Happy Happy Joy Joy!

If you're the right age (ahem) you'll remember Ren and Stimpy. Every time I see this stamp, I hear it in their voices - but besides that, I think it makes a super all-occasions-for-congratulations sentiment.
This week Lucy is hosting a rainbow challenge - and all week I knew I wanted to play. Finally yesterday I got the chance to get inky for it, and whoa, inky is an understatement. First, the card:

Supplies: Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Palette Noir re-inker;
stamps from: Daisy Bucket, Cornish Heritage Farms, Digital Princess, Martha Stewart;
assorted rainbow gemstones;
Distress inks: fired brick, spiced marmalade, mustard seed, peeled paint, broken china, dusty concord

trying to capture some of the sparkle!

So, here's how it went. I thought 'hey, I've sponged these rainbows before, maybe I should try using the brayer.' Yeah, not so much. I just haven't invested the time to practice, so I didn't like how it was turning out. Then I decided to do direct-to-paper, which was a little tricky keeping the stripes narrow enough, but OK. And now, the messy part. I wanted the colours to be more muted, so I sprayed the paper generously with water. Really generously. And then I thought, since I sprayed so much water I wouldn't get the 'flicked' look with the distress inks, I'd use black ink. I grabbed an old toothbrush and an ink pad, and went to it. First ink pad, too dry. Second ink pad, still too dry - so I grabbed the re-inker. Heh. I went to town splattering, dripping re-inker right into the bristles, and letting loose.

Of course I'd laid newspaper down first - I'm not totally foolish. But I didn't take into account the, um, REACH of toothbrush spatter. And of course, I didn't notice right away that what I was doing was coating a good portion of the kitchen table, floor, dog dishes, microwave stand, etc, with fine black ink spatters. And my shirt. And my hand - of course the hand I was using, but the other hand, both arms, and even my face. It turns out that although Palette does wash up, with elbow grease, it doesn't come off skin all that easily if you've been bathing in it. Good to know.

Anyway, head on over & see what everyone else has linked up, because rainbows rule :)

Back to washing up...
xoxo,
Jessi

Get Well Soon!

Is it just me, or is My Mind's Eye coming out with more amazing paper every single release? I think I might have said this before, but at the rate they're going they just might replace Basic Grey in my Pokemon-style 'gotta have them all.'

Supplies: all papers from My Mind's Eye;
sparkly flower strip from Recollections;
'get well' sentiment from Inkadinkado;
Memento Tuxedo Black ink;
floral rub-ons (envelope) from $store

You know it's going to be a good day when....
a) grumpy pre-teen child is up before 6, arguing about having hot dogs for breakfast
b) dog and cat having yet another stand-off wake up husband with the hissing & barking
c) the planned beach day begins with pouring rain (even if it's supposed to stop...)
d) the coffee you made up last night was mis-measured - pretty sure there's proportionally a lot more coffee than water going on there. Blech.

SERENITY NOW! Today is the first day of everyone being home for a week and a half, it's only 7:15 am & I'm already ready to kick everyone out! lol I'm going to go sit at my desk for a half hour, play with ink & brayer, get messy, and ignore the chaos going on around me.

xoxo,
Jessi

Sparkly Mermaid!

Things have been crazy-busy around here - appointments, back-to-school prep, the total life takeover of adjusting to having a dog, plus doing fun stuff...I'm wiped! But, before I go any further, some huge news:

I got my learner's license!

OK, so you are probably thinking I'm pretty old to be getting around to this, and you're right. I lived in Vancouver as a teenager, and you just don't really need a car. Moving to this little place, with the weather we have, sometimes walking is really not a practical option. And unfortunately, for years I've let the little naysayer voice in my head tell me I couldn't learn how to drive. Well, forget THAT. You can't learn if you don't even try. 

Friday we spent the day in Prince Edward Island, watching the Gold Cup Parade in Charlottetown, and then spending the rest of the day at Shining Waters (water park), and Sandpit (amusement park). I think I'm still tired just thinking about it. I'm also fighting off some strange problem in my ankle - at the water park I got a bug bite of some kind on my ankle, which by Saturday afternoon was extremely swollen & painful, and infected. It's definitely better than it was, but for several days I couldn't walk the dog - Connor took up the slack, but he wasn't happy about it, especially in the pouring rain! Anyway, now it looks like an aging bruise, and back to the normal walking & biking routine so far today hasn't aggravated it too much. I'm definitely keeping an eye on it - no doctor's appointments are available even to book for a month, and I'd rather not go to the emergency room, but I will if I have to. 

Supplies: paper from My Mind's Eye;
mermaid sticker from PSX;
assorted gemstones; glitter glue

trying to capture some of the glitter...

I still lament that PSX went out of business. I love their stickers, and hoard the few I have left. I painted the mermaid's tail with some iridescent sparkle glue, after using up some odds & ends of blue & green gemstones.  The gemstone circle was made by first lightly tracing the Nestie size I wanted, then carefully cursing & swearing while I adhered the border-style rhinestone strip on a curve. Ahem. Wee bit harder than I anticipated.  The sticker on the envelope is another from the same sheet.

It's the last week of day camp, culminating in a day-long trip to the beach on Friday, the county fairs in the area are going strong, my lawn needs to be mowed reeeeeally badly, and the mosquitoes are plenty enough to carry away small children (and get stuck all through my hair, ewwww.) Yep, it's definitely August. Boy, do I ever love September :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Baby Boys are Booming!

Funny, how things seem to happen in cycles. The last few years, everyone I knew that was having a baby, had a girl. This year, it's boys everywhere I look! My niece had a sweet baby boy a few weeks ago, one of the day camp leaders is expecting a boy, and any second now one of our former babysitters is going to meet her little boy. (He was due Monday, stubborn thing!)

This little guy has already had his room decorated in shades of ocean blues, so when I got started on his blanket I knew I wanted to incorporate that with a ripple pattern. Here it is (it measures about 30" x 36" or so):

Now to get a special card made with the little guy's name on it...

And on the topic of babies, here are a few baby cards I've made in the last while:

Supplies: pages from Cicely Mary Barker Fairy Book;
Cloud 9 Designs sentiment stamp;
Memento Tuxedo Black ink; black Sharpie (edges); black rhinestones
My all-time favourite baby quote!

Supplies: embossed cardstock from ACD;
hands & feet  flatback buttons from Dress it Up!;
all other supplies misc. that my sweet sister scored for me at a yard sale :)

Supplies: paper from Basic Grey "Sugar Rush;"
quote from Cloud 9 Designs;
Memento Tuxedo Black ink;
standard oval Nesties; flowers quilled by me

Supplies: papers from MME Fine & Dandy "True Blue;"
buttons from Basic Grey;
standard oval Nesties;
'congratulations' outline sticker - Elizabeth Allan designs;
puppy stamp from Inkadinkado; Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Sugar Rush;"
buttons also from Basic Grey;
sentiment from Cloud 9 Designs;
Memento Tuxedo Black ink;
black sharpie for the edges

....aaaand that's about it. Nothing big is happening around here lately. I view it as the calm before the storm of school beginning. Now if only I could kick-start my crafty mojo to get some things made up ahead of the back-to-school chaos, that would be great! Abby the pup is doing great - she's a clever little thing, and is really learning quickly. I've got several books out on dog training - she's got a few commands under her belt, but I know I've got lots to learn about how to teach her. And lots of  people-training to do as well...a certain adult has a bad tissue-littering habit that's GOT to stop - apparently to Abby that is a wonderful, delicious, shreddable-all-over-my-carpet treat. At least based on the amount I'm picking up, she's not really eating much of it :)

xoxo,
Jessi

You Make me Happy!

I'm sorry I haven't been hopping around & commenting much this week - not sure what's going on, but I seem to be fighting off some sort of malaise. All I've been doing is getting the kids to camp, walking the dog, watching TV, and sleeping. Lots of sleeping. Hopefully I've turned the corner & will be back to normal soon - it doesn't help that the weather has been atrocious. Torrential rain - on Monday alone we got about 60 mm (6 cm, nearly 2.5 inches!)

Supplies: papers from Echo Park "Summertime;"
die cut tree & mushrooms, owl sticker from Walmart;
sentiment stamp from Stampin' Up!;
Dusty Concord Distress Ink

My inspiration for this card came from Allison at Stampin' When I Can, whose card was created for the Playing in Paradise challenge for last week. My card has absolutely nothing to do with the challenge - to use stencils - but I was inspired by so many of the elements Allison used for her card. The clouds, the trees, the funky hills, all of these things were hollering "Hey, you should do that!" so I did :)
I couldn't get a good photo of it, but there's an additional little layer beneath the tree that I cut with my Martha Stewart fringe scissors, and it's edged by those cute little mushrooms.
Now off to watch some more of Castle, season two. It's due back at the library tomorrow, and I've got about 10 episodes left to watch. Eeps!
xoxo,
Jessi

Moxie Fab Squares to Cherish...and more Abby!

What a gorgeous blanket! Granny squares are so retro-funky-cool, and so easy to make. It's just a pain sewing them all together at the end. I knew I wanted to incorporate crochet in this Trigger card, and originally I thought "Ooh, I could crochet a blanket of mini granny squares for a baby blanket..." and then my sanity returned. Then I thought I could quill a faux quilt, and I've shelved that idea for another time. I was determined to participate this time around - I've missed the last few Triggers - and so, finally, I decided to use a crocheted mat and the aqua tones from the trigger photo.

Supplies: paper from Basic Grey "Nook & Pantry;"
wedding couple sticker from Wilton;
pearls from $store;
crocheted mat by me :)

There you go! Once the mat was done, the rest came together easy-peasy. Actually, as you can see from the tutorial link for the mat, I kind of CASEd myself. I guess this is just a favourite layout!

And now how about some Abby? She's been with us for a whole week now, and I think my arms are getting toned from all the leash tugging (on her part - I'm just trying to stay upright!) She's behaving much better on leash, and responds so well to verbal praise. She's a total goofball - and holy cow, she really will eat anything - including a certain child's underwear left on the floor instead of in the laundry. Ahem. Yesterday Rob & the kids brought her to the market to pick me up afterwards, and she was remarkably calm with all the people milling around. She rides well in the car, and we want to make sure that we take her regularly so that she doesn't associate it only with going to the v-e-t!

She's begun sitting just when I say "Abby!"

Post cow-chewing...tasty, tasty cow (flung into the corner there)

And now for some tasty giraffe...and slipper for dessert.

Time for Big Brother shortly - I'm shocked that Kalia won HOH, but good for her. I'm not looking forward to watching Rachel moan and cry about "her man" - anyone else watch BB? It's my only reality TV vice...but I do get awfully into it, every summer.

xoxo,
Jessi

Sympathy

Supplies: grey cardstock from stash;
Cuttlebug embossing folder, swiped with grey Colorbox ink;
medallion stamp from Inkadinkado; sentiment from Wordsworth;
Memento tuxedo black ink; Versamark & clear EP;
doily from Wilton; standard oval Nesties

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Marjolaine;"
Cuttlebug embossing folder, swiped with Colorbox ink;
sentiment from Stampendous; leaf spray from Wordsworth

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Curio;"
floral, butterfly, bird stamps from Inkadinkado;
Bundled Sage distress ink; Memento Tuxedo Black;
sentiment from Kaisercraft;
Labels 4 & standard circle Nesties

Oddly, I have nothing much to say! It's been a quiet week for the most part, except for dog stuff. Lots of walking - including the boys walking her on their own. (!) With any luck today will be the first dry day since Monday.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend - whatcha doin'?
xoxo,
Jessi

The Final Five!

**Hopefully you've noticed the voting widget has changed - Meg made it to the Final Five of the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol competition - and her final creation is totally rad, dude.**

Supplies: striped paper from My Mind's Eye;
birdie card & red pp from Fancy Pants;
Sakura clear glaze pen (on heart 'flowers');
buttons from Basic Grey and hearts from Dress it Up!

Funny, I don't necessarily enjoy making wedding cards all that much - I find myself reaching for the same images over & over, and that gets boring. (I know, boo-hoo). Love cards, though? Love them. I think it is a truly lovely thing to give someone an "I love you just because you're you" card - a friend, a family member, a child. Who doesn't need to hear that they're loved? I wonder if I could fit the word 'love' in there one more time in some fashion...lol.

The boys are back to day camp after vacation. {whew!} It'll be nice to be back to routine. So far Abby is really making herself loved. She's not as housebroken as I would like, but one positive is that she returns to the scene of the crime, so to speak, so I've just put Puppy Pads down in that spot. She's already improving her on-leash behaviour, and she's very quickly learned to 'drop it' and 'sit'. I think she probably already knew those two, but her first day with us was too exciting to remember to use it. She's also responding to "Abby" already, and comes just when you say her name. The first night she was too whiny to sleep in the kennel (and we weren't too determined yet.) Last night she only whined for about 5 minutes, instead of the full-out barking of the night before, and she stayed quiet for about 2-3 hours. I think within a few weeks we should have her settled into a night-long routine. Something funny that I've noticed walking her alone - she barks only at men. She doesn't bark at anyone if Rob is walking with us, but when I'm by myself she goes nuts...but not if she sees a woman. A guy passed us this morning wearing a hat & dressed all in black, and I actually had to hold her! I think it's quite something that at only 4 months old she's already that protective. She tries to keep the 4 of us herded together when we're out as a family, too.

The cats are settling down. The first night, Gertie slept on one side of me, Abby on the other. It took until yesterday afternoon for Maggie to come back upstairs at all. (No dogs allowed in the basement.) She's scared, but curious, and has been sort of following Abby around, and checks her out up close when she's asleep. Sophie, the deaf one, isn't afraid. She's MAD. Even she's starting to come around - she puffs & hisses, but she's stopped the terrible screaming noise, and hasn't charged since yesterday morning. Connor was really worried about Sophie, and keeps lecturing her that "We don't scratch family members, and Abby is part of our family now!" I'm glad it isn't taking as long as I thought to show him that see, the cats really will adjust & already are.

OK, enough blathering. I've got to take the dog out for a pee ;)
xoxo,
Jessi