July 4 of a Kind: Travel Edition

It's been three months since our last 4 of a Kind post and we have a few changes this month.  Marybeth of Marybeth's Time for Paper is working on some other responsibilities this month (make sure to stop by her blog and see what she has been up to) and we are so happy that our previous member, Renee has rejoined our little group.  This month I am the hostess and the pressure was on to come up with something new and different that the other three ladies haven't used or don't already own it.  As I was looking online for inspiration, I came across some digital patterned paper by Carta Bella, called Well Traveled.  I loved that paper and ended up basing my entire kit around it and it's travel theme.  Of course, the hostess...that would be me,  failed to take a picture of the kit ingredients, but luckily Kim was well prepared and took one for us.  Here is this month's kit ingredients:

As you can see, the patterned papers are such rich colors of cranberry, black, cream and kraft and I used my laser printer from work to print them out.  There was a digital element kit that matched the papers and I printed and cut them out with my silhouette.  I also included some washi tape, matching brads and other embellishments to go along with the travel theme.
Card #1:

Joyce likes to say these cards make themselves.  I took my kit with me to Montana and they honestly did practically make themselves.  I love the banner and balloon image in this one.
Card #2:

 I included a cute cut file from Silhouette called with a luggage tag.  I also found some stacked luggage in the Silhouette store and re-colored it digitally to match the kit.  The postage stamp embossing folder is from Cuttlebug.
Card #3:

 This card is made with PTI's World Map stamp.  I distressed the edges and added a lot of tea dye to age it.  The photo frames were from the Carta Bella kit.
Card #4:

This card is my favorite of the group although it is practically flat!  I used the washi tape to make patterned strips and added the sentiment from PTI Postages stamp set.  The little mini banner is made with Fabulous Frames dies.

Lots of fun this month, and I can honestly say I am totally stocked up on Miss You and any type of travel card I may ever need to send.  Here are all four of the cards I made, all lined up on my photo shelf.

Now that you have seen my cards, you are going to have a lot more fun looking at the cards made by the other three talented ladies in our 4 of a Kind group.  I am always amazed at how different our cards always are even though we use the exact same ingredients.

Joyce

Kim

Renee

Monday Morning Make - DIY Washi Tape Challenge

This is a first for me.  I have never gotten on the washi tape bandwagon...never totally got why people were loving it so much, but now I know!  Thanks to Claire at Waltzingmouse stamps and her Monday Morning Make, I forced myself to get out of my own little comfort zone and try something new.  Not only try it, but make it myself too!  Claire's challenge this week is to make your own washi tape using tissue paper and double sided tape.
Here is what I came up with:

First off, I didn't have any tissue paper, so I rummaged through my daughters room since I am likely to find just about anything in her messy room.  She did have a shoebox and there was a bit of tissue paper in it.  First problem solved.  Second, I didn't have any double sided tape in the widths that I wanted, so I took a 6 x 6 scortape sheet and cut it into strips, laid it on the tissue and colored it with copics as Claire did in her tutorial.  I chose my colors from Colour Q #174.  I love this weeks colors of pink, autumn rose, brown and cream.  I was shocked the technique worked for me on the first try...the tissue colored just the way I wanted it to and dried really quickly.

Next I stamped a few patterns on the tissue.  I used several images from Waltzingmouse Woodgrain stamp set and also from Pic-nic Patterns.  For my card design, I used Retro Sketches #48.  Don't those little strips look like washi tape?

I stamped a polka dot background with the round circle from Woodgrain and layered it onto a PTI Tag Sale #7.  I added some cute pinwheels and a sentiment from Playful Pinwheels and stitched it all to a sheet of patterned paper by Recollections, Valentine's Day pack.  The tag has a little twine and the little image in the corner was a little snippet of washi tape left over with a couple of buttons layered on top.  I really like the way this one turned out and wouldn't be surprised if I finally decided to give washi tape a real chance and start to collect some.

4 of a Kind - A La Carte

It seems like it has been a very long time since I posted 4 of a Kind cards...and it has!  This month ends nearly two years of our Four of a Kind kit club and sadly, our good friend Renee has decided to leave our group.  Renee is super busy, busy, busy with her family, house and other obligations and has decided to cut back a bit.  I know we all have enjoyed the fabulous kits she has created, always packed full of lots of stamped images, beautiful patterned paper and a ton of matching embellishments!  We will miss you Renee, but know that we will continue to see your great projects all over blogland.  We are also changing our 4 of a Kind club up a little too.  It will now be 4 times a year and we will be welcoming Marybeth of Marybeth's Time for Paper as the 4th person in our group and realized that now we are all "California Girls" too, kind of a fun coincidence.

We are calling this month's kit "A La Carte".  Over time we have all stored up a huge pile of left over supplies from our past kits and decided to make this month's cards using anything we want from that left over pile.  Here is a picture of just a small portion of my left over ingredients:

 There was so much I couldn't even fit a fraction of it in the picture frame, but I think you get the idea...I had a lot to work with!

 My first card is my favorite, most of the ingredients came from one of Kim's kits with Papertrey Ink's Fruit Fusion set.   I love the cute apple paper and the picket fence she included in our kit.  I just embossed the fence with a woodgrain impression plate added some little punched branches and little tiny blobs of Marvy Uchida liquid applique that puffs up when you heat it.  The little banner was from one of Joyce's kits and I added my own loop-de-loop border and embossing folder for the brown card base.

 My second card is primarily from one of Joyce's kits using Up, Up and Away.  I found that I had a few hot air balloons left over as well as the sentiment and embossed background.  I also had some orange pom-poms Joyce gave us in a later kit.  All I added for this was the window die cut and the felt cloud.  Those balloons always make me smile!

My last card uses mostly ingredients from one of Renee's kits, with beautiful patterned paper and stamped images from Sewing Box Hugs.  She even included a cute bow from Lil Inker.  I cut my own doily, punched the patterned paper circles and added the twine ribbon from one of Joyce's kits.  I topped it off with a button that could have come from just about anywhere!

My cards are all so different this month...I can not wait to see what the other girls have come up with.  Make sure you look at them all!

Joyce

Kim

2012 Waltzingmouse Card Favorites

Even though New Years has come and gone, I still wanted to take a little time to share my favorite Waltzingmouse cards from 2012.  I had a little nudge from my sweet friend Jeanne of A Kept Life and a Waltzingmouse Mischief Maker...so, here are my favorites from 2012!

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

I am so glad Jeanne suggested we post our favorites because it made me realize I really did use a lot of the stamps I bought this year.  I truly loved the Waltzingmouse Sketch challenges and found that almost all of my favorites were made using a Waltzingmouse sketch.  I would love to see your favorite Waltzingmouse card of 2012...why not write it up and share it with everyone on the Waltzingmouse forum.  Here's a link!

Winter, Through the Window

**Serendipity has a new Challenge Blog...this week's theme is Winter Birthday, a great prize of $20 off your next order could get you some beautiful stamps...check it out here**

Last August I made this card using Serendipity Stamps Bare Tree stamp.  Since the season has changed I thought it would be fun to do a series of seasonal window cards using the same image.  Today I have Winter's card...using the exact same layout and image but with colors more appropriate for Winter.

This one only has one tree because I wanted to have enough room to add some lacey, glittery snow to the base.  The die is Border Carnivale by Cheery Lynn.  The glitter is Martha Stewart course glitter.  I picked up the patterned paper yesterday at Michaels.  It's from Recollections and is called Love Amour Amor.  Lots and lots of pretty patterns to choose from.  I used a fiscars border punch and only kept the little hearts that were left after I punched the pattern.  The branch is Martha Stewart Pine Branch and the sentiment is from Serendipity Stamps (Everyday words small, horizontal).  I already have a good idea for my Spring card but no idea what to do with Summer.  Any ideas for me?

Bare Tree

Everyday Words, small horizontal

WMSC#122-Apple Blossom Seeds

I was in the mood to make a soft and pretty card today and so excited to see that that the sketch for Waltzingmouse stamps this week is just perfect for that type of card.  This week's sketch (WMSC#122) is by my very good friend and WM Mischief Maker Renee Lynch.  I hope you all checked out the inspiration cards made by the Mischief Makers this week.  If not, here's a link...lots of great ideas.
Here is Renee's sketch:

I have a new stamp to use today, a gift from my friend Jeanne Jachna, also a WM Mischief Maker and I have been waiting for the weekly sketch to have a shape similar to my new stamp so that I would have a good excuse to ink it up.  So, Apple Blossom Seeds it is for this week.

The Apple Blossom Seeds stamp is the most beautiful, intricate and delicate stamp I have ever used.  You can't see well from the picture, but the bottom portion is cut out and popped up for added dimension.  I think this stamp is beautiful enough without even having to color it and I have mounted it over a Spellbinder Labels Eight frame.  The patterned papers are by MME, Blush Collection with a little straight stitching and I was very excited to see that I had the perfect matching wrinkled ribbon to tie a fluffy bow.  I added a little gem to hold the bow together.    Make sure to check out all the other cards made using Renee's great sketch.  Here's a link.

Waltzingmouse October Blog Party

This is my second post for today, for the Serendipity Stamps Thanksgiving Invite blog hop, please scroll down.

It's the 17th of the month and that means it's party time, Waltzingmouse Blog Party time! This month was especially fun because it is a color challenge.

Looks like Halloween colors, don't they? Although I love Halloween cards, having made way more than I could ever use, I decided to use these colors for a card that has absolutely nothing to do with Halloween.

Here's my card:

I really love the cheerfulness of this card and it was lots of fun to color, very simple and so many different ways to go with each color. I used Waltzingmouse stamps French Country to stamp a sheet of patterned paper and colored it with a variety of copics. The frame and sentiment are also from and stamped with a pattern from Heirloom patterns. The pleats are made with patterned paper from PTI Patterned paper packs and since the highlight of French Country is a cute rooster, I added a little die cut rooster...just because! Make sure to check out all the other great projects made for the Waltzingmouse Blog Party. I bet you are going to see a lot of Halloween and "other" cards using a very pretty color combination.

Posted with Blogsy

4 of a Kind - September with Cathy

It's the 16th of the month and time for the September version of Four of a Kind.  This month I was the hostess and "Yee Haw", the theme is western!  I do live in a town nicknamed Horsetown, USA after all.  Here is a picture of the kit I sent Joyce, Kim and Renee.

Do you recognize the stamps?









If you guessed Back in the Saddle by Waltzingmouse Stamps, you're right.  This is one of my very favorite stamp sets, such a great mix of individual stamps that can be put together in endless combinations for all kinds of occasions.  Birthday, get well, thank you, and every one is really cute and fun to use.    The patterned papers are by My Minds Eye, On the Bright Side "Stitched" p0aper, Ride On, and Lucky Girl.  There is also some Reminise Cowboy Stripe in there.  I also added some burlap, twine, gingham ribbon, some diecut western charms by My Favorite Things Stamps called Western Charms.  I also threw in a few brass brads, buttons and embossed cardstock.  Here are the cards I made with the kit.

I used the Tim Holtz medallion along with the "girlie" plaid paper and navy gingham ribbon.  If you look close you can see the woodgrain impression and some really cute little navy stars on this cute cowgirl's boots.

My second card is my favorite.

I guess I used that stitched jean paper on all three cards, but I sure loved it.  The focal point is actually three different stamps, two from Back in the Saddle and the polka dots are from WM Faux Fun Circles.  I added a little pinked circle behind the sentiment and a few of the charms and one little brass brad.

Here is my last card:

More stitched jean paper and another combination focal point.  This time the label is from WM Vintage Labels #18 and the cowboy boots, horseshoes and sentiment are from Back in the Saddle.  I also added my version of a cowboy rope as an embellishment.

I had lots of fun going Cowboy this month, and I hope you will check out the cards that the other three very talented ladies in my group have created.  

Joyce

Kim

Renee

 

4 of a Kind - June Edition with a little bit of Summery Fruit

Our June 4 of a Kind hostess, Kim sure knew what she was doing this month.  She couldn't have picked a better stamp set as the basis for her June kit.  Fruit Fusion, a stamp set that I was so excited to order last year, couldn't wait to get into my hands and promptly made one or two cards and never used it again...until I opened my great package a few weeks ago.  It brought back all the memories of why I loved that set to begin with.  Here is a little picture of what Kim sent us in our June kit:

Photo by Kim

My first card really did practically assemble itself. (As Joyce would say)

Kim sent a white panel stamped with the two cute cherry images, one in each corner.  All I did was add a little texture with my linen/canvas impression plate, add one of the photo finisher sentiment strips that Kim sent along and that was it!  It doesn't get much easier than this and I love it!

My second card was nearly as easy.

I used the dark chocolate panel impressed with a cane print as the base of my card.  I added the cute picket fence die cut from Kim and cut down the grape images so the scale fit the fence.  I popped up the little grape stems and added some grass along the bottom.  It needed a little something, so I had to add a few clouds up in the sky.  The sentiment is another photo finisher strip from Kim.  They are just about my very favorite way to add a sentiment these days!

For my last card, I used some of the patterned paper and the cute apples Kim sent us.

Isn't that Fruitti Tutti paper adorable?  I added a bit of Simply Chartruese gingham paper, some stitching, a little red bow and some sparkly stickles on the green apple for a cute card that can go for several occasions.

Here's a pic of all three of my 4 of a Kind cards this month.

Lots of fun once again, Kim was a great hostess and these cards were a blast to make!  Now that you have seen my Summery fruit cards, make sure to check out what Joyce, Renee and Kim have made with their kits.

Joyce

Renee

Kim

WMSC #101 - Accordion Purse

The first time I see a new sketch for Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenges, I "see" something in the sketch.  I almost always end up making something based on that first impression.  This weeks sketch  (WMSC#101) is by Mischief Maker Edna Morrisidie and when I first saw it, I "saw" a  purse turned on it's side.  I guess if you looked that up on a Rorschach Ink Blot test, it probably means something crazy psychologically, but in my mind, it was a purse.  Here's the sketch, you tell me if I am crazy or not.  On second thought...you don't have to tell me, I think I know!

For the last few weeks I have been making a set of thank-you cards to give my niece for her birthday. She is the only relative I have who likes to craft and is also very, very good about writing thank you cards.  She barely has a gift opened and there is a thank you card in the mail.  She is probably my only relative who I am certain would use a set of hand-made cards.  I have made her a set of 12 cards, four different patterns (I will be sharing the rest of the cards later this week).  I decided to make an accordion fold purse to hold them.

Here's a link to the  tutorial I used to make the Accordion Purse.
Here's a picture of the accordion side (very easy to make, by the way).

I used WM Sewing Box Hugs to decorate my purse, stamped, and popped up with patterned paper.  The sentiment is from Compact Sentiments.  The red panel is stamped with a cane print pattern.

The purse closes with a little magnet that is hidden under the patterned paper.  It really snaps shut nicely.

The coordinating cards themselves are small, 3 1/2 x 5" and since my niece will be mailing them, I had to make them pretty flat so I only popped up one layer of the flower and the cute "Thank you sew much" sentiment from Sewing Box Hugs.

Thanks for taking a look at my little thank you card ensemble. Ok, you can say it now, I am a little crazy!