The 12 Kits of Christmas: August

Well, we have finally arrived at the last day of August! I know Summer isn't officially over but it always seems like it when September arrives. And tonight the Red August moon will also be Blue! If you don't know where the phrase "once in a blue moon" came from, it is from the rare occurrence of two moons in the same month. The second one is the 'blue' moon!

But today is also important because it is time for another 12 Kits of Christmas reveal. For any visitors who haven't visited before, HERE is an explanation about how we got started. Our wonderful hostess this month is Kim (Cupcakes, Cards and Kim)! She chose the prettiest non-traditional colors and included these great digital designs in CAS styles. Below is the photo of supplies that Kara, our trusty photographer, took. Just look at all the goodies! Aren't the colors gorgeous!

PHOTO BY KARA

I just knew the first thing I would use were those cool word cut-outs but you know, I didn't---yet! I'm saving them for a later CASE!!! And I can't wait to see how other people used them! All my cards turned out to be very CAS and I loved making them. Thanks Kim for a truly fabulous kit--I loved it! 

I adored the stripes and used the girly shoe image for a simple feminine card. The only things I colored were the holly leaves and berries. I added some Glossy Accents to the berries and used a Sizzix embossing border on the Autumn Rose center strip.

I absolutely loved the pleated ribbon Kim included. So my next card is a combination of patterned papers and that gorgeous ribbon! The little tag is made from some included patterned paper and glued to a piece of Ocean Tides cardstock. It can be taken out so a signature or even a small photo could be added.

To me, there always seems to be something special about white on white or in this case, cream on cream. Kim included the already embossed snowflake panel and I decided one of the little trees would work great for a focal point. It was so quick to use the broad tip of a Copic to color the tree. Talk about easy! I love using tags on cards so I cut out two PTI tags and cut an opening in the Scarlet Jewel one. I was going to use some ribbon but remembered how wonderful the Lil' Inker bows look on tags. So I got out one that Renee had sent me! I thought the black and white polka dots looked great with the mod little tree! 

This final card is my CASE of this card from Christina's April post:

I really tried not to COPY it but didn't end up with many changes. Love her card so much so kept with her design! Hope that is okay, Christina!

One of the best things about being in this group (and gosh, there are many!) is seeing what everyone else makes with the same supplies. I try to stay awake on release night so I can at least peek! So below is the list of participants. Be sure to visit all the blogs for lots more holiday/winter inspiration!

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}

Marybeth {Marybeth's Time for Paper}

Jeanne {A Kept Life}

Jessica {The Paper Parade}

Christina {Sea Glass and Sentiments}

Enjoy the hop!!

Hope to see you next month--same time--same place,

Sharron

Supplies included in Kim's Kit (those I used are highlighted)

Digital Images: Pink Petticoat

Cardstock; Autumn Rose, Sweet Blush, Ivory and White (PTI)

Patterned Paper: Winterland (Fancy Pants Designs)

Dies: Wonderful Words Holiday (PTI)

Embossing Folder: Snowflakes (Cuttlebug)

Pearls and Bling: Stampin Up

Ribbon: Blue (Joann's); Sweet Blush (PTI); Pleated (SU); Victorian Crochet (SU)

Buttons: PTI

Misc: Jingle Bells and Vellum Envelope

Waltzingmouse Blog Party: August

THEME: BIRTHDAYS

Glad you could come to the Party! This month is a Birthday Party!! Great theme since everyone always needs birthday cards. I like to use this little bird for birthday cards and after seeing yesterday's Four of a Kind posts using this kit by Renee, I was inspired to get it out for today's card. I had something else in mind but am glad I changed directions. Love this Waltzingmouse set!

I've recently been looking at my patterned papers and trying to find ones that can serve as a background  for my design. This one from Bo Bunny has great colors and I like the strip on the side. The leaves were cut with some paper from the same collection. The 'It's your birthday' stamp is from Verve.

Be sure to go hop along and see all the other Waltzingmouse entries. Click HERE and you'll be on your way! 

Have a fantastic day!

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Sewing Box-Hugs (WMS), Big Wish (Verve)

Cardstock: Oatmeal (WPlus9); Terracotta Tile, Stamper's Select White (PTI)

Patterned Paper: Little Miss Collection (Bo Bunny)

Dies: Branch with Leaves (Sizzix), Mat Stack #3 (PTI)

Additional: Memento Ink (Potter's Clay, Bamboo Leaves), Pearl (Recollections)

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #110

This week's sketch is by Laurie Schmidlin and I love it! Just imagine all the great ways it can be used! I have spent most of the week working on the daylily newsletter that my hubby and I put out. It is always a difficult time because I don't have any internet access when I change my computer from Mac to Windows. So there's no quick checking of emails or blogs! Talk about withdrawal!

Therefore I'm late with this entry and I am still working on my card for tomorrow's WM Blog Party. I used one stamp set and one sheet of patterned paper (front and back) so except for the coloring, it went together pretty easily. The paper from My Mind's Eye had the peppermint candies and the back side has the pretty pattern I used for the ribbon. Because the paper is more cream than white, I shaded the candies to match. 

Here is the link to see the other entries. There's always lots of wonderfully inspiring projects! Thanks for visiting! I'll have another post tomorrow!

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Candy Jar Christmas: Fillers (WMS)

Cardstock: Fine Linen, Vintage Cream (PTI)

Patterned Paper: 12 Days of Christmas-Peppermint Patty (My Mind's Eye)

Dies: Mat Stack 1 (PTI)

Ink: Memento (London Fog, Lady Bug, Rhubarb Stalk, Rich Cocoa); Amuse (Toffee); Ranger (Antique Linen Distressed)

Additional: Red Rhinestones (Queen and Co.), Copics

Cloud 9 Blog Hop-August

It's time for the second Cloud 9 Blog Hop and this month Suzanne posted this fun sketch for us. If you weren't here last month, it's a new Blog Hop featuring WPlus9 products. 

I used A Pocketful again this month! I don't think I'll ever get tired of it but I just placed my second WPlus9 order so my stamp selection is slowly growing. Wasn't this month's release awesome!! For this card I used the sun image and the small pocket. I did cut a circle out of Harvest Gold cardstock to add a little more color. The ink looked a bit light. I played for the longest time with different colors and patterned  papers and finally ended up with two pieces of Summer Fresh plaid under the pocket! I'm really loving that paper and am already worrying about using it up. Guess I should have ordered two pads! My 'Hugs' tag needed a heart and I found this teeny one in my set of Love Lives Here dies. It's from a cut-out in a butterfly!

I'm so anxious to see what everyone has made. Hope you are too! HERE is a link to the Cloud 9 blog. 

Thanks for taking a peek at my card. Have a great day!

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: A Pocketful (WPlus9); Candy Jar Christmas-Fillers (WMS)

Cardstock: Oatmeal (WPlus9); Harvest Gold, Blueberry Sky (PTI)

Patterned Paper: Summer Fresh (Simple Stories)

Dies: A Pocketful (WPlus9); Double-ended Banners, Love Lives Here (PTI)

Additional: Papaya Ink (Amuse); Nautical Blue Ink (Memento); 1" circle punch; Button (PTI); Rhinestone (Queen and Co.); Twine (The Twinery)

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #108

More Christmas and a brand new sketch by Belinda Chang Langner! I adore tag cards! I have lots of tag dies but this is a favorite! And this was a super easy card--love those! I've had this paper for a couple of years and have never used it--talk about hoarding! Santa and sentiment are from Santa's Coming to Town. The yarn is some I got from Marybeth, Marybeth's Time for Paper in a Twelve Kits of Christmas kit. I was planning on ribbon but then thought this would be more fun and add some holiday sparkle! 

CLICK TO SEE MORE DETAIL

This will also be my card for the March WMS Christmas Challenges. We are to use blue and brown. I am still behind but really want to catch up!

Well, that's it for today! Don't forget to take a peek at all the wonderful entries over at WMS. HERE is the link. 

Thanks for visiting!

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Santa's Coming to Town (WMS)

Cardstock: Oatmeal (WPlus9); Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream (PTI)

Patterned Paper: Reindeer Crossing (Little Yellow Bicycle)

Dies: Tag Sale #3, Limitless Layers 1 3/4" (PTI)

Additional: Glitter Eyelash Yarn (Martha Stewart); Reindeer--Cozy Christmas Mix (Hobby Lobby); Rich Cocoa Ink (Memento)

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.)