Wednesday, May 31, 2017

12 Kits of Occasions - Happiness Is Homemade

It's the last day of the month! Wow May has gone fast! The kids are out of school and the sun is shining! Summer is here at last!! The last day of the month for means it's time for me to reveal what I made with my kit from The 12 Kits of Occasions.

We're a group of 12 friends who love to paper craft. Every month we take turns putting together a kit for the rest of the group. On the last day of the month we share what we made. It's fun to see how our projects are the same or very different!

Our hostess this month is Birgit Norton from Crafting While I Wait blog! Birgit's kit is themed "Happiness is Homemade". It's a loving tribute to her mom who passed away two years ago. Birgit filled the kit with things her mom loved.. cooking for her family, quilting, and spring flowers. She touched my heart with the heartfelt note about her mom, and I hope I did her proud!

She filled the kit with images from Clearly Besotted and Papertrey Ink; die cuts from Impression Obsession, My favorite Things and Poppystamps: beautiful Bo Bunny "Kiss The Cook" papers, and loads of embellishments. I'm always telling you to keep your eye out for my "tricky" ingredient. Looking at what's left I see lots of brads - they're in a rainbow of colors with different shaped heads. I'm anxious to see where the other designers used them!

I had lots of fun with this kit.. it made me think of my Grandmother who must have had lots in common with Birgit's Mom!   I got SIX (6) cards made!  Here goes... 


I hope you'll hop on over to The 12 Kits of Occasions Blog where you'll find a sample from each of the designers playing along today.  We're trying to give away a kit every month now to a lucky winner because we'd love to have you join us!  You'll have to leave a comment on the blog to enter to win.  Click here to jump to The 12 Kits of Occasions Blog!





All cards finished size 4.25" x 5.5"

Everyday Blessings
Stamps | Papertrey Ink Still Life Summer | My Favorite Things Cheerful Blessings
Dies | Papertrey Ink Still Life Summer | My Favorite Things Cheerful Blessings | Elisabeth Craft Designs Apron, Gina Marie Designs Stitched Scalloped Nested Squares
Pattern Paper | Bo Bunny "Kiss The Cook"

Stitched Hello
Stamps | Papertrey Ink Button Boutique, Hanging By A Thread, Regency Era 2014 SAF,
Dies | Neat & Tangled Hoop | Papertrey Ink Hanging By A Thread
Pattern Paper | Bo Bunny "Kiss The Cook"

Hello
Stamps | Papertrey Ink Just Desserts, Tulip Time | My Creative Time Fun Notes
Dies | Papertrey Ink Just Desserts, Tulip Time |My Creative Time Fun Notes
Pattern Paper | Bo Bunny "Kiss The Cook"

Just A Note
Stamps | Clearly Besotted Sunshine & Smiles | My Creative Time Fun Notes
Dies | Clearly Besotted Sunshine & Smiles | Penny Black Border Edger | My Creative Time Fun Notes | Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Border
Pattern Paper | Bo Bunny "Kiss The Cook"


The Sweetest
Stamps | Clearly Besotted Recipe for Love, Papertrey Ink Just Desserts |
Dies | Clearly Besotted Recipe for Love
Pattern Paper | Simple Stories SN@P! Color Vibe Lights

Tulip Thanks
Stamps | PTI Tulip Time
Dies | Impression Obsession Thanks

Friday, May 26, 2017

Tupelo Designs LLC - Altenew Adore You

Happy Friday!  I hope you're having a great day and getting ready for a nice weekend!   Hopefully the sun will be shining and you can relax and enjoy you're day.  Maybe some time with friends and family for the long Memorial Day weekend?   It seems like that's the day that always marks the beginning of Summer for us!

Today I'm playing with the Altenew Adore You stamp and die set from Tupelo Designs LLC!  
I stamped the flowers with Memento Ink and colored them with Copic Markers.  They're fun and easy to color.  The matching die set makes them easy to cut and arrange as you like! 
I arranged the flowers on a background of stamped flowers from the same set.  I stamped them with Ranger Spun Sugar distress ink, and then added some soft inking along the edges of the panel. The sentiment is stamped with Versafine over the background stamping for a crisp bold sentiment. 
I colored the yellow flower centers before adding soft pink, and gradually darker pink Copic color to the outer lines of the petals. 
You can find these stamps from Altenew and lots of your other favorites at Tupelo Designs LLC. They're my favorite one stop shop for all my crafty needs. The shipping is always free (USA only) and they have lots of my favorite brands. They also have a customer loyalty program that awards you points that turn into dollars that you can use off future purchases.

My favorite part? When that package arrives. It's always packed with care - like opening a present! What a great way to treat yourself! Want to go shopping? Click here to jump to the Tupelo Designs LLC store to see what's new!




Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"
Stamps | Altenew Adore You
Dies | Altenew Adore You


Pretty Little Studio - You Are The Reason

I hope you're having a great day! It's Friday and my mind is on all the yard work I need to get done this weekend. Now that the weather is warm it's time to drag out all my pots to fill with annuals and get the garden ready for planting! The Blooming Hearts Collection from Pretty Little Studio is a gardeners dream! Its a fun mix of brights and pastels, pretty flowers and fun geometric patterns! 
I started with a card base of You & Me pattern paper and topped it with a die cut frame frame from the Picture Perfect die cut pack. I turned the frame into a shaker by adhering clear acetate to the reverse side of the frame to cover the open window. Next I added foam tape along the edges of the reverse side. I placed a pile of Crystal, Crystal Snow and Sunsation sequins in the center of the card base and then adhered the frame.
Next for the embellishing! I added flowers pretty die cut flowers from the Blooming die cut pack to the frame with adhesive foam tape. There's lots of flowers in this package (25!!) so you can have fun arranging them however you like. I added a yellow flower and frond to pick up on the yellow sequins inside the shaker.
The die cut sentiment is from the Soulmates die cut pack. The finishing touch is a few more sequins so it looks like a few escaped from the shaker!

I don't know what it is about shakers, but they always make me feel like a little kid playing with a snow globe. They're just magical aren't they?



Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5”
Pretty Little Studio Products
Paper | Blooming Hearts | You & Me
Die Cut | Blooming, Soulmates, Picture Perfect
Sequins | Crystal 4mm, Crystal Snow, Sunsation

Thursday, May 25, 2017

Fusion Card Challenge - What's Up Cupcake?


So how are you doing today? I'm keeping busy! Life calls me outdoors this time of year. I'm starting to take trips to the greenhouses. I love looking around at all the different flowers.  I'm drawn to them just like a bee.   My son pulled out all the glazed pots and filled them with top soil so all I have to do is fill them up with colorful annuals and point where I want them.  When he gets older and decides to leave home I'll have to bribe him with a home cooked dinner to do this for me every year!  

A new challenge begins today at Fusion Card Challenge!  This one is called Chalkboard Baking.  I love all the elements in the inspiration photo.. a cupcake, hearts, baking pan etc.  I also love the sketch too so I decided to fuse the elements together for my card.  You don't have to do this.. you can work with just the sketch or just the inspiration photo if you like.
I couldn't bring myself to do a chalkboard card.  You know I love my bright colors, (and this one sure has lots)  so I added some accents in black here and there. 
I used different Poppystamps dies to add baking elements to my card.  The Baking Spoons and Bowls die is filled with a fluff of frosting from the small Stitched Cupcake die. 
This is the larger Stitched Cupcake in the die set.
I thought it would be fun to have the bunny from the Poppystamps Cupcake Party stamp set holding a baking pan.  The cupcakes are playfully tossed in the air on this colorful card. 
The sentiment is stamped vertically along the Pretty Pink Posh stitched border edge.

Want to see more projects inspired by the sketch/inspiration photo?  It's going to be a bakers delight I think!  Just click here to hop on over to Fusion Card Challenge from the rest of the team!   I sure hop you join us!





Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"
Stamps |  Poppystamps Cupcake Party
Dies | Poppystamps Cupcake Party, Baking Spoons and Bowls, Stitched Cupcakes, Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Borders, Spellbinder Petite Scallop Circles, Circles
Pattern Paper | Crate Paper Cute Girl 6"
Sequins | Pretty Pink Posh


Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Mermaid Kisses

Hi friends!  I hope you're doing good today!   I'm doing ok!   I did a little running around this morning looking for a watercolor block.. you know ... watercolor paper that is adhered on all four sides so you dont have to tape it to a board?  I couldn't find any at Michaels, Joanns or Hobby Lobby.  I guess I'll have to let my fingers do the walking.   

Still a little time to spare to make something today before I get started on dinner.  You know I love a sketch challenge and I found this one CAS Colours & Sketches.  This sketch looked like fun so I got to work!  
I cut my panel in half like the sketch and made the bottom half surf using the Reverse Confetti Scallop Cover Panel, and the top half sun using the Reverse Confetti Sunburst Cover Panel.

I like to add details to designs to make them come to life.  I added more die cut circles to the center of the die cut panel to create a sun.  I also added gems to the seashell and the flower in the mermaid's hair. 

I cut a few extra waves from gold glitter paper to add some sparkle from the sunshine on the water.

I didn't notice it before but the mermaid is the same colors as the background! LOL! 

Memorial Day is just around the corner.. that means summer is officially here in the Chicago area!  It's time to start planning a trip to the beach! 



Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"
Stamps | Reverse Confetti  Mermaid Kisses
Dies | Reverse Confetti  Mermaid Kisses, Detailed Circles, Flowers For Mom, Scalloped Cover Panel, Sunburst Cover Panel