Happy Birthday Tracey!

Hello, friends!  I have an extra special post today to celebrate the birthday of a talented designer and all-around fabulous lady, Tracey McNeely!

Lots of people want to wish Tracey a happy birthday, so our friend and fellow 12 Kits of Occasions designer, Joyce, is hosting a Linky party over on her blog.  Feel free to join in with your birthday wishes for Tracey by linking up there!

I hope Tracey doesn't think my card for her is too masculine.  :)  I wanted to incorporate an autumn theme and keep the design very clean and graphic, as Tracey's own designs tend to have lots of white space and perfect stamping.

My favorite part of this card is the stitching for the leaf veins, which adds just the right amount of texture to otherwise flat images.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Baja Breeze), Papertrey Ink (Vintage Cream),  A Muse Studio (woodgrain)

Stamps:  Paper Smooches (Leafy Greens), Clearly Besotted (Tag Along)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Baja Breeze, So Saffron, Peach Parfait, Chocolate Chip)

Other:  sequins, thread

I hope you have a wonderful birthday full of all of your favorite things, Tracey!  Enjoy your virtual party!

Cheers!

Hi there!

I'm just popping in to share a little card I made for my brother's birthday, which then sat on my desk for days before getting in the mail terribly late.  Oops.

I couldn't resist the Free Spirits stamp set from Paper Smooches--perfect for many of the hard-to-create-for men in my life.  I just lined up the drink glasses, colored them with Copics, and added some of the cute accents from the set.

Some dots added with a white pen to make the drink bubbly, a simple "cheers" sentiment, and a couple of lines I drew with a black pen are the finishing touches.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Patterned paper:  Echo Park (stripes), Stampin' Up! (orange)

Stamps:  Paper Smooches (Free Spirits)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip), Hero Arts (Ocean), Memento (Tuxedo Black), Copic markers, white gel pen

Tool:  corner rounder

I'm slowly trying to get caught up with all of you out in blog land.  My family recently experienced a couple of health emergencies which threw our lives into chaos for a few weeks, but the worst seems to be behind us.  I appreciate all of you who continue to stop by and leave such sweet comments, despite my irregular and infrequent posts!

Thanks for visiting today!

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!

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!

Happy Belated Birthday Marybeth!

Hello!  I have a special post to share today celebrating the recent birthday of a sweet friend, Marybeth.  Several of her friends have gotten together to surprise her with a belated birthday blog hop, and I'm delighted to be participating.  I hope you had a fantastic birthday, Marybeth!

The inspiration for my card came from this photo collage I recently pinned:

Photo collage from Flights of Fancy

See that amazing dress on the upper right?  I wanted to recreate the look of the lattice pattern overlaid with bright orange and pink flowers.  I started with a Soft Stone base and stamped the stripes with Hero Arts Soft Granite.  Just a tip:  it helps to lightly mark where you want the lines to intersect with a pencil before stamping.

I welcomed the opportunity to pull out WPlus9's Fresh Cut Florals, using the coordinating dies to quickly cut, stamp, and layer a little bouquet, adding some glitter to the flower centers with a Wink of Stella clear brush.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Soft Stone), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Fresh Cut Florals, Strictly Sentiments 1), Avery Elle (Knotty)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Melon Mambo, Tangerine Tango, Garden Green), Hero Arts (Soft Granite), Memento (Tuxedo Black)

Tools:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Fresh Cut Florals dies), corner rounder

Other:  Wink of Stella clear glitter brush, rhinestones

Here's the full list of designers participating in this special blog hop for Marybeth:

Joyce

Cathy

Ally

Bev

Bonnie

Carol J.

Carol S.

Christina

Darnell

Helen

Jeanne

Jill

Kara

Kelly

Kim

Lisa

Nancy

Renee

Sharron

Sue

Tracey

Vickie

And don't forget to stop by to wish Marybeth a happy belated birthday!

The 12 Kits of Occasions--July {Revisited}

I'm sharing two new cards today over at The 12 Kits of Occasions blog.  I hope you'll head over to check them out!

Don't forget that I'm hosting a giveaway on the 12 Kits reveal post, and you have until 11:59 PM tonight to comment on that post to win.

Hope to see you there!

The 12 Kits of Occasions--July 2013

Hello there!  I have so much to share with you today!  It's the last day of the month, which means it's time for another edition of the 12 Kits, a monthly event where 12 designers work with the same supplies to create cards and projects with a particular theme.

This month we are debuting a new 12 Kits blog where you can learn more about our group and how it started, see sneak peeks of each month's kit, and enjoy bonus posts as we continue to create projects with our "leftover" supplies throughout the month.  It will also be your go-to source for links to each designer, supply lists, and links to our Pinterest board and new Facebook page.  These are all great places to connect with us and find inspiration every day!

To celebrate all of the new features we're bringing you this month, I'm offering a giveaway on The 12 Kits of Occasions blog!  Head on over to check it out and leave a comment on the July kit post for your chance to win.

Now on to my cards for this month.  I was our hostess this month, working with the theme of birthdays.  I had so much fun creating this kit, and you can check out the full supply list on the 12 Kits blog.  I've made 6 cards so far, and I'm sharing 4 of them with you today.

My first card uses the cake and banner topper from Mama Elephant's Soiree, a gold embossed sentiment from Hero Arts, and some fabulous metallic gold twine.

My second card today is my favorite.  The row of cupcakes is colored with Copics and highlighted with a glitter pen, and I placed the sentiment banner at an angle just for fun.

Next up is a simple card using the die cut cupcakes on an embossed label with just a strip of patterned paper and a few wood veneer stars.

For today's last card, I couldn't resist using this cute takeout box from Lawn Fawn.  I stamped the top of the box a few times, cut apart the pieces of the lid, and glued them back on the top to make an open box (inspired by Yainea's card HERE).  Then I arranged the balloons to look like they've just come out of the container.  I pierced small holes for stringing thread behind each balloon.

Thanks for sticking with me to the end!  I'd love it if you'd visit the new 12 Kits blog, leave a comment there, and pay a visit to the rest of the designers if you haven't already.

Have a fantastic day!

Moxie Fab World Birthday Tags & Wraps Challenge

How's it going, friends?  I'm still on vacation--just two more days visiting family, two days on the road, and I'll be home.  *sigh*  I think I'm looking forward to high-speed internet most of all.  The connection here is so dreadfully slow, I haven't been able to browse as much or leave many comments, but I hope to remedy that next week.

I do have one more project to share with you that I made before I left.  It's for one of the challenges in the Moxie Fab World celebrating the latest special issue, Birthday Creations.

Cath has challenged us to make a birthday tag or gift wrap, so I whipped up a simple tag and stamped it with banners from Mama Elephant's Soiree.  I used a craft knife around the sides of three of the flags to curl them up for dimension.

I was dying to use the metallic gold twine from The Twinery, so I heat embossed some tiny gold stars on the tag to coordinate with it.  I wrapped a book (my favorite gift to give) in turquoise tissue paper, wrapped it with twine, and attached the tag.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  Mama Elephant (Soiree), Lawn Fawn (Critters Ever After)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Pear Pizzazz, So Saffron, Pool Party), Memento (Tuxedo Black), Versamark

Tools:  Spellbinders (circle die), hold punch, corner rounder, craft knife

Other:  Zing (gold embossing powder), The Twinery (gold metallic twine), tissue paper

There's still plenty of time to play along in the Birthday Creations challenges, so be sure to check all of them out!

Have a good one!

Moxie Fab World Birthday Ensemble Challenge

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Kraft, White), Papertrey Ink (Pure Poppy)

Stamps:  Lawn Fawn (Good Fortune)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Chocolate Chip, Real Red)

Other: Papertrey Ink (twill ribbon), DMC floss, twine, takeout box

There's a birthday party ensemble challenge going on in the Moxie Fab World to celebrate the latest special issue, Birthday Creations.

The challenge is to create 3 items as part of the ensemble, and I knew just what I wanted to do.  My party ensemble was made using Lawn Fawn's Good Fortune set.  Those fortune cookies are the cutest!

Item #1 is this birthday card, which would make a fun table decoration for the party guests to sign.  I stamped the take-out box directly on the white panel, then stamped the chopsticks and fortune cookie on kraft cardstock and fussy cut them.  The cute little heart is from the Good Fortune set, too.

The second piece of my ensemble is a favor box for party guests to take home.  I got a package of plain white boxes at a party supply store, where they were much less expensive than the ones at Michaels.  I tied red twill ribbon around it and added a cookie with the fortune "thanks".

The last item in my party ensemble is a cupcake pick.  We only have cupcakes in our house for the kids' birthdays, so I decided it would be dangerous to buy one just for the sake of my photo.  :)  So you'll just have to imagine it in a cupcake.  And the best part is that you can imagine it in any flavor you want.

That's all for today!  Have a great start to your week!

Moxie Fab World Birthday Sketch Challenge

It's a birthday celebration over at Moxie Fab World, with lots of fun challenges in honor of their latest special issue.  I'm away from home this week and next, but I had a chance to work on a few of the challenges before I hit the road.

First up is this great sketch by Betsy Veldman, with the added challenge of making a card with either all stamping or no stamping.

Not surprisingly, I chose the stamping option and kept things very CAS.  I stamped three of the cupcakes from WPlus9's Sweets & Treats in colors inspired by the magazine cover.  A brush of glitter on the frosting adds interest in the absence of embellishments.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Melon Mambo), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Sweets & Treats, Sweets & Treats Fillers, Strictly Sentiments 1)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Melon Mambo, Pink Pirouette, Gumball Green, Certainly Celery, Daffodil Delight, So Saffron), Memento (Tuxedo Black)

Other:  Zig Wink of Stella clear glitter brush

Have a fantastic weekend!

Birthday Linky Party!

My friend Stacey is hosting a party to celebrate her birthday!  And you can't have a party without presents, so she's offering a chance to win fantastic prizes just for linking up a birthday card HERE.

I pulled some of the colors from the graphic for my card and repeatedly stamped a banner from Mama Elephant's Soiree.  I did a little masking at the top so that I could overlap them.  A sentiment from Hero Arts with glitter accents, a few sequins, and this card is ready to mail.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Patterned paper:  American Crafts Dear Lizzy (Christmas: Sparkling Season)

Stamps:  Mama Elephant (Soiree), Hero Arts (Many Birthday Messages)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Melon Mambo, Certainly Celery, Pool Party, So Saffron), Memento (Tuxedo Black)

Other:  Zig Wink of Stella clear glitter brush, sequins

Stop by and wish Stacey a happy birthday and link up your card for a chance to win!

Have a great week!

More Fresh Cut Florals (2 cards)

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Fresh Cut Florals, Very Vintage Florals)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Tangerine Tango, So Saffron, Certainly Celery), Memento (Tuxedo Black)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas impression plate), corner rounder

Other:  Zig Wink of Stella clear glitter brush

Today was (finally) my daughter's last day of school.  She asked if I could make a set of cards as a gift for her teacher, and when she spotted a card I made previously with WPlus9's Fresh Cut Florals, she wanted me to use it for this set.

The hardest part of designing this set was deciding on the colors.  I finally settled on making three each of the two designs you see here:  a birthday version using warm pinks, oranges, and yellows, and a thank you version with aqua, purple, and yellow.  I added some glitter to the flower centers and used the linen & canvas impression plate from PTI to give the panel some subtle texture.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Fresh Cut Florals, Very Vintage Florals)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party, So Saffron, Certainly Celery), Hero Arts (Ocean), Memento (Tuxedo Black)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas impression plate), corner rounder

Other:  Zig Wink of Stella clear glitter brush

I have several projects keeping me busy at the moment, but I hope to be back soon!  Thanks for stopping by.

Cloud9 Blog Hop--March & a Farewell

Hello there, and happy Saturday!

It's time for another Cloud9 Blog Hop featuring all of your favorite WPlus9 stamps.  Here is the beautiful photo we're taking inspiration from this month:

{photo source}

You may have seen the news on the blog hop preview post that I'm stepping down from the Cloud9 team.  There have been some major changes in my personal and professional lives lately, and I'm trying to find better ways to balance work, home, and my hobbies.  So for the moment, I need to step away from a few things, and unfortunately that includes the Cloud9 team.  Many thanks to Suzanne for inviting me to be a part of it, and all the best to the team going forward!

Speaking of the team, two new designers are making their debut this month at Cloud9:  Erin Taylor and Maureen Merritt.  I love both of these talented ladies, and I know they'll have some amazing inspiration to share at Cloud9 every month.

Okay, on to my card.  :)  I tried a few different things with watercolor that failed miserably before deciding to focus on just the beautiful bouquet in the photo.  Using shades of aqua, pink, and green, I did a lot of stamping and masking using Very Vintage Florals on Oatmeal cardstock.

This card is going out to a crafty friend who always uses beautiful ribbons on her cards, so I just had to include a bright pink bow.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Oatmeal), Papertrey Ink (Hawaiian Shores), Stampin' Up! (Early Espresso)

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Very Vintage Florals)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Melon Mambo, Garden Green, Pretty in Pink, Pool Party, Chocolate Chip)

Other:  Michaels (ribbon), thread

You have until March 12 to link up your creation in the Cloud9 gallery!

Thanks so much for your visit.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

An Awesome Birthday Card with CAS-ual Fridays Stamps

Hey there!  I have a card featured over on the store blog for CAS-ual Fridays Stamps today, so I'm popping in quickly to share it here, too.

Our good friends have a son who will be turning 8 this year, so I thought it would be fun to use stamps from Rad to get a head start on his birthday card.  His dad is the only person I've ever heard use the phrase "like a boss", so it seemed appropriate.  :)

This is super easy to put together, once I'd settled on my design and colors.  I placed the uninked stamps on the top red panel to line them up, picked them up all at once with my acrylic block, then stamped them with Real Red ink.

The nice thing about the white strip?  If you mess up the stamping on the white card base, you can always stamp it again on a separate strip and slip it into place.  Not that I would actually know that from experience or anything.  ;)

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Real Red, Tangerine Tango), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  CAS-ual Fridays Stamps (Rad)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Real Red, Tangerine Tango), Versamark

Tools:  Fiskars (star punch)

Accessories:  Filigree (white embossing powder)

Like the punched holes I've done before, I like the simple look of the punched out stars for a masculine card, and it's a bonus that it stays flat for mailing.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Come back tonight for a new CASE Study challenge!

CAS-ual Fridays #88--Love Letters

Please scroll down for Day 1 of the WPlus9 February/March Release previews!

Hello!  I'm back again with a fun new challenge from CAS-ual Fridays.  This week's theme is Love Letters:  use your alphabet stamps, stickers, or dies on your clean and simple creation.

I needed a birthday card for a little guy turning 5, so reached for my number dies and created "windows" in a panel of navy cardstock.  I popped the panel up with foam dots and highlighted the number "5" with a scrap of orange patterned paper behind it.

I kept the sentiment simple, since this little guy can't read yet.  :)  Embossed chevrons on the background and an orange star are the finishing touches.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Midnight Muse), Papertrey Ink (Terracotta Tile)

Patterned paper:  My Mind's Eye (Alphabet Soup)

Stamp:  Papertrey Ink (Birthday Basics)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Midnight Muse)

Tools:  My Favorite Things (numbers, tab die), Lifestyle Crafts (embossing folder), Papertrey Ink (star die), We R Memory Keepers (Corner Chomper)

Accessories:  button, DMC floss

I hope you'll join us this week!  Thanks so much for your visit!

WPlus9 February/March Release Week Day 1

Hello there, friends!  I'm so very excited to be bringing you a special post today--I'm Guest Designing with WPlus9 for their February/March release!  Today's the first day of previews, and let me tell you, you are going to be smitten with all of the new stamps and dies coming out this month.

Today we're featuring two new stamp sets and their companion dies:

Very Vintage Florals
Very Vintage Florals Companion Dies
Chantilly Trim
Scalloped Border Die

I've managed to use all four on my first card.  :)

Very Vintage Florals coordinates with the previously released Very Vintage Greetings and its companion die, Label Layers 3.  I used the die to cut a window in a kraft panel, then stamped the frame and sentiment from Very Vintage Florals onto the white card base.

I die cut and stamped the floral images in green, then stamped the flowers again in red and trimmed them by hand.

The new Chantilly Trim set has the most gorgeous lace borders, which coordinate perfectly with the new Scalloped Border die.  I added a scalloped edge to the kraft panel and stamped one of the lace borders along the bottom.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (White), Papertrey Ink (Kraft)

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Very Vintage Florals, Chantilly Trim)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Real Red, Lucky Limeade), Memento (Tuxedo Black)

Tools:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Very Vintage Florals dies, Scalloped Border die, Label Layers 3 die)

For my second card, I wanted to do something completely different.  The Chantilly Trim borders made me think of beautifully decorated wedding cakes, so I set about creating one of my own.

After trimming the cake layers from cardstock, I stamped a lace border along the top edges, adhered the layers with foam tape, and embellished them with black gems.

I turned to Very Vintage Greetings for my sentiment, adding a hand-trimmed flag and black gem to draw the eye.

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

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Chantilly Trim, Very Vintage Greetings)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Calypso Coral), Memento (Tuxedo Black)

Accessories:  Bazzill (black rhinestones)

I've had so much fun playing with these sets, it was hard to choose just a couple of cards to share with you today!  Needless to say, there will be more to come.  :)

Be sure to see what the WPlus9 Design Team has created!

Dawn Woleslagle

Elise Durenberger

Kerianne Gwin

Cristina Kowalczyk

Lea Lawson

Jean Martin

Jinny Newlin

Sarah Martina Parker

Savitri Wilder

Be sure to stop by tomorrow for Day 2 of the release week festivities!

CFC87--Make Your Mark

Happy Friday!  What a week it's been.  I'm definitely in need of some time to craft away my stress this weekend.  Anyone else with me?

I hope you'll make some time for a new CAS-ual Fridays challenge!  Your assignment this week:  use markers on your clean and simple creation.  Easy peasy!

I chose a small image from a CAS-ual Fridays Stamps set, Casual Elegance, stamping it repeatedly to make a floral border.  I used several shades of green and turquoise Copic markers to color the flowers in a gradient, which came out looking a bit like stained glass.

On a turquoise card base, I heat embossed the sentiment in white, then stamped and colored three more flowers, adding green gems to the centers.

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

Stamps:  CAS-ual Fridays Stamps (Casual Elegance)

Ink:  Memento (Tuxedo Black), Versamark, Copic markers

Tool:  We R Memory Keepers (Corner Chomper)

Accessories:  Filigree (embossing powder), rhinestones

Pay a visit to the CAS-ual Fridays blog to see more inspiration from the Girl Fridays, then break out those markers!

Have a great start to your weekend!

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps Sneak Peek--Rad

Sneak peek week continues on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog!  Today's featured set, which will be available on January 18, is a graphic set that you will turn to again and again for those hard-to-make masculine cards, especially the young men in your life.

I just used some of the fantastic mix-and-match words in this set to make a birthday card for my brother.  I first made a panel of cardstock strips, die cut a star from the center, then added some texture to the panel with an impression plate.

After stamping the "totally epic" sentiment through the star opening onto the card base, I impressed a smaller star on top of it.  Instead of added dimensional embellishments like buttons or pearls, I kept the design flat and masculine by punching circles in the top panel before adhering it with foam dots.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Oatmeal, Lake House), Papertrey Ink (Pure Poppy, Terracotta Tile), Stampin' Up! (Early Espresso)

Stamps:  CAS-ual Fridays Stamps (Rad)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Early Espresso)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (star dies, Linen & Canvas impression plate), hole punches

Check out all of the fabulous samples up today on the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog!