Technical Issues . . .

So sorry! We're having technical difficulties with the gallery this evening, so it won't go live till tomorrow sometime. We'll let you know here as soon as it's loaded! In the meantime, here are a few layouts the design team has ready to share with you this month . . . Ranjini Malhotra

Michelle McCord

Amanda Johnson

Lisa Dickinson

Doris Sander

Keisha Campbell

Cheryl Manz Ametewee

Project Kit - 2010 Calendar

Tag Party with Doris Sander

I recently attended a tag party similar to Becky's. It was so much fun! Several of us got together at a friend's house and pooled our resources and enjoyed each other's company. If you're looking for a fun get together idea to do with friend's, I highly recommend this one!

I used my November JBS Mercantile kit for my tags which made packing a lot simpler. I threw in a few red JBS products, my brad/rhinestone/sequin stash, some recycled tissue paper, and Avery tags. The Christmas tree and snowman diecuts were provided by our gracious hostess. Let me know if you'd like the names and I'm sure she can look them up for me.

P.S. I'll get you a mini-tutorial for the tissue paper flowers soon!

Christmas Card by Lisa Dickinson

If you haven't already, you may want to become a follower of our blog at least for the month of December. We'll be blogging daily or even twice daily over the next couple of weeks, bringing you holiday decor and gift giving ideas to help you truly make the season merry and bright. This card is brought to you by design team member Lisa Dickinson. Thanks for the inspiration Lisa!

P.S. Did I mention we've invited lots of guests?!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are a few December peeks for you . . .

Cheryl Ametewee

Doris Sander

Amanda Johnson
Lisa Dickinson

Christmas Ornaments by Dina Wakley

Chipboard Round Star Frames are a discontinued item. Available only while supplies last!

Thanks for the inspiration Dina!

JBS Mercatile December Guest: Cheryl Manz Ametewee

i am just a super simple girl that tries to appreciate all the little things in life, from my gorgeous african-born husband of 5 months, nathan, to my crazy ornery 1 year old son of 13 months, london (LB), to the little girl about to join us mid-march, to the colors around me and all the blessings that God has given me in my lifetime. you can usually find me wearing bright funky clothes creating in our studio/living room with my family around me. i am passionate about sharing my emotions and the special moments that happen everyday when we least expect them. i just love my life...and i want that to reflect in my art. * join me on my blog at http://www.cherylmanz.typepad.com/ for weekly challenges that get your mojo flowing and allow you to meet other scrappers from all over the world!*i recently joined the http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/ digital design team as a hyrid scrapper that prints and designs with all the newest digital elements.

these products were so perfect for these photos of my neice that i took last weekend. they just feel both sweet and sassy to me...very much like her. ;) and i love that the boy bingo cards work just as well for a girl...and mixed with a mini pink one from the packaging, it brought the colors of the papers together. my favorite thing about this layout by far, though, is how the staples in the middle of the felt butterflies make the wings pop up and appear to be in flight. :)

i so love these photos of LB in his fabulous new crown from his first trip to burger king (and his induction into the world of american fast food!). he was so excited to be wearing it and very uncharacteristically was even willing to pose for a few shots. he is very much the center of our world, and i think a new baby girl in march is going to be a rude awakening for him.(technique tip: i took the edge of my stazon inkpads to make a line through the title to make it stand out a little better over the paper that was the same color).

i am not, and have never claimed to be, a great photographer, but i do take pictures almost everyday of my family...and this photo of LB showing me that he's 1 just melts my heart. i love that his little face gets so serious when he's concentrating on getting just that one finger in the air, and that he can only make it happen with his hand resting on his forehead.

this unorganized and messy little corner of my art space is where i keep all the things i reach for over and over while i'm scrapping...the antique drawers hold the my favorite lace, stickies and ink and the little cheap recipe holder is where i keep my favorite embellishments at the moment. nothing fancy, but right at my fingertips when i need them. :)

Thanks for the inspiration Cheryl!

HolidayFest 2009!

HolidayFest 2009 begins this morning at 9 a.m. CST! Check Jenni's blog for all the details!

Gift Tags with Becky Novacek

As the holidays approach, one of my favorite things to do is wrap gifts. I love to make the presentation part of the gift. However, because things get crazy busy as Christmas gets closer, many times I wait until the last minute to start wrapping, and end up frustrated and just wrapping my gifts hurriedly without taking the time to make them look pretty. I decided to start early this year and make my tags ahead of time, so last weekend, I sat at my dining room table with three of my friends and we made tags all evening. We each ended up with a little stash, so when we do start wrapping gifts, we'll have a little basketful of custom tags to choose from. I'm actually looking forward to wrapping this year! The beauty of making gift tags from your stash of scrapbooking and crafting supplies, is that you can just use scraps. If you're like me, it's really satisfying to use up those little bits and pieces that might otherwise be tossed out. An added plus, is that I haven't had to buy readymade tags in years.

Thanks for the inspiration Becky!

Back in Stock! For a short time only!

If you missed out on any of this month's kits, they're back in stock! There are just a very few of the project and add-on kits, so they will go fast! This version of the project kit is brought to you by Michelle McCord. Thanks for the inspiration Michelle!

Also, be sure to check Jenni's blog for some hints at what's in store for you Friday at JBS Mercantile HolidayFest and some peeks at what you'll find on December 25th at VintageFest 2010.

JBS Mercantile December Exclusives

Look! Polka Dots! Yes, this month we've added a little extra excitement to our classic label stickers by adding some fun polka dots. Sweet!

Christmas Ornaments by Keisha Campbell

Aren't these lovely?

Thanks for the inspiration Keisha!

Noel Banner by Ranjini Malhotra

Using a single sheet of the embossed cardstock, I was able to cut it and get four banner pieces plus some extra pieces I used for a separate project. I used the pieces to make this Noel Banner.

I created this from the waste pieces of the Coredinations Cardstock I cut up to create the Noel Banner (a single sheet of cardstock yielded the entire banner plus enough waste pieces to assemble this little tree). The pieces are held together with 7 Gypsies paper tape on the inside. I used three pieces, laid them flat and then taped them together on the wrong side. I then embellished with the photo and some pom pom trim, ribbon and JBS stickers. These would be great little place settings.

Thanks for the inspiration Ranjini!

Four Calling Birds . . .

I'm not really sure what calling birds are, but these little charmers are all calling me to create. I would so love a little tree covered in a flock of these sweet feathered friends.The first two are by Ranjini Malhotra who writes, "Love, love, loved the rubons in this month's kit!! The JBS rubon was plain gorgeous with the damask and I used it to dress up a plain JBS chipboard birdie, I left the wing plain, added a button necklace and some twine for tying. I was inspired by all of the Nordic patterns in the woolens by Dale of Norway at the Norwegian pavilion at Epcot while on vacation at Disney. I decided to use the rubons to imitate a Nordic patterned sweater on the second bird."

And these two are from Keisha Campbell. One is dressed in the new JBS Red/Black extension and the other wears Front Porch.

Thanks so much for the inspiration! I love them!

Seasons Greeting from JBS!

We wanted to share a few projects to get you in the holiday spirit this month. We'll start off wishing you seasons greetings with this charming vintage inspired card by Michelle McCord.

Michelle says, "I used some of the new JBS red and black patterned paper for this Christmas card as I am a big fan of non traditional colors being used for the holidays. I created an accordian fold 'flower' to embellish the middle and added some red, gold, and silver glitter to accent the flower."

Thanks for the inspiration Michelle!

And here are a couple more JBS Mercantile kit projects from Doris Sander:

The mini-album is a super simple design using a set of the new calendar cards and some of the 7 Gypsies paper tape from the add-on kit. I laid out six cards with their sides touching and taped them together, looping the ends of the tape on each side to make tabs. I then used a tape runner to adhere the remaining six cards to the back sides of the first half of the set. Tie it with a bow and add a pretty flower and done!

I threw a picture of my son on the front, but actually I'm saving this as a gift for my new baby neice. I think her pictures will be so sweet inside; one for each month of the coming year. I think I will send her a couple sets of pink label stickers so she can stick those on along with the photos and do a little journaling each month as well.

November Gallery Updates!

3 layouts in Ranjini's gallery (plus some holiday treats coming later this week) . . .

2 more layouts in Lisa's gallery . . .

7 layouts in Keisha's gallery . . .

2 additions to our guest Betsy Sammarco's gallery . . .

another gem in Becky's gallery . . .

and Doris has two to add as well, but unfortunately she fell asleep at the computer before she could get them edited. I'm sure she'll post them tomorrow as soon as she wakes up, or at least as soon as she gets home from school.

Enjoy!