Here's To You!

Danielle Young recently came out with a beautiful kit called Here's To You available at Oscraps. I love this paper! It went perfectly with some photos of my sister and her new husband from their wedding.

What a gorgeous couple! I just love them!

The Here's To You kit is available now along with some wonderful extras! Alphas, box templates, quick pages ... they're positively inspirational!

I hope you like it!

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Strawberry

Thinking about Summer? I am! I can't wait for the warmer weather and the flowers and the swimming and the outdoors fun!

To help put me in the mood, I created this layout of my son enjoying a strawberry from last year:


The paper, mask and wordart are from Sue Cummings. The frame (recolored to red) is a bonus (#4) for the 52 Inspirations Subscription from Sue Cummings and the alpha is an old one I got from KAagard and have no idea where to get now ...

I absolutely LOVE this layout. I love the colors. I love the look. I love the memories :) I couldn't think of a brilliant title ... but this will do :)

I hope you like it!

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A Week In the Life * Giveaways!!!

Wow. Have you seen the giveaways on Ali Edwards' blog? Oh my. They are so wonderful! I hope I get one. You should go and check it out!!!

Now, the cool part ... both Danielle Young and Sue Cummings are featured sponsors! Yay! As a Creative Team member for both of them, I knew it was coming and I can tell you that their contributions are absolutely gorgeous!!!

Danielle Young is a not only a designer at Oscraps, but also with The Daily Digi and TDD is donating a special HUGE collab kit for the giveaway.

The thing is HUGE!!!

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Sue Cummings is a designer at Oscraps and has donated a subscription to the 52 Inspirations. 52 kits in one year - one HUGE kit!!! She also has some really awesome coupons and specials on her BLOG, so go and check them out. There will be several ... every day ... so check back often!!!

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52 Inspirations - Week 6

Sally's Angelworks was the guest designer for Week 6. You can get the 52 Inspirations at Oscraps :) This kit is currently FREE!

I added some frames and word art from Sue Cummings ...


I started out at first with paper, word art and hearts from the kit. And the above layout is my first one. I think it's great, but just as an experiment I added the red background (below) from Sue Cummings and it just made it completely different! With the red background, you don't need the red accents ...

I think they both look great, so I printed out both for my personal scrapbook :)

I hope you like them!

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Remember - next week is the start of the Ali Edwards project, 'A Week in the Life'! HUGE giveaways!!! Check back on MONDAY :)

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Tweet! Oscraps is Twittering!

In case you haven't heard, Oscraps went live on Twitter this week!

And if you sign up to follow them on Twitter (go HERE), you will get this awesome collab kit for FREE!!! So do it! I must admit ... I signed up for Twitter just to get the kit!

Have fun getting twitterpated!

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A Week in the Life

Do you follow Ali Edwards? I do. She's an amazing scrapbooker and an incredible source of inspiration for me. I loved her article in Creating Keepsakes magazine. I love her blog. She has such amazing projects. I've done several of them from felt booklets to layout ideas to digital design elements to ... you name it! I love the projects she does every Christmas, but I've never done one. Maybe next year!

I must say that since Kevin has been serving his country, I haven't been able to read her blog as avidly as I'd like, but I have recently been reminded of her brilliance. She is doing a project next week called 'A Week in the Life'. It's where you capture everything about a week in the life of your family. Pretty self-explanatory, right. It reminds me of the Christmas project that I love so much!
Now, I'm the sort of person that thinks something is a great idea and then takes forever to do it. I haven't scrapped my Christmas photos yet, let alone was I prepared for capturing my holiday memories in November ... but this is sort of what this is. You are prepared for a very intense experience which leads to capturing that specific time in your life in a real-time, real-life way. What you did and what you feel are captured as you do and feel them. It's not about looking back. It's about capturing it as it happens.

Why do I bring this up? Well, because I happen to (spoiler alert!) know that there are going to be some fabulous giveaways going on next week and I want you to be prepared! I wish I could tell you more than that, but you'll have to wait until Sunday ...

I would LOVE to do this project, but I haven't decided if I'm going to. School vacation is next week and there are a few other things which make it an abnormal week, so I wouldn't be able to capture a 'real' week. To be completely honest, I think I'll actually do it the week after (talk about waiting again) and just follow along with the discussions and ideas next week. I'll post all about it when it happens!

But I'll tell you all about the fabulous giveaways I'm involved in and you can check Ali's blog yourself as well!

Enjoy today! Are you excited? I am!

*~*~*

52 Inspirations

I'm going a little out of sequence, but that's ok.

This layout was made using the 52 Inspirations (subscription available at Oscraps) Week 11 (Guest Designer Kitty Chen)
The colors just screamed Iris at me ... here's a photo from my garden last year. I love the feel of Spring! Things are starting to bloom and we're enjoying the outdoors again!

I hope you like it!

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Craft Fair!

My sister, her friend and I collaborated for a local Craft Fair this past weekend. They really wanted to do the fair and they called in the big guns - me! Actually, I think they just wanted somebody who had done this fair before :) This is the largest craft fair I've been to in the area and it has hundreds of crafters there.

I decided to go with the framed Scripture digital art. It's less time-consuming to make. I made 19 new pieces and brought my current inventory up to 28.

Here's what my table looked like:

Once again, 99% of the digital graphics were photographs that were taken by me, layered and/or altered and printed out. Then I added dimensional letters for emphasis on one word and put them in frames.

And here is my sister's awesome jewelery:

Unfortunately, this craft fair was not much of a success. We heard all around us that nobody was having a good day in sales. It was really disappointing. It's always hard when it seems like nobody likes your stuff. When you create something, you put a little bit of yourself in to it and it becomes very personal.

But, we hung out and had a good time and there's always next time!

On a side note, if you see a framed art piece that you would like to own or a graphic that you would like to use, just let me know and we can arrange a way to get it to you!

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Danielle Young CT Call

Hello all!


Danielle Young is having a Creative Team Call!

You can check out the details on her blog HERE.

I applied a year ago and here I am! Loving every minute of it!!! So ... if you have a hankering, be sure to apply. It's a great team of girls to be with :)

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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!

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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!

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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:

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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!!!

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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!

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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!

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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!

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