Avery Elle DT & Goodie Giveaways

I'm so excited to be able to share the news that I'm joining the Avery Elle Design Team!  If you haven't already heard about Avery Elle, they are a newly-launched company based in Southern California.  They specialize in high quality photopolymer stamps but will also be carrying heavyweight cardstock (squeee!) and matching grosgrain ribbon! 

I was so surprised when Jamie Gracz (the owner and stamp designer of Avery Elle) asked me to join her team!  And when I found out that Heather Campbell, Kasia Curry, and Chunyuan Wu were on board too, I was beside myself!  {Seriously, these ladies are amazing.  If you don't already have their websites bookmarked, go now!  I'll wait:)} Our first group DT post will be in July and each month or so we will be showcasing new stamp sets and cardstock/ribbon colors!  I can't wait!  

To celebrate joining the Avery Elle team and passing the 100 post mark on my blog, I thought I'd give out some goodies!  For a chance to win the items shown below, just leave a comment on this post and leave a comment on the Avery Elle blog post here. Easy peasy, right?  I'll pick a random winner next Wednesday (July 4th) at 11:59 pm EDT. This giveaway is open to US and International folks too!

 This giveaway is now closed!  I will be posting the winners the evening of July 5th!

And as an extra THANK YOU to all the kind people who have followed my blog over the past year, I have second package full of goodies to give away!  The deadline is the same, but this time all you need to do is follow my blog.  And if you're already a follower, you're automatically entered:)  The contents of this box will be a SURPRISE, but I promise lots of fun stuff!  I wish I could do more for all of the awesome people that stop by and leave such nice comments!  I hope you all know how much I appreciate your visits!

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Lovely in Pink

I've been away from my craft table for a bit and I've been dying to play with some of the new goodies I've picked up in the last week.  I especially wanted to play with my new Lovely Layers set from PTI.  And it just so happens, this card works for this week's Young Crafters Unite Challenge and the CAS-ual Friday's Challenge!

 

The Lovely Layers stamps and dies are pretty easy to work with and line up.  I wanted to give the flower just a bit extra, so I added another layer with my Spellbinders Labels 24 dies.  The shape of these dies works really well with the Lovely Layers shapes, don't you think?  So I reverse cut the Labels 24 shape into my card panel.  

As an added detail, I used a small teardrop flower stamp to create a background.  To help with placement, I made a template (the purple layer) and used my Stamp-a-majig to stamp the flowers.  Because my teardrop stamp is small and symmetrical, I marked a corner to make sure I was stamping it in the right orientation.  

Most of the stamping was done with Versamark ink.  There are so many layers going on that I thought the bold ink would be too much.  The only exception is the center piece which was stamped with Bermuda Bay (Stampin' Up).  All of the layers were put together with foam tape, easy peasy.  I finished off with a sentiment in gray (Provincial Gray from Fresh Ink) to go along with the soft colors of the card.  

Thanks for taking a peek!  And special thanks to all the wonderful folks who have left their well wishes in the past week!  You've been incredibly kind:)

{Aloha, jj}

Paper: Cover Smooth White 100 lb 188091 (International Paper), Bubble Gum Pink, Grandma's Lavender Patch, Sea Breeze, Razmataz Berry, Aqua Light (Mark's Finest Papers), Berry Sorbet (PTI)

Ink: Versamark, Bermuda Bay (Stampin' Up), Provincial Gray (Fresh Ink)

Stamps: Teardrop Flower (Impress), Lovely Layers (PTI)

Tools: Labels 24 (Spellbinders), Lovely Layers (PTI)

Happy News: Becky Oehlers Stamps

Today I can finally share a bit of good news that I've been dying to tell!  I was recently asked to join the mini-team for designer Becky Oehlers!  {Yes, that Becky Oehlers!}  Becky is joining Gina K Designs as a stamp illustrator and her first set will debut in July!  

You may be already be familiar with Becky Oehlers' design work from the pages of Paper Crafts Magazine or as a stamp designer/senior design team member for Papertrey Ink.  {Or maybe you know her as a singer?  Did you know that she's an opera singer too?  How cool is that?}   

  

I'm so honored to be on Becky's team, and I can't wait to share all of the fantastic clean and fresh designs she has in store!   Check out Gina K's blog for sneak peeks and be on the look out for Becky's stamps (in clear *and* rubber, squeee!) in July!

Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing in my happy news!      

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

P.S.  Did I mention that the awesome Latisha Yoast and amazing Vera Yates are also on the team?  I'm just a green newbie compared to these uber-talented ladies, and I hope I can keep up:)   jj

Word of the Day: THANKS!

UPDATE: The results are in and I'm not moving on to Round 4 of Gallery Idol!  Now before you break out the kleenex and violins (just kidding), I just want to say that I'm so glad I had the opportunity to play along and I don't regret a minute of it!  This competition has brought so many good things and, even more importantly, good people my way!  Thank you so much for supporting me and making me feel like a winner! 

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It seems appropriate that I post a project of THANKS today!  This post will be going up on the blog the night before I find out if I've made it to Round 4 of the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol Contest, but I don't need to know the outcome in order to be thankful!  Thankful for the opportunity, thankful for the chance to meet so many new and wonderful people, and thankful for all of your support!  Whichever way the wind blows on Friday, it's ALL GOOD!

So today, I'm sharing a little favor bag that I made up for the kids' teachers.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute;)  I wish I had some better pics, but the cellophane bag was not having it!  

If you have a digital die cutter like a Silhouette/Cameo, this project is a snap.  (For those with a cutting system, it's basically just a word welded to a large rectangle)  This look could also be achieved by partial die-cutting with letter dies.  

For a little contrast on the back piece, I adhered a piece of patterned paper that I've had in my stash forever!  Adhere the rectangle piece to the backside of your die cut so that it shows when the piece is folded.   

In the pic above, I've included general dimensions for the cuts and folds, but there's no real template.  You can adjust the dimensions according to the size of your bag and to suit your taste.   The top of the bag is sealed with a ribbon tied through a couple of punched holes.  

That pretty much says it all!  As always, thank you all for stopping by and taking a peek!  

Much mahalo and aloha,

jj

Paper: Pink (Recollections), Delovely (Cosmo Cricket)

Tools: Silhouette SD

Gallery Idol 2012 ~ Round #3 ~ Feminine/Masculine Cards

Because of the wonderful folks out in blogland, I have been lucky enough to move on to Round 3 of the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol Contest!  To everyone who stopped by the blog last week, voted for me, and left incredibly kind comments, I want to send out a huge THANK YOU!  To my long-time blog buddies (I'm talking to you Jessi, Jeanne, and Jen),  to the folks following my blog (*hi guys!*), to the absolute strangers who put in a vote for me on the PC site, your support is overwhelming and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Now back to Round 3:)  The challenge for this round was to take a common element (e.g., single patterned paper sheet or single stamp) and use it to make one feminine card and one masculine card.  For me, the challenge was to come up with 2 strong ideas.  

Can you spot the common element?  {Yup, the "bubbly" stamp}  The concepts for these cards came in a flash!  I was browsing my stamps, and when I picked up my Daydreamer stamp set, it flashed immediately.  No fuss, no muss:)  So with ideas in mind, I went straight to work on my feminine card.  What could be more feminine than flowers? 

I had so much fun free stamping the background on this card!  I used my favorite pigment inks from Fresh Ink and they are a joy to work with!  Great bold colors and excellent coverage.  To really make the sentiment stand out I used a ribbon behind the vellum sentiment.  I cut small holes in the vellum to pull the ribbon through to the front and tied a bow.  Girlie card done!  On to the masculine card!

I don't mean to generalize, but the men in my life prefer CAS cards with bold graphics.  Lucky for them (and me), that's what I like to do!  To create a realistic looking beer mug, I used vellum to mimic frosted glass.  The amber beer color was created by rubbing yellow and orange ink on the backside of the vellum and placing a deep rich yellow cardstock behind it all.  In person, the mug glows!  

The vellum is placed inside of the reverse cut mug (cut out on the Silhouette).  To get a 3D look on the mug, I cut the vellum insert slightly wider than the opening.  When placed inside the aperture, it creates a curved pop up effect (see below).  The foam of the beer is embossed in white (using my common element stamp) onto vellum.

 

This technique would be so much fun adapted for a frosty soda or milkshake.  Man card done!

Thank you so much for popping in to learn more about my Round 3 entry!  I encourage everyone to visit all the Top 15 contestant blogs (links below) and hope that you cast a vote on the Paper Crafts website here (even if it's not for me:)!  These ladies are amazing and I promise you will find something you LOVE!  

Aga

Jennifer R.

Wida

Jocelyn

Jennifer I.

Anita

Cheiron

Heather

Debbie

Taheerah

Joscie

Amy

Elena

Erin Lee

With that, I leave you with much mahalo and aloha,

jj

Feminine Card

Paper: Cover Smooth White 100 lb 188091 (International Paper), Vellum

Stamps: Daydreamer, Big & Bold Wishes (PTI)

Ink: Pool, Strawberry, Basil, Mango, Fresh Lemonade (Fresh Ink), Bermuda Bay (Stampin Up), Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Ribbon: Satin Blue (Recollections)

Masculine Card

Paper: Cover Smooth White 100 lb 188091 (International Paper), Chipboard (Mark's Finest Papers), Vellum

Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento), Spiced Marmalade (Distress Ink), Mustard (American Crafts), Versamark

Accents: Snow Detail Embossing Powder (Ranger)

Stamps: You're the Man (Practicing Creativity)

Tools: Silhouette SD, Tiny Stapler (Tim Holtz)

Gallery Idol 2012 ~ Round #2 ~ You Color My World

Last Friday, I got unbelievable news that I was one of the Top 20 finalists for the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol 2012!  (Have no idea what I'm talking about?  Check out the Paper Crafts blog for more info)  First came a rush of giddiness (squeee!) quickly followed by a wave of panic (oh...em...gee...).  After some deep breathing and a little chocolate, I turned my attention to the Round 2 theme, You Color My World!  I had already done this card and this card for the open audition round, so I was feeling a bit tapped out.  So this weekend, I brainstormed, I sketched, I browsed a billion Pinterest images....only to end up doing what I usually do.  I winged it!  Here's what I came up with!  

I can hear you asking, where's the COLOR?  My friend, just pull the tab (see the clear thingie next to the word "you") and wait for it...

It's sprinkling sprinkles!  I know I always say this, but this card is easier to make than it looks!  This card is basically just a modified version of a shaker card.  Instead of one visible well, you have one visible and one hidden!  The wells are super easy to make using fun foam (double up on the layers).  For added fun, put a small piece of acetate between the wells to create a pull tab.

I chose sprinkles for their color and weight, but colored sand and beads are also good choices.  The possibilities make me giddy!    

The beauty of this card is that even after the pull tab is gone, just flip the card over, allow the sprinkles to fall back into the reservoir, and start the fun again!

Before I sign off, I just want to express how thankful I am that you stopped by!  Your visits and kind words really mean so much!  I encourage everyone to visit all the Top 20 blogs and put in your vote HERE (even if it's not for me:)!  And regardless whether I advance to the next round, I feel *so* lucky to have had this experience and to have met such wonderful and talented designers!  Just look at these ladies!  How can you not be inspired by this bunch?

With that, I leave you with much mahalo and aloha,
jj

Paper: Cover Smooth White 100 lb 188091 (International Paper), Colored papers (PTI, Mark's Finest Papers), Fun foam

Stamps: Earth stamp from Zipnby to Say Hi (Avocado Arts)

Font: Buffet from myfonts.com

Dies: Nesting circles, large (Spellbinders), Lower Case Alphabet (My Favorite Stamps Dienamics)

Other: Sprinkles