The 12 Kits of Occasions - Christmas in July!

It's the last day of the month! Time for The 12 Kits of Occasions! We're a group of 12 friends who love to paper craft. Every month we take turns providing the rest of the group with a kit. We all get the same thing.. and on the last day of the month we reveal what we made with the kit. It's fun to see how some of our designs look the same - and how others can look so very different. 

Our theme this month is Christmas in July and our hostess this month is Kim Heggins from Cupcakes Cards and Kim! Kim is a clean and simple gal who always adds just the right touch of embellishments. Kim's the "cool mom" who takes her daughter to rock concerts and loves all things adorable.. especially Mickey Mouse! And yes.. she does know how to bake and she can make a seriously awesome cupcake!

Take a peek at what she has for us this month.. pretty papers from American Crafts, images from Avery Elle, My Favorite Things and Hero Arts. There's dies from Neat and Tangled, Taylored Expressions and Papertrey Ink! And of course there's some sparkle and shine.. glittery paper, sequins and colorful twine! I made 5 cards!!

Ready to see more from the rest of the team? You can see a sample from each of the design team members here on THE 12 KITS OF OCCASIONS BLOG. You'll also find links to each of the designers (and our special guests) and a complete ingredient list for each of the kits.

We're wanting to include YOU in our monthly posts and just about every post this year has had a give away of a kit so you can play along. Check out the blog to get all the details!

All cards finished size 4.25 x 5.5"

Sledding

Stamps | My Favorite Things Dashing By | Poppystamps Do You Believe

Dies | My Favorite Things Snow Drifts

Pattern Paper | Reverse Confetti Very Merry 6"

Furry Christmas

Stamps | Simon Says Stamp Furry Christmas 

Pattern Paper | American Crafts Holiday

Twinery Gold Shimmer Twine

Tinsel In A Tangle

Stamps | Avery Elle Dear Santa

Dies | Avery Elle Dear Santa | Pretty Pink Posh Scallop Borders Dies

Pattern Paper | American Crafts Holiday

Oh Holy Night

Stamps | Taylored Expressions Sing of The King

Dies | Taylored Expressions Bethlehem Border, Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Borders 3

Memory Box Star of Wonder

A Cup of Cheer

Stamps | Hero Arts Coffee

Dies | Hero Arts Coffee, Pretty Pink Posh Scallop Ovals

Twine | Divine Twine Christmas

Poppystamps Sharing Kindness

Do you love Poppystamps? Did you know they make more than dies? Like this pretty stamp set called Sharing Kindess, and yes! There are coordinating dies too! I'm sharing these two cards I made on the Poppystamps blog today!

Click here to jump to the Poppystamps Blog to see more!

Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"
Stamps | Poppystamps Little Kindness
Dies | Poppystamps Little Kindness, Pointed Circle Frames

Tupelo Designs LLC - Crate Paper Chasing Dreams

 Are you new to card making or scrapbooking?  I think the easiest way to get started without making a big investment is to purchase some pattern paper and an ephemera pack.  Today I'm playing with the Crate Paper Maggie Holmes Chasing Dreams collection.

I only purchased three items to make this card and I have LOTS left over to make more things!  I purchased the 12 x 12" paper pad (the 6" would work too), the ephemera die cut pack and a package of Queen pink bubble gems.   Some of the larger paper pads have huge prints.. if you want smaller prints stick with the 6" pads.  I like the larger pads because I like to cut them down to 6x6" squares.  

The die cuts in the ephemera pack are inked and cut ready to work with and there are plenty to choose from.  This pack even had tags perfect for layering and a few sentiments.

Everything in each collection is color coordinated so you get a perfect match every time. 

Tupelo Designs LLC has lots of different pattern paper brands to choose from.. Simple Stories, Crate Paper, Bo Bunny, Echo Park, and so many more.  I put "Paper" in the search link and saw there are 197 pages to look through!  Talk about variety!! 

Tupelo Desings LLC has free shipping every single day no coupon required (USA only).  They even have reward points so dollars you spend today turn into dollars you can spend on future orders.  I've been happy with their products and delivery.  I hope you'll give them a try! 

Want to go shopping?  Click here to jump to the Tupelo Designs LLC Store.

Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"
Pattern Paper and Die Cuts | Crate Paper Maggie Holmes Chasing Dreams
Gems | Queen and Co. Pink Bubbles

CAS-ual Fridays & Chameleon Changing Color Pens Friendly Friday

Today I'm sharing a sweet card I made playing with Chameleon pens and CAS-ual Fridays Stamps. Head on over to the CAS-ual Fridays Blog to see what teamie Vicki Dutcher and I made! There's some candy up for grabs so make sure you stop by! Here's a little peek to tempt you! Chameleon pens help you create shading light to dark without changing pens.

Freshly Made Sketches - Thanks

I hope you're having a great day!  It's hot and humid here.  I got out to walk  the dog in the morning and just barely beat the rain.  Now it's just hot and muggy and over cast.  It's a great sort of day to stay indoors and just be lazy!  I'm doing a little crafting because that's my favorite thing to do when I'm relaxing.  

Are you looking for a challenge to play today?   I'm really enjoying Freshly Made Sketches!  I love working with a sketch!  This one would make a very pretty clean card with pattern paper!   I used it more of a background to embellish with pretty florals from the Reverse Confetti Whole Lotta Thanks stamp set. 

I started with a background of pretty papers from the Reverse Confetti 6" Pattern Play paper pad.  It's got lots of papers for any occasion.  I selected two prints in yellow.  I was originally going to stamp my sentiment on the pattern paper - that's why the lighter side is on bottom.

I put a Double Edge Scallop border right down the middle to divide the papers.  I topped that with a wreath die cut and flowers in blue and yellow to match the papers.

I decided to add a Thanks word die cut instead of stamping a sentiment.  I cut it from a darker shade of yellow to help balance all the floral embellishments at the top of the design.

The finishing touch is always a little bling!  Sparkling Clear Sequins from Pretty Pink Posh are always the perfect topping!

See you tomorrow with more designs to share!

Finished SIze 4.25 x 5.5"

Stamps | Reverse Confetti Whole Lotta Thanks

Dies | Reverse Confetti Wreath, Whole Lotta Thanks Double Edge Sallop Border, Hello and Thanks

Pattern Paper | Reverse Confetti Paper Play 6"

Sequins | Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear 

Happy Birthday CASology! Celebrate It's Your Big Day!

Happy Birthday to CASology! Did you see all the fabulous sponsors they have this week? You're definitely going to want to check it out! There's some serious candy up for grabs! And since it's their birthday.. what a perfect Cue Card word for us.. BALLOON!! Why not find your favorite balloons and make a birthday card and join the celebration? Maybe there will be a present for you!

I made a birthday card with the Pretty Pink Posh Fly Away Friends stamp set!  I love the fun hot air balloons in the set and the little characters like this lion! 

I'm getting better at my masking skills!  I stamped the balloon on a panel of white card stock and then stamped it again on a post it. I covered the stamped image with the trimmed post it and then brushed Tumbled Glass distress ink over the area using a stencil brush. The wide lines on the design make masking really easy!

Next I stamped the sentiment from the Everyday Greetings set. I wanted something larger to balance the big balloon.

I popped up a few images.. a cloud die cut from Rainy Days, and the little lion in the balloon.  A few sparkling clear sequins add a little bling.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! 

Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"
Stamps | Pretty Pink Posh Fly Away Friends, Everyday Greetings
Dies | Pretty Pink Posh Fly Away Friends, Rainy Days
Sequins | Pretty Pink Posh Sparkling Clear

CAS-ual Fridays Peace Out!

Admit it.. you have a tie die t-shirt somewhere!  I know we all do.. they're colorful reminders of fun places and good times.  Mostly they remind me of summer and going to concerts that's why I focused on the CASual Fridays "Peace Out" stamp set today! 

This clean card might look simple but I promise it took me more than a few tries to get it right.

I placed the image in my Misti stamp positioner and inked it up with Memento ink.  I used the teardrop shaped mini ink pads to ink small portions of the stamp at a time.  I had to play around with what colors blended together and looked well next to each other.

I love that no matter how many you stamp that no two will be alike!

I trimmed the panel slightly smaller than my card base and attached some craft foam to the back to add dimension.  I also added some enamel dots to add more color to the clean design.

Do you love CASual Fridays and want to do a little shopping?  I hope you'll use my discount code.  Any commission that I would normally receive has been redirected to the CASual Fridays Breast Cancer research and awareness fund.  Shop happy knowing you're supporting your Sistahs!  There's lots of sets that are retiring in the shop that you can grab for a sweet deal!   

Click here to jump to the store!  Have a great day! 

Finished Size 4.25 x5.5"
Stamps | CASual Fridays Peace Out

Tupelo Designs LLC - Plant Kindness

Happy Friday!  I hope you're having a great day!  We've been getting lots of rain here this week in the Midwest - that's good and bad... we're spending more time indoors, BUT... I get a break from watering the garden!  We've always had a big garden with lots of different veggies.... the usual  tomatoes, peppers, and green beans.  But we're always trying new things too!  One year we tried to grow peanuts.  I never got to eat any of them because the Chipmunks got to them before I did!  This year we've got celery and we're trying to grow potatoes!  

I love the variety of stamps you can find at Tupelo Designs LLC!  I think we all purchase the images that "speak" to us.  This Altenew Farmers Market set "spoke" to the gardener in me.  The variety of veggies in the set is fun and they look amazing stamped in different colors!  There's even a coordinating die set.

I really like the sentiments in the set too like this one "plant the seeds of kindness".   This seems to go hand in hand with the garden theme as we always grow more than we need and are happy to share!

The background was created with distress inks.  I applied Squeezed Lemonade to a panel of white card stock and then splashed it with Fossilized Amber and white ink before attaching the die cut veggies with adhesive foam tape.

It was fun choosing the ink colors - sometimes I'm amazed by all the inks I have.  I keep a sample of each on a simple jump ring so I can always find the perfect color.

I used Memento, Reverse Confetti, and Altenew dye inks.  Using a stamping tool is the easiest way to stamp large solid images since you can stamp multiple times for complete coverage of the stamps.

There were so many images I wanted to include on this card that the only way I could squeeze in a sentiment was to wrap it along the edge.  I love how it turned out!

Want to go shopping?  You'll find all your favorite brands at Tupelo Designs LLC!  They carry brands like Reverse Confetti, Altenew, Concord & 9th, My Favorite Things and so many more!   I think you'll discover more than a few new favorites while you're there! 

Shipping is always free - no coupon required (USA only!)

They even have a customer loyalty program that turns dollars you spend into points that add up to dollars you can use off future orders.

I sure hope you'll give them a try - click here to jump to the Tupelo Designs LLC store. 

Finished Size 4.25 x 5.5"

Stamps | Altenew Farmers Market

Dies | Altenew  Farmers Market