JAMSquared

Author Archives: Jennifer

Howdy from Austin

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Greetings! Welcome to another Texas Tuesday, hosted on the first and third Tuesdays of each month. James and I just got back into town yesterday from a little vacation to the Bay area of California, so I had city skylines and “Greetings from” on my mind. I then browsed the sketch blogs in my Google reader and the Mojo Monday Sketch #178 inspired me to create this quick little card. We enjoyed our getaway, but the huge smile that lit up Jessica’s face when we arrived home in Austin after 4.5 days apart was the best part of our trip. Stay tuned for pictures from our trip.

Howdy from Austin card

Stamps: A Muse Cityscape and Clouds; Deadbeat Designs Howdy
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Basic Gray, Real Rust
Designer Paper: Stampin’ Up Sweet Pea
Ink: Stazon Jet Black; Versamark
Embellishments: orange brad from stash; Stampin’ Up black 5/8″ grosgrain ribbon and eyelets
Tools: cropadile; Nesties large circle and large scalloped circle; black detail embossing powder; black marker (handwritten “from Austin”)

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the posse’s creations and leave them some love (links in my sidebar –>).

Thanks for stopping by.

Santa Came Late

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James and I had really wanted Santa to bring Jessica a Little Tikes Picnic ‘n Play Playhouse. It took us a long time to decide that is what Santa should bring, so we were bummed when it was out of stock everywhere that had it at a price Santa could afford. It finally came in stock at Wal-mart and arrived at the store closest to us using the ship-to-store option last Monday. We put it together during Jessica’s nap Saturday afternoon. It is really neat in that it is a playhouse, but it also has a slide and climbing steps. The slide section is attached to the playhouse via a door that can open up allowing for more play area.

Jessica tried it out after her afternoon snack and she absolutely loved it. In fact, every day since Saturday, she goes to the back door and points to it.

First Time Checking out the Playhouse

Entering the Playhouse

Yes, it came with a phone (no batteries required).

Testing the Phone

The seats can swing to the outside and the table can flop to the outside as well.

Relaxing

Using the Phone

Daddy and Jessica

Climbing the Steps to the Slide

She is just barely tall enough to reach the button to turn on and off the light (2 AA batteries required).

Turning on the Light

Hanging the Phone Up

Here’s a little video of her enjoying her playhouse.


Happy Birthday Sarah!

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My uber sweet, beautiful younger sister turned 29 last Friday. I sent her a present via Amazon and I was so stoked that even though I procrastinated, it would arrive on her actual birthday. Alas, the abnormally cold wet weather the DFW area was experiencing messed that up. Hopefully, it arrived today.

Hopefully, she also received her card by now, because I am too excited to wait any longer to share it with the rest of ya’ll. Her card was inspired by this card by Maribeth, a DT member for the Anyone for Anya Challenge team. I loved the unique S-fold of the card, the stitching, and the coordinating pattern papers. So I took the sketch for last week’s Anyone for Anya Challenge and her inspiration and ran with it. Granted, the deadline for that challenge was Saturday night, but I posted the pics of the card to an online gallery and guess what.

Yep, I made the top 3, which is way cooler than being the randomly selected prize winner (although that is nice too). My card for Sarah was chosen by all the members of the DT as one of the top three cards entered in the challenge.

Anyway, on to more details of the card. I tried to color the image to look like Sarah. The cupcake was stamped a second time and popped up on dimensionals with the frosting made with glossy accents and glitter.  The stitching was done by hand,  and that is definitely not a technique I would do for just anyone as I probably spent at least an hour just stitching. The flower was made using a scallop circle punch with the scallops cut a bit and then the edges rolled. It also uses two pieces punched from a Marvy flower punch and stacked on a dimensional on top of the scallop circle part. Since I used a C.C. Designs image, it meets the requirements of the All That Scraps Weekly Wednesday Challenge #65, which is an anything goes challenge this week. I’m also entering it in Meljen’s Designs Challenge #44 to use a fun fold and I definitely think the S-fold is a fun fold in addition to being fitting fold for girl whose name starts with S. Yes, I used Baja Breeze again. I must be on a Baja Breeze kick, although I hadn’t intended to use it on this card. I wanted to use Sarah’s favorite color blue and the PP I decided upon just happened to work with Baja Breeze.

Sarah's Birthday Card

Close-up of the Girl

The Card Open

Stamps: C.C. Designs Cupcake Kiki, The Cat’s Pajamas You Say It’s Your Birthday (outside and inside sentiments)
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, Baja Breeze, Regal Rose, Basic Gray
Designer Paper: Stampin’ Up Walk in the Park
Ink: Stazon Jet Black; Stampin’ Up Baja Breeze (inside sentiment)
Embellishments: Papertrey Ink Vintage Buttons Holiday Mix; grayish brads, clear ultra-fine glitter, white embroidery floss; Inkessentials Glossy Accents (shoes and ponytail holders too)
Tools: Stampin’ Up scallop circle punch, markers; Copic markers; atYou Spica clear marker (on skirt); Marvy flower punch

Thanks for stopping by.

Talking and Eating

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I’m sharing a video from last Friday of Jessica eating lunch. And yes, she’s talking while eating.

You might have noticed near the end of the video, Jessica does some compartmentalizing of the food she has left. Do you think that is a trait she’s picking up from me? I was the kid in preschool who lined up the lunchboxes.

A Texas Tuesday Valentine

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Welcome to Texas Tuesday. Today, I have a valentine to share with you. My inspiration comes from the beautiful weather central Texas recently experienced. My daughter and I went to the neighborhood playgound on Friday to start off the weekend of gorgeous weather (highs in the mid-70s and sunny). As we were leaving, I noticed the delicate blossoms of several rosemary plants. Bees were buzzing about them and the aroma was quite nice. Did you know that scientists report that rosemary can assist with memory and thinking because it has an antioxidant property that protects the brain? Jessica and I went back to the park yesterday and I snapped a few photos of the buzzing bees, planning on sharing one with this post. Alas, my photos weren’t quite in focus, so instead I will point you this gorgeous photo I found googling.

Texas honey bees were my inspiration. Valentines were my goal. I think it was a success. I used the sketch from the current wee Memories Challenge #41. The sentiment was printed using Word. This card meets the requirements of Creative Cowgirls Challenge #6, love is in the air.

Bee Mine Valentine

Stamps: Stampin’ Up Just Buzzin’ By
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up Whisper White, So Saffron, Basic Black
Designer Paper: Stampin’ Up Pattern Papers So Saffron
Ink: Stazon Jet Black; Dell printer
Embellishments: dimensionals
Tools: Stampin’ Up markers; atYou Spica clear marker

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the posse’s creations (links in my sidebar –>). Today is likely Libby’s last Texas Tuesday so make sure and give her some love.

Thanks for stopping by.