Time for June!

And Happy New Year! I hope you had a safe & happy celebration - I'm pre-posting, but unless something radical happens our plans are to watch movies. I can't remember the last time I actually rang in the new year, although I've got to say I miss it a little bit. Parties can be fun :)

As you can see by my sidebar, I've linked up to another party of year-end favourites - this time over at Karin with an "i" for Paper!  (Thanks Meg for the heads up!) I've also linked up with Stephanie at Ingenious Inkling - go & check out what everyone's sharingh! I love seeing what other people pick as their favourites from their own work.

I fell in love with this card when I made it, and as I wrote when I blogged about it, sometimes the idea just translates so perfectly into paper that it delights me. This is one of those times!

Original post here, with supplies
Look at the stitching! {love it}

Heads You Lose by Lisa Lutz and David Hayward
Now, if you like mysteries or detective novels, and laughing, and you haven't read the Spellman Files series by Lisa Lutz, go do that first. Footnotes? In a mystery novel? Hell yes. This coauthored book is nearly as funny for the notes between the writers as it is for the story itself. Have you ever been a part of one of those get-to-know you sessions where each person builds off a sentence from the person before? Yep. But funnier.

 The Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths
I love mysteries, and forensics, and strong female investigators, and this series combines all three with a thriller aspect that had me devouring all three books within days of one another. I could not put them down!

June saw 23 books read - many of them what I call 'throw-away' books, ones that take only a day or so to read and not even that long to forget. I read for entertainment, and I read very quickly! I also read everywhere I go, and I'm comfortable picking up a book even when I only have a minute or two.

xoxo,
Jessi

May favourites...

I think I was right - it's getting harder to pick favourites as the year goes on. I guess that's OK - I'd much rather have a hard time choosing because I like them all, than because I don't. So my pick for May is a graduation card:

original post here, with supplies

The books to choose from in May...I loved so many. I read 19, and I'm having a very hard time narrowing them down.

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen (or have you read The Sugar Queen? LOVE. THEM.)

and
Once Upon a Time There was You by Elizabeth Berg
and
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
and
Bitsy's Bait & BBQ by Pamela Morsi

and I'll stop there. It was a very enjoyable reading month in May :)

xoxo,
Jessi

Favourites from April...

I went through April's blogging twice, and I really had a hard time narrowing down my favourites. I bet that will happen more as the year goes on - I generally find my more recent projects "better." Finally I went with the one I stopped at - a card set I made as part of Moxie Fab World's 350 Cards & Gifts Week:

Original post with supplies here

April's favourite reads were definitely easy to pick - 16 books read, and two standouts were:

 Salting Roses by Lorelle Marinello

and

The Four Mrs. Bradwells by Meg Waite Clayton

xoxo,

Jessi

More Stripe-Tastic!

This week's edition of the Tuesday Trigger over at Moxie Fab World is gorgeous - check out this photograph:

Every once in a while Cath picks a name for the Trigger that ends up being my inspiration for my creation, rather than being triggered by the photo. I don't know how that works, but I just go with it! This is my second entry for the challenge:

Supplies:  Papers from My Mind's Eye "Lost and Found: Sunshine;"
tree stamp from Stampin' Up; sentiment from Hero Arts (from JJ);
Vintage Photo & Wild Honey distress inks

paper-weaving, my new nemesis

So, a piece of advice? Don't use double-sided tape when weaving paper. It sticks, and you'll curse about it. Ugh. I really don't think I want to talk about it.

What I like about how this card turned out is that the weaving (pitooey!) gives the other-wise single layer design some dimension, without adding weight or bulk. Plus, it's a good way to use up the skinny strips of patterned paper that I tend to hoard. 

This edition of Tuesday Trigger ends on January 1st, so head over & get linked up!

xoxo,

Jessi

Moxie Fab Stripe-Tastic!

I wrote down all sorts of prompts for this week's Tuesday Trigger over at Moxie Fab World, but in the end what inspired my creation the most was the name Cath chose: Stripe-Tastic!

Supplies: papers from My Mind's Eye;
snowflake rub-ons from Royal Langnickel;
black sentiment/snowflake rub-ons from Melissa Frances (from Barbles);
lacey circles Nesties, miscellaneous blue & black rhinestones

Where did this card come from? I don't know. I really don't. I started out with a piece of diagonally striped paper, and couldn't figure out how to add the teal paper in a way I liked...so I cut it into a meeeeelion pieces, adhered them all, and then went a bit mental with rub-ons. But it's definitely stripe-tastic, and it took forever.

This edition of the Tuesday Trigger is a two-weeker, so you've got until Sunday January 1st to link up!
Check out this awesome photo:

xoxo,

Jessi

March Madness

March was a great month - I was a guest designer for Pink Cat Studio's St. Patrick's Day release! Click here to check out my favourites from that adventure :)
To pick one absolute favourite, though, I went with this shamrock card:

click here for the original post

In March I read only 16 books, and picked these two as standouts:

The Bone Yard by Jefferson Bass

and 

The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown

That one I had to read as soon as I saw the title. HAD TO.
And I came back to edit this, since now I see that it's "Facebook official" - my weird little sister got engaged over Christmas :) I'm so excited - her fiance is a wonderful man who adores her. 

Are you sharing your favourites this year? Tell me!

xoxo,

Jessi

February Favourites

My card choice for February is a no-brainer - I love this card so much I want to marry it. Still!

original post (with more views) here

I have two books for February as well - it occurred to me to also note how many books I'm choosing from each month. In January I read 21 books total. In February I read 24, and my two favourites were

 Left Neglected by Lisa Genova

and 

Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy

xoxo,

Jessi

Five Favourite Christmas Cards

If you don't already, you should follow Stephanie Severin's blog, Ingenious Inkling. I love checking out her creations - and her travels - and her Thursday Link Love posts have led me to discover some amazing things on the web. Right now she's hosting a link-up for us to share our own favourite Christmas creations of 2011, so I had to jump in & share mine (in the middle of my other favourites list, lol).

original post here, complete with supplies list
This is possibly my favourite new stamp this year.

original post here
I love the bright colours in the paper, and the fun flock bellies & glossy lights, beaks, and feet
give this card lots of fun dimension

original post here
Besides the time involved in sewing all the buttons, I just love the final
effect of all the different sheens!

original post here
Glitter? Fuzz? Mistake turned into happy effect? Check.

original post here
I love quilling, and this was my favourite snowflake this year.

So delve into your archives, think about your favourites from this year, and go to Ingenious Inkling and link up so the rest of us can see too!

xoxo,
Jessi

Time for the year-end wrap ups!

One of the things I love about this time of year blog-wise is seeing what different people pick as their favourite creations. I plan to do that, and I also plan to blog about my favourite reads of the year, and I don`t plan to list them in any particular order. But first, I thought I`d share something about this year that I`m absurdly proud of...

My sister & I, April 2011

Me, December 2011

OK, I *am* absurdly proud of my sister, but what I was trying to show you was the 45 pounds I`ve lost since summer. Yes, there`s more to go, but I`m definitely happy with this as a start.
A few pictures from the holidays:

Quick, everybody DERP!

Gingerbread train building - Connor & Riley

more train building - Riley & Connor

The train building was quite the adventure. Usually we build a gingerbread house, but when I saw the train kit we HAD to have that! It was harder to keep upright, though, and of course it was missing details that the Thomas-obsessed auties couldn`t ignore (Why doesn`t it have a funnel...why isn`t there an engineer...can we tell the company that they forgot the smokestack...etc.) Connor tried to build a funnel from candy canes, and when the whole train collapsed for the 2nd or 3rd time, he declared that what they were actually building was a train wreck.
The wreck was much more fun to build.

And now for a couple of favourites: I`ll pick one post from each month of the year, I think. So January`s favourite:

Link to original post

Maybe I`ll do the books the same way...I keep track of my reading in a spreadsheet, so I can actually look up books by month that way. I`m just going to pick them by how much I remember enjoying them. January`s favourite read would be 

The Matter of Sylvie, by Lee Kvern 

closely followed by 

 

The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree by Susan Wittig Albert

See you tomorrow with February`s favourites!

The last of the Christmas quilling...at least I think so!

Thank you so much for all your sweet comments on my homesick post...and that's all I want to say about that.    (Tips hat to Forrest Gump)

I have one custom card to finish for tomorrow - I've had about 3 false starts so far, since I've made many cards for the recipient, and I'm trying to get it just right. I'm happy with all the 'rejects,' they just didn't make the cut to have the name on them. I cleansed my crafty palate by making a birthday card, and once I'm done posting I'll be heading back to the desk to see what I can come up with. 

Supplies: papers from My Mind's Eye;
standard circle Nesties;
rub-on greeting from Melissa Frances (from Barbles!);
pearls & black rhinestones from dollar store;
snowflake quilled by me

Supplies: Papers from My Mind's Eye;
standard circle Nesties;
rub-on greeting from Making Memories (from Barbles!)
red pearls & rhinestones from dollar store;
wreath quilled by me (two layers)

Supplies: Papers from My Mind's Eye;
standard  & lacey circle Nesties;
rub-on greeting from Making Memories (from Barbles!)
white pearls from dollar store;
poinsettia quilled by me (two layers)

Supplies: papers from Prima "North Country;"
standard circle Nesties;
white pearls from dollar store;
poinsettia quilled by me (two layers)

Supplies: papers from My Mind's Eye;
standard & lacey circle Nesties;
snowflake quilled by me (one layer)

Supplies: paper from My Mind's Eye;
white pearls from dollar store;
snowflake quilled by me (one layer)

Supplies: paper from Simple Stories;
letter stickers from Basic Grey;
Sakura Clear Glaze pen (on letters);
snowflakes quilled by me

Supplies: papers from Best Creations;
sentiment from Inkadinkado; versamark & pirate gold EP;
white pearls from dollar store;
snowflake quilled by me

The forecast has been changed - we were supposed to get 5 centimetres of flurries today, but now the DJ is reporting 10 cm on the way. White Christmas? Thank goodness. Not enough to impact travel safety (at least once it's done falling today) but enough to cover up the muddy brown ground, and the weather will hover under zero for at least the next few days so that it will stay around. Score! 

I don't know that I'll blog again before Christmas, so let me take this chance to wish every one stopping by a Merry Christmas - and since today is Festivus, please feel free to air your grievances below. 

xoxo,

Jessi