12 Kits of Occasions - Kara's Edition!

Wow can you believe it's the last day of the month already?   Time flies when you are having fun right?  Summer is coming to an end - the kids are back in school and you just wouldn't believe all the leaves that are all over my yard already!  I guess I'm just not ready for it yet!  As if I had a choice!! LOL!!      For me the end of the month means it's time to post for the 12 Kits of Occasions.  We are a group of 12 designers  who take turns putting together a kit.  On the last day of the month we all post what we made with the same it.  I love seeing how things are similar, or so very different.   

Our hostess this month is Kara from K&R Designs.   You might also know her as WPlus9 DT member.  She is always so creative and unique.  I think she must see things different than most of us!  LOL!  Look at this beautiful kit she put together for us.  Stamped images from WPlus9, Simon Says Stamp die cuts, and party paper from Recollections. (Make sure you stop by to say HI to Kara for a chance to win the Ink Spot Stamp Set!)  You can see a list of all the ingredients here.  OK so the tricky ingredient I didn't use this time?  Little die cut houses!  I can't wait to see what the ladies did with them.  I have lots of pics for you today so .. hold on to your hats... here we go!!    We're having a Birthday Party!  Makes me want to start singing like Anthony Michael Hall in 16 Candles..   They say it's your birthday.....

Ready to see more?  Here's a list of all the ladies in the 12 Kits and a special guestie too!!

Alanna from Alanna's Spot In The World. 

Renee - It's a Patchwork Life

Marybeth - It's Time For Paper

Joyce - Cards By The Sea

Cathy Weber - Empty Nest Crafter

Kim - Cupcakes Cards & Kim

Kara - K & R Designs  
Jessica - The Paper Parade

Jeanne - A Kept Life

Sharron - On Papillon Wings

Tracey McNeely - In My Creative Opinion

Kellly Schirmer - Gingham Girl

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!

Serendipity Stamps August Release

Hi and thanks for stopping by!  Are you hopping with Serendipity Stamps today?   We are celebrating a new fall and Halloween inspired release and there are lots of samples today featuring the new stamps and dies.   If you are then you should have reached me from Kecia's blog!  Kecia is our special guest designer this month and we are so happy she joined us for the hop.   If you'd like to start from the beginning and get all the details you can start here at Mary's blog.  

My first project features the new Oak Leaf Scroll Die and Oak Leaf Outline and Acorn Die.   As you can see they fit perfectly together and are absolutely gorgeous.  The solid die has two little acorn dies nested inside it.   The acorns have a cut line that make it super easy to detach the cap from the base to switch out colors.  I used the larger of the two acorns here.  

This project features the new tree stamp.  It has three little leaf stamps that you can cut away to make a one of a kind tree with different color leaves arranged exactly as you like.

Do you see the little heart in the bark on the trunk of the tree? How sweet is that?

There's lots more to see - a new "Boo" word die, the best wood grain stamp that I have ever seen, and lots more. 

 

 You're next stop on the hop is Jenny Gropp - and let me tell you folks - this girl can color!!  

But before you go.. MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE A COMMENT. One random commenter will be selected to win a $20 gift certificate off their next Serendipity stamps order.  You have until 9-1 to leave a comment.  The winners will be posted on Mary's blog on 9-2.


For another chance to win - Like Serendipity Stamps on Facebook and SHARE with a friend. One person who likes and shares on a post during the hop will also win a $20 gift certificate.


For your convenience, here's a list of all the ladies hopping today.    Good luck and happy hopping!!

 Mary's Blog  

Kecia Waters 

Jeanne Jachna 

Jenny Gropp  

Julie Warner  

Karen Amidon  

Marybeth Lopez 

Miriam Napier  

Vickie Zimmer 

Supplies Used:  Leaves finished size 4.25 x 5.5"
Stamps:  Serendipity Stamps Autumn
Dies:  Serendipity Stamps Oak Leaf Scroll, Oak Leaf  Outline and Acorns, Spellbinder Tags Trio, Reverse Confetti Scallop Border 
Pattern Paper:  DCWV Fall & Halloween 6 x 12"
Card Stock: PTI Aqua Mist, Vintage Cream, Orange Zest, Terracotta Tile, Royal Velvet, Plum Pudding 
Seam Binding Hug Snug Cream
Crochet Lace May Arts
Twinery Natural Twine
Button October Afternoon
Envelope Martha Stewart

Tree Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"
Stamps:  Serendipity Stamps Autumn, Tree, Leaves
Seam Binding Hug Snug Orange
Card Stock:  PTI Vintage Cream, Terra Cotta Tile
Pattern Paper:  Basic Grey RSVP 6x6"
Ink:  Memento Rich Cocoa, Morocco, Cantaloupe, Tangelo, Copic Markers 
Gem:  Joann
Border Punch:  EK Success Double Embossed Dotted Lace
Button October Afternoon
Button Twine Natural May Arts

Fusion Old Door Charm

Are you having a  good week?  I'm keeping busy.  My mom's birthday is this weekend and I'm hoping to cook up a special dinner for her. It's also Labor Day weekend so DH will have Monday off and I think I'll put him to work manning the grill!

A new two week challenge begins today at Fusion Card Challenge.  I love that I can work with the sketch OR the inspiration photo, OR BOTH!!!    Sometimes that takes the brain work out of it for me.  I get inspired by things I see - and I seem to think about my art in shapes, so the sketch is always welcome.  Look what we have for you this time!  I saw this one and you know the very first thing I thought... Oh how Tim Holtz would love this photo!  Me?  Well this is outside my comfort zone for sure - you know I love bright colors and nature themes.  What to do with this Old Door Charm?  Well turn it into a masculine card of course!! 

Mr. Monocle never lets me down!  He always makes me think of the time I took my son for an eye exam.  The doctor explained that one of my son's eyes had better vision than the other, which is apparently normal for most of us.  My son was convinced that at the end of his exam that the doctor would prescribe a monocle.  I suspect he was disappointed when he didn't. 

Maybe you need a little more inspiration too?  Remember you don't have to work with both the photo and the sketch.  Either one will do.  Want to see more from the Fusion Design Team?  Just click on their names here to jump to their blogs!

Betty J

Dannielle Robeson

Deepti

Julia Aston

Katie Brooks

Kelly Griglione

Kimberly Wiener 

Lyndal Higgins

Lynn Mangan

Michelle Williams

Michelle Lupton

Sindhu

Stephanie Severin

Now it's your turn!  I hope I see you at Fusion Card Challenge!  Have a great day!

Supplies Used:  Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse Stamps My Kind Of Guy

Pattern Paper:  Crate Paper "The Pier" 6x6"

Card Stock:  PTI Vintage Cream, SU! Baked Brown SUgar, Bravo Burgundy

Dies:  Spellbinder Pinking Circles, Standard Circles, MFT Fishtail Banners

Border Punch Double Embossed Dotted Lace EK Success

Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black

The Twinery Charcoal Solid Twine

Button:  October Afternoon

Google Eye

CardMaker & The Paper Loft Blog Hop!

Hi and thanks for stopping by!  It's a great day for a blog hop!  CardMaker and The Paper Loft have joined together to day to show you some beautiful cards!  If you are hopping along today you should have reached me from  Debbie Seyer's blog.  If you'd like to start from the beginning you can get all the details here at the CardMaker Blog, or here at The Paper Loft.

The Paper Loft has lots of different paper collections to fit every occasion.  Today I'm working with the New!  Truly Scrumptious Collection.   All three of my cards today were made with the 12 x 12 paper pack and three sets of the accompanying card stock accessory sheets that retail at $1.00 each.  I used one of the accessory sheets as the focal point of each card.

 

 The papers coordinate beautifully and the only embellishments I added were ribbon/twine, easy to find embellishments (buttons/sequins, pins) and die cut borders and matts for the images.

 

The next stop on the hop is Andrea Eason.  But be sure you leave a comment before you go!  There is a $25 gift certificate from The Paper Loft up for grabs and maybe the lucky winner will be you!

Happy Hopping and GOOD LUCK!!

For your convenience here's the complete blog hop list!  

CardMaker

Jeanne Streiff 

Theresa Momber

Vicki Garrett

Anna Wight

Piali Biswas

Debbie Seyer

Jeanne Jachna That's Me! 

Andrea Eason

Kelli Hull

Noelle McAdams

Lori Iwanowski

Mae Nazareth

Alicia O’Bryant

Supplies
Finished Size of all cards is 4.25 x 5.5"
Pattern Paper and Cardstock Accessories:  The Paper Loft Truly Scrumptious Collection
Card Stock:  Papertrey Ink
Dies:  Spellbinder Classic Scalloped Rectangle, Poppystamps Lyndon Butterfly
Border Punch:  EK Success Double Embossed Dotted Lace
Crochet Ribbon and Gold Accent Ric Rac Joann's Buy The Spool
Buttons, Enamel Dots, Sequins, Pin:Dritz  Paper Rose:  Iamroses.com
Twinery Twine Buttercream
Ivory Button Twine May Arts

Waltzingmouse August Release Blog Hop!

We're celebrating the new Walzingmouse Stamps Release hitting the stores today with a blog hop.  You'll find 8 new sets in the store today along with companion dies!    If you are hopping along you should have reached me from Edna's blog Stamps Paper Happiness!  I love her icon of Edna from the Incredibles!  If you want to start from the beginning you can get all the deets here at the Waltzingmouse Makes Blog - Claire's place to shine! 

The designers got to pick to work with whatever they  wanted to day for the blog hop.  I couldn't resist the Boo and Friends Set - and matching sentiments.

These are all of Miss Boo's Ghostie friends!  There are matching die cuts tat will make these super easy for you to cut in a flash.  I fussy cut mine, but am expecting these dies in my hot little hands any day now!

Isn't this Vampire ghost adorable?

And this sweet ghost is BOO!!  This is the one the set is named after.

Here's all three cards together!  Do you see that fancy scalloped topper?  That's a new Waltzingmouse die called Picot Panels.

Ready to see more?  Before you go Please leave me a comment!  These some candy up for grabs and you have to leave a comment to enter to win!!  The next stop on your hop is my friend Jen Cuthbertson!  I know she's going to knock your socks off!

Happy Hopping and good luck!!   Here's a complete list of all the ladies with projects on the hop today!

Claire Brennan

Julia Aston

Sandie Dunne

Laurie Schmidlin

Anya Schrier

Edna Morrisedie

Jeanne Jachna  (That's Me!)

Jen Cuthbertson

Karin Åkesdotter

Renee Lynch

Teresa Kline

Tosha Leyendekker

Kelly Schirmer

Becca Feeken

Lynn Mercurio

Supplies Used:  Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"
Stamps:  Waltzingmouse Boo & Friends, Peek A Boo Sentiments
Dies:  Waltzingmouse Picot Panels, MFT Fishtail Banner, Fishtail Flag, Spellbinder Pinking Circles, Standard Circles
Pattern Paper SU! Howlstooth & Scaringbone 12 x 12
Card Stock PTI True Black, WHite, Orange Zest, Aqua Mist, Real REd, SU! Tangerine Tango
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic, Versafine ONyx Black
Sequins, Wood Stars:Studio Calico, Button:October Afternoon
The Twinery Solid Mandarin, Caribbean, Charcoal Twine

Splitcoaststampers - Colored Dry Embossing Tutorial

Hi friends!  I hope you are having a great day!  Splitcoaststampers loved a card I made about a year ago and put me in the que for a tutorial.  Maybe you remember it?    I'll give you a little back ground for what happened.  I saw this pretty embossing folder from Cuttlebug and just fell in love with it.  The thing was that I just couldn't bring myself to cover up that gorgeous bird in the middle of all those pretty blooms.  So how to make the embossing the focal point of my card?   I played around with lots of different ideas  - and finally settled on using distress ink with some paper stumps.  My friends as Splitcoast thought it was interesting and unique and asked me to do a tutorial there. 

This was the original card I made a year ago.   But whenever Splitcoaststampers adds a tutorial to their library they ask members to join in and try the technique.   I thought I'd play along because it was lots of fun and well yes... I am very excited to be included with some of my crafty heros that have tutorials there. 

I thought this bamboo embossing folder would look pretty using the "Colored Dry Embossing" technique.

I hope you will give it a try as well - you can see the tutorial and play along with us here at Splitcoaststampers.

Supplies Used:  Finished Size:  4.25 x 5.5"
Stamps:  Waltzingmouse Asian Garden Additions
Embossing Folder Cuttlebug Oriental WEave Set
Paint Sakura Koi
Card Stock:  PTI White, Simply Chartreuse
Ranger Distress Ink:  Vintage Photo, Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters Frayed Burlap, Versafine Onyx Black

Waltzingmouse August Release Day 3

Thanks for stopping by!  It's the last day of new Waltzingmouse Release sneak peeks.  We're showing three more sets today:  Great Big Owl, Boo & Friends, and Peek a Boo Sentiments.  Today is all about Halloween!!!

This is the Great Big Owl - there are two owls and clever sentiments and sayings in this set that have lots of possibilities.  This one won't be used just for Halloween - it has all the necessary companion stamps to make a wonderful book mark or book plate, and let's face it - owls are wonderful all year round.  Yes there is a matching die for this guy as well!!  

I created a background from distress ink and then stamped the Great Big Owl with Versafine ink.  The branch and leaves are separate stamps so you can customize the look.    I embellished him with a few black gems and a sentiment added to his chest.

This sweet little witch ghost is from Boo & Friends Stamp set.  She is super cute and will delight one and all!  Wait until you see Boo and her other friends!  I paper pieced the background and fussy cut the witch ghost to add her into the scene.  The sentiment is from the Peek A Boo Sentiment Set.  

I made some simple treat bags with one of the sentiment stamps from Peek A Boo Sentiments. I think this one stamp is worth the price of the whole set.  I will be able to use it over and over all year round - not just for Halloween treats.

I dressed up simple paper bags that I got at the craft store.  I just folded a doily over the top flap of the bag (you can buy a package in the baking section of the craft store or cut some of your own) , and clipped on a tag that was stamped with the sentiment.  To fussy up the clothes pins I embellished them with glitter, and then hot glued a bow and a little embellishment.  They look like you made a fuss but were super easy. 

Ready to see more peeks of the new releases?  Here's a list of ladies with projects for you today.

Anya Schrier

Jen Cuthbertson

Julia Aston

Karin Åkesdotter

Kelly Schirmer

Laurie Schmidlin

Lynn Mercurio

Renee Lynch

Sandie Dunne

Tosha Leyendekker

Claire Brennan

I hope you will stop by tomorrow for a blog hop.  We'll be celebrating the release being made available in the store and giving away some prizes.

Supplies Used:  Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"
Stamps:  Waltzingmouse Great Big Owl
Card Stock PTI Summer Sunrise, White, True Black
Ink:  Ranger Distress Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Barn Door, Versafine Onyx Black
Gems

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse  Boo and Friends, Peek A Boo Sentiments
Pattern Paper:  October Afternoon Witch Hazel
Versafine Onyx Black, Copic Markers, Memento Tuxedo Black
Dies: Poppystamps Fancy Clouds, PTI In the Meadow
Card Stock PTI

Stamps:  Waltzingmouse Peek A Boo Sentiments
Paper Bags:  Paper Studio
Doily Die Cut:  Cheery Lynn French Pastry, Poppystamps Lovely Tendril, Waltzingmouse Stitched Tags
Hug Snug Seam Binding
Ink:  Versafine Onyx Black
Glitter Embellishments:  Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby)
Paper Rose: Iamroses.com
Wood Clothes Pins, Glitter, Card Stock PTI