My New Website!!! Bright and Merry Designs

Hello all!
I am so excited to announce that I FINALLY have a website!  I have been wanting to do something like this for a VERY long time but just have not had the confidence to go for it.  Well, I WENT for it and Bright and Merry Designs was born!

You can visit me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BrightMerryDesignsByJanaBailey and also on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/janambailey/bright-and-merry-designs/.  I hope you would be kind enough to "like" my Facebook page and to pin some of my Pinterest pins to help me get the word out.

Some of the fun things you will find on my website currently are card sets that are prints made from my original art.  Last year I made the set below at the encouragement of my sweet husband after making small paintings for 5 of my girlfriends that I sing in an ensemble with.  Well, they were a big hit and sold really well.  My friends encouraged me to create more cards this year and boy did I!  I now have a total of 3 Christmas card sets and a Birthday card set.

 This set is called Christmas Portraits.  I imagined what it might be like if Christmas characters had to sit down for school portraits!  The thought kind of cracked me up :)

 This set is called Christmas Whimsy - more portraits really but I threw in a Christmas tree!

This set is my favorite, it is called Christmas Nativity.  I used words from Christmas songs and one of my favorites of all time is "Mary Did You Know?"  Just the thought of how Mary would have felt if she only knew what all Jesus would do and what all He would go through just for us.

Then there is my cheerful Birthday set.  I love this one!  It makes me smile. :)

Eventually I will be offering small prints of each of these little gems on the website also.  Some other things I will be offering are 5 x 7 and 8 x 10 prints from some of my larger original paintings.  Here are just a few, you can see more on the website.

 Beatitudes - This was inspired by my pastor who recently preached a whole series on the Beatitudes out of Matthew 5.  All of the qualities God wants us to possess are in white with all the blessings you will receive written in the background.

 Bless This House - just a little fun and funky painting to help us remember God's grace and that He wants us to seek His blessings.

 Me and My House - Joshua 24:15 - One of my all time favorite verses.  We have had this verse in our home in one form another for most of our 24 years of marriage.

Have Faith in How You Serve - this one was inspired by my dear daughters.  They are volleyball players but God's faithful followers first and I wanted it to be a reminder to them that they are to be a light for Jesus in all they do.

Thanks for checking in, I hope you will share my post, Facebook page and do some pinning for me.  I would feel blessed to be able to make someone smile with my art!

Many blessings to YOU!

Jana

Happy Birthday Cake Box!

Hello everyone!  Looks like I am becoming a once a month blogger. :(  I need to work on posting more often as I am actually creating more often!  I will try to do better!

Today I bring you a project that I am most proud of.  The cut file comes from MyScrapChick.com.  I purchased this months ago knowing it would take a while to put together along with many other projects I have on going.  My wonderful oldest daughter turned 16 last week and I wanted to make it special.  Don't misunderstand, we are not the "My Sweet 16" reality TV kinda folk.  No-No!  She invited 3 friends over, we went to see Monsters University (a must see if you like Monsters Inc.) then came home and went moonlight swimming, had cake and ice cream and then they watched TV til they couldn't keep their eyes open.  So, the paper cake was a special treat for my girl!

There are 20 boxes that make up the cake.  I printed the papers on my Imagine machine from the Blast Off cartridge and the Mr. Frosty cartridge.  I used paper by Colorbok from Walmart.  It cuts really nice.

 Each layer was very unstable so I tied each one up with some cute bakers twine and it made it nice and round.  One warning, slip a cardboard square under the entire cake to pick it up and move it, if not the pieces slip down and the lids come off easy and after you have tied the twine around them it is hard to get the lids back on.  Just an FYI!

 What would a sweet 16 cake be with out a bit of sparkle?  So I used my go to Stickles, Fruit Punch, Diamond and Yellow to add a bit of sugary sweetness.

She is a real girly girl, so in each box she found bracelets, fingernail polish, lip gloss, chewing gum (she is a bit gum crazy) earrings, etc.  Anything that would fit.  You could add gift cards, money, special notes from friends and family, etc.  THEN...her daddy came home, AFTER I had it all stuffed and tied up, with a very special present.  So it got wrapped in the tiny box below.

A very sweet pair of white 14K gold diamond earrings.  Her first "real" diamonds were from her daddy.  That's the way it should be. :)

So to add it to the gift cake, I wrapped it in matching paper and tucked it under the cake topper.  It made a real nice surprise.  Sorry for the blurry picture but I realized I never photographed the little box ON the cake so I found this one from the party.

I try to teach my children that although gifts are nice and can be really special, there is no gift better than the gift of eternal life they have received from their Holy Father in Heaven, Jesus Christ.  That is the best gift any person can ever be offered.  All you have to do is pray to receive it and it will NEVER be taken away.

Many blessings,

Jana