Tuesday Morning Sketches #157

Well good morning, chickadees! This week at Tuesday Morning Sketches we're sponsored by Clear Dollar Stamps.

Click here to check them out!

Melissa has designed another great sketch for us to work with:

 

Supplies: stamps from Inkadinkado;
embossing folders from Cuttlebug;
Washi tape from We R Memory Keepers, K&Co;
brads from Making Memories;
congrats sticker from Doodlebug;
London Fog memento & Palette Noir inks

I love this music background stamp - it's exactly card-sized, and wood mounted, and I picked it up on sale at Scrapbooker's Paradise for $6. SCORE (ha, pun intended!). I do have a musical embossing folder, but I wanted a little more detail, so I chose the large polka dots. I swiped some London Fog ink directly onto the edges of the embossing to give a bit more dimension. Being me I didn't plan ahead with the sentiment, and although I do love to live dangerously by stamping those at the last minute I figured stamping over embossing was a little too risky, so a Doodlebug sticker sentiment to the rescue!

I did the same basic technique with the image layer - stamped the silhouette, embossed the panel, this time with a flourishy pattern, swiped with ink. I knew I wanted to use washi tape for the fun banner layer, but I wanted to avoid the sheer effect with this card, so I adhered the leaf washi to white cardstock first (2 strips, for a wider panel) and then cut it to size. The polka dot layer was trimmed with a banner end & then adhered right on top. The washi panel is then attached with a layer of foam tape, and the image panel is on a double layer. 

Don't forget to visit the rest of the design team from Tuesday Morning Sketches and see what they've created - some beautiful cards in the lineup today! And link up your own creation using the sketch by Sunday for a chance to win from Clear Dollar Stamps :)

Angela

Bonnie

Dawn

Debbie

Laura

Theresa

Melissa

xoxo,

Jessi

SOS #61 - Something New, Something Hoarded...

Seems to me there should be a crafty version of the bridal rhyme 

Something old, something new

Something borrowed, something blue

(I managed 4 different spelling errors for 'something' there, btw. Personal best!!)

I'd love to punctuate this post with pictures from our trip to Pride in Halifax but the camera's still in the trunk of the car - at work with Rob - so that will have to wait! It was a complete blast, though, and we all want to go again next year!

Anyhow, quick before I have to go start the barbecue, here's my Shopping our Stash card for this week - I'd broken into the paper pad previously, but I also bought the little metal filigree doodads, and I even opened a new stamp set. I often wonder, am I the only one who covets something, waits ages to buy it, finally gets it, and then.....*crickets chirp, dust collects, I stare forlornly at said item*....

Supplies: papers from Bo Bunny;
filigree charm from Bo Bunny - NEW!;
sentiment from Paper Smooches;
Versamark & silver EP;
stamp from Karber - NEW! - from sweetie Barbles;
Spiced Marmalade distress ink;
standard small oval Nesties;
miscellaneous gems

This makes my inner crow very happy!

The linky is open for another 8 hours if you're feeling crafty & up to breaking the seal on some new stuff!
xoxo,
Jessi

Tuesday Trigger - Sweet Season

***If you're here for my Playing in Paradise post, please scroll down or click here***

I was in the mood for some fiddly crafting today, and so I decided to play along with this week's Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab World - I was primarily inspired by the banners, the white space, and the ruffles on the cake:

I love the variety of patterns on the little banners, so I looked for a patterned paper pad with lots of tiny 'can't throw them away' scraps to work with.

Supplies: papers all from My Mind's Eye;
banner die from MFT;
Faded Jeans distress ink;
sentiment from Kaisercraft;
pink, aqua, and green gems;
pink crepe paper

I sketched out the banner 'lines' on the back, and pierced along them, then used
temporary glue to keep the 'flags' in place while handstitching.

The ruffled crepe at the top & bottom was adhered directly to the card base. The banner panel was added using a layer of foam tape. This edition of the Trigger is open until Sunday, so you've got lots of time to join in. We're off for the day tomorrow bright & early - first there's a car show, and then the Pride Parade downtown. It's going to be a blast!

xoxo,

Jessi

What Not to Stamp - Our Creative Corner

***If you're here to see my Playing in Paradise post, please scroll down OR click here***

All week I've been thinking about the current Our Creative Corner challenge - What Not to Stamp - but only yesterday did I really take some time to go looking through my photo folders for some of my old, cringe-worthy, pre-blog creations. Good GRIEF. It was, well, busy. I tend to be a "more is more" kind of girl anyway, but back then? Wow. Here's a couple of particularly interesting items:
(You can click on any of these thumbnails to view them full-size, but why would you?)

two quilled dragonflies, two dragonfly buttons, three dragonfly stickers,
10 pieces of iridescent yellow dragonfly confetti, some bizarrely placed
mulberry paper....so, 17 dragonflies on one card.

5 pieces of clip art, a metal word tag, 2 metal dragonflies,
one metal fan, metallic bead string, gold paper, 'artfully torn' collage paper,
fun fibre...

Glamour puss? In shiny dollar store letters. 5 handmade paper purses
decorated with fibre/bead/twine handles, gems, fabric paint.
2 little purse buttons, 3 sparkly heart buttons, a pink cat button, a perfume bottle button...and don't
forget the "coordinating" fabric paint EVERYWHERE.

What was that you said about buttons?
A milkshake, a chocolate poodle, a telephone,
a record, a smiley flower. That artfully torn paper again. Fun fibres. Stickers.
Lots of stickers.
(I will admit, I am hoarding the last one of this sassy ostrich, though). 

So, I was trying amidst my groaning to figure out one I'd like to case, and I thought this might be a good time to use some more of my dwindling hoarded PSX sticker stash. It's a tea-themed sheet of stickers, and here are the ones I could find that use the specific image I ended up using today. (The best part? There are probably at least 3 times as many that include other images from the same sheet.)

Hard to see, but there's lace folding along
the left side. 

Rivets & brads...I think I had just gotten my
eyelet setter back then!

Now, my style is far from CAS, but after checking out the past, I really felt the need to stay simple & embrace the white space. I also decided to make this card, CASEing myself, a friendship card for this week's DYSU #82. That's open until Tuesday.
Anyhow, here's what I made today with the same PSX stickers:

Supplies: PSX sticker;
green paper from Bo Bunny;
Wilton doily;
Peeled Paint distress ink;
stamps from MFT;
green gems

I adhered the sticker to a sheet of white card, and fussy cut around it so I could use foam tape for dimension.

That turned out to be longer than I anticipated - once I got going I just felt like 'why should I be the only one to enjoy this....' Unfortunately it's really last-minute for you to enjoy this exercise too - the Our Creative Corner linky closes at midnight - but consider it anyway. At the very least, you will feel SO MUCH BETTER about that card you made yesterday that you weren't happy with!

xoxo,

Jessi

Playing in Paradise #77 - SKETCH TIME!!

Welcome to Friday! Allison is the hostess this week for Playing in Paradise #77, and that means we're getting sketchy!

Although my first thought was to use a vertical card, I went horizontal in the end:

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "What's Up?"
green cardstock (mats) from stash;
button from Basic Grey;
corner rounder for scalloped layer;
sentiment from Kaisercraft;
Peeled Paint distress ink

The flower layer is adhered with foam tape for dimension

I tried several different washi tapes & ribbon for that element on the sketch, but in the end decided I didn't like any of them, so I omitted it. I think that was one of the hardest 'tricks' to learn about a sketch - it's ok to leave something off, just as it's ok to add something extra. (Somehow, and I know this won't surprise ya, I find it harder to leave something off! lol)

So, as usual, you've until next Thursday to play along with the sketch - the linky closes at noon on August 2. Don't forget to pop by & see what the rest of the team has been up to:

Angela

Merlie

Nina

Allison

See you later, alligators! More on tap for this afternoon :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Busy Chevrons

I am exhausted...we did get home on Tuesday, but it's been a constant rush since then. Having hubby at home is really tiring, because of course we have to cram everything in that we can't do while he works 60-70 hour weeks. (On top of those hours, he has 1.5 hours in the car every day).

We got home to the sewage line having been repaired. About 1/4 of the yard was demolished in the attempt. The town had to cut the sidewalk apart because when they tried to turn off the water, the valve broke. In order to replace the pipe, they lifted the steps, tore up the walkway, and generally made a big ol' mess. The pipe was partially collapsed (which is why it had 4 backups), and was so old & ancient that it was made of clay. Part had been replaced at some point with concrete, and the pipe running into the house was, of course, lead. We haven't got the bill yet, but I hope I'm sitting down when I do.

What else have we been doing? Well, the bathroom wall was ready to pack it in, so before we left we tore out the bathtub surround, down to the beams, and left it to dry while we were away (oh, how gross it was...how long was the water leaking back there?) Since then, there are 2 new layers of drywall (one being concrete drywall, messy stuff) put in, but the tub surround wasn't in until tonight. That will be installed tomorrow, hopefully.

The dishwasher broke - and replacement of the parts is not the least bit cost-effective. And the cats have busted right through one of the window screens (and with mosquitoes the size of pterodactyls, that renders the window unusable.)

****DEEEP BREATH****

I did snag some desk/sanity time though. And I'm planning to get up nice & early to do it again tomorrow.

Anyhow, after all that whining, here's my card for the little red wagon challenge this week, to use chevrons. I love cutting along the pattern - it makes a fun edge & depending on how you adhere it, lots of dimension too:

Supplies: paper from Basic Grey "What's Up;"
purple & teal button from BG "Plumeria;"
white button from Dress it Up;
London Fog Memento ink;
sentiment from Inkadinkado

***more deep breathing***

Tomorrow should be a busy day here on the blog - see you soon!

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #156

Supplies: pre-coloured digi image from Doodle Pantry;
papers from Basic Grey "Sweet Threads;"
sentiment from Paper Smooches;
brown crushed velvet flock from Doodlebug;
Mod Podge Dimensional Magic;
Vintage Photo distress ink

Well! I had saved my pictures in a draft post so that I could edit it while away, but I'm using my mother-in-law's computer & Firefox...which apparently are conspiring against me! It won't allow me to caption the photos properly OR move the photos, so to avoid deleting anything I'll just put the rest of my post down here.
So, our sponsor at Tuesday Morning Sketches this week is Doodle Pantry, which has some amazing images - including many pre-coloured digis, which I love! These sweet little gummy worms are one of the pre-coloured selections, and I had a blast playing with them for our sketch this week - I rotated it 90 degrees.
I was going to put the sketch there, and write some more, but that doesn't appear to be an option! I'll edit my post once I'm home again later today to include supplies. To make my little worms pop off the card, I printed 4 of them on heavyweight white cardstock. I cut out one with a circular Nestie, and then fussy-cut one set of worms, and one extra bubble. The fourth motif I used as an embellishment for the envelope. I highlighted the bubbles by going over them with a clear glaze pen, and made some super-dimensional dirt for them to sit in by applying a thick layer of Tombow Multi glue, and pouring brown velvet flock on top.
Feel free to email me or leave a comment if you've got any questions, and like I said, I'll be back to edit later with my own computer that understands me! lol. Don't forget to check out the main blog to see the amazing creations from the design team this week!

My goodness, so many posts in a row...

...but I'm a last-minute Lucy, and that's what happens when you leave things to the last minute! I have some cards for the other categories of challenge over at Moxie Fab World  that are ending Monday July 23. I'm also trying to get eleventy billion things done...so first, an Abby pic:

She is not too happy...we are headed to Halifax next weekend for the Pride Parade, and since no one around here seems to want to go in costume, I nominated Abby. I took a dozen pics of her wearing her little rainbow babushka, but this is the only one that isn't blurry with 'get it off!' motions. We'll keep practicing!

And now for the cards...first up, the HELLO challenge:

Supplies: stamps from Flourishes;
Palette Noir ink;
embossing folder from Cuttlebug;
Labels 4 Nesties;
black & pink cardstock from stash;
pink rhinestones;
coloured with Martha Stewart markers

The sentiment on this card is perfect for a "hello, friend - we haven't talked in a while, and I was thinking of you!" greeting. I had some messy fun swiping the ink pad over the embossed areas of the pink paper - and with only those three gems, it's still a light and flat enough card for a single stamp. Score!

And now I have a couple for the CONGRATULATIONS! Challenge:

Supplies: stamps from Paper Smooches (from Barb!);
Palette Noir ink; Salmon Adirondack ink (watercolouring);
label & paper from Basic Grey "Little Black Dress;"
standard small circle Nesties

Supplies: paper from Basic Grey "Plumeria;"
digital image from Mo Manning;
London Fog & Palette Noir ink;
watercoloured with reinkers;
sentiments from Hero Arts;
standard oval Nesties

Supplies: stamps from Paper Smooches;
Palette Noir ink;
label die from Sizzix;
gingham paper from stash;
Mod Podge Dimensional Magic;
googly eye from stash

The turtle is paper-pieced with two colours of cardstock, and his 'nails' coloured in with
a marker. The shell & nails are coated with Dimensional Magic using a toothpick. 

I love the variety of sentiments - and I love how flexible the sentiments are. The last two cards in particular could be for birthdays as well.

Time to run - the car is packed, the boys & dog are raring to go. Thanks for stopping by - so many times today :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Fooooooood....and drink!

DYSU #81 is all about food, baby!  I picked up a fun package of food & drink themed House Mouse decoupage sheets when I got to go to the scrapbooking store in Truro a few months ago, and finally this challenge made me break one out & use it (instead of looking at it lovingly & carefully putting it back in the package, lol!)

Supplies: images & sentiment all from House Mouse;
Dimensional Magic by Mod Podge;
microbeads from stash

I applied the Dimensional Magic with a toothpick on the 'frosted' donuts, and
sprinkled microbeads in colours that coordinated to the frosting in the image.

The decoupage sheets are printed in such a way that they simultaneously instruct you on how to layer the final image. Here's a sheet to show you, in case you've not come across these before:

 

Takes the guesswork right out of it - you just need to supply the scissors & patience. Anyhow, link up your own food creations to the DYSU #81 linky by 5 on Tuesday!

Since this is my third post already for the day, I thought I'd also tuck in a drink-themed card that I made for the Thank You challenge at Moxie Fab World, which ends tomorrow.

Supplies: coffee stamps from Paper Smooches;
Palette Noir ink;
'thanks' stamp from Studio G;
letter stickers from Jillibean Soup;
kraft patterned paper from Basic Grey;
Vintage Photo distress ink

The coffee beans were stamped using generational stamping - the darker beans are full-strength ink, and the lighter beans are the second stamp (without reinking). The coffee cup was stamped three times to create the final image, twice on white paper, once on kraft. The lid & coffee-cozy are both popped up with foam tape, as is the entire cup (as you can tell from the big ol' shadow it cast in the photo!)

xoxo,

Jessi