Launch of Toy and Working Dog Breed Stamp Sets by JessicaLynnOriginal

I am really excited to share today’s blog post. We are launching two wonderful new stamp sets at Jessica Lynn Original called “Toy and Working Breed”. I have always loved dogs! I grew up with them and I can’t imagine not having a dog in my life. They are amazing, loving, funny, faithful – truly a man’s best friend!

The toy breed stamp set is very special to me. The Chihuahua image that Jessica has for this set had a striking resemblance to my beloved pet, Chi-Chi. Chi-Chi was my constant companion and I took her everywhere with me. She was very stylish and had outfits for every occasion. She was super spoiled! I lost Chi-Chi in 2013 and I was really sad for a long time that I still couldn’t bring myself to getting another Chihuahua.

IMG_1085

When I first received the stamp set, I really had a hard time trying to think about card designs. I’ve always loved stamping, but I’ve never had stamp images that are so life-like, it was honestly hard to get creative. I am a novice with Copic markers so it was really hard for me to color the images and make it look realistic.

I decided to stamp and color a couple of the images on white card stock. I then fuzzy-cut the images and gathered my card supplies but when it came to putting the card together I was just stumped! I made one mistake after another.  I just couldn’t get creative! I left it alone for a few days and decided to look at Chi-Chi’s old photographs! For some reason, I had a light-bulb moment and got my crafty mojo back. I started with a simple card below, but then since I had all the other images already cut and colored, the ideas just kept coming. I guess it’s obvious since this is the very first time I actually have 4 card samples and one Doggie Treat bag for the launch.   You can tell I had so much fun playing around with the stamp images, I used a lot of my dies to “dress-up” the dogs.

I am not going to list all of the dies that I used for the cards because I would like to eventually post a YouTube video showing you how I made some of the cards, as well as the doggie treat bag.

Please let me know what you think about the cards or if you would like to see a tutorial for any of the cards I’ve shown today. Which one is your favorite? To order your sets, here is the link to the toy dogs stamp set: http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com/jessicalynnoriginal-akc…/ and the link to the working breed stamp set: http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com/jessicalynnoriginal-akc…/

Have a great weekend and happy crafting!

Created by Maria Russell for http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com
Processed with Moldiv
Birthday Pop-Up Card by Maria Russell for http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com
Created by Maria Russell for http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com
Processed with Moldiv
Created by Maria Russell for http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com
Doggie Treat Bag Created by Maria Russell for http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com

Start of the Summer Design Team Showcase Featuring Brentwood at the Beach – Win a Prize!

JessicaLynnOriginalDTLogo

Hello and Welcome to the Start of the Summer Design Team Showcase Blog Hop created by the JessicaLynnOriginal June 2015 – January 2016 Design Team! I am pleased to announce that I am one of the designers for JessicaLynnOriginal.Com.

Today we are featuring projects using the Brentwood at the Beach Digi Stamp that really showcase and introduce our talented design team members! This fun stamp captures that summer vacation and can be used in many ways. This card kind of reminds me of my son when we were on a holiday in The Maldives. He loves surfing and scuba diving but most importantly, he loves to just hang out by the shore, collect shells and play with hermit crabs. Put your feet up and grab a cool drink to sip as you travel along the hop, getting inspired by the different takes from each of our designers. If you are coming from Jessica’s blog, then you’re in the right place.

Here is the card:

IMG_7544 (2)

If you’d like to see a video on how I created this card please watch it here:

This digi-stamp is available free for download today (May 23, 2015 at 0800 CST) so please hurry and check out the website (http://www.jessicalynnoriginal.com/free-digital-brentwood-owl-summertime-fun-stamp-2015/). While you’re there, please check out the other stamps available for purchase as well. My favorite is the Brentwood Owl.

Supplies I’ve used:

Brentwood at the Beach Digital Stamp
Card base – Light Blue Card Stock (8 1/2 by 5 1/2, scored at 4 1/4)
Dark Blue Card Stock – 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 to create the water background
Tan Colored Card Stock – Used to die-cut and create the “Sand”
Designer Series Paper – Used to cut the Surf Board
Orange Card Stock – used to die-cut the umbrella
Dies – Umbrella Die, Stitched hillside border die, feather framelits
Copic Markers Used for the Owl ~ E25 and E35 blended with Dark Chocolate Brown Alcohol Marker (main body). I also used R000 and B00 for the eyes.
The shorts were colored using Coastal Cabana Alcohol Markers.
Copic Markers Used for the Starfish – R24 and R29
Copic Marker Used for the Coconut – G05
Hologram Shell Stickers

Win a prize! Please let me know what you think in the comments below. Comment on each of the blogs in the hop and you will be eligible to win a $25 gift certificate towards anything at JessicaLynnOriginal.com! After the hop, Jessica will randomly select a winner and announce the lucky person on her blog on Sunday, May 24th. Here is the link to Jessica’s Blog ~ http://jessicalynnoriginalstamps.blogspot.com.

Next on the hop is Vickie Yearly ~ http://stuffbyvickie.blogspot.com/2015/05/welcome-to-start-of-summer-blog-hop.html blog!

If you got lost along the way, or if a link doesn’t work, please click here to see the link for everyone’s Blog (http://jessicalynnoriginalstamps.blogspot.com/2012/05/got-lost-along-this-hop.html)

Thanks for stopping by! Happy crafting!

No-Carve Pumpkin Centerpiece from Halloween to Thanksgiving

This is a very cute, easy and inexpensive project to make that will last from Halloween to Thanksgiving.   Your children or grandchildren will love this. You can also make this is a centerpiece for your table or your office.

Materials Used:

1 Glass Bowl

Battery-operated String Lights (bought from Ikea)

Orange Tulle

Wire

Tim Holtz Bewitching Hour Die

Black Felt

Broom (bought from Hobby Lobby)

Fall Silk Leaves

Glue Dots

Black Ribbon

 

Please follow me on:

My Blog: http://www.mariarusselldesigns.wordpress.com

My Stampin Up online store: http://mariarusselldesigns.stampinup.net

My Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/rprmlr77

My Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/rprmlr77

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mariarusselldesigns