Saturday, October 30, 2010

I {heart} Sweaters and Sketches...

Hello, everyone!  Can you believe how fast the weekend got here???

{{{Speaking of weekend, will you please scroll down to see my Oh, Alice! post for today?  We are celebrating Halloween in Wonderland and I don't want you to miss it!  Thanks!}}}

Today we have our final sneak peek at The Greeting Farm before our November Release goes live, along w/ our DT Blog Hop on Monday, Nov. 1st!

Many of you enjoyed our Farm Fresh Friday post where Team Anya joined the Farmers in our color combo yesterday on the TGF Blog-how FUN was that?  Well, today, we are flip-floppin' it again and the Farmers have joined Team Anya in our Saturday Sketch challenge!  Here is the awesome sketch by Jen:

And here is our ADORABLE "I {Heart} Sweaters Anya:

You may remember her-she was actually a digi-gift to the DT last year for Christmas along w/ Ian :)  Well, after lots of "pretty pleases", these darlings are being released in RUBBER on the 1st!  Hooray for new Anya and Ian sets!

Be sure to visit the Club Anya & Friends Blog along with the DT member's blogs to not only check out the CUTENESS, but to enter to WIN the "I {heart} Sweaters set before it's released on Monday!  We'll announce a winner on Sunday on the CA&F Blog. 




Good luck everyone and now that the weather is changing, stay toasty warm with TGF!
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CHAPTER 37: Alice in Halloweenland...

Hey everyone!

We have a "just for fun" post today here in Wonderland that doesn't follow a book excerpt or poem...just a good ol' fashioned HALLOWEEN theme!

It's time to showcase some of our Halloween projects, and many of us are using the Graphic 45 special papers featuring Halloween in Wonderland!

I created a SUPER simple card today using the Fan-folded flower technique that I am now, officially, obsessed with.  Funny-some of this AWESOME G45 DP could have been used for last years checkers/chess theme, too, huh?   I folded the flower, positioning it next to our Alice here and used the AWESOME "Unlucky 13" set by Unity Stamp Co.  I saw this set a few weeks ago on the website and even though it wasn't one of the new ones, I just HAD to have it!  Isn't it great?

Be sure to check out the rest of my Tea Party mates down in Underland today...I know their projects are going to be a hoot and cannot WAIT to see them!


See you on Monday for The Greeting Farm's DT Blog Hop and RELEASE DAY!  Looking fwd to a SUPER fun week coming up!  HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
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Friday, October 29, 2010

A VERY Cheeky Color Challenge...

Greetings Farm Friends!

We hope you've enjoyed our preview week so far, with the adorable Beanie Anya just waiting to be released along with those CUTE new Critters you met yesterday!

Today we have a VERY Cheeky FFF and Color Challenge...a surprise that's been hard to keep to ourselves!  

INTRODUCING:  CHEEKY XMAS!

This sassy Santa will be available for purchase, along with the other releases so far, on November 1st at The Greeting Farm and we are THRILLED to add her to our TGF collection of Cheeky releases!  Santa, baby, this one's for you!

Today for Farm Fresh Friday, we have a color challenge:

Be sure to stop by the TGF Blog and start there, where you'll find that our wonderful TEAM ANYA has played along today! 

Is there a prize, you ask?  Well, yes, as a matter of fact...there are TWO!   ONE lucky commenter who visits the DT blogs and leaves a comment on today's post (on the TGF Blog) will be entered to WIN a Cheeky Xmas set and we'll announce the winner tomorrow on the CA&F blog during our Saturday Sketch!

The OTHER Cheeky Xmas set is UP FOR GRABS as this week's FFF prize!, so be sure to play along!  All the deets are on the TGF Blog right now!

I'll see you tomorrow for another preview...and don't forget to join in on the fun when our DT Blog Hop goes LIVE on release day, beginning Monday at 12:01 am CST!

Last but not least-congrats to NOELLE REESE!  You are the winner of my BITTY BUTTERFLY giveaway from yesterday's UNITY Flip Hop post!  Congrats!



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Thursday, October 28, 2010

FLIP HOPPIN' for a Cause...Blog Candy, and a special SNEAK PEEK!...

...WOW!!!  That's a WHOLE LOTTA HAPPY :)  Hey there, Hip Hoppers!

Today is an exciting HIP HOP Thursday here at Unity Stamp Co.!  We are enjoying our SECOND "Flip Hop", meaning the Unity girls are using {Ippity}, and vice/versa!

For starters, we have a FABBY sketch challenge:

Today's theme is encouragement.   I used today's sketch as inspiration for my card.  Now, as you know, I've been rockin' a pink streak in my hair all month long for Breast Cancer awareness month and although my card isn't pink today, we have an AMAZING announcement for you!   For today only, starting right now (midnight CST!) until midnight CST tomorrow, Unity will donate .25 cents to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation for EVERY NEW FACEBOOK FAN who signs up...how AWESOME is that????   Visit our FACEBOOK page right now to become a FAN and come back throughout the day to see the progress-this is SO exciting and I think it's AWESOME of Ang and the gang to do this!  Unity ROCKS.

"ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE for those that BELIEVE"...

VERY encouraging, don't you agree?  I hope you liked my card for Flip-Hop, as that's just ONE of the surprises we have in store for you today!  WHEE!!!!!   Next up, I have a VERY special sneak peek to show you today :)  It is always with excitement that we reveal our co-branding, as ALL the companies so far have been top-notch-well, today we have an announcement to make, and you guys are gonna LOVE this!  Unity is now co-branding stamps with Jillbean Soup!  If you're already a fan of these adorable papers, just WAIT until you see the stamps!  I have a little peekie-boo for you today using a new set called "Jolly Good Fun!" Here's what I came up with using this fun little set:

Well, what do you think?  Totally cute, right?   Be sure to join us on our SCS page today at 10am CST for chit chat and prizes during Hip Hop, and be SURE to check out the UNITY Blog today because there is a HUGE 40% off sale, so I hear ;)  WOO HOO!!!!

 Last but not least, I have a PRIZE up for grabs today on my blog, a BITSY BUTTERFLY stamp!  All you have to do is leave a comment and I'll draw a random winner after midnight CST.   That's it!  Until then, head on over to my girl Jimmi's blog and I'll see you guys really soon!
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Thanks for Hip-Hopping and all of your support this week!  Smooches!


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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Beanie Love, my Beanie Love...

{{{hey guys-I'm sneaking in a SUPER fun UNITY preview today, too-would you please scroll down to see it?  Thank you so, so much! xoxo}}}}

Ok...so, seriously?

You guys know I've been at this TGF thing for a while now and I absolutely *LOVE* being a part of the creative process-not just the DT stuff.  While I ADORE writing the newsletter, coordinating our DT calendars, etc., one of my fave parts of the job is staying up late at night with a cup of decaf and Gmail chat, brainstorming ideas with Marie...sorting through comments, emails and ideas from customers and coming up with themes, etc for the future...SUPER fun stuff!

Well, sometimes an idea is born (and/or DRAWN) and it is TOO long to wait!  Now, I know I say this a lot and I probably do have a lot of 'favorite' Anyas...but when Marie emailed this concept to me a few months ago, I think the entire state of TN heard me shrieking....I just LOVE HER!!!!!

Introducing: BEANIE ANYA

Is she not the most adorable thing?  I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her and I think she may have even surpassed Flutter as my all-time fave Anya.  There's just something about her that is BEYOND cute!   Beanie Anya will be released on November 1st at The Greeting Farm!

The TGF Blog AND Club Anya & Friends are both HOPPIN' today with samples that you simply CANNOT miss-they are just too darn cute to!  What's more?  There's a BEANIE ANYA up for grabs on EACH of those blogs today, so be sure to tune in to read about how you can WIN!

For now, don't forget to stop by the rest of the DT's blogs and see what they've been up to!   We are also very excited to welcome EMMA EADS as the TGF Guest Designer and CARISA ZGLOBICKI as Team Anya's November Guest!  I'm SO excited!

See you here tomorrow with MORE surprises!  Oh boy-the week is JUST getting good, guys!  xoxo

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If Nothing Ever Changed...

...we wouldn't have BUTTERFLIES.    Ever get those butterflies in your stomach when you know something's ABOUT to change?  Hmmmm...interesting concept.  The Butterfly is the very symbol of change by what it does to become one, but is also the feeling we get when we're about to do the very same thing.    But, you know what?  There is always something BEAUTIFUL in the end, right?

'Nuf said :)   Enjoy today's UNITY sneak peek of the NOVEMBER Kit of the Month, coming to you in just a few short days!
I LOVE this image, and the quote really speaks to me as I'm sure you can imagine, it might :)


Be sure to check out our Facebook page for UNITY throughout the day to see if there are any other DT members posting sneaks and don't forget to join us tomorrow for a HIP HOP FULL of surprises and FUN!  I can't wait!  ~xoxo

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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

I've got a PLAYDATE w/ Unity and the MTSC!...

Hey everyone!

I'm SUPER excited about today's post because I've been waiting to play along with the Playdate Cafe's 1 year anniversary challenge featuring UNITY Stamp Co!  Unity is sponsoring the PDCC and their HUGE week-long celebration and we're sure honored to be their favorite!   I am new to the Playdate Cafe but will definitely be back to play along!

Here's this week's Challenge:

My card today features all these yummy colors and I'm a TAD bit giddy about my first "Fan-fold" flower embellie.  Can you say CUTE embellishment and it's probably the cheapest one around!  It took no more than a 3/4 in. strip of 12x12 DP and a button-are ya kidding?  SUPER easy following Beate's fabulous tute HERE.

The sentiment is from the October Kit of the Month from UNITY stamps...you are LOVED.   I'd like to dedicate this card to anyone who could use the hug today, including someone special that I'm thinking about who doesn't know how loved they are.  My heartfelt sentiment is as sunny and sincere as this color combo and it's a GREAT day to tell someone you love them, too!  <3

I followed this week's Mercy's Tuesday Sketch challenge for this card-it's a FABULOUS one!  Here's the sketch:

Be sure to check out the rest of the Muses this week to see what they have for you, including our AWESOME Oct. Guest Muse, Heather:



Last but not least, be sure to check out my girl Jimmi, also on the Unity DT, as she is playing along w/ the PlayDate Cafe today too and I'm sure has something BEAUTIFUL for you to look at!

Thanks everyone!  See you tomorrow!


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Monday, October 25, 2010

You make the WORLD SPECIAL just by being in it...

Awwww, well it seems as if sweet little Ian is bringing you all some flowers to start off your Monday right!

Hey everyone! 

Today over at Club Anya & Friends is another 'installment' of "Mystery Monday" and this week, our AWESOME Guest DT member Kim Yu has chosen to CASE a card by the amazing Sandra!  You can view that card HERE.

I switched things up a bit by staying true to the layout but using some yummy "Origins" DP by Basic Grey and cutting the coffee cup (gasp!) off of Cafe Ian  (now available at The Greeting Farm!) to make it look as if he's bringing flowers to someone special :)  The bling is also Basic Grey and goes w/ the Origins line.   Green, sunny and crisp is JUST what the dr. ordered as it's rainy and gloomy here as I write...rain, rain go away! 

There are lots more beautiful samples over on the Club Anya & Friends blog today by my teammates:

We hope you'll play along this week, and stop by starting Wed. for sneak peeks of TGF's November releases!  Oh, and speaking of PLAYING, I have a VERY fun post for you tomorrow that I hope you'll stop back by to check out!

Happy Monday, everyone!  Hugs and smiles!  xoxo
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Saturday, October 23, 2010

SEW Grateful for HOPE you can CLING TO...

Hey everyone!  Today is a very special post for me as it's my turn to host today's "Hope You Can Cling To" challenge on SplitCoast Stampers!

{{{Please scroll down to view my "Oh, ALICE! & Club Anya Challenge today as well-thank you so much!}}}

I was thrilled to be asked to host a challenge for such a wonderful cause-and since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we have been rockin' these challenges ALL MONTH long!

Before I get to my card, here's a little photo of me with a pink streak I've had in my hair since 10/1 as well:

Most of you know that I LOVE stitching on my cards, so today's challenge is "SEW Thankful for Friendship"...and boy am I EVER!  ;)  'nuf said ;) 

For today's sample in the Hope you can Cling To Gallery, I made a fun card using the new October Key Ingredients kit from Taylored Expressions, and also her ADORABLE new stamp set featuring Cuppie, "Gobble Gobble".  I think this little image of Cuppie writing his name and drawing a turkey out of a 'hand' (do you remember doing that as a kid?  So fun!) is the sweetest thing!

I stitched around the border of my card and also around the main image panel using my Janome Sew-Mini and dark brown thread on the "F" setting.  

 You can find my challenge on SCS HERE and also in the gallery over at SCS HERE.

Hope you have time to play along today for this wonderful and WORTHY cause to save the ta-tas!!!  BE sure to hit me up and let me know if you played so I can leave you some much-deserved LOVE :)


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CHAPTER 35: Chessboard, Chessmen? It's YOUR Move...


"They don't keep this room so tidy as the other,' Alice thought to herself, as she noticed several of the chessmen down in the hearth among the cinders: but in another moment, with a little `Oh!' of surprise, she was down on her hands and knees watching them. The chessmen were walking about, two and two! 

`Here are the Red King and the Red Queen,' Alice said (in a whisper, for fear of frightening them), `and there are the White King and the White Queen sitting on the edge of the shovel -- and here are two castles walking arm in arm..."
--Ch. 1: Through the Looking Glass

Hey everyone!

The challenge at Oh, Alice this week is again the brainchild of DT member Lynne-to use some aspect of the game of chess! You might want to use a checkerboard pattern, or feature a King, Queen, Knight or Castle (Rook), or some other aspect of the game we haven't thought of - we just need to be able to clearly see CHESS in your creation!


I was JUST about stumped with this one...didn't help that I waited WAY too late at night to start it either, LOL.  I found this cool marblelized chessboard pattern online (by Googling images) and printed it out on REGULAR copy paper if you can believe that, along w/ the sentiment.  Doesn't look too cheesy does it?


I colored Creeper Tuesday from the Greeting Farm who is looking quite coy as she claims "It's YOUR Move"  ;)  This card also uses the Saturday Sketch over at Club Anya & Friends by my dear friend Jen Shults:


We are THRILLED to announce that there's a prize this week, too! Thanks to our generous sponsor, PAPER MANIAC, this week, they are giving away a set of Artistic Outpost Alice in Wonderland mini-stamps AND a sheet of E.A.D. Designs Stickerz! How awesome is that?

Checkmate! Have YOU met your match? You have until FRIDAY, October 29th to enter your creation and throw your hat (or should I say, crown?) in the ring for this awesome PAPER MANIAC prize this week! We'll announce the winner her in Wonderland during our next challenge!
See you soon!

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Friday, October 22, 2010

Holy Flattered, Batman...

Did you guys see this?  HA!  LOVE IT!

A big warm fuzzy hug to Lynne, my fellow Oh, Alice teamie for thinking that much of me and well...you nailed it, girl!  Right down to the pink streak I'm rockin' for October (Breast Cancer awareness month)!

TOTALLY honored/flattered, girl...you are TOO much!
Stay tuned in just a few minutes for a BRAND new Oh, Alice challenge that Lynne herself came up with!  Woo hoo!

xoxo,
Jess :)

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An Interesting (albeit annoying) fact about Blogger...

Hey everyone!

{{{I would SO appreciate you scrolling down to see my FFF project for today, but I have something I found interesting enough to share with you all today about Blogger, so I'm posting this on top...thanks SO much and be sure to check out my post below! :)}}}

Last night I had the opportunity to chat w/ my two besties, Mercy and Pam-it was late...we haven't really had a chance to catch up since our Fall Break, trips away, etc...and we were all missing each other PRETTY bad.  So we chatted, and alas it was close to midnight and I had to get my FFF post up on the TGF Blog!

I saved all the pics from our AMAZING DT to a temp folder on my desktop like I always do, (where they are emptied out after my post goes live) and began typing the post.  About 1/2 way through the uploads, I started getting an error message on the TGF Blog saying "Whoops! (which, the whoops made me laugh) You are at 100% capacity of your allowed 1GB storage and have to upgrade for more storage."   Well, Marie would probably take care of this in the morning, I figured...so I began deleting some of the DT's pics (they had multiple pics of one project, so I whittled it down and didn't even include my own project as to conserve room), and ALMOST made it w/ everyone's on there.

Anyway, I sent Marie an email this a/m telling her she needed to upgrade her storage.  She's been blogging a long time and showcases a TON of pics from the Gallery, so that made sense.

Now here I am, at my kitchen table, thinking I'm so efficient and I'm gonna get my post up for tomorrow early, the over- acheiver that I am (haha, NOT!)...and I log into my blog.  I begin typing my post, go to upload my one measly pic, and "WHOOPS!  I am at my 100% storage space, blah blah blah."   Certainly this must be an error-as this could not be a coincidence that Marie and I are out of room at the same time on our blogs.

Well, NOPE.  MARIE's blog, as it turns out, is not out of room.  I AM?   This may not seem like a big deal-but it dawned on me.  Every time I blog from my own blog, but ALSO when I blog to other Co's blogs, the pics that I upload (including the dozens of DT pics, customer gallery pics, etc.) are ALL stored on MY personal Picasa account that is associated w/ my Google account.   It occurred to me that not only do I blog for other teams, but that I also, up until the 2nd half of the 1st Team Anya's term, blogged to Club Anya every day by myself.    So yep, that's a lot of storage.

The Good news?  It's $5 (but to me, $5 is STILL $5 and it's not so much the $ but the fact that it kind of surprised me ;) to upgrade to 20GB of storage for a year.  Now obviously if it took me 2 years+ on multiple blogs to use 1GB, I'll be in pretty good shape...The Bad News?  STILL annoys me that I have to pay for it at all, and that I for one, did not know this or think about it until now.

So, maybe this is no big deal to you, and I definitely don't feel like the Nancy Drew of the Blogosphere or anything (my DH MAY have called me that as I was trying to explain that to him this a/m...dork, LOL!) but I thought I'd pass along what I've learned to my sweet bloggin' pals just in case you were like me and were unaware of this tricky lil' fact ;)

Hope you're all having a HAPPY FRIDAY!  xoxo

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Enveloped in Farm Fresh Friday Fun!

Hey everyone,

HAPPY, Happy Friday!

It's been a long but fast week, if that makes ANY sense...but the important thing is, it was  GOOD week :) So last night, if you're my Facebook friend, you'll remember that I was seriously gettin' DOWN to some fun 90's tunes.  Actually, DH and I *both* were.

WHY am I telling you this and cauis-=the selections for the dancing in my chair that went on here yesterday were "Can't touch this", "Ice Ice Baby", "Bye, Bye Bye" (love me some n'sync!), and some Spice Girls.  No, I'm not ashamed, LOL!

In fact, hubs and I had SUCH a good time reliving our youth, I decided to burn him a little mix CD.  HA!  Another 80s/90s thing!    The best part was prob the way the kids were looking at us- Remember when " mix tapes were cool and you used to make and give them to your 'crush'?   Hahaha...well, I created my own little MixCD last night and decided what better rway to take part in today's FFF challenge than to enter this envelope as this week's challenge is to use an envelope on your card, create a project from an envie OR decorate one!  be sure to head over to the TGF Blog for all the details!

Using the Special Autumn set, I stamped a simple "to from" on one side and decorated the other side with some chipboard letters to spell out "Mix CD"- CD which also happens to be DH's initials..fun!

Last but not least, after stamping some fun sentiments, the LOL being a BIG one ;)  I was ready to add that big fun flower from the Basic Grey Pyrus collection.  I cut the flower along the envelope's flap line so it opens and closes flawlessy, too :)

Thank you so much for stoppin by today, and please be sure to visit my awesome teammates too, will you?  I know you won't be disappointed!

Thanks again and ENVELOPE yourself in something FUN this weekend!   xoxo


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Thursday, October 21, 2010

Givin' THANKS for Hip Hop!...and all of you!

Holy heck!

Where do I start, peeps?   Today is a VERY special Hip Hop Thursday for all of us with UNITY!  We have a brand new Challenge theme, prizes, giveways and NEW RELEASES to commemorate the new WEBSITE launch, and the WINNERS of the WCMD Challenges are being announced, including the GRAND prize winner on the UNITY Blog-that person will win the Kit of the Month for a YEAR!!!

Seriously-the excitement is SWIRLING!

Ok, so first and foremost, congrats to HEREIGOAGAIN!  You are the winner of my WCMD Challenge which was "Soarin' into World Cardmaking Day: Create a card that soars using clouds, hot air balloons, BIRDS, butterflies, planes, clouds, and the like :)  I was SO excited to see how many people played my challenge and I'm really excited that that SCS Gallery is just bursting w/ WCMD delights!  Make sure you stop by and check out ALL the galleries if you haven't so far!

Today's Hip Hop theme is "Giving Thanks"-to create projects with a Grateful/thankful theme.   I used the new October KOTM and a stamp from the Sept. kit as well to create a few projects for today's theme.

NOTHING makes me more grateful than my family.  I look around every day and it's almost as if each day I'm given a pair of NEW eyes to see each individual person in my family with a new appreciation and in a new light.   I know I've said this before, but it's hard to convey how much my children absolutely AMAZE me every day with their words, actions, insights and those sweet, tender moments of absolute, unconditional LOVE.    The way that through adversity, even perhaps when he should be in a bad mood because of a few unavoidable road blocks here and there , my husband actually loves me MORE and SHOWS love more because he's so grateful for me in return.   Is there any one of us that can truly describe what kind of circular, never-ending miracle a truly close family is?  I think about them and and I think about my parents and brothers and sister and our awesome network of extended family and friends and it really makes me smile.  FAMILY is everything, and all I know is that I am a VERY lucky girl, one who will never be more thankful for these beautiful people:

I got on a roll w/ the new Pyrus paper from Basic Grey and some cute coordinating 3D stickers so the project didn't stop there w/ my layout :)  I also made a quick card and a few bookmarks using some cork, ribbon, and some cute Basic Grey flowers:

So, are you gonna come chat w/ us today? The partay starts at 10am CST on our SCS Forum and we hope you'll come by!  Angela surpised us ALL last night when she announced some BRAND NEW RELEASES as well, so be sure to check out all that's going on today!  TONS of fun in store!

For now, head over to Jimmi's blog-I know her mojo has been rockin' this week so I can't wait to see what she's got for us, too ;)
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Love and happiness to all of you wonderful Hip Hoppers!  See you tomorrow for FFF!

"Other things may change us...but we BEGIN and END with FAMILY..."
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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

I TELL YA Tuesday...

Hello lovies...how I've missed catching up on your blogs and pages and I will DEFINITELY be slowing down a bit mid week to catch up w/ y'all...things have been NUTS here this weekend and yesterday w/ it being our first day back to school...I TELL YA!

Funny story-my son actually tried to hide my alarm clock the night before last so that we wouldn't HAVE to get up and go to school today-I thought that was quite resourceful of him but yeah...didn't work, LOL.   My baby girl had separation issues at Pre-K yesterday which pretty much broke my heart.  She didn't even cry on her 1st day, but for some reason, after all that togetherness over the past two weeks and all the family time we shared, I think she was feeling the loss that we all were this morning when the clock struck 6am :) Oh well-that can only tell me that we had a GREAT time during Fall Break, right?

In fact, you guys might not know this but I basically pre-posted everything I've created in the past two weeks or so.  My stamps haven't seen daylight in TWO weeks!   So, I was pretty excited to crack them back out of the darkness of my desk and get to crackin' on Mercy's Tuesday sketch this week:

LOVE this one.   I knew exactly which stamp from UNITY Stamp Co. that I wanted to use, too!  It's actually a store kit stamp (sold by many of Unity's AWESOME retailers including my friend Claudia at DieCutsRUs).  If you haven't visited Unity's website lately, GO!  Check out the NEW and AWESOME site that Angela had put together-it's amazing and SO user-friendly!  I love it!

This stamp was the perfect size for the main image panel and paired with some awesome "County Fair" DP from Fancy Pants, I really like the soft look of this and also the AWESOME quote-which really speaks to me today, actually ;)

"May you have the HINDSIGHT to know where you've been, the FORESIGHT to know whe're you're going, and the INSIGHT to know when you've gone too far..."   LOVE that!

Be sure to check out the rest of Mercy's Muses and see what they've been up to for this week's awesome challenge, including the wonderful Heather Pulverenti, our October Guest Muse!



I'll see you back here in a while...LOVE that you guys keep on coming by and supporting me and definitely need it this week more than ever as I feel like I almost have to "reacquaint" myself w/ my supplies, LOL!   Thanks for being there- Mahalo! :)



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Saturday, October 16, 2010

HAPPY, HAPPY Mail...

...LITERALLY.

I've been PUBLISHED-finally!-WOO HOO!... it was PRETTY DARN COOL to get this issue of Scrap&Stamp Arts in the mail.  Now, I knew about an upcoming publication that is using my card and that's coming in January, but in that case, I got an email telling me this.  So, it was MUCH to my surprise when this copy just showed up at my door the other day:

I KNEW I was in it, but I couldn't figure out WHERE and I tore through the issue so quickly that I had to go BACK a 2nd time to find my card, LOL!

They even spelled my name wrong, but I don't care ;)  There it was, my "Wishing You LOVE" card using Darling Sisters by The Greeting Farm!  Kinda fun, right?

Add to this HAPPY MAIL, I have some of the sweetest friends in the stamping biz, can I tell you?

I have to laugh when I think back to one of the first times I was getting ready to leave for a weekend to meet up w/ some stamping friends and knowing that my Dad and DH were both pretty leery of the idea... now, that's not to say there aren't some unfortunate "I told you so" cases, but such is life, right?

For the most part, the risk has been worth the reward.  Some of my closest friendships have been formed since I started stamping 7 years ago and I'm just happy to share my joy and gratitude in that!

Well, I got some HAPPY MAIL over the past few weeks speaking of those friends that I just wanted to share with you.

My sweet friend Margie Cortina sent me this adorable Alice card with this SUPER cute stamp (think she knows I love butterflies? :) and this adorable DP:

I was so surprised when I opened the envelope-there it all was, for no reason-just 'cuz.  I tell you there is NOTHING better than "just cuz".    THANK YOU so much, Margie!

Then a few days later?  I get this HUGE package from Tasha Beasley.  Now, I sort of knew this was coming, but not to such a LARGE extent!  Tasha completely SPOILED me w/ my favorite Tea from England, Clipper Teas, including my fave flavor, their Organic Orange/Coconut infusion and in addition, two BRAND NEW Alice in Wonderland edition teas, a Butterfly journal, a card, and some yummy chocolates.  Seriously can you say SPOILED?  Unfortunately the boxes got a bit beat up but it's SO SO SO much the thought that counts-THANK YOU Tasha!

Well, that's all for now but here's to HAPPY MAIL, good friends, and Tea w/ Alice :)  xoxo ~Jess

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Friday, October 15, 2010

Sometimes, SIMPLICITY is the Key Ingredient...

Hey everyone!

I'm back today with the revel of the BRAND NEW October KEY INGREDIENTS Kit from Taylored Expressions!   I'm so excited and am LOVING when it's the 15th of the month :)  Super fun stuff!  This month, Taylor has put together an amazing kit using the new "Apple Cider" line of Designer Paper from Imaginisce as well as some beautiful coordinating ribbons and buttons (my two fave embellies!) a FULL size bottle of Cinnamon Stickles, and gorgeous cardstock colors!

I tell you what, a girl could really get used to the ease and simplicity in which cardmaking is done when you subscribe to these kits.  All the guess work is taken out for you and this month, we have an EXTRA special treat for subscribers!  

In the spirit of keeping things simple, each Key Ingredients DT Member has put together a simple sample and instruction sheet for you to create a cute, simple project in no time!  Here is my project:

I also created a "Step it Up" version of my simple card by adding a few extra embellishments and steps for those of you who don't do simple or who are perhaps looking for a bit more in-depth project.

I really learned a lot from this challenge to "Keep it Simple".  Honestly, I have flip-flopped back and forth several times already trying to decide which one I like better and I STILL do not know-weird, huh?  Seriously, sometimes I think I 'can't" do simple well, and others I look at this card and think hmm, maybe simple IS better-and less IS more?   What do YOU THINK?     Here is my "Stepped Up" card:

I also decided to add another "1/2 step" (at least, that's what I'm calling it ;) to decorate the inside of the card as well on my 2nd version.  This is something so simple and can be done even on the 1st version of my card and although I seldom do this, I think it adds a TON to a card, especially if you're sending it out to someone special :)

Be sure to visit Taylor's Blog today as well as the blogs of my fellow Key Ingredients DT Members:


Last but not least, stop by the Taylored Expressions website if you're not already subscribed and find out ALL the information on how you can get started with these super cute, affordable kits.  Each kit has the supplies to make 10-12 cards EASILY and I often have leftovers!

Thanks for stopping by today and enjoy a safe, SIMPLE weekend, everyone!



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