Finally, I can attend classes if I want to!

I say, "if I want to", because up in Thunder Bay, the opportunities were few and far between. Here in Guelph, there's a plethora of places to go for classes, being as Guelph is not far from either Toronto, Kitchener/Waterloo or London. I'm having a difficult time deciding where to go for classes. The Scrapping Turtle was my first place to attend a class. It's a wonderful store, with fabulous ladies who work there and a fine selection of product. I'm in Heaven! It was a class for dye ink backgrounds and I really enjoyed it. Here are the cards I made at the class.





I'm not a huge fan of the collage-style, but I can see other uses for the inking technique. In fact, I'm working on one right now and I may have something to post later today.

In addition to learning this new technique, I met a lovely lady, Debbie, and she is searching for a scrapbooking/cardmaking buddy. It seems that now her daughters are married, they have less time for the hobby. I'm so glad to have met her and I look forward to getting to know her and maybe go to some crops and stuff.

That's it for now. I'm anxious to get back to my craft table to have some fun! See ya' later.

A couple of challenges tonight

My friend, Jennifer, over at Ink N' Scrap Habits does weekly sketch challenges. This is a card I made for Sketch 6 which you can see here. It seems I needed a little kick-start to get creating again and these were just the ticket. Thanks, Jennifer. For this card I used a gorgeous blue from CTMH, but I don't know the specific colour, sorry. I stamped Grillafella on Select White by PTI and coloured him with Copic Ciao markers. I used my CM oval to cut both the image and then a larger oval in Old Olive. I had the perfect ribbon so I cut off a piece and attached it to the card. The sentiment is from the Smarty Pants set by SU. Added a couple of brads and there you go. Easy-peasy!










To the right, is the card I did for Sketch 7. The little tag inside the pocket says "Birthday Wishes" from the Sincere Salutations set by SU. The base of this card is Blue Bayou, the patterned paper was a tiny bit of scrap, so unknown, and the punched flowers were made using the Martha Stewart punch. I added some Blue Bayou ribbon and a few brads to finish it off. Also an easy card to make.






I picked up my SU order from Donna this weekend and just had to play with my "stuff". I am so in love with the Inspired by Nature set and I can see a few Christmas gifts will be made with this set. It's great for home decor items. I used the new Kiwi Kiss and stamped the grass using the same colour ink. The flowers, of course, are stamped in Palette Hybrid Black ink. Next time I'll make sure the stamp is well-inked to make a clearer impression.

That's it for today. Hopefully, I'll be back again tomorrow with more creations. Thanks for stopping by.

My craft room is sort of ready!

If you look at the pic of my desk, to the right is a door that leads into the kitchen and you can see a bit of DH's desk and chair. When we're both on our computers, we can see and chat with each other very easily. To the left my computer desk stands the printer which is on top of a file cabinet. Next to the printer is a craft table that holds the overflow of stuff that I use but don't need all the time. It has things like my Postal scale, Bind-It-All, extra flowers and pens, etc. It's handy if I need them.




These two pics are of my craft table where I do all of my playing/creating. Above the table are my new craft racks for ink pads and ribbon storage. I bought them from Dave Jarvis in Brantford, ON and picked them up on Wednesday last. DH bought them for my birthday which was last Monday (Aug. 25). I was so excited to get them on the wall and loaded up! If you're interested, you can contact Dave at
djarvis10@rogers.com (sorry, I don't know how to make it link for you). Dave will be happy to give you a price and he will ship anywhere in North America.
To the left of my craft table stands the big, tall storage unit. It is home to all of my stamp sets. Right now the bottom two shelves have some of John's CDs and books, but they're getting sent to a new home soon and will be replaced by my clear stamps sets, of which I have thousands and thousands (not really, but is sounds good).

This last picture is of the closet. It is home to four Iris carts which contain craft stuff I absolutely need. I couldn't tell you what is in them at the moment, but I know I needed whatever is in the drawers. On top of the carts are plastic storage bins which hold all my 8-1/2" x 11" cardstock, all nicely labelled and sorted by colour families, ie: pinks, reds, oranges.....etc. In front of each colour is a file for scraps in that colour. It works well for me.

I can tell this will be a never-ending project of re-organizing, re-arranging and constant growth, but it's so much fun having an entire room dedicated to my craft. I love it!

a fun little memory game ~~ please play along

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Limited Edition Stamp

For the past two years, The Stamp Shack has commissioned an artist to draw a "Stamp Shack Santa". This year, based on a poll over at The Shack, the majority of members wanted a snowman. This wonderful image was created for us by Paul Gunson and what a beautiful stamp this will be. There will be only one run of this stamp and you can pre-order it until Friday, August 29, 2008. Hurry over and place your order now so that you will have it in plenty of time for creating delightful Christmas cards and, be the owner of a limited edition stamp.

You can place your pre-orders here.

Tomorrow the moving company will be back to pick up 25 clear plastic bags, normally used for leaves, that are just jam-packed with paper and about 100 boxes. As soon as they are gone, we'll have room to move around and unpack the remaining boxes, which I estimate to be about 20 or so, many of them holding my crafting supplies. I'll soon be back in the swing of things, just in time for Halloween and Christmas!

On a sadder note, the reason I've been MIA is because my ex-husband passed away suddenly on August 9th. Our children have been devastated, to say the least, and I've wanted to be there to help them and care for them any way I can. My ex and I remained friends and I will miss him. Whenever I came to Guelph to see the kids, I always looked forward to at least sharing an hour or two over a glass of Dubonnet for me and a Rusty Nail for him, and just talking about our kids and remembering the good times and sharing our hopes for each of their futures. Discussing the grandchildren was always a highlight of our conversations. I'll miss Peter and those talks, but I believe he will be watching over his children from his seat in Heaven.

JLO Reward Games

Starting Friday August 15th through Sunday September 28st JessicaLynnOriginal is hosting our own version of the Olympic Games to earn Gift Certificates. Why is it running so long, so people can order stamps and have enough time to get them via the mail.

The Gift Certificates can be used for anything in our store and they are also transferable. So if you wanted to give any or all of it away as a gift that can be done for no cost.

PRIZES:

1st Place Top Point Collector - GOLD: $75.00 JessicaLynnOriginal Gift Certificate

2nd Place -SILVER: $35.00 JessicaLynnOriginal Gift Certificate

3rd Place - BRONZE: $15.00 JessicaLynnOriginal Gift Certificate

There will be other prizes such as: coupons, free stamps, custom stamps, and more!

How to Register: (Early Registrations from August 15th-August 24th )

1. You will need to be a registered user on the JessicaLynnOriginal
website. (username & password)
2. Send an Email to stamps@jessicalynnoriginal.com (you will get an
email back once you are registered)

In that email please include:

* Subject Line: JLO Games
* Name (1st & last)
* Email Address for contact purposes.
* City, State

RULES:

* Each point achievement has its own set of requirements.

* Be sure to review how to earn those points

* All requests for points must be qualified.

* 12:01am Friday August 15th - 11:59pm September 28st

* Design Team & Stamp Club Members, and any other person who would
like to win the gift certificates are eligible to be part of this contest.

We will have an Olympic page that you want watch the "status" on the points.

We will update the points totals as often as we can.

Add my name to help you earn GOLD!

Earning "Points" or Achievements

Number of Achievements & How You Earn Them


1 point * for each person you refer to sign up for the JessicaLynnOriginal mailing list. The email address must be an active email to qualify.

Requirement:Include your first & last name (please add Barb Kaszuba if I am the one referring you) in the Referral Code box.

1-3 points * If you create a card using JessicaLynnOriginal stamps and post it on:

* Your Blog = 1 point
* Splitcoaststampers = 1 point
* The Stamp Shack = 1 point

Requirement: To earn the point you must include "stamp from JessicaLynnOriginal" in your details about the card.

Earns a point. (1 point for each location you post the card)


Requirement: You must email us with the link to view that the card was posted in any of those locations.


3 points *

Each Order from JessicaLynnOriginal's online store will earn you three points.

Requirement: If you have a friend order on your behalf that is just fine.
They would need to include your first & last name in the comments when they submit the order.

Requirement: Your orders count as well.

2 points

If you are member of the JessicaLynnOriginal Stamp club.

(If you are an existing member and your account is active. You already have
2 points)


1 points *

If you register during early registration you earn a point too!


* Only new registrations, new cards, new orders will qualify for the points.
Previous orders are appreciated but do not qualify.

Hi Honey, I'm Home!

We are in our condo at last, but not without a problem or two.

First, the truck was due to arrive around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 26th. He arrived at 10 a.m., but could not get the 76 ft. tractor-trailer down the apartment driveway. This meant that the move-in was post-poned until Sunday, but before that could happen there had to be an emergency meeting of the Board of Directors for the Condo Corp. because moving in is not allowed on Sundays. They kindly made an exception after I begged them to let us in.

So, the truck driver arranges for a smaller truck (read an extra $1,000) and he parks across the street in a huge mall parking lot and transfers furniture and boxes from the tractor-trailer to the smaller truck. Drives the small truck over to the loading/unloading dock where about 4 guys are waiting to unload and bring it up in the smallest elevator for freight I've ever seen, and the move-in begins. This happens about 10 times, shuttling the furniture from one truck to the smaller truck to the apartment. We started at 9:00 a.m. and didn't finish until 5:30 p.m. What a way to say hello to your new neighbours by breaking one of the most stringent rules. I will have to make a card of thanks/appreciation for the Board and post one in the mail room, too.

So, here I sit amongst 278 boxes and bits of furniture! I know that's the exact number because we had to mark them off on a list as items came through the door to make sure nothing was missed. I can't even see my craft room yet and may not for a couple of weeks. I'm actually using John's computer because mine won't be hooked up until my craft room can be accessed. It contains boxes at the moment. Mathematically speaking, 2500 sq. ft. of household goods do not fit easily into 1350 sq. ft. of apartment.

The phone doesn't work. It seems that the line coming into the apartment is still the previous owner. Maybe I should make all my long distance calls now, before the repairman arrives tomorrow morning to re-direct it to our new number!

The fridge didn't work after the move, so there goes another $300 to have the electric starter components replaced. It's working now so I'm happy. I can't find the coffee and even if I did, I don't know where the can opener is because nothing is unpacked in the kitchen. Thank goodness we love to eat out.

Sears haven't called me back to arrange a time for the installation of the washer and dryer, but my new stove is being delivered today. Yeah, but no food to cook. Another yeah!

So, here I sit in my new home and my sons have been fabulously helpful. I've seen them everyday and am loving it. I love my new place and don't plan on moving any time soon. Being around Jackson, my grandson is amazing. I still can't believe I'll be able to see him on a regular basis and watch him growing up.

Here's a couple of pictures of my 'future' craft room. Any guesses how long it will take to get organized.



We have already received some terrific "Welcome to your New Home" cards from friends. Sherri, thanks so much and both John and I would love for you to visit; Cathy, thanks for your card and I hope you find your new home really soon and that we can get together for stamping times and to my 'sis', Jennifer, your card is darling and we're really not that far away anymore and I do hope to meet up with you before Christmas. Thanks, ladies, your thoughtfulness means a great deal to me.

I'll miss this view!

My craft space is all tidied up and waiting for the packers to come in on Thursday. Naturally, I feel totally inspired to create now, but, alas, cannot. So, this will be my last post until sometime around July 30th or so. We don't get possession of our condo until July 25th, furniture most likely July 26th, but that has not been confirmed as yet by our mover. Then, the computers will be the first thing hooked up again because both John and I are fanatical about our computers. They are a life-line, literally.

In the meantime, I will leave you with this delightful video I took the other morning. If you hear heaving breathing, it's because I'm hunched down trying to get a good shot from underneath the hanging stained glass in our front window while, at the same time, trying to keep Hank, our cat, from getting into the shot.



This is such a beautiful place to live and we have such a lovely property with trees all around and horses frolicking in the backyard. Not our horses, but our neighbours. The gentle breezes in the summer make air conditioning unnecessary. But then, there's always the winter. I will not miss the -40 degree C. or the snow that piles up as high as the house on occasion. When the sun shines in the winter, the sky is a phenominal blue and clear, but that's when it's coldest. And the one thing that Guelph has that Thunder Bay does not is FAMILY! That makes saying good-bye to the friends we have made here a little easier.

See you in a couple of weeks.

A late night creation

Just playing around this evening and I was trying to follow the instructions from I Like Markers for Skin Tones. It's a first attempt, so I'm hoping I'll get better. Marianne has fabulous tutorials on her blog and I learn something new everyday. Of course, having no natural artistic talent (I use rubber stamps because I can't draw a stick-man), I have trouble with shadows. I'm hoping my BIL can teach me something when we finally get moved to Guelph as he'll only be a few minutes away and he can come play in my stamp room whenever he wants to. For the background I often refer to Freedom in Creating. Michelle also has fantastic tutorials.

For the card base, I used my marble stamp and VersaMark, then covered it in fine gold embossing powder and heated it up. I was hoping that it would look like a gilded-gold frame around a portrait, but I'm not sure if that's the effect I achieved. Anyway, it doesn't matter because I like the way it turned out. Hope you do, too.

One Card, Two challenges

It's official, I'm a procrastinator. I will not pack until Monday, that way I can play all weekend. While blurfing today, I found two blogs that offered challenges I could not resist. I made one card utilizing both challenges. The colours came first and it was from the new blog on the block, Color Throwdown. I love colour challenges and will play frequently, I hope.

The next blog I saw was Ink N' Scrap Habits. Now I must admit that Jennifer is a friend from The Stamp Shack and when she posted the news about sketch challenges on her blog, well, I ran straight over to check it out. I loved the sketch and made a card using colours from Color Throwdown and Jennifer's sketch. Really, all I had to do was choose a stamp and colour to my heart's content, which I did. Here's the card.



The colours I used were Pretty In Pink, Regal Rose and Sage Shadow. A beautiful combination from Color Throwdown. As previously stated, the sketch is from Ink N' Scrap Habits and I love it. I chose the Cone Flower stamp designed by Aesla Hopkins and is from Cornish Heritage Farms. I don't remember when the snaps come from, but I like them and they're easy to use. I added a little hand-drawn border around the flower just to dress it up a bit. Of course, I needed a little bling so used some Yellow Stickles and some Star Dust Stickles for eye-popping bling.

I received this image from an image swap hosted by JP at The Stamp Shack. He turned up in my mail box yesterday and I coloured him in last night. I just had to use the sentiment I received when I purchased a grab bag of stamps a couple of months ago. I don't remember the company, but it had a ton of sentiments and this one works for this image, in my opinion. I started off with a Very Vanilla base, but it looked too bland so I rummaged around in my scraps drawer and came up with the polka dotted paper. The image is on white and double-matted with Chocolate Chip and Pumpkin Pie. The sentiment is stamped with Pumpkin Pie ink. I coloured him with Copic markers and added a little Close To Cocoa grosgrain ribbon. Every time I look at him, I laugh! What about you?

Still playing, not packing.....

....that's not good! If I'm still posting by Friday of new cards I've made, will someone please send me a swift kick in the butt!!!

In the meantime, here's a card I made for the JLO Design Team challenge. We were to use a sketch by Kerry Urbatch of The Stamp Shack. You may be able to see that sketch here.



The base is Select White by PTI, with a Cool Caribbean strip punched with the Spiral punch by SU. The stamps are, of course, by Jessica Lynn Original stamps. The metal embellishments are from the Hodgepodge Hardware in Antique Brass, also by SU. I coloured the dragon with Copic marker for the body, and used the Copic Spica glitter pens for the other bits. I love the sparkly effect the Spica pens give to a project.

Okay, that's my play time for today. Gotta go do something involved with moving now.

Why am I playing instead of packing?

Probably because playing is more fun.....hehehe! Anyway, while reading my Google Reader this morning, I found a challenge I wanted to complete. When I create my cards, I never use just words or sentiments, but recently I received several in a grab bag so I actually had something to use. Here's my card. It was made for Allison's challenge here, and it's challenge AFSS25 - Words, Words, Words. The base is Elegant Eggplant by SU, with accenting c/s Lavender Moon by PTI. The DP is from the scraps drawer and, therefore, unknown to me. I glitzed it up with some sparkly little flowers, also from my stash, but I remember buying them at the Dollar Store. A bit of dotted, sheer ribbon around a slide and it's done.

Go check out the challenge at Stampin' When I Can, and also all the other good stuff Allison places on her blog. She does a huge service for craft bloggers everywhere!

I'm measurement-challenged!

This is my entry for this week's Mojo Monday card at Poetic Artistry. I love the sketch, but somewhere along the way, I lost the ability to measure accurately. While no measurements were provided, anyone can see the strip overlaps on both sides in the sketch. Does mine: NO! Anyway it was a great sketch and I will be using this as a birthday card for a neice who loves to garden.

With the exception of the stamp, which is Veggiebella of Stamping Bella, this card was made using only scraps, therefore, I have no idea what papers were used. How do you all remember what papers and stuff you use when scraps are involved? I'd love to know.

New Style Card

Isn't this a lovely card? I saw this in a newsletter I receive regularly, Creative Papercrafts. Their description is wonderful and I made it in about 5 minutes. The hardest part was selecting the papers and the stamp set to use! The DP is from my stash and is no longer known to me. I used Delight In Life by SU and cut around the flowers. The ribbon is also from my stash and is just a sheer dotted bit. The sentiment is from the Women of Life by PTI.

I'll have a couple more cards in the next day or so because I need to get them made before the packers arrive and they take away my furniture. That all happens in a couple of weeks and I can hardly wait to get to our new home in Guelph. I can't wait to be a real Grandma to Jack. My other two grandsons are in England, but I'll see them in October when they come to Canada for Andrew's and Sheena's wedding. Then, for a few days, I'll have all the grandkids in one spot.

I'll be away for a short time.

Unfortunately, I won't be putting any new posts or cards up probably until next Monday. My brother passed away and I'm going to Ottawa to be with my siblings for the funeral. It's been a difficult last few days and I'm looking forward to seeing other members of the family and remembering the life of George.

See you soon and thank you all for taking the time to read my blog.

Ever had one of those days!

That's what it says on the inside of this card. It's another image by Paper Pretties. I now have two of their stamps, but having joined the SOTM club, I'll soon have a wonderful collection. My first SOTM will arrive in July. I sure hope it's before we move. Well, Canada Post will re-direct it anyway, but it would be so much better to have it to pack up and take with me.

This card is very simple. I started with PTI Select White and my Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder. After scoring my card with the Scor-Pal, I placed the Swiss Dots folder so it was partially over the fold and ran it through the Cuttlebug. That means that a portion of the back of the card is also embossed, but I believe it just adds to the tactile element of the card. Then, I placed the CB folder over the right hand side of the card and ran it through again and, voila, embossing with a blank space in the middle. And, I did it without cutting the folder as I have read some people have done. After the embossing, I stamped the image in the centre and coloured it with Copic Markers and added some dotted ribbon by PTI from the Summer Sunrise collection. The inside of the card simply says, "Ever had one of those days!"

Very simple, very chic!

Look out world, here I come!

This is one of the many, many cute stamps you will find at Paper Pretties. Christie also has a Stamp of the Month club where all you get is the stamp. So many places out there, that are great, offer a lot of extras for a larger price. Paper Pretties is a no-nonsense SOTM. All you get is a stamp, and all you pay for is a stamp. Perfect in my opinion, at least. Check it out for yourself and see what you think.

Okay, on to the card for the deets. The only thing new on this card is the stamp! I pulled out my green scraps folder and picked all of the papers from there. The base is SU, the pp is probably from Self-Addressed, there's a bit of dark green Bazill and a lighter green probably from the inexpensive packs you can get at Wal-Mart. The brads are from so long ago I don't remember who made them. Most likely there were a purchase from The Dollar Store. I think it turned out well enough for me to visit my different-colour scrap folders more often!

I picked up another stamp from Paper Pretties, but I haven't made it into a card just yet. Later today, probably. "Y'all come back now, ya here." That just popped into my head and I know it's from a TV show, but darned if I can remember which one. Anyone out there who can tell me?

Billy the Cowboy

Another adorable little boy to love! I have a feeling that my grandsons are going to get cards for no reason whatsoever because I'm in love with these images by Pink Cat Studio. I've got Dress Up Billy as well, but need to cut them up and mount them on EZ Mount and there's so many bits, it'll take me a while to get it done.

This card has a Chocolate Chip base. The DP is from my stash and unknown by me, at least. The sentiment and star are Close To Cocoa. Billy was coloured with Copic Markers and his buckle and harness on the horse's face are coloured witht the gold Copic Spica pen.

Stay tuned, who knows which Billy will show up next!

Billy the Pirate

The Billy stamps by Pink Cat Studio are just the coolest! Here's my first card using the pirate Billy. The base is Real Red and the striped blue and red pp is from one of the Self-Addressed monthly kits, but I can remember which one, sorry. I finally remember to use some of the dozens of punches I have to embellish the card. I keep forgetting those darn things and they add so much to a card. I used the CM circle punch and the SU Round Tab punch. A few brads in opposite corners and it was complete. This will make a terrific birthday card for a special little boy who will soon be two years old, already!

Two cards, three challenges!

Both of these cards are using the "Many Happy Re-turns" stamp set designed by Rupa Shevde for Gina K. Designs. I love this set! Now, on to the challenges.

"Thank you sew much!" was created for SC181 at SCS. The card base is yellow, the DP is Ginger Blossom and the image was stamped onto Soft Sky. I stamped it with Versamark, then into Blue Bayou ink, sprinkled with clear embossing powder and heat set. The Soft Sky ribbon is attached with Blue Bayou brads and the thimble and dressmaker embellishments are from Buttons Galore.



"Sorry for the mix-up!" incorporates two challenges in this card. This weeks colour challenge, CC171 and last week's sketch challenge, SC180.





Just a quick post today as I've got to go out and do some grocery shopping, UGH!