The 12 Kits of Occasions--February 2014

Welcome back for another edition of The 12 Kits of Occasions!  This month's kit was provided by Renee, and as you can probably tell from the beautiful graphic above (courtesy of Kara), our theme is everything SNOW!

Life certainly hasn't slowed down around here in the month since I last posted, but I snuck into my craft room just long enough to make 3 cards with the kit.  Like Renee, I adore the papers from Crate Paper's Bundled Up, so this kit is sure to see more love in the future.

I made a beeline for the teal chevron patterned paper as soon as I unpacked my kit.  This is such a fantastic winter color, and it pairs beautifully with the glittered silver snowflakes.

Renee included some darling die cut snowmen, so I pieced one together and popped him up on a tag.  The kit came with lovely red satin ribbon, but I wound up using some red twill from my stash because it seemed to fit the playful feel of the card a little better.

I don't often do pink and sparkles together, but I had a lot of fun combining them on my last card!

Stop by and say hello to our Guest Designer this month, Judy Marino, then be sure to visit the rest of the 12 Kits crew to see the magic they've worked with their supplies:

Cathy Weber
http://emptynestcrafter.blogspot.com

Jeanne Jachna

http://akeptlife.blogspot.com

Jessica Davis

http://thepaperparade.blogspot.com

Joyce Mehrberg

http://cards-by-the-sea.blogspot.com

Kara {kandrdesigns}

http://kandrdesigns.blogspot.com

Kelly Schirmer

http://ginghamgirlsadventures.blogspot.com

Kim Heggins

http://cupcakescardsandkim.blogspot.com

Marybeth Lopez

http://marybethstimeforpaper.blogspot.com

Renee Lynch

http://itsapatchworklife.blogspot.com

Sharron Gregory

http://onpapillonwings.blogspot.com

Tracey McNeely

http://inmycreativeopinion.blogspot.com

Thanks for stopping by today!

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge--Sweet Snowflakes

We have some sweet inspiration for you this week at the Curtain Call, as well as a wonderful sponsor and a couple of special guest designers.

photo credit:  akeptlife.blogspot.com

Our generous sponsor for the Sweet Snowflakes challenge is Uniko Studio, and they are offering a gift certificate to the LEAD for this week's challenge.

The Curtain Call Crew was fortunate enough to get to work with Uniko Studio's Stunning Snowflakes stamp set.  This is my first set from Uniko Studio, and I was impressed with the high quality of the stamps themselves as well as the sturdy DVD case they came in.  Many thanks to Beverley for sharing this set with us!

I pulled the aqua, kraft, and white from the photo for my card.  The kraft card base is stamped with the smaller snowflakes in white ink, with some dots of white gel pen in the empty spaces.

For the white panel, I die cut the bottom edge before stamping the sentiment, then added the trio of snowflakes in Pool Party ink.  After adding some texture to the panel with an impression plate, I stitched from each snowflake to the top edge, pulling the threads through to the front above the biggest snowflake to tie a tiny bow.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 (Kraft, White), Stampin' Up! (Pool Party)

Stamps:  Uniko Studio (Stunning Snowflakes)

Ink:  WPlus9 (White), Stampin' Up! (Pool Party, Chocolate Chip), white gel pen

Tools:  My Favorite Things (Die-namics LJD Bracket Edge Duo), Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas impression plate)

Other:  thread, gems

As promised, we have two fabulous guest designers in addition to the Curtain Call Crew sharing inspiration today:

Beverley Brown, Uniko Studio

Amy Wanford, Guest Designer

Amber Kroening

Barb Murphy

Christina MacLaren

Gayatri Murali

Kim Singdahlsen

Laurie Willison

Marisa Ritzen

Maureen Plut

Monika Davis

Sheri Gilson

Stacey Schafer

Tenia Nelson

Tracey McNeely

I hope you'll join us for this week's challenge!  Thanks for stopping by today.

Cloud9 Blog Hop--December

Hey there!  I hope you're having a great weekend.  My daughter performed in a holiday dance recital yesterday, so we're definitely getting into the Christmas spirit around here.  :)

The December Cloud9 Blog Hop is live, and it should inspire some holiday spirit as well!  These photos, featured at Design for Mankind, are the jumping-off point for our creations this month:

Photo found HERE

Photo found HERE

My eye was immediately drawn to the bold red and cream sofa in the first photo.  My card is a fairly literal interpretation.  I stamped images from Folk Art Flurries onto a rustic cream card base and adorned some of the snowflakes with clear gems.

The sentiment comes from Poinsettia Patterns, and I decided to ground it with two strips of Cupid's Bow cardstock.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Rustic Cream), WPlus9 Design Studio (Cupid's Bow)

Stamps:  WPlus9 Design Studio (Folk Art Flurries, Poinsettia Patterns)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Real Red)

Accessories:  Michael's (rhinestones)

We hope you'll link up your creation with us at the Cloud9 Blog for a chance to be a Guest Designer next month!

Thanks for stopping by today!

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps--Let it Snow!

Hello!  I hope you're having a great week!  It's crazy busy around here and I haven't been near my craft table in days, but I do have a card to share with you.  :)

This festive card is being featured over at the CAS-ual Fridays Stamps blog today, too.  I used the recently released Snowflake Greetings set.  The snowflakes were inked up in Real Red and Lucky Limeade, and I stamped off occasionally to add the lighter shades, which give it some depth.

I scored three lines under the sentiment, and I was tempted to add some bling but decided against it.  I love how this turned out, and even better that it's flat for mailing.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  CAS-ual Fridays Stamps (Snowflake Greetings)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Real Red, Lucky Limeade)

Tool:  Martha Stewart Crafts (Scoring Board)

Once again I'm frustrated with Blogger for making my photos look so dark.  They're nice and bright in Photobucket!  But hopefully you get the idea.  :)

Sorry to be so quiet lately, but that's just the way life is going these days.  Thank you so much for continuing to visit and comment!

CAS-ual Fridays #79--Winter Blues

Hooray!  The new release from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps is finally here!  I've been having a ball with these holiday stamps, and there's more inspiration to come from all of the Girl Fridays over the next few weeks.  You won't want to miss any of it!

This week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge is Winter Blues:  create a winter themed project using blue.  You definitely don't have to twist my arm to do that!  *smile*

The Girl Fridays are using images and sentiments from CAS-ual Fridays Stamps new release, but you are welcome to use any stamps for the challenge.

I decided to work with Snowflake Greetings, which has several sentiments that I absolutely adore.  I pulled out my Stampin' Up! inks in Midnight Muse, Not Quite Navy, and Baja Breeze and stamped the left edge of my card randomly with different snowflakes from the set.

I stamped the sentiment onto a white panel before adding some texture with an impression plate, then stitched the edge and popped it up with foam dots.  A few clear gems add a touch of sparkle.

Cardstock:  WPlus9 Design Studio (White)

Stamps:  CAS-ual Fridays Stamps (Snowflake Greetings)

Ink:  Stampin' Up! (Midnight Muse, Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze)

Tools:  Papertrey Ink (Linen & Canvas impression plate), corner rounder

Accessories:  thread, gems

I especially love those dainty little flakes, don't you?

You could win some of the new stamps for yourself just by playing along in this week's challenge, so what are you waiting for?  :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Enjoy your Friday!

Card Patterns sketch #147--Sponsored by DRS Designs

Hello, friends!  Thanks so much for all of our wonderful comments and congratulations over the last few days.  You really make a girl feel special.  *grin*

I'm here to share my debut creation as a Design Team member for Card Patterns, and I tried to go outside my comfort zone with this one.  Our sponsor this week is DRS Designs, and they generously provided rubber stamps for the DT to use on their cards.

Here is this week's sketch:

I chose to use a beautiful little stamp called Swirling Snowflakes.  Those tiny flakes are wonderfully detailed.  I decided to create a background by spraying white cardstock with turquoise glimmer mist.  I then stamped and heat embossed the snowflakes repeatedly across the panel.  It's really pretty and shimmery in person.

The panel was stitched to a white cardstock mat and adhered to a Royal Velvet card base.  For the sentiment, I used Doodlebug Alphabet stamps to heat emboss "Brrr!" on a strip of purple cardstock, then tied some silver ribbon around the end.  

Finally, I punched four snowflakes from vellum, added silver pearls to the centers, and adhered them to the card.

Cardstock:  Papertrey Ink (Royal Velvet, white), vellum

Stamps:  DRS Designs (Swirling Snowflakes), Hampton Art (Doodlebug Alphabet)

Ink:  Versamark, Tattered Angels (Peacock)

Tools:  Martha Stewart Crafts (snowflake punch)

Accessories:  Filigree (embossing powder), Michaels (silver pearls), silver ribbon, thread

I forgot to take a picture of it, but the inside of the card reads "Let's snuggle!"  If it ever snows here, I might give it to my hubby.

I'd love to see your take on the sketch this week!  Be sure to drop by the Card Patterns blog to be inspired by the rest of the Design Team and get all the details on this week's challenge.

Thanks for stopping by today!