12 Kits of Occasions May - Happiness is Homemade

Hello, and happy last day of May!  Normally I don't like months to come to an end so quickly, but we have lots we're looking forward to in June, so we're pretty excited about it being the last day of the month.  I'm also happy because I get to share my 12 Kits of Occasions cards.  I adore this month's theme - happiness is homemade.  It is something I truly believe, and Birgit put together the most wonderful, heartfelt kit.  Each item was inspired by her dear mother who passed away a couple years ago. I loved looking at each piece knowing it represented someone so special.  I'll get right to my cards, but don't forget that you can see all the supplies used in this kit HERE.

I love fruit.  It's been my favorite food as long as I can remember, so I started with PTI's Still Life: Summer fruit included in the kit and was wishing for more.  

I was enjoying the red and mint, so I grabbed some more supplies from the kit in those colors for my next card.  I was tempted to color this big sunflower from Clearly Besotted's Sunshine & Smiles set, but decided I liked it best just black and white. 

This next card is probably my favorite from the bunch, using all goodies from the kit (with just a couple PPP sequins added).  I've always loved PTI's Tulip Time and "joy" is a word of focus for me, so everything about this card just speaks to me. 

I actually made one last card with the baking goodies, but not a single picture of it turned out.  You can get the gist of it below, though.

Make sure to head to the 12 Kits of Occasions Blog next to see how my fabulous teamies and our wonderful guest used this kit.  Thanks for joining me today!  Wishing you a day full of sunshine and smiles! 

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Babies are the Best

Hello!  It seems like it has been ages since I shared a card.  In truth, I've made some, but just haven't had the time to share.  My time is slipping by ever more quickly, especially now that school is out, but I couldn't be happier to have my son home all day.  I love that the older I get, the more I appreciate the beauty and absolute miracle of a child being born.  Perhaps it is because I'm also far more aware of the heartache of those who long to have children but cannot or those who have them but lose them.  What a precious gift these babies are from Heaven.  Definitely one of the best reasons to make a card.  I made this baby card about a month ago for a family welcoming twins...boy and girl twins to be exact.  I wanted the card to reflect both genders, and plaid seemed the perfect solution.  Thanks to Concord and 9th's Stripe Builder, Sophisticated Script, and Kindhearted stamps sets, this card came together quite quickly.  

I that you are all happy and well!  And if you live in the USA, I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day full of love and appreciation.  I am missing living near my grandparents' and ancestors' graves.  It was one of my very favorite traditions to visit the cemeteries and decorate the graves each year.  So grateful for my family who have gone before and dear grandfathers who served and sacrificed to protect freedom.  Thanks so much for stopping by today.  Have a blessed week!

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CASometry Challenge 3. Randomizer - Final Stage

Hello!  I'm popping in to share my final card for the CASometry Challenge 3 Randomizer Challenge.  Each phase of this challenge has had a different twist, but this one was the hardest.  You had to choose one of your cards from a previous stage (I chose this one) and use the exact same stamps and dies, nothing added...nothing taken away.  It was perhaps a bit harder for me because I was away from home and had only brought the supplies I thought I would need for the idea I had in my head, but then that didn't work out.

To pull me out of my slump, I used additional inspiration from Jessica's Crafty Christmas Collaboration #3..specifically Sharna's cute critter card HERE. Loved her colorful background, so I stamped the stars in a bunch of colors and quickly ran over them with a waterbrush to blend out the colors. 

The first card I completed was this.
Altenew Wood Pallet Background Stamp (stars)...check.
MFT Jumbo Peek-a-Boo Window...check.
Winnie & Walter Sentimental: Winter...check.
Clearly Besotted Let's Prance Stamps and Dies....missing. :(

For the life of me I could not figure out how to put a reindeer on here.  I had lots of ideas, but the background was so intense, nothing worked.  So I set out to make a different card.  I was a little worried because I'd only brought 2 sheets of white paper, and I'd already used one. This time, I drew inspiration from Jessca's darling owl card HERE from her first Crafty Christmas Collaboration.  I loved the owl perched on the branch and the start contrast between the black and soft aqua background.  I reeeally wanted to blend inside the circle (I knew I could use the MFT die like a stencil), but my card was starting to look too much like my original card, so I did this instead.

I randomly stamped the sentiments, embossed the circle die, die cut my little reindeer (colored him with my inks and a grey Zig marker because that is what I had), stamped little trees to create a pine bough, and fussy cut the tiniest stars in Altenew's Wood Pallet Background set and used them like embellishments (which worked great because I hadn't brought any with me). Mission accomplished! Phew.   Here is the comparison of both cards using the same supplies. 

And finally I'll leave you with a quick view of all the cards I made for the challenge.  (I couldn't take a group shot because I've already mailed half of them.)

Thank you, Anna, for hosting such a fun challenge and for getting me to use so many of my supplies.  There are so many fabulous companies represented in this photo and I particularly love how I was able to combine multiple companies products on the same card.  It's been a great 5 weeks!

Where Creativity Meets C9 Sneak Peek

Good Morning!  I'm over at the Where Creativity Meets C9 Blog today sharing some additional inspiration for our Floral Challenge.  I hope you'll take a peek.  Though made with my dear mother in mind, my heart and mind have been so full in preparation for Mother's Day with thoughts of the wonderful women in my life who have been mothers to me and who are such good examples of mothers.  Some of whom read this blog. :) Some of these women have children of their own.  Some never have.  What a marvelous thing it is to me that these women have blessed my life with the God given qualities of a mother that are not reserved just for women who have the opportunity to bear children.  So, I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day, and if you have a moment, I love for you to go HERE to check it out. ;)  Have a beautiful day!

CASometry Challenge 3. Randomizer. Stage 4

Hello!  It's the fourth week of the CASometry Randomizer Challenge, and I was just barely able to squeeze some time in for this card, but I didn't want to miss it.  This week the random set that I picked was Little Notes by The Stamp Market.  It's a little set, but it has some great brushed sentiments and ink splats, which I used on my card.   The additional theme for Stage 4 of the CASometry Challenge was "friendship", so I also added the word "friend" from Concord & 9th's Kindhearted Stamp Set. A little washi tape on the side and the card is ready to mail. :)

Hope you are having a wonderful week!  Thanks for stopping by today!

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Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge #9

Good morning!  Are you ready for the newest challenge at Where Creativity Meets C9?  It's a good one. :) Challenge #9 is Florals.  Yay!

I am absolutely LOVING all the flowers popping up around me and at the stores.  I can't get enough. I still have to wait another week or so until I can plant, but I haven't been able to resist buying some flowers, so for the last couple weeks my husband has had to park outside because all my flowers are sitting in his garage spot. :) This year I've been drawn to several orange and yellow flowers, and I had them on my mind when I created this card.

**Affiliate links used (at no extra cost to you). :) 

Don't you just love that the images in Concord and 9th's Wildflower Stamp Set look beautiful even if you don't color them?  I know I do.  After I stamped my flowers, I decided I wanted bigger leaves, so I turned the 5-petal flowers from this set into leaves.  I inked some of the petals from the large flower and some from the small 5-petal flower.  My leaf centers were stamped with a little stamp from Concord & 9th's Flourish set. I built my sentiment with "for you" from the Love Notes Stamp Set and "friend" from the Flourish Stamp Set.  This is a little love note sized card, so I cut out a coordinating envelope using Concord & 9th's Love Notes Envelope Dies. I love that I can do that.  

Thanks for popping in today!  Make sure you head over to the Where Creativity Meets C9 Blog to get some gorgeous inspiration from my teammates and to get all the details on how to join our Florals Challenge.  Don't forget: each challenge Concord and 9th gives away a gift certificate to their shop, and if you've seen their newest release today, you'll definitely be wanting a chance to win that gift certificate. ;) 

CASometry Challenge 3. Randomizer. Stage 3

Hi!  Popping in super quickly to share a birthday card I made for CASometry Challenge 3. Randomizer. Stage 3.  I let my son be the random chooser this time and the number he chose was Concord and 9th's Lots of Blots set.  I needed a birthday card for my husband, so I turned the blots into big balloons.  The extra element to the 3rd Challenge was to emboss, so I embossed the balloons and sentiment.  I really, really love the feel of embossing on cards.  I don't know why I don't do it more often.  And I think clear embossing powder is the greatest thing ever, especially paired with a MISTI.  I don't have many embossing powders, but clear embossing allows me to emboss any ink color and I love that.  I added the black splatters with Concord & 9th's Brushed Blossom and the sentiment from Concord and 9th's Happy Day (**Affiliate links used...thanks! :) )

Here's a quick snapshot of my supplies for this super quick and easy birthday card.  I did make a fun discovery on this card.  I used Bristol paper because I was going to watercolor, but later changed my mind.  Some inks don't stamp on this paper as well, but Distress Inks stamp beautifully! (The "enjoy" balloon was stamped in Distress Ink).  I found that pretty interesting because Distress Inks haven't always stamped the best on some of my other papers, so I usually only blend ink with them. It amazes me how the different ink formulas perform differently depending on what paper you use. 

It's about time to pick my son up from school, so I better go.  Hope you have a happy day!  

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