Friday, December 30, 2016

12 Kits of Occasions - December '16

Hello!  I'm sorry I'm a bit late getting this posted.  We've been battling sicknesses all month, and my littlest one in particular hasn't been feeling well the last few days.  We've had a few particularly rough nights and mommy duty has certainly trumped card making.  That being said, I am happy to share with you the cards I was able to finish (several more in the works) with Jessica's fantastic kit.  It had cute, sparkly, elegant, and everything in between.  I was so excited when I opened this kit.  I started with these darling bears from MFT's Polar Bear Pals.
All the supplies for this card came with the kit.  (You can find the supply list on the 12 Kits Blog here.) I colored them to match our family, including favorite colors except for my husband, who shares the same favorite color as my son.  I'm pretty excited to give this as a Christmas thank you. 
I was enjoying using my SU! watercolor crayons, so for my next card I used them again to color a sentiment in the kit from Paper Smooches' Chit Chat stamp set. 
Okay, so after making this card I totally switched gears. The black, white, and gold papers and the die cuts in this kit were so great, that I knew they'd make for some quick and easy thank you cards.  These next few cards came together in a snap. The first one uses a sentiment Jessica had gold embossed from MFT's Kind Thanks. 
Okay, bear with me on this next one.  It is as simple as it comes, but so much prettier in real life.  The gold foil paper is beautiful, but boy is it hard to photograph! 
Don't you just love this script thank you that Jessica cut on her silhouette? 
Next up is probably my favorite card that I made, using one of my very favorite papers in the kit.  I think I'd like it as a pillow. :) Anyway, I didn't want to cover much of it up, so I simply placed a vellum rectangle behind "thanks", which I die cut with Concord & 9th's Thanks Card Die
I used another one of my favorite papers on my last card.  I just love the gold foil dots mixed into the pattern.  
I used vellum again to back my sentiment and layered a few leaves cut with PTI's Turning a New Leaf dies.  Turning a New Leaf is one of my very oldest stamp/die purchases, but it is something I still turn to again and again.  
PS I'm excited to be linking today's cards up to the Simon Says "Anything Goes" Wednesday Challenge
 I'll leave you with one final photo of them all together.
I'm sure hoping I can finish the rest of the cards I started with this awesome kit, but I'm thrilled to have finished all these thank you cards.  We have a lot of family we need to be thanking after Christmas.  Make sure you head to the 12 Kits of Occasions, so you can see my fabulous teammates cards.  One thing about being late to get this up is that I've already seen the amazing projects they have created, and you definitely don't want to miss out.  I appreciate you stopping by today.  I hope that you all have a wonderful and safe New Year's Eve, and that the New Year brings much happiness to you!

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Merry Christmas (plus a bunch of Christmas cards and tags)

Merry Christmas!  I hope as you celebrate the birth of the Savior today that you find much happiness and peace.  I love that Christmas is on Sunday and that we will get to go to church on this special day.    I realized that I never shared a few Christmas projects I made, so I figured I better do it before it is too late. 
My first card uses some Papertrey stamps.  If you look closely, you can see that there are little angels stamped lightly in the background, which I thought was quite perfect paired with this scripture.
Last week I noticed I needed a few more tags, so I pulled out some of old and new Winnie & Walter goodies to quickly whip up a few more tags.  I sure love these new stamps and dies.  I was inspired by several cards in Winnie & Walter's Rerun No. 17 Challenge.  My first tag was inspired by Gayatri (ombre blending on word cutaway) and Shay (loved the mint!).  I stamped the pine bough from Winter Woodland in the background and then blended ink onto the new In a Word: Noel Cutaway. The little tag hole was cut using a teeny die in the Essentials: Noelle Cutaways.
I loved how the tag turned out, so I decided to make a set of them. :) 
My next two tags were inspired by Lydia's card.  I used In Bloom: Frenchy's Festive Florals and a sentiment from Sentimental: Winter. 
And here is the second one all tied up and ready to go.
My last tag was inspired by Heather Hoffman's card.  The tags base is from Winnie & Walter's Essentials: Noelle Cutaways, a set of dies I have wanted for quite some time now.  I used just one little leaf in Winnie & Walter's In Bloom: Frenchy's Festive Florals and first stamped it in white to form a wreath.  Then I stamped it again in green and purposely stamped offset from the white, so the wreath would look more full.  Then I went back over a few of the leaves with the leaf vein stamp.  I added a little bling and finished it off with a sentiment from Sentimental: Winter.  I LOVE the font in this set! 

And I'm also entering this one into the Simon Says: Make it Sparkle challenge because I just the subtle sparkle in the gold twine and sequins. 
My final card is a super simple one using some of my favorite Concord & 9th stamps.  If you haven't already noticed, I'm on an ink blending kick lately.  After I blended the ink I stamped a sentiment from O Christmas Tree and heat embossed some clear snowflakes from Concord & 9th's Joy stamp set that are trickling down the card. (*affiliate links used) 
If you look really close you can see the glossy snowflakes. 
Thank you for spending a bit of time here today.  I hope that you have a blessed Christmas! 




SaveSave

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Concord & 9th Sneak Peek

Hello!  I'm a bit behind getting my Christmas cards out...surprise, surprise.  So I've got a few last minute, quick and easy Christmas cards to share on the Where Creativity Meets C9 Blog today.  Even if you are already finished with your holiday card making (yay!), maybe there is just one more person that your heart is hinting to you who could use a card this year.  I hope to see you there!

Friday, December 9, 2016

Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge #4

Hooray!  It's time for another Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge!  The theme for Challenge #4 is Winterand I had tons of fun making this card. 
I made it for a sweet friend of mine who I think of and miss every day.  She is simple (in the best way!) and happy and always looking on the bright side of things, so I wanted my card to reflect that.
I absolutely love the snowflake in Concord & 9th's Joy stamp set, so I started my background by stamping that in two different colors.  Next I added the sketchy star from O Christmas Tree, followed by the largest scribbled circle in Love you. Mean it.  I filled in the gaps with the little berries from the Joy stamp set.  I created the sentiment by embossing "happy birthday" from the Happy Day stamp set and creating "winter" with the Sophisticated Script.  Honestly, if you haven't picked up Sophisticated Script yet, you need to.  I use it all the time, and I love that I can create any word that I want and have it look amazing.  It's really easy to line up, too, especially with a Misti, but you can get great results even without one. 
Well, I'm off to get this card in the mail to my friend. :) Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Make sure you pop over to the Where Creativity Meets C9 blog next.  There are so many beautiful creations and the team did a really fantastic job showcasing the versatility of Concord & 9th products, using lots of non-holiday/winter themed products for this challenge.  I look forward to seeing what you create for our Winter Challenge this month!

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

12 Kits of Occasions - November '16

Good morning!  I'm absolutely delighted to be able to share my November 12 Kits of Occasions projects with you.  Kim (from Cupcakes, Cards, and Kim) sent the cutest, most cheerful kit to us, and I can't help but smile every time I look at it.  I think I love it a little extra because the colors are the same colors as our Christmas decorations. :) The stamps she used are darling, and I was extra excited to see Lawn Fawn's Happy Howlidays since it sold out so quickly during Simon Says Stamp's Stampbember event.  I had SO much fun creating with this kit and made both cards and tags.  First up...the cards.
My husband thought this Santa was great.  I think the name of this Avery Elle stamp set - Oh What Fun - is absolutely perfect.  Who doesn't have fun trying to catch snowflakes?  And I was happy to be able to use a rejected watercolor panel that I've had sitting around since July.  "Don't lose it. Re-use it." ...my Paw Patrol loving kiddos would be so proud. :) 
 
I really loved the papers Kim sent.  I can't believe I didn't use more of them!  But they did make an appearance on the next two cards.  On this one I used Concord & 9th's Joy stamps and die.  These super fun candy dots were also part of the kit.  I had to hide them from my kiddos because they looked good enough to eat. 
Okay, I love this shaker card.  So simple, but I can't get over how cute this dog is.  I paired him with my NBUS (never-been-used-shtuff) Clearly Besotted Window die and a sentiment from a retired Clearly Besotted set called In Stitches: Christmas. 
Our fabulous 12 Kitter Tracey put together the most incredible 25 Days of Christmas Tags event this year.  Sadly my whole family got hit with the most vicious stomach bug this month, and I haven't been able to play along very much, so I made sure to make a few tags when I was creating with this kit.
My first tag is a CASE of my friend Leigh Penner (love her!) from Day 22 of the 25 Days of Christmas Tags.  It uses this super cute car from Avery Elle's Dashing stamp set.
My next tag is a case of Lindsey's tag on Day 6.  I loved the blue behind her cute penguin, and I may or may not have been partial to her name. :)
My final tag uses Lawn Fawn's Happy Howlidays again and is a case of Samantha Mann's Tag on Day 15 of the 25 Days of Christmas Tags.  I adored her tag, so I didn't change much, and I was pretty happy to be able to pull out PTI's Journal Card 5 die.
And one last shot of them all together...my personal favorite way to look at them.  In fact, I love this view so much that they are still sitting like this. :)  I cannot wait to see what the other ladies made with their kit.  I'm sure it will be amazing.  Make sure you head to the 12 Kits of Occasions, so you can see their projects as well.  Thanks so much for stopping by!
SaveSaveSaveSave
SaveSaveSaveSave

Christmas Tags

Hi!  I'm just popping in quickly to share a few Christmas tags I made inspired by the 25 Days of Christmas Tags.  I actually don't remember when I made these...lots of awful sickness went around our house in November, and the month is a bit blurry.  Thankfully, though, I wrote down who inspired the tag as I created them.  It was so fun getting out some older supplies and remembering why I loved them and bought them.

First up, inspired by Nora Noll on Day 1:
Stamps: Clearly Besotted Pretty Poinsettias, PTI BB: Retro
Die: PTI Seeing Stars

My next tag was inspired by Michele Henderson on Day 2:
Stamps: Winnie & Walter Winter Wonderland
Dies: PTI Rustic Wreath, SSS Stitched Circles, PTI Tag Sale #6

 Tag #3 was inspired by Samantha Mann on Day 3:
 Stamps: PTI BB: Retro
Dies: PTI Seeing Stars, PTI Tag Sale #

 My fourth tag was inspired by Joni Andaya on Day 5:
 Stamps: PTI Holiday Folk, Winnie & Walter Winter Wonderland
Die: Clearly Besotted Rounded Tag

One last shot of them all together because I love that they coordinate even though I didn't plan it. 

And my last tag looks nothing like the others.   It was inspired by Cheiron Brandon on Day 4:
You get two views of this one simply because I couldn't decide which one I liked best.  Also, one small thing to note, the floral spray wasn't quite long enough, so I trimmed it in half and spread it apart underneath the poinsettia die.  I wish I'd remember those little tricks more often. 
Stamps: PTI Holiday Folk, Clearly Besotted Pretty Poinsettias, Clearly Besotted Fairytale Ending 
Dies: Clearly Besotted Pretty Poinsettias, Clearly Besotted Fairytale Ending, PTI Tag Sale #6 

My die cut machine got lots of use making these, so I'm linking them up to the Simon Says: Christmas to Die for Challenge. 
Phew.  That was a lot in a little bit of time.  I'll be back shortly to share my my 12 Kits of Occasions projects, so stay tuned :) and have a great day!
SaveSaveSaveSave

Friday, November 25, 2016

PTI November Blog Hop + 25 Days of Christmas Tags

 
ETA: New photos...yay!
Hello!  Or maybe I should be saying goodnight...it is rather late.  But I couldn't let the day end without participating in Papertrey's November Blog Hop.  I had the idea for this tag, but didn't get a chance to finish it until after the kiddos went to bed.  Please pardon the photo...clearly there is no natural light at 11:00 pm.  
Original Post Photo
This tag is delightfully glittery in real life.  All the roofs, windows, snow, etc. are lined with glitter.  It really is so much cuter in real life. 
ETA: A few new photos...you know, just to try to capture that sparkle!
PTI Hop Inspiration Photo
I was inspired by the colors on the Christmas tree in the hop inspiration photo as well as a cute tag by Kittie Caracciolo on Day 7 of Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags.
Better run to get this in before the hop ends.  Hopefully I can take better photos tomorrow morning. :) Have a wonderful weekend!