Sunday, January 31, 2016

STAMPlorations Dragonfly

Nothing like entering at the last minute - I made this card for the January Sketch & Theme challenge at STAMPlorations and just had too hard a time sitting at the computer to type up my post! I used the sketch & also the theme of Clean & Simple - leaving white space as a priority, and not going too over-the-top with embellishments:



Supplies: Dragonfly stamp from PSX; sentiment stamp from STAMPlorations; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Wilted Violet distress ink; Spectrum Noir marker; Sizzix embossing folder; Diamond stickles; random bling


I used a snippet of unused dipped paper that went well with the purple & pink tones for the side panel. The dragonfly was stamped twice, and the wings fussy cut to pop them up. They were coloured with exactly the same marker as the body, and the Stickles turned them this awesome hot pink. Happy unexpected thing! 

You've got just under 24 hours to share your project with STAMPlorations - hurry up! 

xoxo,
Jessi

FUSION cards

I have a couple of cards for the current FUSION challenge - before the deadline, unlike the last couple times. (Go me!) I have still not figured out why being at the computer is painful when being at my crafting desk is not - I blame the keyboard. I've been in for a massage therapy appointment, and tomorrow I get in to see the physiotherapist, so I'm really hoping for some improvement soon!

Anyways, here are my cards:


Supplies: All papers from a kit from eons ago - no idea who made it; Doodlebug red doily; blue button from stash; heart button from Dress it Up; classic small circle Nesties

The first card was inspired by the sketch & by the floral wreath - the neutral tones to a lesser extent, as they informed my background paper choice & then I ran with what I had. 



Supplies: Mouse & balloons from Bugaboo; Spectrum Noir & sharpie markers; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; sentiments from Paper Smooches; black Wink of Stella pen; Diamond Stickles. Doodlebug papers; Tumbled Glass distress ink for sponging

The second card is purely based on the sketch - it seemed like an ideal layout for this card!

You still have 2 days left to link up your projects at FUSION:


xoxo,
Jessi

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Shopping our Stash #236 - Inspired by A Book!

You would think as an avid reader I would find this week's Shopping our Stash challenge an easy one - create a project inspired by a book. Wellllll. Most of my reading is mystery novels (or crime procedurals) and so maybe not so perfect for a card. *ahem* I also had an order last week for a little girl's birthday card, and so when I was thinking about her favourite things I also thought back to some of the books my kids enjoyed until not long ago. (As an aside, childrens' book illustrations are an excellent way to learn more about colouring!) Olivia the pig was a character they really enjoyed, and lo and behold, there's an Olivia book about ballet. 



Supplies: ballerina image from Tiddly Inks; Spectrum Noir markers; Wink of Stella clear glitter pen; Purple crushed velvet flock from Doodlebug; Basic Grey letter stickers; AC thickers sparkly 4; classic small oval Nesties; miscellaneous sequins and bling



The little miss this card is going to just recently had her hair cut short and loves ballerinas - so I found an image that I could give a haircut ;) Since she's brand new to my (enormous) stash of Tiddly Inks I'm popping this in over at Open-Minded Crafting Fun  for their first monthly challenge, Try Something New. 

The SOS DT made sure to share which book inspired our creations - make sure you do in your post too! 




Tuesday Morning Sketches #336 - Debbie Foster!

Good morning sketchers! This week at Tuesday Morning Sketches our own Debbie is the sponsor - head over to the main blog for a peek at the adorable prize up for grabs! She has also chosen her favourite 2015 sketch for the challenge this week:


Supplies: papers from American Crafts; Memory Box leaf frond die; resin flower from Recollections

This is a perfect sketch to use up some of the bits & bobs of patterned paper we all hoard save :)


This challenge will be open until next Sunday, January 31 - hop on over & see what the rest of the team has made! 



xoxo,
Jessi



Saturday, January 23, 2016

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - T is for -


Technique! Pick your favourite, try a new one, it's all good with the Sisterhood :) I really honestly intended to pick a new technique, but spending most of my time not able to sit at the desk is really sucking. (I can't remember if I mentioned it on my blog, but I fell & managed to get whiplash. My shoulder is in a lot of pain and I'm not too functional at the moment). SO I went with my latest favourite technique, ink dipping, and some quilling :)



Supplies: Distress inks in Wilted Violet, Mermaid Lagoon, Twisted Citron; May Arts sheer ribbon; quilling paper, bling, stick pins, seam binding from stash




Go see what the Sistahs made, and then make your own & link up!  You have until Friday, February 5 to play along. 


Don't forget to leave some love for this week's guest designer,

xoxo,
Jessi


Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Shopping our Stash #235 - 3-2-1!

Welcome back to Shopping our Stash! We've got a fun mini-recipe challenge for you this week - use 3-2-1. If you haven't played before, make sure you check out the design team to see how it's done. This is one of my favourite types of challenges because it's so broad in how you can interpret it. For my card, I used

3 stamps
2 patterned papers
1 wood veneer embellishment


Supplies: Stamps from Paper Smooches; Memento Tuxedo Black & Gray Flannel ink; Basic Grey papers; Spectrum Noir markers; cat veneer piece from Lindsey :)

The DT made sure to share how each of us interpreted the recipe - make sure you do in your post too! 



Tuesday Morning Sketches #335 - Jennifer Tomasic Sinsley, CTMH Demo!

Good morning! Glad to have you back to play with us at Tuesday Morning Sketches! This week we're sponsored by  Jennifer Tomasic Sinsley, a Close to My Heart demo - and there's a fab stamp set up for grabs for the lucky random winner! We're playing with Melissa's favourite sketch from 2015 this week:


Supplies: stamps from Lil Inker Designs; Spectrum Noir markers; Wink of Stella clear glitter pen; paper from Authentique; classic small circle Nesties; googly eyes; bling strips and washi from stash


Here's the sketch:



This challenge will be open until next Sunday, January 24 - hop on over & see what the rest of the team has made! 



xoxo,
Jessi


Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Shopping our Stash #234 - Something New!

This week at Shopping our Stash we want to see you break open some of your new stuff - hopefully Santa knows you're crafty ;) You've already seen the products I'm about to show you BUT I did make this card first - using my new Distress Ink colours, Mermaid Lagoon, Twisted Citron, and Wilted Violet:


Supplies: Distress inks in Mermaid Lagoon, Twisted Citron, Wilted Violet; stamps from Waltzingmouse; Versamark and white EP

My first play with these inks was to try them together with Becca's dipping technique - ooooooooh they are gorgeous together! I amped up the splashy factor with splat stamps and then embossed the sentiment - as you can see, I didn't wait quite long enough after stamping the purple paint strokes, but I kinda like the excess embossing powder there. Happy accident. 

So what's your newest stash? Get ready to play with it - and check out my teammates for some more inspiration:


Tuesday Morning Sketches #334 - Stitchy Bear!

Like I mentioned yesterday, I need to stock up on other kinds of cards now that Christmas is finished - so both my posts today have thank you cards :) We're revisiting the design team's favourite sketches of 2015 over at Tuesday Morning Sketches, and this week is Jenee's pick. We also have Stitchy Bear returning as our generous sponsor.




Supplies: unknown image & text stamps; Thanks sentiment from Lil Inkers; Nesties label die; Doodlebug paper; watercoloured using distress inks: Mermaid Lagoon, Twisted Citron, Ripe Persimmon, Mowed Lawn, Festive Berries; Versamark & clear EP

Here's the sketch:



This challenge will be open until next Sunday, January 17 - hop on over & see what the rest of the team has made! 



xoxo,
Jessi

Monday, January 11, 2016

Thank You Butterfly

Now that the Christmas rush is over, time to start stocking up the other card categories - I was down to a single thank you card. Conveniently little red wagon is hosting a thank you challenge this week!


Supplies: butterfly stamp from Gina K; sentiment from PTI; Sizzix embossing folder; Tim Holtz stencil; May Arts twine; Versamark & black detail EP; Distress Inks in Mermaid Lagoon, Twisted Citron, and Wilted Violet


I began by embossing the butterfly on watercolour paper and painting it with distress inks. After stamping the sentiment I wanted a little something else for the background, so I sponged Twisted Citron ink using the bubbles stencil. I didn't mask the butterfly but rather just sponged lightly towards the middle of the panel. Having the time to just play and create again is awesome :)


xoxo,
Jessi

Sunday, January 10, 2016

#tiddlyspiration and The Challenge!

As soon as I saw the sketch for The Challenge this week I thought what better time to kick my rear into gear getting back into entering challenges. I had this perfect little cutie all ready to go for the #tiddlyspiration challenge and they came together perfectly:


Supplies: Image from Tiddly Inks; Spectrum Noir markers; Tumbled Glass distress ink; papers from Doodlebug; Wplus9 banner die; Classic small circle Nesties; Lil inker star dies; Paper Smooches clouds dies; googly eyes


Love this little cutie :)



xoxo,
Jessi

Saturday, January 9, 2016

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - O is for...



Ohhh now this one is going to be fun! The Snarky Sisters want to see you create a birthday card - a funny, snarky, birthday card. We had grand fun with this one! 




Supplies: Cat & pawprint stamps from Paper Smooches; sentiment from The Cat's Pajamas; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Spectrum Noir markers; Rusty Hinge distress ink; Doodlebug paper; Labels Nesties



Put down your coffee & go see what the Sistahs made, and then make your own & link up!  You have until Friday, January 22 to play along. 


Don't forget to leave some love for this week's guest designer, CYNDI - definitely put the coffee down, we all laughed at her great card! 


xoxo,
Jessi



Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Shopping our Stash #233 - Colour me Monochromatic!

The Shopping our Stash team is continuing on - Leslie had already set the next few challenges, and the idea behind this one was to make a monochromatic card with your favourite colour. We've gone ahead and made a lot of (gah!) pink in her snarky honour :)
You're of course welcome to choose any colour you like, but I know we'll be grinning at every (gah!) pink card in the gallery!


Supplies: Picked Raspberry distress ink; home made pearl glimmer mist; Reverse Confetti sentiment; classic small oval Nesties; sequins


Oooooh shiny :) 

Check out what my great teammates made:



Tuesday Morning Sketches #333 - Bugaboo!

Every year the team at Tuesday Morning Sketches starts off with our favourite sketches from the previous year - I'm up first with what funny enough was our first sketch of the year :) Bugaboo Stamps is back as one of our favourite sponsors - and I finally coloured up this cutie Birthday Elephant:


Supplies: Birthday Elephant digi from Bugaboo;  Spectrum Noir & Copic markers; classic small circle Nesties; 1.5" circle punch; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; unknown sentiment stamp; Corner Chomper; buttons; patterned papers from Doodlebug

This was the first card I made after nearly 2 weeks - ahhhhhh my desk how I missed you!

Here's the sketch:


This challenge will be open until next Sunday, January 10 - hop on over & see what the rest of the team has made! 



xoxo,
Jessi


Monday, January 4, 2016

2015 Year in Review



Oh 2015, the memories! I'd usually include my favourite books of the year, but I fell off the wagon of record-keeping my reading. And I'd recap all the personal stuff, but I have a swiss-cheese brain and I'd forget so many things that I'd keep editing this post for the next six months. I will include one personal adventure - and I don't remember if I shared it with you before or not, so bear with me.

I did not pay as much attention to my health as I should have. I trusted my doctor to accurately read lab reports, and to look out for my best interests. I have diabetes (and high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, and allergies & asthma, and bipolar disorder) and take about 30+ pills per day, including supplements to try and offset some of the side effects. For years I've mentioned my utter exhaustion (at some points sleeping 16 hours a day) and got a shrug in return. The week after Thanksgiving I felt just wrong altogether - in bed, unable to summon energy for anything - and although I wasn't eating, my sugar was skyrocketing. I finally developed ketoacidosis. My sugars had been hovering around 20 for days, and as I've since learned, it affects your brain. Friends urged me to go to the hospital, and I said naaaah I'm fine.

I developed severe abdominal pain and vomiting, and sent my husband to work - naaah I'm fine, I'll just lay down. Chatting with two friends on FB saved my life - their knowledge of diabetes was more than mine, and they wanted me to call an ambulance or they'd do it for me. I called my husband, who turned around and came home, and when I was instantly admitted to the ER my sugars were 22. The next step would have been a coma - and home alone for the next 8 hours, it may have been too late for me.

I found out all sorts of things when I went to the diabetic clinic - which my doctor had refused to send me to - I was diabetic 3 years before I was told. That's available in my blood work - which is in my file. My lack of family history (and having gestational diabetes at 22), multiple other factors suggest that I may have type 1 diabetes that has been missed for nearly 20 years. My sugar has never been under control - and I've been taking a variety of oral medications for 5 years.

My takeaway from all this? SEE the labwork. Be active in your own care. Ask questions & demand answers. I would never have accepted this if it had been my childrens' health at stake - and I will no longer accept it for myself.

All that said, I picked out some fun cards from last year - because that lesson aside, that's really what you're here for after all!

JANUARY
Original post here


FEBRUARY

(toilet paper? I had to pick this one!)
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MARCH
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I know I keep picking my DT cards from Shopping our Stash - but we had so many awesome challenges that helped me grow creatively!

APRIL
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MAY
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JUNE
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JULY
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AUGUST
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SEPTEMBER
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OCTOBER
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NOVEMBER
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DECEMBER
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*phew* Blogger was not being my friend there - here's hoping it publishes!
Wishing you all a fabulous 2016 - and I can't wait to catch up with all my crafty buddies :)
xoxo,
Jessi