12 Kits of Christmas- March Edition

Here I am with March's edition of our 12 Kits of Christmas club and what a month it was!  This month's hostess was Suzanne of The Card Yard.  Suzanne went all out and sent us a fabulous kit full of all kinds of patterned papers, stamps, ribbons and lace.  Check out the great kit she sent us:

Photo courtesy of Kara

I made three cards this month.  Here is the first one:

Very simple and highlighting the great candy cane striped paper from AMuse.  I used some of the great saddle stitch ribbon and the Merry Christmas diecut.  I love the way the sentiment stands out against the black oval and that great striped patterned paper.

It won't be a surprise that I will probably make some type of window card every single month of our 12 Kits series.   I love that Madison Grand Window and this time used it with the great snowman stamped image Suzanne included in our kit.

I used the sparkly polka dot embossed cardstock Suzanne included and some more of that saddle stitch ribbon.  The cute snowman is by AMuse and is colored with copics.  I stamped a sentiment from Waltzingmouse Compliments of the Season.  I think this is my favorite of the three cards.

For my last card, I used the most "untraditional" Christmas patterned paper included in our kits, this really pretty lavender print. 

I colored the cute dove image with copics and layered it over a kraft colored doily.  I added some silver stickles to the dove and added some of the pretty green ribbon from our kit.  I love the elegance of this card with the pretty dove image. 

Here are all three of my cards together:

Thank You Suzanne for a great kit that was such fun to work with.  I am getting quite a stash of Christmas cards put away and ready to address for next holiday season.  No last minute rush for me next year.   Now that you have seen my cards, I hope you are ready to see a whole bunch of holiday cards from my friends in the 12 Kits of Christmas club.  Make sure to check them all out, you are going to get lots of great ideas.

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

Christina: SeaGlass&Sentiments

Renee: ItsAPatchworkLife

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #90 and March Christmas Card Challenge

Renee Lynch of It's a Patchwork Life and a Waltzingmouse Mischief Maker really came up with a challenging sketch this week for Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #90.   Wow, it was a tough one for me.  Here's the sketch that  kept me thinking all weekend:

My first two card attempts are in the trashcan, but after I decided to combine the sketch with the current Waltzingmouse March Christmas Card challenge to use blue and brown, I was able to finish a card I really like.  Here my card:

I flipped the sketch on it's side and used my favorite image from Waltzingmouse Festive Foliage, a really pretty pinecone branch.  I stamped it on some plaid patterned paper and used some blue ink for the berries.  The sentiment doesn't show up too well on the picture, but it says Be Merry and is also from Festive Foliage.  I popped up the pinecones on dimensional foam and added a bow and some jinglebells just because I love them.  For more details on the Waltzingmouse Christmas Card challenge, here's a link.  It's not too late to enter and there is a great prize offered at the end of the year.

Happy Birthday Kim!

Surprise Kim!   At least I hope you are surprised, it's a birthday blog hop for you from all of your friends to wish you a Happy Birthday.  Here's the card I made for you:

Now Kim, for my confession.  I did actually make this card, but I didn't design it myself.  I knew I wanted to use PTI's Tea for Two since I know how much you love tea, so I did a Google Image search and looked at tons of cards for some inspiration.  I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw this card by Christina MacLaren of Sea Glass and Sentiments.  No matter how hard I tried I could not come up with a card that came anywhere close to being as beautiful as this card.  Christina very graciously allowed me to use her design, so I not only cased it, I made it identical.  Every detail.  A few days later I felt guilty making you a card so blatantly not my own that I remade it and at least changed the color of the cardstock.  Not much of a change, but something. 

I hope you enjoy your birthday blog hop Kim.  You are such a great friend to so many people I am certain you will be seeing some great cards today to wish you a Happy Birthday.  Enjoy!
Make sure you stop  over at Kim's blog to wish her a happy birthday and don't forget to check Kim's other friends who participating in her birthday Blog Hop:

Joyce
Jeanne
Jessica
Kara
Katie
Laurie W.
Lee Anne
Marybeth
Michelle
Renee
Sharron

Lucky Me, One Card, two challenges!

St. Patrick's Day is very lucky for me today although I was really scrambling to get this done.  It's lucky for me because although I procrastinated to get my Blog Party card done,  I woke up and saw this morning's WMSC#89, and realized that I could use my idea to make one card for two challenges.  This month the theme for the blog party is no surprise...St. Patrick's Day/Irish/Green!  The sketch for the challenge is by the very "Irish by marriage"  Mischief Maker, Renee Lynch and is perfect for my Irish Themed card.  Here's the sketch:

That great big flower could be just about anything, and I decided to make it a window!

I don't really celebrate St. Patrick's Day and didn't have any stamps for that occasion, but I was so happy to find out that Waltzingmouse had some digital stamps and papers that would be just perfect for making an Irish-themed card, and some of them are  FREE!  Here's my card:

Wouldn't everyone like to have the "luck" of  having a whole flowerbox full of four leaf clovers?  The shamrocks are a free digital download from Waltzingmouse.  What was so great about this image is the fact that I could scale it any size I wanted, large or small to fit my card.  This time I wanted those shamrocks growing outside the Small Madison Window, shutters and flowerbox which represent the great big flower in Renee's sketch.   They were colored with copic markers and a little stickles for some sparkle.  Behind the curtain is a little lamp from PTI's Lighten Up stamp set and some lace trim for the valance. 

The background paper as well as the lampshade is also a digital product by Waltzingmouse called Celtic Squares.  It was so reasonably priced and I can print as many pieces of it as I want, lots of different color shades of green too!  Now, this isn't just a regular card, it is my first easel card.

It's quite dark and dreary here this morning, so my pictures don't really capture how bright and cheery this card is.

For some reason I had it in my head that it would be difficult to make an easel card, but it wasn't!  I found the perfect sentiment panel to fit inside my card too.  Last summer when my friend Renee (It's a Patchwork Life) and I placed our first Waltzingmouse order, she ordered the Irish Blessings stamp set.  Before I sent it to her, she let me stamp off a few images to keep for the future and this sentiment is one I stamped.  I had never had a chance to use it before, but I think it is just perfect for this Irish-themed card.  I plan to keep this card myself and keep it on my desk at work, a constant reminder of how lucky and blessed I am. 

There are going to be lots of other "lucky" Irish cards today over on the Waltzingmouse blog, make sure you get over there and enjoy them this St. Patrick's Day.  While you are at it, why not make a card for the WMSC#89 too, you can even cheat like I did and make it a two for one! 

4 of a Kind-March

Time for 4 of a Kind cards again, month #7!  Our group of four take turns making idential kits of card-making ingredients from which we make cards and reveal them onthe 16th of the month.  This month's hostess was Joyce of Cards by the Sea.  I had my fingers crossed which set Joyce was going to use, she dropped a hint a few months ago and I was so excited when I opened up my kit for this month.  It was PTI's On My Couch and On My Couch Additions.  Those super cute little couch and chair images have always caught my eye, but I had just never gotten around to purchasing that set.  Dumb on my part because it is adorable!
Here's a picture of the kit that Joyce sent us:

Joyce must have been diecutting all day, there were so many cute images on October Afternoon Farmhouse paper.  There were also some houndstooth embossed cardstock, lace, buttons and some fillagree border diecuts.  Lots to work with.  This month I made three cards:

Thank goodnesss I remembered to take a picture of this one, it's already been sent to Joyce's mom who is recovering from surgery.  I used the embossed white stripes to mimic                .  I thought the striped patterned paper kind of looked like wallpaper so together they create a cozy little backdrop for the cute red couch and pillow.  Every single thing on this card except the rhinestones was from the kit.

My second card uses all of the diecuts that Joyce sent me, some of the patterned paper and is topped off with one of the handmade button roses Joyce made.  Can you believe she made those buttons herself?  I also added two diecut doilies my friend Jeanne Jachna of A Kept Life sent me from Cheery Lynn (Kiwi Doily and Nautical Wheeler).  There are 5 layers of diecuts on the front of this card, a record for me!

My last card uses the Grand Madison Window die to reveal a cozy scene through the window.  I also used one of the lamps from PTI's Lighten Up stamp set and used one of the Fillagree Border diecuts from our kit as a valance.  Just because I thought it was pretty, I added another border die to the inside of the card.  I used a little rhinestone to "hang" the picture on the wall.

Joyce did a great job with her kits this month, so much so that I've ordered the sets for myself!  Now that you've seen my three cards, make sure you check out what my three friends have made with their kits.

Joyce

Renee

Kim

WMSC#87- Interactive Little Birdie

I always say Sewing Box Hugs is my favorite Waltzingmouse stamp set and today I have another card using my favorite image and sentiment from that set, the cute little bird for WM Sketch Challenge #87.  I have made more cards with this one image than any other WM set I have and I love it as much today as I did the first time I used it, except todays card is interactive! 

First, here's the sketch for the week which is by my very good friend and Mischief Maker Renee Lynch:

Didn't she do a great job with her first sketch?  Here's my card:

I used Waltzingmouse Offbeat Backgrounds to stamp a polka dot pattern for the background paper and embossed the zipper panel with a linen impression plate.  The sweet bird is stamped with gingham three times on aqua mist cardstock, cut out and popped up with dimensional foam.  The zipper panel is a new interactive die by Papertrey Ink.   When the recipient follows the instruction arrow stamp that says "Pull Here", this is what they will find:

and this

Isn't that cute?  I can imagine all kinds of sentiments that might fit behind that little zippered panel.  Wouldn't this make a cute baby card too with the sentiments...It's a Boy or It's a Girl underneath the zipper?  Thanks for taking a look at my first interactive zipper card!

WMSC#86- For You

I had a great day today, got to spend the morning in my pj's and make my card for Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #86.  Here's the sketch this week which is by Jen Cuthbertson:

As soon as I saw this sketch last Saturday, I was so happy.  My friend Jeanne Jachna of   A Kept Life gave me a great birthday present.   She sent me Waltzingmouse Faux Fun Circles and I was hoping this week's sketch would have a circle in it!  Lucky me.  Here's my card:

I cut a Spellbinder postage diecut using Authentique patterned paper and wrapped twine around it.  That very pretty doily image is from Faux Fun Circles and is embossed with white embossing powder on some cream colored cardstock.  I cut it out and added some pearls for sparkle.  A pretty glittery rose and tag using Rescue Remedy Additions finishes off the card.  I can't wait to use some of the other pretty circle images in my new circle set.  Thanks Jeanne for the wonderful gift.