Flashback Friday 19.0 - CAS

Clean and simple? Hmm, not really my forte. I had to dig around, and found 2 from my first few months of blogging, complete with scanned/washed out pictures. Here's the very first one, from October 2010:

Original post here, with supplies

Besides wanting to go back & learn how to use my camera ages before I actually did, I think I might still be happy with this card. I do sort of want to reach in and ink the edges of the embossed panel & tag, though :)

Anyhow, if you'd like to play along over at Flashback Friday, poke around through your blog & find your first posted CAS card & link up by January 27. Have fun!

xoxo,
Jessi

Guest Designer at Playing in Paradise!

I was lucky enough to be the winner at Playing in Paradise Challenge #46, using buttons, with these entries.  And guess what? When I was about to start making my card for today's challenge, Tall & Skinny, the postman knocked on the door & there was my prize package: the Happy Day Collection Kit from Memory Works!

Click to go check out the challenge!

I already had a vague idea of what I wanted to make - a tall and skinny card, with vertical elements to emphasize the "tall and skinny." The kit was perfect! Check it out:

Supplies: papers and sticker elements from  Memory Works;
'because I love you' stamp from Studio G;
buttons from Basic Grey

The card base measures 8.5" by 4." The bottom layer of striped paper is Celebrate, the ledger paper printed with months is from Title Strip, and the numbers from Birthday Memories.  The polka dotted numbers and alphabet stickers are from Expressions Cardstock Stickers. I've linked to all those products separately, but of course they're available in the Happy Day Collection Kit as well. 

So how did I make my card? The element pieces were cut out of the large sheets, and I tore the numbers piece carefully along one edge. The months piece has a scalloped edge, which I fussy-cut, and then punched out holes in each scallop with a 1/8" punch. I pulled out my handy-dandy bag of embroidery floss bobbins, picked some matchy colours out, and made little tassels. 

The sentiment panel uses another bit of the ledger design. I used Martha Stewart markers to ink up the letters in different colours, huffed, then stamped. Then I took out my Basic Grey buttons and used all the clear-ish ones that I generally find hard to use. They just don't show up well on darker patterned paper, but they were perfect for this ledger design. I stitched the buttons on with alternate 'finishes' - tying some on top, and others sewn straight onto the paper. 

After sewing the buttons on I adhered the whole panel with foam tape. The number stickers are stuck directly to the paper, and the letters spelling out "all days, always" used a double layer of foam tape. This card is for a dear friend of mine, and I loved all two hours I spent fiddling with it. Good thing I plan to hand-deliver it, because it also weighs about 3 ounces :)

So, head on over to the Scrapbooker's Paradise blog to link up YOUR card for challenge #48. Thanks so much to Pam and all the other talented design team members for having me as a guest - it was such a blast!

xoxo,

Jessi

ETA: I've fixed the link to go directly to the #48 challenge post - for some reason it's not showing up in the general challenge link I'd posted before. Sorry about that!

Keep Looking Up! Barbles Challenge #2

Guess what? Barb is hosting another challenge, Keep Looking Up! She's given us five photos to use as inspiration points, and the challenge runs until January 31st. I am ALL OVER THIS. I love each & every photo, and Barb took them herself. (She's talented, guys...) For my first challenge card I used this photo as my inspiration:

And here's my card:

Supplies: teal paper from Basic Grey "Sweet Threads;"
doily patterned paper from My Mind's Eye "Paris & Co;"
trees stamp from Stampin' Up!; sentiment from Studio G;
Memento London Fog ink;
sky inking done with Milled Lavender, Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold,
and Spun Sugar distress inks, and Frost White Colorbox pigment ink;
the sun was done with the white ink & then a very light layer of Mustard seed.

I knew as soon as I saw the photograph that I wanted to use the group of trees, and ink up my own version of a winter sunrise. It was fun & messy, especially once I got into the pigment ink...

So, check out the challenge, see what catches your eye, and make some cards! You have all of January to hop to it, and look at all the gorgeousness you can be inspired by:

xoxo,

Jessi

My first Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge!

I was so super lucky to win my first Paper Smooches stamp set from sweetie pie Barb at kinsale creations in December as part of her first Barbles challenge (ahem, check my sidebar for the link to her second challenge...awesomeness!) I've coveted PS stamps for a while, and this particular set, Hope, is one I wanted for a very specific reason. A close friend has been diagnosed with cancer, and the prognosis is not good. You can't give someone in that situation a get well card. This set is perfect.

When I saw the inspiration photo for this SPARKS challenge I immediately had an idea for my card, and I ended up making two versions. Here's the photo:

I love the rainbow colours, the text, the inspiring messages, and the white space. I find white space very challenging to incorporate into my cards - patterned paper and I are thisclose and I don't like to leave it out too often ;)

Supplies: Hope from Paper Smooches;
twine from Emily at Art from the Heart (who made me covet PS stamps sooo badly!);
brads from Basic Grey;
inks for "hope" (from top to bottom): Taken with Teal (SU!); Broken China Distress ink, Citrus Adirondack,
Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold, & Fired Brick distress inks;
Ribbon stamped in Versamark, and sentiment stamped in Memento London Fog

Supplies: Hope from Paper Smooches;
rainbow coloured rhinestones;
Memento London Fog ink for sentiment & border words (faith hope love);
Inks used for "hope" from top to bottom: Taken with Teal (SU!); Broken China Distress ink,
Citrus Adirondack, Mustard Seed, Dried Marigold, & Fired Brick distress inks;
ribbons stamped in Versamark

For my second card I wanted to include the distressed effect of the text in the inspiration picture, and so I stamped off once after inking each colour.

This SPARKS challenge runs until January 11, so go check out all the awesome entries already there & then make something of your own :) 

xoxo,

Jessi

Thank goodness, December!

*link up your 2011 favourites at Ingenious Inkling until January 10th*

Original post here, with supplies

I was determined to not pick a Christmas card as December's favourite. I haven't gotten my Christmas craft supplies put away yet, but I'll have to this week so that I can make room for Valentine bits & pieces!

I was still catching up with Sookie Stackhouse for much of December, but there were a few other books that crept in:

 Micro by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston Once you get past the eerie "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" aspect, it actually becomes a fun read. IF you can get past that.

 Angelina's Bachelors by Brian O'Reilly This definitely made me hungry while reading it, but it's a quick and light read that I picked up & finished on Boxing Day. 

(In case you're interested, the total number of books that I read in 2011 was 211.) 

Thanks for checking out my favourites :)

xoxo,

Jessi

November...getting closer, thank goodness!

Original post here, with supplies

Oh yeah, I definitely love this card. Texture, sewing, fun stuff!

Don't forget to link up at Ingenious Inkling! You have until January 10th.

November & December's reading was incredibly un-diverse. That's because I started reading the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, and I had to read them all. Immediately. 

 The Sookie Stackhouse books, or Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris

I'm still on the wait list for the third season of True Blood at the library...and I can't wait! 

  Georgia Bottoms by Mark Childress. Funny. The concept is funny, the execution is hilarious, and I actually found myself gasping and laughing out loud while reading.

xoxo,

Jessi

October favourites

*don't forget to link up your own favourites at Ingenious Inkling!*

Original post here, with supplies

Still love this one :) Yummy orange, pretty bling...happy sigh!

October's reads were more satisfying, and actually I mentioned most of them already. I read 16 books, and there are 4 I'd recommend - only 3 for Meg, though, since I already know she didn't like the first one!

 The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich. Granted, the ending was a little tidy, but I enjoyed the journey.

Second Nature by Jacquelyn Mitchard - O.M.G. If you get sucked in within the first few pages, as I did, don't plan to do anything else before you finish reading. I loved it. I cried buckets. 

 The Fine Art of Insincerity by Angela Hunt 

and 

 The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian. I haven't regretted a single book I've read by Chris Bohjalian. There is always something that leaves me thinking, occasionally something that leaves me scratching my head, but always I close the book at the end and think "whoa." This one is definitely worth reading all the way through - and that's all I'm going to say about that ;)

xoxo,

Jessi

September

Looking through September's projects I found quite a few favourites...and then I saw this:

Original post here, with supplies

And when you see what Rob found for me for my birthday (and finally, the hat arrived after Christmas) you'll see why I had to pick this one: 

   Go see what else Knitwits offers! 

They're too awesome. The mittens are super warm, and they double as hand puppets. Awe. some. ness. 

If you're just now getting around to thinking about your favourite cards of the last year, Stephanie's round-up at Ingenious Inkling is still open until January 10th, so you have loads of time to join in.

Books for September...there were only 13, and I've looked through the list a few times & not sure I really recommend any of them as must-reads. Almost every one was part of a mystery series, series that I'd recommend as a whole, but not necessarily the individual books, if you know what I mean. That includes the latest Temperance Brennan book by Kathy Reichs - a series I normally love, but not so much this one.

Flash and Bones by Kathy Reichs (and I love the TV series, or, at least, I did as soon as I accepted it as its own 'thing' and not a by-the-book adaptation!)

and how about
 The Real Macaw by Donna Andrews I love this series that combines humor, crafts, and mystery. Her Turing books are even better, imho, but again, this particular book wasn't my favourite.

I haven't made many things in the past couple of weeks, but I do hope to spend some time at my desk once the boys head back to school on Tuesday.
xoxo,
Jessi

August...running out of titles...

I only blogged 8 times in August?! Strange! It does make sense, because we got Abby the Wonder Dorg at the beginning of the month, and adjusting to life with a non-cat took some time, and so did soaking up as much sunshine as possible. That made it very easy to pick my favourite card of the month, though:

Original post here, with supplies & creation story

I'm pretty sure there's still black ink splotches in my kitchen from THIS adventure.

Nineteen books read in August, and several stood out looking back:

Big Girl Small by Rachel deWoskin

Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner (an author I love!)

Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson (seriously, seriously creepy. Seriously.)

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett (another favourite author)

I've been lucky to read so many good books this year - hopefully some of these are piquing your curiosity as well!

xoxo,
Jessi

July Picks

My card choice for July is an easy one, because I made it with a recipient in mind, and he loved it.

Original post here, with supplies

I love this Daisy Bucket stamp, and I use it all the time. A whimsical little monster guy :)

Funny thing about my book choices for July, is that I already blogged about them both!  I had to add my voice to the millions of others recommending 

 The Help by Kathryn Stockett

 The Widows of Paradise Bay by Jill Sooley.

There were 18 books that I finished in July, and not many standouts. I was catching up on James Patterson's backlist, and still am. Fun books to read, and fast, but not necessarily something to remember either!

xoxo,
Jessi