The 12 Kits of Occasions--August 2013

Welcome back for another round of fun with The 12 Kits of Occasions!  This month's hostess is Amy, and our theme is Christmas.  It's never too early to add a few more holiday cards to the stash!

I couldn't wait to add the wonderful texture of the red burlap to a card.  It makes a perfect backdrop to the poinsettias and pretty sentiment.  I added some stamped leaves from Waltzingmouse's Big Bloom Poinsettias.

My second card uses some of the beautiful paper Amy included along with a stamped wreath and sentiment.  Very simple and easy to mail.

My last card for today uses the burlap patterned paper and beautiful Verve snowflakes along with a sentiment that I just love.

I'm short on small talk today--it's crazy busy around here as summer winds down.  I'll leave you with a reminder to visit the 12 Kits blog to see previews of the rest of the group's cards and links to their blogs.  You can also refer to the full list of supplies included in this month's kit.  Rumor has it there's also a giveaway this month.  *hint hint*

Have a fantastic 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!

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge--Carnival Craze

Hello, Curtain Call fans!  Are you ready for a new challenge?  Check out our new inspiration board, Carnival Craze:

We have another fabulous sponsor for this challenge, too.  Lawn Fawn not only provided the Curtain Call Designers with their choice of the Admit One or Blue Skies stamp set, but they are offering a stamp set of the winner's choice to this week's LEAD!  Many thanks, Lawn Fawn!

I couldn't wait to work with the Admit One set--I've long had my eye on this cute ferris wheel.  Once again, I was drawn to the colors in the inspiration graphic, and I decided to create some faux watercolor stripes using my ink pads.

First, I heat embossed the ferris wheel in white onto white cardstock.  Next, I swiped some ink onto a piece of clear acetate and added a few drops of water with a wide paintbrush.  Instant watercolor.  :)

For the background, I repeatedly stamped the ticket image with Soft Granite ink and added a heart from Lawn Fawn's Good Fortune to one of the tickets.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  Lawn Fawn (Admit One, Good Fortune)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Melon Mambo, Baja Breeze), Hero Arts (Mint Julep, Soft Granite), Memento (Tuxedo Black), Versamark

Other:  Filigree (white embossing powder), sequins

You'll definitely want to check out what the rest of the Curtain Call ladies did this week, then link up your entry for a chance to win some Lawn Fawn stamps!

Have a fantastic day!

With Gratitude--Stationery inspired

There hasn't been a lot of stamping going on around here lately.  I spent most of last week painting the mudroom by our front door, and for the past two days I've been cutting fabric for a new quilt.  Yay!  I'll try to share some photos of that project in a day or two.

I did have a few minutes to put an idea on paper over the weekend.  I had pinned an image that included a bright and cheerful notepad from Emily Ley, and I wanted to translate it into a quick and easy card.

Notepad by Emily Ley

I masked off the top of a white card base and stamped leaves and flowers from Paper Smooches' Reflections in Melon Mambo.  I wanted a bright yellow banner for the sentiment, but I didn't have any cardstock in the right color.  So I heat embossed the sentiment in white on a strip of white cardstock, then sponged the entire thing with Daffodil Delight ink.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  Paper Smooches (Reflections, Chit Chat)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight), Versamark

Other:  Filigree (white embossing powder), Michaels (clear rhinestones)

What's inspiring your designs lately?

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a good one!

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!

Featured Designer at Paper Crafter's Library!

This is my second post today--please scroll down for the latest Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge!

I'm thrilled to be the Featured Designer today at the Paper Crafter's Library!  Here's a sneak peek of one of the three cards I'm sharing there, all of which use the same die in three different ways.

Hope to see you there!  Have a great day!

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge--Watermelon Wonder

It's time for a new Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge!  We had an amazing response to our first challenge, not just in the number of participants but in how incredible the submissions were.  Be sure to stop by and peruse the gallery if you haven't already!

For our second challenge, we have this fabulous inspiration board:

As an added treat, we have a generous sponsor this week.  Fresh Squeezed Stamps is offering a stamp set of the winner's choice to the LEAD for this week's challenge.  

For my take on the challenge, I pulled out the colors of coral, melon, yellow, and aqua and focused on the decorative medallions in the upper left corner of the inspiration board, which led me to PTI's Dot Spot stamp set.  After stamping the images on a strip of white cardstock, I adhered it to an aqua panel and stitched along the edge.  The die cut sentiment is from My Favorite Things.

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

Stamps:  Papertrey Ink (Dot Spot)

Ink:  Stampin' up! (Calypso Coral, Melon Mambo, Pool Party, Daffodil Delight)

Tools:  My Favorite Things (Happy Hellos Die-namics), Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas impression plate), corner rounder

Other:  thread

Be sure to visit the Curtain Call blog for all the details on the challenge and to see the rest of the samples from the Design Team!

I hope to see your entry in the gallery!