12 Kits Of Occasion ~ August

Good morning friends~  August has flown by already and fall is definitely in the air!  Even though I hate to see summer end, fall is always a welcome change. The end of August brings us to the always fun, group post from the 12 Kits of Occasion gals.  This month's kit was from Lisa Elton of My Paper Tales.  Her taste is flawless and I just adored the fun colors and patterns she included in this months "Teacher's Pet" kit.  So adorable!!

Here's my cards and projects:

I didn't really want to separate the PTI Enclosed Apple but I kept going back to putting the school bus behind the detailed die so I went with it.  And just look at that darling embossed cardstock in the background.  I could do with more of that!

 This card would be a great card to give to a child's school bus driver at the end of a long school year.  I have a deep respect for them as I'm sure they have to deal with a lot of crazy kids!

 This is the second half of the PTI Enclosed Apple.  I added a little Fired Brick Distress Ink around the edges and some detail with a white gel pen.  The leaves are the only thing I added of my own.  They are cut using PTI's Stamp A-Fair Exploring the 1940's.  Lisa included lots of button and bakers twine for the perfect finishing touches.

 Lisa included so many of these cute little critters.  I colored this one using Copics.  She already had it cut out using the sweet scalloped tag so I just added a couple more polka dotted leaves since I had them sitting on my table.

 Fun felt flowers, buttons and ribbon are all from the kit.  I wanted to hoard this darling paper from October Afternoon that Lisa included.  I just know I'm going to see the other gals projects and wish I had saved it so I could CASE them!

 All of the elements Lisa put in her kit were as cute as could be.  Just look at that sweet polka dotted apple button! Is anything any cuter??

Another darling little image to color and some fun stars.  Lisa thought of everything!

 

Finally these two adorable little milk cartons from Lawn Fawn.  I added the Spellbinder Apple A Day because I had already used up the apples Lisa sent.  These will be filled with pure sugar candy and sent to my great littles out of state.  

I still have plenty of leftovers to CASE my wildly talented team mates.

Thank you so much Lisa for such a fun kit!  Makes me wish I still had little ones at home but I know my great littles will enjoy getting some happy mail from their auntie.

Be sure to visit the 12 Kits of Occasion Blog to see what my talented teamies have cooked up for you using this kit.  And add to the list a visit to Judy Marino of Judy's Card Corner as she's Lisa special guest this month!

I'll be entering one of these projects into the following challenges:
Color Throwdown

Simon Says Monday Challenge ~ Back To School
Simon Says Wednesday ~ Anything Goes
Sisterhood of Crafters ~ Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday ~ Anything Goes
Use Your Stuff ~ Back To School

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Blessings~ Birgit

Eeeep! New Halloween Goodies

Hold on your your hats, I've got some Halloween cuteness overload here!

Elizabeth Craft Designs recently had a big release with lots of adorable new products.  Here's a gathering of cards I made using many of the Halloween sets.

You'll be seeing lots more cards in the future using some of these amazing dies so be on the look out for these cute little spooks.

Pop on over to find these products I used that can be found at Elizabeth Craft Designs:

Pumpkins

Trick Or Treat Bag

Ghosts

Haunted House Set

Iron Fence

Spooky Sentiments

Labels 1 Die Set

Banner Sentiments

Banners Die Set

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Blessings~ Birgit

Stamp-A-Faire 2017 ~ Catch Up

The PTI festivities are over but there's still time to enter your cards until Thursday so here's a few more cards I was able to make for some of the challenges:

This card uses Lizzie Jones wood grain inlay technique.  I made two cards using both the white and kraft panels.  

 I used Cloche Quarters Summer Fillers.

My next card uses Natasha Trupp's technique to "Create a project featuring an inked impression plate (or cover plate, stencil, etc.) technique".

Now I know this seems strange that it doesn't have a wood grain background.  That's because the word "wood" wasn't in the challenge description so I chose to ink up the Aida Cloth Cover Plate.  I like how it made a Swiss dot look.  I also used Bowl of Sunshine 1 & 2 and a sentiment from New Every Morning.

This card uses Betsy's Faux Iron technique.  I used the gate from Make It Market Garden Gate and Pumpkin Patch.  My gate looks more like copper but we can pretend that it's iron.  Right?  ;0)

And finally I have a card using Yana's technique to "Create a project featuring a metallic embossed die-cut."  I used Lovely Laurels and the bow from Kind Of Corny.  Love the detail in that bow!

That's it for me for cards for this years Stamp-A-Faire.  There's a lot of amazing challenges and techniques that I've  missed but I hope to try them out as time allows.

If you've stuck with me through this, I thank you for visiting and for each and every comment.  If you're an e-mail subscriber, I apologize for over loading your e-mails with frequent posts.  

It's been a super fun time to binge on card making.  Now back to reality.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Blessings~ Birgit

Stamp-A-Faire 2017 ~ Stamping on Linen

My last card for the day using Anna's inspiration of stamping on linen.  You can find her video HERE.  

I stamped on linen using a couple of really old flower sets from PTI that I don't remember the names of and a sentiment from Stitched Sentiments.  If anyone knows the names I'll be happy to edit this post with the correct names. 

I hope you all have fun with the rest of the challenges.  I'll try to catch up on my commenting so far.  I'll miss out on all the fun activities tomorrow as I'll be working at our daughters new house doing renovations.   Can't wait to see all the fun projects!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Blessings~ Birgit

Stamp-A-Faire 2017 ~Embossed Leather with Nichole

I'm hot on the trail, trying to play catch up!  Nichole has another great video on how to create the look of embossed leather.  You can find her video HERE

I used the Deco Die Cover Plate for the embossed leather background.  Another technique I want to remember to use.

Heather's Autumn Scarecrow is soooo cute!  I colored him up with Copics and added some crosshatch patches here and there.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Blessings ~ Birgit

Stamp-A-Fair 2017 ~ Leather with Ashley

Hello~  Ashley has a great video on how to use brown cardstock and make it look like faux leather.  I was hesitant to try it because I didn't have any glycerin so I didn't know if the technique would work but it did and I love the results!

I was hoping the opportunity would arise for me to use the new Kind Of Corny set.  I LOVE it!! (insert singing voice here)  I got a bit impatient for my leather to dry so I ended up using a flat iron on it.  Worked like a charm!

Look how awesome that "leather" looks!  I added just a bit of Gathered Twigs distress Ink to bring out the wrinkles.  I used the same sentiment from Year Of Psalms August that Ashley used because it is just perfect with the corn.

I've been enjoying seeing some amazing projects out there and have tried to keep up with commenting but time has gotten the best of me and all I can say is YOU ARE ALL WINNERS in my book!

If you've taken the time to stop in and visit and left me a comment, I thank you so much.  Your thoughtfulness means more than you know.  It's a busy time for all of us who are trying to keep up.

See you at the InLinkz!  Blessings ~ Birgit  

Stamp-A-Faire ~ Using Up Your Scraps

Good morning~  PTI's next challenge was brought to us by the amazingly talented Laura Bassen.  She's got us using up our scraps and I can't think of a better way to use them up than the way she showed us in her video.

I used Bitty Butterflies Cover Plate and stamps and Sending Hugs for the sentiment.   

I think it took me longer to dig out my sewing machine, set it up and try to remember how to use it than it did to make the whole card!

I have lots of butterflies left over to make more of these.

Thanks for stopping by!  Blessings~ Birgit

PTI 2017 Stamp-A-Faire Paper Embellishments

Rebecca Luminarias shared an inspiring video on creating paper embellishments.  I chose the paper bow and it only took me three tries to make one that didn't break!  She made it look so easy on her video found HERE.

I stamped a background using the "Celebrate" sentiment from Bold & Beautiful in a soft grey ink.  I used three thin strips of Hawaiian Shores cardstock to create the bow.  I curled the ends around a pencil.  

My sweet friend Marybeth sent me some Wrap It Up die cuts and this is one of them.  Thanks Marybeth!  I added a tiny tag with a sentiment from Topiary Trio embossed in gold.

I hope you're finding time to join in on the fun at Nichole's Blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Blessings~ Birgit

PTI 2017 Stamp-A-Faire Take Ten Warm Up Challenge

Hello my friends~  There are two events that I look forward to all year long.  One is the Anniversary release at PTI and the second is their Stamp-A-Faire event.  I've literally been counting down the hours for this to start today and it's finally here!

Starting with their Take Ten Warm Up Challenge, here's my card:

 I used the flowers from Gran's Garden and a sentiment from Walk By Faith

This was my inspiration: 

Have fun playing along at Stamp-A-Faire!  See you at the InLinkz .

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Blessings~ Birgit

Back To School Bookmarks

I remember being so excited for the first day of school.  Butterflies in my stomach and all!  I like to send "happy mail" to all my great little nieces and nephews on special occasions and going back to school is one of them, so I made them these sturdy bookmarks to help celebrate the occasion.

Here's a snapshot of the products I used for today's project:

I cut four strips of Cougar White Heavy 160lb. Cardstock measuring 5 1/2" x 2" and punched holes in the center of the top of each one using a Crop A Dile.  I punched all four layers at once!  The 160lb cardstock is wonderful for this type of project and because it's thick and sturdy, it will stand up to lots of handling from little hands.  

I then cut 4 hearts using Elizabeth Craft Designs Stitched Hearts out of Red Basis Cardstock.

I used an alphabet stamp set to create a sentiment on the top half of the bookmarks, leaving space for the die cut heart.

I stamped colorful layers of books using Simon Says To Thine Own Shelf and a rainbow of colors on to the bottom half of each bookmark.  

Once all the stamping was done, I adhered the stitched hearts to the bookmarks using Tombow Mono Multi-Purpose Liquid Glue and added fun colored ribbons through the punched holes.

This was such a fun and easy project to set the first days of school off to a good start!

There's a sale going on for the whole month of August on all White and Cream colored cardstocks so be sure to check out Cut Cardstock for a whole list of great deals!

I'll be adding this project to the following challenges:
Word Art Wednesday ~ Anything Goes
Simon Says Wednesday Challenge ~ Back to School
City Crafter Challenge ~ Back to School

Thanks so much for checking out today's project.  

Embellished Heart Magnets

Hello friends~  I'm guest designing today at the Crop Stop Blog with a little shabby chic project.

I have a group of crafty friends that like vintage projects so I made these magnets to give as little gifts to them.

Here's a snapshot of products I used to make them. 

I started by cutting the Neenah 100 lb Kraft cardstock using Elizabeth Craft Designs Scalloped Hearts,   Stitched Hearts out of Cougar 80 lb. Natural Cardstock and butterflies out of 80 lb Natural cardstock and book pages.  I inked the edges of all the pieces using Gathered Twigs Distress Ink and  stamped a music background on the stitched hearts using a Hero Arts Music Background stamp.  I then layered the music print hearts to the front of the scalloped hearts and layered the butterflies using Scor-Tape.

To add stability to my project, I cut the scalloped hearts again out of Kraft / White Chipboard from Cropstop and adhered them to the back of the kraft hearts using Glossy Accents.

I chose some simple sentiments and stamped them onto Cougar 80 lb Natural cardstock and cut them using Elizabeth Craft Designs Banners Die.  

I adhered these wonderful flowers and banners to the hearts using Zots 3-D Singles glue dots.  You could stop here and use the hearts as embellishments for different projects like this simple card

Or you could add a magnet to the back of the hearts for a pretty presentation for refrigerator art as seen in the photo below.  

These would make great little gifts for anyone by changing up the style to suit your needs.

I hope you enjoyed today's project!

I'll be adding this project to the following challenges:

The Sisterhood of Crafters ~ Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday ~ Anything Goes

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Blessings~ Birgit

Little Hummers Z-Fold Card

Good morning~  Ashley inspired us this week with a fun Z-fold card tutorial and an amazing inspirational card of her own.  I really enjoyed this once I finally decided on what theme I was going to go with.

I was thinking fall but my PTI order has yet to arrive so I used Humming Along and stamped the flowers in fall-ish colors.

I stamped the Diamonds Cover Up in the background on the largest panel and heat embossed it in gold although you can't really tell in the photo.

I heat embossed another background stamp in gold on the middle panel as well, so this card is really pretty in real life.

You can find Ashley's video HERE if you want to play along.  

This was so much fun to make!  

I'll be adding this card to the following challenges:

Word Art Wednesday ~ Anything Goes

Work It Wednesday ~ Favorite Stamps

The Sisterhood of Crafters ~ Anything Goes

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Blessings~ Birgit