The 12 Kits of Occasions: February with Nancy "Party in the Park"

PHOTO BY LINDSEY

See the fabulous collage picture above! Doesn't it look like we're planning a party! This month's super talented hostess, Nancy at Artful Notions, chose the theme of "Party in the Park". I loved all the fun images and fabulous patterned papers. And once again I was thrilled to find a kit full of wonderful products that I had not used before.

I started with some colorful paper and one of the pinata party images which could easily be decorated in rainbow colors. It worked great to make a shaker!

Other popular items were some die cuts that could be arranged into wonderful layered flowers and leaves. I was going to use them on a plain background but ended up using this gorgeous flowered paper! Love all these awesome blooms!

My remaining cards were pure fun. The carousel horses (there were three) were easy to color and there were many papers and die cuts to mix and match. I made them so they could be used for a variety of occasions.

And this little otter is so adorable. Nancy said he didn't exactly fit with the other things she sent but was too cute not to share! I used a die cut Penny Black sentiment for the front and put the sentiment Nancy included on the inside. It says "Have an OTTERLY great birthday"!

Click HERE to connect to the 12 Kits blog where you will find samples of cards by all the other designers with links to their blogs. It should be a wonderful month so don't miss anyone's creations!

Have a great weekend and hopefully stay warm if you are anywhere winter seems to just be hanging on and on and on!!

Hugs,

Sharron

The 12 Kits of Occasions: January with Jeanne "Good Fortune"

PHOTO BY LINDSEY

Hello and Happy New Year! As we start out 2019 we have another new member to introduce to you. As you may remember, last year we sadly said goodbye to two wonderful members of the team, Michele Ferguson and Jessica Davis. We introduced Marcia, Marcia's Stampin' Pad last month and today we officially welcome Kara Pogreba, Bright Hope Creations. We are so thrilled and excited to have them with us!! They both do amazing work and you are going to find so much inspiration as you visit their blogs!

Our super talented hostess this month is Jeanne at A Kept Life. Her kit was a special treat for me as it reminded me of many of the things we have in the fairly new Chinese Garden where I volunteer. Jeanne sent so many goodies and everything was brand new to me. There are so many gorgeous stamped images and wonderful die cuts. And the papers are so cool--many could almost be used on their own!

To visit the 12 Kits blog, click HERE. Jeanne also asked three friends to be guest designers so you will find links to their blogs as well as ones to all the other 12 Kits designers. Be sure to stop by and leave them a bit of love! A list of the supplies in the kit can also be found. 

It seemed appropriate to start with the New Year's card. The paper, gold coin and Foo Lion are perfect for a New Year's celebration. 

I loved playing with one of the Ninja images and that great cloudy moon from Hero Arts.

Of course, a meal would be called for!

The plum blossom is the national flower of China. The plum tree is known for having lovely pink blossoms very early in the spring, sometimes even when there is still snow.

This is probably my favorite as it reminds me of a certain feature of the Chinese Garden. We have a bridge that separates the Earthly Garden from the Heavenly Garden and symbolizes our relationship with our Sister City in Kaipeng, China. It refers to a poem that tells of the friendship for a visiting friend. He describes his love as deeper than the 1000 ft. deep pond in front of where he lives.

Hope you are having a wonderful time visiting all our blogs! And may you get inspiration for some crafty projects. Thanks so much for taking time to visit!

Hugs,

Sharron

Loving Hero Arts My Monthly Hero Kits!

I've purchased a few Hero Arts My Monthly Hero kits but sadly haven't been posting much. This one is from December 2018 and I was sold as soon as I saw this mouse. I chose to make him a brown harvest mouse with some pink on toes and tail. The cool frame is from another August 2017 kit. That's one of the things that attracted me to these kits. Besides the wonderful stamps, they include really awesome dies!

This also gave me the chance to try out my new Picket Fence embossing brushes. I never could quite get a consistently smooth look with my other blending tools and these worked great!

The other new technique I discovered is for using gamsol and Prismacolor pencils. Jennifer McQuire recently posted info about putting the gamsol in a refillable alcohol ink pen instead of using stumps.I didn't have this pen so decided to try some Ranger ice resin brushes that I had. They are rubber, angled and flexible plus the perfect size for detail work. And they worked great! I'm looking forward to trying them again for more coloring with pencils as I love the blending you can achieve.

Thanks so much for dropping by,

Sharron

Supplies:

Stamps and Dies: Hero Arts MMH Kits

Cardstock: PTI White and Smoky Shadow

Patterned Paper: Autumn Dreams (Recollections)

Stencil: MFT Mini Cloud Edges

Misc: Prismacolor colored pencils; gamsol; Nuvo Aqua Shimmer Glitter Gloss; Ranger Princess Gold Embossing Powder; Cuttlebug Birds and Swirls EF

The 12 Kits of Occasions: December with Michelle "Periwinkle Party"

It's hard to believe this is the very last day of 2018--and the last post of this year for the 12 Kits of Occasions! It is also with sadness that we are saying goodbye to two members of our team. Sweet Jessica Davis, The Paper Parade, who has been with the group from the beginning will be stepping down for now. She and her family are moving and beginning some new adventures that will be her new focus. And our super talented friend, Michele Ferguson, who has shared her creative and witty designs with us for the past few years will also no longer be posting with us. You can continue to visit her blog, I Card Everyone!

We also are welcoming a new designer--Marcia Hill, Marcia's Stamping Pad. She is so talented and very sweet. I was lucky to actually met her recently when she came to Kansas for a crafting event. Be sure to visit her blog and welcome her and take a few minutes to enjoy a few of her recent posts!

Our wonderful hostess this month is Michelle Leone, Pretty Periwinkles, I loved her fabulous kit with awesome colors and many images, die cuts and papers that were gorgeous and so easy to design with as well! My cards just seemed to make themselves, a blessing with the hectic holiday activities that always seem to compete with my crafty time! Thanks for an awesome kit, Michelle!

All the best to Jessica and Michele and a big welcome to Marcia! To visit the 12 Kits blog and enjoy all the creations made with Periwinkle Party, click HERE! Enjoy the hop and don't forget to come back next year--same time and place!

A LOOK AT SOME OF OUR KIT SUPPLIES
PHOTO BY LINDSEY

WISHING YOU A SAFE AND VERY HAPPY 2019!

Sharron

The 12 Kits of Occasions: December with Tracey "It's Christmas"

We're just a tad bit late this month due to a problem with the Canadian mail service. This month's wonderful hostess, Tracey, In My Creative Opinion, lives in Canada and we were unable to get her kits at the usual time. But they were well worth the wait! I loved all the fabulous supplies she sent. See the wonderful photo below for a glimpse of all the goodies--adorable images, great die cuts and an amazing collection of patterned papers. I'm late completing all the Christmas cards that I plan to send so it was a blessing to receive a whole new supply of products. I had been looking at ordering the MFT dog set so was especially happy to be able to try those out. It's definitely on my wish list now!

I hope our posts give you some inspiration if you too are still working on holiday projects. HERE is the link to the 12 Kits of Occasions blog where you will find links to all of our designers as well as our guest designer. Joyce Mehrberg was one of the original 12 Kits members and is joining us this month. And Tracey has provided a list of her supplies. It is located at the top of the 12 Kits blog.

PHOTO BY LINDSEY

I ADDED A COUPLE OF WPLUS9 SNOWFLAKES!

Hope you enjoy the hop! And thank you for letting us share. Whatever you may be celebrating this time of year, may you and your family have a blessed holiday season.

Hugs,

Sharron

The November 12 Kits of Occasions has been delayed!

This month Tracey is our host and with a month long strike by Canada Post,  the kits did not make it into the hands of the teams in time to post today, the last day of the month, as we usually do.

Once everyone has received their kits we will be announcing a new and special date that we will be posting our It's Christmas kit creations!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend and we will see you soon!

The 12 Kits of Occasions: "Happy Fall Y'All"

I'm so happy to have you visit this month! I love fall and have enjoyed that I got to be this month's hostess. Another thing I enjoy is creating with lots of little critters and MFT provided two wonderful new sets that were perfect for the kit. The two little girls in Fall Friends have become favorites! Hopefully the other designers found them fun too. I know you will find lots of inspiration when you visit all their blogs.

Below is a collage of some of the supplies. Lindsey is our group's very talented and sweet photographer who puts together a photo for us each month. We are so spoiled! A complete list of everything each designer received can be found over on the 12 Kits blog. HERE is the link. 

PHOTO BY LINDSEY

In addition to MFT's great stamps, I found some amazing patterned papers at Michael's. I'm kind of addicted to those large paper packs that they sell at wonderful discounts. 

Thought I should have one CAS design using some patterned paper but couldn't resist adding the adorable little squirrel.

I'm really anxious to see what everyone else did with the kit. Bet you are too! So sit back, relax and enjoy some fall treasures with us! Enjoy the hop!!

And thank you so much for letting us share,

Sharron