Cloud 9 Blog Hop-November

It's the 9th day of the month and time for the Cloud 9 Blog Hop! Isn't this inspiration photo wonderful--SO many, many things to inspire a card!  

The fun design on the sheet set has all those mittens and hats so I made my card with mittens from Winter Wishes.

For the background a piece of Lake House cardstock is embossed with Snowflakes, a Lifestyle embossing folder. I stamped the mittens and then added a piece of MS baker's twine and a second set of mittens popped up with foam dots. The red square is embossed in herringbone and the snowflake is cut with little snowflake included in the Seasonal Sentiments die set.

Check out the awesome Design Team samples here. And there is still time to enter the challenge too!

Enjoy the hop! We're going to be gone until Sunday so I won't be able to look at everyone's cards until I get back.

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Winter Wishes (WPlus9)

Cardstock: Lake House (WPlus9); Stamper's Select White, Pure Poppy (PTI)

Dies: Seasonal Sentiments, Pinking Square (WPlus9)

Embossing Folders: Snowflakes (Lifestyle), Herringbone (Sizzix)

Additional: Ink (Memento), Rhinestone (My Mind's Eye), Baker's Twine (Martha Stewart)

The Twelve Kits of Christmas: October

Hi all! As you may know, we usually post our 12 Kits of Christmas cards on the last day of each month. But with several members on the East Coast and all the devastation from Hurricane Sandy, we decided it was best to put it off a day. Our hostess this month is Jessica Davis, The Paper Parade. If you've ever visited Jessica's blog you know how much she loves Paper Smooches. I love her awesome designs! She is also now on the PS Design Team. Not only will you see lots of great PS creations on her blog but visiting there is sure to put a smile on your face! Thanks Jessica for a fantastic fun-filled kit!

PHOTO BY AMY

For this first card I used PTI's Tag Sale #3 die to cut some of the patterned paper and added a few tree decorations from a set I bought at Hobby Lobby earlier this year.

There were several snowmen images included in the kit.  These two worked great for my snow scene.

Since we had an extra day this month, I had the time to make an additional card. For this one I cut pieces of the different patterned papers with My Favorite Things chevron dies.

I had this card done but not glued together when I saw this week's PTI Make It Monday Challenge. I had intended to put all the images on the front but decided to create a window using clear cardstock. There aren't any floating images but I love the look!

My last card is totally non-traditional. Aren't the dog and sentiment adorable? The rose-colored embossed paper and strip of stars were in the kit. After coloring the dog with Copics, I thought dark chocolate and kraft might be fun companion colors. I also added some stacked stars that I cut with a MFT die set.

Below is a list of all the other 12 Kits participants. We don't get to see what each other has made until the final reveal so I can't wait to see the projects either!

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}
Amy Kolling (Stamp-n-Paradise)

Have fun at the hop!

Smiles,
Sharron

CASology #16: WILD

This is my third CASology card--YEAH! I had another card ready to glue together for our son-in-law's birthday and decided to switch gears when I saw this week's challenge. I bought this set mainly for the zebra image--just love it! Doesn't the pattern from the Half and Half fit perfectly! And CAS is the way to go when doing a masculine card so this was a quick design. Well, except for getting good coverage with the bold stripe pattern. That took a few tries!

Thanks so much for taking a look at my blog! I've been short on posts lately as I have a lot going on right now. I'm hoping things will slow down soon!

Be sure to check the CAS-ology blog HERE. Remember you have until Sunday to enter this week's challenge.

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Half and Half, It's a Jungle Out There (PTI)

Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Pure Poppy (PTI)

Dies: Half and Half, Balloon (PTI)

Ink: Tuxedo Black, Lady Bug (Memento)

CASology #15: NIGHT

I thought another Halloween card would be appropriate for the NIGHT theme at CASology! This set from Taylored Expressions was one of my first Halloween sets and I love the eyes on the spooky tree. I stamped that section several times on gold cardstock so I could cut out the eyes. The little owl is also in that set and I did his eyes the same way. The tree is done in gray so it's more shadowy---hopefully you can see the detail well enough. The card base in also gray. I liked Amy Kolling's, Stamp-N-Paradise, idea of using some chevron die pieces in the same color for a little texture. Thanks, Amy! Amy is this week's Guest Designer!

I'm really enjoying these new challenges. Details on this week's theme plus samples from the Design Team can be found HERE. You still have time to enter!

Thanks for stopping by,

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Spooky Expressions, Frightful Night (Taylored Expressions)

Cardstock: True Black, Soft Stone, Harvest Gold (PTI)

Additional: Chevron Stripes Die (MFT); Oval Window Punch (Stampin' Up); Slate Ink (Amuse)

Waltzingmouse Blog Party: October

This month the Waltzingmouse Blog Party has a color theme. The main colors are purple, orange and black with our choice of neutrals. Or course, they work great for Halloween and I had a chance to use one of my favorite ever Halloween images--Cicely at Halloween. I've been trying to focus on more simple designs so I cut a circle out of some patterned paper and stamped Cicely. My main emphasis was the paper piecing! I did color her face, the stockings and her gloves with Copics but everything else is cut from paper. I love this technique but must admit it is a bit time consuming! Not sure if it shows up well but I used Spica pens in clear and peach to add glitter to the hat buckle and the wand tip.

There is always a huge variety of entries so you will want to be on your way to see everyone else's blog. Click HERE to join the party! 

Have fun!!!!

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Cicely at Halloween (WMS)

Cardstock: Orange Zest, Plum Pudding, True Black (PTI); Oatmeal (WPlus9)

Patterned Paper: All Hallow's Eve (Carta Bella)

Dies: Spellbinders Circles

Additional: Copics; Spica Pens (Clear, Peach); Rhinestone (Queen and Co.)

CAS-ology #14: Leaf

I am doing a CAS-ology challenge for the first time today! I visit their blog often and love all the CAS designs. Another thing I appreciate is that descriptions of features that make a great CAS design are included. So you get all these wonderful tips as well as seeing lots of fabulous inspiration cards!

Today was a perfect day for the challenge as I just received my latest WPlus9 order. Love all my new  Christmas-themed toys! You might think I would make a Christmas card but I thought this die was a great choice for what is actually more of a Spring card. The new leaf seems just right to illustrate hope.

I first embossed the leafy branch for a background. The leaf was cut with a Spellbinders die using some patterned paper. And the sentiment from PTI's Pretty Peonies set seemed to fit perfectly.

Thanks for letting me share. I can definitely see more CAS-ology challenges in my future!

Hope you are having a Happy Wednesday,

Sharron

Stamps: Pretty Peonies (PTI)

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

Patterned Paper: Hey Birdie (KaiserCraft)

Dies: Sentimental Sentiments (WPlus9); Spellbinders Fall Foliage

Additional: Leafy Branch Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug); Bamboos Leaves Ink (Memento)

Cloud 9 Blog Hop-October

It's October at Cloud 9 and the theme is Halloween! This great inspiration photo has so many elements that it's easy to find something to get your mojo working. 

All those pumpkins made my think of Pretty Patches: Pumpkin. For colors I chose Oatmeal, Fine Linen, black and, of course, orange. The crow was stamped, embossed in clear and fussy cut. The 'boo' fit perfectly over the hearts on the pumpkins!

Check out the fabulous samples by the design team HERE. The contest is open for three days so there is still plenty of time to enter. All the rules can be found on the Cloud 9 link.

It's hard to believe Halloween is just around the corner. I don't decorate but there are quite a few in our neighborhood that really go all out. I'm content to just do cards and a few goodies for the grandkids. 

Thanks so much for dropping by and enjoy the hop,

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Pretty Patches: Pumpkin (WPlus9); Hocus Pocus (WMS); Birds of a Feather (PTI)

Cardstock: Oatmeal (WPlus9); Fine Linen, True Black (PTI); Textured Black (Bazzill)

Patterned Paper: Martha Stewart

Dies: Block Alphabet (PTI)