Artful Delight: Hello...and Goodbye

What an extreme joy it has been to be part of the Artful Delight Card Kit Team! LeeAnne and Debbie are amazing people, the kits are equally amazing, and I will surely miss the excitement of getting the kits in the mail, opening them and creating with them. My time has come to and end being a team member, but I will have such a grand time creating with the leftovers of past kits. Thanks LeeAnne, for including me on such an amazing team for so long.

Today I'm showcasing one last card created from the October Artful Delight Card Kit! Everything is from the kit with the exception of the cream cardstock, dies and ink. I love the versatility of the items this month.

The Artful Delight Kits are such a great bargain and so versatile. Here's some information on the card kit...

this kit includes

Little Yellow Bicycle - Feels Like Home collection 6x6 sheet (2 each)

 Chevron Quilt

Fall Floral

Lawn Fawn - Into the Woods collection 6x6 sheet (2 each)

Pine

Basic Grey - Persimmon collection 6x6 sheet (2 each)

Peach Cobbler

 Butternut Squash

Sweet Potato

Spiced Pears

Echo Park - Reflection Fall by Lori Whitlock collection 6x6 sheet (2 each)

Count Your Blessings

Autumn Stripes

Harvest Morning

Fall Dots

Acorn Forest

Harvest Plaid 

Coordinating Cardstock - Bazzill 8 1/2x11 sheet (2 each)

Candy Corn

Gold Coins

Candy Bar

Jawbreaker

Embellishments - size and color may vary

2 - Webster's Pages Family Traditions collection Designer Paper Clips (1 apple/1 arrow)

1 Prima Flowers - Peanut Primmers

25 - Studio Calico Wood Veneer pieces - arrows

3 - Prima Flowers Silentium Paper flowers

approx 1 yard - Copper Brown Jute ribbon

1 package - Lawn Fawn - Into the Woods Sequins

1 package - Little Yellow Bicycle Etched Natural Wood Buttons

1 sheet - Webster's Pages Family Traditions Tags & Prompts

1 sheet - Echo Park Reflections collection Alpha sticker sheet

1 mini stamp set - Lawn Fawn Happy Feast

1 mini stamp set - Gently Seasoned

Artful Delight offers a monthly sketch challenge, introduced at the beginning of each month. I'm hoping to play along in the future. Thanks again, LeeAnne, for the amazing experience that went with being part of your team.

Artful Delight:: Cards for Boys

[They] give reason to get through another day.
Maybe it's how [they] love me in [their] special little ways.
And when it gets hard for me to sleep at night....

[they] wrap [their] little arms around me and say God will make things right!
From sweet gentle touches to [their] bear hugs and a kiss...

[They] make this hell on earth seem more like a peaceful bliss.

[Those] great big kool-aid smiles and the twinkle in [their] eyes....
Every time I look at [them] it makes me want to cry.
But they're not tears of sorrow; they're tears of pride and joy....
To know that all the love in heaven [are] wrapped around my little boys.

adapted from "Little Boys" by Sabrina A. Hernandez

I was in desparate need of some boy birthday cards so I pulled out the October Artful Delight Card Kit  to help me out! The colors are reflective of fall, but also perfect for masculine cards. With the help of some of some sticker sentiments (not from the kit but my own stash) and elements from the kit, I had two clean and simple birthday cards made in no time.

The Artful Delight Kits are such a great bargain and so versatile. Here's some information on the card kit...

this kit includes

Little Yellow Bicycle - Feels Like Home collection 6x6 sheet (2 each)

 Chevron Quilt

Fall Floral

Lawn Fawn - Into the Woods collection 6x6 sheet (2 each)

Pine

Basic Grey - Persimmon collection 6x6 sheet (2 each)

Peach Cobbler

 Butternut Squash

Sweet Potato

Spiced Pears

Echo Park - Reflection Fall by Lori Whitlock collection 6x6 sheet (2 each)

Count Your Blessings

Autumn Stripes

Harvest Morning

Fall Dots

Acorn Forest

Harvest Plaid 

Coordinating Cardstock - Bazzill 8 1/2x11 sheet (2 each)

Candy Corn

Gold Coins

Candy Bar

Jawbreaker

Embellishments - size and color may vary

2 - Webster's Pages Family Traditions collection Designer Paper Clips (1 apple/1 arrow)

1 Prima Flowers - Peanut Primmers

25 - Studio Calico Wood Veneer pieces - arrows

3 - Prima Flowers Silentium Paper flowers

approx 1 yard - Copper Brown Jute ribbon

1 package - Lawn Fawn - Into the Woods Sequins

1 package - Little Yellow Bicycle Etched Natural Wood Buttons

1 sheet - Webster's Pages Family Traditions Tags & Prompts

1 sheet - Echo Park Reflections collection Alpha sticker sheet

1 mini stamp set - Lawn Fawn Happy Feast

1 mini stamp set - Gently Seasoned

Please check out the Artful Delight monthly sketch challenge and create your own project using either the card or scrapbook sketch for a chance to win a kit.  Check out the details here!

TCM:: Holiday Release Blog Hop

Welcome to the The Craft's Meow Holiday Release Blog Hop! You should have arrived from Jinny's Blog. (For hop details and a complete link listing, please visit The Craft's Meow Blog.) I really enjoyed working with this month's release, it is gearing me up for the Christmas Holiday that is just around the corner.


I've showcased three sets from the release in today's card. To acheive the look, I started with some cream patterned paper and stamped the postage image from Holiday Poinsettia. I then layered the angel image from Christmas Blessings and stamped a sentiment from Inside Christmas. (Inside Christmas is the new free gift with $60 purchase, or it can be purchased separately.) I bordered the sentiment with one of the scroll images from that same set. To give the panel a vintage, old postcard look, I ink distressed the edges and some of the panel itself. The panel was then layered on top of some patterned paper and adhered to a cardstock base.

As usual, you will have a chance to win all five stamp sets that are being released! For a chance to win, please visit the design team members' blogs, leaving comments along the way. A winner from all comments left on one of the blogs. You have until 8:00 pm Pacific on Wednesday, October 23rd to complete the hop and leave comments.

I'll send you over to our guest designer, Kimberly Crawford, for your next stop.

TCM:: Inside Christmas and Holiday Poinsettia

Today marks the last day of the previews for The Craft's Meow Holiday Release, but tomorrow there are more chances to see all sets in action with the Blog Hop! There are two sets to introduce today, the first being Inside Christmas, designed by me.


This holiday themed set is geared towards completing your holiday cards with a greeting inside, however, it can be beautiful too on its own, taking center stage on the outside of a card as I have done. I simply gathered some May Arts Sheer Ribbon in Silver and White and added some snowflake cutouts to compliment my stamped greeting. "May your Christmas sparkle with moments of love and laughter, and the year ahead be full of contentment and joy." Before stamping the greeting, I sprayed the card base with sheer mist. (This set is free gift with a $60 purchase at The Craft's Meow, or can also be purchased separately.)

Next up is a set called Holiday Poinsettia, designed by Nina B. I stamped and embossed the image in black, lightly colored it with markers, fussy cut it and then painted the petals with some pink glitter. I backed this onto a kraft card base that had been stamped with the same image in black (twice) above the sentiment from the same set, and finished the card with a layer of May Arts Black Crotchet Ribbon and Pink Burlap String.

Please stop by The Craft's Meow Blog for more inspiration, as well as for a chance to win these two sets!

TCM:: Christmas Lantern

Thank you for all the well wishes for my birthday yesterday, and I hope you enjoyed seeing a sneak peek of the stamp set I designed too! Welcome to the third day of The Craft's Meow Holiday Release. Today it is all about a set designed by Clare, called Christmas Lantern.


I stamped the exquisite image from the set onto some holiday themed patterned paper and then colored it in with markers, in lighter tones to reflect a vintage feel. I then mounted the image panel onto a kraft card base and finished the card with a bow of May Arts Pink Silk Ribbon and Gold Burlap String.

Please stop by The Craft's Meow Blog for more inspiration, as well as for a chance to win this set!

TCM:: Christmas Blessings

Welcome to the second day of The Craft's Meow Holiday Release. Today we are debuting a set called Christmas Blessings, designed by yours truly.


For my card today I stamped one of the two silhouette images and sentiment and coupled that with some patterned paper banners for a quick and easy card. For added interest, I switched up the typical holiday red with pink, and added a pink nose to the deer. The silhouette images were designed with a slight, rustic texture, and I love how they turned out!

Please stop by The Craft's Meow Blog for more inspiration, as well as for a chance to win this set!

May Arts:: Halloween Hop

**Busy day on the ol' rusty blog today.**

Please scroll down to see my Lil' Inkers Designs Holiday Release Card

and my project for The Craft's Meow October Release!**

Oooh, I just love when I can dress up a find from the Dollar Store...my kind of decorating! I spotted this styrofoam hanger along the back wall and knew that I could add some drama and dimension with a bit of May Arts Ribbon. Welcome to the May Arts Halloween Hop, where I know you will find a ton of inspiration to use when decorating for the spooky night!

This was super simple to fix up. I carefully pulled the original hanger from the sign and then looped beautiful purple translucent wired ribbon (JN67) to form a hanger. I had extra on each end and created a few bows and stuck them into the sign with straight stick pins. I then added some translucent black wired ribbon (JN10) for added interest and to tie the purple from the hanger into the black of the sign. These ribbons were both in the 7/8" inch width, which is absolutely the perfect width for making bows. Not too big, not too small, perfectly manageable.

You can find the complete list of stops below, or check out the May Arts Blog for more details! Ooh, and the best part?....May Arts is offering three spools from their Halloween Category to one lucky hopper!

Monday

• Candy Rosenberg
• Charlene Driggs
• Christina Colón

Tuesday

• Courtney Lee
• DeeDee Catron

Wednesday

• Gini Williams Cagle
• Jen Shears
• Jenifer Cowles

Thursday

• Jessica Kephart
• Karen Baker
• Lalo IK

Friday

• Latrice Murphy
• Shellye McDaniel
• Virginia Fynes

LID:: Winter Wishes

** Please scroll down to see my The Craft's Meow Release Card**

 Welcome to the final day of Lil' Inker Designs Holiday Release Hop! As usual, if you are following along on the hop, you should have arrived from Jen's Blog. My final card showcases the Christmas Cover Up Die, Jolly & Joyful Sentiments Stamp Set, as and last year's Snowflakes Dies.

I once again started with a clean, white card base, and stamped a few snowflakes from the Jolly & Joyful Sentiments Set. I die cut a portion of the Christmas Cover Up Die with maroon paper-singling out the Winter Wishes Sentiment by a few snippings of the connected words, adhered it to the card base and finished with some die cut snowflakes.

Please stop by the Lil' Inker's Blog for complete details, hop along (there is are prizes up for grabs for leaving a comment on one of the design team member's release posts!) and stop by Sarah's Blog next to see what she has in store.

TCM:: Under the Tree

It's a busy time of the year with all these amazing holiday releases! I love it! Today I have the pleasure of showcasing the first set of stamps being released by The Craft's Meow, called Under the Tree, designed by Mandy Baxter.




It's the cutest little holiday set ever. I decided to showcase the hand-drawn style tree by simply stamping it onto a die cut and coloring it in with markers comic book style. I inked the edges, and then mounted it onto a card based decorated with a sentiment from the set, a strip of patterned paper and a lovely May Arts Silk Ribbon Bow.

Please stop by The Craft's Meow Blog for more inspiration, as well as for a chance to win this adorable set!

Autumn Paintbrush

"For it's as if the Lord took a feathered brush and painted all the hills..."

~Julie O'Connell

I am really enjoying the October Artful Delight Card Kit with all its rich, jewel tone cardstock and patterned papers. Today I have two cards that follow the Artful Delight Card Sketch. Both use the same design, I just switched up the patterns and colors. I also appreciate the fact that I can use long neglected dies for my patterned paper.

Here's the sketch....

And here's information on the kit...

this kit includes

Little Yellow Bicycle - Feels Like Home collection 6x6 sheet (2 each)

 Chevron Quilt

Fall Floral

Lawn Fawn - Into the Woods collection 6x6 sheet (2 each)

Pine

Basic Grey - Persimmon collection 6x6 sheet (2 each)

Peach Cobbler

 Butternut Squash

Sweet Potato

Spiced Pears

Echo Park - Reflection Fall by Lori Whitlock collection 6x6 sheet (2 each)

Count Your Blessings

Autumn Stripes

Harvest Morning

Fall Dots

Acorn Forest

Harvest Plaid 

Coordinating Cardstock - Bazzill 8 1/2x11 sheet (2 each)

Candy Corn

Gold Coins

Candy Bar

Jawbreaker

Embellishments - size and color may vary

2 - Webster's Pages Family Traditions collection Designer Paper Clips (1 apple/1 arrow)

1 Prima Flowers - Peanut Primmers

25 - Studio Calico Wood Veneer pieces - arrows

3 - Prima Flowers Silentium Paper flowers

approx 1 yard - Copper Brown Jute ribbon

1 package - Lawn Fawn - Into the Woods Sequins

1 package - Little Yellow Bicycle Etched Natural Wood Buttons

1 sheet - Webster's Pages Family Traditions Tags & Prompts

1 sheet - Echo Park Reflections collection Alpha sticker sheet

1 mini stamp set - Lawn Fawn Happy Feast

1 mini stamp set - Gently Seasoned

Please check out the Artful Delight monthly sketch challenge and create your own project using either the card or scrapbook sketch for a chance to win a kit.  Check out the details here!

LID:: Jolly (take 2)

(Some of you may have stopped by yesterday, and thank you! Yeah, sorry about that, I had a scheduling mishap so you are seeing it again...)

 Woo-hoo! Another festive day as Lil' Inker Designs continues with their Holiday Release Blog Hop! You should have arrived from Jen's Blog. Today I'm showcasing the new Jolly Word Die with a clean and simple card that matches yesterday (I made a set, another will debut tomorrow!)

This time I paired the jolly die cut with the small jingle bell included in the Christmas Bits Die Set and a sentiment from the clean, modern Jolly and Joyful Sentiments Stamp Set.

Please stop by the Lil' Inker's Blog for complete details, hop along (there is are prizes up for grabs for leaving a comment on one of the design team member's release posts!) and stop by Sarah's Blog next to see what she has in store.
 

LID:: Jingle Bells

Were you excited to see the wonderful projects yesterday for the Holiday Release at Lil' Inker Designs? Coming at you again, for day two, if you are following along the hop, you should have arrived from Jen's Blog. Today I'm showcasing the new Jingle Bell Dies with a clean and simple card.

 I just wanted to make the smaller of the two jingle bells shine, so I die cut it with some patterned paper. Before adhering it to the simple, clean white card base, I tied some May Arts Red Waxed Cord (451-14) into a bow and string and adhered them all to the card. The sentiment is from the original holiday release set, Holly Jolly Sentiment Stamp Set.

Please stop by the Lil' Inker's Blog for complete details, hop along (there is are prizes up for grabs for leaving a comment on one of the design team member's release posts!) and stop by Sarah's Blog next to see what she has in store.

LID:: Christmas Cover Up

Oh, how I love thee...the entire Holiday Release from Lil' Inker Designs! Today begins the New Release Blog Hop, and if you are following along, you should have arrived from Jen's Blog. I used the new Christmas Cover Up Die to make my quick and easy card today. I simply scored some buttercream card stock in half. Ran a white sheet of card stock through my machine with the die, adhered it to the card base with spray adhesive and finished it with a wood veneer snowflake that I covered with embossed glitter.

Seriously, super easy and so effective! Stop by the Lil' Inker's Blog for complete details, hop along (there is are prizes up for grabs for leaving a comment on one of the design team member's release posts!) and stop by Sarah's Blog next to see what she has in store.

Orange and Blue Blooms

There is a new October Artful Delight Card Kit that was introduced recently, and once again, it packed full of amazing items. I love the mix of fall colors and textures, and I think you will too! Plus, I can't contain my excitement, there are two stamp sets from two amazing companies to go along with the fabulous, intense colored cardstock.

this kit includes

Little Yellow Bicycle - Feels Like Home collection 6x6 sheet (2 each)

 Chevron Quilt

Fall Floral

Lawn Fawn - Into the Woods collection 6x6 sheet (2 each)

Pine

Basic Grey - Persimmon collection 6x6 sheet (2 each)

Peach Cobbler

 Butternut Squash

Sweet Potato

Spiced Pears

Echo Park - Reflection Fall by Lori Whitlock collection 6x6 sheet (2 each)

Count Your Blessings

Autumn Stripes

Harvest Morning

Fall Dots

Acorn Forest

Harvest Plaid 

Coordinating Cardstock - Bazzill 8 1/2x11 sheet (2 each)

Candy Corn

Gold Coins

Candy Bar

Jawbreaker

Embellishments - size and color may vary

2 - Webster's Pages Family Traditions collection Designer Paper Clips (1 apple/1 arrow)

1 Prima Flowers - Peanut Primmers

25 - Studio Calico Wood Veneer pieces - arrows

3 - Prima Flowers Silentium Paper flowers

approx 1 yard - Copper Brown Jute ribbon

1 package - Lawn Fawn - Into the Woods Sequins

1 package - Little Yellow Bicycle Etched Natural Wood Buttons

1 sheet - Webster's Pages Family Traditions Tags & Prompts

1 sheet - Echo Park Reflections collection Alpha sticker sheet

1 mini stamp set - Lawn Fawn Happy Feast

1 mini stamp set - Gently Seasoned

Did you know that Artful Delight also offers a monthly sketch challenge too? It is where you create a project using either the card or scrapbook sketch for a chance to win a kit. I will have a card created with the sketch in mind next Wednesday for inspiration and a reminder to play along. Check out the details here!

Fall in One Layer

So many wonderful things happen in fall!
I have to honestly say it is my most favorite season of the year!

Welcome to the The Craft's Meow Fall Blog Hop! You should have arrived from Jinny's Blog. Her creations always blow me away. If you want to start at the beginning, please check out The Craft's Meow Store Blog.

This time of year is super busy for me and the boys, so I needed to keep today's card simple. I love the challenge in making one layer cards, the thrill when you find out that your stamping is good enough to keep. The perfect placement and colors. (Or almost perfect, anyway!)

I grabbed some neutral colored cardstock with a texture base and stamped the largest oak leaf from last year's fall set, Golden Days. I finished with a greeting from Choose Hope and rounded one single corner.

I hope you get the chance to stop by The Craft's Meow Blog, to check out the rest of the links! If you are following the hop, your next stop is Larissa!

May Arts: OWH

May Arts Ribbon is one of the few companies that teamed up with Operation Write Home today, to say thank you to the troops! To all that have served, are serving, and will serve our country: Thank You!

I created a card that I've done before but instead of a shaker version, I lined the star with a mix of blue grosgrain (376-1-03), white chevron stripes (443-58-01), red wrinkle ribbon (EA14) and I added a touch of blue diagonal stripe ribbon (424-18-03).

Check out the May Arts Blog for more details on the OWH Hop!

Other products used:
Stitched Stars Die Set: Lil' Inker Designs
Many Thanks Stamp Set: The Craft's Meow