The 12 Kits of Occasions--September 2013

Welcome back for another month of The 12 Kits of Occasions!  This month's theme is Halloween, one of my favorite holidays.  Our hostess, Kim, sent an incredible kit just stuffed with supplies, and the packaging was almost too adorable to unwrap!

My favorite part of this kit was the haunted landscape, so I put it right to work with some striped orange paper, chevron ribbon, and a jack-o-lantern candy bucket.

My next card showcases a few of the papers from the kit along with a spiderweb border.  I love how the yellow and orange pop off of the black card base.

I love this adorable bingo card, so it had to be used with the spiderweb paper, die cut spider, and a Halloween greeting punched into a ticket shape.

For today's last card, I wanted to use this fun paper but found it too busy to use all over the card front, so I die cut a label from the black panel to let the pattern peek through, then stamped a sentiment from an old dollar bin mini set.

I have a couple more cards to share later in the week, and tons of supplies left that I hope to use in the near future.

In addition to the rest of the 12 Kit crew, we have a special guest this month, but you'll have to head over to the 12 Kits blog to see who it is!  While you're there, you can also check out the full list of supplies Kim included in our kit this month.

Thanks so much for stopping by to see my cards!  Have a great day!

Happy Birthday Sharron!

I have a special card today for a special lady and blog friend!  Sharron, the talented designer behind the blog, On Papillon Wings, and a teammate of mine at The 12 Kits of Occasions, is having a birthday today, and several of her friends have come together to help her celebrate with a blog hop.

Since Sharron's birthday is on the first day of autumn, I chose some warm fall colors to create a card just for her.  I used WPlus9's Written On Ribbon and Fresh Cut Florals, adding a stitched border and some glitter accents to the flowers with a Wink of Stella glitter brush.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Oatmeal), Stampin' Up! (Rich Razzleberry)

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Fresh Cut Florals, Written on Ribbon)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, More Mustard, So Saffron, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive)

Tools:  WPlus9 Design Studio (ribbon, flower dies), corner rounder

Other:  Zig Wink of Stella clear glitter brush, thread

Sharron, I hope you have a fantastic birthday and enjoy your blog hop!  Here's the full list of designers wishing you well today:

Joyce
Cathy

Christina (that's me!)

Darnell

Jeanne

Jill

Kara

Kelly S.

Kim

Marybeth

Renee

Suzanne

Tracey 

Stop by and wish Sharron a happy birthday, too!

Happy Fall, everyone!

Surprise Baby Shower Hop!

Have you heard the news?  My friend, Jessica, is expecting a bundle of joy in just a few weeks, and her friends at The 12 Kits of Occasions have organized a surprise blog hop in her honor!

I don't have many baby themed items in my stash, but I do have this cute set from Avery Elle that had yet to see ink.  Doesn't this little oven look adorable in dots and stripes?

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Berry Sorbet), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Patterned paper:  Echo Park (Dots & Stripes)

Stamps:  Avery Elle (Oh Baby)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Pool Party), Memento (Tuxedo Black)

Tool:  corner rounder

Jessica, I just know you are going to be an amazing mother, and I wish you all the best as you prepare for your new arrival!

Head over to The 12 Kits blog to see who's participating in today's baby shower hop, and don't forget to stop by Jessica's blog to wish her well.

Have a great day!

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge--Sunflower Surprise

Are you ready for a new Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge?  This week's theme is Sunflower Surprise:

We have another wonderful sponsor for this week's challenge:  Clearly Besotted Stamps has provided each of the Design Team members with the Blooming Marvellous stamp set and coordinating dies, and they are offering these beautiful stamps and dies as a prize for this week's LEAD, as well!

This gorgeous sunflower doesn't need much embellishment, so I kept my design simple to show it off.  I die cut the flower and leaves from Oatmeal cardstock and stamped the corresponding images, then embellished the flower center with a chocolate button and some twine.

The kraft card base is debossed with a woodgrain texture, though it's hard to see in the photos.  Just a little bit of added texture to jazz up a simple design.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Kraft, Oatmeal), Stampin' Up! (Chocolate Chip)

Patterned paper:  Echo Park (A Boy's Life)

Stamps:  Clearly Besotted Stamps (Blooming Marvellous)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Daffodil Delight, Garden Green, Chocolate Chip)

Tools:  Clearly Besotted Stamps (Blooming Marvellous dies), Papertrey Ink (woodgrain impression plate)

Other:  May Arts (twine), button

I hope you'll visit my Curtain Call teammates to see their amazing creations this week!  Stop by the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge blog for links and to add your entry to the gallery.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Have a fantastic day!

Happy Birthday Kara!

I have a special card today for a sweet friend who is celebrating a birthday!  You probably already know Kara from the 12 Kits group, her Friday Inspiration File, and her beautiful creations on her blog, K and R Designs.  Some of Kara's friends organized a blog hop to wish her a wonderful day, so be sure to scroll down to see the full list of links.

For this card, I wanted to try my hand at a skewed panel, as they seem to be very popular at the moment.  I chose some festive paper from My Mind's Eye, cut it at an angle, and used a circle punch to make a negative space in one corner.

I knew I had to use a bird in my design, as Kara loves all things bird-related.  This one is from WPlus9.  I stamped the feet on the sentiment banner, then stamped the bird's body onto scrap white cardstock and cut it out to pop up in the negative space.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Hawaiian Shores), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Patterned paper:  My Mind's Eye

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Woodgrain Silhouettes Additions), Mama Elephant (Soiree)

Ink:  Hero Arts (Ocean)

Tool:  circle punch

Other:  Michaels (sequins)

Here's the list of designers who have special posts today to wish Kara a happy birthday!

Joyce
Cathy

Christina (that's me!)

Jeanne

Jill

Kelly G.

Kelly S.

Kim

Leigh

Lisa

Lynn

Marybeth

Michelle
Nancy

Renee

Sharron

Tracey

Be sure to stop by and leave some love for Kara, too!

Have a great day!

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge--Back to School

It's time for a new Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge!  Our theme this week is Back to School, and the timing couldn't be any more perfect as my two kiddos start 3rd grade and Kindergarten next week.

We have another wonderful sponsor this week:  The Alley Way Stamps is offering their Learning Curve stamp set to the LEAD this week, so be sure to play along for your chance to win!

My mojo has been absent lately, so I kept my design simple with just a strip of patterned paper and some stamped images from Paper Smooches' Smarty Pants.  I added just a few swipes of Copic marker to add a little something to the images without having to color.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Kraft)

Patterned paper:  Fancy Pants

Stamps:  Paper Smooches (Smarty Pants)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Chocolate Chip), Copic marker

Tool:  corner rounder

This one might be going to my husband, my very own absent-minded professor, as classes start at the College next week, too.

I hope you'll join us for our Back to School challenge!  Be sure to visit the Challenge blog to be inspired by the Design Team and link up your creation.

Have a great day!