I have Moved.....

Shabby Jo Designs has moved to Facebook!  Shabby Jo Designs on Facebook

As my life and business are moving in different directions so must my presence on the world wide web!!  I just can't find the time for blogging right now.  I still want to show all my fun paper crafting adventures and at least for now Facebook seems to be the answer for both!  For those of you that have painstakingly followed my blog with its ever so sporadic posts, Thank You from the bottom of my heart.  I truly hope you continue to follow me on Facebook.  Please go check out Shabby Jo Designs on Facebook and please Like the page so you don't miss any new items!  Thanks again and I hope to see you on Facebook!

Blessings,
Shabby Jo

Valentine's Day Inspiration

 Hello everyone!  Apparently I have Valentine's on the brain - BIG TIME!!!!

 Yesterday's challenge over at SCS was an Inspirational Challenge!  This week's Inspiration came from a very talented lady, Daphne.  She has an Etsy Shop - Octopurse.  She has beautiful coin purses, iPad covers and just tons of cute stuff!!  I actually combined two items for my card.  The heart patterned coin purse got me on the valentine's road and the iPad cover inspired the tri fold design! 

Valentine's Day Tri-Fold Card

Thanks for stopping by,
Shabby Jo

Masculine Thinking of You

Today I have a Masculine Thinking of You Card I did for a WT Challenge over at SCS.  This week's challenge was to incorporate a Time theme into your design.  It could be calendars, clocks... whatever, as long as it had to do with time.  Well I bought CB's Clockworks embossing folder some time ago and have desperately wanted to play around with it but just haven't had a chance yet - until now!!  This card actually took a few turns during its creation but in the end I am really happy with the way it turned out!!

Masculine Thinking of You All The Time

 I double embossed with SU Daffodil Delight and inked a few of the gears with SU Old Olive.  I then matted it with green Core'dinations.  The woven ribbon is actually a gem of a find at the Dollar Tree - I bought all of it!!!  The buttons are SU and I used hemp cord to connect them together and attached with hot glue.  The sentiment piece is three layers.  For the top layer I hand wrote the sentiment onto vellum and then layered onto a cream colored scrap that I had inked the edges of with SU Pumkin Pie.  I matted that onto an orange colored scrap that I inked the edges of with SU Old Olive.  I punched the brads through all three layers and then threaded hemp cord through the brads and tied off with a little bow!


 Thanks for stopping by, Shabby Jo

Valentine's Day Cards!

So Christmas has come and gone and let me tell you that as for our family we are happy!!  Our holidays unfortunately were riddled with illness :((  We passed around a nasty stomach bug, allergy attacks and cruddy colds!!  Hopefully we have built some immunities and will stay healthy for a little while at least!

So jumping right into 2013 with a bang... I have some super cute Valentine's Day cards for you today!  I hope you like them - they tickle my heart for sure!

Valentine's Day Cards

 I had a ton of fun creating these little treasures!!  I designed the hearts in eCraftShop Pro and let Edward (my handsome eCraft cutting machine!!) do his handy work!!  I inked the edges of the white and red hearts with SU Real Red and the black hearts with Momento TB.  I also inked the edges of the sentiment pieces with varying combinations of SU RR and Momento TB.  The background DP for the front card is from tPS All Seasons II and the black with whites hearts DP is also tPS - B&W Doodle Hearts.

I hope everyone has a Very Special Valentine's Day no matter who you spend it with!!

Thanks for stopping by, Shabby Jo

Snowflakes for Christmas

WOW... Okay so it has been a ridiculously long time since my last post!!  Our poor little man has been quite ill off and on for the last three weeks.  I am sure everyone has decided I have just dropped off the face of the earth or something!!  Well, guess what.... I haven't and I have a great CASE project to show you today!  Today is Featured Stamper day over at SCS which deserves an automatic YIPPEEE!!  I love browsing through the galleries of these wonderfully talented artists!  Today's Stamper is Shadow's Mom!!  For those of you who don't know, the challenge is to look through the featured stamper's gallery and choose an item to CASE!! I chose her Noel Tree Card.  Here is my take on her wonderful creation.  I call it Snowflakes for Christmas!!

Snowflakes for Christmas Card

 I do not have a snowflake embossing folder so I created a similar look using a different technique.  I stamped the snowflakes with Versamark dazzle and embossed with stardust powder.  My paper is from TPS's Holiday Winter paper pack.  the blue glitter gems are from hobby lobby (I don't remember the manufacturer - sorry).  I distressed and inked the edges of the red snowflake paper and traced the edges of the christmas tree with a a blue glitter pen.  I also added diamond stickles to the white snowflakes in the tree cut out.  I attached the tree with dimensionals.

Well I know it is a little early for Christmas but I have got to get started early this year.  I am anticipating a lot more orders than I am use to and don't want end up in panic mode!!

I hope every one has a wonderful Thanksgiving and for those of you traveling.... please be safe!

Thanks for stopping by, Shabby Jo

CASE Challenge

Well that's pretty obvious isn't it!!  You guessed it, today's card is for the Featured Stamper Challenge over at SCS.  We were to CASE a card from this week's featured stamper - Nines.  She has so many wonderful cards to choose from it took me a while to pick one but I finally got to one that grabbed me!

I needed a Sympathy card so I adapted the colors and sentiment to suit my needs.  Here is my card...

Sympathy Card

As usual this card was entirely with scraps!!  The Sentiment is from SU and the floral images are from DOTS, all stamped with Momento Tuxedo Black.  I dry embossed with CB's Tiny bubbles.  I then brayered over the bubbles with Versamark Dazzle and applied kaleidoscope powder and heat set.  I rounded the only the bottom corners - I really like how that makes it look!!

Well my peeps that's all I have for today!  Not much time for crafting lately but I'll be back again as soon as I can!

Thanks for stopping by, Shabby Jo

Double the Challenge!

Today I am submitting a card for two challenges!  Woohoo!  It's not very often that one of my creations qualifies for more than one challenge but today it just worked out that way!  Maybe the goodness of the Liebster Award is giving me a hand.  Who knows, anyway here is my card for today...

Orchid Tile Card

Both challenges are over at SCS, the first being the 400th Technique Lover's Challenge (woohooo!!) Cut It Up! We were asked to take an image and cut it up any way we wanted - it just had to be cut up!  Well I am certainly not a 'Random' kinda girl so of course mine are cut into neat little squares!  (Me and OCD are close friends/enemies!!)  So The image I decided to use is this old tried and true stamp that I inherited from some one's getting out of the hobby give away.  It has no name or company on it so sorry I can't help with that.  Anyway, every time I use this stamp I have so much because I get to color - I always stamp the image in black and color the flowers what ever colors are in my mood that day!!  So I did just that today.  I stamped and started my therapy session oh uh I mean coloring session!  Then it hit me... wasn't there a challenge from last week that was about coloring??  I didn't have anytime at all to craft last week - the only thing I did was glance through some galleries and look at what the challenges were but I didn't have to do any of them.  So I got on mt computer and checked.  Sure enough last thursday's challenges was Ways To Use It - Crazy For Crayons!!!  How lucky is that!  So back to the card... there really isn't a lot to tell this time.  I stamped and colored the image as I said, then cut it up and mounted the pieces on to some scrap purple cardstock and mounted those pieces onto the card front.

Hope you like it!  I hope to get back to my regular crafting addiction soon!  These spur-attic moments of speed crafting is not cuttin it - - I need more I tell ya, I need MORE!!! 

 Well until then thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day,
 Shabby Jo 

Liebster Award!!!!

WOW!!  I am so honored and humbled today by one of my fellow paper crafters, Terri!!  Thank you so much - you totally made my day, my week, heck my whole year!!!  I began my blog at the tugging advice of a friend to share what I love to do so much - PLAY!!!  My proverbial playground has so many stations I couldn't list them all here without everyone falling asleep but let's just say I love to make things and I love to make them my own way!  It is such a wonderful feeling to know that other people are actually peeking into my little world and enjoying what they see.  Thank you Terri so very much for being such a faithful follower and for thinking of me for this awesome award!!

 

ABOUT THE AWARD

Liebster is a German word meaning "Beloved," "Favorite," or "Dearest." This award is a peer to peer award in which fellow bloggers present the award to their favorite bloggers with less than 200 followers. The origins of this award is unclear, but is believed to have originated by a German blogger. This award was designed to be a blog award in the pay it forward fashion to share your dearest and most beloved blogs that have less than 200 followers.

RULES FOR ACCEPTANCE

Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to their blog. Post the award onto your blog. Give the award to five bloggers who you appreciate that have less than 200 followers. Leave a comment on their blog letting them know that you have given them this awesome award!

Like Terri, I follow quite a few wonderful blogs of some very talented people!  Choosing five was extremely difficult but rules are rules!!  So here goes....
Marilyn of Paper Dreams
Missouri is keeping a little secret...but today, I'm telling!!!  I love Marilyn's take on the challenges, her eye for color combinations in uncanny!  All of her creations are beautiful, clean and inspiring!

Kris of Purple Night Owl
I may not have ever met Kris in person but I can tell you she is fun and whimsical!  How do I know? Go check out her creations and you will see for yourself!

Shae of Glitter and Bonbons
Again, a person I have never met yet we have so much in common!  We have very similar interests and hobbies! From fabulous cards to beautiful roses, she is amazing!  I must admit, I am quit jealous... she has only been blogging for a little over a month and is already blogging like RockStar while I am still in groupy status!  Go check out all the wonderful things that make her happy!!

Lois of Clownmom Creations
This wonderful lady is a pleasure to follow!  Everything she makes is nothing short of stunning!  you just have to see for yourself on this one!

Last but not least...
Cathymac of Golden Inkspirations
I swear I have a kinship to this woman!!  She loves Golden Retrievers and Coloring!!!!  What more in life does one need anyway?? I think our dogs even look alike! ha ha ha!!  Anyway, her work is B-E-A-Utiful!  Her style is very classy and unique!  I hope you wag your tails on over to see her golden creations! 

Please take just a few of your time and visit all these wonderful blogs. I just know you will love them as much as I do and be prepared to be inspired!!  Don't forget to l eave a little love when you visit. Thank you!!

Thanks again to Terri for thinking of me. You are AWESOME!!
 
Thanks for stopping by, 
Shabby Jo

Halloween Birthday Invitaions

Halloween is coming and with comes parties themed for the season!  A friend and her son both have October birthday's!  This year her son wanted a Halloween Birthday Party!!!  Oh what fun!  I was asked to do the invitations and just could wait to dive in to this spooktacular task! I even got to play with Edward on this project!

Halloween Birthday Party Invitation

I printed the invitation verbiage and spooky tree onto orange card stock.  I created shadow cut files from the ghost and pumpkin stamp from stampabilites - Fall Holidays set, using MTC.  Then sent the cut files to my darling Edward (my eCraft!).  I then stamped the images onto their corresponding shadow cut outs.  For each ghost and pumpkin there are actually two of them.  I glued two together with the embroidery thread in between.  I threaded them through the orange card stock and attached to the back.  Then I adhered the orange card to the black card base.  I added the foam glittery bat I got from hobby lobby.  And there you have it!  They turned out really cute, everyone loved that the ghost and pumpkin were 'hanging' freely from the tree - it made it fun!
Now I have to get my creative juices in high gear.  I am hosted my SAHM Play Group's Annual Halloween Party!  We will have fun and spooky snacks, spooktacular crafts, and ghostly games!  I can't wait to see all the kids and their costumes and I especially love seeing their completed crafts!  Well about a week left to prepare so I better get cracking on it!


Thanks for stopping by, Shabby Jo

Halloween Card

I know I know, another week has gone by between posts!!  I am just crazy busy these days with too many balls in the air and did I mention I never did learn how to juggle!!  My darling husband knows how and it makes my son really laugh when ever he shows off his juggling expertise!!  Okay sorry, I digress....

Well at least for the last few days it has finally started to somewhat resemble the fall season around here!  I love this time year.  The colors, well to tell the truth all the wonderful fall colors are in my house via my much loved fall decorations.  We don't get a whole lot of color changes in my area of the world.  So I create it every year inside my house - I LOVE IT!!!!  I also get excited about Halloween.  I love to see all the kiddos in their costumes and smiling faces going through our neighbor on the ever so long awaited candy hunt of the year!!  From the little ones barely learning to walk with their parents toting the pumpkin shaped basket, to the toddlers saying trick or treat while holding out their bags all by themselves this year, to the ones that everyone knows are 'too old' but you fill their bag anyway, and everyone in between!! 
Today's post kicks of the Halloween Season with a BAM!!  It is a card for a challenge they do over at Splitcoast stampers every Saturday.  It's called the Inspiration Challenge!  I love it to the say the least!  The host chooses a source and you gather inspiration and create away....  that's it, no other rules, the door is wide open!!!  Here is this past Saturday's Inspiration source Magpie IC357.   I chose the backgammon plates for my inspiration.  As soon as I saw them I thought Halloween - I mean who wouldn't right?  Black and Orange spell Halloween right?!!  Here is my card...

Halloween Card

 What I really love about this card is how cute it turned out in such little time!!  This card maybe took me 20 minutes to make and I made it all from scraps!!  I cut and adhered the top square background then added this adorable ribbon I got from Tuesday Morning a wile back just below the background piece.  I cut random triangular shapes from  orange and black.  I angled, flipped, flopped and moved the pieces around until I got the look I wanted.  The white is just the background showing through.  I then cut nesting sized pieces for the sentiment.  I distressed all the edges and inked the edges of the top one with Momento Tuxedo black.  I also very lightly ran my dauber over the entire piece so it wasn't so stark white!  The Happy Halloween sentiment is from Stampabilities - Fall Holidays. 

I hope everyone else is enjoying this time of year.  I know some of you actually get more crafting done because you live where the white fluffy stuff locks you indoors a little more than you like!!

Happy Fall and Thanks for stopping by,
Shabby Jo

Falling Leaves

Wow, I have been so busy I didn't realize how long it had been since I blogged!  Gosh has it really been over a week??  Time flies when you having fun right!!  Well I have still been crafting a little this week but I have mostly been working on getting myself and my life organized - HAH!!!  More on that later... For today, here is a card I did for this weeks Free 4 All challenge over at SCS - Fall Leaves

Falling Leaves

I bought several packages of these silk leaves last year at Hobby Lobby.  I have been itching to use them and kinda already had a card sketch in my mind but other things kept coming first.  When I saw today's challenge was all about fall leaves I jumped for joy and grabbed my leaves and went to work!!  I created the window using coredinations nostalgia cardstock in green and burgundy. The leaves are, as I said abive, from Hobby Lobby and the ribbon is from my stash (I save every piece of ribbon I come across!!)

As for my mention of the big nasty "O" word... organize... I am trying (once again mind you) to get a better handle on my household management and reorganize my studio to create a better work flow and hopefully cut down on the cluttery mess that always follows any project I work on!!  For my household arena I am employing lists galore!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE LISTS!!!  When I have the right lists and use them I fell so much more at peace with the world!!  I am also employing a few tips and tricks from the good ole Flylady.  She has a ton of great ideas but there is also a ton of stuff that just doesn't work me so I am picking and choosing from all different resources and rebooting my Home Management Binder!!!  I might even post some results when I am finished - we'll see!!!  Well, none of this reorganizing is going to get done by itself so I am signing off for today and hope to be back sooner than a week this time!!!

 Thanks for stopping by, Shabby Jo

Anniversary Easel Card

Today's post is an Anniversary Easel card I did for my in-laws that I also submitted for today's Ways To Use Challenge WT393 -Fancy Folds over at Splitcoaststampers.  This was my first time to attempt one of these little cuties and I must say it wasn't the easiest card to make by far but oh did it turn out cute!!!  Just think what I could do if I actually practiced at these and knew what I was doing!!!

So it is 47th wedding anniversary for my Mother and Father in-law and I looked up what the traditional and modern gifts were and they both said BOOKS!!!  I am not the kind of person to buy someone else a book unless I happen to know about one they want - which hardly ever happens.  Plus both my MIL and FIL have electronic readers.  So anyway, while doing my daily check-in over at SCS I wnet to see what today's challenge was and oh my gosh... problem solved.  Check out the challenge to get all the deets but just know that this little Easel Card baby was one of the options!!!  How perfect is that - I get my card and a book all in one, yaaahhhh!!!  Now I don't have a particular site that I got my idea from.  I checked out the tutorial from SCS here.  Then I looked at probably a hundred different sites to get the hang of how they worked and the different styles out there and came up with this....

Anniversary Easel Card

Part of what made this card difficult for me (beside having never done one before!!) was that I do not have a die cut that makes this book shape so I had to design one in inkscape first then make an svg file for good ole Edward (my eCraft) to work with!!  The yellow DP under the sentiment card is SU! Bright Collection Patterns Pack is TPS Deja Blue.  The card and book base are actually from scraps box.  Is is somewhere between  SU! Tempting Turquoise and Pacific Point but I don't know exactly the brand or name -sorry.  I inked the edges of the book easel with a blended combination of Tempting Turquoise and Old Olive.  For the book base I did a lot of soft sponging all over with SU! Daffodil Delight, Old Olive and CTMH Oak Brown.  I then went back over the edges with Tempting Turquoise and just a tiny bit of Old Olive.  For the inner white "page"  I created the wrap around text (also in inkscape) and printed it then using the hinge method I gave to Edward to cut out!!  The text is 1Cor 13:14 repeated all the way around.  Lastly, I created the sentiment in PSE10 and printed it out on Whisper White and inked the edges with Tempting Turqouise.  The ribbon for the 'book mark' is from my scraps. 

Well I hope you like it and I also hope to practice and get better to bring you more of these in the future!!

If you would like the svg files send me an email and I will send you the files!!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by,
Shabby Jo

When you begin with Paris...

Hello everyone and No I am NOT in Paris!!!  I wish!!!  Today I bring you a wedding card I did for a dear friend.  She knows this wonderfully adorable couple who were getting married and I was honored when asked if I would make a card for her to give them!!

So yes, I have to give a little background first... First of all did I mention how fabulous this couple is??  Can I tell you I haven't had the pleasure of meeting them??  Yes, you read that right.... I am bragging about two people I have never met before.  I know how fabulous they are through the eyes of my dear friend who speaks fondly of them often.  So, I kinda feel as though I know them too!!  Okay, back to the wedding card (I digress, get use to it!!).  The couple took a trip to Paris where he proposed to her under the Eiffel Tower!!  I will give you a moment to soak that in.... OMG! How Romantic is that - A Fairy Tale Romantic - That's How Romantic!!!  With that the design theme was chosen.... Paris of course!!

Here is the card!

Paris Dream Wedding Tri-Shutter Card

My friend brought the couples' "Save the Date" card and wedding invitation to use for color inspiration.  The dp is Destinations Afar by Katie Pertiet.  The center panel was created by embossing a piece of SU! Tempting Turquoise with the Paper Studio's Intricate Swirls folder and inking the edges with SU! Pacific Point and Tempting Turquoise.  The dp panels were matted with coredination cardstock and edges inked with CTMH Wild Flower.  The four corner panels were matted with SU! Daffodil Delight , edges inked with Wild Flower and then coredination cardstock also with the edges inked with Wild Flower.  All of the embellishments; the center photo of Paris, the tassel tied to the corner of the photo, and the four corner photos of the couple were all cut from their Save the Date package.  Those cute photo booth pictures of them.... the couple had them taken in a photo booth in Paris after the proposal - and acceptance of said proposal of course!!!  As for the sentiment, I personally get to take credit for that one!!!  I was struggling at first what to say on this one.  They are both very beautiful, educated and sophisticated people.  The typical cutesy stuff was not going to cut it on this one.  But then all of a sudden it hit me, I ran it by my friend and she loved it!!  After all, how else could a story continue on from Paris but as a dream!!  I wish them all the happiness in the world and that their marriage is one dream come true after another!!


Thanks for stopping by, Shabby Jo

Count Your Blessings

Well, I am officially calling it the Fall Season at my house!!  Though I am in Texas and we really don't have such a season, still I am ready to bring our the beautiful fall colors!  Today's card starts off the season quite well I think!  I entered this card into this weeks Sketch Challenge: SC402 over at SCS.

Count Your Blessings - Thanksgiving Card

The dp all came from the Paper Studio's Natural Botanical pack.  The solid cardstock was from my stash.  The big beautiful sunflower came from Hobby Lobby ~ everything FALL if 40% off right now!!!  The leaves and raffia are from a large box of random "greenery" that I have.  I inked the edges of the background piece with SU! Pumpkin Pie and the horizontal piece with Old Olive.  For the sentiment piece, I used the Spellbinders Nestabilities - Big Scalloped Squares Large to cut and emboss the shape, inked the edges with Pumpkin Pie and stamped the sentiment (unknown designer) with Old Olive.

Don't you just love the color combination?  I certainly do!!  Now if only we could get a little more of what northern states know to be Fall down here!!!

That's it for today hope you enjoyed my little appetizer of Fall because there is more to come and wait till you see the main course!!



Thanks for stopping by,
Shabby Jo

Well Traveled Birthday

Today I am posting a card I actually did last month.  I made a Tri-Shutter Card for my brother for his birthday!  I didn't want to post it until I knew he had received it first!!  And then well I had moved on to my next projects and kept forgetting to go back and post it!!  So here you go folks...

My brother has loved motorcycles for as long as I can remember and has owned a few here and there!  Though I am terrified for the people who ride motorcycles... I acknowledge and understand my brother's passion for The Ride!!  He currently has made the switch from the 'crotch rockets' I remember from the past to the more sophisticated ride of a Harley touring bike.  He and his wife enjoy long cross country rides together on his new bright red beauty!!  When I started working on his card they had just returned from a trip that took them from southern Oklahoma to northern Wisconsin!  They had a wonderful time seeing all that beautiful country.  Okay so all of that to give you the reason for the elements I chose for his card.

Well Traveled Birthday - Tri Shutter Card

For the front and back panels, I searched and searched until I found a digital image of a map of the state of Wisconsin (most of their trip was centered around being in Wisconsin).  I made sure that specific cities of significance were visible.  I distressed the edges of the map pieces with red SU! Real Red and the center sentiment piece with SU! Old Olive.  As for the motorcycle - just when I was about to give up on finding a sticker of a motorcycle that was red, I was walking down the sticker isle for the last time in the last available store in my area when my 2 1/2 year old son said, "look mommy, motorcycle!!"  I looked where is little finger was pointing and there it was!!!  Not just a motorcycle - but a RED one, yeaaahh!!  My little man saved the day!!  I would tell you the sticker deets but I have forgotten and already threw away the outer packaging, I'm sorry.  I can tell you I got it at HL and it also had a leather jacket, gloves and a helmet.  The other dp is from the Paper Studio's glory 2 God paper pack.  The ribbon accents are 1" grosgrain.

Well, I hope you enjoyed today's post.  If you are new to my blog and want to see the details of how make a Tri Shutter Card, check out this post.


Thanks for stopping by,
Shabby Jo

Butterfly Birthday

This is my second post for today so please be sure to scroll down to check out my really cool Snake Party Invitations!!

This card is for a sketch challenge over at Splitcoaststampers - the Sketch Challenge 401.
This is the sketch...

This was my first sketch challenge and I was excited to participate!  I actually found it kinda relieving... Half the work is done for me - the design of the card.  All I had to do was fill in the blocks - how fun is that!!

Well, a few weeks ago I was given the Inkadinkado Gem Stone Insects stamp set.  I thought it would be really great to make a card using those stamps and send it to the thoughtful giver!!!  So here is my card...

Butterfly Thank You Slider Card -Closed

Butterfly Thank You Slider Card -Open

First of all as you can see, I modified the large horizontal front piece (piece #4). I turned it into a message slider!!  It took my a little while to figure how the mechanics but I finally figured it out.  I plan on doing a tutorial and posting it this weekend.  The glitter white background piece was dry embossed with cuttlebug's Tiny bubbles folder then embossed with versamark and kaleidoscope translucent powder.  I promise the picture does not do it justice - I have got to learn how to capture the glitter in my photographs!!!  Anyway, the butterfly paper for piece #2 I created with the small butterfly from the set using CTMH Wild Flower.  The other stamped images were also done with CTMH Wild Flowers then embellished with glitter pens and small gems from Hobby Lobby.  I Love how this turned out - beautiful and elegant!

Okay, well that is all the time I have for today but hopefully I'll be back tomorrow to post about an awesome wedding card I did last night!!
 
Thanks for stopping by, Shabby Jo

Snake Party Invitations

 Ssssoo, a friend of mine has called the famous Mr. Clint - The Snake Man and he is bringing all his ssslithering friends to meet her youngest son and his friends at his 4th birthday party!!  This little boy is so excited - what little boy wouldn't be?!!  Live Snakes at your birthday party - how cool can you be!!  Or shall we say, how cool can your momma be!!!  Well this brave lady asked for help for the invitations and of course we came up with something great!!

Now before I show the cards I must show you something else first!  I was almost finished with the invitations, I was just putting my little Create by...Stamp on the back when I realized that for someone who isn't one of mr. snake's best friends... I sure had a lot of snakes in my studio!!!!

I had stopped and had a little chuckle to myself and just had to take a picture!!

So, for the front my friend had the idea that she wanted a big snake coiled up on a bed sand.  So with some glue, sand, and nice glass of my favorite wine spritzer we made a small mess but had big time fun doing it!!  I created an SVG image of a coiled up snake and sent it to Edward (my trusty eCraft machine!!) to cut them all outof this awesome snake print paper from the Paper Studio that my friend found!  I dry embossed each one with the Tiny Bubbles folder from cuttlebug, then I wiped my versamark pad across the top to apply it to just the raised bubbles then used clear embossing powder and heat set.  I took each snake and ran it along my pinky finger curling the edges to try and give them some dimension - it worked great!!   I used red satin ribbon for the tongue and Walaa we have snakes!!  It was almost creepy how realistic they turned out!!  The clear embossing gave it texture to add to the realism!!  I must admit - they were pretty awesome even though they were snakes!!

Snake Party Invitation Front

Once I got to the inside I just could not leave it plain.  I mean the front was so awesome that when I opened it I really felt let down by all that white!!  So I put Edward to work again and cut out some wavy strips from the same snake paper.  I ran them through my Xyron and then applied the same techniques as I did the snakes!  They turned out great.  I grabbed my little sponge and SU daffodil delight and went to town.  Aaahhhh, now that's much better!!

Snake Party Invitation Inside

 Well, if the birthday boy is happy with them then we are happy with them!  I can't wait for this exciting party and to see how our son reacts to the big snakes!!

Hope you enjoyed today's Sssshow, have a great day and come back ssssoon!  Okay so I'm being a little corny... Sssoo Sssue me!!! he he he!

Thanks for stopping by,
Shabby Jo

Double Gate Card

Phew is it a whirl wind in my house lately!  This year when everyone started talking about starting again I was actually listening!!  My son started school this year - well sorta!  We decided to enroll him in MDO two days a week.  That is school enough me.  On our first day (oh I meant his first day!!), he did great - Mommy was the one who needed major amounts of Kleenex!  I was doing GREAT until it was actually time to leave him there :(  Then the emotions boiled up so bad I could hardly contain them.  Well my little man could tell his mommy was upset so that's when he got upset - I just had to walk away.  Don't you know I was told that after being upset for maybe two minutes he was terrific the rest of the day!!  When I picked him up he certainly very happy to see and ready to go home but he was also very excited to tell me all about his day and his new adventures!  Though I miss him terribly when we are apart - I know this will be good for him, for us for him to spend more time with other children his age and learn knew things from someone other than his SuperMommy!!

So how did I keep myself from getting in car and going up there and getting my son back, you ask??  Well I took the opportunity to spend some time in favorite Cyber house - Splitcoaststampers!!  I Love Love Love this place!!  If are into ANY kind of craft and want to meet some really awesome people, you have got to check this wonderful place!  It is full of Fun, Ideas, Tutorials, and beautiful Galleries Galore!!!  I have been participating in a few of their challenge and have really enjoyed it!  I decided I was going to started sharing my challenge experiences on my blog!

This week's Try a New Technique Challenge was to make a Double Gate card.  You can check out the challenge here.  This was so cute that I just couldn't resist!!  Here is mine...

Double Gate Thank You Card - Opened

 This is a close up of just the front when the card folded up!

Double Gate Card -Closed

I actually made this whole card from my scraps box, so no deets on the paper.  The Castle Stamp is from D.O.T.S - S162 Miss August Chelsea.  The inside sentiment is unkown - if you know, please let me know in the comments below!  I used the nestabilities big scalloped squares for the inside sentiment and outside tag.  I distressed the edges with CTMH Oak Brown and SU Melon Mambo.  A little hemp cord to tie it all up and walaa!  I absolutely love these cards!!  A thought occurred to me though...  Wouldn't these make adorable little birthday invitations??!!!  Now I just need to plan a party!! Thanks Judy for such a fun challenge!



Thanks for stopping by, Shabby Jo

Sending a little Sunshine

Today is a get well card that is all about sending Sunshine to someone under the weather!!  I'm sure why but I seem to be a Sun kick lately, don't I??!!!  Oh well, what ever the reason, I am enjoying it quite brightly!!

Sending a Little Sunshine Get Well Card

Not the greatest picture, I know, I was in a hurry sorry!!  So not much to say other than I rummaged through all my yellow patterned paper and grabbed the ones I thought complimented each other the best.  I used my Tim Holtz paper distresser on all the edges except the card base and 'sunshine rays' and rubbed SU daffodil delight on the edges as well.  I really like the effect it gave!

Okay so get out your scissors and make someone some sunshine!!  Now say that real fast ten times!!

Thank for stopping by,
Shabby Jo

Army Strong Birthday Card

Hi there everyone!  I am super excited about this card I made - it is Army Strong!!!!  Okay, so my nephew has recently decided to follow his daddy's big foot steps and join the Army.  HOOAH!!  While I am not particularly happy about it and I am happy for him!  This is what he wants to do and I support that 100%!!  He is doing so well, we are so proud of him!  Well, about the same time as his birthday this month, he graduates from his 'special training'.  So I thought an Army themed card was totally in order!  Here you go...

Army Strong Birthday Card

I chose a Z-Fold card because I thought it would work well with all the elements I had!  The paper on the far right side was actually given to by someone a long time ago and I have held on to waiting for it's moment of glory.  Well I think that moment certainly arrived with this card!  The image is so powerful to me it was perfect all by itself and I could bare to wright on it so that's when I came up with the little panel in the middle for my personal note.  Simple yet Strong is how I feel about this one!  I really hopes he likes it - it will be hand delivered to him by his daddy (my Big Brother!) when he goes to attend his graduation ceremony!!!
Before I start to cry and get all mushy I will sign off for the night...

Thanks for stopping by,
Shabby Jo