The 12 Kits of Occasions--March 2014

Hello, friends!  Another month has come and almost gone, believe it or not.  I hope it's beginning to look like spring where you are.  This month's hostess for the 12 Kits of Occasions, Kelly, has certainly set the mood for the coming season with this beautiful kit:

As wonderfully filled to the brim as this kit was, I'm sorry to say I only managed two cards, and I just barely squeaked those in!  I'll share more on what I've been up to instead of card-making in a future post.  For now, I hope you'll forgive me for leaving so many lovely supplies unused (yet).

Full supply lists of every month's installment of the 12 Kits of Occasions can be found on the group blog.  You can also find links to each designer, special guests, and sneak peeks of each month's kit!  Be sure to stop by and become a follower if you haven't already.

Thanks so much for visiting today!

The 12 Kits of Occasions--February 2014

Welcome back for another edition of The 12 Kits of Occasions!  This month's kit was provided by Renee, and as you can probably tell from the beautiful graphic above (courtesy of Kara), our theme is everything SNOW!

Life certainly hasn't slowed down around here in the month since I last posted, but I snuck into my craft room just long enough to make 3 cards with the kit.  Like Renee, I adore the papers from Crate Paper's Bundled Up, so this kit is sure to see more love in the future.

I made a beeline for the teal chevron patterned paper as soon as I unpacked my kit.  This is such a fantastic winter color, and it pairs beautifully with the glittered silver snowflakes.

Renee included some darling die cut snowmen, so I pieced one together and popped him up on a tag.  The kit came with lovely red satin ribbon, but I wound up using some red twill from my stash because it seemed to fit the playful feel of the card a little better.

I don't often do pink and sparkles together, but I had a lot of fun combining them on my last card!

Stop by and say hello to our Guest Designer this month, Judy Marino, then be sure to visit the rest of the 12 Kits crew to see the magic they've worked with their supplies:

Cathy Weber
http://emptynestcrafter.blogspot.com

Jeanne Jachna

http://akeptlife.blogspot.com

Jessica Davis

http://thepaperparade.blogspot.com

Joyce Mehrberg

http://cards-by-the-sea.blogspot.com

Kara {kandrdesigns}

http://kandrdesigns.blogspot.com

Kelly Schirmer

http://ginghamgirlsadventures.blogspot.com

Kim Heggins

http://cupcakescardsandkim.blogspot.com

Marybeth Lopez

http://marybethstimeforpaper.blogspot.com

Renee Lynch

http://itsapatchworklife.blogspot.com

Sharron Gregory

http://onpapillonwings.blogspot.com

Tracey McNeely

http://inmycreativeopinion.blogspot.com

Thanks for stopping by today!

The 12 Kits of Occasions--January 2014

Well, hello strangers!  Did you think I was never coming back?  The last several months have been absolutely crazy around here, and crafting has definitely not been at the top of my priority list.  But I have tried to escape from my responsibilities for a few minutes here and there this month, and so I have 5 cards to share with you for this month's edition of The 12 Kits of Occasions.

Our hostess this month is Sharron, and the theme is love and Valentine's Day.  Sharron sent such a fantastic kit with a color combo that I absolutely adore as an alternative to the usual red, pink, and white.  And many thanks to Kara for creating our beautiful graphic once again this month, giving you a peek at all of the goodies packed into our kits.

My favorite card was the first one I made, shortly after my kit arrived.  I love the striped paper and the pretty script in the sentiment.  It's hard to see in the photo, but the Sahara Sand cardstock was debossed with a music score impression plate.

Sorry for the shadows on the next card, but I popped up the die cut "happy" with teensy pieces of foam tape in a few spots.  I used another of my favorite papers and some of the cute die cut accents from the kit.

How do you like these cute elephants?  I think they're adorable, especially paired with the matching paper.  Such a cute sentiment from Mama Elephant, too (of course!).

For my next card, I layered the pretty heart doily with the word "love", along with a couple of stitched die cut hearts and gold sequins.

My last card is sort of a work in progress, and maybe you can help me finish it.  I've had it sitting on my desk for at least a couple of weeks just like this, and I feel like it needs something else.  I've tried buttons, twine, sequins--nothing quite works.  I think it's ok the way it is, but it's just a little blah.  Any suggestions?

That's all from me, but I have so many cute supplies left to use.  I can't wait to see what the rest of the 12 Kit Designers created with them:

Cathy Weber
http://emptynestcrafter.blogspot.com/

Jeanne Jachna

http://akeptlife.blogspot.com

Jessica Davis

http://thepaperparade.blogspot.com

Joyce Mehrberg

http://cards-by-the-sea.blogspot.com

Kara {kandrdesigns}

http://kandrdesigns.blogspot.com

Kelly Schirmer

http://ginghamgirlsadventures.blogspot.com

Kim Heggins

http://cupcakescardsandkim.blogspot.com

Marybeth Lopez

http://marybethstimeforpaper.blogspot.com

Renee Lynch

http://itsapatchworklife.blogspot.com

Sharron Gregory

http://onpapillonwings.blogspot.com

Tracey McNeely

http://inmycreativeopinion.blogspot.com

And our Guest Designer for this month, Michelle from Pretty Periwinkles.

For supply information, be sure to visit The 12 Kits of Occasions blog, where you can also access information about our group and links to all of the designers.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Have a great day!

The 12 Kits of Occasions--December 2013

Hi there!  Sorry I've been even quieter than usual lately, but this month has been especially hectic for my family.  My husband and I sold his mother's home of 42 years and bought her a new one closer to us, and we had less than a week to clean it out.  It was incredibly stressful getting everything lined up to happen in time, but somehow we finished up just a few days before Christmas.  We're looking forward to getting my MIL moved into her new place soon and settling back into our normal routines.  :)

Believe it or not, we've come to the end of another month, and with it another round of The 12 Kits of Occasions.  This month's hostess is Jessica, and she sent us a Christmas-themed kit full of the most darling images and supplies.  I knew I'd only be able to scratch the surface of this fantastic kit in the limited time I had this month, so I pulled out my very favorite items and went to work.

The first card I made used the cute rabbit on a sled from Lawn Fawn.  I colored him with Copics and added a trail of gems behind him to give a sense of movement.

My second card uses more Lawn Fawn images and sentiments with a fun chevron embossed background.

My last card uses die cut poinsettia flowers from Paper Smooches with a pretty script sentiment from Mama Elephant.

I can't wait to see what the other ladies made!

Stop by The 12 Kits blog to see the full list of supplies, plus you can find out the winner of our recent Guest Designer contest!

Don't forget to leave a comment here and on the rest of the designer's blogs for a chance to win a fabulous giveaway, courtesy of Jessica.  Stop by the 12 Kits blog for more details.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

The 12 Kits of Occasions--November 2013

Hello, friends!  It's my favorite time of the month--time for the latest installment of the 12 Kits of Occasions reveal!

Kelly is our hostess this month, and she sent us an incredible kit full of trendy chalkboard sentiments and iconic holiday images.  Be sure to head over to The 12 Kits blog to see the kit contents and get sneak peeks of projects from the rest of the crew!

I've made 4 cards so far with my kit, but I anticipate working more with it over the next couple of weeks once I'm done teaching.  :)

My first card uses one of the fantastic chalkboard greetings with holly leaf accents and a debossed music score in the background.

The next card might be my favorite.  I simply stitched some of the patterned papers along an angle and added one of the tags from the kit, tying it with gorgeous red ribbon.

This was actually the first card I made, on which I hung the ornaments from the top of the card using silver embroidery thread.  I'm not exactly sure where I was going with the label frame behind the ornaments, but I guess it works!

For my last card, I stitched some papers at an angle again and placed the die cut tree at the intersection.  I used the pretty, silver sheer ribbon to add some interest at the bottom.

In addition to our amazing regular designers, we have a special guest this month, so be sure to stop by The 12 Kits blog to find out who it is.  There is also a prize up for grabs this month, so head over to check out the details!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

The 12 Kits of Occasions--October 2013

Autumn Blessings card

Hello!  It's time another edition of The 12 Kits of Occasions.  You can read all about the 12 Kits on the group blog if you haven't already.

Our hostess this month is Kara, and she sent us a fantastic kit full of Autumn and Thanksgiving themed supplies.  Here's a peek at the goodies:

As always, you can check out the full supply list at The 12 Kits of Occasions blog.

It's been a rough month at my house, but I managed to sneak in some time to make two cards and a set of 4 place cards.  There are plenty of supplies to play with later, and I will look forward to CASEing the rest of the girls with what's left.

Blessed card

Autumn leaf place cards

Sorry to post and run, friends, but I still need to prep for my class tomorrow and get through a pile of grading!

I hope you're having a great week.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

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!