Shopping our Stash #88 - Bling!

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

Time for another in our series of stash-busting supply challenges! This week at Shopping our Stash we want you to use some of your hoarded bling - rhinestones, stickles, glitter, etc. Here's the thing - I don't hoard bling as a general rule. I use it, a lot. 

These hearts are an exception. I don't remember how old they are - I'd venture at LEAST a year, possibly two. They are pretty in the package, but I can't say I'm all that happy with how they look on a card. And even though I used three, I didn't quite finish the package...closer, though!

Supplies: Heart-shaped rhinestone stickers from Dollarama; papers from Basic Grey

This Shopping our Stash challenge is open until Monday February 11th.  Don't forget to check out what everyone else has been up to!

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

As for me, writing this right as it's due to go live, I'm going to go make the kids' lunches & then go back to bed! A four-hour time difference between my mom & I makes for an awfully late-night conversation - and it turns out I'm too old to go to bed at 1 a.m. and still get up at 5 ;) Wouldn't trade it for the world though - love you, Mom :) 

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #184 - Freckled Fawn!

Good morning! We have a really fabulous sketch for you this week at Tuesday Morning Sketches - fun & funky & versatile. And a terrific prize up for grabs from Freckled Fawn - you KNOW you could put that to good use :)
As soon as I saw this sketch I knew I wanted to use a crocheted mat - I mean, it's RIGHT THERE ON THE SKETCH! I had to!

Supplies: stamps from CTMH, from Theresa - (that's her CTMH  link! You should go shop!) 

washi tape from We R Memory Keepers; Tumbled Glass & Peacock Feathers distress inks; standard small & lacy circle Nesties; random bling 

We are welcoming a new Best of the Best designer this month too - make sure to stop by & say hi! This sketch will be open until next Sunday, February 10th. What did everyone else make?

Angela 

Bonnie

Dawn

Debbie
Jenee

Laura

Theresa

Melissa

xoxo,

Jessi

Moxie Fab Background Paper

I had so much fun with this card! I knew I wanted to keep playing with my Paper Smooches stamps, and that I wanted to feature this fun background paper...after all, it should be the star of its own show. I thought making a recessed frame would do exactly that. I was going to go with a silhouette or some sort of 'pretty' image, and then I dropped this rabbit while putting it back into the package. The funny tilt made me think of him peeking in to say 'hi', and look at that, my card came together!

Supplies: Paper Smooches stamps; standard small circle Nesties; Palette Noir ink; shaving cream paper made with Ranger Posh Rainbow inks

Seriously, this just makes me happy to look at. 

The paper was made using the shaving cream marbling technique - Splitcoast has a wonderful tutorial on this technique here.  I have a husband & two boys, one of whom is already shaving (gulp!) but my husband prefers gel shaving cream. My son actually picked out the regular fluffy stuff a while back, and so having the proper cream on hand gave me the thought to finally try this technique a while back. 

This time around, after pressing the two pieces of cardstock together (as in the tutorial) I used a 3rd piece to 'scrape' the excess shaving cream off in a straight motion. I found this worked better for me than the tutorial technique. Also, since this was my second try, I had the knowledge from last time that yes, I was going to be sticking my hands in the dyed shaving cream....and turning my hands a lovely shade of 'um, is that a rash?' Disposable vinyl gloves to the rescue! 

The rabbit & sentiment are stamped directly on the card base, and the patterned piece is adhered with foam tape for a bit of dimension, with a small border left on the edges (about 1/8 " all around).

Today is the last day to link up for the 75 Creative Card Challenges week at Moxie Fab World - I so love seeing what everyone has linked up to share!

xoxo,
Jessi
ETA: Silly rabbit! Jen pointed out that this counts as a window card too - duh! Now why didn't I think of that? So I'm popping it in at that Moxie Fab challenge too :) Thank you, Jen!

CAS(E) this Sketch #12 - love!

I've got another Paper Smooches card to share - I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with this awesome CAS(E) this Sketch! at first. When I had the kraft paper out suddenly everything clicked - I love it when that happens. Essentially all the elements on this card came together by me leaving stuff on my desk...everything but the white embossing powder was on my desk.

Supplies: Recollections kraft cardstock; Paper Smooches stamps & twine; Versamark & white EP; felt banner from Barb's stash :)

I tied the twine, then taped the banner to the back of the panel, and used foam tape to stick the whole thing onto the card base. I love the texture of the kraft twine! When I saw the green banner, I quickly coloured the hearts in to draw those elements together. Sweet, simple, and even a good guy card!

Here's the sketch - the linky's open until tomorrow:

xoxo,

Jessi

Paper Smooches SPARKS (and more PS love!)

Like I said yesterday, I have a whole bunch of Paper Smooches stamps waiting to be loved, and I have been busy doing just that. I've got one card here for the current PS SPARKS challenge - I'll share that first - and then I'll show you some more! Here's the inspiration photo:

And here's my card - it evolved in a strange way, and although I was inspired to choose the orange paper by the photo, it morphed from there into this:

Supplies: orange, green, and houndstooth papers from Pink Paislee; dark orange circles from scrap; circle punches; standard small circle Nesties; markers; yellow cardstock; Palette Noir ink; googly eyes; Sakura clear glaze pen (for beak); and OH YEAH PAPER SMOOCHES STAMPS! lol

I stamped the bird twice on yellow cardstock, and once on white for the hat & beak. I layered a second set of wings underneath the solid bird - just the wings have foam, for a bit of dimension. Then the beak is adhered with a teeny bit of foam & overlapping the right eye to match up with the original stamp. A little fiddly but fun!

So that was inspired by the current SPARKS challenge - now here are a couple more:

Supplies: Paper Smooches stamps; Palette Noir ink; K&Co grass border; (tee-hee) and haha! stamps from CTMH; coloured with markers & Distress inks

Supplies: Paper Smooches stamps; standard small oval Nesties; Barn Door, Vintage Photo, Antique Linen distress inks; Martha Stewart Score Board; Palette Noir ink; Sakura black glaze pen

Supplies: Paper Smooches stamps; Palette Noir ink; papers from Bo Bunny; Sakura black glaze pen; googly eyes; Mod Podge Dimensional Magic; Sakura Stardust glitter pen

Close-up on the glitter & shine!

And these are just the PS cards that don't fit into any current challenges...looking ahead I have several more PS cards to share for challenges :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Finally! Spilling the secret!

I am TERRIBLE AT WAITING! Without further torture, here's my exciting news:

I am on the Midnight Margaritas "Designated Designers" Team for Drunken Stampers!

Luckily, you don't need a license to be a DD in this game :)

Today is our first challenge of the term!  I'm SO EXCITED to be joining this talented team - I mean, really, these are my PEEPS! Drunken Stampers has weekly challenges, and there are 2 teams to bring you inspiration. This term will be challenges based on movies:

 it will be an EITHER-OR-BOTH type of challenge. You can EITHER use the movie in the title as inspiration OR use the suggested theme or item. You may want to even kick it up a notch and use BOTH! We can’t wait to see your creativity with these challenges!

Furry creatures, hmmm? I still have a whole bunch of Paper Smooches stamps waiting to be inked up, so I decided to go with one of those - and I got all techniquey and even stamped my own background paper (pats self on back).

Supplies: all stamps from Paper Smooches; Palette Noir ink; Versamark & white EP; Vintage Photo & Barn Door distress inks; 1/2" square punch for notching banner ends; scrap paper for paper-piecing the pup & his hat; polka-dot kraft paper from stash; standard small oval Nesties

I know you've got furry creatures in your crafty stash - so go play! Our "Groundhog Day" challenge (#113) linky will be open until next Friday night, February 8th. Don't forget to go see what the Midnight Margarita team has created, and leave them some love at their blogs too!

Spike

Jackie

Barbara

Chris

Vicki

and Donna's playing this week too!

*happy flapping*

I'd better stock up on limes....after all, now I'm COMMITTED to having a wee tipple. It's my JOB. 

xoxo,

Jessi

TMS #183, redux

Happy Saturday! My images arrived yesterday, so I'm popping in with another card for this week's Tuesday Morning Sketch #103.  How sweet is this little owlie? And you know I'm a sucker for a punny sentiment :) Thank you so much, Laura, for sending on this adorable Lil' Inker birdie!

Supplies: Lil' Inker Designs Birthday Owl; orange paper from stash; watercoloured with Distress Inks: Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn; standard small Oval Nesties

This time I worked with the sketch the way it was drawn:

There's still a couple days left to play - the linky for this sketch closes tomorrow evening! 

I haven't forgotten to tell you my big news - I'm just waiting for the post to go live so I can share too :) Squee!

xoxo,

Jessi

Muse #2

*whew* I thought I was going to miss this one! Muse Challenge #2 ends at noon today. I wrote down a number of different prompts for me to take back to my desk about Suzanne's card...hot pink, xoxo, black, bold flowers, rounded corners...and I drew a rough sketch. I think the first thing to pop out at me was the xoxo sentiment - after all, that's how I end my posts :)

Supplies: all paper from Recollections; Pink Paislee chipboard alphabet; black Sharpie

Hot pink was really the first item I decided to go with - this doesn't seem to be a colour I use often, so I really wanted to. I love the way Suzanne's separated the different patterned papers on her card, and I wanted to have a similar effect. I cut along the pattern in the chevron paper, and then edged it with black Sharpie to make it stand out against the background. 

Can you believe it, there was only one 'x' in this package of letters? How often do you need more than one? I thought about using a different colour, but I really liked the pop of black against the bright colours in Suzanne's card, so I went with an abbreviated sentiment instead. 

Thanks for this week's inspiration, Suzanne! There are 9 hours left to play while I'm typing this, so if you scurry you can play too & link up over at Muse. As for me, I'll be back shortly with my promised fun announcement a little later on :)

xoxo,

Jessi

Playing in Paradise #102 - Sketch Time!

Happy Friday! It's Allison's week as hostess at Playing in Paradise, and that means SKETCH TIME! My card is one that I created during last week's mojo-return blitz, and I really love how it turned out. Here's the sketch:

And my card:

Supplies: Victorian embossing folder from Cuttlebug; sentiment sticker from Doodlebug; twine from Paper Smooches; butterflies from Hero Arts; Mustard Seed and Dried Marigold Distress inks; Inksentials blending tool & foam; Bow Easy

The multi-loop bow is made by following a super-detailed tutorial by my pal Emily - seriously, you will find them addictive! 

This challenge will be open until next Thursday, February 7th. To add your NEW project to the linky & see what the rest of  the team has created, click on over to the Scrapbooker's Paradise blog, and check out the DT on their blogs too:

Allison

Nina

Dawn

Linda

Riley's off to see a physiotherapist today - nothing urgent, just getting some paperwork sorted for the school and some details about alternative exercises for gym class. He was born with an incomplete rectus abdominis, which was mentioned shortly after he was born, and then never again. He had other health problems as a toddler and then autism, of course, so we attributed everything to one of these other things...turns out HEY, that muscle does a lot. Like helps you hold your urine, for example. Helps you sit up. ANYWAY. This will cross some t's and dot some i's so the poor kid can stop getting in trouble in gym class for things that are physically impossible for him to do. 

And the whole reason why I started to tell you this? I need to do a better job of explaining what new appointments are for/who they're with. Last night, Riley said he didn't want to go, and that he was nervous. When I asked him why, he said:

"Because I don't know what the psycho therapist is going to make me do." 

Right on. I'd worry too, if I had to go see a psycho therapist! 

Anyway, hope that made you giggle :) I'll be back bright & early tomorrow morning with some very exciting news - stay tuned!

xoxo,

Jessi

Friends with Flair!

Guy cards....we all have our own go-to when we're making them, right? One of mine is this awesome stamp from Unity:

Supplies: stamps from Unity; Palette Noir ink; arrow & brad from stash; paper & sticker from Fancy Pants; Corner Chomper

Seriously, this phrase NEVER FAILS to bring a smile! Linking up with Friends with Flair  this windy Friday morning :) The wind has been crazy the last few days, and the temperature went from -16C Tuesday morning to +8C Wednesday and +13C Thursday. That's just not right. And it turns out, with the wind blowing *just so* all kinds of crazy noises 'go bump in the night' so I spent most of the night trying to calm the dog. Abby thought we were being invaded, I guess. You'd think after the 40th or 50th banging sound she'd relax, but nope. My dog is a big chicken!

Here's hoping for a nap later on ;)
xoxo,
Jessi