Tuesday Morning Sketches #319 - Sami Stamps!

We have a lovely simple sketch by Debbie this week at Tuesday Morning Sketches, and returning is a wonderful sponsor - Sami Stamps! You'll love her whimsical designs - and the design team was fortunate enough to get to play with them!

Supplies: Sunflower Kitty from Sami Stamps; Spectrum Noir markers; sentiment from MFT; Brushed Corduroy distress ink; MME papers; Nesties label die

Here's the sketch:

This challenge will be open until next Sunday, September 27 - hop on over & see what the rest of the team has made! 

Debbie

Jenee 

Kris

Melissa 

Nina

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #317 - Sherri Baldy Designs, redux :)

Here I am (finally!) with my Sherri Baldy card for this week's Tuesday Morning Sketch :) Make sure to pop over to the TMS blog to see the sketch & get all the details on how you can win some super cute digis!

Supplies: digi stamp from Sherri Baldy Designs; Spectrum Noir & Sharpie markers; papers from MME; Basic Grey button; Hero Arts lace; May Arts twine

The details of her wings are traced with a copper Sharpie, which gave it a nice shimmery effect!

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #275 - Digital Delights by Louby Loo!

ACK I'M LATE!  Sorry about that! I was up at the crack of not-yet-dawn, and thought I'd go back & lay down for a bit....and the next thing I knew it was four hours later.

Welcome to my late late post for Tuesday Morning Sketches - this week we're sponsored by Digital Delights by Louby Loo, and it's also TWIST WEEK! That means this time we want to see Pumpkins and Leaves (perfect with Thanksgiving coming up in the US).

I got to feature the super adorable Acorn Mouse on my card:

Supplies: Acorn Mouse digi stamp from Digital Delights by Louby Loo;  Spectrum Noir markers; papers &  gems from stash

Hard to capture the gems' true colour - they're a rich orange!

Nina's designed a great CAS sketch for us this week:

This challenge is open until next Sunday, November 16th-  hop on over & see what the design team has created for you!

Debbie

Jenee 

Kris 

Melissa

Nina

xoxo,

Jessi

Inspired by Andrea!

If you aren't already following Andrea at Savvy Handmade Cards, you are missing out. She is talented and I'm always inspired by her posts! A while back she created a card using the Emerging Colour technique, and I knew I had to give it a try - it just took me a while to get to it. The linked post has her clear directions if you'd like to give it a go! I was inspired by her colour choices & as you'll see, the theme as well! 

Supplies: Sentiment stamp from Hero Arts; leaf stamps from Jane's Doodles; Versamark; clear detail EP; Distress inks in Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Squeezed Lemonade, Peeled Paint, Brushed Corduroy

Next time I give this a go I'll use a darker ink for sponging on top - I do like the effect of the mottled & muddied colours from the brown, but the 'emerging colour' doesn't pop quite as much as on Andrea's card. Definitely a fun technique!

This is perfect to pop in over at Stamping Sensations, where October's challenge is Warm Autumn Colours!

I have a few more cards to post before deadlines, so BRB!

xoxo,

Jessi

Shopping our Stash #172 - It's the Most Colourful Time of the Year!

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

It's definitely getting into autumn in the northern hemisphere - in fact, the furnace is warming my feet right now as I'm typing! In honour of the season, we at Shopping our Stash want to see you use those fabulous autumn colours in  your projects this week - red, orange, gold, yellow, brown!

Supplies: pumpkin bouquet stamp from DRS Designs; sentiment & leaves from Jane's Doodles; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Brushed Corduroy, Fired Brick; Wild Honey, Antique Linen distress inks; Spectrum Noir markers; various colours of Stickles; classic small circle Nesties

I stamped the pumpkin bouquet twice to be able to pop up the bouquet portion. Pretty straightforward card :)

Ready to create?  Join us before next Monday, October 13th!

Leslie

Alica

Deena

Lauren

Donna

Chris

 Chana

Barb

xoxo,

Jessi

Give Thanks!

**Don't forget about the Snarky Stampers/Rubber Dance blog hop!**

I haven't played along at The Kraft Journal in a while, and I love this week's sketch! I decided to make another Thanksgiving card, since Canadian Thanksgiving is just a couple of weeks away. I'm also entering this card at Little Red Wagon's Fall challenge. 

I was inspired by my Snarky Sister (and Evil DoubleMint Twin) Chris, who shared a card here using pencil crayons on kraft. I haven't done that in ages, so I dusted off my Prismas and got busy. 

Supplies: Stamps from The Craft's Meow; Memento Tuxedo Black ink; Prismacolor pencils; Lily bee papers; Claudine Hellmuth orange paint; classic small circle Nesties; buttons & green rhinestones from Dollarama

See that horizontal strip? That was a whoopsie. I'd dotted it with orange paint, and then when I set it aside to dry, stuck my big ol' thumb in the wet paint. AUGH. Luckily I noticed right away, so I went back to the drawing board & used a toothpick to make it look more like I meant to do that. Once it was dry, it seemed to need a little extra something, so I added the gems. Opportunities for embellishment, people, not mistakes ;) 

Here's the sketch:

xoxo,

Jessi

Fluttering Leaves

**Don't forget about the Snarky Stampers/Rubber Dance blog hop!**

When I saw this week's CASology prompt, FLUTTER, my first thought was butterflies. I wanted something a little less obvious, though, and when I spied this Mo Manning image I thought BINGO! I'd already printed it out to participate in the Cats & Dogs challenge at Chocolate, Coffee, & Cards. 

Supplies: digital stamp from Mo Manning; lead stamps from Jane's Doodles; Happy Fall stamp from The Craft's Meow; Spectrum Noir markers; Distress inks in Brushed Corduroy, Fired Brick, Mustard Seed.

The stamped leaves were all done by stamping off the first impression to get lighter colours. I cut the sentiment stamp in half (!) because it wouldn't fit once I'd trimmed the panel. 

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #266 - Deedee's Digis!

It's time for TWIST WEEK at Tuesday Morning Sketches - and that means along with the sketch, we'd love you to incorporate the twist of BACK TO SCHOOL! (You don't need to use the twist to play, but you do need to use it to win the top spot!)

Our sponsor this week is Deedee's Digis, and she's generously provided images for the team to work with - I've chosen September's Digi of the Month, Fall Warm-up.  It comes with both line art and fully coloured images (like all of Deedee's Digis) and is full of my favourite things about autumn! I didn't exactly follow the twist of back to school - I went with my feelings of back to school, that yay! cooler weather is around the corner.

Supplies: Deedee's Digis Fall Warm-up; Spectrum Noir markers; papers from Pebbles; classic small oval Nesties; pleated flower from American Crafts

Here's the sketch:

I had to fudge the layout a bit because I wanted to use the sentiment as the centre panel :)

This challenge is open until next Sunday, September 14 -  hop on over & see what the design team has created for you!

Bonnie

Debbie

Jenee 

Kris 

Melissa

Nina

xoxo,

Jessi

Drunken Stampers #143 - Thing! - Die Cuts

I'm really enjoying our Person/Place/Thing challenges this term at Drunken Stampers - with 2 teams, it means that we all get turns doing the different types of challenge. FUN!

There was no hesitation for me - I knew I wanted to give an autumn tree a whirl! Instead of several it turned into several eleventy billion die cut elements, but LOOKIE!

Supplies: MFT tree & leaves die; scrap card stock; Brushed Corduroy distress ink; Jane's Doodles sentiment stamp

Right? Didn't it turn out neat? I think my favourite part is the still-falling leaves. And yes, I love myself. Why? Does it show? 

So, ready to play with die cuts? COOL! Come play with us up until next Friday night, October 4th. And don't forget to go see what my fellow Yellow Canaries have created for you:

Barb - Barb's Creative Corner

Donna - Challenge Host - Yellow Dog Greetings

Jacki - Scullduggery

Jessi - that's me!

Lindsey - Bashful Blogging

Lynne - Scrapbook Lynne's

Vicki - The Cheerful Stamp Pad

xoxo,

Jessi

Kraft Journal Autumn Colours

When I saw the colour inspiration photo for this week's Kraft Journal challenge, I thought right away of one of my multicolour ink pads. Perfect match!

Supplies: kraft card stock; stamps from Jane's Doodles; Pumpkin Patch Kaleidacolor ink pad; Labels 4 Nesties; Prima paper leaves; brown rhinestones from Dollarama.

To be honest this isn't my favourite card I've ever made - my 'random' stamping didn't turn out quite how I wanted - but I do like how the inks blended & made the leaves look. 

Here's the photo:

Most of this week I've been working ahead on design team cards, but as usual I have some good stuff saved up for the weekend - including a really awesome pat-myself-on-the-back card for tomorrow's Drunken Stampers Challenge!

xoxo,

Jessi

(Tuesday) Morning Sketches #216 - Raisin Boat!

MAN. Finally my stamps got here - and with a day to spare so you can still play along with us at Tuesday Morning Sketches! I'll skip the chatter & get right to it - Raisin Boat is the sponsor this week, and they sent each design team member a rental stamp set to play with. Check them out here! The set I received is called "Don't Blow It."

Supplies: Stamps from Raisin Boat; paper from We R Memory Keepers; Distress inks in Brushed Corduroy, Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Antique Linen; Memento Tuxedo Black ink 

The sentiment is in 2 separate lines - I used washi tape to selectively ink the words on the second line to break it up into 2 so it would fit on my panel. 

Here's the sketch:

This sketch will be open until tomorrow, September 22nd. Don't forget to check out what everyone else made - all of us featuring a different Raisin Boat set:

Angela

Bonnie

Debbie

Jenee

Laura

Melissa

xoxo,
Jessi

Autumn Silhouettes

A combo card for you this time - using the sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch, and CASology's cue card "Silhouette."

Supplies: Studio Calico paper; butterfly stamps from Unity; leaf flourish stamps from Inkadinkado; sentiment stamp from Paper Smooches; Distress Inks in Brushed Corduroy, Barn Door, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed; red & orange sequins

I couldn't escape the butterflies on the sketch - they just had me immediately thinking of these 3 butterflies from Unity (they come as one stamp, but I cut them apart). 

And a final little thing - I'm addicted to Sara Bareilles right now, as in listening to two of her albums at least twice each every day. This song just tickles me!

xoxo,
Jessi

Ren-Yi's smallhanded QuAC #2 - Fall

I love this idea! Ren-Yi at smallhanded adventures is hosting another QuAC challenge - first she hosts a poll for her readers to vote in, and then bases a challenge on the most popular answer! The poll for QuAC #3 is active right now (at the top right of her blog) - check it out :)
This challenge is open until November 8, so there is LOTS of time to play along, but I wanted to make sure & post early to hopefully spread the word about Ren-Yi's fabulous idea. I've got 2 projects to share with you today:

Supplies: Bazzill cardstock;
patterned paper from Basic Grey "Origins;"
salvaged burlap from soap wrapping;
recycled tissue from a package;
wheat stamp from Inkadinkado;
Versamark & Old Paper distress EP;
birthday sticker from Mrs. Grossman

To create this layered look, first I laid down a strip of Scor-tape and ruffled the tissue paper. Then I used clear tape to secure the burlap to the patterned paper strip, and foam tape to attach it to the card without squishing the tissue ruffles. Clear as mud?

Supplies: paper from Basic Grey "Plumeria;"
leaves from Prima;
sentiment from Stampendous;
Spiced Marmalade & Vintage Photo distress ink;
corner rounder

I think I might have to give in & get a corner chomper - I've already broken one corner rounder punch, and if I keep punching through layers of cardstock I can see me breaking another one, or possibly my thumb ;)

I had hoped to stamp the sentiment in orange ink, but it just wouldn't show up enough on the background, so I double-inked by using first orange, then brown ink. 

Unfortunately there was a big run on sympathy cards this weekend at the market - so I'll need to set aside a day this week to work on some more. 

Make sure you hop on over & check out Ren-Yi's current QuAC #3 poll, and see if autumn inspires you to join in the QuAC #2 challenge! I bet it will :)

xoxo,

Jessi

DYSU #92 - Warm Colours

For this card I CASEd myself - last week I did this design in orange & white, and this week I chose warm colours to go with DYSU's current challenge (and used up more of my ancient Indian Summer paper...):

Supplies: papers from Basic Grey, "Indian Summer;"
punch from Martha Stewart;
corner rounder
envelope: Vintage Photo distress ink;
All Night Media stamp

I described how I created the wreath ring in my previous post, so I'll just leave it there. Funny, but the busier paper somehow needed the rounded corners. I love the pinks & browns together :)

DYSU #92 is open until Tuesday if you'd like to join in!

xoxo,

Jessi

Autumn Leaves

Crafty Creations Challenges #189 is to feature Autumn Leaves in your creations this week - you have until Tuesday night to share yours :) I've made 2 cards for this challenge - autumn is my very favourite season!

Supplies: patterned paper from Basic Grey "Indian Summer;"
leaf die from Poppy Crafts;
sentiment sticker from Doodlebug;
buttons from stash

I had to show off the sheen on the buttons - such a variety of colours! These are from the box of buttons
 I was lucky enough to receive from my mother-in-law :)

Supplies: sentiment & corn from PSX;
twine from Paper Smooches;
Wild Honey & Bundled Sage distress inks;
stamps from All Night Media

Look at the detail on that sticker. Seriously a sin that PSX is not with us any longer.

I realize placing the sentiment the way I did makes it a little difficult to read - it says "There is a harmony in Autumn and a luster in its sky. Percy Bysshe Shelley"

The leaves are stamped using the second impression after inking, to get the lighter colours. The corn 'bouquet' sticker was adhered to white cardstock, fussy cut, and popped up on foam tape. 

So glad to be back playing with my favourite challenges again...I missed them!

xoxo,

Jessi

Happy October!

Good morning, and welcome to the first of 4 posts about to clog up your reader, lol! It's been nearly a month since my last unscheduled post - I can't believe it. It's not that I haven't been MAKING cards since I got home, but I've just taken so long to get back into the swing of things. Crazy. Flipping the calendar over to October this morning felt a little surreal - I honestly feel like I missed September entirely!

Anyhow, here's the first of a whole bunch of challenge cards. This one is for the current little red wagon challenge, to be inspired by this amazing front porch:

For a little perspective, I should include a picture of what mine looks like right now...but I'm not going to, because I can't stand to look at it. After the sewage drama this summer, and having the yard dug up...the ground has re-settled with all the recent rain. The steps are now tilted, and separated from the porch by about 6 inches, and the soil level next to the house has dropped about a foot. The walkway looks like a giant threw down some blocks mid-tantrum. Not sure how exactly we're going to fix that up without getting the backhoe back - and not sure how the steps would survive being moved again, since quite a few chunks of concrete came off last time. Ahem. I digress!

Here's my card - I was inspired by the leaf wreaths - try to say that three times fast!

Supplies: leaf punch from Martha Stewart;
Spiced Marmalade distress ink;
oak & maple leaf stamps from All Night Media;
standard small circle Nesties

The paper I punched the leaves from is some shaving-cream marbled paper I'd made during the summer, using Spiced Marmalade & Fired Brick distress re-inkers. This edge of the paper had more white in it than I wanted for the leaves, so after punching them out I swiped each one across the Spiced Marmalade pad to orange them up. I used a Nestie circle to make a few pencil marks for stamping the leaves in a circular pattern - I first stamped the four maple leaves, in roughly cardinal directions (one each at north, south, etc), and then the oak leaves in the spaces left between. 

The wreath form was made by using two Nesties to cut out a ring from cardstock. I popped the ring up using foam tape, and then glued the leaves directly to the ring. I filled in the wreath the same way I stamped the wreath below - first gluing down the cardinal points, and then filling in the spaces between. I tend to 'eyeball' the distances, but I find using cardinal points to start really simplifies things. 

See you shortly with another autumn creation!

xoxo,

Jessi

Tuesday Morning Sketches #163 - Welcome Fall!

Good morning & happy Tuesday! Time for a new sketch at Tuesday Morning Sketches - and this week we're sponsored by Designed2Delight. They just released all sorts of fab seasonal images - check them out! Speaking of seasonal....this week is our monthly Judged Challenge, and that means a twist - create a project using the sketch, and the theme of FALL :)

Supplies: papers  from We R Memory Keepers;
letter stickers from Kaisercraft;
leaf punch from Martha Stewart

Autumn is hands-down my favourite season - the crisp air, falling leaves, cooler temperatures....and Halloween! Here's the sketch for you, designed by Dawn this week:

This sketch will be open until Sunday, September 16 - and don't forget to check out what the rest of the design team created to celebrate Fall!

Angela 

Bonnie

Cheryl

Dawn

Debbie

Laura

Theresa

Melissa

xoxo,

Jessi

Thankful for books!

Supplies: Papers all from We R Memory Keepers "Autumn Splendor;"
buttons a mix of stash & Basic Grey;
birthday sentiment from Hero Arts;
stamped with Versamark & embossed with Stampendous Pearlustre Carnelian

I don't think I could possibly NOT give thanks for books this week. I read a lot, and it's probably how I spend most of my waking time. I always have a book on the go, and there is always a stack waiting to be read. I suspect that I have my own shelf at the library for holds...certainly there aren't many weeks that go by without me going in to pick something up. So, not only am I thankful for books, and the ability to read, but I'm thankful for the library. Thankful for the friendly librarians who always have a smile & a book recommendation, and thankful for the wide range of books I've been able to read for free.

What I've read in the past week:

right now, I've just started The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich.

Yesterday I read Smut by Alan Bennett, and Sentenced to Death by Lorna Barrett.

The rest of last week's reads were: The Fine Art of Insincerity by Angela Hunt, Second Nature by Jacquelyn Mitchard, and A Turn in the Road by Debbie Macomber. Sometimes a book ends up delivering just what I need - I cried buckets reading Second Nature and The Fine Art of Insincerity. Sometimes it's simply wonderful to lose yourself in a story for a while. That's primarily why I read - to entertain and escape.

And now for the big Thanksgiving cleanup - besides being thankful that we were together to eat it, and all ate the same meal, today was the first time that I've made gravy from scratch successfully. Would it be so wrong to drink it from a glass? I'm pretty excited about it.

xoxo,
Jessi