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!

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!

From Pinterest to Scrapbook Page | Banner Inspired

Do you use Pinterest as inspiration for your scrapbooking?  Watch our blog this month as our design team shows you how they've used Pinterest as inspiration for their pages using the September and new October Mercantile Kits.

I'd love to show you how I used a poster-type ad as inspiration for one of my layouts.

I had an older photo of my boys and their friends playing backyard football. This was a very common activity for my boys during particular years of their youth and I only had this one photo as a memory, so it is a precious photo and I couldn't wait to scrapbook it!

I was a bit stuck on how to use the photo on a page until I saw this ad in my Pinterest Board: Project Inspiration.  My Project Inspiration board is a collection of images that on first glance could inspire my pages in some way, whether it be layout design, color or virtually anything.  If I think there might be some inspiration in an image, it's pinned.  I don't give the actually act of pinning too much thought!

I liked the multi-banner flag in this ad and used that idea as the springboard and main focus of my page.

I went through a lot of revisions with my banner flag,  but stuck to these main design themes:  multiple banners, different banner colors and ends, and typewriting on the banner.  After playing with varying combinations I decided on the combination above and even turned my photo into a banner piece.

I wanted to use the oversized letters in the October Artisan kit, so created my title with them and placed them as if they were exploding from the photo.  Ink splats and Artisan kit sequins draw the eye diagonally.

The exclusive owl stamp stamps a beautiful image and I embossed this one to a shiny finish.  The die-cut in the lower left of the layout is a sneak at a new cutting file coming soon to the JBS Digital Shoppe - look for it early November.  It was so perfect here, I couldn't resist using it.

Keep checking our blog as you see more "Pinterest to Scrapbook Page" examples using our monthly kits!

Digital Halloween Sale : For Paper Scrappers too!

Our JBS Digital Shoppe has 2 great kits on sale today!  The elements in these kits can be used not only in your digital pages, but in your paper crafting too.

Halloween Merry

Halloween Merry has FOUR file types.  The .svg and .dxf can be used in your electronic cutting machines, while the .abr and .png can be used on your digital pages.

Hallowe'en Treats Pocket Stuffers

The .png files in this kit can be printed and cut for your paper projects or used directly onto your digital layout too.

Cassie Wiscarson created this Halloween card using both kits, and Vintage Halloween.  The Triangles Sequins are the perfect Halloween bling here aren't they?

Carrie Arick created this digital layout using both kits also.  She used the png files included in Halloween Merry as digital elements in her layout.  I love the spooky and detailed vine in Halloween Merry.  It's such a great addition to Carrie's page.

And Betsy created these Halloween tags last year. If you missed out then, you'll want to check out her blog post here that shows how easy they are to make using the cutting files in Halloween Merry.

These 2 kits will be on sale through today - so grab yours now.

September's Exclusive Stamp

One of my favorite items in the September Mercantile Papercrafting kit is the exclusive stamp.  The circular shape was designed specifically so a flatback or flair could fit nicely in the middle.  There are so many ways to use this stamp - punch circles from patterned paper and place them in the centers,  paint the middles, place buttons in the middles ... and on and on.  The "here's the story:" sentiment is quite versatile and a great journaling starter for any layout.

This month, the circular Leaf Frame Stamp comes with a downloadable Outline Cut.

Directions on how to use the Outline Cut are included, but here it is in a nutshell:

1.  Your download will give you file types that can be used in any digital cutting machine. Cut your outline shapes sized at 1.75 inches wide.   I cut more than I may need for a particular project so I always have some on hand.  

Grab a scrap of paper in a contrasting paper and run a temporary adhesive strip across it.

2.  Place your cuts on the adhesive strip and ink up your stamp on an acrylic block.

3.  Position your stamp over the shape so the image will be centered evenly on it.  Using a contrasting scrap of cardstock underneath your cut images helps to position your stamp.

Easy, right?!

I used a waterproof ink with my stamp and then then painted them with blue watercolor:

I love getting an uneven look to my watercolor and achieved this by lightly coloring the image first and then saturating my brush and blotting areas heavily after.

After the stamping the frames on the left, circles punched from patterned paper were added to the centers.  The frames become great "homes" for embellishments.

Our September Papercrafting Kit is a beautiful one!  I hope you love creating with it and please show us what you make!

Scrapbooking with Anchors

This week we are focusing on a popular summertime icon in the scrapbooking industry: the anchor.   Living close to the ocean myself, I have found this a very welcome trend.

The anchor most obviously evokes images of the sea, ocean, and beach, but can also conjure up the themes of stability and security.

The August JBS Mercantile Papercrafting Kit and Artisan Kit were filled with anchor images and I played off the many meanings of the word anchor and combined it with anchor quotations you can find online to create this mini album for my son.

The cover is a shaker box created with the exclusive wood veneer frame, an anchor 3-D sticker, and vellum tag from the kits.

I made an accordion style album and paired up anchor quotations with photos of my son from the beach for half of the pages.

The vintage cigar box paper from the Papercrafting Kit is gor.geous and worked so well to create the pocket that runs across the entire album.  The circles on the cigar paper were accented with sequins (my JBS stash) and enamel dots from the kit.

I played with the anchor products form the kits on the the other half of the pages.

I hope you were lucky enough to grab one of the Papercrafting or Artisan kits before they sold out.  If so, have fun creating your own anchor themed projects.  You can still pick up the Antiquarian, Historian, or Crafted Kit - there are just a few still available!

If you'd like to see my collection of anchor images and quotes, check out my "Anchor" pinboard on my Pinterest account.

The July Crafted Kit : What Will You Store in Yours?

The July Crafted Kit is a Canning Jar Pin Cushion Kit.  Functional storage that looks great in fresh vintage style.  You get enough supplies to make TWO.  That means you can give one away as a gift, or keep two for yourself.  You can never have too much functional storage, can you?

These jars are not only fun to make, they're EASY.

Why not make one a sewing kit and the other storage for those frequently used summer Band-Aids?

Here's what you'll get in each kit.  You'll also get full color instructions with cross-stitch patterns.  See it all listed here.

I'm storage my vintage thread in one of mine.

And other vintage goodies in the other.

Pick up our July Crafted Kit before it's sold out and have fun creating your own beautiful storage!

Brand New Cutting Files - Classic Backgrounds on Sale!

There is so much going on at SnapClickSupply.com!

You can find the new releases with sale prices through midnight tonight at this link.

Jenni Bowlin Studio released a GREAT new kit of cutting files:

You can use them with your Silhouette or other cutting machine and as brushes or masks for your digital scrapbooking.

Here are a couple of detailed shots of how I used these cutting files with my JBS Mercantile Monthly Kits:

And!  If you spend $5, you can get Part 2 of the Designer Samples Kit FREE.  This is one awesome kit!  Get all the info on getting this free kit here.

I used the free kit to create a hybrid layout by printing a digital page and adding my own embellishments:

You can see how I did it ... and why I started scrapbooking this way on the SnapClickSupplyCo blog right here!

Whew!  There are a lot of deals going on and so many layouts to make, so head on over and check it out!