Concord & 9th Feature Friday - Favorite Color Combos

Hello, friends!  Today I'm joining Concord & 9th for their Feature Friday and it's all about color!  No surprise there. ;) And today - right now even - you can hop over to Concord and 9th (click HERE) and pick up all your favorites in their brand new color collection. Run over and snag them and then come back...I'll wait. :D

Okay, so for today's Feature Friday we each got to choose a favorite color combo, and after much debate this summery combo won out for this (slightly late) graduation card.  I can't help but smile when I look at it...these colors are just so bright and cheery! 

The color combination I chose is honeysuckle + buttercup + clover + oceanside.  One thing that has been really cool to see with these inks is how the colors seem to change and adapt depending on what you pair them with.  Clover, for instance, looks really bright here, but then looks deeper and richer when paired with jewel tones.  

The colors begged to be on a rainbow, so I pulled out Concord & 9th's Rainbow Wishes stamp set.  Typically this set makes wider rainbows, but thanks to the pliability of photopolymer stamps, I was able to bend the stamps to make the arc narrower.  It also allowed me to bend the sentiment strips, so the words could replace one of the arcs (happy sigh).  This stamp set does come with coordinating dies, but since I had altered their shape I fussy cut them out and popped up each layer.

If you look reeeaally close you can see that I used my score tool to add 3 lines at the bottom of the card.  And there you have it!   Simple - just the way I like it. Thanks so much for visiting today!  Now go fill your day with color by visiting the Concord & 9th Blog to see lots more color combos and make sure to head to the C9 shop so you can pick up these fabulous new goodies.

Concord & 9th Creating in Color Insta Hop + Giveaway

Hello!!!  Oh, it makes me SO happy to be here today!  I am beyond excited to be joining the Instahop celebration of Concord & 9th's new color line.  Concord & 9th holds a permanent spot in my heart.  Besides loving their products, I love the people behind this company.  A few years ago I had the opportunity to visit Concord & 9th in Utah.  It was a dreamy afternoon!  Besides me oohing and ahhing over everything I saw, I had the opportunity to chat with the C9 team for a few hours.  One of the many things we talked about was ink and their dream of having their own color line of cardstock and ink.  Well friends, that dream is a reality and in two short days you can get your fingers on these fabulous products HERE.  

Okay, I'm a stamp and ink kind of gal, but I was totally blown away by the array of colors in Concord & 9th's cardstock.  I just had to use them, so today you get to see a completely stamp-less card.  This color line will take you through all the seasons (yay!) and honestly they fill in so many color gaps in my stash.  My card today features buttercup (a warm, sunshiny yellow) and parsley (a fabulous green that makes me feel like I'm out in my garden...happy sigh).  It also features three die sets releasing this month - Fresh Cut Florals Edition 1, Fresh Cut Florals Edition 2, and Hexagon Label Dies.

I started by die cutting a bunch of hexagons (16 to be exact) from the Hexagon Label Dies to create my background.  Now you may be wondering where this flower came from because I didn't exactly use the dies like you've seen in the peeks of these new sets.  But here's the deal.  I live in the eastern US and Black Eyed Susan is a very common flower here.  And when I looked at these dies, that is all I could think about, so I mixed and matched dies from Fresh Cut Florals 1 & 2 to create one.

The flower is simply both petal sizes from Fresh Cut Florals Edition 1 layered together.  To create the spiky cone center like you'd see on a Black Eyed Susan, I cut two of the flower centers from Fresh Cut Florals Edition 2, folded them in half, and stacked them.  It creates the most wonderful dimension and pokes up just like a coneflower!  I used the stem from Fresh Cut Florals 2, but trimmed off the leaves and replaced them with a couple leaves that I trimmed from the leaf die in Fresh Cut Florals 1.  Finally, I finished off the card with a multi-stacked "hi" die cut from the Hexagon Label Dies. 

 

Now for the really fun part.  Make sure to go to my Instagram account HERE because there is a GIVEAWAY on each stop (so many amazing designers participating!) and a grand prize giveaway on Concord & 9th's insta account.  Trust me...you are going to want to win this!  I've got all the details there, but go quick because the giveaway ends July 8th.  Happy hopping and happy shopping!  (You can find all these fabulous new products HERE.)  Thanks so much for visiting today!

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! 

One more tag...

Hi!  Back in November I shared a couple tags I had created for the 25 Days of Christmas Tags here.  Well, I love creating ornaments for my kiddos and my nieces, so I decided to I needed to make another one. 

My super sweet friend Lisa even sent me a cute stamped image from Pretty Pink Posh's Winter Wonderland, so I could have a cohesive set.

My sister started turning the tags I made for them into ornaments for the kids' tree after the packages were open.  We do it now, too.  Here is the set all together.  

 I hope you are having a blessed weekend.  Thanks so much for stopping by!