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!

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge--Smitten and a Farewell

Happy New Year!  I'm looking forward to a wonderful 2014, how about you?

To help ring in the new year, we have a new challenge at the Curtain Call that I know you're going to love.  Say hello to this week's challenge photo:  Smitten.

photo credit:  knitsandknotsweb.blogspot.com

We also have a fantastic new sponsor for our challenge:  Linnie Blooms.  Not only did Linnie Blooms provide the Faber-Castell Gelatos the designers used on their projects today, but they are providing a gift certificate to the LEAD for this week's challenge.

I chose the Faber-Castell Gelatos 50's Diner collection for my card today.  The colors were so perfect for the inspiration photo.  First I stamped a cozy pattern using WPlus9's Fair Isle Backgrounds with Versamark on white cardstock and heat embossed it in white.

Using the blending tool included with the gelatos, I added the red pigment to one end of the stamped panel and the yellow to the other and blended each color toward the middle.  I just kept reapplying the color until I had the effect I wanted, then rubbed a baby wipe over the embossed pattern to remove any excess pigment.

The sentiment, from Uniko Studio's Stunning Snowflakes, is stamped in Basic Gray and adorned with a few gray gems.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Smokey Shadow), WPlus9 (White)

Stamps:  WPlus9 (Fair Isle Backgrounds), Uniko Studio (Stunning Snowflakes)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Basic Gray), Versamark

Tool:  corner rounder

Other:  Faber-Castell Gelatos (50's Diner), Filigree (white embossing powder), gems

As you may have seen on the Curtain Call Challenge blog, this will be my last post as a Design Team member.  It was a difficult decision to step away, but it's the right one for me at this time as I try to balance my new responsibilities at work and the activities of my busy young family.

Never fear, though, the talented ladies of the Design Team will continue to wow you twice a month over at the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge blog!  I wish them all continued success and many thanks for letting me be a part of the reopening of the Curtain Call.

Thanks to you, my readers, for visiting today!  I hope you have a wonderful start to the New Year!

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge--Sweet Snowflakes

We have some sweet inspiration for you this week at the Curtain Call, as well as a wonderful sponsor and a couple of special guest designers.

photo credit:  akeptlife.blogspot.com

Our generous sponsor for the Sweet Snowflakes challenge is Uniko Studio, and they are offering a gift certificate to the LEAD for this week's challenge.

The Curtain Call Crew was fortunate enough to get to work with Uniko Studio's Stunning Snowflakes stamp set.  This is my first set from Uniko Studio, and I was impressed with the high quality of the stamps themselves as well as the sturdy DVD case they came in.  Many thanks to Beverley for sharing this set with us!

I pulled the aqua, kraft, and white from the photo for my card.  The kraft card base is stamped with the smaller snowflakes in white ink, with some dots of white gel pen in the empty spaces.

For the white panel, I die cut the bottom edge before stamping the sentiment, then added the trio of snowflakes in Pool Party ink.  After adding some texture to the panel with an impression plate, I stitched from each snowflake to the top edge, pulling the threads through to the front above the biggest snowflake to tie a tiny bow.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 (Kraft, White), Stampin' Up! (Pool Party)

Stamps:  Uniko Studio (Stunning Snowflakes)

Ink:  WPlus9 (White), Stampin' Up! (Pool Party, Chocolate Chip), white gel pen

Tools:  My Favorite Things (Die-namics LJD Bracket Edge Duo), Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas impression plate)

Other:  thread, gems

As promised, we have two fabulous guest designers in addition to the Curtain Call Crew sharing inspiration today:

Beverley Brown, Uniko Studio

Amy Wanford, Guest Designer

Amber Kroening

Barb Murphy

Christina MacLaren

Gayatri Murali

Kim Singdahlsen

Laurie Willison

Marisa Ritzen

Maureen Plut

Monika Davis

Sheri Gilson

Stacey Schafer

Tenia Nelson

Tracey McNeely

I hope you'll join us for this week's challenge!  Thanks for stopping by today.

Paper Smooches--Let's Chill

Last week's Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge was a a fun sketch, and although the challenge ended yesterday, I thought I'd share my take on it anyway.  I forgot to include the scattered star element and really couldn't make it work once my card was done, so it's just as well that I didn't link it up.  :)

I got the Memory Box Pine Border Background Die recently, and I had Paper Smooches' Swanky Snowdudes in mind when I ordered it.  Don't they work perfectly together?  I cut the pine border from chartreuse felt and added tiny clear gems to make the trees look festive.

I cut the snowy hills by hand and layered them, brushing clear glitter along the top edges.  The snowdude was also cut by hand and popped up with foam tape.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Pool Party), WPlus9 (White)

Stamps:  Paper Smooches (Swanky Snowdudes)

Ink:  Memento (Tuxedo Black), Copic markers

Tools:  Memory Box (Pine Border Background die), Sizzix (snowflake embossing folder)

Other:  Papertrey Ink (felt), Zig (Wink of Stella clear glitter brush), clear rhinestones

We're enjoying some beautiful fall weather here at the moment, but I know those chilly winter days will be here before we know it.

Thanks for visiting today!

The 12 Kits of Christmas--December

Hi there, friends!  Hard as it is to believe, we are almost at the end of 2012.  That means it's time for the last installment of The 12 Kits of Christmas.  This month is hosted by Sharron, who provided us with a sweet winter themed kit.

Photo by Kara

We have some changes coming to The 12 Kits group in 2013, including some sad goodbyes.  Cathy and Suzanne will be stepping away from the group in the new year, so I hope you'll take time to thank them for a year's worth of holiday inspiration!  They will both be missed.  :(

On to Sharron's fabulous kit.  I didn't get to spend nearly enough time playing with this kit, between being sick for 3 weeks and preparing for our Christmas guests.  But luckily I'll be able to use it all winter long for quick and easy cards!

This first card is my favorite:

The second one is a CASE of a card a did a few days earlier but never posted:

I couldn't resist using the sparkly die cut hills on another card, too:

I'll be back later to add supply lists.  We just spent 18 hours on the road yesterday and I'm still recovering.  In the meantime, be sure to hop around to the rest of the girls' blogs.

Suzanne:  The Card Yard

Cathy: EmptyNestCrafter

Joyce: Cards-by-the-Sea

Kim: CupcakesCardsandKim

Amy: Stamp-n-Paradise

Kara: KandRDesigns

Sharron: OnPapillionWings

Marybeth: Marybeth's Time for Paper

Jeanne: AKeptLife

Jessica: The Paper Parade

Renee: ItsAPatchworkLife

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you have a fun and safe New Year's celebration and a great start to 2013!

Holiday Cards & More 2012 & Cloud9 Blog Hop Tomorrow

Hi folks!  Just popping in today to share a card of mine that was published in Paper Crafts' special issue, Holiday Cards & More Volume 7.  This is such a gorgeous issue full of inspiration, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have had two cards picked up for it.

I thought this would also be a great opportunity to remind you about tomorrow's Cloud9 Blog Hop!  You can start linking up your creations at 10 AM EST, and you'll have until 10 AM on October 12 to enter for a chance to be our guest designer next month.  

Here's the photo we're using as inspiration this month:

Check out the Cloud9 Challenge Blog for more info, and stop by tomorrow to see what the design team has created to help you get the ideas flowing.  :)

Have a great start to your week, and thanks for stopping by!

Card Patterns sketch #147--Sponsored by DRS Designs

Hello, friends!  Thanks so much for all of our wonderful comments and congratulations over the last few days.  You really make a girl feel special.  *grin*

I'm here to share my debut creation as a Design Team member for Card Patterns, and I tried to go outside my comfort zone with this one.  Our sponsor this week is DRS Designs, and they generously provided rubber stamps for the DT to use on their cards.

Here is this week's sketch:

I chose to use a beautiful little stamp called Swirling Snowflakes.  Those tiny flakes are wonderfully detailed.  I decided to create a background by spraying white cardstock with turquoise glimmer mist.  I then stamped and heat embossed the snowflakes repeatedly across the panel.  It's really pretty and shimmery in person.

The panel was stitched to a white cardstock mat and adhered to a Royal Velvet card base.  For the sentiment, I used Doodlebug Alphabet stamps to heat emboss "Brrr!" on a strip of purple cardstock, then tied some silver ribbon around the end.  

Finally, I punched four snowflakes from vellum, added silver pearls to the centers, and adhered them to the card.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Royal Velvet, white), vellum

Stamps:  DRS Designs (Swirling Snowflakes), Hampton Art (Doodlebug Alphabet)

Ink:  Versamark, Tattered Angels (Peacock)

Tools:  Martha Stewart Crafts (snowflake punch)

Accessories:  Filigree (embossing powder), Michaels (silver pearls), silver ribbon, thread

I forgot to take a picture of it, but the inside of the card reads "Let's snuggle!"  If it ever snows here, I might give it to my hubby.

I'd love to see your take on the sketch this week!  Be sure to drop by the Card Patterns blog to be inspired by the rest of the Design Team and get all the details on this week's challenge.

Thanks for stopping by today!