SJ Kit Club and Falling Off the No-Buying Wagon

Happy Monday everyone!! I hope you had a fabulous weekend.

I did MOUNTAINS of laundry and the never-ending errands that I seem to never have time to do. Okay, maybe I do have time but I don't want to do would be the correct statement.

I also had book club yesterday and we read The Pecan Man by Cassie Dandridge-Selleck.

It was okay. A little all over the place for me but an easy read. On Goodreads they say it is a combination of To Kill a Mockingbird and The Help. I think both those books are better written then this one. However, it is interesting that even in the 1970's the discrimination and hatred toward African Americans was still so strong in the south. I am a northerner and was in elementary school in the 70's. I don't remember even discussing race in my house. People were people-that was what my mother taught me.

On another note, I received two packages in the mail on Friday. One was from Simon Says Stamp! and the other was from PaperTrey Ink. I ordered both on my birthday and should not have. I really need nothing!! I snuck the packages in so my husband would not see. (Shhh-don't tell!!)

I bought the Tim Holtz Distress Crayons that everyone is going wild about. Now that I have them what do I do? The Houndstooth Die-namic is Michele Ferguson's fault. I LOVED this clean and simple card she created. I also am kind of a fanatic about houndstooth so I justified my purchase. The Wplus9 "Beautiful Bouquets: Ranunculus" was something I KNEW I had to have when it was released. I just had to wait to order something else before I could buy it. I cannot wait to ink it up and color!!

My PaperTrey order was really bad. (please excuse this awful photo too) This is everything I bought minus all the card stock I replenished. I succumbed to their anniversary fervor. That design team gets me every time!!!

Today I am sharing the cards I created for SJ Kit Club Blog. This is where one of my friends from Scrapjazz.com sends a kit full of stuff and we create cards. Here is what was sent to me this month.

I am always the underachiever for this. Most of the girls make more cards then I do. I always leave it to the last minute and am rushing to the deadline. Not sure why this is. There were plenty of fun items in this kit to use.

For my first card, I used one of the pre-cut designs to make a sympathy card.

I added a blue scalloped edge on the side and a strip of pink paper under the rose image. I know this image was meant to be for Valentine's Day but the roses reminded me of loss for some reason. I decided I would make a sympathy card instead.

After the card was all put together, I used Wink of Stella and glossy accents over the roses to give the flowers a bit of sparkle.

On my second card, I also chose to use a pre-made design. Again, I stayed away from the Valentine's theme and made it more of a card you could give for an anniversary.

I added the little flowers but everything else came in the kit.

My third card was really, really simple. I just cut up pieces of patterned paper and adhered them to a pink card base.

The heart border is a piece of Washi. Isn't it fun? I am not in love with this card but I know that I can send this to anyone that I know.

My last card is my favorite. I started out by making the card front. I used pink distress ink to partially ink a white card front. I then used a die to emboss the edges. 

I created the envelope out of a scrap of the patterned paper I used on the previous card. I added some little heart circles that were die cut from a piece of patterned paper and a few sequins. The sentiment was stamped in red and adhered with foam adhesive. The little wood veneer heart was one from the kit.

I created this Valentine using the card above as a template. 

Instead of shading, I used a piece of the patterned paper and a burgundy piece of card stock behind it. I die cut an envelope out of card stock that came with the kit, adhered it to the card and added hearts that also were in the kit and then some sequins I had. I used foam adhesive to add the stamp. 

I then created two sympathy cards using a simple design. 

I created one with cream card stock and used a pink card base for the second.

I framed pre-printed images with a maroon background, adding some green branches that I die cut using Winnie and Walter's "Paulina's Greenery Cutaways."  

The images were then adhered using foam adhesive. I covered the flowers with Wink of Stella and then glossy accents. 

I really LOVE how these came out. 

Well, that is all for today. I thank you for stopping by. Have a great day!!

SJ Card Kit Club

Happy Tuesday!! Today I am sharing the cards I created with the SJ Card Kit Club. It was Kathleen's turn and she sent us a HUGE kit of Christmas themed supplies. I was the weak link to this kit as I only created five cards. It was a combination of being too tired after a long day at work and not having any mojo. Hate that!!

On my first card, I created a little hill for the bear to stand on. The bear was part of the kit, as was the patterned paper. I enhanced the die cut with a little black enamel to make the eyes and the nose. The sentiment is from Paper Trey Ink's "Cup of Cheer" stamp set.

My second card is the one I like the least. I had to put the trim at the top as I made a mistake adhering the paper. I also used Festive Berry Distress Ink on the embossed sentiment and don't love the look.

There is a serious mistake on this card. The left bird was not supposed to have a black eye!! I first used a black liquid enamel to attempt to make the eyes but did not like it. I was able to glue the other eyes on with no issue but the black seeped out a bit. I was so mad as this was the last thing I did for this card!! The sentiment and the stamped notes are from Paperie Ink's "Christmas Carolers" stamp set.

Really simple card. I die cut the embossed background that was in the kit and adhered it to a white card base. I then layered a white hill and used the die cuts that were in the kit. I used liquid black embossing enamel for the snowman's eyes and Nuvo Red Berry for the buttons.

This card was super simple to created. I utilized patterned paper that was included in the kit on the background, as well as the die cut snowman, present and hat. I enhanced the snowman by using liquid black enamel for the snowman's eyes and mouth, Diamond Stickles for the dots on the present and blue gems for buttons.

I thank you for stopping by. Please visit the SJ Card Kit Club blog to view the other participants creations.

October SJ Card Kit Blog Post-"Claudia's Stash"

Okay, I am a day late and a dollar short for this post. I SHOULD have posted this on October 31st when the SJ Card Kit Club blog post went live but with Halloween and then me having book club the next day, I just never got around to it. Shame since I created SIX cards out of the kit that Claudia sent using things from her stash. Please go browse if you have time because many of the people made some terrific cards.

As you can see from the photo above, Claudia sent us stuff to create both fall cards and Halloween cards. I chose to make three of each, though I could have created many more. It was definitely out of my comfort zone because there were NO stamps to color and all die cuts to use. However, it forced me to look at things in a new way and I LOVED it.

For this card, I chose to cut up a bunch of pieces of the patterned papers into strips as my starting off point. The only element that DID NOT come from the kit on this card are the ink that I used to distress the card and the sequins.

I LOVE how this card came out. When I saw the little wagon wheel, I knew I wanted to do a grouping with a pumpkin. I added the sequins as a finishing touch.

This was the simplest card I created. I rarely do simple these days but I LOVE how it came out. I even already sent this card out too!!

My last three were Halloween cards. Claudia sent the cutest ghosts and I just had to use them. I apologize because I know Halloween is over but I wanted to post them anyway.

One of the things I noticed right off the bat is I only own ONE Halloween stamp set. Claudia did not send any sentiments so what is a girl to do? I created one using stickers!! I added yellow Stickles to the eyes and mouth of the ghost for a bit more oomph.

For this card, I used the ribbon, patterned paper and ghost that were in the kit. I die cut the polka paper into a banner and tied the ribbon around it. I then added a foam panel to make it POP off the card. The sentiment is from the only stamp set I own that is a Halloween set. Instead of yellow Stickles, I added some Diamond colored Stickles to the ghost eyes.

My last card is simple. I die cut the polka paper and the black and white block to house the ghost. I added some vellum behind the ghost to give the eyes and mouth a "smokey" look. The sentiment I stamped and embossed.

I thank you for stopping by and viewing all my creations. This "kit club" had been so fun for me and I LOVE all the fun things I created with it.

Have a fabulous day!!