The 12 Kits of Occasions: October 2015 Guest Designer

I was equal parts thrilled and terrified when Joyce Mehrberg, the October host for the fabulous 12 Kits of Occasions invited me to Guest Design along with the super talented Design Team regulars.

The theme this month is Let's Go and the kit was filled with wonderful patterned paper, stamped images and sentiments, die cuts, washi tape, maps & tissue paper.

Almost immediately I knew I was going to make a shaker out of the luggage tag die cut and Let's Get Lost stamped sentiment. The strap from the tag is trimmed slightly to fit my card and a button & twine added from my stash.

Microbeads are my favorite filling for shaker cards.

This card is heading to my sister and I hope it inspires her to literally pack her bags.

Don't you just love the tiny suitcase tag?

A curved edge die added a bit of movement to this great Penny Black stamped image and Copic markers gave me just the touch of color I wanted. One of the sentiments in the Kit is trimmed and added to a curved arrow from my stash.

This last card went through a few days of indecision before I cut the Tim Holtz Cityscape stamped image into two pieces and paired them with the "I love you" sentiment.

The smaller images are layered on panels cut from a large background image and then all layered on one of the patterned papers from the Kit.

I still have lots of leftovers from the Kit and more card ideas, but as often happens, time ran out.

Please head over the The 12 Kits Of Occasions blog and check out the wonderful Design Team work. In addition to the Design Team, you will see that Kara Vrabel is also back with the team as a Guest Designer this month.

For me, the best part of getting to play along this month was getting my Kit delivered in person by Joyce. I can't believe how long it has taken us to meet in real life and hope next time involves some stamping!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Papertrey Ink October 2015 Blog Hop

I'm a little late to the Papertrey Ink October 2015 Blog Hop. These tags were made last week before I headed out of town to escape the family and have fun with a friend.  I'm happy to be back in time to link up to the blog hop and now have to decide whether a nap or making dining for the family is next on the agenda.

Nichole Heady gave us an inspiration photo for the Blog Hop this month and I was immediately inspired to use the traditional red & green color palette for some holiday tags.

A Monthly Moments: Journal Card 6 is used to cut the larger tag from red or green cardstock and the Tag Sale #7 die is cut from white or black cardstock.

Each of the larger tags is embossed for texture and interest and the sentiment and a strip of glitter tape is added to the smaller tags.

All the sentiment stamps and dies are from PTI's Christmas Cheer.

The white tags were made first but I really love the modern feel of the black tags and white sentiment.

I took at quick look at the gallery and can't wait to check out all the linked cards and tags.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Paper Smooches SPARKS + FMS#209 + HLS October CAS

Three challenges helped me create this sweet little new baby card.

The October CAS Challenge at Happy Little Stampers is Paper Piecing and this adorable Onesie die from Paper Smooches has being sitting on my desk unused for too long. Given that it is an Anything Goes week at the Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge blog and the sketch for Freshly Made Sketches #209 featured a stong center image, this card pretty much made itself.

The Onesie die cuts two pieces: the main onesie and an outline piece, so it is cut twice for this card. The bright pink outline piece is paired with the patterned paper die cut and then added to an embossed panel. The sentiment from PS Simply Said stamp set is heat embossed in pink on a vellum banner and then the entire panel adhered to a soft green card base.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

CAS(E) this Sketch! #145 + Seize the Birthday

I was happy to have a little papercrafting time this morning and played around with a few ideas before coming up with this card for the CAS(E) This Sketch! #145 challenge and Seize the Birthday.

Using PTI Zappy Birthday stamps & dies and a primary color palette, the four sentiments are stamped first and then the skyline and other die cuts added.

I hope you can see the CTS145 sketch in my design and I am entering in the Anything Goes catergory at Seize the Birthday.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Muse #137

Oh dear, after seeing Michele Ferguson's sweet typewriter patterned paper on her card for Muse #137 this week, I might have bored my children with a "back in the olden days" story. 

As their eyes rolled back in their heads, I was already on my way to the stack of paper pads where I knew I had at least one with typewriters. The typewriters are definitely the main element I took from Michele's card as I flipped the sentiment to the top, cutting the MFT Hello die from Smoky Shadow cardstock and a grid patterned paper from the same Teresa Collins paper pad that had the typewriters.

It is hard to see in this photo, but the speech bubble is nestled into the patterned paper at the bottom and popped up at the top for a little dimension.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

RIC #93 + CTS#144 + CASology #168: You

I spent a little too much time this week trying to channel my inner Ted Harrison after I saw the bright, colorful dress for Runway Inspired Challenge #93 but my hands and head just weren't in sync and I walked away from my desk for a while. 

Then I saw the wonderful sketch for CAS(E) the Sketch! #144 and started looking at using the RIC colors in a different way.

The CASology Week 168: You challenge helped me decide on which sentiment to use.

A number of Paper Smooches Fresh Snow snowflakes were die cut from watercolor paper and colored with Zig Clean Color Real Brushes. {sigh} I am regretting that I only bought a box of 24 colors and know what will be going on my Christmas list this year.

It you aren't familiar with Ted Harrison, he is a Canadian artist whose distinctive, colorful paintings are instantly recognizable.  Can you see why I thought of him when I saw the Emilio de la Morena dress?

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Muse Christmas Visions #23

While everyone is sleeping in this morning, I couldn't resist making a quick card for Kimberley Wiener's Muse Christmas Visions #23 challenge.  It may or may not have had something to do with the fact that the new PTI Christmas Cheer stamps and dies were sitting on my desk.

The stamped part of the sentiment was inked and heat embossed with Versamark ink and clear embossing powder first  and then a few snowflakes added (the larger two are Paper Smooches and the smallest is Avery Elle).

The entire panel was sponged with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink and then the stamped images and sentiments highlighted with Salty Ocean Distress Ink. A mix of sequins added a little extra snowfall after the die cut portion of the sentiment was adhered.

Here is Kimberley's gorgeous inspiration card.

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all my Canadian friends and family! While we are complaining about the unseasonably hot weather, our Canadian visitors are soaking up every second of the sunshine. The best thing about having guests is getting a chance to play tourist in southern California, so instead of cooking a turkey we are heeding north to take in another studio tour.

Hope you have something fun planned today and thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Craft Hoarders Anonymous October 2015 Blog Hop

Welcome to the 

Craft Hoarders Anonymous October 2015 Blog Hop!

You should be coming to my blog from Pam's blog. After visiting me, hop over to Glenda's blog next. To start at the beginning of the hop, and for a full list of participants, go to Gloria's blog here.

Can you guess what part of my crafty hoard I dug into this month? I've been wanting to make a seasonal canvas for a while, knew what phrase I wanted to use and picked through my chipboard alphabet pieces until I had what I wanted.

The smaller pieces are chipboard Thickers and inked with Wild Honey, Mustard Seed and Barn Door Distress Inks. The larger letters are a combination of Maya Road and Li'l Davis Designs (yes, they are old) and inked with Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick and Aged Mahogany Distress Inks.

While the inked letters dried, an 11" x 14" canvas is primed and painted with a cream base. Several pieces of sheet music paper are adhered next using a matte gel medium. Once the layers were dry, light modeling paste and an MFT stencil were used to create a brick wall around the edges and corners of the canvas.

The edges of the canvas are inked with Aged Mahogany and Fired Brick inks.

Glenda's blog, MagPie's Corner,  is the next stop on the Hop and Gloria's blog, Scraps of Life, is the starting point and has a full list of the Craft Hoarders Anonymous Blog Hop participants.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

MIM #225: Die Cut Shaped Boxes & Muse #135 + 2015 Fall Coffee Lovers + Simon Says Anything Goes

It's been an interesting week around here as I have been knocked down by a terrible head cold. My family watched in shock as I dragged myself off to bed by 8 o'clock for the last few nights, went through boxes of tissues and stripped the poor lemon tree bare so I could concoct the number one, sure thing cold busting solution: hot lemon honey drinks. I'm feeling 90% better and, even though I'm not drinking coffee this week, I wanted to join in the 2015 Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. You seriously need to check out the wonderful coffee themed cards that have been linked!

   

My card is inspired by Tracey McNeely's card for the Muse Challenge #135. Part of the card base is taped off, the leaf pattern stamped in fall colors and a couple of score lines added to reinforce the edges of this panel. The MFT sentiment is partially stamped on the Memory Box die cut and partly directly onto the card base.

A felt sleeve adds texture and the Lawn Fawn leaf die cut echos the leaf die cut on Tracey's card.

This second project is something I've been itching to make ever since I saw Ashley Cannon Newell's video tutorial at Capture the Moment for Make It Monday #225: Die Cut Shaped Boxes.

I die cut the Friendship Jar Shaker twice from black cardstock and once from black foamboard and two transparency pieces from the full jar die. This allowed me to put together a see-through shaker that was finished both front and back.

Another black cardstock jar is die cut for the back of the box.

For today the box is stuffed with tissue paper, but I love that when it is stuffed with treats, it will look like a jar full of goodies from the front!

This fun little treat box is also being linked to the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog where Anything Goes this week.

Some things in life can't wait for mom to feel better. A cold is bad enough, but a cold + an afternoon at the DMV? The good news is we have a new licensed driver in the house! He is out on his first independent drive to get his haircut and I'm almost not nervous ;)

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie