Some serious occasions

Supplies: papers from My Mind's Eye Lost & Found;
label cut out from same paper;
sentiment from Inkadinkado; Memento Tuxedo Black ink;
velvet ribbon from stash

Supplies: Papers from My Mind's Eye Lost & Found;
Wilton doily brayered with Old Paper distress ink;
bird stamp from Inkadinkado, stamped on a cream paper scrap with Old Paper;
butterfly & rose stickers from Marjolein Bastin;
With sympathy stamp from Wordsworth

Supplies: white cardstock;
rose vellum from Susan Branch (?), old scrap from my stash;
bird stamp from Inkadinkado; stamped with Colorbox chalk inks & clear embossed;
feather, poem, and Hope stamps from Wordsworth & also stamped with Colorbox

Supplies: paper & label from Kaisercraft Chapter One;
Wilton doily; sentiment from Stampendous;
stamped with Memento London Fog ink

Supplies: paper from K &Co;
Dusty Concord distress ink sponged on edges & butterflies;
'miss you' stamp from Studio G;
butterfly punch from Martha Stewart;
Sakura Stardust clear glitter pen over sentiment

I think I may have caught the September Plague. 

Must crawl back into my cave :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Sympathy

Supplies: grey cardstock from stash;
Cuttlebug embossing folder, swiped with grey Colorbox ink;
medallion stamp from Inkadinkado; sentiment from Wordsworth;
Memento tuxedo black ink; Versamark & clear EP;
doily from Wilton; standard oval Nesties

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Marjolaine;"
Cuttlebug embossing folder, swiped with Colorbox ink;
sentiment from Stampendous; leaf spray from Wordsworth

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Curio;"
floral, butterfly, bird stamps from Inkadinkado;
Bundled Sage distress ink; Memento Tuxedo Black;
sentiment from Kaisercraft;
Labels 4 & standard circle Nesties

Oddly, I have nothing much to say! It's been a quiet week for the most part, except for dog stuff. Lots of walking - including the boys walking her on their own. (!) With any luck today will be the first dry day since Monday.
Hope you have a wonderful weekend - whatcha doin'?
xoxo,
Jessi

With Sympathy

I've said it before, but I have a hard time making sympathy cards. I get bogged down in thinking about what they're for. 

Supplies: paper & vellum bird from K & Co;
sympathy stamp from Wordsworth;
Dusty Concord Distress Ink



Supplies: Paper & floral die cut from K & Co;
Vintage Photo Distress Ink;
sentiment from Cornish Heritage Farms;
pearls & ribbon from stash

Supplies: paper & corner flourish stamp from Bo Bunny;
Vintage Photo Distress Ink;
sympathy stamp from CHF;
Vellum bird & frame from K & Co;
Wilton doily; Basic Grey brads 

If I thought the first part of this week was hard...a full day at middle school yesterday convinced me otherwise. Connor came away having had fun for most of the day, I came away with pages of notes on teachers & classes, and an overwhelming feeling of panic. He's not ready. He won't have any aide support, and my fear is that when he struggles, they will remove him from his mainstream classes because it's easier. And I feel myself getting upset again, so that's all about that for now.

Tonight is the Grade Six celebration - and Connor volunteered to give a speech! He's excited for it, and thankfully Grammie is able to make it even with the short notice. We'll have to take some video so everyone else can see it. I have a feeling there will be some tears on my part.

xoxo,
Jessi

Day 15 of Creativity...

Day 15: Do you like to try new things?  What about trying something new do you like or dislike?

When it comes to crafty things, I like to try new techniques, but I do get discouraged easily. I definitely have my comfort zone of things I feel I'm good at - and I have to be in the right frame of mind to push outside that zone.

My most recent "new technique" is one I learned about from Splitcoaststampers - a beyond-fabulous resource for anything stamping related. Last week's Wednesday tutorial was on Delft Tile, and it looked simple enough for me to give it a shot...and I liked it so much I did two.

Supplies: white cardstock, scored at 1" with Martha Stewart scoring board;
floral & butterfly stamps by Inkadinkado;
sentiment by Studio G; silver eyelets from stash;
Dusty Concord distress ink; sponge; oval Nestabilities;
earrings by Cheryl Mosher

Supplies: white cardstock, scored with Martha Stewart Scoring board at 1";
floral & butterfly stamps from Inkadinkado;
sentiment from Wordsworth;
Tumbled Glass Distress ink; sponge; 1 1/8" circle punch

I really like how these turned out - I think I'd like to try it again using coloured cardstock.
xoxo,
Jessi

Sympathies

Supplies: Sympathy stamp from Kaisercraft, stamped in Palette Noir;
All other stamps from Inkadinkado, stamped in Versamark & embossed in clear EP;
Labels 4 Nestabilities



Supplies: flower stamp from Fifth Avenue Floral, Stampin' Up;
stamped with Versamark & embossed with white EP;
coloured with Prismacolor pencils & Dove blender;
"Thinking of You" stamp from Inkadinkado,
stamped with Versamark & Worn Lipstick Distress Ink & embossed with clear EP;
debossed side of Cuttlebug Victorian folder;
standard & lacy circle Nestabilities



Supplies: painting from a book;
papers from Basic Grey "Curio;"
gold sentiment banner from Martha Stewart;
"With Sympathy" stamp from Kaisercraft, stamped with Palette Noir & embossed with clear EP

I don't particularly enjoy making sympathy cards, but when I do manage to find myself in the mood to make one I try to make several. Sympathy cards just need to be less...frou-frou?...which is a challenge for me.
xoxo,
Jessi

The Ultimate Insult...

...my child wanted to buy his friend a STORE BOUGHT CARD. My shame and horror know no bounds. Sigh. I have no more words.

On that note, I have another challenge card to share for Moxie Fab World, this time for the Tuesday Trigger "Oh So Lovely." As Cath says, check it:

(image via Pinterest)

How gorgeous! I love the shabbiness of the painted chair, and that luscious bouquet of warm colours...so here's what I made:

Supplies: papers all from Basic Grey "Curio;"
flower silhouette stamp from Digital Princess;
stamped with Versamark & Adirondack Salmon ink, embossed with clear EP;
sentiment stamp from Kaisercraft, stamped with Memories Artprint Brown;
standard & lacey circle Nestabilities, lacey circle sponged with Memories Artprint Brown.

Basic Grey papers are so beautifully distressed, and the "plain" pages in the Curio collection really bring shabby paint to my mind, and the colours were perfect, so I knew I wanted to use them for this Trigger. I also knew that I didn't want to cover up any more of the scrumptious background paper than necessary!
xoxo,
Jessi

Let's see if it works!

This should hopefully post on Tuesday morning - fingers crossed that I've been able to follow the directions :)
The boys have started going swimming every Tuesday and Thursday evening with the teenage son of one of their aides (how's that for convoluted grammar?). They are having a blast! He's 16, and an experienced swimmer, and comfortable around kids who are different since his mom has worked with special-needs kids for years. My guys are loving going out with their "teenager f riend B," and Connor is determined to teach him all about Transformers. Obviously, everyone must be schooled on the subject (or at least able to competently fake it). I am really hoping that the extra exercise helps them both with some of the stress they're experiencing with this so-far difficult year of school. Riley is coping okay, although we have noticed an upswing in tics - now he's got a funky pants-tugging one that almost looks as though he's giving himself a wedgie. Connor usually regresses through TV shows, and we've gone back past Thomas (which was a regression in itself; he had given it up) all the way to Teletubbies. He didn't even regress that far in the summer.  Sigh.

Supplies: Plain white cardstock, embossed with Cuttlebug folder;
Die-cut flowers, K&Co; tag cut with CB die;
"with sympathy" stamp from Wordsmith stamped in Peeled Paint distress ink;
tag tied with bamboo crochet thread

xoxo,
Jessi