12 Kits of Occasions-January "Snow Day"

Hi crafty friends.  It has been a very, very long time since I've written a blog post, and at least two years since I've played along with the 12 Kits of Occasions group.  My sweet friend Jeanne Jachna of A Kept Life very kindly asked if I would like to play along this month and I wanted to, but found that my blog was a total mess and I could not remember how to update it.  I messed around with it for a day and finally got it fixed up enough so that I could accept her sweet invitation.

The past two years I have been using my craft time for quilting.  I know, a new hobby.  It came about after my grandkids were born and I saw some soft flannel fabric at JoAnns that was a perfect match for my granddaughters room.  How hard could it be to sew little squares together?  HARD!  That first quilt was a mess but it was enough that I was hooked and I invested in a really nice sewing machine, and all the needed quilting accessories which were paid for in part by selling a huge, huge chunk of my paper crafting supplies.  That's why the 12 Kits of Occasions group is so nice...each month's package has everything...and I mean everything you need all ready for you to make some cute cards.  I made four with Jeanne's kit and have quite a bit left over to make more.

The intricate die cut was the first piece of Jeanne's kit I used.

One of my all-time favorite dies is the Poppy Stamps Grand Madison Window Die and this cute patterned paper was perfect for a "looking out the window scene."

I loved the polar bear and the snowy treetops.

Don't even need a sentiment when your patterned paper has such great wintery sentiments!

I would like to thank Jeanne for inviting me to play along this month...it really felt good to spread out all the materials and play with them.  As always, there are some fabulous cards made each month by the 12 Kits of Occasions group and you can find their cards as well as the kit ingredients on the 12 Kits of Occasions blog.

***Some of my crafty friends might want to see what my sweet grandkids look like now.  Here's a few pics***

Jaxon, 3 yrs

Blakely, almost 3

Barrett, 6 months

12 Kits of Occasions: August with Michelle

I apologize in advance for the poor photography...I am on vacation and forgot to take the cord that transfers cards from the camera to the laptop and had to use my cellphone.  Not great!

A Spoon Full of Sugar: The theme for the August edition of the 12 Kits of Occasions.

You will be humming this song before you finish visiting every one of the 12 Kits of Occasions member's blogs blogs today...that old Mary Poppins song still comes to mind when I think of Get Well, Feel Better and other cheery ways to encourage someone on the mend in a hurry.  Our hostess this month is Michelle Ferguson of I Card Everyone.  Michelle is the newest member of our group of card designers and she was a little nervous to be hosting for the first time.  She should not have worried one little bit...she sent a fabulous kit with lots of stamps, die cuts and beautiful patterned papers for us to work with.  See what I mean?

Michelle also included a surprise element to our kit that we had to figure out for ourselves, something that seemed just a little off theme.  I honestly did not know what it was!  Michelle's kit was so good that everything looked like it went together.  I took my package with me on vacation and had a nice day making four cards.  The photography did not quite go as smoothly as I forgot to bring the cord to send the pics from my camera to my laptop...hence, the cell phone snapshots... forgive me in advance!  Here is what I made:

Please sure to go to our 12 Kits of Occasions blog to find links to the other team members and their cards made with Michelle's wonderful kit.  I actually can't wait to see who won the surprise part of our contest...I'm still not sure what the out of place item is!

Thank you Michelle for a great card package this month!

12 Kits of Occasions-Christmas in July

Welcome to the July edition of the 12 Kits of Occasions, a monthly posting by friends who exchange card kits throughout the year posting what they make on the last day of each month.  This month I am the hostess and had a great time collecting lots of Christmas elements to include in my kit.  This month in addition to our usual designers...Lisa Elton of My Paper Tales is joining us as a guest designer.  Lisa makes beautiful cards and I hope you stop by her blog and see what she has done with my July kit.

In case you are wondering...here is a picture of our kit ingredients that we all worked with this month.  Thank you Tracey for taking the picture for us!

For a full listing of the kit ingredients, you can always look on our 12 Kits of Occasions blog at the top of the page under Supplies...everything is listed in case you are curious about the paper or stamps we used to make our cards.

There's lots to see, so here are the cards that I made with our July holiday kit.

It was very rewarding to know that I have made a small start with my Christmas 2015 cards...please be sure to stop by the 12 Kits of Occasions blog to see what everyone else in our group made with out kit.

12 Kits of Occasions Second Helpings

Who's ready for seconds?  Today is a day you can say, "Yes, please" without a single worry about overeating or going over your daily calorie count.  LOL.  The second helpings for today belong to our 12 Kits of Occasions Card group and they will probably look vaguely familiar to anyone who follows our little group month by month.  Our second helpings are a combination of papers or embellishments from any 2015 card kit already received.  Every month our kits contain so much...there is always room for leftovers!

This card uses leftovers from Marybeth's Song of the South kit and a few wooden stars from Jeanne's For the Boys kit.  I loved the country/down on the farm look to the patterned papers from Marybeth's kit and Jeanne sent so many cute 

doo-dads, I could embellish a dozen cards.

This card was made using some of Tracey's Pretty in Pink patterned paper and again, more wooden embellishment from Jeanne and her For the Boys kit.  I didn't realize how easy it is to color those wooden pieces with copies.  They fit any color combination you want.

I only had time for two cards this month, June was a busy month for me...I am the hostess for next month and was busy getting my dozen July kits ready for mailing.  I will give you a little clue as to next month's theme "HoHoHo".   I bet that theme is hard to imagine in June where the temperatures are very close to the triple digits!

Be sure to check our all of our groups Second Helpings...here's a link to the 12 Kits of Occasions Blog where you will find all kinds of inspiration using the kits from 2015!

Montana Monkey Softie

I have been waiting for some time without any distractions so I can make a few softies...finally got that time this week while I am on vacation in Montana.  I mailed a big box of supplies to myself and they were waiting at the post office to pick up the day we arrived.  I love looking at all that beautiful felt and embroidery floss in all the matching colors!

I have made a few softies now and every one I make I learn a little something that makes them not only easier to make, but more tailored to the two sweet babies I make them for.

Here's the monkey I made yesterday:

Had to use my iPhone for the camera so the picture isn't as good as I would want, but this little guy has a loop sewn in the top for a teething ring and inside his stuffed little belly is a rattle disk so he makes lots of noise for my sweet baby grandson.

Here's a picture of the rattle disk I used.  I got it from While She Naps and is made specifically for use in stuffed animals for babies.  It's very safe and secure.

I glued some stuffing to the top and bottom of the disk before I added it to the tummy area of my softie.  It is padded really well and makes a great, but not too annoying rattle!

I also added a tail to my softie using an additional arm and cutting a slit in the back side of the monkey.

Tomorrow I am going to make a second version of this monkey in "girly" colors for my granddaughter...and then...maybe an owl?  Not sure, but I will have fun trying to come up with something else before I have to head back home.

12 Kits of Occasions Let's Hear it for the Boys

Let's Hear it for the Boys!

Remember that old song?  Footloose with Kevin Bacon is one of my all-time favorite movies.  This month the 12 Kits of Occasions group had a lot of fun with our "boys" themed kit provided by our hostess Jeanne Jachna of A Kept Life.  Jeanne is a master at creating fabulous kits for us, full of lots and lots of die cuts and stamped images and sentiments which make it very easy for the rest of our group to create cards no matter what the theme is.  This month, masculine cards were up and once again we had a ton of options with Jeanne's kit.  Here's a picture of the kit that Jeanne sent us:

Thank you Jeanne for a really fun kit this month!

Here are the cards I made this month:

 

I loved digging through the box of die cuts Jeanne sent us...most of my cards are very simple, but Jeanne's cute die cuts make even a simple card stand out.  I think I am all stocked up with masculine cards that should last me quite a while!

Please check out our 12 Kits or Occasions blog for more details about this month's kit with a list of specific stamps and dies as well as links to the other designers playing along this month.

Raccoon Softie

This is the third softie I have made with PTI's Design a Softie dies.  Unfortunately, the first raccoon I made met an untimely end in a very nasty cat vs raccoon accident.  These dies are such fun and just perfect for my sweet little grandson Jaxon.  He is now 6 months old and he loves to snuggle something soft as he is falling asleep at nap time.

 I used the tie accessory die for the eyes and cut the arms down and folded them over.  The eyelashes were perfect for the paws and I added some black strips to an additional arm to make the tail.  

I will try to take a picture of Jaxon with his new softie tomorrow...if the cat doesn't get to it first!

Edited to add pic with Jaxon: