The Cityscapes are on the Rise Challenge

So, I picked up a copy of Paper Crafts magazine a few weeks ago - and have been practically carrying it around the house with me. The Moxie Fabs article was about Cityscapes - and lo and behold, an idea for that paper from Basic Grey's "Wander" that I'd been hoarding was hatched. Kim Kesti's card on p. 24 uses the paper, and I cribbed my sentiment from Courtney Kelly's awesome card on p. 26 (also featured here, the first card shown). And now Cath's challenge -

Create a paper crafted project (card, gift bag, tag, layout, home decor item, mini-book cover, etc.) that incorporates a cityscape in an innovative way.

Not sure that this qualifies as innovative, but I love how it turned out - simple, even suitable for a masculine card (yay!), so I'm sharing it for the challenge. I may even dare to try again before the challenge closes March 28.

Supplies: papers all from Basic Grey "Wander;"
stickers from Basic Grey "Kioshi" (yellow) and "Oliver" (green);
teal layer popped up on one layer of foam tape, and the yellow layer is popped up on two.

xoxo,
Jessi

More Pink Cat Fabulousness!

Ah, I was going to make you wait longer to see the last two cards I made with Pink Cat Studio's St. Patrick's Day digital release, but hey, I have no patience, so here they are :)




Pink Cat Studio

Supplies: Leprechaun digi from Pink Cat Studio;
coloured with Spiced Marmalade Distress ink (hair & beard),
Adirondack Salmon (skin), and prismacolor pencils;
"Little Leprechaun" sticker from Karen Foster;
Shamrock button from Dress it Up!;
loose gold glitter on the hat & belt buckles & the pot of gold

Supplies: Shamrock bear digi from Pink Cat Studio;
coloured with Prismacolor pencils;
flocked with Quickie Glue Pen & Stampendous Cotton Ball Fun Flock;
dotty paper from Colorbok;
teeny shamrock stickers & banner from Jolee's;
loose gold glitter for buckle & pot of gold;
quilled shamrocks by me :)

Saint Patrick's Day isn't traditionally a big card-making day, but there are always folks who have someone with a St. Paddy's birthday who are looking for something different than the 2 options H***mark gives...and I am more than happy to fill that niche :)
xoxo,
Jessi

Pink Cat Studio St. Patrick's Day Digi Release!!

Well, that title is a bit of a mouthful, but I wanted to get it all in there!

I am super-beyond-excited to share these new images with you - and I hope you rush right back over to Pink Cat Studio and take advantage of the package deal Melissa's offering so that you can get that sweet little shamrock-sitting pixie for free! While you're there you should look through the loads of digis she has to offer, including free sentiments. I *want* Blobby! and Rex & Bronty...and the incredible Gnome series...and...well, you get the idea. I love them!

So, in no particular order, here are 4 of the cards I made for the release - you'll just have to come back to see the other two ;)

Supplies: Pixies & Pot of Gold digi from Pink Cat Studio;
coloured with markers;
glitter paper from Colorbok;
shamrock confetti & clear microbeads from Michaels;
loose glitter (gold & green, for the coins & shamrock on the pot);
Jolee's stickers - coins, vellum shamrocks, small pot of gold

Supplies: Shamrock Bear digi from Pink Cat Studio;
coloured with Prismacolor pencils;
covered with Quickie Glue Pen & Stampendous Cotton Ball Fun Flock;
loose gold glitter for hat buckle & coins;
shamrock from stash - embossed with Cuttlebug folder & sanded;
"Lucky Clover" sticker from Karen Foster

Supplies: Leprechaun digi from Pink Cat Studio;
coloured with reinkers (hair & skin) and Prismacolor pencils;
gingham paper from Cosmo Cricket "Material Girl;"
Shamrock buttons from Dress it Up!;
sentiment stickers & hat on evelope from Karen Foster;
hat & balloon sticker from Jolee's;
loose gold glitter & Quickie Glue Pen;
Nestabilities oval die

Supplies: Itty Bitty Shamrock Betty digi from Pink Cat Studio;
watercoloured with reinkers: Spiced Marmalade; adirondack Citrus & Salmon;
paper roses from Recollections;
paper from K & Co adhesive pack;
standard circle Nestabilities die;
hard to see, but her shoes & belt buckle have Mod Podge Dimensional Magic

All right, now head over to the Pink Cat Studio blog and see what all the other fabulous designers have created, and don't forget to pick up your own set!

Thanks again, Melissa, for this fantastic fun opportunity!
xoxo,
Jessi

Shamrock shakes rock!

We got a McDonald's coupon flyer in the mail yesterday, and Shamrock Shakes are back! We haven't seen those as long as we've been in Amherst. I'm more than a little stoked...I know I won't drink a whole one, but someone will HAVE to share with me!

A few weeks ago I experimented with Distress Ink backgrounds and I had a blue-green piece left over that I wanted to use. I paired it with this gorgeous shamrock bouquet from Waltzingmouse Stamps (found in the Freebies section). I watercoloured three bouquets with the same combination of inks that I used on the background paper: Broken China, Faded Jeans, and Peeled Paint, and sponged the edges with Peeled Paint. I love how it turned out. I cut out just the shamrock portion of the second bouquet & popped it up on foam tape for dimension, which cast some shadows in the photo :) I cut just a portion of the third image with a circle punch to decorate the envelope.

Supplies: Shamrock bouquet from Waltzingmouse Stamps;
Koi waterbrush, makeup sponge, foam tape;
Distress inks: Broken China, Peeled Paint, Faded Jeans;
Standard Circle Nestabilities

Stay tuned for some incredible, brand-spanking-new Saint Patrick's Day images from Pink Cat Studio...I went nuts making cards that I hope you'll love!
xoxo,
Jessi

Par-TAY!

I love Sandra Boynton. Her books are wonderful little gems - we went through three copies of Barnyard Dance before the boys finally tired of it. I was lucky enough to find a Mom's Calendar book on clearance last year, and I've been doling out some of the illustrations for cards. Mostly I like to just leaf through the book and giggle to myself.

Supplies: Illustration by Sandra Boynton;
paper from K & Co; acetate sheet & googly eyes;
confetti from Amscan, microbeads from Michaels;
envelope stamped with Inkadinkado stamp & Fiesta Kaleidacolor ink

I've said it before, but shaker cards are really hard to capture. Nearly all the fun is in the motion. This baby's got balloons, happy faces, and wee little hearts.

I finished up all 6 (!) of the St. Patrick's Day cards that I made for Pink Cat Studio, and I'm so excited to share them with you on release day...I really enjoyed making them, and I think they turned out pretty well. Oh, that little leprechaun is adorable...

The boys had excellent report cards - both of them improved in several areas, Riley in particular in some areas of concern, so that's fantastic. It still kills me that the teachers are unable to mention autism anywhere on the report card - so many things have to be mentioned, and are obviously autism-related, but heaven forbid we document the problem we all know exists. Sheesh. I mean, seriously, they are graded on SPEAKING, but you can't mention the autism-related speech impediment or language issues. Bah!

My stomach is still killing me. It's about a full month now of this with the new diabetes medication, and the increased dose last week has just made it that much worse. It's very hard to eat frequently when eating makes you feel worse - and not eating spikes my sugar, so it doesn't work either. Everything I've read says that the side effects should abate after several weeks at a consistent dose, and I suppose I haven't actually had that yet. So, week after next, dang it, here I come. Oh, yeah, right, that's when I go back to the doctor...and probably change the dose again. *sigh* Well, that's a downer. Go back and look at the happy monsters, and skip to the end -

xoxo,
Jessi

Maybe a cupcake will help?



Supplies: Sheep with cupcake stamp from Pink Cat Studio;
coloured with Prismacolor pencils;
fuzzified with Stampendous Fun Flock;
papers and buttons from Basic Grey "Lemonade;"
sentiment from TLC Designs

Well, really, isn't a cupcake helpful most of the time? At least it's rare for a cupcake to make things worse...ah, unless you have crazy blood sugar like I do. I suppose a cupcake actually would make things worse for me. Boo, hiss. Paper cupcakes are good, though. I will continue to love on paper cupcakes :)
xoxo,
Jessi

Bright & Cheery Chef

How about something nice & bright for a Monday morning? Fake it 'til you make it, right? (In which case, I LOVE MONDAY. ahem.)

Supplies: Chef Duck stamp from Pink Cat Studio;
coloured with Prismacolor pencils & markers;
Duck 'feathered' with Stampendous Fun Flock;
papers all from K & Co 'Citronella;'
ric-rac paper trim from Doodlebug

The temperature has risen quite a bit in the last two days - the snow is melting, slowly but surely. I hope a little more slowly, since there's probably a uniform 2.5 feet across the backyard, and drifts high enough to cover the fences all around, and the banks in the front yard are taller than I am. I do want it to all stay outside, after all. I fell asleep last night to what sounded like an honest-to-peanuts waterfall outside the bedroom window.
Today is report card day - yikes - those should be interesting to read. Riley cares about marks that he gets on tests & projects, but neither of them reads their own reports yet. That's probably a good thing :)
xoxo,
Jessi 

A Pair of Tuesday Triggers

I didn't get around to last week's Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger challenge in time, but the inspiration photo sat on my desk all week. This week I was determined to get it in under the wire...but I'm not all that happy with what I came up with. It just didn't match up with the picture in my head, but here it is:

Supplies: Butterfly stamp from Autumn Leaves;
butterfly paper-pieced with Basic Grey "Nook and Pantry" paper;
stamped with Wild Honey Distress ink;
tiles and background paper from My Mind's Eye Fine & Dandy "True Blue"
rhinestone swirls from dollar store, coloured with Bic Mark-It.

Here is the inspiration photo:

I knew I wanted to work with yellow, and the window panes inspired my tile pattern...and then it all fell apart ;) Oh well, can't love them all. Check out the challenge & the GOOD entries here.

Now, on the other hand, the card that I made for the last week's challenge turned out better than I imagined, and I love it - and I sold it first thing in the morning. Nice!



Supplies: flower stamp from Stampin' Up Fifth Avenue Floral;
stamped with Versamark & embossed with white EP;
coloured with Prismacolor pencils & Dove blender;
"Happy Birthday" embossing folder from Cuttlebug;
edges of the embossed panel inked with the Fiesta Kaleidacolor ink pad;
flowers on the envelope stamped with Purple Twilight adirondack ink, broken china & spiced marmalade distress inks.

 I found myself coming back to white space in the photo again & again while overthinking what to make...and white space is a big challenge for me. My inspiration came from the flowers & the colours.

And, I realize now that I added the badge but didn't actually SAY anything, but I am the luckiest duck - I was one of the two guest designers chosen to work with Pink Cat Studio's Saint Patrick's Day release!!! Yesterday meant a trip to Michael's & a hearty investment in some fun Saint Patrick's Day embellishments...and I've been quilling shamrocks this morning already. I am beyond excited - this is my first time submitting anything for such a position, and it's one of my favourite companies. So, that green sparkly person you can see from outer space? That's me the next few days as I feverishly do my best to create some adorable cards for Melissa & Pink Cat Studio!

xoxo,
Jessi

Well, this stinks.

I debated whether or not to post about this, since it's not exactly my news, but I'm sharing it anyway. This Saturday will be the last time Andrew & Star Dust Farms will be at the farmer's market. Running a small farm is not for the faint of heart, and there comes a point where even the most idealistic and hard-working person has to look at the big financial picture, and I guess this is that point. I hate that he's forced to make this choice, and I hate that operating a small farm is not sustainable without operating at a loss. And selfishly, I hate that it means one of my friends won't be spending Saturday mornings hanging out with me at the cafe.

On an unrelated note, how about a card? Hopefully tomorrow I get some photos taken of what I've been working on - if I say so myself, being cranky seems to be working for cardmaking.

Supplies: Papers from K & Co;
rose stamp from Stampin' Up! Fifth Avenue Floral;
thank you stamp from Hero Arts;
Versamark ink & white EP for the rose, Palette Noir for the sentiment;
Rose coloured with the floating reinker technique, with Adirondack Eggplant

I made a few more cards with this rose this week - it is a really fun technique, if a little messy. Sometimes it feels really good to get your hands covered in ink.
xoxo,
Jessi

Celebrating Pink Cat Studio!

Some of these photos will be familiar from earlier posts, but Pink Cat Studio is having a guest designer call, and I LOVE their whimsical stamps. My favourites are probably the animals, but honestly, they're all adorable. Anyhow, here's some of my cards made with both their digital and rubber images....


 




Supplies: Sheep with cupcake stamp from Pink Cat Studio;
alphabet stamps from PSX; all stamped with Palette Noir ink;
coloured with Prismacolor pencils & Dove blender;
sheep is covered with Stampendous Cotton Ball Fun Flock;
papers all from Basic Grey "Sugar Rush"





Supplies: Cow with gift stamp from Pink Cat Studio;
This is an older card so I'm unsure of the source for the rest
of the supplies. The sentiment is handwritten. The cows are all masked
(image is a single cow), with the "front" cow popped up on foam tape.





Supplies: Owl with birthday hat stamp from Pink Cat Studio;
coloured with markers & coated with Stampendous Cotton Ball Fun Flock;
white mat embossed with D'Vine Swirls cuttlebug folder;
brads from Making Memories;
decorative paper & "scene" from Cosmo Cricket "Hey Sunshine;"
star buttons from Dress it Up!; handwritten sentiment




Supplies: Clowning around owls & sentiment digital stamp from Pink Cat Studio;
coloured with markers; flower border from Doodlebug;
papers from K&Co; rhinestones from $store







Supplies: animal stack & circle sentiment stamp from Pink Cat Studio;
coloured with markers and (shocker) fluffed with Stampendous Fun Flock;
paper from Cosmo Cricket; buttons from stash;
My favourite part - the sun stitched around the sentiment with yellow embroidery floss



Supplies: Fairy Lily digital stamp from Pink Cat Studio;
watercoloured with reinkers;
Studio G clear glitter glue on her wings;
rhinestones from $store;
papers from Basic Grey "Hopscotch" and "Wander;"
sentiment stamp from TAC; circles cut with standard & lacy circle Nestabilities.

 Here goes nothing :)
xoxo,
Jessi