Shopping our Stash #99 - All About Numbers!

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

So a challenge is sometimes SUPPOSED to be challenging, right? Shopping my Stash for numbers that were actually 'stash' was kinda hard. I just don't use them very often. Grad season to the rescue!

Supplies: AC textured black cardstock; AC puffy vinyl Thickers (from Barb!); Martha Stewart score board

I find graduation cards kind of challenging as well, so double score. And it's even appropriate for a Dreaded Man Card (as Tammy would call it!) To keep it simple but not boring, I scored three lines at the top & bottom of the black panel, and then adhered it with Scor-Tape at the very top & bottom, and foam tape underneath the numbers. It gives the scoring more dimension in real life. I also folded along the score lines several times to help give them more definition. 

This Shopping our Stash challenge is open until next Monday, May 6th - hop on by & leave the rest of my teamies some love!

Carla

Leslie

Alica

Deena

Lauren

Michelle

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #196 - Saturated Canary!

Happy Tuesday! This week at Tuesday Morning Sketches we have another fabulous sketch for you, and a super tempting sponsor...Saturated Canary! You've seen her images all over the place, and now if you play along with us, you could win some :) SCORE! Krista was generous enough to provide the design team with the images of their choice, and I had to choose the fun & quirky Starla. Thanks so much, Krista :)

I had a really fun time colouring her:

Supplies: STARLA digital stamp image from Saturated Canary; Spectrum Noir markers; papers from little yellow bicycle; Mrs. Grossman's sentiment sticker; Making Memories brads; rhinestones from Dollarama; Mod Podge Dimensional Magic

After colouring, I carefully dabbed the Dimensional Magic on her eyes & lips for some super shine. 

Here's our sketch this week, designed by Melissa:

This sketch is open until next Sunday,May 5th.  And, did you know - if you 'like' Tuesday Morning Sketches on Facebook, you can have access to the sketch the evening before it goes live?? 

Don't forget to visit all the other talented ladies on the DT:

Mary J, Best of the Best Designer - it's her last week with us!

Angela

Bonnie

Dawn

Debbie

Jenee

Laura

Theresa

Melissa

xoxo,
Jessi

Anything Goes at Paper Smooches....

So there's an 'anything goes' challenge at Paper Smooches SPARKS...I have the feeling you're going to be seeing more than the usual share of Paper Smooches goodness here in the next little bit. Just sayin'.

Supplies: Paper Smooches Party Pals; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Spectrum Noir markers; Bow Easy & purple twine; little yellow bicycle paper; Liquid Pearls; Mod Podge Dimensional Magic

As you can see in the close shot, the cat's head, balloon, and rabbit's feet are all stamped again & popped up with foam tape. Their eyes, the bunny teeth, and balloon are all glossified :) And I'm especially happy with how the 'grounding' turned out - still practicing with the markers. 

Be back shortly with my posts for Tuesday Morning Sketches & Shopping our Stash! Busy Tuesday around here :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Papercraft Star #142 - Tea for Mom!

The photo inspiration challenge this week at Papercraft Star is a perfect one for creating a Mother's Day card:
 As I've said before, I don't print out inspiration photos. I write down what I find immediately inspiring about the photo - usually colours and the actual items in the photo, and sometimes will sketch a layout. Here's what I wrote for this one: neutral colours (beige, cream, white); flowers; tea; text patterns.

And here's what I created - I love how it turned out!

Supplies: papers from My Mind's Eye; Wilton doily; tea cup from Waltzingmouse Stamps (from Barb - as is the kraft banner!); Gina K. Designs sentiment; classic small circle Nesties; vintage button from stash; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; and the last of those oval-shaped flatback pearls! 

The tea cup and milky tea are paper-pieced - I stamped it first on the text paper, then glued down the tea....and then had to be really careful to get the 'back' of the tea cup in place. I guess it's been a little too long since I paper-pieced ;)

xoxo,

Jessi

CASology #41 - GIGGLE :)

There was only one thing I could do for this challenge - 

Supplies: Unity stamps (toilet paper & sentiment); Crafty Basics woodgrain washi; PTI 'splatter' stamp; Vintage Photo distress ink; Memento Tuxedo Black ink.

As you can see, the 'w' smeared a little. I was about to scrap it & try again when I realized....really, what better card to salvage a mis-stamp? So out came the splatters & I stamped off once on scrap paper to get the lighter brown. And yes, it had to be brown, hahaha!

I would love it if you'd also offer an opinion on which photo is better - I've been playing around with my editing software, and yes, these are two completely different photos, not just edited differently - but I'm also wondering about the angled card pose, rather than head-on. Anyway. Help a girl out.

As per usual the CASology challenge will close in mere hours....one of these days I'll get to it earlier! Some pretty funny cards are linked up - you should go check out the gallery!

xoxo,

Jessi

Drunken Stampers #125 - Up!

Oh, this movie is one of my recent favourites. I've seen it in full at least 3 times, and bits & pieces of it many more while the kids watch. This week, the Drunken Stampers want to see you create a project inspired by the movie Up - or with the alternate theme, balloons.

My favourite part? The heartwrenching and beautiful beginning of the film, the love story of Carl & Ellie. *Sniffle*

Connor's favourite part? The dogs can talk. He is convinced that those collars really- SQUIRREL! (OK, that's one of my favourite parts too.) 

There are so many parts of this movie that translate well into a card, and I decided to go with something that celebrates going for your dreams. And the sky. 

Supplies: printed panel from My Mind's Eye; star stamps from Stampendous; sentiment stamp from Paper Smooches; Tumbled Glass distress ink; Gray Flannel Memento ink

I can't wait to see what you come up with!  Our linky will be open until next Friday night, May 3rd. Check out what the rest of the Midnight Margaritas made:

Spike

Jackie

Barbara

Chris

Vicki

Barb M. 

xoxo,

Jessi

Playing in Paradise #114 - Springtime Joy

Grab a coffee - this one's gonna get a little long!

This week at Playing in Paradise Linda is our hostess, and she wants us to create a project to celebrate Springtime Joy:

Since my tulips are about 6" out of the ground now, I can actually sort of believe that spring is on the way. I'm not putting away the snow gear yet, though! 

Supplies: paper from Little Yellow Bicycle; sentiment stamp from Gina K. Designs; Picked Raspberry distress ink; brads from stash - the butterflies & flowers are Making Memories.

Want to use a really pretty piece of designer paper that does it all for you? Jazz it up a little by adding some embellishments! I also cut the paper down to a smidge smaller than my card base, and used foam tape to adhere it for dimension. Flat & light enough for a single stamp!

The Playing in Paradise challenge is undergoing some changes - including its team. This challenge will be open for 2 weeks - until May 10th. 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

This is my last post as a team member at Scrapbooker's Paradise, and it's bittersweet. All good things must come to an end, yada yada yada. The Paradise blog will always have a special place in my heart - the first time I was a guest designer (I thought I was going to burst of excitement!); my first design team position; my first little forays into tutorials (as limited as they are!). I will definitely be sticking around & coming to play in the new challenges when they begin. 

I thought I'd share a couple of my favourite posts with you - because hahaha, it's my blog, and I can do what I want! 

My first guest design post:

My first official DT post, March 2012:

Quite possibly one of my first sketch cards that I liked - 

My first mini-tutorial:

Well, if nothing else, I can tell that my photo editing skills have improved marginally. Thanks for having me, and I will definitely keep seeing you talented ladies around in blogland!

xoxo,

Jessi

Recycling at Jingle Belles

Mmmm, fresh-cleaned teeth from the dentist...and can I just say, I have the best hygienist? Not a single nick of the gums. My super-sparkly teeth are perfect to go with my super-sparkly cards for the current jingle belles challenge (for the next 4 hrs or so), to use something recycled. My favourite thing to recycle is old card fronts - of course most of the cards we receive aren't handmade, but the illustrations are too precious!  I've got two here.

Supplies: red cardstock; Sakura black glaze pen; iridescent glitter fabric paint; K&Co die-cut; red card stock

I have had this same bottle of iridescent glitter fabric paint for at least 5 years. Finally, today, it bit the dust. I managed to scoop out enough for this card with a toothpick, but besides being nearly empty the container's allowed enough air in to dry up almost all that was left. Super chunky! Luckily that worked here. The only 'pre-glittered' element is the date die-cut piece. I added some black Glaze pen to his hat, eyes, mouth, and buttons for a little extra shine.

Supplies: Making Memories epoxy sticker; Colorbok silver glitter paper

This card uses one of my favourite techniques when recycling a card - cutting apart the illustration. I thought strips might be fun for a change - usually I cut it into tiles - but I think I'll probably skip the staggering next time around. Not all that happy with this one.

It's difficult to see, but the original card has debossed silver snowflake dots over the trees. Very pretty :)

Back to the Mother's Day crafting spree now - where the heck did April go? YIKES!

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash #98 - Dollar Store/Bargain Bin

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

Holy moly - challenge #98 at Shopping our Stash! This time around we want you to...

use something you got at a ridiculously low price!

Got it at the dollar store? At a garage sale? (where are these crafty garage sales anyhow...not in my neighbourhood, lol!). At Michaels in the dollar bin ($1.50 in Canada)? Use it! AND TELL US WHAT IT IS :) 

I even took a picture of the price tag on mine - I scored 4 or 5 of these insanely detailed embellishments from Jolee's years ago, at Wal-mart. LOOK:

70 cents!?! I hoarded most of these for years, because I never could find papers that matched them well. This is the last one, because guess what? I can use white space now. (pats self on back):

Supplies: Jolee's carousel; Mrs. Grossman's birthday sticker; Martha Stewart scoreboard

This Shopping our Stash challenge is open until next Monday, April 29th - hop on by & leave the rest of my teamies some love!

Carla

Leslie

Alica

Deena

Lauren

Michelle

I hope you have a fabulous day :) I'm going to go get crafty!

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #195 - Clearly Digital Stamps!

Good morning & happy Tuesday! Always a busy one around here :) This week at Tuesday Morning Sketches we have Clearly Digital Stamps as our sponsor - formerly known as Clearly Dollar Stamps - home to some very fun & inspirational images. Debbie created our sketch this week, and guess what? I made a tall card! Her sketch was perfect for one, and yet will also easily adapt for a regular quarter-fold size. You've gotta love that!
I thought this would be a perfect sketch to make a birthday card for my sister's new sister-in-law:

Supplies: cupcake paper from JJ!; Sizzix labels die; classic small oval Nesties; super-sparkly Thickers from American Crafts (from Barb!); Doodlebug letter stickers; aqua twine

Do you know what? Thickers should totally come with little 'th' and 'st', etc, stickers in their packages. Just sayin'.

sparrrrkly!

The card measures 4" wide and 8" tall, and fits perfectly in a 'legal' envelope. And its super-sparkliness makes it perfect for the current Catered Crop challenge, Just Add Glitter!

Here's the Tuesday Morning Sketch:

This sketch is open until next Sunday, April 28th.  And, did you know - if you 'like' Tuesday Morning Sketches on Facebook, you can have access to the sketch the evening before it goes live?? 

Don't forget to visit all the other talented ladies on the DT:

Mary J, Best of the Best Designer 

Angela

Bonnie

Dawn

Debbie

Jenee

Laura

Theresa

Melissa

xoxo,

Jessi

Use a cameo? YIKES!

At little red wagon, the challenge this week is to use a cameo. I know that *I* have hoarded them - I bought this little package of 9 oh, a year & a half ago? The last two have been even on my desk trying to be used, and I just couldn't do it. AND THEN Barb made THIS CARD, and I thought to myself, 'if Barb can use THAT cameo, surely I can use my itty bitty ones.'

One of them, at least.

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey (flower fussy-cut from 12x12); brads from Basic Grey; AC Thickers; girls paperie cameo; Corner Chomper

I'm pretty stoked to have used a bunch of brads too! If not the last cameo...

xoxo,

Jessi

Congratulations!

So, this week at CASology the prompt is "WORD," which as usual has a great many fabulous interpretations out there - right now the linky has over 90!  Clean and simple still poses a challenge for me, but I find it fun to play & stretch my creative wings.

Supplies: Paper Smooches sentiment; Versamark & black EP; black rhinestones; various colours of Tattered Angels glimmer mist - Turquoise Blue, Key Lime Pie, Starfish, Yellow Daisy, Chalkboard Violet

Embossing the sentiment made it pop beautifully over the misting:

I pulled out my black powder for a change because I figured my usual dusting of 'didn't mean to' stray powder would fit in with the splatter background - an then it seems to have stayed where it was supposed to for a change. Go figure! If you click to view this picture full-size you can see the glimmer of the mists really well. 

 There's a whole 5 hours left to link up, so what are you waiting for? 

xoxo,

Jessi

Playing in Paradise #113 - Use Something Recycled

Good morning, and happy Friday. The kids have today off of school, and Connor's been home since noon on Monday with a head cold - I'm really starting to make plans for that human-sized hamster ball filled with hand sanitizer. It's past the joking stage now for sure.

This week at Playing in Paradise Dawn is our hostess, and she's challenging us to use something recycled in our projects. Just wait until you see hers - oh em gee. 

Mine is NOWHERE near as detailed or fancy - I've re-used the piece of paper I used as a mask for another project. The funny part is that I like my unplanned card better :)

Supplies: Sizzix label dies; Paper Smooches sentiment; Papertrey Ink floral stamps; Distress Inks in Mowed Lawn, Faded Jeans, Broken China, Seedless Preserves, Tumbled Glass

Here is the card that I originally used the mask for:

Additional supplies: Sharpie marker; Martha Stewart butterfly stamp; Hero Arts sentiment; Memento Tuxedo Black ink

This challenge will be open until next Thursday, April 25th.  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

Annette's Birthday Month!

Happy birthday, Annette! I know a lot of you already know Annette by her fun creations, but if you don't....hie thee over to her blog & check it out. Girl's got a way with twine, I tell you. AND, April happens to be Annette's birthday month, and her anniversary month, and she's celebrating with a linkup :) Head over to her blog to see all the details! 

As soon as I read about her challenge, I knew exactly what I wanted to make. I have this fabulous image from Mo Manning, and my sister gave me the sentiment. It just had to make it onto a card:

Supplies: digi image from Mo Manning; computer-generated sentiment; papers from MME; Basic Grey buttons; Spectrum Noir & Sharpie markers; pink gems; clear Sakura glaze pen (glasses); classic small oval Nesties

This was a really fun image to colour - loving those new markers :)

You have 5 more days to play along with Annette's challenge - hope to see you there!

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash #97 - Text or Letters

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

Shopping our Stash has a fun & trendy challenge this week - to use TEXT in your creations. We most emphatically do NOT mean just a sentiment - use script themed images, text-themed papers, images, stamp a bunch of letters for a border, abc's, use a section of an old book, dictionary, etc. 

I pulled out the remnants of my Basic Grey "Out of Print" pad & made a card entirely from scraps - yahoo for stash busting! Even the circles were pre-punched...

Supplies: Basic Grey "Out of Print" papers; EAD Designs rub-on sentiment; 1.5" and 3/4" circle punches; clear 'dew drop' baubles from dollarama

This Shopping our Stash challenge is open until Monday April 22nd - pop by & leave the other gals some love! 

• Carla
• Leslie
• Lauren
• Michelle

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #194 - There She Goes!

Good morning! It looks like we're fighting off more germs around here - Connor came home in the middle of the day yesterday, and slept for hours. He joins me - I've slept more than I've been awake in the last few days. Here's hoping whatever this is, it passes without anyone needing a trip to the emergency room. Sheesh.

Enough of that - we have a brand-new sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches  AND a fab sponsor - There She Goes:

And here's our sketch:

and my card:

Supplies: Rub-ons from Basic Grey and Bo Bunny; sentiment from EAD Designs; Cuttlebug embossing folder; black & white card stock

Full disclosure - I was originally creating a one-layer card with rub-ons when there was a massive major boo-boo underneath the embossed rectangle. I said a couple of naughty words, looked up & saw the sketch, and SAVE. *whew* 

This sketch is open until next Sunday, April 21st.  And, did you know - if you 'like' Tuesday Morning Sketches on Facebook, you can have access to the sketch the evening before it goes live?? 

Don't forget to visit all the other talented ladies on the DT:

Mary J, Best of the Best Designer 

Angela

Bonnie

Dawn

Debbie

Jenee

Laura

Theresa

Melissa

xoxo,
Jessi

New Hair & CAS(E) this Sketch!

So, I teased you a bit on Friday about getting a new hairdo...no dramatic cut, but a bit of a dramatic colour: I had the ends dyed pink, as a shout-out to my friend who is battling breast cancer.

I love how it turned out - this is also a permanent dye, so it will last a good long while. It's awesome in a ponytail. Best part? My friend loves it :) Hard to cheer someone up from across the country, but I do what I can. Her surgery was last week, and although she is still in a lot of pain she's healing well.

Another personal update - today I am the mother of two teenagers. Riley turns 13 today!! I am not old enough to be the mother of two teenage boys, I'm just not. No big plans - we always do a 'birthday boy's choice' supper, and Riley wants an ice cream cake. Otherwise, opening presents & taking it easy (other than going to school - that little man has missed too much school being sick lately to miss another day!)

Alrighty, how about the card? Dark blue doesn't seem to be a colour I play with often, so I made a point of using it.

Supplies: washi tape from Jen! ; Spellbinders butterfly die; Mrs. Grossman's sticker sentiment; Tattered Angels glimmer mists in Sapphire, Blue Skies, and Turquoise Blue

The butterfly was cut out of white card stock, and sprayed thoroughly with the Sapphire mist. So shimmery!

Here's the sketch, from CAS(E) this Sketch! - you have until tomorrow to link up yours:

 And now to go & wake up the birthday boy....have a great day, even if it *is* Monday ;)
xoxo,
Jessi