12 Kits of Occasions Feb. 2020 - Crafty Friends Are The Best

Hello friends.  February has flown by and it's time once again for The 12 Kits of Occasions post, where our hostess this month is the wonderful Jeanne, and she chose to celebrate CRAFTY FRIENDS with a fun and fabulous kit!

Tracey has taken over photographing our kits now and didn't she do a wonderful job with Jeanne's kit?!  (Thanks Tracey!!)  And look at ALL the goodies that Jeanne included in her kit this month!  It is just full of wonderful papers, die cuts, and oodles of awesome sentiments too!  You can check out Jeanne's supply list right HERE.

I loved coloring up all the color palette pieces in rainbow order, and then decided my background needed to be a rainbow too!  One of the pieces of DSP Jeanne included had rainbow stripes, so I cut them into strips and made my own background, and then added the Zebra (my favorite from RC's Crafty Critters stamp/die set!), the water color palette, and the sentiment.

Another fun piece of DSP and I added a jar (from The Greetery's - Just Mason Around set) to put all my paintbrushes in.  And of course I had to add one of the fun little mice peeking out from behind one of the brushes!  (Why is it that stamped mice are so cute, but the one that's decided to take up residence in our garage is totally freaking me out?!!!)

Had fun adding all kinds of water colors to this abstract design, and I thought this sentiment went along with it perfectly!  Had to add another mouse and a pair of scissors and paintbrush to embellish up my card a bit!

And of course I had to use another of the Crafty Critters on one of the tags Jeanne included along with all the little die cut images she also included!  This will be cute for next Valentine's Day, but would also look great on a birthday gift for a crafty friend too!

I let the DSP do all the work on this one, and then just added some flowers that I fussy cut from a strip I had cut off, and a butterfly from the backside of this DSP.  And isn't this sentiment every card makers motto?!

Thought this DSP was perfect to go with the MFT Pure Innocence girl, and the sentiment was a perfect match too!

And here they are all together with ALL their FUN and BRIGHT colors!!  I can't wait to see what the rest of my teamies did with Jeanne's wonderful kit, and Jeanne also invited some very special guests to play along with us this month too, so check it all out right HERE.

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

My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge #477

Hello friends.  Playing along with the Wednesday Sketch Challenge #477 over at My Favorite Things today.

I had received a freebie stamp set (Jumping Giraffe) with one of my MFT orders, and I thought it would be perfect for this challenge along with some DSP from their Over The Rainbow 6 x 6 paper pad.

I had paper pieced the giraffe in the yellow dotted DSP like in the lower strip, but the polka dots didn't show up real well (probably because the image is smaller), so I used some Copics to color in certain areas.

The sentiment also came with the set and I finished off this simple card with a few colorful enamel dots to coordinate with the DSP.

This challenge is still open for a few more days, so check it out HERE and play along for a chance to win $50!!  :0)

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

CAS Stencil Feb. 2020 - FOIL

Hello friends.  The CAS Stencil Challenge is looking for FOILING on your cards this month.

I have never had much luck with foiling and had even invested in a laminator, but have just never had any success with it.  So when I saw this month's challenge, I was like "oh crap...I have to try again"!!  And so try I did, and after 2 bad attempts, I came up with a card I actually like...

I used SSS's Super Heart Border die and made a stencil with it, and then used deco foil's Transfer Gel through the stencil.  After it had dried, I used a piece of red foil and ran it through the laminator.  When I first pulled off the foil, I thought I had ruined my 3rd try also, as there are little pieces of the red foil missing on all the hearts...grrrrr!  But the more I looked at it, I thought it gave it kind of a distressed look and it grew on me!

I added a few score lines and my sentiment from PTI's Heart Squared stamp set, and then added a red layer and adhered to a white card base.  Very CAS and just perfect for my hubby for Valentine's Day (along with some dark chocolate of course!!).

I persevered and can finally say I've made a card with foiling on it!  You can play along with this challenge too right HERE...it's only open till the 24th though, so you'll have to get a move on!  :0)

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

Christmas Kickstart Challenge #28 - RED

Hello friends.  The challenge this month at Christmas Kickstart is all about the color RED!

In January, I couldn't seem to put my Christmas stamps away, and now it's February, and I'm so tired of Winter that I struggled a bit to come up with a Christmas card...but only for a bit as I pulled out MFT's Christmas sELFies and it totally brought a smile to my face!!

I mean, how can you NOT smile at a face like that?!!  I did some simple water coloring (in RED of course!) and then framed him out in white with a layer of RED behind that, and a white card base.

I added a bit of gold jelly roll pen ink to the cap on the Christmas ornament, and also the jingle bell, and then Dazzling Diamonds glitter (SU!) to his hat brim and sleeve cuff.  The sentiment is part of the stamp set.

Still a bit of time to play along with this months challenge, so check it all out right HERE and play along! 

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

The Flower Challenge #41 - LEAVES

Hello friends.  Playing along with The Flower Challenge and this month they are looking for LEAVES to be the star of your flower card.

I had just received a new stamp set from PinkFresh Studio called Curvy Floral Vine that I thought would be perfect for this challenge, and came up with this card...

I stamped two of the die cut leafy vines and put them together like a wreath.  I used Aqua Mist and Ocean Tides for the leaves and Berry Sorbet and Red Hot inks for the flowers.  I also added in some white die cut leaves using the Inside & Out Berry Branch die from The Greetery.

I also used The Greetery's Crimped Frame Dies for my top layer, and then added a layer of Berry Sorbet cs and adhered both to a white card base.  The die cut bow is also from The Greetery and the sentiment is from PTI's Choose Joy stamp set.  I added a few clear sequins to finish my card.

You can check out all the BEAUTIFUL cards from the DT over at The Flower Challenge to play along.  

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

CAS Watercolour Reminder - RED & BLACK

Hello friends.  Just a friendly reminder that the CAS Watercolour Challenge is open till the 24th, so you still have time to play along with us!  This month we're doing a color challenge with RED & BLACK and you can check it all out right HERE.

One of my favorite Penny Black stamp sets is critter celebration and I thought it would be cute all done up in RED & BLACK!  Take a look:

Isn't that mouse just the sweetest holding a gift and sitting right inside that pretty RED flower?!!  I stamped the image in black and then clear embossed before water coloring with my Aqua Painter and Distress Inks.

After my image was dry, I matted it with a piece of black (my white space) that I used MFT's Rectangle Peek-a-Boo Window on, and then adhered both to a white card base.  I left the sentiment off as I'm not sure what I'll be using this card for yet.  Very simple card but I love the way it turned out!

This challenge is open till the 24th and we'd LOVE to see YOU in the gallery!  You can check it all out right HERE.

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

CAS Mix Up Feb. 2020 - STENCIL FROM DIE-CUTS

Hello friends.  The challenge this month over at CAS Mix Up is a FUN one hosted by Joanna, and she'd like us to make a stencil from a die.

I used a die from SSS (Circle of Leaves) to create my stencil, and then sprayed the back with Pixie Spray (a light tack adhesive) before attaching to a piece of white cardstock.

The piece on the right is what I ended up with after blending Spiced Marmalade, Worn Lipstick, & Picked Raspberry DOX inks over the stencil piece on the left.

I used a stitched rectangle die (Lil Inkers) to die cut my stenciled layer and then attached to a white card base.  My sentiment is from The Greetery's Sentiment Suite: Thinking of You stamp set, and the die cut dragonfly is from AE.

I sprayed the dragonfly with some Sheer Shimmer Sparkle Spritz and was hoping to catch a bit of the sparkle with this close up.

I have a TWOFER for you today because I couldn't throw away the colorful leaves left over from the stencil part...

I die cut an off center stitched circle (Lil Inkers) and added my colorful leaves and also some white die cut leaves from The Greetery's Inside Out Berry Die onto a white card base.  I used foam tape on the top layer to give some dimension and added my sentiment (The Greetery's Sentiment Suite: Birthday) and a few clear sequins.

This was a FUN challenge and a great way to get a little more mileage from your dies by turning them into stencils!  Check out all the amazing cards from 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!

Twofer Challenge #24 February 2020 - FRUIT

Hello friends.  This month we're going to be playing with FRUITS at the Twofer Challenge, so get out all those apple, orange, lemon, pear, grapes, peach, etc. stamps, dies, or stencils, and come play along with us!

I used an oldie but a goodie stamp set from PTI called Apple Prints for my cards today, and I actually have a Threefer (3) for you because, well I was just having too much fun with this set to put it down!  So let's start with the Twofer...

The card on the left features many of the apple images in this stamp set, while the card on the right is featuring my favorite image with the half outside image and half inside image of the apple.

I'll be sending this card off to my daughter to use for my granddaughter's teacher as a thank you at the end of the school year in June.  I used Gina K inks to create my colorful background with 4 of the different apple stamps included in the Apple Prints set, and then attached to a Ocean Mist panel that I die cut with The Greetery's Crimped Frame Dies.  I added both layers to a top folding white card base and then added my sentiment banner along with a red button and some yellow ribbon to finish it off.

My second card uses some polka dotted DSP (PTI) in red and green and die cut with the Postal Frames Dies (The Greetery) and attached to another top folding white card base.  I added two more of the apples from the set and pop dotted the top one to stand out a bit, and then added my sentiment towards the bottom.  Figured this sentiment was pretty appropriate for my apple theme and I'll use this card as an anniversary card to my hubby in October when it's apple picking season here in Michigan...especially since apples are his favorite fruit too!

And as promised...my threefer card!  Very CAS and I'm going to use this card as a birthday card for our middle daughter who also loves apples and used to literally eat them right down to the seeds when she was little!

So there you have it...three cards all using that same red apple for a teacher thank you card, an anniversary card, AND a birthday card!  I think I definitely got my money's worth out of this set this time around!  We can't wait to see what YOU come up with using FRUIT this month!  Remember to use the same FRUIT stamp, die, or stencil to make two DIFFERENT cards for two DIFFERENT occasions.  Check out what Darnell and the rest of the DT created as inspiration for you right HERE and then play along with us.  This challenge is open until the 24th.

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

CAS Christmas Feb. 2020 - JOY

Hello friends.  The challenge at CAS Christmas this month is being hosted by my sweet friend Lin and she would like to see the word JOY on our Christmas cards this month.

I had a new Stampingbella stamp to play with that isn't really a Christmas stamp, but I colored her in reds along with the stem of Foxglove she is holding.  I realize Foxglove is not a Christmas flower, but when you color them red they look a little like bells, and bells are for Christmas, right?!!!

I started with a white card base and then added a layer of Real Red cs and then added a white die cut layer (The Greetery's Nordic Frame Dies) over the red layer.  I love how just the little peeks of red show through the die cut holes in the white layer!!  I used SSS's Big Joy die to cut out my word JOY in white and added that to the die cut frame and then attached the little girl (Stampingbella's BUNDLE GIRL with a foxglove) that I colored with Copics and then fussy cut.  CAS and I just love the way this sweet card turned out!!

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

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

The Greetery's Sketchbook Roses

Hello friends.  I've been having a blast playing with all the goodies from the latest release at The Greetery, and especially with the Sketchbook Roses stamp set.  Couldn't seem to stop, so I have 4 cards to share with you today.  Here's the first one...

I used the Windowpane Plaid Background stamp with Worn Lipstick DI for my background, and also blended some of the ink around the background too.  Next I splattered very lightly some black ink, and then added my roses that were die cut with the matching Sketchbook Roses Die.  The sentiment also comes with the stamp set and the "beautiful" has a die that comes with the rose die.  A few clear sequins and some bakers twine finished off this card.  (My inks are all Gina K except for the background)

I love how this second card came out too!  I had stamped the roses in yellows this time and thought a nice gray (Smokey Slate) background would look great against the yellows.  I used Smokey Slate ink to stamp the outline of the roses for my background, and then added the yellow die cut roses along with a few white branches from the Inside & Out Berry Branches die.  A few clear sequins were all that was needed to finish off this card.

I think this card ended up being my favorite, and all because of something I couldn't capture in the photograph!  I used that Inside & Out Berry Branch die again and sprayed it with Sheer Shimmer Sparkle Spritz and IRL it sparkles like crazy!!  I added it to a plain white layer that I used the Postal Frame Dies on and then added the die cut envelope from the Signed & Sealed stamp and die set.  The little sprig of flowers is from the Sketchbook Roses set and I just snipped it off from the large cluster of roses.  I took a close up hoping the sparkle would show up, but no such luck!

Oh well, you can see a bit more of the detail here and how I finished it off again with clear sequins and a card base of Smokey Slate cs.

My last card uses all the same elements as the first three, but the roses are in red this time.  I also used the Crimped Frame Dies for this card.  I honestly don't think you can make a ugly card with this set...they all turn out BEAUTIFUL!!

Here's another close up for you to see the detail better.  This stamp set is definitely a MUST HAVE in my book if you love making floral cards!  There are like 7 steps to making this whole cluster, but they line up SO easily and totally make you look like you know what you're doing!  And end up looking water colored too!  A win, win!!  You can check out everything from the latest release from The Greetery right HERE...it's a beautiful collection!!  :0)

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