Jen Caputo

Still a Stamper Too!

Dad - don't read this.  Lindsey - you too.

Seriously, go away.

Are you gone?

 

 

 

My cousin's wedding is this weekend and I was flat out of wedding cards.  This is what I whipped up.

 

It's simple but I like wedding cards that way.  I used an embossing plate on the bottom and PTI paper for the top.  The Congratulations stamp is from My Cute Stamps. Ribbon is PTI. Nestabilities dies.

 

 

And here are my Father's Day cards this year.

Everything here is from Papertry Ink except for the Fiskars border punch.

 

It was pretty sad to make one less Father's Day card this year :(  I miss you Grandpa.

Two Cute & Simple Cards

I don't have a lot of crafty time these days so I wanted to make some cute & simple cards.

This one was inspired by FTL 51 (I rotated the sketch).

And this one started out as being inspired by FTL 49 but I got a little side tracked.

All stamps are from My Cute Stamps. I combined quite a few sets like Jelly Beans (for the birdies and the speech bubble in the bee card), Little Forest Friends (for the bee), and Matryoshka Dolls (for the 'hello' greeting).

Here's a close up of the bee card - I stitched the ribbon onto the card but it barely shows up :(

Almost out of this paper...

I'm so sad, I'm almost out of this green graph paper.  I've been using it a lot because I love it to pieces! (literally.. ha ha)

So this was a happy accident card. I'd planned it all out but when I put it together it didn't fit the way I wanted (the owl and the sentiment would not both fit on the card). So, I had to cover up the word "thanks" on the sentiment and then I got to use my favorite American Crafts Thickers alphas in it's place!

Inspiration for the card design came from FTL 47!  I'd never played along with her sketches before but I loved this one so I had to give it a shot!

Supplies
Stamps: Little Forest Friends from My Cute Stamps
Paper: Cosmo Cricket, Club Scrap
Ink: Copics, Memento Black, PTI Ripe Avocado
Alpha: American Crafts
Punches: EK Success, Circle Nestabilities

I ♥ Robots

I really do... except, of course, for Cylons (I just started season 3 so if for some reason I may end up liking them at some point, please don't tell me - I didn't read that wikipedia page, I just linked to it, I WILL remain spoiler free!!!) .... :)

Ok.. end Battlestar Galactica chatter.  Er wait... not yet... Have you guys seen this show?  It's so awesome. I'm definitely addicted. I'm watching an episode or two or three every night!

So I created this Robot/Battlestar inspired card, for Kristina's Color Inspiration #55.  This was her palette:

It was based on her boss's skirt. I NEED that skirt!

It was nice to finally have a chance to use this wrench charm too.  By the way, I dedicate this card to Chief :)  hehehe  I sure hope someone knows what I'm talking about...

Credits
Stamps: My Cute Stamps - Space Ships & Robots
Paper: Club Scrap (Rust - paisley patterned), PTI Rustic White, Smokey Shadow, Summer Sunrise
Ink: PTI Smokey Shadow, Summer Sunrise, Palette Cognac, White gel pen
Other: PTI Twine, Club Scrap Wrench Charm, EK Success Border Punch, Fiskars 1" Square Punch, Sewing Machine

Pretty Card & Money in the bank!

After whipping up Adam's birthday card and several father's day cards I needed to make something totally girly :)

I just adore this set from  My Cute Stamps, it is oh so feminine and the greeting is perfect for so many different occasions!

Supplies
Stamp Set: Celebrate Today - My Cute Stamps
Patterned Paper: Sassafrass Lass
Cardstock: PTI Lavender Moon, Spring Moss, Dark Chocolate, Rustic White
Twine: Papertrey Ink
Button: Spring Moss - Papertrey Ink
Ink: PTI Dark Chocolate, PTI Lavender Moon, Copic Markers

A few weeks ago I told you all about Swagbucks.  At the time, I had been doing it for about 2 weeks and had just earned my first $5 Amazon GC.  Now, I'm going on my 7th just 2 weeks later!  I gotta be honest, the #1 way to earn swagbucks is to refer other people! They have the best referral program ever!  For every swagbuck anyone you refer earns, you earn one (up to 100 swagbucks per person).  So you can imagine, if you just refer one person, you'll earn your $5 amazon GC twice as fast.  Of course the more people you refer the faster you'll earn your bucks.  Currently I'm earning enough to get an Amazon GC every 2-3 days!  It's awesome!!!!!  So if you didn't do it yet, sign up by using my link ;)

And if you did and you are getting discouraged because they aren't accumulating very fast, just keep using it every day and refer a friend or two!

Ok, my other two new favorite websites are Ebates and Cashbaq.  I was hesitant to sign up for these two at first but then when I saw that I could've gotten an extra $30 back on the sink I just bought I could've kicked myself in the butt.

Both of these sites give you cash back when you purchase items through links on their websites.  For instance, I'm about to buy several sets of these blinds at JC Penny while they are on sale (and using this 15% off coupon: SMMRJCPC).  I went to both Ebates and Cashbaq and saw that Ebates offers 4% back on JC Penny and Cashbaq  offers 1%.  Obviously, when I purchase those blinds, I will go through Ebates and get 4% back on my purchase just by clicking through their link!

Both of them also give you a $5 sign up bonus (you just can't cash out until you get at least $10 in your account - so they get you 1/2 way there with the sign up bonus).  They also offer different amounts back on different website which is why I keep an account with both of them.  Before I shop online, I go there first to see what I can get back (they also often have special coupon codes too!)

Obviously I sound like a huge pitch man right now but I just can't believe how much money I could have gotten back at this point had I been using these sites for the last few years and so I want to make sure you all don't make the same mistake I did :) 

Oh and yes... both Ebates and Cashbaq have awesome referral programs as well!

ok, enough out of me.  Go get yourself some money in the bank!!!!

Happy Birthday, Baby!

Yesterday was Adam's 30th birthday!!!  Obviously a big day :)  This is the card I made him.

and the inside

I'd been wanting to try a yellow/gray card for a while and I thought this adorable robot from My Cute Stamps' "Space Ships & Robots" set would work perfectly.  I love how he can wear that cute little hat!

To celebrate Adam's birthday we went to see the Detroit Tigers (our hometown team) play the White Sox.

We (the Tigers) lost.  It was a double header and the Tigers actually won the early game but not the one we went to unfortunately.  Oh well, it was still a great time!  Here's our group of 10!

We were amazed at our ability to pose for this picture with barely any obstructed heads in 2 seconds flat!

CPS117

I love the summer but it totally zaps any spare seconds I have for being crafty!  Adam had to go downtown tonight to finish cleaning out the condo (we close tomorrow!!!!) so I had a few minutes to play.  I decided to make it easy on myself and followed along with CPS117.

Supplies
Stamps: Little Forest Friends - My Cute Stamps, Hello Doodle - My Cute Stamps
Ink: Memento Black, Copic Markers
Paper: Club Scrap (Lime and Blue), PTI Stampers Select White
Other: Circle Nestabilities, Corner Rounder,White Embossing Powder

And for those who like to know the colors:

Two "Cute" Thank You Cards

I have barely had any time to play in the craft room lately but I had to get in there and get my fingers inked up before I went crazy! 

I decided to break in Spunky Nature from My Cute Stamps. It's such an awesome versatile set. I only used 7 of the 16 images from this 12.99 set on these cards - I can't wait to play with it more and see what other combinations of images will present themselves.  I can't believe what an amazing value these stamps are!

 

 

I found this piece of patterned paper in my stash by Cosmo Cricket that seemed to coordinate so well with Spunky Nature.

The "Thank You" greeting is from Matryoshka Dolls set!  (It's only $7.99!!)

Far Out!

I haven't posted in almost a week so this will be a catch up post.

I'll start with a quick card I made tonight using the Space Ships & Robots set from My Cute Stamps. I always wanted to be astronaut when I was a kid so this set is so totally me!

The patterned papers are from Scenic Route, the cardstock is Bazzil, the Ink is Palette. Ribbon from my stock, a Nestabilities star die, and a new EK Success border punch!

 

So I have a new obsession - couponing :)  Adam thinks I'm being ridiculous, but come on - who couldn't use a few extra bucks in their pockets these days?

Basically you don't buy stuff unless you have a coupon, and it's on sale.  That sounds like a lot of work keeping up with that kind of stuff doesn't it?  Well not so - there are legions of blogs out there dedicated to mashing up coupons and sales and telling you what to buy and where to buy it.

Some of my favorites

• It's Hip 2 Save
• Mashup Mom
• Bargain Briana
• Frugal Coupon Living
• The Bargain Jargon

And so on...

Anyway, I thought I'd show you my latest take.  In honor of Earth Day, Walgreens was offering 15% off your entire purchase (20% off walgreens brand items)

Here's what I bought:

• Walgreens re-usable bag - FREE (Earth Day Special)
• Skintimate Shaving Cream - $3 - 15%off = $2.54
  But you get $3 back in Register Rewards (money you can spend on your next trip).
  $.46 profit!
• 2 Glade Soy Candles: 5.99 each - 15% off = 5.09 each
  $2/Easy Saver Coupon in the booklet at Walgreens each
  $4/off each - printable here
  FREE (w/overage)!
• Energizer Batteries - 3 packs of 16 (2 AA, 1AAA) On Sale for 8.99 each - 15% off = $7.64
  - $1 coupon off each - printable here
  Plus, the batteries each had a Gillette Quattro Platinum razor in them (no idea why)
  Plus, it generated a $2 Register Reward
  Total: About $6 each with bonus razors!
• Nature's Bounty Vitamins (Fish Oil (9.34 after 15% discount) & Melatonin (7.22 after discount)) -
  Buy One Get One Free Walgreens sale
  2 - $2 off coupons printable here
  $5.34 Total for both jars of vitamins (regular price - over $20!)
• Plasticware - 2/$.80 when you scan the coupon in the Walgreens flyer (I forgot to do this... arg... so I paid $.79 each but they would have been that price for both if I remembered the coupon
• Paperplates - $.80 when you scan the coupon in the flyer (again, I forgot to do this so I paid $1.43)
• 2 Glade Plugin Refills - on sale 2 for $5 (15% off = 4.25)
  Plugin Oil Heater - 3.99 (3.22 with sale)
  $1 off of 2 refills from a coupon in last Sunday's paper
  Free oil heater when you buy any refill from a coupon in last Sunday's paper
  Plus, this generates a $1 Rebate Reward
  Total Cost: $2.15 for 2 refills + the nightlight oil heater

All in all, my final total including our crazy high sales tax was $37.40.  I saved $11.58 because of the 15% off sale and $42.87 in coupons and Walgreens sales!

And I have $6 in Register Rewards to spend time I go.

Seriously, how fun is that?

My receipt:

 

Ok, last thing.  A recent pic of me for my mom.  I've lost 19.5 lbs in the last 12 weeks and I got a haircut after I saw her last over Christmas so she wanted a new photo.

Picture taken this weekend at Rockfest!

Sorry Adam, this is what you get for making faces at the camera all the time.

 

Sooooooo excited!!!

Check out my new badge :)

Holly emailed me today to invite me to join the Design Team at My Cute Stamps. I'm so tickled pink about this! Have you seen her stamps?  They are fantastic and I love them. Can't wait to get started!  Actually I kind of already have, I created this card and this card with her stamps already!

  

Notebook paper doodle fun

 

I was just so tickled with myself  when I finished this card.  See that "notebook paper" that the flowers are resting on...  It started out as PTI's Stampers Select White.  I used Heather's Journaling Lines set to stamp the lines in Spring Rain.  I drew the pink line with a copic marker.  And then I punched the holes with a new punch from EK Success.  Custom made notebook paper in a matter of seconds.   I love it!

The notebook paper screamed for doodley type images so I was happy to oblige with these fun flowers from My Cute Stamps' Celebrate Today set.. I stamped them with Memento Black, colored with copics, and then cut them out. 

A little patterned paper and another EK Success Punch finished this quick card off.

 

Supplies
Stamps: My Cute Stamps Celebrate Today (Flowers, leafs), My Cute Stamps Hello Doodle (Hello), Fancy Pants (stems), PTI Journaling Lines (lines on notebook paper)
Paper: PTI Stampers Select White, Club Scrap Kraft, PTI Bitty Dots (Sweet Blush), Making Memories green vine
Ink: Memento Black, Palette Landscape, PTI Fresh Snow, Copic Markers
Punches: EK Success
Ribbon: PTI Spring Moss Grosgrain
Other: Button, Brads, String

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge 3

How cute is that Ice Cream cone?  don't you want to eat it up!  It's from the adorable Sweet Chocolate set from My Cute Stamps and I think it looks adorable all iced up with glitter.  I used Dawn's color challenge as my inspiration for this card.

Supplies:
Stamps: Sweet Chocolate from My Cute Stamps
Ink: Memento Black, PTI Dark Chocolate
Paper: PTI Stampers Select, PTI Bitty Dots in Pure Poppy, Pure Poppy, Vintage Cream, Bazzil Pink, Club Scrap Kraft
Dies: Nestabilities Circles & Scallop Circles
Punches: EK Success Border Punch, Creative Memories Corner Rounder
Other: Making Memories Eyelets, PTI Sweet Blush Twill Ribbon