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.

12 Kits Of Occasions: Under and Over the Sea

Happy Sunday!  Another month comes to a close, which means I get to share my projects for The 12 Kits of Occasions.  This month our friend Kim put together a darling Under and Over the Sea themed kit.  I used almost all of it, and have just a couple unfinished cards left.  I spent a day coloring the images with colored pencils, and then the cards pretty much put themselves together.  First up is a card using Essentials by Ellen Otterly Awesome set.

This mama and papa otter are die cut to hold something, and it seemed like a little otter was just the perfect thing to be holding.  With all the card making and sending I do, sometimes I forget to make cards and send them to my own kiddos.  This week got me thinking that I need to be better about that, so this one's for my son.

The next two cards are for my daughter.  This first one uses MFT's Fun in the Sun and Splash by Avery Elle.  It might be a little crowded on the card, but I know she'll love every single thing in that pool.

This card is my favorite.  I love this little mermaid from MFT's Mermazing so much!  I love her tail the most.  My little one loved everything in this kit, and I had to hide it from her, so I could actually use it.  I'm pretty sure she'll be happy to be getting it back in the form of a card.

 She's very shimmery in real life. :)

I chose my favorite colors for the first mermaid and my daughter's favorite colors for the second....I should probably give her this card, too. :)

Oh, this pile of cards just makes me SO happy!  It also makes me want to shop since I don't have any of these stamps in my own stash.  Lol.  That really is the only downside of these kits...my wish list always seems to grow after using them.

My teammates past (yay for having Joyce join us this month!) and present have made the cutest cards with this kit.  You won't want to miss a single one of them, so make sure you go right away to The 12 Kits of Occasions Blog.  Have a blessed Sunday!

Spellbinders Sweet Christmas

Hello!  Today I've got my first Christmas tags and cards of the season to share.  Too early...maybe.  But our fall is going to be increasingly busy, so I'm grateful for this headstart to the Christmas season.  All of my projects today use dies from Spellbinders' A Sweet Christmas collection.  I also pulled out an oldie but goodie for all of my projects - Spellbinders Nestabilities Label Four dies.  I have had these dies forever it seems, but I still reach for them.

The focal point of my first card is the Hanging Stockings die.  You don't need to add much to create a card with this large scene (read: it makes for really quick cards!). The sentiment comes from the new From Our Home to Yours dies and to help it stand out a bit more I placed it on top of vellum.  I used some partial die cutting with the Spellbinders Nestabilities Label Four dies to create a bit of a decorative edge on the vellum...partially because the card came together so quickly I thought I better put in a little effort and do a little something extra. :)

This next card showcases the big Santa from the From Our Home to Yours dies.  This set is pretty fantastic and comes with 10 different dies.  The shaker window was created with the largest of the  Nestabilities Label Four dies.  I pulled out another really old set of dies, the Nestabilities Circles dies, to create the tag and adorned it with a little holly from the From Our Home to Yours die collection.

I've been itching to make tags, and now seemed to be the perfect time.  I created frames by double cutting two sizes of the Label Four dies.  This tree is from Hanging Stockings die.  Don't be afraid to use just a portion of the die!  It was so easy to trim off just a section, and I feel like it gives the die a lot more life.

My last tag uses yet another die from the From Our Home to Yours die collection.  These tags were so quick and easy to make (great for mass production), but I still loved how they turned out. 

Ahh...seeing these all together brings the biggest smile.  Something about classic Christmas colors just makes me so happy, and these dies really made things come together quickly, which makes me even happier!  I hope you've had a great start to your week.  Thanks for spending a little of it with me. :)

Where Creativity Meets C9 Sneak Peek

Good morning!  I'm sharing a couple cards on the Where Creativity Meets C9 Blog this morning and I hope you'll pop over and take a peek!  Hope you are having a happy, safe weekend!

August 12 Kits of Occasions

Oh, boy!  August just flew by for us and near the end of the month it became apparent that I needed to focus on my family duties.  So I did.  And then I made my cards but just didn't have an opportunity to photograph them, but hopefully better late than never, right? ;) Birgit from The 12 Kits of Occasions put together the cutest Fairy Tale themed kit for us, and I had so much fun using it.  You've waited long enough, so I'll get right to my cards.

My cute red headed niece celebrated her birthday earlier this month, so I colored this darling mermaid and her turtle friend from Honey Bee Stamps Swimming By set just for her. She's beautifully sparkly in person. 

I paired lots of Concord & 9th goodies with these super cute mushrooms from the kit.  I don't know why, but I just love these mushrooms.  They are part of Stamping Bella's Tiny Townie Fairy Garden Fairy stamp set as is the fairy on the next card.

This little fairy was my favorite.  Isn't she sweet?  I thought that she probably leaves a little sparkle wherever she goes, so I added some sequins for good measure.  There are some partially colored dragons that didn't quite make it onto a card...yet.  But they'll definitely be making an appearance (hopefully sooner than later) because I love them.  

That little pile of cards makes me happy.  If you haven't seen them already, make sure you visit The 12 Kits of Occasions blog to see how my talented teammies have brought this kit to life.  You can also find a full supply list of the products Birgit used for the kit there.  We're heading into lots of rain in my neck of the woods.  I hope you are all safe and having a wonderful week.  Thanks so much for visiting today!  

Monster Hugs

Good morning!  I made these cards a few days ago using the super cute Stamptember collaboration set between Concord & 9th and Simon Says Stamp called Monster Hugs.  It surprised me in the mail about a week and a half ago, and I immediately fell in love with it.  Obviously great for Halloween, but cute enough for all year, especially with the variety of sentiments included in this set.

I made two cards, both of which come together in a snap.  I don't have the accompanying dies for Monster Hugs, but it's really no trouble at all to fussy cut the images. I started off my first card with a Dip-Dyed Card base from Concord & 9th.  It was the perfect way to ground this little guy.  My favorite thing about the design of this set is that the hand monster's arm is separate from the body, and you can choose to either have a waving hand or a hand that holds something.  I love that you get a choice!  I colored him very minimally with Prismacolor Pencils and added just a bit more color by ombre stamping stacked birthday sentiments.  Some Pretty Pink Posh star confetti helped add a bit more to the celebratory mood.  

Next up I went with a simple Halloween card using a sign from the set.  I wanted to keep the same color scheme (orange, navy, and turqoise) and even managed to carry over the star and confetti elements.  I used Simon Says Stamp's Wide Stripes Background for the background and stamped Concord & 9th's Bitty Burst Turnabout on top of that.  (I just did a single stamp of the Turnabout.)

With such a bold background, I kept the monster neutral, with just a tiny bit of shading.  Don't you just love the look on his face?  He's adorable, and I had so much fun making these cards.  Now to choose who to send them to...I'm not really eager to part with them quite yet. :) Thanks so much for stopping by today!  I hope you can snag one of these sets before they are gone...they're selling out rapidly!  

Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge #25

Good morning!  It's the 9th of the month, so we have a brand new challenge starting at Where Creativity Meets C9.  I love the variety of themes within this challenge, and this month was especially fun for me because Challenge #25 is a color challenge.

This beautiful autumn palette comes from Design Seeds.

When I pulled out all my ink pads and lined them up, I loved how it looked so much that I translated the design to my card.  It's CAS as could be and uses some of Concord & 9th's August Release products that I just can't get enough of.

The leaves and ink splatters are some of the individual stamps that are included in the Thankful Leaves Turnabout and the sentiment comes from the Grateful dies.  It's such a delicate, detailed die, but it's surprisingly easy to use because of all the places the words connect.  Hooray for a wonderful design!

This color palette is absolutely beautiful, and I sure hope you'll join us for Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge #25.  Head to the blog for all the details and don't forget that every time you play along with a challenge you enter to win a guest design spot for the challenge or a $25 gift certificate to Concord and 9th.  And have you seen their holiday release that is available this morning?!? Oh my...it's fabulous!  Grab your wallet and go HERE to check it out!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Spellbinders Kitchen Cuteness

Hello, friends!  I'm just popping in to share a couple cards I made with some cute, punny stamps I received from Spellbinders.  I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so these stamps had me smiling big.  First up is Spellbinders' Grateful Stamp and Die. These stamps are a red rubber cling stamp, and they stamp so crisply. 

This simple card has a little more to it than initially meets the eye.  It's a little tricky to see in the photo, but the background is stamped with yellow cheese wedges, and the grater dies actually pop up  through windows.

 For such a simple technique, it really ups the fun factor of the card, so I decided to use the same technique on my second card. 

This time I used the Shake it Up Stamp and Die from Spellbinders. 

I thought about doing traditional salt and pepper, but decided sprinkles sounded better to me, so colorful bottles won out.

I hope these cards leave you with a smile. :) Thanks so much for stopping by today!