12 Kits of Christmas {April Kit}

Hi everyone!  Whew.....it's been busy around here!  Wild tornado weather, baseball tournaments, long work stretches.......certainly makes for no time to stamp.  I've missed it!  I did sneak in some time a few weeks ago to make some Christmasy cards for the Papercrafts Holiday Cards and More submission call.  I am VERY happy to say that I will be IN this issue!  Yippee!  This is a first for me and Papercrafts and I couldn't be more ecstatic!

It's time for my 12 Kits of Christmas post with my April Kit.  This month was hosted by MaryBeth and she sent some new "to me" things to work with!  That is what is soo much fun with this group is that you get to share your goodies with 11 other ladies and see what each comes up with!

April Kit

{photo courtesy of Kara}

My first card focuses on the beautiful plaid paper and a scripty sentiment stamp from Stampendous. 

I die cut the sentiment with my new Fishtails Dienamics from MFT.......love all the sizes. 

My next card uses the great jingle bell border strip from our kit.  It's cut out of a fuzzy paper and adhered over a lace strip.

Well, you need to go check out the rest of the 12 Kits of Christmas blogs for tons of holiday inspiration!  We'll see you next month where we have another new hostess and some great new goodies to use!

Renee {It's a Patchwork Life}

Suzanne {The Card Yard}

Cathy {Empty Nest Crafter}

Joyce {Cards-by-the-Sea}

Kim {Cupcakes Cards and Kim}

Kara {KandRDesigns}

Sharron {On Papillon Wings}

Marybeth {Marybeth's Time for Paper}--April Hostess

Jeanne {A Kept Life}

Jessica {The Paper Parade}

Christina {Sea Glass & Sentiments}

April Market Street Block Party!

Hello!  Have you been over to the Market Street Stamps blog this week?  Well, we are getting ready to unveil our new blog to you!  There are some prizes up for grabs so head on over there!  While you are there, why don't you check out the Block Party going on too!  This is a great chance to use ANY MSS stamp you have and if you happen to not own any......Angelica came up with an adorable digi just for this Block Party!

I just can't stop using the doily stamp from the Kit of the Month from MSS!  So much detail and it's just gorgeous!  Here I've used it to stamp a background for a baby card and added a sentiment from Simple Salutations.

Let's see your MSS project for your chance at a Guest Design Spot with MSS!  You have until the end of the day today to get your project in!

{Welcome, little one!}

Stamps:  Doilie (Market Fresh Kit by Market Street Stamps)

Paper:  SS White and Lemon Tart (PTI)

Ink:  True Black (PTI), Sky, Lichen, Lemon White, Blush (Amuse)

Dies:  Wonky Scallop Border Die-namic (MFT), Flag Die (Lil' Inker Designs)

Misc:  Button (PTI), Janome Sew Mini, Foam Adhesive

Aruba 2012

Hi everyone!  I've been getting this post together after viewing all of the photos I took on our Spring Break vacation to Aruba!  The weather was absolutely INCREDIBLE!  I'm talking 70-90 degrees all year round!  I know where I want to buy a condo when I retire......it's such a beautiful island.  We took in LOTS of beaches, snorkeling, lounging, and eating great food (and LOTS of gouda cheese!).  Be aware that this post is VERY photo heavy! 

DAY 1:  Travel to Aruba and arrive at Condo.

(Tim's cousin owns this Condo so we got a steal of a deal to stay there for 8 days and 7 nights for both families.  We went with some great friends of ours and their kids!)

DAY 2:  Bus Tour of Aruba

 (the whole group.....we definitely are tourists)

 (the boys were fascinated by the cactus needles)

 (Family photo taken on the non-swimming side of the island....lots of wind and rocks)

 (Payton even let me do a photo shoot on the beach!)

 (This was taken in front of the Natural Bridge in Aruba)

(Beautiful waters of Aruba on Baby Beach)

Day 3:  Day at

 (Doing some snorkeling at Boca Catalina....another beach)

 (Playing in the sand.)

 (Some of our new friends........they were everywhere!)

(We took in a water laser show in town.)

Day 4:  DePalm Island (no pics) and Eating Dutch Pancakes at Linda's

(Remember the Gouda I said we ate LOTS of?  Here is a Ham and Gouda Dutch Pancake.....OMG.  Delicious!)

DAY 5:  Shopping and Pirate Sunset Cruise



(Aruba shoreline prior to boarding the Pirate Sunset Cruise)

(Enjoying some non-alcoholic rum punch!)

(Having fun on the rope swing off the boat)

(Even Payton got up there and swung off the boat 3 times!)

(The kids with the Jolly Pirate)

(The Sunset)

DAY 6:  Relaxation and Arashi Beach

(This is where Tim took Scuba lessons)

(One of my favorite pictures of Brett)

(Getting buried in the sand) 

DAY 7:  Eagle Beach

(Playing some frisbee with a local)

(Don't you like the braids that dad let her get put in?)

(Aloe plants were everywhere.  We went to Aruba Aloe where we purchased some wonderful lotion and skin repair for sunburns!)

DAY 8:  Departing for Kansas

 (Look at our little friend we found in our sliding door track at the condo!)

Well, that's the highlights from our wonderful vacation to Aruba 2012.  We thoroughly enjoyed this vacation probably more than any other since we could just get up and go.  Definitely a vacation spot we will try to visit again someday!

Market Street Stamps and Scor-Pal

Hello and welcome to the Market Street Stamps and Scor-Pal Inspiration Week!  Make sure to check out both of their blogs for some fabulous projects and chances to win all week long!! 

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Today's post features a project that I've wanted to make for a long time and I'm so happy with how it turned out!  Having a Scor-Pal and Scor-Buddy made this project VERY easy!  Let me show you my finished project first.........then the how-to's.

I started with 3 pieces of cardstock..........Kraft panel is 7" x 11".  Two red pieces measure 6 3/4" x 5" and 5 3/4" x 4 1/2" respectively.  I scored my kraft panel at the 5" and 6" lines on my Scor-Pal.

I scored the larger of the two red cardstock pieces at 1/2" and 1" on three sides.  This created the pocket to hold my notecards.

Next, I scored the smaller of the two red cardstock pieces at 1/4" and 1/2" on three sides.  This created the pocket to hold my envelopes.

I then cut away the corners of both pieces where all the scoring came together.  Obviously, my lighting is horrible on my work desk.  Sorry!

Next, I applied a strong adhesive and my favorite choice is Scor-Tape.  I LOVE this stuff!  I find myself using it ALL. THE. TIME. 

Here are some completed photos of the set put together and views of the pockets.  I've used some of my favorite Market Street Stamps for this project.......Neighborhood and Home Sweet Home.

Now to explain what's included in this notecard gift set. I've stamped 5 cards that I've placed in the right side pocket and 5 envelopes stamped with tiny hearts from Home Sweet Home in the left side pocket. I then stamped some labels with the home image and placed them in a tiny pocket I cut, scored, and adhered again with Scor-Tape to the envelope pocket. I just love how this came together!!!

Here is the side view of my notecard set all tied up with a pretty red grograin ribbon bow.

Now, I've kept you here this long......you want to see the embellished cover, right?  Here it is..........

I've used the full background stamp Houndstooth to basically cover this entire gift set.  It is such a great background to use with these house stamp sets.....gives such a homey feel!  Well, that's it from me.  I hope you have enjoyed my project as much as I did making it!

Have a great Thursday!

{Home is where the Heart is}

Stamps:  Neighborhood, Home Sweet Home, Houndstooth (Market Street Stamps)

Paper:  Kraft and Pure Poppy (PTI)

Ink:  Dark Chocolate (PTI)

Misc:  Scor-Pal, Scor-Buddy, Scor-Tape, Copic, Red Grograin Ribbon, Adhesive sheet, Foam Dimensional