Playing in Paradise #96 - Winter Birds

Happy Friday! You have got to go check out the new blog look over at the Scrapbooker's Paradise blog. New layout, new photos: it looks marvelous! I am seriously in love with my new profile shot :)
I'm the hostess for this week's challenge, and we'd like to see your creations using Winter Birds! I've given a peek into how I like to upcycle old Christmas cards - but you'll have to head over to the blog to check it out!

Here are the finished cards I shared today:

Supplies: paper & tag from My Mind's Eye; standard small & lacy circle Nesties; carrara marble glitter from Martha Stewart; crocheted mat by me

Supplies: papers from Echo Park; standard small Oval Nesties; clear glitter from Martha Stewart; EK Success corner rounder punch (for scalloped edges); Colorbok glimmer paper. 

Oooh, sparkly!

Joining us as a guest designer this week is my pal Nance from Soul Stampin' - go check out her card & leave her some love on her blog too!

Have you got some Winter Birds ready to go on a project? Link it up with us by December 13th for a chance to win a fabulous prize & be a guest designer with us :) And don't forget to stop by & see what my teammates have created:

Allison

Merlie

Nina

Angela

Tonight is Sackville, NB's second Midnight Madness event - I'll be tucked into my usual spot inside the Bridge Street Cafe, and you KNOW they've got lots of Eggnog Gelato made up! Come on in & say hi if you're out & about tonight :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Friends with Flair!

It's been forever since I linked up with Unity's Friends with Flair, and I sat down earlier this week DETERMINED to make a card to share! Lindsey indulged my love for this guy by stamping out a couple for me (yay!) and he had to go right on a card. The sentiment I had already printed out to go with another image, but once I'd coloured this grumpy penguin I had to use it here:

Liquid Applique for snow, and Fun Flock on his belly & hat :)

Supplies: Grumpy Penguin guy from Unity; sentiment from Bugaboo; paper from Bo Bunny; standard small circle & oval Nesties; felt snowflake from stash; bells & rhinestones from Dollarama; Cotton Ball Fun Flock - Stampendous; Liquid Applique

 I couldn't believe that I found multi-coloured bells at the dollar store - what a score! They have packages of red/gree/gold, and blue/green/purple/red/gold. LOVE. This just feeds into my desire to put them on every card already.

This card fits right into this week's Playing in Paradise challenge too - it's my week to host, and the blog's got a brand-new look! Hope you can check it out & play along! There's a fabulous prize up for grabs - just like there is every single week :)

xoxo,
Jessi

Cards for Sebastian!

Sebastian, the little man who stole my heart earlier this year, is having another surgery. Pop over to Amy at tsuruta designs, and Ginger at Ginger's House to learn more about this sweet, brave kid and what he's going through. When I'm asked to make a card for a child, my first thought is generally SHAKER CARD! They are just fun, and my favourite ones have snowflakes. And since Sebastian is a cool dude, the sentiment was a no-brainer:

Supplies: snowman & snowflake stamps from Wilson Designs; rub-on sentiments from EAD Designs; Salty Ocean Distress ink; Palette noir ink; Pearl glimmer mist - Tattered Angels; miscellaneous snowflake confetti, microbeads, GLITTER

Do you think you have time to help fill Sebastian's hospital room with cards from all over the world? Please avoid 'get well' type cards - cheerful & fun cards are the bestest :) My card will be going in the mail this weekend!

xoxo,

Jessi

CASology #22 - SPARKLE!

Another card set using Lovely as a Tree...I so love this row of trees!

The idea for this layout came to me as I laid down last night - mulling over the prompt for this week's CASology challenge, SPARKLE:

Supplies: Stampin' Up "Lovely as a Tree;" sentiment from PTI; Memento Gray Flannel ink;  Route 66 and Pearl Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist; 1" circle punch; Colorbok silver glitter paper

This is a set of six - when I'm working on a set, I tend to do things in steps. For this set, here's what I did:

-stamped the trees (both full-strength and second-generation)

-punched 1" circle from Post-it to mask the moon area

-sprayed with glimmer mists

-let dry! 

-removed masks

-stamped sentiments

-attached panels to card bases

-cut glitter paper strips, lined with Scor-Tape

-attached glitter paper to cards, trimmed edges

I love how masking the moon highlights the glimmer on the rest of the panel! Definitely sparkly :) The CASology challenge is open until Sunday at noon. 

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash #80 - Snow/Winter or Christmas/Hanukkah

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

This week's challenge at Shopping our Stash is a perfect one for this time of year - and it's so broad! We'd like to see you SHOP YOUR STASH and create a snow/winter project, OR a Christmas/Hanukkah project. Easy-peasy!

I went silly, because, well, do you know me? I had to :)

Supplies: my all-time ever favourite winter stamp from Inkadinkado; some horribly ugly yellow patterned paper (it looks awful close up. It makes me think of...nah, never mind. It's gross); snowflake paper from MME; kraft paper; googly eyes; scrap cardstock; Tumbled Glass distress ink (for snowy edges); Picket Fence distress marker (for snowflakes); Yellow Daisy glimmer mist (Tattered Angels)...probably wasn't their intention to have it used to represent dog pee, but hey. It works.

Yep, that's a sparkly little puddle of pee.

I have already made 5 versions of this card this year, and last year I lost count. The sparkly pee is a new touch, though. I love it. I giggled the whole time I was painting it on. You can paint with your mists, too, you know! Just unscrew the spray nozzle (I save the plastic from packaging for disposable trays - you know, the stiff molded side) and put it in a safe place. Do not let go of the bottle while you are using it. Do not ask me why I told you that ;) Use full-strength as a watercolour paint. This is just on a tiny area, but it works well on larger areas too, and of course leaves a gorgeous shimmer when it dries.

This multiply-themed challenge is open until next Monday, December 10, and don't forget to check out what everyone else has been up to!

• Carla
• Leslie
• Alica
• Deena
• Paige
• Lauren
• Linda
• Michelle
• Sandie

xoxo,
Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #175 - Sweet & Sassy Stamps

Good morning! Our first December sketch brings us a new Best of the Best Designer at Tuesday Morning Sketches - wait until you see the beauty she's created! Melissa has given us a great sketch to work with:

With the large centre panel, I thought this would be a perfect sketch to do one of my favourite quick Christmas card techniques - recycling. 

Supplies: recycled Christmas card front; brads from Basic Grey; polka-dot paper from Simple Stories; kraft paper; red & kraft gingham ribbon from Barb; Bow-Easy

I love being able to re-use the gorgeous illustrations from Christmas cards, and adding all sorts of embellishments & paper keeps the design fresh & unique.

This sketch will be open until next Sunday, December 9. Make sure to hop over to the design blog and see who this month's Best of the Best designer is, and check out the amazing creations by all my teamies: 

Angela 

Bonnie

Cheryl

Dawn

Debbie

Laura

Theresa

Melissa

Be right back with my Shopping our Stash post!

xoxo,

Jessi

CAS(E) this Sketch! #7

So this rub-on was in the mix of things that Barb gave me, and I knew it needed to go on a goofy, funny card. I just needed the RIGHT thing, you know? Early yesterday morning I had the right amount of sleep deprivation, shoulder pain, coffee, and eggnog on board to come up with it!

Supplies:number stickers & twine from Doodlebug; rub-on from EAD Designs; tiny letter stickers from Kaisercraft; black Sharpie for edging panels; black rhinestones

You may have to click to view full-size to read the tiny type, but it reads "a really BIG number!"

And to show that I'm not the only one with a slightly nutty sense of humour, someone bought this card first thing Saturday morning for a 60th birthday card. Sometimes you just don't know :)

I've sort of gently used the sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch - I didn't use the scalloped element on the top panel, but I was inspired by the sketch & I can definitely see it in my card, so I'm linking up anyhow! The linky for this sketch closes on Tuesday at noon.

xoxo,

Jessi

DYSU #100 - Thanks!

It's sad news - the DYSU blog will be ending at the end of the year. I'm relatively new to their challenges (having discovered them through my dear friend Barb, who joined their DT this year) but I will miss them. I plan to play along up until the very last one, and I hope you will too - let's see them off with a bang!
Their current challenge is for thank you cards - and I decided to make a set of wintery thank you cards with some of the digi stamps I chose as part of my prize from Clear Dollar Stamps that I won via Dana's blog Reliving Tomorrow last week.

Supplies: digital stamps from Clear Dollar Stamps: FLAKES; snowflake stamps from Inkadinkado; Salty Ocean distress ink; 1 1/8" circle punch; standard circle Nesties; blue crushed velvet flock from Doodlebug

As part of the digital file, you receive both the pre-coloured and line art images. I've printed out the line art - after all, it's a snowman! Not too much colouring even for me :) A dab of orange for his nose, and a little bit of colour for his earmuffs & scarf, and then I've coated them in a layer of flocking for some fun. This is a set of 6 - when I make sets, I keep them as simple as possible. Little touches like the flocking keep them fun!

Although this card isn't for the challenge, I thought I'd finally share the fun thank you card I made for Barb  a few weeks back- I know she received it now, so it's safe to share. It's not a traditional thank you card, but I don't think Barb & I are traditional friends, either - and that's a fabulous thing :) 

Supplies: clip art from Heartwarming Vintage; papers from Bo Bunny; lacy circle Nesties (crocheted by me); Liquid Pearls; BUTTONS; fabulous rustic cream twine; LOTS of foam tape

I've used some of the goodies I was thanking Barb for here - and I had been saving that clip just for her ;) You can't give a fart card to just anyone, you know! Love you, Barb :)

The DYSU challenge is open until Tuesday at 5, so you've got time to thank someone yourself ;)
xoxo,
Jessi

Little Red Moxie Fab Wagon

Yep, now I'm just making these up.
The challenge this week at little red wagon is to incorporate trees into your design. I have a serious love for Stampin' Up's Lovely as a Tree set, particularly the group of trees. Since I've used one of my crocheted mats, I'm also popping this in for a second entry in Moxie Fab's "Frame by Frame" Tuesday Trigger.

Supplies: Stampin' Up "Lovely as a Tree;" sentiment from PTI; paper from Memory Box; Vintage Photo distress ink; Gray Flannel Memento ink; standard and lacy circle Nesties; mat crocheted by me

I've been playing around with sponging ground underneath the trees, but this time I decided to use a waterbrush and paint a little bit of Gray Flannel ink in the ground area. Memento inks are not the best for this, but I think it turned out OK :)

Another card for the little red wagon tree challenge - my first Lithuanian card! One of my most faithful customers requested a get well card for his uncle, and thought his uncle would get a kick out of the greeting being in his native Lithuanian.

Supplies: papers from Echo Park; tree stamp from Lovely as a Tree; Peeled Paint distress ink; letter stickers: grey from Jillibean Soup, green from Basic Grey

Ken wanted the card to be simple, and mailable, so I've popped the panel up on a single layer of foam tape, and for a bit of interest I wove a strip of quilling paper through slits cut along the grid pattern. That was harder than I thought it would be, but I do love how it turned out!

Here's the Trigger photo with those GORGEOUS crocheted frames:

...and here's a funny for you.

I keep a box of tea bags on the counter. Tucked away, behind the chopping boards & sugar canister. It's been there for a while, but the tea bags are individually wrapped. No one in the house regularly drinks tea, but I've been steadily using it up. In fact, on Friday I made a cup of tea for a guest. This morning Riley asked for a cup of tea as he's got a sore throat. 

No tea. 

Rob threw it out, because apparently "No one uses that. It was just sitting there!"

Rob & I have a very traditional breakdown of household chores, because I don't work outside the home. If he put away dishes, I would probably have a stroke. So suddenly he gets a wild hair to weed out things he doesn't think are being used? He works 60+ hours a week....I'm not sure what he thinks happens when he's not at home, but I just wonder if because he never saw anyone make tea, he figured that it just sat there? And he got ALL the tea, by the way. Husbands. Humph. lol!

xoxo,

Jessi

More one-layer cards?

More one-layer cards? Yes, you do still have the right blog :) Once I played along with Jackie's one-layer Christmas card challenge, I wanted to play again. So I did, a few times:

Supplies: cardstock stickers from Bo Bunny; foam tape; rhinestones

These stickers are all from the same sheet - some were originally double-ended banners, and I just cut them at different points to vary interest. Some are right on the card base, some popped on foam tape. 

Supplies: die-cuts from K & Co; pink brad from Basic Grey; Gray Flannel Memento ink; snowflake stamps from PTI; sentiment stamp from My Mind's Eye; corner rounder

The snowflakes were necessary to cover up someone's inky smudge. I don't want to talk about it ;)

Jackie's extended the deadline for her challenge to noon tomorrow, December 2 - still time to play!
xoxo,
Jessi