Janet's Smiles

Most of this A to Z 10th Anniversary Challenge I’ve been showing you the cards I make.  Yesterday I talked about the mini-albums that are a favorite of mine as well.  Today is sort of a combination of the two of those.

I called it the Name Game because I take the letters in the person’s first name and use descriptive words or phrases to celebrate them.  I made the first one for my cousin, Lynda, on the occasion of her birthday.

I think everyone likes to see their names on things, I know I do.   These make great card/keepsakes for people who have everything and don’t need or want presents for their birthdays or who are going through some tough times and need to know people are thinking about them.  Plus, these are small and don’t take up much space. 

It was relatively easy to find descriptive adjectives and phrases for these names.  Can you think of a name that might be harder?  So far I have just made these as personal gifts but I’m thinking of adding them to my Etsy site.  What would be a good name for them?  Would you buy something like this for a friend or relative? 

Plenty of time left to visit the other A to Z folk.  Stop by tomorrow for the letter “O” although truthfully I have no idea what I’m gonna talk about!

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We are starting the second half of the A to Z 10th Anniversary Challenge!  Has it seemed like the month has gone fast to you?  In my A to Z this year I am showcasing some of the things I make and that are available on my Etsy site.  If you haven’t visited it yet, I’d love it if you would!

I make a lot of cards but I also like making what I call mini-albums.  They are kind of like scrapbooks because you can put pictures in them and there are spaces for journaling but they are usually about one specific event or theme.

I started making School Days Mini’s like this:

Another style is using the bags with handles.  I made this one as an engagement gift for someone. 

What do you think of my mini’s?  Have a special occasion coming up that you need a one of a kind gift for?  Keep me in mind.  Stay tuned tomorrow for the letter “N.”  It’s a fun one!

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In the A to Z of Card Making and Paper Crafting, L stands for Love.  I am a big believer in love and I really enjoy making things to celebrate it.  A few are here:

This is a mini-album I made that is like a book but with many interactive pages. 

I have a whole section in my Etsy Shop devoted to “Love” cards and things. 

Well, half way through the A to Z and I bet you couldn’t tell I was winging it the whole way!  “Lips” is our #SoCS prompt so I had to fit that in too.  Multi-tasking at its best!  Hope you are having a good time with the A to Z.  I’m going to try and find some new people to investigate tomorrow.  You do the same!

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I have to be absolutely honest.  I am a crafty person but sometimes I need a little kick start to get the creative juices flowing.  Occasionally I use kits to fuel the spark, like these from Paper Wishes.  The kits include the blank cards and the extra pieces to decorate it with.  Sometimes I follow the directions and then add or take off things to suit me.  This kit came with the metal stencil of the baby hands and feet that I can use over and over again.   

I do have to say that with every card or album I make, I always add something or change the design a little so that I feel comfortable selling them as one of my creations.  I give credit to the company that I got the kit from as well.  I mean, anyone can get a kit and make the cards so I have to make them my own in some way.   

Now you know my secret.  Hope it hasn’t tarnished my image as a creator but I have to be truthful in my business.  I wouldn’t feel right if I wasn’t.   

We are rapidly moving through the alphabet!  Hope you are enjoying this year’s series.  Please go visit some of the other participants in the 10th Anniversary A to Z Challenge.  

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I was walking down the aisle at Michaels one day and I saw this package:

Ever been walking down the aisles of Michaels and find something you weren’t expecting?  Have any special family recipes you’d like a mini-album for?  Come back tomorrow for “K” and go visit the A to Z family.

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“But Janet, where do you get all your ideas for these cards and things you make?” you may (or may not) ask.

Let me tell you! 

Some of them come from books and magazines.  I have one book that is called “A Card A Day” and I’ve been thinking about giving that a try, just like I did my 365 pictures. 

So many ideas, so little time!  What inspires your creativity?   

Visit some of the other A to Z participants in this 10th Anniversary round!  You can also find them on Facebook  See you tomorrow with “J”

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Some people say that men are the hardest to find cards and gifts for since most of the things out there usually have flowers and frills on them.  I take that into consideration and try to make some more “masculine” looking things.  Here is one of them.

Everyone knows about the “Honey Do” lists we women make for our husbands/significant others, etc.  This one has a little twist.

There are also some blank tickets so you can write in your own “Honey Do’s” – for whatever suits your fancy.  I’ll bet you could come up with some really great ideas for your special guy. 

You could also put some tickets to his favorite sporting event or concert in one of the pockets.  Very customizable.

What do you think?  Have a “Honey” who needs a to-do list?  Find it and other fun stuff on my Etsy site.

We are working our way through the alphabet with the A to Z gang pretty nicely I think.  I am thankful that I’ve been able to keep up, especially since I wasn’t at all prepared to begin with.  Make sure to check some of the other peeps out.   

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We begin week two of the A to Z Challenge with the letter G.  I am using it to show my Gift Card Holders.  Giving someone a gift card to Starbucks or really anywhere has become a normal thing to do nowadays.  When I worked at Michaels whenever someone bought a gift card they asked if we had holders for them.  We didn’t always.

Here are some examples of a few different types I’ve made:

Around Christmas time I made these cute ones.  As you can see, there is a brad holding the top on and if you swivel it, you can slip a gift card in the pocket.

The slider cards are not in the Etsy site at the moment since Christmas has passed but I will be making more of them for baby gifts and birthday gifts so stay tuned!

For birthdays, I made some in the shape of cakes and ice cream cones:

I just realized that these could even be used for wedding gifts.  I would leave off the candle and add another layer to the cake part or put a wedding topper on instead of the candle.  Watch for something like that to show up too! 

And for those people who give Starbucks cards, there are some in the shape of mugs:

All of these have special envelopes that I have made out of coordinating papers.  They can also be custom made if you like particular colors or want something stamped on the front. 

Hopefully you are enjoying these examples of the different things you can do with card making.  I know I am enjoying visiting all kinds of interesting bloggers during this challenge. 

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Jim has given us the words Burn/Fire/Flame for our #SLS challenge this week.  I am working on the A to Z Challenge and so this is a short one and it is very late as we went to the San Francisco Giants game today. 

Nickelback is a band that gets some bad publicity occasionally.  I don’t like all their songs but we did go to see them in concert and this is a video I took of their song, Burn It To The Ground:

Lyrics:

Hope you all had a happy Sunday. 

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We’ve made it through one week in the A to Z Challenge!  Fortunately I have been able to keep up and tomorrow I’ll have all day to prep for next week and hopefully beyond.  At least I have some idea of what I’m doing for the rest of the letters, except for a few.

Today’s example from my card making file is Feathers.  This first one is to encourage a friend who may be having some hard times.  “Don’t let life ruffle your feathers” it says on the outside.  There are several different types of feathers on the front of the card and the inside has more. 

And the envelope.  I really have to work on the lighting I have in the new studio if I’m going to be taking pictures.  They come out too dark.  I am using my phone because it takes the best close up pictures but I can see some experimenting is in order.

The second example is a birthday card.  A little different with the types of feathers, all of which are made from paper. 

The inside and the envelope.

Aren’t they fab?  Please take a minute to visit my Etsy shop.  The pictures there are much better, at least for now.  Click on the links above.  Visit the other A to Z’ers and congratulate them on the week.  Thanks to Linda for giving us an “F” word (fab) for the #SoCS! 

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