12 Kits Feb. 2019 - Party In The Park

Hello friends.  It's the last day of the month and that means it's time for the 12 Kits of Occasions post where the sweetest of hostesses (Nancy) sent us a FABULOUS kit she's calling Party In The Park!

Nancy included SOOOO MANY great elements for celebrating the hope of Spring (yes please!), birthdays, fresh clean air, & flowers in bloom, that it was impossible not to smile while creating with this FUN kit!

Kept my background clean with white on white so the focus would be on the seahorse (Hero Arts)...I wish I could of captured the shimmer and shine of the Lindy's Magicals I used !  I also used a gelly roll pen that looks like a gold & silver combined and is so sparkly!

I also used Copics on the top and bottom of the carousel and the saddle on the seahorse.

I had to make a shaker card with all the pretty gems (PPP) Nancy included in the kit and the unicorn piñata (also PPP) was a perfect fit for this celebratory card!  Setting this card aside for my granddaughter Addy's birthday later this year...she's really into unicorns!  :0)

I am such a flower lover and absolutely adored the layered flower die cuts (Rose Flurries - Altenew) Nancy included!  I sponged the edges a bit on each layer before assembling them and then added them to one of the GORGEOUS floral DSP's Nancy included in the kit.

Nancy also included this adorable little otter (Lawn Fawn) and of course I had to use him!!  And don't you LOVE that balloon DSP??!!  (Echo Park) 

Here's a pic of all 4 cards together.  I still have lots of supplies left to do some CASE-ing...I'm always amazed by how we all think alike on some of our cards and then others are like WOW...why didn't I think of that?!!  :0) 

For a complete list of all the supplies we used and to check out what the rest of the DT (prepare to be blown away!!) came up using this kit, click HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Critter Celebration

Hello friends.  No challenges today...just playing for FUN with a with a Penny Black set from their newest collection called Critter Celebration.

As soon as I saw these sweet critters coupled with flowers, I knew it was the set for me!  It was one of those that I didn't care how much it cost or how much S/H would be...HAD to have it!!  A few days ago I was on my friend Bev's site and she had used a piece of flowered patterned paper, and it just got me thinking of how much DSP I have and NEVER use!  So thank you Bev for inspiring me to use 3 different pieces to go with these FUN and CUTE critter cards!!

Now how can you resist a sweet little face like that sitting in a pretty little flower?!  Did you notice the little present hanging from the leaf??  I colored all the images with my Copics and then matched them up to DSP I had.  This DSP and the 3rd card are papers from the same package, but it must have been part of a kit as it came in a clear envelope with no name so I can't help you with who the manufacturer is...sorry!  The dotted rectangle is die cut using PTI's Mix & Mat: Flourishes Die.  I added a few Rainstones (also PTI) to look like dew dripping from the flower and a piece of cream colored baker's twine to finish off this card.

This little cutie was also colored with my Copics and has a piece of DSP from Moda Scrap for the background.  The little scalloped circle is a die cut from Gina Marie Designs.  A few sequins and a seam binding ribbon and button finished off my 2nd card.

My 3rd card was once again colored with my Copics and the DSP is from that un-named pack like the first card.  A couple die cut ovals framed this little sweetie and a piece of white crochet thread tied at the top finished off this card.  Also, all three of the critters/flowers were fussy cut and I used WOS on all the flowers.

And here's all 3 together...do you have a favorite??  They are all too cute for me to pick a favorite!  I purposely left off sentiments on the front as I'm not sure what I'm going to be using these for yet...maybe birthday or thank you's.  If you're into CUTE and paper mice (vs the real kind) and like me NEED this set, you can check it out right HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Laurie's Fabulous Favorites

Hello friends.  Wednesday's aren't just hump day anymore...over at Papertrey Ink they are now Win It Wednesday's where they have 3 different challenges for you to play in and today I am playing along with Laurie's Fabulous Favorites!  This week Laurie is asking us to choose a favorite stand alone die to create a card with, and well, I couldn't pick just one!!  So I combined 3 to come up with this CAS Christmas card:

Papertrey has a lot of wonderful snowflake stamp sets and dies, but my FAVORITE has always been Fancy Flakes!  I cut a medium size flake out of plain white and then two smaller ones using a piece of blended (Dusty Concord, Salty Ocean, & Peacock Feathers Distress Inks) cardstock, and also die cut the JOY from Bold Borders: Flurries and the frame from Cover Plate: Pretty Frame Die with the blended piece of cardstock.  These colors blended together really made my die cuts stand out and showcase what wonderful dies they are...is it any wonder that all 3 of these dies are FAVORITES?!!

I was trying so hard to get a photograph that showed all the shimmer and sparkle from the Sheer Shimmer Sparkle Spritz I used on the blended pieces, but I gave up after about 50 photos!  So anyway, try to imagine as it really is beautiful IRL!!  I added a few Rainstones and some white bakers twine to finish off my card.

You have until next Wednesday at 6:00AM (27th) to play along, so check out Laurie's FABULOUS colorful and bright card for inspiration and then play along right HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Color Throwdown #531

Hello friends.  Playing along with this week's Color Throwdown challenge to use Rust, Purple, Gray & White.

The picture is absolutely beautiful, but when I look at just the colors I see Halloween...haha!!  I did refrain from making a Halloween card though and used the emboss resist technique with a design I learned from Laura Bassen to create a starburst pattern with masking.

I started by embossing with white, Catherine Pooler's background stamp called Rondi's Window and then using 2 strips of post it paper to mask off triangles using Royal Treatment, Mandarin Spice (CP inks) & Smoky Slate (SU!) inks to create the starburst.  I trimmed this layer down and added to a white card base, and then added my layered circles with the sentiment and the sweet little mouse from MFT's It's A Mice Time To Celebrate! 

A few purple rhinestones and some white baker's twine finished off my fun little card!

Check out all the fabulous cards from the DT and then play along right HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Twofer Challenge #13 - STARS

Hello friends.  Playing along with Darnell's Twofer Challenge where this month she would like to see STARS on our two cards.

This was a FUN challenge and I used a sweet little die gifted to me by Loll awhile back to come up with these two cards:

I was asked by a friend to make a couple baby cards and I've always thought stars were appropriate for graduation cards too!

For my graduation card I used a technique by Betsy Veldman (HERE) using colored salt crystals to make a colorful night time sky.  I used the star die with a matt finished silver cs (thanks Darnell!) to put over my background and then added the sweet bunny gazing up (MFT's Snuggle Bunnies) and a sentiment from an OLD Verve stamp set.

For my baby card I used the same star die in Sweet Blush cs and then Copic colored and paper pieced (PTI's Sweet Blush Bitty Big DSP) the sweet little baby image from LOTV.  I also used PTI's Super Star Border Die to bring in some more stars for the bottom of my card.  All the tiny stars that came out of the border die cut I added randomly over the rest of the card and then used a Clear Star Gelly Roll pen to color them all....they really sparkle IRL!!  I finished with a Tiny Tag (PTI) star die cut and a piece of white baker's twine to finish off my card.

Make sure you check out all the FABULOUS inspiration from Darnell and the rest of the DT, and then play along right HERE.  This challenge is open till the 24th.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Laurie's Fabulous Favorites #2

Hello friends.  I am combining two of the new Win It Wednesday challenges over at Papertrey Ink...Laurie's Fabulous Favorites which is to use your FAVORITE color cardstock/ink on a project, and the Instagram Challenge which is to use one of the same stamps/dies that Kelly Lunceford used on her cute little chick baskets.

Picking a favorite color is darn near impossible, but when looking back at all my PTI projects and orders for more cardstock, Aqua Mist is clearly in first place, and all the pinks coming in 2nd!  I also wanted to get ahead of the game on some Easter projects, so decided to use the same set as Kelly Lunceford's adorable little chick boxes/baskets (HERE) Huggables: Bunny & Chick, and used the bunny stamps and dies to come up with these:

Aren't those faces just too cute?!!  I started by die cutting the baskets using the Favor It Box 2 die and then stenciling over each one...Aqua Mist ink and one of the stencils from the Modern Background Stencil Collection and Hibiscus Burst ink and a circle stencil.  After assembling the baskets, I die cut all the bunny pieces using white cs, Aqua Mist Bitty Big DSP, and Hibiscus Burst Patterned Paper Pack.

The tag is from the Tremendous Tags dies and the sentiment from the Huggables: Bunny & Chick set.

So there you have it...2 sweet Easter projects done ahead of time!!  Laurie's challenge (favorite color) and the Instagram challenge are both open till Wednesday at 6:00AM.  You can find all the details to play along and see Laurie's and Kelly's AWESOME projects right HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

CAS Watercolour Feb. 2019 Reminder Post

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that there is only a week left to play in our February challenge at CAS Watercolour, and we're looking for cards using RED and PINK.

I have a Twofer for you today as I was playing around with Loll's Splash Watercolouring technique (see Loll's video HERE) and ended up with 2 pieces that I liked using Picked Raspberry and Fired Brick DI's.  Here's my 1st card:

I die cut a SSS Mum Flower Frame to cover my piece of red and pink watercoloured background and then added a simple birthday sentiment from Gina K.  Here's a closer up so you can see some of the red as the pink seemed to dominate this panel:

I also added a few light red gemstones to the center of the flower to help pull out some of the red in the background.  Pretty simple card but I like how it turned out!!

For my 2nd card I used the flower image from Altenews Best Mom set and heat embossed it in white.  It did not show up very well competing with the busyness of the splashed panel, so I fussy cut the image out...first with a bit of a border, but it still didn't look right, so I fussy cut again right against the embossed edges and I liked that much better!  Here's a closer up view:

The fussy cutting was the hardest part of this card, and although I really enjoy fussy cutting, cutting this close to the edge of the embossing was a bit time consuming with lots of praying that I wouldn't cut where I shouldn't!!  But anyway, I attached it to a white card base and added another Gina K sentiment and a few iridescent sequins to finish off my card.

We would love to see you in the gallery, so check out all the beautiful inspiration from the DT and our special GD Darnell, and then play along with us right HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

CAS Stencil Challenge Feb. 2019

Hello friends.  This month's CAS Stencil Challenge is all about using powdered inks through your stencils.

This was a FUN challenge and if you've never used powdered inks through your stencils before, Loll has a couple great video's you can watch HERE.

I used a portion of a very LARGE stencil I had purchased from AliExpress and I liked the monoprint (the 2nd print) better because of the vibrancy of the color.  It took me a bit to realize why my first prints were so light was because all the spaces in the stencil I used were so small...I had more of my Brusho's and Lindy's Magicals on the actual stencil than I did through the openings of the stencil.  Here's a photo of my 2 tries:

Both bottom pieces were from misting and then pulling the stencil off the cardstock.  The top pieces were both from turning my wet stencils over and pressing into another piece of cardstock.  I still like the bottom pieces, but they're just not as vibrant.

I ended up and used one of the top pieces for my card today and came up with this:

I cut my piece down a little to fit behind a Pierced Feature Frame (PTI) die cut in Raspberry Fizz cardstock and adhered both to a white card base.  I stacked 4 of Penny Black's Bashful die cuts together and added them along with a sentiment stamped in black from an old SU! set called Sincere Salutations.

Here's a closer up so you can see a bit more detail of the stenciled layer.  I used orange Brusho's, Raspberry Lemonade Magicals, and a touch of Merlot Brusho's to achieve the colors in the background stenciled layer.

This was a FUN challenge and one I'm definitely going to be playing around with a bit more!!  Check out all the GORGEOUS cards from the DT for inspiration and then play along right HERE.  This challenge is open till the 24th.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

The Flower Challenge #29

Hello friends.  Playing along with this month's The Flower Challenge where we are being asked to use our latest flower/die purchase on our card.

My latest flower purchase was the Dainty Bouquet set from Altenew.  This set was made with the main image to be done in a neutral, and then the layering steps done in color.  I have 2 cards to share as I wasn't sure I liked my first try with white ink on gray cardstock.  Take a look:

I stamped HA white pigment ink on Smoky Slate cs with the main image, and then let dry overnight.  For my pinks I used Altenew's Pinkalicious and Razzleberry inks and for the greens Volcano Lake and Lagoon inks.  I like the white against the gray, but was not thrilled with my alignment of the colored stamping layers.

For my 2nd attempt, I used Morning Frost ink against the gray cs and came up with the this:

My alignment came out better on this 2nd try (practice makes perfect...almost!) and I used Gina K reds and greens for the layered stamping.  My sentiment on both cards is from SSS's Sketched Flowers set.  A little bit of baker's twine and some iridescent sequins finished off both cards.

Here they are both together...which one do YOU like best?  I'm actually leaning toward my first try with the pinks, but I will definitely be experimenting with more neutrals and colors to find a color combo that really tickles my fancy!!

Check out all the BEAUTIFUL inspiration from the talented DT and all the lovely cards that are already in the gallery too!  You can find it all and how to play along right HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Laurie's Fabulous Favorites

Hello friends.  There are some new challenges going on over at Papertrey Ink and there's a fun one called Laurie's Fabulous Favorites that I'm playing along with today.  Laurie Schmidlin is asking us to pick out our FAVORITE PTI stamp set and create a card with it...you can see Laurie's lovely card and read all about it HERE.

I thought this would be a lot harder than it actually was because hey, how can I pick just ONE favorite?!!  But when it came right down to it, my favorites are ALWAYS florals, and Farmer's Market Florals just totally stands out for me!!

I used a little bit of Laurie's idea by adding black & white striped DSP (Smoky Shadow Bitty Big DSP) to the bottom and top of my card and then grounded the bottom layer by adding a thin strip of Pure Poppy card stock.  My sentiment came from the Penned Elegance II set, and then I went to town stamping in shades of red all the flowers from the set.  Here's a closer up view:

I don't have the dies, so I fussy cut them all out and then arranged them into a little bouquet that would fit into the bottom half of the card.  I also made the tiny stem of flowers in yellow (Bright Buttercup) to give just another pop of color!  A few iridescent sequins and some white crochet thread finished off this card for a special someone who could use some lifting up right now.

Make sure to check out Laurie's beautiful card (HERE) and then play along with your favorite PTI stamp set...there's a $100 gift certificate up for grabs!!  :0)

I am also adding my card to The Card Concept (#108) challenge where my colors are spot on for the inspiration photo...red, white, & black.

You can check out all the FABULOUS inspiration from the DT and play along with this challenge right HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!

Color Throwdown #529 - A Box of Sunshine

Hello friends.  Playing along with this week's challenge at Color Throwdown where the colors are Yellow, Orange, and Red.

Aren't those fun and bright colors to inspire us during the Winter days?!  My card was also inspired by a box of Sunshine that I received this week from a dear, dear friend!  I had mentioned to her that we don't see much sunshine in Michigan during the Winter months (something to do with being surrounded by the great Lakes) and that makes Winter here really, really loooooooong!  So she sent me a box filled to the brim with everything YELLOW that she could find...all kinds of treats that come in yellow packaging (Lays potato chips, Butterfinger candy bar, Peanut M & M's, Fruit Flavored Tic Tacs, Lemon cookies, Juicy Fruit gum, a lemon tea towel, lip balm, Mason Jar with a yellow and white lid and straw, lemon tea, etc. and then an envelope filled with yellow die cuts, stickers, enamel dots, and DSP!)  So anyway, that's where my card started and I just added the orange and red!!

I stamped and colored the chick from SU!'s Hey Chick set with lots of yellow, orange, and red Copics and then fussy cut her out.  I added her to a white Pierced Feature Frame (PTI) and used one of the yellow and white checked papers that was included in the box of sunshine for the center of the frame.  The sunshine die cuts were also included in my box of sunshine and I think they are MFT, but not positive.  The orange enamel dot was also included in the box.  I stamped the sentiment in red on a stitched banner and put it behind the pop dotted chick.

Check out all the FABULOUS inspiration from the DT and play along right HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today ... I love it when you do!