Birthday Bliss ~ 12 Kits of Occasion ~ April

Good morning friends~  It's the end of the month so that means it's time for a group post for the 12 Kits of Occasion gals to post our projects using kits put together by one of our amazingly talented team mates.  This month's kit was hosted by the incredibly gifted Nancy Penir of Artful Notions.  Nancy is one of the most artistic crafters I know.  She's not afraid to try new techniques and the way she puts things together just blows my mind.  

Have a look at this fun filled birthday kit we were blessed with this month.

And now on to my cards:

I somehow managed to get some random adhesive onto the bottom of this stenciled panel that Nancy created and it ripped when I tried to remove the adhesive.  I thought I was going to have to throw it away but I'm so glad I didn't.  I simply cut some puffy clouds out of polka dotted vellum and placed the sentiment over the tattered spot.  You'd never know I almost ruined it.  PHEW!  

This pair of Pure Innocence Birthday Buddies were put onto two separate cards.  

Nancy sent the embossed background and I happen to have the same embossing folder so I got two cards for one. 

Nancy's kit was so easy to work with!  I feel like all my cards practically made themselves.  All I did was slap on some glue.  ;0) 

And look at this darling purse Nancy sent.  

Gosh!  This was so fun to put together.

I hope you'll visit the 12 Kits of Occasion blog to see how the rest of my talented team mates used Nancy's adorable kit.

Thanks for stopping by!

Silent Night

Good morning friends ~ I'm playing along this week with Hero Arts "Stay Crafty with Hero Arts" challenge.

 I'm trying my hand at another CAS style card using Hero Arts Color Layering Snowy Tree and Poster Christmas Carols, which is a fabulous set but unfortunately no longer available.  

I stamped the sentiment and tree image, embossing the snowy caps on the tree with white embossing powder.  I then lightly blended in some Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide Ink, masking off the bottom so I'd have a clear definition between the sky and the "snow".  The deer is stamped and die cut using the coordinating dies.  The panel is cut using Penny Black Stitched Nested Frames and mounted to a spruce green cardstock base.  

I'll be entering this card into the following challenges:

Stay Crafty With Hero Arts ~ 

Word Art Wednesday ~ Anything Goes
CAS Christmas Challenge ~ Christmas Song
Simon Says Monday Challenge ~ Create A Scene

Thanks for stopping by!

Baby Shower Inspiration

One of my favorite methods of inspiration comes when I receive a baby shower invitation in the mail.  In this case, the invitation was rustic, with a buffalo plaid background.  The couple are very outdoorsy and the dad is a hunter.

Here's a gift set I created using the invitation I received, as you can see in the photo. 

I created the card using lots of dies.  Starting with the background, I used:

Impression Obsession Mountain Landscape Layers

Sizzix Tree Line

Elizabeth Craft Designs Adventure Edges

Frantic Stamper Birch Tree Forest

The bear is from a past Spellbinders Die Kit Of The Month

The sentiment was cut using Marianne Designs Letter Board.

I found this cute bear outfit, complete with ears on Amazon and the sign I found at Hobby Lobby, prior to the pandemic.

I created this framed wall decor using all the same dies, including a large deer from Taylored Expressions.  I added a little banner across the top with the baby's name.  

Here is the complete set.  Cute as a baby bear in a bucket of honey!

The card fit into a slot that I cut into the gift bag, making it a removable decoration on the gift bag.  

The baby shower was back in the beginning of February and I thought this set would be perfect for the new Cut It Up Challenge ~ Our Beautiful Earth.

I'll also be entering this card into the following challenges:

Word Art Wednesday ~ Anything Goes

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge ~ Knock On Wood

Alphabet Challenge ~ A is for Anything Goes

I hope you're staying in and staying healthy.

Thanks for stopping by!

In Memory of Our Sweet Friend ~ 12 Kits of Occasion

Good morning friends.  Life certainly has a way of showing us just how fragile and brief our time here on this earth is.  Many of you may already know that our 12 Kits of Occasion team lost a dear friend and member in the end of March.

 Sharron Gregory (On Papillon Wings)  passed away on March 30th, following complications from heart issues she'd been having.  She was dear to my heart and I had the privilege of meeting her for the first time when I went away to a craft retreat in Kansas at the Craft House and then again when she and her sweet hubby Harry came to Maine.  Daryl and I enjoyed spending time with both Sharron and Harry over breakfast one morning when they were on their way to a bird watching excursion.  I felt like we'd known each other forever, Sharron was so easy to talk to. She had a passion for nature and willingly shared her stories about the work she did at the botanical garden and her local zoo.  We continued to keep in touch with regular e-mails and sending "happy mail" back and forth to each other.  

The news of her passing touched me deeply and even now, tears sting my eyes as I write this post.  My heart hurts for Harry and their family.  To honor and remember Sharron, our team is posting cards to honor our beloved friend.  

Anyone who knew Sharron knew that She had a great love for birds, butterflies, animals and flowers.  Even though I had made a sympathy card to send to Harry, this card came to me one day when I was sitting, uninspired, in my craft room.  The flowers are Forget-Me-Nots and the hugging bunnies so speak of the sadness I think we all feel.

Past and present team members of the 12 Kits of Occasion are doing a special blog hop to honor our dear friend.  When you visit the 12 Kits of Occasion blog, you'll see all the cards from our team.  Click on their individual links to visit their blogs to  read about the memories shared.  I hope the cards and memories will bring a smile to your heart as you remember Sharron and how sweet and kind she was.  She will be greatly missed.

I leave you with this sentiment copied from Sharron's blog:
Beautiful and graceful, varied and enchanting, small but approachable, butterflies lead you to the sunny side of life. And everyone deserves a little sunshine. ~Jeffrey Glassberg

Thanks for stopping by!

Crabby Crustacean

Good morning to you my friends.  I'm playing along with a challenge at Addicted to CAS that was brought to me by my dear friend Darlene from Dar's Crafty Creations.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I am extremely challenged when it comes to clean and simple designs.  I just can't seem to stop myself from adding that next element to my cards.  So with that said, here's what I came up with for the challenge, where the code word is "Animal":

My card is probably too busy to be called CAS but hopefully it'll pass muster.  

And another stretch on this challenge is the use of the word "Animal".  This cute little Sand Crab from Elizabeth Craft Designs is a crustacean.  Does that count as an animal??  He's a living creature, right?  The Mix & Mat Confetti background from Papertrey Ink is the perfect, bubbly match when cut out of blue cardstock.

I'll give it a "go" and hope for the best.

I've added links to my team mates blogs that are playing along so you can visit them and leave them some love as well.
Darlene

Kathy
Amelia
Diane

I'll also be adding this card to the following challenges:
Addicted To CAS ~ Animal

Word Art Wednesday ~ Anything Goes
Cut It Up Challenge ~ Our Beautiful Earth

• Elizabeth Craft Designs SAND CRAB Craft Dies 1750
• 
• Price: $11.99

• Papertrey Ink MIX AND MAT CONFETTI Dies PTD-1358
• 
• Price: $12.99

• Grand Calibur Die Cutting & Embossing Machine
• 
• Price: $99.00

Thanks for stopping by!

Spring Time Wellies ~ Double D Challenge

Hello stamplings!  I'm always happy when I find ways to use up some of the printed design papers in my stash.  This challenge from Double D Challenges, Showers & Flowers gave me the perfect opportunity to do that!  

Here's the spring inspired mood board to get your creative juices flowing.

And here's my card:

I die cut the Rainboot Planter from Simon Says Stamp out of Strathmore Watercolor Paper and then colored it using Zig Clean Color Real Brush Watercolor Markers and a Spellbinders Aqua Brush.

The sentiment from Whimsy Stamps was heat embossed using white embossing powder.

Please stop by the Double D Challenge Blog for more inspiration from my talented team mates and join in on the fun!

Here's what you could win:

Thanks for stopping by!

Spring Flowers ~ DRU Challenge

Good morning everyone.  There's a new challenge starting up over at the DRU Challenge blog and this week the theme is "Spring Flowers".

I never seem to have enough cards of encouragement so I started with this wonderful verse from Hebrews 10:23 from Papertrey Ink.  

I stamped the verse in black ink and then heat embossed over that with clear embossing powder.  I cut the verse out using an Elizabeth Craft Designs Stitched Oval.  For the lattice background, I cut two Picket Tall Curve Borders from Poppystamps out of light blue cardstock and layered them over the same color cardstock panel.  I placed the stamped oval over the center and added the pretty greens from Poppystamps Adriana Tall Curve Border.  

I cut several flowers from Elizabeth Craft Designs Bunch of Flowers 4 out of yellow cardstock and molded them on a molding mat using a round ball stylus.  I adhered them to the green leaves and added white candy dots to the centers. 

Please be sure to visit the Dies R Us challenge

to see all the fun and fabulous creations from my talented

teamies and while you're there...join in on the fun with us!

I also wanted to remind you that Dies R Us now has a sister store with warehouses in the USA and Canada called Didi Crafts.  They have Marianne Designs dies in their store all the time!

They will ship to both the US and Canada.  Didi Crafts will carry some of the same products as DRU, but most will be different.  Now our Canadian friends don't have to worry about huge taxes or shipping fees. How great is that!?!  We'd love for you to visit by clicking on the links above or by clicking here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Singing With The Birds

Good morning friends.  We recently got more snow, which laid a heavy blanket on the spring flowers that were coming up in my flower gardens.  Thankfully, it's almost all melted as I write up this blog post.  

I enjoyed coloring this sweet Pure Innocence image called "Season's Tweetings" from My Favorite Things using the colors from their most recent challenge.  This stamp is discontinued but will always be one of my favorites.

My Favorite Things ~ Color Challenge

I'll also be entering this card into the following challenges:

Word Art Wednesday ~ Anything Goes

Christmas Kickstart Challenge ~ Create a Winter Wonderland Scene

Thanks for stopping by!

Hippity Hoppity Easter's On It's Way!

Good morning stamplings~  How are you doing dealing with all this social isolation and mandatory time out at home?  I confess that it's been harder on me than I originally thought it would be, but thanks to my sweet friends and design team mates from Double D's Challenges, they've lifted my spirits and brightened my outlook.   I've been spending way too much time sitting on the couch watching waaaayyyy too much news.  So my dear friend Darlene from Dar's Crafty Creations challenged me to get off the couch and get crafty.  

Many All of my team mates from Double D's Challenge has joined in on a challenge going on over at Cut It Up, this is a new challenge blog for me and one I think I'll be visiting more often.  The challenge is to follow the theme and be sure to use  a die cut.  We all have lots of those, right?

I've had these Sizzix Bunny Hop dies sitting in my pile of NBUS just begging to be used.  I love the playful, dancing images of these darling bunnies and paired with the Funky Foliage dies, they're a match made in heaven.

Don't these bunnies just make your heart glad?  The over sized Easter egg is from Memory Box Half Dozen Eggs.  I added a bow to each of these fine fella's from Lil' Inkers Bunnies & Bows.  The grass is cut using Elizabeth Craft Designs Adventure Edges and everything is framed using Elizabeth Craft Designs Stitched Rectangles.

I hope you're staying well and keeping a healthy outlook during this difficult time in our world.  It will pass eventually and never again will I take for granted, the freedom to visit friends and family and the ability to take a deep breath.  Nor will I ever forget the gift of friendship to lift my spirits.  

Below are links so you can visit each of my friends blogs to see their creations for this challenge:

Darlene
Donna
Vicki
Amelia
Diane
Annie
Kathy
Judy
Barbara

I'll also be adding one of these cards to the following challenges:

Word Art Wednesday ~ Anything Goes
The Library Challenge ~ Egg Drop

Simon Says Monday Challenge ~ Add Texture


Below is a list of products I used:
Tim Holtz Sizzix BUNNY HOP Thinlits Die Set 664421

• 
• Price: $16.99

• Sizzix - Tim Holtz - Thinlits Die - Bunny Hop
• 
• Price: $16.14

• Tim Holtz Sizzix FUNKY FOLIAGE Thinlits Die Set 663087
• 
• Price: $19.99

• Sizzix - Tim Holtz - Alterations Collection - Thinlits Die - Funky Festive and Funky Foliage Bundle
• 
• Price: $37.99

• Memory Box HALF A DOZEN EGGS Open Studio Craft Die 30072
• 
• Price: $20.99

• Elizabeth Craft Designs ADVENTURE EDGES Craft Die 1388
• 
• Price: $13.95

• Grand Calibur Die Cutting & Embossing Machine
• 
• Price: $99.00

• Tim Holtz Distress OXIDE INK PAD SET OF 12 Ranger ranger114
• 
• Price: $71.99

• Ranger Ink - Tim Holtz- Distress Oxide Ink Pads - (1) Random Selection
• 
• Price: $5.69

Thanks for stopping by!