Tuesday Morning Sketches #359 - Jennifer Tomasic, CTMH Demo!

Good morning! This week Tuesday Morning Sketches is sponsored by Jennifer Tomasic, a CTMH demo - and you'll have to take a peek at the fun stamp set up for grabs for a random player! Sadly this is also Kris' last week with us - please make sure to stop by & wish her well!

Patti designed our sketch this week, and to me it just called out for some pretty lace and a simple design:

Supplies: paper from MME; Mint Julep Hero Arts ink; Memento Gray Flannel ink; everything else stash/unkown

The sentiment wasn't quite bold enough stamped just in the mint ink, so I slightly offset it and stamped again in grey. 

Here's the sketch:

This challenge will be open until next Sunday,July 10 - hop on over & see what the rest of the team has made! 

Debbie

Jenee 

Kris

Melissa 

Patti

Wanda

xoxo,
Jessi

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - O is for...

....Outer Space! The Sistahs would like to see your intergalactic creations. I can't believe it but I have no snark for ya this morning:

Supplies: Distress inks in Black Soot, Seedless Preserves, Chipped Sapphire; Versamark & Moonstone EP; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; all stamps from PTI; Spectrum Noir markers; Diamond Stickles

There's a better shot of the glittery flames & glossy window :)

Check out the amazing Sisterhood's creations -

Majo

Dotty Jo

Peggy

Barb

Chris

Lee

Lindsey

Lynne 

Michelle

And don't forget to leave some love for our guest designer, SHARON!

You have until July 8 to come play along :)

xoxo,
Jessi

The Hop to Stop.

I am so honoured to be participating in The Hop to Stop, an incredible show of support, awareness, and information spearheaded by the one & only Becca Cruger, The Damsel of Distressed.  I shared my own experience with domestic violence last October, and besides the support from the blogging community (you guys are awesome) I also learned more about my friends' stories. 

In the province of Nova Scotia, transition house information can be found here.  Information about domestic violence and recognizing the signs in people you know and love can be found here. 

For the hop, we're all creating with purple - the awareness colour for domestic violence. The theme is your choice - as long as you feature purple. I decided with my first card to also celebrate love.

Supplies: stamps from PTI; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Versamark; clear detail EP; Moonstone EP; Sakura clear glitter pen; Mod Podge Dimensional Magic; Distress inks in Dusty Concord, Seedless Preserves, and Chipped Sapphire; Spectrum Noir markers

I stamped & embossed the sentiment first, and then the moon. Before embossing I tapped off the clear powder & resprinkled it with moonstone powder to get the sort of pocky moonscape look. Then I stamped & coloured the rocket, coated it with Dimensional Magic, sponged the inky background, and finally clear-embossed the stars. *whew* Lots of steps for a single layer! 

Becca's blog has all the information you need to participate in the hop - and I hope you will! Link up before October 14 to join us.

xoxo,

Jessi

Inspired by a Song

I finally tried Dana's inky sky technique!  I printed out two copies of the digital stamp, and cut out one to use as a mask so I could do the sky.  The overall love feel of the card, and specifically the sentiment, were inspired by a song that keeps being an earworm for me - I Love You Always Forever. Thanks to Open-Minded Crafting Fun for hosting one of my favourite challenges, inspired by a song - I listen to music always when I craft so I bet a lot of my cards are actually inspired by that!

Supplies: Digi stamp from Sami Stamps; sentiment from Reverse Confetti; Spectrum Noir markers; Sharpie white paint pen; distress inks in Dusty Concord, Faded Jeans, and Black Soot; Pearl Tattered Angels mist

After inking the sky and adding the white stars, I spritzed lightly with pearl mist. I really really love how it turned out :)

Open-Minded Crafting Fun - Inspired by a Song

And before I go, the video for my inspiration song :) You are welcome for having it stuck in your head all day!


xoxo,
Jessi

Every Story is Beautiful

The story prompt at CASology instantly made me think of this sentiment stamp - and then I just fiddled to bring the rest of the card together.

Supplies: All stamps from PTI; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Spectrum Noir markers; Festive Berries distress ink; Labels 4 Nesties; Cuttlebug embossing folder

Of course since this is a CAS card, the three stamps I used are from three different sets. Always the way!

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #302

Good morning sketch fans :) We have a rare sponsor-free week at Tuesday Morning Sketches, and the design team had fun just playing!

Supplies: papers from MME; Nesties heart die; PTI Love die; button & twine from stash

It took longer to choose the papers than it did to make  the card! I'm really loving this LOVE die, so versatile :)

Here's the sketch:

This challenge will be open until next Sunday, May 31 - hop on over & see what the rest of the team has made!

Debbie

Jenee 

Kris 

Melissa 

Nina

xoxo,

Jessi

Wedding season is upon us...

...so I'm working on lots of wedding cards, as you can tell by the blog this week. All of these cards are for the wedding & anniversary challenge at Open-Minded Crafting Fun, and this first one is using the sketch from Leslie at The Crooked Stamper:

Supplies: Mums stamp from PTI; unknown sentiment; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Shaded Lilac distress ink; black Wink of Stella pen; purple gems

I traced the cursive writing with the Wink of Stella pen for some extra oomph. 

Here's Leslie's sketch:

Supplies: AC sparkle paper; Hero Arts cake stamp; PTI sentiment; Spectrum Noir markers; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; buttons from stash; Tim Holtz design ruler & embroidery supplies

 

Supplies: papers from Simple Stories; doily stamps from Clearly Besotted; sentiment from Paper Smooches; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Walnut Stain distress ink; Tonic edge distresser; May Arts cream twine; buttons from stash

Here's the graphic for the Open-Minded Crafting Fun challenge:

xoxo,
Jessi

The Challenge #30

My first time colouring up this sweet image from Tiddly Inks - and once I coloured the groom's tux I thought ohhhh perfect for the colour challenge at The Challenge this week!

Supplies: Tiddly Inks image; Spectrum Noir markers; classic small oval & circle & lacy oval Nesties; papers from Pebbles

I futzed around with some embellishments and decided that this was just right as it is. I just love how their heads are nestled together :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #286 - Sami Stamps!

**Don't forget I have blog candy up on my Snarky Anniversary Post!**

We're on to Melissa's favourite sketch of 2014 at Tuesday Morning Sketches, and ohhhh our sponsor Sami Stamps generously provided this absolutely perfect image - is it ok to love my card? Because I love my card.

Supplies: On Your Arm digital stamp from Sami Stamps; Spectrum Noir markers; sentiment from Doodle Pantry; 1.5" circle punch; May Arts cream twine; Hero Arts lace; Fancy Pants paper; Antique Linen distress ink; buttons from stash

*happy sigh*

I love it when it turns out just the way I pictured it in my head!

Here's the sketch:

This challenge is open until next Sunday, February 8 - hop on over & see what the design team has created for you! 

Debbie

Jenee 

Kris 

Melissa (off this week)

Nina

xoxo,

Jessi

Anything Goes at Catch the Bug!

There's a super easy challenge for you this week at Bugaboo's Catch the Bug - ANYTHING GOES! I took the opportunity to use one of my favourite images twice - Love Blocks - Day after Forever.

Supplies: Bugaboo image - Love Blocks: Day After Forever; cuttlebug embossing folder; Tattered Angels mists; Distress inks in Dusty Concord & Seedless Preserves; Colorbox Frost White pigment ink; embroidery supplies

Super sparkly! I used inks on the image first, then sprayed with (I think Pearl?) glimmer mist. When I went to assemble the card I found the image too dark, so I sponged on a little white pigment ink. 

Supplies: Bugaboo's Love Blocks - Day after Forever; Tattered Angels blue skies mist; Distress inks in Broken China, Worn Lipstick, Peacock Feathers; doily

I kept my second card simpler - still super sparkly!

Make sure to head over to Catch the Bug to see what eye candy all the other designers have for you - and play along before next Friday, January 9th, for a chance to win a bunch of Bugaboo goodies!

xoxo,

Jessi

GLITTER!

I found some solid glitter paper at the dollar store last week, and I bought all the colours. (I'll give you a minute to process that shocking news!) With the current Paper Players challenge to make a CAS gold or silver card, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

Supplies: Rose heart from Flourishes; Sentiment from Paper Smooches; Worn Lipstick distress ink; Versamark; Moonstone EP; classic small circle Nesties; silver glitter paper

Back to crafty joy!

xoxo,

Jessi

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - K is for -

I think kraft is one of those colours that you don't really appreciate until you start playing with it. I doubt anyone thinks to themselves "Self, kraft is like theeee best colour, I love it!" (ok, maybe just me) but think about it - you could make a card for anything with kraft, and it would be appropriate. You can dress it up, dress it down...it's like the little black dress of crafting. So the Snarky Sisters want YOU to use some kraft! 

I've got two cards for you - I was DETERMINED to make a snarky card this time around, dammit, and then I forgot & made a cute card. I went back & snarked, and I feel much better now :)

Supplies: Stella - F*@k-up Fairy digi from Bugaboo Stamps; Spectrum Noir markers; Stardust Sakura glitter pen; Sew Easy

Who better than Stella to bring the snark? 

I used a bit of glitter pen on her wings, and outlined her with the lightest pink marker I have to help her pop (not because I went outside the lines a little and was trying to fix it. Nope.)

I'm popping my Stella card in over at Naughty or Nice challenges - and I think I'll be making a few more of these cards, because I can think of a number of people who have the F*#k up fairy visiting lately :)

And here's my not-snarky card:

Supplies: patterned kraft from stash; sentiment stamps from Paper Smooches; Brushed Corduroy distress ink; gem from stash; Wilton doily; clip art & sentiment from Crafty Secrets

I used a scrap from the edge of the patterned paper for the sentiment - I'm running low on kraft and have a few different colours of it. Easy matching! I also went nuts distressing & rolling the edges of the patterned piece & the photo. 

You've got 2 weeks to link up (by September 5th) - and stop by & say hello to my sistahs:

Barb (off this round)

Chris

Donna

Karen

Lee

Lindsey

Lynne (off this round)

Michelle

And we are super pleased to have HAZEL with us this week as our guest designer! She got her Stella on too :) 

*if you're interested, I posted some updated tattoo pics earlier - here*

xoxo,

Jessi

Watercolours & Embossing

Last week I found myself sewing buttons on nearly every card I made - this week my embossing tool got the workout. I challenged myself to play a little more with watercolours - in my case, using glimmer mists - and I used a familiar layout with a favourite stamp set to do that.

Supplies: stamps from Flourishes; Versamark; Black Detail EP; Tattered Angels glimmer mists - Turquoise Blue and Key Lime Pie; green rhinestones from Dollarama

Using the glimmer mists as watercolours is fabulous - not only are they sparkly, and they blend beautifully, but they are already the right consistency for painting. No errors of too much/too little water! After the panel dried, I trimmed it down to card size & adhered it directly to the base, and added a few gems. Ta-da! 

Entering this card in two challenges -
Creative Card Crew - Embossing (wet or dry)
little red wagon - Confetti

xoxo,
Jessi

Shopping our Stash #162 - Triple Threat!

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

This week's challenge at Shopping our Stash is a fun one! We've got a list of supplies, and we want you to use AT LEAST three of them (you can use more, you can use them all, but at least three!) Make sure you list them for us :) 

Here's the list:

Ribbon, flowers, lace, pearls, sprays/mists,  punched elements or die cut elements, rhinestones, doilies (stamped will work too), dry embossing or scoring OR use three of one type of embellishment.

I ended up using four - flowers, pearls, die cuts, and a doily - to create a 50th anniversary card:

Supplies: PSX sentiment stamp; Versamark & Pirate Gold EP; AC gold textured cardstock; handmade gold paper; vellum; classic small & lacy circle Nesties; Prima flowers; brads from stash; Wilton doily; pearls from Dollarama

This was a hard card to photograph with all the metallic elements - and I notice now that these photos were BEFORE I fixed the pearl strip trying to make a run for it behind the flowers. HUMIDITY HOW I LOATHE THEE. 

So, are you ready to take on the triple threat? Check out the design team creations & join us 

before next Monday, August 4!

Leslie

Alica

Deena

Lauren

Donna

Chris

Barb

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash #119 - Your Oldest Flower

**If you are here for my Tuesday Morning Sketches post, sorry! My stamps didn't arrive in time but I will be playing along as soon as they get here!**

So, here's what should be an easy stash-buster for a lot of us - this week at Shopping our Stash we want you to use your oldest flower embellishments OR your oldest floral stamp. 

I went for embellishments - some tiny Primas:

Not sure there's much point in listing supplies for this one, since most of the sources are 'from my stash' - the heart was sketched in pencil & cut out, the doily I scavenged from underneath my salad at a restaurant, the paper? 

If you click to view full-size, you can see I've layered some of the blooms, so I used 6 out of the approximately 180 flowers left in the box of 250. 

Come & play along with this challenge until next Monday,September 23rd - hop on by & leave the rest of my teamies some love!

Leslie

Alica

Deena

Lauren

Michelle

Paige

Chana

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash #118 - Favourite Stampy Technique!

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

This week at Shopping our Stash we want you to break out your stamps & use your favourite stamping technique! I know, it's hard to narrow down, isn't it? Splitcoast has an awesome resource section to help you narrow it down (hahaha, I mean make your list of what you want to try even longer!)

I decided to go with one I use a lot - embossing in any colour using Versamark, Distress Ink, and clear embossing powder:

Supplies: Paper Smooches floral stamps; PSX anniversary stamp; Versamark; Seedless Preserves Distress ink; Stampendous clear detail EP; rhinestones from Dollarama

This technique could almost not be easier. Ink your stamp first with Versamark, then with the dye ink of your choice. Distress inks happen to be mine. Stamp on the paper, and proceed with embossing. Ta-da! To finish this card, I stamped the floral stamp with the same distress ink - stamping off the first time on scratch paper to get the varied shades. I used my Ranger blending foam tool to ink the edges of the panel & then adhered it directly to the base. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!

Come & play along with this challenge until next Monday,September 16th - hop on by & leave the rest of my teamies some love!

Leslie

Alica

Deena 

Lauren

Michelle

Paige

Chana

xoxo,

Jessi

Playing in Paradise #91 - Happy Anniversary!

It's my turn to hostess this week's challenge at Playing in Paradise, and it's also my 16th wedding anniversary. I couldn't resist combining the two :)

Look at those KIDS!

You'll have to hop over to the Playing in Paradise post to see my how-to, but here's my finished card:

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey;
Sapphire Pearlustre EP - Stampendous;
Versamark;
heart buttons from Dress it Up!;
blue buttons from stash

Have you got an anniversary card, gift, or layout up your crafty sleeve? There is always a generous prize for our challenge winner, and excellent odds of winning - but you can't win if you don't play :) There are no product restrictions for Playing in Paradise challenges - create what you are inspired to create. Our challenges always end on Thursdays at noon - for the anniversary challenge you have until November 8th. 

Don't forget to check out what the other gals have been up to!

Nina

Angela

Merlie - she's got an injured shoulder & has to sit out this week, but leave her some love!

Allison

See you over the weekend! Have a good one :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Playing in Paradise #74 - Wedding/Anniversary

Happy Friday! It's Merlie's turn to challenge us over at Playing in Paradise this week, and she's given us this gorgeous floral prompt:

Use this beautiful arrangement to inspire your wedding or anniversary creations this week! I couldn't put away the idea of a heart made of flowers, so I went with it:

Supplies: paper from My Mind's Eye Indie Chic 'Saffron;'
Flowers from Prima;
brads from Basic Grey;
pink pearls

I cut a heart out of white cardstock freehand, and then clustered the flowers until I was happy with the arrangement. I attached some with brads (the darker centres) and the rest with a little dab of glue. Once it was dry, I added the pearls and glued the whole heart onto the card base.

Tis the time for weddings (and thus, anniversaries, of course!) so hopefully you'll have time and inspiration enough to play along with us this week! Make sure to visit the Scrapbooker's Paradise Ponderings blog to check out all the details & to link up your card before next Thursday at noon, July 12. (As an aside, did you know that the Scrapbooker's Paradise blog not only offers this challenge and projects by the senior design team, but also exclusive discount codes & new product features? If you're not following, you might be missing out!)

Don't forget to leave some love for my fellow teamies:

Merlie

Angela

Nina

Allison

xoxo,

Jessi

CCC #173 - Wedding or Anniversary

A second post in a row for a challenge I've got multiple cards for :) Over at Crafty Creations Challenges this week, Lindsey is asking us to make wedding or anniversary related paper crafts. It's that time of year where I'm forever realizing that I'm out of wedding cards, so I took the opportunity to get a little bit ahead of the curve! You can link up with CCC #173 up until Tuesday night.

Supplies: papers from Bo Bunny;
sentiment stamp from PSX;
Versamark & copper EP;
Twine from Paper Smooches;
clock piece from ancient stash, source unknown

Love the beat-up look of the clock, and how the bow turned out!

Supplies: papers from K & Co;
standard Oval Nesties;
stamps from Inkadinkado;
Worn Lipstick & Faded Jeans distress ink;
Versamark & clear EP;
blue & pink gems from stash

Supplies: black cardstock, cream velvet paper;
Cuttlebug embossing folder;
template from 'donpen' - although I don't think it's available any longer, there are 70 there!

Supplies: paper from My Mind's Eye;
hydrangea punch from Martha Stewart;
Cuttlebug embossing folder;
corner rounder;
stamps (Congrats & cake on envelope) from Inkadinkado;
Palette Noir ink; Tumbled Glass distress ink;
Liquid Pearls & blue flatback pearls

I cut various sizes of rectangle and rounded the top corners, basically making the cake
freehand. Next time I'll measure & write it down to make it easier to do again!

It's nearly 7, so time for me to wake the little monkey people and get them ready for school. Only a couple more weeks...better get in gear on those teacher gifts. (ACK!)
xoxo,
Jessi