12 Kits of Occasions June 2019 - Summer Fun

Hello friends.  Welcome back to the 12 Kits of Occasions SUMMER FUN edition provided by Birgit this month, and she has packed so much of her sweet and sunny nature into this FABULOUS kit that it was just pure FUN to play with!  Here's what came in our kits this month:

This kit was packed with SO many fun and summery images that it was hard to know what to start with first!  The sweet penguins won out and I came up with this sweet beachy card:

These sweet little guys are from MFT's Penguins In Paradise and are celebrating everything SUMMER!!

This card is probably my favorite simply because I just LOVE this Penny Black image (Beach Baby)!  Simply colored with some Copics and a white gel pen and she's ready for a wonderful day at Lake Michigan!

And how's this for a nice and bright summertime card?!  I loved the flamingo and flowers Birgit provided from PTI's Some Like It Hot and they fit just beautifully inside the nice bright green wreath die cut from Pink & Main.

And just to show you how sweet Birgit is...I messed up my first image of this sweet bird by trying to water color it with my Zigs, and I used too much water and the cardstock began to tear!  I mentioned to Birgit what I had done and next thing I knew, she had sent me 4 more images and stamped on water color cardstock too!  Thank you, thank you Birgit...you're the best!!  So anyway, I used my water color pencils this time and a very limited amount of water on the Apple Blossoms and for my Robin I used a small sponge dauber.  

Birgit had included so many wonderful papers and I loved the flamingo one!  Unfortunately I wasn't thinking too far ahead because I had already used the die cut flamingo on my 3rd card...good thing I have the Some Like It Hot set and was able to stamp another flamingo to use with this sweet paper!

And last but not least, a sweet little pillow box using those wonderful MFT images again.  I embossed my pillow box with a FSJ embossing folder before assembling it to give a little more design to it, and then added a few strips of the DSP Birgit included in the kit.  The penguin and palm tree are all Copic colored and I'll fill this with some fruity candy for my sweet little Addy!

And here they are all together!  This was totally such a FUN kit to play with and I can hardly wait to see what the rest of the DT came up with!  You can check out the list of everything Birgit included in this wonderful kit and what the other gals did with it right HERE.  Thank you, thank you Birgit for such a FUN kit...it was like playing with sunshine!!  :0)

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

Tag You're It Challenge #90 - Reminder

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that there's still a week left to play along with the current challenge at Tag You're It, where they're looking for interactive tags.

I couldn't stand it and just HAD to make a spinner tag!  I used Avery Elle's Polar Peek-A-Boo Pals and came up with this sweet little tag:

I used an MFT tag die and then stamped PB's Christmas Story background stamp on the white tag and then die cut a circle big enough for my little polar bear image to fit in.  I die cut a red tag for the back.  I die cut two of the bears and sandwhiched some white thread between the two bears and then adhered the top and bottom portion of the thread between the two tags.  I added a red scalloped circle around the opening and a red topper to the top of the tag and finished off with some Aqua ribbon and white crochet thread.  SO. MUCH. FUN. TO. PLAY. WITH!!!

Check out all the great interactive tags from the DT (it doesn't have to be Christmas friends!) and then play along right HERE.

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

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #13 - Glitter, Sparkle, & Shine

Hello friends.  The current Christmas Kickstart Challenge is all about GLITTER, SPARKLE, & SHINE!

For me, the thing that glitters, sparkles, and shines the MOST is using Faber-Castell's Glass Bead Glitter Gel, so this is what I came up with:

I started by using a Tim Holtz stencil (Festive) and my Picket Fence Blending Brushes along with Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, & Tropical Teal inks on a piece of white cs (oh and a little bit of Cocoa Bean for the pinecones), and then leaving the stencil in place, added the Glass Bead Glitter Gel.  You do have to remove the stencil right away and clean it or you will have a permanent mess (ask me how I know!!).  Then the hard part...waiting for it to dry!!  Once it's dry though, you have the most perfectly glittered, sparkled, & shined up piece you've ever seen!!

Pretty, isn't it?!  And trust me, it sparkles and shines even more in real life!!  To finish off this card, I added the panel to a Tropical Teal card base, and then added a thin strip of gold mirror cardstock next to my stenciled piece and a sentiment using PTI's Penned Elegance Christmas that I embossed in gold on a die cut oval gifted to me by my sweet friend Michele.

There's still over a week left to play along in this challenge, so bling it up and play along right HERE.

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

Tag You're It Challenge #90

Hello friends.  I'm honored to be playing along as Guest Designer for the Tag You're It Challenge, and it's a really FUN one this time!  Check it out:

Interactive tags??!!  How FUN is that?!!  I definitely wanted to do a spinner tag like they show in the inspiration photo, but didn't want to totally copy, so came up with this:

I had so much fun using MFT's Sweet Celebrations stamp and die sets to make the tag and Reverse Confetti's Holiday Gnomes stamp set for the sweet little Gnome.  I used SU!'s Fresh Prints DSP to wrap up my nuggets and for the front of the tag, and then colored my Gnome in coordinating Copic colors.

I used PTI's Tiny Tags to make my small circle tag that I added to the ribbon and twine at the top of the tag, and I wish I would have remembered to take a picture of the back side of this tag, as I used a die to cut and score an opening (so you don't have to destroy the whole tag to get to the candy) and then also stamped: Open In Case of Emergency.

Make sure you check out what the DT did for this challenge...you will be blown away!  You can find it all right HERE.

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

CAS Stencil June 2019 - Perfect Pearls/Pearl-Ex

Hello friends.  Decided to be brave and play along with this month's CAS Stencil challenge after reading Ros's post...if she could do it, so could I!!  It did take some searching to find my Perfect Pearl pots, but I persevered!!  I have a package of 12 different colors and I think I used the gold once many years ago, and the rest have been unopened!

I started with a piece of black cardstock and a SSS stencil (Bouquet of Roses) and came up with this very simple card:

I used my versamark pad through my stencil onto the black cardstock, and then applied the Perfect Pearls with a small damp paintbrush.  After removing the stencil I used a tissue to remove the extra powder and buff the cardstock just a bit, and low and behold, there was the pearlized shine!  Here's a closer up where you can see it a bit better:

I framed my piece with PTI's Pierced Feature Frames dies and adhered both to a white card base.  My "hello" sentiment is from Gina K and I die cut it with SU!'s Circle Framelit dies.  Very simple, but now that I've gotten the hang of using these, I'll have to try something on a bigger scale next time!  :0)

Lots of BEAUTIFUL cards from the DT and in the gallery, so check it out 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 #33 - Focus on the Background

Hello friends.  Playing along with this month's The Flower Challenge where they are asking us to concentrate on the backgrounds of our cards.

I used Altenew's Beautiful Day stamp set and came up with this card:

I chose the Beautiful Day stamp set because I love a couple of the stamps in this set that are perfect for a more subtle background, and I stamped them in a light gray ink on my white card panel, and then decorated the rest of the card with the flower and leaf images from the same stamp set.

I stamped two of the flower and leaf outline images in black, and then blended inks using the Picket Fence's Life Changing Brushes onto the images before fussy cutting out.  My stamped and die cut sentiment is from The Greetery.  A little bit of black baker's twine and a few Rainstones finished off my card.

You can check out all the BEAUTIFUL examples of gorgeous backgrounds from the DT (they were much more daring than me in their use of color in their backgrounds!!) right HERE...this challenge is open till the 25th at 5:00PM.

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

CAS Watercolour June 2019 Reminder - SOMETHING BLUE

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that there's still time to play along with this month's challenge at CAS Watercolour...we're looking for SOMETHING BLUE.

I used the same technique of selective coloring as I did for my card HERE, but used a different stamp set, also by Altenew called Handpicked Bouquet.

I embossed my image in Copper and then water colored just the flower and buds in shades of blue, leaving the leaves uncolored.  This is a 3 step stamp, so after inking the first layer, I lightly spritzed it with water and then then stamped.  I repeated this same process for the 2nd and 3rd layers also, and then used my Aqua Painter to move the color around just a bit more.  For the buds I just used the Aqua Painter and two shades of the blue ink that I smooshed into an acrylic block.

Here's a closer up for you.  My embossing looks silver in my photos, but truly, it really is copper and looks so pretty with the shades of blue!  I die cut the image with a stitched rectangle die (Lil Inkers) and then added a layer of Not Quite Navy cardstock behind it before adhering to a white card base.  The sentiment was stamped in the darkest blue ink I used on the flower and is from SSS's Sketched Flowers.

You have until the 24th to play along with us, so get out those BLUE inks and create a CAS card.  You can find a lot more inspiration from the DT and our special GD TaeEun all right HERE, so join in the fun...we can't wait to see what you create using SOMETHING BLUE

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

Tag You're It Challenge #89 - UMBRELLA'S

Hello friends.  Just a quick post today to share a tag for the current Tag You're It Challenge where they are looking for UMBRELLA'S (or as our middle daughter used to say...umbrella-lella's!).

Isn't that just a delightful photo?!  Umbrella's obviously make me think of rain, but this photo makes me think of a party, like a wedding or baby shower.  So I went with a baby shower tag...

I started with a couple die cut tags from Reverse Confetti, and then because I wanted to dress up the white tag a bit before adding my umbrella's, I used MFT's Cloud Stencil and some Aqua Mist ink to make a cloudy sky.  Here's a closer up:

My umbrella's were cut with an Impression Obsession die using PTI's Bitty Big DSP in Hibiscus Burst, Aqua Mist, & Harvest Gold, and I double pop dotted behind each umbrella to give some depth.  My sentiment strip was stamped and embossed using SSS's Tiny Words stamp set and I added an enamel heart also.  A little bit of ribbon and twine finished off my tag that will look so sweet on a baby shower gift.

There's still time to play along with this challenge, so check out all the BEAUTIFUL tags from the DT and then play along HERE.

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

Twofer Challenge #17 - BEE'S

Hello friends.  Darnell and her team have chosen BEE'S for the prompt in this month's Twofer Challenge.

Had to really hunt for some BEE stamps...almost thought I was going to have to go shopping!!  Found a teeny tiny BEE image from a PTI stamp set, but Kara had already used it, so I kept hunting and actually found a pretty cool one from an older SU! set called Nature's Walk and came up with these two cards:

Using the same BEE stamp I came up with a Christmas card and an encouragement card...let's take a closer look, shall we?

Want to know why I really LOVE this one??  It's because I used the Gina K Wreath Builder Template and made a BEE wreath...I mean how cool is that?!  I guess mostly I'm just tickled that it came out in a perfect wreath shape, because to be honest, I'm a bit afraid of BEE'S and they're not my favorite!!  But they do make a kinda cool card, so I'm happy with the way this card turned out.  After stamping them in my wreath shape, I used a Copic Y15 and some WOS to the BEE'S and then layered with some yellow and black cs and adhered to a white card base.  I computer generated my sentiment and then stamped the same BEE in a light gray ink and die cut with some SU! circle framelits.  A couple yellow enamel dots and some black baker's twine finished off my BEE wreath card.

This 2nd card is one of those that just popped into my head and wouldn't leave, so I know a BEE Christmas card is a little unconventional, but hey, what better place to show it than at the Twofer Challenge?!  I die cut my white card base with a PTI To The Point Edgers Die and also a piece of black cs cut using a coordinating die.  The plaid is a scrap and I'm afraid I can't remember the manufacturer.  I die cut the word JOYFUL from Memory Box's Classic Uppercase Alphabet dies in white and then glued them to the card base.  I used the same BEE stamp right above the JOYFUL and then added a Clear Star Jelly Roll pen over the body and wings of the BEE.

A pretty simple card, but I actually like the way it turned out!  You can check out all the amazing BEE cards from Darnell and the DT right HERE and then play along.  This challenge is open till the 24th.

Side Note:  I had mentioned in a earlier post this week that my family has been going through some health issues, and that my hubby was going in for a scope of a cyst on his pancreas.  We are taking it as good news that the Dr. doesn't think the cyst looks or feels like a cancerous cyst, but he does want to do a follow up MRI in 6 months to make sure the cyst hasn't grown.  My hubby has had cancer before, so of course the brain always wants to go to the worst places first, and then add to that that our eldest daughter has been having health issues (diagnosed just last week finally as having gastroparesis) and I've had a few of my own too (nothing serious!), so it felt like everything coming down on top of us!  Our faith was tested, but He always triumphs, so it's all good.  Thank you so much for all of you that prayed...we appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts!!    

And to definitely leave you with a smile, here's our 4 year old granddaughter Addy with her new friend she found in their yard:

She thinks her mom's being mean though cause she won't let "Toady" come live in the house with them!  Bahahaha!!  :0)

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

Altenew June 2019 Inspiration

Hello friends.  Playing along with this months inspiration challenge over at Altenew where they gave this lovely photo to inspire us:

I was actually inspired by the background striped colors and a video Lydia showed HERE for adding ink to an acrylic block, misting, and then stamping onto your cardstock.  I forgot to flip my block over so that the grid lines would be on the bottom before inking, but I actually really like how you can see some of the lines.  I used an older favorite set called Best Mom and came up with this:

After my background inks dried, I stamped the blossoms from Best Mom with Versafine Black Onyx ink and then inked again with VersaMark and clear embossing powder.  I've been kind of hooked on the bleach technique lately, so I used an older paint brush with some bleach to paint the open areas of the flowers, buds, and leaves.  Loving the look against the water colored background!!  Here's a closer up:

Little easier to see some of the grid lines on this close up too.  To finish up my card I matted the stamped layer with some black and then adhered to a white card base.  I added an embossed sentiment on vellum from the Beautiful Day stamp set, and also a couple enamel dots to hide the glue dots I used to attach the vellum strip to the card.

You can check out all the beautiful cards already in the gallery and play along right HERE.

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

Christmas Kickstart #12 & CAS Christmas

Hello friends.  Playing along with a couple challenges today...Christmas Kickstart where the focus is on elves and CAS Christmas is looking for gifts.

I decided to make a shaker card and used the elf from MFT's Santa's Elves that was holding the gift, and also a die from AE.  When I think of elves, I think of the movie ELF and Buddy all dressed in green, so I went with a pretty much green and white card with just touches of yellow/gold and a little bit of black for one of my layers.

I used my Copics to color the elf and the little Vanilla Sugar Snowflake Sprinkles are from Trinity Stamps...too bad they're not edible as they'd look really cute on cupcakes!  But then they look pretty cute on the card too!

You can play along with the CAS Christmas challenge HERE (open till the 24th) and the Christmas Kickstart Challenge HERE (open through June 16th).  Christmas is only 6 months away friends, so check out all the fabulous inspiration from both teams and play along!

And for those of you who believe in the power of prayer, if you wouldn't mind saying an extra prayer or two for my hubby who is having a biopsy on his pancreas tomorrow (Monday - 10th), we sure would appreciate it!  He's had cancer before, so of course that's forefront in his mind, but we are trying to stay positive that this is nothing but a benign cyst.  Thank you!  Hugs.   

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