Puttin' on the Glitz & stealing center stage!

While I was blog hopping this week, I came across one of my favorite scrapper - Jamie Harder's - blog and found this cute sketch from Sketch Inspiration:

It was perfect for the layout I had in mind for the special weekend challenge at Practical Scrappers. We'll be spotlighting one of our great sponsors, Glitz Designs. They have such great papers - fun, bright & unique designs that are sure to make your layouts pop!

Just last week, I got one of the September Kit from JuJu Bee's Scrapbook Corner, which featured TONS of great Glitz products, including several sheets of fun, bright patterend papers. They went great with pics of Soph's last recital.

The patterned paper and popped-up heart are all from Glitz Designs. I also trimmed one rose out of the swirly musical note paper and popped that up too. I added a little Prima blingy flourish that my awesome Practical Scrappers secret sister sent this week(!), some glitter letter stickers from Making Memories, a Pink Paislee "fashionista" rub on, a touch of crochet trim and some bright blue Double Dot cardstock from Bo Bunny. Everything was ink distressed with my Powder Puffs Midnight Confession ink pad.

This layout also qualifies for the Candy Shoppe Designs "Out with the Old, In with the New" challenge - where you're to use you're most recently purchased/received scrap product (even if you haven't gotten anything new in a while). They have some neat rules for their prize givaways - just answer one question, plus get extra chances for signing up as a follower, completing the challenge and/or posting about the challenge. Definitely worth a stop to check them out!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Tale of the good knight... (Frosted Designs challenge)

Once upon a time, in a land called Vegas, there lived a handsome knight Andrew who loved to defend his kingdom... the kingdom of Excalibur.

There was a time when Vegas was marketing the "family experience" which is good for us, because we love Vegas anyway. When I was a few months pregnant with Sophia, we took a family vacation to Vegas. Andrew got to be part of the family experiece and he got chances to pet dolphins & check out the tigers at Mirage; watch a kid-friendly pirate attack at Treasure Island (which it is definitly NOT that way now!); play in the endless arcade at New York New York and pretend to be a knight at Excalibur.

He made a pretty cute knight, don't you think? =)

Anywho, off to the crafty stuff...

This week's challenge at Frosted Designs was to emboss. I've had some fantasy die cuts from Stampin' Up forever, and most of them have a whimsical design and bright colors. Though the colors are fun, some (like for the castle) were way too girlie for what I needed them to be, so I embossed the heck out of them. Seriously.

For the dragon, I "distressed" his back & wings with Versamark and added a little gold embossing powder.


Each piece of the castle (minus the back wall) was embossed 3-4 times to get a smooth effect. The backwall only got a once-over to add a little texture to it. Finally, I added pop dots to the entrance piece of the castle for a bit of dimension.

All papers & stickers were Close To My Heart. I also used Stampin' Up ribbon and Bo Bunny brads.

Thanks for stopping by & checking everything out!

Crazy for Patterns... Practical Scrappers Challenge

I don't usually work with a whole bunch of patterned papers in a single layout, so this week's challenge at Practical Scrappers, which was to use three or more patterned papers, made me think outside of my comfort zone. But man, am I glad I went there!

I chose bright and fun papers to document Sophia's special trip to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo with her Nana & Poppa. They had "adopted" a wallaby at the zoo and she got to go for adoptive parent day, where she got to pet a baby wallaby. It was such a neat treat for my little girl!

Everything used on this layout is from Close To My Heart, and almost everything was patterned paper, including the fun little animals and the "buttons" popped up off the sub-title stickers. They were all just trimmed out from the patterned paper to accent the rest of the layout. I also used some cardstock and stickers, which were also from Close To My Heart.

Be sure to stop by Practical Scrappers today to check out the rest of the amazing design team's work, including a whole bunch of new members!

And the winner is....

Without further ado, the lucky winner of the Valentine's themed blog candy is....

sandyl AKA Cricut Green with Evi

Sandy - please email your mailing address to jaafras98@yahoo.com by this Sunday, January 31st to claim your prize!

For the rest of you, thank you so much for stopping by during the Practical Scrappers Blog Hop! I hope you join me again soon for artwork and more!

Scrap happy,

Jessica

Practical Scrappers Valentine Blog Hop & BLOG CANDY!

Who wants some CANDY?!

Thank you for stopping by my blog during the Practical Scrappers Designer Blog Hop! Join us all weekend long for great Valentine's themed projects and an awesome assortment of prizes!

I will have a new project every day, so be sure to check out my blog each day!

Check below for each day's project.

I am giving away some awesome Valentine's themed blog candy for the blog hop.
This blog candy is open to residents in the US and Canada.

The prize package includes a pack of Imaginesce rub-ons, Glitz Design Cardstock Stickers;Maya Road "Love" chipboard key chain, glitterly layered and blinged LOVE stickers, a bottle of red and white glitter, a pack of sparkly pink scalloped cards & envelopes, a pack of velvet & sparkly heart brads, and an assortment of pink, red & white ribbons, flowers & embellies.

In order to qualify you need to become a follower here and leave a comment on this post.

I will announce the winner on Monday, January 25th so make sure to check back in!

You should have arrived here from Erika's blog. Your next stop is Nadya's blog. If this was your first stop head over to Practical Scrappers to start at the beginning of the hop. The designers are giving away some great prizes - you don't want to miss your chance!

Here's a full list of the blog hop hostesses!

Christine
Kerri
Kim
Heidi
Erin
Jamie
Jennifer
Erika
Jessica (me - you're here!)
Nadya
Sherri
Crystal
Robin
Jill
Tanya
Julie
Amy H
Dianne
Joy

Hugs & Kisses - another 5 minute Valentine card! PS Blog Hop Project #4

Hello again & thanks to all of you who have taken the time to stop by my blog during the Practical Scrappers blog hop this weekend and have left me such kind comments! It's been a truly humbling experience.

I'm closing out my love-themed projects for the weekend with another 5-minute valentine card that was created with scraps and a die-cut piece that I had on hand.

Papers are My Mind's Eye, the stickers are K&Co. letters & DCWV (heart). Since the heart was a vellum sticker, I put it on a scrap of white cardstock and cut it out, then popped it up with pop dots for some dimension. The ribbon and the white rectangle diecut is from Stampin' Up - so no need to break out any diecutting machine for it!

Thanks again for visiting and don't forget to leave a comment! I'll be drawing a winner around 10 pm MST tonight for my Valentine's blog candy giveaway!

A Quiet Affection - Practical Scrappers blog hop project #3!

Thanks for popping back by my blog!

For today's love-themed layout, I chose to honor my parents - or at least one of the three sets of them. My mom and step-dad share a quiet affection and aren't big on PDAs, so catching a little love on film is a rare and special occurance.

Though you can't tell from my picture, it uses four different kinds of patterend paper. The big green polka dot paper from My Mind's Eye is obvious, as is (probably) the wood-textured designed blue photo mat from DCWV. But the flowers and swirls were on two separate sheets of patterened paper (both DCWV), that when used as-is, could overwhelm a layout.

Instead, I cut out my favorite parts of each of the patterns and was able to arrange them in a way that best suit my picture.


Once I cut out the flowers, I curled the edges up a bit to add a little more dimension.

Besides the DCWV and My Minds Eye papers, it uses Co'Ordinations Cardstock, Bazzill Cardstock, Jenni Bowlin Rub-Ons, American Crafts Thickers and K&Co. heart sticker.

Thanks again for stopping by. Join me tomorrow for the final Practical Scrappers Valentine's blog hop project and a chance to win some yummy candy! Prize will be drawn around 10 PM MST Monday, so you still have time to enter & tell your friends!!!!

Sweetie / Practical Scrappers Blog Hop Project 2!

OK, so this is technically a few hours early to be considered "Saturday's" post in most areas, but my hubby is banishing me from the house for a men-only Rock Band party and I'm headed out for an evening all to myself with some of my favorite gal pals!
For those of who who have already stopped by my blog today from Practical Scrappers Designer Blog Hop, thank you for your kind words! You are all an inspiriation to me and your comments mean the world to me. Thank you.
This project is a continuation of the blog hop. Don't forget to check out all of the rest of the sites listed for more fun!
This layout was inspired by a Sketchy Thursday's sketch - love them!
It uses swirl stamps from Sizzix, a word and cupcake stamp from Target's Dollar Spot (this year) and cardstock from Bazzill. The ribbon was extra stuff on hand. I also used some of my home-made glimmer mist that I had left over from my Practical Scrappers bling layout last week.
Thanks again for stopping by!

5-Minute Valentine Card / Practical Scrappers Blog Hop Challenge #1!

Here's my first Valentine project for this weekend's Practical Scrappers blog hop! I'll debut another project each day through Monday, when I announce the winner of my blog candy!

This card took all of five minutes from start to finish. Most of the products came from this kit from JuJu Bee's Scrapbook Corner, featuring patterned paper from Glitz Designs - both of which are Practical Scrappers sponsors. I ordered this adorable kit last Wednesday and got it in the mail on Tuesday - I was so pleased with the quick turnaround and great price! Be sure to check both of these companies out!

I cut the heart out of double-sided patterened cardstock from Glitz Designs, and the scallop border was cut from the opposite side of the same sheet. I cut out a black square slightly larger than the heart and distressed everything with my Powder Puffs Midnight Confessions ink. The cardstock is Double Dot cardstock from Bo Bunny - which may now officially be my hands down favorite cardstock. One side has coordinating dots and the other side is a solid color and the texture is amazing. I added rub-on letters from Making Memories for my sentiment and a fun black dashed ribbon to top it all off, and it was all set to go!

Let me know what you think and become a follower on my blog for a chance to win some amazing Valentine's Day Blog Candy - and don't forget to particpate in the rest of the Practical Scrappers Blog Hop throughout the weekend for more great projects and more chances to win!!!

Crazy for chipboard!

Our challenge this week at the newly-amped Frosted Designs was to incorporate chipboard into our projects. Digging through my stash, I found blue and orange chipboard alphas and flowers - a favorite color combo in our family - and knew immediately what to do!


We are huge Broncos fans. Andrew's first words were "Go Elway!" (no kidding!) and Soph's been throwing her "touchdown arms" up in the air since before she could crawl. Even through the dismal seasons we're rooting for the home team. Like, for instance, the end of this past season.

*cough*

To send some good juju to the team, Soph dolled up with rally hair - a special do topped with blue glitter and orange bows. Even though it didn't work, she still looked pretty stinkin' cute!

This layout is such an eclectic mix of supplies - cardstock, ink and dark blue swirly paper from Close To My Heart; orange polka dot paper from My Mind's Eye; and scraps of orange stripy paper from whoknowswhere. The blue chipboard is from K&Co., orange chipboard alpha from Target Dollar Spot; the orange chipboard flowers are Making Memories, and bling from Stuido 18. The pen is a Slick Writer from American Crafts.

Thanks so much for visiting and don't forget to stop by and say hi to all the new team at Frosted Designs, including my blogging buddy Kim Sparks from Practical Scrappers!

Emboss it, baby!

Don't you just love a throw back to old supplies? There's something kind of fun in digging deep into your stash and bringing new life to a product. That's how I feel about embossing.
It's been so long since I "wet" embossed (using ink and embossing powder vs. "dry" embossing using a texture machine) that my poor heat gun has a layer of dust.

I finally got a chance to put that heat gun to good use with this week's embossing challenge at Practical Scrappers. Here's the final product:

I used both wet and dry embossing techniques on my layout. My favorite embossing powder is called Iridescent Ice from Stampin' Up. It's a clear powder with glitter, so it matches everything. Talk about a great investment. I distressed my red heart paper with VersaMark and poured the Iridescent Ice all over for a "emboss distressed" look. I also used the same embossing powder on my title letters and the chipboard swirly.

I dry embossed some coordinating teal cardstock with my little Texture Botique purse - super cute & handy. Once the cardstock was embossed using an embossing folder, I punched some circles out & added those to my layout.

Here's a better view:

In addition the the products already mentioned, this layout features Bazzill cardstock & chipboard swirl; Petalloo blingy florettes; and Close To My Heart heart paper, stamps, rub-ons, and ink.

Thanks so much for stopping by and don't forget to join us for the Practical Scrappers Valentine's Blog Hop for great projects & tons of prizes starting here.

Get your hands on the fun & funky Basic Grey Sugar Rush card kit before they're gone!!!

Hi Friends,

AC Bailey is now offering the super-popular Basic Grey Sugar Rush card kit, containing everything you need to create beautiful, springy/Valentine's cards for just $15 plus shipping & tax! (See attached for a pic of this cute kit!) This kit contains enough patterned paper, die cuts, printed & scored cardstock bases, rub-ons, printed chipboard and envelopes for 8 cards - that's less than $2/card!

To guarantee that you get a kit, I will be accepting PRE-ORDERS through this Saturday, January 23. Kits should be delivered to me & available for pick up likely around Feb. 5-8. All orders must be pre-paid via PayPal by this Saturday to guarantee your kit.

I'd also highly recommend adding on a Mystery Box - for just $15, your mystery grab bag will be filled with a huge assortment of high quality products - from stickers, embellishments, brads, rub-ons and more, each kit is different and includes at least $25 worth of products, a deal you don't want to pass up!

Please let me know as soon as possible if you are wanting either the Sugar Rush kit or any other products from the store. I can order everything at once to save you money on shipping, and if I get enough orders, shipping will be free! I also have an "in" for BRAND SPANKIN' NEW MAYA ROAD products - direct from CHA, that can be put on this pre-order, too.

For those of you who signed up for my Bo Bunny Love Bandit Altered Album/Wall Hanging Workshop next Saturday, January 30th, we will be meeting at the New Castle Community Center from 12-4 p.m. I ordered one extra set - so if you or anyone you know might still be interested, please let me know ASAP. That class cost is $30.

The next Girl's Night Out crop is Friday, February 19th from 6-10 p.m. at the Silt Fire Station. $10 for two cute projects from myself and Candice from Stampin' Up, plus food, drink & plenty of space to spread out & craft! RSVP by Feb. 17th.

The following Sunday, February 21st is my Love Always 4-page scrapbooking workshop. I also have a few more spots for this, too, and may be offering a Sunday Special Crop - in addition to the workshop - to give everyone an little break before a crazy week to get some crafting done. More details to follow soon. In the mean time, if you would like to take one of the remaining spots for the Love Always class, the fee is $24 due no later than Feb. 5th.

Thanks again for all of your friendship & support!

Jessica Stott
Independent Consultant, AC Bailey Designs
970-319-6620
jasafrsa98@yahoo.com

Valentine's Blog Hop coming this weekend!

Join me this Friday, January 22 through Monday, January 25 for the Valentine's Blog Hop at Practical Scrappers! Lovely projects & lots of giveways - you don't want to miss out! More details to follow later this week...

Valentine Barrette Bling!

I've been inspired lately to do new things with my scrap supplies. For Christmas, I made Soph one of those giant flower barrettes that seem to be all the rage, because, really, they're super cute and I had everything on hand.

Here she is with Daddy and Andrew on Christmas eve sporting her awesome new barrette:

The best thing about it was I could personalize the barrette to fit the holiday - for Chirstmas it was sporting a 1" brad that said Merry & Bright.

I blinged up the same barrette in honor of Practical Scrapper's blingy challenge for the week and switched it around to a Valentine's Day-theme with some Stickled edges on my red flower and switched to a glittery heart brad for the center.

Here's my little ham is sporting the fabulous new blingy version:

From start to finish it took me about 5 minutes, including rifling through my flowers to find the perfect combo, popping the brad through the layers, hot gluing ribbon around an alligator clip and finally, hot gluing the flowers to the top of the barrette. Plus, I didn't have to spend the $15 I would have had I bought it in a store.

Gotta love that, right?!

Be sure to check out all of the other awesome creations that the Practical Scrappers Design Team has been up to this week!

DT Calls at Frosted Designs

Hi friends!

Frosted Designs is searching for a few new Design Team members. The deadline to sbumit is this Friday, January 15th - check out more details below!

Frosted Designs

Design Team member call ends Friday (Jan 15) and we will be announcing the new team members on Monday Jan 18th. If you are interested in becoming a part of our team, submit 3 examples of your work to mailto:tofrosteddesigner@gmail.com

Bling it on!

My little Sophie-girl is all about the bling -she is a princess through-and-through. This week's challenge at Practical Scrappers was perfect for her pictures - we had to use bling in any way, shape or form! You've got to check out what the amazing design team has been coming out with lately - awesome work over there!

For this layout, I used blingy shapes & swirls (Zva Creative & Michael's), glitter chipboard (K&Co.) & stickers (Making Memories), and home-made glimmer mist that I created using Perfect Pearls (Stampin' Up) and food coloring. I also used Dollar Spot ribbon and a sheet of CTMH cardstock, plus one of my favorite recent pictures of her, one that Andrew took of her while they were just joking around last fall.

HOME-MADE GLIMMER MIST:

Perfect Pearls or pearlescent acrylic paint

Warm Water

Food Coloring or Re-Inker

Small, Travel-Sized Spray Bottle

Add 1-1/2 to 3 TBS warm water to small spray bottle. Add a small scoop of Perfect Pearls and 4-5 drops of food coloring or re-inker of your choice. Shake well and spray! You can also use a pearly acrylic paint - pre-colored if you want - for a similar effect.

The layout was also inspired by this sketch from Sketchy Thursdays. They also have a great challenge blog with new prizes each week. As far as sketch blogs go, this is one of my favorites.

Thanks for stopping by!

All Buttoned Up!

Our layout this week at Practical Scrappers was to create a project with buttons. I've got jars and tubes and nooks and crannies filled with buttons, but so rarely pull them out that it was fun to dive into something "new". Pulling out some pics of the kiddos at the local touch-a-truck event 5 years ago and the "You Color My World" stamp from Close To My Heart, I was immediately inspired to create a fun rainbow - it worked great with the pics.

This layout uses Bazzill cardstock; My Mind's Eye papers; CTMH stamp & inks; Crayola colored pencils and lots of random buttons and tons of mini dots to glue them all down. I also popped up the free-handed cloud on some Stampin' Up dimensional dots.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend!!

Get Inked!

And no, I'm not talking about tattoos! ; )

Our challenge this week at Frosted Designs was to use ink on our project or layout. I used this sketch from the Get Sketchy challenge blog to help with my card layout:

For my FD challenge, I stamped the bird & saying, colored the bird in using a blending pen and the direct-to-pad technique, and ink distressed all of my paper pieces.

This card was created using a $1 stamp from Michael's, Stampin' Up buttons, Powder Puff Mocha Mama ink; and Close To My Heart papers and inks for the rest of the card, plus a little scrap of Bazzill cardstock and a chipboard circle from my stash.

Ringing in a new decade

I got a little craft time Monday night, had just printed off some fun pictures from our New Year's festivities and decided to play along in a few challenges.

The first is the Farewell 2009 challenge at the American Crafts blog. You had to create a layout celebrating 2009 or 2010 using two or more American Crafts products.

This layout features almost-exclusively American Crafts products, including my faves - Thickers. Seriously. If I was a rich girl, I'd have them in every single stinkin' style! Alas, bills to pay, real life to live. ;p For this layout, I used Thickers in blue foam "Subway" and chocolate brown puffy "Chit Chat" letters, plus papers from their Merrymint line. I love how these papers are glittered & embossed - all the hard work is done for me and it looks great!

The only non-AC products is the white and red Bazzill cardstock and the brown Tim Holtz ink.

The other challenge is for the So Sketchy December -month-long challenge. Sadly, this great sketch site is hosting it's last round of challenges, and they will be going out with a bang. (I'm doubly sad, because I just now found the site! Ugh!!!)

To enter in the extended December contest, you can choose from any of their December sketches to submit and comment on at least three of December's postings. I chose to do the December Sketch #10.

New Kits for the New Year!

AC Bailey Designs is changing the way they do things this year and you're going to love it! It's going to bring you easier access to the lastes & greatest products from your favorite manufacturers as new lines are released at great prices, so there's no more waiting for fun new products!!!!

All purchases will still go towards earning your $25 Frequent Buyer Club certificate (get one point for every $10 spent, and when you reach $200 you get $25 in FREE PRODUCT). Since some of these products won't make it to the on-line store, the best way to earn your Frequent Buyer points and get your hands on these hot products is to get them in the pre-buys.

For myself as an AC Bailey consultant, I will be offering the fun new products into monthly kits priced around $20-$28 with ala carte add-on options of your choice! For some of the kits, I'll be offering local workshops to put them together, but this way, all "non-local" customers will have a chance to get their hands on these hot products!

All kit orders will be available on a pre-buy basis only. Details will be listed for about a week in advance and orders will typically ship to you within 3 weeks after the pre-buy closes. Shipping will be $6.00 for USPS priority + insurance.

For the first pre-buy, here are the class details & product listings.

Payment is due for these orders no later than Jan 7th - All prices listed are product cost only unless otherwise noted. Additional shipping & handling charges will apply.

If you are interested in any of the following products, please e-mail me with your order details, including product description, price & your mailing address. Payment must be received at time of order, no later than January 7th. PayPal preferred, or locals can catch up with me with a check or cash.

Bo Bunny Love Bandit Altered Album/Card & Photo Holder Workshop Kit

Kit Only Price: $20 + s/h

Local Workshop Details: Saturday, Jan. 30th from 1-4 p.m., $30 includes all supplies, s/h & lunch

Kit Includes: 6x6 insert pages, Love Bandit collection papers, Double Dot papers, exclusive transparency, assorted coordinating ribbon & embellishments, full page color instruction sheet

Bo Bunny Ala Carte Options:

Love Bandit Paper Collection #1 (6 Double-Sided Cardstock Weight Papers) - $6

Cuckoo for U iCandy Brads - $4

Love Bandit Paper Collection #2 (includes 2 die cut papers & 2 double sided cardstock weight papers) - $4

You Stole My Heart Rub-ons - $3.50

Love Bandit Combo Stickers - $3

Love Bandit Buttons & Bling - $4

Pink Paislee Love Always 4-page Scrapbook Workshop Kit

Create 4 fully embellished 12x12 layouts featuring Pink Paislee's Cupid collection papers, punch-outs & brads, American Crafts Salutations fabric Thickers in Chestnut and coordinating Bazzill cardstock, ribbon & flowers (not shown above)

Kit Only: $20

Local Workshop Details: Sunday, Feb. 21st from 1-4 p.m. $24 includes all supplies + s/h, embellishment buffet and lunch.

Pink Paislee Ala Carte Add-On Options:

Shown from left to right in the "kit" above:

Pink Paislee Cupid Paper Collection - $6

Pink Paislee Cupid Punch Outs - $3

Pink Paislee Cupid Brads - $4

American Crafts Salutations Fabric Thickers - Chestnut - $5

Pink Paislee Press-Ons: $4

Pink Paislee Borderline (12" Clear Border Stickers): $3.00

American Crafts Letterbox Line

American Crafts Letterbox Collection Papers: $6

American Crafts Letterbox Minimarks Phrases - Mail - Rub-Ons: $3.50

American Crafts Letterbox - House - Polite Fleece Flowers: $3.50

American Crafts Letterbox Pearl Brads: $4.00

American Crafts Letterbox Ribbon - Welcoming: $6

American Crafts Chipboard Thickers - Regards / Geyeser: $5

American Crafts Chipboard Thickers - Regards / Honey: $5

American Crafts Fabric Thickers - Salutations / Carnation - $5

P.S. We will still be offering our "core" products in store, like adhesives, Bazzill cardstock, inks, and standard embellishemnts like Bazzill flowers, chipboard, etc. Shop on-line by clicking here.