Coffee Card

Are you a coffee drinker? I sure am :-) For quite a while I had to give it up due to stomach problems, but Thank You Jesus I'm able to drink it again!

I love how this little cup of coffee turned out! I stamped it using a stamp set from Simon Says Stamp. Next I used my copic markers to color it in. Then I fussy cut it out.

To put this card together, I simply used three different pattern papers to create the background. Placed the diecut coffee cup on with some foam adhesive. Then i stamped the accompanying sentiment on some pattern paper, trimmed it down and cut the one edge at an angle and attached it with my Tiny Attacher. Finally I added some dash lines along the one edge to kind of mimic the staples.

- Jessica

Anemone Birthday Card

I just love the new Anemone stamp and die set that I bought a couple weeks ago. It's such a great flower to add to cards: not too fussy but with just the right amount of details. Right after I got the set I diecut all the shapes in groups of 3-4 so I'll have them ready when needed.

This card started out with the embossed cardstock. I had used a plain white sheet but wanted to add some color to make it pop. I used two different products to achieve this. First I spritzed it all over using a couple of Tattered Angels mists. I don't know if they still make those, but they are my favorite mists I've ever used. Then I lightly buffed some distress oxide inks onto the embossing. I really like how this turned out.

Then I took those floral diecut shapes, stamped them and used my copic markers to color them in. I love my copics, but the more I use them the more I realize I need some more colors!

Finally I stamped the sentiment on some watercolored paper and added a few gems. Notice that I've been doing this a lot lately, ha!

- Jessica

Triangle Card

I don't know about you, but I still struggle with masculine cards. Honestly my personal style is super feminine and it's what I'm drawn to. Also, most cards I send are to women. But here and there throughout the year I need some cards to send to the guys in my life.

I've learned one style that usually works for me is to go to geometrics while using mostly blues/greens. Today's card started off by ink blending some Distress Oxide Inks in Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron and Cracked Pistachio. Yes, the same colors I used on my Mother's Day card. I just love how they blend together. Then I spritzed the cardstock with water and dabbed up some of the ink. Next I took a triangle mask from Simon Says Stamp and laid it over the paper and misted heavily and once again dabbed up the ink. It's subtle, but you can definitely see where the mask was on the cardstock.

Next I stamped a birthday sentiment on some cardstock that had an ink pad smooched onto it. I trimmed it at an angle and attached it with my Tiny Attacher. Finally I had some printed acetate triangles (I think from a December Daily kit) that I attached with some adhesive behind the sentiment strip. In a way, it's a pretty basic card but at the same time there's a lot to it.

- Jessica

Wildflower Jar

I've had the idea for this card for quite a while now but just never took the time to try and create it. The idea came back to me when I was thinking of a card design for a birthday card for a friend at church.

On some textured vellum I stamped a mason jar using an older stamp from Papertrey Ink. I then cut it out. Next I stamped a few flowers and colored them in quickly with some watercolor brush pens. I used some green and white twine to create the stems of the flowers. Then I threw in some greenery elements that were on my desk from Christmas. All of that was placed on a white cardstock that I'd ran through an embossing folder. I just love that bit of texture in the background. Finally I stamped the sentiment on some paper I'd watercolored on and added a few gems.

- Jessica

Inspired By

I have another Inspired By series card today. It is the card I made for my mom for this past Mother's Day. I loved how it turned out and I definitely want to try it again. Here is the link to the card/technique I was inspired by.

Laura Bassen created such a lovely card with distress oxide inks, a mask and the nuvo shimmer paste in moonstone. I used the same technique, only using inks in Squeezed Lemonade, Twisted Citron and Cracked Pistachio. Also, I used the Merilyn stencil from Simon Says Stamp (SSS).

Next I stamped a flower and leaf set using the Even More Spring Flowers from SSS. I stamped it in the Barely Beige ink from SSS using my MISTI. Then I colored the images using my Faber Castell Polychromo pencils. I then placed the sheet back into my MISTI and stamped the images using VersaMark ink (after I'd dusted it with anti-static powder). While the ink was still sticky I used Ranger embossing powder in Liquid Platinum and heat set them.

Since I hadn't bought the coordinating dies for my stamps I simply fussy cut them by hand. To finish the card up I stamped the sentiment using the So Happy set from Avery Elle on a scratch piece of watercolor I'd created ages ago and then added a few gems.

- Jessica

April 2018 Reading

I have been reading a lot more lately. Eight books to be exact for April. I think the main reason why is I got my mom's old ipad and between the kindle app and my library app I have tons more to read. Hopefully by the end of May I'll be halfway to my reading goal for the year.

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THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US

I did see that this had been made into a movie before I ever started reading it. Or rather, this one I listened to on Audible. At first I didn't think I was going to care for it, mostly because I didn't care for the voice of the reader. But then once the story got going I really enjoyed it. Set in the present day it's the story of a perilous journey that two strangers find themselves on together. After their plane crashes they must push through the rugged snow filled mountains if they are going to survive. The book does have a plot twist and unfortunately I had guessed it pretty quickly so that was a bit of a let down. Overall though I quite enjoyed this one. I did watch the movie within a week of reading the book and basically felt Hollywood ruined it.

4 out of 5 stars

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A CURIOUS BEGINNING

This was a fun read. It felt like a YoungAdult genre only a bit grown up. Plenty of twists along the way with a bit of romance. A period piece with kidnapping, the circus and a royal twist. I'd like to ready more of this series and more from the author.

4 out of 5 stars

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COUNTED WITH THE STARS

When reading the Bible, do you ever wonder what it would of been like to have been alive during that day? This is the story of an Egyptian slave who is befriended by a Jewish slave and their story of the plagues that Egypt endured before the Israelites were set free to go through the desert to the Promised Land. I really enjoyed this book. The writings of the author make that section of the Bible more alive to me now. I want to read the rest of the series.

5 out of 5 stars

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BRIDE FOR KENDALL

Such a short, but cute read. JoAnn is chosen to travel far from the city she has known to be a wife for Kendall, a Canadian Mountie. With so many difference and no time for courting before their marriage, can they find love and make their marriage last? I have a few more of these books as their are a ton in the series.

4 out of 5 stars

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FOR LOVE AND HONOR

Imagine living in a time where a birthmark could be taken as a sign of being a witch?! Lady Sabine lives with that danger daily. Will the Knight her grandmother is eyeing for her look beyond that and see the smart, God-fearing woman that she is? This was another quick read that I enjoyed. I saw after I read it that it is listed as book 3 in a series but it read fine as a stand-alone.

4 out of 5 stars

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THE KREMLIN CONSPIRACY

Imagine a Christian version of a Jack Ryan story and you would have this book. It was a bit of a slow burn for me but by the end I quite enjoyed it. It did feel a bit long, but the author really sets up all the characters for you. Plenty of action, though I might enjoy this genre more in a movie setting.

4 out of 5 stars

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STALKING JACK THE RIPPER

Young Adult historical fiction. Audrey Rose is just a teenager but she works with her uncle doing autopsies and sneaks into his classes disguised as a boy. There she meets Thomas who she finds is annoyingly charming. Together they work to solve the Jack the Ripper crimes and everyone is a suspect. This series is another I'd like to keep reading someday.

3 out of 5 stars

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FRANKENSTEIN

I'm still working my way through some classics this year. I read the abridged version of this as a child. This is another book I listened through using Audible. Some books for me are better read than listened to and I think that classics are those kinds of books. I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would and just kind of got lost in the reading of it.

2 out of 5 stars

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- Jessica

Wishing You A Happy Birthday Card

Hello! Can you believe it is May already!? Today our temps were already reaching up to 90. I love the sunshine and warmer temps.

I took some time in my craft room this weekend and tried some new techniques. So often I'm in a rush to make a card that I don't get to just play around.

I started out with a plain white piece of cardstock. Next I stamped this cute girl holding some presents. That stamp is part of the Felicity Jane line. I then colored her in using my copic markers. This is when I decided I wanted to try something new for me.

So I stamped her again on some masking paper, trimmed her out and placed the mask on top of my colored piece. I then decided where I wanted the horizon line to be and masked off the top section. Using distress oxide inks, I blended hickory smoke and just a bit of black soot to create the ground. Then I masked off the bottom, found a striped mask and used a mixture of hickory smoke and fossilized amber to add stripes to the background. The best part is peeling off the masks to see the finished picture! As a finishing touch, I took a Spectrum Noir sparkle pen and added that to the white background stripes and a bit on the girl and presents.

Finally I stamped a sentiment onto some scrap paper and adhered that to the front. Then I stamped the rest of the sentiment on the inside...and forgot to grab a photo of that.

This card definitely took more time to create. And a couple times I worried I might of ruined it. But in the end I loved how cute it turned out and want to try it again.

- Jessica