Congrats to all Grads!!

~ It's so hard to believe, but my first classroom of kiddos are graduating this spring. One special (not so little anymore) guy made the point to invite me to his ceremony this past weekend, so I needed a masculine card to take with me. Here's what I came up with:


For this card, I used a card sketch from Sketches! {by Tamara}. The pre-cut card base is from JoAnn Crafts. The patterned papers are Earthy Milestones from Creative Memories, and I added a little texture to them using the Cuttlebug and some sanding. The chipboard on which the sentiment was placed is by Heidi Grace; I just used Tim Holtz Tea Dye distressing ink to make it match better. The stickers, metal "graduate" embellishment, and ribbon are from unknown sources. All in all, I'm pleased with this masculine effort...one that usually creates a challenge for me!

Happy graduation,
Jessica in Kansas

Ballerina Beauty

~ A sweet little ballerina I know turns 4 this weekend, so I was in dire need of the perfect birthday card for her themed party. This is what I came up with using Sam & Hailey Designs' Itty Bitty Ballerina cutting file. I put a clear stamp by Studio G to use for the subtle "dance" addition. I also used some fun ribbon on the metal embellishment and around the slippers. A border stamp by Stampin' Up and a decorative corner punch by Fiskars added a little pizazz, as did some Brilliance & Color Box pink ink. Of course, few of my projects are complete without a little Stickles bling! I hope you think it's as fun as I do!!!

A perfect combination of sweet and girly...
Jessica in Kansas

Sweet Boy

~ Here's another simple baby layout featuring pictures of my mom (1st-time grandma) and brother doing the hand-off of Landon in the hospital. I want to share this one with you because I'm proud of the paper-pieced Standing Baby Bear. I cut the pieces from a file designed by myscrapchick.com, and then worked with inks, chalks, a fine black pen, a white gel pen, and some punches to bring it to life. At first I was quite unsatisfied with how it turned out, but after putting it away for a few weeks, I'm excited about how cute he is!!!

The layout also features some patterned pieces by Creative Memories and various alphabet stickers by CM and K&Company.
~ Babies = Joy,
Jessica in Kansas

NEW WHEELS!!!

~ This layout features my precious nephew and his "new wheels"!! Does it get any cuter than an adventurous 1 year-old trying to reach the pedals on his new Radio Flyer tricycle??!!

The New Wheels title and trike were cut from a file designed by Chris Durnan of Visual Designs by Chris. I embellished them some with my favorite staple: Stickles.

The epitome of cute, huh?!?!
Jessica in Kansas

Tri-Shutter Graduation Card

~ How cool is this?!?! It's a tri-shutter card, and it was super-simple to make using cutting files designed by none other than Jan Bryson of Sam & Hailey Designs. I'm so excited about the different ways I can use this file!
I chose to work ahead a bit and create a graduation card for my cousin who will "walk" in a few weeks! The sentiment and embellishments were cut from Jan's Itty Bitty Graduation file, which is full of cute little pieces to cut and use. All of the patterned paper is My Mind's Eye, and the solid cardstock is by PaperStudio.

It's that time of year...
Jessica in Kansas

friendship renewed

~ The layout below features me with one of my greatest pals. It also features a fabulous Swirly Spring Tree cut from my Klic-N-Kut and designed by Jan Bryson of Sam & Hailey Designs. This file is part of her Membership Club this quarter, and I just fell in love with the elegant swirls!! I was even able to multi-purpose the swirly trunk and use it to embellish various parts of these pages.
Here's a close-up of the cut design! I added some crystal dots by Prima and some silk flowers layered with silver punched petals & brads. The swirly trunks used throughout the pages were sprayed with Suede Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels. The layout also includes foil-trimmed chipboard alphas by Cloud9 Designs, additional silk pink flowers, and green textured Prima flowers.
Hope you are enjoying spring!!!
Jessica in Kansas