When Inspiration Strikes

Another week has flown past!

The summer just keeps on flying by! And as it does I've found plenty of moments to let my creative energy run free!

Sometimes I search Pinterest for inspiration because I get into a monotonous routine of creating the same 'safe' cards. I stumbled upon these three, and decided I should try my own riff! 

I love the jar with the tag and string attached!

What would have been flat stamped daisies was brought to life with some foam squares to make them pop. 

I'm sure you get the idea by now...

So how did my creation turn out you ask? Take a look below:

I used a Fiskars Punch for the daisies. The jar is a clear sticker from an assorted Paper Studio set, and of course there are sparkly brads and pearl embellishments. Some of the cards had one daisy and some had two, like the one shown here. 

Sometimes, creations don't always come out quite like envisioned, but if you stick with it, they can be fabulous - as if you meant to make them that way all along. 

None the less, it made a sweet 'Get Well' card, so therefore, mission accomplished! 

Where do you find inspiration?

That's all for now,

C.Jackson

Sweet Sentiments

Just me again! 

I finally created the last handful of cards I needed to fill up my 2nd 'Birthday' box. It's so easy to keep the cards inside of photo storage boxes, and that helps me see what I have and what I need. Needless to say, I was excited to move on to a new box. This time, I pulled the 'Get Well' box down to fill up! 

While visiting my dear friend Valerie this past week I got the chance to dig through some of her amazing stamps. She has a wide assortment of Phyllis Harris stamps that just take your breath away. For this card, I chose one piece to a set that I could not take my mind off of:

There was just something about this dog. Did he remind me of my past dogs? Or was it just the genuine expression and gesture he shared?

I stamped him 6 times and picked up my Copics to color him in. The more I colored, the more he pulled at my heart. Here is how the finished product turned out:

I stuck with the brown and red that I had colored the dog with. I added a sweet 'Feel Better' sentiment and then popped the dog with dimensional foam squares. I struggled to not put red ribbon on this card, but in the end I decided the finished piece was sweet the way it was! 

I think this is one of my absolute top 10 favorite cards I've made. The dog just strikes me, and the simplicity, and the fact that now I have a chance to pull my love for coloring into my cards. I was thankful to Valerie for sharing her stamps with me. 

I'm looking forward to this new change of scenery, and I can't wait to fill up this box  with sweet sentiments!

Until next time,

C.Jackson

A New Level

Another week has almost flown by!

It's really hard to believe the summer is slowly ticking away day by day. But while it's still around I figure I'll use up as much of it as I can by crafting!

My cards take me quite a while to create sometimes. Picking the right color, sentiment style, and embellishments can be quite a chore. And when I was gifted some Copics, I knew it would take me even longer to create them. I acquired some more this week, and while I was with Valerie I colored my little heart out. She was kind enough to share some ink with me that doesn't bleed and ruin your stamp when you color with the Copics. So I took full advantage of the ink and stamped multiple things so that I could color them for cards later. 

The first 6 cards I made while I was at Valerie's were these:

A lovely daisy stamp, colored with pink, green, and yellow Copics. The cardstock I backed the card and pieces with really popped and tied into the colored picture and the pattern paper I had chosen to use. I finished it all off with some rhinestones to match, and a little hemp tied around the whole thing. And, going against my usual style, I added the sentiment inside of the card.

I created another set of 6 (my last set for the day) to finish off my second 'Birthday' box:

I went digging through the huge collection of stamps that Valerie has, and I came across this lovely cupcake! (From what I hear, our friend Marilyn has oodles more than what Valerie has) I colored the cupcake with Copics again, and what you can't see, is that I added some glossy accents to the cupcake to really make it pop off the paper. Once again, I rested on my trusty hemp string, and added a bow.

And in between the two sets of 6 I created another Clothespin Photo Clip. I reused the scraps from my Daisy Birthday Card, distressed the edges, inked it with pink, added pink and green rhinestones, a couple of bows and a flower to boot.

I asked Valerie if I could borrow a picture to show off the whole bit, and she graciously lent me this sweet photo of one of her grandchildren! 

If I can find more large clothespins like these, I hope to decorate more and sell them. This one is still available too for just $5.99, photo not included of course! ;)

I'm not really sure whether Valerie or myself accomplished more on Tuesday, but I can tell you that we sure had fun!

Until next time,

C.Jackson

Adventures with Valerie

As many of you may or may not know, I have been blessed to call an amazing woman my friend. Her name is Valerie, and I met her a few years ago at Cat's. 

It has come to pass that our summer tradition is to get together at her house and scrap the day away. 

Last weekend we had scheduled our first rendezvous for Tuesday (6/9/15). I had been counting away the time and I was so excited when the day finally came. So I packed up my things and drove 30 minutes to her house. I must mention it too, I was very proud that I remembered where she lived!

Once I unloaded my things, we began to get to work. And when I say work, I mean shuffle our things around, reorganize other things we had, and stare blankly at what we had set out in front of us. But sure enough the actual projects we set out on slowly began to take shape. We didn't say much during this time, but when you have a friend you enjoy spending time with, sometimes it's just nice to breathe the same air quietly. 

Before I knew it though, it was time to visit and feed her horses and start cooking dinner. Where did the time go?!

I enjoyed patting her rather large painted horse. He was black and white, and big, very big. Apparently he likes to roll in the pasture because before I knew it I found myself plucking stickers from his mane. Once home we enjoyed Quinoa, sautéed vegetables and rotisserie chicken. And let me tell you, that was just about the most delicious thing I've eaten since I started on my diet. 

Mod-Podge is good for finger painting, right?!

Suddenly, we were reenergized and back in her scrap room. We talked some more, laughed a little, talked out loud to ourselves sometime, and maybe it was just me, but we might have been a little more productive too. 

Flashback! 

We enjoyed watermelon on one of our first scraps last summer, and we continued with that tradition this time too. Yummy watermelon!

Valerie even has a picture of me and 2 of her granddaughters clipped to her light! 

And then this happened...

Valerie. Under the table again. I started to laugh because one of the first times we scrapped together she disappeared under the table. 

Eventually though it was time to part ways. I think I kept her up a little later than usual, but it was well worth it I would say! 

As I'm finishing with my teaching degree I've heard many professors and mentor teachers alike mention how necessary it is for you to have a friend who is also a teacher. Because they will understand your frustrations better than someone who isn't a teacher. I think the same goes for any job or hobby, scrapping included. Valerie is that friend for me. And isn't it wonderful to have a great friend?

That's all for now!

C.Jackson

Copic-crazed!

Happy Sunday!

So a few months ago it was my birthday. My husband and I have this couple we are friends with, and they wanted to invite us over that night. And when they found out it was my birthday, the decided to treat me to a sweet night of cake and fun. I couldn't imagine what they had gotten me, and I kept insisting that I really didn't need anything and then this happened...

For quite some time I had told my friend I'd been wanting these, and she must have remembered! 

I am now the proud owner of Copic Markers! I love to color and this was going to be a nice addition to my card making tools.

Copics are great for coloring/blending. Using different shades and tones of the same color can create a picture with so much depth!

I don't have many, but I still wanted the chance to play with them. So here is what happened...

I had this awesome background paper that reminded me of a watercolor painting. So I took a flower stamp, and colored away. It was turning out so beautiful. I needed something else to add to it, and that's when I discovered glossy accents! It's a gel medium that when applied and given time to dry turns clear! It gives the most perfect touch. I LOVED these cards.

Here is another Copic creation. I have a couple of shades of yellow so I was able to pull this one off nicely! 

 Coming up on Tuesday I have my first summertime rendezvous with my best scrap-tastic partner in crime, Valerie. She offered to sell me some more Copics and I can't wait! Oh, and don't worry, I'll be posting all about our shenanigans once the day is over! 

That's all for now!

C.Jackson 

My Handmade Cards

Adventures with Valerie

Cat's Creations

Special Request

Hello again!

A while back I had mentioned that I had received some orders recently, one of which was a special request!

Well, I'm friends with a woman who had seen my cards recently, and she wanted to order some for Christmas. Normally I don't do many orders for Christmas but I was eager to fulfill her desire. What exactly did the Christmas cards need to be about? Football...

Football & Christmas

What?...uhm... *insert apprehension* ... How am I going to make this work?!

This was going to be a challenge indeed. I was a little apprehensive because I found it hard to envision the finished products.

I ended up searching high and low and I had finally decided that I could use some stickers to tie in the 'Football' theme. My customer happily ordered them and sent them my way. And so began my creating!

A button wreath, embellished with red rhinestones, a sweet bow, and the football sticker for the Alabama Crimson Tide! These were going to turn out great afterall. 

Christmas ornaments made lifelike by using gold ink. Note the sticker is actually an ornament?

This one made me squeal with excitement! I used my Cricut machine to cut out the snowglobe. I added gold glitter tape, and some ribbon, as well as Glossy Accents. You can tell in the photo that the gloss is still wet, but when it dries it sets up clear. I even put some sparkles inside. I just loved the nutcracker paper.

This sparkly holly paper was a good inspiration for some button holly berries. I added a little hemp and ribbon. Wait a minute, that's actually Alabama holly, how neat!

Even Santa got in on the action. He wears his Alabama pin with pride!

This paper served as another inspiration for me. I used heart punch outs and layered them to create a tree. What better to top it with than an Alabama symbol?

I used my Cricut machine again to cut out this snowflake. And I used glitter, and of course, it ... got ... everywhere! It was well worth it!

When all was said and done I had made 20 cards. 3 of each except for the last snowflake ones, which there were 2 of. My customer is very pleased and eager to receive her order. I have it all packed up and ready to be mailed out on Monday! 

Until next time!

C.Jackson

My Handmade Cards

Adventures with Valerie

Cat's Creations

Be Inspired!

I'm so thankful summer is here!

Summertime means plenty of spare time to scrap. And lately it's taken some special inspiration to get my creative juices flowing. 

Take this card for example:

I've seen this card replicated so many times. I've always felt daunted by it for some reason. But I decided it was time to try it...

Here is the finished product:

I chose some paper scraps that would work well with the warm tones found in the pattern paper. For all 6 cards it took nearly 2 yards of ribbon, but it was well worth it! The sentiment, a birthday one, was stamped on the inside. 

I was very pleased with these. It's a great design for birthday cards, wedding cards, Christmas cards, and even baby shower cards! I'm eager to make some more of these soon! 

I know I've been a little slow to post but I promise to get back into a better habit soon. 

Until next time,

C.Jackson