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

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

Cool Colours Free-For-All?

I had intended to get back to post these yesterday, but best-laid plans and all that jazz...but hey, the DYSU linky is  still open for another 9 hours, LOTS OF TIME. I feel like I preface a lot of challenge cards by saying eek, I'm not good at these ones...but colour challenges are my latest for that. I use so much patterned paper which, of course, by nature has lots of colours, and makes it hard to limit a card to the particular ones for a given challenge. Then I realized - hey, silly, you won't get any better at it if you don't practice, and to back that up, there are 3 challenges I follow that have colour challenges this week. It's a sign!
So, here's the first:

As I was pulling out the dark green cardstock, a scrap piece of patterned paper fell on the floor, and wah-lah! My card was born:

Supplies: stamp from Inkadinkado;
Versamark, Broken China & Tumbled Glass distress ink, clear EP;
Cuttlebug embossing folder; green cardstock from stash;
patterned paper from Basic Grey "Lemonade;"
'love' flatback button from Dress it Up!

Summer weddings are everywhere at the moment, and I can barely keep up with the need for wedding & anniversary cards. Like I said, the DYSU challenge #80 is open until this afternoon, so link up quick!

The other challenge I'm linking up to is Crafty Creations Challenge #178, which has a Free-for-All this week - and it's open until tonight. There are nearly 300 entries already! 

Supplies: patterned paper from Bo Bunny;
Palette Noir ink;
stamps from Paper Smooches - from dear sweet BARBLES!

The scooter is paper-pieced & the seat & wheel-cover (hubs? whatever!) thingies are popped up on foam tape. The sentiment stamp originally said 'hi' but I selectively inked & then added the "..." to leave the card open for any occasion. 

xoxo,

Jessi

IBSIC, SOS, DYSU, oh my!

We finally got some thunderstorms yesterday (I think three by the time they were all done), and lost power in the morning, but the humidity is down to 75% today. It seems strange to regard that as a relief, but for weeks it's been 90% or higher. Yesterday was 96%. It feels like breathing water at that point. One of our dehumidifiers died for good - for the last month both of them have been running 24/7 trying to keep the air in the basement manageable. We had yet another sewage backup (that makes 3), this one a week after the last. We are the next job, but it's hard to wait for the crew to show up when every time I go downstairs I half expect to be greeted by sewage. We won't know until they start, but we're beginning to suspect that the pipe may in fact be the original put in place when they added indoor plumbing, which would make it over 60 years old. Right now we can't even clean up (other than to remove the water) because it could back up again any time. 

What am I doing to avoid thinking of all this? Besides rocking & sucking my thumb (hey, it works), I've been catching up on packets to go in the mail, crocheting mats like crazy to get those sent out to the people I've promised them to, making cards, reading (today it's the latest True Blood/Sookie Stackhouse novel, "Deadlocked"), and watching season one of "Rescue Me". I picked up seasons two and three at the library yesterday & can't wait to see what happens next. I am sucked right in. 

I've got a couple of cards to share today for 3 challenges altogether - this first one is for IBSIC #16, a sketch (open until Wednesday), and Shopping our Stash #58 (open until Monday), my second take. For SOS #58, the challenge is:

use at least three items from the following list on your card: ribbon, flowers, lace, pearls, glimmer mists, punched elements or die cut elements, rhinestones, doilies (stamped will work, too), dry embossing or scoring -OR- use three of one type of embellishment.

And here's the sketch from IBSIC:

Supplies: papers from Bo Bunny;
Lace/ribbon from October Afternoon;
Wilton Doily;
Astrid's lilac chalkboard glimmer mist (Tattered Angels);
flowers from Recollections;
pins from Little Yellow Bicycle;
corner rounded (for scallops);
Purple Twilight adirondack ink; sentiment from Studio G;
pearls & button from stash;
Sakura stardust pen

I used quite a number of things from the SOS #58 list this time: lace, ribbon, pearls, flowers, glimmer mist, and a doily. The doily is sprayed with the chalkboard mist, and then I dried it with my heat gun to keep the paper from warping. The pins are tucked in behind the green ribbon, and then I made sure to stitch them to the card when I sewed on the button. Pins make me nervous, but it turns out it's relatively easy to secure them to cards without risking someone poking their finger. 

My next card is for the Red challenge for DYSU #79 - I've been so busy lately that I haven't done any quilling, and I'm completely out of quilled cards in my stash. Not a single one. As soon as I saw the DYSU challenge (open until Tuesday at 5) I knew I wanted to make a big ol' flower. 

Supplies: Barn Door distress ink; Tonic edge distresser;
sentiment stamp from AmyR Designs (CC Designs);
swirl stamp on envelope from Autumn Leaves;
flower quilled by me (2 layers);
red & clear rhinestones

As always, you can click  to view photos full-size for more detail

For some reason, my camera finds red quilling very hard to photograph, so I've tried to emphasize the contrast while editing the photo. The flower is made in two layers of 8 petals each - the large petals are made with full 24" strips of quilling paper, and the small ones are made with 6" strips. The edges of the mat were first distressed with the Tonic edge distresser, and then I carefully swiped them along the Barn Door ink pad...very carefully, because I'd already adhered the flower at that point!

With any luck we'll be off to the beach this afternoon - I hope you're having a fabulous weekend!

xoxo,

Jessi

A whole gaggle of challenges for a Saturday

I got all the teacher stuff ready *phew* and will dole most of it out in pictures over the coming week - some of them are for things I can't show you yet *squeal!* Crafty secrets are so much fun!

I didn't get a chance to play along with several challenges last week due to the stupid sewage adventure (no sign of the backhoe yet, but we had a lot of rain this week as well.) I was determined to get in there & play this week, and so I have 4 to share with you today (for 5 challenges).

First up, Tuesday Morning Sketches #152 - as always, their linky is open until Sunday night. Here's the sketch, which I rotated to vertical:

Supplies: papers & die cuts from Kaisercraft "Class of 87;"
twine from Paper Smooches;
letter stickers from Basic Grey

This was for Riley's French teacher - he wanted for her greeting to be en francais. The checkered layer and apple notepaper layers are each on foam tape. 

Next up, IBSIC #15, which is to be inspired by this photo's colours:

Being in Canada I don't have any need for a fourth of July card, but I still loved the celebratory feel of the window display. I thought the striped cupcake wrapper was a fun substitute, and the Stardust pen & gemstones are my nod to the stars! IBSIC #15 is open until Wednesday.

Supplies: Autumn Leaves cardstock;
'you take the cake' from MFT;
'birthday wishes' from AmyR Designs (CC Designs);
cupcakeabella from Stamping Bella;
Palette Noir ink;
Sakura Stardust pen;
standard small circle Nesties; various size circle punches

Next is my card for Do You Stack Up #78, where *my Barbles* is a new design team member! This week we're to use blue skies & clouds- and my Simple Stories Summer Fresh pad is perfect for this - I am in love with this card!

Supplies: Simple Stories "Summer Fresh;"
white clouds stamp from The Greeting Farm;
Palette Noir ink;
buttons from Dress it Up

The extra gingham cloud is fussy-cut from another sheet of the collection. It's hard to see in the formatted photo, but the top 3 buttons are stars, and the bottom 3 are flowers. (You can clickit to bigit). I'm also entering this card over at Moxie Fab World's gingham challenge (which has been extended to Monday July 2).

I find it hard to put away my Summer Fresh (given that it's summer and all, lol), so I kept it out to play along with Crafty Creations Challenge #176,  to use at least 3 types of embellishments on your card. I've fussy-cut paper embellishments (the 'happy' card, the banner at upper left), used alphabet stickers, twine, and buttons. This card turned out super busy, but I love the patterns all mixed together. I hope to get a chance to play along again with this challenge -it's a fun one! It ends on Tuesday night.

Supplies: All the paper embellishments from Simple Stories "Summer Fresh;"
letter stickers from October Afternoon;
buttons from stash;
kraft twine from Paper Smooches

Off to tackle the neverending mountain of laundry, and have a nap! I was up at 3 AM this morning...no one remembered to let the dog out before bedtime last night. On top of that, I began day one of the Couch to 5K running program. I hate running. I plan on only running in the dark, so that the fewest people possible have to hear me gasp and sputter like a landed fish. My Zumba instructor is off for the summer, but I've got to keep moving - so it's worth a shot. I figure by putting it out on the blog, that may be enough to keep me doing it - whether or not I keep it up after Zumba resumes depends on whether I start liking it. I can do anything for two months. (well, not ANYTHING, and that's not a dare or a challenge, Lord, so don't get any ideas. Thank you!). I'm still pretty impressed with myself that even after getting up at 3, I still did what I said I would do, rather than using the early wake up call as an excuse not to run. Yay, me (that means I can have a donut now, right?)

Oh yeah, lots of coffee to make up for that early hour. 

xoxo,

Jessi

Simon Says Do you Stack Up, TMS?

**If you're here for my guest designer post at Our Creative Corner, please scroll down or click here**

Well, I cracked myself up with that title, anyway ;) lol!
First up, Happy Father's Day to my husband, who is a great dad, and since he doesn't read my blog anyway, that's enough of that nonsense!
My friend Barb just joined the design team over at Do You Stack Up, so I HAD to play along. In the last-minute spree of Father's Day crafting, I knew I could make something with a "boys/men" theme. I'm also playing along with Tuesday Morning Sketches #150 - this week is a judged challenge, so there's a twist: use black, kraft, and ONE other colour (I went with white), along with the sketch. Here's my card:

Supplies: Antique Linen distress ink; Palette Noir ink;
burlap stamp from Market Street Stamps;
sentiment from Ditto; Basic Grey buttons; hemp cord;
standard oval Nesties

TMS challenges always end Sunday night, so head to your craft room & make something quick! Here's the sketch:

The DYSU challenge is open until Tuesday at 5, so you've lots of time to link up there. 

And what did Simon say? Simon said to use this photo board as inspiration this week: (linky closes on Tuesday night)

I went with the over-arching theme of "summer" for my card, and I love how it turned out! Nothing says summertime to me quite like the beach, and bright fun colours:

Supplies: stamps from Inkadinkado;
Palette Noir ink; standard circle & oval Nesties;
buttons from Dress it Up!;
antique linen distress embossing powder;
papers from Fancy Pants "summer soul" 

Distress EP sets off my smoke alarm (it's right above the desk) so I've taken to using my little pot of it as sand. It's the perfect colour & texture for it! I adhere it using ZIG two-way glue pen, and it stays put through repeated touching.

In the interest of not having a post a mile along, I'm going to tuck my other challenge cards into a second post!

xoxo,

Jessi