Monday, December 31, 2012

New Years Eve...

My Hubby and I wanted to celebrate a fun day as the year comes to an end...
we loaded our little bunch of animals and headed... for the zoo
Ha, Ha, Ha.... it's true... so we wrapped up our bunch of monkeys and headed off to lunch and a day with some caged monkeys and animals! 
(Sometimes we wish our lil animals were caged.. lol.)
 It's chilly but these hot blooded bodies refused to wear their jackets...
Seals sure did splash some FUN into the day!
 Carina has a bird 's eye view of the flamingos....  
Arabella wants to swing with the monkeys...  
 
Quality time with my Genevieve and Sal... it's precious! 
Giraffe's are loooong on FUN!
 
 
Happy New Year... from my Husband John, Myself and our youngest Monkeys..
I mean, kids, to YOURS!!
 

Snow flakes RePurposed!

I love using old CDs to create crafts. When my cd is thrashed or never took... I save them for our garden, or crafting! You can tie them to a tree and hope try chase away the squirrels (they don't, by the way) or make a craft with them!!

When the Late Night Stampers challenged us to create snowflake items, I nabbed a few of our bad CDs and my girls and I went to town!! We used the Snow Flurry Bigz Die from the Holiday Mini (just a few days left to order from this catalog!!). The Big Shot makes cutting thru many surfaces a breeze!

Here we used a couple of CDs and a DVD! The cool thing is the way the DVDs come out! There are two pieces and the colors are more iridescent! So when cutting the large snowflake I used the center of the DVD and CD in the center of the snowflake. The DVD separates after cutting with no effort. I used a flat edge screw driver to help the snowflakes out as they sunk in and that made getting them out easier!

A trick, run the die forward then back to cut thru the dbl thickness. I then slid a flat head screw driver under the snowflake to help safely extract it. If it cracks, use it as the off the card part of the snowflake.

What to do with the 'left over' DVDs after removing the snowflakes? My girls made Tree Earrings!! We grabbed extra strong fishing line and tied them to tree branches! So here we are, hoping to chase away the blasted squirrels (I used to think they were soooo cute, until they taunt our dog and ate all the fruits off our 16 trees! Now, I'm for them to go away!).

What do you think? Can you RePurpose your left overs? Make some Snowflake Tree Earrings with us! The fun thing is they we don't get snow here, this is ideal for us Californians, lol. This is a fun way to start our Family time on New Years Eve!

























Saturday, December 29, 2012

Happy New Year!!

I've seen many different designs for New Year's Cards... this is Myyyyy take! 
 
With the ease and fun that My Digital Studio lends - I can modify stamps, embellishments (like these rhinestones), Ribbon and more!  This is the Whisper White Satin Ribbon with the Tiny Tiny Wishes 'Happy New Year' sentiment enlarged on it!
 
I dream of taking my Pilot lessons and test some day - when I don't have little ones and maybe more 'spare' time... until then I can SOAR with my Hopes, Dreams and Aspirations!
 
What are YOUR Goals in 2013?? 
 I'm going to:
~ Lose Weight and get back to my 5am gym exercises!
~ Reach my Sales and Growth Goals!
~ Clean my home and KEEP it clean and organized (with 6 kids, 1-150lb dog, 1 Tortoise, 1 Bearded Dragon, 15 Koi fish and my husband... that's quite the challenge!)
~ Organize my 'office' and Stampin' supplies!
(OK - if you've seen my pool table and Stamp and Paper Wall, Embellishment Units and more... you can giggle with me here!)
~ Have FUN, Say NO to too many commitments and Celebrate LIFE
(and my family)!
 
 
Want Something New and Different in 2013??
The Sky is the Limit with your Goals, Dreams and Desires! NOW IS THE TIME!!
Join in on the FUN with a large selection of classes available, RSVP for YOURS or Pick a Date for your own Private Class!
The Spring Mini starts at the beginning of January, Sale-A-Bration at the Middle of January - FREE STAMPS For EVERY $50 you spend or your guests spend at a Private Class! 
 
THIS will be my New Facebook Ad for the month of January - let me know if YOU see it!  Thank you for coming by and checking my blog out. 
Please feel free to leave a comment and share this with others!

Get Well Wishes

My Cousin's Daughter had Knee Surgery yesterday....
I wish I could pop over with a basket loaded with movies, pop corn and candy treats... trash mags and maybe a hand held digital game...
buttttt - they are across the nation in New York State!  EEEEk - that'd be quite a trip from my California digs!

I couldn't resist creating this for Rebekah and posted it on her Facebook Page.... My Digital Studio makes it easy and fun to create love and send it - digitally (or print it and mail it!).
 
Using Stamps - I created these Two-Step 'stamped' flowers in Not Quite Navy and Crumb Cake - the embellishments of our Antique Brads ROCK!! - Soooo life like - you can barely tell it's digital!!
 
I hope that you take on My Digital Studio to send love to those who need a little TLC!  Thank you for coming by, checking it out and feel free to share this with others or leave a comment! 

Friday, December 28, 2012

Have a Resplendent Winter!

Silver and Shine!  Sparkle and Resplendent!!  This is a FUN Card that I created for our Pre-K teachers as I'm room mom in this class, too!  With the 15 families that will be signing this card I had to make it large.  This is a 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" piece of Brushed Silver card stock (from the Idea Book). 
 
Simply folding and boning this card stock with out any folds creates this larger card.  Trimming a Whisper White Card Stock down 1/2" - on each side allows it to have a sign able liner for the inside of the card. 
 
Running this, while folded, thru the Big Shot and Northern Flurry Folder embossing folder.  I LOVE how this Brushed Silver paper is so mailable and looks soooo amazing when either dry embossed or heat embossed on it! 
 
The Problem??  When the Folder goes on this larger than life card it leaves a mark.... and I can't stand miscellaneous marks like this line at the end of the folder!  Sooooo - with the Snow flurry Bigz Die from the Holiday Mini, Silver Glimmer Paper and my Big Shot... I created these shimmery/sparkling snow flake collection.  The large snowflake is placed to take away the eye, even covering the line with it's glimmer-ness!  (Stampin' Dimensional Adhesive holds these babies on to the card front!)
 
 Punch this area for the Sentiment on the lined inside of the card.  Soooo - by lining the inside with Whisper White paper you make it so that everyone can sign the card!  The Decorative Label Punch is ideal for this and easily cuts thru the two layers of the card!
 
Using my Bone Folder I trace the inside of the stamped area - this is my guide on WHERE to stamp the sentiment... it's going to show thru to the front but not take away from it... the Window look and the way the Snow Flake hangs OVER the sentiment adds to the depth of this look/technique. 
 
This is the NEW More Merry Messages Stamp Set from the Idea Book.  The 'May your holidays be wrapped in happiness and trimmed with the love of family and friends' is ideal for our amazing teachers!  Stamp the sentiment in Grey and it looks like silver due to it's surrouning color scheme! 
 
MORE BLING, you ask??  YES!!  lol... By adding Rhinestones from the Basic Jewels collection - these self adhesive rhinestones come in an assortment of sizes and stick on the adhesive attached to the back!  With 150 per sheet for $4.95 - it's easy to use and not feel a pinch.  I centered them in the middle of the embossed snowflakes - it adds to the feel of the bling factor but remains elegant and fun! 
 
I hope that YOUR Winter is Sparkling and New... full of hope and possibility.  Thanks for looking, please feel free to leave a comment and share this card.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Vintage Celebrations

I love Vintage cards.... with the new products from the Spring Mini and Sale A Bration from Stampin' Up! coming your way at the beginning of January... it's easier than ever to be Vintage and make a BIG Impression!
 
 
This was going to be covering the FULL Card Front... so cutting the two Designer Series Papers (this is the Festival of Prints from the Holiday Mini) to the 4-1/4" x 5-1/2".  Cut then 1/2" strips in the card stock - one from the long end and the other the shorter end.  Then weave them... I adhere the first set of strips, when completely woven, to one another with Mini Glue Dots - this prevents them from moving and shifting the full project.
 
 
Stamping the Ferris Wheel from the Sale A Bration FREE Stamp Set (coming out Mid January, 2013!) with Early Espresso on Very Vanilla.. I used the Labels Framelit dies to punch it out on my Big Shot.  This die has a slightly Vintage feel on it's own...
 
Taking the Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write Markers, on the pen/thin side, I added color to the lines of this amazing stamp.  It pulls in the colors from the Designer Series Paper (DSP) and adds fun and uniqueness to this wheel.
 
 
 You don't have to be PERFECT but it's easy to follow the lines for this WOW factor!
 
 Soften and add depth and a distressed factor with a Sponge and Early Espresso ink on the edges of the Ferris Wheel and the Celebrate that I stamped with Cherry Cobbler ink on Very Vanilla card stock.  The Pearls on the Decorative Label punched sentiment adds elegance to the card, too!
 
The Distress Tool from the Spring Mini ages the woven DSP and helps to lift and curl the edges... continuing the feel of this card.
 
 BAM!!  With Distressed edges to the woven DSP, I then sponged the edges of the woven paper to continue the distressed look and feel. 
 
 Seeing the lifted edges - I used my finger nail on the sponged edges of the sentiment to add more dimension and character.. the Stampin' Dimensional adhesive layers up the stamped and punched out images...
 
I couldn't resist as this card will be for my niece who turns 16 this week!!  Kaitlyn would just love the Vanilla 5/8" Flower Trim from the Spring Mini... so I added it!  It was this or more pearls... but this line of vintage flowers is too pretty to pass up!  The netting behind the material flower... it's all too perfect!! 
 
 BAM!  Stunning, Vintage, Elegant, Easy and FUN to make.. who wouldn't love to receive this card??  It's versatile enough to be more masculine by removing the flower and pearls... but my 16 year old niece - she's a style maven and is sure to love this card!
 
HERE Is a Video on How To USE the NEW Distressing Tool from Stampin' Up!
 
 
I hope that YOU take on Distressing and having FUN while going Vintage!  Thank you for coming by, looking, sharing and leaving a comment!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Masculine Birthday Wishes

Going Digital is easier than ever with My Digital Studio! 
Here is my Masculine Birthday Card to brighten the men in my life with an email and/or Facebook post or even a Tweet!  With my husband's cousin having a birthday on Christmas Eve and he decided to spend his holiday season in India... I couldn't resist posting this on his FB page... what a way to celebrate!
 
 
Joe may be a digital man - he lives by his Iphone and we always find something to chat about digitally... I'm sure he likes this and even the vintage feel of this card!  Go Digital, you can be Vintage or Modern - but you are sure to have FUN!

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!
My amazing family was up after 6 hours of sleep, ready for dad's amazing home made granola bars and Presents.

We celebrated by opening gifts, eating Granola and drinking Eggnog...

I nabbed my Simply Sent App and created these two fun Christmas Cards...

I hope your Christmas if filled with love, laughter, family, friends and amazing food!





Monday, December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas Eve!

I'm blessed in many ways! My amazing family, our home, my Stampin' business and the friends it brings, my husbands job, our church and friends...

Here is quick card that I created with my Simply Sent App and iPhone. I hope that your holiday is blessed with love, family, friends, good food and laughter!

Blessings, from my family to you and yours!
~ Jamie and my amazing Albanese family!


What Others are SAYING about Getting Crafty with Jamie

Jamie is so passionate and creative about making cards - and wants everyone else to join her in the fun! She is so encouraging and positive in her attitude, helping me along when I get frustrated - and then rejoicing with me at the finished product! I love going to her classes to get new ideas, learn techniques, and have loads of fun in the process. ~ Christine C.

Jamie has wicked awesome classes! If you don’t like a particular stamp or paper/ink color Jamie wants you to change it to suit your style! I did my sister-in-law’s entire bridal shower from invitations/thank you cards, party favors to decorations, it was quaint and whimsical! Everyone ooh’d and ahh’d! I’ve had lots of special requests for classes and Jamie delivers; she always has tasty treats and flavored coffees too ~Ashley W.

I have been attending Jamie's classes for over a year. Her ideas for cards are fresh and fun. She always tries to have several different styles of cards available, so everyone gets to make cards that fit their personal style. The techniques she shows each class can be used in many different applications. She is very patient teacher when instructing class members on how to use the Stampin Up products. ~ Carol D.

If I looked up the word sparkle in the dictionary, I would find Jamie Albanese picture there. I have had the sweet blessing of knowing Jamie and her family for over 5 years now. Every time I am with her I feel loved and inspired. When I am in one of her classes I feel my creative juices flow, as she encourages me to go outside my comfort zone. Jamie helped our girl scout troop make cards for a soldier who needed some encouragement!!! For any of you who have not been in one of Jamie's classes, please don't let another day slip by. She is a beautiful friend and she will become yours too. ~ Blessings, Karen:-)

Jamie has a great eye for style and flair, and it shows in her work. Yet she can pick up on your own individual style and makes great recommendations. I love that she is always flexible for last-minute decision maker mommies like me! So much fun to host craft events with your friends and family - that personal touch always means so much. ~ Adonna

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