Fiskars + JBS Mercantile

This month we are excited to be teaming up with Fiskars! We'll be highlighting some of their cool tools on the blog and showing you how they work with our Mercantile kits.

I am personally enamored with the Fiskars Easy Stamp Press. This handy tool is simple to use and for messy, clumsy stampers like myself it is a must-have! I used it to apply this month's kit stamp - the wonderful ink splatters - on this layout:

Using the station is simple - just apply your acrylic stamp to the underside of the block and ink it up.

 

Then flip the block over, line the stamp up where you want it to go, and press down to stamp the image. The orange sponge corners compress and allow you to imprint the stamp exactly where you want it!

It's so easy and precise and I know this tool is going to make me a better (and more frequent!) stamper.  It takes the guesswork out of stamping and makes it practically foolproof.

Doesn't that stamped image really look like ink droplets?! And without all the mess of the real thing!

I also received some of the fabulous Interchangeable Border Punches from Fiskars, with interchangeable, space-saving cartridges that easily pop into the base:

I used The Stars Aligned punch to add a detailed border to this layout, which also used the new Historian add-on that's perfect for Project Life:

These punches create clean, detailed borders in no time flat. And the remaining negative shapes  make perfect confetti for sprinkling about your page:

 

Thanks so much to Fiskars for letting us play with these fabulous tools! And be sure and check back here often to see more fun projects and tutorials from the design team!

〪〭〫〬✰★ birthday wishes ★✰〪〭〫〬

Wishing you the most beautiful birthday Jenni!! xox

The Pinwheel punch

Hi everyone! Harumi here!
I want to share with you a layout I did using the pinwheel punch and the feather gold rub-ons.

I love the Modern Mercantile papers! I chose Miscellany as the yellow stripes and gold flowers are very lovely! The gold feathers and flowers match so well and are so gorgeous!

I used the Etcetera paper for the pinwheels and circles. I am enjoying working with the many patterns of the Modern Mercantile line.

Happy Creating!

Quilt Star Garland

The Fiskars/JBS Quilt Star Garland is one of my favorites.  Playing with it one day, I found that combining two Quilt Star punches can make the sweetest 3-dimensional shape.  Here's how I made the Quilt Star Garland shown above.

I used the Etcetera sheet from Modern Mercantile by Lisa Dickinson.  The colors are great for spring and I wanted my garland to welcome in spring.  The small prints work wonderful with punches too.

Layer two punches together - I always picked two punches from different patterns.  Holding the layers together, stitch down the middle of each grouping.  Sew them close together or far apart.  It's up to you.

Create the 3-dimensional effect when you're finished sewing your strand of stars.  Pull apart the quilt stars so the sides open up and are held together by the stitching in the middle.

Such a sweet garland for the spring.  And fun to make too!

The Princess and the Dragon

It's Natalie here, I want to tell you all about my most favourite JBS punch and maybe share a little technique too ;-)

I've put this punch to good use here on this layout. Can you spot it? Here's a close up...

You guessed it... It's the JBS Classic Bird Shape! But I've used it in a slightly different way to what you might imagine. Instead of punching out the birds to use as embellishments (although that's a perfectly reasonable method too!) I've punched out a row of the birds into a strip of cardstock and then I've used this as a home-made stencil.

I laid the stencil where I wanted it and then spread a think layer of Liquitex Modelling Paste over the top. While it was still wet I sprinkled it with some glitter knowing that the modelling paste would also act like glue. When I lifted the stencil off I was left with this lovely textural strip of sparkling birds.

Sticking with the bird theme I chose the "Letter From Bird-Land" paper from the Wren collection as my background. My layout tells the story (or fairytale really) of a Princess Birthday Party my 2 young girls went to recently. Little did they know their father was going to become the 'villian' of the party by dressing up as a Dragon and blowing fire at them as they passed by! Ahhhemmmmm..... yes you're right - those are fairy wings on his back.... but it was the closest we had to a dragon costume ;-)

Since I've started working some 8.5 x 11" layouts into my repetoir I've decided to turn all those off-cuts into a card.  The card and paper was already cut to the right size, I just simply folded it in half. And because I had all my supplies out I didn't even need to make any new design decisions!

What an easy-peasy way to add some cards into my dwindling stash! I even ended up using those punched out Classic Bird Shapes from creating my stencil. Nothing goes to waste in my house ;-)

 

Hope you enjoy what's left of your weekend. 

xxx

Creating a grid within a grid

Happy Wednesday everyone!  It's Jenni Hufford here and I wanted to share a fun layout I made about our recent venture--- owning chickens!

I created a basic grid-- and of course had to add that rooster card and falt back!  The feather tags also went perfectly with my spring chick theme.

Adding pieces from the Modern Mercantile Hodge Podge Page as the base of my grid pieces. I placed them in a triangle shape.   The remaining spots I used "non square" items to add a different feel to the grid.

In one of the spaces I used the Quilt Star Punch and created a grid within a grid.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Rockin' the Quilt Star Punch

I made this page using Jenni's new Quilt Star Punch which I used like a border punch. The punch is 1.5" wide so it's a great size. I used the new JBS Modern Mercantile line designed by Lisa Dickinson as well as a piece of blue paper from Wren. The light blue dot was an exclusive from the February Mercantile Main Kit. When I got these papers out, I knew I had the most perfect picture to use with them - a photo of my son standing in front of the stained glass window at church on Easter Sunday last year. Modern Mercantile is perfect for all kinds spring and summer stuff! It reminds me of green grass, sunshine, and blue skies.

This page is going in my Project Life album as the intro to the Easter Project Life pages I made using the February Mercantile kit.

Jenni Bowlin Studio Quilt Star Punch

Look how well these papers go together. From Wren I've used Blueprint. From Modern Mercantile I used: Hodge Podge, Patchwork, and Miscellany. After I had glued down the border strips I sewed over each of them with coordinating colored thread. I used white along the top of each row and then went back with the matching color down the center of the star row. When I used the white, I pulled extra thread out when I rotated the page without trimming it and beginning a new row so that when I went back with the colored thread it trapped strands of white thread. I love the way that ended up - kinda messy with a bit of added texture.

To ground the picture I cut banner tails in a strip from Fancy Checks and layered a printed tag, Vintage Flag, behind the photo.

Here's an example of how I made the quilt star border using cardstock. I grabbed these sheets from my scrap pile and took the punch and punched right along the edge of the paper. Don't worry about getting the spacing just right - once you get all those layers going it doesn't look like they're supposed to be perfectly aligned, in this case anyway, and it ends up looking rather charming with the imperfections. Then you simply lay one sheet on top of the next and glue them down.

To finish off the top of the page I punched the quilt star along an extra piece of the white dotted cardstock background to create a white on white border along the top. I trimmed and tucked the happy sticker under the white punched border. The dark yellow alpha stickers (Shadow Alpha Stickers) look so good with Modern Mercantile. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day and happy crafting!

JBS Summer Games: Sailing

Is it possible to find scrapping inspiration in a sport that involves boats racing in the water? Of course! Whether it's the colorful graphic designs on the sails, the clean lines and shapes, or the water itself, sailing provides many ideas that can translate to your page!

I chose to use the simple shape of the sails as a main design element on my layout. Triangles are popular right now and super easy to create. First, I just used my trusty square punch to create several squares of patterned paper:

Then, using a ruler and exacto knife,  I cut each square on the diagonal to form a triangle:

I lined up various triangles (cut from Wren and Magpie papers) in the upper left corner of my page, using them as arrows to direct the eye though the page:

"Here We Go" by Lisa Dickinson

I stitched down the center line of the triangle rows with my sewing machine and then gently bent up the corners to add a little bit of dimension:

 

To keep with the sailing theme, I lightly splattered some watered-down Spice Tin ink around the page. I like the casual abstractness it adds to the design and it helps to tone down the linear feel of all the straight lines.

My title is die-cut from the Blueprint paper and combined with some of the new Grey Skinny Alpha stickers (which should be in stores soon!)

 

So how can you be inspired by sailing? We'd love to see the results! Post your entries on the JBS Summer Games thread to be eligible for medal contention! Each entry must be created from a JBS Mercantile Kit(s) or include at least three different JBS products. Entries close at midnight CST on September 2nd.  Winners will be randomly drawn and announced on September 3rd.

Collage Cards from Terena Schultheis

This morning we have a couple more eclectic collage cards from our local talent, Terena Schultheis.  these feature our new release, "Magpie."  She did add in the little kids from "Vintage Christmas" for a fun whimsical touch.

Look closely at the flower on this one.  It's made with the "Ticket Please" punch!  How clever!

And how adorable is her vintage children's cash box display?  Very!  Thanks for the inspiration Terena!

Grandma's Doily Punched Tags

We have an article by Doris Sander at Big Picture Classes showing various uses of the new Grandma's Doily Punch.  Check it out HERE.

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