Humble & Kind

by Shannon Jaramillo // July 11, 2018 // 3 Comments

Hello my stamping friends! I’m back today with another sampling of goodies from The Good Life collection. Today’s card is actually a Frankenstein card, meaning it was made from cast offs of other projects that didn’t turn out the way I wanted them to! The sentiment I’m using here turned out to be too big for my original idea, so I rearranged my thoughts and used this week’s team challenge sketch to make the sentiment a focal point!

Measurements:

Raspberry Berry Card Base 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″, scored at 4 1/4″
Rustic Rose Card Stock Layer 3 1/4″ x 3 3/4″
Pattern Paper Background Layer 3″ x 3 1/2″
Raspberry Berry Card Stock Layer 2 3/4″ x 3 1/4″
Rustic Rose Card Stock Layer 4″ x 3″
Whip Cream Layer 3 3/4″ x 2 3/4″

Details:

I love how layers of color really turn up the volume on an otherwise pretty simplistic card. If you look closely at the Whip Cream rectangle, it is frames by Rustic Rose and Raspberry Berry on the left side, but as you slide over to the right side of that layer you can see that I ended the Raspberry Berry layer right where it butts up against the card base. Doing this creates an optical illusion and keeps the top layer highlighted perfectly.

Being creative is easy when you have access to such beautiful stamps! I adore all of the images in this set but just had to focus on the wonderful font of the ‘Home Sweet Home’ sentiment. I think it evokes our fondest memories of home, even if they didn’t involve rolling fields, barns or farm animals! I stamped the sentiment with Black Licorice ink and then die cut it with the Journey Circles dies.

I popped my sentiment up and added the beautiful Detailed Foliage die cut in Rustic Rose to help frame the sentiment and just HAD to add a messy bow! I then went a little wild with these yummy sequins from the new Sunrise Mix sequins, aren’t they pretty and they match the Raspberry Berry card stock so well!

The sketch called for a small banner in the upper right hand corner so I snipped it out of a piece of the same lovely floral pattern from the Good Life pattern paper pack that I used in the background. But it was too plain compared to my fussy bow and sequins, so I dressed it up with this amazing Clear Blooms Accent! It’s a curved, not flat, bloom button and is the real deal! I’m not usually a fan of accents that require extra postage, but this card can be a hand delivered kind of card, enclosed in a hand crafted Envelo-Box – which is a die that FSJ sells to create an envelope that has depth to it. I’m obviously going to need to order it! lol
But really, it’s a sweet sentiment and all, but what kind of card is this?? Yes, I can hear you thinking that, so let me show me show you what kind of card that sentiment would work on:

Yep, love and friendship. What a great way to show that someone special that they have a special piece of your heart.

Here’s the sketch challenge photo that inspired today’s card! What a fun inspiration it is and I actually think I played along with this sketch challenge when it was used the first time over at Sweet Sunday!

That’s all for today folks! I hope you are inspired to pull out your stamps and inks and maybe create your own unique interpretation of this sketch! Or maybe to do some shopping…lol! Speaking of shopping, I want to let you all know that catalogs went out in the mail today so if you requested one and received an email stating that a package was coming but you didn’t know what it was, now you do! I have two people who requested catalogs but didn’t leave me their address or respond to my emails. Please let me know if you are still interested!

If you are interested in receiving a clog of all the yummy FSJ products, please email me to order yours for only $6, which goes toward the cost of shipping the catalog to you. Hurry, the sooner you order, the sooner you can be inspired!

Cows Are Beautiful Too!

by Shannon Jaramillo // July 1, 2018 // 4 Comments

I never thought I would say that a cow was beautiful but this gal sure is! This is another stamp featured in the Life is Beautiful stamp set…available TODAY!! Yay!! I am also featuring another pattern from the Good Life Prints pattern paper pack, a delightful Rustic Rose gingham, yum!!

I’m going to be brief with the details of my card so you can get to the catalog faster! (But no peeking until you suitably admire my card. #kiddingnotkidding

Today I am featuring two new colors, one of which you saw a bit of yesterday, Tin Pail (I’m going to give you a closer look at it in a minute), and the second color is Rustic Rose…say it with me Rustic Rose…it just sounds farmhouse-y and garden-y and picket fence-y doesn’t it??
The adorable Matilde, yes, I named her, looks so pretty with just her bonnet of flowers colored, I can imagine all sorts of coloring possibilities for her!
The sentiment is from the Humble and Kind stamp set, also part of the Good Life collection. Clean and simple and sweet.

I tried several different color combinations to get the best shade of rose that I could and settled with a color a mid-tone gray (#46) followed up with several layers of pink (#04) in deepening tones. I used the same gray on the leaves, followed up by Fresh Forest green (#23) and then used a lighter gray (#29) with the same green for the sprigs of leaves around her mouth.
I wanted to give you a comparison for the new Tin Pail color so I stamped Miss Matilde in both Whip Cream and Tin Pail. I am pretty sure Tin Pail is going to become one of my staple neutral colors:

I love the scallop detail that the Border Basics die provides! It’s such a fun detail! I added a few sequins and then a strip of Tin Pail card stock down the left side to give my card that little somthin’ extra to balance everything out.
Oh!! And please notice that I included Matilde’s actual stamp so you could see the ‘indexing’ (image on the cling foam). No stickers! No issues with cling! And you know exactly where and how your image is going to stamp! What a concept. I love, love, love the indexed stamps, it makes stamping so much easier. And easy is ALWAYS good, right?

A special shout out the the Freshly Made Sketches design team for their fabulous (as always) for their layout sketch! I am always inspired by their talents!

Okay folks, the catalog is live! Please feel free to view it here in flip-book format while you wait for the actual catalog to arrive. Oh wait…did you not ask me for one?? Oh dear. Well, the good news is I will totally send you a catalog free, I am just asking that you cover the shipping charge of $7. A steal for a 335 page catalog with fabulous sample and TONS of inspiration! Email me today and we will get you all set up! Enjoy!

Life is Beautiful – Sneak Peek of New Products!

by Shannon Jaramillo // June 29, 2018 // 7 Comments

W.O.W. What do you think of my sneak peek of the A-M-A-Z-I-N-G new stamp set Life is Beautiful as well as the F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S new pattern paper Good Life Prints? Both of these products are part of The Good Life suite of products available in the 2018-19 FSJ (Fun Stampers Journey) annual catalog, which will go live this Sunday, July 1, 2018! Do you love what you see? I picked up a bundle of products from the suite at convention this last week and knew that I had to sit down and play with them just as soon as I could!! The rest of the suite is equally amazing and I can’t wait to get it all! I may never play with anything else again!! The rest of the papers in this paper pack are all so beautiful too!! (can you tell I’m excited?!?)

Measurements:

Huckleberry Fusion Card Base 4 1/2″ x 11″, scored at 5 1/2″
Tin Pail Card Stock Layer 4″ x 5 1/4″
Pattern Paper Background Layer 3 3/8″ x 5″
Huckleberry Fusion Layer 2 1/2″ x 4 1/2″
Tin Pail Card Stock Layer 2 1/4″ x 4 1/4″
Pattern Paper Layer 2″ x 4″
Huckleberry Fusion Layer 2 1/4″ x 3 1/2″
Tin Pail Card Stock Layer 2″ x 3 1/4″
Whip Cream Stamped Image Layer 1 3/4″ x 3″

Details:

One of the big announcements at convention was the introduction of 6 new colors to the FSJ color palette. All six colors are warm and earthy and are designed to coordinate with The Good Life Suite. In fact, I have two words to sum up the new colors and the entire suite of products – Joanna Gaines. Yep. Absolutely brilliant. I will share all of the colors in a future post, but the one I used here for my layering is the perfect shade of light gray and is called Tin Pail. The name is PERFECT for the color!!
The blue in the checked pattern is probably actually another new color called Chambray Shirt, I don’t actually know yet because the list of coordinating colors has been released yet, but when I paired the checked paper and the Chambray Shirt card stock, the card stock wasn’t quite deep enough to balance out the blue check, so I went slightly darker with Huckleberry Fusion card stock and think it’s a stunning combination.

I used the Journey Color Burst Colored Pencils to color in this delightful image of flowers in an old-fashioned milk bottle. For the flowers petals I used pencils 31 and 32, for the flower center I used pencil 15 (which is Summer Days) and for the milk jug I used shades of grey with pencils 29 and 47. I used the color burst blender to blend the color just a smidge but really liked the edgy look of the original layers of color.
Both the vase of flowers and the sentiment were stamped in Black Licorice Fusion Ink and the the sentiment was die cut with its’ coordinating die and popped up with foam squares.

Once I had the sentiment all cozied up with my natural twine bow, I used a fine paint brush and added just a touch of Journey Glaze to the sentiment to help it pop and add shine. I’ve never used Journey Glaze, or anything like it before, so I was very cautious about how much I used. I also added a drop of Summer Days ink to the flower centers and then added a drop of Journey Glaze to them as well. They sparkle so prettily!!
The button? I don’t have a big collection of embellishments (yet) so I just pulled this little wood button out of my old scrapbooking stash ad adhered it with a glue dot. The bow just needed a little somethin’ somethin’ 🙂

I have to thank the very wonderfully talented team at The Paper Players for the sketch inspiration for this card. I love a simple layout every day of the week! I’m also sneaking in just under the wire, lol!

REMEMBER, if you would like to receive the NEW and AWESOME 2018-19 Fun Stampers Journey catalog, please email me with your address information! If you contact me by June 30th, I will send the catalog to you AT NO COST TO YOU. On July 1st, I will still be sending the catalogs free, but will be collecting a shipping charge of just $7.00.

PLEASE tell me what you think of these new products! Are you in love?!? I can’t wait to hear from you all!

Supplies: (All Fun Stampers Journey products unless noted differently below)

Card Stock: Huckleberry Fusion, Whip Cream and Tin Pail (available on July 1st)

Printed Paper: Good Life Prints (available on Jul 1st)

Ink: Black Licorice

Stamps: Life is Beautiful (available on Jul 1st)

Dies: Life is Beautiful (available on Jul 1st)

Tools: Journey Glaze, Journey Blooms Paper Trimmer

Embellishments: Journey Twine Natural

Other: None

FSJ Convention 2018 was the “Beary Best”!

by Shannon Jaramillo // June 25, 2018 // 4 Comments

Oh my goodness!! Isn’t this ‘beary’ little guy the cutest?!? I have SO much to share with you all after my long weekend at the FSJ (Fun Stampers Journey) convention, but first, I wanted to share my swap card for the ‘Inking the Way’ team card swap. This little guy is an ‘ATS’ stamp called ‘Beary Best’ and he is retiring June 30th so if you love him too, make sure to place an order right away as he is only available while supplies last!! And he is on SALE!!! ‘Beary Best‘, just the stamp, is only $5.37!! And ‘Beary Best‘, the bundle (stamp and coordinating die!) is only $10.47!! What amazing value!!

Are you interested in purchasing other stamps and dies at amazing prices? Who wouldn’t be, right?!? Then check out the FSJ Retirement Party (after you finish this post of course :))!!

Measurements:

Card Base 4 1/2″ x 11″, scored at 5 1/2″
Stamped Image Layer 3″ x 5 1/2″
Printed Paper Layer 1″ x 5″

Details:

Would you like a way to use up those scraps of darling pattern paper that we all hoard…I mean have? This layout packs a TON of pattern paper punch and uses only two 1″ x 5 1/2″ pieces of pattern paper!!
Assembly is SO easy! I attached both the bear stamp and the sentiment stamp to the ‘F’ block. The grid lines on the block and indexing (stamp image) on the stamp, make getting things lined up straight a BREEZE!! Then I inked this both stamps up with Hazelnut Blend Fusion Ink and stamped him on Buttercream card stock!
I cut thin strips of color coordinating card stock, applied adhesive and attached them to both sides of my stamped image layer. One done, I adhered everything to the card base!
I added two Journey Sequins Bloom Time sequins in the lower right hand corner for a bit of pop and then balanced them out with a hand snipped banner of pattern paper and a teeny tiny bow of Journey Natural Thread!

I added a bit of the Through the Years pattern paper to my photo so you can get a better idea of the overall design…it’s gorgeous in Butter Cream, Banana Cream, Summer Days, Pool Play, Beach Breeze, Lemon Grass and Fresh Forest.

Now….CONVENTION. Oh my goodness! FSJ (Fun Stampers Journey) KNOCKED it out of the park at Convention!! Honestly, LOOK at ALL the goodies that were included in the price of Convention!

Just look at all the STUFF!!! The natural canvas tote in the upper left was the bag given to us at registration. It contained THREE full size stamp sets, 1 ATS size stamp set, the black and white checked planner you see to the left (complete with a full compliment of calendar pages in it) as well as the convention pin and a pin announcing this was my first convention. You can see those attached to my lanyard (also included in the bag). The REST: a $600 party host set for staying at the convention hotel, 2 ATS stamps, the mini envelope die, a full spool of Lemon Drop satin ribbon, a pen and stickers for our amaze machines with the new logo on them, a darling take out box, another fold away tote which came with the new annual catalog in it, the 2018-19 Annual Catalog (SPIRAL BOUND!!!!!) and a commenorative wood mounted Convention 2018 stamp set! OH! And the Holiday mini catalog!!! (eek!)

Whew!! That’s a TON of STUFF, right?? I’ve been to stamping conventions before but they pale in comparison to the way we were treated. And that’s just the stuff. We also were treated to THREE days of general session with SO many new products and tips and techniques and SIX breakout classes!! I learned SO MUCH!! And FOOD!!! I will share photos of the food in the posts to come, just let me say here that we did not go hungry! No boxed meals happening with FSJ!!

Oh! And the opportunity to shop in the Journey store and purchase SO many bundles and a la carte items from the new catalog!! And we got to take them home with us!! And we were able to purchase them with our coach discount and a 10% convention discount!!

Are you on overload yet? lol, I am. I am SO inspired by the wonderful FSJ crew and all of their hard work producing a GORGEOUS 334 page color catalog FULL of amazing projects to inspire!! Would you like one????? You’re like “You’re Kidding” right?? Of course you want one!! Just shoot me an email and as soon as I receive the catalogs, I will ship them out to you!

Thank you so much for visiting my little blog and I hope to see you back! Don’t forget to subscribe so you can get peeks of amazing FSJ product delivered right to your in box!

Supplies: (All Fun Stampers Journey products unless noted differently below)

Card Stock: Buttercream, Summer Days, Lemon Grass, and Fresh Forest

Printed Paper: Through the Year

Ink: Hazelnut Blend

Stamps: Beary Best

Dies: None

Tools: Journey Blooms Paper Trimmer

Embellishments: Journey Sequins Bloom Time and Journey Thread Natural

Other: None

Live Like You Mean It

by Shannon Jaramillo // March 17, 2018 // 2 Comments

Sharing a bit of stamping I did this morning! When I got up this Saturday morning, I had a mile long mental list of things to do and was full of ambition to get started on my tasks…and then I walked by my stamping space, which has the most gorgeous light in the morning…and I veered in there instead and got lost in paper and ink! Does that happen to you?

I love how cheerful this little card turned out and I know exactly who I’m going to give it to – she is indeed one of the loveliest people I know!

The DSP (Designer Series Paper) I used is called ‘Gingham Garden’ and is probably 5 years old now. But there is no expiration date on cuteness and this paper has that in spades. And the stamp? I have no idea how old it is (perhaps you can enlighten me), but it showed up in my mailbox this week and I couldn’t WAIT to ink it up!

The color combination is Melon Mambo and Cucumber Crush (retired), the flower is from the very retired ‘Live Like You Mean It’ stamp set, and the darling sentiment is from the ‘Hanging Garden’ stamp set. I used a few pierced dies from MFT Stamps to bring definition to all the white space.

And in the picture below you can see one of my most favorite new products, the ‘Glitter & Clear Epoxy Shapes‘. They are the teeniest little gems I have seen on the market and I am definitely going to be stocking up on them! You can find them on page 33 of the 2018 Occasions Catalog, on the lower left hand side. Because they are clear, they are hard to see, but are SO worth the investment!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by today and I hope your weekend is fabulous!

Blessings,