Citrus Throwdown

This week, Susie’s Color Throwdown  will make you want to pucker up…Yellow, green, and white!

I chose a citrus theme using The Greetery’s “Lemon Blossom” set…

I created my background with The Greetery’s stunning “Leaves All Around” stencil set. It’s perfect no matter what color scheme you choose, or what you place in the center!

Come play along with this summery set of colors. Thanks for stopping by! 💛

12 Kits of Occasions: Love is in the Air!

This month at the 12 Kits of Occasions, Michelle Leone of Pretty Periwinkle is our hostess, with the most lovely supplies, in beautiful pastel hues, ready for all of the celebrations that summer brings!

I created this card first featuring florals from PinkFresh Studio and a sentiment from The Greetery...

Added gorgeous iridescent sequins and a botanical butterfly from the patterned paper that was sent!

Up next, a sweet tag with a bouquet from The Stamp Market...

Michelle did so much gorgeous stamping and gold embossing for us, so putting this tag together was a breeze. Added a stamped vellum layer using The Stamp Market’s “Dot Dot Dot.”

Lastly, a beautiful butterfly and sentiment banner from The Stamp Market paired with a stamped background and cut flowers from The Greetery!

More lovely sequins, and I am loving the background stamped in Michelle’s signature periwinkle!

Be sure to visit the 12 Kits of Occasions blog to see the Design Team’s wonderful creations with this kit! Thanks SO much to Michelle for spoiling us with so much craft goodness, enough to last for the summer and beyond! 💜

May 2020 12 Kits of Occasions

This month at the 12 Kits of Occasions Blog, Marcia Hill was our hostess and she sent the most adorable kit entitled “April Showers Bring May Flowers!” She challenged us to make our blogs bloom with life and flowers and COLOR!

First, my eyes went right to this adorable Stampingbella “Bundle Girl with a Snowdrop” and the amazing gingham paper!

I colored her with Zig Clean Color and Tombow markers and added a sentiment from Lawn Fawn’s “Hello Friend” set.

I added lots of Stickles and Wink of Stella Stardust pen details, because she reminded me of a sweet little garden fairy! Oh, and some Glossy Accents to her blue galoshes!

Next up is this gorgeous patterned paper with the beautiful tulip bouquet in a Mason jar! It is from a set called “Mandy’s Flowers” by Simon Says Stamp. Again I colored with Zig and Tombow markers. I added a mini paper bow from Mama Elephant, one of the “Simple Little Tags” from Memory Box and a sentiment from WPlus9 Studio.

Last up is this gorgeous silver embossed floral image that Marcia sent. It is called “First Blush” by Penny Black...

I colored the image with Copic markers then cut it out with this “HBD” birthday die from The Stamp Market. I added a Memory Box Branch die cut and a little birdie from a past kit that I colored with Copics, too.

I added lots of Nuvo Glitter Paste in “Moonstone” on the flowers and the bird, and embossed PTI’s Hawaiian Shores” cardstock with Stampin Up’s “Subtle” 3D embossing folder.

Thank you SO much to Marcia for sharing these gorgeous papers, die cuts, and florals with us this month! Made my heart so happy sitting in my crafting room in the sunshine! Thanks to all for stopping by today! ❤️

A Very Special Blog Hop

Our little blog family at The 12 Kits of Occasions has experienced the incredibly difficult loss of one of the first members, and we are honoring her memory today.

Sharron Gregory of “On Papillon Wings” passed away on March 30, and our hearts are broken for her husband, family, and friends.

I “met” Sharron through visits to her blog on Papertrey Ink and Waltzingmouse Stamps blog hops way back toward their beginnings. She always made such beautiful creations and left the kindest comments on my own cards, as well. We were together on The 12 Kits of Occasions when I was a member several years ago, and when I returned this year. She was such a warm and generous presence on our team, offering kindness, prayers, and inspiration to us all whenever it was needed.

We are making friendship cards today to honor Sharron, and I chose butterflies from Papertrey Ink’s “Love Lives Here.” Sharron loved them and her sweet Papillon dogs, too!

I added details along the edges by using Penny Black’s (maker of her favorite hedgehog stamps!) “Leaf Stitched Frames” dies, and PTI’s “Stitch in Time Borders” stamps and dies.

This sentiment from PTI’s “Kindness Counts” reminded me perfectly of Sharron.

I will think of Sharron this spring when I see the butterflies. I feel blessed to have met her in this papercrafting world that brings people together in the most unique ways. I’ll think of her during this time when so many in the world are hurting, and will be inspired by her kind heart...and hopefully find ways to bring a smile to others’ faces in her honor. ❤️

12 Kits of Occasions-Crafty Friends!

I am so pleased to be back creating with the wonderful team at The 12 Kits of Occasions!! This month, the lovely Jeanne Jachna was the hostess, and she created an incredible kit full of supplies for all of the crafty friends in our lives!

Up first is this sweet girl from My Favorite Things “You Color My World,”

I colored her with Karin Markers and made her have a bit of a tie dye shirt! Added some beautiful rainbow patterned paper from the American Crafts “ Vicki Boutin Kaleidoscope Collection” in a Hero Arts “Wood Frame Infinity Die,” and a little heart topped with Glossy Accents. The background cardstock is PTI’s Soft Stone, which really made the rainbow colors pop!

Next up, one of the sweet “Crafty Critters” from Reverse Confetti...

Of course a zebra would choose To make polka-dotted artwork (?!) This patterned paper was my starting point, and I added paintbrushes “dripping” with Glossy Accents “paint” to coordinate with the dots.

I used more Glossy Accents on the zebra’s accessories, and glitzed up his stripes with some Sakura Stardust pen.

Last was a mini card that took on a life of its own...

I used these cute “Little Painters” mice from Waffle Flower and added the paint tube and brush to their tiny little hands, and just look at what they created!

Used splatter images from my stash and decorated this Reverse Confetti tag, as well as the “crafty” die cut sentiment from Concord & 9th, with pale gray stripes. Lots of Nuvo Drops became the “paint!”

Thanks SO much to Jeanne for this amazing kit! To see what all of the 12 Kits of Occasions Designers created, as well as a supply list with all of this month’s items, head to the blog HERE! Thanks so much for stopping by!

12 Kits of Occasions with Jeanne Jachna

I was thrilled when Jeanne Jachna asked if I would like to be a guest at the The 12 Kits of Occasions this month! Of course, she sent the most AMAZING kit called "Good Fortune" with gorgeous papers, images, dies cuts, and embellishments inspired by Asian culture, architecture, food, and design!

Up first are the adorable ladies from Julie Ebersole's "So Matcha" set, available at Ellen Hutson.

I colored the ladies with Copics, then added some Wink of Stella accents and gems to their hair.

Also, some Glossy Accents to the teapot and Stickles to the fan. For the background, I used the lovely Chinese Landscape die cut and patterned paper from the PhotoPlay "Paper Crane" collection.

Next up, is a sweet, little guy from My Favorite Things "Ninja--mazing" set.

I colored him with Copics and added Papertrey Ink's Sunshine stencil in the background, coated in Stickles.

Loved how Little Ninja's Chinese star matched that PhotoPlay patterned paper!

My last card was created using a fun technique that Betsy Veldman posted on her blog this week called Watercolor & Salt Backgrounds.

I didn't know this lovely die was a moon (thought it was a tree scene!), but it ended up working perfectly for the sentiment from PTI's Guiding Light set that I had stamped! The die is from Hero Arts, and it's called "Cloudy Moon."

The background is made by coloring Kosher salt (I colored them with liquid watercolors), dropping the salt on a piece of watercolor paper that's already painted with watercolors (and still wet), then brushing it off when it's all dry. Fun texture and colored speckles are left behind!

I adhered sparkly gems to a Kaisercraft wood veneer lantern, and used gold thread to hang it from the clouds 🙂!

This gorgeous thick, textured paper that Jeanne sent was perfect for this technique. This might be my favorite card of the set.

Thanks SO MUCH to Jeanne and the 12 Kits Design Team for letting me play along! Always inspired by this team of incredibly kind, generous, and talented ladies! 💗

12 Kits with Marybeth!

This month at 12 Kits of Occasions, it was Marybeth's turn to be the hostess, and this West Coast girl treated us to a delicious "Song of the South" kit!  She had me at the first peek of gingham!

Up first, I decided to tackle Laura Bassen's double partial die cut technique for PTI's Make It Monday. This card took me like 12 tries, and FOREVER to get the final design, hee!  Laura makes it look so easy!  I found it was best if I cut the rectangle first, then placed the "hello" sentiment.  I had tried using the Headline Alphabet to spell "herd" and "moo" and that didn't work out.   Also, my Cuttlebug has very warped plates which is bad for lining things up for this technique.  So I went to my Grand Calibur with flatter, longer plates, and a single word die, and had more success.

The sentiment is from "Friends 'til the End."  Don't look to close, those edges are a little sketchy and somehow the "O" broke loose from the paper while it was in the machine! :)

The patterned papers that Marybeth sent were SO gorgeous and this rooster image was my absolute favorite!

I used PTI's Hexagon cover plate to cut the papers for the background and a sentiment from Waltzingmouse Stamps "French Country."

Cut the rooster out with the largest label from the Small Labels Nestabilities set, and added silver brads at the corners.

Last is a sweet scene with PTI's new Scene It: Skyscapes dies and a krafty rooster cut with the "On the Farm" dies...

I cut the hills with the Stitched Hills dies from Lawn Fawn, and the sentiment is also from WMS "French Country."

Underneath the scene is black cardstock embossed with a Cuttlebug Hexagon folder and then brushed over with Fresh Snow ink for a chalkboard effect.

Oh how I love this kit, and have a lot left over to make more cards!  Thanks so much to you, Marybeth, for spoiling us with so many lovely things this month!

Our special guest this month is RENEE, our original Southern Girl, back with some fun cards to share!  Also Jeanne Jachna is offering up an extra kit this month!  Just leave a comment on the 12 Kits blog HERE and a winner will be drawn in mid-April.  Don't forget to visit our Facebook page here and our Pinterest pages for inspiration, now divided by month!

12 Kits of Occasions with Sharron!

Welcome to another edition of 12 Kits of Occasions!  This month Sharron treated us to a kit filled with...BIRDS!  Flocks of them for all kinds of occasions.  We were also treated to gorgeous colorful papers, lovely foliage and oodles of die cuts.

Up first this adorable penguin from Mama Elephant.  I chose to make a shaker card...

I filled it with some white, iridescent, and silver sequins, and sugar glitter.  The circle is backed with a white piece of paper embossed with a Sizzix snowfall folder.

These sweet tall birds were my favorite thing of all in Sharron's kit.  I also loved the tiny die cut words she included.  The sentiment is from PTI's Framed Out #12 stamp set.

I looped some twine through the tags and added lots of Wink of Stella pen on the birds and mini heart.

Last just a sampling of the gorgeous die cut leaves and birds that Sharron sent.  I loved the papers SO much, especially the sky papers.  Added a PTI picket fence and thought the whole peaceful scene would be perfect with this sentiment from Waltzingmouse Stamps "Fine Feathers" set.

If you have visited the 12 Kits Blog you will see that we are so excited to have Michele Ferguson of "I Card Everyone" as our newest member!  She is an amazing stamper, and we are so lucky that she joined us!  ...AND a wonderful guest stamper this month, TOO!...be sure to stop by to see Taunya Butler of "Daisies Girl."

12 Kits of Occasions...My Kit!

Finally here with my 12 Kits projects!  We dealt with a round of this weird mini flu/general malaise feeling...then Eva with another round of the stomach bug, a greater than normal number of reports for work, and a complete computer breakdown.  The kids are having Wi-Fi withdrawal as the modem in the house is broken.  Frontier said they are sending a new one via UPS that didn't arrive on Friday like they projected.  We are set to get 7-11 more inches of snow to add to the 15 or so we had last Monday!  Thinking it won't even show up until later this week.   After some trips up to the local McDonald's to use their Wi-fi, Jason figured out how to turn my phone into a "Wi-fi" hotspot, who knew?  So now at least I can upload pictures...oh yeah, and send in reports to work! Hmm which was first on my list?

It was my turn to send kits this month, and the theme was "Hello."  So I found this adorable paper from Pebbles called "Happy Day."  There was actually a sheet of "Hello" paper in it, and I thought the rest of the elements would be perfect for this theme.

Up first, an adorable sentiment from Lawn Fawn's "Hello Friend" set.

Added a Studio Calico wood veneer plane that I painted it white.  The happy clouds are from Lawn Fawn's "Hello Sunshine" stamp set.

Next a Lawn Fawn "hello" die cut with some WPlus9 Fresh Cut Florals that went perfectly with the patterned paper...

I love the bright royal blue color in these patterned papers!  A color I typically wouldn't choose on its own, but it's so pretty paired with the other colors in the pad.

I used some sweet birdies and heart balloons from Lawn Fawn's "Hello Sunshine" set cut with coordinating dies.  The sentiment is another from "Hello Friend."   The circle balloosn are actually large acrylic dot stickers made by Pebbles to go with the "Happy Day" papers, so I shined up the heart balloons with some Glossy Accents.  The Stitched Hills are another fun die from Lawn Fawn.  They frame and insert are cut with a Papertrey Ink die.  The birds are colored with Copics and their tails are glittered up by a Wink of Stella pen.

The coffee cup paper might be my fave sheet of all.  I made a gift card holder using the Waltzingmouse Stamps folded tag, as you can always give a Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, or Tim Horton's card as a quick gift!

The inside is stamped with a sentiment from "Hello Friend" and the coffee cup from Lawn Fawn's "Love You a Latte."

If you haven't visited yet,  be sure to head over to the 12 Kits of Occasions blog to see the projects, as well as the links to our two guest designers this month...  Karen and Michelle!