12 Kits of Christmas: September with Kara

It's month #9 of our 12 Kits of Christmas project, and this month's hostess is Kara! If you'd like to read about how this group started and works, please read this post. :)  Kara sent us an awesome kit filled with a bunch of fun stuff- too much, actually!

On my card above, I used the stamped banner image as well as the chevron paper that Kara sent, but added my own green spritz, gold washi, and embellishments.The brown snowflake image is from PTI - I thought it helped to balance the brown from the banner. :)

This is another reason why Kara's kit was SO fantastic: she sent us materials to make our own holiday planner....LOVE IT! Here I added my own glitter strip and background stamping. The Hero Arts image was heat embossed. I thought it went perfectly with the planner since it has lots of holiday tasks in the text. And I love that font. :)

And for my last card, I layered lots of the papers and diecuts that Kara sent, adding only a few snowflake rubons of my own to make the whole card seem more wintery. This was really fun for me to make.

Here is a list of everyone else in our group. Have fun hopping around and seeing their creations!

Cathy: Empty Nest Crafter

Joyce: Cards-by-the-Sea

Kim: Cupcakes Cards and Kim

Amy: Stamp-n-Paradise

Kara: K and R Designs

Sharron: On Papillion Wings

Marybeth: Marybeth's Time for Paper

Jeanne: A Kept Life

Jessica: The Paper Parade

Christina: Sea Glass & Sentiments

Renee: It's A Patchwork Life

Thank you so very much, Kara!!! I would have made more but I finished 75 Christmas cards for my mom earlier in the day and my eyes are tired. ;)

Hugs,

CAS-ual Fridays 72: Toot Your Own Horn

Hello, Saturday! I am not sure anyone is happier for the weekend than I am! ;)

Today I have a card to share for this week's CAS-ual Fridays Challenge, which is to make a card inspired by your own blog's header.

There is an awesome prize up for grabs this week from our sponsor, A Muse Studio!

As an a|s consultant, of course I had to pull out my a|s supplies for this week's card. I use their inks and paper all of the time, but you see them paired with two different stamp sets today: Polka Dot Patterns and Hand Scripted. Their stamps are red rubber cling mounted and ready to use as soon as you get them - no need for adhering labels. They are also deeply etched, and stamp clean crisp images every time. (I'm not just saying that, as much as I love all my clear stamps...to me nothing is better than red rubber impressions.)

The polka dots were heat embossed with clear embossing powder and Versamark onto half-inch strips of cardstock that were lined up with one anothe to create a seamless dot pattern. The card base is Slate cardstock, a most awesome mid-tone gray, and the other colors are Bubblegum, Orange, Papaya, Grass and Ocean, all from their Summer Collection.

I hope you will play along with us this week, and head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays blog and Facebook page for more inspiration! 

  

I love where I live sometimes.

Today I am really loving where I live. This isn't always the case, especially on days like last Thursday when traffic makes my commute time to work 2.5 times what it normally is. Today living in the Boston area's not too shabby because I was able to pick up these Lil' Inker Designs goodies from Laura just in time for their new release (thank you, Laura!)...everything is in their store right now, and you should definitely head over to their blog to enter their contest and see all the awesome creations that Laura and her fabulous DT have made.

Yes, that's a balloon die with a coordinating sentiment! For this first card, I used parts of a 3-line sentiment to heat emboss the sentiment to look like the string of the balloon, and then I added the balloon, which was diecut from some Carta Bella paper, to the top of the card. I am entering this into two challenges on the Moxie Fab World blog: the Asymmetry Challenge and the Movement Challenge. You can see how I stamped everything to the left side of the card, but reading the sentiment draws your eye from the bottom to the top, in the same direction that a balloon would float; I am hoping that creates movement. :)

Here's a second card, using more of the balloons dies and the sentiment set, which was designed by the most talented Karen Baker. This time, I machine stitched the balloon strands. All of these papers are from the Summer collection from A Muse Studio.

If you'd like to see more, head on over to the Lil' Inker blog! Have a great week!

Items for Sale

Hi everyone,

 

Just a quick note to let you know that I've updated my sidebar with a list of items for sale. I'm just trying to clear out some things that aren't getting much love anymore. Please let me know if you have any questions, and have a great day!

 

 

Neat and Tangled Graveyard Shift

This is my second post for today. Please scroll down for my CAS-ual Fridays post! Thanks!

The Neat and Tangled Design Team is celebrating Halloween and has some inspiration for you on the Neat and Tangled blog today. Here's a sneak peek of my project using Graveyard Shift...head on over to see more. I am sure you don't want to miss what my fabulous team members have to share! 

CAS-ual Fridays 71: Fall Fun

Hello, everyone! Is there a chill in the air where you live yet? It arrived in full force here in New England this week, and I love it. It's time for Fall, and this week's CAS-ual Fridays Challenge is all about Fall fun:

Our sponsor this week is Great Impressions, and my card today uses this image from their store.

I used patterned papers from Carta Bella, as well as some alphabet dies from Memory Box. I really love how the spider web paper ties together with the webs in the tree image. I finished the front of the card off with a rounded corner and some stitching marks across the front. 

Do you make Halloween cards? Have you started yours yet? 

 

Neat and Tangled Fun

Hello!!! I am just popping in really quickly to let you know that I've posted some cards on the Neat and Tangled blog today. I had some fun mixing and matching sets! I'd love for you to check them out, and stop by again in a few days to see more with the new release. Hugs! xoxo

Waltzingmouse September Blog Party

It's time for this month's Waltzingmouse Blog Party, the theme of which is FALL! Hoorah for this most favorite season of mine.

I don't have many WMS sets yet, but I've realized that I definitely need to add some of Claire's beautiful Halloween sets to my stash. For my card, I used some fall themed patterned papers called Orchard Harvest from Samantha Walker. The green plaid was stamped with the background image from French Country, and then I added the sentiment from Blessed by You, as well as the frame from Very Vintage Labels #25.



The other dies are from SU! and the twine is from May Arts. If you look under the twine, you will see that I wrapped some gold washi tape from A Muse Studio around the top of the card before adding the twine. It adds the perfect bit of shimmer.

Happy blog hoppin' to all of you today,

Retrosketches #29 with a Double Dash of the Repetition Challenge

How was everyone's weekend? I have to tell you that these last few hours of crafting were the highlight, since some mechanical issues with my airplane ended up forcing me to cancel my trip to see Laurie. It's all good though because I am sure we can reschedule some other time. :) One of her fabulous cards is the inspiration for this week's Retrosketches Challenge, and I made three CAS cards for it. On my card above, I used Fresh Blooms from Neat and Tangled, along with some Bazzill paper, my WPlus9 dies and my SU! chevron embossing folder.

For my next two cards, I used the repeat stamping technique and I am entering them into the Moxie Fab World's Repetition Challenge. On both cards I used stamps from A Muse Studio, and veered from the original Retrosketch sketch just a tad...

That's the new SU! Real Red inkpad in action. I am in love with it, and with how well it matches that Sparklet!

With this last card, I was also inspired by "ombre" and used light to darker shades of blue down the panel for the repeat stamping, and then the background was stamped using the lightest shade. I went with the green ribbon for a pop of a different color and added some Stickles to the dots in the image along the right side of the card.

Thanks for stopping by! See you soon. :)

CAS-ual Fridays 70: Black & White Plus One

Happy Weekend!

Today I am posting for this week's CAS-ual Fridays Challenge, which is to make a card using black and white and a pop of one color.

I am also wicked excited to tell you that this week's sponsor is Neat and Tangled!

For my card, I used the newly released Graveyard Shift to make a Halloween card for my hubby. I combined sentiments from Just Hello and Halloween Scene to make the sentiment for this card.  All of the Neat and Tangled images are hand-drawn by Danielle Walls... I just love her handwriting, and her vision for this skeleton is perfect. I am so glad that I finally got to ink him up today.

For this card, I stamped the image in black Versafine ink onto a window shape that was diecut using a set from My Favorite Things. Then I added the panel of black gingham paper from A Muse Studio across the card front, later adding the orange glitter strip and heart which were cut from paper by Doodlebug Designs. Lastly, I used my Wplus9 banner die to cut the black banner, which was heat embossed with the sentiment.

I hope you will play along with us this week! There are already some amazing projects in the gallery, and I am excited to see more. Hopefully I can squeeze in some extra crafty time this weekend and see you again soon.

Thanks so very much for stopping by!

CSS App Sneak Peek

I have a card to share on the CSS App today! Click the logo above to get the app, or click here. Thanks!

Neat and Tangled Mini Release

Hey everyone! Just a quick note to let you know that Neat and Tangled Stamps released a new set today. It's called Graveyard Shift...head on over to the blog to watch Danielle's video (I love hearing her thoughts on why she made the set the way she did!) and to enter her giveaway! Watch it until the very end so you can grab the coupon code for the store! ;)

Cloud9 September Blog Hop

It's time for the September Cloud9 Blog Hop and I'm playing along using the Wplus9 stamp set called Happy Harvest. The branches and the flowers on the table in this month's inspiration photo really inspired me when making this card, and I though that these papers from Crate paper were a great match.

The blog hop goes on for 3 days to give everyone plenty of time to play along, and there are 3 prizes this month, so I hope you'll check us out and play along! You can find all the details over on the Cloud9 blog. Thanks so much for stopping by!

CAS-ual Fridays 69: Embossing

Aren't you glad it's the weekend, because I sure am! It's time for a new CAS-ual Fridays Challenge, and this week we're inviting you to incorporate embossing of any kind into your project.

This week's winner will receive a $25 gift certificate from Simon Says Stamp and a spot as our guest designer next month. :)

This is one of those cards that I thought up during my commute, but I am not sure it's exactly how I envisioned it. I adhered the squares together with removable tape before I ran them through the Cuttlebug in the houndstooth embossing folder, so that the houndstooth pattern would be as seamless as possible when putting the card together. The Wplus9 sentiment was stamped onto some of their oatmeal cardstock, which was diecut with their banner die.

I am entering this into the Moxie Fab Gallon/Quart/Pint challenge. I used brown as my neutral, but otherwise I consider yellow as my gallon color, orange as the quart color, and scarlet is the pint color.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #113

Hi!!!  It's time for a new Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge, and I decided to use Half Pint Heroines on my card with some Echo Park papers. I turned the sketch on its side:

The paper piecing was really easy and fun, and I enjoyed coloring the little girl's face with Copics. I swear that the aqua Bazzill base matches! It's just that the aqua clouds have been covered up by the other layers. :)

How's your week going? I am going to Providence for the day for work on Friday. I've never been to Rhode Island! Ever. 33 years in Boston and I've never been. I am kind of excited!

Lawnscaping Challenge #41

Hello Hello! I came across the Lawnscaping Challenge blog and wanted to play along using their Many Thanks set and this fun patterned paper from American Crafts.

The sentiment is actually one image but I inked it up using two different colors so the bird would stand out more, and then he was coated in some Diamond glaze to make him shine even more. I tried out Versafine ink for the first time- a friend gave me her inkpad last winter. I am sold! I think it's the best black ink I've tried yet.

All of my favorite colors in one place. :)

Supplies: Stamps: Lawn Fawn; Paper: American Crafts; Ink: Versafine Black, A Muse Studio Ocean; Other: Diamond Glaze, pinking border die (A Muse Studio)