Modern Mercantile with Megan Klauer

Lisa's new collection Modern Mercantile makes me dream of summer days and much warmer weather. So, I pulled out one of my favorite photos from a few years ago. One that I have probably already scrapbooked somewhere but this time the photo made me think about how quickly time passes and how my kids are growing. It is a simply designed page with just a few easy techniques I'll share below.

Using the Chewing Gum Paint Dabber I was able to add a small splash of pink to my page. I first blotted some on the back of a scrap piece of the pattern paper. Using a punch I then created confetti to use under the vellum that I stamped the Jar on. {The adorable jar stamp is available in the February Main Kit.}

I used it directly below the heart cut out on the "hello" piece as well as used it to stamp the heart next to my journaling.

And lastly,  I used a brush with the paint to pop the heart in the "sunshine" cut out. 

Have fun & paint something today!

Holiday Gift Bags with Megan Klauer

With the Holidays just around the corner and that list of to-dos growing by the day; I knew I needed to get a head start on a few things. 

Each year I am at a loss as to what to get my boys' teachers. This year I decided to decorate these fun little kraft gift bags I found at the Target dollar spot & I will be filling them with a variety of things like hot cocoa mix, chocolates, note pads, & pencils. I'll work on picking up those items once I start my shopping.

Getting these bags done ahead of time makes me excited! No last minute gift wrapping the night before the boys are to take them to school. I'm not the only one who does that right?

I pulled a variety of items from my stash including: dollies, vintage letter stencils, vintage buttons, and the following JBS products: Mini Bingo Cards - Christmas, Haven - Cherries Ripe paper, Chipboard Buttons - Vintage Christmas, Stick Pins - Garnet & Vintage German Foil Gold Trim from a past Antiquarian kit. 

Before attaching the Vintage Stencils to the music paper, I personalized them using my typewriter. Many of my vintage buttons in my stash came from my grandmother as well as flee markets. An old Ball jar full of vintage buttons is always a fun find. 

Get a head start on your gift giving this year by working on packaging now. These can be easily altered for any occasion!

Scrap Vintage...typewriter inspired

During the month of October, the design team will be scrapping all things vintage.  The word vintage can mean and inspire so many things:  vintage photos, vintage memories, vintage ephemera, and gorgeous vintage Jenni Bowlin Studio product.  Vintage isn't just one style of scrapbooking either!  I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of different interpretations of this Jenni Bowlin appropriate theme from our design team!

I have been wanting to add a vintage typewriter to my "scrapbooking tools" for so long now. So, I put a little "wanted" post on my Facebook page & a friend was nice enough to give me this one. Hello! Free vintage is even better! Woot! 

So, of course I need to scrapbook about it!

I immediately thought of the  Wren - Typing Lessons sheet for my background. I added a few vintage pieces from past Antiquarian Kits; plus I was excited to find the original Owner's Guarantee Card in the box with my new typewriter. On the page it went!

Is there a vintage item you treasure these days? Go ahead...scrapbook it!

Back to School: Art/Art History

Art has always been my favorite subject from the time I was in grade school right up to college. I guess that's why I find scrapbooking so intriguing. It's the perfect combination of the art I love & memories I want to preserve forever. 

On a shopping day with my sister last week, we made a quick stop at a 7-11 for a cup of coffee. They were doing a poll in honor of the upcoming election. You cast your vote based on which cup you choose. I thought it was just a funny way of slipping politics into our lives one more time. This isn't about which coffee cup I chose, but simply about the use of politics everywhere. 

Here is the original photo I snapped with my iPod.

On our last stop of the day, I came across a beautiful display of Andy Warhol inspired cans of Campbell's soup at Target...

...and thought hmmmm... that's a cool inspiration piece.

And I've always loved this piece...

source

So, I did a bit of playing in photoshop with my coffee cup picture & came up with this...

I did keep the colors within the red, white & blue range as I wanted it to fit into the theme of my page. But this is something that could easily be done with any photo. 

Supplies: 

Bingo Cards - Patriotic Set

Apothecary Stickers-Navy

Chalkboard Alpha Stickers-Black

Skinny Alpha Stickers - Black

Star Banner Stickers - Red

Tab Stickers - Red

Die Cut Journaling Cards- Black

Flag Banner Stickers - Calendar

Skinny Alpha Stickers - Red

Collage Challenge from Megan Klauer

Megan Klauer was very much inspired by the collage video that Karen Grunberg did for us last month.  She was so inspired that she challenged herself to incorporate some of Karen's collage techniques on her next layout.  I love the results.  Megan's issued a collage challenge to you all on our message board.  Are you in for a little creative play?

Get organized with Jenni Bowlin Studio

I was really excited about adding the "Have a Treat" divided box to my scraproom. I know for me, one thing I struggle with is organizing my scrapbooking supplies. That's why I love little boxes like this! They are just perfect for keeping all your favorite embellishments handy.
This would be great for all you project lifers too!

Find all the goodies here:
Divided Box, Buttons & Brads, Journaling Cards, Memo Books, Chipboard Buttons,Vintage Style Wooden Spools.

Now have some fun & go get yourself organized!

Christmas Greetings from Megan Klauer

I hope everyone is enjoying this wonderful time of year! It's only a few days away from the "big day", do you need a last minute idea for a card or tag to stick on all those packages?
I like to start with a simple sketch, so I created this...



It made making my "Christmas Greetings" card pretty quick!



Supplies:
Christmas 2011 Accessory Sheet
Christmas 2011 Mini Pattern Sheet
Chipboard Buttons - Vintage Christmas
Printed Tickets - Frames
Bingo Cards - Calendar Set

I also used the same sketch to create these easy tags that I needed for my boys' teacher gifts...









Supplies:
Christmas 2011 Accessory Sheet
Christmas 2011 Mini Pattern Sheet
Printed Tickets - Christmas

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays everyone!

Christmas Garland #14 by Megan Klauer

Today we have another installment in our Christmas Garland, this one by Megan Klauer. I love the regal quality of this little banner as it shares the good news to all the earth. Thanks for the inspiration Megan!

Supplies: Vintage Holidays Christmas Mini Paper Sheet, Vintage Holidays Christmas Accessory Sheet, Family Tree Aunt Grace Paper, Vintage Christmas Chipboard Buttons, Garnet Superior Stick Pen, Mercantile Exclusive Die-cut Journaling Card - Star

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!

Megan Klauer inspired by Jenni Bowlin

As I sat and looked through Jenni's beautiful blog, I was of course inspired by her love of all things vintage. The way she uses old photographs that have long begged to be put on a scrapbook page. Her use of rub-ons and this amazing technique tutorial; which became the starting point of my page.

I began by applying the Transferware Flowers rub-on onto the backside of the Be Our Guest - Tea Towel paper.

I then in true Jenni style added a thin layer of Jenni Bowlin for Ranger Malted Milk Paint Dabber to "vintage" it up a bit. Followed by the paint technique as shown HERE on Jenni's blog.

I trimmed it down a bit and added it to the bottom right hand corner of my page.

I also used the remaining portion of the rub-on and the same technique with the paint and tape on top of an old manilla tag.

Thanks for the inspiration Megan! And we have a layout from Waleska to look forward to tomorrow following this same technique!

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!

Tanner's Apple Orchard by Megan Klauer

Today Megan Klauer continues this month's theme of mixing new product with classic JBS on her layout. "Tanner's Apple Orchard." She pulled her inspiration from the green and white checked "Homegrown" paper from the "Homespun" collection. She then mixed in several pieces from this year's "Be Our Guest" mini-papers. What a delightful combination and perfect for these delicious apple photos.

Here are sweet little apples punched from the same sheet of "Homegrown" paper. The numbers and blue star are pulled in from the multi-colored sheet of Star Banner Stickers.

Finally, she's brought in some perfect titlework with the large and small black Chalkboard Alpha Stickers and our newest alpha release, the Shadow Alpha Stickers in red and black.

I love it! Such a fresh fall page! Thanks for the inspiration Megan!

Welcome to the JBS Team Megan Klauer!

We are very excited to announce a new addition to the JBS Team! Megan Klauer! Welcome Megan! We are sure you're going to love her colorful, whimsical, delightful style. Since we've still got a lingering back to school vibe going, we picked a couple of hers to share here. We are certainly looking forward to more amazing inspiration from her in the upcoming months. :)

Being a mom of 3, I love to escape to the world of creating & scrapbooking as often as possible. It’s as much about relaxing and being creative as it is about capturing and sharing those stories for future generations. I strive to journal on my layouts as much as I can; even if it’s just a short sentence or two. I keep a blog that serves as sort of my online “art journal”. When I’m not chasing my little ones around, I also do on-location photography; where I get to capture special moments for others.