12 Kits of Occasions - January '17

 

Good morning!  I'm so excited that not only is this the first 12 Kits of Occasions post of the new year, but it also is my month to host. :) I chose my color scheme about 8 months ago, and it is one that I love, so I packed my kit full of things that I love.  We have a few new faces joining us this month.  Birgit Norton is joinus us as our newest Design Team member.  Yay!  I invited my friend Leigh Penner (who I love!) to be my guest designer, and we have a second guest designer as well, the super sweet Kathy McCloskey who won my kit giveaway. 

I have so much fun collecting supplies throughout the year for my kits.  This kit was extra fun to use because with the exception of just a couple things, I hadn't used any of the supplies before I created my cards.   First up is one of my favorites.  I love this little fox.  He's a digital image (Fantastic Mr. Fox by Just ME Prints), and I think he is adorable.  I'm also so excited to finally use this floral spray from Clearly Besotted's Fairytale Ending set and MFT's Jumbo Peek-a-Boo Circle Window.  I've loved them both since the first time I saw them. 

Next up is a super simple card for my husband.  I absolutely love this line of word dies from Simon Says Stamp and wish I had every single one.

Next up are the fun Flashy Florals from MFT and a favorite Concord & 9th set of mine, Kindhearted.  After all, to be kind is one of my biggest goals in life.

On a trip to Michael's a few months ago I stumbled across a pad of DCWV Favor Boxes that just happened to be almost the exact colors from my kit.  There are a bunch of different patterns and styles all pre-cut and scored, which made putting the box together easy peasy.

The paper pad even came with different tags/bows/banners to embellish the boxes, but I used a flower form Altenew's Beautiful Day to top it off instead.

This next one was kind of fun.  I had stamped out a few of the images from Altenew's Adore You set on a paper for everyone with fairly big spaces around each image, so they could cut them out.  But when I got my paper out to cut out the flowers, I really liked the black and white images all together, so I got my stamp set back out and filled in all the spaces with smaller stamped images.  The little scallops are actually a row of circles from one of the patterned papers that I cut out.

My final card uses the Big Hugs Die from MFT and Concord & 9th's Hello Lovely, which I have had for month's but never used.  I was a bit intimidated to color it, which was silly because they have stamps that do all the work for you!  I did, however, opt to try out my Zig markers to color the images.  I'm still trying to figure out Zigs.  I decided to use a paintbrush this time instead of a waterbrush like I usually use with them, and I liked the results a lot better.

One last shot of my cards.  I hadn't realized it, but apparently I was in the mood for flowers when I sat down to create because I think I used nearly every single one from the kit.

And as I mentioned before, with the exception of two things, all the stamps and dies I used on my cards today were NBUS, so I am entering them into Darnell's awesome NBUS #10 Challenge as well as Simon Says Anything Goes Wednesday Challenge.  And as a fun side note: Darnell's optional theme was to use whatever holiday it is to inspire your card (you know, the silly holidays you've probably never heard of).  For instance, did you know that today is National Inspire Your Heart With Art Day?  Seems fitting for the occasion, huh?

  

I have several more cards in the works from this kit to hopefully share soon.  I'm consistent in that I always run out of time, and since I truly loved everything I included in the kit, I want to use it all!  If you'd like the full supply list for my kit, you can find that on the 12 Kits Blog HERE.  Oh, and you'll definitely want to head over to the 12 Kits of Occasions blog right away.  First, you will love what the other designer's created.  Second, you do not want to miss out on the giveaway there!!!  The oh-so-generous Jeanne is giving away two of her upcoming kits, and they are guaranteed to be packed chock full of fabulousness!  Thanks for visiting today.  I hope you have a wonderful week!
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Enjoy! NBUS #9 & SS Anything Goes

Hello, friends!  Popping in really quickly to share some last minute cards that undoubtedly took me longer to write about than to make.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I had a bunch of packages to mail today, and with less than 30 minutes before the Post Office closed I realized I was a few cards short.  Yikes!  After a moment of panic, I pulled out a never-been-used stamp set of mine - Concord & 9th's Lots of Blots.  (At least I don't think I've ever used it!  My memory is pretty terrible these days, but it looks brand new to me.)   I grabbed a couple inks, hoped the colors would work, and quickly stamped some cards.  And then I liked them so much that when I got home from the post office I made a few more, so next time I'm prepared. :) I really, really get a whole lot of happiness from a simply stamped card. PS I'm a little addicted to this love note sized card.  What is that you ask?  It's a mini size card measuring 2.75" x 4.25" when folded that fits perfectly inside Concord & 9th's Love Note Envelopes.  They are tiny and cute and super duper quick to make....win, win, win!

 

Though I wish I had had time to add in Darnell's optional "camouflage" technique for NBUS #9 (which I am thrilled to be able to enter), time truly did not allow it. Interestingly enough, though, I used that camouflage technique on my card for last week's NBUS Challenge.  What are the odds?  And I have to let you know that the NBUS item I am most excited about using for this project was my Lawn Fawn stamp shammy.  I just ordered one, and I am in LOVE!  No more leftover baby wipe fuzzies for me.  My stamping world just got a whole lot happier with this shammy.  It's amazing.  Oh, and I'm also linking this up to the Simon Says Anything Goes Challenge. Yay!  Okay, now I really need to head to bed.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

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Peace - NBUS Challenge x2

Hello!  I'm squeaking in just before bed to share a card.  The sentiment on it is a bit ironic because it does not describe how I felt making it. I tried something new today.  Those who know me well will understand what that means.  It's incredibly hard for me to try something new, particularly something I'm not very good at. Always has been.  And, though I've noticed it before, today I was made painfully aware that I have passed that trait down to my son. So as I tried to help him work through his fear, I decided that now was as good a time as any to work through mine.  I think coloring is beautiful.  I love it.  I do not have a gift for it, though.  I can remember when I was younger never being satisfied with how I colored in coloring books. I shy away from it in my cards.  But I LOVE how it looks on others',  So I allowed myself to try today.  I started with no line coloring...that was a bit too much...and backed off to a watercolor something.  I've done countless research studying cards and watching videos, but I'm definitely going to have to study more. Good thing I love looking at cards. :)

So dear Darnell, who is every inspiring me to use my NBUS (never-been-used-ssctuff), and is now inspiring me to try something new...this is for you. :) I'm linking it up to your NBUS #8 Challenge, with my NBUS being some Zig Clear Color Markers. (PS, Darnell, in my big long comment on your blog I explained why I didn't do the coloring on kraft.)

And since this card took a lot out of me, I made another very similar card but much more in my comfort zone.

I used the same set (PTI's Peonies on Parade), but added a sentiment from Altenew's Beautiful Day (also NBUS on a card, I believe) and cut out a mat with MFT's Wonky Stitched Rectangle Dies, which are new to me as well. I'm so excited to actually own these dies after having used some die cuts given to me by a few of my 12 Kits of Occasions buddies over the last year or so.

I think this sentiment is wonderfully encouraging, so I think I'll leave it with you tonight as we head into the Sabbath...sending hugs and happy thoughts! :)

Hugs - MFT Challenge Card

I ordered my very first My Favorite Things stamps and dies last month.  I'm pretty excited about it to say the least.  I had a teeny tiny bit of time this morning, so I decided to pull them out and make a card.  We've been at my parents house the last week watching their dog while they are out of town, and luckily I grabbed my MFT package when we were leaving.  I used MFT's Sketch 315 Challenge and MFT Color Challenge 61 for inspiration.

I didn't actually intend to combine the two, but I couldn't get the colors out of my head, so I went with it. :) It could be because these are pretty much my favorite colors.  If that blue was a little more aqua/mint it would be spot on.  These colors are in my daughter's room, my wardrobe, and are super similar to the ones I chose about 9 months ago to be the theme for my upcoming kit for The 12 Kits of Occasions.

I used MFT's Bold Blooms, Stitched Traditional Tags, and Big Hugs Die to create a very clean and simple card, but it still makes me happy.  And even though it has florals on it, I think I could get away with it being a masculine card...well, at least for my husband anyway...so that makes me happy, too.   And it wasn't until I pulled up the challenge blog to link up that I realized one of the DT members had created a similar card...oops!  I honestly don't even remember seeing it, and since I am literally minutes from the challenge close, I don't have time to redo it.  Hope you've had a wonderful start to your week!
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Where Creativity Meets C9 Sneak Peek

I had so much fun making my little love note for the latest Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge that I decided to make a few more.  You can check them out on the Where Creativity Meets C9 blog today.  Just head HERE. :)

Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge #5

Hw!  I'm sorry I'm popping in a bit late today.  I forgot to schedule my post to publish, and I didn't notice until just now because I've literally been cooking ALL day.  I've got a crowd to feed tomorrow.  BUT I'm so glad you are here today!  Welcome to a new challenge at Where Creativity Meets C9!  The theme for Challenge #5 is "Try Something New".

This little duo has a story.  I talked to my mom the day I received my package from Greg and Angie, the amazing team behind Concord & 9th.  (They were SUPER generous to send each of the Where Creativity Meets C9 design team members a bundle from their brand new release...as in released today!).  I was lucky enough to receive the Love Notes Bundle.  My package came just a couple days before my card deadline, so I needed an idea quick, and my mom immediately told me a color combo.  I'm not sure I've ever done this combo, but it is all colors my mom likes.  I do so much better when I create a card for a specific person, so when I sat down to craft, I decided I should use her suggestion and make the card for her.  The pineapple comes in because she and my dad are headed to Hawaii tomorrow. :) 

Concord and 9th is so good at thinking of the details.  The Love Notes Envelope Dies were designed so that you can create two envelopes from one 8.5x11 sheet of paper.  In addition, you can cut four "love notes" from a single piece of 8.5x11 sheet of paper, and they fit perfectly inside the Love Notes Envelope.  To make my card, I selectively inked the long "xoxoxo" stamp in Love Notes, so it would fit perfectly on my card.  Then I stamped and die cut the darling pineapple from the Pop Art Pineapple. I love it looks in shades of pink, and cannot wait to try out more pineapple colors. I popped the pineapple up and added a gold heart, cut with the little heart included in the Love Notes Envelope dies. Super simple.

Next up, the envelope.  Definitely don't be intimidated by the Love Notes Envelope Dies.  There are lots of things in place to help you be successful.  All you have to do is cut an 4x11 sheet of paper.  The tabs on the sides of the die line up with the edges of the paper to make sure you are cutting straight.  There are even little notches on the die to help you line up your cut.  I wanted to make a cash envelope closure, and it was super easy to do.  You can use the little circle or heart dies in the Love Notes Envelope Dies, but I simplified the process even more by using the a little heart die from the Bags & Tags Dies that already has a hole cut out of the center of the heart. The eyelets fit perfectly in the hole.

I did stamp on the front of this envelope.  I used the Sophisticated Script Bundle to stamp my mom's name, and then I stamped the diagonal stripes from Love Notes across the bottom.  Unfortunately there are no pictures of it because shortly after I took these photos, my super cute, super curious 2-year-old got a hold of the envelope and destroyed it.  Thankfully these little Love Notes Envelopes are easy to create and I can make another one with the other half of the sheet of paper I used.

I sure hope that you will join us for Where Creativity Meets C9's "Try Something New Challenge".  You can use a new product, new technique, new color combo, new sketch, etc. etc.  Just be creative and have fun!   Oh, and definitely make sure you check out the other designer's projects for Challenge #5.  They've got me itching to CASE. :)