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Thursday, December 23, 2010

Sick, sick ..... sick of it!



Did you read my last post? I was so proud and eager to be at the doorstep of vacation. Remember, I closed my shops, made plans for all things Christmas? First and foremost cookie baking? Remember?

Well .... ever have those weeks where nothing goes as planned?

All I know was Monday's crawl out of of bed was so much harder than usual. Throat was a burnin' and muscles ached as if I'd played a game (or two) of football. I knew something was stirring and it wasn't a mouse. It was some dreaded virus attacking my system. But I refused to accept that fate. Not today, not this morning. I had Christmas plans, darnit. New cookie recipes had been researched & old favorites had been dug out from the bottom of the recipe pile where they lay since last December. Today I needed to hit the grocery store for my share of the Christmas dinner and the necessities for cookie baking. This virus or whatever it was was not going to stop me. At least that's what I thought when I finally made it out the door and into the car, not quite on Monday morning, but more like Monday afternoon. It took me so long to get ready and I couldn't quite get warm no matter how high I set the temperature in the house or how many layers I wore.

I made it to the Christmas Tree Shoppe for some last minute gift tags and wrapping supplies. And then went into the grocery store. Half way through, I thought I was going to pass out and I'm not even sure how I made it home that afternoon. By the time I got everything unpacked and put away ... I knew before I put the darn thermometer in my mouth that it wasn't going to be good. I had a fever and my knees were buckling. That was it for my Monday. There would be no Christmas Cookie baking for me today, or the next day for that matter. I barely got out of bed at all on Tuesday. Today, I'm still not feeling great, but the good news is that there has been some baking (in between big long, restful naps on the couch). And I have a few lovely tins of cookies to show for it. :)

What I couldn't do in the kitchen, I made up for in Photoshop. Because, Photoshop is super easy to do while lying in bed with a fever (while kids bring you big, icy glasses of orange juice with a straw) for two days. Here are two new layouts full of Christmas Cheer.


Santa Spirit

jessicasprague.com
{liv.e designs}
Chestnuts and Mallows Paper Pack - coming soon!
Swirdles Stamps & Brushes

Paper Swirlies

Warm Wuv & Soft Hugs - The Elements (buttons and frame)

EZ-PZ Template 06 - Fotocentric No.1 (overlay)

Tape It Up! - Noted

Titl-express

Kraft Tag from Holidays in Hand class

{Queen of Quirk}

Reindeer Games Accent Pack (bow & holly sticker)

Aubergine Alpha Pack


{In the Making Design}

Glassy Alpha





Expressions of Christmas Cheer

jessicasprague.com
{Cosmo Cricket}
Oh Joy Paper Pack

Oh Joy Candy Candy

Mr. Campy Paper Pack (solid background)


{Queen of Quirk}

Scrap Canvas - Momento - coming soon!

Patti Knox: Pin Its - Pearls

Katie Pertiet: Stamped Stitches No. 11

Fonts: Pea Marie-Christine, Pea Dacia


While I didn't get to make all the cookies I had planned to make, that virus forced me to slow down and watch "Christmas" more. I spent more time on the couch watching movies with my kids, instead of turning a movie on for them. I played a ton more games with them than I would have had time for if I had been at full energy and hadn't felt the need to sit down and rest so much. I snapped more photos of the days leading up to Christmas than I usually do. And for all that ... I'm grateful. I think I'll save those other cookie recipes for the week after Christmas or the couple of days off we have in January. Something to look forward to after the thrill of December has come and gone and the long winter is still hanging on for a few more months. So yeah, that's my new plan. Accept what I was able to accomplish this week. And look forward to another baking session in the near future. So long as some random virus doesn't knock me off my feet again first!

-xo Jenn

Friday, December 17, 2010

Wishing You All a Lovely Holiday ...

...and a Happy New Year!

Wow! It has been a little while since I posted. This time of year is so hard to keep up with anything. My Etsy shop & website are at their absolute busiest ... I ordered two huge cases of Uline bubble envelopes just for all the Holiday orders I have to get out the door. The post office is a once or twice day visit for me as well during this time of year as I try to ensure customers get their orders as speedily as possible.

But ... finally the sales are down to a trickle and I think it is safe to assume that everyone who wanted to a get an order in before year end has done so. So, I am getting ready to close the virtual doors for a much needed holiday break. It's time to put down the scissors, the shipping tape and excuse my printer from its tireless task of spewing out shipping labels. It is time to don the apron, the rolling pin, soften the butter and spread out the flour. I plan to spend much of next week baking holiday cookies with music blasting ... my absolute favorite holiday activity.

I may find some time to post here or there before the end of the year, but if I don't .... Thank you to all my lovely customers for a wonderful year. And thank you to those who've checked in to see my latest photos or layouts. Hoping each and every one of you close out the year with happy memories.



Happy Christmas, Snowman

{Carina Gardner}
O CHRISTMAS TREE - Stickers
O CHRISTMAS TREE - Cards
O CHRISTMAS TREE - Ribbons
SANTA'S SLEIGH - Holiday Notes
SANTA'S SLEIGH - Holiday Silhouettes

{liv.e designs}
Scribbled Alpha
Holidays in Hand class - kraft holiday tag
Spraground Sun Fun Elements - gem brads

{In The Making Designs}
Wax Seals Elements Set

{Crystal Wilkerson}
You Are Awesome Mini Kit- kraft paper

{Cosmo Cricket}
Oh Joy Paper Pack -background paper

{Kitschy Digitals}
Granny's Sewing Basket - stick pin

{Christmas Wishes & Whimsy Collab Kit}
Kitschy Digitals - green velvet bow
Slendid Fiins - baker's twine photo wrap, round scallop tag
liv.e designs - sequin spill

Ali Edwards - The Details 12 x 12 Overlay
Lynn Grieveson - Hint at It No. 5
Katie Pertiet - Posted Snowmen

Monday, November 29, 2010

Cyber Monday Sale

Hope all in the US had a lovely long Thanksgiving Holiday weekend. :)

And since one of the things I am very Thankful for is you, I just wanted to offer a Cyber Monday Sale special. 15% off anything in my Etsy shop or website. Just type in Coupon Code: CyberMonday. As a special Thank you for Blog readers... if you mention "Blog Free Shipping" in the Notes section during checkout, I will refund your shipping fees for any order with 3 or more items purchased.

Thank you!


x0 Jenn

Monday, November 22, 2010

Good Things are coming...

Just wanted to let you know JessicaSprague.com is having 20% off sale starting Black Friday, Nov 26th and it runs all the way through Dec 31st. Sweet! And ... the new free class starts Monday the 29th ... hope to see you in class.





Menu Planner & Shopping List
I'm a list maker ... I *need* lists to survive. I often plan my meals for the week on a scrap piece of paper and make a grocery list for those meals, only to find I've misplaced my meal plans after my shopping trip ... and then my scattered brain cannot remember all the new recipes I had panned to try out that week.

I had been eyeing up Cyrstal's Meal Planner kit in the store for a while now. And Cosmo Cricket's Early Bird collection was the kick I needed to put this together.


I just put some papers and elements from Early Bird together to make a cover page to slip into my 3 ring binder. Printed a few of Crystal's Meal Planner papers, punched holes and I was done. I like the binder because I can keep it in my kitchen and not worry about it getting dirty as it is easy to wipe down. It has little pockets where I can stash the new recipes I print out.


But... I also needed a little pocket Grocery List so I made one with chipboard covers and binder rings. (Easy to fill with new Grocery Lists as I use them up.) I also added some Coin Envelopes (found at Staples/Office Depot) and will use them to store a few coupons. The size is perfect to stash into my bag. I used the polygon lasso tool to clip out the Grocery List side of Crystal's page and just added in a few fun Cosmo Cricket Early Bird elements. ~ Thanks for looking!


{Cosmo Cricket}

Early Bird Candy Candy

Early Bird Paper Pack

Early Bird Elements



{Creativity by Crystal}

Crystal's Printable Daily Schedule & Meal Planner

Crystal's {Doodley-Doo} 12x12 Borders

Crystal's {Playful} Font


Santa, I've been a Good Boy!
New Merry & Bright Quick Pages by Crystal. So cute & perfect "as is". Love the Kraft paper. This page has just a few little touches ... & let's the photo & memory shine. Crystal has a few of these QPs coming out this week. You could use them to do a whole December Theme album in record time. Here I took a not so great photo & followed Jessica's recipe for a soft glow as seen in her latest Photoshop Friday #26 Soft Glow. Then I did some darkening of the background to "cover up" the distracting background. This is definitely one of my favorite PSFs!

{Creativity by Crystal}

Merry & Bright Quick Page #2

October '09 Sweet {Eye Candy} Elements

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Thank you & Digi Goodies ...

Hey there ... just wanted to thank everyone who stopped by for the blog hop last week. Hope you were able to get lots of useful goodies for your winter and holiday pages. Thanks so much to those of you who left comments and love. I really enjoyed reading them all! :)

Here are the pages I worked on this weekend. Also, today is One Buck Wednesday, so make sure you check out what is on sale.


Wonder
I think I found some new favorite patterned papers. :) This Earth Love kit by Cosmo Cricket mixes so well with Kitschy Digitals' goodies for those of you that like a little dimension in your layouts.

{Cosmo Cricket}

Earth Love Paper Pack

Earth Love Elements


{Splendid Fiins}

Make a Mess - masks vol. 1


{Kitschy Digitals}

Fabric Covered Buttons Kit

Fresh Blooms Digital Kit

Braided Digital Kit

Prize Ribbons & Rosettes


{liv.e designs}

Softly, Gently - The Kit's Solid Papers (background paper)


{Creativity by Crystal}

Office Supplies Element Pack(stitches & staples)


Fonts: skia, you are loved, zapfino



Dreaming of a Snowy White Christmas
There is so much Wintery, Christmas goodness in the JS.com store. Had fun playing with Elle's new Christmas papers and mixing them with all the great bits and pieces available here!

{Ell's Studio)

Christmas Papers

Vintage Typewriter Christmas Journaling Tags

Vintage Number Cards

Christmas Scalloped Journaling Tags


{Echo Park}

Sleigh Ride Paper Pack #2 (stripe pink paper)

Sleigh Ride Element Pack #2 (sledding silhouettes)

Dashes through the Snow Paper Pack (brown paper)

Dashes through the Snow Element Pack #1 (banner, berry twig, skates)


{Kitschy Digitals)

Fabric Covered Buttons Kit

Fresh Blooms Digital Kit

Granny's Sewing Basket (round red stick pin)


{liv.e designs}

Tape It Up! - Noted Too

Mask Me - Photo Masks


{Creativity by Crystal}

Office Supplies Element Pack (criss cross stitches)

Crystal's {Sweet Vintage Charm} Elements (scallop border)


{Splendid Fiins}

Sew Crafty Messy Stitches Vol 1


{Queen of Quirk}

Kamari Beach Accent Pack (gold button)

other:

Katie Pertiet
Posted Snowmen
Christmas Metal Charms (bow)

Fonts: The Real Kristen: Bold & Sassy, 1942 report

Thursday, November 11, 2010




Hello & Welcome! It's Blog Hop time!

The graduates of Jessica Sprague's Art of Digital Design Class have come together to offer a fabulous Collab Kit, Christmas Treasures, available from Nov 11th through Sunday Nov 14th. Over 45 designers have contributed to this amazing Free kit. After you download my kit (found below), click the link to go to the next blog on the hop.

Here are the previews sampling just some of the papers and elements that have been made for you. Not all are shown.





And here is the preview of my Mini Kit. Click on the image to download.



And here is the next stop on the blog hop route:

www.digidotsbyjoyce.blogspot.com

Enjoy!


Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Your Orders From the Sale, A Free Class and a Dollar goes a long way!

Hey there! I have a few things to share with you today.

First: If you shopped my Sale this past week/weekend, a big huge super duper thank you to you. I am buried under Uline bubble mailers, scraps of wool felt and packaging tape. Seriously you should see my studio. It is out of control at the moment. Please know I am working as fast as I can to get your order out the door and on its way to you. :) I had wholesale orders, retail orders and lots of custom requests. Hoping to have all custom and retail orders out the door by Friday and most wholesale orders ready to go out by early next week. As always, you will receive a note from me when your order is ready for mailing.

Wholesale vendors, please please make sure your minimum purchases are at least $100 to utilize your discount. Fair? :) I think so, and I hope you do too!

Second: If you craft, create art or live to be inspired in any way .... check out this FREE, yes, Free new class by Jessica Sprague. Sign up and spread the word to all your friends! Click the image for more info & hope to see you in class.





Last: My newest layout. This template by Crystal is on sale at jessicasprague.com for just ONE BUCK. Check out all the digi goodies on sale for $1 today.



Skipping Stones
Title is made by mixing two fonts (Extra Ornamental No 2 & Font Leroy Brown) as shown in Jessica's class Up & Running.

{Creativity by Crystal}
Inspired by Susan Weinroth Template 6 - ON Sale for $1 Today!
{The Room Collection} Paper Packs
{The Room Collection} Element Pack
October '09 Sweet {Eye Candy} Elements (word strips & flair)
{Me & My Brother} Paper Pack #1 (background paper)
Crystal's {Sweet Vintage Charm} Elements (tiny buttons)
Crystal's {Sweet Vintage Charm} Add-on Elements (owl)

journaling font: 1942 report


That's all for today. -xo jenn

Monday, November 1, 2010

Sales, new digi goodies & a blog hop full of freebies! :)

Hi there! Hope everyone had a fun Halloween weekend (for those of you that celebrate)!

Just want to remind you that there are 3 more days left for the 20% off SALE in my store & Etsy shop.




On another note, I recently completed Jessica Sprague's Art of Digital Design Course and many of the graduates have come together to create a fun Christmas Treasures Blog Hop. There are over 40 digital designers taking part in this hop, so lots of free digi goodies will be available for the taking. I'll have a preview of some the great goodies in the Christmas Treasures Collab Kit up soon for a sneak peek. ;)

Here are the Who, What, Where and When:





And lastly, here are the digital layouts I created this weekend:





Winter Woes

jessicasprague.com
{In the Making Designs}
Sassy Season Paper Pack and Element Pack (coming soon!)
A Wonderful Day Template - glass beads (recolored)

Journaling Brushes Set


{Creativity by Crystal}

Office Supplies Element Pack - staples


Font: Sunday Monday




Winter Wonderland

JessicaSprague.com
{Cosmo Cricket}
Jolly by Golly - Paper Pack, Candy Candy & Elements (all coming soon!)
Girl Friday Paper Pack - solid cream paper

{Creativity by Crystal}
October '09 Spooky {Eye Candy} Elements - frame
Office Supplies Element Pack - staples and stitches

Font: Wrexham Script


-xo Jenn

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Pre - Season Holiday Sale ...




Sale Time ...
Can you believe it's been 6 months since I've had a sale? Crazy right?! So without further hesitation ... Let the Sale Begin! :)

Starting today everything is 20% off for one week ... Wednesday Oct, 27th - Wednesday Nov, 3rd. In my webstore, use coupon code: PreHoliday2010. Or visit my Etsy shop .
Shop as often as you like and feel free to share the coupon/sale with friends.

*Wholesale Orders do not receive the 20% off discount.


Holiday Shopping Gift Ideas ...

I placed my first Holiday order this week. Feels good to finally start crossing gifts off my list. Have you started your shopping yet? If not, what are you waiting for. Felt flower brooches make darling teacher and best friend gifts or maybe that perfect gift for mom. How about a couple of hair pins for your sister? And girls love hair accessories. Stock up on felt flower pretties for gift toppers and stocking stuffers. Now would be a great time to order some hair pretties as party favors for an upcoming birthday party too. You can choose from headbands, elastic for ponies, and hair clips of all sizes and styles.



New felt colors and designs ...

I've added some really pretty new colors of wool blend felt to my inventory. Some of the new colors that I am currently loving are snow blue, hydrangea haze, purple violet, storm cloud blue, and maize. You'll see these colors incorporated into my new flower designs, as well as in my old favorites like the zinnia felt flower.



Speaking of new designs ... I have a new line of Tri Cluster flowers in two sizes. The larger is perfect as a large hair accessory or as a brooch for a sweater. The Mini Tri Cluster makes an adorable little girl's clip or dresses up a ladies' hair pin. See photos below.



So far I only have a few colors up in the shop, but you can request them in any color combination you like. Just leave me a note ... if your not sure what colors look good together, browse my shops for ideas. The Zinnias and Tri Petals are great multi-colored flowers that can easily be translated into this flower style. Or perhaps you'd like a solid color felt flower ... all red or all pink. It's totally up to you.

New Mix and Match to make your own Hair Clip Set...


Another exciting announcement is my new Mix and Match - make your own hair clip sets. Now you can mix and match your own set of two hair clips from any like-priced sets. Any Pretty in Posie Set of Two Hair Clips valued at $10 (retail) is eligible. Take one clip from this set and one clip from that set ... and you have your own custom set of two clips in the colors and style you wish with your preferred backing. These Mix and Match sets are 20% off as well!

Let me know if you have any questions & happy shopping!

~xo Jenn



Monday, October 25, 2010

Leaves are falling, temps are dropping...

Fall is blowing in so, so fast. Seems like yesterday the leaves just started turning their golden autumnal hues and now the leaves are just barely holding on to their branches. We spent the better part of Saturday at apple and pumpkin farms and hiking around one of our favorite local mountain lakes. The Hudson Valley has so many amazing places to get out and enjoy some leaf peeping and breathtaking views. I'm sure you'll see some layouts featuring a few photos from our day very soon.

This weekend I scrapped a layout with summer pictures. This template can hold a lot of photos and I had been looking for a way to get these photos onto one page.


Monday, October 18, 2010

New Classes Starting Today.

Two new classes start today at jessicasprague.com - My Awesome Life: Tween Album Class and My Awesome Life: Teen Album Class both on sale for $35.





I plan on doing the Tween one with my daughter. :)

And if you love templates, you will love Crystal Wilkerson's newest template series... "Inspired by...." . She is taking layouts from influential scrapbookers and turning them into templates. Here is one that I played with over the weekend:


These new "Inspired by ... Templates" by Crystal are divine!

{Creativity by Crystal}

Inspired by Susan Weinroth Template 3
October '09 {Sweet} Paper Collection
Crystal's {Sweet Vintage Charm} Add-on Elements little green heart
November 2009 Paper Collection
November Collection "Eye Candy" Elements Pack for star element and staples
Crystal's {Sweet Vintage Charm} Elements for the stitches and scallop edge border
{The Room Collection} Element Pack for the Woodgrain Scallop Borders
Sweet Summertime Basic Papers - background paper

Fonts: Killed DJ, Desyrel, Cooper Std., American Typewriter

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

One Buck Wednesday

It's One Buck Wednesday at jessicasprague.com. Rush over and get your digi goodies on the cheap, today only! Such cute and versatile things this week: like Cosmo Crickets' Mr Campy Elements & Splendid Fiins' Vintage Brads to name a few. See them all HERE!

I have two pages to share this week, enjoy!




Chocolate Cupcake Cutie
{Elle's Studio}
Monogram Tags


{Queen of Quirk}

Sitting Pretty Accent Pack

Lucky Duck Accent Pack (green fabric button)


{Echo Park}

Orchard Lane Paper Pack


{In the Making Design}

Budoir Solids Paper Pack


Fonts: Hourly, Daily & Myriad Pro


Monday, October 4, 2010

Monday ... New Digi Goodies!

It's Monday and you know what that means at JessicaSprague.com ... uh, huh ... new, new, new digital goods. Check out the releases on the home page and then take a peek at the layouts I created while having the privilege of playing with these fun kits over the weekend.





A Day in my Life
The storyboard, photo editing & photo textures were created in Jessica's class~ Photo Editing: Frame Ups and Special Effects.

{Cosmo Cricket}

Mr.Campy Elements

Mr.Campy Borders

Mr.Campy Journal Stack

Mr. Campy Paper Pack


Fonts: Trinigan FG, Rochester, Garamond Premier Pro



Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Another CT Call!



Hey there! In case you haven't heard, Jessica Sprague is having another Creative Team call. Check out the details here! And then get your 3 best projects uploaded to the special CT Call Fall 2010 Gallery, so we can drool over your creative goodness!

Here are my latest pages, late indeed in getting them up, life has been busy!



This Moment
{In the Making Design}
La Storia Paper Pack

La Storia Element Pack

Sweet on You Elements Pack


{Kitschy Digitals}

Fresh Blooms Digital Kit

Granny's Sewing Kit


Font: Porcelain, Renaissance, Myraid Pro



Autumn Family Traditions
{Cosmo Cricket}
Nutmeg Elements

Nutmeg Paper Pack

Nutmeg Borders

Haunted Candy Candy

Girl Friday Paper Pack


{Creativity by Crystal}

Cyrstal's {Free Spirit} Template


Fonts: SP Purkage, Spicy Sushi Roll





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