Love From Lizi June Kit

Hey ya'll!  I hope you're having a fantastic summer so far...I know we are!  The kiddos have really kept me on my toes, which is why I'm so incredibly late with this post!  I always have such a great time when creating with the Love From Lizi kits...she puts so much thought and detail into her kits!  If you haven't checked them out, then I strongly encourage you to do so...you'll be glad you did!

So, to keep the rambling at bay, let's jump into the first card!

There were so many fun, colorful patterned papers included in this kit, so I figured why not start with a card centered around the papers!  To do so, I used one of the Blueprints sets from My Favorite Things.  Blueprints always give me a great base.. the elements are scaled perfectly so I know that I can coordinate and fit them with ease. 

I also chose to make my pinwheel (this was an add-on to the kit) interactive by adding a brad to the center and not removing the adhesive backing paper! 

For card number two, I really wanted to use some of the vellum pieces from the kit.  This firecracker strip is so darn cute!  To make it really stand out, I backed it with a strip of plain white cardstock that I'd die cut with a border die. 

I did the same thing for the circle element after cutting it out, then added a button and some twine...and done!

Onto number three...Probably my favorite elements in this kit were the canvas stars!  I wanted to really highlight how fantastic they are, so I decided to keep the star embellishment the focus of this card and not use a sentiment. 

I stitched a basic star shape onto the canvas using some red embroidery thread and then added a kraft die cut heart and a vintage button tied with some twine...so cute!

 For number four, I wanted to use the frame from the heart in the last card...I hate to waste anything! :D  The banner stamp and a paper piecing technique were perfect here...and of course I wanted to try out that Chameleon pen!

In this view, you can see the dimension in the banner...by popping up the cut outs with some foam squares, you get a whole new look!

Card number five is so simple...I wanted to use different colored embossing powders with the fireworks stamp because that's one of my favorite things about fireworks...they come in so many colors!  The blue gems were from last month's kit...

Lastly, I bordered my embossed piece with the peel-offs...so glad there were two colors with this kit!

With each of the kits, I usually try to create at least one card that incorporates a custom background using stamps.  For card six, I went with the rocket stamps!  Using colored pencils and gamsol, this one really turned out to be quite colorful. :D

And this sentiment just seemed perfect...YOU ROCK...rocket stamps...a match made in heaven!

So card number seven is really quite different from the other cards...you could use it for any occasion where congratulations are in order!  Baby, wedding, graduation, promotion...you name it!

The gold foiled elements in these vellum panels are so pretty!

Another thing that I love about the vellum panels is that you can add details to them and they show up so well!  For card eight, I added an embossed firework and some freckles to my little boy using a white gel pen...

The ripped corrugate strip is inked along the edge to add a bit of distress, and the back panel is embossed in the same gold as the sentiment to tie it all together.  I also used my favorite glitter washi tape technique with the die cut "hello"...so much sparkle with no mess!

Onto number nine...What Independence Day themed kit would be complete without a thank you card?!  So many sacrifices have been made by so many men and women so that we can live freely...I don't think I'll ever be able to find words that adequately convey the depth of my gratitude to them.

They don't show up very well in the photos, but I found the perfect little iridescent confetti stars in my stash to add to the star patterned paper.  They look so pretty in person!

And lastly, here is number ten!  This one was by far the most time consuming!  I used my Distress Mosaic kit for this one...The small patterns in the papers were just right to create the tiles.  If you haven't seen this technique done before, here are links two videos that show you how:  Tim Holtz demonstrates Distress Paper Mosaic Kit and Vicky Papaioannou creates a Paper Mosaic Canvas.  I've got a canvas project on my to-do list! :D

Here you can see the difference in texture between the glazed paper tiles and the grout...so cool!

That's it for my June kit!  I really hope to get caught up soon with the July kit...hopefully before my August kit arrives!  LOL! :D

Thanks so much for stopping by today...all supplies used to create my ten cards are listed below.  Until next time, go get your craft on!

Hugs,

CTS #231: Just Keep Swimming!

Hey ya'll!  Long time no see!  Or hear from??  Either way, I'm back for a quick post today!  I've been having such a crazy busy summer with the littles that I've hardly had time to write posts or create much of anything!  Anyhow, I'm thrilled and so honored to be guest designing for one of my favorite sketch challenge blogs today!  The sketches on the CAS(E) this Sketch blog are always fun and really help me to stretch my creative muscles...let's have a look at this week's challenge:

I swayed from the sketch slightly, but here is what I came up with!

I was in the mood to use this fun layering set by Hero Arts.  The layering sets that they have come out with recently are fantastic...I love them all!  The detail that they have on each layer is unbelievable...so realistic!

I started by stamping my goldfish with Hero Arts inks in Dandelion, Orange Soda, Soft Cantaloupe, and Ultra Pink.  I added the eye and gill detail with Walnut ink by Lawn Fawn.  The sea weed strands are done in Tide Pool and Green Apple, also by Hero Arts.  For the watery background, I cheated and used the Watercolor Brights paper pack by My Favorite Things...so easy!  The square cutout also hails from the MFT die collection.  Its one of my new favorites!

  

The sentiment is where I really had some fun...I wanted to make it look like a broken wood plank...think shipwreck! ;)  I die cut the plank shape from one of the MFT Blueprints sets and then stamped it with a woodgrain background stamp.  After doing this and then inking the edges with the same Walnut ink, I stamped the sentiment in black.  So cool right?! 

All my pieces are adhered with TomBow Mono Multi liquid glue with the exception of the one larger fish...I couldn't resist popping him up with some foam tape.  For the finishing touches, I added clear Wink of Stella on the fish and sea weed,  and finally some Pretty Pink Posh clear droplets.

Thank you so much for stopping by today...I hope you're having a "fintastic" week!

Hugs,