The Twelve Kits of Christmas: July

Wow, it's almost the first of August! For a few early birds it's also back to school time and it's not far away for the others. But today is time for another 12 Kits of Christmas reveal party! If you're not familiar with how our little group got started, you can visit HERE to find out a little more about us. This month's hostess is Christina. And below is the photo taken by Kara of all the awesome goodies she sent.

PHOTO BY KARA

The first thing that caught my eye were the bird die cuts. LOVE birds!! I have to admit I already have that die but it is one of my favorites. I kind of cheated and cut out another red bird instead of using the black one. He will be saved for another day! I always lay all the supplies out on the table before starting on even one card. Since my craft space is small, I take everything down to the dining room. I knew the second I looked at the kit that these were going to be the magical self-assembling kind of cards. They were such fun to work with! Thanks, Christina--I've loved your kit! These first two cards were made entirely with kit supplies, except for the tiny pearls for the bird eyes.

Wish I could enlarge this but horizontal pictures go off the page. Just click for a better view.

There were oodles of gorgeous papers with lots of patterns to mix and match. Love the colors too!

For this card, I used PTI's Mat Stack #3 die to cut an opening in the patterned paper. Christina had already stamped the poinsettia on red cardstock. I cut it out and used pearls that I colored with a Copic marker in the center. I tucked one corner inside and used foam tape in several places to pop it up and give more dimension. Not sure if I like it tucked in. If I were to do it over, I think I might leave all the petals on the outside. Gorgeous flower though--it's from Big Bloom Poinsettia by Waltzingmouse.

My last card is a style I don't usually do. For this one, I used two of the paper squares and cut up patterns to make a collage. Loved using the pretty red satin ribbon! A bit of twine tied on a gold jingle bell that I had in my stash.

AND THERE'S MORE!! We've added a new feature to our monthly reveal. Since we always end up with extra supplies from each month, we've been planning to CASE each other. But you know how that goes! We get busy with the new stuff and forget about our growing stash of Christmas goodies! SO as a way to encourage us to get those supplies out, we will be showing you one or more cards each month that we have made based on earlier entries. Renee was so sweet and posted the prior ones on Pinterest! 

Then it was time to choose and boy, that's hard! There were so many I wanted to make. I started with two but only got this one done! It is from a card Kara made in March.  HERE is a link to her post. I loved the chocolate brown and cream but  chose a different patterned paper (Chocolate Remix by PTI). So the card would have a more masculine look, I used twine (left over from this month's kit) and some green buttons that were in Suzanne's original March kit. I also used one of the die cuts from the Banner Borders set by PTI. Going with the nature theme, I added a little squirrel from In the Meadow stamp set, also by PTI.

Thanks for the inspiration, Kara! I'm always amazed at all the wonderful ideas people come up with each month. And we never end up doing the exact same designs either! Well, you'll want to go visit all the other blogs. I do too--that's probably the most exciting part of being part of the 12 Kits group!

Enjoy the hop! We'll all be back again on the first of September! All the kiddos will be back in school-- and the weather will be cooler--I HOPE!

HUGS,

Sharron

Renee {It's a Patchwork Life}

Suzanne {The Card Yard}

Cathy {Empty Nest Crafter}

Joyce {Cards-by-the-Sea}

Kim {Cupcakes Cards and Kim}

Kara {KandRDesigns}

Sharron {On Papillon Wings}

Marybeth {Marybeth's Time for Paper}

Jeanne {A Kept Life}

Jessica {The Paper Parade}

Christina {Sea Glass & Sentiments}--July Hostess

Supplies in Christina's Kit

Stamps: Big Bloom Poinsettia; Vintage Labels 18 (WMS); Big Pine Bough (Hero Arts); Holiday Words--Tree (Inkadinkadoo); Candy Cane Stripes-Retro Christmas (Practicing Creativity); Poinsettia Patterns, Winter Wishes (WPlus9; Fresh Alphabet, Signature Christmas (PTI)

Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Old Olive (Stampin' Up); Vintage Cream (PTI)

Patterned Paper: Wonder (Authentique)

Dies: Labels 18 (Spellbinders); Perched Reed Bird, Twigs & Berries (Memory Box

Additional: Ivory Seam Binding (Etsy); Red Satin and Olive Stitched Ribbon (AC Moore); Twine (May Arts); Twinkle Goosebumps, Pearls (Queen and Co.); Paper Leaves (Bazzill)

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #107

Hi all! I missed last week's sketch :( ! I hate when that happens. Check out this week's challenge information and additional entries here. The sketch is by another of the super talented Mischief Makers, Tosha Leyendekker. I decided on a winter theme to hopefully help me forget about the heat! One of my very favorite sets is Sewing Box-Christmas and I opted to use the little snowman! Isn't he cute and he also worked so perfectly with this patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket. I debossed a strip of Vintage Cream cardstock and because the background paper had little red dots in the pattern, I punched some from matching red paper and glued them over the snowflakes. 

Thanks so much for coming by to take a peek! Have a wonderful weekend!

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Sewing Box-Christmas (WMS)

Cardstock: Pinefeather, Vintage Cream (PTI)

Patterned Paper: Dear Mr. Claus (Cosmo Cricket)

Additional: Oval Dies (PTI); Snowflake Embossing Folder (QuikKutz); Corner Rounder (EK Success); Ribbon (Stash); Black Pearls (Queen and Co.)

CAS -ual Fridays Challenge #62: Back in Black

I'm not even going to tell you how long it has been since I've done a Cas-ual Friday challenge! But I have loved looking at all the CAS entries and decided I needed to give it try again. This one uses a black base! I just received my first order from Lil' Inker not very long again so here's my card using the sun image. LOVE their stamps and dies!!

I use this embossing folder a lot. It seems to work for so many things. And for the strip across the top I tried white, different shades of yellow and blue but decided the soft gray looked best. The velvet cardstock I have had for ages. Love the texture and the weight is fabulous for popping up the sun. The rain dot was a perfect fit and I colored two pearls with Copics to place by the sentiment.

We are still staying inside most of the time as the 100 degree days continue. There is a chance of rain for tomorrow but the temperatures aren't expected to drop much for quite a while. I want to work on some more cards so will try to have another post soon!

SMILES,MILES

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Sun Sentiments (Lil' Inker Designs)

Cardstock: True Black, Lemon Tart, Soft Stone (PTI); Bumblebee Crushed Velvet (Doodlebug Design)

Dies: Large Sunshine Die (Lil' Inker Designs)

Additional: Stripes Label Embossing Folder (Life Style), Clear Rain Dots (Cloud 9 Designs), Pearls (Recollections), Copics

Waltzingmouse July Blop Party

THEME: THE GREAT OUTDOORS

It's the 17th and time for another WMS Blog Party! And the theme this month is one so appropriate for summer--time to vacation, relax and enjoy the wonders of nature. While I love my garden, my favorite outdoor activity is birdwatching! Whether it's looking out the window at the bird feeders or planning trips where we can except to see new birds, my hubby and I consider this a major feature in our lives. There are lots of bird stamps--including nests, eggs and houses, but I hadn't seen an actual birdwatching image until recently. I think she is so adorable! So I used Teeny Trees and one of Claire's awesome sentiments to create this card. Oh, and a cloud made with my new Lil' Inker die!

I'm posting a little later than usual but we spent the day outside with lawn and home repair projects. Not exactly an enjoyable way to spend time outdoors when the temperature is over 100 degrees! It's still 99 now and it's almost 9:00 pm!!

Be sure to visit all the wonderful blogs (just click HERE) for lots of inspiring illustrations of ways people celebrate the great outdoors. You also still have time to post a creation of your own. And you might even win a free Waltzingmouse stamp set!

Hope you enjoy the hop!!

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Teeny Trees, Say It Loud (WMS); Birdwatching (A Day for Daisies Digitals)

Cardstock: Spring Moss, Stamper's Select White (PTI); Blue (Bazzill)

Dies: Rainbows and Clouds (Lil' Inker Designs)
Additional: Memento Inks (Nautical Blue, Bamboo Leaves, Rich Cocoa); Copics

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #105

I had no internet access part of yesterday and this morning! Luckily it got fixed in time for me to post my card for this week's WMSC! We have another wonderful sketch from Teresa Kline. Love how easy it is to work with! I adore this paper from Graphic 45 and it goes so well with French Country! The base polka dot paper is from the Fashionista Collection and the others are from the Domestic Goddess Collection. For the teapot, which is from PTI, I stamped off once to create a more muted tone and stamped the smallest rooster on top. The sentiment is from the Frame-It set with a wee flower from French Country. Had to use the wonderful border stamp too so used that for the horizontal strip.

This will be wonderful to send to one of my tea drinking friends! I am pretty much a coffee addict myself!

Hope you're having a fabby week!

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: French Country, Frame-It (WMS); Tea for Two (PTI)
Cardstock: Fine Linen (PTI); Unk Color of Red (Bazzill)
Patterned Paper: Graphic 45 (Fashionista Collection and Domestic Goddess Collection)
Additional: Scalloped Circles Dies (Spellbinders); Tea for Two Die (PTI); Memento Ink

Cloud 9 Blop Hop-July

There's an exciting new blog hop starting today over at the Cloud 9 blog! It was created by the very talented Suzanne Dahlberg. I first met Suzanne through the 12 Kits of Christmas group and just love visiting her blog--talk about oozing with inspiration! I was so glad when she posted the information about the Cloud 9 blog because it was just after I received my first WPlus9 order. I now have two stamp sets and some dies and know I will be ordering more. Below is the inspiration photo Suzanne provided for this month's challenge.

As I said, I don't have a lot of stamps yet so decided to go with the colors and this embossing folder that ever so slightly reminds me of the grass-llke table skirt. But the picture looks like a celebration so I thought stars and fireworks might be in order. This Echo Park paper had the perfect colors! And I love this pocket set--so great for many occasions!!

Be sure to visit the Cloud 9 blog and learn more about the new monthly hops. There is still time to enter this one too!

Thanks for letting me share! 

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: A Pocketful (WPlus9)

Cardstock: Summer Sunrise, Stamper's Select White (PTI); Cream and Sugar (Coredinations); Unk Aqua

Patterned Paper: Summer Fabrics (Digital Paper by Gina K); Paradise Beach (Echo Park)

Additional: Rhinestones (Queen and Co.); Copic Y17; Gold Gelly Roll Pen; Rich Cocoa and Morocco Ink (Memento); Stripes Label Embossing Folder (Lifestyle)

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #104

Another fabulous WM sketch and this week it was contributed by Teresa Kline, one of the very talented Mischief Makers. I used all the elements in the sketch but altered it a bit so I could feature this cool ribbon. I found it in a store that I never would have thought would be carrying ribbon and thought it would be a perfect addition for a card using the 'you're the bee's knees' sentiment! I added one of the bees from Lil' Buddies. His wings have some glitter added but it might be hard to see in the photo. It also gave me a chance to use my new hexagon dies from My Favorite Things.

Be sure to check all the samples and entries over at the WM Sketch blog. There is a lot of particularly wonderful inspiration this week!

We are still roasting here in Kansas! This is the eleventh day the temperature has been in the triple digits. It means we spent a fair amount of each morning watering plants. Thank goodness for air conditioning though! It is supposed to be cooler next week so we're keeping our fingers crossed!!

Hope the weather is cooler wherever you are. Have a great weekend!

Smiles,

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Lil' Buddies, Compact Sentiments-Part 2 (WMS)

Cardstock: Oatmeal (WPlus9); Aqua Mist, Harvest Gold, Smoky Shadow (PTI)

Patterned Paper: It's Raining, It's Pouring Collection (PiggyTales); Savannah River Walk (Scenic Route)

Additional: Ribbon (May Arts); Hexagon Dies (MFT); Oval Dies (PTI); Copics; AtYouSpica pen (clear)