I need a technique for naming posts...

...because I got nothin'. Maybe I'll start with the weather? Damp and kind of warm. Mosquitoes. Meh. lol!
Anyhow, popping in quick to share cards for 3 challenges - one of which is completely new to me. Jocelyn Olsen over at red balloon cards is a guest designer over at Stamp School this week, and so I was introduced to their blog - and their challenge named "Geometry Class" which is such a super clever name for a sketch challenge! Love it :) This sketch challenge ends today, but I'm squeaking in just in time!

Supplies: stamps from Paper Smooches (Party Posse and Warm Concoctions);
labels die from Sizzix;
Liquid Applique;
Palette Noir ink; Vintage Photo & Old Paper distress inks;
black Sakura glaze pen; Dimensional Magic;
spiral clip & seam binding

I traced the letters in the sentiment with the glaze pen to help them stand out a little more.

Once I'd added the Dimensional Magic as glaze on the cup, I HAD TO add googly eyes. I know they're well-set, but it was a big nerve wracking thinking I was going to drop them in the wrong spot. Glossy Accents-type stuff is tricky - just ask Barb! Speaking of Barb, she recently sent me the biggest hugest awesomest package of goodies - including this sweet coffee/tea set from Paper Smooches. She pretty much rocks anyway (and guess what? She's got a new kitty! You should go over & see her!)

Here's the sketch from Stamp School:

And since I apparently have developed Stockholm Syndrome when it comes to sketches, I have another to share for the current Tuesday Morning Sketches challenge, #148. (And they have a design team call right now! Check out the deets here...I made cards for 3 of those sketches & sent them in. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?) The current sketch is open until Sunday night (June 3), so you've lots of time!

Supplies: papers from Bo Bunny "Ambrosia;"
Standard & lacey circle Nesties;
butterfly from K&Co;
sentiment banner from Martha Stewart;
crocheted mat by me

The butterfly is on a wobbler - LOVE those!

And finally, this week I've managed to make a card for Our Creative Corner - Shabby Chic. It's open until Friday June 1st. I had several ideas going for this one, and then made something completely different from all of them. I love it when that happens!

Supplies: papers & button from Basic Grey "Plumeria;"
ballerina clip art from The Graphics Fairy;
sentiment from My Favorite Things;
Dusty Concord distress ink;
Sakura Stardust glitter pen;
stick pins from Little Yellow Bicycle;
flowers from Prima; corner rounder

Love. I love this! 

The button was sewn on first, and then the pins tucked into that purple panel behind the button, to make sure there's no danger of the sharp bits poking the recipient. Then I just emptied the whole box of Primas into a dish and dug around until I was happy with the combination :) (Inquiring minds want to know - exactly how are you supposed to get them all back INTO the box? Without cursing, I mean.)

Alrighty, time for the crazy evening rush of things to do - 

xoxo,

Jessi

Let's get Trendy Now...the end?

Well, no, not the end, because I'm still going to be using all this fun trendy stuff, but my last for the first edition of Let's Get Trendy Now (you're doing a second one, right ladies? lol). If you have projects to link up, today's the last day to get them posted!

So let's see. I've covered all five areas:
BANNERS:

original post here

DOILIES:

original post here

TWINE:

original post here

CONFETTI: (new today)

Supplies: black cardstock, American Crafts;
stickers from Sticko; assorted microbeads;
American Greetings confetti (grad caps, 'congrats' and 'grad;'
shrink plastic used for the shaker window

I prefer to use shrink plastic (unshrunk, which isn't a word, but anyway...) for my shaker card windows to give added stability, since I put just about anything in a shaker card. Microbeads, confetti shapes, beads, glitter...and I notice that sometimes the regular overhead-type acetate isn't quite strong enough for the job. I also noticed after taking this photo that I had a paper cutter 'artifact' up there at the top, which I HATE but did get fixed :)

WOODGRAIN: (new today)

Supplies: paper from Cosmo Cricket;
Wood button from Michaels;
sentiment & twine from Paper Smooches;
Vintage Photo distress ink

There was also a sketch offered with each lesson, and I completed one of them:

original post here

I've really had a lot of fun with this workshop, and I hope that Amy, Yvonne, and Julie decide to do it again. There's LOADS of trendy stuff we can keep playing with :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Vera's View Challenge at Lily Pad

The end of May has really crept up on me - I keep thinking it's the 20th or so, and lo & behold the 30th has arrived. At least I glanced at the calendar this morning so I've got these posted in time for Vera's View challenge at Lily Pad Cards, which ends tonight. There are so many elements in the photo, and I was inspired primarily by the riot of colours & flowers:

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Piccadilly;"
Labels 4 Nesties; Peeled Paint distress ink;
sentiment & floral stamp from Inkadinkado;
Versamark & clear EP

Supplies: Paper from My Mind's Eye (from Emily!);
standard & lacy circle Nesties;
acetate die-cut from K&CO;
sentiment sticker from Doodlebug;
crocheted mat by me

But cupcakes? Had to make one with a cupcake too:

Supplies: Papers from My Mind's Eye;
standard circle Nesties; letter stickers from Echo Park;
cupcake chipboard from Martha Stewart;
miscellaneous gems

Here's the inspiration photo - don't these look delicious?

Looks like it's time to go wake up the rugrats now - Rob's taken the day off from work to get eleventy billion things ticked off our "to do" list, so I keep forgetting it's still a school day. My internal calendar is truly messed up, people! One of those items on the list is new glasses for me - I cannot wait. I've worn glasses since I was two years old, and so I tend to treat them as extensions of my face...which means I fall asleep with them on, knock them around, wipe them on my shirt or whatever's handy...which means the frames are pretty bent up, and the lenses are nearly cross-hatched even with the protective coating. 

Have a grand Wednesday!

Jessi

Father's Day challenges abound!

I can't believe I almost missed the deadline for these - I was so excited to share my spattered butterfly card that I did that first :) Anyway, squeaking in just on time with a few Father's Day cards for two challenges, the Simon Says...Father's Day/Special Male challenge and the little red wagon Oh-Daddy-Oh challenge, both of which are ending tonight. I find Father's Day cards particularly challenging - not the masculine aspect, the father aspect. It's a long story, but I've spent most of my life estranged from my father, and so it makes it difficult to celebrate other fathers. Probably because it means I spend a lot more time thinking of my dad, and how I wish things were different.

Anyway!

Supplies: Clip art from the Graphics Fairy;
anchor button from Dress it Up!;
paper from My Mind's Eye;
Faded Jeans distress ink;
sentiment from Ditto (Michaels)

Supplies: papers from Bo Bunny (love these!);
robot from My Favorite Things; Palette Noir ink;
Prismacolor pencils & Dove blender;
White Souffle pen; black glaze pen (Sakura);
sentiment from Ditto;
gear finding from Tim Holtz

Love how the colouring turned out!

Supplies: woodgrain paper from Cosmo Cricket;
Clip art from the Graphics Fairy;
Vintage photo distress ink;
twine & 'Dad' stamp from Paper Smooches

the clip art was printed twice, so that I could layer it with foam tape

Like I said earlier in the week, I have so much to share this week - and once again I've been keeping up with how many cards I've made in the month of May. Do you think I'll beat April's total of 83? Three days left...hmmm....
xoxo,
Jessi

Bright Bite Spatters

Well now, that's a strange title :) But really, crafty ladies, it makes sense. This card feels very out of my norm, but I LOVE IT for that very reason. It was inspired by two Moxie Fab World challenges - the recent "Bright Bite" Tuesday Trigger (ended), and the Card Creations Week "Spatter Technique." (open until June 4). Check it out (flaps excitedly):

Supplies: Distress inks: Mustard seed, Spiced Marmalade, Worn Lipstick;
Adirondack Citrus ink;
Martha Stewart butterfly punch & stamp;
Sentiment from Market Street Stamps, with London Fog Memento ink;
Sakura Stardust glitter pen (on sentiment);
watercolour brush;
Tattered Angels mists (and Glimmer Glam) in: Private Meadow, Yellow Daisy,
Cherub Pink, Rockin' on Sunshine;
Tim Holtz design ruler & piercing tool; white embroidery floss;
corner rounder

This card took several days to complete as I played with different ideas. The final tally of 'stuff I did':

*used direct-to-paper technique to smear ink onto the card stock

*used watercolour brush to pick up each colour of ink & drip onto the paper

*again using a brush, lightly painted each colour swipe with a corresponding mist colour

*used a toothpick to pick up 'drops' of mist, then lightly touched the toothpick to the cardstock to leave small spatters

*stamped sentiment

*traced over sentiment with glitter pen

Yep, still going...for a relatively CAS card it took a lot of steps! That's why I love it so much :)

*punched 3 butterflies from each colour of scrap cardstock - no idea which kinds, I just grabbed them from the scrap drawer

*using the design ruler, pierced evenly along the edge of the card

*carefully lined up & punched each butterfly layer - they're adhered only with the stitching

*gently folded each butterfly layer upwards for more dimension

*used the butterfly stamp on the envelope to match, and realized it would be perfect in the lower right corner- using Spiced Marmalade ink, stamped once on scrap paper & again over the sentiment. If this had smeared, I swear I would have cried.

*rounded the lower right corner

*Smiled, picked up the card, and insisted my husband praise how awesome it turned out. He sort of obliged ;)

The colours were inspired by the photograph for the Bright Bite Tuesday Trigger, but since I took so much time with my card I blew way past the deadline for it. Still, here's the photo - it's from that I drew the inspiration, and the rest evolved from the colours.

There are loads of open challenges over at Moxie Fab World right now, so head over & see if anything catches your fancy! The Card Creations week challenges are open until June 4th, so lots of time to create something & share it :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Birthday Bee - TMS #147

We all survived the class trip - and I am definitely counting down the number of times I have to go along. Pre- and early teens are genetically engineered to cause ulcers in adults. Also, to prompt apologies to chaperones' own parents for ever having dared to be that age. Also, to appreciate just how awesome one's own children happen to be. Whew. As individuals most of these kids are fine - but put them all together? No. Just, no.

Anyway, today's the Wellness Fair, and so I'm up bright & early on a Sunday morning and wanted to post my card for the current Tuesday Morning Sketch before the deadline:

Supplies: papers from Fancy Pants;
sentiment from Stampendous; Palette Noir ink;
standard & lacy circle Nesties;
Sakura Stardust glitter pen;
miscellaneous gems; quilling done by me

I thought that using strips of quilling paper would be perfect for those elements on the sketch:

As always, the deadline for Tuesday Morning Sketches is Sunday night, so get cracking :) 

Now off to catch up on what you've all been doing - and boy, do I ever have a lot to show you this week! I've been having so much fun playing with paper :)

xoxo,

Jessi

PPC #68 - Beautiful Butterfly Colour Challenge

Happy Friday! Think of me while you're reading this, chaperoning a gaggle of sixth-graders across town to see a play...wearing earplugs...and then volunteering at the school's spring fair with noisy games and kids. I love kids, I really do, but are they ever loud! Without further whining, let's check out this week's challenge over at Playing in Paradise, this week hosted by Angela:

Supplies: white cardstock;
Hot Off the Press butterfly stamp;
Versamark and clear embossing powder;
Distress inks: Vintage Photo, Tumbled Glass, 
Bundled Sage, Mustard Seed;
Hampton Arts text stamp;
Studio G sentiment, green pearls

I used the emboss resist technique - first stamping/embossing the butterfly, then stamping the text in the various colours, then sponging the various colours, making sure to wipe the excess ink off the butterfly at each stage. I ended by re-stamping the text over the sponged areas to make it stand out more.

Remember, when you play along with us at Playing in Paradise, there is always a fab prize up for grabs - every single week! Make sure to head over to the challenge post to see this week's guest designer, as well as the nitty-gritty details on the challenge. Super simple - use what you want, make what you're inspired to make, share it with us by noon on May 31st   :) 

And don't forget to check out what the other designers have been up to!

Allison

Merlie

Angela

Nina

Have a fabulous weekend! If you're in the Amherst/Sackville area, come visit the ZUMBA Divas' Wellness Fair on Sunday at the Lion's Den on Electric Street. There are 36 vendors, with a huge variety of services and goods available...all focusing on an aspect of wellness, whether health, diet, exercise, or even social well-being (and that's where I fit in - cards are one of the most social things there are!)

Thanks so much for stopping by - hope you get time to play with us this week :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash - Bingo!

I've been staring at the BINGO card for the 52nd challenge at Shopping our Stash since it was first posted, and finally made something with it!

Supplies: papers from Memory Works' "Summer Fresh;"
buttons from stash; Sizzix label die;
Daisy Bucket monster stamp;
Lawn Fawn alphabet set (from Barb!);
Little Yellow Bicycle heart pin, coloured red with a Sharpie;
red crepe paper; googly eyes

Here's the BINGO card - I used the centre horizontal line: monster, orange, sentiment, pin.

The buttons are sewn onto an extra piece of the chevron paper that I fussy cut & then popped up on a double layer of foam tape, and the crepe paper is folded in half and adhered with the fold tucked underneath (yes, decided to do that after sticking the foam down...sigh).

This challenge is open until Monday night, so you have lots of time to shop your own stash & play along here. So many possibilities, you must have some of this stuff in your stash waiting to play, right??

xoxo,

Jessi

Let's (try to) Get Trendy, Now :)

I have a bunch of cards I was inspired to make after seeing all the fun trendy goodness in the Let's Get Trendy Now workshop (go check it out here - Yvonne's got a new subscription form for an encore presentation if you missed it - it's free, so you've got nothing to lose!)
I have a feeling that I'll be sharing even more, since I really found this workshop a kick in the rear to USE some of that trendy stuff that I HAD TO HAVE....it's not just to look at, silly!
First up, a sketch:

Supplies: paper from Fancy Pants;
flowers from Prima;
brads from Basic Grey;
Liquid Pearls, 1"circle punch; corner rounder
Sentiment from Hero Arts; Bundled Sage distress ink;
'wedding day' brad from stash;

As soon as I took this picture, I realized rounding the top left/bottom right
corners was the way to finish it off - yes? 

For the heart shape, I sketched it out on scrap white cardstock, cut it out, and laid out & attached all the flowers to that piece. That way all those brad prongs don't show on the inside. Here's the sketch it's based on (pretty literal interpretation):

Next up, a two-fer: banners and baker's twine. These just go together for me.

Supplies: gingham paper & lion die-cut from K&Co;
green dotted paper & green/yellow buttons from Basic Grey;
scrap green cardstock & orange button from stash;
Baker's twine from Paper Smooches;
banner die from My Favorite Things; Martha Stewart fringing scissors

I always want my banners to curve, so I snip between each pennant to allow the whole line to bend slightly (you can see this better if you click the picture to view full-size). I added the twine afterwards by using a very thin line of Zip Dry glue, and the little bows were tied separately & glued on as well. Besides fringing the grass, I also snipped along the patterns in the lion's mane for added dimension.

Finally, another baker's twine card:

Supplies: papers from Memory Works 'Summer Fresh;'
baker's twine from Paper Smooches (red, blue, yellow);
Versamark & Barn Door distress ink; clear EP;
sentiment from Daisy Bucket

I tied the multi-loop twine bow following Emily's tutorial when she was a guest blogger at Do More With Less. Guess what I did, though? I put the camera down immediately after taking this picture, snagged the tails of the twine, and pulled the bow undone.

*blue air*

Since everything was already adhered it was a bit of a trick to re-tie the bow in a way I was happy with, but I did manage. 

Today's been a waiting day - waiting for the restoration company to come pick up the last of their equipment and put the sanitized pallets back in place. Then begins the next round: sorting & reorganizing what's left, finishing insurance documents (which involves tracking down prices for everything), and filing the insurance claim. However, after a good round of cleaning upstairs I feel like we might be almost back to normal!

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches & Moxie Fab World

Just so you know, I highly doubt that ever again you will see three sketch posts in a row on my blog. I've got to say, though, that the more I play with sketches, the more comfortable I feel with them. Tuesday Morning Sketches #146 ends tonight, but look at the wonderful cards from the design team & you'll see how versatile the sketch is! When I went to look for the square elements for my card, I went with a brand-new pad from Memory Works' Simple Stories, the Summer Fresh collection. It comes with a bunch of sheets meant to be cut up into tags, which is really perfect for this sketch. And, with a gingham-patterned background paper, perfect for the current Moxie Fab World gingham challenge (which is open until Monday, June 4). Red gingham just says Summer Picnic to me.

Supplies: paper & tags from Memory Works "Summer Fresh;"
twine & sentiment from Paper Smooches;
vintage photo distress ink;
Flower from Prima; Making Memories brad;
Bow Easy for the multi-loop bow

The upper tag is adhered with a double layer of foam tape, and the flower/brad are glued on top of the twine bow, so this card has lots of dimension. I love this kraft twine from Paper Smooches - it's nice & thin, so it manipulates well, unlike the thicker jute twine I have, but it's still stiff enough to retain whatever you happen to do with it, unlike the crochet thread I have. See, there's a reason I need to have all those different things on hand ;)

Here's the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches:

If you haven't checked it out yet, you should go have a look at the Let's Get Trendy Now workshop - I've been really inspired by it, and I've made lots of projects to share this week.

Now to make some time to play in this week's Tuesday Trigger (I woke up with a great idea! I love that!) and we're planning to go on our first picnic of the year tonight, so it's going to be a great day :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Flashback Friday 23.0 - Butterfly!

First, I have a question: there are 4 blogs that I added to my reader within the same couple of days, ages ago. Those four blogs disappear from my reader over & over - I re-add them every time I sign in, and sometimes they disappear without me even signing out. How do I fix it? When Blogger updated, they stayed put for about a week, and then started disappearing again.

One of those blogs is Flashback Friday, and as a result I spaced on actually following through and posting my first butterfly card, even though I saved the link to it & meant to ages ago. The challenge ends tonight (May 18), so it's last minute, but you still have time to link up too!

My first butterfly card was posted on World Card Making Day 2010:

original post with supplies HERE

I go back to this design over & over, in different variations, because well, butterfly. And bling, and glitter. All those things are always good.

xoxo,

Jessi

PPC #67 - Oh no, it's a sketch!

Hmm, didn't I just say that? Never mind :)
It's Allison's turn to host the challenge this week at Scrapbooker's Paradise, and she's designed this sketch for us to work with:

Wedding season is fast approaching, and I'm going through wedding cards nearly as fast as I can make them! 

Supplies: sentiments from Paper Smooches;
Versamark and Moonstone Pearlustre EP, Stampendous;
doves button from Dress it Up!;
papers & label from Basic Grey "Little Black Dress"

I cut the shank (loop) off the back of the doves button with scissors, but that leaves 'stubs' of the shank behind. No worries! I used a paper-piercer to poke a hole in that piece of paper, applied glue to the flat parts of the button back, and then pushed the 'stubs' through the hole. When it dried I adhered the whole panel using a double-layer of foam tape so that it would sit evenly. I tried to get a close-up of that but failed miserably, and now the camera's been co-opted for insurance documenting of the water damage (I will get it back, but hubby's been using it near constantly). 

Remember, when you play along with us at Playing in Paradise, there is always a fab prize up for grabs - every single week! Make sure to head over to the challenge post to see this week's guest designer, as well as the nitty-gritty details on the challenge. Super simple - use what you want, make what you're inspired to make, share it with us by noon on May 24th  :) 

And don't forget to check out what the other designers have been up to!

Allison

Merlie

Angela

Nina

Hope that whatever you're doing, you have a wonderful weekend!

xoxo,

Jessi

OCCC - It's a Sketch? Oh no!

Not really "Oh no" but you KNOW I find sketches challenging, although I'm getting a bit more confident by continuing to try them. Anyhow, this week Our Creative Corner is challenging us to create something based on this sketch, before Friday night:

I'm also following along with the Three Cool Chicks "Let's Get Trendy Now" workshop (it's free, and lots of fun!) being hosted by Amy Tsuruta, Yvonne Yam, and Julie Tucker-Wolek - this time I'm working with a doily.

Supplies: patterned papers from Kaisercraft "Bubblegum Hill;"
standard circle & butterfly Nesties;
Wilton doily; making memories stick pin;
girls paperie seam binding; Tumbled Glass distress ink;
Versamark & clear EP; Studio G sentiment

To 'cap' the sharp end, I used 2 flatback pearls

Four butterflies, cut from scrap vellum

Want a plumbing update? No? I'm giving one anyway :)

It took all day to get a plumber out - yesterday was a big plumbing day, apparently. The cause of the sewer backup was tree roots in the pipe. About 1/3 of the basement is affected, and we've had the insurance adjuster out, and the restoration guys working since yesterday getting it cleaned up. Since we had most things downstairs stored on pallets (just in case something like this happened) the loss is minimal considering the type & amount of water damage. We are fully insured for the cleanup and replacement costs, so I can't quite tell you what a relief that is. It still means a lot of work ahead, though, even after the restoration company is finished sanitizing. It could have been so much worse, and everyone working with us has been really fantastic. 

Off to check out some more of the damages - the restoration company decides what is/isn't salvageable, but I still need to check so I don't end up looking for it at some point :) 

xoxo,

Jessi

The last of the Mother's Day cards...

Figured I may as well share them! Not sure how much crafty time I'm going to end up getting this week after all, as we have a rather big plumbing problem, involving the sewage trap. I'll let your imaginations fill that one in - it's not disaster proportions yet, but it's NOT GOOD. Sunday didn't go as planned at all, but it was still a pretty good day with the family...and Connor at one point called Rob "Old Man Fruitcake," so really? If that was all that happened that day, it would have been awesome.

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Lemonade;"
pink resin flower from May Arts;
standard oval Nesties;
Adirondack Citrus ink; 'Mom' from Paper Smooches

Supplies: papers from My Mind's Eye "Lost and Found;"
Labels 4 Nesties;
pearl coloured with brown Sharpie;
Vintage Photo distress ink; 'Mom' from Paper Smooches;
flower quilled by me

Supplies: paper from Basic Grey "Konnichiwa;"
sentiment from Paper Smooches;
Worn Lipstick distress ink; Sakura Stardust glitter pen;
flowers quilled by me

Supplies: Paper & buttons from Basic Grey "Plumeria;"
sentiment from Gina K;
London Fog memento ink

Supplies: paper from My Mind's Eye (from Emily!);
twine from Paper Smooches;
letter stickers from Jillibean Soup

Supplies: papers from Cosmo Cricket "Material Girl;"
sewing icons cut from CC "Baby Jane" tags;
letter stickers from Jillibean Soup

Supplies: papers from K & Co;
Peeled Paint distress ink; Inkadinkado butterflies stamp;
Martha Stewart butterfly punch;
'Hi Mom' sticker from Susan Branch

Supplies: butterfly & flower stamps from Inkadinkado;
sentiment from Gina K;
Versamark & white EP;
Nesties Labels 4; butterfly embossing folder;
Worn Lipstick distress ink for envelope & light pink mat edging

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Konnichiwa;"
Marvy vase punch;
Spiced Marmalade & Worn Lipstick distress inks;
sentiments from Paper Smooches;
flowers quilled by me

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Plumeria;"
Labels 4 Nesties; die-cut tulip from K & Co;
sentiment from Gina K;
Tumbled Glass distress ink;
tulip stamp on envelope from PSX

Supplies: paper & bird from K&Co;
Sentiment from Gina K; Faded Jeans distress ink

Supplies: paper from Basic Grey "Lemonade;"
Labels 4 Nesties; Gina K sentiment;
Worn Lipstick distress ink;
flowers quilled by me

Supplies: butterfly & paper from K & Co;
Wilton doily;
Gina K sentiment; Broken China distress ink;
Sakura Stardust glitter pen

Wobbly!

Still too early to call a plumber, but it is time to get the kids up & ready for school!
xoxo,
Jessi