Happy Birthday to ME!

June 7th was my birthday. Want to take a guess as to how old I am?
I had a Stampin' playdate with Amy and Michelle. Their children played with my boys while we stamped with some of my new Preview catalog goodies. OMG! Michelle's brownies were SO yummy! And Gabriella helped her mommy pick out the best and cutest birthday cake! Thank you! I have yet to open up the wine, but it won't last very long! ;)

Here are some cards I have made so far with my Preview Catalog goodies:
Pick A Petal



Pick A Petal - Made this for a gift. It holds a White Gel Pen, Blender Pen, and VersaMark Pen.



Garden Shilouettes (Hostess Level 2)


Blossoms & Basics Chipboard Ladybug
Wings are made from chipboard. Wings and body are stamped with Pick A Petal stamps.


Baroque Motifs


Baroque Motifs Frame:


Three for You Punch Box



And look! Carolina (craftycaro) altered these just for me!!




Stephanie (Stinkerbell) gave me this wonderful book by Making Memories called "Decorate Life: Celebrations". It is chock full of ways to add just the right touch to this or that... especially terrific if you are a flower freak and ribbon collector, like I am! lol!

And here are pictures from my girls night out last night (belated birthday dinner)

Amy and me:


Lisa and me:


Yuka and me (my goodness, you are tall, Yuka!)


The whole gang:


Thanks for making this birthday very special
And big thanks to everyone who sent me birthday cards. I love each and every one!

XOXO
Jane

Tri-fold Triangle Album / Card

My Hostess Club members have been waiting since sometime in April / May for these instructions! After another round of migraines for me, Keiji became ill with pneumonia and Ken was having bronchial problems. Between the illnesses and Kevin's travels, I managed to lose a lot of time and energy. I do apologize for making my Stampin' gals wait. Thank you for your patience, my friends and for your encouragement. I am truly blessed to have such wonderful and supportive friends to share my passion with!

Tri-Fold Triangle Album / card:



Here's a mini card that can be a cute gift. Add a couple of pictures and some hidden journaling underneath the tabs and you have a mini trifold album.

Here we go!

Trim cardstock 3" x 9"


Score at 3" and 6"


Flip cardstock to the other side so that you will score sideways on the back. Score from the lower outside corner in.


Turn the cardstock around and do the same to the other side. Score from the lower outside corner in.


Flip it back around to the other side and fold your creases.


Left Panel: Add a triangular pp to the top triangle fold. Easiest way to do this is to take a double sided pp and trim it to 2.75" x 2.75" then cut it in half at an angle to make 2 triangles. Now you have 2 pieces of pp, one for each corner fold. Then cut out a 2.5" x 2.5" square from coordinating cardstock. Mat it with a coordinating 2.25" x 2.25" square. Over that, add another square, 2" x 2" and stamp your image or add a 2" x 2" photo. Add a 16" ribbon before putting the square down. 9" of loose ribbon to the left and use glue dots or sticky strip to anchor the ribbon down under the matted squares at about 10". The rest of the ribbon hangs off to the right. Be sure to adhere all this to the upper triangle fold. Do not glue the entire square to the panel.


Middle Panel: Cut out a 2.75" x 2.75" square and add a 2.5" x 2.5" stamped image to it or a photo.


Right Panel: Add the other triangular pp to the lower triangle fold. Cut out a rectangle, 2" x 1". Mat with a stamped image on 1.75" x .75" or a photo. Adhere the rectangle to the upper triangle fold. Do not adhere the entire rectangle to the panel.


Final product:


Fold right triangle in first. Then fold left side down. Bring the ribbon up and the bottom ribbon around the backside.


Turn so the stamped image or photo is right side up. Tie off on the side.


Now let's see what you come up with!!
Cheers!
Jane

Catching up!

Well, I guess it was a pretty busy May, seeing how I last posted in time for Easter and then there's nothing since then. It's difficult to believe half the year is nearly gone, as we quickly make our way through June.

Since I posted, Kevin flew to Japan, came home, and is currently in Taiwan until Thursday. He is coming home for my birthday. That's right... June 7th. I was just talking with Amy about how weird this year's birthday is for me. I loved turning 30. Getting to 35 was exciting. Now that I am going to be 36, it just feels weird. I'm not sure if it's the number itself or what... can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe someone can clue me in?

A few things that have happened since Easter...
I have been teaching Arts & Crafts to 2-4 yr olds at MACC Preschool on Mondays, and Tot Time to 2 year olds on Tuesdays and Fridays. Ken is wrapping up his first year of preschool at MACC this Thursday. Keiji just finished his Tot Time class today. I will start a 4 week Preview to Preschool class for 3 year olds on June 27th. The in the Fall, another teacher will join me and we will have 2 separate Tot Time classes! I will teach on Wednesdays and Fridays. The other teacher will teach Tuesdays and Thursdays. We even have a couple of teachers slotted to be substitutes! Tot Time is a success! Woo hoo!!! SO relieved!

Ken is now a Junior League Bowler at Homestead Lanes. He is currently the youngest bowler in the Rascals division. Kevin and I are immensely proud of our 4 year old.



He bowls with a 6 pound Eeyore ball without the bumpers. His high game since he started 3 weeks ago is 65. Currently, he is in the summer session with his first bowling team. His other passion is soccer.



Ken loves taking soccer classes with Just 4 Kicks.

The boys went to their first show ever... Sesame Street! You should have seen their faces!


BIG thanks to "Uncle" Darryl for the tickets!!!

Stampin' UP! has come out with the Preview Catalog for the upcoming Fall / Winter Collections Catalog, which is due out on July 1st. I placed my orders for the preview items at midnight, June 1st. My goodies are scheduled to arrive tomorrow! I can not wait! My dear friends and fellow SU! demos, Carolina and Stephanie, are coming over tomorrow night. Hopefully their orders will get to them before they head over, so we can play with our new stamp sets and split the new Rhinestone Brads.

Speaking of SU! Here are a few cards I have made during the past month:






Coming up next:
Instructions on Tri-fold Triangle album, Waterfall card, and Tri-fold photo holder.

Cheers!
Jane

Happy Easter!!

Oh my goodness! It has been well over a month since my last post. It definitely shows how craaaaazy busy the past month has been.

Here are some pictures to share from our Easter activities:

Sand pails that were used as Easter pails for the morning Easter hunt:


Tye Dye Easter Eggs:


The two oldest cousins:


My 2 boys!


Wishing you all a very Happy Easter!

Hoping to get some crafting done tonight! It has been a very long time.

5 things that made you smile this past weekend...

Just a quick challenge I saw on Lisa's blog "Aw Scrap":
List 5 things that made you smile this past weekend!

1. Keiji curling up in my lap and snuggling while watching the Disney Channel on Sunday morning.
2. My boys racing around the home, laughing uncontrollably.
3. I have to smile everytime I walk past my guest room or the living room.
4. The strange lump on my bed turned out to be my cat curled up under the comforter.
5. Ken had a bad dream Saturday night and cried out for me, instead of his father. He even asked me to stay by his bed until he fell asleep. He hasn't done that in a long time.

Now it's your turn!

A Japanese Workshop!

Wow! Did I have a blast today! My friend, Fujimi, asked me to host a card workshop in Japanese for her friends. Unfortunately, her daughter was running a fever, so she had to miss out on the fun. However, her 3 friends did make it over, despite the rain. Here are a few of the cards that we made.


The image was stamped on vellum. Turned over, the image was colored in with Watercolor crayons or Watercolor pencils and Aqua Painters. Then for the finishing touch, the words were written over with a white gel pen. I also highlighted areas of the cup and saucer with the white gel pen. A large square punch was used to create the window. Word Window Punch was used to create the 2 strips along the bottom. Black brads are from the Vintage Brads collection.


A very simple card... the white gel pen was used to create faux stitching.


The Winter Mini has the Pocket Notecards, which we stamped on with Print Pattern and French Script background stamps. A 1-1/4 " square punch was used for the window. On the flower, the 2-way glue pen was used to adhere glitter. A piercing tool and piercing template was used on the end of the notecard.


A card with a bookmark! The crimper was used on the stamped cardstock for the bookmark. And the perforating tool from the Cutter Kit was used on the fold between card and bookmark.


Sponge daubers were used to create soft distressing along the edges of the Mellow Moss and So Saffron cardstock. Flowers were stamped and cut out.


Bright and cheerful colors for a totally Wild About You birthday card! The distressing tool from the Cutter Kit was used on the Only Orange cardstock. Lots of layering on this card!

And there was a 6 x 6 scrapbook page that was made with the SAB Simply Scrappin' Kit. I forgot to take a picture of it. Whoopsie!

I really enjoyed doing this! My next workshop will be the Techniques Workshop & Hostess Club next month... date still to be determined. I know! I'm running out of time! And after that, there will be a series of card workshops where guests can pay $10 to make and take 8 cards home with them, envelopes included. Mail art is all the rage right now! Can't wait to show my clients how to jazz up their envies!

Clean up!

I'm still laughing at a post made by Julie at 2SCD that started with "MY EYES!! MY EYES!!!" This was in regards to this picture of my craft/guest room that was temporarily a storage room:

Well, I challenged myself to get it cleaned up within a few days and I did it! Just in time for Anna, and her girls! They came down from Reno for a few days to stay with us.
Here's the new room:

AND...
Yesterday, my dear friend, Amy, helped me re-decorate part of the family room and here it is!

It's amazing what she did with this room! Everything looks new, but they are just things she found around the home. I love it! Thank you, Amy! Besos!

Happy 2nd birthday, Keiji!

February 10th was Keiji's 2nd birthday. It's so hard to believe my baby is two!


Next up will be Ken's 4th birthday. FOUR! Yikes... time certainly flies by quickly.