Studio Calico Office Hours Reveal!

It's the 27th and that means reveal day at Studio Calico!!!   The release is available to subscribers right now, and will be available to everyone at midnight tonight.  Today, I'm sharing cards from the main card kit Office Hours and the Water Cooler add-on!  
    
Let's start with my main kit cards:)  This kit has some fun rainy day stamps that are just perfect for Spring! The little outline stamps were just screaming for some watercoloring, so that's where I went first...

The sun is stamped with some of the new color theory ink.  To get that watercolor look, I spritzed my stamp with water before stamping.  Since the color theory ink is dye-based, it works well with water:)

My second card has a whole 'nother feel:)  I took the "sun" shaped veneer and converted it to a star!  I painted it, glittered it, and the wrapped with a bit of the thread from the kit.  To get a more delicate thread, I unwrapped the fibers and only used 2 of the strands. 

The background is sprayed with a bit of silver mist and I added sequins and mirror stars from the kit.  The sentiment is heat embossed with a bit of silver as well.

Now on to the card add-on!  This kit is called Water Cooler, and it is *very* cool;)  The stamp set is to die for and the papers are fantastic!!!  For my first card, I used one of the stamps to create a simple background.  I added a bit of whimsy with the metallic thread that I unraveled and wrapped around the sentiment. Simple but fun!

My last card uses every single one of the new inks with the fun wave stamp from the kit! 

Don't those inks look yummy:)  And I just love the hand-written feel of the sentiment.  So cute:) 

Thanks for stopping in!  I hope you check out the entire release over at Studio Calico!  And stop in to the gallery to see all the goodies the Creative Team have put together!

Mahalo and aloha,

jj

Paper Smooches March/April Blog Hop

It's Pep Rally week and we are here today to share a sampling of the Paper Smooches March release with you!  FOUR new stamps and EIGHT new dies will be available to purchase at 12:01am, Eastern time...on March 8th!  You will find our new releases HERE

To add extra fun to our blog hop...we are offering up a prize! 

• FOUR winners will be chosen at RANDOM from any of the design team blogs and the PS Blog
• The prize - a $25. gift code to choose what you like at the PS online store.
• Just leave a comment on any of the design team blogs listed below or the PS blog for your chance to win!  (you do not need to comment on all blogs to qualify but it increases your changes) 
• You have until midnight MT on Sunday, March 2nd to leave a comment. 
• Please check the Paper Smooches blog on Monday, March 3rd to see if you are one of the FOUR lucky winners.

Here's the full hop list:)

Ashley Marcu
Betsy Veldman
Emily Leiphart
Erin Lincoln
Heidi Van Laar
JJ Bolton (you are here)
Kalyn Kepner
Karolyn Loncon
Kim Kesti
Laura Bassen
Laurie Schmidlin
Mou Saha 
Pamela Ho 
Summer Fullerton
Teri Anderson
Wendy Sue Anderson

To increase your chances of winning:

• Tell us that you Facebooked about our blog hop
• Tell us that you Tweeted about our hop
• Tell us that you posted on your blog about our blog hop

(which means that you have up to three extra chances to win on each blog)

And now to my card!  I'm using the new feathers dies today and boy are they fun!!!  I've been seeing the new tribal trends out there, so I thought I'd use my die cut feathers to make a dreamcatcher.  To create the dreamcatcher "net", I used the tiny open leaf stamp from Reflections.  For the frame, I used  some simple circle dies on woodgrain card stock.  Then I attached my feathers that I die cut from vellum.  

I added sequins and small gems instead of the usual beads.  This card is SO not my usual style, but I so enjoyed putting all the different parts together to make something completely different!  

Thanks so much for stopping in today!  Have fun hopping!

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Mama Elephant Stamp Highlights: Sketchy Letters

It's the last day of the Mama Elephant highlights and we're sharing our Sketchy Letters projects!  This is the same set I used on Stampede day:)  This is such a cute alpha set and so easy to use!  I love the casual design and the scale is not too big or too little:)  These stamps have great detail and I thought about how great they would look in white on black.  So I stamped a kind of chalkboard snow scene:)  Doesn't the asterisk stamp look great as a snowflake?  
  

I added the penguins from Polar Pals and colored them in with my Inktense colored pencils (which work wonderfully on dark card stock).  I die cut the panel and layered it over a striped background.  I really wanted to get that chalkboardy look, so I did the stripes with a pencil and ruler and only colored them in loosely.   Let's hope that I don't need this wintery card for much longer;)  

Thanks for stopping by this week!  Don't forget to check out what the rest of the DT has created with Sketchy Letters!

Mama Elephant/Kryssi
Emily Leiphart
Geralyn Sy
Laura Bassen
Jenn Biederman
Nichol Magouirk
Elena Roussakis
JJ Bolton (you are here)

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Avery Elle: Cake & Candles

What kind of cards do make most often?  For me, it's birthday cards, hands down.  So I'm always happy to add one to my stash:)  I used the new Avery Elle Cake & Candles set that has birthday sentiments for all occasions!  I paired it with the Party Animal set (natch) to make a fun card for anyone, just in case;) 

For my background, I used all Avery Elle inks in Mimosa, Aquamarine, Raspberry, Orchid, Celery, Fizz, Sea Glass, and Lemon Grass.  Can't get enough of those yummy colors:)  Great coverage too!  Have you tried them yet?

Thanks for stopping in!  Be sure to click over to Heather's blog to see the adorable card she has to share today!   

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Mama Elephant Stamp Highight: Origami

Hey everyone!  Are you enjoying all the Mama Elephant highlights this week?  Today we're all highlighting the new stamp set, Origami!  I took my inspiration from my childhood in Hawai'i.  Senbazuru is a Japanese tradition of making 1000 origami cranes (or some do 1001) for good luck or to celebrate long life.  The paper cranes are strung together so that they can be hung up.  It's really a beautiful tradition.  

Each crane was stamped onto a different patterned paper.  Then I fussy cut each one and strung them on gold twine.  The sentiment is from Love Quotes and it seems very appropriate for my lucky cranes!

 

Thanks for checking in today!  Come back tomorrow for the last of the stamp highlights and today go check out what the rest of the DT has in store for Origami!

Mama Elephant/Kryssi
Emily Leiphart
Geralyn Sy
Laura Bassen
Jenn Biederman
Nichol Magouirk
Elena Roussakis
JJ Bolton (you are here)

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Mama Elephant Stamp Highlight: Honey Bunny

Good Monday, all!  We're starting this week with the first of the Mama Elephant February release highlights!  You've seen them on the Mama Elephant blog, but this week, you get a chance to know them better:)  I'm working with the set, Honey Bunny today!  

This card was so fun to make!  The bunnies are stamps, highlighted with Copics, and fussy cut.  I blended the clouds over the background and die cut the landscape with one of the Landscape Trio Dies.  I made my little 3D swing with a bit of woodgrain card stock and twine hanging from a branch (really a tree trunk from Winter Wonderland).

Thanks for checking in today!  The stamp highlights will continue tomorrow, but today please be sure to visit these gals to see what they've done with this fun set.  You're going to love them!

Mama Elephant/Kryssi
Emily Leiphart
Geralyn Sy
Laura Bassen
Jenn Biederman
Nichol Magouirk
Elena Roussakis
JJ Bolton (you are here)

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Mama Elephant February Stampede

Hello, hello, hello! Welcome to the Mama Elephant Design Team Stampede!  I know you've been checking out the sneaks all week, are you excited?  The full release was revealed yesterday and they are already live on the Mama Elephant site}.  Today, the DT is just sharing some fun projects from each set:)   My stampede projects uses the fun new alpha set, Sketchy Letters!

I love the handwritten feel of these letters. They are very forgiving when you line them up:)     For my card, I really wanted to highlight the letters, so I went one layer, super CAS.  I painted watercolor blobs (lol) across the card base as a colorful background.  I love how the letters look against the soft colors!

Here's a closer look at the detail of the stamps!  Love it! 

That's it from me!  I told you it was super CAS;)  Now before you finish stampeding, don't forget the giveaway!

GIVEAWAY ALERT! To celebrate the new release, Mama Elephant is giving away one of each of the new stamps released! Winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs in the Stampede. Winners will be announced on the blog on the last Stamp Highlights Day. You have up to 3 chances to qualify to win! Just leave a separate comment for each!

» Leave a comment on this blog post «

» Like/share us on Facebook: facebook.com/mamaelephant «

» Follow/tweet us on Twitter: twitter.com/heymamaelephant «

This is the last stop on the Stampeded, but here's the full list if you've missed anyone (and you know you don't want that;):

Mama Elephant/Kryssi

Kathy Racoosin
Elena RoussakisLaura Bassen
Jenn Biederman
Nichol Magouirk
Emily Leiphart
Geralyn Sy
JJ Bolton (you are here)

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Sweet Treats Hop ~ Avery Elle & Tombow

Good morning and Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  We hope you are ready for some great ideas and GREAT prizes this week from Tombow and Avery Elle.   This Sweet Treats Hop is the perfect way to celebrate Valentine’s Day!!   If you're here from Melissa Cash, then you’re in the right place:)  

Today, the Avery Elle gang is joining the Tombow gang to showcase some Avery Elle/ Tombow combos;)  For my first project, I used the really cool Tombow Dual Brush pens.  These pens can be used in so many ways, but I was intrigued by their ability to color with water.  I was inspired by the Waterlogue app that converts pictures into watercolor.  So much fun!  

I stamped the flowers (from the Thanks a Bunch set) using Orchid and Lemon Grass ink.  Then I took the pens and highlighted parts of the flower and leaves.  To get the watercolor look, I took a small thin brush dipped in water and just went over the marker.  The color immediately softened up and created a beautiful water color look!  

For the blue background, I took an acrylic block (the kind you use for clear stamps) and colored it with a bit of blue and green.  Then I used a brush dipped in water and mixed the two colors.  This created a beautiful sky blue color.  Such a fun look and so easy!

For my second project, I had to do a favor box:)  After all this is the Sweet Treats hop;)  I used my Cameo to cut out a simple 2 piece box.  Then I used my Simply Labels: Hello Friend stamps and die to make a fun topper for my box.  

To put the box together, I used the new Xtreme Adhesive runner.  They are not playing around when they say this stuff holds!  I usually have to put tons of adhesive on my paper boxes (especially since this one holds an entire bag of gummi bears), but I just did one quick swipe on each tab.  

That's it for me today!  Here's the full list of the hoppers because you won't want to miss a stop!

Tombow Blog
Chunyuan Wu

Yainea (Cristina Núñez Regueiro)
Debbie Fisher

Nina Yang

Heather Campbell

Melissa Cash

JJ Bolton

Kasia Curry

Jennie Garcia

Maska Vanacker 

Marie Browning
Avery Elle / Jamie Gracz

And if you comment on all the Designers’ projects you could win prize you are guaranteed to fall in love with!  One lucky winner will get BOTH a $50 Gift certificate from Avery Elle and $50 worth of Tombow Adhesive!

To be eligible to win, just leave a comment on each of the designer's projects  and don't forget to "Like" the Avery Elle Facebook Page and "Like" the Tombow Facebook Page. If you don’t have a Facebook, still comment on the projects and we will select someone to win a prize just for playing!  Commenting for your chance to win this blog hop prize will end February 16^th at Midnight EST!  The winner will be announced on February 17^th via our Social Media outlets!  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Best of luck with the prize!

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Avery Elle ~ Happy Spring

How ironic is it that as I write this blog post for my Happy Spring card, about 8 inches of snow is falling on our area?  Well, at least I can think Spring even though Mother Nature is not cooperating;)  Today, I'm sharing a card I made with the new Avery Elle Happy Spring set!  This set has such a lovely vintage feel to it.  Reminds of Beatrix Potter:)  

I decided to do a traditional Easter basket card.  But you may say, "JJ, this set has no basket!" and you would be right!  The bottom of the basket is actually the cupcake liner stamp from the set Cupcakes.  The wreath stamp from Happy Spring is the perfect size for the handle.  Using masks, I put together a complete Easter basket with yummy-colored eggs (in this case Mimosa, Aquamarine, Raspberry, and Orchid).  

To create the lattice background, I used the border vine stamp in Celery and Lemon Grass.  The basket is stamped on a panel that I die cut with our Pinked dies.  Love the classic look!

Thanks for stopping in!  Be sure to click over to Heather's blog to see the adorable card she has to share today!   

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Sweet Stamp Shop Blog Hop

Hello everyone!  Today I'm playing along with the fun and talented gals from Sweet Stamp Shop:)  The head Sweet Stamper (the owner, Nicole) asked me if I would help debut 2 new stamp sets designed by Emily of Branch Out.  How could I not join in?  Emily designed 2 new sets, Announcing and Sparkle and Shine, that work really well together as you will see;)  Here's the first of 3 cards I have to share...

For this first card I used the gems from the Sparkle and Shine set to create a background design that I colored with Copics.  With a fun background, I don't like to cover it up too much, so vellum is the natural choice for the sentiment.  I heat embossed the sentiment (from another set, Too Hip) on to a strip of vellum.  I double layered the vellum to make the sentiment really stand out.  The whole panel was layered (off center) over a piece of silver metallic card stock.  

This next card is all about the bling!!!  Using masks, I made a single image of the banner loaded up with jewels.  I colored each jewel with a Copic and added a generous amount of glitter with my glitter brush.  I fussy cut the entire image to later glue to the card base.

 First I had to spray my card base with silver paint mist.  Here's a better look at how shiny and glittery it all turned out!  Sparkle and shine, indeed:)

My last card to share pulls from both of Emily's sets again.  I stamped the banner and colored it with Copics.  Then I added stamped sequins all over the background.  Each sequin is colored with Copics or glitter pen.  

I added in there a couple of mirror sequins too:)

That's it for me today!  I hope you go check out all the Sweet Stamp Shop hoppers today!  Go to the Sweet Stamp Shop blog for the blog hop list.  Thank you so much to Nicole and Emily for having me:)  

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Supplies

You've Got Style:

White Card Stock
Vellum
Copics
White Embossing Powder
Silver Metallic Card Stock
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

Sparkle + Shine:

White Card Stock
Copics
Silver Spray
Glitter Brush

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

Announcing:

White Card Stock
Copics
Glitter Pen
Sequins

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

All About the Ink

I've recently been lucky enough to get some of the brand new inks on the market.  I'm of the mind set that you can never have too many inks!  So when I got the newest batch of inks this week, I decided it was time to redo my ink charts.  These charts were only meant for my own personal use, so excuse the messiness:)  To make it easier to tell the brands apart, I used a different stamp for each brand.  Here is the key along (which brand = which stamp) along with notes on what type of ink it is, the type of ink pad, how big the ink pad is, etc.  

First up are purple and blues...

Next are grays and browns...

And greens (some of the inks are greenish blues that could go either way)...

Now yellows, oranges, corals...

And rounding out with pinks and reds...

So have I convinced you that you need more ink?

Here are links to where you can buy each type of ink online:
Avery Elle
Mama Elephant
Studio Calico
Fresh (Impress)
Hero Arts (search for "Hero Arts Shadow Ink Pad"
Memento (Dye) and Memento Luxe (Pigment) (search for "Memento Ink Pad")

I haven't included a link for A Muse since those are sold through reps. I also don't have a link for the PTI inks. I've heard of quality issues, so I didn't want to point you down that road:)

For more info on inks, please check out my pal Nina's page here.  She has more charts and even some free blank chart printables!  Until next time:)

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj