Elegant Card Making with Stampin' Up!

I absolutely adore Stampin' Up! products and the ease that they provide in card making.  It's hard to not make a beautiful cards with Stampin' Up!  Everything coordinates so beautifully with amazing results.  As promised in my Youtube tutorial, here is the breakdown of measurements for each card.  Also, I adore my Stampin' Up! demonstrator, Jason Loucks.  He is so creative and such a wonderful person.  I highly recommend him if you do not already have a demonstrator.  Click here for his Stampin' Up! Store. 

For This Card:

Stampin' Up! Products:

Floral Boutique Designer Paper

Crushed Curry Cardstock 

Whisper White Cardstock

Night of Navy Ink

Stamps by Paper Pumpkin but if you don't have this Paper Pumpkin stamp set then I would recommend the stamp set Falling Flowers as a good substitute.

  

Other Products:

Cottage Ivy Ink by Memento

Daffodil Ink by Memento

Blue Satin Ribbon

MayMay Made It Stamp Set

Canvas Paper

Dimensions:

Card: 11" X 4 1/4" folded in half

Designer Paper: 5 1/4" X 4"

White Cardstock: 5" X 3 3/4"

Crushed Curry Cardstock: 1 1/2" Square

Canvas Paper: 1" Square

For This Card:

Stampin' Up! Products:

Floral Boutique Designer Paper

Crushed Curry Cardstock 

Whisper White Cardstock

Night of Navy Ink

Stamps by Paper Pumpkin but if you don't have this Paper Pumpkin stamp set then I would recommend the stamp set Falling Flowers as a good substitute.

  

Other Products:

Cottage Ivy Ink by Memento

MayMay Made It Stamp Set

Canvas Paper

Dimensions:

Card: 11" X 4 1/4" folded in half

Designer Paper: 5 1/4" X 4"

Crushed Curry Cardstock: 2" Square

Canvas Paper: 1 1/2" Square

For This Card:

Stampin' Up! Products:

Floral Boutique Designer Paper

Crushed Curry Cardstock 

Whisper White Cardstock

Night of Navy Ink

I used a stamp from the set "Simply Sketched" but it is no longer available.  There are stamps in the sets Touches of Texture and Butterfly Basics that would work well with this design

Stamps by Paper Pumpkin

  Seam Binding Ribbon

Other Products:

Cottage Ivy Ink by Memento

MayMay Made It Stamp Set

Canvas paper

Dimensions:

Card: 8 1/2" X 5 1/2" folded in half

Designer Paper: 5 1/4" X 4"

Crushed Curry Cardstock: 3 1/2" X 2 1/2" 

Canvas Paper: 3 1/4" X 2 1/4"

For This Card:

Stampin' Up! Products:

Floral Boutique Designer Paper

Crushed Curry Cardstock 

Whisper White Cardstock

Night of Navy Ink

Stamps by Paper Pumpkin but if you don't have this Paper Pumpkin stamp set then I would recommend the stamp set Falling Flowers as a good substitute.

  

Other Products:

Daffodil Ink by Memento

Blue Satin Ribbon

MayMay Made It Stamp Set

Canvas Paper

Dimensions:

Card: 8 1/2" X 5 1/2" folded in half

Designer Paper: 5 1/4" X 4"

Crushed Curry Cardstock: 2" Square

Canvas Paper: 1 1/2" Square

For This Card:

Stampin' Up! Products:

Floral Boutique Designer Paper

Crushed Curry Cardstock 

Whisper White Cardstock

Night of Navy Ink

I used a stamp from the set "Simply Sketched" but it is no longer available.  There are stamps in the sets Touches of Texture and Butterfly Basics that would work well with this design.

Stamps by Paper Pumpkin but if you don't have this Paper Pumpkin stamp set then I would recommend the stamp set Falling Flowers as a good substitute.

  

Other Products:

Cottage Ivy Ink by Memento

Daffodil Ink by Memento

MayMay Made It Stamp Set

Canvas Paper

Dimensions:

Card: 8 1/2" X 5 1/2" folded in half

Designer Paper: 5 1/4" X 4"

Crushed Curry Cardstock: 1 1/2" Square & 2" X 4"

Canvas Paper: 1" Square & 1 1/2" X  3 3/4"

Welcome!

I'm so happy you dropped by my craft room today!  I love expressing my creativity through many different mediums such as arts and crafts, cooking, knitting, makeup and nail art.  There's a little bit of something for everyone in Jeannine's Craft Room, even the kiddos.  You will also see video tutorials that will help you get a visual of how my projects come together so you can replicate them at home.  I'm a life long crafter and got my passion for art and creativity from my Mom.  I've experimented with many crafts over the years and decided to start making videos to help beginners.  YouTube wasn't around in my early crafting years and do I wish it had been.  It's so wonderful to be able to get verbal as well as visual directions when crafting.  Please feel free to ask any questions and request tutorials. My email address is jeanninecrafts@gmail.com.   If I can get my hands on the supplies, I'd be more than happy to fulfill your requests!

How to Knit a Summer Beach Tote

Summer is upon us and we don't always think about knitting in relation to the summer months.  But I have a perfect Summer knit for you that you will reach for over and over again.  I'm calling it a beach tote but it could just a easily be used as a shopping tote, farmer's market tote or in general bag.  I've linked below a video tutorial to assist you in the finer points of the bag.  It also contains some basic knitting concepts for beginning knitters.  In the pattern I've noted the time stamps of the video that correlate to that portion of the knitting process.

Materials: 

2 balls of solid color cotton yarn and 1 ball of varigated cotton yarn - I used Peaches & Cream
24" size 8 circular needles
Stitch markers
Tapestry Needle

Pattern:

Cast on 168 Stitches onto 24" circular Needles - 5:37
Round 1 - Knit - 9:31
Round 2 - Pearl - 14:00
Repeat Rounds 1 & 2 once more
Round 5 - Knit 30 Stitches, Bind off 54 Stitches, Knit 30 Stitches, Bind Off 54 Stitches - 15:37
Round 6 - Pearl 30 Stitches, Cast on 30 Stitches, Pearl 30 Stitches, Cast on 30 Stitches - 20:51
Round 7 - Knit
Round 8 - Pearl
Repeat Rounds 7 & 8 once more
Rounds 9 - *Yarn over, Slip 2 Stitches, Knit one Stitch, Pass Slipped Stitches over knit Stitch, Yarn Over, Knit one stitch* repeat to end of round - 25:26
Round - 10 - Knit all stitches
Round 11 - *Yarn Over, Knit, Yarn Over, Slip 2 Stitches, Knit one Stitch, Pass Slipped Stitches over knit Stitch* Repeat to end of round - 28:30
Round 12 - Knit all stitches
Rounds 13-80 - Repeat Rows 9 - 12.  Change yarn when you have 12 inches left in the ball you are working with - 29:57
Round 81 - *Knit 1, Knit 2 Together* Repeat to end of round - 32:36
Round 82 - Knit all stitches
Round 83 - *Knit 2 Together* Repeat to end of Round - 34:50
Round 84 - Knit all stitches
Round 85 - *Knit 2 Together* Repeat to end of Round- 37:08
Round 86 - Knit all stitches - 38:49
Round 87 - *Knit 2 Together* Repeat to end of Round - 41:00
Round 88 - Knit all Stitches
Cut 12" tail and using a tapestry needle, run the tail through the stitches on the cable and remove cable - 41:58
Weave in all ends and you are finished! - 43:52

HUGE Craft Supply Giveaway!

I am so grateful to you my subscribers for tuning in and watching my videos.  To show my appreciation, I am hosting a giveaway of 3 Craft Supply Bundles!!  Yes, 3!  I really can't express how touched and thrilled I am that over 1000 people have subscribed to my channel and continue to watch and share my videos.  You guys are the best.  I purchased all of the supplies listed below and this giveaway is not being sponsored by anyone.  This truly is from me to you as a way of saying "Thank You".  Check out the video where I show you each product individually so you can get a close look at all of them.  Good luck to all who enter! So, without further delay, let's get on with it! LOL

1.) You must be a subscriber of my YouTube Channel (this will be verified so your subscriptions will need to be set to public. If I can't verify that you are a subscriber then you will be disqualified).

2.) You must leave a comment on this blog post stating which bundle you'd like to win.

3.) The other entries are optional and are listed in the Rafflecopter link below.  I think the Facebook Share may be a little confusing so you don't have to post the URL in that entry just put your Facebook name in that entry. I will verify the share.

4.) The giveaway is open internationally because I love my international subscribers too!

5.) Winners will be notified by email and will be announced on my YouTube channel by video on March 8, 2016.

6.)  You will have one week to claim your prize or a new winner will be chosen.

Craft Bundles included in this Giveaway 

Bundle 1

32 Sheets of 12 X 12 BoBunny Decorative Paper

2 Sheets of Chipboard Decorative Elements by BoBunny

3 Half Sheets of Seasonal Stickers by BoBunny

1 12 X 12 Sheet of Seasonal Stickers by BoBunny

3 Packs Photopolymer Stamps by Kaiser Crafts

1 Edge Punch by Tonic Studios

Bundle 2

1 Pack Chunky Chips Chipboard Alphabet Stickers by BoBunny

1 Pack Party Stickers by BoBunny

1 6 X 6 Pad of BoBunny Decorative Paper

1 Edge Punch by Tonic Studios

2 Sets of Photopolymer Stamps by Kaiser Crafts

Bundle 3

1 6 X 6 Pack of "Leather Paper" by Sizzix

1 Edge Punchy by Kaiser Crafts

3 Pack of Stickles Glitter Glue

1 Pack of Seasonal Stickers by BoBunny

2 Sets of Photopolymer Stamps by Kaiser Crafts

a Rafflecopter giveaway

It's a GIVEAWAY!

Hey everybody!  Yep, I'm hosting a giveaway in honor of the Creative Arts Collaboration for the #ColorOfTheYearArt event.  This month's event centers around Pantone's colors of the year Rose Quartz and Serenity.  Over 100 artists contributed YouTube Videos showcasing art in an array of mediums highlighting the Colors of the year.  It will blow you away to see how differently each artist chose to work with the colors.  My contribution to the event was a video showing how to make a coordinated set of greeting cards with various sentiments utilizing the colors.  I must tell you, I'm pretty proud of the cards I created.  They are lovely if I do say so myself!  So, do you want to enter the giveaway, which, by the way is the very set of cards I made in the video!  All you have to do is watch the video and comment on it in the Comments section on Youtube telling me which card was your favorite.  Also, in your comment, tell me which of the videos from the #ColorOfTheYearArt event was your favorite.  Don't know where to find them?  NO problem!  Here's a link to the #ColorOfTheYearArt playlist!

Here's my video, but make sure to leave your comment on YouTube to be entered in the Giveaway.

Personalized Ceramic Trivets

These are great and inexpensive gifts to make for any occasion.  I've made several of them to give as Christmas gifts.  It has allowed me to do more gift giving this year than usual because of the affordable nature of the tiles and paints.  You can give one of them as a gift or 2 or more as a set.  Your friends will think you bought custom tiles for them and only you will know you did it yourself and on a budget! How great is that?!?  Video Tutorial for this project.

Materials For this Project

From WalMart:

Folk Art Enamel Paint in Black and Metallic Gold

Paint Brushes

From Hardware Store:

6 X 6 Tumbled Ceramic Tiles

Cricut Cartridges:

Home Decor: Flurdls

Elegant Cakes: Font "Y" and "A"

Christmas Gift Tags with Cricut and Stamps

I am finding more and more uses for my Cricut and growing collection of stamps.  I could buy inexpensive gift tags for all of my Christmas presents, but what would be the fun in that for a crafter!?!  These were fun to make and so easy to produce in bulk.  I used one stamp set from MayMayMadeIt's etsy shop and only 3 Cricut images cut in two pieces, so simple.  I cut the base of the tags from red and green card stock and the front of the the tag from Christmas themed patterned paper from Scrapbooking Made Simple. I fit 6 tags per 8 1/2 by 11 piece of paper/card stock.  I then masked the "from" and stamped the snowman image.  I also stamped the sentiment "Snow Peeking" on red and green card stock and cut them down to size and adhered them to the tag with foam mounting tape.  Last finishing touch was coordinating baker's twine to tie them on the package with.  Video Tutorial for this project.

Products Used:

Red and Green Card Stock

MayMayMadeIt Stamp Set

Decorative Christmas Paper

Foam Mounting Tape

Baker's Twine

Cricut Cartridges/Images Used:

Lovely Floral: Tag1 (base)

Lovely Floral: Tag1-s (front)

Cricut Craft Room Basics: RndSqre (square welded inside front of tag to make frame)

Custom Ceramic Tile

I love giving personal hand made gifts for special occasions that look expensive but are actually very affordable.  For under $10 and with the use of stencils you can make custom home decor from your local hard ware store and your local craft store.  Listed below are the products I used and here is the Video Tutorial for this project.

From WalMart:

Folk Art Enamel Paints in - Light Blue, Black and Metallic Gold

Flat Paint Brushes

Contact Paper

From Hardware Store:

12 X 12 Ceramic Tile

Cricut Cartridges:

Home Decor: Flurdls

Elegant Cakes: BrdFlr-s "R"

Library Fonts - F2 for all other lettering

Praise Him Through the Pain

What an odd and strange thought and even more odd title for a blog post..Praise Him Through the Pain. This past week the lesson I prepared for my youth group at church was, of course, a Thanksgiving related lesson due to the timing and season we are in. The scriptures for the lesson - 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." NLT and Colossians 3:17, "And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father." NLT, tell us to give thanks to God at ALL times and in ALL you do and say. Sometimes this is harder said than done.

In my youth group are kids who have already experienced and seen in their short lives some of the worst circumstances that life has to offer - from parents who are addicted to drugs and have been in and out of jail to sexual abuse to homelessness to physical and mental abuse. It is hard enough for mature Christian adults to understand how to spiritually handle difficult situations but can you imagine being 13, 14 or 15 years old and trying to cope with very adult circumstances? Some of these kids in our youth group are the children of church members but most of them came to us from off the street. They make a choice every Wednesday to get on the church's bus and come for a hot meal and a lesson about Jesus. There are no parents forcing them to do this and leveraging their authority over them to influence them to participate. Over half of my class are kids who have little or no supervision at home. They are choosing to be at church of their own free accord. What an amazing and inspiring tribute to our Lord and His mighty hand of guidance and protection over theses children. He has literally picked them up and placed them in our hands to love them, teach them and guide them into a relationship with Him. What an awesome gift and sometimes heavy responsibility that is. These kids have so much to overcome to see a God that loves them and is there for them in the worst moments of their young lives.

Without fully comprehending this I began this lesson this past Wednesday about giving thanks to God in all circumstances and at all times. There were some hard hitting questions in the lesson about when it might be difficult to give thanks such as in the face of adversity and hardship. That's when God opened my eyes to the true heart of this lesson, what He really wanted these kids to understand. Their souls were wounded from the hardships they had already suffered and they were fearful of the God that they perceived caused it all to happen. The true nature of God was not what they knew. They had formed a very broken and inaccurate picture of God as a mean bully who'd kicked them around their whole lives. It sincerely broke my heart when I understood this and I knew without a doubt that God had given me this lesson to teach them, but not for the reasons I had thought. I thought it was going to be a simple lesson about kids needing to learn a little something about gratitude but it was so so much more and so much deeper than I could have ever imagined. These beautiful wounded children needed to know that God was not the source of the horrible things that had happened to them and He did not "allow" it to happen to them.

The lesson evolved into helping them understand that unfortunately we live in an evil world where Satan is the prince. He has domain here and he is the source of the pain they have suffered. Everyday people make bad choices that often hurt themselves and others and all of those choices are fueled by temptations and bad information that Satan has put in front of them. Many members of my class have been the victim of other peoples bad decisions that were guided and manipulated by the father of lies. God helped me impress upon them that He was not the source of their pain but the source of their survival, their strength and their comfort. He is the one that helped them to find our Church where at first it was about a hot meal and a little down time with friends. But it has evolved into so much more for these children. It's a place where they found structure, love, guidance, understanding and the compassion of an all loving God.

It is no mistake that the church bus rolled through their neighborhood, down their street and in front of their house. That my friends was the hand of God. That is how He began to deliver these precious souls from the turmoil of their lives and show them the strength and power available to them for healing, deliverance, perseverance, and most of all - forgiveness. It's easy to tell someone to give thanks to God in all things when you have never truly been touched by utter despair and hopelessness, pain and suffering beyond reason, and such tragic loss that your heart just can't bear it. The true testimony of our faith is responding to God with praise and thanksgiving in spite of these circumstances because we recognize that He is not the cause but the deliverance from them. As difficult as it was for me I told them that my husband and I could understand their pain and misgivings about trusting in a God that they perceived had let them down. We had suffered tragic paralyzing loss in March of 2000 when my husband's son took his own life. It was a pain that I was certain there was no recovering from. But we did recover and through the grace of God we moved forward in life. And now we find ourselves ministry leaders in our church giving back in ways we never imagined, like standing up before a youth group and telling them that I understand their pain and it's not God causing it but God who has given them the strength to endure it.

God can and will take the circumstances of our life that were caused either by our own or others temptations and failings and make them a source of strength and compassion that we can use to help bring others closer to Him. Because of our loss, my husband and I have been able to give love and compassion to other people suffering a similar loss to our own in a way that only a parent who has lost a child can. We have become more sensitive to the needs of those who feel they are at the end of their rope and just can't go on. We are able to tell our story of the loss we've suffered and that there is hope if you lean into the arms of our loving and gracious Savior. Just recently a family in our church suffered a similar loss. Their son was killed in a car accident. The day after his death, they attended church. Most of us were surprised to see them because it can be so painful to walk into a room and know every eye is on you, the look on every face reflecting your pain back at you. But the mother of this young man wanted to be in her church. I honestly don't know what was on her mind in those moments but to me it spoke volumes about the position of her heart and her faith. To me it said that she recognized that God was not the source of her pain and suffering or the tragic loss of her son but He is and will be the source of her healing and comfort through her grieving process. It was one of the most beautiful and heart wrenching moments I've ever witnessed, her determination to give praise and glory to God in spite of the pain she was suffering.

I reminded the kids in my class of this moment and assured them that if a grieving mother could praise God through the pain, then they could as well. He will help them find peace and redemption in the midst of life's trials and He will help them paint a much brighter future. They need only put their trust and faith in Him. Whether they realized it or not, it's the reason they got on the bus. It's the reason it passed in front of their house to begin with and it's the reason they are here in this house of worship now, the grace and mercy of our loving Father. He held them up and held them strong to get to this point today. He sent a church bus to pick them up and deliver them where He will continue to guide their path if they continue to show up. But most of all He will reward their faithfulness if they give Him thanks and praise no matter what temptations and hardship the devil tries to throw at them. In all things and at all times, give thanks and praise to God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Praise Him through the pain.

"Give Thanks" ~ Home Decor With Cricut

I've been cleaning out closets lately and stumbled across this empty wood frame.  I didn't have any pictures that size that needed framing so I began to ponder it's other possibilities for a craft project.  With the Holidays coming up I saw the potential for dressing it up in a temporary way for the each season.  I went to Cricut Craft room to see what sort of Thanksgiving themed projects they had that would make a good wall decoration.  I am very pleased with the outcome!  I think it's fun, a little whimsical and will go so well with the rest of my Fall themed decorations.  I've listed below the supplies as well as Cricut cartridges I used for this project.

Video Tutorial for this project:

Materials for this project:

From WalMart:

12 X 12 Colorbok Paper Pack- Boardwalk

12 X 12 Colorbok Paper Pack- French Prep

12 X 12 Colorbok Glitter Paper - Gold Rush

Elmer's Spray Adhesive

From Hobby Lobby:

About 1 Yard of Burlap Fabric

Cricut Cartridges:

Thanksgiving Table Decor: GveThnks - 3 layers

Thanksgiving: AcornLyr - 2 layers

Thanksgiving Table Decor: NpkRg1-s (leaves)

Thanksgiving: Leaf - 2 layers (leaf border)

Thanksgiving Table Decor: Crnucpia (leaves)

Thanksgiving Invites with Cricut

My Dad's family and extended family get together every year for Thanksgiving but in the last few years it seems to be hit or miss.  Since I've moved into the old family home, I don't think everyone, especially those from out of town, realized that I was continuing the family tradition.  So this year I decided to do things a little differently.  We usually call or email everyone to remind them of the get together and to let them know what dish we'd like for them to bring for lunch.  But this year I thought it would be fun and interesting to send and invite with an RSVP and let everyone choose their own dish to bring, let it be a true pot luck lunch.  And with plenty of time, as I sent these out at the first of October, I could plan to fill in any gaps in the menu that may occur.  The response I've received so far from family far and wide is that they loved getting the handmade invitation and RSVP card.  It seems that it made everyone feel quite special, not only for being personally invited but also because of the hand crafted nature of the card.  You might want to consider something of this nature for your next big family get together.  This simple invitation has already made this a Thanksgiving no one will ever forget.

I made the cards in assembly line fashion.  Instead of making one complete card at a time, I repeated the same step on each card before moving on to the next step.  For instance, I adhered the inside mat to each card then moved on to the next component for the inside of the card.  It seems to me that repeating the same action over and over went more quickly than trying to make one cart at a time.  I've attached the instructional video to this post so you can get a visual of assembling the cards.

I also hand made all of the envelopes from patterned scrapbook paper with the pattern on the inside of the envelope.  It is the little touches like that that take the project to another level.  It is so impressive looking with you open an envelope and there is this beautiful pattern to greet you!

Video Tutorial for this Card.

Products Used for this Card

From WalMart:

6X6 Colorbok Paper Pack - Darling Jewel

12 X 12 Colorbok Paper Pack - French Prep

12 X 12 Colorbok Paper Pack - Boardwalk

8 1/2 X 11 Colorbok Cardstock - Craft

Matte Photo Paper

Gold Glitter Glue

Elmer's Tape Runner

Elmer's Dot Runner

Aleene's Clear Tacky Glue

From Amazon:

Deco Foil - Gold

Kuretake Watercolors

Memento Dew Drop Ink Pads - Rich Cocoa and Lady Bug

Stamps:

GodBlessYourArt Etsy Shop - Label Maker Alphabet

Cricut Cartridges/Images:

Thanksgiving: PlseJnUs

Thanksgiving: CardLyr

Autumn Celebrations: Plgrm1-s

From the Dollar Tree:

Metallic Colored Sequins