For Sharron...

Hello, friends.  It’s been a while.  But I couldn’t miss the opportunity to honor a beautiful soul.  Today, my friends from the 12 Kits of Occasions are doing a special blog hop in tribute to Sharron Gregory, our sweet, sweet friend who passed away suddenly a few weeks ago.  Sharron was as kind as they come.  Always encouraging, uplifting, supporting.  She was quick to help and had a softness and sincerity about her that I much admired.  

How do you make a card fitting to honor such a wonderful lady?  As I try to always do when I make a card of such importance, I started with a prayer.  Next, I headed to Sharron’s blog, On Papillon Wings.  I chose to use her blog header (grey with orange butterflies) as my inspiration.  I used The Stamp Market’s Papillon stamp set as an added nod to the blog name.

While visiting her blog, I noticed that Sharron’s very last card she made (even when she wasn’t feeling great) was to lift a friend.  I think that perfectly shows her character, serving and loving others right to the very end.  And so I wanted to follow her example and made this card with a specific friend in mind.  

My last bit of inspiration came from one of Sharron’s past kits that she mailed to us.  I still had a few of the papers, so I pulled them out.  After all these years of many kits, I’ve never forgotten that these particular papers came from Sharron.  They were gentle, soft colors with music notes…perhaps the song of a bird because I know she enjoyed birds.  You can see them on the leaves tucked behind the butterfly.

If you have some time, please take a moment to visit my friends’ blogs (start HERE), to share in our memories and love for Sharron.  She is sorely missed.  Her family is still in my prayers, and I pray that peace may rest upon us all.  Have a blessed day!

12 Kits of Occasions - THE FINALE

Hello, friends!  The end of the month (and year! Can you believe it?!) is upon us, which means I get to share with you my projects for The 12 Kits of Occasions. When I received Marcia's fabulous kit in the mail I thought it was the most brilliant December kit ever and immediately wanted to sit down to create with it.  I LOVED her "Tags of Christmas" theme!  Making homemade tags is my favorite Christmas craft.  I know for many of you Christmas has passed, but I hope that my projects can still bring a smile and maybe even inspire you for some upcoming Valentine tags. :)

Marcia made everything so easy, and these tags came together in a snap.  I'll just let the photos do the talking. (If you are wondering about supplies, you can find all the details on her kit HERE.)

I made 5 tags and had LOTS of leftovers, but I wasn't sure if I'd have any more time to create.  Happily, I did, so here are a few bonus projects.  I made a couple cards for good measure.

PS The darling peppermint fillers in my shaker card were one of my very favorite items in the kit.

And one last tag to add to the bunch.

 And I know I say this every time, but seeing them all together is my favorite...

Normally the end of the month is something I look forward to, but this month I've been wishing would not come to an end.  You see not quite 6 years ago I was asked to guest design on The 12 Kits of Occasions blog.  And then the next month I won the chance to design again.  And then I was shocked and thrilled a couple months later to be asked to join full time.  My teammates have become dear friends, and I have loved receiving these kits and creating with them each month.  But more than that I have loved and been so blessed by the friendship and love and support I have received from this special group of friends.  I wish I had the words to express how deeply grateful I am for them, but no matter what I say, it could never be enough.  I suppose you can see where this is going...my heart is so heavy as I write...but in the last 5 1/2 years we have gone from a family of 3 to a family of 5, and I just can't keep up.  I've been selfishly hanging on, but I know it's time.  And so today is my last official post as a member of the 12 Kits of Occasions.  It's been a joy! 

12 Kits of Occasions: All Is Calm, All Is Bright

Hello!  I'm thrilled to share my projects for the 12 Kits of Occasions today.  This month I am the hostess and got to create the kits for my friends.  I knew what I wanted to do right away, but admittedly I struggled lots while creating the kit.  Here's why: I was trying to portray something close to my heart.  As I explained on the 12 Kits Blog, this kit represents what brings so much peace and happiness in my life - the beauty of nature and more importantly the Lord Jesus Christ.  When I focus on these things, truly all is calm and all is bright.  And so I love the Christmas season, this beautiful time of year when we all strive to focus on what is good in the world, when joy abounds, and when hearts are full of giving.  And I hope that somehow you feel all of that as the 12 Kits team shares their creations today.

I've long loved Neat & Tangled's So Foxy stamp set and have big plans for lots of Christmas tags with it, but today he is the darling star of my first card.  This card features so many things I love: Festive Florals from Lil' Inker Designs, Snowflake Die from The Stamp Market, and Sentimental: Winter from Winnie & Walter.  From here on out I kind of created the cards in sets.

I love so many of the background stamps from The Stamp Market, so I used them to create patterned papers for the kit.  These cards feature Jumbo Plaid (my favorite background stamp!) and Diamond Design. 

Don't you just love hand lettering?  This Merry Christmas Greeting from My Favorite Things is another favorite of mine.

This tag is so simple, but it was one of my happiest discoveries from the kit.  The background die is from PTI's Scene It: Bethlehem with the Christmas star, but I found that if  it is tilted just the right way, it makes it look like the tree (from PTI's Tinsel & Tags kit) is lit up and glowing.  The image of a peaceful, clear night, the world covered with freshly fallen snow and the single glow from a Christmas tree brought me so much happiness.

I purposely created the kit with a very neutral color palette.  I wanted it simple, but I added just a few touches of metallics that I think are so fun.

This card features more beautiful lettering.  This time from MFT's Hand Lettered Christmas.  The greenery comes from Concord & 9th's Just Because dies and in case you are wondering, I would love an ornament just like this on my tree. :)

 Another simple card, but I think the Stemmed Leaves from The Stamp Market are so pretty.  I added a few gold jewels from Pretty Pink Posh (thank you, Jeanne!).

Concord & 9th's Ornamental die is huge, so it really felt like I was creating an ornament for the tree with this project.  I wanted C9's Merry Die to stand out, so I tucked PTI's rustic wreath die behind the vellum.  I almost didn't include the patterned vellum in the kit, but I adore the softness it adds to this ornament tag. (It's much prettier in person.)

Honestly, it doesn't get any simpler than this, but I gotta say...this next card makes me smile big.  The Stamp Market's Skinny Upper Alpha paired quite nicely with PTI's Wet Paint: Holiday stamp set.

And for the the finale, a favorite message.  I used some oldie but goody products on this one - Papertrey's O Holy Night stamp set and Sketched Stars dies.

I have more to share in the coming days...sick kiddos didn't allow for me to finish up a few of my projects using some of my very favorite critters and elements in the kit. But regardless, this pile makes me so very happy...

Thanks so much for sharing some of your time with me today!  And please do stop by the 12 Kits of Occasions Blog to see what my teammates have created.  They are one talented bunch, and I sure do love them!  Have a blessed weekend!
PS I think I mentioned most everything I used today, but you can find a full list of all the supplies I included in my kit here.

12 Kits of Occasions - Friends & Food

Hello! It's one of my very most favorite days of the month...the day I get to share my projects for The 12 Kits of Occasions.  Each month I love seeing the items my friend's have put together in their kits.  The donuts in Kim's cute kit immediately caught my eye. And the papers.  Doesn't Lawn Fawn make the cheeriest papers?  I was eager to use them on my projects.

Isn't this giant stack of donuts from Mama Elephant's Donut Treats fun?  We have a local donut shop that we love to eat at.  All of us get excited when we see that white box.  My daughter especially loves their pink frosted donuts with sprinkles, so I used them as my inspiration.

Not one to leave a donut behind, I used the other donuts in the kit to make a birthday tag.  October and November are packed with birthdays on both sides of our family, so I figured I better get started creating for them.

I cut a few more cute prints from Lawn Fawn's Spring Fling paper with The Stamp Market's Tag'd Dies to create my tag.

I have a couple more cards in the works, so stay tuned. :) In the meantime, you can see my teammates creations using this cute kit by visiting The 12 Kits of Occasions blog here.  I hope you have a happy start to your week!

12 Kits of Occasions - End of Summer Soiree

Hello!  I'm popping in for a quick post to share a couple projects I made with our latest kit from The 12 Kits of Occasions.  Michelle sent a wonderful kit with the theme "End of Summer Soiree".  I loved the variety of elements she included.  In truth, I made more cards than I am sharing here, and I don't have my typical group photo because I had already used some of the cards, but hopefully you enjoy these. :)

My first card uses some wonderful flowers Michelle included in the kit from The Stamp Market's Petal Patch.  I loved them and happened to have purchased them and some other goodies from The Stamp Market a few months ago, so I pulled them out and used them on the card as well.  The background is heat embossed with the Diamond Tile Background, and I fussy cut a sentiment from Scripty Sentiments. 

I needed a card for a child last week, so I pulled out a set I've always loved but never used enough, Mama Elephant's Up and Away.  I did a simple watercolor and popped this little monkey up on some patterned paper from the kit.  I kind of love how this banner Michelle included in the kit is floating through the air.  I may be the only one who appreciates that, but it makes me smile.

You can see all my wonderful friends' cards using this kit by visiting the 12 Kits of Occasions blog here.  It's definitely worth the trip. :) Have the most wonderful weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

The 12 Kits of Occasions: The Best Summer Ever

Hello!  This week got away with me, but thankfully I found a quick second to post my projects for July's 12 Kits of Occasions.  How grateful I am for this group of friends.  I love that these kits keep us connected.  Marybeth put together such a fun summer kit - popsicles, fruit, flowers, flamingoes - just lots and lots of things I love about summer.  You can catch all the details on the goodies she included on the supply list here.

As I created my projects I worked in sets.  First up is the set that screams summer.  I love popsicles.  LOVE love them.  In fact my grandmother used to call me "the popsicle kid" because I ate them all the time...or at least I wanted to eat them all the time.  So using the darling popsicles from Concord & 9th Cool Treats Dies was a must for me.  I paired them with other supplies Marybeth had included in the kit.

I really loved the paper on the next card.  We just got back from visiting my in-laws.  I'm blessed to have gained such a wonderful family and I thought this card was a fun way to say thank you for making our summer so wonderful.  

I used The Stamp Market's Thank You So Much Dies.  I gotta say that it took a little longer to layer each letter back on than I would have liked, but I love the bold result.  Just to add a bit of fun, I fussy cut out a few fruits from the leftover paper and popped them up in random places on the card.

Next up is the floral set.

The item I was the very most excited to see in the kit was the mason jar from The Greetery's Just Mason Around set.  Happily the flowers from Concord & 9th's Filled In Florals fit just perfectly in it.  A fun thing about so many companies having watercolor floral sets is that it creates lots of mixing and matching options.  I felt like the flowers needed some stems and leaves, so I got the stems from Concord & 9th's Petals & Pallets set and the leaves from WPlus9's Watercolored Anemones.

Now I loved the gingham paper too much to let even the littlest strip go to waste, so I combined it with this fabulous sentiment from Concord & 9th's Filled In Florals and some leftover florals.  

Last up is the mondo flower from Concord & 9th's Filled In Florals that Marybeth included in the kit as well as a frame she sent.

Well, that's it for me today.  Here's the whole lineup all together.  Don't you just love those happy colors?

Thank you so much for visiting today!  One of my favorite parts about these kits is seeing how everyone used the same supplies in their own creative way, so make sure you visit The 12 Kits of Occasions blog here to see my teammates wonderful projects.  Have a lovely weekend!

The 12 Kits of Occasions - Summer Fun!

Hello!  This is probably a bit shocking to see a new post from me.  As life would have it, shortly after my last post we've had one major health issue after another within our family and friends, including the passing of my grandmother.  Most of the cards I made I sent to my grandmother, and it's been a struggle to get back into making cards again.  But I am thrilled to be able to join my 12 Kits of Occasions friends today using a kit packed full of summer fun.  

I decided to really embrace the "summer" part of this kit.  There were lots of cute patterned papers, and this particular one seemed perfect to use with The Stamp Market's Skinny Upper Alpha Dies, which I was anxious to try out.  I framed the card out with one of MFT's Stitched Rectangle Stax, and added this cute pineapple and hibiscus (from Papertrey Ink's Some Like it Hot set) that were also included in the kit.  Simple, but it makes me smile.

When I was making my first card, I layered some plain black letters under "SUMMER" to give it more dimension.  I ended up really loving my scrap piece of negative die cuts, so I trimmed it down and used it on the next card.

As soon as I opened my kit from the wonderful Birgit, I saw this cute flamingo and knew I had to use him.  He's also from PTI's Some Like it Hot. (Why don't I own this cute set?!) I popped him up on top of a trio of Echo Park's Palm Leaves, and used that fabulous negative scrap piece in the background. 

Obviously I only scratched the surface of the kit here, but it felt good to dip my toes back in the cardmaking pool again.

You can see oodles more inspiration by my wonderful friends over on the 12 Kits of Occasions Blog.  Hoping you have a beautiful Sunday and a wonderful week!  Thanks for stopping by!