XOXO girls Challenge #6

Have you been over to XOXO girls challenge blog yet? NO, well get yourselves over there and lift a project! That's right, it's a scraplifting blog. You look at the DT work and pick out anything that you like to lift. Colors catching your eye? Bling bling? What about the design of the page? Using a certain material? Well, you are the artist... you decide! AND link your creation up to the post with the name of the layout or project that inspired you and you could win a prize! Sound good? Head on over to XOXO... Time is almost out for this challenge, so get your scrappy bootie in gear!

New stuff...

I have been so behind in posting my new work. I thought maybe I would submit some to a magazine that wants never before seen work, but I have a hard time not sharing my work immediately. It's the gratification thing. I like to share. I love when people comment! I love commenting on other's work! So, I will share my newest Nikki Sivils projects with you now and then a few other projects that I finished this past month!

I adore the new products from Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker!

"Fly"

I love layers of papers and textures. I used lots of scraps for the layers here of the various Flaming Butterflies line! It needed more texture (IMO) and I had a coffee sleeve so I ripped that up and added that to give some interest. The Cutie Cut Ups are so fun to cut out for embellishments. The colors in this line are so bright and bold!Here's a detail of the layers.

Next up is a layout from Willow Bee line. I love the graphics in this line.The honeycombs and the bees are so fun! I knew I wanted to do a page about my husband and his love of singing under the influence... LOL. He always sings "Sugar Pie Honey Bunch" at weddings and with friends. It's a riot and cute. So, I started with a distressed piece of cardboard (from my mailing box- nothing goes wasted in this house!) for my back ground. I cut some of the honeycombs out from the Cut Ups sheet and layed them out on the cardboard face down. I sprayed with Cinder and Mimosa glimmer mist. After it dried, I removed them and used them on the page right side up. The papers are from the line but also from the 6" x 6" book of papers too which are the same designs only smaller for card makers or mini albums. I love to mix the small and large prints.For the letters, I used foam Thickers and Stickles. The diamond colored ones were perfect for sugar and the Marigold distressed Stickles were great for honey! I also used a 10" circle die cut paper for the top... I just cut it in half.

One more to share...

"Luck banner"

I create this little banner with accordian flowers ( you can find a tutorial here) and lots of little punched and cut out embellishments. The clovers are made with a little heart punch that I punched 3 times and then hand cut a stem. I glued them to the back of the burlap button to make the clover. Easy Peasy! The letters are Rusty Pickle and glitter added. All the papers are Nikki Sivils- My Sweet Cherry Pie, North Pole Lights, and Henry's Brillance. Punch holes in edges and tie with ribbon! A cute St. Patrick's Day decor!

Here is a layout that I did using Studio Calico's February kit. I think it was a sketch challenge over there but I didn't get it in time, so I just did it for fun.
It's kind of linear for me, but I like the papers in the kit and painted the letters for this layout with a soft pink. It's a soft layout and the photo is from back before I had kids! It was a girl's weekend out at Niagra on the Lake at a spa named the Pillar and Post. Those were good times! I ws much more relaxed then. I did treat myself to a "me day" yesterday. I went to Weight Watchers (lost another 1.2 lbs!) and the gym (Ouch!). I then went and got a manicure/ pedicure- sigh... so blissful! Lastly, I cropped the rest of the day and night with my good friend (the kind that makes your sides hurt laughing so much), Sherry. While she offered up her house (with no kids or husbands!), food, and time, we created stuff and laughed. I was so relaxed and happy! We ordered Chinese food for dinner and drank beer. YUM! I finished a mini album and she did a ton of cards and a project for classes she is teaching. I felt renewed and it was so needed! Thanks Sherry!!! HUGS!

Today is the last day for official hockey season for Mark. Matt got skates and a helmet so he can skate with Mark today. They did offer an additional 10 week session so we will be doing that in addition to T-ball in the spring. It's gonna be a busy week.... I better get going to cheer on my guys!

XOXO
Jen

Winner!

Thank you all for participating in the Blog Crawl with Bella Blvd, Jillibean Soup, and Nikki Sivils! I enlisted the random number generator to pick a number from the comments to give my lovely garland away to and the random number was:

And that means... the winner is:

Donna E. said...

this is BEAUTIFUL!!!
thanks for the chance to win :)

Thank you for the kind words Donna! Email me (mmatott@twcny.rr.com) with your addy and I'll get it out to you! For the rest of you, stay tuned for another giveaway on my blog soon of some Nikki Sivils goodies... I will be giving some products away in the coming weeks! Thanks for visiting and I hope you will return to see what new things I'm making!

XOXO
Jen

Blog Crawl Ya'll!!

It's here! The Tri- blog crawl... What's a blog crawl, you ask? Well, it's a following of a bunch of fantastic blogs that are giving away some even more amazing prizes! There are 3 large giveaways at each of the manufacturers - Bella Blvd., Jillibean Soup, and Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker... Click on each one and go there to leave a comment and find all the other design team girls that are giving away handmade goodies. Now... before you go, check out what I made to give away.

"Spring Garland"

I whipped together this adorable garland. Garlands are all the rage right now. They were everywhere at CHA and I love them! I used pieces from three of Nikki's lines: Willow Bee, Flaming Butterfly and My Sweet Cherry Pie. The papers go so well together!! I love her graphics and fun patterns. So, I will be giving this approximate 6 foot long garland away to a lucky random poster. Leave me a comment about what you look forward to for spring this year or just say "hi"! Then, go and visit the other blogs and DT members to leave comments there. You have ALL weekend to do this so no rush but don't miss out on any of the goodies being given away. I will announce my winner on Monday (after school... so that's 3pm EST). enjoy!

PS.. this is open to all countries... US or International! GOod Luck!

XOXO
Jen

You are invited!!!

This is so exciting.. there will be lots of fun and handmade giveaways! Join us at any of the blogs for these companies... Here is Nikki's blog link: Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker
Here's what Nikki says:
"What is a Blog Crawl you might be asking... Well, on March 5th you'll come to my (Nikki's) blog and you'll see a gift that Jillibean Soup is giving away on my blog, along with a handmade gift from me and a list of the design team girls that will be giving handmade gifts away using our products, you'll leave a comment at each blog & then move on through the list. Then you'll head over to Bella Blvd and see the gift that Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker will be giving away over there, along with a list of Bella Blvd's design team ladies and you'll do the same thing. Next you'll head over to Jillibean Soup and see the gift that Bella Blvd is giving away, along with all of Jillibean Soups DT gals, leave a comment then go to the next. There are over 50 handmade gifts and product giveaways!! Don't panic b/c you'll have the entire weekend of March 5th to visit all the blogs and leave a comment for a gift... it's an entire weekend of blogging and giveaways! We'll announce all the winners Monday morning!! Doesn't that sound like fun??!!

Us 3 ladies have become good friends and thought this would be an awesome way to bring 3 great manufacturers together for one fun event! We are all so excited!!"

I couldn't have said it better... I can't wait to unveil my little "prettie" that I will be giving away.
This is great fun and I hope you will join us!!! Check back Friday for pictures and a chance to win!

New Nikki Sivils!

It's CHA time again and there are 6 new lines that Nikki Sivils, Scrapbooker is releasing. They are amazing! I got to work with the first one and it is such a fun line! Check out all the papers and goodies on Nikki's website.




Aren't they delish? I am so excited to get to work with the Willow Bee and Flaming Butterfly!!! They are my favorites so far! I got to work with the Will He B The 1 line for the CHA booth and had a great time with those fun papers! I have some left and have some great ideas to make more with!!!
Here are some of my favorite new things coming out from Nikki:

New Stamps! Love this set with the cloud and sunflowers!!! So sweet!

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE these buttons! They are genius! So cute ... cute as a button!
Brand new stickers that match her lines... so fun and cute in their pockets!

So run and don't walk to her site to check it out!

I'll be revealing my creations soon!

XOXO

Jen

My Top 10 or maybe 20....

I did a year in review of my creations last year and thought that it was a good way to reflect on my improvement in style and the techniques I've used, the themes that came up, and the design that I improved on. So, I've picked the top 10 (or so...) favorite layouts or artworks that I've done this year. I just couldn't stop at 10...

























I've had a productive year, but all in all, I know I have room for improvement. I hope 2010 brings fresh ideas, rockin' mojo, and lots of opportunities to get my artwork out there... with exhibits, DT jobs, and some publications. I have a good feeling about this year!

XOXO

jen

Happy Holidays

It's been a month of pure craziness! This holiday season has been a blur for me! I can't quite catch up... So, here is a photo peek of what's been going on:

Mark's 5th birthday!

Teaching Elementary kids- 7 levels of lessons going fast and furious!

Little drummer boy... lots of music going on here in the house!


Christmas preparations... were we naughty or nice?

Holiday photo taking... lots more layouts to make with these cuties!

So, this is just a small sampling of my crazy life. Add in shopping, wrapping, baking, parties, birthdays, relays at school, Mark's school, daycare, cleaning, and mothering and that = one tired momma!

I have just started completing many projects now that Christmas is over and the parties have subsided. I will post those soon!

Here are a few of my latest projects using the November Bad Girls kit! It was a wonderful kit full of fun items and gorgeous papers!

"Celebration Cake box"
I used the Golden Molding Paste that was included in the kit to "frost" the lid of the box here! The rhinestones and sequins made adorable sprinkles for the cake. This was so much fun!


"Imagine Paris" canvas
There was a canvas included in the kit and I transformed a doll house window into a whimsical art piece using the Graphic 45 Renaissance papers and the Molding Paste to distress the cardboard! It was fun and adding the little charms to the bottom made it very Bad Girls!
"Will You?"
This layout was inspired by my grandmother's wedding photo. She looks so classical and lovely. I loved many of the embellishments that came with the kit to add gorgeous accents to the page.

Check out the details of how I made each project when you purchase the kit on the message board at Bad Girls Kits.

Enjoy the beauty of the season and I'll be back this week with a Year in Review! Can you believe it's almost 2010?!! I hope this new year brings much relaxation and renewal.