Memories Artwork™

Card kits for the kids... ;-)

My kids wanted to make cards today... so sweet. :-)... So I gave them a few things, sort of like a "card kit" and this is what they came up with. Not too shabby! :-)

Christmas Decorations & Cards

Hello out there! I'm still alive, just busy busy!! Aren't we all? Some of the busy time was spent creating nice things for Christmas and I wanted to show you some of what I've been doing and hope to inspire you to make some wonderful Christmasy creations of your own!

Here I took an ordinary frame and turned it into Christmas decoration for my mantle.

   

This was inspired by a card I saw on Kristina Werner's Blog. 

 

Gold embossed pillow box for small items, such as stockings, socks, jewelry, chocolates... the list is long. ;-)

I love hanging little things like jingle bells....they're so cute!

If you would like to give money, a little tag holding a gift card or money is really cute!

okay... one more card...

I'm really into the sheet music and birds (Jen Wilson digifile). I recolored the bird in photoshop, cut it out and adhered. The scroll is also made with PS Elements.

Hope this gets you into the Christmas spirit! I'm off to a Christmas market now to show children how they can decorate gingerbread men! And to freeze... LOL

It's been awhile...

I apologize for not posting for a while now. There has been a bit of turmoil lately in my life. On the one hand my job is very stressful, especially during "event season", but I must say I am loving my job even though I have work up to my ears, so that I barely have time for scrapbooking as I work a lot in the evenings from home as well.

Then Friday a week ago, my husband's grandmother died, the day before I was supposed to attend an event for work, so I was panicked about what to do with the children since my husband had wanted to leave to be with his mom. I did find someone, but it took forever! The next day I woke up with a terrible headache and started vomiting. It was the stress of it all apparently, but I thought it was some type of virus as I had never had that happen to me before. So, pressure from work was on and I felt really bad about letting them down that day. There was just absolutely nothing I could do about it. The next day I attended, still feeling sick and a bit weak, but I made it through the day. Luckily.

On Monday, my mom calls and says, "Your grandma was next." She died that day... only 3 days after my husband's grandmother. What a fluke! So, wow... no more grandparents around. You begin to start thinking about your life, how old you are, whether you're enjoying it enough, what you could do better, etc. Ah, yes.

I also have a bit of custom work waiting on me to have time as well, plus cards and things that I want to sell at the artist's market coming up the end of November, so that is always in the back of my mind. I just wanted to show you a few things I was able to do. (click to enlarge)

 

Ooh, I see I need to make more vertical cards! My next batch! More to follow...

This is from some custom work I'm doing right now...just a few accents.

This tree stem I just kind of eyeballed and cut out. Then I rough-cut the top of the tree from green cardstock, embossed it with my cuttlebug, inked it with distress ink, adhered it to a scrap orange piece of patterned paper and cut around the tree to frame it a bit.

 

This was made using my cricut expression die-cut machine.

 

 

In case you can't tell.... that is an ice cream cone I made from scratch.

I love creating different accents for my layouts that fit perfectly to the theme or the patterned paper. So, even if I don't have anything bought that would match the page, I'm always finding new ways to make my own and it's really a lot of fun.

These are busy times and they will stay busy until Christmas vacation. I'll be off for THREE weeks! YESSSS! Can't wait. 

NOTE: Any custom orders for Christmas must be placed with me by no later than 1 December in order to arrive in time for the festivities!!

Christmas Cards & Journal Notebook Class

Hey Peeps!!!

Yes, I know... making Christmas cards again.... but I look at something and then get so inspired that I have to do something about it. It's like an itch. LOL Anyway... I made a few Christmas cards again and wanted to show you a few pictures of the journal I made in Karla Dudley's Journal 3 Ways Class. The class has already begun, but I'm sure she will be having more workshops. Now, I have to tell you, this woman amazes me! She has 5 kids, including 2 sets of twins...two boys, two girls and the oldest is another boy. Wow... is all I can say. Then she's got kids getting sick all over the place, but takes the time to shoot videos and show her students how to make cute journals. I have to hand it to her, Karla: My hat is off to you girl! You are just a cool gal!

Little "medallion" tutorial here:

So, I made these two cards with "medallions" on them that I made myself. The easiest way is to take a 12" strip about 1-1/4 to 1-1/2" wide, cut along the edge with either scallop scissors or zig zag, but it should be something that is uniform, no tearing scissors or anything like that. Next you want to fold the piece back and forth like an accordion, maybe scoring each line before you do that to make it work a bit easier and look straighter LOL. Then just glue the ends together with tacky tape so it doesn't come apart, then push down on the middle part to make it flat....go ahead, I promise it won't fall apart. But, in order to hold it together, you're going to need something sturdy to put on that middle part. Use a scallop circle, a big button, or a regular circle, a flower, anything you want, but you will have to make sure you use a good adhesive to make it stick. I used glue dots, which seemed to work pretty well. Make sure they're heavy duty and the cardstock is fairly heavy weight. Chipboard might be even better.  Then just use 3 D glue dots or pop dots to adhere to your card or layout. I really love the look of it. Next time I'm going for ones a bit smaller though. ;-)

On this one, I originally stamped the flourishes with opaque white stazon ink, but you could hardly see it, so I went over it with a white gel pen to make it stand out more. Truly had fun making the medallions!

Now to Karla's Class! She's so sweet and her videos were so cute. Making the journal was easier than I thought. Tomorrow is week two! Can't wait to see what she comes up with! :D Check out the journal I made today.

The angle of the photo I took, makes it look crooked, but it's not, trust me. ;-) I got this free Katie Pertiet border swirl brush from Designer Digitals. Go check it out!

These are the inside pages using Karla's swirls from the class. Love those swirls! Can't get enough of them.

Here are the pages with the journaling brushes that Karla designed. Don't you just love her handwriting? I mean, okay, mine is not the worst handwriting, but I just loooove Karla's... kind of looks similar to Ali Edward's style of handwriting.

So, folks, that's all for now. I've really got to get to bed! ughhhh....busy week... what am I saying? Months!

Nite all!

Jackie

Christmasy items - cards and gift boxes

I know, I know....Halloween has not even happened and I'm already going on and on about Christmas! Sorry...that's the way it is. At any rate, I was googling and stumbled across some pop up cards that inspired me to make this one.

just simple, but ok

this part was a bit more difficult as it was my first time making a pop-up card, but I love the look of it so I may try out some more and post. I saw a video from an Australian stampin' up lady and I believe her name was Robbie, but I'm not sure!

Then I googled for gift boxes and once again, landed on Kristina Werner's blog where she had a video of an origami box with a matching lid. I never thought it would be that easy! Aren't they just cute?! Cool! Please check out her blog for more inspiration.

 

Google origami gift box and you'll be sure to find her video on the box.

Scrapbooking things over the weekend

I was experiencing a bit of withdrawal from scrapbooking, but I really need a creative break after finishing a large wedding album that I really put my heart into.... here is a peak:

In November I will be attending an artist market and I'll be selling all kinds of Christmasy items, such as cards, tags, frames, gift boxes and minialbums (if I make it that is..lol). So, I got started with a few cards this weekend (I know...ughhhh...it's only September and the weather is still so beautiful!). Anyhoo....here are some of the cards I made... one of them is not a Christmas card. I just saw a German stencil I picked up at a hardware store and got an idea. ;-)

This card above was inspired by Kristina Werner Design. You should check out her blog, just awesome!!

 

And THEN, I made another something inspired by Lisa Tutman-Oglesby and her fabulous ideas. You should go check out her blog as well. Very inspiring!  This was made very quicky, using modge podge to adhere and then cutting off the excess paper around the edges. You have to work very fast with modge podge as it dries very quickly. Slap on a few stickers and violá! There you have it! An entirely new and personal notebook.

That's all for now! Stay tuned for more!

Super Halloween Cards tutorial video

Ladies (and Gentlemen...in case you're reading)

Wow, just had to share this with you!! Kristina Werner makes fantastic videos on her blog and now she's made yet another fabulous video tutorial for three (yes, three!!) awesome Halloween cards she's designed. They have really cool shapes and cute details.  Check it out on her Blog and lots of other videos. Now just sit back, relax and enjoy this load of creativity!!!

Altered Cork Memo Board & a hybrid boy's birthday card

Hello my fellow blog readers! First of all, I would like to thank you for reading and looking. I wish I would have more time to read all the blogs I would like to read, but it's just not possible. But anyway...THANK YOU! :-)

Came up with this idea yesterday for some reason. I used to post our monthly schedule in our kitchen, but it seemed so drab, so I decided to get a cork memo board and dress it up a bit. didn't take long at all! :-)

I think it turned out pretty cute. ;-) I look forward to putting our schedule up there now!

And this is a hybrid card (PSE 6.0) for my nephew Luke.  Since he will be turning 11, I thought I needed to make it look cool.  So I did all of that in Photoshop, printed on cardstock and then inked the edges. Eh violá!

Happy Anniversary Card

Wow...I cannot believe how fast this year has whizzed by! I just remember celebrating Mom & Dad's 50th anniversary like it was yesterday. I made them an album with lots of love and they absolutely adored it. Mom picks a new double spread to display each day. I so love how she enjoys it. :D

Now their 51st anniversary is tomorrow. Mom is still struggling with being weak from the massive pneumonia she had to fight and I know how rough things can get when you're sick. I made this card with that in mind.  Love is key, always is and there is always a silver lining. This too shall pass, I am confident. 

Mom & Dad: Hope you can celebrate at least a little bit tomorrow. Love you lots!

 

A few cards & a candle

This must be card month or something. :D But, I'm having fun nonetheless. I love to create and to inspire, which is why I share my work....in the hopes to inspire my readers! I want to spread some scrapbooking love across Germany! The word has spread a bit, but it's nowhere near what it is in the States. So, here goes nothin':

The flower is a heidi swapp large flower folded twice and glued together, then affixed with the birdy brad. The border is a material decorating ribbon with an adhesive lace border on top, hero arts stamp and the leaves are stamped with SEI mimosa clear stamps and cat's eye chalk ink and the entire card was inked with Tim Holtz walnut stain ink.

 

This card was made with just part of an SEI mimosa patterned paper, cutting the flower around the edges, adhering, then used pearl gems around it, hero arts birthday stamp, small flower also from the patterned paper and then inked with holtz distress ink. Very simple!

 

This is a regular candle (if you can tell) decorated with patterned paper (hard to see here), a heidi swapp flower, unknown crocheted flower (dawanda) and a making memories vellum tag, K&Co gem, Basic Grey brad. Very quick and simple.

Card sketch August 2009

Dear card makers,

Every month I create a card sketch and my own example of that sketch, which is then placed on Simea's website where you can also download the sketch in pdf format. Here is the card that I made for August. Please check out Simea's website for the pdf...under "Inspirationen".  Please check out her website for more awesome ideas!

Thank you card for my sweet client

I made this card for a client of mine who was sweet enough to hook me up with a wonderful interior decorations shop who also renovate exclusive villas and such. She's just so sweet, I had to make this card for her!

Quick little thank you card

I made this quick little card for my mom this morning (sending it off today), because she is just such a sweetheart and the best mom I can imagine!!  She's the kind of mother that would give you the shirt off her back (literally) and I wanted to thank her for having faith in me and always being there for me.  She's absolutely the best in my book! I love you Mom!! (this card took me only about 5 minutes)

Sympathy Card & St. Patrick's Day Card and the Rainbow...

Just a few cards I made....and a layout about a rainbow or two! I'm really not used to using such bright colors on a layout, but in the end, I sorta liked it. :D These days with the way the economy is and the weather, bright colors are definitely a plus!

Christmas Cards

Hey guys... I just wanted to post some of the Christmas cards I did this year.  I felt REALLY bad last year, because I made some really quicky cards that weren't what people were used to, because I just did NOT have the time. But this year, I "made" time to make special ones.  Here are just a few.  Maybe some can inspire you to do some yourself?

 

Sympathy card for two sweet friends

A few months ago my best friend Christine's father died.  Very sad, since I've known him since I was 13.  He used to pick us up from anywhere we were and was such a sweet, loving, kind person.  I made this card for her and her family.

And another friend's mom passed away quite suddenly last week at the age of 60.  Again, another very sweet woman that I've known since I was a toddler.  I'm still in a bit of a shock.  I made this one for her.

Knitted Cupcake Birthday Card

I just wanted to show you a cute cupcake card my best friend Anja made for me. She knitted that! Can you believe it?! Isn't it cute as can be?? My best friend Christine sent me a nice birthday card too that plays "Girls just wanna have fun". ;-)

A card for my Mom

My mom is getting a very special card from me, because she's quit smoking for 5 weeks now!  That is why I just had to make her a card to tell her how very proud I am of her!!! 

Mother's Day coming up!!!

And I had to get my card done for Mom! She's probably going to break down and cry again....like every year. ;-)

Finally...the frame I made for my mom-in-law

for her 70th birthday. She liked it very much and made me very happy!!!

What do you think?

It was such a beautiful sunny day today. We were in Munich from Friday through today, celebrated her birthday on Saturday and today we met our vacation family from Crete in one of the most popular Biergartens in Munich for a few hours before we headed off homeward.  Munich is really a very nice city.

That is all for now.....I will be keeping busy with scrapbooking, but my first and foremost goal is to lose 5 kg! At least by the time we go on vacation! My pants do not fit me anymore!

Take care ya'll!
Jax

A card for a sick friend...

I've been wanting to do this for awhile for my friends and I to give to a friend that is sick with cancer.  I finally had the time and I really put my heart into it.  Here goes...

Life is busy...

And once again one of the children is sick...this time it's scarlet fever. Go figure. I'm not going to worry about it anymore, since there is nothing I can do to change it anyway.

Got busy weekends coming up. This weekend it's Movement Day sponsored by our Kindergarten. There will be an obstacle course, cake & coffee being sold, anything used and sporty being sold from the moms, etc. It should be a lot of fun! I'll be selling the cake. Hopefully Sunday I'll have some time to myself to scrapbook. I did get a new shelf that I want to post a picture of soon. It's so cute and can be folded up.

The following weekend will be attendance of the INVEST fair ...so working in other words. But, it should be fun too.  Friday night is the "After INVEST party" at the "in" disco, so I'm definitely ready for that one!

The weekend after that will be spent in Munich since my mother-in-law is turning a whopping 70! I still can't believe she'll be 70.  She's so energetic and youthful looking!

So, we're just busy busy busy, like everyone else! Hope I have time to get my household in order!

I did do one little scrapbooking thing. I made my good friend Anja a birthday card. :-) Here goes:

 

Happy Valentine's Day

....too bad Hubby is in bed flat on his back (not what you think)....his flu fired up again.  He went to work yesterday on medication and last night he was hit with fever all over again. Poor thing! At any rate, I'm not even sure if or when he will see his card today, but here it is for everyone else to look at.

I wish everyone a wonderful day with your loved ones, whether it's your husband, wife, friend, parents or children....or grandchildren.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

   

Baby Girl Card

My co-worker asked me to design a personalised baby girl card with the name "Hanna" and this is what I made.