a blessing.

Hi there and Happy New Year!

It's been a busy, enjoyable Christmas season for us and I hope it's been a great one for you too!  I have lots of cards that I was planning on sharing over the Christmas break from school, but never got online much to actually post them!  So, I guess I'll be sharing card samples to get you inspired to begin on next year's Christmas cards this month!  lol!

But, first I thought I'd share a card of thankfulness I made for a friend of mine recently.  I adore the Sweet 'n Sassy Autumn Bounty stamp set so much.  It's one of my very favorite floral images from SNSS.  I stamped it on a yellow tag and colored with Copics.  I find it enjoyable to stamp on colored card stocks and color with Copics sometimes - it's a break from the usual white background and give a nice tint to the images.

I found those kraft 3D butterflies at Michaels recently - I haven't been in that store for a LONG time and was looking for a couple of fun new embellishments to add to my stash.

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your weekend and a blessed New Year!

Thanks for checking in on me!
Jessica

Reverse Confetti August Color Challenge

Good morning!

Today, a brand new Color challenge begins over on the Reverse Confetti blog.  Check out the fabulous colors Jen has picked for us for this month:

I decided to pull out my favorite Be a Barista stamp set again for this card and paper pieced it with some red patterned paper.  I added some shading to the cup with Copics and added the 'liquid' image with a light brown ink but wish I would have used black since I had to go over it several times with a W6 marker to darken it.  Then, I used a white gel pen for the heart 'cream.'

Such a fun color combo!  I hope you get a chance to play along with us!

Check out all the other designers' cards using the challenge colors as well as all the information on how to play along with us for the next few weeks!

Reverse Confetti Blog

Have a happy weekend!

Jessica

Card details

Stamps: Be a Barista (Reverse Confetti)

Ink: Versafine

Card stock: Vellum; PaperTrey Ink solid and patterned

Other: Sewing machine; The Twinery gold shimmer twine; PTI impression plate; Verve label die; Copics; lace; gold polka dot washi tape (SU); SU gold sequins

Happy birthday, Jen!

Good morning!

We are celebrating a very special someone's birthday today!

Happy Birthday, Jen del Muro!

A few of the Reverse Confetti Crew and 'Fetti Friends are thrilled at the chance to surprise Jen with a celebratory hop in her honor and share birthday inspiration using Reverse Confetti!

The Candles 'n Confetti Birthday Hop started over at Stacey's blog and you should've made your way here by way of Joni's blog.  If not, make sure you start at the beginning of the hop so you don't miss a thing!

There's more...

Jen is making today even sweeter with a Reverse Confetti One-Day SALE!

Shop at Reverse Confetti TODAY and SAVE 20% off your entire order!

Shopping Code:  JENSBDAY20

My card today uses the fun Be a Barista stamp set. Love this coffee cup and the variety of images you can add to the cup to personalize it!

Last, but certainly not least...stop by and visit the birthday girl!

Jen del Muro, Reverse Confetti Blog

Now, it's time to hop over to Monika's blog for more Candles 'n Confetti!

Thanks for sharing in the birthday fun today!

Jessica

Card Details

Stamps: Be a Barista (Reverse Confetti)

Ink: Versafine; Versamagic

Card stock: PaperTrey Ink solid and patterned

Other: Sewing machine; SNSS pinking edge die; PTI tag sale die; SU ribbon; The Twinery Shimmer turquoise twine; Copics; PTI impression plate; SU tiny banner die & stamp set

Owl-ways here for you.

Good morning!

I'm joining the designers from Reverse Confetti for a Quirky Cuties blog hop!  If you are following along on the hop, you should have arrived here from Sarah Gough's blog.  

I love each of Jen's Cuties sets and thought I'd share a card today using the Oliver Owl set. I love the sentiment fonts and the line art images are perfect for paper piecing or coloring.

I colored Oliver with Copics and used a patterned paper from one of Lawn Fawn paper packs for the background.  The 'dirt' on the ground is some Judikins espresso speckles I've had in my collection for years. It's like glitter, but way more 'manly' - ha!

My second card uses the adorable Freida Fox.

This time I stamped the image on textured white cardstock and did some Copic coloring.  I love the linen pattern that peeks through.  The flourish images in the corners is from the So Very Special stamp set.

Next up on the hop is the fabulous Kim O'Connell!

The full list of the 'Quirky Cuties' hop participants as well as the amazing prizes up for grabs - please check out the Reverse Confetti blog.

Have a great day!

Jessica

Owl-ways Card Details

Stamps: Oliver Owl (Reverse Confetti)

Ink: Memento; Colorbox chalk; Versafine

Card stock: PTI solid; Lawn Fawn patterned paper; Copic Xpress it white

Other: Cappuchino baker's twine from The Twinery; Wild Orchid flowers; Judikins espresso speckles; Copics; MFT label tab; SNSS scallop border die; sewing machine; PTI clouds; White felt

Freida Card Details

Stamps: Freida Fox, So Very Special (Reverse Confetti)
Ink: Versafine; Memento

Card stock: PTI patterned; White linen; Lawn Fawn patterned

Other: Doily; sewing machine; Wild Orchid flowers; Copics; Corner rounder; Felt; SNSS grass die; SU ruffle ribbon; Lawn Fawn die cut; MFT tab label die

You crack me up.

Good morning!  

I have another Reverse Confetti Color Challenge card to share with you again this morning - what can I say, the colors are fun and this Carton Cutie stamp set with its coordinating dies are just TOO adorable.

Here's the link to the Color Challenge post on the Reverse Confetti blog for you play along too, if you have the chance!

Jessica

Card Details

Stamps: Carton Cuties (Reverse Confetti)

Ink: Versafine; Versamagic

Card stock: PaperTrey Ink; Textured white

Other: RC Carton Cuties dies; PTI heart border die; Sewing machine; Corner Rounder; SU ribbon; The Twinery buttercream baker's twine; Lawn Fawn tag die

A good peep.

Good morning!

I had some time to play along with Reverse Confetti's Color Challenge this week using their super adorable Carton Cuties with their coordinating die set.

Here's the color challenge photo from the Reverse Confetti blog

By the way, Jen is having a summer sale over at Reverse Confetti for a few more days - check it out!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Jessica

Card Details

Stamps: Carton Cuties (Reverse Confetti)

Ink: Versafine

Card stock: PaperTrey Ink; Vellum

Other: SU embossing folder; MFT tab die; RC Carton Cuties dies; SNSS scallop border die; The Twinery platinum shimmer twine; doily; corner rounder; Copics

God's Plan > Our Circumstances.

Good morning!

My card to share with you today is another one that I've made with the gorgeous Long Stem Silhouettes stamp set and its coordinating dies. Once again, I inked up the flowers with Distress markers and stamped on the coordinating die cut. You can also do it the other way - stamp first and then die cut, it's your choice. I love the soft colors the Distress markers give.

The sentiment is from Celebrate Today - love the font and the meaning behind this sentiment, don't you? When I hear it I think of the math concept that I teach my first graders: Greater than/Less than... ha! And, what a glorious truth that His plans for us are far above and greater than anything we can dream of...

I hope your weekend is off to a great start!

Jessica

Card Details

Stamps: Long Stem Silhouettes, Celebrate Today (SNSS)

Ink: Distress markers; Versafine black

Card stock: Lawn Fawn patterned; PTI solid

Other: Lemon baker's twine from The Twinery; PTI impression plate; oval dies; SNSS long stem silhouettes die; Lawn Fawn journaling die; doily; Want2 Scrap pearls; Corner rounder; Making Memories clip

Time of Sorrow.

Good morning!

Today's card is a sympathy card made with some lovely Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps products.  I used the new Long Stem Silhouettes dies with the coordinating Long Stem Silhouettes stamp set.  The sentiment is from the must have Sympathy Innies.

The owner of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps recently lost her Grandmother and today they are celebrating her life.  No matter if death is anticipated or sudden, saying goodbye to a dear loved one is never easy - even knowing that we will see them again one day in Heaven.  This sentiment Korin included in this stamp set says it all, I think.  {hugs, Korin!}

If you are looking for a stamp set to add to your collection for sad occasions such as this one, take a look at SNSS Sympathy Innies.  It's a must have in my book.

Have a blessed week.

Jessica

Card Details

Stamps: Long Stems Silhouettes, Sympathy Innies (SNSS)

Ink: Distress Markers for flowers; Versafine for sentiment

Paper: PaperTrey Ink patterned and solid; vellum

Other: My Favorite Things Blueprints 13; PTI oval dies; Strawberry baker's twine from The Twinery; Want2 Scrap pearls; Doily inked with Versamagic pink chalk ink; paper piercer; PTI tag die; zig silver metallic pen

So happy for you!

Good morning!

Today, I'm happy to be sharing a fun card that I made using the new Love Birds stamp set and coordinating die set. I embossed the images with detail white embossing powder and colored with Copic markers, using a blender pen to clean up the coloring on the white embossed lines a bit.

Have a great day!

Jessica

Congratulations on your new home.

Good morning!

Today, I'm joining the designers from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps in showcasing the new Happy Home stamp set, illustrated by Diane Zechman.

I love the sweet little houses and trees Diane included in her set as well as the fun fonts for the sentiments.  The felt hearts are cut from SNSS heart dies - definitely a go to die set for me.

I colored the images with a few Copic markers on the die cut mat and then used those colors on the rest of my card to complement it, softening it just a bit with a doily and some burlap ribbon & shore twine.

To see everyone's cards for today's hop as well as how YOU can play along with us with the new challenge coordinating with the Happy Home stamp set, please check out the thumbnail photos below and then visit the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps company blog.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Jessica

It's a baby shower.

Good morning!

Are you ready for the next Showers of Blessings card from me?  I still have one more that I'll share this weekend with you - I hope you're not sick of them yet!  I'm so in love with this set, I think I'll be pulling it out soon to make some encouragement cards too as there are some great sentiments in the sets for them!

This card today is one of my favorites of all I've made with the set because I love all the colors, textures, and elements on it and how they 'evolved' into being.  I have someone in mind that I'm going to save this one for as she just found out she is pregnant with her first child - so exciting!  She's actually a former student of mine when I taught fresh out of college and now she's all done with college and just starting her own family!  I love making cards thinking of specific people who may like them and getting inspired through the process of creating something for them while thinking about them and what they like, etc.  (or, at least what I THINK they would like! ha!)

Since no one know if she's having a boy or girl yet, I went color crazy with this one, again using my 'rule' that there can be a bit of pink on a baby shower card for a boy since the MOM is a girl and is the one who will actually be enjoying and receiving the card!  ha!  It's my story and I'm sticking to it! 

This time, I used the sentiments from the Wonderful Words: Baby set for the tags, not the coordinating die sentiment.  So fun to make!

Have a great day and I do wish YOU showers of blessings today!
Jessica

Bridal Shower blessing.

Good morning!

I'm back with another Scattered Showers card to share with you today.  I shared several cards last week with this set and today I have a soft and delicate bridal shower one to show.  I played around a bit with a small glassine bag, trying some different techniques with it.  I watercolored it and embossed it and by the time I was done it was so delicate that I knew there was no way that I could use it as a pocket (because it would just fall apart!) but thought it was pretty so I didn't want to trash it... so, I used it as the starting point for this card!

I've always liked the colors blue and yellow together and decided to add just a pop of pink for a feminine touch.  One of the young ladies in our church is getting married soon, so this card was made for her - I hope she'll like it! 

Have a wonderful Monday!

Jessica

Girly showers of blessings.

Good morning!

I'm back today with another Scattered Showers card I made over the weekend for my card stash.  This time I was thinking of a girly shower - like for a baby girl or even a bride!  Lots of fun playing with washi tapes in all shades of pink!  Love that subtle pop of Aqua Mist on the tag.

My second card uses pinks and purples with just a touch of turquoise.  This time I went all baby with the adorable 'baby' die cut sentiment as part of the tag.  In my mind, just because the mom may be having a boy - there can be a bit of purple and pink on her shower card because SHE is a girl!  ha!  

You can see that I mimicked the colors on the card with my baker's twines from The Twinery: Blossom, Caribbean, and Lilac - so fun!

I'll be back soon with some more Scattered Showers cards - when I work on a new set, I always make several cards as that's how the design process seems to work for me!  Each card evolves out of the last!

Have a great day!
Jessica

Showers of blessings.

Good morning!

Has it been raining like crazy this weekend where you live too?  Saturday night into early Sunday morning we had some pretty big storms with thunder, lightning, downpouring rain and even some hail mixed in...which made for not the best sleeping as we all woke up to our house shaking with the loud thunder claps!  It's been pretty dry, so I know we need it but YIKES!  It was a rather rude awakening!

The good thing about April showers is (well, you know the rhyme!), they help bring in May flowers and green grass and buds on the trees... ah!  Love Spring and all the new colors that emerge after such a long, cold, white & gray winter.

Over the past few weekends when I've had a bit of free time, I pulled out a new to me stamp set collection from PaperTrey Ink called Scattered Showers to make some Bridal & Baby shower cards for my stash.  I didn't have a set quite like this one in my stash and I've been eyeing it for quite awhile as it's a pretty old set of theirs.  I'll be sharing several cards I made over the next week or so that I made with the two stamp sets and coordinating dies - they were so fun to play with!

For my card today, I stamped the scene on some white cardstock and embossed the entire panel with the Guidelines Impression plate - one of my favorites for the subtle texture it adds.  Then, you can see that I added the tag and umbrellas on top to finish it off.  Just a bit of buttercream baker's twine from The Twinery was the only real embellishment I added besides the button to the sun.

A pretty flat card, easy to mail that can be used for just about any occasion, don't you think?  Most of the others I made are specific to babies or weddings but not this one.

It's always great to get a chance to play with stamps just for fun, isn't it?  I love working on assignments too, don't get me wrong but playing just to play - is pretty great. 

Have a great day and I wish YOU showers of blessings on the Monday morning!
Jessica

You are my sunshine.

Hi there!

I'm popping in this afternoon to share a card I made using an adorable new Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps set Korin will be releasing next Friday, April 11 called Happy Happy along with their coordinating dies.  I used several of our scallop border dies (borders & backgrounds, scallop border dies) layered together and LOTS of yellows to make my happy, sunny card! 

I die cut the sunshine (LOVE this shape!) from felt and stamped my favorite sentiment from the new set along with it, adding some yellow washi tape, a yellow button (with yellow butter cream twine, of course!) and called it done.  This card makes me happy with all the bright, WARM colors.  I just wish it wasn't 37 degrees and cloudy outside with a chance of snow tonight (AGAIN!).

No matter the weather, we can make sunny, happy card, right!? 

Hope you are enjoying the sunshine today!

Jessica

One in a melon.

Good morning!

Today's card was a fun one to make, with lots of patterns, colors, and textures!  I love October Afternoon patterned papers!  I used the adorable Fruit Fusion: melon stamp set from PaperTrey Ink for the stamps and just began to play with scraps from my scrap bin, using the papers as my inspiration.

Thanks for checking in on me today!

Have a 'one in a melon' day!
Jessica

Expresso my thanks!

Good morning!

I have a card to share today that I made with a couple of the new March stamp and die sets through Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps: Pick Me Up and Borders & Backgrounds.

The flag banners at the top of the card are from the arrow die in the Pick Me Up stamp set - fun!  I used linen white card stock to die cut the border dies and purposely didn't stamp them cleanly, as I wanted a bit of the texture of the paper to show through.  

Have a great day!

Jessica

Hi Sweetie!

Hi there!

I'm joining with several designers from Peachy Keen Stamps to show our new Color Challenge, inspired by this beautiful spring photo:

I adore these colors for spring, especially after the long hard winter we've had.  I used my favorite teddy bear: Thinking of You, which has an adorable new smaller size available too right here: Teddy Bear Love.  I paper pieced Teddy with patterned papers from PaperTrey Ink, adding just a bit of shading with copics and pieced him all back together to put on the card (papers from October Afternoon).

FYI:  Whenever I paper piece, I always use my black Versafine ink, especially on patterned paper.  It's the only really crisp, dark, black ink that I've found that keeps the image lines nice and clear.  I usually add a bit of shading with my Copics and find that the ink can smear a bit, but if I'm careful not to add too much marker to the inked lines, my results are usually good.  The crisp, clear black lines are more important to me than the bit of smearing that may occur.  I've had mine for YEARS and use it everytime I stamp (especially for all the sentiments on my cards) and have never needed to replace or refill it.  If you're looking for a good functional black ink, I highly recommend it!

All the details to the challenge can be found here.

I hope you get a chance to play along with us!  

Jessica

Peachy Keen Stamps March Blog hop

Hi there!

Today's the day all the new March stamp sets are available over at Peachy Keen Stamps!  To celebrate and give you more ideas using the new sets, the designer are joining together for a blog hop tonight.  

If you've been following along on the hop, you should have arrived here from Jessica Esch's blog.  You can view the full list of all the blog hop links over at Peachy Keen Stamps' blog.

For my card today, I used the adorable new PK1375 Faceless Chickens stamp set paired with the PK1373 Chickie Face Assortment, using the 1" size for her face.

I used lots of October Afternoon patterned paper for my card along with some soft buttercream baker's twine from The Twinery.  Isn't that sentiment fun?  

Next, up on the hop is Joanna!

Be sure to check out the PKS blog for all the fun prize information and leave comments along the way on the hop for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate to the Peachy Keen Stamps store!

Happy hopping!

Jessica