Free Studio Calico Stamp Grab Bag with a Six Month Subscription!

Looking for holiday crafting deals of the season? Well, then look no further. Studio Calico is currently running a new subscriber promo! Sign up for a six month subscription and get a free stamp grab bag with the following promo codes. One code per kit. Offer expires 12/26/13!

Scrapbook Kit: SBSTAMPGRAB

Card Kit: CARDSTAMPGRAB

Project Life Kit: PLSTAMPGRAB

A Giveway from Studio Calico and a Great Deal!

Have you seen the awesome giveaway that's going on at blog on Studio Calico? It's amazing--12 days of giveaways!! Each day for twelve days, starting on December 13th, check the blog at 12pm EST to see the new item that they're giving away!! You'll have 24 hours from the time the prize is posted to comment on the post

Here's today's prize

For day four, there is a gorgeous signed canvas from Lindsay Letters. One lucky winner will receive her choice of canvas value up to $75. Just leave a comment to be entered to win! But, that's not all--Lindsay is also extending a discount to all Studio Calico blog readers. Just use the code  MERRYCALICO when checking out at Lindsayletters.com for 20% off-offer is valid until 12/31/13.

Exciting Crafty News

   Maybe you've already guessed that I like patterned paper and embellishments, or that I love working with product from Studio Calico, but I'd like to officially announce that I have been asked to join their Creative Team for 2014, and I couldn't be more EXCITED!!! I am a major fan of Studio Calico's design aesthetic, attention to detail and quality product, and this has been a dream of mine, that I never imagined would come true! I'll be on the card team designing with another AMAZING women, and I hope to inspire you with fresh and new ideas, while sharing my love of crafting! 

Make sure to visit the Studio Calico blog for the official announcement, and make sure to visit the blogs of all these talented ladies.

Guest Designing for The Card Kitchen-Day Four

Hey friends!! Thanks so much for joining me all week as I share the cards I created guest designing with the The Card Kitchen's December kit. If you missed any of my posts from this week, just click below for inspiration.

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Now, onto today's final cards from this fantabulous kit that comes with enough patterned paper, pre-folded cards, envelopes, embellishments, trims and stamps to make eight cards!!

I love that you get two each of four cardstock bases. This kit came with cream, green, yellow and this great kraft cardstock. I knew I wanted to use some bright patterns and some gingham ribbon, and I think they look striking on the neutral kraft background. 

I "strung" the tags on a star stick pin and then stapled it to the card. To complete the look, I added some left over sparkle gems and the sentiment miss you.  A cute little decorative edge border at the bottom of the card was made by simply punching the bottom edge, and placing a strip of patterned paper at the bottom.

My final cards takes advantage of all the fun and happy colors in this kit.  The yellows warm up the turquouise, green and navy blue stickers and die cuts in this card.

I added a simple XO scalloped die cut to the center with some hearts and even a little bit of string to soften up the layered elements. 

Thank you so much for joining me while I shared my creations. I had such a blast designing with the kit. There are so many creative goodies in this month's kit, and the The Card Kitchen Kit club provides amazing inspiration. Thanks to Kimber McGray for having me this month!!

materials:  The Card Kitchen December Kit

Guest Designing for The Card Kitchen-Day Three

Hey there friends!! I am so happy that you're back! I am guest designing all this week for The Card Kitchen kit club. If this is your first day here, make sure to check out my first two posts for inspiration here and here. The Card Kitchen kit club offers amazing kits full of enough patterned paper, pre-folded cards, envelopes, embellishments, trims and stamps to make eight cards!!

For this card, I wanted a simple overall design, but still wanted the layered look to shine through. I started by tying some of the sheer trim at knots on the end and then combined some die cut circle shapes, tags and scalloped circle stickers

 

 These cute mini paper clips come in the kit and are perfect for attaching the die cuts to the tag and ribbon. 

For this card, I used used the cute little craft envelope with coordinating tag, and that fabulous ribbon banner die cut! I liked the combination of sentiments because it's exactly what I would say when receiving a particularly adorable gift! 

You can pull the tag out and there are some stamped hearts on it. For a fun added surprise, write a little note on the back of the tag and tuck it inside!

Make sure to stop by again tomorrow for one installment of my guest post with the The Card Kitchen kit club.

materials:  The Card Kitchen December Kit

Guest Designing for The Card Kitchen-Day Two

Welcome back to day two of my guest designer posts with The Card Kitchen. If you missed yesterday's post, I shared two cards using the December Card Kit that's available here, and today I will be sharing two more. Make sure to stop by tomorrow and Thursday as well for more card inspiration. You're going to love this kit, the colors are so fabulous and the embellishments and stickers are superb. 

I love natural kraft card bases; they make embellishments POP so nicely! I used the notched patterned paper sticker as a base for the Hello die cut, which I popped up with some foam tape, and added a little garland leaf swag on each side.

This kit comes with some beautiful white vintage buttons, which I threaded with the green thread that's part of the kit to add some fun texture. I finished the card off with a little thread at the top, letting it hang down a  little.

For my second card, I used the adorable stamp set that comes in the kit. It has some great images and sentiments that work perfectly with the patterned paper. I used the string of lights and sentiment from the sentiment and embellished the card with stars and a heart die cut.

The sparkly little jewels that are part of this kit add the perfect little touch to the string of lights! I couldn't resist adding them on!

Make sure to stop by again tomorrow for the third installment of my cards, and don't forget to check out  The Card Kitchen blog.

materials:  The Card Kitchen December Kit

Guest Designing for the The Card Kitchen Day One

Happy December, I can't believe it's already here! This year flew by so fast and now Christmas is quickly approaching!! Ive gotten all my Christmas cards ordered (and their just waiting to be addressed), and half my shopping list is done and wrapped. Even though Christmas is approaching, it's nice to do some non-Christmas activities, like creating cards for The Card Kitchen using their fabulous December kit. For four days straight, I'll be sharing two cards a day, showing you a ton of fun ways to create a variety of cards using just one kit. The kits are AWE-MAZING! They come with everything you need to make eight cards, with coordinating envelopes. 12" x 12" patterned paper and great embellishments. So, here we go with my first two cards.

For my first card, I wanted to play with a lot of patterns, but not overwhelm the card with too much visual interest. So, I decided to loosely weave some patterned paper strips, and anchored the sentiment with a polaroid die cut from the kit and the "celebrate" sticker.

I notched and trimmed the edges of the strips with various punches and peaking sheers to soften the straight lines and draw the viewers eye to the weaved paper. I finished the card with a little machine-stitching.

For my next card, I was inspired by the bright and festive yellow card base. I wanted to use colors that contrasted well, so I added a few strips of mainly gray patterned paper and highlights of rich blues in the ribbon and flowers.

I machine stitched a line of thread and let it hang a little over the sides, and then layered a fun folded ribbon treatment under some floral and geometric die cuts. I adore the sentiment stickers too--I think I used them on each card, they're the perfect touch!

Hope to see you tomorrow when I share two more fun cards using this month's kit from The Card Kitchen. 

materials:  The Card Kitchen December Kit