Janet's Smiles

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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As part of the A to Z challenge this year I am going through my repertoire of cards, mini-albums and other paper crafts that I create. 

Today is the letter E and in my case E is for Easel.  These cards are normal appearing at first.  The front has a large focal point and the inside has a message that is propped up on foam tape to make it pop up…   

Here’s another example.

Of course they both have envelopes that match.

And there are a couple of other ones on the Etsy site. 

Have a look at some of the other participants in the A to Z challenge and come back tomorrow for the letter “F”!

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“Mistaken Identity Crisis” is available for preorder on Amazon

You can read more about James at his website:

 https://jamesjcudney.com

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Making my way through the alphabet with the cards and crafts that I make, today is D for Duckie.

A bunch of yellow ducks adorn the front of this card made to celebrate the birth of a baby in the family.  I really like the colors and they could be for either a boy or a girl, although truthfully I think boy when I see it.  Is that gender typing?                                                                                                                   

As always room to write inside and the envelope has a boat to match.

Simple one today.  Trying my best to keep up until I have some time on the weekend.  Check the Etsy site to see more pictures.  Make sure to catch up with others on the A to Z train and come back tomorrow for “E.”

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