Get Inspired!

Today's Spring Training Workout is to get inspired by others. A few members of our design team took this challenge on with some brilliant results . . .


Shimelle Laine was inspired by this layout from Lisa Dickinson.

Shimelle writes, "For our 'inspired by a fellow scrapbooker' challenge, I lifted the beautiful layout Us by Lisa Dickinson. It's such a lovely layout that I didn't want to change very much! I moved the strip of patterned paper up the page a bit and added some crocheted trim to soften the look. All the papers are mini paper designs by JBS, plus Chalkboard Letter Stickers in brown for the title, embellished butterflies in brown and red, one chipboard butterfly painted red, one circle die-cut mini paper and one alpha-printed journaling card... all by JBS. :)"

Betsy Sammarco was inspired by this page from Wilna Furstenberg.

Betsy writes, "I love so much about Wilna's layout, but using the butterfly as the center of the layout was just genius. My plan was to copy her layout design exactly, but once I sat down with my photos and supplies, my layout took a different turn. The photo strip is there and my flower is a large embellishment and stamped with the foam stamp in the add-on kit. The mist is Stick Candy and the drops are Lemon Drop paint. I hardly EVER use my own writing, but since Wilna always does, I wanted to try it too!"

Lisa Dickinson was inspired by this layout from Jill Sprott.

Lisa Writes, "I was initially drawn to Jill's page because of her use of color - the carmine red and turquoise are a lovely, vibrant combination! But the collage design is what I opted to emulate on my page - I loved the way Jill created a collage of photos, tags, labels and lace across her page. The many layers and bits peeking out are just perfection. I did a similar treatment on my page, layering scraps of paper, journal spots and labels with my photos. I added a similar stitched heart as well. I also followed Jill's lead and created the collage on a label-cut paper layered over a JBS exclusive patterned paper."

Doris Sander was inspired by this layout from Shimelle Laine.

Doris writes, "I fell in love with Shimelle's bunting the very first time I saw it on her blog and have had the thought to sew some stored in the back of my mind for the longest time. I'm so glad this challenge finally took me from thinking about it to doing it. I actually lifted a lot more of Shimelle's layout than I first thought I would and it made the process so much faster. The whole layout, including the bunting sewing, took just an hour. Besides the bunting, I also went with her cake theme and used two photos both matted in black like hers. Beyond that I just went crazy with scrap fabric and lots of vintage bits from the May Kits. This was so fun! If you need more bunting inspiration in your life you can read Shimelle's recent post on Five Ideas with Bunting and her fabulous bunting tutorial that first inspired me."

Background Challenge and JBS Giveaway!

So, with all the Spring Training last week, I seem to have pulled a muscle in my right index finger that needed a bit of rest and recuperation. I'm back in the zone today and just in time as it's our day to sponsor the workout! Here are a few background sessions from Lisa Dickinson and me (Doris) to help get you inspired! Be sure to swing by Ella to get challenged and be a winner!

More with Masks by Lisa Dickinson

Dabber Plaid by Lisa Dickinson

Ink on Core'dinations by Lisa Dickinson

Stamping with Recycled Product Packaging by Doris Sander

Gesso and Ink by Doris Sander

Toilet Paper Roll Misting by Doris Sander

Butterfly Stamping with Michelle McCord

***the BPC Giveaway below is still open! and there's another one on Facebook and TWO MORE at Moxie Fab World!***

Today's beautiful butterflies are brought to you by Michelle McCord who writes, "I created this wall art for my scrapbook room using the butterfly theme. JBS has soo many clever ways of using the butterflies, it's one of my very favorite things to use!"

"I used the JBS butterfly stamp and my Chewing Gum Paint Dabber to create the butterfly on the corner of my wall art. I love the way the dabber ink works with the stamps. It gives the stamps more texture and depth for me."

"This time I used the Chewing Gum Dye Ink Pad on the butterfly stamp and applied it to some vintage sewing pattern paper. Try using your stamps on other paper besides just cardstock or patterned paper for different looks. Stamping on the thin pattern paper makes it look almost see through."

Welcome our May Guest Alissa Fast!

***the BPC Giveaway below is still open! and there's another one on Facebook and TWO MORE at Moxie Fab World!***

Today we welcome the mini-album fashionista, Alissa Fast, to the Inspiration Blog! Alissa is our May JBS Mercantile Guest and we are super excited about her creativity! Here are a few lovely words and images from Alissa and you can absolutely look forward to more inspiration from her when we have gallery updates on the 10th!

"a little about me. i live in Ferndale, Washington. which is in the far northwest corner, of the state and the country, next to Canada and the Pacific Ocean. it's the perfect place to live! i live with my dear hubby of, almost, 24 years and our cute little cat, who just happens to be a Hurricane Katrina survivor from New Orleans. I have been scrapbooking, in one form or another, for as long as i can remember. as a teenager i user to cut stuff out of magazines to embellish my photo albums. i LOVE taking photos and have recently started taking them professionally. on a very small scale, of course, but it's a start."

"i am a collector of vintage things. especially As, 2s & 3s, cameras, rulers and globes. my scrap area is not only full of paper and stickers and scrap stuff, but it's got it's fair share of all these little vintage treasures all over the place."

"i love the 7gypsies portfolio folders that came in the project kit and i have had a great time creating my Easter 2011 mini book with it and the rest of the kit, including the ephemera pack from Pink Paislee. really fun stuff! i can't wait to show you all the completed project!"

"i couldn't just narrow it down to 1, so, here are my 2 current favorites. they are both from Easter this year and are included in my projects this month. the one of my hubby and our niece with his birthday pie is not technically perfect, but i just love the light and the feeling i get when i look at it. our niece, Hannah, loves us so much and it's evident, in this photo, that she thinks Uncle Steve is pretty cool. she is such a good helper with birthday candles and opening of gifts, too."

"the second one is of Hannah on Easter after her BIG HUNT. She's the only little one, who is not a baby, in the family right now and the 2 baskets of goodies is just symbolic of how we all feel about her. i also love the colors in the photo and the smile on her face and in her gorgeous blue eyes."

Big Picture Classes Giveaway!

We hope you are gearing up for a super fun and productive National Scrapbook Day with Creating Keepsakes and Big Picture Classes this Saturday! We sure are! Jenni Bowlin Studio is sponsoring the event with a "win it before you can buy it" giveaway! That's a HUGE hint that we've got some new product to share with you SOON! Woohoo! And to celebrate, we've got a Big Picture Class to give away here on the Inspiration Blog. Leave a comment telling us about one of your favorite things to photograph in the spring and we'll randomly choose a winner on Friday.

Picture Spring self-paced class taught by Tracey Clarke
Picture Spring is a 30-day self-paced e-class that will encourage and inspire you to use photography to celebrate the season of new beginnings while honoring and nourishing your creative spirit. With a new email and fresh perspective in your inbox each morning, you'll use the daily photo prompt to help open your mind and guide your lens to see and capture your life and the world around you. Whether you are an expert photographer, or just starting out, this project will help you see things in a completely new light.

ETA . . . there's another BPC Giveaway on our Facebook Page!

Four Post Monday!!!!

In case you haven't seen it yet, the gallery for our May Kits is live! There are so many stunning projects over there! You must go see! This month is definitely a design team favorite! The layout shown here is from Lisa Dickinson who always thinks of the best ways to use our JBS stamps. I love the subtle depth that her stamping with the seal stamp has created. (Psst . . . don't you think it's about time for Jenni to design more stamps for us?) Speaking of stamping, we're stamping here on the Inspiration Blog ALL MONTH LONG! I'm calling it Stamping Shenanigans and I think Jill Sprott's post from yesterday is a good indication of just how brilliant it's going to be! This week we're focusing on our signature butterfly stamp. I'll be back in a bit with a blissful butterfly layout from Stephanie Howell. In fact, I'll be back three more times today! That's right! It's a four post kinda day! I just can't help it! I have so many awesome things to share (including a giveaway and a guest intro) and I really think each deserves its own post. So run see the gallery and I'll be back soon! :)

Putting Our Stamp on May

April showers certainly do bring May flowers, and this month is bound to be teeming with beautiful blossoms.  In fact, many of them are springing up in this month's JBS Mercantile kits!  Here on the JBS Mercantile blog, we'll be putting our stamp on May, bringing you four weeks of stamping projects created by our bloomin' awesome design team!

This week we'll be focusing on one of our favorite stamps:

This acrylic butterfly stamp not only creates a beautiful and crisp image, but it is also extremely versatile. All this week, we'll be showcasing this stamp through four projects, with four different approaches.

Today's project is from yours truly, Jill.

The first of May, or May Day, is Lei Day in Hawaii.  In schools throughout the state, it is traditional to have a May Day program, complete with a royal court -- including a king and queen.  As a sixth grader, I was shocked when I was selected to be the May Day queen.  This layout features a photo of me dancing with the princesses in the court to "Song of Old Hawai'i" on May Day.

In a way, being queen was a transformative experience for me, so the butterfly stamp was the perfect choice for this page.  I also wanted to capture a springtime feel, since flowers are so much a part of May Day, so I pieced together some lovely floral pages and transparencies from a few JBS hodge podge books beneath the line of stamped butterflies.

This layout involves the best kind of stamping -- the no-stress kind!

I decided to work with a green, yellow, and red color scheme, to match the colors in the papers, and went with a varicolored stamping method.   I began by selecting four Jenni Bowlin for Ranger dye inks, pairing Seed Packet with Stick Candy, and Chili Powder and Lemon Drops.

I placed the stamp on an acrylic block, and used each pair of inks on the stamp, dividing the color on the stamp into quadrants.  I applied the ink pad directly to the stamp (instead of vice-versa) so that I could have more control over where the ink appeared.

Once the two colors were applied to the stamp, I stamped the image onto a sheet of JBS Core'dinations textured cardstock.  I repeated the process with the other pair of colors, until I had a line of beautiful varicolored butterflies.

I layered the papers, transparencies, and photo beneath the butterflies, and stitched a free-flowing, curvy line over the top.  I kept the butterfly motif going with the addition of JBS vellum-embellished butterflies and butterfly banner alpha stickers.

The next time you pick up a stamp, consider repeating images and varying colors.

Of course, this is just one approach to using this lovely stamp.  Check back each day this week for more inspiration, and be sure to share your own ideas on our message board!

This May, you can also look forward to ideas for using stamps with scissors, for heat embossing, and for discovering creative approaches to stamping and beyond!  We're definitely giving May our stamp of approval.