Calligraphy...

I have had an interest in calligraphy my entire life. I have tried to teach it to myself a time or two as well. A class came within my reach, and I grabbed it. I have to admit, I'm a bit hesitant to photograph any of my work...yet. I'm still very much in the early learning stages. I do have a project or two up my sleeve, and if I can get them even decent looking ('cause perfect will be years in coming) I will post them. I have 3 more classes and my final project is due at the last class. I'm nervous, but I think I have it figured out...I just need to practice it...lots and lots and lots.

Here is your heads up...new stuff coming soon. :)

Sea Breeze Swap

This was my interpretation of the Sea Breeze theme for a card swap I was involved in. I LOVE this stamp (thank you to the darling friend who let me stamp a bunch!) and had to find a way to use this ribbon (I have no clue where I got it from, but it was perfect) that I have had for ages. The ocean paper is a design from the Suzy's Zoo line of scrapbooking papers that I found at my local LSS in the clearance section. The mermaid is colored with Copic and Prismacolor markers and her hair is accented with gems. The water is highlighted with crystal Stickles and matted with Bazzill Bling CS. The mermaid is also pop-dotted.

Other creations...

I thought about re-posting any creative things I have on my more personal blog but decided it would be too much work. If you are interested in seeing other work of mine feel free to check out my other blog at http://www.jenalih.blogspot.com/ just know that you are going to have to weed through a bit of personal stuff too.

Card Swaps

I love card swaps. I love the act of creating something that could possibly end up halfway around the world, and hopefully be truly enjoyed/appreciated by the recipient. Now that doesn't mean my cards always come out the way I plan, but I certainly try my best to put a tiny piece of me in everything I do and I don't stop working until I'm happy with the result.


Paper: KaiserCraft "On The Dot"; Stamp: Inkadinkado "Birthday Fun"; Ink: Prussian Blue Chalk Ink

This card design is doing double duty for me. It is for a male birthday swap and a red/blue swap. I fell in love with this paper the moment I saw it and knew I had to find a project for it. It isn't very fancy or detailed, but I love how all the simple elements came together. The upper part of the circle is lightly pop dotted, as you can see below.

Cardstock: Unknown black and white; Stamps: Inkadinkado "Rock Star", "Birthday Fun" & Pollycraft Cherry Kisses-Attitude (digi stamp); Inks: Memento-Rose Bud, Tuxedo Black & London Fog, and Versamark; Markers/Pens: Copic-E00, Prismacolor Cool Grays-90%, 70%, 50%, 30% & 10%, and Glaze 3-d ink.

I had so much fun putting this one together. The girl is one I stamped off several of a while back when a few of my friends and I got together, I don't know what company she is but will find out. I decided to do all grays except for her heart and shoes to make her a bit of a tween, a girl heading into the teen years (goth look), yet still wanting to hang on to her little kid side (pink heart and shoes). This, of course, is only my interpretation. It is hard to see unless you are looking for it, but I stamped a skull/wing stamp with Versamark all over the black background and from the same Inkadinkado set I made the skull "ribbon" on a strip of white CS with London Fog gray. Everything white is lightly edged in the Rose Bud and the Happy Bday stamp is also in Rose Bud.

Paper: Stampin' Up!; Stamp: Inkadinkado "Birthday Fun"; Digistamp Alien: free online coloring page; Markers: Prismacolor Spanish Orange, Yellowed Orange & Orange; Ink: Versafine Onyx Black

I have had this alien hanging around for a while now. I printed him off ages ago but ended up not using him on the project I had been planning. This was a quick and easy card for me, it just all came together as soon as I found the paper pack in my stash. I'm not sure if Stampin' Up! sells it anymore, I think I got it on sale, possibly when they retired it.

I am happy to answer any questions about my creations, if I can. I hope I can inspire you to leave your computer and create!