Flashback Friday 20.0 - Woot! woot!

Well, it feels like it took for.e.ver to find my first mostly black & white card for Flashback Friday Challenge 20.0, but I did it (yay me, pats self on back...) This is from May 2011:

Original post here

There's a ginormous prize up for grabs for commenting on the celebration hop & participating in this round of the Flashback Friday Challenge - and you have 3 weeks to get yourself linked up, so what are you waiting for?
Seriously, go.
Like, now.
I mean, you HAVE three weeks, doesn't mean you have to take THAT LONG.
(Oddly, this is starting to sound like my husband when I have a deadline that I'm procrastinating about....ahem.)
But I digress.
Thanks, Amy, for all the fun!
xoxo,
Jessi

A bunch of birthdays...

Supplies: Memory Works papers & stickers;
super fun mesh ribbon from Barb!;
needle & thread

Supplies: Papers from MME;
sentiment & image from MFT; watercoloured with distress inks;
Palette Noir ink;
flowers from Recollections; ribbon from Offray;
brad from stash; standard Oval Nesties;
liquid applique & Sakura Stardust pen

Supplies: all papers from Memory Works;
Tonic edge distresser; foam tape

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Life of the Party;"
rabbit with presents & sassy sentiment from The Cat's Pajamas;
balloon stamp from Studio G; 'Happy Birthday' from Inkadinkado;
Palette Noir ink;
black crochet thread; Quickie Glue Pen;
Stampendous Fun Flock (cotton ball white)

Awww, look how fuzzy!

Supplies: all papers from Basic Grey "Wander;"
bicycle stamp from Recollections;
birthday stamp from Inkadinkado;
Palette Noir ink;
buttons from stash; black embroidery floss;
edges done with black Sharpie

We survived the snow day. That is all :) lol - I told the kids that if they fought, they'd spend the rest of the day outside. I only had to send them out twice, and the second time I made them shovel the driveway. Two birds with one stone, really.

I'm off to get my hair done this morning....if I get brave I *just* might share pictures later :)

xoxo,

Jessi

PPC #51 - CAS? Yikes!

My heart sunk just a little bit when I read Nina's challenge for Playing in Paradise #51 - Clean and Simple using hearts. CAS & me are not besties. I persevered, though, and in my humble opinion I did it :) You should play along too - you have until noon on Thursday to link up!

Supplies: red cardstock from MFP (from JJ!)
heart doily from Royal; button from Dress it Up!;
twine from Emily; sentiment from Stampin' Up!;
silhouette stamps from Inkadinkado;
Colorbox Frost White pigment ink; Worn Lipstick distress ink

Pigment ink & I don't always jive either, but I'm pretty proud of myself - I didn't smudge it all to heck, and I even set it aside & let it dry naturally for a while before giving it a 'just to be sure' zap with the heat gun. {monkey clapping!} It's the little things, folks...lol. The kids are home for a snow day today, so send blueberry mojitos! (Well, any flavour, but obviously blueberry is best, right, Emily? :P)
xoxo,
Jessi

The last of my Barbles Challenge #2 posts...

Supplies: Stampin' Up! "Fifth Avenue Floral;"
versamark & white EP; Ranger ink refill (floating reinker technique);
buttons from stash; PSX bubblegum pink ink (envelope)

Inspired by both of these photos:

   

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Out of Print;"
tree stamp from Stampin' Up!; Palette Noir ink;
rub-on from Kaisercraft

Inspired by this photo:

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Out of Print;"
Cuttlebug birthday embossing folder; Ranger 'interference red' spray;
standard circle Nesties; flower quilled by me;
dew drops from $ store

Inspired by the flower in this photo:

:

As you must know by now, I really found Barb's January "get me outta my funk" challenge inspiring. Funny, though, how at the beginning the photos I was most drawn to, ended up inspiring the fewest cards? That's why I love inspiration challenges.They really open my mind to the possibilities. 

Today's the last day to enter Barbles challenge #2, so if you have one last card to link up, hurry!

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping Our Stash #36 - Winter Blues

It wasn't until reading this challenge that I realized I don't tend to use a lot of blue in cards - I find blues very hard to match. There's lots of blue paper in my stash, though, so off I went to give it a whirl, and I came up with two cards - one blue in colour only, and one a little blue in colour & theme.

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Marjolaine;"
flower stamp from Hero Arts; sentiment from MFT;
Versamark & Pirate Gold EP;
labels 4 Nesties

flowers coloured with Martha Stewart markers;
I only had scraps of the paper I wanted to emboss the flowers on,
so I stamped it on two pieces & hid the seam (and enlarged
the panel this way) behind the olive scrap. 

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Wander;"
dog stamp from TAC; sentiment from Michaels;
Palette Noir ink;
standard oval & Labels 4 Nesties

The challenge closes tonight, so you have 16 hours to link up here with your Winter Blues project.
xoxo,
Jessi

Barbles Challenge #2 - Bird on a Wire

It's the last 2 days for Barb's second Barbles Challenge, and I'm down to my last few cards to share (well, for this challenge anyway...I'm not sure I'll ever run out of un-blogged cards.) 

Supplies: bird stamp from Inkadinkado;
Versamark, Palette Noir ink, black EP;
Colorbox Frost White pigment ink;
sentiment rub-on from Kaisercraft

I think it's fairly obvious how I was inspired by the Bird on a Wire photo - to me, the photo has a feeling of loneliness, and when I'm alone I'm generally thinking of someone else, so... I used a crumpled tissue to sponge on patches of the white ink, and another tissue to blend them in a bit - this had a neat side effect of emphasizing the texture of the cardstock. Unintended but nice bonus! The wire was drawn with a fine-tip Sharpie, and the black borders were done with a regular Sharpie.

There was a run on thank-you cards this weekend at the market - silly me, focusing on Valentines, and now I'm down to 4 thank yous.... I know what I'm working on today!

xoxo,

Jessi

Barbles Challenge #2 - Sparkly Caterwauling?

You already know I'm strange, right? OK, good.
For my latest in a series of a billion entries into Barb's second Barbles Challenge, I was inspired by two of her photos: the sparkly daylily (the colour and the sparkle in the dew drops & on the sentiment) and, more obviously, caterwauling!

Supplies: papers from AC Abode;
image from Inkadinkado; Palette Noir ink;
coloured with Prismacolor pencils & Dove blender;
Studio G sentiment; Sakura Stardust glitter pen;
Offray ribbon & Bow Easy;
'dew drops' from the $ store

Using this stamp on a birthday card had never occurred to me - it's packaged with a Christmas sentiment in red & green papers, and then I saw this card by Therese at lostinpaper. (If you've never visited Therese, oh em gee, go right now.) Colouring is not something I do very often, since it takes practice, and I'm more of an instant gratification kind of girl (odd with the quilling, but hey, I yam what I yam). I do like how this kitty turned out though!

Go! You have until January 31st to link up! Lots of time!

There will be more cards from me for Barb's challenge - I know, I know, but not only are there cool prizes, the photos are just whetting my creative appetite. 

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Trigger - Winter Blossoms

I've had this idea circling around in my head since Cath posted this edition of the Tuesday Trigger, and I made the flowers last week...and then *cough* {totally fell apart}...just got around to making the actual card today. One of my new year's 'things' (not a resolution!) was to use one of the notepads I got for Christmas as a challenge keeper. Instead of putting little pieces of paper in random places (and losing them) I now have a real *place* for noting these things. By the way, the paper pad I'm using? Made of poo. (Check it out here:  mine is the panda scratch pad!)

Moving right along (oh, see what I did there? *snort*), here's the Trigger photo:

Gorgeous, right? I was mainly inspired by the neutral palette, and the flowers. Here's my card:

Supplies: kraft paper from MFP (from JJ!);
flourish stamp from Fiskars;
Old Paper, Antique Linen, and Vintage Photo distress ink;
sentiment stamp from Inkadinkado;
pink pearls from $ store

I had quilled a whole bunch more flowers for this design, but when it came time to get them on the card there was just no way to squeeze them all in there. Now, write today's date down - I decided maybe, just maybe, that less is more. And that's the first & last time that's gonna happen :)

Because of the CHA schedule today is the deadline for this Trigger, so if you're meaning to play along better skedaddle and link up!

xoxo,

Jessi

Playing in Paradise #50 - Inspiration Challenge!

Now check out these cute little penguin faces, and tell me you don't want to squeeze those cheeks:

Link up to the Challenge Here!

For my card I was initially thinking that I'd go with the soft feeling of the pom-pom hats, and then I realized that I had a penguin stamp from Christmas that could totally work as a friendship Valentine. {monkey clapping}

Supplies: papers from AC Abode & Bo Bunny;
Inkadinkado image & sentiment;
Palette Noir ink; Mod Podge Dimensional Magic;
Stampendous Fun Flock in Cotton Ball;
buttons from Dress it Up!;
standard & lacey circle Nesties 

glossy & fuzzy!

I'm a bit of a last-minute Lucy here, and you only have 11 hours left to go to link up, but you can do it :) 

xoxo,

Jessi

The first batch of Valentines...

Mondays should be stopped. I don't know how, but if yesterday could just be erased altogether, that would be great. 

Supplies: paper & cherry sticker/rubon from DCWV;
Ribbon from Offray; Bow Easy;
Memento London Fog ink; sentiment from Studio G;
Sakura Stardust glitter pen; standard circle Nesties

Supplies: papers from My Mind's Eye (white with blue dots);
AC Abode (blue with white dots); Fancy Pants (love & ledger pieces);
buttons from Dress it Up!; Faded Jeans distress ink;
sentiment from Inkadinkado; standard circle Nesties

Supplies: paper from My Mind's Eye;
heart doily from Royal; buttons from stash

Supplies: brown paper from Basic Grey "Hopscotch;"
red hearts paper from Bo Bunny; Pug clip from Fancy Pants;
Cuttlebug embossing folder; Heidi Swapp ghost heart;
button from Dress it Up!

Supplies: green & orange papers from Basic Grey "Lauderdale;"
yellow paper from Basic Grey "Out of Print;"
cloud paper from DCWV "Citronella;"
monster stamp & sentiment from Daisy Bucket;
Memento Tuxedo Black ink, traced over with Sakura Black Glaze pen;
standard oval Nesties

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey "Lauderdale;"
sentiment from Studio G;
stamped in Versamark & clear embossed;
standard circle Nesties; yellow buttons from stash

Supplies: paper from DCWV;
'love ya!' and image stickers from Suzy Zoo

Supplies: papers from My Mind's Eye;
heart doily from Royal;
wooden button & dove stamp from Michael's;
'love' stamp unmarked; heart button from Dress it Up!;
Palette Noir ink

Supplies: patterned paper from AC "Abode;"
stamp & sentiment from Hero Arts;
Palette Noir ink; standard circle and Labels 4 Nesties;
teal & dark brown cardstock from MFP (from JJ!)

Do you ever struggle with what to share/not to share on your blog? About yesterday, without going into too much detail, I'll just say that I tried to give someone else a surprise, and I got one myself. Not a good one. Feeling a little kicked in the teeth (and stomach) at the moment, but, well, yeah. Today's a new day.
xoxo,
Jessi