I'm back! :) (+ 12 Kits of Occasions February)

Hello!  Anyone still there? ;) Boy has it ever been a long time!  And for good reason.  In case you missed it on my Instagram account, we welcomed a brand new addition to our family a few months ago.  There have been lots of adjustments for all of us (especially in the time department), but we couldn't be more grateful to have this little one in our home.  

It seems fitting that my first post back is with my 12 Kits of Occasions friends.  I love them so!   This month our theme is Party in the Park.  Nancy sent such a bright, fun kit that truly had me in all smiles every time I looked at it, and I can definitely say that it felt like a party when I actually got to sit down and create with it.  I started with some of the goodies in the kit that I adored most and are officially on my want it (*need* it) list now. 

How beautiful are these Rose Flurries 3D Dies by Altenew?  I love how they looked paired with this sentiment from Concord & 9th's Grateful for Everything stamp set and the Plaid Background. (PS This scalloped tag die from Winnie & Walter is a long time favorite of mine, and I want to use it on everything lately.) 

The next card features Pretty Pink Posh's Decorative Tag 2.  Also now on my wish list. :) I have so many ideas in my head on how I would love to use this little window.  And I feel like it is a match made in heaven paired with the shiplap in Concord & 9th's Shiplap Sentiments.  This card is so simple, and I wanted to mass produce it and send it to everyone I know.

Surprise!!!  Admittedly I'm easily amused, but seriously, how fun is it to have a hidden message?!  I mixed some dies to create the sentiment.  I trimmed just the "you" from Concord & 9th's Grateful Dies and used just "thank" from their Many Thanks Dies. (PS If you're wondering why my cards are thank yous it is because I had to send a few non-handmade thank yous for baby gifts and it about killed me to do it. So while these are shamefully late, at least they are homemade.)

Clearly I just scratched the surface, so make sure you head over to the 12 Kits of Occasions Blog next.  I know you'll leave with brightened spirits and a mind full of inspiration.  If you are reading this, thank you so much for visiting!  It felt SO good to create again! Thanks for letting me share with you! :) 

25 Days of Christmas Tags

Hello!  I am beyond thrilled to be joining my friend Tracey in her fabulous 25 Days of Christmas Tags event.  She puts so much work and love into this, and it really is all for our benefit with oodles of inspiration to be seen and oodles of prizes to be won.  You can find all the details on how to join in on the fun on Tracey's blog HERE.  Today I have the pleasure of featuring some of my favorite products by Concord and 9th, one of the generous sponsors (read: prize givers) for this event.  

Normally I like bold, bright and fun for the holidays, but this year I decided I wanted something a little softer, a little simpler, and a little more elegant.  Soft pink and muted gold glitter seemed to fit the bill perfectly.  My first tag uses perhaps my all time favorite Concord & 9th holiday product, Ornamental Dies.  Their large size and brilliant design options have me giddy and in awe every time I use them.  

I loved my first tag but knew my son would be less than thrilled to have a soft pink tag on his Christmas package, so I decided to make a second design for him.  I pulled out a new Concord & 9th favorite of mine, the Snow Flurry Dies.  I swapped blue for pink but kept the simplicity in design of the first tag.  I love that both the Ornamental Dies and the Snow Flurry Dies allow for the center portion of the shape to be cut in a different color, so I could maintain a cohesive design by inserting the gold into both tags.

Thanks so much for visiting me today.  I love, love, love the 25 Days of Christmas Tags, and I just know you will, too, so make sure you head to Tracey's blog next see even more inspiration and get in on those fabulous prizes!

Adore Him with Spellbinders + Fun Stampers Journey

Today is such a fun day.  I have the pleasure of celebrating the exciting merge between Spellbinders and Fun Stampers Journey.  The two companies come together today!

I'm so happy that you'll now be able to purchase products from both companies all in one place because Spellbinders has wonderful dies and I quickly fell in love with several of the FSJ stamp sets (I'm thinkin' of you Gnome for the Holidays!).  FSJ carries stamps, dies, accessories, etc., and the rubber cling stamps stamp beautifully.

My cards today use the wonderful Adore Him stamp and die bundle.  I love this bundle!  It portrays exactly what my heart wants to share at Christmas.  The message speaks volumes, so I wanted to use colors and designs that would not compete with that.

I started my first card by stamping the city skyline.  To fill the width of the card, I stamped it twice.  Next I stamped the sentiment below.  I fussy cut around the top of the city outline and popped the entire panel up on a navy blue card base.  Finally, I stamped, fussy cut, and adhered the star image from the Adore Him stamp set.  

The card needed just a bit more, and when I was looking through Fun Stampers Journey's embellishments, the Gift Twine immediately caught my eye.  It is a true white and I love the little bit of gold woven throughout.  It adds a little something special in a simple way...just what I like. :)  I also added a little wood veneer to the star image for some added dimension.

My second card features a few more images and another sentiment from the Adore Him stamp set as well as the coordinating dies.  I did a little ink blending on the side of the card base, splattered the background with a little bit of black paint, and popped up the stamped images. 

I finished my card by again adding a few wood stars.  I sighed the happiest sigh when I put the two cards next to each other.  I can already tell that these stamps are going to get a lot of use.  

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope that you enjoyed your visit!

Where Creativity Meets C9 Sneak Peek

Hello, friends!  I know it's been quiet around here, but I have a post this morning on the Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge blog that I'm pretty excited about.  Simple cards, but I just love them.  Hope to see you over there!

Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge #26

Good morning!  I'm excited to share with you the newest challenge at Where Creativity Meets C9.

Challenge #26 is all about layers.  Now normally I would be a bit anxious about this particular challenge, but I recently had the need for lots of baby and birthday gifts (and flowers!), so I made lots of tags.  I realized Concord & 9th's Hooray Ribbon Dies are great...and more importantly easy...to layer.  Today I'm sharing a Halloween set of tags (although all you have to do is swap out the colors and you're good to go for any occasion).

The rectangular base for my tags is from Concord & 9th's Monogram Dies, and I die cut a little hole topper from their Sprinkles Tag Dies to thread the twine through.  The center sentiments come from a retired set called Lots of Blots; however, you can still find it in various online scrapbook stores.  I really love it for gift giving.  I also think that the the new Bold & Brushy Alphabets would be perfect to stamp your own sentiment here. Had mine arrived before I made these, you'd be seeing a big bold and brushy "boo" in the center of at least one of them. :)  

On my first tag, I created the background using splatters from Grateful For Everything.  Then, I stamped Concord & 9th's Plaid Background in orange before cutting the medallion layer in the Hooray Ribbon Dies to emphasize the layered look a bit more.  I finished the tag by layering several of the circle layer cuts in the Hooray Ribbon Dies.

I created the next tag in the same way, but just swapped out the colors.  When I stamped the white ink it wasn't quite as vibrant as I hoped, but using a white gel pen in the washed out areas was an easy fix to brighten it right up.  

On the last tag I wanted a different background, so I embossed Sketched Stripes instead.

Isn't color amazing?  You can create holiday projects using non-holiday supplies simply by using the right colors.

I must say that these tags were a blast to put together and made "layers" a totally do-able task for me, which is saying quite a lot.

I hope that you'll join us for our Layers Challenge this month!  Head over to the Where Creativity Meets C9 Blog to check out all the details on how to play, and don't forget that every challenge entry is a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to Concord & 9th.  They have a brand new release today...fabulous as always, so make sure to check it out HERE.