Concord & 9th Feature Friday: Grateful for Everything

Good morning!  I'm so happy to be able to join Concord and 9th with one last Feature Friday this month.  The last set we are featuring is a stunner called Grateful for Everything and the name fits my feelings perfectly about how much I've loved being able to guest design this month for Concord & 9th.  And I have to tell ya, this is one of my absolute favorite sets from the August Release.  If you've been around Concord & 9th for a while, you'll remember Hello, Lovely - a beautiful floral spray that is still a favorite of mine.  This set is the autumn follow up to that.  The image is gorgeous colored, but so pretty that you don't have to color it.  I LOVE that!  So today all three of my cards embrace that wonderful feature.

My first two cards feature a popped up panel.  For a little added fun, the portion that is popped up is either a shade darker or a shade lighter than the image on the base.  This technique is sure a lot easier now with a stamping tool like the MISTI.  

To make my popped up panel just a bit fancier, I used a decorative edge from the Select-A-Size Edge Dies.  I really, really love these dies, and they are in Concord & 9th's Last Chance category (sniff, sniff!), so make sure you grab them on sale before they're gone. 

The sentiment on this card comes from Painted Rose.  You'll notice that the handwritten script in the Painted Rose sentiments is in the same style as those in Grateful for Everything, so they are really easy to swap out. 

On my second card I wanted the flowers to frame the sentiment; however, the beautiful floral spray in Grateful for Everything is so detailed that it took me a little bit to find a sentiment that would stand out enough between the two images. 

The bold font in So Happy for You was just right, especially paired with the die cut "you" from the You're My Happy dies (which was easily altered with one little snip).

My last card has a variance in color as well, but this time it is created with vellum instead of using differing shades of ink.  It features the fabulous stripes from Shiplap Sentiments as well as my favorite sentiment from Grateful for Everything, which was embossed on the vellum.

And here's one last look at the cards all together. :)

Thanks so much for joining me today and all this month!  You most definitely are going to want to see how my teammates used this set (we've got some talented colorists in this bunch!), so make sure you're next stop is the Concord & 9th Blog.  You are headed for a a treasure of inspiration. :) Have a lovely weekend!

Concord 9th Feature Friday: Thankful Leaves

Good morrning!  I am so happy to share today's cards with you!  I love thinking of color combinations and recently found a list I had made last year of possible autumn color combos.  I decided to put that list to good use and made a bunch of cards using Concord & 9th's Thankful Leaves Bundle.  I think the Turnabouts are such a brilliant idea, and this Thankful Leaves Turnabout just might be my favorite! There are lots of cards, so here we go. :)

The great thing about the Thankful Leaves Turnabout is that it is so pretty on it's own that you don't have to do much to finish off a card.  And I love that the leaves intentionally overlap and have a little rustic flair.  I finished my card with Concord & 9th's Many Thanks Dies (love them!) and a little bit of twine.

Colors: PTI Autumn Rose, Canyon Clay, Summer Sunrise; SU! Elegant Eggplant

This next color combo is a lot more muted but one of my favorites. I thought the softness was perfect for a "thinking of you" card.  Don't the Fabulous Phrases dies look so pretty when they are all layered?  They needed a little something, though, to set them off from the busy background, so I mounted them on top of a hexagon from the Blooms Fill-In dies.

Colors: Altenew Caramel Toffee; PTI Aqua Mist, Honey Nut, Kraft

Next up is my husband's favorite, so I would count this as a successful masculine attempt. :) This time I paired the Thankful Leaves Turnabout with Concord & 9th's new Shiplap Sentiments. Being a huge Fixer Upper fan, I was sold at shiplap. :) 

Colors: Altenew Honey Drizzle, Industrial Diamond, Silver Stone; PTI Canyon Clay

While I was in the masculine mindset, I used another fun combo that even the men in your life can appreciate.  I white embossed "thank you" from Shiplap Sentiments and mounted them on top of the beautiful maple leaf included in the Thankful Leaves Dies.  I think the leaf is just the perfect size and love it so much.

Colors: Altenew Honey Drizzle, CTMH Outdoor Denim, PTI Dark Chocolate, SU! Blue Bayou

This next card is one of my favorites and uses the full Thankful Leaves Bundle again.  The sentiments are included in the Thankful Leaves Turnabout, but I did do a little selective inking so I could right align everything. 
Colors: Altenew Limestone; Distress Ink Spiced Marmalade; Distress Oxide Broken China; PTI Canyon Clay

Are you still with me?  Promise this is the last card of the day.  It's my momma's favorite, so I saved it for last.  I adore this sentiment in Thankful Leaves Turnabout and thought that Concord & 9th's Hooray Ribbon dies framed it so nicely.  This is one of my favorite color combos, too! :) 

Color: Altenew Emerald; CTMH Sunflower; Hero Arts Raspberry Jam; SU! Really Rust

And there you have it!  A bunch of autumn goodness all bundled together in one happy pile.  Thanks a bunch for joining me today and sharing my excited over this fabulous new Thankful Leaves Bundle!  Make sure you go to the Concord & 9th Blog next as you are sure to be dazzled by my talented teammates' projects.  Have the most wonderful weekend!

Spellbinders Inked Messages Collection

Hi!  Can you believe I'm back already with more cards?  I've been able to squeeze some extra time in this month to create.  I sure love when I can do that.  Today I'm sharing some neat products designed by Stephanie Low for the new Spellbinders Inked Messages Collection.  She is a talented artist with a unique style, and it was fun for me to step out of my norm a bit while creating these cards.

First up is the Spellbinders Message in a Bottle Stamp and Die set.  My son thought the ship in a bottle was so neat, so I had to make him an extra bottle to keep. :) For my card, I embossed the bottle image with silver, and then embossed the inside image with white and colored it with my Zig Markers.  I would actually recommend doing the opposite if you are going to emboss.  Emboss the inside image first and then the bottle image, so the bottle lines remain crisp.

I thought the sentiment "sending sunshine" was perfect for this little scene.  Doesn't the sun make those big waves seem less treacherous and more like a helpful driving force?  I love that idea.

My second card uses the One Day at a Time Stamp and Die set.  It's such a unique image, and I opted to use my Zig markers again to color it.  I don't often reach for the darker card bases, but it just seemed like the right choice this time to really allow the image to stand out.

Many thanks to Spellbinders for allowing me the chance to play with these great new products!  I hope y'all have a lovely weekend! It's a rainy day here which means lots of time for cleaning and de-junking...always a good thing. :) Thanks so much for stopping by!

So Happy for You Feature Friday with Concord & 9th

Good morning!  I'm super excited to be joining Concord & 9th for another Feature Friday this week.  Our focus today is the fabulous new So Happy for You bundle.  This is a bundle that I can see myself using again and again.  I love it!

The sentiments in the So Happy for You stamp set all focus around "you" and the set was designed to easily be used all year for a plethora of occasions.  I started my card by stamping "so grateful" in an alternating pattern on my card base.  Then I stamped "for" and "you" and fussy cut them out.

Next I started on the flowers and greenery.  These stamps are really easy to line up on the Floral Hoop dies.  Usually I stamp first and then die cut, but I didn't this time, and I didn't have any trouble lining the images up using a regular old stamp block.  

After creating a little bundle, I glued them together and popped everything up on the card.  I'm a fan of one layer cards, but sometimes it amazes me how adding a little dimension really changes the card in a great way.  And don't you love this color combo?  It's a mix and match of inks from a bunch of companies (Hero Arts Wet Cement, Papertrey Melon Berry, Stampin' Up Kiwi Kiss, Studio Calico Spring Rain).

The So Happy for You bundle is so wonderful.  You'll have no regrets adding to your stamp collection.  Oh, and make sure you visit the Concord & 9th Blog next to see how all of my talented teammates used it.  You're in for a treat!  Thanks so much for stopping by today! 

Where Creativity Meets C9 Sneak Peek

Hi, friends!  I'm over at the Where Creativity Meets C9 Blog today sharing an easy masculine card featuring some of the goodies from Concord & 9th's August Release.  I'd love for you to join me! :)

Concord & 9th Top It Off - 3rd Birthday Celebration

Hello, friends!  I couldn't be happier to be joining my WCMC9 teammates today to showcase some fun new Concord and 9th goodies.  The focus in today's Feature Friday is Concord and 9th's Top It Off Bundle. This set has everything you need to build a super cute cake with some fabulous cake toppers, but the stamps can be used for so much more.

You know a good set when you immediately have multiple ideas pop into your head upon seeing seeing it.  This is one of my first ideas, and I was pretty thrilled that it turned out how I envisioned it.  I started by triple layering the die cut sentiment topper and built the card around that with a little simple stamping.

This cheerful scene just makes me happy, and I love that it could be used for lots of celebratory occasions, not just a birthday.  I'm not sure if I'm feeling a little lazy or a little tired or if a picture is worth a thousand words...maybe all three, but I decided a quick picture of the supplies I used was a lot easier than writing it all out. :) 

This card came together quickly...another sign of a great set in my opinion. :)  You can find the Top It off Bundle HERE with Concord & 9th's new August release.

I'm blessed to be part of a talented team, so make sure you head to the Concord & 9th Blog to see how they've put their creative spin on this new set.  You're sure to be inspired!  Have a lovely weekend, friends!

Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge #24

Hello!  Today is a super exciting day!  Not only does Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge #24 start, but Concord and 9th's new release goes live and all their 3rd birthday festivities begin.  I'm super excited because the Where Creativity Meets C9 Design Team gets to be a part of all the fun.  Yay!  Trust me, I've been working with the products from the new release (check them out HERE) for a few days, and they are loads of fun!

Where Creativity Meets C9 Challenge #24 is an easy one  - "Anything Goes" - so we hope everyone will play along with us this month.  Today my card is featuring the brand new Birthday Balloons stamp set and Birthday dies from Concord & 9th.  And guess what?  You can earn them for FREE with a qualifying purchase this month from Concord & 9th.  Check out all the details on their Promo Page.

I love banners.  Love them!  So my cards focus on just two of the stamps included in the Birthday Balloons stamp set. The sentiment is from the Birthday Balloons dies.

Such a simple design, but I love that all it requires is stamps, ink, and a regular old stamping block.  No special tools needed.  Bonus that it works equally well for both the girls and boys in your life. :)

All of my teammates have awesome creations being shared today using this new bundle, so make sure you go to the Concord & 9th Blog to check them out.  You'll be surprised (at least I was!) and how much you can do with them.  We can't wait to see all the fabulous things you make this month for our Anything Goes Challenge!  Don't forget, a randomly selected winner gets a $25 gift certificate to Concord and 9th and there's no better time than now to shop the latest release and take advantage of all the sales and promotions going on right now.  Happy shopping, my friends! :)

Olive the Octopus

Hello, friends! We just got back from the beach not long ago, and I thought it was the perfect time to share these octopus cards.  This is Olive the Octopus, a new set from Technique Tuesday.  My children and I love him.  

On my first card, I stamped the octopus and then blended on some distress inks to color him.  A super quick and simple way to add color.  Next I blended some ink at the bottom of my card base and used a few foilage stamps from my stash to try to create ocean plants. As I was trying to decide what to use for my ink blot, I noticed Technique Tuesday's Happy Hydrangeas dies sitting out and decided the to use the large flower die.  The randomness of the shape worked perfectly.  I love shaker cards, and so do my kids, so I filled the "ink blot" with sequins and beads for good measure.

After using all that color on the last card, I was craving a little white, so I made a second card.  I love when images are cute enough on their own that you can color or choose NOT to color.  And truth be told, I'm still in complete awe of simply stamped images.  They truly make me so happy.

Thanks for joining me today.  I'm hanging on to the last of summer as the school year is fast approaching.  I hope you are headed into a wonderful weekend!