I was thrilled to find out our Design Team package would consist of beautiful papers by Jenni Bowlin, as well as TONS of  GRUNGEBOARD, Because what can I say…

I put this little plaque together to (hopefully) put on display at Mystic Paper near the Grungeboard.  I love this stuff, and wanted to give people some ideas of how to use it.  So, from left to right are the techniques I put together-

1- Paint, Sanded to show detail, accented with Distress Powder

2- Stamped with Staz-on Ink, Brushed with Distress Ink

3- White paint, pressed into Distress ink to show detail (dots)

4- (my favorite)  Adhere printed paper face down with Matte medium, then tear away when the glue is nearly dry.  The words leave a ’shadow’ on the Grungeboard!  Cool!

5-Paint, Glossy Accents, Sprinkle with Perfect Pearls.  This looks like stars in the night sky!

Here are the papers I received:

Can you believe the fun stuff I get to play with?!  The ladies at Mystic Paper have been so generous!  I love the Jenni Bowlin paper, it looks like the decor in a girls room from the 1950’s who likes cowbows…  Does that make sense?  No, just me?  Oh, well, either way it was very fun to use.  Our assignment this month was to do one Scrapbook layout and 2 cards.  Make sure to check back to see those, and jump over to Holly and Sherri’s blogs to see their goodies!

Also, a head’s up- (this is so exciting)  later this week I will be doing a GIVEAWAY!  It’s a local product I love called Herb ‘n Organics.  They have been great to work with, and I love their product so I can’t wait to share!  Stay tuned!

I used a combination of the Seven Gypsies paper, along with the Collage sheet to create these cards, along with the lined envelopes.  I wanted to point out the ‘hangy’ ribbon.  It was originally white, but I colored it with Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks to match the cherries-

These dyes are permanent, fast drying, acid-free, and so versatile!  I love being able to turn buttons, glitter, metal, glass, plastic, and fabric into whatever color I need to match my project!   If you ever want to experiment with these, just let me know!  I’d love to show you what these babies can do!

The first of 3 (phew) Design Team pieces is ready to be un-veiled!  The papers I was given, from the 7Gypsies Barcelona collection, were so bright and beautiful, I couldn’t help combine them with my mini Peaches (oranges?  Tomatoes?  Whatever they are, they’re cute!)  into an homage to the upcoming season-spring!

The little french hanger I was given was so inspirational-how could you not make something feminine and adorable with it?  I used so many elements to put this piece together.  My Slice, (to cut the circles),  Tim Holtz Grungeboard Letters, acrylic paint, and Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks for the Silver Distressed ’smudges’ around the circles and on the letters.  I used my Crop-a-Dile to place the eyelets (remember those?) to connect the circles.  I added a few embellishments from my Creative Scraps collage sheet, and Voila!

All of these materials are available at Mystic Paper, along with my project on display!  Make sure to peek in on Holly and Sherri’s websites to see their AWESOME hanging projects.  Our cards have yet to be revealed, but just wait- it includes a tutorial!

Each of the notes written to the 4 (other) people in my family not only declare my love for each of them, but I also focused the notes on the ways I had observed God working on their hearts this year.  Matt is such an amazing leader for our family, and he has been blessed to become a part of our Church’s leadership this year, as well!  Jonathan has been studying the Bible with Matt and the fruit from that is evident, as well as in things like his cheerful attitude when asked to help around the house.  I told Eden how excited I was to someday take her out to study the Bible, too!  Noah has such a spark that people are drawn to- I have literally seen strangers slowly gather around him as he is telling a story!  I pray that someday he can tell others about Christ, and make them laugh while he’s doing it!  Our family is so blessed, Valentine’s day and every day!

Love is…a many splendored thing

Love is…all you need

Love is… a battle field

Well, the world has a lot to say about love, but when given an assignment on the theme of ‘Love’, my mind kept going back to the old standby, 1 Corinthians 13. The passage is beautiful, meaningful, and not to mention extremely convicting!  I want my words and actions towards those I love to reflect this passage, much more than they already do!

Instead of pictures, most of the personal items in this books are excerpts from  love notes I have been given  through the years by my 3 boys.

The book itself, as hinted at in an earlier post, is made of cardboard, a trend I keep seeing in different places.  I wanted to try something that was inexpensive, easily accessible, and that I could make into any size I wanted.  All of the papers within are the Cosmo Cricket papers I had been given.  I love how easily they coordinated!  The lace was a part of my kit, as well.  All the inks and paints, as well as the Bind-it-all and accessories are available at, where else?  Mystic Paper!

Jump on over to Patty’s, Sheri’s, and Holly’s blogs to see what they’ve been up to.  The whole team has been so encouraging these last few months, but I had to say ‘Thank You’ to Holly for the sweet things she said about me on her blog last month-She was so sweet!  Thanks Holly!

I am having a friend over to scrapbook tomorrow and I can’t wait to get started.  I have been ‘pre-planning’ my project, and I’ll give you a sneak peek-

Just ‘looking around’ on the computer last night, I couldn’t help but notice the title of the article.  DREADFUL PAST DECADE… Not much room for interpretation there… and here I thought this past decade was pretty OK, silly me.  ’Bad?’ the first line of the article quickly interrupted my positive train of thought ‘You thought the first decade of the 21st century was bad?  It was worse than that.’  Sheesh, I thought, SORRY!

As I read the article, I was reminded of the hardships our state and country had endured.  (September 11, a decade bookended by war, economic hardship, natch.)  But the article did offer some balance, reminding readers of victories we had all shared.  (Elisabeth Smart returned to her family, medical breakthroughs, the flight into the Hudson, real life-changing stuff)  Despite my best attempts at joy, my mind began to play along, looking at the victories and hardships of my and Matt’s last 10 years:

3 Beautiful babies, growing up healthy/3 little ones, lost before birth

A new house we love, continued employment/watching others face difficult times, and setbacks

An amazing church and church family, stronger than ever/ built up slowly on the ashes of a failed church plant

You get the picture.  But I’m not sure the person who wrote the article gets the BIG picture-  A decade is simply a decade.  It is an invented way to mark a segment of time.  In and of itself it has no power, but the passage of time does have a tendency to shed light on a few basic truths…

The BEST of decades can not bring anything but fleeting happiness to anyone outside of Christ, the source of lasting Joy.

The WORST of decades can not shake anyone resting in the promises of Christ, our source of Peace.

At midnight on December 31, there is one thing we can be sure of: 10 more years of our lives have passed.  We have no way of knowing if these last 10 years were 1/9 of our life, or 1/3.  Either way, time marches on, and not a moment of this life is to be wasted on anything outside of the eternal!

Ephesians 5:15+16 “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil”

To be thankful implies that we are saying ‘Thank You’…  Instead of the gifts, let’s focus on the Giver of every good thing!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jenna

Here it is, my first Design Team submission for Mystic Paper!  MP has been selling great antique bottles, and I wanted to give people a little inspiration…

These beautiful winter-themed papers are from Webster’s Pages, and they were all lovely.  The pastel colors were a bit of a challenge, as was finding wintery-type pictures of my Arizona family!  But, despite our red sweaters in the pics, I think it turned out OK.  The pictures are of our trip to the Kellso’s ranch last December at the annual Prescott tree lighting ceremony.  I used the theme ‘Give Yourself’ with these particular photos, hoping that special times together, during the holidays and always, are what influence my kids, more than presents and celebrations!

TECHNIQUE TUTORIAL:  I love the ’speckled’ look of the letters in ‘Give Yourself’, and it was so easy to do!  After cutting out the letters, I turned each letter over onto a Distress Ink pad, and, using the lid of the ink pad, pressed down gently onto the letter.

The chipboard (used for the stand), bottles, beeswax, ribbon, ink, and papers are all available at Mystic Paper!