12 Kits of Occasions - Faith & Family

Good morning!  I always love when it is time to share our 12 Kits of Occasions projects, but this month I'm especially excited because it was my turn to put the kit together.  My kit is named "Faith & Family" (thanks, Michele, for naming it!), and the colors and flowers were inspired by one of my daughter's dresses.  This kit is different from any of the other kits I've put together because this time I built it around the sentiments...they are all the things I want to say to  some of my family who are going through a difficult time right now.  It was definitely created with love.  This is going to be a really picture heavy post (I made a lot of cards!), so I'll try to keep my commentary brief.  I'll include the main supplies, but you can find all the details and my full supply list for everything in the kit on the 12 Kits Blog HERE.

 Supplies: PTI Faith stamps & dies; Concord & 9th Polka Dot Turnabout

Supplies:Concord & 9th Friend Like You Die 

By the way, I love this die and it is on Last Chance status at Concord & 9th.  It's definitely worth picking up before it's gone. 

 Supplies: Papertrey KIS: Encouragement; Concord & 9th Lily; Clearly Besotted Scallop dies

 Supplies: Concord & 9th Hooray Bundle & Just Because Dies; We R Memory Keeps embossing folder

 Supplies: Right at Home: His Love; Concord & 9th Polka Dot Turnabout, Tree Ring Background; Spellbinders: Poppies Etched dies

I shared a card I made using this poppy die a couple weeks ago that I colored with colored pencil.  That was definitely a labor intensive way to use this die.  This time, I just sponged ink on with an ink blender and it was so fast.  It gives a totally different result and the softness seemed fitting for this card, which is one of my favorites.

 Supplies: Right at Home: His Love; Spellbinders: Poppy Pocket Die; Lil' Inker: Pinking Edge Sentiment Flag Die

Speaking of poppy dies, here is a better view of the Spellbinders Poppy Pocket die that I promised to share with you.  This die is etched as well, and I used the embossing as guides for the rhinestone placement.  I've cut this out in lots of colors, and it really is such a beautiful die. 

 Supplies: Clearly Besotted: Simply Succulents & Simply Succulents Too stamps & dies; Concord & 9th: Stuck on You

Aren't these succulents adorable?  I love them and all the fun ways to mix and match and decorate the pots.

 Supplies: Concord & 9th Blooms Fill-In; The Stamp Market: Fun Florals, Watercolor Bouquet ; MFT: Zig Zag Stitched Circles

This card reminds me so much of my daughter's dress that was the initial inspiration for the kit.  The dress is gray with flowers on it...just like this card.  

Supplies: Concord & 9th Blooms Fill-In; The Ton: Summer Blooms

Concord & 9th's Blooms Fill-In  is one of my favorite stamps I used in this kit.  I love that I you created beautiful, colorful background patterns with lots of colors filled in, or simply stamped once like I did here.

  Supplies: Right at Home: His Love; Concord & 9th: Just Because Dies

Concord & 9th: Detailed Booms and Hope Label Dies; Lil' Inker: Stitched Mats: Rectangles; PTI: Center Stage Cover Plate Die

 Supplies: Concord & 9th: Above Average, Blooms Fill-in Dies; WPlus9: Petunia Builder

Supplies: Concord & 9th: Just Because Dies, Stuck on You; WPlus9: Rose Builder

The rest of the sentiment is on the inside and reads "You deserve the very best", but I forgot to take a picture of that part.

 Supplies:  Concord & 9th:  Above Average, Stuck on You Dies; The Stamp Market: Fun Florals; PTI: Noted: Scalloped A2 Dies

This little pot is dimensional, and I love how the bouquet just pops off the card.  And I'm super excited about this scalloped card die from PTI.  I've wanted it for a loooong time and just bought it.  It's so fun, especially because lately I've been a little bored with just standard card sizes.  It may not look like it in the photos, but the cards I made with this kit are a bunch of different sizes.    

Supplies: Concord & 9th: Petals & Pallets Bundle,  Plaid Background; WPlus9: Modern Petunia, Petunia Builder

These last two cards are my mom and sister's favorites.  I think they're my favorites, too. :) I've never turned Concord & 9th's Pallet vertically, and I love how it makes it look like a fence this way.  Our fence out back is pretty greyed like this and my climbing plants are constantly growing and peeking through the slats, so I decided to recreate the look on my card.

Supplies: Concord & 9th: Just Because Dies; PTI: Friendship Jar: Summer Fillers; Pretty Pink Posh: Storybook 1 Die, Thoughtful Greetings; WPlus9: Modern Petunia, Petunia Builder, Rose Builder

This card was one of the very last I made.  I basically just filled the jar with a bunch of leftover pieces from the kit, but I love how it turned out.  And speaking of leftovers, I have hardly anything left from my kit.  I made 16 cards!  That's a record for me.  I've sent every card I've made this year, and hope to get these in the mail over the coming weeks.  My goal this year is to focus on being a card sender more than a card maker.  

I am SO excited to see what my teammates have made with my kit!  I'm sure you'll want to check them out to, so make sure you visit The 12 Kits of Occasions Blog next.  Thanks so much for sticking with me through this super long post.  Have a blessed week!

Where Creativity Meets C9 Sneak Peek

Hello, friends!  I'm over on the Where Creativity Meets C9 Blog this morning using the Here's the Scoop Bundle again.  I'd love to have you join me there!

PTI Anniversary Challenge Cards

Hi!  I'm popping in quickly to share a couple cards I made for Papertrey's Anniversary Challenges. My first card is for Day 5's Retirement List Challenge as well as Day 8's Color Challenge.  I'm also submitting this one to the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: "It Must Be Love".

Bigger Blooms is on the retirement list, but it happens to still be one of my favorite PTI sets. I just love the cheerful nature and variety of blooms.  I put them inside the small jar (which looks a little more like a vase here) from PTI's Friendship Jar: Summer Fillers. The sentiment is from Keep It Simple: Valentine.  Isn't this such a pretty color scheme?

I shared my second card yesterday on Instagram. I made it for PTI's Flower Challenge and barely posted it before the deadline.  I had to share it, though, because it uses images sent to me by my dear 12 Kits friends who have have done so very much to help me with my special endeavor to shower my nieces with love this Valentine's.  I'm so grateful for them!  It uses PTI's Big Hugs & Some Like it Hot stamp sets. 

That's all for me today.  Now I have to run and finish my son's valentines.  Eek!  Nothing like going down to the wire.  Thanks for stopping by!

Don't Lose Hope - with Spellbinders Poppy Dies

Good morning!  I'm really excited to share today's card with you.  The fabulous team at Spellbinders recently sent me some gorgeous dies to work with - the Poppy Pocket Etched Die and Poppies Etched Dies.  They are neat.  They emboss the images and die cut at the same time.  I used both products on my card today.

About 15 years ago my sister's yard had a hillside covered with orange poppies.  While they were blooming, she always had a fresh bouquet of them in her house.  I used that as my inspiration today.  I used Prismacolor pencils to color my poppies, using the debossed areas as a guide for shading.  The stems weren't quite long enough to fill the base, so I die cut second stem and tucked it below the sentiment.

I wanted my bouquet to be the clear focus on the card, but I wanted added texture and depth, so I die cut the Poppy Pocket Etched Die twice and placed them on opposite corners of my card base, so they would fill the entire space. Most of the overlap is hidden by the slanted panel, but I did trim a few flowers off, so the images would stay clean.  I used vellum, embossed images, and foam to pop up the areas at different heights for more interest.

And I have to say, I sure love how it turned out.  Many, many thanks to the Spellbinders team for giving me the chance to work with these beautiful products!

The Spellbinders Poppy Pocket Card Etched Die is amazing all on it's own, and I've got a fun set of cards using it that I'll share soon.  I'm just waiting for some sun to photograph.  I'm so grateful for the rain and snow we've been receiving the last couple of weeks,  but it sure does make it hard to take a good picture.  Hoping that this weekend brings you some sunshine to your soul (and hopefully sunshine in the skies, too).  Thanks for stopping by!

Dies Used:
S5-322 Spellbinders Poppy Pocket Card Etched Die
S4-815 Spellbinders Poppies Etched Dies

Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge #18

Hello!  A new month means a new challenge at Where Creativity Meets C9.  The theme for Challenge #18 is

watercolor!  Truth be told, this card was an oops.  When I went to stamp the ice cream image from Concord & 9th's Here's the Scoop Stamp Set, it slipped a bit, so I re-stamped it on another card and started working on that.  Well, I was trying to figure out what Zig markers to use, so I came back to this one and just used it as a practice sheet to try out colors.  It was messy and watery and not really intentional, but  the more I looked at it, the more I started to like it.  So I decided to keep it, stamped the ice cream image on top of it again, and added a couple sentiments from Here's the Scoop.  Imperfection isn't always a bad thing, right? :) 

(*Affiliate links used at no extra cost to you.  Thanks so much for your support!)

I hope that you will join us for Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge #18.  I cannot wait to be inspired by YOU!  Don't forget: when you play along you enter  to win a $25 gift certificate to Concord & 9th or a guest design spot at Where Creativity Meets C9.  And have you seen today's newest release?  (You can check it out HERE.)  There are some definite must-haves for me in it.  Hope you have the loveliest day!  Thanks for spending some of it with me. :) 

Technique Tuesday Giveaway Winner

Good morning!  Just popping in to share the winner of the Technique Tuesday giveaway.  Many thanks to all of you who took the time to comment.  The lucky winner is Jeanne Beam.

Jeanne, will you please email me at occasionalcrafting (at) gmail (dot) com , so I can get you connected with your prize?  Thanks so much!  Have a happy day everyone!

Cascading Hearts & GIVEAWAY with Technique Tuesday

Good morning!  Today I'm so happy to be able to share with you some fun new products from Technique Tuesday - the Simply You 2.0 Stamps and Dies as well as the Cascading Hearts Border Die.  One thing I really love about Technique Tuesday's products is that even the ones that may seem seasonal or holiday specific can easily be used all throughout the year.  My cards today highlight that great feature.  

I

My first card is the obvious occasion for these stamps and dies, a Valentine card.  I used all three products on this one, and I think I loved the Cascading Hearts Border Die more and more every time I sent it though the die cut machine.  One great thing about this dies is that each of the hearts is pretty unique in size/shape, which makes it really easy to piece the hearts back in.

Simply You 2.0 is full of great sentiments to let others know you love and appreciate them no matter what time of year.  I couldn't toss all the cute leftover hearts, so on my second card I used them along with a few other colors to complete a rainbow.  Doesn't this card just make you smile?  So much love and happy packed into a simple design.  I want to make a bunch of them as I have so many people right now that I want to thank.

So here's the best part.  Technique Tuesday is so wonderful to allow me to share some of this goodness with YOU.  The GIVEAWAY is simple.  Just head over to Technique Tuesday and then come back and leave me a comment telling me your favorite product by 11:59 PM on February 6.  I'll randomly select a winner the next day from comments.  The winner will get to choose their favorite Technique Tuesday stamp/die.  Awesome, right?!  Thanks so much for visiting today!  I can't wait to read what product catches your eye.  Have a fabulous weekend, friends!