A Menagerie of Projects

Looking back at the projects I finished in February I'm amazed at just how different each of them are!

I've already shared my mixed media page and scrapbook layouts.  I've also dabbled into a new papercraft for me: card making ...

These were created for the design team call for The Inspiration Station (fingers crossed!), but I really think I've found another crafty obsession.  Each card can be considered a little piece of art.  So much fun to make!

I also started my 2015 Wood Veneer mini album from the great January Crafted Kit at the JBSMercantile.  The kit originally sold out, but has been restocked - it's such an easy kit to customize and make your own ... a great way to document a year.

The next project I worked on will be revealed fully late Saturday night (midnight CT) as the JBS Mercantile Crafted Kit for March ...

Here it is in progress.  The final project is sweet sweet sweet.   It is adorable and classic all at once.  It's something you'll keep in your family forever.  Check it out in about 24 hours at the JBS Mercantile.

thanks for visiting!  have a creative weekend!

Chippy Doorplates, My December Story, Meeting Jenni, and more

What I've been working on lately:

The December Mercantile Kits are amazing ... no wonder much of it has sold out ... there are still a few kits remaining of the Artisan, Mini Album, and Historian ...

In the Mercantile Flea Market you'll find Chippy Doorplates, one of my most favorite flea market items.  I used it to embellish the front of a notebook which will become my 2014 idea book:

Each Chippy Doorplate has its own personality and they've been restocked.  The new restock is a bit different design than what you see here.  I added a key, and a flea market blinged-out "B".  All glued with Quick Grip which worked GREAT.

The next pages of My December Story are done.  Last week's story was about the "mentors" in our Christmas adventure.  I made a list of those things I've lived with or learned from my mentors that I want to continue this year.  Note Jenni is up front and center.  Have you seen her Christmas decorations and kits?

Using the Mercantile Historian Kit (one left!) I made this very helpful Christmas notebook:

And I brought it with me to the Country Living Holiday Bazaar Saturday and did knock off a couple of gifts from my list.  But the highlight of the day was finally meeting Jenni and Jared Bowlin in person.  I just love this photo of me attacking poor Jenni!  They were just as sweet and kind as I imagined.  And their booth was CROWDED!  I barely got to look myself - I'll have to do my shopping at the Mercantile!

Have a wonderful and creative day!

Grateful for this House ...

The JBS Inspiration Blog is full of wonderful "grateful" projects this month.  

My take was to make a mini album on my home, something I am so very grateful for.  I guess some would walk into my house and not truly understand why I love this place so much.  There are cracks in some ceilings, painting needs to be done, the kitchen is still decked out in 1950s counter-top glory.  The house is dwarfed by the larger homes springing up all around it.  But we've put our own sweat, our own ideas, however humble they are, into the home.  Even though there's still a lot to do, to me, it's pretty much perfect.

And so ... the little book.  

I used a JBS Hodge Podge mini album as the base and starting point. Gosh these books are so much fun.  The books come in 3 styles, each having their own inserts.  And I noticed they are on sale now too!

      

There's something about a "hodge podge" mini that's so charming and so much fun to create with.

To see more of my Home mini album, see my post on the JBS Inspiration Blog!

thanks for stopping by!

WOYYW : 220

If you want to learn more about WOYWW, see the originator and creator extraordinaire Julia right here.

Today I'm showing my workdesk from last week.  I was in paradise:

This vacation was very relaxing.    The boys slept as long as they wanted, we didn't need to watch the clock, and our nights were spent at the beach house relaxing even more.  ahhhh - can I go back?!

But even while in paradise, I knew I wanted to keep my hands crafty.  There was plenty of time for this!

So I took my little pink suitcase packed with the August Mini Album Kit from JBS.  It is sooo easy to scrap on vacation with a kit.  You can see parts of the mini album kit and main papercrafting kit around the table.  I ended up breaking my hole punch, so I had to use this funny looking screwdriver, but other than that, I had everything I needed.

This is the mini - I'll place photos inside from a hike we took at a nearby wildlife refuge.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

The Quickest I've Ever Scrapped

I am the slowest ... slowest ... slowest scrapper this side of the Mississippi.  And it doesn't bother me to be slow - I actually enjoy taking my scrappy things slow.

But for some reason, everything came together quick ... like magic ... with my kit this month.  What was it? The colors of the kit?  The photos I had hanging around?  The frame embellies in the kit that go with anything?

I made 4 layouts and a mini ... in NO TIME ... and wanted to keep going .... but the day job's done me in ...

LOVE using an older photo ... I think I'm going to try and do this every month ...

I'm crazy for the JBS Silhouette cuts ...

I loved this layout, so I made a "twin" using an older photo of ds #2 ...

... i LOVED this chevron in the kit ... 

... I've got JBS punch love, too ...

 and a mini album that fits inside this great old book cover ...

the rub-ons + frames in the Artisan Add-On kit got me going ...

... and another layout for the Mercantile Gazette ... I'll hold off on blogging that for now ... but ya' ... I was a QUICK scrapper this month!

Have a creative day!

A Mini Album in One Cute Little Box

I was so very lucky to design the March Mercantile Mini Album Kit!

... a special banner base, colorful and fun papers, chipboard buttons, shiny pearls, pockets to store thing, and even journaling cards to download ...

... it's happy ... it's fun ... it's versatile ...

... and it's all tucked away in the sweetest little Jenni Bowlin Studio Storage Box ...

... the cover is a fun banner ...

... and I love using pockets for photos and surprises ...

Here's all you'll get in this kit:

3 My Mind’s Eye Pattern Papers

My Mind’s Eye Dilly Dally Best Die Cut Banner (#1 Best of the Best)

Queen and Company Pearls: Natural Pearl

Maya Road Vintage Lace Mums, Apple (1)

May Arts faux linen ribbon (1 yard )

Binder rings (2) – finish may vary

JBS Mini Cigar Box

JBS chipboard die cut book set, small (2 pieces)

JBS chipboard flag banner, large (2 pieces)

JBS Printed Pockets – Vintage

JBS Printed Tags – Vintage (partial – 1 tag each size)

JBS plain chipboard pieces - buttons (12 buttons total)

Instructions and Color copies included.

***Downloadable printable also included! 

Beautiful stuff from great manufacturers!

The great thing about kits is that you are not limited to create as the directions say.  The sky's the limit.  Take a look at what Ranjini did with the same kit:

Wonderful!

Have a creative day!

Much accomplished at a Fiskateers Crop!

Thanks to Amy I'm now a proud Fiskateer!  And Amy had a wonderful Fiskateer crop Saturday after trying to find a suitable place among the storm damaged area.  Some people STILL don't have power around here!  Wishing them power real soon! 

I did get a lot accomplished!  My October Daily is done!  Only one day went by without a photo:

John's highschool baseball album now has 2 years down with 2 to go.  Must finish before son graduates college!  And then I can start Matt's - who's already playing college. LOL!

And then I created a very special piece to a very special garland.  You can see all the pieces being put together here!  I just love this idea!

Another project done too - which I love and will post soon.

Ya', I know some people get 50 things done at crops.  But I'm one very slow scrapper!

Have a creative day!

Getting that October daily ready ...

After playing around with a bunch of different ideas, I finally decided on the photo / journaling format for my October daily.

There's a lot of talk on the message board about how we are approaching this, so I'll share my way here:

I'm creating the template for my mini pages in a word processor - I use Mac Pages - but something similar can be done in Word.

This is the template.  The green boxes will have photos in them.  They're small - only 2x2 inches, so I have a space for a larger photo that will be included now and then.  This same template will be copied and used every six days.  All I have to do is change the numbers, photos, add my journaling, and print it off.

The colors I chose for the print match the mini book I made from the October JBS Mercantile kit.  To match them nicely, I simply pulled the internet image of the kit up on my screen, and used the color-picker in my Mac Pages to "choose" the colors I wanted.

Here's the general idea:

click image to view larger

I just love it when your computer makes life easy for you ... !

so .... I'll be waiting every six days I think to print my photos out .... if I can wait that long ...  ;)

If you've never used a color-picker, you should try it!  PSE has a color-picker that does allow you to get the color code for anything on your screen.  You can find a bunch online, too - apps for your Mac and programs for your PC. Many are free or very cheap!

She's Back! Miss Personality!

My sweet little Miss Personality is back and so this project:

Is now finished with her sweet little face full of personality:

Here's what we did!  I positioned my sweetie in front of me, told her I was going to say words to her that she had to act out.  Miss Personality had no problem with this.  She IS Miss Personality.  Actually she said to me, "So you're doing this with me and not my sister, right."


Woops - must have next project ready for sweet sister!


These are the photos I got that fit right into the pockets of the mini:

I used the July Mercantile Project Kit to make this mini and there are still some project kits available.  Jenni designed this kit as Mercantile's first card kit, but it's such a beautiful kit that you can use it for anything as I did here!  Buttons and ribbons on the photos above are from my stash.