12 Kits Of Occasions - Out of This World

Good morning!  I'm so excited to share with you this month's "Out of This World" kit for the 12 Kits of Occasions.  The amazing Jeanne (of A Kept Life) sent us the most incredible kit packed full with everything a cosmic loving heart could desire.  Somehow my projects don't really showcase the awesome variety of goodies she sent.  I guess I got started with MFT's Space Explorer and Out of This World and couldn't stop using them, so you'll definitely want to visit the 12 Kits of Occasions Blog next.  In addition to having the regular design team's projects, we have four fabulous guests, so you're headed for inspiration galore.  You can also find a really detailed supply list for all the products I used HERE.

I'm still learning to use my Prismacolor pencils, but I'm loving them.  I always knew that I'd be more comfortable with a pencil.  It's just more forgiving.  One MFT Space Explorer was not enough, so I colored a second one with a cute little blonde haired nephew in mind. :) I blended three different inks on the card base and placed this super fun die cut on top.  It's the All Star Collage from Poppy Stamps, and ironically enough, when I initially pulled it out of the kit I had no idea how I would use it, but I love it here.

Next up is this is one of the cute aliens in MFT's Out of This World set.  I love that Jeanne always includes googley eyes in her kits (at least since I've been on the team), and I think they make this little guy even cuter.  The earth is from Altenew's Big World.  I really loved this patterned paper, and I chose my color scheme from the colored dots. 

I had big plans for making some really cool "space" backgrounds on my cards, but didn't quite get them done.  However, I was pretty proud of myself for using a lot less white than I typically use.  This last card is my husband's favorite...maybe mine, too.

 Doesn't this view just make you smile?  So much cuteness in this kit!

Don't forget to head to the 12 Kits of Occasions Blog next.  Trust me, the projects are amazing and you won't want to miss them.  Plus, you'll get to see tons and tons more of what was included in this "Out of This World" kit.  Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a happy weekend!
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With Sympathy

Good morning!  I wish this card was for a happy occasion, but I guess though not happy, it is for an important occasion.  Sympathy cards are hard enough to make, but I feel like they are even harder when the card is going to a man...so I enlisted my husband's help.  It's a simple design, but husband-approved.  I started by stamping on scratch paper, and ironically, my practice version is still the one he and I both like best because imperfect stamping actually makes the card look better.  It took me four more attempts to recreate the look to get a card we could both be okay with (this one).  The key was imperfection (how many times do we happily get to say that?!), and stamping off once really helped with that.  I had the weeping willow in my parents' backyard in mind as I created this card, and used the wheat stalk in Concord and 9th's Give Thanks for the leaves.  The sentiment is from Concord and 9th's Brushed Blossom set.  I'm hoping this card will bring a measure of comfort.  And my husband was such a big help that I just might get him to help me more often. :)

You are Amazing!

Hello!  Yesterday we got lots of sad news.  We learned that the wife of one of my husband's coworkers passed away, and then a good friend of mine from Utah sent me a message to let me know that a speech pathologist (and friend) we worked with had passed away.  My heart was heavy after making sympathy cards for their husbands, and I just couldn't go to bed on such a sad note, so I stayed up late late late and decided to make a card to celebrate my aunt.  She finished her last round of chemotherapy last week.  She's never complained, constantly expressing gratitude for the strength God has given her through this trial.  I think in my mind I hadn't really realized how terribly sick she was because on the phone she always sounded so upbeat, but my mom recently spent a month helping her and my grandmother, and when she sent pictures of my aunt all I could do was cry.  I am blessed to be her niece, and I am so grateful for her example.  I used the watercolor flower fillers from Concord and 9th's Hello Lovely set for the first time on this card, and I was a little surprised at how much I liked the way they look on their own.  I added the stamen and some extra ink splatters from Brushed Blossom to finish it off.  Oh, and the sentiment is from Verve's Simply Amazing Stamps and Amazing Adjectives Dies...appropriately named for the occasion I thought. :)
I was so glad the sun was out today.  The temperature outside wasn't very high, but with the sun it almost felt hot.  It was such a good reminder of how much God's love and light can warm us even on our "colder" days.  Hoping your week is full of many more joys than sorrows.  Thanks for stopping by, my friends!
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Where Creativity Meets C9 Sneak Peek

Hi!  I'm over on the Where Creativity Meets C9 Blog this morning sharing another card for our CASE a Designer Challenge.  I am loving this challenge!  If you haven't played along, I hope you will, and if you have a chance, pop over to the Where Creativity Meets C9 Blog to see my second card. Hope you have a great day!

PTI Tulip Birthday Card

Hi!  I had about 30 minutes today to squeeze in a card while dinner baked in the oven, so I decided to play along with a couple of the Papertrey Release Challenges.  I chose Day 5's Challenge, which was to improve a card you weren't quite satisfied with, and since I used one of my favorite PTI floral sets, Tulip Time, I'm also linking this up to Day 3's Challenge.  Yes, I know you are supposed to use your all time favorite floral set, but any one who knows me knows I can't narrow things down to just one favorite. 

Click HERE for the original post. 

To be honest, I think this might be the card that never ends because after taking a second look at it, there are already a couple things I can see that I'd do differently.  Oh, well.  It might be fun to see where this journey of the perfect berry sorbet tulip card takes me.  And actually a few of the things I would have done a little different were the result of a little two-year-old helper I had, so all in all I think this "mom and me" card turned out pretty well.

I'm also linking this up to the Simon Says: For a Special Lady Challenge.  The original card was made for a special teammate of mine, and this one is, too. :) Hope that your week has started off to a good one.  Thanks so much for stopping by today!

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Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge #7

Good morning!  I don't think I've ever been so excited to share a new Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge with you, so I'll get right to it.  This month the challenge is "CASE a Designer".  I think it is so fun!

Permission to CASE one of my talented Design Team members...yes, please! The hard part was choosing which card to CASE. Honestly, it was excruciating trying to narrow it down to just one.  Finally I let the recipient be the deciding factor.  My sister celebrates her birthday this month.  She loves purple and teal and flowers, so the obvious option was to CASE this incredibly beautiful card from my teammate Emily Midgett from our very first celebration challenge.  (It is absolutely worth your time to check out all the details on her gorgeous card HERE.)

I just know my sister is going to love this, and it makes me all giddy inside.  I didn't change hardly a thing from Emily's card.  Why mess with perfection?!  Now I will admit that in the process of making this card I asked my husband why in the world I chose to create something so difficult for me.  Watercoloring is not my forte, but I love it, so I decided to stick with it since I knew that studying Emily is exactly what I need to do more of if I want to improve. She is a miracle worker with Zig markers.    

I white embossed the beautiful cake from Concord and 9th's Happy Day stamp set, watercolored with my Zig's, and cut it out. (I forgot to run it through the Happy Day die before coloring and was too afraid to run it through after in case I accidentally cut it wrong.) I embossed the flags from Happy Day straight onto the cardstock, blended some white ink around the cake to highlight it a bit more, and added the sparkler stamps and a few sequins.  

Now you must go check out all the other Designers cards for Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge #7.  My teammates are SO talented!  Oh, I hope you will play along with this challenge.  It was a blast for me, and I think you'll love it, too!  And you just might be the lucky winner of a Concord and 9th gift certificate.  Plus, you won't want to miss some new announcements on the blog.  We are saying a few teary goodbyes and a few happy hellos.  I hope today finds you happy and well.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Guest Designing at Inspired By All the Little Things

Happy Saturday!  It's an extra happy one for me because my friend, Leigh Penner, has invited me to be a Guest Designer this week for Inspired by All the Little Things.  Yay!! :)  Not only did I get to play along with the challenge, but there is a short interview on the blog as well if you're curious to know a little bit more about me. 

I am constantly drawing inspiration from photos and Inspired by All the Little Things always has the most beautiful photos.  I was so excited when I opened the file to reveal this week's challenge photo...

Ahhh...isn't it beautiful?  After spending a few moments daydreaming that this was a room in my house, I set to work thinking of card ideas.  And I had so many!  So I couldn't stop at just one project.  I made five!  The wood on the table is what stood stood out to me the very most, so I kept that the common element on all of my projects.  The other things that stood out were lots of white, the blue-ish grey, and the plants, so I made sure to keep some form of all of those things as well. 

I tend to go through phases where I get a little bored with the standard card size.  I'm in one of those phases right now, so this is a super skinny card.  I loved the table in the photo so much, so I decided to recreate the look with MFT's Big Hugs die.  I started by stamping Concord and 9th's Barnwood Background Stamp (my favorite!) on kraft, then die cut the letters.  I mixed light blue, white, and a teeny bit of silver embossing powder together to create a greyish blue with little flecks and dipped my letters in.  Next, I stamped some leaves from MFT's Flashy Florals (a set I bought after seeing Leigh use it on so many amazing cards!).  I wanted the letters to stand out a bit more, and I also loved the opaque windows in the photo, so I grounded the sentiment with a strip of vellum.  

I used the same idea on this next card but cut the letters with Concord & 9th's Joy Die.  I embossed the floral image from Concord & 9th's Flourish set, blended light green ink around the image, then fussy cut it out and adhered it to this panel.  

Next up is the simplest of my projects.  This time I die cut the letters from my barnwood stamped sheet with Simon Say Stamp's Big You die.  I stamped a row of grass using a tiny stamp in PTI's Petite Pots.  The sentiment is also from that set, but I did a some masking to create the word "are".   The back tag is a light grey-ish color.

I started this next card by die cutting Clearly Besotted's Shaker Shapes: Circle Hooray die from my barnwood stamped paper and then a second time on a white stitched square (from MFT).  I trimmed and adhered the letters on top of the white cut and backed the window with vellum, again to mimic the windows in the inspiration photo.  I finished it off with some flower stamps and the scalloped square card base dies in PTI's Don't Forget to Write kit. 

My final project is my favorite and the one I shared on the Inspired by All the Little Things blog.  It's pretty obvious how I was inspired. :) I used a stitched frame from MFT, a window die from Clearly Besotted (with an added strip to create the window sill), and a plant stamped with PTI's Petite Pots.  My favorite part (and I think why I love the card so much) is this sentiment from PTI's Inspired: Faith stamp set and die.  It's such a important reminder for all of us. 

Phew.  And there you have it.  Lots and lots of projects inspired by one fabulous inspiration photo.  Thanks so much, Leigh, for inviting me to Guest Design this week! 

And thank you for joining me today!  Hopefully I've given you lots of inspiration for Inspired by All the Little Things #46.  Make sure you head over to the blog to see how all the other designers were inspired and to link up your own project.  Have a lovely weekend!

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