Valentine's Day Tags by Stephanie Howell

Today we have some darling Valentine's Day tags from Stephanie Howell featuring lots of oldies but goodies.  Jenni's designs are always so classic; just like manilla tags and doillies, they never go out of style.

Jenni Bowlin Studio Goes Digital!

We are so happy to announce that Jenni Bowlin Studio has partnered with Jessica Sprague and will be offering her fresh vintage designs in digital form!  This opens up even more creative possibilities for you!

Six digital kits of Jenni's classic designs are available today, and you can get them today at 25% off as you can every new product released on Mondays at JessicaSprague.com!

Creative Team Member at JessicaSprague, Antonia Krajicek, created this beautiful layout using JBS digital elements:

Come visit our new Digital Shoppe right here:

JBS at CHA!

Want to see Jenni's booth at CHA?  Head on over to Shimelle's Blog for a lovely glimpse.  :)

JBS Mercantile February Peeks!

As you can see by Briana's layout, "Backyard Botanist," the February kit exudes earthy charm with an infusion of greens and browns . . .

Ah . . . but Mindy shows us the flip side of February's personality with a healthy dose of vibrant color.  This kit does a little of everything and we're enjoying it immensely.  The full reveal will be Tuesday, 1/31, at midnight CST . . .

And have you heard the big news?  We have a new, more user friendly customer gallery and a sweet contest to go along with it.  Check out our new gallery and upload a JBS or Mercantile layout for a chance to win!  And that's not all!  We're having a chat night on reveal night!  Tuesday, 1/31, at 8pm CST we'll be hanging out in the chatroom talking about our new mini-album kit club, the latest JBS release, product we'd like to see in upcoming kits, and who knows what all else.  Plus there's a door prize!  We'll be randomly choosing a winner towards the end of the hour who will receive the February Mini-Album Kit.  See you Tuesday!

Mixing up Magpie

I'm excited to share a project with you featuring the newest Jenni Bowlin Studio release, Magpie! When I first received this collection, I was immediately drawn to two of the papers - Collect, a lovely soft green polka dot and Compile, a multi-colored chevron pattern that is so trendy right now.

I always gravitate toward these simpler, graphic patterns because they are easy to work with and incorporate into a page design.

But while I began my design with solely polka dots and chevrons, I found it was impossible not to mix in several more of the coordinating patterned papers - they all just work so wonderfully together! I've used a whopping 10 total patterns on my completed page:

I've added in snippets from the Accessory Sheet (journal spots and tags) and mini papers, as well as some of the new Quilted Stickers and Printed Tags. And while at first glance you might think Magpie is a feminine paper collection more suitable for baby or girl layouts, the small touches of red in the palette make it versatile for so many more subjects!

And that's why I love creating with Jenni's products. Everything works so fabulously together that it's okay to go overboard and include a little bit of everything! I know you are going to love creating with Magpie - and all the other new goodies Jenni has in store for you.

Stay tuned this week for more peeks from the CHA releases...and happy scrapping!

While They're Away at CHA ...

You know the saying .... "while the cat's away the mice will play ..." ?  Well we've taken that idea and changed it up to read "While they're away at  CHA we'll reveal a new JBS gallery and have a giveaway!"

Now that was a mouthful!

Yes, while Jenni and Jared are showing their wonderful new products at CHA, we'll be having some fun over here!  You can find the new customer gallery at our forum link: JBS Mercantile Forum and Gallery .

Right now, the gallery has some projects from our design team, but we want to see YOURS!  Post a new layout, mini, card, anything ... by February 1st to be eligible for the prize.

And ... we hope to see you at our forum and gallery often throughout the year!  We want to see more of your creations using Jenni Bowlin Studio product and kits!

Here are the specifics!

Love card by Mindy Miller

If you haven't tried the new Jenni Bowlin punches by Fiskars, what are you waiting for? They are perfect for card making (and pretty much everything)!

I used both the Picture Frame Medium Lever Punch and the Blue Ribbon Large Squeeze Punch to create this Valentine's card.

I punched small picture frame shapes from a variety of JBS patterned papers and Coredinations cardstock. Then I arranged the shapes within a small grid sewn on the front of the card.

To set off the JBS pink pearl buttons, I layered them on top of pinked circles made with the Blue Ribbon punch.

While I kept the sentiment simple, I love the dimension of the JBS vintage shadow alpha stickers.

Here's a list of the patterned papers I used:

Be Our Guest Sewing Room

Be Our Guest Tea Towel

Red & Black Extension IV Inkwell

Red & Black Extension IV Letter Chart

Happy Crafting!

Mindy

Guest Star Ursula Schneider

Today we have several lovely creations from guest star Ursula Scheider.  As you can see Ursula is a fabulous product mixer with great attention to detail.  On this first layout, "Dressed Up," she's created a delightfully whimsical design to match her daughter's fun Cat in the Hat sneakers.  My favorite part of this one is all the stamping.  She worked in our new alpha stamps, the lace border, and two Mercantile exclusives (these will be available for purchase on February 1st).

 

Ursula's layout, "Life Lived & Learned spotlights Red/Black Extension IV.  I want to draw attention to another charming detail on this one.  Did you notice the punched bird in flight?  Yes?  But how about the reflected bird misted using the negative punched space as a stencil.  Awesome!

One more project before we go.  A sweet Valentine's Day card because you know we're all about giving holiday inspiration early here.  Isn't her layering amazing on that flower?  See more of Ursula's work on her, "Under Scarlet Bird's Wing" or if you're on Facebook you can follow her there as well.

Thanks for the inspiration Ursula!

Affection Card by Megan Klauer

I knew I wanted the beautiful Carnation card from the Red/Black Line Extension Journaling Cards to be my focal point. I started with a pink card stock base, but wanted to bring in a color that was a bit less typical. So, I pulled out a Mustard color to compliment the journaling card. The back of the Accessory Sheet from the Haven collection was the perfect mix of black & polka dots. I then layered a piece of paper doily under the card and added a few of the pink pearl buttons.
A quick and simple card that can be duplicated in so many different ways!

New Release: The Basics

In case you haven't seen these yet, here are a few more additions to our CHA-W offerings.  These are products that you know and love from JBS, clear stamps and chipboard elements done vintage style.

Valentine Envelopes by Shimelle

I may have gotten a bit carried away dressing up some envelopes for Valentines for some friends, but there are so many pretty red embellishments from JBS that it seems a shame to hide them all away!

I stamped the envelopes with the butterfly in white ink, then started layering up the embossed tag.  The bottom layers are netting and red ribbon, then all sorts of JBS embellishments.  A scallop circle from red floral paper, a smaller tag stamped with the receipt design, label and flag stickers, butterflies in sticker and paper + gem formats, red doilies and a rhinestone button.  A letter sticker monogram labels each of the envelopes too.

So obviously not the sort of envelopes that will make it anywhere in the mail, but perfect for a hand-delivered valentine, especially if it's for a crafty girl who might take it apart and add that tag to a scrapbook page!

Happy crafting!

Love and glitter,

Shimelle

NEW Project Foundations!

 We have some sweet new additions to Jenni's line of project foundations to share with you today.  This adorable Chalkboard Easel complete with chalk pencil and a charming small storage box to fill with all sorts of treasures.  Check Jenni's blog for another exciting project foundation coming soon!

A Piece of Cake for Valentine's Day and Don't Forget the Fork

Why not surprise a friend with a cake this Valentine's Day? This one was made using a variety of old jewelry boxes.

I covered the bottom of the boxes with the sweetest little paper from the Town Square Collection. The tops were covered with a very fine glitter. The boxes were stacked and each box glued to the top of the next box.

I topped my cake with a Jenni Bowlin Chipboard Heart painted with Chewing Gum paint and sprinkled with glitter. A "chocolate" vellum butterfly finishes it off.

Why not "serve" your cake on a vintage plate with a vintage fork?

Wouldn't it be sweet to fill your cake with a variety of vintage surprises? My cake is filled with vintage buttons, a vintage heart pin, old keys, and a wonderful sampling of JBS embellishments.

Speaking of vintage forks ... I've admired the ones I've seen in shops that have been altered to create easels.  I had a few vintage forks on hand, and tried this myself.

I curled the tines with a pair of pliers.  Vintage silver forks are softer and are easier to bend than the everyday stainless steel forks.  This fork had 2 decorative holes in the top which were perfect for threading some seam binding through.  Next time, I'll protect the tines with a rag when I bend them. Because they are fairly soft, they scratch easily.  

The fork easel holds my Valentine display so beautifully!


To create the display, I used a JBS Valentine Bingo Card for my base. I covered it in tulle and added a pretty piece of mini pattern paper from the Baby of Mine collection.  A scalloped notecard is placed on top of that.  I cut out the frame center from the Homespun journaling card, fit our wedding picture underneath, and sewed that onto the notecard.

The paper foil is from a past Mercantile kit and I used a Malted Milk ink pad to give it a creamier color.  The sweet little embroidered flower is from the lace found in the Flea Market section of Mercantile.  

Jenni's products bring such a classic and timeless look to Valentine's Day projects.  And it is amazing how her different lines work so well together.   Keep watching the blog as more of the design team posts their creations!

January 2012 JBS Mercantile Gazette!

The first edition of the 2012 JBS Mercantile Gazette is out! In this issue you'll find a Valentine's Day card-making video tutorial from Mindy Miller, the story behind our first Mini-Album Kit by Briana Johnson, as well as our usual array of articles including a sketch, a two-pager, and a multi-photo design. We hope it helps you get started on a new year packed with inspiration.

Love by Becky Novacek

This month I've been switching my focus from Christmas to Valentine's Day and our wedding anniversary. I know that many times I think that Tom knows how much I care about him, so my scrapbooking and crafting is more about our grandchildren or children. But I really want all of them to see evidence of the love Tom and I have....and I want Tom to know that he's a priority (which I think he does) and it's not just about the kids. Our relationship is important and I want to document that more than I have in recent years. What better time than Valentine's Day and our wedding anniversary?

This framed piece is 8"x8" and I simply took the glass out so that it would be more like an open shadow box. I covered the base with a vintage book page that was in a recent JBS kit, as well as a painted ledger page. I used the bird and banner rubber stamp with the weather vane stamp pad.  The journaling is typed with a vintage typewriter onto one of my favorite JBS products, the scallop notecard.  I also gathered the red crepe paper to create a little ruffle border. There's also a little heart/circle detail in the bottom left corner with a JBS chip heart and my favorite current JBS pattern paper from the red/black extension IV addition. I hope your gears are changing up and you're focusing on your loves! - Becky

Entirely NEW to Jenni Bowlin Studio!

Jenni has three entirely new products to debut at CHA 2012!  These sweet pockets fashioned after vintage flour sacks . . .

Delightful Printed Tags in white and kraft styles . . .

And these amazing alterable 12x12 heavy weight papers perforated and die-cut papers.