12 Kits of Occasions - Welcome to My Nightmare!

Hi friends!  I hope you are having a great day!  It's the last day of the month!  Yes!! Already!! Amazing how fast the year is going by!  Maybe you already know?  The last day of the month means it's time for the 12 Kits of Occasions.  This is a group of 12 friends who like to paper craft.  Every month we take turns providing the group with a "kit" of goodies.  We all create from the same kit and post what we made on the last day of the month.  This time our hostess is Jessica Davis from The Paper Parade Blog!  And wow what a great kit she put together for us!   The theme this month is "Welcome to My Nightmare".  Jessica had us covered with stamped images from Paper Smooches, Papertrey Ink, and Neat & Tangled, die cuts and pretty papers!  You can get a complete ingredient list here on the 12 Kits of Occasions blog!

Pesky Ingredient Watch:  It seems like there is always one ingredient that I get stuck on that I want to watch for.. just to see how the other ladies put it to use and realize where I went wrong - maybe unstuck my brain?!    This kit?  No tricks.. all treats!! 

I made 5 cards (gosh I just love Halloween!)  with my kit so without further ado... here goes... 

Thanks for joining for the 12 kits unveiling this month!  I hope you enjoyed all the Halloween magic we had so much fun making!

A Little Birdie Told Me

I hope you are having a great day! Fall is in the air, and this is my favorite time to spend outdoors. Going for a walk is easy breezy on a cool Autumn day! This is a great time to watch the birds too because lots of migratory birds are starting to gather for travel to warmer climates.   This little guy is from a new set by Memory Box called Autumn Birdie!  Isn't he adorable?  

I've added lots of colorful Twinery Twine to my project in complimentary Autumn Colors. I took a long strand - about a foot long, and folded it in half. Then I wrapped the length around the card feeding the loose ends into the loop I created with the double strand. You would do this the same way you thread a piece of twine through a hole in a tag, feeding the loose ends through the loop you created. When I had all my colors attached I trimmed the edges to make them nice and even.

I colored all the images with Copic Markers and did all my stamping with Memento Inks. The Twinery twine really brings everything together and adds lots of color and texture... and maybe a little bit of fun too!!

I hope you have a beautiful day! 

Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"
The Twinery Twine Honeydew, Maraschino, Mandarin, Marigold, Pink Sorbet
Stamps: Memory Box Autumn Birdie Set
Die: Memory Box Stitched Country Borders
Pattern Paper: Basic Grey Carte Postale, Basics Collections
Ink: Memento, Copic Markers
Misc: Gems

Pretty Little Studio - Barney Bear

I know lots of people like to go camping in the summer, when the kids are out of school, but for me Fall is the perfect time. The cooler weather makes it easier to pack your gear, and hit the trails. There is so much beauty to be found around every turn. The fall foliage is drop dead gorgeous and another big plus? The bugs aren't as active. This cute die cut is Barney! Isn't he adorable? I don't want to run into any bears on my adventure, but I'd be delighted to catch a glimpse from a very safe distance! 
Everyone knows bears love honey- and honey comes from flowers! The Larkspur Seed Packet is from the Marigold Cosmos Journaling Packet. If you look close behind the button you'll see a bit of lace peeking through. I trimmed a portion from a 4" Cambridge Doily for a focal point behind the button. I'll use the rest of the doily on another project.

The pretty background paper is from the Marigold Collection. The Treasure Island Navigator Note Flags make it easy to stamp or hand write a simple sentiment and attach it to your project. I punched a 1/8" hole and inserted a pin to secure it to my card

I love a little sparkle and shine so I added some irridescent sequins from the Baby Avery Confetti Mix.

I hope you have some outdoor activities planned! Living in the Midwest I know that winter will be here way too soon and you need to make the most of the beautiful weather!



Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5”
PLS Products
Die: Barney
Doily: Cambridge 4”
Journaling Cards: Marigold Cosmos
Confetti Mix: Baby Avery
Treasure Island Navigator Note Flags
Pattern Paper: Marigold
Stamp: Simon Says Stamp “Handwritten Greetings”
Ivory Button Twine May Arts
Wood Button & Butterfly Pin Maya Road

Pretty In Pink

I hope you are having a beautiful day! I’m gonna give you something for your sweet tooth today - and put you on a pink overload! Ive got a cute card today that you can send as a thank you or just to let someone special know you are thinking of them. I know it looks fussy but everything came together quick and easy. Pretty Little Studio products make it a snap because they are perfectly coordinated and all their dies are cut and ready to work with.

I started with a A2 (4.25 x 5.5”) card base. To add some color I usually matt my designs with a smaller panel of colored card stock. Now for the foundation - a smaller panel of pattern paper from the You & Me collection. Next I added a smaller square panel of pattern paper, and a die cut border cut from solid card stock to keep the die from having a “floating” appearance..

A pretty lace Cambridge Doily (4”) makes this so fancy looking and I thought it would be pretty peeking out the sides of the die cut image. The doilies come in packs of 10 in the shop. 

I added the “Ava” die cut with adhesive foam tape so that it pops up adding a little dimension and to keep my card from looking flat.
To add a little more weight to the bottom of the card to “ground” the die cut I wrapped twine around the cover of the card three times and finished it with a bow.

I hope you will make something beautiful today! 

Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5”

Pretty Little Studio Products
Die: Ava
Pattern Paper: You & Me Collection
Doily: 4” Cambridge
The Twinery Pink Sorbet Twine
Die: Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Borders

Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop - It's Bean Too Long!

Are you playing along?  Amy Tsuruta has done it again and put together another fabulous Coffee Lover's Blog Hop!  Time for some fall inspired, java loving crafting my friends.  I confess I'm not so big on coffee myself.  Gosh I ADORE the smell of it when I'm brewing it for company or DH, but the taste?   Not so much.  Give me a Diet Coke first thing in the AM or a cuppa tea and I'm a happy gal! 

I still love making things for my coffee loving friends and the Waltzingmouse Coffee Set is my total go to.  There are so many cute images including coffee beans, grinder, cups and pot, not to mention  creamer, sugar, and even a little spoon!  I love all the cute sentiments too.    I had fun making a background of grinders - I got to practice my stamping skills.   I used a stamp a ma jig, and followed a pencil drawn line to keep me on the straight path.  I stamped with dye ink so it was easy to erase the line when I was done stamping. You don't want to try that with pigment ink- I bet you're laughing if you've done that before.  And if you haven't tried it...well let's just say that your ink erases with the pencil line.  Not good!

I used shades of orange and brown for the fall theme today!   A little reminder for a friend to keep in touch.  Always time for a chat right?

There's still time to link up a design of your own and gosh.. you'll be amazed at all the wonderful sponsors Amy has put together!  Just click here to jump to her blog!

Finished Size 4.25x 5.5"
Stamps:  Waltzingmouse Coffee Set
Dies:  Waltzingmouse Coffee Set, Hello, Stitched Rectangles, Scalloped Stitched Rectangles
Gems Prima

Tag You're It Challenge #31 - Oak Leaf

Ready to play?  A new challenge begins today at Tag You're It Challenge!  And guess what?  I get to be your muse!! YAYYY!!! I'm so excited and I can't wait to see what you make!  Wo what do you think is neat about this?  The fall theme?  The intricate die cut?  Maybe the the touch of gold, or the inlay design?   What about the color scheme - blue and orange?  You can work with whatever inspires you!  I'm just smitten with die cuts.  There are so many neat things you can do with them.  For this one I double cut the tag base once in light orange, and once in a dark orange.  I die cut the fancy oak leaf twice too - once from the light orange and once from gold.  Just layer them all together and let that darker orange peek through and it's like magic! I decided on some Caribbean Twinery Twine for some contrast!   Doesn't aqua blue just make everything better?    A simple sentiment and a sprinkle of sequins and I'm in heaven!!

Want a chance to win the Oak Leaf  Die Set from Serendipity Stamps?   Well then you better play along this time at Tag You're It Challenge.  One lucky player will be chosen to win this set!

Have a great day and Make something beautiful!

Supplies:  
Dies:  Serendipity Stamps Oak Leaf Die Set, MFT Tag You're It!
Stamp:  Waltingmouse Bountiful Baskets Additions
The Twinery Caribbean Twine
Sequins Serendipity Stamps Mahogany Sequins, Pretty Pink Posh Gold
Misc. Gems, Button October Afternoon

Seize The Birthday Toppings - Borders

I hope you are having a great day.   I left the computer off yesterday so I would have time to make make make!  LOL!    SO today I am playing along at Sieze the Birthday.  I know I can always use an extra Birthday card in my stash, and they keep it interesting with different "toppings" to challenge me every time.  The "toppings" this time are border punches or dies.  Fun right?  

I just got the new Borders #1 from Top Dog Dies and thought I'd try something different. I wanted to try to inlay this loopy border and let the pink matt background peek through the loopy holes.   I wanted to make them look like confetti streamers perfect for a birthday celebration.

I’ll admit it was a little tricky.  I cut strips of cardstock reserving both sides of the cut (positive and negative).  Next I pieced them together like a jig saw puzzle, carefully securing them on the back side in spots that would be undetected when I flipped the panel over.  I used washi tape so you could see how I attached both sides, but any tape will do.

Next I trimmed  both sides of the attached strips.   I used the die cut line (where the two colors meet) to keep the rows straight and to help me measure.  I cut a the ¾” line. 

Here’s what your strip will look like.  Do this three times with paper colors of your choice and then tape the three strips together to make a panel.   Trim the panel to size for your card base.  I matted the strips on hot pink so it would show through the die cut holes. I  love the rainbow of color!

I embellished my card with balloons and gold stars from the Rainbow die set.

This was a fun way to get more use out of my border dies.  I hope you’ll give it a try.

 I attached the balloons and word dies with adhesive foam tape to add a little dimension.

What a fun challenge and a great way to get ideas to stretch those dies and use them more often in different ways!

Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5”

Top Dog Dies:  Happy, Birthday, Borders One, Balloons, Rainbow