Fusion Challenge

Fusion is celebrating their 2nd Year of wonderful challenges. And everyone is invited to the party! Check their blog to see lots of inspiration from designers and their guests. And doesn't this fabulous photo below make you want to join the party!

I started by embossing some white cardstock with a Lifestyle Embossing Folder called Zigzag. After watercoloring a piece of watercolor paper with yellows, I used an Avery Elle Chevron Die (not shown in the store anymore) and used just the arrow pieces. The top papers are vellum. The oval is a die cut from PTI's Limited Layers and the cake was stamped and fussy cut. Cake and sentiment are from Verve's Big Wish. The sequins are from Lucy's Little Things Muted Metallics.

The cake was embossed in white and colored with Zig Clean Color markers. The sentiment is embossed in gold but I never can get the shiny gold to photograph well. It does look wonderful in real life though!

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Thanks for dropping by,

Sharron

A Couple of Challenge Cards to Post Before the Year Ends

I've had these two cards done for a while but just didn't get them posted. The first was a Christmas card for a special friend and the second was my hubby's birthday card for a couple of days after Christmas.

I knew the instant I saw the Fusion Challenge inspiration that I would use my PTI Winter Woods set. Nichole designed a trio of birds in Charley Harper style. And I absolutely love them! The only problem now is wishing Nichole would design more birds in the same style! The background is embossed with a Sizzix snowflake folder, the oval is Lil' Inkers Stitched Ovals, sentiment is a PTI die cut and the patterned paper is from Cosmo Cricket. Greenery is from WPlus9's Merry & Bright and the birch trees are Avery Elle. I tried several reds for the cardinal and found the best is Avery Elle's Strawberry, a gift from a very sweet friend. I wanted the bird's head to be black with the wing/tail stamp to be a dark gray so I cut my stamp apart to stamp. 

The Freshly Made Sketches Challenge led me to this design. Guess what, a snowflake! Mine is a Memory Box Bianca Snowflake, cut from glittery paper. The embossing is a Lifestyle Snowflake pattern. I made my own sentiment which is computer generated. The cup (done in green-hubby's favorite color) is from a Christmas present set, MFT's Birdie Brown Merry Christmouse.

 And below is the inside. Stamp from the same set.

A Little Side Note:

I helped at our botanical gardens before Christmas making greenery arrangements to sell at the holiday Illuminations. There were a lot of assorted decorations to use for accents but when we started to run low I decided to make some using stamps. I used all kinds of stamps but this particular one is from MFT Birdie Brown's Santa's Elves. I bought the smallest plastic ornaments from Michaels and PTI's Tag Sale #4 fit perfectly. I just had to cut off the top tag part so we could use the more sturdy plastic one. I added artificiaI snow purchased at a local nursery. If you are ever looking for winter decorations for your home, fresh greenery works better than anything else as it will last for ages by just adding a little water to the oasis. I bought this one to bring home. It was made 3 weeks ago and is still fresh as new!

Have a safe evening if you are going to be out and about, and a very blessed New Year!!

See you next year,

Sharron

The 12 Kits of Occasions: March, featuring Spring & Easter

I feel awful that I haven't posted one thing since the last 12 Kits post. So I'm especially happy to replace my snowman cards with cards that reflect Spring. I'm sure there are many people who have had all the snow they can stand for one year!

This month our hostess is Kelly, from Gingham Girl, and she sent us this fabulous kit! (See photo below) It was chock full of bunnies and birds, a wonderful variety of flowers, Easter eggs and lots of embellishments. Way too much to list everything but one of my very favorites was the paper! It was swoon-worthy! I was tempted to hoard everything but was good and cut into some of the awesome patterns for my cards below!! You can find a list of all the supplies at The 12 Kits of Occasions blog. Be sure to click on the link to also find pictures submitted by all our members plus a special guest that Kelly invited. Karen from Crrafty Mama's Kitchen is this month's guest designer. Be sure to visit her blog to see the great ways she has used Kelly's kit. Links to all the other 12 Kits members can be found on the 12 Kits blog also.

A big thank you to Kelly for a fantastic kit and treating us to so many fantastic supplies. Loved it, Kelly! And a shout out also to Kara for taking the great photo below.

PHOTO BY KARA

Kelly also included one of my favorite ever Waltzingmouse images--the cute bunny on my first card. Since I have the Lil' Buddies set, I stamped another bunny on the polka dot paper and was able to do a little paper piecing.

I'm also entering this card in the Fusion Card Challenge. I thought the sketch was a great design for using the large egg die cut.

Wish you could see this Easter card IRL. The eggs and butterfly were brushed with clear Wink of Stella and the heart is all shiny with Glossy Accents. Some things just aren't very photogenic!

Hope you enjoy the hop! Thank you so much for stopping by,

Sharron

Fusion Card Challenge #3: Valentine

This week's Fusion Challenge gave me a chance to use more hearts and another angel from my Mama Elephant set. Every image is so adorable--makes me want to use them with everything! I've been able to stay inside while it continues to snow here. I did get out early for a doctor's appointment but luckily hubby drove. It added more than two inches while we were inside! I also got my eyes dilated--before I finished this card! Do you know how hard it is to glue a layer of white cardstock on white when everything is blurry!!

Hope everyone is staying warm!

Have a great day,

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Love from Above (Mama Elephant)

Cardstock: White (Neenah); Cupid's Bow (WPlus9)

Patterned Paper: Bitty Dots (PTI); Hexagon Pattern (Unk.); You Are My Happy (Teresa Collins)

Dies: Of the Heart (Lil' Inker); Heart String (Penny Black); Stacked Hearts (WPlus9)

Additional: Copics; Clear Glitter

At Last: A Card---Actually Two!

After a couple of weeks of being totally unable to create ANYTHING, I was getting really frustrated!! I also needed a card for our neighbor's birthday. So I thought perhaps CASEing would help. There was this fantastic card  that Cathy, The Empty Nest Crafter, had recently made for a Fusion Challenge. She just recently was selected for their Design Team. YAY!! I know she will be fantastic on the their team and I was anxious to try out a challenge. I loved her layout so kept with the basic design. For the sun I used an PTI impression plate then used the same Lil' Inker die but chose to create a flower and added a butterfly element for the center. Thank you so much, Cathy, for giving me a boost. My neighbor loved her card!

So after getting inspired by Cathy, I was ready to make a second card. I was drawn to the flowers in the Fusion inspiration picture--the white with large black centers--and the woodgrain background. For the flowers I used a dogwood die and Cuttlebug's Branches embossing folder added a little different look. I only had an outline flower die so I cut it out of Smoky Shadow, glued it to white cardstock and then fussy cut. The yellow rolled rose is felt.

I am adding this to the WPlus9 challenge #25 also. The colors work perfectly for both challenges!

My Version of Cathy's Card

Thanks so much for letting me share,

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Fresh Cut Florals, Country Charm (WPlus9)

Cardstock: White (Neenah); Sahara Sand (Stampin' Up): Smoky Shadow, Soft Stone (PTI)

Inks: Onyx Black (Versafine); Slate (Amuse)

Dies: Branch with Leaves (Sizzix); Dogwood Blossom Outline (Memory Box); Sentiment Strips (MFT); Under the Mistletoe (WPlus9)

Additional: Felt (PTI); Embossing Folder-Branches (Cuttlebug); Black Pearl (Queen and Co.); Gold Dewdrops; Gold Paper (12 Kits)