Shopping our Stash #151 - Sing it To Me!

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

This week's challenge at Shopping our Stash is one that I absolutely love - love - love! We want you to create something inspired by a song. (Now, no Happy Birthday! C'mon!) I am always listening to music while I create - and usually singing along too - and to me music & creating just go together like peas & carrots :)

Here's my card, and then I'll tell you my song:

Supplies: sentiment from MFT; sun from Market Street Stamps; cloud dies from Paper Smooches; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; paper from Basic Grey; buttons & embroidery floss from stash

By now you know I love that sun - I could just about use it on everything :) 

The song I was inspired by is "Brave" by Sara Bareilles - it's not only a beautiful song, but I love the message. "Say what you wanna say & let the words fall out" is something I've really come to embrace. Of course, my brain-to-mouth filter fell off long ago, but in this sense I mean expressing my feelings openly & honestly. It catches people off-guard, because I don't play games any more - if I love you, I tell you. If you hurt my feelings, I tell you. A lot of people just don't know how to respond to that, and that's ok - I can live with setting my own precedent for openness!

The design team has rustled up a great variety of songs & creations for you - make sure to go check them out! And join us, won't you? You've got until next Monday, May 19 to play along! 

Leslie

Alica

Deena

Lauren

Donna

Chris

Barb

SoSS Challenge #2 - U is for UNUSED!

We're so thrilled with the turnout for our very first Snarky Sisters challenge - thanks so much for coming to play with us! Continuing with our alphabet-inspired theme, this week is brought to you by the letter U - as in, unused. We want you to dig out something you've never used, or haven't used in a looooooong time (and make sure you tell us what it is!)

As a quick aside - you don't always have to be snarky to join in with us! Snark is always welcome, but it's not required :)

I think I can speak for most crafters when I say - the challenge with an "unused" challenge is deciding what to use. I have a terrible habit of buying things because they're on sale, without always thinking through to the "will I use it?" criteria. That, and buying mystery boxes. They're always worth it (I've never been disappointed) but that doesn't mean I use it all, either.

All that to get around to - this Stampendous flower, which has been in my stash for a minimum of 2 years & has never seen ink. The enamel accents haven't been around quite as long, since November, but still. I NEEDED THEM, you'd think I might have used them by now!

Supplies: Stampendous stamps; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Bic Markers; prismacolor pencils; Ranger enamel accents

The flower was stamped on a kraft panel, intended to be the card front. That worked out, as you can see {sigh}. The markers weren't as intense on kraft as I had hoped, so I added some Prismacolors to brighten it up, and then fussy-cut the flower out. And then the enamel, which in true Jessi fashion I did a bit of, and then some more, and then just barfed on ALL THE DOTS EVERYWHERE OMG LOOK MUCH DOTS SO MANY. very exciting.

(It's possible I've had too much coffee already.)

ANYWAY

In our crystal balls we can see you have crafty stuff you're not using, so join us, won't you? The linky will be open until Friday March 7, and you should go check out what the other Sisters have been up to:

Barb

Chris

Donna

Karen

Lee

Linda

Lindsey

Lynne

Michelle

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash #130 - Tic Tac Toe!

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

Shopping our Stash has an AWESOME challenge this week! Tic-Tac-Toe is one of my favourite challenge formats - and I couldn't help myself. I needed to build up my stash of not-Christmas cards, and so I decided to make a card for every option in the tic-tac-toe board. 

Don't forget that we're looking for a few new members to join the team - check out the details for our design call on this post here. 

Since completing every option means 8 cards, I'll show you the collage & give you the challenge details, and then put in a jump for the rest :)

We're back to our usual one-week challenge, so you've got until next Monday, December 16th, to link up your projects. Make sure to tell us which items from the tic-tac-toe board you used!

Leslie

Alica

Deena

Lauren

Michelle

Chana

And now for the details on my cards:

Shopping our Stash #125 - Stitching, Real or Faux

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

When given a choice between real or faux stitching, I'm pretty sure you can all guess which one I chose! For Shopping our Stash this week, we want you to play with stitches (not necessarily the creepy Halloween frankenstein kind....)

Supplies: sun stamp from Market Street Stamps; sentiment from PTI; Memento Gray Flannel ink; Paper Smooches cloud dies; BUTTONS! RHINESTONES! 

A big old happy :)

I love it when I love how cards turn out just the way I wanted - occasionally they grow on me, but some I just love from the start :)

Come & play along with this challenge until next Monday, November 4th - hop on by & leave the rest of my teamies some love!

Leslie

Alica

Deena

Lauren

Michelle

I generally copy & paste the design team links part of my post, changing whatever I need to...so last week's post I mentioned that I hadn't slept Monday night....and lo and behold, I was up way too late last night too. Is Monday my new Friday night? I don't know. But I have a dentist appointment this morning & can't nap until 10 AM. I'm not sure I'm gonna make it. 

xoxo,

Jessi

MUSE - I'm here for you!

Darnell is the lovely guest designer at MUSE this week - and besides being hilarious, she's clever, kind, and incredibly well-spoken about the subject of breast cancer this week. Read her post here - she discusses the symbolism behind the card she created, and you will come away feeling loved. I promise.

My card is very literally inspired by Darnell's - the layout, the torn vellum and patterned paper, the pearls, and even the same stamp set (I think - I have the same sentiment as her card, but chose another from the set that I hadn't inked yet. NBUS bonus!)

Supplies: stamps from Flourishes; Memento Gray Flannel ink; Spectrum Noir markers; HOTP patterned vellum; MME patterned paper; pearls from Dollarama

Here's Darnell's card:

I've tagged this card with 'get well' also - this sentiment is one that would be perfect for those incredibly difficult situations where a loved one is awaiting test results, and a traditional get well card would be inappropriate in that case.

xoxo,
Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #221 - me!

I am so excited - I am  the sponsor this week at Tuesday Morning Sketches :)  As you might guess, that means crochet mats! I've been meaning to update my sale page with the new colours I have available, and today's as good a day as any. My favourite is white - it goes with everything! - but I now have white, cream, rose pink, chocolate brown AND red, KRAFT (woot!), black, sage green, butter yellow, and variegated blue. I am still on the lookout for more colours (especially neon) but if you have a request let me know, and I'll see what I can find!

Here's the prize for the winner this week:

2 ovals and 2 small circles each in these colours - black, white, kraft, red, and cream.

I also designed this week's sketch - I find this one of my go-to layouts, and it works for a fun or a pretty card - I went with pretty :)

Supplies: papers from MME; classic small & lacy circle Nesties; Memento Gray Flannel ink; Versamark & white detail EP; sentiment from PTI; floral silhouette from Inkadinkado; crochet mat by me :)

Here's the sketch:

This sketch will be open until next Sunday, October 27th. Don't forget to check out what everyone else made - I am in love with them!

Angela

Bonnie

Debbie

Jenee

Laura 

Melissa

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash #121 - Pink for October!

PS - I've changed the page layout to allow for bigger photos - is this a good thing?? Let me know!!

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

It's October - Breast Cancer Awareness Month. At Shopping our Stash this week, we want YOU to go pink for October - make a pink project, with the optional choice of a cancer awareness/support theme. 

Supplies: Paper Smooches hope stamps; Memento Gray Flannel ink; Versamark; Stampendous Clear Detail EP; Worn Lipstick & Spun Sugar distress ink; Cherub Pink Tattered Angels Glimmer mist

With all the embossing & inking I chose to use a panel rather than work right on the card base. First I stamped the 'faith hope love' text across the card in grey. Then the 'hope' script stamp in Versamark, and embossing in clear. Then I used my ink blending tool to add the two colours of pink ink (that's just fun to say, pink ink. lol) Finally, I spritzed it with pink glimmer mist (and quickly dabbed it off the embossed 'hope') and let it dry. Trimmed to size, glued to the card base, hey presto.

Come & play along with this challenge until next Monday,October 7th - hop on by & leave the rest of my teamies some love!

Leslie

Alica

Deena

Lauren

Michelle

Paige

Chana

xoxo,

Jessi

ETA: live-blogging first thing in the morning has its risks...this is my 3rd trip back to edit, because I forgot to mention that I'm also linking up the Paper Smooches SPARKS Anything Goes challenge :) I'm serious, I have more than enough for at least a post every day this week!

Pucker Up!

You know what I find cheers me up? Making 'cheer up' cards :) I've got a sparkly lemon for ya:

Supplies: Doodle Pantry PRECOLOURED image & sentiment; MME papers; Mustard Seed distress ink; classic small circle Nesties; the never-ending bottle of yellow glitter fabric paint

Seriously, this bottle of yellow glitter paint has been in my stash for no less than 5 years. I use it ALL THE TIME and I'm always thinking it's just about done....and then there's more. Maybe it replenishes itself? 

I've cut out & popped up a second lemon image, adding glitter to the lemon, blossom, and a few of the words. I already had the paintbrush loaded up anyhow :) 

Linking up with Doodle Pantry's challenge #38!

My bloggy friend Dana has a quick quick survey on her blog that is going to help her with a school project - if you can spare 5 minutes please please head over & fill it out! It's anonymous, and she even has blog candy up for grabs :)

Be back very shortly with my Drunken Stampers post!

xoxo,

Jessi

You're on my Mind

Oh, this week. In the overall scheme of things it's all just a bunch of little things, but you know how sometimes your brain just makes everything seem like SUCH A BIG DEAL?  That's where I am this week, wallowing.

I accidentally deleted an entire folder of edited card photographs - I'm talking about 50 cards - that I'd never uploaded anywhere. And they are most definitely GONE gone. I've retaken the photos that I could, but I'm still bummed. Add in some crappy health news & I am just feeling pretty blargh. (That's a technical  term, by the way.)

In positive news, I've been back to a regular Zumba schedule - which feels good! - and even made it out for a walk with a friend & our dogs this week. Why is it so hard to remember beforehand that exercise makes me feel good? Little changes, but they add up.

I had grand fun playing around & making this card - using Kraft and embossing to go along with the Crafty Creations & Simon Says challenges. The ribbon was actually laying on the floor (thank you cats) and I dropped a button & saw it - serendipity. I love how it turned out:

Supplies: patterned paper from Amy Tangerine; kraft card stock; Martha Stewart butterfly stamp; PTI sentiment; Frayed Burlap & Antique Linen distress inks; Versamark & Stampendous White Detail EP; buttons & ribbon from stash

I'd already decided to sew the buttons on as a border when I found the ribbon - it's subtle but I really love the effect of the sheer ribbon over the buttons. It was difficult to show in the photographs without distorting the colour, but the butterfly does stand out better in person. I considered doing a little bit of emboss resist to make it stand out more but decided not to play with inky fire :)

So, self? It could be worse. At least you still have your mojo!

xoxo,

Jessi

CASology - Picnic!

This is one of those cards that I would totally send to someone - I know it's not for everyone, but it is definitely me!

I'm entering it over at CASology's PICNIC challenge - squirrels love picnics, don't they?

Supplies: stamps from Cosmo Cricket; Bic Markers; speech bubble cut from Amy Tangerine paper; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; googly eyes; Corner Chomper

xoxo,

Jessi

Kraft & Twine Birdie

There was a large part of my goofy self that wanted to turn this into 'Tie ONE on' but that bout of food poisoning is in the recent enough past that adding adult beverages still seems like a very bad idea ;) SO, The Kraft Journal  would like to see us interpret the theme 'tie IT on', and CAS on Sunday would like us to use Kraft + Twine - could two challenges go together better?

Supplies: stamps (bird, sentiment) from PTI; Vintage Photo distress ink; Paper Smooches twine; kraft & white card stock; printed vellum from Hot Off The Press (talk about ancient stash...ahem...); classic small circle Nesties

Finding the torn piece of kraft cardstock in my stash got this whole card going - finding that that sentiment fit perfectly across it - the die cut circle was already on my desk from another project...seriously, this was a great big bouquet of happy coincidences here! And as for that vellum - it's from a book of vellum papers put out by Hot Off the Press, and for fun I looked for the copyright on the book - 2001. Wow!

The Kraft Journal's challenge ends on Sunday at 6 PM Central.

CAS on Sunday's challenges run for 2 weeks, so you still have until August 2nd to enter this one. 

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash #109 - Summer Theme or Summer Colours

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

This week at Shopping our Stash we're feeling seasonal - I may not love the HEAT of summer, but I sure do love the sunshine and the bright cheerful colours! I hauled out all kinds of stash before deciding what to make for this challenge. I finally ended up with a super-old Studio G stamp set for the sentiment, and my go-to sun stamp from the now-defunct Market Street Stamps.

You may notice something different about this, if you're coming from the SOS blog....where are the clouds? This is my original version of the card. While I was photographing it, I remembered that I have the new Paper Smooches cloud dies. 

SO.MUCH.BETTER.

Supplies: Market Street Stamps sun; Studio G sentiment; Paper Smooches clouds die; Bic Markers; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Mustard Seed distress ink; yellow embroidery floss & card stock; classic small circle Nesties

Yep. I liked the first version, but I LOVE the second one. The sun and the solid clouds are popped up with foam tape. To stitch the sun's rays (so simple, but it seriously makes it POP) I stamped them first in yellow ink, and then pierced & stitched along the stamped lines. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

Come & play along with this challenge until next Monday, July 15th - hop on by & leave the rest of my teamies some love!

Carla

Leslie

Alica

Deena 

Lauren

Michelle

And, don't forget to check out my pal Barb's sale page - still lots of awesome bits & bobs there! 

xoxo,

Jessi

Unity Sketch .05!

So I bought this lovely stamp set from Unity a few weeks ago, and the sentiment is just so perfect. There are simply some times that people are expected to "get over" what happened, and that's not the way it works. Sorrow is on its own timetable.

This month's card sketch at the Unity {be inspired} Challenge was perfect for its first inking.

Supplies: Unity stamps; papers from Making Memories; Memento Gray Flannel ink; classic small circle Nesties; pearl strips from Dollarama; Corner Chomper

Here's the sketch:

You have until July 17th to enter - and there are 2 other challenges as part of it, so you should head over & check it out if you haven't already. 

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash #106 - Geometric Shapes

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

This week at Shopping our Stash we want you to pull out those geometric shapes! Squares. Circles. Triangles. Those oh-so-trendy hexagons. One of the DT gals even pulled out PARALLELOGRAMS.

Supplies: MFT Stacking Stars die & Emerson stamp; Memento Gray Flannel ink; Sakura Stardust glitter pen; yellow sparkle fabric paint; scrap papers

I fussy-cut the hexagons from patterned paper, and traced around them with the glitter pen. I coated the stars with the fabric paint for some extra glam (AFTER sticking them to the card, natch, so that was interesting). In person this card is BLINDINGLY sparkly :)

Come & play along with this challenge until next Monday, June 24th - hop on by & leave the rest of my teamies some love!

Carla

Leslie

Alica

Deena (parallelogrammer!)

Lauren

Michelle

Linda

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash #105 - Your Oldest Stamp!

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

This week at Shopping our Stash, we want you to pull out your oldest stamp, and USE IT. This could be tough! In my case, I have given away a lot of older stamps that I wasn't using, so I've used the oldest stamp set I have. It's an Inkadinkado set - very well loved, but not lately. And it's so well-loved that no amount of gentle washing is going to bring back that cling - the biggest stamp is about a hair away from ripping apart ;) 

Supplies: Versamark; Stampendous Clear Detail embossing powder; Barn Door distress ink; Labels 5 Nesties; Sakura Stardust glitter pen; red rhinestones from Dollarama

All the stamps used on the card are from the same set - did I ever have to search for the sentiment! It had fallen out of the package but the other sentiments are no longer of this earth. I toldja it was old!  The sentiment & the mat are traced with glitter pen. 

Come & play along with this challenge until next Monday, June 17th - hop on by & leave the rest of my teamies some love!

Carla

Leslie

Alica

Deena

Lauren

Michelle

Linda

Be right back with ONE MORE post (eeeeek! so excited!)

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash #104 - No Designer Papers?

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

So, this week at Shopping our Stash  we want you to create a card without using any patterned paper. None. Nada. Zero. Zilch. 

"Patterned paper" includes pre-printed patterned papers, digi patterned papers, book pages, music sheets ... pretty much anything you can slap on a card. We would like you to examine your stash and use other stuff for your card backgrounds and elements. Some ideas are: stamp your own pattern, use an embossing folder, score a pattern, die-cut a pattern, use an inky technique ... you get the idea, right? You could also leave it plain! Just make sure to tell us what you did.

My first card was very plain, and I realized  that it would be more of a challenge for me to create my own background - so I went back to the drawing board, and I really like what happened!

Supplies: background stamp builder by Annabelle Stamps; Spellbinders butterfly die; Doodlebug sentiment sticker; Picked Raspberry distress ink; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; black Sharpie; black seed beeds & embroidery floss

I don't seem to play around with stamps like this much - layering & lining up are like, hard, dude. I love how this turned out, and I'm glad I gave myself a push! 

The butterfly's body is really simple to do - pierce a line of holes where you want the beads to go, and sew through the paper every 2 beads or so. I leave the tail ends on the 'right' side of the paper & then trim them down for antennae afterwards. 

Here's my first card - see, perfectly fine, but not very challenging:

Supplies: Inkadinkado Lily stamp; Annabelle Stamps sentiment; Memento Gray Flannel ink; Glimmer Glam shimmer paints from Tattered Angels; Timeless Twine; Bazzill card stock

Come & play along with this challenge until next Monday, June 10th - hop on by & leave the rest of my teamies some love!

Carla

Leslie

Alica

Deena

Lauren

Michelle

Linda

xoxo,

Jessi

Something AMAZING and beautiful!

A few months ago I shared that an old friend had been diagnosed with breast cancer. (Here's the original post). Well, guess what?

She had surgery - a bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction - on April 9th. She goes back to work with a clean bill of health TOMORROW, May 27. Without chemo or radiation. The surgery was well-done and her lymph nodes were clear. She is cancer-free. She will of course be monitored but right now? She is healthy and good to go. I cannot tell you how happy this news makes me - I cried writing the post telling you about her diagnosis, and I'm crying again writing to tell you that she kicked cancer's butt.

She had two tumours, and two more cancerous areas that did not show up in any of the pre-surgery diagnostic tests but were discovered in pathology. You already know it, but early diagnosis is key.

So, I saw the challenge at Papercraft Star this week - Beauty. What do you find beautiful? I wanted to make a celebration card for my friend. This is momentous! But, well, it had to be a little sassy.

What do I find beautiful? My friend, who has amazing strength, grace, and beauty. Her recovery, which is miraculous. The fact that her family has a healthy mother and wife again. And the fact that she has been my friend for 20 years, and will be around 20 years from now.

Supplies: paper from Bo Bunny; clip art & sentiment from Crafty Secrets; Little Yellow Bicycle wood & heart pins; Prima bloom; May Arts ribbon; Wilton doily

I cannot tell you how much fun it was to make this card - that clip is genius. Most of the time we favour making cards for happy occasions - and that's very true. So this is on its way to Vancouver tomorrow with some yummy handmade truffles, handmade jewelry, and as many hugs as I can stuff into the box!

Thank you so much for sharing my joy :)

xoxo,

Jessi

LACE at little red wagon

little red wagon pretty much always has a fabulous challenge on the go - this week they want us to use lace in our projects. Um, ok. Twist my rubber arm ;) I *almost* used up the rest of this pretty brown lace - I have just enough for a single layer on one more card. Let's see how long I hoard it, lol!

Supplies: paper from stash; clip art from Crafty Secrets; lace from Webster's Pages; pearl strips from Dollarama

I love the worn typewriter font that Crafty Secrets uses on these vintage clips, but it can be a challenge to photograph legibly. This one says "Together we can do anything!"

Coming up - pictures of the new hair!

xoxo,

Jessi

Playing in Paradise #111 - Embossing!

Good morning! My turn as hostess over at Playing in Paradise, and I want YOU to get embossing!

I got messy & had fun:

Supplies: Versamark; clear EP; Cuttlebug folder; MME paper; Annabelle Stamps sentiment; pearls from Dollarama; Gray Flannel Memento ink

Head on over to the Scrapbooker's Paradise blog for a full how-to and linked list of supplies.

This challenge will be open until next Thursday, April 11th.  To add your NEW project to the linky & see what the rest of  the team has created, click on over to the Scrapbooker's Paradise blog, and check out the DT on their blogs too:

Allison

Nina

Dawn

Linda

xoxo,

Jessi

CASology 37 - HOPE

This is going to be a hard post to write - even though it's got a funny (risque!) card. The current prompt at CASology is:

I'm not certain that my card really qualifies as CAS, but it was a card I'd been planning to make and sort of procrastinating on because of why I was making it. 

My oldest friend was diagnosed with breast cancer several weeks ago. She & I have known each other for over 20 years - and both of us went on to have kids with autism. We've always been the kind of friends that can pick up exactly where we left off, even when we haven't chatted lately. Being so far away while she goes through this is extremely hard. On April 9th, she's having a bilateral mastectomy & reconstruction. The prognosis is good - but this is still frightening. Cancer always is. We've joked as well as cried, and so I didn't want to send her a sappy card. 

Supplies: papers from MME; heart stickers from heidi grace; ribbon from stash; Milled Lavender distress ink; Versamark; clear EP; 'hope' stamp from Paper Smooches; letter stamps from PSX

I used Versamark & then distress ink so that I could emboss with clear EP.

Here's the inside:

I'll be sending her lots of cards during her convalescence - I can't do much from here, but I can at least fill her mailbox with happy mail.

xoxo,

Jessi