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Sunday, January 31, 2010

Here is our booth at show! You can see that Jenni and Jared work very hard to make sure that everything is perfect! Also, if you look closely you can find a few Homespun layouts that haven't yet been posted here. I'll try to track those down and post them full size for you later this week.















Wednesday, January 27, 2010

February Sneak Peek!

This month's sneak peek brought to you by Cheryl! I see a little Pink Paisley shimmer and some Studio Calico hot off the press!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Welcome to the JBS Team Danielle Flanders!!!

We are oh so excited to announce that Danielle Flanders is joining the JBS Mercantile team! Her lovely work will appear in the guest window of the gallery this month and then she'll have a spot all her own starting in March! I can't wait!

Hi, my name is Danielle Flanders and I currently live near Saratoga Springs, NY (home of the famous Saratoga Horse Racing Track) with my husband of 10 years and our 2 daughters, Taylor who is 10 and Kati is 4. I grew up in South Dakota and still consider myself a midwest girl at heart and miss the wide open spaces and slower pace. I do hope to move back some day! My style is somewhat girly and shabby, but yet with clean lines and color. Buttons, ribbons, stitching and the color pink are my addictions when it comes to scrapbooking! I guess that’s what happens when you have two daughters. Let’s see, what else…I have a degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology and also a K-8 elementary teaching degree, however I stay at home with my girls right now and love every minute I get to spend with them. My creative time seems to be late at night after it’s quiet…I’m definitely a night owl. I’m so thrilled to be joining the Jenni Bowlin team and amazing talent she has here!

I used to scrap in my dining room to be close to my family, but became sick of the mess and growing stash of scrapbooking supplies. Now I have a little desk set up in our basement and love to be able to have everything out and at my fingertips! I’m a VERY messy scrapper! It’s definitely a work in progress and I hope to get more shelving soon. I’m lucky to have a storage room nearby, so I have many things stored in there as well.

This is one of my all-time favorite photos. My husband works an hour away from home, so the girls are excited to see him when he gets home at the end of the day. I caught this one day when he had just gotten back from his commute.

I just received a new sewing machine and had to make a layout about it, because I love it so much. It says, “Sew many….stitches, so little time! I love my new Singer, it has 67 more stitches than my last machine! 1/10” I used one of the new stitch functions to create a border on the white and yellow paper. Jenni Bowlin supplies used: Chipboard heart, chipboard buttons, rub on circle, paper, sticker letters, star sticker, journaling sheet, ruler sticker. Other: doilies, twine, needle, machine stitching, black floss, Sweet Clover Glimmer Mist.

Welcome to the team Danielle! We're simply delighted to have you here!
P.S. Danielle says she gets those sweet doillies in the baking section at A.C. Moore. I had to ask her, because I think they're really cool. Oh hey! We should talk Jenni into getting them for a kit . . .

Monday, January 25, 2010

(Not So) LIVE from CHA!

Things are super SUPER hectic here at CHA which is a very VERY good thing. While you are oh so patiently waiting for blogging to get back to normal here on the inspiration blog, you may want to skip on over to Shimelle Laine's blog as she has a delightful report of our booth here in Anaheim complete with lovely photos. Thank you Shimelle!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

LOTS of Good Stuff!

So what happens when we don't make it to the blog for a couple days? The good stuff gets backed up! LOTS to share today . . .
First up, Jenni has loaded the shop with lots of Valentine's treats! There are some limited edition vintage Valentine papercrafting kits like this little peek you see here . . .

Plus this Valentine necklace kit, as well as a few handmade (by Jenni!) Valentine necklace's. It will all go fast as there are limited amounts of each, especially the handmade necklace's. I just looked and there were only two of those left: this one and this one.

Okay, now more of the new release in action! These little gems were made with Jenni's new pewter pins! Can you believe it? Melissa (from the warehouse) made this pair for me to wear to show. I LOVE them!!!

She says they are easy to make if you have a little patience. Simply snip off the excess pin with a pair of wire cutters and then slowly and carefully bend the pin over to create the loop. That's it! The slowly and carefully part is important though. She says if you try to bend the pin too quickly it will break.

Next up, a couple sweet cards from Stephanie Howell featuring Homespun and the new embellished butterflies . . .

Be sure to check her blog for some Homespun floral treats!

And here are the much anticipated exclusives from the February JBS Mercantile kit! You're going to love it! It's full of soft blues and greens with a bit of vivid red and bold black and just a smidge of gold. Check back on the 25th for some layout peeks of February's kit!
And look! More from the January kit! Wilna dropped this treasure off just the other day. Doesn't it have the most gorgeous vintage vibe even though the pics are oh so new. They just look fabulous in black and white I think. FYI, Jenni says this months kits are now in single digits, so grab them while you can!

Monday, January 18, 2010

Homespun Scrappy Shares!

Don't you just love to see the real deal instead of the computer generated sneaks? Me too! So I'm happy to report that we have several fabulous projects with our new product planned for you this week! First up is this adorable one from Stephanie Howell (plus another one on her blog!) . . .

Stephanie writes, "everything about homespun makes me happy. ridiculously happy. the colors, the vintage vibe, the designs...the new goodies are just awesome. to make this design, i layered patterned paper (plaid), a mini paper (green check), and a journaling card (pink and red) to make a bright, happy collage.i cut flowers from journaling cards and layered them over the block in the upper right and lower left corners. rows of the new buttons and butterflies (TO DIE FOR!) finish off the design. i tied vintage twine through the buttons and backed them with circles punched from one of the mini patterned papers."



And what would a Jenni Bowlin release be without an update of one of her classics. This show we bring you more of the ever popular bingo cards. Sweet minis in springtime and sports themes plus a new full size alpha bingo sheet perfect for collaging. You can see this last sneak over on Jenni's blog today. Plus, don't miss out on more of Jenni's creations this month as she finishes her spot as Guest Garden Girl over at Two Peas in a Bucket!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Kit Tips from Mandi (PLUS . . . )!

Today Mandi brings us another fabulous page from the January kit along with some great tips for stretching your kits and getting more (and more and more) pages out of them . . .


The kit from January is definitely my all time favorite. I love all of the beautiful colors and the vintage feminine feel. I've been creating nonstop with this kit! Here are a few of tricks I've utilized in this page to stretch the kit to its max...

1. I like to cut labels in half and use the same label in two different places on the same layout.


2. The letter stickers included in the add on kit are so cute, but they're really big, and there's not a lot of each letter. So, I thought of a good two letter title to save my stickers and also keep my title manageable.

3. The lace paper in the kit is so beautiful. This is one sheet of paper that I intend to make last! So I've been cutting little bits of it and using them in places as design accents.

4. I used the vintage flash card in one page already, but I was sure to trim it down so that I could include a part of it in this layout as well.

Thanks for the inspiration Mandi!

Button Button Who's got the Button? Jenni Bowlin! Lots of them too! And available in six delightful colors . . . green, orange, cream, white, red, and pink!

Also, be sure to check Jenni's blog for another new release peek!

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Challenged by Lisa (and another PEEK)!

I am so inspired each day when I post a fresh creation from one of our design team members. Today's art is from Lisa Dickinson:

Mixing Up Old & New
I was in the process of putting away the remaining pieces of my December kit when I realized I hadn't yet used the cute little Maya Road chipboard houses yet. I knew I wanted to incorporate them into a page, but there wasn't much left in my kit from that month. The solution? I pulled a few bits from the kit and mixed them up with a some pieces from the January kit, and finally added some classic JBS elements to come up with this page:
I used the Maya Road houses, grey polka dot October Afternoon (along with the compass, cut from another OA paper!) and the gray American Crafts letters from the December kit + some hand-cut scallops from the Studio Calico paper in January's kit + the JBS Victoria Die-Cut Paper, a sheet from the Victoria Paper Pack and one of the pearl flowers to adorn a house.

A quick design note: I cut away part of the die-cut paper by using an Exacto knife and then added the soft gray floral paper behind it, along with a thin strip of the Studio Calico paper.

Now go pull out some of your old kits and see what elements you can combine for a fresh page! Happy Scrapping!
Today's PEEK . . . Banner Stickers with interchangeable alpha and Polka Dot Labels!!!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Challenged by Becky (and another PEEK)!

I have a challenge for you. Create a layout using a photo of a thing or things, not a person. I realized that I rarely document my own life. I document my feelings for my family, which is obviously super important, but I do want to document other aspects too. Then, dig into your classic JBS supplies and mix them together and create something all about you. This is something that I really enjoy about Jenni's designs/product....classic and timeless, and all the lines mix so well. So I challenge you to go create! AND, if you make something and post it on your blog or in a gallery, link it so we can all see!

www.beckynovacekphotography.com

I thought these new gems were the perfect peek to go with Becky's gorgeous roses. Available in garnet, pewter, copper, antique gold, pearl, and shell. Stunning!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

A Stephanie Spectacular plus a Spectacular PEEK!


today i thought i'd share a simple home decor piece.while i really admire altered projects (and secretly wish i could make them too) they aren't really my thing...i either give up on them halfway through out of pure frustration,or finish them and promptly forget about them.
i thought that i'd do a chic, vintage inspired piece to display on my mantel.here's the best part...it took about ten minutes.


i simply adhered mini bingo cards to my 7gypsies printers tray,and then added rhinestone buttons in the centers of the cards.voila. a simple yet pretty piece i can display year round!!

i also wanted to share a JBS layout i made. this layout just fell together.i love jbs products so much it's not even funny. i still feel like it's a dream that i was asked to be on the team!!these felt butterflies are one of my favorite embellishments jenni has made.

for more information on this layout, check out my scrappy sunday post on my blog:http://stephaniehowell.typepad.com

happy tuesday!
xo
s
And now without further ado . . . we bring you Homespun! We hope you like it! Stay tuned for more exciting peeks this week!




Wholesalers, newsletters will be heading your way tomorrow!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Bottomless (January) Kit!

Are you ready for even more January inspiration?

First off we have a charming and creative project from Michelle McCord. Be sure to check out the last photo in her series because it is brilliant!

I wanted to create something with one of the many empty ribbon spools I have sitting around, so I decided to create something that would divert my attention away from the frigid snowy Iowa weather and use the JBS kit to do just that. I created some flowers and a hand cut butterfly to adorn the top of the spool. This project is actually pretty kid proof since I hot glued everything onto the top for more durability. I measured the inside part of the spool to be approximately two inches wide, cut two strips of 2x12 patterned paper, and filled those strips with some snapshots of the last two months. I used my sewing machine to add some texture and more durability to the paper, adhered it to the spool, and now my kiddies can 'unroll' the snapshots and see the pictures.

Itied off the spool with some scrap fabric to keep the pictures secure. Whenever we would like to enjoy the photos, we just untie the fabric and look at the pics.

I used some of the exclusive JBS patterned paper that comes with the kit to mimic grass here. I just folded a 1/12 inch by 12 inch piece of patterned paper, sewed along the open end of the folded paper, and then used my smaller scissors to cut the paper to look somewhat like grass.

I left the bottom of the spool 'un altered' for these photos so you could get the idea of how this project was all put together. Using my machine to sew aroun dthe edges makes the paper almost impossible to rip as well so it is very 'kid friendly' for viewing.
And that was supposed to be it for today, but the girls have been working overtime (and I love them for it)!
From Becky Novacek we have just the sweetest wedding layout ever. She says, "This is the 4th layout I've made using the January kit and i still have a pile of supplies left! I love it!"
And from Cheryl Ametewee, "I created this one using the January JBS add-on kit mixed in with the main one. The old fabric was some I already owned and the journaling talks about how i wish it were still tradition for all girls to learn to sew...I SO wish I knew how!"

I think one day Cheryl will be a sewing rockstar, don't you?