Tuesday Morning Sketches #339 - Sami Stamps!

Happy Tuesday! We have a great sketch for you this week at Tuesday Morning Sketches, and Sami Stamps is our generous sponsor this week - the team got to work with some absolutely adorable images, and you can win some just by playing along!

Supplies: Raining Luck from Sami Stamps; Spectrum Noir markers; classic small circle Nesties; cuttlebug embossing folder; unknown shamrock die

And here's the sketch, designed by Debbie: 

This challenge will be open until next Sunday, February 21 - hop on over & see what the rest of the team has made! 

Debbie

Jenee 

Kris

Lee

Melissa 

xoxo,

Jessi

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! 

Debbie

Jenee 

Kris

Melissa 

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash #216 - Splish, Splash!

For my TMS post please click here - thanks!!

...I was takin' a bath... (you're welcome, you know you were thinking it!) 

This week at Shopping our Stash we want you to play with wet media -  watercolor, acrylic paint, distress inks - I'm already addicted to watercolouring with my distress inks. I wanted to try something a little different but at first it wasn't working, so I made a 'normal' watercoloured card. FINALLY I got my mojo in gear and managed my original idea. I used Distress Stains (in five colours lol) and liberally applied them over a stencil, moving the stencil around. 

Since the stains are very watery, they bled underneath the stencil - which was the look I was going for - and I ended up with this!

Supplies: chipboard butterfly mermaid from (I think) Prima; doily; sentiment from Reverse Confetti; Chipped Sapphire distress ink; Distress Stains in Tea Dye, Chipped Sapphire, Tumbled Glass, Picket Fence, Antique Linen; Tim Holtz Bubbles stencil

And since I had this one all uploaded and everything I'll share it here:

Supplies: Flourishes daisies stamp; Reverse Confetti sentiment; Palette Noir ink; clear detail EP; distress inks for watercolouring, MME enamel dots; scrap of vellum

I didn't want the edges 'too' distressed, so I scraped them with my fingernail and then curled up two edges. 

C'mon and get wet with us:

Leslie

Alica

Deena

Lauren

Donna

Chris

Barb

Chana

And you have until Monday,August 31 to come play!

xoxo,

Jessi

Woohooo!

I knew I wanted to go with watercolour for the graduation prompt at CASology, but it took the whole week to figure out where to go once I'd coloured the owl!

Supplies: Paper Smooches stamps; Palette Noir ink; Distress inks in Festive Berries, Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers, and Scattered Straw; MME enamel dots; Lil inker stitched rectangle dies

xoxo,
Jessi

Home & Heart

This time of year I like to have a few "new home" cards on hand - it seems to be a popular time to move (which makes sense because moving when there's snow on the ground? NO.) I put one together for this week's CAS Embossing challenge at The Kraft Journal:

Supplies: light & regular kraft card stock; stamps from PTI; Kraft ink from PTI; Versamark & copper EP; embossing folder from Sizzix; Nesties labels die; May Arts twine; buttons from stash

I just picked up the copper embossing powder last week, and I have a feeling you'll be seeing a lot of it in the next little while! I wanted to use both dry and heat embossing on my card, and looking through my folders thought this one was perfect for the theme. 

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash #203 - Play Misty for Me!

For my Tuesday Morning Sketches post, please click here! Thanks :)

This week at Shopping our Stash we want you to get out your mists & play! I started by spraying a card-sized piece of cardstock, and then...well, you'll see:

Supplies: stamps from Reverse Confetti; Palette Noir ink; Spiced Marmalade distress ink; Tiger Lily & Yellow Daisy Tattered Angels glimmer mist; button & seam binding from stash; Hero Arts lace; Sizzix embossing folder; gem from stash

After the mists dried, I used an embossing folder and sponged Spiced Marmalade ink on top to help the embossing stand out - and then the watercolour panel and the lace and so on just covered up most of the sparkle, but it's still super shimmery. 

So what kind of mists do the SOS gals have in their stash? Check out the SOS crew: 

Leslie

Alica

Deena

Lauren

Donna

Chris

Barb

Chana

And you have until Monday,June 1st to come play!

xoxo,

Jessi

It's Graduation Time!

The town where I participate in the weekly farmers market is a university town, and convocation weekend is the same weekend as Mother's Day. Now it's time for the high school grads to be getting excited! Conveniently The Pink Elephant has a graduation challenge this week & I have a few cards from this week to share:

Supplies: Stamp from Unity; Versamark & black detail EP; star dies from Lil Inkers; black rhinestones; watercolour panel created with distress inks in Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves

Supplies: unknown stencil; Dreamweaver embossing paste; Nesties label die; Stampin Up sentiment; Versamark & white detail EP; twine & button from stash

Supplies: Clearly Besotted feather stamp & die; sentiment from Reverse Confetti; Distress inks in Peacock Feathers, Pine Needles, Seedless Preserves; Versamark & clear EP; buttons & doily from stash; organza fabric & ribbon melted with heat gun

Close up of the melted organza because OMG look how cool the ribbon turned out!! 

Supplies: Stampendous Grad Chick; Reverse Confetti sentiment; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Spectrum Noir markers; Versamark & black detail EP; Squeezed Lemonade distress ink; PTI grunge stamp; yellow Doodlebug crushed velvet flock

Fluffy chicks are a must! I stamped them this way on a whim and I love how it gives the feel of the bird hopping with excitement :) 

xoxo,

Jessi

A few more wedding cards..

..building up the stash & playing along at CASology!

Supplies: sentiment from Neat & Tangled; medallion from Stampendous; Versamark & Moonstone EP; Distress inks in Peacock Feathers & Picked Raspberry; AC silver cardstock; Stampin' Up rhinestones

This medallion image was a second impression, pulled from my pile of ooooh, I should use that on somethings.

Supplies: Sentiment from Reverse Confetti; musical heart stamp unknown; Cuttlebug embossing folder; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Shabby Shutters distress ink

xoxo,

Jessi

So distressing...

...well, paper distressing ;) I've been having a grand time distressing lately - the dog is always covered in teeny bits of paper, and so am I. The current challenge at little red wagon is distressing, so here are a couple cards to share for that challenge:

Supplies: stamps from PTI; Versamark, pirate gold EP, Frantage antique gold enamel; AC glitter paper; Tonic edge distresser; glue pen

To emboss the random dots with enamel I made spots with a glue pen.

Supplies: paper from MME; unknown stencil; Distress Stain Picket Fence; Pumice Stone distress ink; PTI 'mom' stamp; Webster's Pages lace; button & seam binding from stash; Stampin' Up pearls; Tonic edge distresser

After using the Pumice Stone ink & stencil I lightened it by swiping stain over top. I felt very Becca-ish while making this one :) 

Supplies: papers from Simple Stories; Recollections brown burlap; Paper Smooches sentiment; Gathered Twigs distress ink; Tonic edge distresser

xoxo,

Jessi

Super Sparkly!

I decided to play a bit with this week's Kraft Journal challenge - misting on kraft isn't something I've tried before, and I love it! I'm using this bird stencil for the first time, and entering in Open-Minded Crafting Fun's Up in the Sky challenge too. 

Supplies: unknown stencil; Sizzix Labels die; Paper Smooches sentiment; Versamark; Pirate Gold & Carnelian EP; kraft card stock; Tiger Lily Tattered Angels glimmer mist; scraps of vellum & textured gold paper

I used two colours of embossing powder on the sentiment, which I also curved on the block to get it 'wonky'. The coppery colour from the mist is just stunning - much more copper than orange as the mist usually turns out. 

Open-Minded Crafting Fun

The Kraft Journal - Celebrations

xoxo,
Jessi

GLITTER!

I found some solid glitter paper at the dollar store last week, and I bought all the colours. (I'll give you a minute to process that shocking news!) With the current Paper Players challenge to make a CAS gold or silver card, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

Supplies: Rose heart from Flourishes; Sentiment from Paper Smooches; Worn Lipstick distress ink; Versamark; Moonstone EP; classic small circle Nesties; silver glitter paper

Back to crafty joy!

xoxo,

Jessi

Wooohooo!

My Evil DoubleMint Twin, Chris, sistah from another mistah, has just joined the Just Us Girls challenge team :) She dared me to play along - so bossy, that one! I combined the prompt word CELEBRATE with the sketch from The Challenge.

Supplies: I *think* the paper is MME. Not sure.; sentiment from Paper Smooches; Brushed Corduroy distress ink; Sakura Stardust glitter pen; Wplus9 banner die; MFT star die; classic small circle Nesties

The banners & happy day on the patterned paper were perfect for a celebration-themed card. I spent the rest of yesterday working on tomorrow's card, which I am incredibly excited about :) Stay tuned!

The JUGs challenge closes tonight!

The Challenge #16 is open until October 19th:


xoxo,
Jessi

Shopping our Stash #166 - ABCs

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

This week at Shopping our Stash, we're celebrating the start of school with a return to ABCs - we want you to use something that starts with each of those letters! Here are some ideas:

A: ant, anchor, arrow, apple, arithmetic, animal
B: bee, button, bow, bonnet, ball, brad
C: candy, carrot, car, corn, curtain, cow, comet, chipboard, chalkboard

Of course you aren't limited to those ideas, but you DO have to tell us what you've used!

I had a particular stamp set in mind that I wanted to use, but do you think I could find it? NOPE. So then I was stuck. Finally I went ahead to work on something else, and found this paper pad, and it all came together. *whew*

Supplies: Papers from Simple Stories; Buttons from Basic Grey; sentiment from Paper Smooches; Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Simple and straightforward! I let the paper do the heavy lifting. I've gone with 

A- apples, alphabet

B- buttons, black

C - chalkboard

Check out the design team creations & join us before next Monday, September 1st!

Leslie

Alica

Deena

Lauren

Donna

Chris

 Chana

Barb (off this week)

I'm also entering the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge with my card - their theme this week is Back To School :) 

xoxo,

Jessi

Ombre Congrats

A few weeks ago during the Unique Blog Hop I shared a background I created inspired by my nails - well, I finally decided what to do with the piece I had left over :)

Supplies: Dylusions Grape mist; Mr. Huey's white mist; Paper Smooches sentiment; Spellbinders butterfly die; Studio Calico wooden heart; Cuttlebug embossing folder; Versamark; Stampendous Moonstone embossing powder; scrap of Shrinky Dink plastic; purple pearls from stash

Hard to get a good picture of clear elements, isn't it! Once I'd adhered the piece to the cardfront, one of the corners refused to lay flat. I decided to make that an "I meant to do that" element and curled up all four corners, and placed a pearl on the card base in each corner. 

Here's the photo of my nails that inspired the background (and no, they don't look like that now...lol)

This card is perfect for the current Keep It Simple! challenge of Ombre - first time I've played along there in a while :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - Z is for...

Rawr! Edna is totally embracing the animal print trend! This fortnight the Snarky Sisters want to see you use animals OR animal print on your creations. I used both:

Supplies: Paper Smooches Zoo Crew stamps; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Worn Lipstick & Picked Raspberry distress inks; Spectrum Noir markers; Recollections washi tape; Basic Grey button

This is one of the few cards that escaped Maggie's dirty-pawed rampage the other night :)

You've got 2 weeks to link up (by August 22md)) - and stop by & say hello to my sistahs:

Barb

Chris

Donna

Karen

Lee

Lindsey

Lynne

Michelle

And we are super pleased to have DARNELL with us this week as our guest designer! Her cards will definitely make you giggle :) 

xoxo,

Jessi

Rainbow Celebration

100 challenges! Woohoo! That's a definite cause for celebration. I love playing along with CASology, and I knew I HAD to join in this week. My card didn't end up nearly as CAS as I'd have liked because I had a classic opportunity for embellishment.

Let's just say that WOOHOO! was not what I said when my marker slipped while edging the last side of the panel. *koff*

So now what? I had already worked on this baby for a half hour. I wasn't going to trash it & start again. 

Supplies: Paper Smooches cat & sentiments; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Versamark; Clear Detail EP; Bic markers; Tim Holtz stencil; Distress inks in Barn Door, Squeezed Lemonade, Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves.

I tried all sorts of embellishments but finally decided on the punched circles - nothing else looked even close to right that close to the edge of the panel. But then it felt like there was a big hole in the design - and enter the nutty kitty! His full body was too much, so I decided to have him peek in on the fun.

My intention going into this card was to practice ink blending - I've just used red, yellow, blue, and purple. Rainbows say celebration to me :) Anyway, this was a bit of a gong show in the making, but I do love the crazy cat poking in, even if he wasn't part of the original plan!

Happy 100, CASology!

xoxo,

Jessi

Curtain Call & Paper Smooches

Looking at the inspiration picture for Curtain Call I kept thinking about the popcorn - and came up with an idea that made me flappy with happy! The littlest cloud dies from Paper Smooches look just like popcorn :)

Supplies: Paper Smooches cloud dies, sentiment; home made enamel dots; Wplus9 banner die; distress inks in Barn Door & Squeezed Lemonade

After die-cutting the clouds, I sponged them with the Lemonade ink for the buttery popcorn look. I free-hand the popcorn box, and used washi tape as a mask to create the stripes. They're a little wonky but I think it works :) The enamel dots are melted pony beads, which are going to be popping up a lot around here. Both kids LOVE the idea of melting them, and they were arguing yesterday over who got to sort them all by colour. 

Here's the Curtain Call inspiration picture:

And I'm also entering this in the Anything Goes challenge at Paper Smooches SPARKS:

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #249 - TWIST WEEK!

Good morning! We've got a great sketch for you this week at Tuesday Morning Sketches, and our sponsor this week is Melissa, who is offering a gift certificate to Ellen Hutson (score!). It's also TWIST WEEK, so in order to win our handpicked spot you've got to incorporate the twist into your creation. The twist is a super easy one this time around - FLOWERS!

Supplies: everything is from Simple Stories except the ribbon, which is from my stash

This is one of those great sentiments that can be for a variety of occasions - birthday, graduation, congratulations...love those versatile sayings!

Here's this week's sketch:

The linky for this sketch will be open until Sunday, May 18 - check out what the rest of the gals got up to!

Angela

Bonnie

Debbie

Kris

Melissa

xoxo,

Jessi

Sending you a High Five!

Another bunch of posts from me - sorry not sorry ;) It feels good to have so many ideas! Here's a couple of graduation/congratulations cards. The hand is on a wobbler, so you can truly high-five the little guy. (On a related note, I've been binge-watching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix....)

Supplies: Congrats, right on, great job, hand stamps from Paper Smooches; high five sentiment from PTI; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Spectrum Noir markers; Distress inks in Spiced Marmalade, Barn Door, Peacock Feathers; classic small circle Nesties; various glimmer mists for splatter

I love the tilted panels - and with the marker-lined edges it really pops. One of those cards that came out exactly how I wanted it to!

Supplies: Turtle, shadow,  & sentiment from Paper Smooches; confetti & woot from The Cat's Pajamas; Memento Tuxedo black ink; Bic Markers; Sharpie white paint pen; grad cap confetti; Distress inks in Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Faded Jeans, Tumbled Glass, Seedless Preserves, Pumice Stone; Mod Podge Dimensional Magic; googly eye; striped paper from DCWV

The turtle's shell & toenails are glossed with Dimensional Magic, and the confetti hat is attached with a pop dot. Next up - fitting one of those grad caps on  the hamster! 

I'm popping these in the Anything Goes challenge at SPARKS this week. 

xoxo,

Jessi