Mama Elephant Stamp Highlight: Soiree

ETA: Sorry guys!  This post was supposed to go up Monday, May 20th:)  

You got an extra early peek!  See you on Tuesday, May 21st with the next release post!  

Good morning folks!  I'm back today with the third day of the Mama Elephant May release highlights!  For today the whole DT is showcasing the set Soiree!  (It's available on the site NOW!)  

Can you just see the versatility in this set?  May is peak birthday season here in our household.  Everyone in our house has a birthday this month, but me:)  Add a couple graduations to the mix, and I NEED this set!  So today I'm sharing a quickie graduation card I made.  I started by stamping and paper piecing the banner on the card base.  I wanted to center the "2013" banners, so I die cut a circle frame to go over the card base.  I stamped the sentiment inside the circle and curved it just slightly to match the curve of the banner.  How easy was that?  

Thanks for stopping by and checking out the new stamps!  I hope that you get a chance to drop by the rest of the DT to see what fun they had with this fun set! 

Mama Elephant/Kryssi 

Alice Wertz 
Cheiron Brandon 
Lea Lawson
Mariana Grigsby 
Savannah O'Gwynn 

JJ Bolton (you are here)
I'll see you on Tuesday when we showcase the last set of the May Mama Elephant release!

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Supplies:

Mama Elephant Stamp Highlight: Wanderlust

Hey guys!  I'm back today with the second day of the Mama Elephant May release highlights.  For today the whole DT is showcasing the set Wanderlust!   (It's available on the site NOW!)  Obviously, this set is travel-themed, but I am excited about using them for some graduation cards!  Let's get to my card:)

My card was inspired by a vacation we took to NYC a couple summers ago.  We took the train up from DC and had a wonderful vacation in the heart of the city.  So when I saw the Wanderlust sentiments, I thought back to the scene of us in the train pulling up to the big city and created this card...

For the background I used my favorite cityscape stamp from the Central Park set.  For a little detail, I stamped and embossed a silver stripe along side my train car with a stripe from Basic Borders.  I put the sentiment on a vellum banner that is "flying" in the wind:)  Just a tip for stamping on vellum.  I use Versafine ink.  It's a sticky pigment ink and it is awesome because it's grippy!  No more sliding when you stamp on vellum!  Like any ink on vellum, you need to give it a little extra time drying, but the Versafine results are tops!  I'm so glad I found this product because you know I love my vellum;)

Thanks for stopping by and checking out the new stamps!  I hope that you get a chance to drop by the rest of the DT to see what fun they had with this fun set! 

Mama Elephant/Kryssi 

Alice Wertz 
Cheiron Brandon 
Lea Lawson
Mariana Grigsby 
Savannah O'Gwynn 

JJ Bolton (you are here)

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Supplies:

Mama Elephant Stamp Highlight: Sunny Skies

***please scroll down for my Avery Elle post***

Hey everyone!  Today is the first day of the Mama Elephant May release highlights and the whole DT is showcasing the set that you saw here yesterday called Sunny Skies!   (Which is available on the site NOW by the way)  Yesterday, I used the Sunny Skies stamps the conventional way.  Today, I took a slightly different turn!  Here's the full stamp set here...

You know I love stamps that can do double duty!  So I flipped the balloon over and used it as a vase!  Lucky for me the flowers from Cup of Wishes were the perfect scale:)  I'm definitely not the first one to try this trick, but this was the first time I've ever tried it!  The flowers were stamped on using a mask and colored in with Copics.  The lovely handwritten sentiment is from the set Tree Friends.  

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope that you get a chance to drop by the rest of the DT to see what fun they had with this fun set! 

Mama Elephant/Kryssi 

Alice Wertz 
Cheiron Brandon 
Lea Lawson
Mariana Grigsby 
Savannah O'Gwynn 

JJ Bolton (you are here)

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Supplies:

Avery Elle Stamp Highlight: Air Mail

Hi everyone!  Today Heather and I are highlighting more of the Avery Elle May release:)  I'm working with the Air Mail stamp set.  This sweet little set has so many cute little images:)   

Something about this graphic set made me want go super CAS.  So what you see is what you get!  Two super CAS cards with no fancy techniques (shocking, I know;)!

And another ultra CAS card using the same teeny envelope stamp.  The mini hearts were made using a hand punch.

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to hop on over to Heather's blogs today too!  

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Supply List:

Mama Elephant May Stampede

Hi everyone!  Welcome to the Mama Elephant May Stampede!  You've already seen the first looks at the April release on the Mama Elephant blog, and the new release is now live and available for purchase in the store here!  For the stampede, I'm using the new set Sunny Skies!  

It's raining enamel dots!  (I wish!)  This card was so much fun to make.  I hope that the colorful rainbow clouds will brighten the recipients day!  And for you all out there hoarding your enamel dots, here's your chance to go wild(***whispering***....you know you want to do it!)  By the way, the awesome speech bubble is from the set Bling.

To celebrate the new release, Mama Elephant is giving away 3 gift certificates worth $20 each to 3 lucky people!  Winners will be chosen at random from the collective blogs in the Stampede.  Winners will be announced on the blog May 19th.  

Here's how to qualify to win (leave a separate comment for each):

1) Leave a comment on this blog post

2) Become a follower of the Mama Elephant blog

3) Like/share Mama Elephant on Facebook

4) Follow/tweet about Mama Elephant on Twitter

If you started from the beginning, you dropped in from Alice's blog.  The next stop on the hop is Lea!  If you get lost, here's the list of designers joining us today:)

Mama Elephant/Kryssi 
Jennifer McGuire

Jenn Beidermann

Mariana Grigsby 

Iwona Palamountain

Alice Wertz

JJ Bolton (you are here)

Lea Lawson 
Samantha Mann
Geralyn Sy
Savannah O'Gwynn 
Cheiron Brandon 

Thank you so much for stopping by!!  Come back tomorrow for the start of the DT stamp highlights!  

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Missing You on Mother's Day

This day has been creeping up, and for the past few months, I have debated whether or not I would post this on my blog. You see, my mother passed away last August, and this is my first Mother's Day without her.   Even though it's hard for me, I want to share a bit of her here today.  

My Mom was a larger than life person.  Big hair, shiny jewelry, and lots and lots of opinions (the kind Asian moms are known for!).  She was everybody's "Auntie" and she filled our house with people, food, and laughter (and more food!).  Growing up, I always thought that my mom and I had nothing in common.  How could I relate to this country girl who went to secretary's school to find a husband?   Who was this lady who sent me to school with sushi when all I wanted was hamburgers and french fries?  Even though I was named after her (her name is Jeanne), I insisted that I was NOT my mother.  Fast forward 20 years and there's no denying that in all the ways that matter, I am my mother's daughter.  

So today, I wish a Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful and beautiful Mom!  

I miss you.  

I think of you everyday.  

I'm taking care of Dad and Joy.  

I love you.

Thank you so much for letting me share a bit about my mom.  Please know that my thoughts are with you and your mothers too!   

Big hugs,

jj

Avery Elle May Release Highlight: Cupcakes

Hi everyone!  Today Chunyuan, Heather, Kasia, and I are playing around with the new Avery Elle May release:)  I'm working with the Cupcakes stamp and matching die set.  May is a crazy month for birthdays in our family, so these stamps and dies come right in time!

This set is so much fun, so you know I had to go with lots of color in my card!  Lucky for me, Avery Elle carries sequins in a rainbow of colors (you know I can't resist).   I really appreciate that the sequin packs include sequins in varying shades and 2 sizes.  {For those new to sequins, use mini glue dots to apply them to your card}

To add even more color I turned to real sprinkles to create a color effect in the cupcake frosting.   I've seen this technique used before around the web, but I adapted it slightly to keep the cardstock from getting soggy:)

To get this look, start by swiping a piece of cardstock with a baby wipe (or barely wet paper towel) until slightly damp.  Generously spread sprinkles over the area you want to color.  (You may want to do this in a tray or plate because the sprinkles will get EVERYWHERE)  Lay the baby wipe over the sprinkles and apply light pressure.  After about 30-45 seconds you will get something like this...

Allow the piece to air dry or use a heat tool.  How much fun is this?  I don't know about you, but stuff like this just makes me smile:)

That's it for me today!  Thank you so, so much for visiting!!   I really appreciate you spending time here and for your kind comments.  Please hop on over to Chunyuan's, Kasia's, and Heather's blogs today too!  They have some amazing stuff!  

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Supply List: