Shopping our Stash #171 - Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

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

When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May....I guess you'd say, what could make me feel this way? This week's Shopping our Stash challenge!  (yes, you ARE welcome for the earworm!) We'd like to see you use a SUN, CLOUDS, or BOTH on your projects this week. 

Supplies: digi pup with balloons from Tiddly Inks; alphabet stamps from Lawn Fawn; Spectrum Noir markers; Mustard Seed distress ink; cloud dies from Paper Smooches; classic small oval Nesties

This pup was printed out & hanging around on my desk, and once I got started colouring him I realized he'd make a perfect 'thinking of you' card. I can't quite believe I don't have a ready-made sentiment to say "hang in there" but I don't! 

Ready to create?  Join us before next Monday, October 6th!

Leslie

Alica

Deena

Lauren

Donna

Chris

 Chana

Barb

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #269 - Stitchy Bear's Digi Outlet!

Happy Tuesday! This week at Tuesday Morning Sketches we're sponsored by Stitchy Bear's Digi Outlet, and I am in love with the digi I get to feature, Belladonna! 

Supplies: Belladonna digi stamp from Stitchy Bear's Digi Outlet;  Spectrum Noir markers; Sakura Stardust glitter pen; PTI sentiment; Versamark & white detail EP; classic small circle Nesties; Wplus9 banner die; patterned paper from Simple Stories; glitter buttons from stash

This is my first attempt colouring in greyscale - the shading in the digi made it an easy first attempt. I added some sparkle to her dress, eyes, and hair. I think Belladonna would look amazing coloured green as well :)

To do the bunting, I used a Nestie as a template to pierce the paper, stitched with black embroidery floss, and then added the buttons. 

Here's our sketch, designed by Bonnie - who has decided to step down from the TMS team. She'll be missed, I can tell you!

This challenge is open until next Sunday, October 5th -  hop on over & see what the design team has created for you!

Debbie

Jenee 

Kris 

Melissa

Nina

xoxo,

Jessi

Coffee Lovers Bloghop!

It's here! The brainchild of Chaitali & Amy, a blog hop celebrating all things JAVA! 

I've got my fifth cup of the day here before me as I type - and I always have a coffee within 10 minutes of my feet hitting the floor in the morning :) Here's my coffee-themed card:

Supplies: Pre-coloured digi & sentiment from Deedee's Designs; paper from Cosmo Cricket; Wplus9 banner die; buttons from Dress it Up!; Mod Podge Dimensional Magic

I printed out two copies of the coffee cup so that I could pop up the lid & sleeve. The straw & heart are glossied up using Mod Podge Dimensional Magic & a toothpick.

Coffee and puns, two of my favourite things!

There are some optional coffee questions to answer, and of course I'll answer them (hello, excuse to ramble on? Yes please!)

1. When did you start drinking coffee? 

When my oldest child was about 4 months old - Connor was not a sleeper. I vividly remember thinking "two week old babies aren't supposed to be interested in things, are they?" He was awake for 6 hours after he was born, and up until he was about 4 years old slept between 6-7 hours a day. What newborn only sleeps 6 hours a day?? At that level of sleep deprivation tea wasn't cutting it any more.

2. What is favorite brand (you can name up to three). 

I assume this is for pre-brewed coffee - I do make most of my coffee at home, and I'm not all that picky when it comes to coffee. In fact, I generally say I make 'gas station coffee.' I do love Tim Horton's, though, and whenever we make the trip into the Big City an hour away I try to grab a Starbucks :)

3. What is the most amazing coffee that you had? Remember where and when?

To be honest, I say several times a week that "omg, this coffee is perfect". It's like my husband says about pizza - even bad pizza is still pizza. I feel that way about coffee. And pizza. 

4. If I don't drink my needed coffee, I will...

The kids sleep more now, but I'm still fairly certain that bad things would happen if I didn't have my brew. I'm not sure contemplating  the what-if is good for my mental health! 

So, do you love coffee? Wanna play? Visit this post on Chaitali's blog to see all the rules & the fabulous creations linked up!

xoxo,

Jessi

Last one for today...I think :)

**Don't forget about the Snarky Stampers/Rubber Dance blog hop!**

OK, I think this is the last card I've got that's for a challenge ending soon. Four posts in a row should be enough for the morning, anyway :) The Pink Elephant has a sketch challenge this week, and after several attempts I managed to make a card for it - several more cards started out and then took other turns than following the sketch :) 

Supplies: stamps from Unity; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Spectrum Noir markers; yellow glitter fabric paint; papers from MME; orange lace from Recollections; button from stash

I stitched the lace to the horizontal green panel - it's not going anywhere!

Here's the sketch:

xoxo,

Jessi

Give Thanks!

**Don't forget about the Snarky Stampers/Rubber Dance blog hop!**

I haven't played along at The Kraft Journal in a while, and I love this week's sketch! I decided to make another Thanksgiving card, since Canadian Thanksgiving is just a couple of weeks away. I'm also entering this card at Little Red Wagon's Fall challenge. 

I was inspired by my Snarky Sister (and Evil DoubleMint Twin) Chris, who shared a card here using pencil crayons on kraft. I haven't done that in ages, so I dusted off my Prismas and got busy. 

Supplies: Stamps from The Craft's Meow; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Prismacolor pencils; Lily bee papers; Claudine Hellmuth orange paint; classic small circle Nesties; buttons & green rhinestones from Dollarama

See that horizontal strip? That was a whoopsie. I'd dotted it with orange paint, and then when I set it aside to dry, stuck my big ol' thumb in the wet paint. AUGH. Luckily I noticed right away, so I went back to the drawing board & used a toothpick to make it look more like I meant to do that. Once it was dry, it seemed to need a little extra something, so I added the gems. Opportunities for embellishment, people, not mistakes ;) 

Here's the sketch:

xoxo,

Jessi

Fluttering Leaves

**Don't forget about the Snarky Stampers/Rubber Dance blog hop!**

When I saw this week's CASology prompt, FLUTTER, my first thought was butterflies. I wanted something a little less obvious, though, and when I spied this Mo Manning image I thought BINGO! I'd already printed it out to participate in the Cats & Dogs challenge at Chocolate, Coffee, & Cards. 

Supplies: digital stamp from Mo Manning; lead stamps from Jane's Doodles; Happy Fall stamp from The Craft's Meow; Spectrum Noir markers; Distress inks in Brushed Corduroy, Fired Brick, Mustard Seed.

The stamped leaves were all done by stamping off the first impression to get lighter colours. I cut the sentiment stamp in half (!) because it wouldn't fit once I'd trimmed the panel. 

xoxo,

Jessi

Merry Monday Bingo!

**Don't forget about the Snarky Stampers/Rubber Dance blog hop!**

Best-laid plans and all that...I know I promised a whole bunch of new stuff, and then life. So instead I have a bunch of posts for you today, and a sinus cold. I'm almost relieved about the sinus cold, because I thought I was still suffering from TMW (too much wine)!

Merry Monday has a Bingo challenge this week - that is one of my favourite types of challenge! For my card I used the top row - Sparkle, Pattern Paper, Emboss.

Supplies: paper from Bo Bunny; PTI sentiment; Labels 5 Nesties; Versamark, Festive Berries distress ink, clear EP; Tattered Angels glimmer mists in Pearl, Candy Apple Red, Key Lime Pie; bells & twine from stash

I decided to glitz up my patterned paper with a thorough spraying of Pearl mist, and then added some splats of red & green. I used my heat gun to speed up drying so that the paper stayed more or less flat. The sentiment is heat embossed - first inking with Versamark, then Festive Berries, to get the red colour I wanted. And with this sentiment, of course I had to use bells as an embellishment!

xoxo,

Jessi

SoSS - First Annual SSSOBH!

Now how is THAT for a title? We have something SUPER exciting for you today - the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers' First Annual Spectacular September Snark Off Blog Hop!!!!!

We are sponsored by the lovely Bibi of Rubber Dance Art Stamps, the creator of this stamp set made with the Sisterhood in mind (well, at least, PERFECT for us!) 

Sarcasm Superpower - store link!

We have found our people!
There is a one woman company, Rubber Dance Art Stamps, in far off Norway that speaks our language. I don't mean English. I mean SNARK! She makes a whole rubber plate of snark! This divine product of snarkitude must be shared, and we have accepted that challenge.

The plate is called "Sarcasm Superpowers" and it is obviously perfect for our Sisterhood. We want to share this awesomeness with you, so we our hosting our first blog hop, the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers First Annual Spectacular September Snark Off Blog Hop!

Here are the hop rules. 
Leave a comment on each blog, beginning with Lee, and ending with Bibi herself.
You have until September 28 at 11:55pm EST to complete the hop.
Enjoy!
We will use some sort of free computer tool to pick a random winner and announce it on Wednesday, Oct 1. The winner will receive their very own Sarcasm Superpower set!

OK, now time for me to share my creation with you!

Supplies: KARMA stamp from Rubber Dance; Pinch Me stamp from The Stamping Chef; Spectrum Noir markers; paper from MME; home made enamel dots; hand-cut banner; Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Are you ready to hop???? Here's the hopping order:

Lee    

Chris 

Lindsey  

Jessi (You are here!)

Michelle 

Lynne 

Karen

Donna 

Helen 

Katy

Gabriele  
Majo J

Bibi   

(If a link is broken, don't despair! A couple posts haven't gone live yet)

xoxo,

Jessi

A rare card..

...suitable for an adult male. Not sarcastic. Not mean. This, my friends, is the unicorn of Jessi cards. It's also inspired by the Paper Players' current challenge.

Supplies: Penny Black sticker; Stampin' Up Lovely as a Tree stamp; Paper Smooches sentiment; Memento Gray Flannel ink

I really need to make more of this kind of card. (Stop laughing!)

xoxo,

Jessi

Quoth the Raven

I couldn't help having The Raven popping into my head while I coloured this image - I tried mightily to have the raven feathered in that gorgeous iridescent blue-black plumage....I have more to learn about colouring. I still like how it turned out - and I really like the sunset in the background!

Supplies: digi stamp from Sweet Pea Stamps; Spectrum Noir markers; leaf die from Memory Box; Sakura Stardust glitter pen; Cuttlebug embossing folder; chalkboard lilac glimmer mist from Tattered Angels

I sprayed the embossed black cardstock very thoroughly with the chalkboard mist, hoping for a bit more of an opaque effect. Since the sprayer part of that mist is broken (argh!) it took some finagling with a sprayer from a mini-mister and very carefully not spilling the thus-open bottle of mist all over the carpet. I'm not sure that plan was well thought through, but hey, it worked! And my carpet is only a littttle bit sparkly ;)

I've only used this image once before, so it was my first choice when I saw the current Sweet Pea Stampers challenge "All Creatures Great & Small" . Today was a grand productive crafty day while I finished binge-watching season nine of How I Met Your Mother (lots of quilling!) so I should have lots to share here & on my Facebook page in the next couple of days. 

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash #170 - Shower Time!

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

Time to take a shower! Shopping our Stash has a plethora of shower curtain eye candy for you this week, and we'd like you to use one of our curtains as inspiration to create! I've always wanted a rubber duckie curtain...well, at least for the last 20 years or so. 

source

Supplies: hoarded rubber duckie paper from Doodlebug; fuzzy duckie stickers from ?; PTI sentiment; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; ribbon from stash; classic small circle Nesties

The fuzzy duckie stickers have been in my stash for I don't even know how long. Long enough that I had to pet them for quite a while to get all the cat hair off, if that clears it up at all. 

We have such a huge variety of inspiration for you over at the Shopping our Stash blog - there really should be something to whet everyone's crafty appetite!  Join us before next Monday, September 29th!

Leslie

Alica

Deena

Lauren

Donna

Chris

 Chana

Barb

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #268!

Good morning! This week at Tuesday Morning Sketches we're working with one of my own sketches, and I even pulled out an NBUS stamp to work with :) Melissa is sponsoring this week with a $10 gift card to Simon Says Stamp - now couldn't we all use that?!

Supplies: Hero Arts flower & sentiment stamps; Spectrum Noir markers; Bo Bunny patterned papers; Spiced Marmalade & Festive Berries distress inks; Tumbled Glass Distress Stickles; Claudine Hellmuth orange paint; classic small circle Nesties

I inked the sentiment stamps with both distress inks to get a richer colour. After colouring the flower (which is my NBUS!) I filled in the centre with Distress Stickles and the dots with orange dimensional paint.

Here's my sketch:

This challenge is open until next Sunday, September 28 -  hop on over & see what the design team has created for you!

Debbie

Jenee 

Kris 

Melissa

Nina

I'm also going to enter my card & the next into Darnell's latest NBUS challenge - this Hero Arts flower stamp has been languishing in my drawer for nearly 2 years. I went with option two - make 2 cards using the same stamp. Once it saw ink, it wanted to play again :)

Supplies: Hero Arts flower stamp; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Spectrum Noir markers; Paper Smooches sentiment; background created using Glimmer Mists & an unknown embossing folder (Yellow Daisy, Turquoise Blue, Key Lime mists) and then inked with Mustard Seed & Squeezed Lemonade distress inks; Tumbled Glass Distress Stickles

I didn't think of it until later, but the layout is even similar! 

The NBUS challenge is open until Thursday if you've been waiting to enter - hurry up! 

xoxo,

Jessi

Trick or Treat!

Ooooh! When choosing a sentiment for this fabulous sexy witch, I decided to go with one that could be taken in a naughty way (if your mind works that way, which apparently mine does! lol)

Supplies: Broomstick Bella from The Stamping Chef;  Spectrum Noir markers; paper from Cosmo Cricket; Wplus9 banner die; sentiment from PTI; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Sakura Stardust glitter pen

Bella has a saucy outfit on, but unfortunately the new card stock that I bought (same brand, no idea why this happened) is allowing the marker ink to bleed & feather if I blend much. So instead of a belly button peeking out, Bella had a purple stomach. Um, nope. Creative banner placement it is! I added a bit of sparkle to her eyes & to the pumpkin's features. 

The Stamping Chef has a weekly Anything Goes challenge - you should pop over & check it out!  I'm entering my card in challenge #47.

xoxo,

Jessi

Merry Girls!

I have no idea why I found the sentiment challenge at Merry Monday so difficult - probably because I had too many ideas! Once I saw the Just Us Girls colour challenge, though, it all came together.

Supplies: AC card stock; Inkadinkado sentiment; Versamark & clear EP; Worn Lipstick distress ink; Cuttlebug embossing folder; Tattered Angels rose glimmer mist; classic small & lacy oval Nesties

To get the pink embossing, I used Versamark & Worn Lipstick to ink the stamp, and then embossed with clear EP. The embossed swirl panel was spritzed with Glimmer Mist for sparkle. I did want to add some embellishment under the sentiment, but couldn't find anything I liked so left it plain (for now!)

xoxo,

Jessi

Sisterhood of the Snarky Stampers are feeling STRESSED!

OK, maybe not stressed. I meant DIStressed! We want to see your creations using distressing techniques this fortnight over at Snarky Stampers! 

Making this card a couple of weeks ago set off a 'distressed phase' in my crafting. My Tonic distress tool has gotten quite the workout! I used a pre-coloured digi from Jade Dragonne's Deviantart. 

Supplies: JadeDragonne Peacock Princess digi; PTI sentiment; Peacock Feathers distress ink; Market Street Stamps burlap background; Tim Holtz bubbles stencil; Dreamweaver embossing paste; Sakura Stardust glitter pen; rhinestones, glitter button, ribbon from stash

I had a heck of a time getting a clear close-up picture - you can see where I've added glitter, even though it's fuzzy. Besides distressing the edge of the Princess panel, I rolled the corners. I also tore the edge of the embossed card stock. The background was partially inked and dropped onto the card base purposely (I know! lol) to get an uneven impression. 

You've got 2 weeks to link up (by October 3rd) - and stop by & say hello to my sistahs:

Barb

Chris

Donna

Karen

Lee

Lindsey

Lynne 

Michelle

And we are super pleased to have SANDRA with us this week as our guest designer! She's a former Drunken Stamper team mate, and it's great to have her along to play :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Lisa's Birthday Present!

At long last, a whole week after I finished it, here's the canvas that I made for my darling friend Lisa's birthday. Lisa's the friend that everyone wishes they had - we walk into each other's houses without knocking, show up unannounced & occasionally in pajamas, look after each other's dogs, and LAUGH. She's a treasure!  (She normally follows that up with saying "yeah, you just wanna bury her")

So I started out thinking I'd make a button tree on canvas (Lisa's got a thing for trees) but the world conspired against me finding the right buttons. Augh. So back to the drawing board eleventy billion times, and I thought oooh, some sort of quilted patterned paper? nope. Finally I decided to just paint the canvas in her favourite colour & figure it out as I went along. Of course I didn't take step by step pictures.

The canvas is 16"x20", so it was a challenge to photograph:

Supplies: canvas; turquoise & lime green paint (Plaid); Mod Podge; doilies; Iris Dreams digital stamp from Sweet Pea Stamps; Spectrum Noir markers; Pearl Glimmer Mist; Memory Box flower die; assorted cardstock and buttons; sheer blue fabric; stencil from Plaid

The basic process:
1. Paint canvas using a 7-hair brush because I couldn't find a foam brush. Curse.
2. Mod Podge the doilies on. Curse some more because WRINKLES, AUGH!
3. Still no clue what the finished product will look like or have on it, but I want to use that stencil. Found the foam brush - should have used the 7-hair brush. D'oh.
4. Cut the sheer fabric to about the size of the canvas. Fray edges, heat with embossing tool to melt randomly. Curse at how long it's taking to do that with a big piece.
5. Mod Podge the centre of  the fabric to the canvas. Curse because it won't dry OR STICK! AUGH!
6. Still not sure where the canvas is going. Get out the glue gun. Glue down parts of the sheer fabric (which of course then need to be covered by SOMETHING BUT AUGH WHAT?) Burn fingers when glue oozes through fabric. Curse.
7. Decide to use the Iris Dreams image. Nearly use up the B4 marker in her hair, requiring lots of blending and anxiety and yep, cursing.
8. *whew* printed out two images at the same time, I can pop up the flowers! Something went right!
9. Die cut eleventy billion flowers, sew buttons through centres.
10. Hot glue flowers onto fabric. Burn fingers. Curse.
11. An hour before delivery time, panic and send a picture to the Snarky Stampers girls to ask if it looks ok.
12. Sleep so soundly it's not funny.

Totally worth it, though. She loved it :)
xoxo,
Jessi

Watercolour Play!

I've got something that's a little out of my comfort zone today - but I loved making it! I cut a piece of card stock to size, and then used a paintbrush to create a watercolour background with Glimmer Mists. I've painted with them before but this time I started out with no idea where it was going to go. Once I was happy with the basic look, I dripped some red mist randomly around the paper (you can see where the paper was drier & wetter when I did that, lol)

Supplies: Yellow Daisy, Tiger Lily, Candy Apple Red glimmer mists from Tattered Angels; embossing folder from Cuttlebug; Spiced Marmalade distress ink; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; PTI sentiment; classic small circle Nesties; butterfly die cut from stash; black rhinestones from Dollarama

After the paper dried I embossed it with my favourite folder, and then swiped it lightly with the Spiced Marmalade ink to help the embossing pop. The butterfly die cut was a gift ages ago, in my stash of 'hmmm, what am I going to do with that?' stuff. I absolutely LOVE the shimmer from painting with these mists!

There are two challenges I had in mind while I was working on this:

JUGs - Watercolouring (The Just Us Girls team is also having a DT call!)

The Pink Elephant - Embossing

xoxo,
Jessi

Shopping our Stash #169 - Who's Who?

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

We've got a super easy challenge for you this week at Shopping our Stash - use a photograph OR a stamped image of a person. I was looking for something for another card in my little basket of pre-printed images (I keep it in a Goldfish Crackers box, actually, lol) and came across this fairy ballerina. Ta-da!

Supplies: fairy ballerina image from The Graphics Fairy; sentiment from Paper Smooches; Memento Gray Flannel ink; Sakura Stardust glitter pen; all other items from stash

I seem to be on a distressing kick - which doesn't distress me at all *snortle* It does explain why I've had to vacuum more often around my desk, though ;)

Have you got a photo you've been meaning to turn into a scrapbook page? Or a card? Or a paper project of any kind, really? Join us before next Monday, September 22nd!

Leslie

Alica

Deena

Lauren

Donna

Chris

 Chana

Barb

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #267 - Bugaboo Stamps!

The weekend got away from me! I do promise to share the canvas I made for my friend, but first I've got to kick the nasty headache that won't.go.away. Ugh!

This week at Tuesday Morning Sketches we have a very popular sponsor - Bugaboo Stamps! Jodie's irreverent stamps are some of my very favourite to create with - this time I've used JJ - coffee to go. I feel like I could use some of this special brew this morning :)

Supplies: JJ-coffee to go from Bugaboo Stamps; coffee cups from Paper Smooches; unknown patterned paper; buttons & googly eyes from stash; Spectrum Noir markers; Mod Podge Dimensional Magic

I couldn't believe that I actually had the perfect Kraft-coloured markers to colour the coffee sleeve - that tickled me! There's a smidge of gloss on JJ's glasses & her high heels. I also see in this photo that one of the coffee lids is tilted....well, kinda goes with the crazy vibe they're giving off, doesn't it? 

Here's the sketch:

This challenge is open until next Sunday, September 21 -  hop on over & see what the design team has created for you!

Bonnie (off this week)

Debbie

Jenee (off this week)

Kris 

Melissa

Nina

xoxo,

Jessi