Valentine's Day Drink Tags

Doris Sander here today with another sweet and easy teacher's gift for Valentine's Day.  These are perfect little treats to give all those overlooked teachers and staff . . . the art teacher, the music teacher, the p.e. teacher, the librarian, the reading coach, the math coach, the guidance counselor, the secretaries . . .

Simply arrange a few leftover bits of paper on a manilla tag and garnish with a few heart themed embellishments like these from Meyer Imports.  Then hang the tags over the recipients soda of choice.  He or she will love your thoughtfulness.

Supplies:

Avery Manilla Tags

JBS for Fiskars Grandma's Doily Punch

Magpie Patterned Paper

Wren Patterned Paper

Perforated Stamp Paper

I Love You Heart

Paper Clip Heart

Heart Playing Card

Today we have a delightful Valentine's Day centerpiece from Waleska Neris who writes, "I'm planning a simple 'treats' party for Valentine's day and this is what the lollipop station will look like. Fun, right?! My boys sure love it!"

"We painted the chipboard hearts with JBS paint dabbers, attached to lollipop sticks, decorated and held them up with the mini wooden spools."

Supplies:

JBS paint dabbers- Cough Syrup, Weather Vane, Speckled Egg
Mini Chipboard Pieces - Hearts
Vintage Style Wooden Spools
Vintage Sew-On Buttons - White
Doily Flowers - Red
Decorative Brads - Rhinestone
Mini Bingo Cards-Valentine
Papers- Be Our Guest - Tea Towel, Red/Black Line Extension IV - Mini Pattern Sheet
Fiskars/JBS Grandma's Doily Punch

Halloween Treats from Ranjini Malhotra

I love Jenni's new halloween collection and wanted to make something quick and simple for halloween using the new paper collection. I especially love that the journaling cards are so versatile and can be used on a layout, as a gift tag, or a stand alone card. I chose to make a card and a mini treat bag. I used my diecutting machine to cut the little paperbag and assembled it (die from Papertrey Ink). Then I turned to some of my longstanding favorites - Jenni's rubons, vintage style buttons, label stickers and chipboard stars to mix in a bit of older product with the new. I applied the rubon to the oval shaped label sticker, then placed it on the bag with a pop dot. I then tied the button to the handle after threading it with baker's twine and whipped up the card quickly by adding a chipboard star, inked, embossed and glittered. I added the stamped sentiment with a Papertrey Ink stamp and die, using Jenni Bowlin for Ranger ink in Fountain Pen. Super simple and easy to do, and it's ready to fill with tiny treats and gift to your favorite little spook! These would also make cute favors for the class halloween party or for a coworker.

No Tricks! All Treats!

Our Vintage Holidays Halloween Line is now available for sale at JBS Mercantile. Just in time for the holidays, of course. You can find it in the General Store under New JBS Product or conveniently packaged in the September Project Kit. All the fun projects here were created from the project kit, including this fun canvas by Jenni Bowlin herself.

Halloween decor by Mindy Miller

Happy Halloween by Jill Sprott

Halloween 2009 by Briana Johnson

Back to School with Briana Johnson

When we moved into our house I had some kind of “nailing stuff to the wall” phobia. I decided I could use a little wall décor and knowing how much scrapbookers love letters, at least most of the ones I know do, I thought this might be a fun project to share. The paper mache letters came from Hobby Lobby. They’re regularly priced $2.47 a piece. I waited until they were half off and bought the entire alphabet and my daughter’s name.

I chose several patterns of Jenni’s papers from various releases. I used cream mist on two of the letters to make the colors a little more muted, the navy and white floral (Trendy Floral) and the green and white Victorian (Victoria – Sitting Room). I laid them out in an order I thought would look nice. I then took the letters, in order, and painted the sides of the letters the same colors as the background color of the coordinating patterned paper making sure to paint a little onto the front of the letter around the edges. After the letters dried I traced the letters onto the back of the paper. You might need a window or a light box to make sure you have your letter placed exactly where you want it like if using a large scale floral paper. Then cut them out. It takes about one bottle of Zip Dry glue to do this. I took the lid off the Zip Dry and holding the bottle next to the letter upside down, I ran a line of glue down the letter. I quickly used a foam brush (because you’ll have to throw it away when done) and spread out the glue then placed the paper on the letter and smoothed it down. Next, I took an Exacto knife and cleaned up the excess paper edges. I used a sanding block and a Basic Grey file set to distress the edges. I considered using a few solid black letters. If you don’t have enough patterned paper you might consider that.

The letters are lightweight and are hung on the wall using poster putty. From this angle you can see the sides of the letters are painted to match the papers.

I love the way it turned out. It’s so cool to me that Jenni’s papers from the newest release along with some from her oldest releases all still look so current and fabulous together.

So here’s the set I made for Ava’s room. I used a piece of vintage pillowcase edging trim, and after doing the above steps again, I glued the letters to the trim using bottle caps as spacers. I used Aleene’s Platinum Bond 7800 for that. I’m planning to do Zane’s teacher’s last name for teacher appreciation.

So many of these wonderful items from past releases can be found in the JBS Mercantile shop. The Mercantile exclusive paper can also be purchased there. Check it out! And thanks for joining me with my Love of Letters Jenni Bowlin Studio projects!

(And thanks to you Briana for some amazing alpha inspiration!)

Back to School with Ranjini Malhotra

Today we have a simply delightful teacher gift and accompanying card from Ranjini Malhotra.

When I first thought about doing a teacher gift, I decided that I wanted to do something pretty and elegant that Alekha's teacher could hang in her classroom. I bought this hanging file holder from Target and altered it very simply using JBS patterned paper (Red/Black Line Extension III) on the front face. Because the file holder is made of metal, you could also add coordinating magnets on the front. I added chartreuse trim, and a gold ribbon with red seam binding for accent. I created the vintage label with the teacher's name and the school's name in Photoshop. I love the finished look.

Once I used the vintage kids patterned paper for the metal file folder, I decided to do a coordinating card and used the photo card from the Haven Accessory Paper. I trimmed it down and added the humorous text "The teaching staff could barely contain their excitement at the thought of another school year," for some lighthearted humor for Alekha's very hard working teacher! I accented it with JBS tickets, JBS star chipboard, the JBS red bow and stamp.

Back to School with Doris Sander

As a teacher myself, I know just how much little treats like this are appreciated. When my son came home from school last week so impressed that his teacher was eating beef jerky at recess, I knew we needed to send her some on Friday. It only took him a couple extra days of sleuthing to find out her drink of choice as well. Now enter mommy and the scrap stash . . .

I made this cute little treat folder out of a spare piece of chipboard and a few other bits from my stash. I'm still shocked by how quickly I made it! The chipboard was already sized to 8.5 x 11, so I trimmed two pieces of patterned paper to that size as well and then lightly scored all three with my paper trimmer so they would fold nicely into a card. I adhered Class Photo to the outside and Nap Time to the inside with a glue stick.

To decorate the front, I covered a large chipboard star with the polka dots from Home Sweet Home. I then misted it with a mixture of Lemon Drops and Chicken Feed Re-inkers. The small chipboard bird is covered with the reverse side of Home Sweet Home plus the clocks from Sewing Room and the ledger side of Game Night. A red pearl button makes a cute birdie eye.

Inside I glue dotted the pack of beef jerky. I punched holes and added hole reinforcers to string my seam binding tape through. A couple red label stickers complete the gift. I then dressed the Diet Coke up with a Red Award Ribbon.

My son is so looking forward to delivering this tomorrow. I think it will brighten his day AND his teacher's day tomorrow. What a great use of my scrappy stash!

:) Doris

Back to School with Kerry Lynn Yeary

Today Kerry Lynn Yeary is sharing a great organizational tool for all those school papers.

I've been wanting to have a more organized way of documenting the littles school year experiences ever since the bean started kinder 3 years ago. Up until now I have just been writing notes on our family calendar and putting select bits of memorabilia and schoolwork and art projects into a box, not the best thing to do when you want to remember "when" they got that 100% in spelling or drew that family portrait.

This year I decided I wanted to make binders "Diary of a wimpy kid style" and have everything ready before school started. I got simple plastic window binders at target and then added some printables that I designed to the gorgeous JBS "group photo" paper. I printed the appropriate grade year for each & then cut the papers to size and slide them in the front window.
JBS products used : Group Photo pattern paper, Deco Chain pattern paper, Photographer's Mark chipboard buttons, mini Chalkboard Alpha stickers in black

Since these binders are going to be sitting on the counter, near our mail basket & other home organization items I wanted to know who's binder was whose so I could select them easily when I wanted to add a layout, memorabilia item or write in the calendar.

To do this I cut a strip of kraft cardstock to size then added a slightly smaller piece of JBS "Deco Chain". Then I stamped the JBS medallion stamp on a tag, cut it out, added each name with the black "Chalkboard Alpha" stickers, and mounted it on a JBS "Photographer's Mark" chipboard circle before mounting it on the paper spine & sliding it under the window sleeve.

The interior pages hold the printable claendar that I created for the school year and I'll be adding memoralbilia, art, as well as layouts documenting pictures that I plan on taking over the year.

I'll have the printable of the outer "Diary of a" pages {preschool through highschool} as well as the interior calendar pages posted on my blog on monday if you'd like to download them to use for a similar binder.

Here's to another fabulous school year!

x0

kL

Guest Star Kim Jeffress!

Today we have a feast of inspiration from Guest Star Kim Jeffress! Kim brings us three layouts that artfully mix two of our recent lines, "Haven" and "Be Our Guest," along with an display piece and a charming set of refrigerator magnets featuring our Tart Tins and Reader Chipboard Buttons. Thanks so much for the inspiration Kim! For even more inspiration from Kim, be sure to visit her blog, Glass Half Full.

Happy Halloween!

How about some Halloween in July today? First up is a layout and pair of cards from Doris Sander. What you are going to love about this Halloween line is the just how usable it is. It is, of course, based on traditional Halloween colors, but if you look closely, you'll also see some navy and hints of red and yellow. This really makes it work well with all those Halloween costumes that are in non-traditional Halloween colors!

Love these little cuties! And do you see the "cobweb" in the corner? You guessed it! More of those super versatile NEW Doilies!

Here's another alterable number, this time done with cough syrup. And notice how well the NEW Delicate Brads coordinate with this line.

A pair of cards showing off the Vintage Halloween Accessory Sheet. Love how well the NEW Shadow Alphas and Alterable Chipboard Alphas coordinate.

Here is a sweet Halloween layout from Jenni Bowlin that showcases the fun Jolly Jack patterned paper.

And a detail shot with more bits from the Halloween 2011 Accessory Sheet.

Here are a few party items from Jenni. Notice how our Vintage Style Wooden Spools are perfect for holding the treat label cards.

If you love seeing Jenni's booths each show, Jill Sprott found lots of great photos of it on Shopping Diva's Photo Stream. Thanks Shopping Diva!

Christmas in July!

Today we thought we would get in the Christmas spirit with some of our CHA projects. These first few are from Jenni Bowlin! This one is a charming heritage photo done with the NEW Holly Stripe and Green/Red Shadow Alpha Stickers.

Lovely classic Jenni detailing here. The journaling is on a label off the NEW Christmas 2011 Accessory Sheet layered over one of our Mini Christmas Bingo Cards. Jenni cut out a piece of the holly berry and edged it with glitter for a bit of bling to match the German foil. Also notice how nicely the NEW Doily Flowers layer under the Green Vintage Style Sew-On buttons.

And here the NEW Scalloped Foam Stamp has been added around the edges using a Cough Syrup Paint Dabber. Jenni edged this with a black pen for added detailing.

Super cute advent ornaments made from the NEW Christmas 2011 Mini Pattern Sheet and Alterable Chipboard Numbers.

Here is a close up shot of one of those where you can see Jenni has lightly edged the numbers with our NEW Weather Vane Ink.

And here is a bit more from Jenni with mixing the old with the new . . . Christmas decorations featuring the new release with the Christmas Mini Bingo Place Cards, Vintage Christmas Chipboard Buttons, Chipboard Stars, and Vintage Style Wooden Spools.

And now a couple from Doris Sander. A layout with a JBS Core'dinations Cardstock background and Lottery Card from the back of the Holly Stripe paper featuring prominantly. Bits from the Mini Pattern Sheet were added for a fun patchwork look. The title is done in more of the NEW Alterable Chipboard Numbers. This time the numbers are inked more thoroughly with Cough Syrup Ink.

This layout also has the NEW Scalloped Foam Stamp, this time stamped in Fountain Pen Paint onto kraft cardstock and trimmed out before being adhered to the page with some machine stitching. You'll see one of our new sweet Delicate Brads. This one is green and altered with a hint of Malted Milk Dabber.

And here you see another delicate brad. this one was white and has been altered with a Stick Candy Dabber. The NEW Rhinestone brad has also been altered with a bit of Malted Milk which helps the texture show to its advantage.

And for all you cardmakers out there, you are going to find Vintage Christmas Holidays a dream to work with for Christmas Cards this year!