My precioussssss.....

This week's challenge at Shopping our Stash #60 is to use something from your stash that you've basically vowed never to use. That item that you HAD to have, that you take out occasionally, pet, and lovingly put back in its place...use it. Take the plunge. Shed a tear or two, and USE IT ALREADY! I'm such a good sport that I did it twice.

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Little Black Dress;"
Labels 4 Nesties;
We R Memory Keepers washi tape;
Palette Noir ink & Barn Door distress ink;
girl stamp from CC Designs;
sentiment from The Cat's Pajamas;
twine from Paper Smooches;
ribbon from May Arts;
black Glaze pen (Sakura)

I've been hoarding that leopard print paper, using teensy pieces to stretch it out. Love. It. and I used every last bit of it. Yay for me! The black & silver ribbon is from May Arts. I bought 5 yards several years ago, and again, I take it out but don't use it. The heart charm has been in my stash for so long that I don't remember where it came from. This was to be my challenge card, but I'm tossing the kitty card in too because using the ribbon on the first card somehow gave me permission mentally to use it on the second card:

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Little Black Dress;"
stamps from Paper Smooches;
Palette Noir ink;
Fun Flock from Stampendous;
Dimensional Magic by Mod Podge;
pearls from stash;
ribbon from May Arts;
standard small & lacy circle Nesties

Fuzzy, glossy goodness...and the cat's head is popped up on foam tape, as is the grey circle.

Since the kitty is furry, that gives me a good reminder to invite you to check out my challenge over at Scrapbooker's Paradise this week - Soft & Fuzzy! 

And, since my next creation was inspired by Leslie, one of the design team members at Shopping our Stash, I've got to tuck my card for Crafty Creations Challenge #179 in this post! For CCC179, we're to  make a tag or include a tag on our project. Leslie inspired me to try the shaving cream technique - so messy, but so fun. And when I went to use the paper, I ended up being inspired to use the negative piece, and it all fell together from there:

Supplies: stamps from Inkadinkado;
Purple Twilight Adirondack ink;
shaving cream paper made with Ranger inks - blue & violet;
sentiment from My Favorite Things;
dragonfly button from Dress it Up;
label die from Sizzix;
Astrid's purple chalkboard Tattered Angels mist;
glitter from stash;
tag die from Cuttlebug; twine from Paper Smooches

I made several different colours of shaving cream paper, so you should see some more popping up as I get more opportunities to play with it :)

The Shopping Our Stash challenge is open until Monday night, and the Crafty Creations Challenge is open until Tuesday night. And, since all three cards use stamping, I'm entering them all in the Birthday challenge at Moxie Fab World, which ends tomorrow. 

I still have more to share - I'll be back!

xoxo,

Jessi

I fell asleep!

I had intended to post yesterday so that I could split up just how much I was about to throw at you card-wise, but after downloading & editing my pics I desperately needed to lay down. Getting up at 3 AM has that effect - and although I woke up for a brief period about 4 PM to put away groceries, that was all she wrote until 9 PM. Quite the nap (about 6 hours)! And that was after 4 large cups of coffee & one iced one on the way home...yikes. Must have needed it.

Just like last week, I'm squeaking in at the last minute with my entry for CASology. I had lots of ideas for this prompt, but ended up making a few pieces of pretty recycling first, generally by smearing ink somewhere. That's the problem with CAS (in my humble opinion, lol) - I'm not a very careful crafter, but usually my style allows me to embellish over that sort of boo-boo! That said, I'm pretty happy with what I ended up with:

Supplies: Mustard Seed Distress ink; Palette Noir ink;
sentiment from Stampin' Up;
standard small circle Nesties;
metal arrow & brad from stash;
heart flat-back button from Dress it Up;
heart stamps on envelope from Paper Smooches; Barn Door distress ink

Initially I used a mask to sponge the yellow circle, but I made a big yellow smudge when I lifted the mask. So, I said some bad words, and used a smaller die to salvage the sponged piece. When I grabbed a new card base, I decided to change the layout - and this is way better than the centred layout I used at first. It's very hard to see, but I've rounded the top left corner. 

Here's the cue card: 

 

The linky closes in just a few hours, so if you're playing along you've got to hurry!

This next card also works for CASology, I think - birthdays are a happy occasion, and I think I have successfully incorporated quilling on a clean and simple card. Holy moly! I was inspired by the current Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab World to use triangles, and these colours. I picked the closest colours I had in quilling paper - using peach, pink, yellow, green, and blue - and varied which colours I used to quill the inside & outside parts of the triangle. 

Here's the Trigger image:

Supplies: quilling paper;
Martha Stewart score board;
London Fog Memento ink;
sentiment from Hero Arts;
triangle on envelope from Paper Smooches;
distress inks - spun sugar, bundled sage, dried marigold, tumbled glass

As always, you can click to view the picture full-size. I've rounded the top corners, and scored one line above and three lines below the row of triangles. They are debossed rather than embossed since that was a last minute decision - and squishing all that quilling wasn't about to happen! This edition of the Tuesday Trigger is open until tonight.

Back in a minute :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Friends with Flair...hey stud!

Popping back in with a couple of cards for Unity's Friends with Flair!

Supplies: stamps from Unity;
Vintage Photo distress ink;
papers from Bo Bunny;
sentiment sticker from Doodlebug; buttons from stash

Supplies: stamps from Unity;
Vintage Photo & Wild Honey distress inks;
papers from MME;
wood veneer banner from Studio Calico;
triangle buttons from Dress it Up

The first card is from a month or so ago that I'd never blogged, and the second is from today. I love cutting along the zig-zag edge of 'chevron' patterned paper. It makes an embellishment all on its own that way.
I've been busy making stuff for lots of challenges, so I'll be back with more both Saturday & Sunday. The sewage backed up again (yep, that makes 4 times), and the "big dig" should be happening Monday. It better be happening Monday. We're not going to think about it not happening on Monday. I'd like to be able to use my basement floor again without feeling like I need to burn my shoes after going down there...shudder...at least it's dry, if not clean.
xoxo,
Jessi

PPC76 - Soft & Fuzzy

I know I promised some more flocking goodness this week, and hopefully this doesn't disappoint: a mini-tutorial of how I flock. (Wow, that sounds...wrong...) Go check out this week's challenge post over at Scrapbooker's Paradise Ponderings, and then come back & see how I've finished my card.

Supplies: paper from Memory Works "Summer Fresh;"
stamps from Stampendous;
Fun Flock from Stampendous;
Mod Podge Dimensional Magic;
Palette Noir ink;
standard oval Nesties;
buttons from stash;
Liquid Applique by Marvy Uchida 

In case you're curious, when I add "sprinkles" to Liquid Applique, this is how I do it: fill in the area with Liquid Applique (since it will puff when heated, the small gaps you see here are fine).

Sprinkle microbeads on right away, then allow to dry for the recommended time before heating with your embossing gun. This keeps the microbeads stuck in there GOOD!

 

Also, you'll notice I have a number of textures going on on this card. Since I've learned it the hard way, let me tell you which order you should do them in:

-Flock

-embossing, die-cutting, what have you

-Liquid Applique or any other heat-treated method

-Dimensional Magic

If you heat DM, it will crack. And if that happens last, you will be very sad. Or angry. Either way, bad news. If you run thickly applied DM through your Cuttlebug, it may also crack, and you might say bad words. NOT GOOD. 

Fluffy, shiny, lots of texture!

I hope you can find time to play along with us this week - there's another sweet prize up for grabs! Check out what the other designers have made for this challenge:

Merlie 
Nina
Angela
Allison

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

Tuesday Morning Sketches #155

Good morning! I'm still pinching myself that I'm part of the design team at Tuesday Morning Sketches... we have a fun sponsor this week, Mandy of Cupcake Cards & Crafts , a great shop full of all sorts of printable digital papers & more (go look!)

Here's the sketch we're working with this week, designed by Melissa:

Isn't that fun? As always, this sketch linky is open until Sunday night (this time around, July 22).

Supplies: papers from the "Class of 87" pad, Kaisercraft;
stamps from Paper Smooches;
Stampendous Fun Flock, cotton ball;
buttons from Dress it Up;
party noisemakers from Jolee's by You;
Palette Noir ink;
corner rounder for scalloped layer

Fuzzy belly! 

Remember you can always click on the pictures for a full-size look :)

The white mat is mounted with a single layer of foam tape, and the hamster is on 2 layers - such a simple way to add dimension without adding a lot of weight or bulk. And of course, Fun Flock. I *LOVE* that stuff (and have some fun things coming up with that later in the week...stay tuned!)

Don't forget to check out the rest of the design team's creations:

Theresa

Dawn

Debbie

Grandma Bonnie

Angela 

Laura

Melissa

BRB!

xoxo,

Jessi

Inspired by #32

Thanks for all the well-wishes for my allergies - I think, maybe, possibly, that they may be starting to subside. Fingers & toes crossed! I like being able to breathe & use both my eyes...
I have a lot of challenge cards ready this week, and that's what I've got for you today. This card is for the photo inspiration at Inspired By, #32, which is open until Wednesday night. Here's the photo:

So much to draw from this photo - I went with colours (pink and aqua), and the jewelry:

Supplies: stamps from Paper Smooches;
Palette Noir ink;
pink cardstock from stash;
washi tape in aqua & green from We R Memory Keepers;
gem strip from the dollar store;
coloured with Martha Stewart markers;
tail feathers quilled by me

I could not get the colours of the gems to show up, no matter how many photos I took. There are pink, blue, and light green gems, but mostly clear. I love it! And I am soooo loving the washi tape - seriously, it is made of magic. 

See you later on with more!

xoxo,

Jessi

Inspired by Friends!

One of my favourite things about blogging is all the wonderful creative friends I've made in cyberspace. I feel like I'm constantly inspired by all of you, and occasionally that results in something pretty close to a CASE - like today. I have two! And their styles couldn't BE more different.

First up is Jenny, from Crafting in the Country. She's a talented design team member for CAS-ual Fridays, and the card I've made was directly inspired & CASEd from her watermelon card for a recent challenge. The link to Jenny's blog has the exact post! I was going through some of my 12" paper, and saw some watermelon seed paper from Imaginisce, and knew exactly how to showcase it:

Supplies: patterned paper from Imaginisce;
green cardstock from stash;
sentiment from Market Street Stamps;
Palette Noir ink;
Sharpie markers (black); Sakura Black Glaze pen;
standard small circle Nesties

I went over the sentiment & the watermelon seeds with the glaze pen. Shiny!

Watermelon is such a sunny summery treat, and I'd had this sentiment out (it was in the running for my CASology card). I was going to use letter stickers to say "thanks a melon" but thought this was perfect. As you can see from Jenny's card, I made the watermelons the same way, and took a bite out of one slice as well. I don't have any scalloped punches, so I carefully used my scallop scissors. It didn't turn out as evenly as I intended, but then, I make a mess when I eat watermelon too. I used a fat Sharpie to ink around the outside of the slices, and a fine-tip to ink the flesh part of the melon. 

My second inspiration comes from Tammy, at Creating Somewhere Under the Sun. She's a shabby chic girl, and a talented design team member for Inspired by Stamping. The links above take you to her creations that inspired my next card - on Tammy's blog, the third card in that post, using a die cut from K& Co; and on the Inspired by Stamping blog, Tammy's tutorial on Tissue Paper Spiral flowers. (Since I've pleated crepe paper, I'm also entering this card over at the Shopping our Stash #59 challenge, to use an extra fold OR pleats on a card. That challenge is open until Monday night.)

So here's my Tammy inspired card, using the same birdhouse die cut, and flowers made with her tutorial:

Supplies: die cut from K&Co;
patterned paper from Basic Grey "Konnichiwa;"
chipboard sentiment from Martha Stewart;
pearls from stash;
crepe paper in pink, yellow, and blue

Rather than using tissue paper, I used crepe paper in different colours, since that's what I had - and it worked just fine. 

Have you made anything inspired by your crafty friends lately? Leave me a link so I can see :) Don't forget to go check out Jenny & Tammy's blogs - you will definitely find yourself inspired too!

xoxo,

Jessi

Sun? Sounds like fun!

***if you're here for my Playing in Paradise post, please scroll down or click here***

Jen, my kind & talented blog pal, is on the design team for a brand new challenge: CASology. Each week we'll be prompted with a single word. Now, you KNOW I'm not generally a Clean and Simple kind of girl, but I like to play around & learn new things, so I gave it a shot.

Supplies: orange cardstock, yellow & white buttons from stash;
heart button from Dress it Up;
sun stamp from Imaginisce;
sentiment from Studio G;
Palette Noir ink; Mod Podge Dimensional Magic

Click it to see full-size - SHINY!

OK, so, there's a lot going on here. I don't know that it's really CAS, but it's a process, right?

I stamped & coloured the sun & sentiment, and then used a toothpick to carefully paint the Dimensional Magic on the sun & inside the letters. When it was dry, I was a little stumped. I knew I wanted to stay with no patterned paper (and if you know me, you know how painful that was!). Rather than cut out the image & adding layers, I decided to create a button frame so that I could keep the look of the white space. At the last minute I thought the heart button would add just the right pop of red - and it creates a visual triangle with the heart-dotted 'i' and the bottom of the word 'sunshine', which is coloured with a red/orange/yellow gradient. 

Remember, I've had lots of Benadryl, so forgive me for not explaining too clearly! 

Here's this week's cue card- you have until Sunday at noon to link up your creation inspired by this:

Take a look & see how many awesome creations are already linked up - more than 50, and this is their first week! Woohoo!

xoxo,

Jessi

My first Friends with Flair!

***if you're here to see my Playing in Paradise post, please scroll down or click here***

So, I've got some Unity stamps, and I've been meaning to play along with Friends with Flair for ages, and I keep dropping the ball. This week I finally made it - although can I just tell you, it is not particularly easy to craft when my allergies are going nuts? One eye keeps swelling shut, and once the 3 different allergy medications kick in, I'm still left with sinus pain & then I fall asleep. I've had two naps today (thank you, Benadryl) and it's likely to be an early night! I'm fairly certain that I'm coming across as having had a couple drinks.

Anyhow, I've been trying to make the most of my limited not-sneezing not-sleeping time, and have a few challenge posts for you!

Supplies: stamps from Unity;
Palette Noir ink;
Prismacolor pencils;
paper from Bo Bunny; standard oval Nesties;
faux dew-drops from stash

I couldn't resist colouring the bike pink - my own bike is pink :) You have a few hours left to link up your own creation for Friends with Flair, and the weekend to comment on the participants' entries- there's a prize for a random commenter too.

xoxo,

Jessi