The 12 Kits of Christmas--May

Hi there, friends!  Welcome back for the May edition of The 12 Kits of Christmas!  If you're fairly new to the blog, you can read more about The 12 Kits group challenge in the January installment HERE.

This month's challenge has a fun twist--hostess Joyce sent us packages full of Hanukkah-themed supplies!  Here's a peek at some of the wonderful goodies she included (thanks to Kara for the photo!):

I've never made a card for Hanukkah, so it was especially fun getting to play with these colors and images.  I only had time to make 2 cards this month as we've been busy with end-of-school activities, but I have tons of supplies left to work with and plan to revisit them in the near future!

For my first card I wanted to use these gorgeous doilies from Memory Box that Joyce included in the kit.  I layered two of them behind a die-cut oval and a dreidel from PTI's Mazel Tov, which I cut out and popped up with foam tape.

This is one of the great patterned papers Joyce included from a digital kit she found on Etsy.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Enchanted Evening, Spring Rain, White)

Patterned paper:  Etsy

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Mazel Tov)

Tools:  Memory Box (Whimsy Circle die), Papertrey Ink (double ended banner die), Spellbinders (oval die)

Accessories:  Queen & Co. (rhinestones), thread

My second card uses these cute postage stamps with menorah images from Mazel Tov and Impression Obsession's Jewish Greetings.  

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Blueberry Sky, White)

Patterned paper:  Etsy

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Mazel Tov), Impression Obsession (Jewish Greetings)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (pinked square die, banner die), Spellbinders (postage die)

Accessories:  Papertrey Ink (button), The Twinery (baker's twine), thread

I'll keep this short so you can hop along to see what the rest of the girls made!

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 stopping by to see my creations!  Come back soon for my CASE Study card!

Card sets for teachers 2012

Hey there, friends!  Happy Memorial Day to those of you in the U.S.--I hope you enjoyed a relaxing day and found some time to remember those who have served or are serving in the military, especially those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe.

I promised to share the card sets I made for my son's teachers this year, and chances are I'll be making a third set for my daughter's teacher in a few weeks.  They're super easy and came together in no time, though the folders I put them in took a little longer.  The folders are a slightly larger version of the one in my tutorial HERE, larger because I included 8 cards in each.

I chose 4 images from PTI's Year of Flowers Collection and stamped them in 4 of Stampin' Up!'s 2011 In Colors:  Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, and Pool Party.  I added a strip of coordinating cardstock to each card front for balance and stamped one of 2 sentiments from PTI's Happy Trails in black.

Card supplies

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (White), Stampin' Up! (Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade)

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Year of Flowers Collection, Happy Trails)

Ink:  Memento (Tuxedo Black), Stampin' Up! (Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party, Lucky Limeade)

Here's the inside of the folder, with pockets that have been debossed with PTI's diamond impression plate.  I wrapped each one with some of this pretty ruffled ribbon from SU!

Folder supplies

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Aqua Mist, White)

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Year of Flowers Collection, Happy Trails)

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

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas, Diamond impression plates), Martha Stewart (Scoring Board), We R Memory Keepers (Corner Chomper)

Accessories:  Stampin' Up! (ruffled ribbon)

My little guy and I went to pick out some flowers and a candle, then nestled everything into a basket.  I made tags that read "Thanks for helping me grow" using PTI's Simple Alphabet and Outline Alphabet.  I masked the letters before stamping the morning glory image, then colored the letters with a Copic marker.

Tag supplies (All Papertrey Ink unless noted)

Cardstock:  White

Stamps:  Year of Flowers Collection, Simple Alphabet, Outline Alphabet, Happy Trails

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

Tool:  Tag die

Accessories:  Aqua Mist ribbon, DMC floss

If you're looking for a last-minute teacher gift, this is a really versatile card design that would work with lots of images, not just florals.  If you're pressed for time, just bundle them up with some pretty ribbon or baker's twine rather than packaging them in a folder.

Card Patterns sketch #167

Hello, friends!  I hope you're enjoying your weekend so far!  I'm just popping in to share my card for this week's Card Patterns sketch, which is another "keeper".

Our sponsor this week is a wonderful shop I recently discovered called Freckled Fawn, and they carry a fabulous assortment of washi tapes and accessories.  They've generously offered up a gift certificate to a random participant this week, so be sure to enter your creation for a chance to win!

For the Design Team, this was a "stash" week, meaning we were free to use any supplies we wanted on our design.  I decided to make a card for my little guy, who had his last day of preschool on Friday (sniff, sniff).  His favorite color is green, so I used SU's Garden Green as my card base, masking and stamping a panel of chevrons in Versamark.

The focal image is an assortment of stamps from Paper Smooches' Smarty Pants set, which I stamped and colored with Copics.  

I was stumped for a while about what to use for the banner element of the sketch, and I would have loved to use a ruler, but I settled for a strip of grid patterned paper from Fancy Pants' Off to School collection.  I punched a hole in each end and wrapped it with baker's twine.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (True Black, White), Stampin' Up! (Garden Green)

Patterned paper:  Fancy Pants Design (Off to School)

Stamps:  Paper Smooches (Smarty Pants), Lawn Fawn (Chevron Backdrops)

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

Tools:  Fiskars (hole punch)

Accessories:  The Twinery (Maraschino baker's twine)

Stop by the Card Patterns blog for more inspiration, then be sure to link up your design for a chance to win this week's prize!

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll be back soon to share the card sets I made for my son's teachers.

Have a good one!

CAS-ual Fridays #54--Sponsored by Gina K. Designs

Woohoo!  It's Friday!  Here in the U.S. many of us are looking forward to a long weekend for Memorial Day, so hubby and I have plans to stain our deck.  We sure know how to party, right?  *wink*

If you have some stamping time this weekend, we'd love to have you join us for a new CAS-ual Fridays challenge!  This week we're asking you to whip up something masculine, which would be the perfect chance to work on some Father's Day cards.

This week we're being sponsored by Gina K. Designs, and the Design Team got to work with the fun masculine papers from their Casual Friday paper pack!  How cool is that?

I was immediately drawn to the paper that looks like denim and had the idea to make a patched "knee" for a masculine get well card.

I first took a piece of the denim patterned paper and folded the left edge under, stitching it to another strip of denim paper to make a seam.

I cut a square patch from the navy blue gingham, also from the Casual Friday paper pack, and stitched it in place, leaving the ends of the thread trailing across the card front.  

The sentiment is from Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler, stamped in Real Red onto kraft cardstock and popped up with foam tape.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Kraft)

Patterned paper:  Gina K Designs (Casual Friday)

Stamp:  Paper Smooches (Sentiment Sampler)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Real Red)

Accessories:  thread

I hope you'll join us with a masculine card this week!  Be sure to visit the rest of the Girl Fridays for more ideas.

Thanks for visiting today!  See you back here soon!

Card Patterns sketch #166--Sponsored by Designed2Delight

Hi everyone!  I hope you've had a great weekend.  We had lots of fun in Boston yesterday, but I'm battling a sore throat and feeling run-down today, so I'll keep this short.

This week's Card Patterns sketch was quite the challenge for me, but I can't wait to see what you do with it!

We're sponsored again this week by Designed2Delight Digital Stamps, and they provided the DT with some of their cute digis to work with.  I chose the set Orca Love.

I stretched the image horizontally a little to better fit the Spellbinders label.  I added one of the sentiments from the set, tucking it in between the mom and baby whale.  The image was colored with Copics, then cut out with a Labels 4 Nestie.

I used papers from PTI's Men of Life pack on a Pure Poppy card base.  The blue scallops at the top are die cut circles that I cut in half.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Pure Poppy, Spring Rain, White)

Patterned paper:  Papertrey Ink (Men of Life)

Digital Stamp:  Designed2Delight (Orca Love)

Ink:  Copic markers

Tools:  Spellbinders (Labels 4, circle die), We R Memory Keepers (Corner Chomper)

Accessories:  Papertrey Ink (ribbon, button), thread

I hope to see your creation with this week's sketch in the gallery this week!  Three randomly chosen participants will each receive a $5 gift certificate to the Designed2Delight store.

Thanks for stopping by tonight, friends!  Have a great start to your week!

CAS-ual Fridays #53: Punchy

Welcome back, friends!  How are your weekend plans coming?  Any chance you'll be making time for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge?  I thought so!  

Our challenge this week is all about getting punchy--with your punches and dies, that is!

Our fabulous sponsor this week is Lawn Fawn, and they generously provided the DT with some of their darling stamps and new Bright Side papers.  Thanks, Lawn Fawn!

I chose to work with the cute florals in Blissful Botanicals.  They were so much fun to stamp and color!  For the punchy part of the challenge, I dusted off my old circle punches and created three windows in a yellow cardstock panel, then stamped the flower and leaf images in the open spaces onto a white card base.

The images were colored with Copics, and the flowers were adorned with yellow rhinestone centers.  I added faux white stitching around the "windows" and stamped a sentiment from Blissful Botanicals.  (Confession:  the sentiment doesn't have a dotted "i", but I just couldn't bear to leave it that way, so I added a dot with a black pen!)

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Harvest Gold, White)

Stamps:  Lawn Fawn (Blissful Botanicals)

Ink:  Memento (Tuxedo Black), Copic markers, white gel pen

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

Accessories:  Queen & Co. (rhinestones)

This card turned out just the way I had it in my head.  I love it when that happens.  *grin*

Now it's your turn to put on your thinking cap and get to work with your punches and dies!  But first, make sure you pay a visit to the other Girl Fridays to see their CAS creations.  

Thanks for stopping by today!  

Clear & Simple Stamps App Sneak Peek

Hi friends!  Just popping in quickly to share a sneak peek of my card that is featured on the Clear & Simple Stamps Daily App today!

Enjoy!

Card Patterns sketch #165

Hi friends!  I meant to post this sooner, but we spent the day in Maine enjoying the gorgeous weather and taking my MIL to lunch for Mother's Day.  Tomorrow we'll be hard at work in the garden, my favorite Mother's Day activity.  :)  I hope you're having a great weekend, too!

This week's Card Patterns sketch is so pretty and versatile, it will definitely be going in a file for future use.

I've had an idea in my mind for a while to do an all-white wedding card with clear embossing, so I finally tackled it.  I love how it turned out, and the effect is even prettier in person.

I first stamped the word "love" from Waltzingmouse's Say it Loud and heat embossed it in silver.  Then I stamped the flower and leaves from PTI's Delightful Dahlia and heat embossed them with clear powder (I embossed the flower first, then masked it before stamping the leaves).

Behind the main panel I stitched two white cardstock panels, the top one debossed with music score and the bottom one debossed with a diamond pattern.

To embellish, I added a ruffled satin ribbon and bow across the top, a tiny tag stamped with the sentiment "wedding wishes", and some silver pearls.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (White)

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Delightful Dahlia, Tiny Tags II), Waltzingmouse (Say it Loud)

Ink:  Versamark, Clearsnap (Antique Pewter)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (sheet music & diamonds impression plates, tag die), We R Memory Keepers (Corner Chomper)

Accessories:  A.C. Moore (ribbon), Michaels (silver pearls), Jo-Ann (silver embossing powder), Stampendous (clear embossing powder), thread

Please stop by to see what the rest of the Card Patterns designers cooked up this week!  We can't wait to see your take on the sketch.

Thanks for your visit!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

CAS-ual Fridays #52

Hooray for the weekend!  I hope your Friday gets off to a great start!

It's time for a new challenge at CAS-ual Fridays, and I can't wait to see your clean and simple designs with our theme this week:  Feathered Friends.  There are so many fabulous bird images out there, and I'm really looking forward to seeing them in the gallery!

Our sponsor this week is Annabelle Stamps, and they are generously offering up a $20 gift certificate to this week's winner at CAS-ual Fridays.

For my card, I used a bird from WPlus9's Woodgrain Silhouettes Additions and perched him on a set of stitched lines (inspired by an image in WPlus9's Heartfelt Mix stamp set).

The sentiment is from Annabelle Stamps' Garden Silhouettes, stamped in SU's Island Indigo.

I debossed a panel of Basic Gray cardstock with woodgrain, then die cut a window to frame the image and sentiment.  For a pop of color, I added a punched and layered yellow flower with a rhinestone center.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Island Indigo, Basic Gray), Papertrey Ink (White)

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Woodgrain Silhouettes Additions), Annabelle Stamps (Garden Silhouettes)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Island Indigo)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (woodgrain impression plate, Mat Stack 1 die), Marvy Uchida (flower punch)

Accessories:  Queen & Co. (rhinestone), DMC floss

I hope you'll play along with us this week!  Be sure to stop by each of the DT blogs to be inspired, then get crafting!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Card Creations Volume 10--publication share

ETA:  This card was featured in the Moxie Fab World as part of The Postage Challenge!

Hi friends!  It's been quiet around here!  Sorry I've been absent for a few days, but I was hard at work on a gardening project over the weekend, and I haven't been able to find my crafty mojo since.

Never fear--I have a project to share today that was just published in Paper Crafts' special issue, Card Creations Volume 10 (on sale now!).  I haven't been able to find a copy for myself just yet, but I can't wait to drool over the pages.

My submission was inspired by a poster I saw in a catalog and features a current trend--typography.  You can find the supplies and instructions in this special issue of Paper Crafts!

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you're having a great week!

Card Patterns sketch #164--Sponsored by Prickley Pear

Welcome back, friends!  It's been a busy week here, and my house is a disaster!  LOL!  My kids love to draw, color, and craft, which is great, but their art supplies are all over the house by the end of the week.  

Before tackling my chores, I thought I'd pop in and share our new sketch at Card Patterns.  

This week we're sponsored by Prickley Pear, who generously provided the DT with some fun rubber stamps to use on our projects.  I got to work with a cute background stamp called Owls ATC and the "My Cutie" sentiment.

I decided to make a little tag by stamping the owls onto white cardstock before cutting them out with a tag die.  I added some color with Copics to match this fabulous yellow V-striped twill ribbon from The Ribbon Carousel and some bitty dot patterned paper from PTI.

I stamped the sentiment onto a scalloped circle and added some accents with a Copic marker.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (White)

Patterned paper:  Papertrey Ink (2008 Bitty Dots)

Stamps:  Prickley Pear (Owls ATC, sentiment)

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

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (tag die), Spellbinders (scalloped circle die)

Accessories:  The Ribbon Carousel (V-striped twill ribbon), The Twinery (baker's twine), Papertrey Ink (button), DMC floss

Hop on over to Card Patterns to check out the rest of the DT samples and find out more about this week's prize from Prickley Pear!

Thanks for visiting, friends!  I hope your weekend is off to a great start!

CAS-ual Fridays #51--Birthday Bash!

Helloooo, Friday!  It's finally here!  Every Friday is cause for celebration in my mind, but this one is particularly exciting for two reasons:  it's the debut of the new CAS-ual Fridays Design Team, and we're celebrating the first birthday of the CAS-ual Fridays challenge blog!  Yippee!

There are lots of fun surprises this week at the CAS-ual Fridays blog, including some fantastic prizes up for grabs from Simon Says Stamp.  Go ahead-- click on over to the blog to check them out.  I'll wait....  :)

Incredible, right?  Over $100 worth of prizes are being offered up this week by our amazing sponsor.  Thanks to Simon Says Stamp for helping us to celebrate in style!

In addition to the chance to win a prize, this week's challenge winner will be a future Guest Designer at CAS-ual Fridays!

The challenge this week: make a birthday card!  For my design, I used a favorite, festive color combo of orange and turquoise.  I heat embossed the word "happy" repeatedly in white, then added the word "birthday" in orange on a banner and embellished it with 3 orange buttons.  

I added a hand-drawn border with a white gel pen on the left side of the turquoise panel to balance the strip of orange on the right.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Hawaiian Shores, Orange Zest, White)

Stamp:  Paper Smooches (Sentiment Sampler)

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

Accessories:  Papertrey Ink (buttons), Filigree (white embossing powder), DMC floss

You definitely don't want to miss out on the rest of the new Girl Fridays' creations, so hop on over to the CAS-ual Fridays blog to be inspired!  Also, this week marks the debut of our Facebook Design Team--there will be a new card posted on Facebook each day by one of the designers, so be sure to Like CAS-ual Fridays on Facebook for even more inspiration!

Thanks so much for stopping by to share in the excitement of CAS-ual Friday's first birthday bash.  We hope you'll join in the festivities by linking up your creation, and maybe you'll be our next Guest Designer!

Thanks again for your visit--have a fantastic Friday!