Our Huge Sale Is In Its Final Hours!

Did you know that almost every single item in our JBS Products section and our Past Kit section is on sale at final clearance prices (25% - 85% off) for the month of December?  This will be your last chance to purchase most of these items on our website as they will be removed from the site in January.  Past Kits are going fast so don't delay for best selection! 

A Friendly Reminder. . .

Please be sure to download any content from our Design Team Gallery that you may want for reference in the future.  The entire gallery will be removed in January.

Stay Tuned for a Brand New JBS Mercantile Monthly Product - Coming January 1st, 2015!
Follow along with us on social media for the rest of this month as we begin to tease our new monthly release for 2015!  We are so very excited and can't wait to share all of the details.  It's going to be a great year!

Merry Mercantile: Holiday Album Pages with JBS

Christmas may be behind us, but there's still lots of holiday documentation to be done! Using the scraps from the December JBS Mercantile Papercrafting and Antiquarian kits as well as some Jenni Bowlin Studio accents, I added a few more pages to my holiday album. 

I trimmed a series of 2" x 2" squares from the papers in the kits, and embellished them in various ways, using wood veneer and rhinestone stars...

 a JBS exclusive star stamp, a Santa Claus ticket stub, a gold foil accent...

rub-on stars,  Bingo numbers, and a stencil and spray ink.

This album is the perfect place to incorporate paper scraps and to share the little treasures that I might otherwise end up hoarding.

Here's hoping you had a wonderful Christmas, and that you have a very happy new year! All the best to you and yours! 

Digital (and Hybrid) Ideas for Christmas from Chantalle!

Chantalle McDaniel has used our digital and traditional supplies for some quick wrapping ideas. Not only is the digital kit she used on sale today, but most ALL JBS physical product is on sale through the 31st also!  Let's here from Chantalle:

If you are looking for a quick idea for your festive table or some super fast, custom gift wrap, look no further than the brilliant Vintage Christmas 2 collection, which is on sale right now.

Gift wrap is so easy to create and sure to impress. I simply printed off A4 sheets (at full bleed if your printer has that setting) of the prints available in the collection.

I have covered some kraft rolls from a DIY cracker kit in my printed paper. Stuff with some sweets and a joke and they will be a hit at your Christmas get together.

Custom gift wrap adds a special touch to presents.

I’ve teamed my wrapping with some JBS Rub-ons, some twine and ribbon as well as a Vintage Christmas tag and JBS feather tag.

Materials used:

Digital:

JBS Vintage Christmas 2

Traditional:

JBS Gold Doily Rub-ons

JBS Feather Tags

Here's Snowy Weather ...

... from our Digital Shoppe, brought to you by Lisa Dickinson.

A "sweatery" image, numbers, a mod star, and a colorful plaid are just some of the pretty patterns you'll get in this digital kit.

New to our Digital Shoppe this weekend, it's on sale through today midnight PT.

Audrey Tan created another lovely layout for us using this kit and other digital goodies from our Shoppe:

Susie Cannon Moore created a fun layout too:

You'll have fun using this unique color palette for your layouts about winter, Christmas, and more!

When an Imperfect Page is Just Perfect

It was so difficult to create scrapbook pages with the JBS Mercantile Papercrafting kit this month ... sure it's gorgeous and lovely and unique ... but this is the last papercrafting kit coming from the Mercantile.  Oh there will be LOTS of new cool stuff coming from the Mercantile still, and the Crafted Kit will continue on, but this was the last papercrafting kit.

So I needed this last layout to be perfect.  As all well made plans usually go, perfection certainly did not happen.  My sewing machine was threaded with really thick thread, the tension was off, it made holes in my paper.  The stitching chewed up the edge of a tag so I had to cut the end off.  I realized I wanted to run the page through my printer after it was mostly assembled so I disassembled and ran the page through and it printed in places in shouldn't have.  And the ink gummed up on my patterned paper. 

The page was looking messy and wrecked.  This is when I decided to embrace the messy, embrace the imperfect and go with it.  So I wrinkled it more and disassembled again to get my printing right and reassembled as best as I could.  The wrinkling caused ripping.  I restitched a zig zag stitch over some of the holes in the patterned paper.  Then I realized I made a mistake in my journaling and just kept it.

The funny thing is, it's one of my favorite layouts ever.  Sometimes imperfect is exactly perfect.

There are only a couple of December Papercrafting Kits left in stock.  If you grab one now, you can make your own perfect or perfectly imperfect layouts of the holidays.

And stay tuned to Jenni's facebook page and her instagram account, as she's already dropping hints of what's to come for the Mercantile for the new year!

And So This is Christmas...

Usually, I am stumped when it comes to using ampersands on a layout. This time however, I immediately thought of the song Happy Christmas by John Lennon. Songs can be a powerful tool when it comes to creating titles or inspiring layouts. This layout began with the title and a single piece of patterned paper. From there, I found my photo and my story.

I chose papers and embellishments from both the main kit and the Artisan kit. The design is based on a Page Maps Sketch. The picture really doesn't do the gold foil ampersands justice. They are far richer in real life.

I chose to document one of our traditional holiday activities. Visiting the local department store and seeing the decorations on display marks the beginning of the holiday season for me. What makes you think " so this is Christmas"? 

Christy

A Vintage Affair at Haven Farm!

Hey y'all, it's Tracie Claiborne, stopping by to tell you about the best event I've attended this holiday season...A Vintage Affair at Haven Farm. Haven Farm aka "Jenni Bowlin's fabulous home" was filled to the brim last Saturday with vintage goodies for sale! (Insert angels singing here!! Ahhhhh!!!!) I arrived early and was greeted at the door by this wonderfulness...

Once inside, I was amazed at the transformation that had taken over Jenni's house! It reminded me of an old fashioned general store with an assortment of items so incredibly interesting that I had to walk slowly, look carefully and take it all in. Delightful displays waited for me around every corner, starting with this one in the front room. I'm so happy to say I am now the proud owner of the dresser in this photo! I've loved it since the first time I saw it in Jenni's home, about ten years ago, and I felt giddy when I saw it for sale. I couldn't resist - I had to have it! I still smile when I remember that it's mine!

As I walked around, I was not at all surprised to see that every item for sale was marvelously displayed. I often say that Jenni's greatest talent is "tablescaping" which is "an artistic arrangement of articles on a table." Her knack for displays was never more evident than at this sale. Check out this table just inside the front door. The items are carefully arranged to perfection but look up...only Jenni would think to pin a rudolph nose on that vintage photo! It was a fun touch that made me smile! The banner, the box, the boughs...perfection! 

In the main room, this table called to me. I lingered over the dishes for quite a while and now I'm regretting not getting the red and white set. I simply do not have room in my cabinets for more dishes or I would have! I did pick up lots of Christmas cards and my friend snagged a much sought after Santa cup which made us both happy. 

A vendor at the sale, The Decorologist, also has the gift for table display as is evident in this photo!! I told her how happy this table made me. Those vintage Christmas boxes make my heart go pitter-patter...

Along with a large array of vintage items, there were handmade linens and hand lettered calligraphy items for sale. We oohed and ahhed over it all. Inside Jenni's studio, there were lots of little tidbits too. My friend, Tonia, snagged a sweet little sled.

My friend, Jennifer, and I loved every minute and could have stayed and shopped all day! As you can see by the big smile on our faces, we both got some major scrapbook steals in Jenni's basement. It was so much fun to see scrappy friends I hadn't seen in a while. Of course, I had to tell them about my podcast, The Scrap Gals Podcast with Tiffany and Tracie.

As I think you can see, it was a glorious day. A Vintage Affair was much more fun than the other Christmas shows I've attended this month. I am so excited that Jenni will be hosting more of these events in 2015! I told Jenni and Jared, "This is the best idea you have ever had!!" I highly recommend making this a must-do item on your fun list next year. I'm adding it to my calendar as soon as the dates are available and I hope to see you there. It was so great to see this talented lady and get to shop Haven Farm's unique and lovely treasures. It was the highlight of my Christmas season so far!

 Thanks for the guest post, Tracie (from ScrapGals!)

December Crafted Kit

The December Crafted Kit was this sweet set of handmade snowglobes designed by Jenni Bowlin.  These sold out quickly!  The good news is that the Crafted Kit is available as a membership, so these fast selling, unique treats won't be missed.  I'm curious to see what Jenni has in store for us with the Crafted Kit in 2015, aren't you?

JBS Mercantile December Reveal

Our Kits are in shop at JBS Mercantile and ready to be enjoyed!  You'll find a lovely mix of green and red with a touch of gold.  They are perfect for Christmas and just about everything else!  The kits this month are also packed with exclusives and vintage items.  You won't want to miss this final spectacular papercrafting offering from Jenni Bowlin!  And don't forget to check out the Flea Market!  You can drive your haul home in a vintage toy truck!  :)

Gorgeous Autumn Chantalle Style ...

Chantalle McDaniel created a gorgeous paper autumn layout for us using our digital kit on sale today.

Designed by Lisa Dickinson, Autumn Crisp is half price through tonight - 

that's only $1.49 through midnight PT.

You can also pick up the matching cardstock for only a buck!

Here's Chantalle's layout and how she did it!

A hybrid layout using the Autumn Crisp paper collection

The ‘Banner’ paper was printed onto textured cardstock and used as my base. I’ve printed the ‘Autumn Leaves’ and ‘Neutral leaves’ onto plain white card paper and fussy cut various leaves.

For the gold glitter leaf, I’ve used one of the cut leaves as a guide before hand cutting.

All my little elements were then arranged and machine stitched down into a banner.

Materials used:

Digital:

JBS Autumn Crisp collection

JBS Graphic Feather cut files

Traditional:

JBS Bloom sequins

JBS Graphic Feather chipboard elements

JBS Butterfly assortment sequins

JBS Icons Flatbacks

JBS Butterfly (red) stickers

JBS Paper tape

Absolutely lovely Chantalle!

A Love Affair with Wood Veneer

When wood veneer shapes first became available, I wanted them all. You can imagine how delighted I was to see JBS Mercantile kits featuring exclusive wood veneer shapes. This month's shape did not disappoint!

The wood veneer doilies are the perfect accent to any layout. I love how they have a small hole in the center which allowed me to tie a bit of twine. The stamped design is both warm and elegant. In this layout, the wood doily softens the heavier feel of the grey floral print. I used it as an anchor to "hold" my photos in place.

If you don't want to use the full doily, it is possible to cut the shape in half. When doing so, it's best to cut with the wood grain. Cutting against the grain may result in the shape breaking apart. Should your shape break apart, simple piece it carefully back together and adhere it to your layout. Liquid glue seems to work best.

 I confess that I was tempted to hoard these wood veneer doilies along with my other wood veneer shapes. They are so unique which is precisely why I am glad I used them. They look so much better on the layouts than hidden away in my supplies.

Christy

DIY Chalkboard Art : November Crafted Kit

We still have a few of our November Crafted Kit (DIY Chalkboard Art) available for purchase.  

This kit comes complete with everything you'll need to create your own piece of Chalkboard Art including a chalk set in gorgeous colors.  The great thing about this kit is that it can be erased and changed over and over to match the seasons, a celebration, or special message you want to exhibit in your home.

I haven't had my own kit too long and have already changed it up a few times!

Here's our house number and last name initial.

Here's a sentiment I wanted to display in our home ... a true scrapbooker's sentiment don't you think?

This chalkboard art will be hung through Christmas.

Here are some other ideas for your own chalkboard art:

Special Dinner Menu
Names of everyone in your family
More favorite quotes
To do lists
Chore charts
Song Verses

What a wonderful gift this would make also!

If you want to grab your own kit before they're sold out, get one here!