12 Kits of Occasions Guest Designer

Hello!  I know I've been absent on the blog, but I have been creating this month...I just couldn't share until now.  It seems I've hit a lucky streak because I was shocked and thrilled to see that I won the guest designing spot for the 12 Kits of Occasions May kit.  I've been a long time follower of this card group.  I think it is so fun to see what each member creates using the kit supplies each month, and I'm a huge fan of the designers themselves.  This is going to be a long post because of the number of cards I made with Joyce's amazing kit (thank you!), so I'll try to be brief with my descriptions.  For all the details about 12 Kits of Occasions (including a detailed supply list for the kit) head over to the 12 Kits of Occasions blog.  You'll want to head that way anyway, so you can see what everyone else made with the kit...their creations are sure to amaze and inspire you!  

Okay, let's get started.  I didn't know what order to put the cards in, so I just put them in the order I created them....minus my very first card...I didn't like how it turned out, so I didn't bother even taking pictures of it.  FYI: I only listed the supplies that I used that were not part of the kit.  As I mentioned before, please visit the 12 Kits of Occasions Blog for full supply details.

Additional Supplies: red baker's twine

Additional Supplies: PTI's Mat Stack 3 Stamp Set, tracing paper, pinking shears

Just a note: I still haven't gotten any vellum yet...seems it's always sold out when I go to buy it or I don't love the price.  I was pretty excited to see that tracing paper (something I had on hand) created  a similar look.

Additional Supplies: Lil' Inker Stitched Rectangle Dies, Clearly Besotted's Make a Wish stamp set, Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Sequins, blue scrap paper, clear packaging scrap, black pen

This shaker card was my husband and my mom's favorite.  I actually had a few "favorites", but this one is a favorite of mine, too.  The little flags were spread out across a 6x6 piece of paper, but I wanted them closer together, so I drew my own string, cut out several flags from the paper, and made my own banner.  I adhered the banner to the top stitched rectangle panel, so the sequins can slide behind it.  I love that this sentiment is generic enough that it could be used for a variety of special occasions.

Additional Supplies: PTI's Sketched Shapes dies, Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear Sequins

Now might be a good time to apologize for some of the photos....I was working on a cloudy day and the moving clouds made photos a bit tricky.  Plus I didn't notice that there was a spot on my camera lens that shows up in all the pictures until after I had edited almost all of them.  Oops!

PTI's Seeing Stars Border Die and Sketched Shapes Dies, navy blue paper

I just had to note this adhesive backed cork from the kit.  It was so fun to work with.  I've used cork before, but the adhesive on the back made it so much nicer.  I trimmed the large stars from PTI's Seeing Stars Border Die and the the tiny stars are the negative images from the border.  The rope was something Joyce had stamped on card stock and I just trimmed it out with scissors and a craft knife.

Additional Supplies: twine

CTMH's Say It in Style Stamp Set, PTI's Seeing Stars Border Die

I loved all the die cut and stamped images in the kit and wanted to be able to use them all...and I nearly accomplished that goal on this card.  You may recognize the layout...is nearly an exact CASE of one of my favorite cards by the incredible Maile Belles.

Additional Supplies: Lil' Inker's Stitched Rectangle Dies

I took a couple pictures of the next two cards.  I was trying to combat the shifting clouds and couldn't decide if one was better than the other...

And now for my last card...thanks for sticking with me until the end!

Additional Supplies: PTI's Linen & Canvas Impression Plate

I included both photos again because the top shows the impressions in the white cardstock and the bottom shows the red cardstock on the inside.  I love those simple details...need to remember to do them more often.

Now can you see why I was so thrilled to be a guest designer? This kit was so much fun, and I'm super excited that I still have more fabulous supplies left to work with including some very cool wood die cuts that I can't believe didn't make it onto a card already.  Thank you so much Joyce (and all the other wonderful 12 Kits designers) for a fabulous kit and many hours of fun creating!  I had the best time.  I hope you all have the happiest weekend!

Make It Monday #164...3 Ways

Hi! It's been a really long time since I've played along with one of Papertrey's Make It Monday Challenges though I look at them pretty much every week.  I'm happy I made time this week to participate in this week's challenge to make cluster stamped sentiments.  The card above is actually my third attempt but my favorite, so I put it at the top. :)

This card was my first attempt.  I liked the color combo, but didn't feel like I really achieved the confetti look...random stamping is really hard for me.  And I wasn't sure my sentiment stood out enough, so I re-embossed it in white, which turned out to be vanilla...oops.

This was my second attempt.  The "confetti" look went out the door after I had several oopses in a row, so I totally changed the design of the card.  And I made the same mistake with the vanilla embossing powder, but if you look really close I added some glitter in it.  I need to learn to just let things be. :)

I thought the color combo on my last card was super fun, and I like that the stamp reminds me of pom-poms or fireworks, both which seem fitting for a celebration.  After I made it I thought this would be really fun to do for a graduation in the recipient's school colors.  This was my best attempt at the more random confetti explosion look.  However, when I wiped the ink off the sentiment I created a giant smudge all across the bottom third of the card, so I had to trim it off, losing a lot of the tapering look.  As you can tell "oopses" seemed to be the common theme among all three cards, but really I had a lot of fun making them.  It's definitely a technique I'd like to try again.  Hope you have a wonderful week!

Flower Birthday Supplies

Stamps: PTI (Bigger Blooms, Think Big Favorites #12)

Ink: PTI (lemon tart, raspberry fizz), SU! (blush blossom, pretty in pink, cameo coral), Versamark

Cardstock: PTI (lemon tart, stamper's select white)

Other: SU! (clear embossing powder, vanilla embossing powder)

Triangle Birthday Supplies

Stamps: PTI (Think Big Favorites #12, Tiny Triangles)

Ink: PTI (aqua mist, hawaiian shores), Simon Says Stamp (mint), SU! (tempting turquoise), Versamark

Cardstock: PTI (hawaiian shores, stamper's select white)

Other: SU! (clear embossing powder, vanilla embossing powder, dazzling diamonds glitter)

Congratulations Supplies

Stamps: PTI (Bigger Blooms, Botanical Silhouettes)

Ink: CTMH (denim), PTI (aqua mist, fine linen, raspberry fizz), Versamark

Cardstock: PTI (kraft, rustic white)

Other: SU! (clear embossing powder)