Wrap it up

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Jess Amazing

For the past 6 months, I’ve been in phase one of building my creative empire…. that includes crafty world domination. mwuhaha. (jk)

Seriously, though, I have aspirations of being self-sufficient and living off my art, so I’ve been making big plans, learning new things, getting my ducks lined up, and doing a LOT of experimenting & playing around with materials.

One of the things that came of it is a whole arsenal of gift wrapping materials. For real- I should never have to purchase gift wrap supplies (other than tape) ever again. Exhibit A:

An adorable clearance find (the whale stamp) plus my new JBS ink (the blue) and my trusty Staz-On (the black) made for a whale of a good time while wrapping this gift! Ha!

Pretty soon, you can have it, too. I’m working on a whole collection of related gift wrap materials that will be listed in my etsy shop. Exciting stuff, right?

You can even get custom-printed bakery bags, like this one:

STAY TUNED for more creative excitement!

Sealed with a…

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Jess Amazing

Back in February I participated in a Valentine-themed crafty swap from one of my favorite blogs. After communicating with my swap partner, I still had no idea what to make for her. Finally, it hit me— I had really been wanting to experiment with the giant pile of felt that I have. It was all downhill from there, as the process came along quite nicely.

I created this little felt envelope, which I finished with some hand stitching around the edges. I adorned it with some cute embellies, then stuffed it with as many shapes from my various punches as would fit.

I think it made a cute little gift for a fellow crafter. What do you think?

A quick & lovely card

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Jess Amazing

A few months ago, I needed a card for a friend in a flash (say that five times fast- ha!)

When I went to my stash, I was panicked to discover that my “stash” had been reduced to three Christmas cards… nothing less, nothing more. *Note to self: get more cards to have on hand*

What’s a busy gal to do? Well, I grabbed my trusty scrappy supplies and whipped one up.

Image source: http://favim.com/image/194571

I started with a “friends” photo I found online:

I pasted it into Word & sized it accordingly.

I also knew I wanted to put a banner on the front that said SISTERS so I typed the word up with my favorite typewriter font, then copied it in many sizes. I printed in black & white onto thicker cardstock.

I cut the strips of the word SISTER and found the one closest to the size I needed. I then turned it into a banner ribbon which I misted, distressed and roughed up a bit.

I cut the photo out leaving a slight white border around it, adhered to the inside of the card & wrote a little note.

I put the front of the card together and adhered my word banner with some foam squares.

I was running late to meet my friend, so I only managed to snap this picture with my phone… I apologize for the poor quality.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy card- super cute, a little quirky and totally appropriate. Love it!

AMAZING.

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Jess Amazing

Today has been a really inspiring and amazing day.

This song seems relatively appropriate. Enjoy.

Typeface Tuesday

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Jess Amazing

I’ve spent a few hours scouring the web for some fantastic new free fonts, and this is what I’ve found for you. I highly encourage you to use other fonts, too, even if you have to pay for them. Typographers spend countless hours and painstaking detail to create some amazing typefaces that we tend to take for granted. Luckily there are a number of sites out there promoting the art of typographic design. Keep that in mind, homies. As always, click the image to go to the font download sites. Cheers.

Here’s a great site listing more free fonts that look nice, if you care to visit.

And last but certainly not least, check out this amazingly talented lady. I just discovered her site today while surfing for fonts, and I have to say— she just might be my new design icon. I’m in love with her style and aesthetic and her site. LOVE it. She has some free adorable fonts for you, too, but you have to seek them out. It’s well worth it. She also has an entire shop of adorableness that I know you will love. Check her out:

Freebie Friday: Mega Chevron Edition

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Jess Amazing

Hello world!

Whenever I log into my blog dashboard I always take a peek at the analytics and sometimes, I just have to laugh. It’s good to know how many visitors I’ve had, what the most popular posts are, and the keywords that land people on my site.

While some of those keywords really have me laughing (and wondering what led the user to wind up at my site), some of them are really helpful. For instance, the single most popular search that lands people on my main page is chevron download.

Well, the people have spoken & I am here to deliver!

Today you’ll find the first in a series of various chevron downloads, all in pdf format on a portait 8.5″x11″ page. (Although the beauty of pdf is that you can scale it to whatever paper you want to print on.)

If you’d like to request custom size graphics or custom colors, drop me a line! I’d be happy to help and to beef up my downloads section. Click the image below of the download you wish to open, and it will take you to the pdf. If you encounter any problems, please let me know. Enjoy!

And don’t forget about my favorite colors:

Introducing…

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Jess Amazing

The Journal Your Journey book series by yours truly. Exciting stuff!

Very shortly, these will be available for purchase in a variety of formats from my etsy shop.

What started as a personal gift for someone special has become the jumping off point for endless creativity! Journal Your Journey is a hybrid of a blank journal, an art journal, a scrapbook mini album and an activity book all in one. Each book is handmade by me and includes an assortment of illustrated book pages with activities & unique ways to journal your day. I’ve also selected my favorite patterned papers and elements to work into the books in addition to a number of my own patterned paper designs (some of which have never been seen by the public) and of course, some doilies for added pizzazz.

Part of the fun with these journals is that they can totally be customized to fit your life. Each book has its own identity and as such, the pages are paired in a variety of settings. There’s a good mix of plain white pages for you to colorize or leave white in addition to pops of color interspersed throughout the book.

If you think you’re not creative, you’re wrong – and this book will prove it to you. Through various exercises over the course of several weeks, you’ll tap into your creative side of the brain and realize just how awesome you are!

While some of the pages stick to traditional methods of journaling, most of the exercises ask you to think about the day-to-day moments that most people don’t think to jot down. There are plenty of pockets & opportunities for stashing ephemera, so it even pairs nicely with your Project Life planning.

Above all else, the book gives you the power to make it your own. Skip through pages & complete them in a random order, or go day by day, page by page. Rip pages out, put paint over them, tape a bunch of photos in place, whatever- it’s your book.

COMING SOON!

In the meantime, I’m sharing a little page from the book as a freebie to you. This page is in the second photo on the bottom left. I love the frames to write or draw your week into. Click the thumbnail to go to the pdf download:

Happy NSD!

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Jess Amazing

Happy National Scrapbooking Day 2012!

In honor of this fun and exciting holiday, I’ve created a little reminder of what I love to do.

I used an old frame and covered the cardboard backing with some OG Dear Elsie “i heart art” fabric paper. Using pop dots, I put a little punched border along the bottom, and I made use of my Sasafrass felties (heart, rainbow & owl) to embellish. Last touch was a “create” cutout using my Slice and bam——> dunzo. I think it’ll look great on my melted butter hallway wall.

Super easy, super fun, super cute. Love it!

Fun with sprays

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Jess Amazing

I’ve been a fan of the color mists and sprays for several years, so I was thrilled to see Pink Paislee release their Mistables line last year. This past weekend, while at a creative retreat, I started really playing with them and I had a ton of fun.

This was my first layout. I used the Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist on the background, alternating between spraying really close to the paper and a little further away. That caused it to pool in certain areas, but because of the embossed pattern, it stayed within the shape. I wish you could see it up close & personal because in the light, it really shimmers.

I didn’t really know what else I wanted to do with this page, so I just started putting some things on it. The picture of Barbie is timeless and when I think of her, I think BLING. I decided to go to Gaudytown and flirt with the possibility of going overboard. I created a little sequin confetti border around the image, and decided to match it with a shiny, shimmery ribbon. I added a foldy from Sasafrass but it seemed like it needed some glam so I went over the design with some Stickles.

Notice this one: I used the same paper but with the opaque Mr. Huey’s mists. I started with custard and then layered on the darker colors to create this hombre effect. I’ll have a video demo up within the next few weeks because I’ve gotten a lot of questions about how I did it. I love the look and it was so much fun!

After I got that rolling, I just splattered a little paint on the top right to try and balance out the black, put my photos down on some American Crafts POW paper, added a strip of washi, strip of paper, label & year plus my Remarks letter stickers. I finished the page with a ROCK rub on at the top left and part of a ticket at the top right. Excellent.

Did I blow your mind? Get out there and play with some of the new Heidi Swapp papers, or make your own and play with the mists. Have fun!!!

Even more projects

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Jess Amazing

And here are the last of the projects I’ve been working on the past few weeks:

I had a lot of fun working on these pages – there’s something really relaxing to sitting down for a day of memory keeping. If you want to see some additional layouts, Continue reading →