How to Thank a Teacher

An old proverb compares teachers to candles, consuming themselves as they light the way for others. There are so many reasons to thank those who have chosen to dedicate their lives to teaching, yet finding ways to truly thank our teachers can be a challenge.

As a teacher, I can share with you that the most meaningful gifts that I receive from students are also the simplest ones.  There is great power in a thank-you note that is composed with sincerity.

These are a few of the thank-you cards that my daughter will share with her teachers this year. Within each trifold card is room for a heartfelt note of gratitude as well as a gift card -- because even as teachers consume themselves to light the way for their students, they also consume a heckuva lot of coffee!  (They also tend to appreciate bookstores, office supply stores, and donations made in their names to make the future bright for others.) 

To create these cards, I used the "Thanks" sentiment from the "Give Thanks" kit cuts by Lisa Dickinson for JBS Mercantile, and layered it over a gathering of vellum feathers as well as paper feathers cut from the new Christmas 2012 and Red and Black Extension V collections.  I like the idea of feathers being part of a gift for someone who helps my daughter not just to fly, but to soar. 

When it comes to letting the teachers in your life know just how much they are appreciated, just remember that the best gifts are given with gratitude.  Begin with two words -- thank you -- and let your heart take it from there. 

Be My Valentine (All Year Long)

Happy Valentine's Day!  

It's Jill here, with a mini-album that celebrates love and JBS all year long. 

Using binding tape and the large Bingo card calendar set, I compiled an album to document a photo a month of my husband and me, along with a few thoughts about the little "anniversaries" that occur each month.  We don't take enough photos together, and this album will prompt us to do so at least once a month.  So far, we're on track with January and February!

Each of the layouts in the mini pulls together collections of JBS accents, such as journaling cards (above) and printed tickets (below)...

envelopes and labels...

chipboard pieces...

punched patterns...

rub-ons, paint dabbers, and stamps...

(this was actually stamped with the end of a spool)

chipboard buttons...

label strip stickers...

alphabet stickers...

number stickers and reinkers...

and buttons.

Thanks for stopping by the blog today, and have a wonderful Valentine's Day! 

Valentine's Treat Bags

With the advent of the new year, Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and I don't know about you, but I've already got love on the brain.  I'm not alone!  All this month on the JBS Mercantile blog, we'll be sharing ideas to help you plan ahead for February 14.  Doris got us off to a great start yesterday, and today I'd love to share with you an idea for Valentine's treat bags, perfect for a child's class or circle of friends.

I began by rummaging through my stash of JBS goodies and setting aside items that had a Valentine's feel.  Do you have any idea how many JBS products there are that are perfect for V-Day projects?  Oodles! 

To create the treat bags, I used my die-cut machine to cut out templates from sheets of JBS paper and JBS/Core'dinations cardstock. 

With a few folds here and there, the bags came together quickly.   

They can be filled with sweets, valentines, and heart confetti (which I punched from the excess paper left behind after trimming the templates).  I personalized each bag by layering journaling cards, bingo cards, flowers, bows, buttons, and other accents, and then added a monogram for each of my daughter's friends.

I may or may not have consumed all of the "stunt chocolate" that I used to fill these bags.

All this month, there will be more love coming your way as the design team shares ideas for Valentine's decor, cards, and gifts.   Sweet!

Challenges!

We had SO much fun at the crop this weekend, and the fun's not over! Check out our message board for several great challenges like the white space challenge involving this delightful Halloween layout from Megan Klauer and the journaling challenge featuring this "old school" layout from Jill Sprott. All challenges end this Sunday, October 30th at 3:00pm CST.

Check the blog this evening for a peek or two from November's Kit!

JBS Mercantile October Peeks!

Are you ready for another exciting gallery reveal? The projects are starting to roll in and I can tell you it's going to be another inspiring month! Here are just a few peeks to tide you over until the gallery reveal at midnight this coming Friday . . .

Doris Sander worked the new exclusive stamp and stencil from the main kit. The stamp is the neat postcard image stamped in brown at the top and the stencil is done in yellow embossing powder on the blue stripes.

Jill Sprott totally worked the October Antiquarian kit . . .

Megan Klauer mixed in lots of fun bits from the Artisan Add-on . . .

And here is a beach classic from Ranjini Malhotra where the postcard stamp from the main kit was once again used along with some bits from the Artisan Add-on and a must have button from the project kit. See why we're so inspired? It's going to be another lovely month in the gallery!

No Tricks! All Treats!

Our Vintage Holidays Halloween Line is now available for sale at JBS Mercantile. Just in time for the holidays, of course. You can find it in the General Store under New JBS Product or conveniently packaged in the September Project Kit. All the fun projects here were created from the project kit, including this fun canvas by Jenni Bowlin herself.

Halloween decor by Mindy Miller

Happy Halloween by Jill Sprott

Halloween 2009 by Briana Johnson

Journaling Your Staycation (in Technicolor)

Hello, Campers!  Hopefully you've been enjoying the first two weeks of Summer Camp here on the JBS Inspiration blog.  This week's focus is on vacation journaling.  A vacation can mean many things to many people, but above all, a vacation is an escape, a reprieve from our usual routines and preoccupations.  One can vacation with a view of the Eiffel Tower, at the edge of a lake, in a cramped RV, or on a comfy couch.  Yes, even a staycation counts as a vacation.   

One of the pleasures of vacationing at home is that you can still travel -- via the pages of a book, that is, transcending time and place without the need of a passport or a wormhole.  Any chance my family had of traveling this year went out the window when puppy love interfered: we spent our would-be travel funds on our dog's knee surgery.  I have no regrets, though.  I'd like to think that we went on vacation anyway -- a book-cation, if you will.  

This layout documents my family's page-turning reading journeys (feel free to click on the pics if you'd like a closer view of the journaling).

The journaling above offers a kind of synopsis of our book-cation, but the rest of the journaling on the layout took a wee bit of planning.  I compiled a few basic questions, and my husband, daughter, and I had a fun conversation about the highlights of our summer reading lists.  I jotted down some notes as we talked about favorite books (or series), characters that endeared themselves to us, memorable scenes, favorite places to read, and whether we preferred e-books or paper. This way I could incorporate each person's voice on the layout, sneakily getting my husband and daughter to  contribute to the journaling for this page.  Although my husband, ever the joker, gave me a hard time with playful "decoy" answers at first, I think I was able to tease out a few sincere answers from him.

At times I find that figuring out what to journal can be as challenging as figuring out where and how to journal.  I knew I wanted to use the Die-Cut Circle Label Mini Papers and the Mini Classic Die-Cut Label Papers, but I decided to add a summery colorpop feel to them with the help of my trusty JBS for Ranger Re-Inkers.

I filled four mini-misters 1/4 of the way with Lemon Drops, Soap Powder, Seed Packet, and a combination of Chewing Gum and Chili Powder, and then filled them nearly to the brim with water.  I misted over the papers, mixing blue with green and red with yellow, and printed my journaling over each one.

In keeping with the whole bibliophile vibe, I tried to make the layout itself a tribute to the printed page, mixing in text papers from the JBS Haven line, adding elements from a Hodge Podge book, and creating a torn page border on the left side of the layout.

After lightly sanding the Core'dinations Country Store cardstock to reveal the numbers (which I love alongside the tower o' books that we compiled from our summer reading lists), I stamped the edge of the cardstock with a Torn Paper Border acrylic stamp, using Chili Powder dye ink. I then cut around the non-inked edges to create the "torn" effect.

Ultimately, Campers, the point is this:  regardless of where and how you are spending your vacation this summer, you most definitely have a story to share.  So share it!  

Your Camp Counselor,

NSD Challenge! #1

Hello! We hope you're having a happy National Scrapbook Day and a lovely Mother's Day weekend as well! We have another scraplift for you from Tuesday's Spring Training Workout, "Get Inspired!" This one is from Jill Sprott who writes, "I lifted Doris Sander's "Two Cousins" layout from the August 2010 JBS gallery. It's been in my favorites folder since I first saw it that month, and I've been wanting to lift it...and finally, that time has come!" AND NOW IT'S YOUR TURN! Choose a layout from our current or a previous design team gallery and do a scraplift. Then post a link to your lift here (you can post your layout in our customer gallery or link it from your own blog) along with a link to the designer's layout that you lifted. We'll choose a winner next Sunday, May 15th, to receive a $25 gift card to JBS Mercantile!

We'll be back this afternoon with one more challenge for you. In the meantime, we're sponsoring fun NSD festivities at Big Picture Classes and Ella Publishing Co. plus our design team member, Shimelle Laine, has some fun challenges going on today as well. Happy Scrapping!

JBS Mercantile February!

The February Gallery and Kits are up! Welcome to another amazing month at JBS Mercantile!

Designer Autograph with Jill Sprott

Welcome to our first monthly installment of "Designer Autographs" where we'll get to know our team members a little better. This month's autograph is by designer Jill Sprott. We'd love to get to know you a little better too if you want to play along. Answer the questions on your own blog and post a link here or answer them on our message board. Wouldn't these prompts make the foundation of a lovely layout or mini-album all about YOU?

a piece of wisdom that guides me
“Include yourself,” my mother would often advise me when I was a child, crippled by shyness. The fear of rejection can be terrifying, but she taught me to step forward rather than to retreat. While I am still shy at heart, these words resound in my head each time I face a situation that challenges me to put myself out there, whether that involves taking a creative risk or simply saying “hello” to a stranger.

a quote that speaks volumes to me
“There is no great genius without a mixture of madness.” -- Aristotle

I discovered these words when I was a teenager, and loved them so much that I painted them across my bedroom wall. (In retrospect, my parents were pretty lenient, weren’t they?)

a flower that blooms in my memory
I can still picture the perfect pink peonies in the church on my wedding day.

a poem that resonates within me
Because thou hast the power and own'st the grace
To look through and behind this mask of me
(Against which years have beat thus blanchingly
With their rains), and behold my soul's true face,
The dim and weary witness of life's race,--
Because thou hast the faith and love to see,
Through that same soul's distracting lethargy,
The patient angel waiting for a place
In the new Heavens,--because nor sin nor woe,
Nor God's infliction, nor death's neighbourhood,
Nor all which others viewing, turn to go,
Nor all which makes me tired of all, self-viewed,--
Nothing repels thee, . . . dearest, teach me so
To pour out gratitude, as thou dost good!

Day after day, I recited Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s sonnet XXXIX in attempt to memorize it for a British literature course. I sought the help of a longtime friend and practiced on his willing and patient ear. He must have listened to this poem at least a hundred times. Today, I continue to associate it with him -- with Rob, who later became my husband. Browning actually wrote it for her own husband, interestingly enough. Each time this poem comes to mind, it means so much more than it did years ago, as I share a life with one who sees “my soul’s true face.”

a meal that infuses the flavors of home for me
Home is the smell of a roasting chicken. Pass the gravy, please.

a virtue that challenges me
If cleanliness really is next to godliness, then I am doomed. Although I have my own sense of organization, no one else seems to be able to sense it.

a temptation that calls to me
I tend to oversleep, and the temptation to do so even after the alarm clock has gone off greatly increases at this time of year, when the mornings are chilly, the dog is curled up alongside me contentedly, and the bed is so warm and toasty compared to the world outside of the covers. Every morning, I push my luck a little further. One more minute. Maybe another. I’ll just close my eyes again for a moment...

a person who anchors me
My husband is the one person who questions me when all I want is an answer, who makes me laugh when I am being too serious, who knows my mind when I am being indecisive, and who remembers me when I forget myself.

an object that matters to me
If could reduce all of the objects in my possession to one that matters the most, it would be my wedding ring -- a simple gold band that represents a great love.

a passion that drives me
This passion is actually threefold: words + pictures + paper. In other words, it’s all about finding the words to say it, a way to show it, and a place to document it.

signed,