspot.com/ Andrea

http://stashstashandmorestash.blogspot.com/ Sarah

http://thecraftinggarden.blogspot.com/ Sam

http://comestampwithme.blogspot.com/ Michelle

http://stampinonthemountain.blogspot.com/ Stampingranny

Cards for Sale

So I have been debating for a while, but have decided to start selling my cards. Yesterday I sold the first group--what a great feeling!!! For a while I have given sets of cards as gifts for family. My family loves my cards, but I just assumed that people wouldn't want to buy cards from me, I feared my cards weren't good enough to sell. After seeing the reactions of the ladies that looked at my cards tonight I don't have that fear anymore ;) I brought a stack of cards thinking the person I was bringing them for could pick the ones she liked. Well, she wanted them all!

So to all my non-stamping friends or family let me know if you are interested in purchasing handmade cards from me.

"Kewl" birthday

When I make cards I usually only make one of each design. I don't have the patience to sit and make the same card, I would rather create something different. So unless it is a design I really like, there is only one of each card. That being said, I liked today's card so much that I made a second one after I finished the first one. It was just a fun card to make and I love this Fancy Pants patterned paper.

paper: Fancy Pants--Kewl-Sublime, Stampin' Up--Pale Plum, Real Red, Confetti White
stamps: Stampin' Up!-- Tags and More, It's Your Birthday
other: brads, Mat pack, white gel pen, aqua painter and SU! markers, ticket corner punch

Happy Anniversary!

Last week, I challenged myself to make 15 cards with those images I had hoarded...I made about 6... and then started stamping other cards. One of my friends wanted to buy cards from me and it was taking way to long to make the image ones. Also I was having trouble making some of the images into birthday cards. I still plan on finishing my 15 and I will slowly share all the ones I have made making sure I number up to 15.

The card I am sharing today is one that I am sending to my parents for their anniversary (which is next week). I made the card about 2 months ago and even though it was a while before their anniversary I knew this was the card I wanted to send. This year my parents are celebrating their 36th anniversary! I want to give them a little shout out and a thanks for modeling a God centered marriage. I love you Mom and Dad!

Movie Monday--Family Feud

Family Feud used to be a favorite game show of mine. As a kid we even had the computer version and I would play it all the time with my brother. Here is a hilarious clip from the fast money round of family feud when the host can't stop laughing. It is pretty funny.

Weekend Question

If you could be really good at one thing (that you aren't that great at now) what would it be?

I will answer this question on Monday. I would love to hear your answer--so leave a comment and let me know!


MONDAY UPDATE: I think if I had to choose one thing I would want to be good at sports. I am so not athletic at all. I played soccer as a kid for many years and I loved it, but I was never really good at it. I like sports, but I stink and so it is not as much fun to play! I am a leader (one of 6) for high school youth group at my church and most weeks after we are all done we play "death ball" which is really dodge ball, but when you have high schoolers throwing the ball sometimes it gets a little scary (I think we only put a hole in the wall once...or twice) It would be so cool to be in the front line dodging balls like I was in "The Matrix" and throwing them back with speed and force. But alas no, I am the one hiding in the back usually screaming when balls come near ;).

Celebrate

I realized recently that I need to send out more cards. I know how much I love receiving cards--it makes my day when I get one in the mail. I need to start making other people's days a lot more. I seem to make cards, but more often than not I find excuses for not sending them out. Such as--well if I send a card to that one friend I have to send one to the whole group. Or another excuse is that I often forget birthdays and I don't want to start sending cards only to forget for a different person in their family and hurt feelings. Sometimes I am ashamed to say I don't send a card because I have sent many cards to that person and they never send me one--how selfish is that??? So anyways I sat down today, stopped making excuses, thought of a few people and wrote out cards for them. Sitting on a table next to my door are cards for my Grandma V. (just a hello), my parents (anniversary coming up), my SIL (birthday coming up), my best friend (just got a new job), and 2 other friends (thank yous). So if you are one of those people expect a card to reach your doorstep very soon...and if you aren't, well don't lose hope you might be receiving a card sometime in the near future because I plan on sending out a lot more!

So this card I am showing today is the card for my best friend who just got a new job. I can show it because I am pretty sure she won't read my blog before she gets it ;)

Here are a few notes about the card:

*The patterned paper is from my 6 x 6 Phoebe pack by Basic Grey. There is a piece of plain green (actually called Golden Gate Bridge Park) over the lined/decorated piece (called Ashbury Street).

*The flowers are stamped with white staz-on on a piece of clear acetate. The acetate is attached in the top left and bottom right corners with white DMC floss that I stitched on.

*The "Celebrate" is from the retired SU! set Lexicon of Love. I got the set from a friend and she had cut the words out of the stamps (getting rid of the rest) and left them unmounted. I love having it that way because that is the part I would want and I would have had to use a marker each time to just try to get that part of the stamp.

Must See Movie--The Ultimate Gift

I know that today isn't a movie monday, but I have a must see movie that I can't wait to share! This movie is called "The Ultimate Gift." It just came out on DVD this Tuesday.
I am always on the lookout for clean movies. I get sick of seeing movies with a good plot that they ruin by filling them with swearing and sexual jokes/actions. This movie is clean and the message is one that is so good. So go rent the movie and then come tell me what you think about it.

With friends like you...

The card I am sharing today makes me laugh. I am still trying to figure out who I am going to send it to. It can be the wrong card to send to someone who isn't totally confident in your friendship. So I am trying to find the person with a good sense of humor that will laugh like I laughed when I saw this image and sentiment.
. I can't remember what company made these stamps (if you know feel free to leave it in your comment) so I have to go search it out. I colored the image using prisma pencils and gamsol. The patterned paper is from a pack of Magnolia/Wild Asparagus papers that I got from Costco a while back. The cardstock is Old Olive and Sage Shadow. I don't know that I would have put those two colors together on my own, but for this card it really works!

Movie Monday--Stina's Andy Roddick video

Today's movie is just a fun one! It is a must see whether you care about tennis or not. My friend Stina made it--she is so talented! She took the video footage from her seat at the match and edited it to make the video. I love how she makes the video fit the music like the music was made just for her footage. Just watch and you will see what I mean!

image hoarder and a pocket card

I have a group of stamping friends that likes to get together to stamp and chat. (I have to admit usually more chatting than stamping happens.) Whenever we get together we all bring new stamps that we have gotten so that everyone can see them. Everyone brings their own paper and ink and then we swap stamps and stamp images of other people's stamps that we would like to try out. This is a great way to make a few cards with cute images without having to shell out a ton of money. Because-face it-very few of us can afford all the stamps we would like to have!

The point of doing this is to stamp images and then color them and use them to make cards, right?...

well here is what I found when I went through all of my cardstock scraps today...

Oopsies!!! I literally could make over 60 cards just using those images I never made into cards!

My goal (after I finish my clean sweep of course) is to make at least 15 cards using these images before stamping anything else.

I made #1 today.

details coming later...

Clean Sweep--my version.

Are any of you pack-rats? I for sure am! I think that crafters in general tend to keep a lot of "stuff" because we are creative and think "why throw that away I am sure I can use it again or alter it to make something else!" I was also raised in a home where we didn't have a lot of extra money, so I was taught to be thrifty and not throw things away that I might need later. To top it off I am also very sentimental and will keep things just for the memories that I have from the item. Can anyone relate at all???

This week my job has been to go through my house and throw away stuff that I have packed away or stored, but don't really need. (This includes, but isn't limited to, clothes that I have outgrown, papers I don't need to keep, and house decorations I will never use.) I would show you a "before" picture, but I am waaaaayyyy too embarrassed to do that. I would show you a "middle" of the way picture, but it looks worse than the "before" ;) (you know how you take everything out and it sits in the middle of the floor looking like...well, junk?) Hopefully soon I will be able to show an "after" picture with my whole house organized!!
...And if I don't blog for a few days you might want to come looking for me in case my closet avalanched on me. ;)

Thank you from my heart

This card was very simple to make, but I love the clean look of it. The patterned paper is two different pieces from the Phoebe line by Basic Grey. In case you didn't know yet, Basic Grey has added scaled down versions their newer patterns to make 6 x 6 sheets perfect for card making! I bought the Phoebe 6 x 6 pad from Eclectic Paperie a while back and I have made a lot of cards with it...so worth it! The stamp is another one from Pollen Dust by Fancy Pants--I know I have used the set a lot lately...I just can't help it, the set is so versatile!!! I stamped right on the green patterned paper with Chocolate Chip ink. Now I just need to figure out who to send this card to. I am way behind on thanking people!

Movie Monday

I am starting a new thing called Movie Mondays. Each Monday I am going to try to share a You-Tube video/movie. Some might be funny, some might make you tear up, some might make you think, some might make you mad...just depends on my mood ;)
Todays Movie is a the Song "Does Anybody Hear Her" by Casting Crowns. Casting Crowns is one of my favorite Christian bands. I love how they share so much through the words in their songs. The video fits this song perfectly in my opinion. So sit back, watch, and enjoy!

"Dutch Girl"

When I first saw the Dutch Girl paper line from Cosmo Cricket I knew that I had to have it! Not only do I love the colors and style of the line, but being a "Dutch girl" myself I had to represent. ;) To start, I cut a square out of the Sofie Dutch Girl paper. On top of the sqare I cut out a circle from the same piece of paper. I stamped a large flower in red, a smaller flower in blue (both stamps from Pollen Dust). I cut them out, put a black brad in the center and layered them on top of the "doily". The doily pattern worked perfectly for the large flower! Finished card 5 x 5.

Give Thanks

"In everything give thanks." It is easy to give thanks when things in life are going well. It is a lot harder to give thanks when you feel things in life are going rotten. When life is rotten it is so much easier to give a list of the things that have gone wrong. A couple of years ago I was miserable where I worked, but I had given a one year commitment to the place. I was so sick of complaining and crying about all the ways I hated the place so I came up with a list of things about the job that I was thankful for (#1 it paid my rent!). Each day I would try to come up with one thing that I was thankful for--it actually made my job just a little more bearable until I could quit.

I once heard a story (I tried to look it up, but I can't find it anywhere) about a girl that was in a concentration camp during WW II and in those awful circumstances found things to be thankful for. One example was that she was thankful for the gnats/fleas/lice that were all over them and their barracks (making life even more miserable) because they were so bad that the guards wouldn't go in the barracks; therefore, the guards didn't find the Bible she had and didn't know she was reading the Bible to the other ladies. Can you imagine being thankful for fleas and lice???
Giving thanks to God takes the focus off of us and gives it back. If we take the time to think about it God has given us so much. And most importantly He sent his son to die for our sins!
So what in life are you thankful for today?

Edited: Thanks to my SIL who let me know it was Corrie Ten Boom and her sister Betsie that this story was about.__________________________________________________

stamps: Fancy Pants set "Pollen Dust." Verse is from Happy Harmony (Stampin' Up)
paper: Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Basic Black
ink: Black, markers: Bashful Blue, Real Red, So Saffron, Certainly Celery
other: brad-SU!

Scattergories Blog style!

While I am waiting for my brother to e-mail me the digital pictures I took of some recent cards I made I thought I would share this fun scattergories game. For each question your answer has to start with the same letter that your first name starts with. For boy/girl names the name can't be the same as your own. I challenge you to try this out with YOUR name.

Your Name: Jen
Famous Artist/Band/Musician: Jeremy Camp
4 letter word: Joke
Vehicle: Jeep
TV SHOW: Judge Judy
City/Town: Jackson
Boy Name: Josiah
Girl Name: Janelle
Occupation: Jailer
Something you wear: Jellies (well I don't wear them anymore, but in the 80's...)
Celebrity: Jessica Alba
Food: Jello
Something found in a kitchen: Juicer
Reason for Being Late: January snow
Cartoon Character: JackJack (The Incredibles)
Something You Shout: Jerk! (I yell this when I get cut off in traffic ;) )

Capture the moment

When you live far away from people you love, you cherish the moments you get to spend with them all the more. I had the opportunity to spend a few hours with my family while on a trip. It was short, but oh so sweet to give some hugs, eat some great food (thanks mom!), and laugh a little with family. This picture is of a moment with my niece while saying goodbye. Sometimes it is hard to live so far away because it takes her a while to get used to me each time I see her. To add to that the poor girl has all of us shoving cameras in her face trying to capture the sweet/cute moments. I was so happy to catch this short moment and get a hug from my sweet babygirl (who isn't so much a baby anymore!)