The 12 Kits of Occasions--December 2013

Hi there!  Sorry I've been even quieter than usual lately, but this month has been especially hectic for my family.  My husband and I sold his mother's home of 42 years and bought her a new one closer to us, and we had less than a week to clean it out.  It was incredibly stressful getting everything lined up to happen in time, but somehow we finished up just a few days before Christmas.  We're looking forward to getting my MIL moved into her new place soon and settling back into our normal routines.  :)

Believe it or not, we've come to the end of another month, and with it another round of The 12 Kits of Occasions.  This month's hostess is Jessica, and she sent us a Christmas-themed kit full of the most darling images and supplies.  I knew I'd only be able to scratch the surface of this fantastic kit in the limited time I had this month, so I pulled out my very favorite items and went to work.

The first card I made used the cute rabbit on a sled from Lawn Fawn.  I colored him with Copics and added a trail of gems behind him to give a sense of movement.

My second card uses more Lawn Fawn images and sentiments with a fun chevron embossed background.

My last card uses die cut poinsettia flowers from Paper Smooches with a pretty script sentiment from Mama Elephant.

I can't wait to see what the other ladies made!

Stop by The 12 Kits blog to see the full list of supplies, plus you can find out the winner of our recent Guest Designer contest!

Don't forget to leave a comment here and on the rest of the designer's blogs for a chance to win a fabulous giveaway, courtesy of Jessica.  Stop by the 12 Kits blog for more details.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

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.

25 Days of Christmas Tags with Tracey McNeely

I'm feeling very honored today to be taking part in a fun event with my friend, Tracey McNeely.  This is the third year for her popular "25 Days of Christmas Tags", and this year is even more special because she has invited guest designers to join her each day of the month.

I'm sure Tracey needs no introduction for most of you, but not only is she one of my teammates in The 12 Kits of Occasions and at the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge, she is also one my favorite designers.  I am always drawn to Tracey's ultra-CAS, fresh designs and her beautifully balanced use of color.  But more than that, she is one of the sweetest people I know in blogland, and she always leaves the most genuine and encouraging comments on my posts.

For my tag, I had actually planned to use the more recent holiday set from WPlus9, Merry & Bright.  Then I looked back at Tracey's previous tag posts and saw that Kara had used it for her gorgeous design.  There's no way I'm competing with that beauty, so I pulled out one of last year's Christmas sets, Iconic Christmas.

The tag and frame, patterned paper strip, twine, and gems are leftover supplies from The 12 Kits for November.  I stamped the tree on the solid tag, then layered the frame, silhouette image, and paper strip on top with foam tape.  The sentiment is from WPlus9's Silver Bells.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (White)

Patterned paper:  Echo Park (Tis the Season)

Stamps:  WPlus9 (Iconic Christmas, Silver Bells)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Garden Green), Memento (Tuxedo Black), Sakura (silver gel pen)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (Tag Sale #8), WPlus9 (Iconic Christmas die set)

Other:  rhinestones, baker's twine

I can't wait to see the tag Tracey created for today, and rumor has it there's a prize up for grabs at the end of the month.  Stop by her blog, In My Creative Opinion, to get the details!

Thanks to Tracey for letting me join her today.  And thanks to you for stopping by!

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge--Christmas Countdown

It's the beginning of a new month, and the beginning of a new challenge at the Curtain Call.  This week's theme is Christmas Countdown:

We have another fantastic sponsor for our challenge:  Sweet Stamp Shop.  They were "sweet" enough to provide the Curtain Call Crew with a stamp set of their choice, and they are offering a $15 gift certificate to the Sweet Stamp Shop store to the LEAD for this challenge!

My interpretation of the challenge was very literal.  As soon as I saw the Alpha Tabs stamp set, I knew I wanted to create my own Christmas countdown in card form.  I stamped the "25" first, then filled in the numbers around it, using lightly drawn pencil lines as a guide.

There are even more projects to inspire you this week from the Curtain Call Crew:

Amber Kroening

Barb Murphy

Gayatri Murali

Kim Singdahlsen

Marisa Ritzen

Monika Davis

Sheri Gilson

Stacey Schafer

Tenia Nelson

Tracey McNeely

I hope you'll play along with us this week!  Thanks for visiting today!