Sharing Some Ribbon!

Did you know that May Arts has challenges and contests every month?  And that you can win a roll of ribbon from them?  Check it out on their blog here!  I think they post at the beginning of the month - not totally sure.

Here's what I entered last month . . . Messenger Doves:

Made with Jenni Bowlin Studio patterned paper, vintage buttons and bling for the eyes and May Arts Ribbon for the wings.

These doves are truly messenger doves because they're carrying inspiring messages to whoever would like to read.

They're being housed in a birdcage I found at my parents' house. I snagged it before it made it to the consignment shop!

I received a whole roll of this ribbon just for submitting and getting an "hm":

and I'd like to share . . . so leave a comment here and I'll draw a name Thursday 10pm est.  I'll send off 3 yards of this very cool stuff to you!

And Weeeeehooooo!  I cannot wait for this!

All those details here!

An Awesome Announcement and a New Place to Hang!

How much fun will THIS be:

Here are the details:

We cordially invite you to "Be Our Guest" at our first ever online crop which will take place next weekend on our new and improved message board complete with chat room! Please help us spread the word! It's going to be great fun with lots of quirky games, inspiring challenges, and chats with our designers. We will be giving away lots of gift cards to JBS Mercantile, plus we have two amazing top prizes! First Prize is a Guest Designer spot for the April JBS Mercantile Kit Club($75+ value) plus a gift box of new "Be Our Guest" goodies ($75+ value). Second Prize is a Guest Star spot right here on the JBS Inspiration Blog with a gift box of new "Be Our Guest" goodies ($75+ value). You can't win if you don't play, so we hope you'll find time to "Be Our Guest" next weekend!

And yes, the new and improved message board is a great new place to hang!  Come take a look and say hello!

Making a Layout Even Sweeter

I realized a few things as I was watching the interview archives for this month's topic over at Masterful Scrapbook Designs:

1.  You can get a LOT done listening to and watching these archives - I paid all my bills and matched my unmatched socks while soaking in the info.  :)

2.  I don't give much thought to titles on my layouts.  They've always been an afterthought for me.

3.  No matter where you are in your scrapping, you can get inspired by others. Masterful Scrapbook Designs has done this for me month after month.

After watching the designer interviews for the topic of Titles this month, I looked at this layout which I was planning to go hybrid with:

Supplies: Jen Martakis Designs Digi Kit: A Little Cuckoo

I love this photo and wanted to keep it center stage. And Jen's digi paper was just perfect for it.  And I thought this digi design was the perfect base for a hybrid layout.

But the title gets lost, doesn't it?  I loved using Jen's "beautiful" word art over and over to create my own "patterned paper" on the left, but the title . . . it just gets lost.  And then it was as if someone hit me over the head with a Cropadile and I was inspired by the designer interviews to look at the title of this layout differently. 

Going hybrid, I created this:

Supplies: Jenni Bowlin Studio Farmer's Wife Die Cut Label Paper, Apothecary Stickers, Chalkboard Alphas, Vellum Embellished Butterflies, Vintage Sew On Buttons, Cardstock Alpha Stickers, Label Strip Stickers, Maya Road Stick Pins from JBS Mercantile kit, May Arts Ric Rac

Now the title pops and it actually makes sense.  Ummmm, sure she's beautiful, but she's sucking on a lollipop!  Suhh-weeeeet!

Oh . . . in case you were wondering, the JBS die cut label paper was cut down the middle, the sides rearranged to give it a little bit of a different shape and then sewn together.

thanks for stopping by!

Another Kit Layout and Calling MothTalk!

Dropping a brush full of gesso on my layout set me back in the Great Scrapbook Race.  I'm already "TheSlowestScrapperThisSideOfTheMississippi".  So stuff like this doesn't help!

But the good thing about mistakes in scrapbooking is that there really aren't any mistakes.  And when you're working with a Mercantile kit with gorgeous patterned paper, it's easy to cover up a splat. Can you tell where it is?

See that pose?  That little guy can still turn on the cuteness - even at almost 18.  Everything is from the main Mercantile kit except for the metal star from the add-on and the seam binding and tiny pearls from my stash.

Love the little chipboard pieces in the kit:

The Doodlebug Jewels are such an awesome color.  The mist is Jenni Bowlin for Ranger Brown Sugar.

My seam binding looked a little too stark to me so I took my Brown Sugar ink pad and a Tim Holtz stamp and stamped on the seam binding:

I actually used all three Brown Sugar products on this layout.  The Dabber on the chipboard, ink pad on the seam binding, and dye ink mister on the background. Such a great color.

And MOTHTALK!  You won a gift certificate to JBS Mercantile!  Email me and we'll get it out to you!

Oh the splat?!  It's right here:

under a beautiful bouquet of flowers!

Have a great day!

A Mishap and a Winner!

What happens when you're working on a Mercantile kit layout and run down 2 stairs to see something funny on TV, but trip down those 2 stairs, and fall into 3 pieces of furniture on your way to the tile floor?  And then getting up, drop your paintbrush full of gesso right onto the layout you were working on?

1.  You miss the JBS Mercantile Gallery Update deadline.

2.  You must find a creative way to cover the spot of gesso on the layout.

3.  You lose precious Calvinball scrapbooking time.  TIME IS POINTS PEOPLE!

But on to more important things!  A random number was drawn for this prize:

and the winner is:

Mothtalk!! Send your email address to me - mine's on my sidebar!

Congrats!

Embellishing Your Business Cards

VistaPrint offers great deals for business cards and stationary.  I had a box of free business cards from them and thought I'd use them to stay in touch with some other scrappers I may meet at a crop next month.

. . .  and why not jazz 'em up a bit while I'm at it.  I have such a collection of buttons . . . 

. . . and the cards would look so adorable with the buttons sewn onto the sunflower centers . . .

. . . and maybe I'll try a little bling in the middle of some of the buttons . . . 

. . . and then store them away in my great-grandma's butter mold . . . 

 I'm thinking that embellishing 26 business cards MUST give me some Calvinball points . . . don't you think?

Don't forget to comment on *this previous post* for your chance at a JBS Gift Card!

See all the other ways you can play for a chance on the JBS Inspiration Blog post - and check out the other DT member posts - you can find link to their blogs on the Inspiration Blog, too!

Thanks for visiting and have FUN!

Things are HOPPIN' and a Flea Market Inspired Layout

Welcome to Jenni Bowlin Studio's CHA Winter 2011 Blog Hop brougt to you by their newest release, "Be Our Guest!"  This is their largest release ever filled with all sorts of pretties from the patterned paper, stickers, rub-ons, bingo cards, and unique embellishments you've come to know and love, to a new foray into acrylic stamps and project foundations.  You can see the entire release HERE!   To celebrate, we're offering you lots and lots of opportunities to win $15 gift cards to JBS Mercantile.

You can enter to win at the following locations:

Twitter (http://twitter.com/jbsmercantile): We will be giving away TWO $15 gift cards to one NEW follower on Twitter.  These will be sent to the winner and to a friend of the winner's choosing, so if you're already a follower of @jbsmercantile then get some of your friends to follow us too!  We will also be randomly choosing a winner from those who retweet the "CHA Winter 2011 Giveaway" post.

Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jenni-Bowlin-Studio/114121281953129): Look for the post that mentions, "Be Our Guest Giveaway" and leave a comment to be entered into the first drawing.  We will also be randomly choosing a second winner from our NEW Facebook followers, so tell all your friends!

JBS Mercantile Message Board (http://www.jbsmercantile.com/forum.asp): In the "Town Square," leave a comment on the thread entitled, "Be Our Guest Giveaway."

The JBS Inspiration Blog (http://www.jennibowlinstudioinspiration.blogspot.com/): Leave a comment on the "CHA Winter 2011 Blog Hop" post telling us which of our new products is your favorite.

NEWSFLASH . . . Jenni now has a Twitter account!  It's @jennibowlin and we will be choosing a random winner from her followers as well!  Follow her on Twitter HERE (http://api.twitter.com/jennibowlin).

*JBS DT member blogs: DT members will be posting about the hop.  I'll be posting that list soon, but in the meantime, you can comment on MY BLOG HERE!  I'll be drawing a random winner Friday!

Winners will be announced Friday 2/11!

Good Luck!

And before you go . . .

This flea market button card:

Inspired this layout using the new JBS Be Our Guest paper line:

I aged the cardstock with a Jenni Bowlin Studio Malted Milk Mister.  The fresh vintage look of Jenni's new Sewing Room paper from the Be Our Guest line makes the layout pop, doesn't it?  A large chipboard button from my stash fits on the new journaling card perfectly.

Everything else is JBS from my stash: Butterfly rubon, Buttons Journaling Card, Border Stickers, and Pearl Buttons.

Don't forget!  Leave a comment on THIS POST and you'll be in the running for a $15 gift certificate to JBS Mercantile!

and a Sweet Little Mini adds 12 points!

Have you ever *kissed* one of your projects?  I gave a little smooch to a little mini this morning. It's just too cute.  I can say that because it's really the product in the Mercantile kit that makes it that way. So, so easy to do . . . but oh so darling!

I can't even show a sneak - it's so little and sweet that a sneak would reveal all.  So I'll need to wait for the next kit reveal on the 10th.

But lets just say, it stars this little girl:

and the Febuary kit is amazing . . . and inspiring me . . . 

and this little mini gave me 12 points in Calvinball which brings me to a WHOPPING 15!

I know we have more and more people playing with us - I'm going to try to round up the names - join us - there's prizes you know ;) - and you don't even have to beat the machine Celeste to get a prize!

Yes, that is a flower on a baseball layout . . .

but to me . . . it works!

My boys' baseball albums are 6x12.  This one's for John.  I used my favorite Jenni Bowlin exclusive paper on this one.  There's also a JBS scalloped notecard, rhinestone button, JBS calendar card - and the flower and bling is from an older Mercantile kit.

That gives me 2 points in the Great Race + 1 for Jill's Calvinball rule.  3!

Post your layouts here . . .  you don't have to beat the machine to win.  wink * wink

What I've learned so far from The Great Scrapbook Race:

1. forget about cleaning your desk after every layout - embrace the mess - cleaning will slow you down

2. forget about cleaning your house . . . period.  for reason above.

3. if you make dinner that calls for beer in the recipe, don't drink the remaining beer that you didn't use.  especially if you haven't had a beer in years . . . that will slow you down . . . and even put you to sleep . . . you will then dream of scrapbooking . . . but that doesn't give you any points.

have a GREAT day!

Chalk up one!

Score ONE for me in The Great Race . . .

ok . . . only one . . . and yelling to my family in the kitchen last night, "GET ME OUTA HERE! I HAVE A RACE TO WIN!" didn't help . . .  ;)

the other girls are steam-rolling  ahead . . .

hope you all are doing better than me - LOL!

I can't show the whole layout yet, so here's a piece just to prove that i did in fact earn my one point:

A layout using the JBS Mercantile February kit.  The vintage pattern in the add-on is so much fun.  I can't wait to share the other stuff.  And check out this beauty from Doris.  Jaw droppin' good!

The Start of a Glorious Month!

I love February.  It's full of pink!  It's full of hearts!  It inspires me to craft!

and my two guys were born in this month . . . less than a year apart . . . my Irish Polish/Italian twins!

And what a month it will be!

The new JBS Mercantile kits are out!  Gor.geous.

a little birdie told me that there is going to be a LOT of fun going on in the JBS world this month! CANNOT WAIT!

And isn't a little dose of healthy competition good for everyone?  I've read (with much awe and admiration) of The Great Scrapbook Race that would go on every February between Doris, Celeste, and Paula.  They're doing it again this year, but with a twist.  Read about it here.   I'm going to join them this year.  And I'm gonna try my darndest to put forth a very good showing.

Join me!  Please! You know from what I've read, someone has got to put Celeste in her place! -wink-wink-  You can grab the CUTEST blinkie that Paula made here!

Here are 2 layouts I've made so far with the February Mercantile Kit:

You can see detail and read how I made these in my dt gallery.  I'm in awe of what the  other dt girls did this month - hold onto your chair!

Have a great day and thanks for visiting!