Flashback Friday 22.0!!

***This is my second post for today - there is BIG NEWS down below! or click here***

This is pretty big news too - oh em gee. Check what I'm a part of!

Click here to go seeeeeeeee!

If you've never played along before, Flashback Friday is a super fun linky party, celebrating our very "firsts" as crafters. Do you cringe when you see your project? Or do you still love it? It may have been back when you first started blogging, it may have been a few weeks ago - but we want to see & share your firsts, and all of us can see how we've changed & improved. Make sure you're re-posting your project, not linking up to the original post - part of the fun is looking back & sharing your reaction! For Flashback Friday 22.0 we're looking back at our first cards using DIE CUTS.

Amy Tsuruta is the fabulous fun host, and I'm honoured to play along! This time around the format for Flashback Friday is a little different, and we're starting with a hop! First of all, I'll share the amazing prize details, sponsored by the generous Sylvia at Sylvia's Corner:

In Sylvia's own words, the prize details:

The prize is composed of a Stampin'Up! Sale-A-Bration package I put together. There is a Everyday Enchantment Tote, a 12"x12" package of Everyday Enchantment Designer Paper(12pieces), 10 card bases, two of each of these colors, Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo, and Wisteria Wonder, 20" of Baja Breeze satin pleated ribbon, 2yds each Everyday Enchantment Organdy Ribbon Lucky Limeade and Calypso Coral, 10 Everyday Enchantment brads and 10 shaped clear buttons, and the Sale-A-Bration Fresh Vintage stamp set(wood mount, unmounted). This collection is sponsored by Sylvia's corner Etsy shop, where I sell my handmade cards, banners, gift bags and albums.

What a fun prize! 

Here's my first card using die cuts - just plain ol' circle & oval Nesties, but still awesome. I use those dies every time I sit down to create.

Click here to see the original post, with supply list

I still love my Nesties, and I do love that little chickie, and Liquid Applique for whipped cream? I don't love the photo, but hey, I was using a scanner way back in September 2010 (the olden days? lol).

So, without further ado - go hop! Check out everyone's first cards using die cuts, and then dig deep into your own archives & link up your own at the Flashback Friday blog before April 13. Oops! APRIL 20!

The blog hop starts at (SPOILER ALERT!)

the Flashback Friday blog

our sponsor Sylvia at Sylvia's Stamping Corner

Miriam at Sooner Rather than Later

****me!!! at OneCraftyMama***

Nance at Soul Stampin'

and last but certainly not least

Amy at Tsuruta Designs

Thank you SO much for visiting - make sure & say hello so I can come visit you too!

Have fun on the hop!

xoxo,

Jessi

Playing in Paradise is right :)

Hold on to your collars, ladies!

Today is my first post as....a design team member for.....

{squeal!}

You already know I love to shop there, and play along in their challenges, and joining this team of talented ladies, supporting a company I love? Pardon my flapping excitedly...it's been like that all week. Makes typing difficult ;)

So, you're going to play, right? RIGHT? 

This week, we're being challenged by the lovely Nina to make something inspired by this adorable baby bunny:

How can you not love that little face? 

There are no product restrictions for playing along with any of the Scrapbooker's Paradise challenges, so you go to town! Check out  today's blog post for information on this week's prize (trust me, yummy scrumptious prizes every week!) and to link up. 

So, finally, here's my card:

Supplies: papers from My Mind's Eye;
bunny reclaimed from an old greeting card;
lacey circle & standard oval Nesties;
digital sentiment from Lazy Daisy;
crocheted mat by me :)

So, as always, you have until next Thursday at noon (in this case, April 5) to play along & link up your card (BUNNY! You know you wanna play!), which you should do HERE. Don't forget to visit the other talented designers (ACK! I'm one of them? PINCH ME!) and leave some love for them on their blogs: 

Nina at Notes by Nina

Allison at Stampin' When I Can

Angela at Creativity Central

Merlie at Cherish my Fetish

xoxo,

(seriously, pinch me! I'm so excited!)

Jessi

TMS #139 - Happy Easter!

Two weeks in a row I've been inspired right away by the sketch over at Tuesday Morning Sketches. That, plus the white space going on the rest of this week? So very weird, but I like it :) Here's the sketch:

Go & check it out & link up your card here before Sunday night!

Supplies: papers from Kaisercraft;
green sparkle paper from stash;
thin ribbons from Offray, sheer & satin ribbon from May Arts;
carrot button from Dress it Up; polka dot embossing folder from Cuttlebug;
Easter stickers from Michaels

I first tied a bow with the 3 thin ribbons, then added the satin & sheer ribbons, and
decided it needed something else - so I tied the button on through the shank (loop) on the back

I have some more challenge cards to share, but I realllly have to get in the shower & get ready to go. And just wait until tomorrow. This has been a whirlwind crafty week, and I have LOTS to share!

xoxo,
Jessi

Playing in Paradise #59 - Meaningful Life Quotes

With this as the prompt, how could I not play along? Playing in Paradise #59 is this:

Now, being me, I've had the card made for days and am only now getting it posted! 

Supplies: papers and clock/lock stamps from Bo Bunny;
Emerson quote from My Favorite Things;
Vintage Photo & Old Paper distress inks; Versamark & Pirate Gold EP;
nifty button from stash

I wanted to keep the focus on the quote, so I tried to keep embellishing to a minimum, but it got away from me a little bit. Ahem. Anyway, I like how this turned out - I love using quotes on cards, and I want to do it more often. Thanks for the reminder, Merlie! You've got until tomorrow at noon to play along, so quick, go get inky!

xoxo,

Jessi

Thank you, all of you!

First of all, thanks for all of your lovely comments and support from my last post - it means a lot to me that you would all take the time to send virtual hugs. Before I forget, I realized reading again that I wasn't very clear - Riley wasn't with me. I am so thankful for that - I had already dropped him off at school. The dog was with me, and she was really off for a couple of days. Normally she's very friendly with other dogs, but she completely avoided the poor creature, and has spent the time since being more protective of me than usual. I must say that I'm glad I was there, in a strange way, because it turns out that no one other than the next door neighbour even knew who the dog belonged to, although everyone had seen the dog. That meant that her person could be with her in her last moments.

OK, moving along.

This week over at little red wagon the challenge is Clean and Simple. Funny thing, although I would never ever in a million years say that was a style I create often, this is the third card this week that features white space? Must be spring fever or something!

Supplies: digital image from Mo's Digital Pencil;
watercoloured with Distress inks & Stampin' Up watercolour pencils;
'thank you' sentiment sticker from Doodlebug;
patterned paper from MME;
Sharpie for doodles

I've created a whole bunch of cards with Mo Manning's images the past few weeks, and I just love colouring them. So whimsical & fun.

Lots of challenge cards coming up this week...but I think this might be it for white space. Just saying!

xoxo,
Jessi

Ain't no Sunshine...

Wow, what a week. I have got to say, I think this has been the most tumultuous week in my recent history, and although there have been some amazing ups, the downs...on Thursday, on the way home from walking Riley to school, I witnessed a dog hit by a car - and was with her as she died minutes later. The past few days have been a little bizarre because of my reaction to the circumstances. The poor dog was one of several allowed to roam free in our neighbourhood, and she stepped right out in front of the car. I've gone from horrified and sad to angry that her people didn't care for her enough to make sure she was safe.

Anyway, off my soapbox. I've written to the newspaper about it, talked to the entire neighbourhood (feels like), and cried buckets. Now I'm ready to be back to myself...well, I think I am.

I made quite a few cards in the last few days, but only one or two that I was happy with. One of them is for the Virginia's View Challenge #3 at Lily Pad Cards, which is to be inspired by this photo:

 

I've had a little pile of rainbow items just waiting for me to be inspired, and I've sifted through my buttons probably a half a dozen times...and yesterday morning I was inspired to make this card:

Supplies: stamps from Market Street Stamps;
Mustard Seed & Barn Door distress inks;
paper from scraps & My Mind's Eye (from Emily!);
buttons from Basic Grey;
embroidery floss in white & yellow

sad, sad little sunshine :( 

I was primarily inspired by the rainbow palette and the use of buttons. The rainbow coloured raindrops of the patterned paper led to this particular stamp set, and -hold on to your hats- WHITE SPACE! Real white space. I'm still a little bewildered about it myself. 

Virginia's View Challenge #3 ends on Thursday, March 29, so I'm hoping to make another card or two for it myself...a cheerier one this time! 

She likes to sleep tucked in :)

Vampire dog! 

Gratuitous Abby shots...they always make me feel better :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Simple Elegance

Sometimes I make a card and it just gives me a happy - that's this card. It turned out just as I envisioned!

Supplies: papers from Kaisercraft;
Marvy vase punch;
Lace from Hero Arts;
tulips quilled by me

The quilling is done in a single layer,
and the vase on double-foam to allow room
to tuck the fronds underneath

I was inspired by the Simple Elegance Tuesday Trigger over at Moxie Fab World - specifically, the damask pattern of the rug, and the vase of pink tulips. I also vowed to include lots of white space (well, lots for me, anyhow) and yep, I love how it turned out! This Trigger is open until Sunday March 25, so get cracking. Look at all the elements in the picture!

 

xoxo,

Jessi

Juggling Easter Eggs

Supplies: papers from Kaisercraft;
butterfly brads from Making Memories;
Flower Soft, Fun Flock;
ribbon from stash; standard Oval Nesties;
Martha Stewart markers, Broken China distress ink

Fluffy!

Oh my goodness, I made a sketch card. On time. Like, right after copying the sketch down in my challenge book. I love this cute little bunny image - it's a digi that I'd saved several years ago, and I can't find the original source. I printed out an extra image, smaller-sized, to use on the envelope.

It was Marie's card that gave me the idea to watercolour a glow around the image. I like the effect, but since I use a sealant on my digital prints it didn't blend as well as I'd like. I'll try again :)

So, like I said, it's a sketch card, from Tuesday Morning Sketches (#138, to be exact), and you can link up until Sunday with your cards. Here's the sketch:

 

xoxo,
Jessi

Angela's Wonderful Wood Challenge - PIP #58

This week at Playing in Paradise the challenge is:

 

I have a whole pad of Basic Grey "Life of the Party" papers that I take out, look at, and put away on a semi-regular basis, so I thought they'd be perfect for this challenge.

Supplies: Papers all from Basic Grey "Life of the Party;"
sentiment from MFT;
Versamark, Vintage Photo Distress ink, and clear EP;
wooden buttons from Michaels; bamboo crochet thread

So, I've got woodgrain patterned paper, wooden buttons, and for a bit of a stretch I guess we could say bamboo is a tree? I'm glad I decided to add the buttons & thread, because all I wrote down in my handy-dandy challenge notebook was "woodgrain"...and completely left out the "focal point" part of the challenge. Not reading the complete directions? Totally not something I would ever flake on. Totally. Not.

As always, this challenge runs until Thursday at noon, so pull out your fun wood stuff and link up!

xoxo,

Jessi

My Card Class

Previously when I've worked with a class, it's been for an extended period of time (last year I helped with the school's scrapbooking club) or with what I call a "captive audience" - a whole classroom, whether they want to or not. This is the first time I've done a one-time class, and it was working with kids in a large age range (7-12) and a little younger than I'm used to. Trying to pick projects that would be fun for the whole age range, easy enough for everyone to do, and making sure to fill 2 hours? Yikes! My plan was to make sure that there were at least 2 projects that the kids could bring home and finish if needed. I also wanted to make sure to use up supplies that I had on hand (except for vast amounts of double-sided tape & foam!) Some stuff I can't even source, it's been in my stash so long....Here's what I designed:

Supplies: tree stamp from Stampin' Up;
sentiment from Studio G;
Versamark, Jewel Gold EP; Vintage Photo distress ink;
cream crochet thread

 I have a big stash of this gorgeous gold paper from when a friend was giving up her scrapbooking supplies (I know, I know...the horror!) I wanted the kids to be able to use some of the fun tools (like the embossing gun!) as well as do some things that didn't need anything special. This was definitely a favourite - although next time I'll pick an embossing powder that's easier to see as it melts. The glitter makes this one hard to see.

Supplies: paper from DCWV Sweet Stack;
sentiment from Hero Arts; Broken China distress ink;
Labels 4 Nesties, Standard Circle Nesties;
spots & dots Cuttlebug folder;
pink, blue, and red gems

 I have a whole 12 X 12 pad of this Sweet paper...that was shrink wrapped & a good price. There aren't many sheets that I think I'll use, so I brought the whole thing & let the kids pick what they wanted. I did the die-cutting at home (previous experience has taught me that I get very tense when kids use my Nesties...better to just leave them at home!) and let the kids choose from 5 different embossing folders. That way they got to use the machine, and I didn't freak :)

Supplies: flowers from Stampin' Up!;
sentiment from Hero Arts;
Worn Lipstick and Dried Marigold distress inks;
Offray ribbon

 For this card, I brought both pink & orange ribbons so the kids could choose which they preferred. This is definitely my favourite card!

Supplies: paper scraps from DCWV;
Sheep & sentiment stamp from Pink Cat Studio;
corner rounder & circle punch

 I stamped out the sheep & sentiments at home, so that the kids could bring it home & colour if we didn't finish in time. I cut lots (way too much!) paper into strips so the kids could choose whatever 3 pieces they liked best & go from there.

Supplies: Wilton doily, Spellbinders butterfly

 This card was another meant to bring home.

Supplies: miscellaneous cardstock from stash;
Spellbinders butterfly; Martha Stewart score board

I've only ever made one medallion at a time before, and now I know why! I thought these would be fabulous for name tags...and they were! Hot glue, safety pin on the back, butterflies left off until each child's name was written....but it took 3 hours to make them. Still, the kids liked them, so I think it was worth it.

There's a few things I learned from this class - I over-prepared supplies, and came home with quite a bit. The double-sided tape, while less messy than glue, was hard for the kids to peel the backing off of. Having other adults there to help was essential because of the younger kids (and thankfully I did have stellar helpers!). And, although everyone finished their cards & had a good time, it would probably be better to split the kids into 2 age groups. The younger kids needed a LOT of help, and I had really planned on guiding, not helping every step. With two groups that would allow the older kids to do more complicated things. Something neat that I noticed? The older kids were more determined to re-create the cards I'd made, and the younger kids made what they felt like, decorating all 4 sides of the card, cutting things up, really just going to town. It reminded me of this quote by Pablo Picasso:

 

The older children get, the less they trust their creative impulses. I spent my high school years, after getting abysmal grades in Grade 8 art class, believing that I wasn't creative. That I wasn't an artist, because I couldn't perform the technical activities my art teacher had set out. I've spent the last dozen years unlearning that, and taking some joy in the fact that that same teacher would probably choke at the thought of me teaching other kids to create! 

xoxo,

Jessi

Better late than never...

It's past St. Patrick's Day but I do have a card to share for this week's little red wagon #124, Lucky You!

Supplies: paper from Fancy Pants;
'lucky' stamp from Michaels; Peeled Paint distress ink;
horseshoes sticker from Jolee's;
corner rounder

I was away at my mother-in-law's house for part of March break last week, but just picture how excited I was to come home & see that I was featured for my frustrating woven card here! Link up your own "luck" cards (with either the word 'luck' or a lucky symbol) before Wednesday, when the new challenge will begin.

I've also got a card for this week's Shopping our Stash #43, Food/Beverage. This challenge ends at midnight, so link up quick!

Supplies: Papers from Basic Grey "Life of the Party;"
standard circle & lacey circle Nesties;
ice cream cone sticker (and balloon on envelope) from Simple Stories

Finally everyone is heading back to school and work today after March Break. It's nice to have a vacation, but it's also nice to get back into a routine. It turns out that Abby isn't such a great traveler - oh, she's fine in the car, but being in a strange house had her on high alert the whole time, including barking at people who live in the house (not cool!) and barking whenever someone got up to use the washroom in the night (ugh!). She & I both slept much better in our own bed.
xoxo,
Jessi

All Kinds of Thanks

Supplies: kraft cardstock; Labels 4 Nesties; liquid pearls from Barb; fiskars flourish stamp; Stampin' Up thanks stamp; Frost White pigment ink (Colorbox); white EP; kraft floral paper from Emily

Supplies: papers from MME; stickers from Susan Branch; bee button from Dress it Up!;  Vintage Photo distress ink; sentiment stamps from SU! (sweet) and Hero Arts (many thanks); standard circle Nesties

Supplies: paper from Basic Grey "Sweet Threads;" sentiment sticker from SRM; floral stamp from Hero Arts; Versamark and Pirate Gold EP

Supplies: all papers from Sandy; black rhinestones; sentiment from Studio G; Versamark & moonstone EP; envelope done with stamps from Inkadinkado and Palette Noir ink

 

St. Patrick's Day!

Supplies: sun & rain stamp from Market Street Stamps;
cloud stamp from The Greeting Farm;
Palette Noir and Versamark inks;
rainbow/pot of gold from Jolee's;
Martha Stewart fringing scissors; corner rounder

Nearly forgot to post this! Luckily Lisa's post at dahlhouse designs reminded me :) I knew I had one more St. Pat's card in me for the CREATE challenge!

Yesterday was my class at the Joggins Fossil Centre - we had 10 kids participate, and it was a lot of fun! Luckily I had help - one of Riley's classmates came along, my mother-in-law, and a friend brought her daughter. It made it a lot easier to have more hands on deck, since there were some younger kids who needed more help than I'd thought. Next year (since I was asked to come back - yay!) I may do two classes so that the older kids can do more advanced things. I've taken pictures of the cards we set out to make, but haven't uploaded them yet...because while preparing for the class, my husband replaced part of the bathroom ceiling...and rather more than intended, because while removing the intended part, another piece as large came down too. This old house is held together with spit, I think.

xoxo,
Jessi

Good grief, another post?

OK, last one for today, I promise. If it's any consolation, I will not post much this coming week, since the boys are on March Break & we have so much packed into the next 5 days I expect to need an appointment to go to the washroom! This way I can get everything linked up - I would hate to have participated in a challenge & then missed linking up to it :)

This post is for little red wagon #123, "Bob & Weave" - weave something! You've until Tuesday night to link up for this challenge, which so far seems to be proving a challenge indeed! Only 6 have linked up so far...and I know why. It's *hard* {insert whiny teen voice here}. This is my second attempt -my first is currently waiting for my temper to subside so I can get back to it.

Supplies: white cardstock;
stamp from Michaels; Palette Noir ink;
black crochet thread;
quilling paper

I don't generally make one-layer cards because inevitably I end up smudging or otherwise messing it up. This is the second attempt - thank goodness I stamped the greeting first so I could grab another card & try again. Then, transferring the woven piece...it ended up separating a little, so thus the bow. I do like the finished card, though, especially that even with a bow it still feels like it would be an appropriate masculine card.

For the weaving, I used precut quilling paper in two widths for some visual interest. I used tape to stick the horizontal pieces down to a piece of plain copy paper, and then wove all the vertical pieces before adhering them (so that I could continue to adjust as I went...something I learned from the first attempt!). Once I finished weaving, I used double-sided tape to cover the entire top of the weaving. I cut the piece to size, peeled off the copy paper, and then the tape backing, and stuck it to the card. Clear as mud? lol

xoxo,
Jessi

Shopping our Stash #42 - Embossing

I found this week's Shopping our Stash challenge nice & easy. Hooray for that, because I found myself frustrated with a lot of my creating this week!

Supplies: paper & stickers from K&Co;
gemstone strip from $store;
cuttlebug embossing folder

close-up of the embossing

I think this technique is called embedded embossing? Not sure. I adhered the letters & then ran the panel through the Cuttlebug, so that the letters are embossed as well. I'm surprised I had the letters I needed to spell anything, because that sheet of letter stickers has been around a long time, as have the gem strips. Used the whole package too, so yay me!
As always the Shopping our Stash challenge ends on Monday afternoon, so you've still time to get yourself linked up over there!
xoxo,
Jessi

Flashback Friday 21.0 - Paper Piecing!

I'm pretty new to the Flashback Friday challenges, but I do love looking back & seeing how I've improved! This time around the Flashback is hosted by none other than Jen W, from JENerally Speaking, and she chose 'paper piecing' as the theme. My first paper-pieced card here was my second post in September 2010 - it's long been a favourite technique of mine. What I love about the original card? I made one quite like it just this past week. Check it:

Link to my original post here

And my new card?

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Little Black Dress;"
girl stamp from CC Designs; Palette Noir ink;
Labels 4 Nesties;
sentiment from Hero Arts; versamark & pirate gold EP;
Sakura Stardust glitter pen & Black Glaze pen;
ribbon from Offray

Sometimes things stand the test of time, I guess!

You've got until Friday March 23rd to link up your own first paper-pieced creation, so go have a look & see what you've got :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Multi-Loop Bows with Emily Keaton!

A challenge, hosted by the lovely Emily Keaton at Do More with Less? Yes, please! I'm one of those people who wanted to know how she made her fab multi-loop bows, and I was so sad originally to learn that it was using a Bow-Easy...because I was afraid of mine altogether until she sent me the link to this tutorial for the Bow-Easy. I kept messing up when watching it in videos, but the step-by-step photo tutorial helped me nail where I was screwing up. So now I'm finally using my Bow-Easy after a year or more of looking at it & wishing I could use it.

So, I was stoked to try out the multi-loop bow, but I will admit to quite a few (5! FIVE!) failures and several days of staring angrily at my card....because, as it turns out, embroidery floss is not my friend. At least not for this. Finally I switched to some hemp twine, and wah-la, awesome bow! And I love it, and I'm totally doing it again sometime.

Supplies: all papers from Echo Park "For the Record;"
Labels 4 Nesties; Peeled Paint distress ink;
sentiment from Hero Arts;
hemp twine from stash; Bow Easy

The challenge is open until Friday, March 23, so you've lots of time to get cracking & link up!
xoxo,
Jessi

Moxie Fab "A is for Apricot"

This week's edition of Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger ends tonight, March 11, so hopefully you have some time to get your craft on today! The photo Cath chose this week is a gorgeous one, as per usual:

I was inspired by the bowl. I used a piece of copy paper cut with an oval Nestie as a mask, and stamped the flourishes around it & embossed them in gold, and then added the sentiment & embossed it as well. This is much more CAS than my usual (and no patterned paper? GASP!) but I love how it turned out!

Supplies: cardstock from PTI (From JJ!);
standard oval Nesties (for masking);
Versamark & Pirate Gold EP;
swirl stamps from Autumn Leaves;
sentiment stamp from Hampton Arts;
teal rhinestones from $store

And some photos of my picture-taking process...lol!

'scuse me, whatcha doing?

Hello! Good morning! WHAT ARE YOU DOING THAT YOU AREN'T PETTING ME?

OK, I'll go be sad while you take your stupid pictures. FINE. 

Oh, I love my dog. What a goof!
Lots of challenge posts coming up - it was a busy & productive card-making week, knowing that while the kids are on break it won't be!
xoxo,
Jessi