Floating Reinkers Roses

Supplies: rose from Fifth Avenue Floral, Stampin' Up!;
stamped in Colorbox white pigment ink, embossed with white EP;
Denim adirondack ink; Crafty Secrets clip (My Dear Grandma);
papers from Basic Grey "Lime Rickey"

Supplies: rose from Fifth Avenue Floral, Stampin' Up!; stamped in Colorbox white pigment ink, embossed with white EP;
coloured with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, bubble gum pink;
doily from Wilton; paper from My Mind's Eye "Tickled Pink"

Supplies: rose from Fifth Avenue Floral, Stampin' Up!; stamped in Colorbox white pigment ink, embossed with white EP;
Fired Brick Distress Ink; papers from Bo Bunny "Crush;"
Mother's Day stamp from Kaisercraft

Supplies: rose from Fifth Avenue Floral, Stampin' Up!; stamped in Colorbox white pigment ink, embossed with white EP;
Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink; papers from Basic Grey "Gypsy;"
lace seam binding, miscellaneous rhinestones;
birthday stamp from Studio G

All of these have a layer popped up - I coloured 2 flowers with the floating reinker technique, and based on how each turned out decided which to cut up. I just bought my first Glimmer Mist, since I found it on sale (score!). I laid the roses out on newspaper (after embossing them) and sprayed the glimmer mist until I could see little pools of liquid, same as I did with the water for the other flowers. It dried much faster than the flowers done with the water & reinkers, so I think I may try it again once I collect a few more colours of Glimmer Mist.
I had a scheduled post for yesterday, but now I can't even find it in the list of posts to edit. I think the Internet ate it. I still haven't done anything touristy at all, and that's fine with me - I've spent the night with my mom, then my sister & her man, my grandma, and now back to my mom's. I've been spoiled like crazy, and learned all kinds of interesting family history. Yesterday Connor said to me, "You being on vacation, it stinks." As my mom said, good. I miss them so much, but if he's already missing me, is he ever going to be glad when I get back! Riley's not much for talking on the phone, but I'm fairly certain he misses me too. At least now he knows I haven't forgotten him, which he was worried about. As if I could!
xoxo,
Jessi

Baby Madness!

Supplies: sticker from stash...it's reaaaally old;
paper from My Mind's Eye "Tickled Pink;"
doily from Wilton;
Congrats stamp from Studio G; stamped with Palette Noir
and coloured with Prismacolor pencils;
ribbon from May Arts

Supplies: Nest, feathers, and egg stickers from PSX;
all papers from Basic Grey "Capella;"
sentiment stamp from Studio G;
stamped with Vintage Photo distress ink;
pearls from $ store;
Labels 4 Nestabilities

Supplies: all papers from Basic Grey "Two Scoops;"
"baby" medallion from Studio G;
stamped with Colorbox chalk ink & embossed with clear EP;
labels 4 nestabilities

Supplies: Owl paper from My Mind's Eye "True Blue;"
vellum sentiment from Colorbok;
yellow 'dewdrops' from $store

Supplies: Giraffe stamp from Recollections;
stamped with Palette Noir & watercoloured with Tumbled Glass distress ink;
standard oval nestabilities, sponged with Tumbled Glass;
all papers & green button from Basic Grey "Hopscotch;"
heart button from Dress it Up!;
scalloped edges made with corner rounder

Supplies: Super Dog by Sandra Boynton;
papers & some buttons from Basic Grey "Wander;"
green buttons from stash;
letters from Basic Grey

Supplies: stickers (B is for baby, word strips, 100% cute tag) from 7gypsies;
paper from Basic Grey "Hopscotch"

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Lemonade;"
stork from Colorbok;
'baby girl is love' rub-on from Daisy D's;
rhinestone strip & swirls from $store;
scalloped edges made with corner rounder

Supplies: stickers from Pebbles (I think...ancient stash!);
papers from Basic Grey "Archaic;"
'baby miracle' rub-ons from Daisy D's

Sometimes I find that I get in a groove making one type of card - last week it was baby cards, and I went nuts with them. I did a little stash-busting at the same time, which always makes me feel so virtuous - Oh, look at me, I used the rest of that sticker sheet I've had since 1999, good for me! (And now I can go buy more stuff guilt-free. lol!)
And if it's OK to say so myself, several of these cards just really make me happy - the one with the bird's nest, and the Sandra Boynton illustration, and the simple-looking Bargello technique. That one took perseverance through a bunch of mistakes, but the finished effect was totally worth it. Plus, once again I used up some old supplies making it, which makes it even better.
Just putzing around today so far - it's 1 pm and we're just getting ready to head out the door. It's another gorgeous day out there, and it's nearly time to have something delicious for lunch. Yesterday we went out for dim sum - ahhhhhh, it's been forever! - and today is still wide open. Last night I came over to my little sister's, and I'll be here until tomorrow, when I head to Gramma's. It's lovely - it's all been planned out for me, so the only day that's not already set up as to what I'm doing is Friday. And by set up, it's simply who I'm spending the day with - everything else is whatever we feel like doing. It's funny how much I missed seeing the mountains everywhere - at home all there are is little hills, so seeing the mountains again feels good. I've even got postcards ready to send in the mail, so maybe (just maybe) they'll arrive before I get home.
Off to see what's Moxie Fab today - there's always something good :)
xoxo,
Jessi

Moxie Fab Gift Card Holder Challenge

Moxie Fab World, my very favourite challenge and inspiration site (no exaggeration, either) is celebrating the release of 350 Cards & Gifts with a week of fun challenges. Gift card holders are something I enjoy making but honestly don't do much except for Christmastime. Well, with Mother's Day coming fast, I thought that maybe some girly ones would go over well. I made them the same way - I used Jen del Muro's pizza box tutorial from Splitcoaststampers for the base, and then scored a 2.5" x 5" pice of white cardstock at about 1/4 " and 2.5" to make the gift card holder. Before adhering, I used a circle punch to make a notch to get the gift card in & out easily. Then I made matching cards to tuck inside the box with maybe a couple of chocolates or something else little & cute. The cards measure 3.75" square.





Supplies: misc. cardstock, papers & brad from Basic Grey "Lemonade;"
flowers crocheted by me; lacey circle nestabilities; velcro



Supplies: Misc. cardstock; papers from Cosmo Cricket "Togetherness;"
flowers crocheted by me (outside); paper flowers from Recollections;
brad from Basic Grey; velcro

Supplies: Misc. cardstock; doily from Wilton;
dotted & dark pink paper from Basic Grey "Lemonade;"
butterfly & lacey circle Nestabilities;
scalloped edge made with corner rounder; velcro

And I'm having formatting difficulties! Argh. PLus, apparently my fingers are too big and meaty for my mom's keyboard - I've been making typos like a madwoman! I made it to Vancouver fine - and saw on Facebook that it snowed back at home yesterday afternoon. I had coffee outside in my pajamas this morning. Tee hee! I have had better flights - if you've never experienced turbulence while in an airplane bathroom, well, you just haven't lived yet. Yikes. Plus, with icky weather in Montreal, both flights were late - the first flight was late enough that I had to race from one end of terminal B all the way to the opposite end of terminal A. I was testing my blood sugar in line to board the plane! Apparently the monitors don't work above 10000 feet, and I didn't want to find that out firsthand. Anyway, for all the little bits of chaos I'm here & loving every second so far :)

xoxo,

Jessi 

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Supplies: paper from American Crafts "Abode;"
Happy Happy stamp from Daisy Bucket;
stamped with Versamark & adirondack butterscotch ink and embossed with clear EP;
labels 4 nestabilities;
flowers quilled by me;
yellow rhinestones from the $store

I was in the middle of making baby cards, and I wanted to do a yellow polka-dotted one...and this sentiment just seemed to fit. It seems to me that the finished card would be perfect for a lot of occasions...like me seeing my family TOMORROW!!!! Yippee~!

I think I already mentioned this, but I've been uploading photos like crazy so I can still post while I'm gone. I'm mostly packed, I picked up my travel sharps container and Splenda packets - since I usually carry a little baggie in my purse, and I'm pretty sure they don't like you to bring bags of white powder on the plane...lol...and if I feel especially kind, I'll even clean the bathroom before I go. Mind you, I guess it would just be kind to me, since if I don't it won't get done while I'm gone either. Three guys, uncleaned bathroom for 11 days....mmmm....yeah, I think I'll be finding some time to squeeze that in.

And, happy birthday to my littlest man Riley, who turns 11 tonight at 7:23 pm. I tried to convince him that his birthday doesn't really start until then, but he wouldn't buy it. I guess we've spent too much time already trying to convince him that it's cancelled altogether. Really, if you can't torture your children, why have them at all? lol

xoxo,
Jessi

Using up Scraps

Supplies: papers & xoxo tag from My Mind's Eye;
doily from Wilton; button from Basic Grey; bamboo thread;
stickers (owls, polka-dot border, corners) from Fancy Pants

Supplies: animal tower from Pink Cat Studio;
stamped with Palette Noir & coloured with markers;
pig watercoloured with Worn Lipstick distress ink;
animals coated with Stampendous Fun Flock;
sentiment stamp from Kaisercraft; yellow embroidery floss;
papers & button from Basic Grey "Sugar Rush"

Every once in a while I get annoyed with myself for hoarding scraps of paper - especially Basic Grey paper! I tend to end up with the covers of a pad & a stack of strips, and then they stay there in the drawer, mocking me! Last week I made several scrap-stash-buster cards, and here's a couple of them. The owls card additionally finished off the sticker sheet - bonus - since of course you can't throw out a sticker sheet that has a single corner piece left, or 1.5 inches of border....well, you can't if you're me, anyway.

Riley's birthday is tomorrow - my baby is going to be 11 years old. *sniff* Both kids want to see "Rio," and it opens tomorrow, so Riley decided that's what he wants to do for his birthday. Just from watching the preview they've both started saying "AWKWARD" all the time :)

xoxo,
Jessi

Mother's Day is Coming Soon!

Supplies: vintage card from Crafty Secrets;
papers from Basic Grey;
gold banner from Martha Stewart;
Mother's Day stamp from Kaisercraft;
stamped with Versamark & embossed with pirate gold EP

Click for a larger image (or to be able to read the sentiment!)

With Easter so late this year I completely spaced out that it's less than a month until Mother's Day. YIKES! Get ready for a slew of MD cards in the next little bit. Next to Christmas, it's probably the occasion I make the most cards for. (oooh, nice grammar, English major...) This morning I started on some little gift card holders that I think would be perfect for spa certificates or gee, hmm, crafty gift cards? Too bad Rob doesn't read my blog :)

With only three sleeps to go until my trip, I somehow foolishly agreed yesterday that I would go on a "girls only" field trip this morning - another chaperone had to back out at the last minute. Not sure what I was thinking, really. Probably that it's nice to know that the teachers know I can always help out - instead of thinking of how much I still need to get done before Saturday.

I saw some crocuses on my way to pick up the boys yesterday, and there is a pair of blue jays building a nest right outside the computer window. I can't quite spy the nest itself, but they've been going back & forth carrying all kinds of twigs for a few days now. Could spring actually be here? Then again, Friday it's only supposed to be a high of 1 degree, so maybe not quite yet.

xoxo,
Jessi

MFW 350 Cards & Gifts Week - Card Sets Challenge!

I have just recently started to enjoy making card sets - multiples have never really been my idea of a good time, but now that I've cottoned on to the "similar, not identical" concept I seem to be good to go. I made a card a few weeks ago that I just loved and decided to base a set around a similar design. Each one features a different quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, from My Favorite Things' Clearly Sentimental About Emerson. This set is also to enter into Moxie Fab World's 350 Cards & Gifts Week's Card Sets Challenge (*whew*): 

I couldn't decide which group photo I liked better (and neither is really all that great, but anyway) so I stuck them both in. Supplies for all the cards are the same:

Clearly Sentimental About Emerson from My Favorite Things; stamped with Palette Noir ink; papers all from My Mind's Eye Fine and Dandy "True Blue;" (except for two scalloped red pieces from Basic Grey "Curio"); stamps from various companies: grasses from Inkadinkado; floral silhouette from Digital Princess; butterfly unknown; bamboo crochet thread; all buttons from Basic Grey; distress inks: Tumbled Glass, Peeled Paint, Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey, Fired Brick; corner rounder for the red scalloped borders.

These will be all wrapped up in a cello bag with a pretty ribbon...once I find where I put the darn bags. I'm in such a dither getting ready for my trip (4 more sleeps!) that I have been making even more of a cluttery mess than usual. At least the floors are clean underneath all the paper, right?

And before I completely forget, I also took a half-decent picture of the baby blanket I mentioned the other day. For those of you who crochet, the whole thing is done in single crochet baby yarn. Next time I'm definitely reading the pattern more carefully. Each row was about 15 minutes, so each band of colour took just over an hour.

The adorable puppy is Connor's "Rover," who has been with him since he was born. And well-loved!

xoxo,
Jessi

Graphic 45 Fairy

Supplies: Fairy, paper frame/panel from Graphic 45;
wings sparkled with coarse crystal glitter from Martha Stewart;
brown patterned paper from My Mind's Eye "True Blue;"
greeting stamps from Kaisercraft;
stamped with Versamark & Vintage Photo distress ink
and embossed with clear EP

Through a misunderstanding ordering from a new-to-me company I ended up with several sheets of Graphic 45 "Once Upon a Springtime" tags, but no paper pad. Luckily the colours seem to match easily with other companies' products - not always the case, right? Anyhow, I really love this collection (and others...someday I'll manage to get my hands on some!) The fairy panel was popped out of its frame to glitter the wings, and then popped up on doubled foam tape for extra dimension. The frame panel is also popped up on a single layer. The bottom of the panel was a little wide, and so I doubled up the sentiments. These clear stamps from Kaisercraft drove me bonkers the first bunch of times I tried to use them...until I conditioned them. I've read about conditioning stamps, but I've never done it until these. I bought 3 sets, and they all needed it and now work beautifully, even with distress inks (usually a crapshoot with clear stamps, in my experience...)

The computer did a scary thing on Saturday morning - it went into 'power saving mode' in the middle of playing a game online. It took the whole day to figure out how to get it back for more than a few seconds at a time, and the initial troubleshooting (with Rob talking to the IT guy at work) had us thinking it was the video card on our year-old computer. Nuh-uh, please don't do that. And the printer has croaked - and though we saved the old printer, apparently we made sure to use every dang drop of ink before switching to the new piece of junk (barely 6 months old, and dead as a doornail, and with a full $60 ink cartridge that won't work in the OLD printer...) So, in advance of my trip, and just in case (heaven forbid! knock on wood...please!!) something goes more permanently wrong with the computer, I've been uploading pictures to Blogger. I figure that way I'll have cards to share while I'm gone. By the way, the original problem was solved by unhooking all the cables & rebooting the computer, then hooking them all back up and rebooting it again. As long as I live, I will never understand how that works.

xoxo,
Jessi

You're super, Mom!

Supplies: Super Mom & sentiment from Gina K;
stamped with Palette Noir & coloured with Prismacolor pencils;
Superman paper from Hot Off the Press;
buttons from stash

Supplies: collage paper from Basic Grey "Curio;"
die cut bird, butterfly, bee from K&Co;
mother's day stamp from Kaisercraft, stamped with Palette Noir

Supplies: papers & floral die cuts from K & Co;
velvet ribbon from stash;
Mother's Day stamp from Anna Griffin;
stamped with Vintage Photo distress ink;
butterflies on envelope made with Martha Stewart punch

Supplies: waterlilies image from recycled card front;
paper from My Mind's Eye "True Blue;"
roses from Recollections;
Mother's day stamp from Kaisercraft, stamped with Palette Noir

I think Mother's Day is one of my favourite occasions to create for - after all, girlie things are what I love best, and what's girlier than a day all about the special women we love??
Today I'm spending the day with my Gramma, and I'm going to enjoy every single precious minute with her spunky self. It's been almost 5 years - too long - and I can't wait!
xoxo,
Jessi

A Burst Of Blooms - MFW's Tuesday Trigger

Although I had it clipped to my desk all week, I never did get around to creating something for last week's "Farm Fresh" trigger. Looking at all the submissions just kept "Clean and Simple" stuck in my head, and CAS & I are kind of frenemies. It never looks "right" when I try to leave a card CAS, and then I add too much stuff & wreck it. Every time, I swear. Anyhow, I was relieved to see a much-more-my-style trigger this week: Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger: Burst Of Blooms
(Japanese flower scarf from Attic 24)
Flowers. My mind went instantly to flowers...and the idea of crocheting a little garden. I'm saving that idea - I think it would work really well for the gift card holders I'm making for Mother's Day, so that there's no concern about fitting things into envelopes. So I shelved the crochet idea, but kept the floral cluster in mind, and here's what came out of it:



Supplies: paper from My Mind's Eye "Tickled Pink;"
flowers from Recollections; brads from Basic Grey;
"Mother's Day" sentiment from Kaisercraft, stamped with Tumbled Glass Distress ink;
pearls from stash

I think that floral scarf would make a fabulous beginning to a blanket - I just love the rainbow of colours. Hopefully I'll get a photo of the baby blanket I finished yesterday - it's for Connor's fourth-grade art teacher, who is expecting his first child later this month. I think it's so cool that Connor wants me to make gifts for new babies. Usually he picks the yarn as well, but this time I went ahead & chose. He has excellent colour sense, but I had a PLAN. (More about that when I actually have the blankie to show you.)
xoxo,
Jessi