Happy Friday! I hope you all enjoyed the first week of A Handcrafted Christmas! If you missed any of our video presentations just scroll down to check ’em out (or click the videos tab at the top of the blog). Our Handcrafted Christmas videos will begin again on Monday, but today our Key Ingredients design team is excited to share our projects using supplies from the October kit! This month’s kit features the Apple Cider patterned paper collection by Imaginisce. The fall patterns are so cute and the rich colors remind me of the changing leaves. And as an added bonus, each piece of patterned paper is also spot-embossed. This month we’ve challenged our team to Go Simple! Yes… simple can often be the biggest challenge! We’ve each created a simple card and given you ideas for adding a few extra touches to step it up a notch.

Before we get started with our projects, I have an exciting announcement for all of current and new subscribers! For the month of October we’ve created inspiration sheets with step-by-step instructions for completing the design team projects using the supplies in your kit! If you’re a current subscriber, you’ll be receiving the inspiration sheets today. If you’re a new subscriber, the inspiration sheets will be emailed to you upon your purchase of the subscription!

Here’s the set of cards that I created for this month’s challenge! As you can probably tell, the simple cards are on the left side and the stepped up version on the right side.

The apple patterned paper reminded me of teachers so I grabbed the Make the Grade set for my first card. I kept it super simple with just a few pieces of patterned paper, a strip of satin ribbon, and the stack of books colored with Copics. This was definitely a less than 10 minute card which is great when you’re pressed for time, but still want to give something handmade. But if you’ve got ten more minutes on your hand, then the ‘stepped up’ version is within reach! I started by framing the image panel with a marker and ruler. Then I cut one of the apples from the patterned paper and popped it up in front of the stack of books. Instead of a strip of ribbon, I tied a bow, added the scalloped eyelet border at the bottom, and the three button embellishments under the ribbon.

For my second card, I grabbed the new Gobble Gobble set from our Stamp A Sweet Impression collection featuring Cuppie. I love turkey Cuppie! I started with TESC Sketch #131 for the simple version. This is another ten minute card…mostly cutting and gluing with a little Copic coloring on Cuppie. But with an extra 10-15 minutes, you can easily add a few more details and come out with the card on the right. Again, I started by embellishing the main image. I cut out leaves from the patterned paper and arranged them behind Cuppie and added the sentiment to the main image panel. Moving the sentiment allowed me space to embellish along the bottom with ribbon and the scalloped eyelet border.

So there you have it…hopefully that gives you some inspiration for stepping your cards up a notch! And you definitely don’t want to miss what the rest of the team has in store for you today: Jen, Jessica, Lisa, Lynn, Melody, and Rosie!

If you’re already a Key Ingredients subscriber then you know these papercrafting goodies are on their way to your doorstep. If you’re not a current subscriber then we’d love to have you join us! We bring the latest patterned paper collections paired with unique embellishments right to your doorstep each month at a great value. This month’s kit includes the following supplies pictured on the left:

20 sheets of double-sided patterned papers from the Imaginisce Apple Cider Collection

12 sheets of 8.5″ x 11″ cardstock (2 each of 6 colors)

5 yards of ribbon (1 yard each of 5 different styles)

Coordinating assortment of buttons

Cinnamon Stickles

Each kit also comes with a full-color supply list for reference and a plastic case to store all of your supplies! And if that’s not enough, our subscribers enjoy 10% off everything at the TE Store during our monthly discount period as well as free shipping on your additional purchases (for U.S. customers)! The price of our subscriptions break down as follows:

6 month subscription: $16.95 + $7.00 shipping = $23.95 charged monthly

3 month subscription: $18.95 + $7.00 shipping = $25.95 charged monthly

If you’re interested, go to our store by clicking HERE or check out even more details about our Key Ingredients subscription on our Key Ingredients blog!