A Fabulous Birthday Wish from Ranjini Malhotra

Today we have a super birthday card with a summer vibe from designer Ranjini Malhotra who writes, "I used Jenni's cabbage flower clear acrylic stamp to create this sweet card. I chose to highlight the stamped image of the left side of the card. I used Jenni's Acrylic Paint Dabber in Speckled Egg and stamped three cabbage flowers on the left side of the page. I knew I wanted the sentiment to pop off the page, but I didn't want it to cover the stamped design, so I punched a circle of white cardstock, adhered it at the bottom prior to stamping, then stamped the design right on top of the circle. After drying, I removed it and popped it off the page for dimension with a foam pop dot. I used Jenni's scalloped banner stamp to create the banner at the top of the page from Jenni's exclusive patterned paper (this one from the October 2009 kit) as well adding the text strip on the right from the Tangerine Dream paper collection. The stamped sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. I hope you've enjoyed seeing Jenni's stamps on the blog this month and we've showed you how to get lots of mileage out of your stamps!"



Thanks for the inspiration Ranjini!

Circles, Doilies, & Stamps

The JBS Mercantile Exclusive Medallion Stamp is one of my very favorite JBS stamps. It can be cut apart to make a circle border or to cut the central flower out and it's just the perfect size, measuring three inches in diameter. On the layout I'm sharing with you today, I stamped it on top of small, pastel doilies. It goes perfectly with doilies I must say! I love it! I think part of it is the texture pattern inside the stamp works so well with the texture on the border of the doily. And it's on sale for $2.00 until the 5th :)

I used a 3 1/2" circle punch on several patterns of JBS Magpie Collection paper and arranged them in a grid with the stamped doilies. I made this also for our Rubix Cube grid challenge going on right now on the message board ($25.00 Mercantile gift card up for grabs, ladies!). I added my photos then layered smaller circles of stickers, metal rimmed tags, and circle and seal punches.

I used photos I had on hand, already printed, so I tried to make them work into the grid sized as they were. I let the larger photo (4x6) take up almost two circles and centered the two smaller photos (4x3, 2 1/8 x 2 7/8) on a single circle. I like that with everything being the same in terms of the circles that I've got the variation in photo sizes - worked out well I think. Finally I typed my journaling on the computer in landscape, printed it out, and ran it down the length of the sides of the pages.

This is an easy design, simple to re-create (use your die cutting machine for the circles if you don't have a super giga circle punch), and oh so much fun to embellish all those circles! And if you like it enough to be inspired by it, lets see what you come up with and share it here on the Rubix Cube Results page!

Supplies:
Hodge Podge Stickers: Playful, Souvenir
Magpie Paper Collection: Collect, Complie, Gather, Nest, Stash, Mini Pattern Sheet
Wren Paper Collection (available very soon!): Wheatgrass, Lace Curtain
Mercantile Exclusive Stamp - Medallion
Apothecary Stickers - Red
Shadow Alpha Stickers: Orange/Black, Vintage/Black
Tiny Circle Alpha Cardstock Stickers - Reverse Red
Ranger JBS Dye Stamp Pad - Chili Powder
Red/Black Extension IV - Mini Sheet
Other: pastel metal rimmed tags from Staples, pastel doilies
Pink polka dot vellum from the March JBS Mercantile Kit

Dirty Kid Feet with Corrie Jones

These ladies really know their stamping! It is so inspiring to see everything they do with their stamps!

One of my favorite stamps is the exclusive Alpha Stencil Stamp. I just love the letters. It reminds me of kids and school. My favorite way to use stamps is with paint instead of ink. It makes the stamped images a little messier, but that is how I like it.

Here I used this stamp with the Spiced Tin paint dabber after neutralizing the Wren background with a little Malted Milk and Chewing Gum.

I love how the paint kind of runs together some in the stamping processes. I think it adds to the story.

Have you tried your stamps with paint? Isn't it a fun way to get a little messy?

Have a great Monday!

~Corrie

JBS Mercantile June Sneak Peeks!

The June Kits are right around the corner and our design team is happily creating with them as we speak.  Here is a tiny sampling of their creativity.  From Lisa Dickinson, a sweet page featturing the June Papercrafting Kit.  If you look very closely you'll find some popular washi tape hiding out here!

I spy that same washi tape here on Briana Johnson's layout.  Stars and "Stripes" Forever indeed!  And have you caught on to the fact that we're showcasing Jenni's new release, "Wren," this month?  Just wait till the full reveal on the 31st at midnight.  I think you will be amazed at how versatile and perfectly suited to summer that this line is.

And from Corrie Jones we have this brilliant design featuring the June Mini-Album Kit.  I can pretty much guarantee that this baby's going to fly off the shelves quickly again this month.  I mean, just LOOK at all those HAPPY little bits on there!  I can't wait to see more!  How about you?

MOM by Waleska

Here is a stamping treat from Waleska who writes, "I used some of my favorite stamps and techniques here. I stamped the seal with Lemon Drop paint dabber (love the deep color and texture you get stamping with paint), the butterfly with Cough Syrup ink (on a vintage card) and the Days of the Week stamp (which a switched a bit to spell mom :)) with Speckled Egg."

Thanks for the inspiration Waleska!

Stamp your way to funky photo and title highlights :)

So are you loving all the wonderful Inspiration from the design team this month using the fabulous JBS Stamps?!!! I know I am! :)

Today I would like to share with you a couple of layouts I created using the the current May JBS kits and 2 fabulous stamps; 1 acrylic and 1 foam.

For this layout I have used the very versatile Cabbage flower clear stamp with fountain pen ink. To give both my title and photo a little visual oomph, I first scrapped on some gesso to my background pattered card stock and then stamped over it once it was dry. To coordinate the whole clustered effect of my title, photo, stamping and embellishments, I have added a few splats of fountain pen paint. 

Another amazingly versatile stamp from the JBS range is this set of Whimsical foam stamps. Foam stamps appear to be very much a favourite of art journal creatives these days, but we shouldn't forget just how wonderful they can look on our layouts, cards, tags etc :)

To highlight my title for this particular layout I tore out the letter 'A' from a die-cut stencil sheet and stamped it with the spotty foam stamp using chilli powder paint. Once again I have added extra splats of the paint to help coordinate 'the look'!

Well I do hope you enjoyed my stamping fun, please do share with us your own creative JBS stamping fun!!!

Cheers Louise :) :) :)

DIY Postcards

Wouldn't it be nice to get a unique homemade postcard in the mail?  Why not make one yourself and send it off to someone special?

If you want to send your postcard via US Postal Mail,  you'll need to make your postcards fit within the required size range.  You can find the regulations at this link:  USPS Sizes for Postcards .  My postcards shown are "postcard official", even with the embellishments.

The base of the postcard is a thin chipboard on which I built the front and back of the postcard.  I printed the photos on textured cardstock.

I used two of my very favorite JBS clear stamps on them.  The backsides of the cards are stamped with none other than the Postcard Stamp, a must-have for this project!

The front of the postcard is framed with the Soda Water Label Border Stamp in varying colors.

I LOVE the Soda Water stamp.  The design of the stamp has a circle in the middle that is perfect for embellishing with  little special somethings.  I sewed  sequins and beads on one, glued sequins and pearls on another, and JBS Pearl Flowers on the third.

... and the Soda Water type reminds me of summer, doesn't it?

Try making your own postcards - the recipient will be surprised and thrilled!

supplies:

Soda Water Label Border Stamp
Postcard Stamp
JBS Pearl Flowers
JBS for Ranger Ink Pads in Speckled Egg, Chicken Feed, Stick Candy, Spice Tin, Weathervane, Chili Powder
sequins, beads, flat pearl

Love You Like Crazy with Megan Klauer

The design team is continuing to choose & use our favorite stamps throughout this month. I chose one of my favorites, the Silhouette stamp, which just happens to be 50% off this month. Only $2, for real!!!



I grabbed a ton of different goodies from my JBS stash and went to work layering and playing.
I started by using a variety of the journaling cards into a "grid" style. Which by the way is a fun new challenge going on right now! Check it out now on the forums!

The Alterable Alphas were perfect for the large title I had in mind. 

For the stamped images I used the Fountain Pen ink pad and stamped the images on the new Die-Cut and Perforated Papers - Stamp...one for each of my kiddos. 


What have you stamped lately?

Looking Ahead ... a Father's Day Ticket Book

It's never too early to start thinking of dad!  We have a real cute and easy ticket book to show you, created with our Digital Printed Ticket Kits at JessicaSprague.com .

Today's new kit, Printed Tickets Expressions, is on sale today!   So grab it now while it's 25% off!

The ticket book as shown here also uses two other Printed Ticket kits:  Printed Tickets Stars & Stats, and Printed Tickets Boy & Girl Icons.

Instructions:

1.  Upload the digital tickets you'd like to use into PSE or a Word Processing program. 

2.  Resize the tickets on your document and organize the tickets for printing.  My tickets were resized to 2.5 inches x 5 inches.

3.  Add type to the cover ticket and sentiment and words to any of the tickets.

4. Print the tickets and cut them out.  I had deco scissors from Fiskars that were perfect for cutting out the ticket edges.

5.  The tickets to the right in the photo above, are "favor tickets" that dad can redeem when he likes.  To create these, I stacked 4 of the Stars Printed Tickets as shown to create one group on my digital page.  The 4 tickets when stacked, are the same size as the album.   I added the words "this ticket good for:".   

Print out these tickets and use a perforating blade to perforate in between the tickets.  Dad can now tear a ticket off when he wants to redeem a favor!

6.  You can add photos, words, or embellishments to the tickets.

7.  Organize your tickets and punch holes in the edges, using a ticket you've punched as a guide.  Use binder rings to hold the book together.

I added a sweet piece of red and white polka dot ribbon to my album.  I know the polka dots aren't particularly masculine, but the ribbon just looked so cute next to the blue of the cover ticket.  And cute won over masculine!

Have a great day!  Don't forget to check out and download the latest issue of the Gazette!  It's PACKED!  Take a look at the post below!

Better Late Than Never!

These sunny days as the weather warms and school winds down have us all in the mood for summer, and consequently we've playing a bit of hooky. As a result, the usual mid-month release of The JBS Mercantile Gazette is a bit later than usual, but we think you'll agree that it's worth the wait. This month's issue is loaded with inspiring information for using your kit, including a fabulous video tutorial from Louise Nelson, amazing ideas for using your kit stamp, a vellum challenge, and much, much more! You can download your copy by clicking here (it may take a moment for the pdf file to download...it's stuffed to the max with eye candy, after all!)

We hope you are enjoying your weekend and playing just a bit of hooky, too! :)

Stamps & More Stamps!

As I learn more about stamping (and subsequently, get better at it!) I find I love to experiment with ways to use stamps on my layouts.  One of my very favorite JBS Mercantile Exclusive stamps is the flower Medallion, which inspired this layout:

S U P P L I E S :

I used the Medallion with eight different rainbow inks down the left hand side of the page. Then I trimmed away the white cardstock on the left hand side of my stamping and layered it over a second sheet of cardstock stamped with the Chevron design. (If you missed this exclusive kit stamp, look for it to be available for sale late this summer!)

I used the Emoticon stamp to create a whimsical frame for my photos, stamping it on white cardstock with Fountain Pen ink and then trimming it out:

 

For the title, I die-cut the word "party"from white cardstock and used the Chevron stamp over the top so it would match my layout:

And don't forget that the JBS Exclusive Mercantile stamps are 50% off through the end of the month. It's a fabulous deal for some truly versatile and unique stamps!

universal self pronouncing

For some reason, when I saw the "self pronouncing dictionary" stamp, all I could think of was a sort of implied message that didn't really need explanation. So I created this card around the stamp with a few things that we typically associate with love messages - a heart and the number two. It was a fun way to shake things up a bit!

I had fun adding the chevron pattern to the chipboard heart by layering the stamp over paint that matched the handmade crochet flower I added to the top.

Supplies:
self pronouncing dictionary stamp
magpie paper
chevron stamp from the April kit
chalkboard easel for display
mini chipboard heart pieces
decorative numbered brads
yellow vellum butterflies
chili powder ink pad
fountain pen ink pad
chewing gun paint dauber

Happy creating!

Leah