Let's Celebrate!

What seems like a rarity for me - I made this card using stamps from just one set!

Supplies: stamps from Neat & Tangled; Versamark and clear EP; Picked Raspberry distress ink; hot pink gems from Dollarama

I've embossed all the dark pink elements by inking the stamps first in Versamark & then with Picked Raspberry, and fussy cut the banner. The lighter pink was done by stamping on scrap paper first. Swiped the edges of the panel with ink and then attached to the cardbase. 

I was inspired by the current challenge at Make the Day Special, this tic-tac-toe board. I used the centre horizontal line of embossing, circles, and bling. 

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash #196 - The Earth Has Music

For my Tuesday Morning Sketches post click here - Thanks!! 

It's a collaboration week at Shopping our Stash! We are teaming up with Words 2 Scrap By for our challenge this week - when you make a card for SOS, you can enter it at W2SB too. There are so many ways to interpret the challenge theme this week. Here's what inspired it:

So, this month's words celebrate this first full month of spring and come from renowned author and philosopher George Santayana. 

The earth has music for those who listen.

Music? Nature? Both? Spoiled for choice with this one!

For me one of nature's most magical creations is the rainbow - so that was my starting point for my card.

Supplies: Distress inks in Barn Door, Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Crushed Olive, Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves; Palette Noir and clear EP; vellum; Inkadinkado music background stamp; embroidery supplies

I used distress inks to create a watercoloured rainbow background. I added more swipes of colour with a dry brush after creating the initial background for more texture. The sentiment is embossed on vellum and then stitched on with a rainbow of embroidery floss (that took longer than waiting for the background to dry, lol) 

I can't wait to see how everyone has fun with this! Check out the SOS crew: 

Leslie

Alica

Deena

Lauren

Donna

Chris

Barb

Chana

And you have until Monday,April 13th to come play!

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #295 - Bugaboo Stamps!

Happy Tuesday! This week at Tuesday Morning Sketches we have one of our favourite sponsors, Bugaboo Stamps! I've used the adorable Chibi Cat Girl:

Supplies: Chibi Cat Girl digi from Bugaboo;  Spectrum Noir markers; MME papers; unknown sentiment & starburst stamps; Peacock Feathers & Worn Lipstick distress inks; 1.5" circle punch; scalloped and classic small oval Nesties

Here's the great sketch - definitely a go to!

This challenge will be open until next Sunday, April 12 - hop on over & see what the rest of the team has made!

Debbie

Jenee 

Kris 

Melissa 

Nina

xoxo,

Jessi

Dashing Through the Snow...

...and you're welcome for the earworm! Seeing the current musical prompt for Jingle Belles I was tempted to reach for my tried & true musical background stamp, but instead I decided to put some NBUS to use with this set from Papertrey Ink.

Supplies: all stamps from Papertrey Ink; Versamark & Sapphire EP; Hero Arts inks in Soft Sky & Pool

I tore some vellum to mimic snow, and used the tiny snowflakes in the set to stamp the background. 

xoxo,

Jessi

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I'm sharing two cards I've made for the Tiddly Inks Anything Goes challenge, and for Curtain Call's Beginnings. 

Supplies: Emma Hoppy Easter digi from Tiddly Inks;  Spectrum Noir markers; sentiment from Pink Cat Studio; labels Nesties; 1.5" circle punch; Lil' Inkers sun & clouds dies; Mowed Lawn & Broken China distress inks; Stampin' Up flower buttons

Supplies: Chloe and her Peeps digi stamp from Tiddly Inks;  Spectrum Noir markers; AC papers; Tim Holtz design ruler & embroidery supplies; sentiment from Reverse Confetti; Memento Tuxedo Black ink

These are my very favourite Easter stamps - those little girls are just beyond precious & fun to colour. 

The Curtain Call photo prompt:

Tiddly Inks Anything Goes with Tiddly Inks. 

I hope your Easter is full of joy!

xoxo,

Jessi

Merry Monday Colour Challenge

Three attempts to make this card. Hoo boy. Sometimes the simplest cards give the most trouble!

Supplies: wreath & sentiment stamps from PTI; doily stamp unknown; Fresh Snow PTI ink; Hero Arts Tide Pool & Green Hills inks; scalloped circle Nesties; Timeless Twine; gems from dollarama; Wink Of Stella clear glitter pen

Merry Monday Colour Challenge:

xoxo,

Jessi

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - J is for...

Just kidding! The Snarky Sisters want to see your funny cards this time around. Here's mine, and then I'll show you my inspiration.

Supplies: unknown flower stamp and stencil; Crushed Olive, Pumice Stone, and Tattered Rose distress inks; paper & enamel dots from MME; Versamark & clear EP; Tonic edge distresser; AC Thickers

You might already know this, but I'm often sarcastic. (Sorry, should have warned you to put down your coffee). One of my friends likes to send me this picture whenever I say something particularly obnoxious:

Now doesn't that just beg to be made into a card?

You know you want to get your funny on with us - 

Barb

Chris

Donna

Karen

Lee

Lindsey

Lynne 

Michelle

You've got until Friday, April 17 to join in with us! 

And don't forget to stop by and leave our guest designers MICHELLE and JANE some love for their projects! 

Before I forget, this is also perfect for the current Naughty or Nice challenge - In Bloom. 

xoxo,

Jessi

Light it up Blue!

Welcome  to the Light It Up Blue For Autism Awareness Blog Hop! I've changed my blog colours to blue to match, and I'm super excited to be part of this hop organized by two fellow autism moms, Veronica & Tenia! Visit either of their blogs for the blog hop list and to find out about all the fantastic generous sponsors. 

So why am I hopping today? I am the proud mother of two boys with autism. Connor is now 16 and Riley will be 15 this month. I won't go on for a long time because there will be a couple hundred stops along the hop, but I will tell you a few things about my boys.

Both were diagnosed in 2003 - Connor in March, Riley in December. We had known for some time that Connor was 'different' and we were waiting for a diagnosis. Riley's development pattern was so very different from Connor's that it wasn't until Connor's diagnosis that we started to realize that Riley was on the spectrum too. My cousin has autism, and my half-brother does as well. I researched autism in university, I volunteered in high school with several autistic students - and what I can tell you? Every person with autism (and how their autism presents) is as unique as fingerprints. 

Shortly after their diagnoses, the psychologist told me that Connor would be indistinguishable from his peers by grade 3. He said that Riley would likely never interact normally with other children. The reason I mention this is to tell you that predictions made for your child's future are absolutely useless. Imagine someone had said to your parents at age three what your life would be like today. Connor could not blend in if he tried (and he doesn't want to). Riley has several friends that come over to visit on a regular basis. 

All that is not to say that we don't struggle - along the way both boys have also been diagnosed with anxiety and depression. Riley also has OCD. Connor has a speech impediment and dysgraphia. They work very hard, every single day, and  they are thoughtful, kind, considerate young men. 

First day of school!

Now on to my card :) I figured a blue love card would be just right.

Supplies: stamps from Reverse Confetti; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Peacock Feathers distress ink; heart buttons from Dress it Up; paper from MME; heart Nesties

Thank you so very much for hopping with us today - mwah!

xoxo,

Jessi

Have a Hoppy Day!

Finally got myself together to play along ON TIME with the JUGs challenge! Yay! AND the Doodle Pantry challenge - it's been a while for both, so yay me :) 

Supplies: image & sentiment from Doodle Pantry; papers from AC; Spectrum Noir markers; 1.5" circle punch; embroidery supplies; Crushed Velvet flock from Doodlebug

Some more of my quickly-becoming-addictive random stitching, and a layout designed to let me use some of the adorable scraps from this paper pad. 

Here's the photo prompt from JUGs:

xoxo,

Jessi

Put on Your Sunglasses!

This is a bright one! I was inspired by the photo at FUSION and the Tic-Tac-Toe challenge at The Paper Players to create this super bright and cheery birthday card.

Supplies: paper from AC; Versamark & yellow EP; Mustard Seed & Squeezed Lemonade distress inks; Gray Flannel Memento ink; neat & tangled sequins; unknown stamp set; embroidery supplies

The embossed yellow circle is all polka-dotty - and for once, I was able to get the multi-layer stamps lined up pretty well on my first try!  Two shades of yellow sequins and ta-da!

FUSION:

The Paper Players: I used the diagonal choices of yellow, sequins, and polka dots

xoxo,
Jessi