Good morning! It’s been awhile since I’ve played with my alcohol inks and decided to spend a little time with them yesterday! I’ve been wanting to try Jennifer’s smooth alcohol ink technique for awhile now and thought it’d be perfect for today’s card! I’ve been very inspired by Jeff Lindberg’s #craftcocktails series this month and […]
Good morning! I’m excited that I had a little time to play along with the challenges for the Winnie & Walter Share the Love week with Essentials by Ellen! I’m hoping to make cards for the last two challenges later today! Anyway, I was able to complete day 1, 3, and 5 so far and here […]
masked off the area around the terrarium and the owls and stamped greenery inside. I also stamped a few hearts with red pigment ink. Then I blasted the pigment inks briefly with my heat gun to set them. Good morning! Jess here from All the Sparkle and I’m thrilled to be back guesting for Flora and Fauna today! The weather around here has been cold and icy the last few days so I created an imaginary terrarium filled with pretty green plants and a cute owl couple! I combined the Gnome Life and Owl Always Love You sets for my card and I kid you not, I had Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You stuck in my head for days after making this card! ;) To start I stamped the little sign with versafine and heat-embossed it with clear embossing powder before masking it off with a post-it. Then I stamped the terrarium with versafine and heat-embossed it with clear embossing powder as well. I stamped the owl couple inside and heat-embossed them, too. I masked off the terrarium and then stamped the greenery from both sets using pigment inks. For some of the greenery I used more than one pigment ink to get a two-toned leaf. You can see that especially clearly in the bottom left corner. Once I stamped all the greens around the terrarium I masked off the area around the terrarium and the owls and stamped greenery inside. I also stamped a few hearts with red pigment ink. Then I blasted the pigment inks briefly with my heat gun to set them. Next I removed the masks and stamped the sentiment on the sign and terrarium jar. I actually cut the sentiment apart so I could arrange it differently. I stamped it with versafine and heat-embossed it with clear embossing powder. Then I colored the sign and owls with copic markers. Finally I covered the entire terrarium with a layer of crystal glaze to give it the look of actual glass. I love how it looks like I’ve captured a little scene inside the jar! Thanks so much for stopping by and have a fantastic day! -Jess
Good morning!! It’s time for a new Lawn Fawnatics challenge and we’re challenging you to create 3-dimensional cards! This is, hands-down, my FAVORITE challenge so far! It’s springtime (finally) in northern Virginia and the cherry trees are in full bloom in DC! Growing up in Japan I have fond memories of eating sushi under the cherry blossoms […]
Good morning! I’m honored to be up on the Lawn Fawn blog today with a guest post sharing an interactive flippin’ awesome interactive holiday card! You can watch the video below or over at my YouTube channel. And you can head to the Lawn Fawn blog for more photos and details! 🙂 Have a great […]
Good afternoon! Today I’m sharing a pair of cards using a combination of Nuvo Shimmer Powders, including the gorgeous new Lilac Waterfall along with my favorite Heart Mandala die from Simon Says Stamp and some pretty embellishments! 🙂 To start I took two pieces of watercolor paper and taped them to a hard board. I […]
Busy day on the blog today! For the new Lawnscaping Challenge please click here! For the Chibitronics and Lawn Fawn Collaboration please scroll down or click here! Good afternoon! Today is the release day for the Hero Arts November 2016 My Monthly Hero and I am so honored and excited to be celebrating the release with the Hero […]
Good morning! I’m excited that I had a little time to play along with the challenges for the Winnie & Walter Share the Love week with Essentials by Ellen! I’m hoping to make cards for the last two challenges later today! Anyway, I was able to complete day 1, 3, and 5 so far and here […]
Smile by Jessica Frost-Ballas for Simon Says Stamp
Good afternoon! Today is the release day for the Hero Arts March My Monthly Hero kit and it’s a must-have!! You should have arrived from Kathy but if not, you can head to the Hero Arts Blog to start at the beginning! The March kit is now available for purchase at Hero Arts but once they’re sold out, they’re […]
Good morning! Jessica here with a card featuring some gorgeous Altenew products and a new (to me) technique: coloring on embossed vellum! I started off by prepping my vellum with a powder tool so that stray embossing powder wouldn't stick to the vellum. Then I stamped the Altenew Persian Motifs on the vellum in a random pattern using Versamark ink. I started with the larger stamps and then filled in empty spaces with the smaller stamps. After I had filled the panel I heat-embossed it with gold embossing powder. Then the fun part! I turned the vellum over and colored the flowers in with blue and teal copic markers! I used a gold metallic paint pen for the leaves but unfortunately they ended up looking more green than I had intended when I turned the vellum over. So I took a Pentel gold gel pen and colored over the leaves on top of the vellum and it added the color and shimmer I was looking for! Next I die-cut the word 'hello' from the Half-Tone Hello die set with dark blue cardstock and then stamped the sentiment from Half-Tone Hello stamp set onto the die-cut with Versamark ink and heat-embossed it with the same gold embossing powder. I attached the sentiment to the vellum with foam mounting tape. I knew I didn't want adhesive to be visible through the vellum so I decided to "cheat" and added a frame of dark blue cardstock to the front of the vellum with my ATG gun. Then I turned the vellum over and added adhesive over the areas that would be hidden by the frame. Finally, I adhered the vellum panel to a white cardstock base and then added a sprinkling of blue and gold sequins. Here's the card from a slightly different angle...the gold embossing really pops in this photo! I really enjoyed the different look I achieved from coloring on vellum and I look forward to trying it with other stamp sets! Thanks so much for visiting and see you next week! :) -Jessica
Today I'm sharing another Halloween scene building card with Lawn Fawn for the current Lawn Fawnatics challenge!
Don’t forget about my World Card Making Day giveaway! You can find all the giveaway info here! This is my second post for today! For the new Lawnscaping Challenge please scroll down or click here! Good morning! Today I have a fun collaboration to share with you featuring one of my favorite stamp companies: Avery […]
…Minimal stamping…but definitely not minimal die-cutting! 😉 Good morning! Well my Concord & 9th package decided to take a scenic route across the US but when it finally showed up I immediately reached for the beautiful new Fresh Cut Florals edition 4 and my favorite Concord & 9th cardstocks! I was torn between which color […]
Good morning! I’m back for Concord & 9th’s Feature Friday and today the Where Creativity Meets C9 team is showcasing the adorable Sprinkles Bundle: Sprinkles Turnaround stamp set and Sprinkles Tag dies! This set is fabulous to begin with but anything that requires cupcakes for photo styling is absolutely amazing in my book! 😉 To […]
Good afternoon! Today is the release day for the Hero Arts December My Monthly Hero kit and it’s a magical must-have!! You should have arrived from the fabulous Yana Smakula; but if not, you can head to the Hero Arts Blog to start at the beginning! The December kit is now available for purchase at Hero Arts but once they’re sold out, they’re […]
Good morning! I’m super excited to be a stop on the hop for the Simon Says Stamp Fluttering By Release blog hop!! Have you checked out the new release yet? It’s AMAZING! Simon Says Stamp HEART MANDALA Wafer… [ SSS ] Simon Says Clear Stamps BEST MOM… [ SSS ] Simon Says Cling Rubber Stamp CENTER… [ […]
Good morning! I’m so excited to be a stop on the Simon Says Stamp Making Spirits Bright Release blog hop! I love all of the amazing Halloween and Christmas stamps, dies, and stencils in this release…perfect for all your holiday card-making! I shared two cards using the new release here and here and I’ve got a few […]
Good morning! This month Hero Arts is changing things up a bit for our My Monthly Hero kit previews and we’ll be sharing even more kit inspiration on our own blogs all weekend long! And just a quick reminder, the kit will launch on Tuesday, September 8th this month (instead of Monday) due to the […]
Good afternoon! I am SO SO excited to help kick off Ellen Hutson’s Summer of Stamping with the brand new collaboration release from Lawn Fawn: S’More the Merrier!! This stamp and die bundle is available exclusively at Ellen Hutson and you can find it here! Snag yours soon as this adorable set sure to sell […]
Good morning! I am SO excited to be guest-designing for CAS-ual Fridays Stamps for the next three days! Michele, the lovely owner of CAS-ual Fridays Stamps contacted me a few weeks ago and asked if I would be interested in creating some cards with her stamps. I had been checking out her website after seeing […]
If you’re looking for the Hero Arts + Gina K Partners Release Hop please scroll down or click here! Good morning! I’m super excited to be a stop on the hop for the Simon Says Stamp Believe In You blog hop!! Have you checked out the new release yet? It’s FABULOUS!!! Here are four projects I shared yesterday […]
If you’re looking for my mystery box and ink destash sale please scroll down or click here! Good morning! Have you recovered from the excitement of the Concord & 9th Color Collection release yesterday?!? Well hold onto your cardstock because we’re sharing even more inspiration using the fabulous new inks and cardstocks every Friday all […]
Good morning! I have a card today featuring the WPlus9 Little Dreamers set and a quick and easy watercolored galaxy background with distress inks! I also created a video showing the process of watercoloring the galaxy background! You can watch the video below or at my Youtube channel! To start I colored the star and bunny […]
Lots of giveaways going on right now…don’t forget to comment on my Christmas in July series or the Hero Arts My Monthly Hero giveaway! Good morning! I am so thrilled to be helping Concord & 9th celebrate their first birthday! It’s hard to believe they’ve only been in the industry for a year because they’re […]
Hello and welcome back to the April My Monthly Hero countdown! Release day is coming up on Monday, April 5 at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific. Our Creative Team is here to share another round of fabulous cards today. You'll find even more detail about these projects on the designers' blogs - links provided below. Project #5 created by Maria WillisClick HERE to visit her blog for more details. Project #6 created by Daniel WestClick HERE to visit his blog for more details. Project #7 created by Jessica Frost-BallasClick HERE to visit her blog for more details. As you can see, the kit's geometric style lends itself to a wide variety of techniques and this is only the tip of the iceberg. We can't wait to see what creative ideas YOU have for these stamps, dies, stencils (yes, multiple!) and inks. WIN A KIT BEFORE YOU CAN BUY IT: Just leave a comment on this (and every) Countdown to Creativity post. We’ll randomly draw one lucky winner from comments left across all countdown posts on the Hero Arts blog. The winner will be announced first thing Monday morning, April 5, before the kit launches at 10am Pacific. The more you comment, the more chances to win. Good luck! Thanks for stopping by. See you tomorrow for more peeks!
Arigato by Jessica Frost-Ballas for Lawn Fawnatics
Color Collection by Jessica Frost-Ballas for Concord and 9th
Good morning! It’s time for a new Lawn Fawnatics challenge and we’re challenging you to create a custom sentiment for your card! Let’s Roll has always been one of my favorite punny sets and I wanted to make my own sushi pun…here’s what I created: I stamped my soy sauce bottle, piece of sashimi, wooden tray, and […]
Good evening and welcome to our first A Blog Named Hero Challenge for July! We’re using this gorgeous photo as our inspiration and we can’t wait to see how you are inspired! Here’s my card: I love the way it turned out but geez it was HARD to photograph! Before I tell you how I […]
Good morning! Today we’re starting the twelfth challenge for Where Creativity Meets C9 and our theme is Anything Goes! You can find all the details and the rest of the design team’s creations here! We’re also helping Concord & 9th celebrate their second year all month long and you should head to the Concord & 9th blog for […]
Good morning! This week Lawn Fawn is celebrating Fawny Holiday Week and today I’m sharing a holiday card in an unconventional color palette (my favorite!) 😉 Here’s what I created! I started by blending blueprint sketch, chipped sapphire, and black soot distress oxide ink onto a panel of Lawn Fawn BlueJay cardstock. The cardstock color peeks through at […]
Good morning! This month Hero Arts is changing things up a bit for our My Monthly Hero kit previews and we’ll be sharing even more kit inspiration on our own blogs all weekend long! And just a quick reminder, the kit will launch on Tuesday, September 8th this month (instead of Monday) due to the […]
Good morning! Today we’re starting a new challenge for Where Creativity Meets C9 and it’s Spring!! Yep, time to dust off the snow and bring on the flowers!! 😉 You can find all the details and the rest of the design team’s creations here! We are sponsored by the fantastic Concord & 9th and one lucky random entry will receive a […]
Good morning! I recently had the opportunity to play with some new Memory Box products and thought they’d be perfect to combine with alcohol inks! I started by applying RV09, RV19, and RV69 copic refills to a 9×12 piece of yupo paper with isopropyl alcohol and pinata brass metallic alcohol ink. I used an air […]
Good morning! I’m excited to share my findings on some new products I’ve recently discovered! I’ve been watching Kristina Werner’s lettering videos with the watercolor line from Dr. Ph. Martin’s and I wanted to see them in person. The colors looked gorgeous in her videos and they definitely didn’t disappoint in person! There are several […]
Good morning! I am SO excited to be guest-designing for CAS-ual Fridays Stamps for the next three days! Michele, the lovely owner of CAS-ual Fridays Stamps contacted me a few weeks ago and asked if I would be interested in creating some cards with her stamps. I had been checking out her website after seeing […]
Hi friends! Jessica joins us today to share a fun interactive double-image spinner card! You can watch her video tutorial below or click HERE to watch at our YouTube channel. Thank you for watching! Jessica’s design is so clever! First, she connected two images on the spinner so it looks like the pair of BearyRead more
Good morning and Happy Monday! I’m popping in to share a fantastic sale that just started over at Hero Arts! As you know I’m a HUGE fan of Hero Arts and they have a fantastic range of products from crafting tools and mediums to a huge array of stamps, dies, and stencils including the amazing […]
Good morning! It’s time for a new Lawn Fawnatics challenge and we’re challenging you to create cards for kids!! I decided to create an interactive box card for a slightly older kid! I teach private music lessons and one of my students who started lessons with me as a second grader is getting ready to enter her […]
Lots of giveaways going on right now…don’t forget to comment on my Christmas in July series or the Hero Arts My Monthly Hero giveaway! Good morning! I am so thrilled to be helping Concord & 9th celebrate their first birthday! It’s hard to believe they’ve only been in the industry for a year because they’re […]