Balance by Dina Wakley

On this layout I used one of my favorite older JBS products, and one of my favorite new products. The "old" product i used is the JBS Bookprint paper. I adore that paper! It is the perfect background, so versatile. Plus I have an affinity for text papers and words, so the paper is perfect. My favorite "new" product is the Speckled Egg JBS paint...swoon! I used it to color the tag and the cool new dotted chipboard letters. I used the Speckled Egg ink pad on the right side of the layout...I just pressed the pad onto the cardstock to get a rectangular outline in which to journal.

Thanks for the inspiration Dina!

Halloween Treats from Ranjini Malhotra

I love Jenni's new halloween collection and wanted to make something quick and simple for halloween using the new paper collection. I especially love that the journaling cards are so versatile and can be used on a layout, as a gift tag, or a stand alone card. I chose to make a card and a mini treat bag. I used my diecutting machine to cut the little paperbag and assembled it (die from Papertrey Ink). Then I turned to some of my longstanding favorites - Jenni's rubons, vintage style buttons, label stickers and chipboard stars to mix in a bit of older product with the new. I applied the rubon to the oval shaped label sticker, then placed it on the bag with a pop dot. I then tied the button to the handle after threading it with baker's twine and whipped up the card quickly by adding a chipboard star, inked, embossed and glittered. I added the stamped sentiment with a Papertrey Ink stamp and die, using Jenni Bowlin for Ranger ink in Fountain Pen. Super simple and easy to do, and it's ready to fill with tiny treats and gift to your favorite little spook! These would also make cute favors for the class halloween party or for a coworker.

A Handmade Halloween

One of my favorite Jenni Bowlin products are the Bingo Cards!  You can find them in many themes in classic Jenni Bowlin colors.  I've used them as embellishments, as mini books, as banners ... the possibilities are endless!  The classic colors work beautifully with all JBS product like the Halloween Bingo Cards and the new Vintage Halloween 2011 line.

In this layout, Jenni's Halloween Bingo Cards fit into a pocket in the layout and are used to hold my photos and my journaling on the back side.

I used the charming sheet of Starry Night cardstock and cut it to form the pocket. Foam tape is staggered inside the pocket so the Bingo cards stagger when placed inside.

The Bingo Cards make great little layouts themselves! The little "bee" accent on the Boo Card is made from a Cream Doily flower that was painted with a JBS Lemon Drops paint dabber and cut to form "wings".

The banner is made with the mini patterns from the Halloween Mini Pattern Sheet and vintage dictionary pages. The Doily flowers are beautiful accents for the banner and can be cut to form scallop shapes.

Supplies used:
Starry Night cardstock
Halloween 2011 Mini Pattern Sheet
Orange and Black Shadow Alphabet Stickers
Black Doily flowers
White Doily flower
Decorative Delicate Brads
Vintage Sew-On Buttons
Seal Clear Stamp
JBS for Ranger Lemon Drop Paint Dabber

A Bond Like No Other by Stephanie Howell

Doing a JBS layout with old+new product was a no brainer. I love and hoard all my JBS product, especially anything butterfly related. Here I chose to use old patterned paper and chipboard butterflies, but I updated them by adding the new Doily Flowers and Number Brads. I also used some of the brand new Alpha Stickers for my title, and added some older mini aphas as well.

Since I was using old and new JBS Product, I thought it was fitting to do a "then and now" type layout about my husband and my daughter.

To be fair, JBS products are timeless. I don't think there is anything dated about this layout!

Such a lovely layout and thoughts! Thanks for the inspiration Stephanie!

Patterned Paper Mixing with Becky Novacek

Hi everyone, Becky Novacek here, sharing my very favorite JBS product... pattern paper. All of them! I love to incorporate a mix of eclectic papers into a design. Using up my skinny leftover scraps is so gratifying! Jumping on the bandwagon of chevron design. I can say that my friend Marcy Penner inspired me to give this a shot. My very favorite JBS pattern paper ever is the pink, blue and red floral on the bottom left of the chevron design. I think it's so awesome that even as time passes, I still adore the early papers! I also included something new on this page...the little JBS red brad with the rhinestone inset. Thanks for letting me share!

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!

Mixing JBS Releases for an Eclectic Fall Layout with Briana

Hey everybody, Briana Johnson here to share a fall page I made using several Jenni Bowlin Studio releases, some recent and some from way back when. I wanted to do something with an eclectic look using a funky fall color palette and lots of pattern. Would you believe I used 7 different lines on this layout! 

I used Circle Die Cut from Be Our Guest, Floral from Tangerine Dream, Album (one of my all time favorite JBS papers), Accessory Sheet, and Dictionary from Haven, the bingo card side of Holly Stripe from Christmas 2011, Petite Red Floral from Red & Black Collection III, Buttercup floral paper from Front Porch, and Aunt Charlotte from Family Tree available on sale right now in the paper pad - $2.50 for 42 sheets!

I also used shadow alpha stickers in orange/black (but they definitely go with orange or yellow) and red/black alpha stickers, black doily flowers, decorative delicate brads, Mercantile Exclusive label stickers in brown, mini chalkboard alpha stickers in yellow, flag banner stickers in red/ black, and brown apothecary stickers. Whew!

I traced one of Jenni’s chipboard butterflies, found HERE, on white cardstock. Then using those lines as I guide, I typed the journaling with a typewriter. I'm not going to tell you how many tries it took to get it just right. But I will say micro space is your friend. Then I cut it out, glued it onto the butterfly, used an exacto knife to clean up the edges, and finally went around the edges with an ink blending tool and JBS Malted Milk Ink.

Thanks for joining me and I hope to see you mixing your JBS in unexpected ways!

Family photo by Anthony Butler Photography

Holiday cards by Mindy Miller

I have been a long time fan of Jenni Bowlin products and appreciate the fact that many of her items are timeless. Other products come and go, but products such as the Label Stickers are a staple in my crafting supplies.


For example, I immediately reached for the Label Stickers when making these new holiday cards. They added a consistent design element, even though I used different patterned papers on each card.





The stickers easily coordinate with the new Christmas patterned papers, which make card making easy. The designs are bold enough to stand on their own, but also look great with simple embellishments.






I used both the new decorative brads and rhinestone bows to embellish the cards.





Although the cards are different, I think they are a great compliment to one another with a classic Jenni Bowlin vintage look. Plus, it's a design that is easy to replicate as you get started on your holiday card making.


Mindy

JBS Mercantile October Exclusives!

Are you ready for a little peek at our October exclusives? You can see evidence of our latest exclusive stamp and stencil here. There will be lots of design team fun ahead with these two! Reserve yours today! And come back for more October peeks on the 25th of this month!

Mixing It Up: "My People" by Jill Sprott

This is the time of year when we eagerly await boxes full of new scrap goodies, but what about the products that already have homes in your stash?  They deserve love, too, don't they?  In combining new items with older ones, you can get your new product "fix" while also revitalizing product that has been somewhat neglected.   This is exactly what I did with the following layout:

I pulled together some of my favorite yesteryear JBS products with my favorite items from recent releases.

The foundation of the page is one of my favorite JBS papers ever, "Vintage Drawing Paper."  I have been hoarding sheets of this precious stuff for years, and this is the last of it.  I also worked in papers and journaling cards from the Victoria, Play Date, and Red and Black Extension III lines, along with the more recent Be Our Guest and Haven lines, and the new Christmas and Halloween lines.

I combined older and newer accents as well here, including pearl flowers (one of my all-time favorite JBS accents), mini letter stickers, and gold floral rub-ons, all of which keep company with the new shadow alpha stickers and one of the house chipboard pieces (which I inked with the new Weather Vane ink).

This layout, like the others posted by the design team over the past few weeks, illustrates just how well older and newer JBS products mix on a page.  Though what's new won't be new for long, isn't it refreshing to know that what's old can be new again?  

Welcome to the JBS Team Waleska Neris!

We are super excited to announce Waleska Neris as the newest member of the JBS team! Waleska has such a flair for putting together simple elegant pages with touches of creative genius all over them. We think you're going to love her. :)

Welcome to JBS Waleska! We're looking forward to seeing more of your work here very soon!

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!

Read All About It!!!

The September issue of the JBS Mercantile Gazette is ready to hit the newstands! It's a six page downloadable PDF our design team publishes each month that's packed with articles on sketches, two-page layouts, multi-photo layouts, design skills, journaling ideas, and video tutorials. You can get the September edition HERE. The gazette is delivered to our kit club customers each month . . . subscribe now so you don't miss out on a single issue!

Mixing Old & New

Do you have a secret stash of old patterned papers that have been overlooked because you're too busy scrapping with the latest and greatest products? I'm guilty of that too, but let's work on changing that today!  One of the best ways to make older papers look fresh and exciting is by mixing them with new papers.  And no one makes that easier than Jenni Bowlin!  Her new releases always mix seamlessly with older JBS products, and it makes the design process simple.

On this page, I've chosen some of the new papers - Jolly Jack and Starry Night from the Halloween line (even though my page is not about the holiday!) and mixed them with old favorites: Blue Die-Cut Label paper, Play Date papers, and a navy polka dot from the Trendy Paper Pack.  Because Jenni keeps her colors consistent through the releases, these papers blend perfectly (and it cuts the time it takes me to select papers in half!)

I used the new Classic Foam Stamps with Cough Syrup dye ink to matte my photos, and the Bunting Stamp to create a colorful border.

For my title,  I mixed the new Alterable Alphas (rubbed with Cough Syrup dye ink) with my all-time favorite JBS alpha stickers (colored in with yellow Sharpie).

And if you're looking for tips on combining patterned paper in your designs, be sure to join me at Ella Publishing's Boot Camp, where I'll be issuing design drills to get your scrap booty in shape!

Happy Scrapping!

September Mid-Month Release Today!

The September Mid-Month Release is set to go live this morning at 10 am CST! Look for our usual array of vintage treats, a couple specials on JBS classics and a delightful vintage Halloween papercrafting kit! Check Jenni's blog for more peeks!

Arctic Blast by Celeste Smith

The most amazing design element that Jenni has brought to her lines is the consistency of colors she uses in each and every line. This makes mixing new and old product a dream. You'll never have a problem matching reds, oranges or any other colors with older product. I don't know about you but the ability to use up my stash and breathe new life into it just makes me happy!For this page I used the new Halloween line - specifically the Jolly Jack paper (the stripe) then I pulled coordinating colors from that paper. First I added the new Starry Night paper from the same Halloween line. I just love the stars! Next I knew I'd find some red, so I pulled the Red Star label paper from the Town Square line and then my favorite orange paper from the Tangerine Dream line!I found it amusing to use a Halloween line to document the ride my kids were on so I added even more whimsy. I took the name of the ride "Arctic Blast" and made it my title using the new Shadow Alpha Stickers in Vintage/Black. Then I dug into my stash and pulled out a pack of die cut journaling cards and punched snowflakes from them. An unconventional color palette for a snowflake layout indeed!As a final touch, I added ink splatters made from the Fountain Pen, Chili Powder, and Chicken Feed JBS for Ranger re-inkers. Instead of misting them, I used the applicator and flicked them on for a more splattered effect. I've been having a lot of fun with this technique lately!

This month our design team members are sharing their favorite new and classic JBS product with you and we're spotlighting them on our new Design Team Board. Learn some more fun trivia about Celeste HERE.

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

JBS Mercantile September Updates 2 of 2

Our second set of gallery updates is live and there are lots of great projects to enjoy! Check out the galleries of Becky, Betsy, Briana, Doris, Jill, Lisa, and Mindy to see all the new stuff. Here's a small sampling. The main kit is sold out, so the exclusive stamp that Lisa used here is unavailable (become a member so you don't miss out next month!). There are still a handful of the Artisan and Antiquarian Add-ons available though and you can make lots of fun things with them.

Mindy focused on the new JBS Classic Foam Stamps and Artisan embellishments on this one.

Briana rocked the chevron mask from the Artisan Add-on on this one.

Betsy worked the new JBS Alterable Chipboard Alphas and Doily Flowers on this one.

Doris blended the Artisan kits from August and September on this one.

Jill worked in lots of the Antiquarian Add-on on this one.

And Betsy made a creative mini-album from the perforated postcards from the Antiquarian Add-on here. Don't forget to check the design team gallery for more lovely creations!