Saturday, August 31, 2013

Drunken Stampers #139 - You won't believe it....trust me.

So, it's time for the Yellow Canary team to strut their stuff over at Drunken Stampers once again. You are not going to believe what the challenge is for this week:




SHUT. UP.

You can imagine the fun we had talking about this in the Lounge - after all, who loves camping more than I do? *sarcasm* This team, by the way, is so incredibly awesome & funny. I love all these gals :)

Obviously I couldn't go with serious - have we met? - so here's my card:


Supplies: Image from Bugaboo; Spectrum Noir & Bic markers; buttons from stash; papers from Fancy Pants

There are some gorgeous (and some funny!) cards for you to see this week - you have GOT to go check these out!

Donna - Challenge Host - Yellow Dog Greetings
Jacki - Scullduggery
Jessi - that's me!
Lindsey - Bashful Blogging


This challenge (with the woodgrain option, if you're not into camping - don't forget!) is open until September 6th. Hope to see you play along!

NEVER AGAIN. He promised.
xoxo,
Jessi

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Flourishes - In Distress

So the current Flourishes challenge is to distress something on your project - I've used distress inks & an edge distresser on mine, and it was fun to get messy.


Supplies: Flourishes stamp set - Dahlias; Memento Gray Flannel ink; Tumbled Glass & Milled Lavender distress inks; Spectrum Noir markers; Memory Box, Fancy Pants, and Bazzill papers; Mod Podge Dimensional Magic; Tonic Edge Distresser


I stamped the image on a distressed pattern cream panel (Fancy Pants) and lightly distressed the edges with the tool & inks. The floral patterned paper & cardstock were a lot more distress-able & it shows a lot more. I inked them lightly directly with the pad after cutting & distressing them. The vases have a thin layer of Dimensional Magic for that glassy gloss. I really like the layout & may have to convert it to a sketch :)

xoxo,
Jessi


Wednesday, August 28, 2013

I DID IT!

I am so impressed with myself - I just kind of dared myself to complete 8 cards for the tic-tac-toe challenge at jingle belles, and I DID IT! Woohoo! Here's my first post with my first 2 cards.

Here's the tic-tac-toe board:


I've already completed the first two horizontal rows. Here's my card for the last - die cut, santa, stamping:


Supplies: Bo Bunny stamp; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Labels 5 Nesties; Stampin' Up markers

I did a small-scale version of the 'telescope' technique (I don't know if that's what it's called, but anyway) where the image was stamped twice, and then layered lined up. It's easier to see if you click to view the picture full-size.

Now I'll show you my favourite, and then add a jump so you don't have to read the whole darn thing unless you wanna :)

This one is for the last vertical row: heat embossing, ribbon, stamping:


Supplies: Salty Ocean distress ink; Sapphire Tattered Angels Glimmer mist; all stamps from PTI; Colorbox Frost White ink; Stampendous White Detail EP; Webster's Pages trim; Timeless Twine

The background is a leftover mop-up sheet from a card I made that I haven't shared yet. I inked a piece of plastic with Salty Ocean and then sprayed it with the glimmer mist. I then used the piece of plastic like a stamp - and then because the paper was so saturated, I laid another piece on top to soak up a bit. That would be this piece. 

The hanging snowflakes & sentiment were stamped & embossed, and then I stamped a few random flakes in the same blue ink. The glittery tinsel ribbon was stitched on, and the twine tied on top - and then the whole panel attached to the base with foam tape. I. LOVE. THIS. CARD.

Four more, after the jump:

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Shopping our Stash #116 - For the Boys!


We have a pretty simple request for you this week at Shopping our Stash - make a card for a guy, of any age. I decided to ink up some Jane's Doodles stamps, and get really inky:



Supplies: all stamps from Jane's Doodles; Versamark & clear embossing powder; Memento Tuxedo Black and Gray Flannel inks; Bic & Spectrum Noir markers; Cuttlebug embossing folder; Sakura Stardust glitter pen; Mod Podge Dimensional Magic; classic small circle Nesties; Faded Jeans & Broken China distress inks 




I always forget until I'm using it that the alcohol ink runs a little with the Dimensional Magic, but in this case I still like how it looks :) 

Come & play along with this challenge until next Monday,September 2nd - hop on by & leave the rest of my teamies some love!


xoxo,
Jessi




Tuesday Morning Sketches #213 - Bugaboo Stamps!

When I got to pick my image to work with from the super-generous Bugaboo Stamps, I KNEW I had to go with this one. HAD TO. As you might have guessed, Bugaboo is the sponsor this week for Tuesday Morning Sketches!  (oh my - when looking for the link, I found THIS ONE. I know what I'm getting next!)


Supplies: Stella Peeker - Braless from Bugaboo Stamps; papers from Basic Grey; Spectrum Noir markers; Sakura clear glaze pen (glasses); banner die from Wplus9; buttons & vellum from stash 

I honestly can't get enough of the fun sassy images & sentiments that Bugaboo carries :)




Don't forget to go see what everyone else made! 

xoxo,
Jessi







Sunday, August 25, 2013

Unity Sketch #7

With school starting, the university town of Sackville will shortly be filling up with first-time and returning students. This time of year I like to make cards that can be used to remind people that they're missed :)

The sketch from Unity with its butterflies prompted me to pull out some previously uninked Unity stamps, and some inks that I haven't used in a while either - my Kaleidacolor pads. Ignore the pink/blue edges - the card refused to stand out on a white background so I tucked the nearest coloured papers behind it.


Supplies: Kaleidacolor inks (Fiesta and Celebration); Unity stamps; scrap rainbow stripe stickers; rhinestones from Dollarama

I cut apart the triple butterfly stamp from this itty bitty set  and inked them up with the different strips in the rainbow pads, overlapping just a little bit. The sentiment stamp is one that I scored for free a while back in one of Unity's awesome weekend sales. 

Here's the challenge graphic - I love those colours too, so I may have another card up my sleeve.



That's it for the moment. I have an afternoon of lawn mowing & lawn lounging ahead of me :) Perhaps some more of that vanilla vodka in my Coke Zero too ;)

xoxo,
Jessi

Christmas Tic-Tac-Toe with Jingle Belles!

I've got a holiday two-fer for the current (until Wednesday) jingle belles challenge:


I was feeling ambitious & hoping to complete a card for all 8 possible tic-tac-toes, but so far my mojo has only come up with two - the top two horizontal lines.

Flowers, red/green, ribbon:

Supplies: papers from Bo Bunny & Memory Box; velvet flowers from Imaginisce, buttons from stash; sentiment from PTI; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; rhinestone strips from Dollarama; gingham & stitched ribbon from stash. 


Snowman, bling, and heat embossing:


Supplies: papers from Crate Paper; snowflake buttons from Dress it Up!; Frost White pigment ink from Colorbox; White EP from Stampendous; sentiment stamp from Paper Smooches; bling from Dollarama.

I am definitely loving the second card better - so many colours! That cutie snowman! The snowflakes! 

Perhaps I will get back in the Christmas mood & get a few more cards made before the challenge ends...I can hope :) 
xoxo
Jessi

Paper....

Who would have thought that a challenge involving PAPER would be so, well, CHALLENGING? Not so much the 'paper' aspect, but the unique? I'm fairly certain that most people who make cards are paper fanatics. Anyway, the current (not for long!) challenge at CASology is the cue word PAPER, and I decided to break out the quilling paper again. I had this curled-petal idea going through my head, and with some minor adaptations to my idea I managed to translate it to a (whoa!) one-layer card.


Supplies: quilling paper; Corner Chomper; hot pink rhinestones


After quilling the basic shapes in pink, I added a strip of white to half of the shapes, leaving about 3" on the end to form into a curl. I'm kind of in love with how it turned out, and I want to try it again on a smaller scale. 

I have a couple more challenge cards to share with you, so I'll be right back.
xoxo,
Jessi

Friday, August 23, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving - Tuesday Morning Sketches #212

I'm back with a second card for the current sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches - the stamps so generously provided by DRS Designs arrived while I was off (not enjoying) camping.


The stamps that I chose to work with this time around are Thanksgiving themed - as I've said MANY MANY times, autumn is my favourite season. No mosquitoes. It used to be for the gorgeous foliage, and the crisp air...now I just like the fact that I can go outside without DEET.



Supplies: stamps from DRS Designs; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; banner die from Wplus9; classic small circle Nesties; scrap orange card stock; Timeless Twine; embossing folder from Cuttlebug; Bic markers

It was a horrific camping trip, it really was. The whole week has been fairly miserable, actually. I try not to wish time away, but this is honestly one week I am happy to see the rear end of. 

How's that for cheerful? lol. Keeping it real, folks.

 Head on over to the Tuesday Morning Sketches blog & play along before Sunday night for a chance to win a prize from DRS Designs :) 

xoxo,
Jessi

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Shopping our Stash #115 - Your Oldest Hardware


Another in our continuing series at Shopping our Stash, to use up our oldest supplies! This week we want to see your oldest hardware - brads, eyelets, metal frames, ribbon slides - your oldest metal "thing." I have two cards for you - both of them have rivets, and here's the funny thing. I made this yellow one first (and early). So about a week and a half later I think to myself...gee, one rivet isn't a lot of hardware. I should make another card.

Remembering nothing but that one rivet, apparently, don't I then use a flower from the same pack, and the same sheet of rub-ons? And still only 3 rivets. *shakes head*


Supplies: papers from MME; EAD Designs rub-on; Mustard Seed distress ink; rivet & flower from stash; yellow glitter fabric paint (on flower petals)



Supplies: Bazzill cardstock; Susan Branch vellum scrap; EAD Designs rub-on; flowers, rivets, and ribbon rose from stash

Come & play along with this challenge until next Monday, August 26th - hop on by & leave the rest of my teamies some love!


xoxo,
Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #212 - DRS Designs!

Good morning! While I'm off camping (sob) I've got some pre-scheduled posts for you - including this super sketch for Tuesday Morning Sketches! This week we're sponsored by DRS Designs, and having won from them before, let me just say....you want to make sure to play along this week :)

DRS Designs was very generous and provided images to the entire team to play with - being in the back of beyond means mine are still in transit, but I have some other great images of theirs to work with! I'll be sure to share another card when the new stamps arrive :)


Supplies: DRS Designs Merry Christmas Arc and Penguin Snowball Blast; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; papers from Kaisercraft; Martha Stewart pink rhinestones; Mod Podge Dimensional Magic; Sakura Stardust glitter pen



I've coated the igloo with a thin layer of gloss...not sure if it would really be shiny but hey. The little Santa is also from the Kaisercraft paper pad. 




Don't forget to go see what everyone else made! 

xoxo,
Jessi


Monday, August 19, 2013

Doodle Pantry #37

So last week Doodle Pantry had a sale...and I went shopping :) Pretty much the second I downloaded my images I got started printing them out & putting them together. I just love so many of their illustrations that it's always a challenge to whittle down my shopping list!  I've got two cards to share for their image challenge, which is open until the 24th.


Supplies: Doodle Pantry Birthday Birdie; papers from Basic Grey; 2 Cuttlebug polka dot embossing folders; Stampendous sentiment stamp; Purple Twilight Adirondack ink; Wplus9 banner die; classic small circle Nesties; Sakura Stardust glitter pen

I printed 2 copies of the image, and fussy cut the cupcake & the bird's head & wing to pop them up for some dimension. 





Supplies: Doodle Pantry Koi ; Basic Grey patterned paper; Tattered Angels glimmer mist - Turquoise Blue; Sakura Stardust glitter pen; Labels 5 Nesties; Mod Podge Dimensional Magic


Again, I printed 2 images, and started by doodling with the glitter pen on the scales, fins, and waves. Then I coated just the fish with Dimensional Magic. I waited for that to dry before cutting out the image. I ended up cutting out the whole thing, waves included, to pop it up. I then doodled a thick border around the bottom image, as well as tracing the edges of the patterned paper & some of the pattern as well. This is one super sparkly card. 

xoxo,
Jessi

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Sunshine at Little Red Wagon

This is one of my very favourite kinds of cards to make - a super-cheerful happy occasion card! In this case, this little girl is about to become a big sister - now that's a big deal :)



Supplies: dimensional stickers from stash - the sheep is made of felt!; AC Thickers and K & Co chipboard letters; gingham papers from stash; 1.5" circle punch for sun; cardstock stickers from (grey - Jillibean Soup) (green & pink - Pebbles).

The sun seemed like the perfect backdrop for a WOW! I used sparkly yellow letters to add more emphasis to the sunshine :) AND, this makes it a perfect card to pop in over at little red wagon this week!

We are definitely hoping for sunshine this week - we are going to be camping. (barf. Not my fave activity).

xoxo,
Jessi

Papercraft Star Bicycle

As soon as I saw the photo for this week's Papercraft Star challenge, I thought of this Unity itty bitty bicycle stamp. Every time I've used it, I've coloured it pink - because MY bike is pink :)

(Also, if you've never read THIS POST by Allie Brosch, you must go now. I'll wait.)


Supplies: Unity stamps; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Prismacolor pencils; Labels 5 Nesties; Basic Grey paper




Seriously, do yourself a favour & go read that post - you will pee yourself. I promise.

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

Flourishes - Autumn Colours

This is the first time the Dahlias set from Flourishes has seen ink - and although I have no idea if dahlias actually come in this colour, it seemed perfect for the current Autumn Colours challenge! 


Supplies: Dahlias stamp from Flourishes; Bic and Spectrum Noir markers; classic small Oval and Lacy Oval Nesties; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; crochet mat by me

Once I finished colouring, I decided to forgo a sentiment & build up my stash of any occasion cards. I realized when starting to type up this post that I have a whole bunch of challenge cards to share that apparently I spaced on during the week, so get a coffee or your favourite beverage & prepare for a barrage of posts from me!

xoxo,
Jessi

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Drunken Stampers #137 - TWINE!

In keeping with this term's Person, Place, or Thing themes, this week at the Drunken Stampers the 'thing' we want to see is TWINE:


So here's the thing. My twine was all shoved in the top drawer of my desk. EVERYTHING was in that drawer - loose glitter containers, spilled glitter, needles, thread, embroidery floss, my address books, mallet & eyelet setter, paintbrushes...you get the idea. The twine was a disaster - when I tried pulling out the ones I needed for my card, I gave up - and cleaned out the drawer.

AND THEN I had card issues, but I'll get to that. First, the finished project!


Supplies:'Fiesta' Kaleidacolor ink pad; Mustard Seed distress ink; Paper Smooches cloud die; PTI sentiment; Market Street Stamps sun; various twines


Different angle - there's so much dimension to the twine panel that it was hard to capture the details.

Anyway, my card trouble - that bleeping sun. 4 tries it took me to get it properly stamped:


The flashing is enormous. Ink smudges abound. This is why single-layer cards FREAK ME OUT. (You can click to view full-size if you really wanna see all my screw ups. On this card. ALL my screw ups won't fit on the internet.)

Anyway, what have the rest of the Yellow Canaries got for ya?




Donna - Challenge Host - Yellow Dog Greetings
Jacki - Scullduggery
Jessi - that's me!
Lindsey - Bashful Blogging

I hope to see you come play along with this challenge - link up by Friday night, August 16.

xoxo,
Jessi

Friday, August 16, 2013

OMG, 10 Minute Craft Dash turns 1!

There is something both terrifying & yet satisfying about participating in the 10 minute craft dash! By now you likely know that more than "monochromatic" as a colour challenge scares the pants off me (sorry for the mental picture, there. Oops). I still play along as often as I can muster the courage. I'm REALLY happy with how today's card turned out - and the total time? 7 minutes!


Supplies: Stamps from Flourishes, Pinwheels & Popsicles; various sequins; Memento Gray Flannel ink; Distress inks in Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves.


Yep. 7 minutes! I sped up the process by starting in the middle with yellow, and working left without cleaning my stamp. I then repeated it with the green ink and then to the right. I just swiped the stamp off on scratch paper in between to get MOST of the ink off. Probably the longest part in the whole process was picking out the right sequins. I have them in mixed bags of the same colour family. I suppose I COULD have picked them out ahead of time but frankly the idea didn't come to me before I started. *koff*

CD_23

You can link up until tomorrow - I'm hoping to play one more time :) Once the adrenaline wears off from this round, that is. 

xoxo,
Jessi

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Kraft & Orange

So my evil doublemint twin Chris sent me an awesome bunch of goodies, including the Sew Easy tool - and this is its first outing. I knew I wanted to use up some MME paper scraps, and I decided to go with orange for this week's The Pink Elephant challenge.   Naturally, with the kraft I'm also joining in the "Sew-So Simple" challenge at The Kraft Journal! 


Supplies: kraft paper; patterned paper scraps from Indie Chic, My Mind's Eye; Sew Easy tool (from Chris the Awesome); Jenni Bowlin butterfly; rub-on from stash


After stitching on the kraft layer, I used foam tape to mount it on the white card base. I pierced freehand along the pattern on the patterned paper & sewed that as well, then added THAT layer with foam tape. Lots of dimension on this card. I'm loving the mix of oranges and pops of white. 

xoxo,
Jessi



Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Home for the Holidays

This challenge was a tough one for me - although my home is here with my kids, I am horribly homesick every year at Christmas for my sister, my mom, my grandma....it's been a long time since I was really HOME for Christmas. (And, truth be told, I'm pretty freaking homesick these days too.) But, the thought of missing a jingle belles challenge got me back in gear at the last minute (well, the last 4 hours or so) and I did come up with something:


Supplies: Crate Paper patterned paper; classic small circle Nesties; K&Co house die-cuts; sentiment stamps from Stampendous; Broken China, Worn Lipstick, and Picked Raspberry distress inks; Sakura stardust glitter pen

To get a closer match for the pink ink, I used both Worn Lipstick & Picked Raspberry inks. The raspberry ink is SO juicy that as you can see, it blurred a little bit. The Broken China is a much better match IRL. 

I cut additional circles out of white cardstock in matching sizes, and tore small pieces off the edges to act as 'snowdrifts'. I traced the torn edges with glitter pen & smudged with my finger to soften it.

xoxo,
Jessi

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Shopping our Stash #114 - Colours or Woodgrain


This week at Shopping our Stash we have something a little different than the usual - a colour challenge. Sort of - we want you to use the colours, woodgrain, or even both. 


Gorgeous, right? I love those colours! Here's what I made:


Supplies: woodgrain paper from MME; rub-on sentiment from EAD Designs; big rhinestone from Dress it Up; Corner Chomper; quilling paper 

I've been quilling again lately - I find it comes & goes in my card making. I love how it looks, but it is definitely time-consuming. For this flower, half the petals are two-toned - this is done by using a lighter colour, and then joining a darker paper to the completed shape. Same thing for the leaves. When I do something like this - the shaped leaves - I just make a standard 'teardrop' shape, and let it dry. Once it's dry it's relatively easy to manipulate into the desired shape by folding/pinching/squishing and then gluing into place. 


Come & play along with this challenge until next Monday, August 19th - hop on by & leave the rest of my teamies some love!


xoxo,
Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #211 - Clearly Digital Stamps!

Happy Tuesday :) This week at Tuesday Morning Sketches we're being sponsored by Clearly Digi Stamps, and do they ever have a great selection! No one will notice if I keep entering, will they? :)

Clearly Digi Stamps

Looking through my CDS collection I decided to go with this Snow Tweet Blue collection, using not only the pre-coloured image but also the matching digital papers. Before I forget - it's twist week, and that means that you need to use the twist of "Buttons Or Bows" along with the sketch. I nearly forgot myself!


Supplies: Snow Tweet Blue, Clearly Digi Stamps; snowflake & gem brads from stash; Denim Timeless Twine; Sakura Clear Glaze and Stardust pens; Bow Easy 

A close up of the Glaze & sparkle 
I printed 2 copies of the snowman so that I could pop one up for dimension - I tore along the edge of the snow, and added glaze pen to the buttons, eyes, and nose. I used the Stardust pen along the shaded areas of the snow, and smudged with my finger to give it a softer glittery glow.

True crafty confessions time: I forgot about the twist when I remembered that I had these snowflake brads. I got focused on the brads (instead of using buttons for those elements, which would have been perfect!) and I'd already attached all the layers of patterned paper - what to do?? The loopy bow was a last-minute addition, and luckily I love how it looks. Twist saved! lol

Here's the sketch, courtesy of Laura:



Don't forget to visit the rest of my teamies!

xoxo,
Jessi