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!

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge--Feeling Nautical

It has finally arrived!  Today is opening day of a new challenge, the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge!  If you've been following along with the Design Team introductions, you already know that this is going to be a fantastic source of inspiration (just check out the list of designers on my sidebar!).

Now it's time to reveal our first challenge graphic:

To make things even more exciting, we have a fabulous sponsor for our first challenge.  Verve Stamps provided the Curtain Call Designers with the Strong Anchor stamp set and coordinating Nautical Die set to use on our cards, and they have generously offered up these stamps and dies to the winner of this week's challenge!

I was inspired by the navy and blue combo in the graphic, as well as the anchor.  I stamped the sentiment and rope frame from Strong Anchor directly on patterned paper, then die cut and stamped the anchor image to pop up inside the frame.

The rope border was stamped and clear embossed on navy cardstock, then I added some jute twine and wood veneer stars as accents.

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! (Midnight Muse), WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Patterned paper:  Fancy Pants (Off to School)

Stamps:  Verve (Strong Anchor)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Not Quite Navy), Hero Arts (Wet Cement), Versamark

Tools:  Verve (Nautical Die set), corner rounder

Other:  May Arts (twine), Studio Calico (wood veneer stars)

Be sure to visit the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge blog to get all the details on our first challenge, check out the amazing samples by the Design Team as well as our special guest from Verve Stamps, Julee Tilman, and to link up your creation based on the challenge graphic.

Thanks for stopping by!

My new toy...and some new blog buttons

I don't have a card today, but I thought I'd share a recent purchase with you that has me just a little excited.  :)  My hubby and I agreed that this would be my anniversary gift from him this year (isn't he sweet to let me pick it out?).

Brother CS6000i from Amazon.com

My starter model Singer sewing machine has been pretty much worthless for almost a year.  The last tune-up to reset the tension cost as much as the machine did when I bought it 10 years ago, so when it continued to have problems I decided it wasn't worth trying to fix it again.

After some research and reading of reviews on Amazon, I decided on this Brother machine that has 60 built-in stitches and lots of other features I've always wanted in a machine, like a needle that always stops in the down position, a switch to control maximum sewing speed, and an add-on table for larger projects.  And all for only slightly more than I paid for my old, basic Singer.

I'm in love.

Right now I'm finishing up some cloth napkins for my kids with fabric that they chose and I cut last summer, right before my old machine started having problems again.

Next up I want to make some Roman shades for my kitchen.  I've made one before and already have all of the materials, I just need to carve out some time to get them done.

Also new...I decided to clean up my sidebar and add some of those nifty blog buttons (over there under "connect")------->

You can follow me on Bloglovin', Facebook, and Pinterest, or send me an email, and it's all just a click away.  :)

I'm off to get a few chores done before my son's buddy comes over, after which I don't anticipate getting much of anything done.  Hope you have a fun day planned, too!

Paper Smooches Sparks--Designer Draft sketch

I still had the Surf & Turf set on my craft table from the last Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge when the new one went live, so I whipped up a simple scene to play along.  This week's challenge is a sketch:

I love this goofy bird and his little friend standing on the pilings.  I decided to use a white card base so that I could stamp directly on it (although the pelican was fussy cut and popped up), but the "sky" looked a little plain.  I dripped some turquoise glitter paint onto the background to give it a little more interest.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (White, Kraft)

Stamps:  Paper Smooches (Surf & Turf, Sentiment Sampler)

Ink:  Memento (Tuxedo Black), Tattered Angels (Peacock Chalkboard Glimmer Mist)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (woodgrain impression plate), corner rounder

Other:  Prismacolor Premier pencils, May Arts (twine)

This will be another great card to leave for my husband to find while the kids and I are visiting my family next week.  He has to stay behind and work, and he really starts to miss us, or so he says.  :)

We're halfway to the weekend!  Have a good one.

Simon Says...Patriotic Challenge

The Simon Says Stamp Challenge blog is having a Patriotic themed challenge this week, which is perfect timing as my cousin recently started boot camp at Fort Benning in Georgia.  I wanted to let him know how proud we are of his decision, and what better way to tell him than to emblazon the word "proud" right on the front of the card.

This came together very quickly, and the design was based on a graduation card I made recently.  I die cut the letters out of white cardstock first, then placed the letters back into the negative space while I stamped the stripes across the top.  Yes, it would have been easier to just stamp the stripes before die cutting, but I didn't think of that until afterwards.  :)

The white panel was given some texture with the linen & canvas impression plate (I think it's perfect for masculine cards).  I used navy patterned paper behind the letters and popped the top layer up with foam tape.  A few wooden stars add the finishing touch.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

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

Stamp:  Papertrey Ink (Faux Ribbon)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Real Red)

Tools:  My Favorite Things (Die-Namics High Rise Alphabet Lowercase), Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas impression plate)

Other:  Studio Calico (wood veneer stars)

Looks like this challenge ends in less than 24 hours, but there's still time to link up your patriotic card.

Have a happy one!

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!

Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge--Ocean

The current Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge is ending tonight, so I made some time yesterday to play with a couple of new-to-me sets, Briny Blue and Surf & Turf.  This week's challenge is a Trend Watch, and I'd say the ocean theme definitely qualifies as trendy at the moment!

I knew I'd be using these sets a lot to make silly cards for my husband, who does whale behavior research in the summer.  I'm not sure that he's ever witnessed any smooching between whales and dolphins in the North Atlantic, but I think he'll appreciate the thought.  :)

The "water" is vellum that I inked aqua, then used two small circle punches to cut the "waves".

The only adhesive I used for the vellum was a few pieces of scor-tape, which are hidden under the twine.  There are tons of tutorials for nautical knots online, so I found one that was easy to make and would cover up the scor-tape.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Vellum:  Michaels

Stamps:  Paper Smooches (Surf & Turf, Briny Blue, Chit Chat)

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

Tools:  circle punches

Other:  Prismacolor Premier pencils, May Arts twine, Zig Wink of Stella clear glitter brush

I'm off to my craft room again today, staying out of the heat and trying to finish up some projects before I leave town next week to visit my family in Indiana.

Thanks for stopping by!

Weekend wish list

We had our best friends from Ohio visiting this week, and we had the most wonderful 4th of July.  Now that they are (sadly) on their way back home, I have lots of projects to catch up on and fun things to share with you over the next couple of months.  I hope you'll stay tuned.

How about another wish list to start off the weekend?  

I'm coveting this gorgeous laser-cut wooden cover for my iPhone.  They come in four different wood finishes and several designs, but the bird on a branch is definitely calling my name.  Or my phone.  Ha.

From Toast

I have a drawer full of embroidery thread that could use taming, and it would look instantly cuter with a few of these wooden bobbins.  I'm especially fond of Flossy the Unicorn, but the Dachshund is pretty adorable, too.

From Sugar Cookie on Etsy

The theme for this week must be woodgrain, as my last find is this set of paper straws that look like little birch trees.  They'd be perfect for a camping-themed party.  Or just for sipping drinks on my deck.  :)

From Kikkerland

That's all for today!  We're in the midst of a heat wave here in Massachusetts, so I'll be spending some time in my craft room trying to stay cool.

Have a great weekend!

Exciting News--The New Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge!

Hello friends!  I have some fantastic news to share today.  :)

Yep, there's a new challenge in town, and I have the tremendous honor of being a part of the inaugural Design Team!

The Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge (formerly the Curtain Call Color Challenge) will make its GRAND re-opening on July 15th!

This challenge is the brain-child of the wonderfully talented Stacey Schafer, who also happens to be one of the sweetest ladies in the business.  I was fortunate enough to serve on the Design Team for the original Curtain Call Color Challenge back in the day, and I'm absolutely delighted to be joining Stacey on this new adventure.

Need more reasons to join in the fun?  Just wait until you see the amazing Design Team Stacey has lined up.  Seriously, I am humbled.  Stop by the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge blog every day to meet 2 more of the 15 Curtain Call Crew Designers, including one of my personal idols sharing the spotlight with me today.  :)

Hop on over to the Curtain Call blog to meet more of the Design Team, become a follower, and get ready to be inspired!