Fuzzy Christmas!

Good morning!

I know Christmas is over but since several of my favorite Cocoa the Mouse stamp sets are being retired over at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, I thought I'd better pull them out and get to playing with them while I still can link the stamps to the online store!  This one is from the adorable Santa's Helper stamp set.  

Isn't he cute, peeking out from the hat?!

Card Details

Stamps: Santa's Helper (SNSS)

Ink: Versafine

Cardstock: PTI; October Afternoon

Other: Sewing machine; PTI pinking border; Copics; Crochet thread; buttons

I hope you have a chance to take advantage of the retirement sale!

Have a great day!

Jessica

a cool friend.

Hi there!

I'm popping in again today to share a card I made playing along with the current challenge over at the Lawn Fawn Lawnscaping blog:

I was inspired by this sweet card by Audrie - one of their DT members.  I loved the little scene she built on her tag/banner and decided to build one using some of the adorable polar animals from the Critters in the Snow stamp set.  The sentiment is from Making Frosty Friends.

Card Details
Stamps: Critters in the Snow; Making Frosty Friends (Lawn Fawn)
Ink: PTI White; Memento black
Card stock: Amy Tangerine red polka dot; PTI; Neenah white
Other: Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps bookmark die; Copics; doily; PTI banner die; seam binding ribbon; corner rounder; Sewing machine

Have a great day!
Jessica

Tea Time!

Good morning!

I think it's safe to say that with this morning's frigid temperatures over nearly all of the States, a hot cup of tea or coffee is in order!  I thought I'd share a card I made with you that uses one of the newly retired Cocoa the Mouse stamp sets from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps: Tea Time Cocoa.  

Here's the link to all the sets being discontinued {sob!}

I paired Cocoa's tea cup with a sentiment from the Special Blend stamp set.  The ric-rac die cut is from the Bookmarks & More die set.

Card Details

Stamps: Tea Time Cocoa; Special Blend (SNSS)

Ink: Memento; Versafine; Colorbox brown

Cardstock: PaperTrey Ink; October Afternoon

Other: Sewing machine; SNSS RicRac die from Bookmarks & Bits; Fun foam & MFT button die; Copics; Corner Rounder; white crochet thread

Keep warm and enjoy a hot cup of your favorite beverage today!
Jessica

Peachy Keen Design Team announcement!

Hi there!

I have a second post today (sorry!) to announce some fun design news!  I've been invited to join a fun new team of designers over at Peachy Keen Stamps!  Today, we are being announced over on the blog and I forgot to make sure my card was up when the announcement was made - but, better late than never, right?

I've been enjoying playing with some of the SUPER adorable Peachy Keen stamp sets and can't wait to share with you some of my projects soon.  While looking over their online store a few weeks back, as soon as I saw this sweet: Thinking of You bear I KNEW I had to have him!  I also used one of their fabulous background stamp: Cableknit to a bit more texture to my card for today.

Card Details

Stamps: Thinking of You Bear; Cableknit background (Peachy Keen Stamps)

Paper: Paper Trey Ink stone; Copic Xpress It white; MFT cork; Carte Bella Patterned

Ink: Memento black; PTI stone

Other: Platinum shimmer twine from The Twinery; PTI zig zag border die; Copic markers; MFT button die; Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps heart dies; corner rounder

If you have the chance, hop over to see the other members of the team for this year!  I'm looking forward to getting to work with each one of these talented ladies!
Jessica

Be Mine.

Good morning!

This morning I have a CAS Valentine's Day card to share with you that I made using the new Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' Valentine Critters stamp set.  This is one of my newest favorite SNSS stamp set as I'm all about 'cutesy' stamp sets and this one fits the bill quite nicely!  I also used a couple of hearts from the SNSS heart die collection - love how versatile those are in my collection!

Have a wonderful day!

Jessica

Kindness.

Hi there!

I'm popping in today to share a card I made for this week's Mojo Monday sketch challenge. I haven't played along with Verve's weekly sketch challenge in ages so I thought I'd get to work and do some playing!

I used my favorite Verve Floral set: Dream Big along with the coordinating Scallop Flower dies (cut with layers of tissue paper and felt) and Dreamy Leaves dies.  The sentiment is from Words Cannot Express.

Thanks for stopping by!  

Have a wonderful rest of your weekend - Keep warm!

Jessica

Lovable.

Good morning!

I have a sweet card to share today that I made using a couple of new stamp sets that were just released from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps during the January: Valentine Critters and The Future.  I think this bunny image is one of my favorites from the critter stamp set because it's just too clever and adorable!  I used Copics to color him in with his heart and then added him to a journaling die cut from Lawn Fawn.  

The sentiment from The Future stamp set just seemed to fit with this little bunny - doesn't he look a bit sad or lonely and maybe just a bit mischevious?  ;)   I added some platinum shimmer baker's twine and a partial die cut vine from Paper Trey Ink's Rustic Wreath die, embellishing it with some flowers from Wild Orchid.

Have a wonderful day!
Jessica

Shine on!

Good morning!

My card today is a bright one - I have been drawn to the bright colors with all the winter whites and grays we're surrounded with here in the upper midwest this time of the year!  I several products from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps for my card today, along with patterned papers from an older My Mind's Eye paper pack.

The butterfly dies are the new Monarch dies (that coordinate with the Majestic Monarch stamp set).  I die cut several sizes of them with scrap patterned papers and layered them together, using some tinsel twine from Stampin Up for the 'antennae' and visual interest.  The sentiment is from the new God is Bigger - love all the unique sentiments Korin included in this sentiment stamp set.  

Finally, the frame is from the Decorative Frames stamp set with its coordinating die - a perfect fit for this sweet little butterfly.  The scallop border die is one of my favorite border dies from SNSS - I use it all the time.

Have a great day!

Jessica

Swanky Snowdudes!

Hi there!

I'm popping in to share a card I made using some adorable Paper Smooches snowman images!  While I'm not a bit fan of snow or winter, I've been wanting to add this super quirky Swanky Snowdudes to my collection for quite a while.  And, when I saw the current Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge is 'anything goes' - I thought I'd get these dudes out to play! 

As you can see from my card I used the coordinating dies to cut out the snowdudes from white linen card stock and did a bit of coloring with some Copic markers.  The 'greetings' sentiment is from the same stamp set and the Christmas word die set.  I die cut it twice - once in kraft and once in red and off-set layered it for a bit of dimension.

Have a great day - thanks for stopping by!
Jessica

SNSS: Monarch Dies

Good morning!

We are finishing up the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps January release blog hops today - welcome!  The final new product we are releasing is the Monarch die collection that coordinates with the beautiful Majestic Monarchs stamp set.

You can purchase it as a collection set or individually, if you prefer.

For my card today, I used a couple of monarch die cuts and stamped the coordinating image on the smaller one, layering them together for my focal image. The sentiment is from The Future stamp set and although it's hard to see, I stamped the Leafy Flourish background on the soft stone card stock in Versamark and added some pearl Perfect Pearls over it for a subtle shimmer (that's easier to see in person than it is on the computer screen).

Check out some of the fabulous samples made by our talented DT in the thumbnails below.  

Be sure to leave a comment of each of the blogs along your journey because we're giving away (5) $15 store credits (1 winner will be chosen from each of the 5 blog hops).

The deadline to comment for a chance to win is midnight EST Friday, January 17th. The list of winners will be announced on our website homepage by Monday, January, 20th.

Thanks so much for joining us!

Enjoy the hop!

Jessica

SNSS: God is Bigger

Good morning!

Welcome back to day 4 of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' January release!  Haven't the hops been fun so far?  The ladies on the SNSS design team are amazing - I'm always inspired by what they all come up for with the wide variety of stamps Korin has in her online store.

Today, we are featuring the God is Bigger sentiment stamp set:

I decided to try a watercoloring technique I've seen quite a bit lately in 'blog-land' and really like how it turned out. I stamped the stacked cup image from the Special Blend stamp set in versamark ink and embossed with white embossing powder on watercolor paper.  Then, using my waterbrush and some Distress markers scribbled on my stamp block, I washed the colors of the cups over the images, watching it resist the embossed image lines.

I zapped it with my heat tool again to make sure the ink was dry and then stamped the sentiments one at a time (embossing each one as I went because it was hard to see them being white on white) and then used another greyish Distress marker to highlight the words.  I debated about stamped the sentiments in black or grey ink but thought I would go with the embossed look since I wanted it to be soft like the focal image.

Then, I embossed the card front, added a doily and stitched the entire focal image directly to the soft stone card front (before adhering it to the actual card base).  Some platinum shimmer baker's twine was all the embellishment I wanted to add since I wanted the image and sentiments to take center stage.

Check out some of the fabulous samples made by our talented DT in the thumbnails below.  

Be sure to leave a comment of each of the blogs along your journey because we're giving away (5) $15 store credits (1 winner will be chosen from each of the 5 blog hops).

The deadline to comment for a chance to win is midnight EST Friday, January 17th. The list of winners will be announced on our website homepage by Monday, January, 20th.

Thanks so much for joining us!

Jessica

SNSS: Valentine Critters

Good morning!

Welcome to day 3 of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' January release blog hops!  Today, we are showcasing my very favorite stamp set of this release: Diane Zechmen's Valentine Critters.  Could this set BE any cuter!?

I had a hard time deciding which image to use first, but with my daughter's love affair and the small fortune we've spent over the years at Build-a-Bear... I decided I HAD to use the adorable bear.  I paper pieced him with some patterned papers and used a couple of Copic markers to do some shading.  So adorable - I think I'll save this one for Valentine's Day.

Check out some of the fabulous samples made by our talented DT in the thumbnails below.  

Be sure to leave a comment of each of the blogs along your journey because we're giving away (5) $15 store credits (1 winner will be chosen from each of the 5 blog hops).

The deadline to comment for a chance to win is midnight EST Friday, January 17th. The list of winners will be announced on our website homepage by Monday, January, 20th.

Thanks so much for joining us!

Enjoy the hop!

Jessica

SNSS: The Future

Good morning!

Welcome to day 2 of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' January release!  Today we are featuring the new The Future stamp set.

I used the Monarch dies with their coordinating Majestic Monarch stamp set, the Leafy Flourish Background we showcased yesterday as well as the Decorative Frame stamp set and coordinating Decorative Plaque die cut.  Just like yesterday, I stamped the background with Versafine ink and brushed Perfect Pearls over it for a subtle shine.  This time I used the pearl powder - it's really soft and pretty in person but I'm not sure if the camera picked that up or not.

I die cut the monarch dies twice - once in vellum and once with patterned paper scraps.  Then I stamped the images with black Stazon ink and layered over the coordinating patterned paper die cuts with a mini glue dot in the center.

Check out some of the fabulous samples made by our talented DT in the thumbnails below.

Be sure to leave a comment of each of the blogs along your journey because we're giving away (5) $15 store credits (1 winner will be chosen from each of the 5 blog hops).

The deadline to comment for a chance to win is midnight EST Friday, January 17th. The list of winners will be announced on our website homepage by Monday, January, 20th.

Thanks so much for joining us!

Enjoy the hop!
Jessica

SNSS: Leafy Flourish Background

Good morning!

As you noticed, I took a bit of a blog break just before the new year but I'm back today joining the designers from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps in showcasing the new January Release that is now available for purchase right HERE!

Today, we are showcasing the beautiful new Leafy Background & More stamp set.

I stamped the background and embossed it with Stampendous Copper Patina embossing powder and then rubbed some metallic embossing paste over the paper to help bring out the copper tones a bit more.  Then, I embossed the edges of the focal 'tag' with some more of copper embossing powder for even more 'coppery goodness.'  

After my experiment with the copper embossing powder was complete, I used a couple more new products to finish my card.  The sentiment is from God is Bigger and the Monarch butterfly die cuts are stamped with their coordinating Majestic Monarchs stamp set.  I also added some copper shimmer baker's twine to bring in yet a bit more copper shine to the card.

My second card uses some more Copper colors, this time with Ranger's Perfect Pearls applied over the Versamark stamped butterflies and the swirls from the Leafy Background stamp set.  The perfect pearls are pretty understated but such a soft and pretty background on this textured brown cardstock.

I stamped the sentiment from The Future stamp set and included one of the small butterfly images from Majestic Monarchs on the Copper metallic card stock with black Stazon ink.  I matted the circle with a doily die cut out of vellum and added some gold organdy ribbon and copper cording.  I thought the gold ribbon brought a brightness to the card that it needed to help all the copper shimmer to shine!

Check out some of the fabulous samples made by our talented DT in the thumbnails below.  

Be sure to leave a comment of each of the blogs along your journey because we're giving away (5) $15 store credits (1 winner will be chosen from each of the 5 blog hops).

The deadline to comment for a chance to win is midnight EST Friday, January 17th. The list of winners will be announced on our website homepage by Monday, January, 20th.

Thanks so much for joining us!

Enjoy the hop!

Jessica