12 Kits Of Occasions - June Celebrations

Hello friends.  Hard to believe it's the end of May already...where did it go??!!  Welcome back to another 12 Kits Of Occasions post where this month Tracey was our delightful hostess and sent out a FABULOUS kit full of papers, images, die cuts, and sentiments all meant to celebrate Father's Day, End of the School Year, and Teacher Thank You's.  Take a look at what we all got to create with:

Aren't those PLAID PAPERS just gorgeous?!  I had a hard time cutting into the 1st piece as my instinct was to just hoard them!!  But once I started it was hard to put them down!!

Had to color up this sweet little girl from PPP's School Friends and back her against some of that wonderful plaid paper (Lawn Fawn).

This time I colored (Copics) up the little guy from PPP's School Friends and added him to more of that delicious plaid paper along with some Kraft and Summer Sunrise cs that I die cut using PTI's To The Point Edgers.  The little wood veneer elements are from Jillibean Soup.

I absolutely fell in LOVE with this Mondo Gerber Daisy from Ellen Hutson and did a little blending before adding it to another piece of the wonderful plaid papers Tracey included in this kit!  Is there such a thing as a "PINK" lady bug?  Probably not, but for the sake of my card, and me liking to be all matchy-matchy, a pink ladybug is what I pop dotted onto my sentiment flag banner.

Tracey also included one of Lawn Fawn's Reveal Wheel die cuts and since my dad has been gone for over 18 years now, and our 3 grown daughters all get their own Father's Day cards for their dad, I decided to make this card be from our dog Daisy who gives new meaning to the phrase "Daddy's Girl"!  She is absolutely in LOVE with my hubby and only comes to me when "Daddy" is at work!  Daisy is part Britany Spaniel (although we say part goat, part cat), so I just added a few light tan spots to her otherwise white fur and then added the die cut trees that were part of the kit and mounted them both to the front of the card that I also stamped some more trees to (Deep Red - Winter Pines).  I used a piece of the navy plaid to layer with and used an MFT die to cut the banner with the "Dad, You're" sentiment to go along with the sentiments that were part of the Reveal Wheel.  FUN to make and FUN to play with!!

My last card uses this sweet little girl from Sugar Pea Designs (Class Act) that I colored up with my Copics again, and then simply added her to more of that gorgeous plaid paper.  I thought the sentiment was perfect for my granddaughter to give her pre-school teacher as a thank you in a couple weeks when school is done.

Here's a photo of all 5 cards together, and luckily I still have leftovers to create a few more after I see what the other gals did with their supplies.  This was such a FUN kit to play with, so thank you, thank you Tracey for putting together such a delightful kit...LOVED it!!  Make sure you check out what all my teamies did with this same kit right HERE...you will be blown away for sure!! 

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

Tag You're It Challenge #88 - Spring Flowers

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Tag You're It Challenge where they've given us a BEAUTIFUL inspiration photo with Spring Flowers/Colors.

Everything about this sweet photo inspires me...from the array of beautiful flowers to the lovely Spring colors, and of course that wonderful blue teapot!  Of all the bazillion stamps I have, I do not have a single teapot, so I used a brand new Penny Black stamp called Bunches For You that I thought fit the challenge beautifully!

Isn't this image of the envelope with the bunch of flowers spilling out just as sweet as can be??!!  I stamped and embossed the image in black and then using my Aqua Painter and a bunch of Gina K inks smooshed into an acrylic block, lightly water colored the envelope, flowers, and leaves.  Once dry, I fussy cut the image and attached to a MFT tag die.

The "thanks" sentiment is from SSS's Sketched Flowers and I also die cut another tag from Hawaiian Shores cardstock to back behind the white tag.  A piece of heavy bakers twine finished off my colorful tag.

There are some absolutely BEAUTIFUL tags from the DT over at Tag You're It, so check them out and then play along right HERE.

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

Laurie's Fabulous Favorites - Favorite Summer Colors

Hello friends.  This week at Laurie's Fabulous Favorites, Laurie is asking us to use our FAVORITE SUMMER COLORS.  That was an easy one for me as I'm especially drawn to bright pinks and oranges, and Summer also makes me think of the stamp set Some Like It Hot!

I started by masking off a square in the upper half of my card base and then blended Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks in the square opening.  Next I stamped the Flamingo from the Some Like It Hot set in black for a silhouette look.  I added the smaller Hibiscus flower and also a sentiment from the Words To Live By: Smile stamp and die set.

A few sequins and some bright pink bakers twine finished off this bright and fun card.  Make sure you check out Laurie's beautiful bright card and then play along right HERE.

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

Tag You're It Challenge #87

Hello friends.  Finally had time to make a tag for the current Tag You're It Challenge and take a look at the amazing inspiration photo they chose for us to work with this time...

And here's what I came up with:

First up, can you see my "oops"??  I used PTI's Quilted: Winter Tag die and obviously not paying attention, I glued my die cut branches from PTI's Songbirds to the backside of the tag...grrrrrrr!!  And of course by the time I realized what I'd done, it was too late to peel the branches off without ripping them!  Oh well, it is what it is!  I water colored a piece of heavy cardstock with the greens and purples for my die cut branches, and my birds were die cut from a piece I water colored with pinks.  The birds are also from the Songbirds set.  The music banner was stamped with Perfect Plum ink and die cut from the same Songbirds set.

In this close up you can see that I had dry embossed the tag with a SU! folder and also sprayed the whole tag with Sheer Shimmer Sparkle Spritz.  A few purple enamel dots and some pink thick bakers twine help pull out the colors from the inspiration photo and finish off my tag.

You can check out all the beautiful inspiration from the DT right HERE and play along.

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

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #10 - S Is For SNARKY Christmas

Hello friends.  Playing along with the current challenge over at Christmas Kickstart, where they are looking for SNARKY Christmas cards.

I don't have too many "snarky" Christmas images, and in fact used probably my best one just a few challenges ago with this card HERE, but I did have one image from The Cat's Pajamas (K-1750 CL) featuring LEB (Long Eared Bunny) that I guess you could consider "snarky"...

I stamped and clear embossed the bunny with his pile of snowballs, and then stamped the accompanying sentiment and die cut with a stitched die cut rectangle (Lil Inkers) before adhering to a white card base.  I lightly colored the LEB with my Copics and just lightly tinted the snowballs with a BG000 Copic marker and some WOS.  It still needed "something", so I added a few snowflakes from PTI's Warmest Wishes stamp set and also added a few diamond jewels to the centers of the snowflakes.

So there you have my "snarky" Christmas card!  Check out all the "snarky" and FUN Christmas cards from the DT HERE and play along for some kicks and FUN!!

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

CAS Watercolour Reminder - For A Child

Hello friends.  Just a little reminder that the CAS Watercolour challenge for this month is still open until the 24th.

I have a sweet little card here using a Penny Black stamp called Always Love...

Isn't this just the sweetest little image of the hedgehog sitting in the bowl of cake batter?!  Or maybe he's sitting in the bowl of frosting.....hmmm, that sounds like a sweeter idea to me!!  I stamped my images in Versafine Black Onyx and then embossed with clear embossing powder.  I used my SU! inks and my Aqau Painter to do my water coloring.

After everything was dry I die cut the main image with a Lil Inkers stitched rectangle die and adhered to a white card base.  The cupcake was fussy cut and then pop dotted.  I also added some WOS to the frosting and then added Glossy Accents to the cherries.  A few enamel hearts alongside the sentiment and above the hedgie's head finished off my sweet little birthday card.

We can't wait to see the gallery filled up with all your water colored happy and sweet images that would work to celebrate a child, so check out all the great inspiration from the DT and our special GD Bobby and play along with us HERE.  Remember that the challenge is open until the 24th and also to keep your cards CAS!  And have FUN!!

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

The Flower Challenge #32 - Heat/Dry Embossing

Hello friends.  Playing along with The Flower Challenge today where they are looking for HEAT or DRY EMBOSSING on our floral cards.

Here's what I came up with:

I started by stamping all the flower outlines from Altenew's Floral Art set in Versafine Black Onyx ink and then clear embossed, so all the outlines are a glossy black (wish it showed up better...grrrr!!).  What I love about this particular set so much is that you don't have to line up everything perfectly for the colored parts of the flowers and leaves...more of the "artsy" look!  I used a combination of Altenew inks for the pinks, purples, and yellow flower centers and a couple Gina K green inks for the leaves.

My sentiment from an older PTI set (Think Big Favorites: #24) was also stamped in Versafine Black Onyx ink on vellum and heat set with clear embossing powder.  I matted my floral layer to a piece of black cardstock and then adhered to a white card base.  Quick and easy and I love how pretty and bright it came out!!  :0)

Check out all the BEAUTIFUL inspiration from the DT and all the lovely, lovely cards already in the gallery and then play along right HERE.

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

CAS Mix Up May 2019 - Baby Wipe Techniques

Hello friends.  Bonnie has a FUN challenge for us this month over at CAS Mix Up...using baby wipes.  She's linked several videos for different techniques you can use with baby wipes HERE.

Got out my Distress Oxide inks (Salty Ocean, Wild Honey, Mermaid Lagoon, Peacock Feathers, Broken China, & Squeezed Lemonade) and had fun smooshing down layers of color.  I dried with my heat tool between each layer of color, and if you've ever used Oxide inks before, you know the more color you layer on, the more muted of a look you get.  Looking back I wish I had taken a before and after photo for you, so you could see the change from the really muted colors on my glossy cardstock, to the more vibrant after wiping off with a baby wipe...MAGIC!!  I'm getting ahead of myself here though...before I wiped off the excess ink, I used a stencil from PTI's Sun & Surf Stencil Collection and Mermaid Lagoon Oxide ink, and then wiped off the excess ink.

I cut my piece in two, so I could get two cards, as I knew I wanted to stamp one image in black and the other I wanted to emboss the image in white.  I ended up liking both of them equally...

 

This first card I stamped in Versafine Black Onyx ink with an older wooden block SU! stamp and then framed with a Pierced Feature Frame die cut (PTI).  You can't see as much of the stenciling on this card except at the bottom.  The sentiment is from PTI's Salt Air: Sentiments set.

Here's basically the same card but I embossed the image in white, and you can definitely see the stenciling better.

Here they are both together.  Do you have a favorite??  I really kind of like them both and they will both be prefect for my masculine birthday card stash!  Thanks Bonnie for a FUN challenge.  Check out all the BEAUTIFUL inspiration from the CAS Mix Up DT HERE and then  play along...this challenge is open till the 24th.

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

The Greetery and CAS Stencil Challenge

Hello friends.  I recently spent an afternoon playing with one of my new stamp sets from The Greetery called Fleur Impressions and stamped oodles and oodles of different color combinations and then had fun making some cards with some of them.  This month's challenge over at CAS Stencil is looking for stenciling over a colored background, so I incorporated some of the flowers with a stencil for one of my cards for the challenge.

I apologize in advance for the poor lighting on my photos's, but Spring and sunshine just don't seem to want to come to Michigan this year...grrrrrr!

I started by blending Lemon Tart ink onto the card base and then stenciled over the blending with a Penny Black stencil (Petite Blossoms) with the same Lemon Tart ink.  It's very subtle, but I love the monochromatic look of the yellow on yellow!  Then I simply added the white die cut terrarium, a few of the flower images from Fleur Impressions and the sentiment from Sentiment Suite: Thinking Of You (The Greetery).

These next 4 cards are just playing with the different color combinations of the same florals, along with sentiments from Comforting Commands (The Greetery).  My background on this card uses Berry Sorbet ink and one of Picket Fences Life Changing Blending Brushes (I LOVE THESE!!!) and then I embossed over the blending with MFT's All Lined Up background stamp with white embossing powder.

Once again I blended my background first with Tumbled Glass DI and then die cut it using PTI's Scalloped Stackers: Medium Die before mounting to a white card base.  I added even more flowers and finished with a double stacked banner using one of the sentiments from the Sentiment Suite: Thinking Of You (The Greetery) and a small piece of crochet thread.

I love the vividness of the bright orange flowers against a black card base and center, with a white Pierced Feature Frame (PTI) to ground against all the black.  The sentiment is embossed in gold (Comforting Commands - The Greetery) and I finished off the card with some gold cording, a few gold sequins, and a black die cut butterfly from SSS (Stitching Butterflies).  Here's a closer up of the butterfly:

And my last card...

I started by blending another Lemon Tart piece that I die cut into an oval (Gina Marie Designs Dies) and inset into a white layer and then attached both to a white card base.  I love purples, greens, and yellows together...definitely makes me think Spring, even though it isn't quite here yet!  The sentiment on this card is also from the Comforting Commands (The Greetery) set, and then I finished off with some white crochet thread and a few light purple enamel dots.

If you stuck with me through this loooooooong post, thank you!  And if you would like to see some BEAUTIFUL inspiration using stenciling over colored backgrounds, check out the CAS Stencil Challenge right HERE...this challenge is open till the 24th.

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

CAS Christmas May 2019 - STOCKING

Hello friends.  Little cool here in my neck of the woods, so a perfect day to share a couple Christmas cards for the current CAS Christmas Challenge, where they are looking for STOCKINGS!

I have 2 cards to share today because I usually stamp 2 images in case I mess up one of them, and if not, then I have 2 to go into the Christmas stash!  I used a sweet stamp from Avery Elle gifted to me by my dear friend Bonnie called Stockings.

This was such a simple card to do, but I'm really happy with the non-traditional colors and how it turned out!  I simply colored the stockings with my Copics, and then fussy cut and pop dotted to a brick embossed panel.  My 2nd card is the same except I switched up the order of the Copics on the stockings.

The stamp set came with 2 sentiments, so I used them both.  Elegant Eggplant is the color cardstock I layered with and embossed my sentiment banners on.  Easy peasy CAS!  Here's both of them together:

This challenge is open till the 24th, so check out all the wonderful inspiration from the DT and then play along right HERE.

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

Laurie's Fabulous Favorites Challenge

Hello friends.  Playing along with the current Laurie's Fabulous Favorites Challenge over at PTI, and Laurie is asking us to make a card using our favorite card layout.  That's an easy one for me since I feel like I use the same one over and over and over again!  A top folding card base with some type of die cut frame and a spray of flowers with the sentiment in the center.  So here's my same old, same old (layout) but pretty card:

I started by doing a little ink blending with Autumn Rose ink on my card base and then added a bit of water splattering.  I love using all the Bold Border Frame dies on my cards, and for this one I used the Bold Border: Polka Dot frame die to give a soft white on white look with the card base.  Last week Kelly Lunceford made a couple cards using Some Like It Hot and I realized I hadn't shown that stamp set any love for quite awhile, so stamped up the large and small flowers using Autumn Rose and Scarlet Jewel inks and tucked them into the corner of the frame along with a few leaves from the set and also a white die cut leaf branch from the Songbirds set.  Little hard to tell here since we haven't had any sunshine in a week, but the die cut "hugs" (from the Bold Border: Polka Dot) is cut from gold mirror cardstock, and the "sending" is from the Big Hugs stamp set.  Here's a closer up:

I'm loving the soft pink background, and for a same old, same old card layout, I think this turned out very pretty!

What's your favorite go-to card layout??  Just like Laurie, I'll be looking for some new ones too!  You can check out Laurie's favorite card layout and all the others in the gallery right HERE and then play along for a chance at a $100 gift certificate to the Papertrey Ink Store!

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