Some yellow to brighten your day!

I am personally in need of a little brightening today, so I thought I'd share a couple nice & bright cheerful cards.

Supplies: Wilton doily; Stampin' Up rose; Squeezed Lemonade distress ink; EAD Designs rub-on; Palette Noir ink; Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Yellow Daisy;black rhinestones

Supplies: gingham paper from Echo Park; Penny Black hedgehog sticker; Mrs. Grossman's sentiment sticker; standard small circle Nestie; Tumbled Glass distress ink (around the edges of the white circle...it's there!); yellow buttons from stash

My thoughts & my heart are on the other side of the country this morning - it is very hard being far away when people you love need help. So hug the people that are close to you - and put good thoughts out there in the universe, OK? My friend could really use them right now :')

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash #91 - Tag it!

***For my Tuesday Morning Sketches post, please scroll down or click here. Thank you!!***

Now, you may have even guessed that a tag challenge was coming up - because after playing around & making my card for today's Shopping our Stash tag challenge, I kept playing with tags! I have almost disappeared the whole package now. You don't necessarily have to put a tag on a card for this challenge - you could also create a tag. Whatever floats your crafty boat!

Supplies: Martha Stewart printed tags; EAD Designs rub-on sentiment; Paper Smooches twine; black Sharpie; black rhinestones

Each tag is layered with foam tape - the sentiment tag is on a double layer. 

This Shopping our Stash challenge is open until Monday March 4th.  Don't forget to check out what everyone else has been up to!

• Carla
• Leslie
• Alica
• Deena
• Paige
• Lauren
• Linda
• Michelle

Have a fabulous Tuesday :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #187

So much white space! I'm loving this week's sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches: 

Supplies: Paper Smooches stamps (sentiment & heart); Palette Noir ink; Barn Door distress ink; Autumn Leaves swirls; Colorbok glitter paper; standard small oval Nesties; red & black rhinestones; Sakura Stardust glitter pen

I traced over the heart outlines & the word 'forever' with the glitter pen. *love*

Sweet n Sassy Stamps is our sponsor this week - they have some super cute Easter images that were just released! Here's the sketch:

Wait 'til you see what everyone else came up with! This sketch is open until next Sunday, March 3rd. 

Sandra MacLean, Best of the Best Guest Designer

Angela 

Bonnie

Dawn

Debbie
Jenee

Laura

Theresa

Melissa

I think this is also perfect for the current Picture Perfect SPARKS challenge - look at this cutie picture!

xoxo,

Jessi

Texty Challenge at Do More with Less!

Yvonne is back with her guest series & challenges - this time around with Keren Tamir! They want to see your projects using text paper.

Supplies: text paper from MME Reunion; feather stamp from Stampendous (from JJ!); sentiment stamp from Paper Smooches; doily stamps from Martha Stewart; Antique Linen & Vintage Photo distress inks; Colorbox Frost White pigment ink; Webster's Pages trim; Wilton doily; ink blending tool

I used the blending foam tool to slightly age the doily with Antique Linen, and swiped some along the left & right edges of the text paper as well. This card is really simple (for so many supplies & steps, lol) but I love how it turned out!

You have until Friday March 8 to play along :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Seize the Birthday #7

I don't know why I haven't managed to play along with the masculine version of the Seize the Birthday sketches yet, but I just haven't! Here's another girly one for you:

Supplies: papers from MME Reunion; Webster's Pages trim; Sizzix Labels die; Mrs. Grossman's sticker sentiment

I found this package of mixed birthday sentiments again - it came with three sheets, and got lost in the chaos of my desktop. I do love the convenience of a nice-quality clear sticker :)

Here's the sketch:

The linky is open until noon on Tuesday.

xoxo,

Jessi

Greta's Blogaversary Challenge

One of the newest blogs I've added to my reader is Greta's, GG Creations. I 'found' her through the MUSE challenge, and I'm in love with her beautiful creations! She's celebrating a year of blogging by asking readers to CASE one of her cards blogged this year, and I can't urge you enough to go take a look through her archives & play along.

I chose a card from November to case, titled "Blessings." Click here to go & see her card that inspired mine. When I'm going to CASE a card, I want to be sure to make it my own. I save the link, first of all, to be sure that I can find it again to give credit where it's due. Then I make some notes on my current challenge sheet (I have one for each design team that I print up monthly, and one that goes back & forth with challenges I'd like to play in.) Sometimes my notes include a sketch of the layout, and sometimes just the features of the card I'm inspired by.

For Greta's card, I drew a sketch, and then wrote down the following: burlap, brown & black, distressed edges, lower right sentiment. I managed to include them all :)

Supplies: text paper from Echo Park; EAD Designs rub-on sentiment; burlap; kraft canvas; vellum; Spellbinders butterfly dies; Making Memories brads; Paper Smooches black & kraft twine; Tonic edge distresser.

Greta used black pearls as accents, and apparently my subconscious remembered that touch - in my case I've used brads as the butterfly body. The vellum butterfly was tucked inside the Spellbinders case from a previous crafty project I guess, and it seemed to want to come play. The canvas took about 6 trips through the Cuttlebug to cut (I need a metal shim!) and I do like the slightly frayed look to the edges. One of the overwhelming impressions I had from Greta's card was all the texture, and I think I managed to include a lot of that with mine.

Here's a close-up of the distressed edges:

I hope you can come play along too! Greta is giving us until March 10th to play along, so lots of time to check out her work & have a go :)

xoxo,

Jessi

CCC Tic-Tac-Toe!

Don't mind if I do - the 'funnest' part of playing crafty tic-tac-toe is deciding which way to go! Here's the current challenge from Crafty Creations Challenges, a tic-tac-toe board:

 

And like I said, the hardest part is deciding which row to play. I finally ended up with the centre row down, orange-pearls-distress. Orange popped onto a lot of my cards over the weekend :)

Supplies: papers from MME 'Honey Cake' (from Tammy!); rub-on from EAD Designs; Timeless Twine; Tonic edge distresser; pearls from dollarama

Here's a closer shot of the distressing on the edges of the floral panel:

Again with the thank-you cards - you can never have too many!

The linky at CCC is open until Tuesday night!

xoxo,

Jessi

Jingle Belles before the last minute?

Really? Before the last minute? Like, while other people might see my post & have time to go play?

Don't get used to it, folks ;)

The current challenge at jingle belles is to make a Christmas card following the sketch by Brenda:

I had great fun playing around in my sleep-deprived state yesterday morning...and almost as much fun sleeping for about 15 hours after lunchtime. Here's one of the dozen or so cards I made in the wee hours:

Supplies: papers from Fancy Pants (from Jen!); deer die-cut from K&Co; Basic Grey buttons; Wilton doily; standard small circle Nesties; sticker sentiment from Bo Bunny; Timeless Twine; Bow Easy

Oooh, sparkly pink antlers! 

I tied the multi-loop bow using Emily's fabulous tutorial (seen here), like I always do! To keep it aligned the way I wanted, I tied the bow first, and then stitched it on while stitching the buttons on to the striped piece of paper. To keep the inside of the card clean, I stitched the buttons to the strip before adhering it to the card. It took a careful tension, though, because that thin little strip REALLY wanted to fold up! 

The linky for this sketch challenge at jingle belles will be open until Wednesday, so you have lots of time to play. I still might be back with a second card - I had more than one idea :) 

xoxo,

Jessi

Oh, Saturdays...

Saturdays, we have to stop meeting like this. Last night I got a whopping 20 minutes of sleep. I'm estimating, based on the song that was playing when I woke up...I had to grab my mp3 player because SOMEONE wouldn't stop snoring OR roll over when nudged/shoved/pounded.

At least there's coffee. And I made some cards. Actually, I finished making cards for every single challenge I had written down. Here's the one I made for the current MUSE challenge, inspired by Marion's card.

Supplies: washi tape from We R Memory Keepers; Basic Grey brad; flowers from Studio G; sentiment from CC Designs; Memento Gray Flannel ink

I was primarily inspired by the blue & yellow colours in Marion's card, the washi tape, and the linear layout. I am nowhere NEAR the only person who put it on an angle! 

 Off to get ready for a sleepy morning at the market - here's hoping I can stay awake long enough to get home & take a nap.
xoxo,
Jessi

Playing in Paradise #105 - Travel!

Good morning, and happy Friday! We've gotten another chilly blast of wind & snow overnight - but it's too early yet to know if it will be a long weekend for the kiddos. They're still tucked up in bed with their pajamas on inside out, hoping :)

This week's hostess for Playing in Paradise is Nina, and she'd like us to create projects inspired by travel:

I have a fun paper pad from Bo Bunny that's full of vehicle images, so I thought I'd start with that. I ended up going in a completely different direction - but it was fun!

Supplies: 

Papers from Bo Bunny

Adirondack Citrus ink

Salty Ocean distress ink

Memento Gray Flannel ink

Palette Noir ink

Paper Smooches stamps (sentiment & geometric shapes)

Martha Stewart scoring board & tool

The vehicles are trimmed from a piece of patterned paper, and then I used some smaller geometric stamps to create a border on either side. I also scored the middle of the card vertically to create some textural interest:

This challenge will be open until next Thursday, February 28th.  To add your NEW project to the linky & see what the rest of  the team has created, click on over to the Scrapbooker's Paradise blog, and check out the DT on their blogs too:

Allison

Nina

Dawn

Linda

xoxo,

Jessi

Phoning in for Friends with Flair!

Can you believe it, I've had this stamp for well over a year & it's never seen ink? When I saw the current photo prompt at Papercraft Star, I knew it was time to play. The stamp originally came with "me" attached to it - I trimmed it into 2 separate stamps, and got to work:

Supplies: hot pink cardstock from stash; phone stamp from Unity; hello stamp from CC Designs; Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick distress inks; standard oval Nesties; buttons

The sentiment - and the colours - are completely inspired by the Papercraft Star challenge as well:

I'll be linking up to Friends with Flair as soon as the linky's ready  :) 

Be right back with my Playing in Paradise post!

xoxo,

Jessi

Our Creative Corner - Getting Sketchy!

Just as much as the last card drove me completely batty, this card...I love it! I had no real idea when I sat down to play, and I just let it evolve on its own.

Supplies: stripe & grid background stamps from Annabelle Stamps; sentiment from Lawn Fawn (from Jen!); Memento London Fog ink; Versamark; clear EP; Sizzix label die; 1 1/8" circle punch; sheer Offray ribbon; pins from Little Yellow Bicycle; standard oval Nesties; papers from MME (from Tammy!)

I was inspired to use the background stamps that I did because of the patterns filling in parts of the sketch from Our Creative Corner that I was working with:

I think the last time I played at OCC was before Christmas! Good to be back :) Their linky is open until Friday night.

And, a funny I found on Facebook (which just struck me as so freaking true today):

Pretty much. 

See you in the a.m.!

xoxo,

Jessi

The Kraft Journal: White on Kraft

Well, I'm still working away on those needed thank you cards...and with a whole package of kraft paper burning a hole in my crafty pocket I finally took the chance to play along with The Kraft Journal. The current challenge, White on Kraft, is open until Sunday.

There was a lot of cardstock, ribbon, and embossing powder harmed in the making of this card. I think some doilies gave their lives as well.

*moment of silence*

Well, it's super shiny all over.

Supplies: kraft paper; Martha Stewart doily stamps; Puffy Vinyl thickers; Colorbox Frost White pigment ink; Stampendous white EP; pearls; Corner Chomper

Yeah, I know I said doilies died here. And ribbon. And neither to be seen on the final card...I don't wanna talk about it ;)

xoxo,

Jessi

Messy fun!

Last week when I was playing with mists & water & distress inks, I used a sheet to blot my super-soaked cardstock, and I decided to play with it: this is a smooth white cardstock, and it picked up the texture as well as the colour! 

Supplies: stamps from Paper Smooches; Peacock Feathers, Broken China, Tumbled Glass distress inks; Memento Grey Flannel ink; Turquoise Blue Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist; We R Memory Keepers washi tape; misc. gems; Corner Chomper

Getting messy is an acquired taste during crafting, but I think I'll keep doing it - maybe a little colour mixing? Things could get crazy! 

Riley had his follow-up dentist appointment today, for a filling. We are very lucky to have an incredible dentist less than 5 minutes' walk from our house. Not only did she give Riley a complete tool tour last week, but she was gentle & patient with him today. We were in & out of the building in less than half an hour, with no pain medication and NO PAIN! She's a magician, I swear. Now to console the poor kid who can't have candy for 24 hours...the way they carry on about that you'd think I don't feed them anything but! 

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash #90 - OLD paper!

***For my Tuesday Morning Sketches post, please scroll down or click here. Thank you so much!!***

Now here's a challenge for you! What's the oldest designer paper that you have in your stash? You know, don't you? It's the one that you see nearly every time you look for 'just the right paper' and think "why did I buy that?" OR "Man, I could never use it. It's too pretty!" Well, this week at Shopping our Stash we want you to....

Use it.

Ta-da!

I've set myself a personal challenge to clear out papers if I'm not using them - especially the 12x12 papers that I can't resist but rarely use. This paper is still about 1.5 years old, but this finished it off, and made a perfect guy valentine:

Supplies: papers and chipboard from Best Creations; rub-on sentiment from EAD Designs

The white piece of chipboard is printed on the other side, but it really didn't work for me. At all. So I flipped it :) I love the detail on the instrument paper! 

This Shopping our Stash challenge is open until Monday February 25th.  Don't forget to check out what everyone else has been up to!

• Carla
• Leslie
• Alica
• Deena
• Paige
• Lauren
• Linda
• Michelle
• Sandie

It's Sandie's last challenge with the team - make sure to drop by & leave her some extra love!

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #186

Good morning! We have a super-fun prize up for grabs at Tuesday Morning Sketches this week - you have got to go check out the awesome goodies that Debbie has put together for one lucky player! Here's my card:

Supplies: papers from MME "Reunion;" Jenny Bowlin butterfly (from Barb!); Paper Smooches sentiment; Vintage Photo distress ink

To make the 'pinked' edge, I trimmed along the pattern of the paper. Easy-peasy lemon squeezy! I've left a bit of white showing at the top & bottom of the card to pull in the white from the butterfly square, and edged that square with brown ink to draw IT back to the paper. 

I know I've done this before, but since she did it again I'll show you again:

Note that her ear is inside out....and that this photo was taken about a millisecond before she bumped the bottom layer of my high-tech setup and it all pancaked. As for the rest of the desktop, looks like it's the maid's decade off. *koff*

Here's the sketch this week:

This sketch will be open until next Sunday, February 24th. So, what did everyone else make?

Sandra MacLean, Best of the Best Guest Designer

Angela 

Bonnie

Dawn

Debbie
Jenee

Laura

Theresa

Melissa

xoxo,
Jessi

Papercraft Star #132: RED!

The current RED challenge at Papercraft Star is a very popular one! After playing with distress inks, mists, and water for my jingle belles card last week, I thought I'd do it again in red. I then cut a strip of the paper and embossed it, and the rest came together:

Supplies: Fired Brick & Barn Door distress inks; Candy Apple Red and Copper Tattered Angels Glimmer mists; Martha Stewart tag; Lil' Inker heart dies; Inkadinkado cat stamp; foam thickers; PSX letter stamps; Dress it Up heart button; googly eyes; Mrs Grossman's sticker sentiment

A bit of the shine on the background.

As you can imagine, this card was a custom request - the cat made to resemble one in real life, and his name stamped onto a heart tag. And it's so clear to me looking at the last bunch of cards that I made them near one another - another Martha tag popping up, that grey Basic Grey paper...it's just funny when that happens!

The Papercraft Star challenge is open for another 11 hours, so 3 am Atlantic time :)

xoxo,
Jessi

CCC#209 - Love/Hearts

Perfect for the last-minute Valentines, I've got 2 cards to share for the Crafty Creations Challenge this week (which ends on Tuesday)...obviously the day's now passed but I've got these put aside for next year :) I wasn't quite done playing with the lovey-dovey stuff yet!

Supplies: paper & die cut from K&Co

Supplies: papers & die cuts from K&Co; brads from Basic Grey; red rhinestones; Wilton heart-shaped doily; ribbons from stash

xoxo,

Jessi

CAS(E) this Sketch! #15

I love the simplicity of the sketches at CAS(E) this Sketch! - they really allow for a wide range of interpretations. I kept this one very CAS:

Supplies: Basic Grey paper; stripy scrap; EAD Designs 'thanks' rub-on; felt banner; embroidery floss

This sketch linky is open until tomorrow afternoon, and I'll be back shortly with two more posts :)

xoxo,

Jessi

CASology #31 - RED

Yes, I happen to be running low on my stash of thank you cards...you'll be seeing a few more this week! I was inspired to create this particular card by the current cue card at CASology:

Supplies: red cardstock from Recollections; tag from Martha Stewart; Doodlebug twine; Cuttlebug embossing folder; rub-ons from EAD Designs

I had a package of tags on my desk (working ahead, for once!) and while I was fiddling around with the OTHER card I got the idea for this on. The double bow is tied using two pieces of twine, and I stitched it loosely onto the tag to be sure it stayed aligned the way I wanted it. 

It's the last day to link up for this CASology cue card, but you've got 7 hours left - remember, they've extended their Sunday deadlines by a few hours so us lazy-bones can sleep in :)

xoxo,

Jessi

I slept!

And I could go back to sleep again...*phew* A good 12-hour catch-up last night, and I do actually feel like I'll have a nap later today. I feel SO MUCH BETTER!
I played along with a number of challenges yesterday, so I'll dole them out slowly for you. First up, Moxie Fab's 'I've a Notion' Tuesday Trigger. Here's the gorgeous photo:

I really, really enjoyed making my card. I knew I wanted to use some Webster's Pages trim, and buttons, and a doily. And this is what happened:

Supplies: trim from Webster's Pages; unknown patterned papers; EAD Designs rub-on sentiment; Wilton doily; Martha Stewart 1/16" hole punch; Corner Chomper; vintage buttons

If anyone knows where the gorgeous flower doily paper is from, please let me know :) 

I began by adhering the trim (it's about twice as wide as is showing here - the striped paper covers the adhesive this way), and then layering the striped paper. And then I was stuck! I played around with the doily for a bit, and I still didn't really know what I wanted to do. I went back & looked through the stack of papers that had the striped piece in it, and found the doily pattern.

It went really quickly from there - I lopped off one side of the doily & glued it down, and then fussy-cut the floral doily. It still needed "something," so I used the teeny hole punch to punch out segments of the printed pattern, and adhered it with foam tape so that the cut-out areas would show.

With such a vintage feel to the card, I thought it would be a good time to dig into my stash of vintage buttons that my mother-in-law gave me last summer. The swirls on the top button...such a pretty detail! The sentiment was originally all on one line, and I trimmed it to better suit what I envisioned. Sewed on the lower buttons, and used foam tape to stick the top one on. Chomped the upper right corner, and voila :)

A little more coffee, and one more post coming up!

xoxo,

Jessi