The 12 Kits of Christmas June 2012

Hooray for another fun addition of the 12 Kits of Christmas! This month was Amy's kit. And my did she send some nice items! Check it out:

Are you lost and have no clue what I'm talking about? Check out my first post from January, here. It explains it all.

Now on to my cards from this month's kit:

I just love this bow die...think I may have to be getting this one at some point ;)

This card actually has a pocket on the front and the little red ribbon is the tail of a note that you pull out of the little pocket. I have a funny story to tell with this card, though. I thought that the words were supposed to be "joy" and I kept wondering why I had these two other straight "strips." I thought, maybe they are exclamation points? But I didn't want to use an exclamation...it wasn't until I went on the Lil' Inkers site to look up the bow die that I saw that the word is "Jolly!" Oh geeze ;)

So I'm camping right now and forgot to bring the supply list with me to type up in this post! I know that most of the dies that she sent are from Lil' Inkers (the bow, the wood frame, the letters, bells, etc). I can add on the supply list later after I get home. Everything I used is from the kit except the hexagons impression plate, and the card bases. I love the rustic feel of the cards. I think my favorites are the hexagon one and the one with the tiny clothespin...what about you? Are you ready to check out what all the other girls created? Go and enjoy this fun blog hop:

Suzanne: thecardyard

Joyce: Cards-by-the-Sea

Kim: CupcakesCardsandKim

Amy: Stamp-n-Paradise

Kara: KandRDesigns

Sharron: OnPapillionWings

Marybeth: Marybeth's Time for Paper

Jeanne: AKeptLife

Jessica: The Paper Parade (that's me!)

Christina: SeaGlass&Sentiments

Renee: ItsAPatchworkLife

CAS-UAL Fridays #57

When I saw that the prize for this week's CAS-ual Friday's challenge was to win SIX Paper Smooches stamp sets, you KNOW I was on board :) Here is the card I created using Papertrey Ink's Clearly Creative Cardstock (aka acetate):

Recognize these flip flops? I have a feeling you'll be seeing a lot of them ;) The patterned papers are from the PTI Aqua Mist Collection and Summer Sunrise Collection.

These clouds are a MFT die. The acetate I've had ever since my very first PTI order, but I have never used it! I'm glad there was a challenge to get me to open the package, because this stuff is pretty cool! It reminds me of transparencies from school, when the teachers would use them on the overhead projectors.

The twine is from the Twinery, the sentiment is from the flip flop set, and the "sand dunes" are from PTI's In the Meadow dies.

I have someone in particular in mind to send this card to. She loves flip flops! Summer sure did come in with a bang here yesterday...97 degrees. I grew up in this kind of heat in FL, but I still can't get used to it up here in New England...where there is no central air in most homes (including mine!), and of course where the hottest day of the year I had a boat trip scheduled with the residents, and the rear AC in the van didn't work...I melted. Hope you had a nice day to ring in the summer!

This calls for a toast!

Phillip and I went strawberry picking a couple of weekends ago and I made good use of them...made two types of jam (spiced strawberry jam and strawberry rhubarb jam), a strawberry rhubarb pie, and of course ate some of these seriously delicious strawberries fresh! I made a lot of jam and wanted to give some as gifts, so I had to create a little packaging for it, right? Here are the tags:

Here's a look at the strawberries:

There was a heart shaped strawberry! I thought it was too cool not to snap a pic :)

I saved the berry baskets for my packaging that looked like this:

So I had jam...you need biscuits...or toast! Hence the sentiment, hehehe it makes me laugh! :) I gave this to Gerry yesterday when she came over (and btw, I DID finish and send out my Father's Day cards finally!). I wanted to take her pic with it, but she said no way. She was really excited about it, though :) The stamps are from Paper Smooches and the washi tape is from Target. The tag is a PTI tag and the circles were cut with a SU circle punch. The ribbon is SU and the twine from the Twinery.

Make It Monday #71: Bordered Sentiments

I got my PTI order in RECORD time! I reviewed all the release items but decided that I actually wanted the flip flops and some other things from last release instead, so I ordered at about 4pm on the 15th...I could not believe when the mailman delivered the box today! So of course I wanted to play with my new goodies! Here is the card I created using today's Make It Monday:

I'm running out of natural light and can't seem to get a great pic tonight :( But I wanted to go ahead and share anyway. The water punch is from Fiskars, the twine from the Twinery, the cloud dies from My Favorite Things, and everything else is PTI. I created the "sand" using two Copics and making a bunch of dots.

  

The Mercy Me is from the Glory Be set, everything else from the Flip Flop set. I didn't think I wanted it last month, but I've seen what everyone's been doing with it and I've been SO jealous! This card is for my friend Gerry who came over to stamp with me today. She is such a kind friend and I'm SO lucky to have her :)

Paper Smooches Sparks: Designer Drafts June 2012

So here is the idea that I was telling you about that I had for this PS eagle from the "Circle of Honor" set...I recently received the Amuse set "Wish you were here" and thought that the eagle would look perfect in front of the US...I think it turned out pretty cute :)

This card is using the sketch from this week's Paper Smooches Sparks challenge:

The twine is from the Twinery and the patterned paper I used is from an October Afternoon pack called 5 & Dime (I got this for seriously cheap at the yard sale I went to last weekend!) The sentiment is also from the Circle of Honor set. The tea dye duo ink is PTI and so is the cardstock. The ink for the US is from SU.

I haven't been around as much lately as I'd like. I've been really busy with work and my volunteer group (that I'm now the president of!) but also, I got to meet Michael J. Fox on Friday night! We had a photo opportunity with him, also, so as soon as I get the photo I'll share it with you all and tell you more about the awesome experience :) But because of all of this, I also have a pile of unfinished Father's Day cards on my dining room table :( One of my stamping friends is coming over tomorrow and I will not stop until I finish them and they WILL be sent out tomorrow!

CPS #269

It's been awhile since I've been able to play along with a CPS sketch. When I saw this sketch, though, I knew right away that I wanted to use my new PS Circle of Honor set (the other PS set I got at Absolutely Everything yesterday). Here is the card I created:

Here is the sketch:

I was sold on this set from this adorable bald eagle. I have a great idea for what my bulk 4th of July cards will look like (you'll be seeing that soon!) and this eagle will be front and center :) For now I used the fireworks that also come in the Circle of Honor set and the sentiment. The frame is a Nestabilities die. I actually don't own any large oval dies (shocking!) so this was the closest I had to that shape.

I used PTI's double ended banner die and then stamped the banners from the set inside. The ribbon is from SU. The background patterned paper is from PTI's new camping themed paper. The cardstock is PTI.

I'm excited about the 4th of July this year because my parents are coming to visit. Ever since we moved to MA 3 1/2 years ago we've been telling my parents how fun the 4th is because a huge parade comes right in front of our house! It is so popular that people start setting their chairs out on the sidewalks a week in advance and we actually have to go out early to put our chairs on the day of or our own driveway gets taken, too!

Freshly Made Sketches #38

This morning Suzanne and two other new crafting friends and I went to the best local stamping store ever, Absolutely Everything, for their annual yard sale. Oh geeze did I LOVE it! The store had so much of their own stuff on sale that I actually didn't make it out to the regular vendors lol. I got a couple of PS stamps (I used a coupon on one...you got that right, they will let you use Michaels or Joanns coupons on any regular priced item!) but the rest of my stuff was so cheap, like $1, $2, or even .50! All the Christmas stuff was 70% off! So anyway, after that long story, how about a card? Using one of my new PS sets:

I used this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches this week:

That neat embossing folder is a Cuttlebug one that I've been wanting for awhile! While I was in FL, I showed it to my mom and she got it for me for Mother's Day :) (yes, I know I have no kids, but she STILL sent me a package for being a good "mom" to my "kids" the dogs and cat). The grass is from PTI's On the Farm, the road is from PS Metropolis. The golf cart and sentiments are from PS My Guy.

I picked up the twine today. It is from Lawn Fawn and was marked down to .50! The paper is an old DSP from SU. The cardstock is PTI and the little tab is a SU punch.

I like how this turned out, I think I'll make a few more to send out to the other Dads in my life. Hope you are coming along on your Father's Day cards (if you make them) and I hope you are able to find a stamp store as great as Absolutely Everything (although I think it may be hard!)

Make It Monday #69

Sketches are my favorite kind of challenge, so when I saw that PTI's Make It Monday had sketches for the week, I wanted to give it a shot. I had grand plans of creating all 6, but at least I got to one!

Here is the sketch:

So I changed it up a bit. I used one large image with 3 parts (umbrella, straw, lime) instead of the 3 images. Then instead of a bold word and smaller sentiment, I used just one sentiment and then the twine in place of the smaller sentiment.

The paper is from...you guessed it, Lillybee designs! I have 3 of their pads now and they are sitting out on my desk...have been getting a lot of use lately ;) The images are all from either the Friendship Jar or Friendship Jar Summer Fillers sets. The sentiment is from an old Amuse stamp.

The twine is from the Twinery and the die is PTI's Double Ended Banner die.

I made this card with my new friend Hope in mind. When we were camping last weekend, they had a margarita maker! (Who would have thought...a margarita maker while camping!) She made us margaritas the first night while we were playing games. I think she'll like it.

WMSC #100

Several of my crafting friends from the 12 Kits of Christmas swear by Waltzing Mouse Stamps. One of their Mischeif Makers, Renee, let us all know about the 100th sketch challenge going on. I don't own any WMS stamps yet (notice the yet) so I asked Suzanne if I could borrow her's. Of course, she complied :) I created this card for the challenge:

Here is the sketch for this week:

You can check the sketch out for yourself, here. There are some great prizes! The balloon is paper pieced with Lillybee Designs paper. The clouds, sentiment, balloon, and little girl all came from the same set. The cardstock is PTI.

The scalloped border punch is from SU.

I have someone special in mind to send this card to. She's had a tough week this week, and I know this card will make her smile :) (Can't say who it is since she looks at my blog!)