Busy, Busy!

Today is my mom's birthday ... a big shout out to the most wonderful woman I know!

I've been very busy lately with work and a few other projects. My sister and I are going to be vendors at a local Craft Fair on Saturday. If you're going to be near Eastern Connecticut this weekend, be sure to stop by the Windham High School!!! (You can check out THIS post about the last Craft Fair)

And because I should never post without something ... here's not only one, but two layouts for your inspirational enjoyment:

These are the flowers that my hubbie dearest had sent to me for Christmas. I was shocked and amazed and so in love with this man. He was half-away around the world and took the time to make me feel loved and special.

This layout was created using all Sue Cummings products from her 2009 Santa Sue subscription (HUGE kit) at Oscraps.

And maybe I should have expected it, but I was still surprised when I received flowers for Valentine's Day as well! Part of the surprise was that my sister (who is a magnificent florist) delivered the bouquet on February 12th :) It was all purple (I love purple). Awww...

My all purple arrangement (with is slightly artistically colored here) matched these wonderful papers and elements from the Artistic Heart collab kit by Sue Cummings and Ashalee Wall at Oscraps. The purple heart paper (re-colored) and burlap paper are from Danielle Young.

So that is my way of preserving these loving memories ... I'm counting the days until I can thank him properly!

I hope you enjoyed them! Remember - I'll see you at the Craft Fair!

*~*~*

Vote for me!

So, I recently got an invitation to be featured at Blog Interviewer. To be honest, I think it was mainly an attempt to sell me something, but I took the time to answer the interview questions and wasn't parted with any of my money ...


Here is my interview:


What is your blog about?
Jessica’s Custom Creations (craftiejessie) is a blog about creativity, art and love. I am always looking for new things to do and creative ways to do them. I highlight my paper crafts, my fabric crafts, my photo crafts and my digital artwork. Almost everything I do is made from the heart for someone I love. I create little pieces of me to give to loved ones and to capture memories.

What do you do for a living?

I am a happily married, mother of three. I mostly stay at home where I homeschool my young chidren and work on the computer part time. I have been (and still dabble in) graphic arts, web design and media producing. This is my hobby and my passion and I try to make the time for it!

Why did you start blogging about this?

I started blogging about my creations as a way to share my ideas with others and to show them that they can do it too! When I started crafting, I drew such inspiration from others and marveled at this whole new world. I love discovering yet another way to make art! I want to be just a little inspiration to somebody else.

How long have you been blogging?
My blog has been around since September of 2007, but it is only the last two years or so that I have tried to update regularly and keep it current.

How many people visit your blog every day?
My webcounter says that I average 15 visitors per day … I hope so!

Does your blog generate income?
No, I do not generate an income from my blog nor do I want to. I want to be a free source of inspiration. My blog is for everybody and I don’t mind if they take my ideas because that means that they are creating!!!

Who would be interested in this blog?
Any creative person would be interested in my blog. A scrapbooker, a digital scrapbooker, an artist in paper, card-makers, graphic designers, grandmothers, daughters, young, old, male, female. I believe it’s for everyone. Even if you’re not in a creative field, you can be inspired by the stories of my family or the passion with which I do my work.

How long do you blog each day?
Maybe a half an hour. I try to update more than once a week and each post takes about 30 minutes to complete. However, if you consider the hours, upon hours, of time that I spend making my creations, I spend a lot of time working for and on my blog :)

Why should we subscribe to this blog?
You should subscribe to my blog because everybody needs to be inspired! Why wouldn’t you want to see what other people are doing in your field, or to discover a new field? I draw from my inspirations and share them with you! If you’re looking for ideas, or just want a pleasant place to stop by, you should subscribe to my blog!

What advice do you have for bloggers?
I think my advice would fall into two categories. The first would be technical and general: post often. Use pictures. Use descriptions. The second would be personal and creative: tell stories, be passionate, care about your subject and your audience.
But most of all, have fun!

*~*~*

RAK from Sue!

The wonderful and talented Sue Falstaff is hosting a RAK giveaway on her blog!!!



Head on over to her blog HERE to comment and enter to win! Sue Cummings is giving away FIVE $5 gift certificates! Who doesn't want that!!!

Happy 5th Birthday Justin

I decided to make my card (see THIS post for the card and a FREE quick page) into a full 12x12 layout. Here's the result: And to go with it, a layout containing a ton of pictures for the rest of the day - Justin's fabulous 5th birthday party. He loved it and everybody had fun.

I had this concept (which I thought was pretty cool) where I would turn the grid into a series of presents. Three rows of three presents and some of those presents would contain one photo and some would contain four ... but then when they were all there, it was just quite a bit of stuff, so I didn't make a big deal of my present idea. I thought it would be trying too hard. So, I subtly outlined them and maybe you get the idea ...

Each of the photos is masked and I wanted to use a slightly irregular box look - like lumpy presents - to add interest.

Absolutely everything used is from the Oscraps Collab O-Birthday kit.

Have you ever just had one of those moments when nothing went right? I'm sure you have. Well, that's what this layout was for me. I started this layout over a week ago and told myself that I couldn't work on any other layouts until it was done. For so many reasons, this layout became the bane of my existence. Because I was trying to import so many photos into my file, my graphics program crashed. And because I started the process, it just kept crashing. After struggling with it and trying not to lose my work and then re-doing all my work over and over again, I finally scrapped it and started from scratch. It went a bit faster after that, but I'd wasted days of time and was quite frustrated. So ... this is now a labor of love and I wish I liked it a bit more after all that ...

I hope YOU like it!

*~*~*

Birthday Time is HERE!!!

Woohoo! The birthday bash at Oscraps has begun!!!

First of all, make sure you check out my previous post for a FREE downloadable birthday card. Sue Cummings' design team has a ton of goodies for you, so check out the big list of FREE downloads HERE.

And a special offer for this week:

30% off everything in Sue's store and a free gift with every purchase:

*~*~*

And ... everything at Danielle Young's store is 34% off!!! Wohoo :)
There are a lot more deals there, but these are the ones I'm advertising because yours truly is on the design team!!!

Head on over to Oscraps and check out all the free goodies and treats, contest, prizes, and FUN!!!

*~*~*

Happy Birthday Oscraps!

It's Oscraps' Fourth Birthday and they're celebrating this week - March 21st-28th.

There is going to be a lot of celebration specials, contests, games, creativity and fun, so go check it out - Oscraps.com.

Sue Cummings has enlisted her design team to create fabulous birthday cards. Her brand-new birthday kit is part of the special celebration. You can head over to her blog HERE and find FREE downloadable files and a whole list of more FREE goodies!

And now my contribution ...

You can download it HERE

And this is what I did with it:

Happy Birthday Oscraps!!!

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Silly Valentines

I wanted to get some good pictures of myself and the kids on Valentine's Day to send to Kevin. I tried. I really did. However ... the pictures just didn't happen. For so many reasons. But, we did get some silly ones and those are what you see here:

This is the collab kit between Sue Cummings and Ashalee Wall.

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

52 Inspirations - Week 4

This is the layout I did with the 52 Inspirations kit for week 4:

The quote says, "Children show me in their playful smiles the divine in everyone. This simple goodness shines straight from their hearts and only asks to be lived." M. Jackson.

Now, I believe that all goodness comes down from the Father Above - God. He is the one Who created children and gave them such cute smiles. I also believe that children remind us of His goodness and His grace. He loves us all so very much!

The paper, quote and paint spray are from Vicki Stegall's Week 4 kit. The paper strips and Smile wordart is from Sue Cummings. The frames are an old freebie from kfredericks. All can be found at Oscraps.com!

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Whirlie Twirlies

You're not going to be able to tell the actual outline of my next layout because it has a white background ... but take a look anyway :)

This is a fun and happy pastime that the kids and I did almost every day in the Fall of 2009. Whirlie Twirlies. That's what we called it when I would grab their arms and spin round and round. Sometimes I spun them way out and sometimes we played it safe and went slow. Andrew was light enough that I could swing him up high and the older two thought it was great fun to have me swing him over their heads. By the end of our time together I was thoroughly dizzy. After one afternoon of too many whirlie twirlies, I felt nauseous for the rest of the day.

All the elements are from Sue Cummings at Oscraps. I mixed and matched elements from different kits. It's simple, but I like it.

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Best Friends

I actually did a paper layout! It's been months! And it felt so good :)

One of my friends invited me to her house to scrapbook. She hasn't scrapbooked since the last time we were together (almost a year ago) so it's been months for her as well ... and it was nice to see her again.

Here's my layout:I didn't take a whole lot of time to prepare. I just grabbed my box of photos and threw several paper packs and embellishments in a bin and went over. I figured I'd just work it all out when I got there ... and I did. I spent over an hour just going through photos and reliving memories. Then I had to choose which ones to scrap. These ones of the kids last May were really cute and the colors matched perfectly some of the paper I had brought with me. So, I laid them out, decided on my design and executed it! Moniqua was so proud of me because I actually did something. Usually when we get together, I take forever and won't do anything because it might not be perfect. It isn't perfect, but I did it!
As Moniqua often says, if I wanted it to be perfect I would have bought it in a store. This is homemade :)

Everything I used is from the Making Memories Whimsy line except for the Orange and Pink cardstock which Moniqua gave me from her CTMH stash and the American Crafts thickers for the title.

I think I like the placement of the embellishments. I don't know if I like the stickers (some are crooked). But, it's there and it's cute! I'm so happy!

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

I Feel Pretty

Pretty Boy ... Actually my son, Andrew, is not much of a pretty boy. He's cute. He's adorable. But pretty? No. However, he does love getting in to purses and putting on chapstick and lip gloss (who doesn't). Too bad he's not that good at it.


All the elements and papers are from Sue Cummings at Oscraps. The alpha is from Danielle Young.

I think it's cute ... he'll grow out of it eventually :)

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

52 Inspirations - Week 3

So, to continue with the 52 Inspirations ... here's my layout for Week 3:


Week 3's kit is from Vicki Stegall. The only things not from that kit are the photo mask and the notepad (both from Sue Cummings). Remember, that if you sign up for the subscription, you get all the kits for a seriously reduced price!

It's just an everyday photo of everyday life ... which is what I think it's supposed to be :)

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

52 Inspirations

I tried to do the 365 thing last year. It's a really cool idea where you take a picture every day and all compiled, they tell the story of your life. You can work on your photography and take pictures of things you normally wouldn't ... and it's a great idea.

I would say that I took at least one picture for about 355 days last year and I ended up with thousands upon thousands of photos. I believe my biggest month had over 9,000 ... wow.

However, I did not do a good job beyond that. I did choose some photos for every day. And I did print some of them out. I journaled sporadically and probably less than half the year done. So ... now my goal (and it's almost March) is to finish last year's 365 project. I feel very sad about this ...

I knew right away that I would continue with this project for 2010. Yes, I do want to take pictures of my life and tell the stories of our life for my children ... but I need a break and to catch up with my HUGE to do list.

But, I do need inspiration and I do need the push to get things done. So, I've subscribed to the 52 Inspirations at Oscraps. They have at least one mini-kit a week and I think I can handle that - at least one layout a week :) I've found it challenging because the themes or colors aren't always what I was thinking ... I'm still debating if I should find a picture from last year or earlier in the year for every week or if I should see the new theme and take a new picture for that theme ... we'll see :)

Anyway ...

Here's my first Inspired layout - from the Week 2 kit by Sue Cummings.

I made it simple and then expanded ... here's my second version with extra word art:

I like it because it ties in the pink from Samantha's dress.

The 52 Inspirations is a very cool idea. You sign up once and pay a small price, and get over 52 separate mini-kits with many extras! You just come back every week to see what has been added! You could also buy them individually. If you paid for each one individually, you'd pay well over 20 times the original price. I highly recommend it - you never know what gems you'll find and we all need to be inspired!

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Woodland Whisper

Danielle Young has a new kit out! This is a collaboration with the fabulous Kitty from Kitty Designs!!! It's beautiful. So beautiful.

I LOVE IT!!! :) And the things people have done with it already ... oh, those girls are genius!

Here's my first layout with it:


Samantha being adorable :) Awww ...

So, head on over to Oscraps and check it out here! It's on sale right now for 20% off! Woohoo!

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

Love is in the air!

Lots of new stuff! It's almost Valentine's Day and people are excited!

As you know, Danielle Young just came out with a new kit and know for a fact that a new one is in the works and almost done!!! I'm so excited about it and I know you can't wait, either :)

Sue Cummings is hard at work with the 52 Inspirations and she's just released two new kits and more are on the way!

I am going to be busy with these goodies and I'll show you soon what I come up with. So many ideas, so little time :)

Also ... have you checked out Patina Soul? I just stumbled across this blog today and oh my! The antique goodies! It's inspiration waiting to happen! They're offering a gift certificate, so head on over as quick as you can!

Oh, I'm so excited for the possibilities! I feel so inspired that I can't sit in my seat! I'm jumpy :) So ... let's hope that I can have an hour or two to work it out of my system before duty calls :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

*~*~*

Girl Time

This is the companion to the layout I just posted, Tootsies. We all went to get our nails done together in the Fall for birthdays ... and had some girl time :)



Using Danielle Young's Flutter kit now available at Oscraps.

I hope you like it!

*~*~*

News from Danielle Young

After a brief holiday hiatus, Danielle Young has a new page kit coming out - Flutter.
Here's my first layout ... I can't wait to do more because I LOVE butterflies :)




And in other exciting Danielle Young news ... she's hosting a $20 giveaway on her blog!

It's to celebrate her participation in a new online scrapping site: ScrapHD.com. It looks really cool and I can't wait to check it out! Go have a look!

*~*~*

Once again, I hope you like it :)

*~*~*

Craft Fair - Framed Scripture Graphics

I never got around to posting about the Craft Fair that happened here in late November. So, here goes:

My three sisters and myself (in the hat). One had gorgeous floral creations and one had fabulously beautiful jewelry and the last was there for moral support and childcare (thank God for that!)

I've participated in my church's annual craft fair (and some others) for four years. I have sold a variety of items including, but not limited to, pre-made scrapbooks, calendars, notepads, journals, dayplanners, squashbooks, hanging scrapbooks, paper ornaments, and cards. I didn't think I was going to do it this year because of the move and Kevin's deployment. I didn't have a huge stash of pre-made items and didn't want to take the time to make more.

But, it was also the time that I was starting to look ahead to Christmas and prepare those gifts. I had an idea (which I thought was pretty good) of revising an earlier project and customizing it for some of my friends as gifts. Then, I thought about how easy it would be to reproduce copies en-masse and sell them at the craft fair ... this brilliant idea turned into something of a monster, but much easier to deal with than any other paper crafting project.

First, let me explain about the project. Last year, I did an inspiration piece by creating a background graphic with a Scripture verse on it that was missing one word. (You can see my post about it here) I then had the graphic printed out in an 8x10 by the local printshop and purchased a suitable frame with a mat. I chose some chipboard letters (Making Memories) and painted them with Tim Holtz crackle paint and adhered them to make the missing word. The end result:

(Yes, bad picture)

So ... I consulted my friends and got the thumbs up - i.e. they wouldn't mind if their gift wasn't exclusive. So, I gathered some more Scriptures and created a bunch of different graphics in different colors (and then different sizes) ... and bought a ton of different frames in all sizes ... and then the only issue was the letters.

It would be expensive to buy a whole alphabet for just one word when chipboard alphas are at least $5 each, so I thought of using a die-cutting machine. My friend had a Cricut, so I borrowed hers and borrowed some alphabet cartridges from her and another Cricut-owning friend and tried it out (I now have my own little Cricut as a housewarming gift and love it! even though buying my own cartridges will be expensive!).

Then came the beginning of my problems. The fonts weren't quite what I envisioned. I'd picked some Scriptures with longer blank words. The Cricut wouldn't cut the chipboard very well and trying to paint paper or cardstock with crackle paint was disastrous. The crackle paint in the color I was planning to use the most was all dried out. I was running out of time! The list goes on ... so I ended up moving on to Plan E and digging out all of my alpha stickers, chipboard letters, etc and coming up with a custom word for each graphic ... it was quite time intensive and I found that I had a whole lot more alphas than I had realized!

The end result was fabulous, but you can't really see it from the photos I took:

The colors popped, the letters were fabulous, the frames were awesome ... and I love it! They sold quite well actually and this was the first craft fair that I actually made money ... I still have a lot left over, though. As usual, it's the smaller, cheaper ones that really sell, so I have a lot of large ones left.

Almost every single graphic is an original photograph that I took myself, re-colored, layered together and used to create a unique design.

This is my sister's handiwork:

Once again, the pictures do not do the work justice. They do such good work!

I hope you enjoyed this review of our craft fair!

Any extra inventory is available to any interested parties and custom items can be made!

*~*~*

More computer problems ...

Hello All!

Do you all have this many problems with your computer? I've had two external hard drive failures in under two months! Plus the one that happened last January ... so three in one year plus the PC crash and Internet problems ... yikes! Good thing I spent hours backing up on to DVD and CDs as well! I've spent the last few days downloading all of the stuff off the DVDs to create a new file system and backing it up onto yet another external hard drive!

It's all very frustrating, but at least I didn't lose all my family photos or something ... that would have made me cry.

So ... once I get that settled down, I will be starting to post the projects and layouts I have been working on in the past few months! Exciting! I think I may be able to post again today! Yippee!!!

Thank you all for being patient!

*~*~*

Happy Holidays!

Hello Everyone! I hope you had an amazing holiday!

I was so unbelievably busy and I'm still in the throws of things ... we had the holiday celebration at my house this year and you can imagine what kind of cleaning and preparing that entailed. I had this wonderful vision of handmade gifts for everybody and homemade Christmas cookies, cakes and pies ... and I didn't get half of what I wanted to do done. But! I did get the most important things done and that's what matters. (You'll be seeing some of that in my next few posts)

We're expecting a house guest tomorrow. My recently engaged brother is flying his fiance here to see us (all the way from Texas) and the kids and I will have the honor of having her stay with us. We're looking forward to it, but it means we're still very busy! Maybe I can get her caught on the scrapbooking bug :)

So, once again, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and I'll be posting again soon!