Lumberjack Birthday

No card to share today, already showed all the Halloween birthday cards I made for Carly, but here is a picture of her today on her 22nd birthday.  She just started student teaching and both Carly and her master teacher are dressing as lumberjacks.  Why lumberjacks...no idea, but she looked so cute 22 years after the craziest Halloween I have ever experienced!

12 Kits of Occasions- October with Kara

 Here we are...nearly to the end of 2013 and it's time for our October edition of the 12 Kits of Occasions.  This month...extra fun for me as I made all of my cards while on vacation.  Kara of Kandrdesigns is our hostess this month and also is providing a really great prize to a random commenter.  Not only Be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom to see every card and enter the GIVEAWAY!  Kara take the best photos of our kits (should read the only photos of our kits), but she created a kit that had stamped images, die cuts, embellishments and even some vellum which kept me very busy one very cold day in Montana.  Here's a peek at the kit that Kara sent us:

Photo courtesy of Kara

There will be a ton of cards to look at today, so I will get right to mine:

How have I lived without PTI's Leaf Prints before?  I am so glad I just got that set as I LOVED the stamped panel that Kara sent us along with the beautiful die cut sentiment.  I added a few Lil Inker embellishments to, the stitched scallop border and the little leaf.

I thought this little tree was cute enough all by itself without coloring...the little banner is from Verve.

I used several of the Fall patterned papers Kara included in our kits for this one...also the cute Autumn Blessings vase and even some of the glittery ribbon.  Kara also included the brown ribbon and button.

This card means a lot to me as it looks nearly identical to the little cabin we have in Montana and where I made all this month's cards, green roof and all.  I am always thankful for the time my husband and I get to spend here.  Here's a picture of the cabin:

Doesn't it look similar to the stamped image?

Last up is actually my favorite...I also had never gotten to use PTI's Autumn Hills set and it was fun coloring and sparkling this one for a cute bookmark.  I added a little bit of burlap behind the main panel and added some glue to the ends so it wouldn't fray too badly as I yank it in and out of my latest book.

Ready for more Autumn inspiration?  Here a link to the other talented ladies who belong to our 12 Kits of Occasions Group.  For the details on our ingredients this month, make sure to check out the 12 Kits of Occasions Blog page for all the details.

Thank you Kara for a fabulous kit this month!

Renee 

Kelly 

Jessica

 Amy

 Kim

 Joyce

 Tracey

 Marybeth

 Sharron

 Christina

Kara (Our fabulous hostess)

Glitter, glitter everywhere

I am not exaggerating either. I forgot to bring silver glitter paper with me on vacation and had to make my own. I am still cleaning up the silver glitter. I went to the grocery store in sweats and got home to realize I had silver glitter all over my face. I am sure people were wondering what kind of crazy makeup do those CA women wear with sweat pants!

I made another Christmas card and once again used my new Lil' Inker holiday release stamps and dies.

I stamped a Christmas tree pattern with the new Jolly and Joyful Sentiments set, added the teeny tiny little star from that set stamped in silver along with a little silver stickles. I made my own striped paper using scortape and that infamous silver glitter. The cute ornament and bow are from Lil Inkers new set, Christmas Bits Die set. Of course, more glitter added to all. I am thinking this is a hand it to you kind of card...who knows how much glitter would be left after the post office bounces it around for a few days! Thanks for taking a look!

 

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Country Christmas

First thing this morning as I was reading my usual blogs, I saw the cutest post from Tracey McNeely for CASology #67. Tracey's card seen here inspired me to dig through the stamps and dies I have with me on vacation and try to come up with something "country". This week's Merry Monday #80 is to use a Christmas Carol to inspire our card. It didn't take long until I knew I had found the perfect sets...Lil' Inker Holy Jolly Dies, gingham and polka dots. You can't get more country than a gingham Christmas tree, can you?

 

I used two new sets..Jolly and Joyful Sentiments and the Jolly Word Die along with the previously released Stitched Stars Die Set, Stitched Mat Rectangles and Holly Jolly Dies to create my version of a warm country Christmas.

It is feeling a little like Christmas here in Montana...my husband and I chopped down several old trees and had a nice little bonfire last night...and our cabin is still standing! Can't get more country than that!

I am also linking this up to Simon Says Stamp Christmas challenge.

 

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Joy

Happy Monday all...easy for me to say as I am on vacation this week. I hope you all had some time to enjoy your stamps and dies this weekend, I know I sure did. I made a Christmas card using some new stamps and dies from Lil' Inker's latest release. If you haven't seen their new products...get right on over there and check them out! I was a little worried this year...I hadn't been making holiday cards throughout the year as I have in the past. Once I opened up my new order from Lil' Inker's, the worry evaporated as I realized how quick and easy I can make some very cute cards in no time at all. Here is the first one I have made:

Lots of Lil' Inker on this card starting with a mat of Stitched Mats: Squares, just the perfect size to create a cheery holiday scene. I cut a picket fence (PTI) and decked it out with some pine garland using a Martha Stewart Pine Bough punch. See those cute red bows? The are from the newly released Christmas Bits Die set from Lil' Inker which includes five cute iconic holiday images. The sentiment is from a new set (Jolly and Joyful Sentiments) which coordinate with the Joy Word Die also just released from Lil' Inker. There is also a Jolly Word Die that coordinates with this sentiment set which I plan to use later on this week.

Here's a link to the Lil' Inker store just in case you've been living under a rock and haven't seen everything from their latest release. You'll love it!

 

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Serendipity Owl Die

It is my favorite time of the year...mid October is when my husband and I always go to our little cabin in Montana and enjoy a week of true Fall weather. It's always a little bit of a shock when we first get there. We are almost always leaving hot, dry CA and walking off the plane to 50 degree weather, but what a nice change for us. This trip, I carried on a bag full of craft supplies...had my bag fully inspected for possible hidden bombs and gunpowder residue while my husband just breezed right through security. It was worth the pat down though because I have lots of fun things to keep me busy while my husband works outside preparing the cabin for winter.

Today I am sharing a card I made with a new die I just received from Serendipity Stamps. If you've never tried their dies...you SHOULD! They are so detailed and elegant, yet cut so well...perfect edges every time. Here's my card:

The new owl die has such great detail, just look at the chest area (not sure what that part of an owl's body is officially called) with the intricate cut outs. My card is CAS, but this owl could just as easily be used with a card decked out with patterned papers, ribbons and bling. I will be sharing one of those types of cards later on this month. The sentiment is also from Serendipity (Happy Birthday).

Here is a link to the Serendipity store...you should check out all of their dies and most of them have matching stamps to go along with them.

 

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Waltzingmouse October Pajama Party

I've got my pj's on and am ready to check out some Halloween cards...Waltzingmouse-style.  No one does Halloween better than Claire and her latest release gave us lots of stamps to choose from to create some spooky Halloween cards.

I am playing along with the challenge to create a Victorian or vintage style Halloween card.   Totally not my normal style, rarely do I use anything Victorian or vintage, but I do have a new stamp set to play with and it didn't take long to find an image to go with it.  I'm talking about Waltzingmouse's Spooky Tree Backgrounder.  Here's my entry into the Victorian Ghost Challenge category:

I also used my cameo on this card...the ornate frame is a cut file and the raven is a print and cut.  I stamped my Spooky Tree background on a piece of patterned paper and adhered a sheet of vellum on top of it.  The sentiment is embossed onto the vellum and is from last years Waltzingmouse set, Hocus Pocus.  I added a big poofy bow, some stitching, stickpins and a button/brad combination.

There is plenty of time to play along with this month's challenges...here's a link for all the details.

October 4 of a Kind with Renee - Ocean Bound

Ahoy.  I am in quite the nautical mood today as I have had such fun making cards with our latest 4 of a Kind kit...this time hosted by Renee of It's a Patchwork Life.  You should have seen the gigantic, enormous, packed to the brim package we each received this month.   Here's a snapshot of our package:

As you can see, I was not exaggerating!  I made six cards with my kit and when I packed away the left-overs, my package was still full enough to make at least another six or so.  Here is what I made:

I am starting with my favorite.  I love the little whale and used some pieces left over from the Lil' Inker fanfare die to make an eye and eyebrow.  I added some seagulls to the stitched clouds and plan to use this for my nephew's 3rd birthday card.

I loved the anchor-embossed card stock Renee sent us in our kit.  I used some of the patterned paper and Mat Stack #3 from PTI to highlight the ships wheel from our kit.  Those brass brads were fun to use too.

How quick and easy this card was to make.  I didn't even have to stamp the whale...it was a sheet of patterned paper I die cut with the Lil' Inker notebook die.  More seagulls and that polka dot washi tape...also included in our kit.

I cheated a bit on this card.  Renee challenged us to tie this knot ourselves, even giving us enough rope to do it.  Did I?  Nope.  I just cut off the belly band Renee put around our package this month.  It was just too good not to use.  

Every single pieces of this card came from our kit...love the anchor patterned paper and the Lil Inker Fanfare die again.  

I really love the navy and white on this one...the white strip is actually another piece of washi tape from our package and the background patterned paper was already rounded.  This last card really did practically make itself.  

Do you see why I had so much fun with this kit?  I can only imagine how great the cards are going to be from the other three members of our group.  For the complete kit ingredient list, make sure to check out Renee's blogpost.  We'll be back in January with something fun from Joyce!

Renee (Our hostess)

Joyce

Kim

Tree Line

It's always a great day when you get to play with some new stamps and dies.  I just got my October order from My Favorite Things Stamps and used it all to make a quick holiday card.

The Dienamics Tree Line dies are the star of the show on this card, love how cute they look along the glittery snow drifts.  The background is the new Dienamics Swiss Dots and the sentiment is from LJD Grand Holiday Greetings.  I'm anxious to try the tree line die with patterned papers next...lots of possibilities with this one.