~ Birthday, birthday, birthday

~ I never have enough birthday cards ready to send, so I chose to take on the weekly challenge from The Cat's Pajamas, and create birthday cards this morning. The challenge was to use any cake image from the stamp line. Perfect...as I'd been dying to use this adorable penguin image! I also chose to combine the Color Inspiration #31 from the kwernerdesign blog. The colors are below...I wasn't sure what to think about the combination, but I love how the card turned out as a result of using them! Additionally, I followed Sketches! {by Tamara}'s Card Sketch #71 for the design of this project. With so much inspiration, I have to think less about what to create...and get to enjoy "playing" more!!! Can't beat that!

Have a great Saturday,

Jessica in Kansas

Cherish Forever wedding gift set

~ I'm having a blast creating these box-bottom gift bags as part of gift sets. We attended a wedding this weekend, which called for a handmade card, gift card holder, and bag to put it all in! How perfectly beautiful did this set turn out?!I had lots of inspiration for this set! First, the cutting files for the box-bottom gift bag was designed by Sam & Hailey Designs. It cuts and assembles like a dream, and it's cuter than ever...I'm hooked!!! The front of the bag was inspired by last week's sketch on the 2 Sketches 4 You blog. Instead of applying it to a card, I thought it would fit perfectly on the front of the bag. The sketch is below...see what you think! The card layout was based on the Our Creative Corner card sketch posted on Sept. 13th. I followed it pretty closely. The pillow box was one I had purchased a while back. The band wrapped around it was crimped with one of my favorite tools that I always forget to use. My SB Anon challenge for last week was to pull that tool out and apply it to a project! It was perfect for this! I attached the tag with a brown safety pin. This set also followed last week's recipe challenge on Sketches! {by tamara}'s blog, which called for the use of brads, scalloped edges, and a monochromatic color scheme. If you haven't noticed, I'm LOVING INSPIRATION right now!!!

2 Sketches 4 You Sketch #9

All of the stamps I used were clear stamps by Studio G except for the tag stamp, which is SU! The brown cardstock is from SU!, and the patterned papers were created by ScrapWorks and Sunburn. Some of the flowers are Primas; others are silk. The ribbon is craft ribbon from Hobby Lobby.

I hope you find it to be inspirational,

Jessica in Kansas

Friends leave footprints...

~ Here is a card I completed this weekend:I used the red, white, and blue color challenges (appropriate for the week of 9/11) from both my Scrapbookers Anonymous group and the Color Throwdown #10 challenge. The layout was inspired by Card Sketch #61 from Sketches! {by tamara}. I just found out that my favorite Aunt Carol's father passed away this weekend, so I made this card with her in mind.

Recipe:

• cardstock: The Paper Studio
• patterned paper: Ivy Cottage
• stamps: the quote is by Heidi Grace Designs; all others Clear Stamps by StudioG
• ink: cherry red and white pigment ink - both Stampabilities
• punches: scallop circle, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circles - all SU!
• other supplies: ribbon (unknown source), acrylic stamping blocks, adhesive

~ "Stop, drop, and worship"...when life throws more at you than you know how to handle. This was the message at church today, and I felt compelled to share!

Hugs to you,

Jessica in Kansas

White Wine Cake - using House Mouse

~ This recipe page was created for a swap. I had three sources of inspiration:

1. The first was from a weekly challenge posted by an e-mail group, to which I belong {Scrabookers Anonymous}, which encouraged me to use punctuation on the page somewhere besides the text/journaling.

2. I also accepted Challenge #4 - On a Budget on the House Mouse Monday Challenge blog, which required me to not only use a House Mouse & Friends stamp, but also to make a card/layout for under $2 in cost...excluding the price of ink, stamps, punches, and other tools that I already owned. A breakdown of the cost for this project is included in the recipe below.

3. My personal challenge to use the paint chips I've been collecting.

Recipe:

• Cardstock - light green and shimmer purple, source unknown ($.75)


• Ink - SU! Classic Black


• Markers - SU! Always Artichoke, Blush Blossom, Elegant Eggplant


• Colored pencil - purple, source unknown


• Stamp - House Mouse & Friends


• Fonts - CK Vogue & CK Man's Print


• Punches - SU! 1 1/4" & 3/4" circles, decorative corner punch source unknown


• Paint chips - Home Depot ($.00)


• Brads - Making Memories ($.25)


• Flowers - Michael's clearance stem ($.50 for a handful of them)


• Brackets - designed and cut on my Klic-N-Kut

Grand total of project: ($1.50)...and that's being generous

This was a fun project...I hope you enjoy it!!

Hugs to you,

Jessica in Kansas

In the Mood for Fall!

~ In my small Kansas town, we've had a beautiful cool-down for the past week, and it has really put me in the mood for fall! I've enjoyed opening up the windows, digging out the sweatshirts, and thinking about the fun my hubby and I had playing in our leaves last year!! Being the first fall in our new home, we were quite overwhelmed by the quantity of leaves that covered our rather large yard!. We ended up raking, and raking, and jumping in them, and buying a leaf vacuum/mulcher, and still not getting them all picked up before winter set in! Regardless, it was a memory worth capturing! I just put the finishing touches on this layout and thought I'd share!

Jessica in Kansas