Merry Monday Challenge: Candy Canes

Super busy weekend ahead with daylily meetings and activities so I wanted to get this posted before the Merry Monday deadline. I knew what I would make as soon as I saw the inspiration photo! My candy canes are green and red though as it seemed to give more contrast against the white and silver. Most supplies are from WPlus9. I used the wonderful new Sunshine Layers die set, Preserves die and Under the Mistletoe. The sentiment is from Mama Elephant's Winter Wonderland, the pine branches are Impression Obsession and the bow is from PTI's Tinsel and Tags.

Sorry to be so hurried with my post. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Sharron

CAS-ology #133: LOVE and Another CASEing Maile Card

This card is for sending a little love to my 10-year old niece on her birthday. There is a birthday sentiment inside. Hopefully monsters are allowed in a challenge about love as I'm entering it into this week's CAS-ology challenge. I paper pieced my little monster using images from SSS Monster Hugs. The speech bubble is a PTI die and the sentiment is from Avery Elle's Airmail. That border is from a set of dies called Sunshine Layers from WPlus9. I am soooo in love with these new dies! The difference it makes to add this border on a card is amazing so I will be using these dies a lot! There are many others included that are just as fabulous.

The paper I used for the monster is the same background paper that I used for my card below. I posted another version on Tuesday that I entered in one of the PTI challenges. This is a get well card and I am really happy with the pink and orange combo so I wanted to share. A couple of people mentioned this background paper. I wish I had but I didn't make it! It's from a pad of Provo Craft paper that I bought years ago at Michael's. There are lots of fun graphic and watercolor designs that are right in fashion today. Hoarding can be good thing!!

Are you getting ready for a fun weekend? Hope you have a great one!

Sharron

PTI 8th Anniversary Challenges

Here's my second card entry for PTI's Anniversary challenges. This is for Challenge #4--to create a bouquet using more than one stamp set. I only used two and again got inspiration from a card on Maile's blog. That's always a fantastic place to get inspiration!! You can find her card here where she did a remix design using Mini Blooms. I chose Bigger Blooms for my smaller flowers and a large flower and accent swirls from an older set, Flower Garden.

Hope you enjoying all the PTI festivities! Don't miss out on today's contest!

Thanks for letting me share another card,

Sharron

PTI 8th Anniversary Challenges #2 & #5

Exciting activities going on over at PTI--wonderful new products, challenges and lots of inspirational projects by Nichole and the design team! There's always quite a party when they celebrate an anniversary! Be sure to visit Nichole's blog every day!! My card today is first to select a card on Maile Belles blog to use for inspiration and create my own version. And today's challenge is to use a stamp set that has never seen ink. This is for both!

See Maile's blog HERE to learn about creating cards with cutout panels. It's an easy technique that gives a great look. I used my still sealed up Spring Hills set and a patterned paper from My Mind Eye's Quilting Bee.

Hope to have another card tomorrow!

Sharron

12 Kits of Occasions: January with Kelly and 'A Happy Hello'

We're back with the start of a new year and another exciting reveal by the 12 Kits of Occasions group. This month's hostess is the fabulous Kelly, Gingham Girl and the theme is 'A Happy Hello'--a perfect choice for the start of another year. Unfortunately, on a sad note, two of our very dear members have stepped down to spend more time with their families. While they will both be missed terribly, both Renee Lynch and Kara Vrabel will always be with us in spirit and we hope to see them back when time allows.

I loved Kelly's kit. It was so amazingly easy to work with and I couldn't believe how quickly my cards seemed to take shape. She included wonderful papers and embellishments and the most adorable die cuts. I was especially charmed by the little Lawn Fawn birds. The 'hello' theme is so versatile and as I made my cards I could imagine additional sentiments I could add on the inside as different events occurred. Thank you so much, Kelly, for an awesome kit! Below is a photo that Kelly provided of some of the goodies she sent.

I made six cards and could have made more. The one below started out using a tag and some flower die cuts but I thought it might be too much. So I went back through the supplies and substituted the die cut and bold sentiment with the tiny bird. Now I think it may be my favorite! It's so much fun to play with all the fantastic choices our kits include.

A list of all the participants are on the 12 Kits blog so just click here to start on the blog hop. Kelly also asked two very talented people to be guest designers with us this month and their names and blog links can be found there also.

********SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT********

Would you like to be a 12 Kits Guest Designer in February?? The theme is BIRDS and we would love to see what wonderful creations you would make with our next kit. Of course, there will be lots of bird related supplies! So how can you enter our little contest? Well, just leave a comment on the 12 Kits blog telling us if you have a favorite bird and whether you do anything special to attract birds to your home--feeders, ponds, etc. The deadline for the drawing will be February 4th! There will be a random drawing and the winner will have their kit mailed ASAP!

Thank you so much for spending some time with us today. Hope you enjoy the hop!!

Sharron

2nd Entry for CAS-ology and Uniko Challenges

These sweet bunnies are another NBUS that have been living in my stamp basket for almost a year (so sad!!) and this seemed like a great chance for them make an appearance. I colored them with Prismacolor pencils and gamsol and added some 'puff' on their tails with a Snow Marker. The window is a Memory Box die and the patterned paper is from Bo Bunny's Winter Woodland. A shooting star from Avery Elle's Storybook stamps (another set I used today for the first time!) is embossed in silver. 

Hope you can read the silver 'Best Friends Forever'. I'm always looking for a way to do better photographs--even with special lights, lighting continues to be my biggest problem! Any tips are greatly appreciated!

You can visit the CAS-ology and Uniko challenges here and here. 

The bunnies and I thank you for taking time to come by today! Have a great week!

Sharron

Merry Monday #142: Christmas Houses

My Wonderfully Whimsical stamp set hasn't seen ink for the longest time! It's always been a favorite of mine so I was glad to use it for this week's Merry Monday challenge. The snowman is from another PTI set, Tinsel and Tags (no longer available) and the sentiment is from Love Lives Here: Holiday. I so wish I could capture the shine and sparkle with my camera. The gold trimmed trees and touches of Wink of Stella look so pretty IRL!

I'm so excited to play at Merry Monday and start my Christmas card collection early this year. Thanks again for letting me share!

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Wonderfully Whimsical, Tinsel and Tags, Love Lives Here: Holiday (all PTI)

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

Dies: Landscape Trio (Mama Elephant); Stitched Rectangles (Lil' Inker)

Additional: Embossing Folder-Argyle (Cuttlebug); Clear Wink of Stella; Pilot Gold Marker; Copics