~~~ Mixed Media Tag with the *NEW* Lace @ 3 Girl JAM ~~~

!!! HAPPY MONDAY !!!
Blends and 3 Girl JAM-mers

I am happy to be the Design Team Member posting at 3 Girl JAM today!

I was super excited to get to play around and create a Mixed Media Tag for a swap I am in with a fun group on FB.  I spoke with my swap partner about her "favorites" and she was super sweet to give me a lot of ideas to work with.  As soon as she said "pinks, blues, silvers, whites, and greens", I grabbed the NEW Lace from 3 Girl JAM!!!  

This lace is beyond Gorgeous and I can't wait for it to be released so all my friends can play with it in their creations, too.  The colors are scrumptious and I adore the mixed colors Julie created and will have available!

Now, because I didn't have any "official #10 Tags", I improvised.  I grabbed for my medium thick chipboard and cut out my tag shape at 4 1/8" x 8 1/2" to meet the swap requirement.  Alexandra, my swap partner, was so understanding and okay with the idea of a more sturdy tag!  YAY!!! (I didn't think to take a pic of it before I started, though....DOH!)

I first painted a thin coat of white acrylic paint on both sides of the chipboard and let it dry.  

I wanted a lot of texture and dimension, so I grabbed for my Studio Calico "Huey's Masks (elongated hexagons)" and my gesso.  I placed the mask flat and at an angle, then took a plastic spatula to spread on the gesso.  After smoothing it out, I lifted the mask and allowed for the gesso to dry before my next phase.

I sprayed a thin mist of Colorbox Spritzer - Glacier Lake on the surface.  Because it was a very dark tone, I sprayed a tad of my Pink Perfect Pearls and then wiped some of the excess spray with a paper towel, using single strokes from the top of the tag to the bottom.  

I wanted to spray a bit of my "homemade" pink spray next, but I couldn't get my mister unclogged (LOL).  Again, I improvised.  I tapped the tip of the spray "straw" onto the tag in various places.  I loved that the drops followed a path down the indentations of hexagons from the mask I used.  So, I continued this step several times until I got my desired effect.

I sprayed a bit more of the Glacier Lake again and wiped off the excess.  I then used a little of my "homemade" green mist in the lower left and upper right corners to offset the blue and pink a bit.

Now, to show the colors of the lace against my semi-finished tag.  GORGEOUS, RIGHT?

I wanted to stick to the colors Alexandra requested and started hunting for some gorgeous elements to use on the tag.  I grabbed my new doilies and my beautiful metal embellishments from Miriam's Crafting Supplies along with one of my absolute faves from her shop....flat back pearls. 

I sifted through my entire stash of designer papers, not really certain which ones I would use, but selected some that were matching the color scheme I was working with.  

I chose to work with the pink fleur de lis paper and the black and white Eiffel tower papers from the Carta Bella Paris Girl 6x6 pad.

Before I applied any embellishments, I decided to stamp and emboss a gorgeous rose bouquet first.  I used the bouquet of roses from the Echo Park set called "better with love" by Unity.

I used a white embossing powder and staggered my image several times around the entire tag.

To give the entire tag more, I went around the outer edge with some of my Distress Ink - Vintage Photo.

I started to embellish the tag first, by pleating and adhering the wider blue/green lace just under the hole at the top.

I then created a second row of lace, using the same technique, but with the thinner pink lace this time.  

For the center of my tag, I first adhered the small silver doily to be a backdrop for the Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Squares I cut with my Big Shot.  

I also cut a 2" circle with my hand punch.  I inked the edges of all cuts with my Distress Inks in Tattered Rose, Shabby Shutters, and Weathered Wood.

I picked out the Eiffel Tower stamp from the Unity 12/12 KOM, "Everyday Fairytale" and inked it with some Embossing Ink.  

After stamping it to the chevron print paper from the Carta Bella, Carta Bella Paris Girl 6x6 pad, I sprinkled some silver embossing tinsel and activated it using my heat gun.  

I fussy cut around the edges and placed that onto my layers in the center of my tag.

To give more depth to the center layers, I placed some of the flat back pearls around the edge of the circle that was still exposed and looking quite bare.  

I love the added color this gave the area and wanted more . . . . more is better, right?  The metal corner embellishments gave me the same desired effect and added more dimension, too.  

I added the same colors of pearls to the lower corner of the tag and decided I could put them away!

I created a cluster of paper flowers below the tower after adding some larger white corner embellishments to the bottom left and the upper right (just under the pleated lace) of my tag.  

I added a small grouping of flowers to adorn the top corner, too.  

I wanted to offset the large cluster of paper flowers on the bottom, by using some of the FABULOUS Crinkle Ribbon from the 3 Girl JAM Shop.

I created a triple bow on my 3 Girl JAM Bow Maker using the Red & Blue Mixed Ribbon from the  Red, White & Blue Bundle along with the Christmas Candy Ribbon from the Seasons Bundle.

Using some twine, I added a key charm to the center of the bow as I was making it with the Bow Maker.  A final touch --- adding the binder ring!

ALL IN ALL, I give Mixed Media Projects a TWO THUMBS UP!
Now, if only I could conquer the management of more time to work with Mixed Media, I would be ONE ECSTATIC CRAFTER!

The 3 Girl JAM Challenge for the month of January is
ANYTHING GOES with Ribbon!
A Crowd Favorite!

You'll always find LOADS of inspiration at the 3 Girl JAM Challenge Blog!
Stop over for wonderful ideas from the Design Team and all those who are linking up!  The Challenge will remain open until January 31st .

We'd love for you to Link your Anything Goes Projects to JOIN THE FUN and for a chance to WIN a Gift Certificate to Shop at 3 Girl JAM!!!!

For more 3 Girl JAM Product and Project Ideas, be sure to check out the 3 Girl JAM Pinterest Boards!

~*~*~ AWESOME DISCOUNT ALERT ~*~*~

Stop by 3 Girl JAM to shop around and place an order
for any of the amazing products that are

a MUST HAVE in your stash!
SAVE 10% OFF Your Order ---Just use the Discount Code JB10 during checkout!!!

Thanks for Stopping In Today

Remember 

to Keep 

Crafting, 

Because 

♫ CRAFTING ♫ 

♫ ROCKS ♫ 

\m/-_-\m/ 

:O) Jessica

Happy Halloween and Fright Night Sweets

Today, I am happy to share some wonderful Fall Colors with you

as we CREEP into the Days before Halloween.

Fall is my favorite time of year. 

There is so much to Celebrate!

Speaking of CELEBRATING . . . there is still time to join the Current Challenge 

here at the 3 Girl JAM Challenge Blog!

 (LINK UP BELOW)

I enjoy the Crisp Cool Air, but love Nature's Color Palette 

that starts showing up in early October.

I am excited for the little ones to enjoy their Trick-or-Treat escapade,

and decided a cute Treat Bag and Card was what I would make for my project today.

The Muslin Bags are one  of my favorite items to use from the 

3 Girl JAM Store.

I used the 5x7 size bag for my Fright Night Sweets.

For my card, I used my new Mister Huey sprays and mask to create the background.

The fence was cut from black card stock using my Memory Box "Rounded Fence" die.

The pattern paper is from the Bo Bunny Apple Cider 6x6 stack.

I adorned the fence with Crinkle Ribbon Mini Bows created using the 3 Girl JAM Bow Maker.

Bows: Harvest Orange, Goblin Green, Sunflower Yellow, and Hot Chocolate

The Spooky Tree and label on my treat bag were stamped from the Echo Park and Unity Stamp Co. set called "fright night".

Hope you will JOIN US and share all of your WONDERFUL CELEBRATION CREATIONS!

Remember 

to 

Keep 

Crafting, 

Because 

♫ CRAFTING ♫ 

♫ ROCKS ♫ 

\m/-_-\m/

 :O) Jessica

Beaded Stretch Bracelets and more Gift Boxes: Growing In Unity - Day 5

Happy Friday Blends

I am here to share my last Growing In Unity Post for this week.  :(
I have had an amazing week being able to play with my Beloved Unity Stamps and being able to share all of my projects and creations with my dear sweet Blends!

Thanks to all of you who have taken time to stop in for each post, for leaving such uplifting comments, and for sticking with me during this blasted head cold.  I was hoping to create a fun New Year's Celebration Project as my Day 5 Project, but the dizzy spells that I am having aren't allowing me to stand or concentrate for long periods of time.  

 

Many of you commented on how eager you were to see what the Handmade Beaded Stretch Bracelets looked like that were being given out as gifts as I mentioned in my Growing In Unity Day 2 Post.  So, I figured, why not make a positive out of this negative cold, and show you a few more of the fun Pizza Box Gift Boxes I created using my Unity  Stamps and give you a peek at a few of the bracelets that I made my Mom and Sister as gifts!  

 

Keep in mind, the Handmade Beaded Stretch Bracelets are a fairly new item/product being offered at our Pinque Peacock Shop and custom requests are always accepted!!!

Here is the bracelet that was placed in the Box I shared on my Day 2 Post . . . 

This one was for my sister Tammy.  She isn't a big jewelry wearer, but she does love

our Native American heritage and proudly wears Turquoise.  So I made this to suit her fancy.  The Bracelet includes Turquoise stones, turquoise glass beads, and Topaz/Citrine colored glass beads.  I included the Topaz since that is her birthstone.  There is also a little boy charm to represent my nephew Jace and a charm with the letter T to represent Tammy.  Each stone or bead is separated by a fun metal spacer.   As you can see, I also stamped the PEACE Stamp from the Kissmas & Misteltoe Unity Stamp set on the inside upper lid of the box, too.

 

For my Mother's gift,  again, I followed the wonderful tutorial by Sarah Hamer, Pink Cricut to create the gift box and belly band.  This time I used the fun itty bitty called

Celebrate Wreath

 

 The papers I used are from Bo Bunny (Double Dot), Red card stock (textured), vellum, and Echo Park (Very Merry Christmas)

 

 I stamped the wreath image onto Vellum using Embossing ink.  I then sprinkled green embossing powder and heat set it.  After that, I fussy cut the wreath and set it aside.  I used the  Warm Wishes circular sentiment from my September 2012 Kit of the Month {the Vintage Touch} on vellum, but this time using black ink and no embossing.   

 

Oh, how I miss getting those fun kits in my mail box each month.  But my daughter is ecstatic to have her own phone now.  I hope she knows the sacrifice I made for her  <<wink>> :)

 

I used my 2" circle punch for the background circle and placed the warm wishes on top of the vellum wreath.  Because of the rush we were in on Christmas Day to get the gift boxes and bracelets finished, I didn't get any "great" pictures, but will try to take more the next chance I get.

 This bracelet was Custom Made for my Mother.  Since she is a Mother of 13 kids, this was a task all in itself.  Each glass bead between the spacers is accompanied by a coordinating charm of a little girl or a little boy.  So 8 girls and 5 boys rest along side a glass bead that represents that child's birthstone.  The bracelet turned out quite pretty I thought.  It was funny how well the glass beads looked together since there are several birthdays in February, May, and November.

This is another gift box I made using the same Celebrate Wreath Stamp by Unity, only this time heat embossing it on green card stock with white embossing powder.  The Christmas sentiment is one from a Grab Bag purchase.   The papers from from Echo Park (Very Merry Christmas) and Simple Stories (Harvest Lane)

  

Here are several of the boxes that were finished in time for pictures on Christmas Morning.

 

DON'T FORGET!

A random winner will be chosen TOMORROW to receive

2 itty bitty

stamps 

of their choice

Thanks for stopping in today.    Be sure to stop back later tomorrow for the Winner  Announcement.  And another Sincere Thank You  SHOUT OUT to Unity Stamp Company  for this amazing opportunity.

Remember to 

Keep Crafting, 

Because 

♫ CRAFTING ♫ 

♫ ROCKS ♫ 

\m/-_-\m/ 

:O) 

Jessica

Thank You Tag - Growing in Unity Day 3

Happy Day after Christmas Sweet Blends

I hope you had an amazing Christmas Day filled with tons of Love, Memories, Great Food, and Joyous Celebrations.

Today is my day to share my Day 3 Growing In Unity Post for this week.  Each and every day this week, I have and will be sharing a project I have created using my ALL TIME Favorite Stamps EVER . . . . Unity Stamps!

It is quite the honor for me to have this opportunity and I want to properly THANK

everyone involved in making this possible for me!  

Thanks Unity Stamp Co.  and TEAM

I am glad you are stopping in today because each day that you stop to see my Unity Project, you will be entered to WIN some Unity Stamps yourself!

A random winner will be chosen at the end of the week to receive

2 itty bitty

stamps 

of their choice

For my project today, I decided to create a "Thank You Tag" for  Christmas".  After all of the gift giving is over, it is a great idea to have some Thank You Tags and Cards to pass out to those who have shown you their generosity.

I started with a manilla tag from Unity and stamped the itty bitty, Vintage Handwritten, with my embossing ink.  I heat embossed white powder then used 3 different colors of glimmer mist around the entire tag.  The colors fit beautifully together and because they were more on the dark tone spectrum, the white really stands out.

I added a piece of vellum as a top layer to the tag.

I tied it together with some fun 3 Girl JAM Goblin Green Crinkle Ribbon.

 Thank You sentiment by Unity (in a grab bag I purchased, so not quite sure what set it belongs to).  The lamp post is an image from the echo park set better with love by Unity. 

Stop over TODAY to do some shopping  with Unity  Stamp Co.   Angela is such a doll, and she offers up sales ALL the time.  So check back often to be sure you don't miss any of the amazing deals being offered.

Other Supplies used:

the fine leaf and the red and white roses were a wonderful gift from the sweet Heather Flaherty

Dual Tip Brush Markers
TH Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
Fabric Flowers from Pinque Peacock Shop (more coming soon!)
Zots glue dots
TPC Studios Holly Jolly Bling

Thanks for stopping in today. 
Please be sure to come back tomorrow and every day this week, for more chances to win the prize being sponsored by Unity Stamp Company

SEE YOU TOMORROW

Remember to 

Keep Crafting, 

Because 

♫ CRAFTING ♫ 

♫ ROCKS ♫ 

\m/-_-\m/ 

:O) 

Jessica

WCMD with UNITY STAMP CO. - #2 Texture Challenge

Wow, how I have missed playing
with my Unity Stamp Co. Stamps.

My second card for the night is now completed.

I am linking up to the fun celebration for

World Card Making Day

at their wonderful

Unity Stamp Co. Blog.

I moved on to the
It's All About Texture Challenge (#2)
for inspiration to create.

I grabbed my Teresa Collins 6 x 6 stack - EVERYDAY MOMENTS.

I decided to do some fun die cuts with my Big Shot.
I  used my Provo Craft Leaf Die, my Flower (Build a Lilac) Sizzix Die,
and my Spellbinders Nestabilities - Lacy Squares.

For some added texture to my project,
I decided to do more embossing using my Ranger embossing pad,
Ranger UTEE, and
some Blue Denim embossing powder.

Of course I had to use a new to me, never used before,
Unity Stamp set called
Better with Love by Echo Park

I adore those beautiful roses.
I really think the UTEE gave my background roses a fun
contrast to the darker colors on the focal image of my card.

I still needed more texture. 
 So I grabbed my 3 Girl JAM  burlap
and an old collar of a t-shirt that had
fallen apart from the shirt just the other day...
(I knew I would be using that...LOL)

 I was really impressed how well the small
flowers, from the Sizzix  Lilac Die, cut into the burlap.

I pleated the collar under the center image,
added the leaves and flowers
all around the card
then used brads and bling
for the centers of my flowers.

I hand cut the sentiment flag
after inking it with some VersaMagic - Jumbo Java

Thank You so Much for stopping in

to see my card and I sure hope you enjoyed it!

Remember 

to 

Keep Crafting 

:O) 

Jessica

 

♪ ♪ GRAND GIVEAWAY ♪ ♪ Just because you L♥VE your Cricut!

THIS POST IS A STICKY POST

It will remain at the top of my blog

until the end of the Giveaway on 9/02 @ 11:59 p.m. EST 

BE SURE TO SCROLL

DOWN FOR DAILY POSTS

SO YOU DON'T

MISS A THING!

*****************************************

I don't know about you, 

but I LOVE MY CRICUT.

I know there are many of you

who probably would absolutely

agree that the Cricut

is a VITAL part

of your

Creative 

Life!

Here is your chance

to SHOUT OUT

How Much You L♥VE

Your CRICUT

and the reason why!!

Be sure to head over to 

the Event Page on FB

and RSVP

then

head over to the 

Post at My Cricut Craft Room

to see how

to enter to win some fantastic prizes!!!!

Want a Peek at a few of the Prizes 

that are

Up 

for 

Grabs???

(stupid question, right?)

Cricut Everyday Cartridge

Bo Bunny Apple Cider

6x6 Paper Stack

Echo Park Very Merry (Christmas)

6x6 Paper Stack

Carta Bella Paris Girl

6x6 Paper Stack

AND 

MUCH,

MUCH,

MORE!

Be sure to look down the left

sidebar

at 

My  Cricut Craft Room

to see

the past and current weekly giveaways

that have been on offer!!!

Keep Crafting 

:O) 

Jessica

Scrapbook Friday - Beautiful Sunshine

Scrapbook Friday - August 10, 2012 ~Outdoor Layouts~

Hello Crafty Blends.

I am exited to share my
fun Layout with you today.

For our DT projects today at
 My Cricut Craft Room,
 we were to create
a Scrapbook Layout with the theme
Dance or Outdoor.

I have a few pictures of my kids frolicking about the yard

around Memorial Day that I wanted

to get into a layout.   So I chose

do create the Outdoor Theme.

I couldn't find the pics in the short time I had looked, 

but I do have one last place in mind to check.

I will add them in as soon 

as they are found and then the layout 

will be 100% complete.

I initially had gotten out my Create-A-Critter cart
thinking I was going to do a
campy/woodsy/outdoor layout.
That was, until I thought about the pics I would be using.

 I started be creating three photo mats for the layout.
The background paper is a deep navy blue cs and the yellow is
Core'dinations Sunflower Yellow hues.


The pics of the kids frolicking about, includes a few where
they are smelling the flowers as well as
peeking through some patches of flowers, too.

The Echo Park - Playground papers and stickers
gave me a grand idea to create a "Yard Scene".
I used the fun aqua cs as my background, then cut the green cs
using my CM blade trimmer to create the grassy hill.
I adhered the green and the flower strip using 3D foam squares.
The border of flowers was cut from a sheet of cs (borders) in the same EP stack.
I inked the green cs lightly for added dimension to the hills.

I first cut layers of my sun from CAC cart at 2.75"
using Core'dinations Sunflower Yellow cs and a deep blue
cs from from left over from my photo mattes.
The top layer of the sun is Core Couture-Glitter (Yello).

For the sun,  I used a fun "shadow" technique
that I learned from watching
one of Erica's Craft Room
U-stream Episodes last month.
Here is the her channel for you to
consider stopping
over and subscribing.
You can learns tons of techniques
that make crafting more practical and fun.

The small medallion phrase in the bottom corner
was cut from Graphically Speaking
at 2.5" in two layers.

The aqua color matched the background fairly close
and I wanted to shadow the phrase
so that it would stand out more.
I used the same Core'dinations Glitter cs (Aqua)
again with the deep blue cs from my stash.
I then used a dauber with some Darice Deep Aqua ink
and daubed around the medallion for more contrast.


I used another fun technique I learned from
one of Erica's Ustream tutorials for the grass cuts.
When placing my Core'dinations CS (Produce Greens) scraps
on my Cricut mat, I flipped them over (with the backside exposed).
I then used the Flip feature on my Cricut when setting up all my grass cuts.

The grass cuts were created using the CAC cart again.  I cut
them from scraps of green cs in my stash at different sizes
between .75" and 1.25".
Before pulling my grass up from my Cricut mat, I used my Xyron
Cheetah 2 adhesive runner across the back sides of my cuts.
Wa-Lah...easy adhesive idea for small cuts.
Thanks Erica!!!


I then randomly
placed them about the page until I felt there were enough.

OTHER SUPPLIES:

Flowers from stash

Ticket stamp from Unity Itty Bitty

"You're the Ticket"

Now, if you want to see more fantastic

layouts, be sure to stop over

at 

My Cricut Craft Room

to check out

what all the other talented DT Members 

have in store for you!!!

 THANKS
FOR
STOPPING
BY

&

Remember,

Keep Crafting 

:O) 

Jessica