Gossamer Blue February Guest....

Hi everyone.  Please settle in for today's jam packed post as I show you my creations made with some awesome Gossamer Blue kits.  I am tickled pink to be their guest designer for February. I could definitely get used to working with Gossamer Blue kits.  ;)  If you're not familiar with Gossamer Blue, they are a monthly crafts club which offers a main kit + coordinating add on kits.  You can click over to this post to see all the February kits and you can shop for new kits on the 1st of each month at their store.  If you're interested about how the club works, you can see the FAQ's page here.  

I've added a photo from the Gossamer Blue website so you can get a glimpse at the February Main Kit. It's definitely got a Valentine vibe going on but there is sooo much more to this kit.  

You all know that I like to pick and choose and rummage through my stash to find the perfect papers and embellishments for projects.  I decided to group together my favorite items from the kits and compare my photo to the GB photo above.  There are so many wonderful goodies.  

The patterned papers are so well coordinated.  Mixy matchy, just my style.  

And the embellishments.  I have to admit that sometimes with kits, I've opened the package and immediately tossed some products aside knowing that they just were my thing.  This kit is so different.  Lori's selection of items for the kits are products that I would add to my own online shopping cart.  I love how Lori describes Gossamer Blue as a "crafts club" because I was thinking to myself that these products can be used for traditional scrapbook layouts, Project Life scrapbooking, card making, gift packaging and more. Let me show you some of my creations so you'll see what I mean.

First up, I created a set of Valentine cards using the Main Kit only.  The color resist chipboard hearts are so much fun.  You can spray them with mist, color with inks or chalks, etc.

I used a light color misting for the hearts on my cards.  I stuck with the pretty pastel background layred with some graph paper from my stash.

The circles were created by typing a sentiment with my vintage typewriter then punching circles.

All the little tidbits and embellishments work so well together.

It's amazing how everything just falls into place when you have a great selection of items sitting there in a little stash.

Next up I created a birthday card using a My Mind's Eye stamp from the Bits & Pieces kit and a mix of items from other kits.

A little snippet of ribbon, a tied button, those fantastic enamel dots we all love so much.  Oh, and the chipboard letters from the Main Add-on kit.  Probably one of my favorite items & you'll see them show up more than once.  You also get inks this month that coordinate with the kits.  Insert easy button here.

Next up is a coordinating card and gift back ensemble.  The tags, twine, grid paper and clothespin are from my own stash.  I love creating little gifty ensembles like this to have on hand.  When you need a gift and a card that's right when you've got nothin', right?  I keep a small box on hand with just a few of these tucked in.

For this chipboard heart I used several colors of spray mist for a pastel rainbow effect.  I then tied on a strip of ribbon from the Color Kit.  Oh hello again, cute chipboard letters.

For the gift sack, there is a fun double lined pink sack in the Color Kit.  I want to hoard this sack, it's so cute.  See those fun arrows?  There's like a gazillion of them in the Add-on #2 kit.  I love when little packages are jam packed with fun stuff like that.  It makes hoarders scream with delight because they can actually use some items and still have leftovers.

Notebooks, you know I love them.  My mom spied these when I was doing a photo shoot and she said in a sing-songy voice, "For me?".  So now she definitely gets one.  :)

For each notebook front, I created a collage on a base sheet of patterned paper then stitched it all together.

There were so many little embellishments to choose from that I kept on layering.  Arrows, labels, buttons, etc.

Notice the little heart chipboard that I used for the "o" in "note". What's not to love?

That floral paper is another favorite from Crate Paper.

I love these little bottle cap embellishments.  Very dimensional so they're fun to use on notebooks.  My notebooks had pockets so I tucked stamped and stitched tags inside.

To add some shine, I heat embossed my sentiments onto the various labels with silver embossing powder.

On the inside of the notebook I used additional tags to cover up the front side tag that shows through.  I just cut pieces of paper to make a long layered notched flag + added some Washi from my stash and a typed label.  I was even inspired to use the tiniest of scraps to create some casual business cards using tags from my stash.

Lots of the kit items also went into the first few weeks of my Project Life 2013.  Here's a peek at my Week 1 spread.  I used patterned papers, punched hearts, a puppy love heart embellishment, enamel dots and the My Mind's Eye stamps.  I'll be showing more photos of this spread in an upcoming blog post.

Whew, that's a lot of crafty goodness in one spot.  I hope you enjoyed!  Stay tuned the rest of the month because I have even more creations using the Gossamer Blue kits to come.  Be sure to stop by the BG blog to see the Design Team projects too.

Coming soon to my blog:
*My storage ideas for Project Life, basic crafty items and monthly kit storage.
*Everything I can possibly share about my vintage typewriter.
*How I take photos of my Project Life.
*Weeks 1, 2 and 3....and more of my Project Life 2013.
*What I'm doing new this year for my Project Life.
*More Friday Finds and posts pertaining to my One Little Word...find.
*A new monthly feature called "Pick and Choose" which I think you mixers & matchers will enjoy.
*More card kits and fun new items for my shop.

Thanks for joining me today.  So whaddya think about Gossamer Blue?