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: Walking in a Winter Wonderland with Lindsey

It's that time again!! This month the members of the 12 Kits of Occasions are playing in a Winter Wonderland, courtesy of our sweet hostess, Lindsey, Occasional Crafting! Below is a picture of some things in her kit. I so wish you could see this in real life. The colors are absolutely gorgeous and there is LOTS of sparkle!! I knew when I took photos of my cards that they weren't going to even be close to what they really look like. Lindsey did such an amazing job of selecting papers and elements. There is something for everyone--from elegant to whimsical! You are going to love touring all the blogs!

I know everyone has been super busy lately but I hope you can take some time to see all the wonderful projects. Lindsey also asked two people to be guest designers so there is lots to see. Click here to go to the 12 Kits blog. There are links to the members blogs as well as the blogs of our two wonderful guests. There is also a contest where Lindsey is giving visitors a chance to win a fantastic Clearly Besotted stamp set. It's one that has been discontinued so you don't want to miss this chance!

PHOTO BY LINDSEY

THe SPARKLE ON THE PINK PAPER IS AWESOME!

I'M GOING TO ENTER THIS CARD IS THE CAS-OLOGY CHALLENGE WHICH FEATURES 'MERRY'.  THE  MERRY DIE I USED IS FROM SSS.

LINK TO CHALLENGE

I LOVED THE AVERY ELLE WREATH THAT LINDSEY SENT US BUT UNFORTUNATELY MESSED IT UP.
I WAS SET ON USING THESE WONDERFUL COMPANION ELEMENTS SO USED MY CHISHOLM WREATH BY SSS AS A FILL-IN. SENTIMENT AND STARS ARE FROM MFT HAND LETTERED HOLIDAY SET.

Don't you love the adorable deer on this last card! He is one of the stamps in the set Lindsey is giving away so be sure to leave a comment over on the 12 Kits blog to have a chance to win.

Enjoy the hop! Wishing everyone a very blessed 2016!!

Sharron

The 12 Kits of Occasions: Have a Holly Jolly Christmas & a Festive Fall

Wow, it's almost Christmas and we are in our eleventh month of 12 Kits of Occasions for 2015. The year has really flown! Our lovely hostess this month is Kim from Cupcakes, Cards and Kim. I was so excited when her kit arrived. I already had the Harvest Mouse set but I didn't order dies so I knew it would be so much fun to start by coloring all the little critters. And I really wanted the bears but finally decided to limit my purchase and wait until later to order them. And then they arrived--already cut out and stamped and ready for some crafty fun! Thanks, Kim!! As you can tell, I loved your kit!

I had already spent time playing with the mice that I had. I have limited Copic colors and you might see a lot of variation in their patterns. Kim included lots of polka dotted papers which is another favorite so practically every card has some dots!

I try to keep my post short as there is always so much to see. We have two guest designers this month to add to the fun. Just click HERE to connect to the 12 Kits blog where you can find links to all the different blogs. A collage created by Tracey is below showing all the wonderful supplies in Kim's kit and you can also find a list at the top of those on the 12 Kits blog.

PHOTO by TRACEY

THIS CARD USES AN IDEA I GOT FROM JENNIFER MCGUIRE IN A VIDEO ON ALTERING YOUR STAMPS. I JUST CUT OFF THE BASKET OF APPLES ON THE STAMPED IMAGE AND USED THE STAMPED PACKAGES. I DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO LINK HER VIDEO HERE BUT YOU CAN CHECK HER LIST OF YOU TUBE VIDEOS. THE PACKAGES AND SENTIMENT ARE FROM MFT SANTA'S ELVES.

THIS CARD WILL BE ENTERED IN THE FRESHLY MADE SKETCHES CHALLENGE.

LINK TO FMS

SENTIMENT FROM MFT HAND LETTERED HOLIDAY

SENTIMENT FROM AN OLDER HERO ARTS SET

So happy that you came by and hope you got some inspiration from this month's theme. Enjoy the rest of the hop and have a wonderful week!

Sharron

Seasonal Stamps Added to For Sale Section

I just added a couple of stamp sets that work great for this time of year. To check them out, click on the For Sale tab above.

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful weekend!
Sharron

The 12 Kits of Occasions: October, "Let's Go" with Joyce

Hi all! The 12 Kits of Occasions are posting a day early this month so as not to interfere with all the little goblins out and about tomorrow night! We have a theme that we have never done before. Joyce, Cards-by-the-Sea, is out hostess this month and she selected this fun theme of things relating to travel. Of course, we all like to travel! She sent lots of wonderful patterned papers and stamped sentiments and images. The die cuts included lots of these fabulous suitcases (my favorite!) I loved adding them to most of my cards!

We also have TWO guest designers! Kara Vrabel, with KandR Designs, and Jackie Southas from What did I do today. Kara is one of our inactive 12 Kits members and Jackie will also have lots of fantastic designs for us to see. Connect with their blogs, as well as the blogs of all our members, over at the 12 Kits blog HERE.

So sit back and enjoy our little trip around the world!!

Thanks so much for letting us share. Hope you get a little inspiration, or at least an urge to pack your bags and plan your next adventure!

Sharron

Hop to Stop National Domestic Violence

I learned of this challenge from sweet friend, Michele at I Card Everyone. Over on Becca Cruger's blog, Damsel in Distressed, a very special event is going on.

"You see, purple is the color of National Domestic Violence Awareness month. 

1 in 3 women will experience domestic violence over the course of their lifetimes. 

Let that sink in - 33% of all the women you meet.  And women aren't the only people who are affected! Women, men, transgender - gender doesn't matter. Domestic violence is something that exists regardless of gender, socioeconomic status, religion, education level, etc."

So the blog hop is to raise awareness of this very important issue in our society. It has and may in the future touch many people in one way or another. 

Please click HERE to find out about the rules so you can take a few minutes to join the hop! There are also many wonderful sponsors.

Your card does need to contain some purple! I chose this sweet image from Tiddly Inks and a wonderful sentiment from WPlus9. I don't have many purples in my Copic collection but with a little mixing I tried to create a bouquet of different shades! The yellow is my favorite 'happy' color!

I'm also submitting this card to the 30 Day Coloring Challenge over at The Daily Marker.

Thank you so much for dropping by!

Have a blessed weekend,

Sharron

W&W World Cardmaking Day: Masterboard Background Building

Masterboard Background Building is just one of the great challenges that Winnie & Walter Stamps is hosting. World Cardmaking Day was a week ago but the challenges are running until Sunday night. Click here to see a few of the fabulous background designs Shay provided for us. 

I decided to use The Party set and stamp my large paper with just the streamers.

For this card I added additional images from the set. The sentiment was stamped on a separate paper and cut out. The present was stamped, colored with Copics and fussy cut out. The circles are from a SSS Circle Loops die.

There are several great challenges that you can check out over at Winnie & Walter. I hope to make something else if I can before the deadline.

Please come back for my The Hop To Stop card that I will post tomorrow morning.

Have a great weekend,

Sharron