Sunday, April 30, 2017

The 12 Kits of Occasions - Hello Friend!

It's the last day of April! You know what that means right? It's time for The 12 Kits of Occasions! The 12 Kits is a group of 12 friends who all love to paper craft. Every month we take turns providing a kit for the rest of the group. On the last day of the month we reveal what we made with the kit and share our designs. It's fun to see how our designs are the same or very different!   
Our hostess this time is Sharron Gregory - you can find her blog On Papillon Wings here. Our theme this time is Hello Friend.

Sharron is a nature lover and I think this kit represents her well!  She's a gardener with a generous heart.  She's been a very good friend to me and I think the world of her! 

Here's a little peek at the kit she put together for us!


See what I mean?  I see lots of birds, animals, and lots of wonderful sentiments.  The bird cages and cats were gold embossed.. the kit had sequins and gems for sparkle, and pretty pattern paper.

I made 5 cards!   I almost had 6 cards.. I really loved the girls in the raincoats, but I blew it with the coloring.  I used Spectrum Noir pens and didn't like how they looked when I was done.... Ok. without further ado... 

Want to see more cards made with this fun kit? Head on over to The 12 Kits of Occasions Blog where you'll find a sample and link to each of the designers playing along today! You might just win yourself a kit to join us too! 





All cards finished size 4.25 x 5.5"
Stamps | Mama Elephant Honey Bunny | MFT Purrfect Friends |Stamping Bella Marmalade the Kitty Stuffie, I'll Always Have Your Back
Dies | Poppystamps Scribble Flower Circle, Spellbinder Succulent Garden

Friday, April 28, 2017

Tupelo Designs LLC - Butterfly Beauty

Happy Friday!  Time for me to share a project with some of the goodies I got from the Tupelo Designs LLC store!!  They have a great assortment of so many great brands!   I love that I can get a little of this and a little of that all in one place!  Today I'm playing with the Concord &9th Butterfly Beauty stamp set. 
The butterfly is a 3-stamp image.  After playing around a bit I decided it was easiest to stampt he outline layer first.   Next I stamped the solid butterfly in Altenew Buttercream.  Topped with the "spots" detail in Mango Smoothie. 

I added the solid butterfly body stamp matching the antenna of the outline with the antenna of the solid.  As you can see, the solid body is a little smaller than on the outline. 

I used a stamp tool to align the images above each other and added a word die from the Wonderful Words 3 pack for a sentiment.
I added some soft Broken China Distress Ink along the edges  and a stitched Reverse Confetti frame to the out side of my card.   

Feel like going shopping?  I sure hope you'll check out my favorite store - Tupelo Designs LLC !  They have lots of your favorite brands - Concord & 9th, Reverse Confetti, Altenew,  Waffle Flower, Lawn Fawn and so many more.  Shipping is always FREE (USA only), and they offer loyalty rewards points that turn into dollars you can use off future orders!  What are you waiting for? Click here to jump to the store!

Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"
Stamps | Concord & 9th Butterfly Beauty
Dies | Concord & 9th  Wonderful Words| Reverse Confetti Framed Up




Tag You're It - A Beary Adventure

Are you playing at Tag You're It Challenge?  I just want to remind you that you still have time to play along!  It's a two week challenge and we're at the half way point!

Check out the inspiration tag from Kim Heggins of Cupcakes Cards and Kim!  Isn't this super sweet?  I love the little bear holding the fish, the blue distress background, card stock grass and stamped tree landscape!  Even the pretty ribbon treatment is perfect.... the bit of blue matches the fish perfectly! 


Tags are a great way to dress up even the simplest gifts.  Maybe you know someone going on a camping trip?  Wouldn't this be sweet on a bag of treats for the car.. maybe some granola?  Ooooh.. or how about some home made chocolate chip cookies?  Ok.. getting hungry now! LOL!   

You get the picture!  What a great way to say you care! 

Here's my take on Kim's tag!  I created a distress ink background.  For the sunshine I used a circle die cut to make a stencil, and then later I used the circle die cut as a mask when I inked up the sky.
The tag and scallop border dies are from Pretty Pink Posh.  I love using the little flower sequins as accents on landscapes.

Isn't this what every bear would wish for?  I don't think my husband would mind either! LOL!

Now it's your turn!  Head on over to the Tag You're It Challenge blog and link up your design!   We'd love to see what you make!











Supplies
Stamps | Stampin Up! Bear Hugs 

Dies | Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Duo 3, Scallop Borders  | Poppystamps Puffy Cloud Border | Stampin Up! Bear Hugs
Sequins | Pretty Pink Posh Summer Flowers 
Twine | Stampin Up! 

Thursday, April 27, 2017

Fusion Card Challenge - Musical Butterfly

Up for a little crafty challenge today? Why not join us at Fusion Card Challenge!    Fusion was one of my favorite places to play even before I joined their design team.  My favorite sketches are always sketches. That's probably because I'm addicted to pattern paper!  Even if you don't like a sketch that's ok.. because Fusion also provides an inspiration photo.  You can work with either or fuse them both together! 
Don't you love love love that musical butterfly?  I was smitten with the clean simple design of the splashes of watercolor over the sheet music revealing a beautiful butterfly. 
Ok so how to get that clean butterfly over the music print right?   I  didn't have a butterfly stencil, so I thought I'd make one with a die cut.  I started pulling all my butterfly dies, but none of them were solid.. all my Memory Box were intricately cut.. and then I remembered that I had some Birch Press Design die cut's that coordinate with their stamp set. 

When I started painting over my hand made stencil I was getting lots of watercolor seeping under.. so sad to see my clean lines disappear before my eyes.
In the end I die cut the butterfly from the sheet music and then added the watercolor splotches.  I used the inspiration photo as a template - what colors to put where! 

I kept the sentiment simple so it wouldn't cover up all my painting!   I just recently bought an empty watercolor tin on Amazon and am enjoying choosing my own colors to fill it with.  
This one was an unexpected surprise - I wasn't sure if I could reproduce the inspiration photo - but it was fun to try!

Need a little more inspiration?  Head on over to the Fusion Challenge blog where you'll see samples from the whole team and you can link up your own designs!    I'd love to see your take on this challenge! 













Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Pretty Little Studio - Hello I Love You

Hi and Thanks for stopping by! Today I'm sharing a fun and fresh card featuring the new Ain't Life Grand Collection from Pretty Little Studio! This collection is packed with a punch of rich bold colors! 
I wanted to make a fun collage card with a repeating circular shape (like the lens on the camera from the Document This die cut pack). I started with an Easy Breezy Tag with a graph print. Notice the printed red eyelet is also circular! 
Now for the circles! And let me just say there are LOTS of circle shapes throughout the collection for you to work with - even some that you can punch yourself with a cirle punch. All of my circles came from the Framed die cut pack. I adhered them with adhesive foam tape.
The colorful flair repeats the "hello" sentiment. This one is from the Life Noted flair package. You'll also find the "hello" sentiment on the orange background paper! 
I added a little "i love you" from the Love Life Words die cuts. In my opinion the word die cuts in the pack are a bit large for an A2 size card and would be better suited to larger projects like layouts.

The final touches are some twine for the tag and a sprinkle of crystal sequins! The card is so bright and cheery and gender neutral! A nice surprise for my guy!




Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5”
Pretty Little Studio Products
Paper | Ain’t Life Grand Collection
Die Cut | Framed (circles), Mixed Bag (arrow), Document This (Camera), Love Life Words (i love you)
Shipping Tags | Easy Breezy
Flair | Life Noted
Sequins | Crystal 4mm, Crystal Snow

Twine | The Twinery Midnight Blue

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Color Throwdown - Hello Spring!


I'm so happy it's finally spring here in the Midwest.  I love all the flowers I see when I'm out walking the dog!  In the yard you'll find Bleeding Hearts, Tulip, Lilac and Daffodils all in bloom! They get all the credit today for my card! 
This is my last week as the guest designer at Color Throwdown!  I really appreciate the opportunity to share my projects on their blog and make some new friends!   The colors this week are Yellow, Spring Green and Magenta! 
I started with a Reverse Confetti Drop Cover Panel placed over a soft yellow card stock.   I think it adds just the right amount of color! 
Next I stamped flowers from Blooms 'n Buds in yellows and Memento Lilac Posies - the perfect red/purple magenta color. 

I double cut the Hello Confetti cut - once from gold foil, and a second time from gold glitter paper. I layered them for a bit of shine and sparkle.

I added a Tim Holtz Memo Pin with a gem in the center. It reminds me of the little pick that holds the sentiment card when you receive delivered flowers. 

Ready to see what the rest of the team made? They're sure to inspire you! Just click the names below to jump to their blogs.

Color Throwdown Team
Amy Rohl
Amy Rysavy
Barbara Anders
Broni Holcombe
Joan Ervin
Jodi Collins
Lisa Henke
Lori Tecler
Lynn Put
Vickie Zimmer
Wanda Cullen


I sure hope you'll join me closing out this last challenge for April at Color Throwdown! 





Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"
Stamps | Reverse Confetti Blooms 'n Buds
Dies | Reverse Confetti Blooms 'n Buds, Hello, Drop Cover Panel
Tim Holtz Memo Pin