Sequin Love

Hi, Gina here today to share a couple of layouts using some brand new JBS goodness!

I've gone for a soft look on this layout and misted the background using an exclusive trellis stencil and spray inks. 

I've added in the Chipboard clock, Vellum Embellished Butterfly, perforated labels and Skinny Alpha Sage from previous releases..

I think my absolute fave new release product would have to be these pretty Doily Sequins with such lovely colour variations and texture! I wanted to feature them here so have stitched a few in place across the page...

Other supplies used: Modern Mercantile Novelties . Vintage Mini Deck Flashcards Fun Times

thanks for stopping by and happy scrapping! x

       

Art Journaling with Leah : Doilies, Stencils, and Ink

In the midst of juggling the hustle and bustle of life, it was good to take a few moments this morning to just breathe. I've been learning more about mixed media and art journaling techniques, and Jenni's new products are the perfect fit for exploration. They are amazing for creating layers on your pages! From the stencils for backgrounds, to the rubons, washi and sequins -they work so well to build texture and depth into your projects.

One quick tip to create this watercolor style background. The chicken feed reinker creates a beautiful shade of gold when you drip several drops into a cup or on a tray, then add just a few drops of water on a wet broad, flat brush. Using broad strokes, gently brush over the graphic feather stencil. Remove the stencil, and either allow to dry a bit, or hit it with a heat gun. After I had finished places my feathers on the background, I added a few drops of cough syrup reinker to the leftover ink to create a blend. Using a slightly wet brush, I gently went over my entire background. The bleed from the feathers turned out beautifully.

After my background dried, I was free to start layering.

And finish with a bit of doodling.

As I have embraced allowing imperfections in my life {yes, I'm a perfectionist - especially in all things business related}, I've found that I have embraced the freedom of art journaling more and more. Hope you're inspired to try some of it, too!

~ Leah

Supplies:

Stencil - Feathers

Stencil - Pointed Star

Vintage Mini Deck - Flashcards - Fun Times

Sequins - Doily Assortment

Sequins - Classic Assortment

Rub-Ons - Doilies - Gold

Flatbacks - Reader - 40% off

Skinny Alpha Stickers - Red

Flag Banner Stickers - Red/Black

Mini Chipboard Pieces - Flag

Ring in the New Year with a Garland Card!

Hi everyone!

This is Ashley today, with a fun garland card to help someone you love ring in the new year. I like the idea of sending Happy New Year cards during the holiday season, because I am never quite with it enough to get Christmas cards out on time! I like to think that everyone also enjoys good wishes for a New Year, too. 

This Happy New Year card is packaged in a piece of vintage ledger paper.  I just folded it over so the finished card would fit inside. I used a seal from the JBS Black Skinny alphas, stuck it to paper, ran it through my typewriter, and trimmed around the edge. I securely adhered the top portion of the seal to the top fold of the card. Then I put a TINY bit of ATG adhesive on the bottom portion of the seal that overhangs the top flap, so it is just a tiny bit sticky. This means the seal holds the card wrapper shut, but releases easily without tearing the ledger paper when it is time to open (which as you can read, is not supposed to be until 2013!)

Once opened, the recipient is greeted with a tag addressing the card to them, and an lovely pile of black and white clocks, chevrons, and dictionary paper stars. The "to" tag and the clocks are both from the new Red/Black Collection 2012 Accessory Sheet paper.

The recipient carefully begins lifting their card by pulling on the black and white chevron tab...

and the coutdown begins! The clocks begin at 10... 9... 8...

and JBS Grey Skinny Alpha numbers on the same vintage ledge paper continue the countdown.

7... 6... 5...

4... 3... 2...

ONE!

Happy New Year! 

The hand-holding-a-card is also from the new Red/Black Collection 2012 Accessory Sheet paper. I typed directly on it by inserting it into my typewriter. I added a single black star sticker from the JBS Black Skinny Alpha Stickers for a simple embellishment at the bottom.

One last black seal is sewn at the end, to sign your name on or add a brief sentiment to. 

And, when the card is all opened, it makes a fabulous garland! Just big enough to drape across a fireplace mantle, hang from a shelf, or from the top of  a large frame.

Thanks for stopping in today!

-- Ashley.

Thank you Ashley for such a charming and unique New Year's Card!

Red / Black 2012 Collection : Leah Farquharson

Leah took the grid format to a new level by using a seal diecut file to create the base upon which she embellished and decorated.  Peeking out from each opening is a piece of Red/Black Collection 2012, embossed cardstock, Skinny Alpha Stickers in grey, and Hear Ye, Hear Ye Banner Stickers - To Do.  Her adorable cluster of photos are highlighted by the popular Wire Cardstock Feathers.

Thank you Leah for a wonderful piece of inspiration!

New Red/Black Collection 2012 : Lisa Dickinson

The new fall release is here and taking front stage is the new Red/Black Paper Collection 2012.  Containing an adorable "Boy Meets Girl" image, timeless clock images (pun intented!) and more strong graphics, this paper collection is sure to be a versatile one.

Today we'll show you a layout by Lisa Dickison:

Lisa added cute stitching onto her clock images, a letter tile to a journaling card to highlight her last name, die cut cardstock with mini patterns peeking through, and a vintage number tag to create this layout.  A large section of Skinny Alpha Stickers in grey is used as a unique embellishment.

Supplies:

Red/Black Collection 2012 Accessory Sheet

Red/Black Collection 2012 - Boy Meets Girl

Red/Black Collection 2012 - Mini Pattern

Red/Black Collection 2012 - Red Cross Stoves

Red/Black Collection 2012 - Shirt Off My Back

Skinny Alpha Stickers - Grey

Stay tuned for more great pieces of inspiration from our Fall 2012 Release.

If you want to see Jenni walk you through the release from her studio, check out the Picture Show here:

The Picture Show

Back to School - Literature

I've loved reading through the excellent lessons {and play time!} that have been a part of this series of blog posts here for the back to school theme! Have you?

I'll go ahead and admit this right up front - I never had a problem with not liking school. Academics or playtime. Music or art. I loved them all. But, if I had to choose a favorite, it would have to be literature. It's a love that I've carried with me into adulthood, and I'm attempting to pass on to our boys.

I had so many ideas for inspiration on the subject, but I settled on using the concept of "character" as my starting point. As our boys grow, it's something that I think about a lot.  How to pass on character. Here I've got a photo of them working on homework their first week back to school. You can see that I've made a few notes to them in the small journal spots I've included below.


I'd love to see your literature inspired layouts!

~ Leah

Back to School with Jenni Bowlin Studio

The JBS Design Team is creating projects inspired by school days.  Learn along with us as they use new and classic JBS to create wonderful works of art!

     
     



Here's a history lesson and gorgeous layout using our Wren line and new product from Briana Johnson:

What was your favorite school subject? Has your favorite subject changed since then? When I was very little, even before I knew what history really was, I loved old stories and I was drawn to different time eras. I remember looking through my great grandma's photos and asking her questions about who the people were, digging through her cabinets (she would get so mad and tell me to stop prowling!) and looking at her old Christmas cards somehow knowing they were different and more special than what we have today, hanging a star on her door and pretending we were on the set of an old black and white movie while sitting at her antique dresser and smelling her perfume, and wishing I could go back in time to be a trombone player during The Roaring 20's in New Orleans. I've always loved history.

Over the past couple of years I've been more drawn to history than ever. I've read so many books about the Civil War, fiction and non fiction and more recently the War of 1812. My new interest in the War of 1812 began when we visited Boston, a city I chose for the historical sites, for vacation this year and toured the U.S.S. Constitution. The sentence fragment :) in the middle of my layout says, "To place myself where so many of the stories had taken place in my books, like going back in time." Did you know that during the War of 1812 the invading British marched to our nation's capitol and burned the White House? History is fascinating. The War of 1812 consisted of many naval battles and the U.S.S. Constitution, launched in 1797,  fought gloriously for her country defeating the enemy in all three of her battles during the 1812 -1814 war and victorious in 33 engagements between 1798 and 1854.

A few notes about the layout: I typed the text in a 12 x 12 Photoshop Elements file. I typed the three different sections in three different layers so I could rotate them around the page as needed. I printed the 12 x 12 paper on my large format printer. Next I designed the top part of my cut title using the Silhouette software, making sure to keep the words inside the boundaries of my text in Photoshop (gotta have your grid on in both programs). Then I took the kraft paper with printed text and ran that through the Silhouette to create the negative title area at the top. The banners and scrolls were also cut with Silhouette. I used a total symmetrical design as you can see, a design principle I've been loving lately!

Do you have a favorite time era? Have you scrapped about it? Have you scrapped about the history of the places you've traveled? Have you scrapped about the important historical events that have occurred in your country?

Supplies:
Red/Black Extension IV - Accessory Sheet
Red/Black Extension IV - Multiplication
Wren Paper - Blueprint
Wren Paper - Wheatgrass
Skinny Alpha Letters Red

JBS Summer Games: Sailing

Is it possible to find scrapping inspiration in a sport that involves boats racing in the water? Of course! Whether it's the colorful graphic designs on the sails, the clean lines and shapes, or the water itself, sailing provides many ideas that can translate to your page!

I chose to use the simple shape of the sails as a main design element on my layout. Triangles are popular right now and super easy to create. First, I just used my trusty square punch to create several squares of patterned paper:

Then, using a ruler and exacto knife,  I cut each square on the diagonal to form a triangle:

I lined up various triangles (cut from Wren and Magpie papers) in the upper left corner of my page, using them as arrows to direct the eye though the page:

"Here We Go" by Lisa Dickinson

I stitched down the center line of the triangle rows with my sewing machine and then gently bent up the corners to add a little bit of dimension:

 

To keep with the sailing theme, I lightly splattered some watered-down Spice Tin ink around the page. I like the casual abstractness it adds to the design and it helps to tone down the linear feel of all the straight lines.

My title is die-cut from the Blueprint paper and combined with some of the new Grey Skinny Alpha stickers.

 

Inspired and Playing!

Our design team has been busy playing with our Jenni Bowlin Studio product, both new product from CHA-Summer and classic product you'll find in our store.

Summer is quite often a time of fun and games.  This year, we're not only playing games ourselves, we're glued to the TV watching athletes compete in the Olympics.  We asked our design team to play with our product and get inspired by the summer games.  We hope this series inspires you also!

from Jill Sprott:

One of my favorite summer events is gymnastics. I am amazed by the flexibility and fearlessness of gymnasts. In fact, my earliest Olympic memory is that of watching a gymnast (I'm pretty sure it was Bart Conner) on the rings. I admired him so much that I decided to face the rings on the playground and finally learn how to do a somersault. I may never have mastered the monkey bars, but to this day, I still get a rush just thinking about those rings.

It's pretty easy to guess, then, which event I decided to focus on as inspiration for this layout:

Using my circle cutter, I cut a bunch of circles and rings from papers in the Jenni Bowlin Studio Wren collection as well as from a few sheets of JBS die-cut paper. I even emulated a few pizza pies by using the new Stitched Grid stamp, stamping a square one way using Fountain Pen ink, and then angling the stamp to create "slices." This layout also gives you a peek at the new Red Skinny Alphas and one of the postage stamp label stickers. 

Deep dish pizza and rings galore -- this is how I like my Olympics.

Deep Dish Pizza by Jill Sprott

Supply List
Wren - Bird
Wren - Thumb Tacks
Wren - Typing Lessons
Postage Stamp Cardstock Stickers - Labels
Die-Cut and Perforated Papers - Stencil
Skinny Alpha Stickers - Red
Clear Stamp - Perf Marks
Coredinations Embossed Cardstock Pad - Red and Black
Wren - Mini Pattern Sheet
Ranger JBS Dye Stamp Pad - Fountain Pen
Ranger JBS Re-Inker - Fountain Pen

CHA Summer 2012 - Sparkle and Shine

Doris Sander created this layout with several of our new CHA Summer 2012 release as well as some recent "old" favorites (such as the Kraft Diecut Stencil Alpha Sheet, Rhinestone Brads, and a sheet of Magpie.

Here you can see a tiny new element that is causing a big stir in the scrapbooking world - tiny Self-Adhesive Rhinestone Stars - available in red, black, and clear.

Also used are a couple sheets of the next extension to our perforated papers line . . .

 Red Labels

 Fancy Checks

 Printed Tags

And we are introducing a new shaped alpha - the Skinny Alpha Stickers - available in red, black, grey, and sage . . . and there's still more . . . ;)