Paper Smooches November Blog Hop

It's Pep Rally week and we are here today to share a sampling of the NEW Paper Smooches December release with you!  FOUR new stamps and EIGHT new dies will be available to purchase on November 30th at 8:00pm pacific time. Once our release goes live, you will find our new products HERE.  

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

The prize - a $25 gift code to choose what you like at the PS online store.

Here are the details:

• FOUR winners will be chosen at RANDOM from any of the design team blogs and the PS Blog to win the $25. prize.
• 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) 
• Deadline: You have until midnight PT on Sunday, November 30th to leave a comment. 
• Please check the Paper Smooches blog on Monday, December 1st to see if you are one of the FOUR lucky winners.  

Here's the list of the entire hopping gang:)

Ashley Marcu

Emily Leiphart

Erin Lincoln

JJ Bolton

Jocelyn Olson

Kalyn Kepner

Kay Miller

Laura Bassen

Laurie Schmidlin

Michele Boyer

Pamela Ho 

Teri 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)

Now to my card:)  I'm using the new word die set called Love and Cherish!  I love the beautiful curl of this font and I thought it would pair nicely with the Blossoming Buds stamp set.  The stamped flowers are pretty intricate, so I used a vellum overlay to prevent the card from getting too busy.  

On top of the vellum, I added the die cut sentiment and some enamel dots.  The enamel dots serve 2 purposes, decorative (of course) and functional (they hide adhesive that keeps the vellum laying down).  I colored the die cut word with some blended ink in 2 colors (pink and red).  I also put a plain white version of the word behind (slightly offset).  Both the blended ink and the white "shadow" really give the sentiment some depth and help the sentiment stand out. 

Now it's time for you to hop on over to the next stop on the hop, my talented buddy Jocelyn Olson!  Keep on hopping!

And for my US friends, Happy Thanksgiving!  I'm so thankful for you:)

Mahalo,
jj

Studio Calico Park Ave Reveal!

It's the 27th of the month and that means reveal day at Studio Calico!!!   The new release is available to subscribers for presale right now and will be available to everyone at midnight!  I'm so ready to show you my cards from the main card kit Park Ave and a couple of the new stamp sets!    Here's my first card using just the main card kit.  This set has a bunch of builder stamps that allow you to create a custom cityscape.  I stamped a cityscape in bold, bright colors and layered it over a shaker sunset.  

Inside the shaker, I blended the same orange and yellow that I used to stamp 2 of the buildings and I added coordinating sequins.  You know me, can't resist a sequin or a shaker!

This second card uses the window stamps to create a custom background border pattern.  Love how it looks in white on black!  I added a few hand cut paper flags for color:)  So easy!

My next card uses the Banana Valentines stamp set!  How cute is that monkey stamp?  I used a bit of the paper from the Dots and Stripes pad to create a foreground for my monkeys.  To create a body for the monkeys, I just stamped the head upside down.  Isn't that sentiment adorable?

My last card uses the stamps from the Celebrate Animals stamp/die set!   I used just the banner letters to create a fun typographic background.  The b/w letters were the perfect background for my colorful shaker!  The diamond paper is from the main card kit (love it).  

Here's a closer look at the sequins in the shaker...

Before I go, I just wanted to say a little thank you and goodbye to Studio Calico!  I decided not to reapply for another term.  I've taken on some new responsibilities at work and there are just not enough hours in the day for me:)  I consider myself beyond LUCKY to have been a part of the Studio Calico experience.  From the folks down at HQ (especially April and Samantha) to the kit/paper/stamp designers and the awesome CT members, you could not have asked for more talented and kind people!  On or off the team, I will always be looking forward to what comes next at Studio Calico:) 

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

Mahalo and aloha,

jj

Cloudy Frames with Avery Elle

Hi everyone!  Just a little CAS card today using the Avery Elle die set Finished Frames!  This versatile set has 2 great frames and lots of bits and bobs that can be used from everything from reverse cuts to confetti.  I used the smaller of the two frames and reverse cut some bitty clouds to create this card.  (The bunny is from More Stories and the sentiment is from Red & Goldie)  I love how the blended ink background brings out more of the frame border:)  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

25 Days of Christmas Tags with Tracey

Hi everyone!  Today, I'm crafting along with the lovely and talented Tracey McNeely over at In My Creative Opinion.  She's been featuring 25 Days of Christmas Tags and has invited a bunch of folks to share a tag.  Great idea, right?  

A few weeks ago, I started putting together my gift tags for the office.  Every year, I like to give my coworkers a gift card with a small foodie type gift.  I've done cider and ginger ale, but this year I'm doing some homemade vanilla bottles.  So my tag is a combo gift card holder/bottle tag!  I used the Avery Elle Cheers bottle tag die and scored/folded it in half to create the pocket.  To decorate it, I used my Paper Smooches Cool Dudes stamps and dies.  Super easy to do and I didn't even have to buy a fancy new die (although I probably would of;)  

Thank you to Tracey for the invite to play along with your fun parade of tags!  Don't forget to check out Tracey's blog and leave comment for some cool prizes!  And check out the rest of the fun holidays tags!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Spellbinders Holiday Blog Hop with Avery Elle

Today, I'm hopping with the folks at Spellbinders and Avery Elle!  My first card pairs the Spellbinders Diamond Effects dies with Avery Elle's Be Jolly Stamps to create a fun colorful holiday card! 

The large panel die from the Exquisite Labels 11 set is just a smidge smaller than an A2 card front and makes the perfect frame for any stamped scene.  For fun, I backed the entire panel with a sheet of patterned paper from the Avery Elle patterned paper Everyday Collection.  I love the way the paper peeks out of the diamond design and adds just a little bit of color!

Before I go, I want to share one more quick project that I made using the Spellbinders Exquisite Labels 11 dies and Avery Elle Avery's Alpha dies (that's a mouthful;)!   I'm always looking to see how I can pair up dies or stamps to create new, custom combinations.  The AE alpha dies happen to fit perfectly into the smallest dies of the Spellbinders set.  I backed each reverse cut with a bit of red glitter paper and then used foam tape to adhere them to the card front.  To keep the focal point on the die cuts, I kept the background a crisp white.  It really lets the delicate die cuts shine, don't you think?

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Don't forget to leave some comments for chances to win some fun prizes!  Check out the Spellbinders community blog and the Avery Elle blog for details!

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Floral Thank You with Avery Elle

Hi everyone!  Today, I'm taking a little break from my holiday card making with a colorful, anytime card using the Avery Elle set Fabulous Florals!  The little builder pieces in this set make it very easy to stamp a custom background in whatever colors you wish.  I used a sentiment from Fill in the Blank and framed it on the smaller of the Finished Framed panels.   

That's it for me today!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Cool Christmas with Avery Elle

Hi everyone!  Today, I'm continuing with my holiday card-making with a CAS snowflake.  I used the Avery Elle stamp set Noel for this one and it could not have been easier!  First I die cut a panel using one of the Finished Frames dies.  Then I stamped the background in Sea Glass ink over the entire panel (the shape of the stamp makes this simple to do).  I added a few rhinestones here and there and added the sentiment.  I love how crisp and bold the sentiments are from the Noel set!  One more card to add to my Christmas card stash:)

Thanks so much for stopping in!  Until next time!  

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj